Unnecessary Multiple Post NYE!

The cat & I just got done playing Psycho -- he agreed to play Janet Leigh, as long I played Anthony Perkins.

Pickles didn't play with us, but is waiting for when we play Annie Hall. (I might try to talk him into Citizen Kane instead).

No kittehs were harmed in the making of this classic movie recreation.

Onward.

I declare the new world hotspot.

Buenos Aires is the new black, I tell you.

Are you a fresh, young bilingual hipster? You MIGHT live in B.A..

Onward.

Goals for ot-9 (acht-9? aut 9? urgh..)

Happy New Year's Eve!! *twweeeet!* It's been a lovely morning so far. I did dishes. I made coffee. I am hammering away on a certain laptop. Onward!

Watched Godard for the first time. I'm not much of a filmie (film buff sounds.. creepy. *grin* Like someone who whacks off in movie theaters.) (I just typed whacks off), but I like 'em. Going to most American Cinema stuff makes me cranky, but feeling all artsy and watching a snippet of how Paris might have been around 1965 appeases the wanna-be-hipster inside of me.

We watched "Masculin, féminin", and the intertitle of "The children of Marx and Coca-Cola" probably would have been a better title (you were right, Mr. Godard).

Mr. Godard (according to the great god Wiki) said things like "I mix images and sounds like a scientist, I hope. The mystery of the scientific is the same as the mystery of the artist. So is the misery." and "A tracking shot is a moral act." This gives you an idea of what the film was like.

- oooh! 21 year old boys are dumb! Even if you live in Paris, and try to pick up girls by asking them about Socialism! Dumb!

- oooh! 21 year old girls are dumb! Even if you are a cute pop star, and have 21 year old depressives following you. Dumb! Stop hanging out with him!

- oooh! That was the best eating-an-apple scene ever.

- Note: if you live in Paris in the 60s and are a girl, chances are that you're really really cute. Like adorable cute. Like a badass Amelie.

I have started the great Goal collecting of 09. Good for me.

- Work on my house. Finish bits, then have a party. Kitchen ceiling, last bits of the bathroom, and THE BIG ROOM. I've come to realize that my house is almost 100 years old! (It was born in 1917) Nice job, house! Let's treat it like it should be treated and get the stuff done that needs to get done.

I have bloggy co-conspirators (here! and here). I am pretending that we are BFFs. GenXers with messed up old houses unite! And then blog about it!

- Kick some credit card debt butt. Granted, I spent goodly chunks of 2008 creating that credit card debt. Let us attempt to pay for that.

- Kick my physical butt. I feel pretty good about what I've done, and I'll continue because I'm a vain bastard and I like the way I feel, but.. let's do something scary. Like take a dance class.

- Actually, let's make 2009 be the "Do Something Scary" year. Not stoopid, just scary. Do things I've never thought were part of my.. um.. milieu. (Surf! Go to Oktoberfest someplace far away! Take a dance class! Learn how to wire a lamp! This sounds both incredibly lame.. and kinda awesome.)

- Also, go on more auditions. Audition for that big blue box, just to see what happens.

Fell asleep after watching black and white cinema, and then reading "The Power of Now" (I will get all enlightened! Just like Oprah.) Dreamt of the world and the moon colliding (My friend Ruth and I could see it happen in the sky), the stars falling from the sky (which was rather beautiful), and basically the world was ending. It was really pretty, but also terrifying. I'm glad that Ruth was there, because she would be a good person to see the end of the world with.. and possibly put it into perspective.

(I was also going to live in Beth's basement - - but Beth now lived in a huge, 1960s style ranch house, with lots of faux stuff and green light).

Please have an awesome and safe New Year's Eve!! It's 2009!! (almost) Who thought that would happen?

Onward.

Orange door!!

I am relatively pleased. (and reeling from fumes and cheapie vino).

Onto caulk scraping!

Onward.

Monday Yea

Yesterday, I found the most OCD of all home repairs.. Scraping off old caulk with a razor blade. Scrape. Scrape. Instant gross gratification.

PG is back! Yea!! Went to Lunds to purchase a celebratory dinner...

- Lunds is where the 42 year former-graphic-designer-now-teacher goes to shop. Such expensive hip coats! And glasses! And cars!

- I was swayed by the cheese man. I am easily swayed by the cheese man. He took super good care of me.

Now I am home, after attempting to purchase coffee at Matchbox Coffee in NE.

- It is aptly named.

