Sick!

I have the world’s worst cold right now. Actually, I appear to be on the down side of it, which means I have a stuffy, runny nose, I’m tired, but I am now blessed with the energy to want to put everything I own into the washing machine on the hottest, most violent setting in the hopes that I can kill this awful thing before it spreads. I came home from work early on Thursday with it when my nose started running uncontrollably. I went back to work on Friday because I thought I could manage it with DayQuil, lots of water, and pluck; it turned out to be a bad mistake, because the four-hour DayQuil only lasted about two hours at a time, and I came home with shuddery chills, a sinus headache, and ended up going to bed at 4:oo PM and not getting up until the next morning (popping a fever of almost 101 in the interim). I only left the couch yesterday for hourly pee-breaks and water refills; mostly immobile, I watched two documentaries on NetFlix: Winnebago Man (in which I learned that people are complicated) and Man on Wire (in which I learned that French people are complicated and also, sometimes, charmingly bat-shit crazy). Of the two, I recommend the latter, although both are good. I almost watched Food Inc., but decided against it because I really need to eat food a lot right now. Oh, and I also read at a book (Nathan Rabin’s The Big Rewind) in between falling-asleeps. Or at least I think I did. I seemed to be waking up with it on my chest an awful lot. Which is not meant as a review of the book; I hazily remember it being quite entertaining.

Poor J. There’s no way he’s not getting this cold.

Also, I listened to a whole bunch of music this week: Adam and the Ants, Ryan Adams, Barry Adamson, Scissor Sisters, Michael Jackson, The Adverts and Aerosmith. Standouts were Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker and Barry Adamson’s Oedipus Schmoedipus (which I liked even though J found it mostly creepy). I have listened to so much Aerosmith this morning, you guys: Pump, Rocks, and Toys in the Attic. Honestly, the only one of the three I would listen to again in its entirety is probably Pump. Listening to the Afghan Whigs right now, because they were next. And we are shrugging.

All right. Time to change over another load of laundry. Then, I’ll set fire to the couch. Just to be sure.

Shuffle.

So miserable – I cannot WAIT for Spring to be here. So much so that I’ve been choosing shorts over long pants in the house, regardless of actual room temperature.

Worked on my afghan yesterday afternoon while listening to the back halves of several albums I had stopped halfway through, for one reason or another. I listened to the last three songs on The Beta Band’s Hot Shots II (I rate it ‘Great!’), the last six songs from 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (I rate it ‘Very Peppy, Also Please Don’t Shoot’), the last half of 808 State’s 808:90 (Rating: ‘Not for Me, Surprisingly, Even Though a Singing Part Was Written for a 1980′s Speak-and-Spell’) and then the first part of ABC’s Lexicon of Love (Rating: ‘Answer Unclear, Try Again Later’) before part of my brain melted and I didn’t want to listen to anything anymore. I do not recommend this combination; specifically, next time I try listening to gangsta rap and techno back to back, I’m going to need to have some sort of medication close at hand, prescription or non-.

I did get a lot of crocheting done, though.

Doing laundry and finishing the ABC (update: nice) this morning with a cat on my lap, and then next on my list is David Ackles’s American Gothic, which Allmusic.com classifies under ’70s singer-songwriter, so that should be all right (update: it’s excellent). I’ve decided to just work through the rest of the list alphabetically for now, rather than randomly picking things I think I might like, so I don’t end up screwing myself over at the end of the list. I feel like I can prepare better if I know what’s coming (this week, Adam & The Ants, Ryan Adams, Barry Adamson, and The Adverts). For the record, I’m having to skip over two AC/DC albums (Highway to Hell and Back in Black) because they’re not available on Spotify, so I’m going to have to hunt them down. Feel free to mail me your old copies, or I am willing to trade you any of my 15 Bjork albums for them.

 

 

Snow day.

Hey, y’all. Guess who doesn’t have to dig his car out until tonight? This guy, that’s who.

Very excited, because they almost never close the courthouse. Which means that I have no plans for today, because I just assumed I would be driving to work in a blizzard. Go know. I will probably spend the better part of this morning working on my multicolor granny-square afghan (did I mention I’m working on a multicolor granny-square afghan? Well, I am), and doing some ironing, because I need work shirts desperately, if the outfit I had planned for today is any indication (mmm, gray on black).

Listening to 2Pac’s Me Against the World as I type this, because it was next on the 1001 list. I upgraded myself to a Spotify Premium account for my birthday and it’s pretty much paying for itself already as I’ve listened to about 10 full albums since I got it on Saturday. I don’t know how long I’ll keep it once I’ve listened through the list, but it’s pretty great so far. The list is still working out pretty well, too; I haven’t had to listen through too many clinkers (although Chic’s C’est Chic comes close – ‘Le Freak’ is reliably awesome, but the rest of the album isn’t necessarily worth the listen). Next up after 2Pac is 50 Cent – it’s going to get pretty ‘street’ up in here, yo.

I am so white.

I really have to say this album…it’s fine, but it isn’t really…speaking to me. I know you couldn’t have guessed this. Whatever. We all have different tastes, and that’s part of what makes us each a special snowflake. At least I can say I’ve heard a Tupac Shakur album when pressed. As I so often am.

Maybe I’ll do my exercising this morning rather than this afternoon. I’ve been spending about a half hour a day with the Wii, and it hasn’t been showing me necessarily great results, but it seems better than nothing? I have to lose about five pounds to get to my next Wii Fit goal, which is 168 pounds. I was only four pounds away three days ago. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m pretty sure I’m paying too much attention to the whole thing. I’m thinking I should probably go for a weekly measurement instead, just so I don’t make myself crazier about it.

