Snow Day!

I just looked out my window and saw a girl with cross country skis walking west on Winnemac---I love this day!

I will first say, I know that the majority of people have to work, and for you contribution to the engine of commerce and society, I thank you.

And now, here's what's happening here...

Yesterday, I went to the Art Institute.  Man, they've got some good stuff there.  My absolute favorite things this time were the architectural remnants hanging on the walls of the Great Hall (Sullivan, Wright, the lady designer Wright worked with, some more stuff) and the Egyptian Mummy stuff.  A close second were the God and Goddess sculptures from Nepal.

I went for free, because I got the free pass from the library---thank you CITY of CHICAGO!

As I exited the Art Institute, and looked west, the sun was going down, the sky was purple and mottled grey, and the lights were a twinklin' on all the great sights--the Symphony, the El, the weird Bennigans, etc.  I LOVED it!

Then, I came home, shovelled a bit, caught up with Brandon and Steve and STONER (at the end of the episode, they all make nice, catch the guy who hit and run Andrea, and met up at the Peach Pit.  They even let Stoner join them, and when he declared how nice it was that they all had each other, I thought---oh cool!  They're going to fake be-friend Stoner.  But no, Steve looked around at the Gang and said something to the effect of "Yes, we're very lucky"  Fade to Black.  Poor STONER, no one wants to be your friend.  You are trouble with a capital T.)

Next on the agenda--Dance Jam at Cheetah!  This was really fun, and of course, hilariously impossible for me, as I have limited coordination and give up really easily.  The teacher teaches a bunch of choerography, and then you dance to it for the last half hour.  It was really tough, but really fun.

I showered, saunaed and then met Amy P at Late-r night Andersonville for some late night shopping---fun fun fun.  We ate at Andie's , (hello CREPES) and then shopped some more. 

Lis strolled on over for wine and snow watching, and then we watched the new muppet xmas special. It was eh---sort of lame, but nice to see those characters you love.  I think the writers' approach was to throw in everyone from the muppet gang that you love and have them say their seminal line (Janice's only line was "for sure"), and then move on.

There was also a weird, no-necked bear who had a maybe gay relationship with Nathan Lane, who were officers in the TSA?

Anyway, we pooped out on it and I went to bed in case the snow didn't cancel Heather's school.

But it did!  So, I didn't end up watching Daphne today and I slept in.

So, Andy's strumming his guitar, I'm sipping coffee and typing away here, and all is good in the world.

Later today, I'm going to go buy some baking soda, if I'm lucky.

Let's pause for a moment, and think about the fashion of the men of 90210.

In today's episode, we see Steve Sanders, arriving late to his mandatory detention.  As he walks into the auto shop area of detention, his facial expression indicates he's confused by the cornucopia of shop equipment (I see a rotor, half a car engine and a wall of tools).  Now, at this point in Season 3, Steve's already fessed up to breaking into the school and has been serving morning and afternoon detention for a few weeks, if not months, so why would he be confused?  

The music is HARD, STONER, Driving rock, so we are promptly dumped into a different part of West Beverly, one where people are even poorer then the heart o'gold Walshes, and wear flannels, white henley tees, white boys have long hair and black boys wear brown newsboy hats from the 70s.

This is the bad part of school and Steve, as the rich adopted kid of famous washed-up TV star, Samantha Sanders, clearly, doesn't fit in.  I mean, he may have done something a lot worse then these kids did, but come on, he is Steve Sanders, and despite a D+ grade point average, he hangs out with the cool kids---the Kelly Taylors, Dylan McKays, Walsh twins of the world--and why is he here?   

All of this we know from his expression and disgust with detention.

And apparently, he's skating on thin ice when he walks into the shop classroom, with the tough-talking detention proctor, who declares 

"Better late then never doesn't cut it in detention, young man. Be here on time or the bus will leave without you."  The tough detention teacher says.  Steve gets the message.

