Hoopers

Would have been nifty to see this.

"yuan" - “the concept that certain people are meant to find each other.” - Hoopers, by Michael Schulman, New Yorker Magazine, November 2007

Not Politically Correct

marriedtothesea.com

Who's a Good Virus?

Geek humor. Hear it roar.

Randall Munroe's xkcd

Think Twice Before Liberating Those Office Supplies

150,000 watch North Korean factory boss executed for 'making international calls'. Guess all y'all fantasy footballers and YouPorn watchers at work wouldn't stand an effing chance in North Korea. That is, if they didn't block those sites already.

Insubordination, and The Cool Kids

For Sheena, who upon occasion has resembled this remark. You catalyst, you!

Toothpaste for Dinner

And for whitenoise:

Tony Carillo's F Minus

Belonging

"It is not merely happiness we all seek. We seek some place where we belong. For the lucky few, we find it in childhood with our own families. But for most of us we spend our adult lives seeking that place or person or organization that makes us feel that we are important, that we matter, and that without us something would go undone and undoable. We all need to feel that we are irreplaceable." - Laurel K. Hamilton

Ain't dat da truf.

Mark Tonra's James

Thanksgiving

From Tony Carillo's F Minus.

Things for which I am thankful, in random order:

1. Hostess Ho Hos. Was SOL after moving from NoVa to the land of no Ho Hos in Cocoa Beach as an urchin. So glad their distribution is more pervasive now!

2. Harmony. Especially minor harmony. Listening to the Indigo Girls and Jonatha Brooke bring back high school choir memories of "Great God Almighty".

3. SuperTarget and the many, many gifts it has given me. The baked brie with pear in phylo being the best.

4. Close peeps. Coyote, Otter & family, Boone & family, PJamaMama, Kimplicated, Pid, and Sheena have all had their praises sung previously. But there are others - you know who you are.

5. Potato chips. Charles' Chips. Utz. Archer Farms Sea Salt & Black Pepper.

6. A wee urchin's request to "do it again!" when they discover something they like.

7. Great fiction.

8. My rows to hoe. They're mine. They may occasionally suck, but others can be way, way worse.

9. Thong underwear. No more lines!

10. That I never had to wear the *original* thong underwear - belts for sanitary napkins. Ouch! Ew!

11. Good humor. Odd humor. Geek humor. Just not intolerant humor.

12. That I'm living in a digital world, and I'm a very digital girl.

13. Dairy Queen Dipped Cones.

14. That my Dad & stepMom unintentionally performed a diet intervention last summer and opened my taste buds up to many wonders.

15. Many great teachers who did not suck: Ms. Bertoci. Jill Rock. Milton Borens. Joyce Dillingham. Dr. David Kirby.

16. Wood burning fires on cold days.

17. Memory.

18. Family. They're mine. They may occasionally vex, but others can be way, way worse.

19. That I've never been touched in anger by a man. Or a woman, for that matter.

20. Forgiveness.

21. Walks on the beach, alone and with company.

22. Bacon.

23. The creatures, past and current, who've comforted and loved me: Peanuts. Sambo. Snoo Too. Boo. Sugar. Dinky. Pooter. Koko. Oscar. Stuey. The human ones too - you know who you are.

24. Becoming more and more comfortable with who I am. And who I ain't.

25. Science fiction.

26. Tubs of icing that do NOT have to be purchased with accompanying cake mix, thank you very much!

27. The odd. The geeky. The dorks. The doofuses. I am one. I am them.

28. That my second toe is longer than my big toe. It's mine. It may occasionally thwart a shoe purchase, but others can be way, way worse. Or freakishly strong. You know who you are.

29. That I can learn from mistakes.

30. That successes don't (usually) make me an a**hole.

31. The opportunities to see beyond my back yard into other parts of the world. Looking forward to more.

32. My grandfather's chocolate chip cookies. Best package received, EVER! (Alas, the last was freshmen year.)

33. That my grandfather never knew how much I didn't like his fruit cake cookies.

34. Those unusual sorts that actually like to cuddle when they nap/sleep.

35. French fries. Steak. Shoestring. Crinkle cut. Hashbrowns (they count). With salt only - have never acquired the taste for catsup, even with the food revolution. I live a relatively condiment free life. But dipping a french fry into a shake - goodness!

36. The Swede, and that he's still the kindest person I know.

37. That I live where I can experience all four seasons. Only one climate? Schmimate.

38. My stoopidly curly hair. It's mine. It may suck, often vex, and frequently thwart, but others can be way, way worse.

39. The clever. The cheeky. The witty. The smarta**es.

40. DVR and the remote control - on demand, baby.

41. Fantastic conversations that employ heart, wit, authenticity, and words with more than three syllables.

42. That I'm learning, albeit slowly, to hold on to what's important, and let the rest go.

Mark Tonra's James

Show me your big hippocampus, baby, and I'll show you mine

From Stephan Pastis' Pearls Before Swine

He's killin' me with these!

