Going to the swampland

I'm leaving in fifteen minutes to go to my birthplace: Lake Charles, Louisiana. I haven't practiced my cajun yell in years, so I'm sure it sucks. AAAAAAAIIEEEEEE. It's actually a very bizarre feeling to go there now as we used to be so close to that side of the family when I was growing up in the south but as soon as we moved to Kansas in Jr. High (and then New Jersey, and then all the places I've been since then) we've been the outsiders. We see them every few years at best for a day or two. El Esposo has never met any of my mom's family so it's going to be a treat. I'm excited for the warmth and for the re-forging of family connections and the totally-different-from-D.C. culture, but I'm trepidatious too. I feel like such a Yankee going to the Southland where I no longer belong.

Know Your Onion

Zombie Steve tagged me on this a while ago, and today I found my shuffle (which means I have not been running lately, since that's what I primarily use it for) and am waiting for someone to finish a paper for class so we can eat dinner, so it seems the time is ripe . . .

1. Put Your iTunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp, etc on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Put the artist after a dash following the song name.
5. Put any comments in brackets.
6. Tag some lucky people to spread the disease.

How would you describe yourself?
Love Spreads Around - The Stone Roses (ok?)

How do you feel today?
The District Sleeps Alone Tonight - Postal Service (Hmm. I will not be sleeping alone, but the mood of this song is kind of fitting? Lethargic and poco melancholic.)

What is your life’s purpose?
Creep - Radiohead (Now that's a lovely assessment. I normally skip this song when I'm running, so I don't buy it.)

What is your motto?
Got You (end of a century) - Wilco

What do you think about very often?
Legal Man - Belle and Sebastian (I do work at the Department of Justice)

What is your life story?
"In the Backseat" - Arcade Fire (When I was growing up my family had this awesome full sized fan with the plush captain's chairs and stuff and my spot on all of our long trips was lying down in the back seat, two brothers in the captains chairs in front of me and the other brother sprawling on the floor - awesomely safe, I know, but this was the eighties - of course my parents were in the front)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
No Cars Go - Arcade Fire (I have a lot of Arcade Fire on my shuffle. I like running to them)

What will you dance to at your wedding?
Barstow - Jay Farrar (Aw. This is kind of sweet, because el esposo spent about half of his mission (for the LDS church) in this city. Great song, of course.)

What will they play at your funeral?
Near Wild Heaven - REM (Awesomely apt!)

What is your hobby/interest?
The Projectionist - The Places (I dunno, but I'm glad I looked this up b/c I meant to get this whole album a while ago)

If you could do anything right now, what would it be?
Shelter From the Storm - Bob Dylan (it is pretty cold outside.)

What do you want most of all?
Lady Madonna - Beatles (uh . . . no I do not WANT to be a single mom. That would be hard.)

What is your greatest fear?
This Heart's on Fire - Wolf Parade

What is your darkest secret?
Act of the Apostle 1 - Belle and Sebastian (uh . . .)

What is your favorite thing in the world?
July - Decemberists (Not my favorite thing in the world but this weird song is wonderful pop that I love dance-running to)

If you could have one wish, what would you wish for?
I Am Superman - REM (Ha. REM is here for comic relief, I think)

What is your theme song?
True Love Will Find You in the End - Daniel Johnston (This absolutely IS my theme song. I didn't know it before, but yeah.)

The next time you hear this song (aside from now, that is), you must dance.
Chicago - Sufjan Stevens (not really a problem)

What will you post this as?
Know Your Onion - The Shins


Ok, I tag Lizzie if she happens to read this b/c she is good at these tag things and she has good music.

