| For numerous reasons, I am shutting this livejournal down. It has been a fun run, but it is not so close to my heart, and I am a little tired of writing about work. But you know, I can never stop writing, so if you want, read me here. It's a blog where all I talk about is reading. And writing. And mostly zines, actually. Totally boring for most of you, I imagine, but maybe some of you will find it interesting.
Anyway, one thing I won't stop is checking in on my LJ friends and using the zine_scene community. So. There's that.
Adios, amigos. | comments: Leave a comment   |
| Four pieces of advice from the AAA guy who came to change my flat tire this morning after I hit a curb, which ricocheted me into another curb and the side of a building, which in turn slashed up my front tire and possibly threw off my alignment (all before my first cup of coffee!):
1. Drive slower in the morning.
2. Every time you get your oil changed, ask them to put air in your spare.
3. On a temporary tire, drive no more than 50 (mph) for 50 (miles--not feet--which is what I thought he meant originally.)
4. There's no reason to freak out. It's just a flat tire. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | suck | | Current Music: | the waydown - modest mouse | | Subject: | ugh. | | Time: | 11:05 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/moonsis/stars/yellow/achy_sy.gif) scared |
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| I am accidentally on purpose killing this blog. You will have to read me somewhere else if you want to keep reading me, and I will give you that somewhere else soon, soon.
Also, I threw my back out. It sucks a lot. Does anyone know of a good chiropractor/exercises to get my spine back into alignment? It's really freaking me out. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Today was a hard day at work. One that required some bitchy comments and slammed phones and a few apologies. Tomorrow will be better.
There are quite a few changes on the horizon here, some I can talk about others I can't. For now I will keep quiet, but you know. They're a-comin'.
Also, I am sick. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| So for the past two months, it has been HELL to get anywhere on the Red Line (aka WHERE I LIVE) on the weekends. Hell as in you wait for forty minutes for a train, or you wait 15 minutes for a train, get on, go one stop, and get dumped at the next platform (which is always swarming with people) to wait for another 20 minutes for another train. Next weekend was supposed to be the last weekend that we were to brace ourselves for delays, but today, Metro announced they'll be suspending track work for the next four weekends in a row. Which is great. Except for the fact that I'm going to be OUT OF TOWN FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKENDS.
Bah! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I used to really hate Woody Allen movies. Like, I really hated them. I avoided them at all costs, I did not understand how anyone could find them funny or him attractive, and I thought he was overly obsessed with sex, to a very unflattering degree.
And then I saw Manhattan. And then Annie Hall. And since then I cannot. get. enough. of Woody Allen. It is nuts.
Here's a list of things I have grown to love about his films:
1. They are hilarious.
2. They are smart.
3. They tend to be short (~90 minutes).
4. They are touching.
5. They explore relationships in a very real, and not romanticized way.
6. Nothing is perfect.
7. They capture geniune insecurities, interactions, and dialogue.
Oh. Love. | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| | These days all I can really do is ride my bike around, complain about my sore legs, and listen to Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago over and over and over. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| There are three things I want to say.
1. I LOVE that it is 7 and still light outside. & I am SO READY for the spring.
2. Writing stories is like birthing a child. Sometimes they come out really easily and quick, and other times it feels like you're in your 25th hour of labor, doing your best to push the damn thing out already. The story I am writing this week is one in the latter category.
3. I love my bike. I love it. I do. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I'm going to buy a bike tonight!
It is a cheap, cheap bike, but that's all I really need to get me to and from work (1 mile).
Conversation with my dad about the bike:
Me: Do you think it will fit in my car?'
Dad: No. If you had a wrench you could take off the front tire, and then it would fit.
Me: I don't have a wrench. You really don't think it will fit?
Dad: No, but if you had a wre-
Me: But I DON'T HAVE a wrench.
Dad: ... Well. Do you have a pair of pliers?
Me: I have a screwdriver and a hammer.
Dad: Well, what you really need is a wrench.
AH! OKAY! (I bought a wrench.) | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| Hi, my name is Katie, and I have a problem. I am addicted to This American Life. I don't know how this happened. I know, I know the stereotypes--upper-middle-class, overeducated white liberals interviewing each other and making everything into a metaphor--but I can't help it.
It started last week when I listened to this episode about "Tough Rooms." It's about The Onion, a fortune teller, Mormons, and writing for a paper. It is also my favorite episode to date.
