Best Vet Ever

Murray, my dog, went in for his annual check up this weekend. I was very nervous. Over the last few months, he’s visibly changed. He’s slowed down. He stares at walls. He barks at nothing when he’s outside. He gets lost in the house. He has accidents.

I was certain they were going to tell us to put him on all sorts of medication and to stop giving him treats and that he doesn’t have much time left. But they didn’t. They did say he most likely has early dementia. Brain age. They told us not to punish him when he goes to the bathroom in the house, because he honestly doesn’t know he’s doing it. They told us to make sure to walk him at least twice a day in order to get his bowels emptied somewhere other than the house. They are doing blood work to make sure his kidneys and liver are still good. They are supposed to call us today if they are not and I haven’t heard anything yet. But, if they are good, then we are supposed to put him on a high protein diet to help his brain. This means he gets eggs, or chicken, or hamburger with his dinner. So tonight we are making a scrambled egg dinner and he gets to have his very own scrambled egg. He’s going to be the happiest dog in the world and I cannot wait.

I just think it’s so funny that he hates the vet. I hate taking him to the vet. Yet, what I thought would be the most devastating trip yet turned out to be great for Murray. I mean, he’s been pooping on the floor and what are we told to do? Take him for more walks, feed him more, and feed him eggs, chicken, or hamburger with his dinner. How did he get away with that?

Lyric Of The Day

"i had to leave the house of self-importance
to doodle my first tattoo
realize a tattoo is no more permanent
than i am, and who
ever said that life is suffering
i think they had their finger on the pulse of joy
ain't the power of transcendence
the greatest one we can employ"

-From Ani DiFranco's "Shroud"

Home Worked

Due to not wanting to freeze in negative temperatures while waiting for a bus that was sure to be at least 20 minutes late, I asked if I could work from home yesterday. I can access everything on my work computer through my home computer via our VPN. But, being that I’m an hourly employee, it’s a little tricky. But, my boss said it was okay. So I stayed home and worked.

Honestly, it has both its positives and negatives. On the plus side, I got to roll out of bed and work in my pajamas. I didn’t have to worry about what I was going to wear or making sure I was dressed warm enough for the bus wait and ride. I was able to openly surf the internet in between getting things done and not feel like a jerk about it. I got to have my stereo blasted and could sing along while posting jobs instead of quietly listening to headphones and occasionally mouthing along to the words. I got to hang out with my dog.

But, on the negative side, you really feel you have to be on your toes, more so than usual. I felt that if I didn’t answer every email immediately, everyone would assume I was slacking off watching daytime soaps or something. All the physical paperwork I needed I couldn’t get to (of course, this would be taken care of if I would have planned ahead to stay home and work). The VPN screen only fills up less than a quarter of my computer screen, so staring at the tiny box can put a lot of strain on the eyes. But, mostly the negative is the stress of assuming that everyone else is assuming that you are just slacking off.

But, I probably got more done yesterday than I do most days of being in the office. It was nice not to have the constant parade of people stopping by or having to have a 20 minute conversation in the kitchen every time I filled up my water bottle.

It was just nice to be home. Cozy and warm.

Snowpocalypse

Or Snowmageddon. Or Snow-M-G. Or Snowly Shit. Or Snownami.

Whatever you want to call it, it happened on Saturday. We got about 18 inches. It’s as miserable as it sounds.

You start to question why you would live somewhere that puts you through this every year. It makes you miserable. It’s awful. It’s negative something degrees out (do actuals really matter once you throw the negative sign in front of the temperature?), snow drifts are taller than me, sidewalks are treacherous, roadways are treacherous. It is dangerous to go outside. For real. Yet, we all do. We have to get to work. We have to get food. The dog has to go to the bathroom. We all keep living. Life goes on even when everything outside tells you to pack it in and never leave your house again.

Everyone is late for work. And everyone who has made it in is retelling their story from the blizzard. It’s getting old. It has gotten old. Yes, we all had to dig ourselves out of massive amounts of snow. It sucked. That’s what it is. Suck.

Community

If you are not watching Community, you are so missing out. I’ve been watching it since the first episode because I love Joel McHale and had to see how he handled really “acting”, and, admittedly, it started out a little slow – as most new shows do. But the characters were good and you could see it had promise. Although, even I was unsure how they could make a show about adults in community college hold up over multiple seasons.

They are now half way through season 2 and they seem to have figured that out.

The show has gone from regular sitcom filled with pop culture references and normal story arcs, to a complete parody of pop culture references done so well that you don’t even know they’re happening. It’s so smooth, so funny, and so out there, yet so sweet.

I will never expect a big wedding episode or someone having a baby. And if they do that, it will be done so awesomely and in complete self parody. The “will they or won’t they” storyline between Jeff and Britta was dealt with and moved out of the way back in season 1. The relationship between Jeff and Britta is so real for a show that finds itself mostly stuck in fantasy that it makes Friends seem like sci-fi.

Last night they aired their Christmas episode. I was nervous. They did it in stop-motion animation (think Rudolph). It just seemed a little too gimmicky. I didn’t think they could pull it off. But they did. Of course, they did. It was probably the most touching episode, but not in a total sappy way. It was just really good and I like it the more and more I think of it.

Season 1 is out on DVD and on my Christmas list. I suggest you pick it up.

It’s astounding that NBC is keeping this show on the air (for now). It’s really like nothing else on their line up. So watch it, so it stays there.

Radio Radio

My album went out to college radio stations across the country on November 23rd. I’ll get my first official report out next week, but I can’t stop googling myself each day to see if I show up on any online playlists. And I have. Which is exciting. Here’s where I know I’ve been played so far:

WLUR in Lexington, KY (well, they referenced me and “Cast a Spell” on their site. I guess I don’t know for sure if they actually played it)
KMSU in Mankato, MN (twice!) – “Minnesota”
WMHB in Waterville, ME – “Thursday”
WXDU in Durham, NC – “Cast a Spell”

It’s kind of crazy for me to think of my songs playing in all of these places. Even if it’s just once at 3am. Somebody heard it, right?

....AND I just had to edit this to say that I found out this morning that WMTU in Houghton, MI has me charting at #1 on their station. That might be the coolest news I've ever heard!

SWIM

My amazing friend, Jen March, started a project called Co-Kisser. The idea is to put poetry to film, but not just to read poetry over pictures, but to actually create a film based on a collection of poems. She kicked off the project with her own film and I was asked to help score it. I was honored by the request and had a great time collaborating on it with a couple of other folks.

You can learn more about the project and view the film, titled SWIM, on the website: www.co-kisser.com .

(and…Hello!...going to write more….starting….NOW)