Steve is wearing a royal blue, long-sleeved, collared shirt, and has recently lobbed off the majority of his mullett tail.  Thankfully for all of us, he left about 25% of the volume back there, and the front hair still has the texture of pubic hair, and while puffy around the crown, careful detection reveals a receding hairline.*

Steve is handsome in the way that my grandma would say someone is handsome--he's clean cut, he has a nice frame, his ears are even and he has no zits.  Kelly Taylor may have fallen for his charms in a drunken stupor her freshmen year, but he doesn't do it for me.

A permanent resident of morning detention hall teases Steve about how rich he is, how silly his mother's career is (she was on Hartley House, a very popular tv show for years).  Steve's badass response?

"Why don't you clam up, bonehead?"

Surprisingly, the stoner is not put off by that threat and proceeds to play a Hartley House-inspired sit on-a-brownie prank on Steve that leads to a near fight in detention.  Oh Steve! You've got a hot temper and a now ruined pair of very nice, light gray, well-pleated, tight-on top, billowy on the bottom, grey rayon pants (I'm counting at least 10 pleats, and I've got a side angle of only the left side of the pant here), finished off with a black leather belt (shouldn't you do brown with blue and grey?).

Later, Steve goes out to his 'vette, and finds a carton of eggs on the cloth convertible cover. 

"That's weird", his highly-telegraphed subtext reads, but ok, whatever. He opens the car door--and the 'vette is filled with mostly brown chickens but a few white, and a superfulous amount of white feathers.   I know that someone is in the backseat dumping feathers when Steve opens the door.  It's funny, because there are a ton more brown chickens then white chickens, yet all the feathers are white.  Here's the thing, Steve's character is played for "laughs" but he's not very good at getting them, so they don't seem to know what to do with him, except have him be the butt of physical pranks.   For now,  Steve sweeps the chickens out of his precious 'vette (and we are rewarded with a nice shot of his boots--pointy-toed, soft leather, a good choice with the blousiness of the black rayon pants, a little bit of tailoring works well here) and then Steve cries out for the stoner, who laughs and then offers to get Steve some rags to clean up the car from his wheels.  Stoner opens trunk, and there's a tank of Nitrous Oxide.  "Nitrous Oxide?  That stuff rots your brains" say a wary/warning Steve, apparently now truly on the straight and narrow. 

"I don't breathe it..." says the stoner, who then has to scamper around from the trunk to the front of his car, open the hood of the car to show off him a souped up engine that runs on Nitrous Oxide and deliver the second part of his line

"...my engine does" 

Oh boy,  Steve is a lot jealous "My god, that's more then my  'vette."  

This is the third time Steve has uttered the word "'vette" and I am highly amused.

They become friends!  Stoner invites Steve to the Stoner car party!  Steve brings Brandon, and they pull up on "Industrial Drive", which they had a hard time finding, since they aren't used to bad, rebel-with-a-cause parts of town.  But we are used to the bad parts of LA, because we've all seen Grease! The car race scene, remember?  Any viewer is totally thinking about this, because Brandon's always got his sideburns and 1950 James Dean-style pompedaur going on, works at the Peach Pit and drives and old Mustang (or should I say 'stang).  Steve, though, thankfully, is a man fully embracing the age, and for this scene, has found a new pair of billowy tailored Rayon pants to wear to the rumble.  Also, because Steve's hair is the texture of blonde pubes, he can't wear a pompedaur (sp?), so he has to go with a mullett with gel.  Poor Steve.

Next, we see Brandon in the next 5 scenes, wearing a fancy plaid flannel shirt, arms rolled up and shirt tucked (naturally) into his black Levis.  Mrs. Walsh must have taken Brandon to a mall back in Minny to pick up those duds, because I can't imagine he found those at the Beverly Center.  Pretty standard 90s fare, but a delight to see.

Up next, Dylan wearing light blue jeans, a black tee, and, though it's hard to tell the exact fabric, it's a red jacket.  Remember, James Dean wore a red jacket in Rebel without a cause.  Get it? 