Since then, I've been combing through the archives, downloading episodes on their shortlist, and slowly making my way through every single program they've ever done. It is ridiculous. And dangerous. I mean, each program is one hour, and they've done one every single week for thirteen years. And it's not like you can multitask while you're listening to these things. As soon as I start reading something or checking my email, I'll suddenly realize I haven't been listening to the show and have no idea what's going on. It's a completely incapacitating obsession. And I am a person who succumbs very easily to obsessions.
Anyway, just in case you're wondering, here are some of my favorite episodes: testosterone, valentine's day 2008, and shouting across the divide. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| It occurs to me as I sit here, at 6:12pm on a Monday afternoon in my cube eating Thin Mints instead of an actual dinner that there was a time in my life when I would be giddy with the thought that I had the FREEDOM to EAT THIN MINTS instead of DINNER. I specifically remember being in tenth grade and being really frustrated that I wasn't allowed to eat whatever I wanted for dinner, wherever I wanted. Specifically, I wanted to eat macaroni and cheese in front of the TV. Alas, at that time in my life, family dinners were the hard and fast rule (something I have later come to miss).
Anyhow, it BLOWS MY FUCKING MIND when I think about how I am in charge of my own life now. I mean, really. A good 99% of my time is spent outside of my parent's oversight at this point, and that is a very freeing thought. It's also kind of amazing to me that I'm still alive. That I do my own laundry, cook my own food, wash my own dishes, get myself to work, and so far, so good. I've been relatively successful in keeping myself happy and healthy. I am 22. It is all very strange. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| So I just got home from the show, which was good, I am very glad I went. Bon Iver was excellent, and I liked Black Mountain much more than I expected to. Also, I got in for free! So that was exciting and good.
Anyway, I just got home, and I came in through the back door, and when I got into my apartment I heard a loud ringing sound. It took a few seconds to realize that it was probably the fire alarm. I never know what to do in those situations. Do I evacuate? Do I wake up my roommate and make her evacuate too? Do I just ignore the whole thing? (This is the option I normally go for.)
I decided to be somewhat proactive this time, so I opened up my front door and looked down the hallway to see what other people were doing. The hallway was completely empty, so I shut the door and checked my email, but I could still hear the ringing faintly in the distance, so I decided that maybe I would go and check my mailbox and if someone was out there, ask them what was up.
So I go and open up my door and there was a mass of people standing at one end of the hallway, a woman standing seemingly frozen at the other end, and five firefighters with a huge hose next to my door tinkering with the fire alarm. Um, what?! I was out there five minutes before, and NONE of those people were there! What the hell.
Anyway, the firefighters just kind of ambled back down the hallway after a few minutes, and one of them told the other one to put the hose away, and so I just assumed that it was probably safe to go to sleep. False alarm! Again!
And that's all she wrote. 'night dearest LJ readers | | comments: Leave a comment |
| My legs hurt. Not really so much my legs as my hip joints. Am I eighty? It sure sounds like it.
I've been spending a significant portion of each day at the gym lately, since I feel like I have to make use of my YMCA membership. You'd think at this point I'd be skinny as a rail, as they say. That is not the case. I blame it on the peanut butter. I have been eating peanut butter like there is no tomorrow. I have even become picky about what kinds of peanut butter I will eat. I am becoming a peanut butter connoiseur. It is nuts (heh!).
Tonight, I am going to see Bon Iver play at the Rock and Roll Hotel. I know. What a pain in the ass, right? I have a love/hate relationship with shows. On one hand, doors open at 8, I have to work til 8, and the venue is not accessible by metro. In fact, it is in the middle of f-ing nowhere, which is what I hate about the Rock and Roll Hotel. The other thing I hate about them is they book the best bands ever, which makes me even angrier about their location.
On the other hand, I have a friend who wants to go and has convinced me that it will be "worth it" to trek down there tonight, find parking, watch the bands, drive home, and pass out way past my bedtime. She is probably right. I am thankful for this friend. Again, I'm sounding like I'm eighty.
Do you know what is strange? When I am at work, I feel like I should be buckled into my chair. I don't know why, but I have that feeling a lot. Like, I'll be sitting here and then I'll be like, why isn't my seat belt on? And then I'll be like, because it's just a chair. This has happened more than once. I don't know why it happens. Perhaps my work is just so exhilarating that I feel the need to be strapped in. Cruising down the information superhighway, and whatnot.
Alright, I'm obviously out of things to say. Ta. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| Happy Valentine's Day!
