P365 Day 21: In which I open the box

Remember the box of breakables I mentioned in a post a few days ago? The one that rolled off table and I pushed under a chair instead of opening? I figured my trip back to Charleston was as good a time as any to open it and assess the damages.

And you know what?

Nothing was broken! Woo-hoo!!

We own a ton of towels (that pic isn't all of them), and Mom wrapped each breakable in a towel. Now I can sleep at night knowing everything -- even the mug with Paul's silly mug on it -- is safe and sound.

P365 Day 20: It's good to be back on the coast

I should start by saying the interview went really well today. I feel very good about it. But I almost didn't make it at all. I went out to my car 15 minutes before the interview (I live within walking distance of a publishing house -- how convenient!) and had a flat tire.

Fortunately, we left Paul's car behind when we went to Memphis, so I was able to drive his car and later take my car to Saturn to get the tire plugged. I drove 11 hours for this interview. No way was I going to let a little flat tire get in my way.

I'm bushed. It's been a busy day. But, yeah, it's good to be back on the beach. It's so calming! I missed it more than I thought I would.

Brushing up

P365 Day 19: A pic of Mattie, which is cheating because I didn't take it myself

After posting about this Matt, who is notorious for not picking up his phone or replying to e-mails, I got an instant message from Mattie: "Hi Kate! I'm a Matt that'll answer! ;-)" (Snark!)

Mattie's sort of been keeping up with P365, and as much as I'd love to drive to Detroit to photograph him myself, I had to settle for second best.

"Got a camera?" I asked. "Somewhere, yeah," he replied.

"Find it (now), take a pic (now), and I'll post it tomorrow," I said. Instead, we settled on this: Mattie and his friend L. at a wedding last week (not theirs).

Frankly, it's strange and wonderful to be back in touch with old friends — you know, the kind with whom there's no awkward pretense after a long time apart. The kind who hug instead of saying hello.

The pics from the past three days have made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I have a great little tribe. I hope they count me among theirs, too. (D'awwww.)

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P365 Day 18: Hanging out with Johanna

Wow, I hung out with friends two days in a row. Fly, Social Butterflykate, Fly!

This is Johanna, author extraordinaire, great conversationalist, beautiful person inside and out.

Paul's out of town for a business meeting, so J. and I had a girls' night in. We ate Mexican food and ice cream, talked about boys, tried to foretell the future and discussed all things esoteric. (Mr. M, we have decided by a 2-0 vote that synchronicity does exist, whether you believe in it or not.)

I had a fantastic time.

By the time you read this post, I'll already be well on my way (fingers crossed) to the East Coast for my interview and a couple of days hangin' around Chas. Wednesday, I have a hair appointment with Debbie, who has a track record of clients getting jobs the day after she gives them a haircut. Yay, Debbie!

I'll be taking lots of pictures and will keep up with e-mail and whatnot. Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone.

P365 Day 17: Hanging out with Matt

(Matt doesn't like having his picture taken — in fact, I think this is the only picture I have where he's not giving me the finger — but it's my policy to take a picture from the passenger's seat whenever I let someone drive my car. He drives carefully. Like my grandmother. But in a good way.)

After not seeing each other for a year and a half, Matt and I went out for coffee last night. Actually, that's not true. We went to Starbucks and ordered an iced tea (me) and a strawberry-banana smoothie (him). Then, just like old times, we drove around the city and talked.

It's much easier to talk when you've got your eyes on the road.

It's funny. Matt's so chill and I'm so high-strung sometimes, and I appreciate that he never lets me get too far ahead of myself. We've known each other more than a decade — he even deejayed my wedding reception — and I've always felt I can be very open with him. (I can even say on my blog that he drives like my grandmother and he won't get mad at me.)

I just hate that we go so long without seeing each other. It's never on purpose; it just happens that way.

Matt's always told me he's going to conquer the world. If anyone can do it, he can. And then he's going to give me a job as co-conquerer, because really, that's what friends are for.

P365 Day 16: In which I dream about censorship

(Most cumbersome book title ever. Also, I'm pretty sure information on choosing a password and not engaging in Nigerian scam nonsense could be distilled into about four pages.)

