I Wish...

I wish I was there for this...



Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Ramblings, Part 1

Happy Christmas Eve! I'm sitting at work in a dead office. I think I'm leaving at noon. I don't think I can physically withstand to stay any longer.
_________________________________________________________
I went to the ER last Friday for chest pains. As a healthy 30 year old, this scared the crap out of me. The doctor said it was inflamed cartilage in my rib cage egged on by my panic attack. How does that happen?
_________________________________________________________
Speaking of panic attacks, I think I'm prone to them. I've gone to urgent care a couple of times because of them. Now it's in my medical records. Remember that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine tries to steal her medical file back to see why she is considered difficult? I want to do the same. It seems every time I go to the doctor now, they just say I had a panic attack. Something caused me to panic in the first place, Doc.
_________________________________________________________
The world seems to stand still during the holidays. All of my TV shows are on hiatus. No concerts are coming to town. Businesses are closed. It doesn't help that Minnesota is in the middle of a "snowpocolypse" or "snowgasm" or "snow-m-g" or whatever you want to call it.
_________________________________________________________
I'm hoping this snow doesn't ruin my Christmas plans. I need to get to the location that holds my presents and mashed potatoes.
_________________________________________________________
In honor of Christmas Eve, I leave you with this video of one of the great songs of all time. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.

The Road

I recently finished the book The Road. If you feel like being depressed for a week, read this book.

I shouldn't say that. It's an excellent, excellent book. I highly recommend it.

It's the story of a man and his son trying to make their way through a post-apocolyptic world.

It makes you think, it makes you cry, it makes you shudder at the horror of it all.

Starvation, cold, cannibals, suicide. Not exactly holiday fare.

I saw the movie about an hour after finishing it and I would suggest reading the book before seeing the film. I think I would have been a bit lost if I had not read it.

It was cool to see the landscape visualized. But some of the horrors described in the book were more horrific on screen than my mind imagined.

This books is still in the front of my mind 2 days after finishing it. I think that makes it worth the read.

Keep It To Yourself

Why is it that sick people feel the need to tell the world how sick they are?

I just overheard a conversation between two co-workers. One just got over H1N1 and a myriad of other illnesses. She went into detail about all that ailed her over the past couple of weeks. The body aches, the cough, the fever. What is someone supposed to do with this information? Geez, sorry you were sick. Please stay away from me because you still sound terrible.

Maybe it's a psychological thing. Sick people need others to feel sympathy for them so they will be cared for and not abandoned by the pack. A means to survival. I don't know. It just bothers me.

In other news, I'm not feeling well ; ) But I'm not going to go into the details of my under-the-weatherness. Instead, I will continue on with the bi-monthly tradition I have started of playing the 25 songs that play on my iPod while I'm at work and not feeling well.
So here we go:

1. "Inspiration Information" Shuggie Otis
2. "Lucky Day" - Erin McKeown
3. "Un-Named" - Leona Naess
4. "Fools Gold" - Michael Johns
5. "Joan Jett of Arc" - Clem Snide
6. "Slide Away" - Oasis
7. "With Arms Outstretched" - Rilo Kiley
8. "Underground" - Ben Folds Five
9. "Up to the Mountain" - Patty Griffin
10. "The Opposite of Hallelujah" - Jens Lekman
11. "A Daily Anthem" - David Cook
12. "A Spade" - Ani Difranco
13. "Grey" (live from Hamburg, Germany - Offical Boot) - Ani Difranco
14. "Capturing Moods" - Rilo Kiley
15. "Talk Tonight" (live) - Noel Gallagher
16. "Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel
17. "Acid Tongue" - Jenny Lewis
18. "See Fernando" - Jenny Lewis
19. "Single Ladies" - Beyonce
20. "Runs in the Family" - Amanda Palmer
21. "Changer" - Anais Mitchell
22. "Breakin' Up" - Rilo Kiley
23. "Silver Lining" - Rilo Kiley
24. "I Did It For You" - David Cook
25. "Glendora" - Rilo Kiley

Hmmm...my iPod is looking a little lazy today. Lots of repeat artists. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

A Ringing In My Ears That's Heaven Sent

I need to give a shout out to Soul Asylum, who rocked my socks off at First Avenue last Friday. This was my third time seeing them and they have never disappointed. They played for a long time, ran through all their hits, played all the songs I wanted to hear. They were energized and seemed genuinely happy to be there. They've been creeping into my top 10 list for a while now and they may have just shot up to top 5 status with their performance on Friday.

Soul Asylum Rules.

A Kiss Could've Killed Me

This is my most favorite music video ever. It makes me smile. As today is just as chaotic as ever, I needed to take a moment to watch.

Enjoy!

Save Cody!

This makes me so sad.

Cody, the convenience store working dog I mentioned earlier, is being forced to quit his job of greeting customers. Health Inspectors have decided he is unsanitary. How a dog that sits behind the counter is bad for the closed bag of Doritos I'll never understand.

A link to this story is here.

It just breaks my heart. Dogs get so stuck on their routines. I bet every morning Cody gets so excited when his owner puts his work shirt on him. What will he think when his owner has to leave him home on Friday? Poor dog.

Look at him!