Weekend!
One of the blessings of being out here is that I have a small, but intense, number of dear friends who make every weekend twice as lookforwardtoable. I’m pleased to be going out tonight in order to find the *PERFECT* bottle of wine for dinner tomorrow (well, it’ll be red, anyway) and a perfect one of those desk braingames gifts.
Friday, seriously, is the highlight of the week for me.
And it’s weird to think that church on Sunday is one of the other highlights.
The best analogy I can come up with is going to Floyd’s Barbershop for a straight-razor head shave. Until you walk through the door and sit in the chair, you will not realize exactly how much you’ve missed sitting in that communal setting.
Of course, the straight-razor head shave is like a Southern Baptist Lap Dance for your head and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who does the “shaved head” thing from time to time. They do a hot towel to open all your pores, then they toss all kinds of oils and ointments and unguents and then a scalp massage that turns into a shave that you’re sure someone MUST have written about but all you can remember is Ulysses and that shaving scene wasn’t that great at all. Then they clean everything off and finish up with a cold towel to close all of your pores and… dang.
I was weak in the knees.
Well, the Unitarians aren’t exactly like that, but it is nice to sit in a room with somewhat like-minded people who are trying to figure stuff out. So I’m looking forward to church too.
Which is a sentence I neverever thought I’d write.
So… what’s on your docket?
(I promise to never do this to you all again – hey, there’s only about 3 weeks until I never have to do it to myself again! – and I spared you Friday, but:)
Here is what I am doing this weekend (note that there is nesting, so some of the points on this list refer to other lists; one of which lists in itself has about 25 items on it, including assignments that I need to turn in on Sunday and won’t start until Saturday). Yes, there’s quite a bit of detail – but that’s the level of detail I need to DO things instead of ditch everything for trashy novels and come back out after I’ve failed out of school. Also note that the entire last set of things? the fun ones that are on there at the end? Keep getting kicked to the right a week. I think at least I will finish reading the Janet Malcolm this weekend. I really like it.
Weekend
3 pm on Sat – [name redacted]’s recital -[place redacted] (leave at 2:30, park on campus)
7 pm on Sun -[name redacted]’s reading – [place redacted] (leave at 6:30, try to park near [place redacted])
vitamin d (sat) [i’m on 3 other daily meds that have to be taken at weird times, I just don’t forget those]
vitamin d (sun)
do dishes (sun)
start laundry (sat)
feed kitties (sat morning)
feed kitties (sat night)
feed kitties (sun morning)
feed kitties (sun night)
finish washing/drying laundry
finish putting away laundry
make grocery list
-toothpaste
-toothbrush
-??? (this will have at least 10 things on it when I am done)
buy groceries
take out trash and drag to curb (sunday)
take out recycling and drag to curb (sunday)
clean downstairs litterboxes (sat)
clean upstairs litterboxes (sat)
clean downstairs litterboxes (sun)
clean upstairs litterboxes (sun)
shower (sat)
shower (sun)
write easy part of journal entry for 971
write hard part of journal entry for 971
update todo list for 971
work through to-do list for 604
make new to-do list for 604
make new master todo list for next week
strip bed
make bed with clean sheets and a lighter quilt
wash bedding (can take a pass on this till next week)
if wash, dry bedding
wash bathmats (if feel like it)
dry bathmats
check out wild goose? (401 n tejon) depends on energy level
finish or relinquish young wizards mars
finish or relinquish shakespeare book
finish or relinquish janet malcolm (prob finish??)
go to library, return young wizards shakespeare and janet malcolm (pref sat, maybe sun)
finish infographics book, put in backpack for Monday
finish kambia elaine, put in backpack for Monday
finish novel cure, put in backpack for Monday
work on bookpost
do bookpost?Report
we are *THIS* close to doing nothing on any given night. *THIS* close.Report
Just reading this made me long for a nap, @maribou
I’m thinking you night need a field full of poppies poppies poppies poppiesReport
🙂 YES.Report
Plus also? That is a list of knowns. If the rest of my life is any indication, I’ll find at least a dozen more things to add.