- The two people in the shop just stared at me when I walked in. Much like many bars in Nordeast. But I can't justify that staring when you're 27 and drinking coffee.

- The homeless kids in Berlin circa '96 seem to have set the look for the last 12 years. I'm sorry, coffeeshop girl, the homeless kids in Berlin did it first and did it for reals. I'm sorry I interrupted whatever you were doing. I'm a little sorry I tipped you a dollar. But you made eye-contact: step one of human-being-ness. Good for you.

- I attempt to put cream in my coffee to find that the cream has curdled. There are squishy yogurty icebergs floating in my coffee.

- Coffeeshop girl has disappeared to the back. Do I yell for coffeeshop girl and ask for new coffee? Did I use the wrong creamer? Do I wrangle past the gentleman at the bar? *sigh* Do I say fuck it, dump out my coffee in front of their shop, and then passive-agressively blog about it later?

I paid $3 for the learning: a) save yer money & make yer own damn coffee, b) I wouldn't recommend Matchbox Coffee, even if the art on the walls are by a 3 year old and for sale. If the cream's so old that it's curdled, they're probably not getting many customers, and there might be a reason for that. Which makes me sad.

I could have fought for my coffee or my $3, but.. It was $3 I shouldn't have spent in the first place. Make yer own damn coffee. Lesson taken.

That old familiar feeling of perceived instant judgement, of not being the cool one in the room. Hah! It's one I really don't have time for, one that doesn't do well in Minneapolis (even if we're all guilty of it. We live in Minnesota, not Amsterdam.. We're cool, but not that cool.), and tend to avoid (I do improv theater and work in informal science education. Serioisly not cool.) I wasn't prepared for it in getting my coffee. Maybe back when coffeeshops were 'alternative' (say, the 90's), I would expect to prove myself to get my coffee, somehow mentally prepare. But, it's 2008. Obama's going to be president. Baby boomers are retiring. Skinny Puppy's disbanded. Dear god, I'm 33, and... truly appreciate a Starbux. (health care, you can use a debit card, and free samples! I am old.)

Last of the xmas online purchases have arrived: I purchased a headband for my sister off of etsy. l purchased one for myself too. I love it. My hair and head are super happy. Thank you, patient British lady, for knitting what I could not.

To vaccuum!! To dust!! To..um...

Onward.

Welcome back to the fray...

The picture is of my brother in law and the family, driving to Yankton SD. My BIL is funny. Period. :)

- Drove to Grandpa Rauch's and his girlfriend Pam's place for lunch on Friday. Homemade pickles! Sweet slaw! Pot roast! Apple pie! Um. Grandma-aged South Dakotan ladies can cook.

- Grandpa is sharp as a tack. His hands shake, and he uses a walker.. But he's also 92.

- Likes to tell us how much he lost on the stockmarket. Perhaps to drive my mom slowly nuts.

- Pam sent us home with frozen homemade pies. Grandpa sent us home with apple butter and dehydrated apple slices. My grandpa can do things with apples that blow my mind. Yum.

- My sister turned 30. We played Cranium. She's still processing this triple decade thing. I would laugh, but I turn 40 before she does. Hrmph.

- Woke up at 5:30 a.m. yesterday to make it to work by noon-ish.. I did it!

- Museum was full of adorableness! Oh my goodness! Holidays tend to bring out the families, and some of these families have some pretty awesome four year old's.

- Hung with with my friends' Ahna & Rick's kids after that. They were super super super good! No one cried, no one fought, no one attempted to fall asleep in a toybox. They shared like crazy, and we had fun.

- When playing boat, Scooter is a good nickname. So is Light Plant.

- "Garfield and Friends" - still funny!

- Little kids who swap the k or hard c sound for a t sound rock. Twistmas? Yes please. Also, if they smile with their eyes. Like a kittycat does.

- Grandma showed up and had the much more challenging task of getting them to bed.

- Grandma also gave me some homemade jam and cookies! I do not deserve these... Thank you!

- Drank red wine and slept and slept and slept.

- It's Sunday!! And tomorrow's Monday!! (both official Jen Day Offs... usually...) Awesome!! ...where did the vacation and family time go? Ah well... Going to the airport today to do some picking up, and 'am very excited. :)

Onward.

MERRY STUFF!!! Christmas and such!! :)

Happy Holidays!! Hoping yours is treating you beautifully, whatever you are up to..

