Ok, couple things. The weekend was fun. Saturday we went to the annual Croatian hunter's dinner with Monica, Franjo, and Jenny, which is always an experience. Tons of various venison dishes, some rabbit, salad, noodles, rice, polenta, cornbread, slivovitz, and plenty of drunk oldies. The food was great...I mostly ate venison tenderloin cooked in wine sauce over noodles. God. I think I could eat various European meat/noodle combinations for the rest of my life. Being a smaller ethnic group in Milwaukee, they are so much more tight knit. They have events all year long. Being a mutt, and especially of Polish/German (and Czech and Irish) hertitage, which is like 80% of Milwaukee, it's not so much a part of my life. I envy their community, but they're so welcoming, so at least I get to experience it. Afterward we went to Liquor Sweets to see Foetopsy/Dyscrasia/Dead For Days. Dyscrasia hadn't played for years and did not disappoint...I'm usually not the biggest fan of slammy death metal, but they do it so well, and Neil's vocals are ridiculous enough to carry it. A video here.

Secondly, I succeeded in crotcheting a piece of....something. It's just a swatch, but it's a start. I can see this becoming very, very addictive. Blankets and potholders for everyone.

Thirdly, what the fuck is this?! I came across it a while back and was...mezmerized...but I just got an inviitation to Chris Cornell's show at The Riverside and I guess he's performing these songs? Will he dance? I actually like some of Timbaland's production, but this seems like leftovers of his other projects and just sounds bizarre with the vocals. I'll be interested to see how is received. shneep.

I absolutely love these...I would seriously save up and pay hundreds for one of these prints.

This is really cool.

And today in "no shit" studies....

Finally, I've been semi-following American Idol this year due to a Milwaukee contestant. One night Russ and I were watching one of the horrible audition episodes and I recognized a kid I grew up with - Danny Gokey. Within minutes my mom and brother had both called me freaking out. Our families went to church together until I was about 16, when I pretty much stopped going, but he's still very involved in a church on Howell Ave., which is cool. I hope he does well - his voice is truly awesome. Here's him doing a great version of "Kiss from a Rose"...great song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSzHDWFOW70

I think my transformation into an old lady is almost complete...I spent my entire lunch hour picking out yarn and crochet hooks at the JoAnne Fabrics. That place is amazing. It was full of retired looking women sitting at tables with patterns spread out, just sewing, talking, and enjoying their little Friday afternoon. There were so many beautiful options...I got some neat purple/blue/green yarn and hope to make a simple granny square tonight. My goal is to be knitting socks by spring and making little quilts for my neice by next fall. Whoo! I'll have to really party my ass off on Saturday to make up for all this crafty shit. Foetopsy and Dyscrasia are playing at Liquor Sweets so that might do it. Other than craft obsessions, It's been an exciting couple of weeks. The spring semester started for me, and the group is good...some teachers, a guy I used to work with at WSUW, and an amateur natural bodybuilder who I interrogated about his diet/workout/tanning/oiling routine, which he was very happy to share. I found out that the undies are called "posing trunks". He even left in the middle of class to eat some steak and brown rice. That kind of discipline fascinates me, and he was more than happy to talk about it...triglycerides, omega 3's....I did a lot of nodding. Oh yeah, the class content is pretty interesting too. We've adapting curriculum for students with severe disabilities. I haven't really worked with that population before, so this will help me narrow down my emphasis. I'm going to enjoy this last weekend before the homework grind really starts. I hope you all enjoy yours...

25 Randoms - from Facebook

1. When I was a baby, I pulled the cord of an electric can opener, and it fell on my face, need stitches and giving me a pretty good scar. It's still there, but I go months and months without even thinking about it.

2. I pretty much worship everything Rush and Katatonia have put out, even the questionable stuff.

3. I get super annoyed when people talk loudly on their cell phones, or talk loudly in public in general.

4. I've seen Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, The Big Lebowski, and Wayne's World more than any another movies. They're my defaults.