(I realize many of you have to do a lot more things than that. BUT I AM TIRED. I should have a point on there for “get more than 5 hours sleep in a night for a change”.)Report
up to 3 more already. and not the happy fun things either.Report
As is usual for Front Range Colorado, I’ve been going along asking “Is it spring yet? Is it spring yet?” and suddenly wham! it’s spring and I’m hopelessly behind with the things that need to be done for the change of season. This afternoon I took the quilted cover off of the fan vent and put The World’s Most Sophisticated Whole House Fan Controller™ through its paces — we may need the fan for a while tomorrow evening.Report
So true, Michael! I am just ignoring them all until Jay gets home…
It still might snow again though.Report
Front Range Colorado, where we’ve got four seasons and we’re not afraid to use three of them in any given week :^) Where “Sat out on the deck with BBQ and wine on Monday, it snowed on Tuesday, back to the grill and wine on the deck for Thursday” is just the way spring goes.Report
What part of the Front Range?
I really liked Nederland. We hiked up to a lake nearby, I think Lake Isobel. It was so beautiful that our kids, two years apart and vinegar and oil ‘don’t touch me’ were holding hands. They invented an imaginary friend together that day, Spitty, and Spitty always hiked with us after that. We’d go on quests for the Golden Turtle.
I long to go back.Report
I am going to the balletReport
Our new barbecue is supposed to be delivered today, so there will be puzzling over assembly instructions and fetching of charcoal and if all goes well roasting of meats. (How does one misplace a charcoal barbecue? I apparently managed to do so last Winter. Or else some passing drunks of unusual enterprise made off with it so they could grill their food on an ill-gotten barbecue).
My wife’s bellydance partner is having a party Saturday for members of the troupe and their families – apparently she’s been working on the dinner menu for weeks.
On Monday, I’m starting a series of ecstatic dance sessions, so something like loud sweaty rave church in a community hall. Or something. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to that.
Also, I am afraid to google “Southern Baptist lap dance”Report
This is the only hit. although, amusingly enough, Google thinks that someone other than Jaybird wrote this post :D.Report
Apparently UPS is not up to the task of delivering objects to places – so no barbecue for us this weekend.Report
Mayo turned 1 last Friday but we are having the birthday party on Saturday. Should be fun? I guess?
I’ve never shaved the head, but when I want to treat myself, I do head to the barber shop for a quality beard shape up, complete with a straight shave. Thankfully, a Hispanic-owned barber shop has opened up in town, making the experience four to five times better than the one at the Italian place.Report
My first barbershop straight razor shave was by a cheerful old guy in Souk Sarouja in Damascus. There was a moment when I thought, “Am I crazy, letting an Arabic guy whose country keeps losing land to Israel put a blade to my American throat?” But he was awesome, the experience was awesome, and it hurts to think what his situation may be now.Report
As I recall from my own children — it’s been a considerable time — gifts proper are a waste of effort. Big cardboard boxes and wrapping paper, OTOH… :^)Report
Would it make us terrible parents if we didn’t even get him presents, seeing as how he is currently the only grandchild on either side and is spoiled rotten as it is and isn’t going to remember any of this anyway?Report
@kazzy
First birthday celebrations are for the parents. Don’t overdo things thinking you’re doing something for the kid and are bad parents if you don’t.Report
This is generally how I feel. He’s 1. He won’t know what the fish is going on anyway. But it is all the other adults… “What do you mean you’re not taking him to Disney World?”… who I want to throttle.Report
Give the kid some of his favorite food and dress him up in something cute for the pictures so you’ll have things to humiliate him with later when he’s a teenager.
Other stuff, do because you and Zazzy think it’s fun. Have a great time.Report
Disney World? At the age of one? Goodness’ sakes, why not wait until a kid’s actually old enough to enjoy (and remember) it?