Because Dylan's a REBEL?  Misunderstood?  Ride a motorcycle?  Owns a vintage Porsche? REBEL with a capital R?  What's funny here to me is that Dylan's frame is so slight, but he's THE romantic lead, so they put him in baggy baggy jeans, a blousy tee and an oversized red jacket, so we think he's HOT.  Then, poor Steve, with his man's manly body (broad chest, big shoulders, tapering down to a tiny tiny ass) gets no play at all this season.  He must have been so pissed that he decided to cut off his mullett so people would notice his tiny tiny waist.

Anyway, Brandon's running off to his next scene, which, thankfully, they've moved from the hallways of West Bev out into the courtyard.  Nothing remarkable here except Steve has traded his grey blousy rayon trousers for a pair of white, blousy, well-tailored, highly-pleated sweatpants, because his grey pants were ruined by the stoner's prank.

And now, Brandon's fourth scene in a row, at home, overhearing Mr. Walsh's conversation with a client, while wearing a striped dress-shirt, elastic suspenders with a brown closth button attachment and gold flair, and a brown tie, with a light-brown plant pattern.  Nice done Mrs. Walsh.  You clearly shopped at the Beverly Center for Mr. Walsh, because he looks like a stowaway from Wall Street or Glengarry Glenn Ross.  We learn about the recession, which in this Season seems to be one of the THEMES---as Mr. Walsh puts it "The party's over."

Next, we go to the Walsh kitchen, which I will pause, only to comment on Mrs. Walsh's ensemble.  Faithful viewers of 90210 will recall how much Mrs. Walsh loves a good patterned shirt with matching bottoms, and today's no exception.  A patchwork-patterned collared, blousy shirt is served up today, with hues of butter yellow, rose (was there ever such a mistake of a color?) and periwinkle rectangles, with botanical highlights thrown in for interest. She's chosen to match this with a purple pair of dress pants, appropriately pleated, and perfect for dispensing advice to a love-sick Brenda and Kelly, who are in a holding pattern, while awaiting Dylan's decision.  Mrs. Walsh mentions that a friend of her tennis doubles partner has a son, who goes to Princeton.  And his friend ("also a princeton man") are "looking for a night out on the town".  Brenda lights up when she hears the word Princeton---she's a gold-digger from the wayback machine.  Kelly seems less impressed.  There's nothing this show likes more then throwing around the Ivy League (Yale only for Andrea) and now, Princeton.  

Anyway, today is focussed on mens' fashion, but this particular Mama Walsh ensemble is definitely worth noting.

Next up, David Silver, is in the DJ booth, wearing a long-sleeved black mock turtleneck, I think.  There is something around the neck--and it's either mock turtleneck or a mini-hood?  Anyway, the sleeves have a white flowers going down, and the chest has some punky/hip-hop design.

Donna, in her first day as fill-in dj, is wearing an over-sized zippered jacket,  black satin, emblazoned with a pattern of CDs, naturally.  Because she's going to be a DJ---and play CDs.  I'm thankful that the costume mistress clarified that for me. I wonder about that moment---did they find the jacket, and think "Perfect for the Donna character" and then run over and ask the writers to write in a scene that Donna could wear this jacket?  Or, did the writers write the scene and work with costume to find the pitch-perfect look?  It's a bold move either way, especially because the Donna character generally prefers outfits that are cropped, brightly colored striped and show off her impossibly tiny midriff.  Nice work, costume.   It's exactly what this scene needed---and it focusses us on Donna's growth and burgeoning interest in music on her own, not just as a groupy of David Silver.

Back to the boys.  Oh gross! I just ate a rank piece of cantaloupe....gross gross gross.  I need to get some coffee to get that flavor out of my mouth...gross...Oh, I can smell it now.  And I love cantaloupe!  I hope this isn't the same batch Andy tried to feed Daphne this morning.  No wonder she refused it....blech.

Ok, all better.