5. Peninsula State Park is one of my favorite places in Wisconsin. So beautiful.

6. I think people should be required to pass a battery of tests before being allowed to have children.

7. I vividly remember crying when Fievel sang "Somwhere Out There" in An American Tail.

8. I'm always planning dream trips...Peru, Laos, Norway...even if they won't happen for a long, long time.

9. When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time at the playground/fieldhouse that was right across the stret from our house. One day, they had a "pajama pancake breakfast" so I put on my nightgown and marched right over there. It was the wrong day. I came home crying. My brother still rips on me about it. :)

10. I used to stay up late watching 90's SNL episodes with my dad. He still does a pretty good Dieter.

11. My mom went into labor with me while watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

12. I have never been in a fight.

13. When I was 16, Anthrax invited me on their tour bus, fed me Taco Bell, a gave me a ride home from the show. They were very sweet.

14. I like getting new stuff, but I really hate shopping for it.

15. Growing up, Ramona Quimby was my hero.

16. I'm taking a crochet class in a few weeks.

17. I eat oatmeal or granola just about every morning.

18. I really love dogs. So much. Cats, not so much.

19. I went to a Christian Camp for a week each summer for most of my childhood. I loved it. I had my first kiss there.

20. Every year in our elementary school talent show, a group of friends and I performed meticulously choreographed dances to various Janet Jackson songs (Rhythm Nation, Black Cat, etc.). We had dry ice and glued some Christmas garland on our shirts. I still work out to Janet Jackson.

21. I love playing basketball. I was obsessed with the Suns/Bulls series in 1993.

22. I listen to a lot of metal, prog, melodic alternative stuff and rap, but I wish I had more dance, funk, and soul music.

23. My brother took me to shows all through my teenage years, which was awesome, especially since he's 6 years older than me. Also, he had Jason Newsted hair.

24. I love office supplies. Putting pen to paper feels great.

25. Russ and I leave for the Riviera Maya in 12 days!

so I bought these badass crackers last night

Ok, let me just preface this by saying that I'm not a baby person. My coworkers go on and on about their kids and in my head I'm usually thinking "please stop talking so I can eat this sandwich in peace". But I must say I had an amazing baby experience last night. My brother's girlfriend went into labor yesterday morning, and my mom called me around 10:30am to let me know that things were coming right along. I was so distracted and unproductive at work that I took a half day of vacation and left to wait at the hospital with my mom and stepdad. We grabbed some lunch with my brother and then spent about 6 hours killing time...talking, reading, eating, and walking around Children's Hospital. That hospital is amazing - every staff member had a smile and a hello. Carolyn's family came later and we were a massive bundle of nerves when we got word that she had begun pushing. At 6:15pm my brother and Carolyn's mom came into the waiting area looking very happy, and my brother said "I have a daughter"....Ava Amanda. We all screamed and hugged and celebrated (like we wouldn't have if it was a boy). We all relaxed while they cleaned up baby and mom, and Russ and I bought the biggest pink "It's A Girl" teddy bear and balloon that I could find. A bit later we all migrated to the "baby and mom" floor and waited for the the family to come back. Finally, they wheeled her in and we descended upon her like a pack of picture-taking vultures. It was overwhelming. I told Eric that I would have loved his baby if it was ugly as hell, but she was beautiful. I just couldn't believe it. This is a big thing - I have like 10 cousins between the ages of 17 and 35, and this is our first great-grandchild of the family. Plus I love the aunt/niece relationship and can't wait to pass that on. Afterward we went out for a celebratory big burger and big drink. And now I still can't get completely back to work because I can't stop thinking about this little one:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/3231033726_138b897c05.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3435/3230240075_3ba223d7d2.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3400/3230217351_a6bbe46b21.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/3230208555_24e487d0eb.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3520/3231060850_61cecea6cd.jpg

Hope you all had a nice holiday – I am surprisingly ok with being at work today. During the break I was sleeping later and later each day, so it felt good to get up early again. It’s too easy for me to turn into a lump with all that time off. I uploaded some Christmas photos last night - you can see them here. Ok, off to what I’m sure will be the packed gym to work off some Christmas grub...