--

A couple of years ago, I posted about a board game called The Singing Bee, a totally un-fun version of the Joey Fatone-hosted TV show. (That link is worth a clickthru just to see his Happy Joey face.) In the board game, players must fill in the blanks of songs with the correct lyrics. It's all quite _____ if you ask me.

The Singing Bee didn't live on my game shelf for long. In fact, I'm pretty sure it never made it inside the house. I took it to the office and shoved it under my desk (great footrest — no, really), and when I left for Chas., I bequeathed it to the reporters. Recently, one of the reporters told me he leaves the clue cards on other reporters' keyboards at random, which is a totally in the spirit of what I should have done with the game.

Well, last night, I dreamed that someone in the office (which, for dream purposes, was crammed into my old house) left a note on the office game shelf (which, for dream purposes, was located across from the toilet in the upstairs bathroom) taking offense at The Singing Bee for censoring its game cards. "See all these blank spaces? They've redacted parts of the song! We must do something about this!"

Now in most people's dreams, "doing something about this" would mean "never playing this game again," which, coincidentally, fits nicely with how the situation has been handled in real life. However, in my dream, someone went through and filled in the blanks on every card. Had anyone been paying attention, they could have flipped over the cards, because the answers are on the back.

P365 Day 15: Baubles ahoy

First of all: I'm making an emergency (!!!) trip back to Charleston Tuesday for a job interview Thursday. I'm going alone, and chances are I'll be back in Memphis Saturday. I'll blog more about this as it gets closer to interview time. ^_^

And now ... remember the bear ring I wanted from eBay? The day after I posted, I realized I was most likely in a bidding war with someone who was bidding it up for the seller. Instead of reporting them, I upped my bid and bid on two other things, then freaked out and told my friend Chris, "Oh god, I hope I'm outbid on two of these things." I was.

I did win this awesome turquoise necklace from Israel, which arrived in the mail today. Pretty, huh? I almost feel bad having gone to the Intergalactic Bead Show this afternoon and taking in a haul of chrysoprase and an eye agate. Some beautiful stuff. I'll post them as I get them wrapped.

P365 Day 14: To do (or not to do)

What I needed to do today: Edit three chem papers totaling about 65 pages (face-down here because they're IP), make an appointment for a haircut

What Paul's list suggested I do today:

• Take a smelly bath
• Hold the Joe
  (not necessarily in that order)
• Pet Fred
• Order a pizza from Domino's
  (whatever kind you like)
  (like pineapple & ham or something)
• Drink some Drank
• Take a nap

What I've actually done today: Edited half of one paper (I fell asleep), taken a nap, lit a stick of incense, made soup

It's just a lazy, laid-back Friday. I did tentatively pick up a three-day editing gig that will extend my time in Memphis by one day. So that's something productive!

Happy not-quite-the-weekend, everyone.

P365 Day 13: On the business end

(Paul, Gary and Wei at the SCORE Memphis small biz seminar. Hope Paul doesn't kill me over the extreme close-up, but the alternative was a close-up of ... wait for it ... my water bottle!)

My brain is full. There's just no other way to put it. I crawled out of bed at 5:30 a.m. — a little early, even for me — so we could make it across town for the seminar at 7-something. The worst part was I slept really horribly. (At this point, I will make a joke that will only make sense to a few gamers: My anticipation made me shudder.)

See, I've always had this horrible fear of oversleeping for big events, such as the first day of school, a vacation, meetings ... whatever. So I toss and turn all night and check my watch at least once an hour to make sure it's not time to go yet. There's no rational reason for this fear; I think I watched Home Alone too much during my formative years.

But I'll consider the sleep deprivation practice for a girls' night in on Monday night. Paul's going out of town, so a friend is coming over to do girly things such as watch Sex and the City, make S'mores, and more than likely dye my hair, though I haven't cleared that one with her yet.

I haven't had a sleepover since I was, like, 16. Am I too old to make prank calls?

