ARCHIVES : JUNE 2003

FRIDAY EVENING: JUNE 27

> Its 9:30pm. I'm trying to pack for my trip and i've never been so clueless about what to bring. Looks like the weather will be low 80's with scattered showers every day. I'm always terrified of being cold, but if i'm at the beach, then I want to be dressed like its summer for once. Well, i'll only be there a few days. The worst case scenario is always just to buy what you need when you're there. Ok. So, all i really need is my allergy medicines and my credit card. Ok, good.

> My blog has turned into me talking about what to pack. It didn't start out like that. I'll post something intelligent when I return. I think working a lot makes you stupid.

> Oh, so my allergist didn't have anything to offer when i went to see him this morning. He started with the, "Have you tried _____(insert medicine name)__?" Me, "yes." "Have you tried _____?" Me, "yes." Me, "Roger, we've been playing the allergy game for 7 years. I've tried it all." It was kinda uncomfortable watching him look at my chart and trying to think of something to offer. We both know that there isn't anything else. In order to help save face, I offered to get one of those plastic covers for my mattress...the kind that keep out or, rather, in the dust mites. And, I offered to get an allergy bag for my vacuum cleaner. I already do the pillow covers and have a filter in my room and i don't have pets. There ain't much left. Oh and the other thing was that he mentioned something about looking to see if i had a hole in my nose from years of flonase use. i've had some nose bleeds lately so, i guess he wanted to be sure. I asked him what we would do if i had a hole in my nose and he said, well, just leave it there or patch it up. The hole in your nose bone sounds a bit like some urban legend. I'll have to look into it when i get back.

> I better go pack and get to sleep.

FRIDAY : JUNE 27

> Its 7:50am. The fence guy will be here soon to give us a new back fence. Then i'm going to the allergy doctor to see what new witchcraft he has for me. Then i'm going to work. Work should be ok today considering all the overtime i've put it to this point. Today is pdf-making and sending it off to the client for 2nd review. Easy as pie. The bummer about print design is that the design department is the last stop - the last stop before something goes to the client and the last stop before something goes to press. This means that copy writers and editors can make their changes and make their changes and take a little longer to make their changes. But the deadline doesn't get moved back for us. No, the designers have to get those changes done in whatever time is left before the deadline. Its really rather inefficient. I mean, we've spent the last few weeks making text changes, basically. Some design changes here and there. Anyway, that's just how it all works.

> Tomorrow at the crack, i'm leaving for the beach for a few days. I'll be back Wednesday.

> So, if you're wondering about that sandwich my friend at work made (see tuesday post)...well, it was quite delicious. I watched her spend about 5 minutes meticulously spreading the mayo on and placing each peice of turky so carefully with the lettuce delicately situated on top. Sadly there was no special custom mayonnaise holder, just a fast food type condiment packet.

TUESDAY : JUNE 24

> I just finished watching ABOUT SCHMIDT. i like to watch movies that i know nothing about but sometimes it doesn't work out in my favor. somewhere i got the wrong notion that this was a comedy of sorts, but instead it was rather depressing. i had seen maybe half of one preview for it and i admit that i generally don't watch previews because they give too much away. in any case, i wouldn't say it was a bad film as long as you know what genre you're getting into.

> Tomorrow the korean girl at work is bringing me a sandwich for lunch. Don't ask me how these things get started. She was nice enough to take my order this afternoon. She asked me if i wanted 'cool whip' (as she called it) on my sandwich or mustard. I am rather curious about her sandwich making as i have heard around the office that she is very particular about it and insists on building her sandwich just before eating it. I have also heard something about a custom mayonnaise container. I can't wait.

SUNDAY : JUNE 22

> I'm home painting tonight. i was really happy to have some time to paint before embarking on the long week and upcoming weekend. I already know that i'm working tomorrow night and probably some other night in preparation for a friday EOD deadline. Then, i'm hopping on an airplane and flying back east for few days at the beach.

> In other news, I'm bailing out of pot luck work lunch (which is this week) and work book club. Maybe I'll join back in later, maybe I won't. I probably won't. I'm way too picky about what i read and I don't really like to be made to cook for people i don't know when i'm not inspired or don't have time. And with this group, there's the added pressure to be fancy AND delicious.

> I made couscous tonight. Its stupid easy to make. That stuff is nothing but weird and good. Its like rice and pasta and grits and mashed potatoes and cream of wheat all swirled together....all of the white mushy foods that i love.

> I think i'll be turning in soon for the night. I was up again last night from 2:30 until whenever blowing my nose and blowing my nose and blowing my nose and blowing my nose. I will be either taking a sleeping pill tonight or tossing back a couple of shots before going to bed to knock me out.