Ok, so I saw Twilight last night. There's that in itself. But besides covering my desk in drool, I've actually been thinking about the movie and its appeal. On the basic level, of course, it's Robert Pattinson, which was my main reason for going, because I've never read the books. It had plenty of unintentionally funny moments - bad CGI, a vampire baseball showdown, and bad makeup. Plenty of plot holes - why does a 100-year-old vampire have to enroll in high school? Can't they just homeschool him?! Do these vampire couples bone each other? What happens when Bella is like 85 and Edward has a 17-year-old dick? But I still paid $9 to gawk at Robert Pattinson. And I have to say it was worth every penny. I'm 27 and was reduced to a swooning lump.

Still, there's no reason why Edward and Bella are together, really. They have nothing in common. They barely speak to each other. It's no Before Sunrise, obviously. Some have called it sexist, since Bella basically casts off all other aspects of her life for Edward. He is putting her life in danger, and he is the only one that can save her. But that's love, right? Still, I can think of a million other books I'd rather have 13-year-old girls reading.

But their sheer boners are enough. That's what makes it appealing - that simple, unbelievably strong initial attraction to someone you don't even know. Especially if they're brooding. Some Jordan Catalano shit. In high school I'd see a guy every day before algebra class, and we'd lock eyes for 5 seconds as we passed each other in the hall. I looked forward to it every day. And it was awesome. We eventually dated, and yeah, it didn't quite live up to expectations, but that first feeling is what being 16 is all about. However shitty the story, most of us can't resist getting sucked into a romance like this, especially with people who look like this. So I have to say - I enjoyed it. Almost as much as the Buffy and Angel fuck scene. It wasn't a good movie, but like 300 and Troy, I will buy it for the jerk off factor. While reading reviews, I found this:

"After seeing Pattinson in "Twilight" I can't wait to see what he does in "Little Ashes" as the young Salvador Dali. I've read a great deal about Dali's very strange sexual proclivities. Is Pattinson's rabid fan base ready for Dali's disturbing and well-documented sex life?"

Gay or not, I am. I don't even care about the pedo-stache. I promise, I will see Let the Right One In to even this out...

The Packers are losing, I'm a little tipsy, and my brother and Russ just went to get nachos, so I'm downloading massive 90's jams for mixes. Since 1994 I've thought that Queen Latifah's "UNITY" included the lyrics "you aint a bitch, you're a ho", which I never understood. Thanks to the wireless connection of the school I live next to, I have discovered that it's "you aint a bitch or a ho". A weight has been lifted off my shoulders...

Working in groups blows. We have a presentation tonight, so we met before class last night. One of the girls didn’t show up, and when she finally came for class, she said “I just want to do as little work for this as possible”. Yay. Good thing you’re becoming a special education teacher.

I turned 27 on Sunday, so Russ took me out to The Pasta Tree on Saturday and then we met friends out for drinks. Thanks to Jen for getting me this amazing gift, which sums up my feelings on the last few weeks of this semester:

I got pretty emotional last night. Obama's speech was beautiful - self-sacrifice, unity, future. And when he talked about his wife...wow. It was overwhelming. McCain's speech was classy, but it was bizarre to hear him speak so highly of Obama after his campaign. McCain supporters still boo'd Obama and Obama supporters applauded McCain. Figures. Start truly supporting your country.

And I got the best drunken message from Monica (referring to my vampire Palin costume):

"Palin...you lost. Suck it bitch!!! Call me..."

Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief! Just the effect this is going to have on how the world views us (and how we view ourselves) is huge.

Oh, and this.