P365 Day 12: Suburban wasteland

Paul and I came across this overgrown (but once clear-cut) area near the place we're staying in Memphis. The roads have been built and the PVC sewer piping is sticking up from every lot, but for the most part, it's just wasteland. This happened in a lot of local suburbia as the housing bubble burst. Some builders, such as the company that built all the houses in my parents' neighborhood, completely folded; others are just holding on to their land for some undetermined period until things are "better."

Pictures like this one, though, make me wonder which is worse: (1.) acres of clear-cut land that aren't on the market and seem largely unmarketable in this economy, or (2.) rows of spec housing that would be built here had the owners started a few months earlier. Hmm.

--

Tomorrow, Paul and I are going with a couple we know to SCORE Memphis' day-long seminar on starting a small business. I'm a little nervous about going — probably just because I don't know what to expect — but the alternative is spending the day doing what I do every Thursday, which isn't much.

I did buy a nice, new, blue sweater for the event. I hope it doesn't make me look like an old lady.

P365 Day 11: In which I lament The Box

(I've heard most cats spend 30 percent of their lives grooming themselves, but the closest Joe comes to clean is getting in the shower after we turn it off.)

--

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but one of the big reasons I'm dying to go back to Chas. is to open The Box.

The Box has been on my mind since we left. As I was frantically unpacking as many boxes as I could in the week before we left for Memphis, one smallish box flipped on its side, rolled a few times and hit the floor. This box was marked "BREAKABLES FROM CHINA CABINET."

I hung my head. I sighed. Twice. With one foot, I nudged it under a chair. I didn't open it. I didn't want to know what qualified as "breakables."

But now it's killing me. I want more than anything to go back to Chas. and open The Box.

Of course, knowing me, that unshakable urge will pass as soon as I get home.

P365 Day 10: "I've got a head full of ideas that are drivin' me insane ..."

I went to Maggie's Pharm this morning — a little frustrated because I'd prefer to go to The Sanctuary but the latter is closed Mondays through Wednesdays. My loot: some incense and a burner, two bath gels, a package of bath salts, and 1/8oz. of patchouli (I left mine — well, Matt's, really — in Chas. two months ago).

Paul and I had a fairly uneventful anniversary; highlights included dinner at Quizno's, a little yard work and Pokemon. (Woo-hoo, right?) No worries though — we're saving up for that trip to Disney World in December. I really hope we're able to scrap up enough in time. A second honeymoon is in order.

About three weeks left till we head back to Chas. and I have a lot to do, such as meet up with a few people who want to have lunch but haven't yet set anything in stone. (Ahem.)

It's an emotional roller coaster to think about (re)packing and (re)leaving Memphis — as well as continuing to unpack from our recent move once we get back there — but it will be nice to sleep in my own bed and go to the beach on the weekends. Oh, and I've kind of missed the valet trash pickup at our door every evening. Sometimes the little things go a long way, you know?

P365 Day 9: Happy Anniversary!

(Paul in front of the Mississippi River. Taken at Tunica RiverPark on July 18, 2009.)

It's our anniversary. Seven years. It's absolutely flown by, in no small part because of that little five-year doctoral stint right in the middle. Like every couple, we've had our little spats and rough spots, but we've come through stronger — both as individuals and as a couple.

You've been there for me for twelve years, during the good times and the bad. You even wore the little scrubby hat during my biopsy to make me laugh. And despite your (irrational) fear, Paul, I never once stabbed you in the leg.

Every day I'm with you, I love you more and more. Thanks for giving me the best time of my life. <3

P365 Day 8: Don't let the sun go down on me

After spending most of the day at the university, Paul and I drove to Tunica tonight to have dinner with his parents at the Fitz. (Was Fitzgerald's so difficult to remember that the casino had to rebrand itself to just Fitz?)

As usual, we kept our cash reserves low — $20 each — and stuck to the small change machines. (My theory is that if you lose all $20, but you do it at penny slots, you've maximized your dollar-to-fun ratio.) And as usual, I came out a little ahead ($5) and Paul came out a little behind (-$17.50).