Pickles and I made the Great Trek South and West - - the weather was lovely and Pickles is a fab traveling companion. We both explored an alleyway in the classy Windom, MN. We listened to talk radio. We shared a cheeseburger. Good stuff.

- It's snowy here. Big kerfluffing piles of icy snow.

- Operation Recognize Anyone still not successful - - which is just fine.

- Braved the JC Penny's side of the mall, and then braved Target twice... It wasn't bad..

- Brother in Law Ben and sister Kay are here... yea!

- Kay and I took our obligatory drive-around-Sioux-City. It takes a fair amount of time to drive around Sux. We got through our MUSTYELLATEACHOTHERTOSHARETHISMOMENT, which is also good.

- Mom made stew last night (awwwesome). We watched Cars and Flight of the Conchords. There was wine and wine. I took a walk over unshoveled sidewalks and then dyed my hair.

Now presents have been shared (we are a small family, and there are just not that many presents to share - - which is also fine), mom made pear muffins (yum), the turkey's in the oven (thanks, mom). I'm gonna get cleaned up and try working on the house a little.

It's just a funny thing. What do we do? Um.. Now? There's so many things that should be done. The house is full of stuff, my mom is tired, my sister is continually my sister (both incredibly sensitive and yet fond of making broad-over-generalizing-aggravating statements), and my brother in law is very sweet for being here. But really - - despite all that - - we're just pretty stinkin' happy to be together. The edges are all at the surface, but underneath the edges is a big bath of love. If only we knew what to do with each other at times.. (the Scott family has no activities beside eating and random chatting... Kay and I bought Cramium.. I mentioned to Mom regarding doing a 'vacation Christmas' next year.. this may be possible! And possibly fun! Activities!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, ALL YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE!!! :) Be safe, have fun, enjoy...

Onward.

Jam!! JAMMM! Jammm!!!!

Making my way through Muppet Show season 1 disc 2. The Electric Mayhem just, well, jammed. Animal was screaming JAM!!!! the entire time. This is the only way jams should be done.

Two show day on Saturday.. Lovely shows, honestly (barring the man in pink and his very loud wife during the second show... They would not shut up, and were frustrating the rest of their company... I don't think they noticed...)

Got out to my car to find that it was a little frozen icicle and would not turn over. The amazing Mr. Winner gave me a ride home, and Partner In Crime drove me back to Minnetonka on Sunday. After 10 minutes of coaxing and some pushing, it started!!! Yea!!!! Many thanks for so much help..

Whew. This cold bullshit is exactly that. It is staved off, however, with improv rehearsal, cinnamon rolls (they came out great!), getting the drive shoveled (go me), catered leftovers, cleaning around the house, Muppet show, and the knowledge that I have 6 hours of work tomorrow and then nothin' for three whole days. Take that! Thanks, baby jesus and you crazy Gregorian calendar makers.

Crazy New York dreams last night.. Staying at a fancy NYC hotel with college friend Kelly. (we were on, like the 6th floor. The fifth floor was like a cruise ship--restaurants and spas and pool, all white and rickety) Ended up at a friend's room (Mpls friends!), drinking and laughing. Lovely!! And it almost turned into a sexy dream (yes, with you.. And you. I know!), but then I had to go back to our room, and ended up going to dinner, warning socialites about the dangers of Pillsbury Baked goods. (except I had forgot my script, and had to improvise it.. And rhyme, for some reason. It wasn't coming easily.. I may have been dream-drunk.)

Anywhoo, it was a mix of going to a Museum conference (nice hotel, drinking), Mpls peeps, and I'm usually warning people about the dangers of Nanoparticles, not 'duck cakes' (one of the socialites mentioned this.) All of this pleasantness was interrupted by a 9 a.m. call from a teen, seeing if I would be a reference for them. All teens --especially those in the arts -- need to learn that calling, unless emergency, should be done after 10 am. College will teach this. But I may say something also. (9 a.m. on a Monday is, truly, not early.. But sleep is sometimes rare and nice.)

Stay warm! It's stupid out.

Onward.

Y'know what's pleasant?

Watching movie trailers on the superfancy Museum internet connection.. It's Saturday, it's a snow day, the museum is very quiet, I have things I will be doing very soon.. but first.. just a few cookie sized movie bites please..

- "Inkheart" - Hey, Brendan Fraser is actually a really funny guy. Hey, look, Helen Mirren! Hey look, Andy Serkis making "my precious" faces! Hey look, lots of British accents! And a ferret! This looks pretty!