The Point of Life (for Men)

From Stephan Pastis' Pearls Before Swine

Was there ever any doubt? And yes, Pid. You're welcome. I know you're all validated 'n' stuff.

Check It Out

Have been catching up on stuff since returning home from the bidness trips that never ended. One such catch up was Showtime's Californication. If you've not seen it, you should.

"You're tragically, flawed . . . but you have a good heart." Ain't DAT da truf.

And is it just me, or does the show's Becca (Madeleine Martin) look like a young Julie Murphy Wells of Eddie From Ohio fame? You decide.

Madeleine Martin
Julie Murphy Wells

Too Effing Funny!

From Darby Conley's Get Fuzzy

Gimme more!

I Know You Are, But What Am I?

From Stephan Pastis' Pearls Before Swine

Rat is stealing Cheek's lines!

Wishing It Wasn't So, Part Two

From Hugh MacLeod's Gaping Void

Kimplicated, my thoughts are with you as you wing your way to celebrate your grandma's life. It may be cold in Wisconsin, but it's warm in my heart.

From Hugh MacLeod's Gaping Void

Wishing It Wasn't So, Part One

From Darby Conley's Get Fuzzy

Hoping you feel better soon, Sheena. Having had the creeping crud for 3 weeks and only now almost over it, I don't wish it on anyone. Looking forward to being in my own zip code for a change!

We Need to Get It Together

From Randall Munroe's xkcd.com

For WhiteNoise.

Falling Back

Mark Tonra's James

Had a brief visit at home between bidness trips, and the presence of Autumn can no longer be denied. The evenings are getting nippley, and the mornings cool enough to warrant slippers and the guilty pleasure of hot cocoa. The orange soup heralded in Cheek passim is on tap.

I'll be enjoying the leaves a bit less this year. Partly because their color is dimmed from the Georgia drought, but mostly because their view is curtailed out my back windows. The emptied neighborhood has been torn down, and the grammar school construction removed trees and their color potential.


The dogwoods are red, though. I'm looking forward to my wood fairies re-stocking me for the season, and to returning home and making the season's first fire.

Papers In Order

A shout out, to the Georgia Peach:

The Old Ceremony, Papers In Order

May just have to catch them when they next come to town!

Coyote: Bright As Yellow

Coyote is my hero.

Erudite.
Brave.
Clever.
Honest.
Original.
Challenging.
Beautiful.
Kind.
Forgiving.
Capable.
Genuine.
True.

She supports me, calls me on my crap, loves me, cheers me on, stands at the ready to kick arse on my behalf, and expects nothing less from me. Dunno who I'd be without her gift of friendship and sisterhood in my life - I'm her biggest fan.

Coyote is Bright As Yellow:

"And you live your life
with your arms
stretched out.
Eye to eye when speaking.
Enter rooms with great joy shouts,
happy to be meeting."

High School Musical

Heading tonight to catch Nougat in her high school musical. Hoping for great snaps to post later.

Coincidence that Darby Conley is referencing musicals this week?


From Darby Conley's Get Fuzzy

As previously described, Cheek loves her some Ikea!

October, and Scorpio Horrorscope

So a Cheek ritual on the first and last days in the month of October is to sing U2's song of the same name:

October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care

October
And kingdoms rise
And kingdoms fall
But you go on...and on...


U2's October, Live from Red Rocks

The tune starts mournfully, but picks up energy. Hope, even. It's the perfect welcoming musical salewt to Autumn.

The Scorpio Horrorscope is late, but just in before October's end. Urchins celebrating include Cheyenne, MacRae, and Adira. Order peeps include SeattleTroy and my stepmom cusper. Happy horse's arse day to each of you!

Boo!

There are some freaky Delta folks in costumes here at ORD. The most I could manage was what I came with: my Halloween-blinged nails and toes.



Won't be home in time for trick-or-treating - dang.

From Stephan Pastis' Pearls Before Swine

From Tony Carillo's F Minus

I wonder if Pid will be dressing up, Nacho Libre style, as he did during a recent Atlanta visit. Inquiring minds want to know.

Is Chicago

October has been a month of endless Cheek travel. This week found me in Chicago, and while my sinuses tried to thwart city enjoyment, the early part of my visit couldn't be dimmed.

