30.6.08

superinteractions

Have been connecting with everyone the past few days. Talked to A last night, she's looking for a new life, and she didn't like any of my suggestions. so i'm putting it out there- the comments are open for anyone's ideas on what A should do next. I'm just hoping the beach will be in her plans (and Z hopes so too!)

Talked to my mom next, she's going crazy too, with the classic line, "oh, hold on a sec. [speaks in spanish] The mexicans just said they've destroyed my house." they're using their economic stimulus check to pay illegal immagrants to rip up their carpets and install hardwood floors. unfortunately it takes awhile to do.

Talked to my Oregonian Aunt when trying to reach my grandma, and had a very nice conversation with her- we haven't talked in a long time, but we're both into makinig nice, it seems, so it's all fine.

And I'll see her this weekend, cause d and jr and i are all going to the farm for the 4th. So she had my grandma call me back after she'd finished her hand of cards. I told her our travel plans and everything, and the weather of course.

Then I talked to Z, to see if she had plans for the beach, and she explained her problems with choosing a lab in a way i could understand, and a little family gossip, sisterly bonding, and product placement.

Finally, at work today ch and i were listening to neko case's train from kansas city and we had a whole discussion on what he was doing in Kansas City. Ch thought she was from Kansas City and had moved on with her life and he was trailing after her. I thought she'd stayed put and he'd gone away to war or maybe speculating out west or something, and he asked her to wait for him, and she, well didn't.

I love my job.

29.6.08

happy pride!

The dyke march is on the move! it was in pilsen this year and it was as awesome as always. different, because last year i had my "in" with the lesbian community and felt super connected, but since i'm "out" with them now, i was worried. but they are too lazy to leave andersonville, and d and my square dance friends came, and it was a wonderful day of marching and chanting for all.
the worst: just realizing that my suntan lotion didn't quite go all the way to my bandaids and i've got some red outlines which i don't think i can tactfully post pictures of.
the best: i met a reader! A shout out to the überhot s, who came up to us saying, "excuse me, are you caitlin? i read your blog!" i felt instantly famous in a way that made me want to work on those dang novels, and suddenly reconnected to the web. sure, chicago is full of lovely dykes and i don't know ANY of them. but some of them know ME!

25.6.08

insomnia

What's up with this waking up at 4.45 and not being able to fall back asleep shit? I am NOT a fan.

the plus: I can get more bags done...

24.6.08

update again

goddess, it's been ages, hasn't it? life continues on here as usual. d's got a new job that keeps her around on the north side. work at curtains r us is few and far between, but i've got some bags to work on right now so that's all good. Anne from San Francisco was here this weekend, and we got to hang out, cook feasts, and have giggly girly conversations. AND she took me to the bag lady's to pick up said bags. AND when she left she left the charmingist little note and her extra ipod shuffle (!!!) which is purple and lots-o-fun. my vacation plans continue! if you are going to be in western PA july 3-6th, in philly July 25 or Aug 3, or rehoboth beach, DE july 26-Aug 2, i'm going ON TOUR! and i want to meet up WITH YOU!

the crowd rawrs.

12.6.08

suddenly

so the movie's over. just a screaching halt, sudddenly. and i go from curtains-r-us begging me to come in to them saying, "oh, call and see if we need you thursday. we definately won't need you saturday." what the? my debt isn't paid off yet! damn taxes. damn, damn ikea. that economic stimulus check better come eventually. hopefully the bags will pick up. or i'll find more work. i always do. i just need to make sure i don't wait too long. cause i've been LOVING having a thursday off. it's been such a splendid day! i remember the days of working on my own projects, not setting my alarm, being off when everyone else is at work. i've missed it. i wish i could afford to only work, like, 25 hours a week. or even 32. that'd be a good life.

anyway, today i cleaned my house, cleared off my desk, took care of (jsut about) everything in the "to deal with" pile, did all of my mending, paid my bills, wasted huge amounts of time on mint.com, planned my menu, picked my bike up from the shop, went to the grocery store, went to the library, AND ate 3 meals. and started a few other sewing projects. and sorted my packages to mail.

i rock.