Poor Steve, even when it's an episode focussed on him, we are spending more time on the gals (love triangle with Kelly/Brenda/Dylan, Donna trying to be the DJ so David can study, Andrea's breakthoughs in hypnotherapy) and I haven't seen Steve in at least 5 minutes.

Oh..it's almost 11:30 and I need to get on the el to go meet Chris Day for lunch.  He's back in town so I'm going to meet him and then heading to the Art Institute, and maybe to do a little bit of xmas shopping.

OK, 5 more minutes and then I have to go.  Hurry up David.

Here's Steve!  He's leaving school and heading to his car.  There's something on his car--another prank by stoner!  Oh, I can't wait!  Hold on, this doesn't make sense.  If Steve's got after-school detention every day, how on earth did Stoner pull another prank on him if Stoner is also a permanent resident of detention?  And why is the student parking lot full, since they both have after-school detention?

Is that a brushed silk dusty red shirt with a black placard and black rayon pants?  Closer inspection reveals a collarless, Member-only style jacket, but done in a red silk, with a black collared shirt underneath.  Steve's so RICH!!! And stylish.

Anyway, prank ensues---and it's described above (Blogger won't let me re-arrange this post, so it may be confusing).

Oh shit, I really have to go.

WOW WEDNESDAY

Dear Readers:

All is not lost!  I have joined the gym.  So, that kills two hours!  And today, I went to Ranalli's afterwards, and caught up on emails, vaguely did some musical theatre research.

I also worked on a super-secret Christmas Project!

OK, who am I kidding, my parents don't read this...it's a picture calendar for them.

I am doing it on my Mac, and, as usual, even though everyone LOVES their Mac, this seemingly easy-to-do on the Mac project is proving hard to me.

The problem is two-fold--I am working with pics my family sent me and my mac won't allow me to save them to the appropriate I-Photo folder.  Weird, right?

Once in the calendar mode, if i want to add pics into the calendar/folder I am working from, I-photo won't let me.  It's like, you have to know what pics you want ahead of time or you are PUNISHED!

I am on-hold with Apple right now---and Seal is SCREAMING in my ear. It's like, I get it, you're the cool music people, chill out!

Anyway, tonight is all about finishing this "easy" Christmas project for my parents.

And some TOP CHEF!

And see what Brenda and crew are up to.  I love when David sings his "music".

Tomorrow, I'm going to work out in the morning (who's obssessed?  me!) and then to the art institute, lunch with a friend and then late-r night andersonville.  With Glogg to follow!

Yay!

There's no stopping me now!

I am so so productive!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Sniffen called this morning to invite me on a winter wonderland stroll.  And right he is!  It is like a snow globe out there!

I'm going to go shovel and then go downtown to meet an old friend for coffee.

Stay safe!

This is a boring blog.

My dirty secret--I've been watching 90210, Season 3. I think this must be the ultimate season, because it's the one where Dylan and Kelly cheat on Donna. It's also the gang's senior year---and so far, Steve has been expelled from school, Brandon has been named editor-in-chief, he saved his girlfriend from her abuser, a rock n'roll key-tarist named Diesel, who is fully adult, and fully "addicted", he's brought together a poor school where two students were killed in the stands of a football game and West Beverly, he was the first to visit Andrea in the hospital, who was hit by a hit and run driver, and been Steve's confident prior to his expulsion.  Oh! He tried to get a homeless Desert Storm Veteran back on track, too, but with limited success.  

And it's only thanksgiving!!!

I love this show...and even though Andy says it makes his brain melt, Tim says it's ok if I keep watching it.

I think I hear one of the neighbor's shovelling!!!

oh boy!

I've been spending time with Daphne,  my roommate's super-niece, since one of her moms is pretty sick right now.

Daphne is at a hilarious age whereby she is a sponge and repeats everything you say.

So, I've recently taught her these gems, and she repeats them back to me like a little puppet:

--How to throw snow and watch the flakes fall in the sun

--How to make her lips stick out like Mick Jagger when she hears a stones song (I never did get into the solo mick stuff)

--I asked her the name of her new Christmas baby doll, and suggested that she call it Becky.  She agreed!!!  Now she's got a squishy, Christmasy doll that she uses for a pillow and calls Beecky.