After we left Fitz(gerald's), we drove to the Tunica RiverPark for some not-quite-sunset photos, then listened to The Who on our hour-long drive home. Considering the net loss was $12.50 and half a tank of gas but the gain was spending all day with Paul, I'd say I won big.

---
Now, without further ado, this note goes out to the woman who was in the bathroom stall next to mine tonight:

Here are some common rules of etiquette you – and those around you — would appreciate you follow:

• Lock the stall door.
• Heck, even close the stall door. Okay, that's a start. Now a little more. ... A little more. Okay, that'll do.
  
• Don't grunt and strain quite so loud.
• Don't answer your phone while you're grunting and straining.
• Don't yell in your phone to cover the sound of you grunting. (HelloooOOOOOO!!!!!)
  
• Don't yammer about your sex life. (Don't want to picture it. Please don't make me picture it.)
• Could you at least flush? No??
• How about wash your hands? No to that too??

I felt dirty by proxy, considering the only thing keeping me safe was the one-inch divider between our stalls.

Oh, look, there I went and ruined a perfectly good picture of sunset on the Mississippi. But, come on, I had to share my grody moment with everyone.

P365 Day 7: We Are the Champions

[geek out]

I snapped up one of the 10K closed-beta keys for Champions Online this morning. (Screenshot from their site.) Closed beta starts Aug. 1. I haven't been this excited since CoH was released.

I refuse to play most fantasy MMOs, a la WoW, because I don't want to be Just Another Orc (as Paul puts it). Never been a problem to put myself in a superhero MMO though.

I make a very normal-looking, could-be-an-editrix character with a very normal name such as Kate (or, if I'm feeling saucy, Fairly Incrediblekate), then I give her kickin' rad powers such as psionic beams that shoot out of her fingertips and knock down evildoers. (You know, just like real life.)

Thanks to Logik and Woody for the heads-up. I've missed playing with you guys. <3

[/geek out]

P365 Day 6: Necessity is the mother of pudding recipes

My wedding anniversary is Sunday, and Mom called the other day to ask how Paul and I planned to celebrate. "Oh, we're not doing anything," I told her. "Well, you're at least going out, right?"

Actually, we only had two things on our list: (1.) Go to the store together, pick out anniversary cards, show them to each other, then not buy them; and (2.) Order some rice pudding from NYC's Rice to Riches. We stumbled on RtR when we were in New York a few years ago and have vowed that One Day (that undetermined and mystical vanishing point of the future) we'll order some for a birthday or anniversary.

Then the $480 utility bill came. The name of the store is not $55 Rice Pudding to The Poor People Who Keep Their House at 72 Degrees.

So I set about making my own chocolate-chocolate chip rice pudding last night, tweaking a recipe I found online. The result might not look pretty but it is mega-uber-ultra-tasty.

Take that, utility bill. I can now add rice pudding to my kitchen repertoire.

P365 Day 5: In Bloom

(Taken on the walking trail near our house)

For those of you who didn't see my Tweet, I opened a $480 utility bill yesterday. Then I checked the address because surely that wasn't mine.

Five hundred bucks? I've never had a utility bill even remotely approach that — even in a larger house that we kept at 68 degrees. I called Mom (we're staying in my parents' old house), and she said their bill last August was $392. And they kept it at 78. I refuse to do that.

Curses, vaulted ceilings! Curses!

I've set the thermostat up from 72 to 76, which isn't uncomfortable but is warmer than we'd like around here. We'll see how many nights we can (literally) sweat it out before we give up and just foot the high bill.

P365 Day 4: Duckin' out (plus a job update)

Took this pic at one of two lakes (retention ponds) near where we're staying in Memphis. Dozens of ducks and geese frequent the lakes and occasionally go into battle formation to defend the honor of their species and their spot.

In other news, The Perfect Job opened up in Chas. yesterday, so I've been readying my resume to send out. I'm so excited about this prospect, but there's no uberprofessional way to write the cover letter so it exclaims, "I am the perfect fit for this job! I've wanted to work for you since I moved to Charleston! Oh, and I live within walking distance of your office!!"

Needless to say, I'm excited. I'm a pretty darn good editor, if I do say so myself, but it's been hard holding out for The Perfect Job instead of settling into something that doesn't set my world on fire. Now here's hoping my resume speaks for itself.