SATURDAY : JUNE 21

> Its a nice quiet hot saturday.

THURSDAY : JUNE 19

> A friend and I ordered some fancy cookies online from Tom's Mom's Cookies, an operation out of Michigan featured on Food Finds (of which i didn't see). My friend was telling me about it and I agreed to go in on an order with her so that we could split a couple dozen. Today, our cookies came in and they are tasty. We got the chocolate chip and the cinnamon sugar and the cinn/sugar wins. The cookies have a fine crumb and are soft to bite into. I feel ridiculous saying "fine crumb," but, that seems a perfect description. As far as my $15, i have definitely done worse.

WEDNESDAY : JUNE 18

> It's 10pm. I'm home and disintegrating into the allergy ball that I am every night lately at this hour. I have to do my site at home because they did some networky thing at work and i can't seem to update from my cube anymore. That's a bummer. I'm not about to ask the computery guy to help me work on my blog.

> Today i realized that it's ok to wear my white summer tennis shoes and my white sweater. It's the middle of June. If it isn't summer by now, then i don't know when it will be.

> So back to my allergies. There was a new new girl that i'd never seen who gave me my shots the other day. This is in addition to the other new girl. i don't know what happened to the usual shot girls that i had come to know over the last 2/3 years. I want to ask about them but i feel bad that i never remembered their names. When you see someone every week for a few years, you should really know their name. So, anyway, i'm about to get my shots and, as is customary, she asked me how i was feeling because if your allergies are really bad, then they can send you home with no shot. Usually, they just decrease your dosage. I tell her that i''m not feeling well and she wants to know what my symptoms are. Well, if you really want to know, new girl, my symptoms are the same as they've been for the last seven years. Aren't they written on the top of my chart right next to the list of stuff that i'm allergic to? I can only guess that this must be some sort of liability hang up. Cause if i said that one of my symptoms was cracked toe joints, then they might have to suggest i see a doctor.

MONDAY : JUNE 16

> It's going to be a long day. Old man allergy paid me a visit last night at 1am and kept me up until 2:30. It was a miserable experience and not a good way to start the work week. That's the worst midnight allergy attack i've had in a while. Usually, i can get back to sleep in 15 or so minutes. Last night, it just wouldn't let up. Did someone say dr. pepper?

> The weekend was pretty good. I made some banana nut muffins yesterday. I painted some. Cleaned some. Laid around some. We assembled our dresser from IKEA. I know ikea thinks they're cool with their word-less instruction booklets, but in reality, they are ridiculous. Maybe not having to hire a writer helps them pass the savings on to me, i don't know. I took care of my inspection ticket on my way to work and they dismissed it for $10, which i was happy about. I didn't really go to court, just a court-like location.

FRIDAY : JUNE 13

> Gosh golly, I sure am glad i got my car inspected yesterday. On the way to work just now, my speedometer stopped working. Yikes.

> Hey, its friday the 13th.

THURSDAY : JUNE 12

> I went to see DOWN WITH LOVE last night. It was a fun film to look at....I really enjoyed the sets and costumes and campyness. Great title sequence. If you can get past Renee Zellwinger's crazy face, you'll enjoy it.

> I had a nightmare horror-movie-style last night that there was a serial killer going around to houses, door-to-door. He came to our house and I opened the door (d'oh) and he said, "How long does it take you to fry some catfish and get me a band-aid?" Then navy-sweatsuit-clad man ran in after snail and snail jumped up on the ceiling like spider man.

WEDNESDAY : JUNE 11

> Got to sleep last night at 12:30ish. luckily, i went right to dreamland without much tossing and turning.

> We saw a funny billboard over the weekend. it was an ad for a country western club/bar and the tagline was something like "Dancin' and Glancin'"

> the potluck lunch bunch sign-up sheet is going around today. the theme is "summer fun" but i don't think that that really means anything. as a woman, i need to work on my arsenal of recipes to bring to such functions. i'm trying to think of something that can be eaten cold or doesn't need refrigeration at all.....that leaves Jello and bread. I was thinking of trying to make a quiche, but i'm just not sure.

TUESDAY : JUNE 10

10:32pm. what in the heck am i still doing here?

8:11pm. I am at work; printing and making pdfs. It's these last final steps before a deadline that seem to drag on and on and take forever, with the computer going as slow as it possibly can. The worst part about working too much is that empty zombie walking-robot i'm-not-an-interesting-person feeling. And its weird how there are people who don't seem to mind working extra. When i'm working extra, all i can think about is how i need to get back to my life. My actual life -- the thing i do when i'm not here.