This post is for Robyn, but she'll have to get some speakers

I was over at SJ's blog, making some comment about Jurassic Park and the late Michael Chrichton. So, I got curious and googled Michael Chrichton, only to find out that he was the genius behind the movie Westworld. If you have never seen it, it is so worth the rental/netflix/etc. In the words of Steven Malkmus pretending to be Yul Brenner: "Perhaps you saw me in Westworld / I acted like a robotic cowboy / It was my best role / I cannot deny I / felt right home deep inside / that electronic carcass." If you've seen the episode of the Simpsons where they go to Itchy and Scratchy Land and all hell breaks loose, you already know the plot, but it is the stellar acting of Yul Brenner that makes the movie.

Apparently Michael Chrichton had no involvement in Futureworld, the sequel to Westworld, a decision he likely never regretted. However, it has to be said that lackluster though the majority of the movie is, Futureworld has the best dream sequence ever recorded on film, during which Yul Brenner makes his only appearance to reprise his role as the gunslinger. (Warning, I guess, this is kind of erotic, but mostly in a weird way, not a sexy way.) Behold:

Motivation . . . or "I'll see you in Hell"

I'm thinking about adding this phrase to the end of all polite written/email requests I send, just to give them a little more context. "Please get back to me by COB Tuesday or I'll see you in Hell." It's all in good fun, of course. Or is it?

El Esposo and I were especially thinking about ending our latest addendum (#4) to a certain contract (the one we've been waiting on since August 3rd) with the words "Or we'll see you in hell," right after the new deadline. You know something like, "Respond by X date or we'll see you in Hell." What do you think? Would that motivate you? Maybe I could soften it with a smiley face :-).

My subconscious told me to post this

Last night I dreamt that Michelle Obama came to my Sunday School class at church. Only it wasn't my regular sunday school class; there were only about eight people in it. Weirdly, no one was really talking to her. No one was saying "Oh my gosh, you're Michelle Obama," or anything of the sort. I was feeling very shy, but I kept stealing glances at her. Later, I followed her out to the parking lot and told her that I really admired her and that I was very "proud" of her husband. She was gracious about it, but also very guarded. I realized that she had started smoking a cigarette but was trying to hide it, especially from the group of kids that had apparently followed me out. I decided that maybe she was embarassed so I abruptly/politely ended the conversation, walked away and brought all the kids back with me so they wouldn't have to know she smoked.

Later in the dream I was thinking to myself about how I totally needed to blog about my run-in with Michelle Obama.

And now I have.

Over 25% of Identity Theft Involves Someone You Know

I just saw this ad (see the title) on bankrate as I was perusing the daily mortgage rates (which I do every single day) and it made me laugh, so I thought I would share it with you two or three people.

I'm just wondering why the criminals are targeting the people I know so hard? Or is it the people I know that are the perpetrators in 25% of cases? I mean, seriously, how many people do I know? A few hundred? Okay, maybe a thousand if we're stretching it to include all possible acquaintances? And there are what like 6 billion people on the planet? If you're reading this and you know me, you better be careful.

Everything is New Again

Last night el Esposo and I exchanged a high-five when President-Elect Obama (that seems so weird to say) mentioned people that stood in line for three or four hours to vote. I think that might have been the moment the realization started to flood, the full knowledge of what the country had just done. I actually like McCain pretty well. I would have voted for him in 2000 (at which time he seemed much more moderate). But the tide has very much turned since then and his time has passed and in 2009 the United States of America will inaugurate our first black president. Not only that, but our president is going to be a guy with a name unlike any of the 43 before him. Just saying it-President Obama-seems so surreal. The movies can no longer indicate "the future" by showing a black president on a tv screen. We are already there. It is so cool.

I am wary of the coming years a bit because there are going to be a ton of challenges for a president who really is pretty untried in challenging situations as an executive. Of course, I only have to think about Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a state legislator for 8 years and a U.S. Congressman for 2 years (during which he did not particularly stand out) before he was elected president.

Three hours later . . .

I voted! And I got a sticker. And I was very late to work. And everyone was cool with it. Yay for living in a democratic society. Yay for election volunteers. Yay for not drinking anything before I got in line.