- "Star Trek" - Man, I love trailers. I totally drank the kool aid. I adore the supporting cast.. *sigh*

- "The Spirit" - I'm a little torn. I truly enjoy what Frank Miller does with movies (horrible and beautiful and graphic and amazing), but I also adore the original Spirit comic. Will Eisner was amazing, and I have no idea if Miller will keep at all to the original spirit of the.. er.. Spirit. He doesn't have to, but.. you know. Boyhowdy, I like Scarlett Johannsen. I have no idea why, except for.. uh... she's hot. Yep. That about sums that up, I guess. Go with your hotness, Miss Scarlett.

- oh look.. more!!!

Last night was a party! It was a hoot.

- Rope light is a $1.39 at the Salvation Army on Dale & University!! I curled it in a fireplace. It looked super cool. I felt super cool and design-y.

- Dance dance dance.. I think I broke my dance muscle. Can I feel cool dancing to Kanye? SHOULD I feel cool dancing to Kanye? mrrr..

- Friend Jess (who works at Gasthof's) brought her cute work dress and spring-loaded snuff cannon. I know it's gross, but... ooooh!

- We were surrounded by an amazing number of Springsteen fans. Honestly. Some of party had met each other through their mutual love of the Boss. I dig some Springsteen, yes, but.. wow.

- I have a new fuzzy $6 coat. It makes me either feel like a bond girl or a bear. Or perhaps a bear that just happens to be a bond girl. It held up well against the snow snow snow that continues to fall. Nice job, $6 coat!!

- Muppets in the morning rocks. Thanks, Netflix.

Two shows tonight, if I can keep the energy train going. More coffee, more solid food, more exercise tomorrow (I might try this running in the snow thing again.. if I can keep my tummy warm.)

Onward.

I have a little notch in my thumb nail...

It's developed after tapping away at my Palm Centro's "control oval". Yes, I could just file it away, but.. It works really well. Creepy. I feel bionic, but bionic from a lab that had no money.

Holiday countdown is officially underway. I put cinnamon and raisins in my oatmeal to celebrate. I work straight into the new year and beyond, but looking forward to 'forced vacation (super short week next week!)

'Went to PIC's house last night, and his new roommate was giving away clothes. Clean, new, possibly this or last season Target/Ishtak clothes. In my size. Holy crap! I have a New Year's dress! I have very useful sweaters! Thanks, 23 year old stranger.

The lovely Amanda Palmer's (who's now being inundated with blogs who say her name) blog continues to make me happy, as she tends to write like I do, but instead of rolly unrelated sentences about monkey puppet show & commuting, she writes about good people and rockness and touring and f'ing record companies. I like her. And today she wrote: "...thinking about how everything, everything, everything, is used to further the goal of not simply not being alone, but not FEELING alone". And I think this is true. And it leaves me with cabbage-sized things to ponder.

Love and good things to you and your's.

Onward.

Super short..

- Commute from St. Paul to Uptown took over 2 hrs. I contemplated which beach to live on, and thought about the west coast.

- I ate too much today.

- However, the fried chicken/mac n' cheese dinner might have been necessary.

- Had super fun at Six Ring... Whew. You's people are funny.

- Got to play a little too. That was super nice.

- Now in bed. I am in (possible) PMS-dramticus mode. Feeling lonely (unnecessarily so!), schizo (how does one spell that?) & okay.

And sleepy. I get to sleep past 8 a.m. tomorrow. W00t!

Onward.

I'll be that idiot.. just give me time...

Yes. For the sake of full-on avoidance, I'm ignoring certain parts of last week. And I probably owe you an apology, for those parts of last week. I'm no longer apologizing to myself, because Instant Karma got me, and got me hard. Just re-reminding myself that there is a price to pay for being an idiot. But to you.. I'm sorry. :(

For now, we're going to focus on the nice stuff, of which there was a lot.

- Shopping trip success! PG not only has underwear, but also very cool green jeans. Karen at Macy's not only made our day, but while making our day, also gave us chocolates. Oh. :)

- REI was also full of loveliness. The boy got me the coolest jacket. Very very lucky. I love it. It protects me from wind and snow and will be awesome to sled in.

- We wake up and go jogging... Remember when it was, like, 36 degrees? And rainy. And warm. Remember Saturday? It was.. lovely.

- Mystery Cafe show. This time for a battery company. We did it!

- Talked with my sister, who fills me with love and worry all at the same time.