The building I work in is also a polling place, so it’s been a lively day. Tons of people have been filing through and I got a little emotional this morning just seeing how many people had come out. Still, something seems off, and for me I think it has to do with the expectations people have for an Obama presidency. I stopped at Walgreens on my lunch hour and two older ladies at the makeup counter were talking. One mentioned that her prescription for Lipitor was unaffordable this month, and the other mentioned that it could change soon. She said, "well that’s what I’m hoping for with Obama…" and it was one of the most earnest things I’ve heard. I just don’t want her to be let down. Obama has his corporate interests, too, and even if he was perfect, one man can only do so much in a government like ours. Some perspective.

Sure, I'm as touched by these election stories as anyone else...I’m more excited about the social change in our country that is represented in possibly electing a black man than I am the change that might come from him. But I’m still hoping, because what else can you do...

Song of the day:

It was officially cold as fuck this morning, but I'm alright with it because I had a very "Fall" weekend. It was also the fastest weekend ever. Went to Bay View Bowl on Friday night and we barely broke 100. By the end of the night we got into an intense and drunken conversation about the merits of 90's alternative dudes - Chris Cornell and Layne Staley came out on top and Kurt Cobain lost. Waking up and staying up through a 8:30-3:45 class on Saturday was brutal...class has been generally insane...the minute I finish one project, the next is due. Sunday I woke up and went over to my mom's for one of my favorite things of the year - trick or treat. For the last 10 years or so, I've been going to my mom's house and we put together little treat bags for all the kids. How awesome is it to go to one house and get an entire bag full of candy?! I grew up right next to a school in a very residential area, so we had 125+ kids. My favorite was a tiny boy in a chicken costume who clucked at us. :) Then Russ and I went Halloween shopping and I decided on a costume for this weekend. We came back to my mom's and had dinner with my brother and Carolyn, who is looking mega pregnant. It's exciting. They said their name choice, if they have a girl, is "Ava Amanda", which made me verklempt. Their ultrasoud tech slipped and said "she" a couple times last week so here's hoping we have a little Ava running around soon.

I'm in the market for a laptop. I'm on the fence between a PC and a Mac. Basically I want it for school stuff, iTunes, uploading my photos, and internetting. I haven't bought a computer in more than 5 years, so I just want something that's going to perform well and last a long time. Is the software and stability of a Mac worth the $$$?

Happy Halloween Week! Buy this and carve some pumpkins using these...

This day has been a little blah...I have class for the next two nights so Tuesdays are always kind of a drag. But I just turned on the radio and one of the most beautiful songs in the history of humanity just started. Russ and I sang it at karaoke a couple weeks ago, which was almost blasphemy, but it’s so good you can’t help yourself. It’s one of those songs that I can never listen to just one time - instant multiple replays are always necessary. Any crappy afternoon at work, any average night at the bar, this song always reminds me that anything can be instantly elevated through music…

blink blink blink

For the past two months, it seems like life has been a string of obligations, some good and some not so good. I’m in class for six hours a week on top of working, but beyond the couple classmates who have no business even thinking about teaching, I’m enjoying it. Ed psych is especially interesting, but I keep thinking about how to best put theory into practice. It’ll take time. I have a funeral tonight and then a wedding on Saturday so it’s going to be a weird weekend.

I managed to catch most of the debate last night and it was actually entertaining! McCain looked pissed. The most ridiculous statements of the night dealt with issues I very much care about – special needs, education, and abortion (I think I’m just used to getting raped money-wise so I care more about rights issues). God, when abortion came up and McCain referred to women’s “health” and did the little quotey fingers, I wanted to punch. See the video here. How dismissive and insulting. He also claimed Sarah Palin is now a special needs expert because she has a five month baby with Down Syndrome. At this point, a parent can’t even begin to imagine what a life with an adolescent will be like. This is parallel to the Alaska-Russia argument. He also proposed that people who served in the military shouldn’t have to become certified to teach. This goes against IDEA, and NCLB, and I’m currently spending $15,000 to become a “highly qualified” teacher, which should be a necessity for all of us. Mostly, McCain came off angry and unfocused. I had some sympathy for him before this…I thought he was a decent man who is being handled carefully by his party…but that sympathy is disappearing. He dismissed women. He defended the people at his rallies. He lacked spirit and kindness. But he did say “Senator Government” which was fucking awesome.