Also, going by childhood memories – Disneyland (presumably similar to Disney World) is overrated. I mean, my family went there when I was a kid, and it was fun, and I enjoyed it, but I liked the year we went to Yellowstone National Park even more.
And I’ll add my voice to the “no, you don’t need to buy birthday presents for a one-year-old” chorus.Report
“Don’t overdo things thinking you’re doing something for the kid and are bad parents if you don’t.”
As the father boys 12 and 10, I’m going to go ahead and assert that this applies always and everywhere and for all things. Sometimes we as parents agonize over the details and meanwhile the kids are thinking, “Hey, cool. Pizza!”Report
When I was 4 or 5 I was OBSESSED with pictures of myself as a baby. I didn’t care about birthday presents but I loved a picture of myself and my childhood best friend COVERED in cake from my 1st birthday.
So I would say action shots good, presents meh.Report
Be sure to check out my upcoming post, complete with video!Report
For some reason my comment on that post did not go through. It was a superkeen post, Kazzy, and I love the video.Report
C’s birthday is next weekend, so I will be building her a new potting bench.Report
Change of plans, I will be in San Fransisco now. (C wants alone time as she contemplates 40.)Report
I have often considered shaving my head, particularly now that the hair on top has no interest in staying there, but I worry I’ll end up looking like this:
http://www.michel-foucault.com/gallery/pictures/foucault56.jpg
I’d probably even have to wear the jacket.
I mean, I’d instantly be treated like a rock star by certain English majors, and maybe philosophy grad students at Duquesne, but for the most part I’d just feel like a slim Uncle Fester.Report
Well, I’m sure you know the old joke about bad haircuts: “They grow on you.”
Seriously: if you hate it, just wait a couple of weeks and you’re back good as new. If you love it? You have a new look! Hey, grow a big beard while you’re at it!Report
I wish! I’d probably be more confident in the shaved head if I could grow a beard worth growing. Unfortunately, when I grow it out it looks like a crudely drawn map of some Pacific archipelago.Report
I learned on day one of basic training that I had a funny looking skull: depressions which were conveniently accentuated by the co-located bumps which made both look more pronounced, a not-quite-dome-shaped skullcap, etc. I was always jealous of the people with the perfectly symmetrical skulls. Now I compromise and create the illusion of symmetry by clipping my hair with the “2” guard. Works like a champ, but I have to repeat the process every two weeks or I end up looking like a hedgehog.Report
@chris, my sweetie does this.
And it requires courage.
But it speaks courage, too; a comb overs suggest some one who’s vane and without the aesthetic to recognize that self-acceptance and confidence are the basis of being attractive when beauty norms aren’t necessarily part of the package.
I spend a lot of time making hats, works of art in their own right, for my sweetie. His beautiful, bald pate is my palate.Report
Zic, I just cut it really short. It doesn’t help that I have a couple scars up there from my misguided youth, but mostly I just look like a redneck Foucault if it’s too short.Report
Well since this is an openish sort of thread one thing I’m going to do this weekend is re-read* the League’s own Freddie’s devastating obliteration of Reihan Salam’s article on Salon. I don’t agree with Freddie a lot but man when he hits his stride he can unleash the written equivalent of a daisey cutter. It shreds Salam’s premise to tiny bits, burns them to ash and then makes the ash bounce. Holy cow!
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/08/neocons_are_back_and_worse_than_ever_debunking_their_unthinkable_new_defense/
*And you should read it too. It’ll warm your heart.Report
I’m pretty sure Mindless Diversion posts have a “No politics!” thingie going on. This would have a place over on Linky Friday, though.Report
I keep forgetting it’s in MD since it pops up on the front page. Mea Culpa.Report
Visited PopUp Canada this week (no politics!).
Going to try and prevent husband from dying this weekend.
If that goes well, might see a gamelan concert.
[Sidenote: When the doctors start creating new words
to describe a cure, you know it’s getting serious.]Report
Best wishes on that! (Was there very recently.)Report
Going to the aquarium tomorrow. Also have to run by work briefly.