   

Editors note:  When my sister Beth was pregnant with Ali "this is bullshit" Gawen, I kept suggesting that she name her li'l Becky. In my mind, it was a bit until one day after Allison was born, Beth brought it up and said it was a LOT of pressure from me.  At the time, she was nursing, which always results in her getting pissed at her sisters, so I tried to take it with a grain of salt.  I mean , nursing is good for the baby, but it makes sisters BITCHY.

And my FAVORITE thing Daphne's picked up from me is the expression "Oh Boy!"  Yesterday, girlfriend was NOT interested in a nap and consequently, I did not get my afternoon nap, either.

Yes, I do nap at the same time as the baby.  Heather has to leave at 715 in the am, so I get up around 615 to get over there and if Daphne's sleeping, I'm sleeping.

But, she wouldn't go down.  She wanted me to come into her room, so she was trying to offer me incentives for coming in to get her.  She started calling out "Beeky?  Beecky?". Then, she "read" her book (I mean, I'm not stupid, I know she's not really reading out loud to me.  She can't read yet and she still can't even get her colors right.  For real, like that reading out loud is going to trick me.)  And then, her little fingers come under the door frame...nope.  But then, here's the thing that sort of killed me,  she started to say "Beeky!  Beeky! Oh Boy!  Oh Boy"  Oh Daphne!  By then, Heather was home, so she went in and calmed her down.

I went and saw Milk, which was very good. It has Shaun Landry, an old-school improv lady in it.  She's got her hair in a fro and she's wearing a very tribal African thing and nodding along with Harvey Milk at a press conference.  It's a very important moment, but Dori and I just bust out laughing to see Shaun.  She was great, of course, but it surprised me and then delighted me.

I've certainly got the Christmas Spirit this year, mostly because I'm really bored (see the last boring entries on being bored and they are boring).  Today, after rehearsal (I am doing some stuff!), I went to the grocery store and bought food like I'm a suburban mom.

A lot of it is comfort food, because it's gusty out, and I was hungry.  Smoked Sausage (I'll make the with saurekraut on New Year's Day...hmmmm), two pieces of porterhouse, beef cut into stew pieces (I'm making Stroganoff in the slow cooker tomorrow) and lots of produce.

And now, I just took a shower, lathered myself with my $24 dollar body butter and am sipping on my coffee.

Nmmm Yummm purrr purrrrr  purrrrr

Next week, I'm going to make BUCKEYES!  And maybe some no-bakes!

Things have really picked up here

At boredom headquarters.

I worked out on Monday!  For like, an hour and  a half!

I watched  a movie on Tuesday night!

Wednesday, was super-packed, as I volunteered to attend a hearing about our in-violation back porches.  It was so exciting to watch the world's most boring legal procedures, it made me think I should have become a lawyer!

Wednesday night, I went over to Lis' and read her paper!

And today, I woke up at 9:20 go --that's like the crack of dawn!  Then, I got coffee, and really intended to go outside and shovel or go out and get groceries and go for a power walk.

Instead, I went on to facebook, checked my email, drank coffee and chatted with Andy.  He's really busy, but his boyfriend Jon is really really busy.  As Andy put it, "He has one of those old-fashioned jobs where you actually have to work work."

I then felt incredibly guilty for not taking advantage of this time in my life and writing the great american novel or some such nonsense.

But then, I remembered/reminded Andy that I've been working really hard my whole life, so don't I deserve a break?

He agreed, and then said..."At least your getting a lot of writing done."

Um, not true. 

But I am all caught up on the real housewives of orange county! And why did Lauri leave?  She was the only classy one of that whole bunch...but her son was on drugs, so there's that.  Plus, who pays $599 for hair extensions for your daughter and step-daughter?  What world do these ladies live in?