Now let's all have some patriotism.

The black!!!
And in other news of soulless people, someone slashed the massive, pumpkin-shaped Halloween store a half mile from my house. They were probably afraid of the black, too:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=806202

Something positive.

I was flipping through channels last night before bed, and through the hateful haze of 24-hour-news stations, I came across Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. I usually hate pundit television, but she’s a breath of fresh air – smiling, funny, and very, very thoughtful. Even when being attacked (by David Frum last night), she still has respect for what others are saying, and gives them smart and real answers, as opposed to just yelling at them. She makes the women on Fox look like dumbed-down Stepford wives. I didn’t even think there was a place for this on cable news anymore. And she’s a Rhodes Scholar. I think I have a crush…

http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/463017.html

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rachel+maddow

Even McCain is disgusted by his crowds....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gx21oan3uc

And insead of spin, we get straight lies...http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/palin-makes-tro.html

You know, I almost understand that campaigning involves bending the facts to benefit your cause, but when you start terrorist fear mongering, it brings out scary things in people. I would hope that it wouldn’t be worth the office to manipulate people into hate. I want to punch this blonde girl and her grating voice right in the mouth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjxzmaXAg9E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVFWahLTdUo

How do you not say something...

The last few weekends have been fun…we have Russ's little one every other weekend, but the grandparents took him last Friday so we could go out. Went on the Edelweiss booze cruise with Jesse and everyone, which could have been completely obnoxious based on who else was one it, but it was relatively laid back. I felt strangely in my element eating nachos and watching a dude who looked like Bizzy Bone hump a chick to Timbaland. I'm sure the all you can drink beer helped.

The Friday after that we met up with my brother and some friends to see Opeth. I was lucky enough to see them the first time they played in the US, at Metalfest 2000, with Katatonia. It was the worst show I've seen either band play, and I loved every minute of it. Opeth has really improved live and especially with the release of Watershed, seem to be rocking out a lot more. Mikael is always funny and sweet and seems to be having a great time playing. The set was varied and beautiful – Serenity Painted Death, The Night and the Silent Water, and lots of Watershed stuff. Towards the end of the show Mikael picked up a note someone had thrown on stage and read the entire thing – starting with "Dear Opeth, I love the contour of the cock in your pants". In reality was from a girl explaining that her dad's birthday is coming up and asking if Mikael would call him and wish him a happy day. He said "of course I'll call your dad". It was a great show. We went out to the bar afterwards and I saw some high school friends there, so we stayed until bar close. I woke up two hours later and went to my parent's house so we could get on the road by 6:00am to head to the illustrious Retreat Fair. It was all about a "parade" of tractors and classic cars, including a black '70 Mustang restored and driven by my grandpa, an awesome (and massive) $6 chicken dinner, and a tractor pull. Wow. Pictures are here. My cousin Jonpaul came in from Portland that night, so he and I headed out to The Thirsty Turtle, a surprisingly normal bar about 20 feel from my grandparent's house. We had drinks, listened to Marvin Gaye and Al Green and old Michael Jackson, and played a video hunting game. It seemed appropriate. It was a great time to spend with him, and my grandparents, who aren't getting any younger.

I suck at Netflix. I've had La Vie En Rose, The Dividing Bell and the Butterfly, and Lust, Caution at home for a month. I finally watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly last week, which was simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring. I guess I'm an ideal Netflix customer. But I can't bring myself to send these back because I really want to see them. I guess I've had a little movie ADD lately – I can only watch hour long episodes of Deadwood and Dexter. I WILL watch one more of these movies next week...

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5973452&page=1