- Sunday involved some hard core short form with the Youth, who had all taken squirrel-crack. Don't give your teens squirrel-crack. Dug out the piano. Sean dug out his tuba. We traded off underscoring scenes, me with my "this sounds like Jen doing I-IV-V again" accompaniment, and him with his rhythmic tuba farts. Good stuff. :)

- Onto St. Paul, in the beginnings of the Great Sky Crap of December 2008. More playing good music with cool people!! We played some Brubeck. I practice counting to five over and over. So much fun. :)

- Good people then offered veggie anchovy soup. Veggie anchovy soup makes me do little Dave Brubeck dances.

- Good morning, Monday... WHOLLY CRAP WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WORLD!? Wake up with a face full of Minnesota. Icey bitter. Everyone questions their choice of location.

- Have a plumber over to fix my tub. Ben the Plumber is awesome!! He says it's not the pipes, but the (moldy gross) seal between the tub and the tile. I can fix that!!! He charges me $49. I wish I carried cash, as this plumber deserved a tip, and I had none to give. Thank you, Ben!! :)

- Got to take PG to the airport.. Arghh.. But it's lovely in France, and he gets back in 12 days. :)

- Hang out with friend Sue for a couple of hours. Friend Sue is awesome. :) We trade gifts that we purchased in thrift stores or antique malls. Very lucky. Sue has put up her tree full of antique and aged ornaments -- it suddenly feels, unexpectedly, a lot like Christmas.

- I complete a St. Paul/Mpls Green Mill tour, and grab a beer with Fotis... yeaa!! Winnings!!!

It really was the loveliest of weekends, despite it becoming amazingly artic-like. This is Minnesota, yes. And many many grateful thanks to the awesome boy who not only pulls over the car, but takes care of you when you're suffering through your instant karma.. almost 24 hours later.

Onward.

Sleepies...

Yep. Sleepies. I bounced around way too early this morning and am soon to bounce around some more this afternoon, after bouncing around last night. Bounce bounce bounce.

Pleased with my call back last night. This means I probably don't have the part. (per what I've heard from very wise people. If you like what you did, you didn't get it. If you felt you did horribly, you'll not only be called back but probably offered the presidency. See?)

What was even nicer than having a nice call back-which-you-will-not-get? Having dinner with Jim! Jim and I went to Perkins, and it felt weird not to say "Non-smoking" when ushered in by the hostess. I don't think I've gone to Perkins a great deal since high school. Remember the smoking section? Remember requesting non-smoking? Ah.

The internet and I are about done with Xmas. This is exciting. All that remains is some wine shopping, picture printing and a trip to Target. Go me. Also, the burning of many many Jen's Xmas Mix 2008!!! It's coming!! (And there's an unintentional crossover with the Beukemix 2008. Our first!)

I may imbibe in a holiday beverage tonight. Why, that sounds lovely! We'll see.

Onward.

swimming through today...

In a dumb'd down, semi-consious fog. Either I got enough sleep last night, or not enough, or my body's fighting off a cold, or maybe I've just vanquished one. Anywhoo, I'm not on my toes today. I'm on my lizard-brain heels. Jen like coffee. Jen like sugar. Jen talks for more people. merrrrrr...

The Science Museum's lobby was empty this morning. It was beeeauuuutiful.

A very relaxing Sunday morning got complimented by Youth (good youth! good performance! Awesome!) and going over to a somewhat-new-ish friend's house to play music. It's been a long time since I've dabbled away on the upright bass, a long time since I've played charts (look! A Real Book! Or, more appropriately, a Fake book), and a long time since I've bumbled over chords with like-minded musicians. It felt good! And it also felt natural -- no pressure. Very familiar. Like stepping into your dad's old pick up. Good stuff. (Plus, they're awesome musicians and good guys. Fun!)

After the jam session, 'got treated to the loveliest spinach lasagna, wine and conversation. Yes, these are the people I want to be in 10 or so years. Gosh. Very lucky to be able to play with them right now.

Monday was Get-Ready-For-Your-Next-Audition day. I've done three auditions in the last week, which is more than I've done in probably the last six months.

First one: so happy! I did a real monologue and sang 16 bars acappella. I'm a big girl. They liked it!

Second one: happily surprised! w00t! I did a "classical" piece. 0oof! They complimented my choice! I am happy!

Third one: good god, I'm a smelly human being with no business being on stage, much less pretending to talk as someone else. I am a sorry waste of your time, and since I'm feeling defensive, I must bash in my head every bit...