This is my V-day present to all of you: BACK UP ALL THE DATA ON YOUR COMPUTER. RIGHT NOW. I'M SERIOUS. It sucks, and it's annoying, but one day you will be very grateful you did it. Especially if you have things on your computer that if you lost, you would lose sleep/cry over it.
Uh, so, yeah, I got my computer back from the Apple factory yesterday. It has been completely restored, even though the Geniuses told me they would only do that as a last resort. BULLSHIT, geniuses. The letter the Apple factory people sent with the computer said they were unable to duplicate the problem. So they just replaced the whole operating system. Last resort. Riiiight.
Good news: I now have Leopard.
Bad news: Everything that used to be on my computer is gone.
EXCEPT, if you will recall, I spent $100 on an external harddrive and backed up all my data on Friday before they shipped it away, because I suspected this might happen. And, uh, let me just say THAT WAS THE BEST $100 I EVER SPENT.
I'm serious. Go back up your data. Do it. Dooooo it. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| So this is the second Tuesday of my new schedule, which involves me working from 12-8 instead of 9-5. So far, it seems to be working out pretty well, although I'm still getting adjusted. Anyways, here are two good things about getting my Tuesday morning back.
1. I got to vote today. I was not previously planning to vote because of a lot of complicated reasons, one of them being I didn't really think it would matter since VA's primary is so late. But as you all know, it does matter, and I was really lamenting the fact that I wouldn't be able to make it to my polling place (which is an hour away from my house because I've never changed my address from the first time I moved to Northern VA). Going in at 12, though, made it possible for me to get down there and take advantage of my right as an American citizen. :D
2. I am currently in the library, where I just witnessed a grandmother trying to get her toddler grandson to follow her. He refused, so she picked him up by the back of the shirt and the waist of his pants and carried him out like a suitcase. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| So I'm sure you are all sitting there, with bated breath, on the edge of your seats waiting to hear the latest dispatch about the state of my computer.
Yeah. Right.
After two hours with the geniuses, I ended up buying an external hard drive, putting all my data on that, and then sending my computer away. Luckily, it is still under warranty. Unluckily, I am without my computer for about a week or two. That means this weekend was spent listening to records, reading books, writing, doing laundry, and baking.
Perhaps my computer should break more often.
In related news, I tried to make my own tortillas this weekend with only this knowledge: they contain flour, water, oil, and salt. After a number of failed attempts, I ended up with some sort of brown, squishy fried dough patty. It was a disaster. (But I am glad I tried.) | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| So it's been a frustrating week for Apple products at my house this week. My computer has thrown a series of ridiculous hissy fits which makes me think that it's crashing and I will never see any of the data I have on it again, and no, I have not backed anything up. Also, my christmas iPod crashed, and they gave me a new one, but I can't load any music onto it because my computer isn't being a team player.
I was able to turn on my computer long enough to get the draft of my next zine off (THANK THE LORD AND ALL THAT IS HOLY IN THIS WORLD), but my music library might soon be gone, which is a sad, sad thought. But I have already mourned the loss of it, even though I'm not 100% that's what the diagnosis will be. You know. You live and you do your best, and if you lose all the songs you've ever collected in your entire life because of a computer malfunction, then you deal. Nothing can bring it back, and so you just have to accept and move on and not let it poison your life with bitterness.
Anyhow. So I brought my computer to work with me today so I can bring it to the genius bar (for the second time in a week), which means that I had to carry the damn thing on my shoulder on my mile-walk to work. Along with my lunch bag and purse. In heels. I tried to catch the trolley, but it glided past my stop when I was about a block away from it, and didn't stop to pick me up even though I started running down the sidewalk waving my hands in the air. I then decided to run as fast as I could (did I mention I was in heels?) to a future stop about five blocks away, hoping to cut it off at the pass, but again, it flew by the stop without even looking when I was about a block away.
So then I was hot and my feet hurt and I was frustrated and defeated, and I walked the rest of the way to work only to fight with my computer for another hour before giving up. And now it's sitting here, in its case, being a complete asshole. And I am, once again, putting all my hope into the "geniuses." Aie. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Okay, I don't watch TV. I don't own one. But I am SO EXCITED ABOUT LOST TONIGHT. WOW.
I'll be heading down to my (dearly loved and missed) former roommate's townhouse to watch, which google maps says is a 27 minute drive without traffic. With traffic? Google maps says it will be up to 35 minutes. Uh... RIGHT. Obviously google has never driven through rush hour traffic in DC. | | comments: Leave a comment |
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