2Pac is done, and yeah…50 Cent is not going to happen right now, thanks. Time to go get this snow day party started.

It’s Your Mid-30s, Charlie Brown.

Hey, what do you know, it’s my birthday!

As of 5:10 AM, I am 35 years old! I know this because I have my birth certificate out because I have to go renew my driver’s license this morning. Because what better way to celebrate the anniversary of my glorious arrival on the planet than to go hit the Topsham DMV, right? Which reminds me that I’ll need to wear something decent in case they need to retake my photo. Don’t want to look any more hellacious than I have to.

It’s a four-day weekend for me, and it’s going to be pretty shopping-intensive, I suspect. There’s going to be a Wal-Mart run in there somewhere. And groceries. And video game shopping today, because I have $50 given to me for just that purpose. What? That’s right. And Christmas money still unspent.

And as an added bonus, Hulu Plus: finally on the Wii. Finally I can finish watching my stories! Happy birthday, indeed!

 

Taking Stock.

Re-ordered my 1001 Lists spreadsheets (Yes.)(Shut up.) this morning, to see where I stood, and I must say: daunting.

Albums: Now that I’ve mostly listened through the albums we have on hand, I’m on Spotify for the rest. If you count Merle Haggard’s I’m a Lonesome Fugitive, to which I’m listening right now, I have listened through 77 of the albums on the list. 34 of those I’ve listened to since I started in on this project. So, I guess I’m making pretty good progress? We own four more of the albums on the list, and once I’ve finished those, I’m thinking I’ll be slowing this down to about one album a day (if that). By the by, I’m a Lonesome Fugitive is good.

Books: I’ve only read 83 of the books on this list? This doesn’t seem accurate, but all right. I will have to come back to Vanity Fair, because as delightful as it is, it’s also bogging me right the hell down; I’ve been reading at it for two and a half weeks. And only gotten to page 200 of 700-something. I used a random number generator to pick the next book on the list, and that book turns out to be H. Rider Haggard’s She. As luck would have it, She is a free iBook, so I’ll be working on that this week on the iPod.

Movies: This is where I shine – I’ve seen 356 of the films on the list already. Finding more of them is a challenge, of course, and then finding the time to watch them is another. The random number route isn’t necessarily very helpful, since the first three choices it gave me aren’t available to stream. Choice #4, though, is An Autumn Afternoon, which is on Hulu Plus, so I will more than likely watch that one this weekend because why not?

Games: Someone posted the top 100 Adventure Games of all time, which I’ve added to my workbook. Damn you, and your list-making, you…Internet, you! Fortunately, I have played through 23 of them already, and own 5 more I haven’t played through yet, so I can work on video game days. You hear that, Gabriel Knight series? You’re next.

Me, Personally: I’ve dropped about 5 pounds since the start of the New Year (if the Little Girl Who Lives in the Wii is to be believed). I’ve been watching what I eat and drink, and exercising where applicable, and that’s about it. I need a haircut in the worst way, but other than that, can’t complain.

 

Uh Oh.

Our cable service provider finally discontinued the actual ‘cable’ cable yesterday – they went to an all-digital signal, which means we had to hook up a converter box to our patently non-digital television yesterday afternoon. It worked, but apparently, we can only record on one channel per television (unless someone physically stands next to it and changes the channel as needed)  because the cable is no longer controllable through the VCR. We’ll be missing some shows for a while.

Annoying.

So, we are weighing our options, very few of which involve the cable company, it turns out.

Monday Morning Time-Waster.

Going to a training this morning rather than to work, so I’ve got time to kill (I have to be in Augusta at 9:00). So, how are you?

I’m fine. Achy, but fine. I’ve given up trying to walk in the mornings, because my exercise routine shouldn’t be weather-contingent and also it’s treacherous out there more often than it isn’t. Instead, I’m doing yoga/etc. with the Wii Fit, and watching what I eat and drink. Which has lost me about three pounds in the past two weeks. I’m happy with that. Last night, for the first time in maybe three months(?), the little girl who lives in the Wii Fit board said (of my current weight) ‘That’s normal” instead of ‘That’s overweight’ and I ran, elated, to tell J.

Have been working diligently at the 1001 lists. Vanity Fair is taking me forever to read, because my bookmark keeps falling out of it and I keep falling asleep during it. I’m still not giving up – I’ ve made it to page 186, and I’ll make it to the end (at 10 pages a whack) if it kills one of us. After that, I’ve got about 12 iBooks queued up on the old iPod touch – just in case I can’t find them at my local library. I’m going to go ahead and guess Jonathan Swift’s Tale of a Tub is not on the LPL shelves…

I’ve listened through an inordinate amount of the albums – maybe 15 of them – the latest being 10cc’s Sheet Music this morning on Spotify. And I’ll grab one or two more for the car ride today. I’m thinking Spotify is probably going to be my savior on that list – many of these albums are good, not great, and certainly not things I’d necessarily pay for before I’ve listened to them once. This morning’s album being a case in point.

I’ve largely ignored the movies list, because I’ve been using my weekends and evenings to play games and do my exercises rather than watch TV. I may need to limit myself to two lists this year.

Anyway, that’s the update. It’s 7:00 now, so it’s time to go start making myself presentable.