P365 Day 4: '40s beauty queen

This summer, I've been scanning old letters and photos from the Crawford family trunk. Most are older than this newspaper clipping of my paternal grandmother, Jane (left), from 1941, but I still felt this relevant to share for P365. This photo was taken at what is now the University of Memphis. (I'm a 3rd-gen Tiger. I bleed blue.)

Actually, as an aside, Grandmother met my Papa at the university in the '40s when they both were students. She was a cook for the football team, and he was a football player. Proof positive the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Grandmother was a Navy wife who lived at various times in Texas, California, Virginia and Africa, among other places. She and Papa had long settled back in Memphis by the time I was born, and I fondly remember spending summer afternoons at their house with my cousin Ashley. Grandmother served the same lunch every day: peanut butter sandwiches "without the ruffles," Pringles, Coca-Cola, and, if we were good, a fun-size Snickers bar from the bag she hid in the bottom of her cabinet.

So there you have it. Old photo, new scan ... and another piece of the Kate puzzle.

P365 Day 3: Jammin' out

Paul and I haven't played RB much since we came back to Memphis for the summer. We have a very exciting routine that largely embodies the early to bed, early to rise maxim, though I'm not sure about that whole healthy, wealthy and wise bit.

Anyway, he strapped on the guitar and I picked up the mic last night, and we played a set with an old friend. I wish I had better shots of my better half sticking his tongue out and kicking his feet in the air. That's usually how he plays.

By the way, last night I Tweeted: "A little Rock Band should fix things right up." A chica I know from college read it as: "A Little Rock band should fix things right up." Insert your own Arkansas joke here.

P365 Day 2: About to pounce

Project 365 is all about documenting the things important to a person, and I couldn't show off one of my babies without introducing the other. This is Joe, who joined Casa S. in June 2006. She's the naughty one. Fun facts about Joe:

• Her name is Joe, and just Joe. It is not short for Josephine, despite what my mother says.
• Joe likes balls of aluminum foil, sitting on the computer keyboard (like right now) and hiding in piles of clothes that you might or might not be getting ready to wear.
  
• She waits for Fred to bathe her. (Lazy, lazy!)
• And speaking of lazy, she won't eat tuna and other treats unless you hand-feed them to her. And Paul does. He's a sucker for cute.

Weekend's here, folks. Hopefully I'll get caught up on everyone's blogs today and tomorrow. <3

P365 Day 1: Fred's pearly whites

Meet Fred, showing off her lion pedigree. Fred has definitely become acclimated to The Great Indoors since I first met her in March 2006. (Here's the original "Oops, I let a cat in the house" post.) Fun facts about Fred:

• Her name is Fred, and just Fred. It is not short for Fredrika, despite what my mother says.
• She loves crinkly things. Especially in the middle of the night.
  
• She weighs in at about 12 and a half pounds, but ...
• ... The doctor says she's not fat — she just has a big head. (Honest. That's what the vet said.)

I think this Project 365 thing might work out. It's going to be hella tough to remember to take my camera everywhere, but it's worth a shot. I'll send cookies to anyone who jumps in with me.

Because I'm too lazy to get a tattoo ...

... I figured I'd get the Zuni bear design in a ring instead. Certainly much less permanent.

Cross your fingers that I win the eBay auction. Six days left.



Regarding the tattoo, I'm kind of glad I took a friend's advice about tattoos: "Everyone wants one so they'll stand out. Now everyone has one and you stand out if you don't." (Yes, I take advice even from people with no sense of propriety.)

P365 Day 0: The view from my bed

I'm still not sure I'm going to go with Project 365 over a daily microfiction, but I thought I'd at least share what I see when I wake up in the morning. I'll admit I did a little photo manip on this one because I couldn't get the camera blurry enough.