I really need to get my house and yard cleaned up. I have been slacking a bit lately.Report
I’ll spend the weekend at home, watching the snow melt and the mud of mud season form. I’m itching to get out in my gardens, but they’re still under at least a foot of snow, and when they finally become visible, they’ll be sitting in several inches of mud.
Other than watching the season change, I’ll work while watching Veronica Mars, which I highly recommend. I admit to having a huge crush on Logan. And I’m rather intrigued by a few things in the show. (Short explain: Veronica is a teenage PI, daughter of a PI, and both helps her father in his work and works for her high-school/college classmates.)
First is the absence of good mothers. The mothers in the show either disappear or are highly compromised; the best hides the existence of her child’s father, the worst (Veronica’s) is a drunk and a thief. At first, I was quite discomforted by this; but the role of good parent is so often filled with mother that it opens up a lot of room to explore other family dynamic.
Second, is the overt ways in which our heroine invades people’s privacy. She has no qualms about accessing their school records, medical records, computer records, financial records, bugging phones and places, even planting a video camera in a Catholic Church confessional. It all seems okay because her moral compass is pretty well defined as ‘good,’ but it leaves me feeling rather icky.
I love the way the show handles the impact of rape on women, though the third season focuses too heavily on it. The issues of being a gay student and coming out seem nicely handled, too; and one of the best episodes in season 1 addresses trans stuff in a loving way.
There are several episodes with dream sequences in them, and these occasionally show how life might have been had things been easier for Veronica — if her mom hadn’t left or been an alcoholic, if her best friend hadn’t been murdered, and these sequences show that while difficult times are difficult, they can define us and shape us; for Veronica, for the better. This is contrasted nicely with her hidden nemesis in season 2, who’s bent to evil by his tribulations.
So I recommend the three seasons and the movie, and I give a big thanks to Veronica Dire, who named was inspired to select her name from Veronica Mars, for recommending them to me.
(And this is the first time I’ve ever watched a complete series from start to finish (including the Kick-starter funded movie) and then immediately re-watched to pick up on a lot of stuff I know I missed on first viewing.)Report
Ha. I know a Private Eye — the stuff he can tell would make most people’s hair turn white, I’m pretty sure.Report
🙂 One of my favorite shows of all time (although I largely agree with your comments above).Report
Since for once we’re not totally strapped for cash, I’m going to see if I can’t get Natasha to agree to a day trip tomorrow. But her idea of a good time may well be comparison shopping for a replacement hot water heater.Report
We are dropping the dogs of at ‘doggie daycare’ in the morning (new experiment – hope they make friends) and heading up the road to Columbus, OH for an 87th birthday party for a dear family member. Three hours later we will be back in the car for the drive back home. A quick stop in Cincinnati to hit Jungle Jim’s (our favorite grocery store) and then home to pick up the puppies.
Turkey season starts this weekend so Sunday morning I will be watching the sun come up from my hiding spot under a big maple tree and trying to entice a big tom by playing the part of Lusty Hen. If this goes well then turkey confit is planned for the near future.Report
Re: Dogs. We are very fortunate that friends of ours have a 16-year-old daughter who’s career path includes veterinary school. She’s a volunteer at the local humane society, she fosters dogs who are in training to become therapy dogs, and she’s an awesome house/dog sitter. My two dogs generally dislike people they don’t know on sight, but they barely woofed at her the moment she walked in the door. Pogo even let her trim his nails! We always pay her more than our going rate for sitting because she takes such good care of our pups (but we have to give the money to her mother because she’s great with dogs but terrible of keeping track of things like checks). It’s worth every penny to know our dogs are being well cared for while we’re away.Report
I’m soaking up the sun in California this weekend. The book and cocktail in hand make up for the long drive. Good thing the plug-in hybrid gets good gas mileage. And I have several dates with old high school pals! Catching up with people you haven’t seen in 10 years certainly makes you feel… Mature.Report