in exciting vegetable news. my garden! it is growing! i have three green tomatoes and a clump of broccoli a good inch in diameter! my share this week, along with chives and turnips, includes lettuce. and salad mix. and spinach. seriously. and the turnips came with greens. so it's gonna be a salad sort of week. the lettuce was FILTHY, i'm afraid all the dirt i washed off it will clog my drains. but my salad was good and now i'm eating some of the strawberries that were the best, most beautiful part of my share. i sliced them and sprinkled them with sugar and melted it with cointreau (or however it's spelled), and put them in the fridge until very cold. mmmmm.

i'm so used to only being home on sundays, i keep feeling like tomorrow is monday and i have to work another six days in a row. but tomorrow i'm at the flowershop- practically weekend anyway- and then i have 2 days off in a row! whoo hoo!

10.6.08

the rest of the article

Ok, i just want to blog about SOMETHING else, so i'm taking care of the rest of this so it will stop haunting me, not because i really have time.

6. Accept genetic engineering. I tend to be against it for other reasons. Again, at what cost to what makes life livable are we willing to cut carbon emmissions? the crazy rules for the corn my grandfather grows for monsanto- it's a scary world out there. i'm not a scientist, so i don't know exactly where i draw the line- somewhere between hybridization and genetic engineering- but i definately have a line. And the examples they give are pointless, I think. in 3 they were anti organic, but now they're all,"fertilizer is the biggest cause of greenhouse gasses in farming." hmmm. and the other things genetic engineering may discover seems like a poor use of energy. instead of genetically modifying crops for ethanol, why not use the technology to try and get all that energy out of switchgrass? why not try using less? and of course, lab-grown animal flesh is not something i think we should be investing any sort of energy into at all.

7. Carbon trading doesn't work. on a global scale, no. i mean, bush was right about the problems with kyoto, but that still doesn't make for a good reason not to sign it. it's certainly something that can be easily abused. but i don't think that makes it bad in and of itself. i mean, i feel like i'm a "meat trading" vegetarian. americans need to eat less meat. they won't. so since it's an easy thing for me to do, i won't eat ANY so i'll balance out the guy who has it for every meal. i feel like i'm doing as much as i can in my lifestyle to curb my emmissions. but it's nice to be able to do something about the 3 or 4 tons i do relase per year.

8. embrace nuclear power. yeah, it's better than coal. no one will argue with that. but come on. you can't do it without nuclear waste. you just can't. and it's a dangerous job for poor homer simpson. and there is no place to put the waste. no one wants it. we are constantly creating more of it. again, why save the world from global warming just to destroy it by nuclear irradiation? i didn't realize that it produces less carbon than renewable sources. i'm not sure how that can be, but it must have to do with manufacturing.

9. used cars, not hybrids. this seems to be a "well, duh" one for me. public transit? anyone? it also speaks to the consumer culture, however, and how to be green one needs to buy things these days. save the planet by buying the right cleaning supplies, makeup, hybrid car. my mom's husband has been searching for a new used car, because the suv gets such bad gas milage. they need to keep the suv to haul the boat. and my mom won't let marty drive her car- plus he doesn't do stick. so they bought a convertable. two people. three cars. ANYWAY, there's the great fact in this one that a 1994 Geo Metro XFi gets the same average gas milage as a prius. so the carbon gap from the expense of manufacturing it would never close. it doesn't say anything about buying HYBRID cars used, though.

i promise that will be the most i ever write about used cars. i can't believe i wrote that much. anyway,

10. prepare for the worst. i don't need to hear this. first, i want to have faith that things will get better. i don't think that change being inevitable is a good enough reason to not make any changes. i think instead of preparing for the worst, we should work like crazy to make the worst not happen, and then deal with the consequences of what comes when it does.

so there it is. cut carbon, kiddos. just be reasonable about it, please.

8.6.08

excuse

I really WANT to tell you about the other five, but it's that time of year, suddenly, where the computer gives off too much heat. shutting down now.

ps. connie- don't be afraid! I only said something because I was honored when i heard you learned things and were inspired by my blog. i blog so rarely now i feel like no one bothers to read, so i only name-dropped you cause i thought i'd written something slightly informative!