Stayed at the Hyatt on Wacker, where my room's view was:


Managed to talk work peeps into experiencing one of Cheek's favorite things: a stroll down Michigan Avenue for a drink at the top o' the 'cock - the Hancock Tower, that is. The trip up the elevator to the 96th floor's Signature Lounge seriously wounded Cheek's ears - the left one hasn't cleared since the descent into Atlanta on the way back from Vegas 2 weeks ago. Ouch.


A clear night afforded a fantastic view for the 'cock virgins in the group and distracted from ear pain. Yummy pupus shared and wine quaffed. A quick stop in the loo on the way out was pre-empted by the chicks and dude exiting. Apparently the men's doesn't have the floor to ceiling windows, and he HAD to see what all the fuss was about. His companions peed with the door open so as not to miss the view of the Navy pier:


The mosey back found us stopping at the Intercontinental's Eno, a wine / cheese / chocolate foodgasm. A dark chocolate knosh and a Malbec slosh was the thing. Returning to the hotel room, I spied what I'd seen aloft from the Hancock tower - the Wrigley building lit up for Breast Cancer Awareness month (so was the Hancock and the Sears Tower):


Sorry, Soul Coughing, but eez DEFINITELY Chicago.

Soul Coughing's Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago

I just ordered this t-shirt

Erin made me laugh out loud!


She was right. It was the best thing I read all day. Spanks, Erin! I needed that.

The Great Pumpkin *does* exist, Charlie Brown!

From Tony Carillo's F Minus

If you don't know about the Great Pumpkin, shame on you!

Cat Man Do

Anyone woken by a cat knows this to be true (effing Stuey!) Spanks to CarolinaMom for sharing!

Business Trip

This has been my October . . .




Click to enlarge - note the beer brand

(The Keynote - my favorite bit, for Sheena)

If your bidness life ever resembles these pics, you *MUST* watch this StrongBad e-mail on business trips. Baltimore, Las Vegas, now Chicago (dang, WHEN will that junior executive promotion come through?); there'll be no "Expense Account Ones" for me as I'm all congested 'n' stuff still from bad Vegas air.

Ouch

Does this sound familiar?

From Scott Adams' Dilbert

Peep Plug!

Ok. I may be a sap for watching Grey's Anatomy. But!

My high school peep, Doug Baumbach (SAG name Cullen Douglas) is going to be on next Thursday's episode. Schweet!

It is, after all, the answer to most questions

From Darby Conley's Get Fuzzy

Sheena arrives tonight!

From Married to the Sea

Returning

This makes me feel all special 'n' stuff.

nataliedee.com

Dang, it's good to be home.

It's October: Do Your Part

Unless you're living under a rock, you know that October is breast cancer awareness month. I'm angling to score one of the kewl pink ties that the male Delta flight attendants are sporting.

As my 40th approaches, I know that regulah mammograms are ahead. Already had the baseline one a few years back. But regular self-exams are something I need to get more vigilant about, fer sure. Did you know that there's a service out there? Dinner with peeps last week in Atlanta served as my awareness vehicle, adding to the Videos You Should Know About (V.Y.S.K.A.):



Ok, we've already established that I suck. And not always in good ways. Sorry for the dearth in posts. Between stoopid busy work and many peeps in distress, I've been plumb out of time for any self-sustaining rituals. When stress has my plate full - good stress, bad stress - I find I start to lose myself. I'm not even aware it's happening. But it hit me on this second of many work travel weeks.

Hadn't listened to my iPod for, um, weeks? Turned it on whilst unpacking in schwanky Vegas hotel digs. Listened to the last iTunes purchase - the Aimee Mann release recommended by Sheena earlier this month (not bad, by the way). Then listened to a couple fave playlists.

A small, familiar yearning started to build. The music resonated with the bits of myself that I'd turned off to get through the travel, the work, the holding of others' hearts.

Music and words - reading, writing - are my prescription for life. Exposed to those drugs in infancy thanks to my 'rents, I'm a lifelong addict. Cutting myself off cold turkey really sucked. I'm slowly dosing and not yet up to regular intoxication levels, but I'm working on it.

Work and peep sitches still aren't really affording time for proper omphaloskepsis. But life ain't life without my fixes. Looking forward to live tunage action soon with Kimplicated and the return of The Old Ceremony to Atlanta, followed by a roadtrip to see Mike Doughty. In the meantime, my iPod won't be so neglected. The tune whose words struck yesterday: Gomez and "See the World" - an unsuck listen *and* and unsuck watch:

"And when all's been said and done
It's the things that are given, not won
Are the things that you earned"

Enjoy.

High and Dry

Sorry, my lovelies. I haven't meant to leave you high and dry. Other concerns have been paramount.

Being left high and dry sucks. Unless it's Jamie Cullum doing it, as a cover of Radiohead. Baby. He doesn't suck.