After the third one, I went to Menards and purchased potting soil and a growing lamp. That actually made me feel a bit better.

(Growing lamps are great! The light is beautiful and sun-like. I believe most winter-bearing people might need a growing lamp... and it doesn't look like I'm growing pot in my house either. Second score!)

In the realm of Chill-the-f-out lessons (I am currently taking self-imposed Chill-the-f-out lessons), I got called back for the third one. That's very generous of them. I hope I do good. (Jim Robinson might be there! I better do good!!!)

It's Six Ring tonight, and then hopefully relax into loveliness..

Onward.

10 years...

It's officially official. I have passed my ten year mark of living in the Twin Cities. I never expected to live here for that long, but also, I never had a clear push to pull up stakes and leave*. Which is to say, if you don't make plans to leave, much less follow those non-existent plans, you will stay in one place.

This also means I'm 33, which is both young and old -- I get to hear 25 year olds remark at how old they are, but I also remember being that 25 year old. Strange stuff.

This has been a heckuva week, all professionally rollercoaster between "that was AWESOME!" or " this sucks, and it's not going to stop sucking until it's done."

Things this week involved:

- Yelling! A christ-ton of yelling.

- Nice lawyers.

- S#!++y microphones.

- Awesomely talented people.

- Awesomely talented people in good situations.

- Awesomely talented people hung out to dry.

- Barking at kids, in good ways and settle-yer-ass down ways.

- Memorizing.

- Eggs on toast.

- Amazing food!

- Early mornings.

- Two weekend mornings of staying in bed until at least 11.

Today will involve more barking at kids and some hopefully "That was awesome!" Tomorrow involves more recitation of memorized stuff and driving through crappy-yet-pretty snow.

And the radio plays The Hold Steady, and everything's okay.

Onward.

* Upon refelection, this is a lie. Last winter had me screaming for the door (you know, the big "This way to exit Minnesota" door). I can still feel it's after effects...we'll see how this winter goes, I guess.. We don't have to live in weather that might kill us, but boy, there's some good stuff here too. (Onward.)

You should all experience too

You can all experience this too. This is probably my favorite Kimya song. And, finally, it has an official video.

Last class at the Museum was awesome. All is redeemed. Nice work, 6th graders. :)

Onward.

Here's to...

- Here's to the kid who can't control his body or his brain or his mouth, and really just wants your attention -- dearly...

- Here's to the kids who kept with the class despite it

- Here's to the kid who was g'd GOOD at this stuff

- Here's to the chaperone who didn't do s#!t, but then complained about behavioral issues afterwards, to someone else

- Here's to the cold thay dries out my hands and hunches my back and makes me dread the next four months (why do we live here?)

- Here's to a car that starts, and a house that's warm and to pretty St. Paul

- Here's to an audition that went well and left me energized ("Why haven't you auditioned here before?")

- Here's to feeling jealous when hearing about other people's auditions (what's with that? I am petty and human and stupid..)

- Here's to damned good music

- Here's to figuring out social and relational things..

- Here's to hopefully being smarter than you were in your 20's

- Here's trying to stay alive and un-jaded and un-cynical

- Here's to the guy who said, "I'm just happy to be here."

You're right. I'm just happy (and lucky) to be here. This should be fun. It will be. And if not, there's time for more fun so so soon.

More.

Onward.

Stuff Done, Stuff....

Ooohhhhh!!! Even Pickles misses mom!!!

You know what's good on triscuits with peanut butter? Raisins. Raisins may not be the caviar of the dried fruit (that might be apricots), but they're definitely the roe. Pile more of that roe, please...

Operation Take Mom to Favorite TC Food Joints has been a success!! Red Stag, Cecils, Maria's Cafe, Cosetta's - - spoiled just silly. There may not be gobs and gobs to do in the Twin Cities, but crap, can we eat. Everything was a success, barring the last meal at Manny's Tortas, which had "too many jalapenos" on it. Curses! But still.. delicious.

Also got to run away and spend a bit of time alone, which is also nice, if not guilt inducing. 'Made it with PIC to Butch & Katherine's, who's house & generosity (they let us stand in all of their showers!) & peanutbutterscotchfudge fountain were amazing. Yea for fun!!

Now, after getting mom off to the airport, and watching her disappear through security (as one would watch their kid almost) -- I miss my mom. .. And Christmas is coming.

Tomorrow involves work, and Wednesday involves more work, and slowly, I'll catch up with the rest of the world, promise.

So.. uh.. Wha's happenin?

Onward.