No matter where I live, no matter the time of year, I sleep on the side of the bed facing the window. I'm a morning person through and through, and I like to wake up with the sun (5:45 this morning). My eyesight is incredibly poor. I don't see a window; I see slats of blurry light and slats of blurry dark, and I think that actually adds to the mystique of morning. At night, I am covered in a blanket of hazy darkness, but by morning — at least before I put on my glasses — that darkness has turned a cottony white that coaxes me out from under the covers.

... And that's why I wake up smiling.

Microfic or Project 365?

I have a friend who wants me to write a book. A book! This person keeps insisting I have a book inside me, that everything I love — every story, every song — wouldn't exist had somebody not put nose to grindstone and written it down.

I dot my life with narratives in my head — is that neurotic? — but I don't think in book-length; I think in microfic. (My Flashshot will be here through 7/16. The author bio is obviously outdated; I was accepted for publication in April and it's just now rolling through.) Truth be told, I'm an editor through and through. I get my kicks away from the spotlight (and I'm double happy if MS Excel is involved). I won't go so far as to say I'll never try my hand at a book, but I just don't think I'm cut out for it right now.

That said, I'm still not working full-time, so there's no reason why I shouldn't be writing something. I have it down to two options:

Microfiction: Extremely short stories (50, 100 or 150 words, depending on definition)

(or)

Project 365: A photo and accompanying narrative each day for a year

I guess I'll sit on the idea a couple of days and see what strikes my fancy first. Suggestions welcome.

Pour me a Drank

After reading an article online about Drank, a self-proclaimed "anti-energy drink," I decided I had to try it. I mean, I've tried a bajillion energy drinks (all in the name of research, I tell ya), but this was the first anti-energy drink on my short list. Yay, innovation!

Problem? I couldn't find it in the first few stores I checked in the Memphis area. Then I came across a Drank Deuce shot for $2.99 at a convenience store. (Jackpot!)

Now, for those of you lacking in street cred, let me introduce drank — lower-case, street drug — to you: It's prescription cough syrup (a la Tussionex) mixed with Sprite. Wiki also mentions pieces of Jolly Ranchers, but, you know, believe what you will about what you read on Wiki. Drank — upper-case, $3 bottled drink — contains valerian root, melatonin and rosehips, supposedly to mimic the effect of codeine/promethazine without the feds knocking down your door.

For the record, I've never tried drank — lower-case, street drug — but I've had my share of cough syrup (including sweet, sweet Tussionex), and the Kate verdict is that Drank Deuce tastes much more like grape-flavored, children's Dimetapp than Tussionex. Either way, it doesn't taste horrible, but I can't imagine sipping on it just for the hell of it.

Okay, so 2 oz. down the hatch and I was pretty sure it was going to affect me about as much as a can of Red Bull (read: not at all). So I watched some TV, played some Pokemon Platinum ... and, holy moly, it hit me like a train (albeit a very chill, slow-moving train). Now I know why it's been dubbed Mamajuana. I slept for hours. I dreamed about trying to clean up some fried rice I'd spilled on my desk. Presumably, I wiped it up very, very slowly.

So there you have it. On a 1-10 scale, taste is about an 8 (assuming you can handle what amounts to 2 ounces of Dimetapp) and effect is a definite 10.

... I'm just not sure why I'd want to keep these around. Am I not chill enough as is?

I say music, you say ____?

For those of you who don't know how important music is to me, consider this: I drove to Nashville today for a little shopping, and the highlight of my trip was listening to my iPod for three hours on the way home.

Most everyone I know has a song attached to them in my mind -- a song they like, an inside joke, something we share. Stargazergirl is Queen's "We Are the Champions." Grrface is Jill Sobule's "Mexican Wrestler." Cheddar FonDrew is The Who's "Real Good Looking Boy," though a close second is the sultry rendition of "Happy, Happy Birthday, Katie (Though I Can't Quite Call You Baby)" that he left on my voicemail on my birthday. Matt of Matt Wins Again is Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," which, again, was sung to me via voicemail.

... I really like it when people sing songs on my voicemail. I grin for, like, days. Yes, that's a blatant attempt to get more people to call and sing to me. <3

Anyway, surely I'm not the only person who does the song-association bit, which begs the question: What song do you associate with me? For those I didn't list above, my answer is yours for the swapping.