And my favorite white trash moment was when those other two gals with long, layered dyed blonde hair and boob jobs went to Napa with their husbands and went to a very nice restaurant and were confused by the fancy menu.  They refused to try anything new, and were so trashy!  I felt like such a know-it-all when the one with shorter bangs thought she knew what Foie gras was, and she was wrong! I knew what it was!  Ha-ha, I am smarter then you ladies, even though you have a lot more money, live in a sunny place and have children!  I am smarter!  I AM SMARTER!!!

Must go shower.

I'm bored bored bored

So, I decided to go on another walk, today.  Those are always stimulating and refreshing in the winter. I walked up to town (as in Andersonville) and then walked some treacherous side streets, too.  The Northside Catholic Academy has a convent across the street, and the nuns were shoveling the sidewalk.  I thought, I should stop and volunteer, but instead, I kept walking and listening to Mick.  My go-to karaoke songs are always Stones, so I was thinking about how to match the pitch in Paint it Black, because it's low.

I also was thinking about all that I should be doing, and the holidays, but then the days just unrolled in front of me, big canvas sheets of blankness with hours to fill and no real deadlines, so I just kept walking until the album was done.

In about an hour, I'm meeting with Amy for a writing date.

I just got done talking to my mom, who has a much busier social schedule then mine, and she had a party for the 200 Club at St. Mary's, my growing-up parish, in Elyria, Ohio.  The 200 club raises funds for the laypeople and teachers at the school, and they sat with Uncle Tom and Aunt Barb, and Michelle and Dave.  The dinner was held at the hall, with Chicken Cordon Bleu and  cheesy veggie medley.   Yum

Then, tonight, she's going to the lady's auxilary Christmas dinner for the Elyria Polish Club.  Our family is not Polish, but the Polish Club has a Clubhouse, with a bar, and fun parties, and a lot of my parent's friends and our relatives go.  They sponsor bus trips to Casino resorts, which my parents really enjoy.

My Uncle John lives near the Polish Club, which is in the older, more rundown section of Elyria, just off either East Avenue or West Avenue.  I've been there before with friends who grew up near there, in fact, Uncle John was his landlord, now that I think about it.  Anyway, there  was a little bit of time where we went to the Polish Club for cheap beers in the mid-90s.  I haven't been since then.

Uncle John loves all things Polish---including the polka, which is big in Chicago. He should come in with my mom sometime and go hear Polka. I told him about the Polkaholics and NYE, but he hadn't heard of them.

My mom isn't sure what the Lady's auxiliary does, and could only report that it cost $30 per year to join and further speculate that they raised money for the not-forgotten box, a toy drive run by the Elyria paper, the Colorful Chronicle-Telegram.  I just hope she gets to eat some good Polish food for dinner.

Anyway, tonight's the big Christmas Dinner, and Sandy Walker, a friend from Elementary School, might be there, too!  We've emailed on Facebook, so I told my mom to tell her hello for me.  My mom and dad will sometimes drive me a little bit crazy, because I'll get off the phone or check email, and they'll come up behind me to see what I'm doing.  I think they do that to each other, share emails and phone conversations, but it drives me nutty because that's private and I don't want to tell them that I'm busy reading blogs or looking up the capital of Moldova because I'm getting a bit antsy from being home for 8 days.

Anyway, I told my mom that she should join Facebook, and she said "I don't want to get involved in any of that stuff" as though Facebook represented a political cause that was just too much for her to consider being a part of.

She said "I don't even return emails of people who email me. I can't type.  Your dad handles all of that."   I got off the phone then, because I was getting anxious to do some laundry before my writing date with Amy, and that takes all my attention.  I also think I was annoyed because she had more to do then me.

The problem with not working, is that I really look forward to spending time with my friends on the weekends, and a lot of times, they are just wanting to chill out and hang at their houses, especially with the cold weather.  So, I end up going on a lot of walks through Andersonville alone.  Which is fine, but can drive a person crazy.

I need to get more done this week.