MONDAY : JUNE 9

> Fun times in Houston over the weekend. Whenever I get back from a trip, I never really know what to say or how to sum it up. I can either do the bullet points, or write 5 pages or say nothing. Its typically not very interesting to read about someone else's trip anyway.

We saw Finding Nemo over the weekend. Pixar delivers again on a fun story. No regrets about my $8.

As good as it was, I always have my opinions about what they could have done, stylistically. When I first saw previews, I questioned their decision to go super real on the water; making it look murky and darkish. I think they got a little too caught up making everything look totally realistic. And my main complaint here is with the reef environments. If they had made those bright and clear and blue it would have been an even greater contrast for when the fish venture off into the scary unpredictable ocean. I just think the reef and the water could have been more clear and brighter and that much more dazzling to look at -- and it would have backed up the story. And actually, that's why I liked monsters inc so much -- every element was entirely made up. When you have so much talent like you do with pixar, why waste it on making everything look real? Ok, waste is a harsh word but you get my point. I really dig seeing what they can come up with, not seeing how real they can make it-- because technologically, we are already there. That being said, I was encouraged to see a quick preview of their next film, The Incredibles (coming out 11-04), which looks super stylized and original.

who am i, harry knowles?

THURSDAY : JUNE 5

> I always know when i've reached my limits. I get cranky and uncomfortable. my clothes feel weird, my lips are chapped, i want a shower, my hair feels crazy, i'm tired of sitting, i'm tired of slouching. That means its time to go. At 4:29 on thursday, I've had enough. Today, day 10 of getting up and coming to work. I've done all that i can do on this monster of projects. The end. Good night.

WEDNESDAY : JUNE 4

> My list of tickets paints a pretty accurate picture of my law abiding life. Ticket One: license plate light not working. Ticket Two: Going 60 in a 55 on the way from San Antonio. Ticket Three (issued this morning): Inspection overdue.

TUESDAY : JUNE 3

> The event last night was a rare visit into the other side of Austin. Basically, none of the fancy tanned perfumed wearing ladies wanted to talk to jenny from the block.

The house was big and every little thing was perfectly decorated in a macaroni grill type of theme. Mama mia!

I tried a meringue cookie and decided that I don't like those. I held a tiny baby boy and ate lasagna.

I'm working tonight. I am taking friday off and will be out of town. I know that i can make it to friday.

Last night on Family Guy was a character i'd never seen and i'm not sure if he's recurrent. The son was delivering newspapers and there was this old man with a walker on the corner waiting for the son to come by. The voice for the old man was like a womans. There was nothing right about it. Major nightmare material. The voice reminded me of the short ghost lady with her hair in a grey bun in Poltergeist.

MONDAY : JUNE 2

> I'm going to this thing tonight -- a dinner thing at someone's house. It's a kind of thank you event from that freelance project i was working on. I expect to see about 20-ish people there. It's always a bit of an effort to mingle and shake hands and say the right thing, but it's fun to go into other people's houses. There's always a glimmer of hope in the back of my mind that it'll be a cool house filled with cool stuff. Usually, its just another lunk head with more money than taste.

SUNDAY : JUNE 1

> I don't know what to do with myself. I worked the past couple of days and now I'm home. it's 5:00. Aside from not having time to be home, i really don't mind the work that i'm doing. Basically, i'm building a couple of marketing booklets in Adobe Indesign. This is my first time working in indesign and its been years since i've created a print project that was more than a brochure. These booklets will be about 20-ish pages each. I love formatting text; building style sheets. And of course, when its all said and done, its neat to have a final printed product. Granted this is no 6-color, die-cut, vellumy, super-duper flashy thing. Its just some marketing stuff and I'm just following the style guide... but its a nice change from web pages and emails that i've been designing for the past few years.

> So, the real highlight of the weekend was the best sushi meal ever that snail and I devoured last night. Its a new place (UCHI), and the space is well put together. It's a real breath of fresh air for south austin. I'm sure once word gets out, it'll be your 2-hour-wait type of place. We started with some yellowtail sashimi in a chili sauce and some japanese pumpkin tempura. Heaven. Next, snail had a spider roll and i had a tuna/scallion roll. Exquisite. Then we ordered a 7-peice tuna nigiri plate. Awesome. And for dessert, we ordered the mother queen and saviour of all tunas...the super fatty tuna. That super fatty tuna tasted like all delicious things put together; avocado, butter, steak. It was divine.

We're already planning snail's birthday event: Fatty Tuna Blowout 2003.


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