I admit it

I will read celebrity gossip.  I'm fine with it.  In fact, I have an argument in my head that the way women socialize is to exchange information about themselves and others, so celebrity gossip is an extension of that behavior.  I'm not saying it's a good thing---I don't think it would be fun to be someone who is gossiped about---but I do know that US and People are especially popular/marketed towards women my age--ladies in their 30s and 40s, particularly moms.  

So, I *theorize* that with interaction limited (staying at home, or working, but not really going out so much and rushing home to take care of baby), that these women are looking for ways to connect, and turn to connect via role models like them.  That's why the celebrity print media focus SO much on relationships, marriages, and babies.   For real.  Just take a minute, and look at the Star, US or People at your local newsstand---it's all about who's doing what with who.

Anyway, having said that, I still will say I read that shit.  I'm not going to lie, I do.  

Right now, the gossip is obssessed over A-Rod and Madonna.  But, in almost every account of their burgeoning love, it references Madonna's arms and face, insulting them for aging.

But in the same source, it will then also insult Nicole Kidman for looking preternaturally young.

Which is it, celebrity gossip?  Aging without shame, or aging and shooting yourself up with chemicals?  What do you want from us?

Thank you , that is all.

If you don't have a job

Here are some things you might do:

1) Wake up at 8:45.  Decide to keep sleeping until 10:30. Or 11.

2) Make coffee. 

3) Look at recipes for leftover turkey, and make a grocery list.

4) Go online to check email.  Don't respond to email, because, hey, you have all day.

5) Listen to NPR stories about how terrorists fund their operations through minor illegal activity, such as ATM robbery, Credit Card Fraud, Tobacco Trafficking, etc.  Think about other parts of the world.

6) Drink coffee.

7) Look at dishes in the sink.  Observe crumbs on the floor.  Notice piled up recycling.  Get mad at roommate for generating all this mess.  Decide not to clean it up to "teach" him a lesson instead of talking directly to him.

8) Drink more coffee, check facebook page.  Think about going out for breakfast.

9) Recall that roommate put away dinner dish you left on coffee table, and didn't complain to you.  Decide to take the "high" road and clean up after roommate...which he does a lot of with you.

10) Think about applying for job.

11) Check bank balances online.

12) Decide not to go to grocery store. Decide not to go out for breakfast.

13) Get dressed in casual, working at home outfit.  You may workout, so best to not shower until you've made that decision.

14) Check outside temp.  Damn, it's cold.  Too cold to power walk?

15) Think about the sauna on the ships and warm weather and contemplate a job on the cruise ships.

16) Re-engage with writing assignment for ideation agency.

17) Get bored.  Look up more recipes.

18) Start to watch Lost Season 4 Finales.  Shout out "No Becky, turn it off, get to work."

19) Realize this is the first time you've spoken out loud today.

20) Email friend about movie and lunch date next week.  Hope he will offer to drive (again).

21)  Think about used bookstores where you can buy xmas presents for parents.

22) Consider selling CDs for money.

23) Check email.  Don't respond again, because, hey, it's only 1.  You have all day.

24) Think about xmas gifts for rest of the family.  Oldest nephew teased you about Borders gift cards.  Is it time to stop giving them?  What would he like more?  When did you become the not-cool aunt? Or, by virtue of nephew teasing, are you the super-cool aunt?  Are you a bad aunt?  Should you move back home?

25) Check email.  Check lineage of Royal Family.  You did not know that after Edward abdicated to marry the divorcee, Wallis Simpson, he was governor of the Bahamas for five years.  Think about your trips to the Bahamas.  Think to yourself, wait, was it Bermuda or the Bahamas?  Go onto Wikipedia to confirm.  Get distracted by reading of the parallels between Edward and Wallis and Charles and Camilla.  Consider the claim that Edward had Nazi sympathies.  Also, think about Rose Kennedy, wife of then-Ambassador Joe Kennedy, would not dine with Wallis.

26) Buckle down, really, and start writing.

27) Lunch time!