mussen wir wollen

so watching this video makes me feel like an amateur.


Frequent Flyer from Gabriel Leigh on Vimeo.


and makes me want to change my flight on wed so i can stop more frequently and get more miles.  now do you see that *i* am actually quite reasonable???

oh and the guy is doing a kickstarter campaign to raise money to do a full length movie.


[song by wir sind helden - i think...]

hot mess

hi.  that actually is a song title.  not autobiographical.  well, it might be.  i'm not sure.  i didnt write it, so not autobiographical for ME, but maybe for the author.  anyway, its 10:15pm.  i am up waaay tooo late.  this is the latest i have been up all week.  i've been asleep by 9:30 most days.  i am hoping to get up by 4:30 tomorrow.  i have to get to the office by 6:30 or so... 7 at the latest.  i have a few meetings in the morning and that sucks.  then i take off for phoenix.  i am hoping it will be a good trip.  conference and all.  those are stressful because i have to be "on" all the time.  ugh.

anyway, after work i ran to the salon to get a pedicure (can't go to a conference with gnarly feet!) and then stopped in the regency room (yum) and got a glass of wine with some food.  i couldnt drink it because i was on my way to a massage.  i love love love getting a massage while in sac.  i could TELL i was sore everywhere.  mostly because the massage hurt and i kept tensing up (which i NEVER do).  i think its because of all the yoga i've been doing.  its building strength and my muscles are being worked.  sigh.  i have a little ritual when i come to sac.  massage around 6pm.  for 1.5 hrs with hot stones.  then i walk back to the hotel stopping at the beat, which is a cool record store and buy some cd's (this time i got chromeo, robyn, harry belafonte and harold melvin & the blue notes).  then i stop at mikuni's to get some sushi.  it was a great night.  i did all that.  now i'm back at my hotel room and really dead tired.  so i am going to bed.

everybody's got a cousin in miami

it's the week of homie!

my brother homie is proving to be an awesome videographer.  he should really consider it as a second profession.  maybe he could be a wedding videographer.  what do you think, homie?

anyway, this is a video from when homie was in... junior high?  maybe elementary school... in any case, he is still friends with joe in the video - he was in his wedding last year.  i admire that.  i'm not really friends with anyone from elementary school.

ok, i'm on a flight and got totally distracted.  homie is awesome.  and was (and is!) super cute when he was young.  this was really fun for me to watch again and because i have no idea what i'm saying (the guy next to me is talking about flying and i'm trying to stay engaged...).

ok, enjoy.

i'm soo...

exhausted...

can't write long.  i am just too tired.  its only 8:44 on the west coast, but i am p double oh p e-d pooped!  i'm going to write super quickly about nothing really and then go to bed so i can attempt to get 8 hours of sleep.  have to get up at 5 to pick up my coworker at 7am so we can get to the office at 730 because i have a TON of things to do.  i was at work until 6pm tonight and have been running around ... sigh.  i can't even talk about it.

BUT i did go to eat with my coworker and we played lost cities.  it was fun.  i like the game and its pretty easy.

i just looked in my email for a fun video but dont have any.  why are the interwebs not making fun videos the past few days??

this is a ... something article, however.  i do not know her.  i wonder if my brothers do...

yep, thats about all i can do.

peace

more than a feeling

let's see if this works....

i'm on a plane sunday night to ca and my brother, homie, posted this video that i thought i would share.  the internet connection is kind of sketchy, so if you see this, mad props to inflight internet!

in october, one of my favorite people in the world, my dear aunt vicki, was diagnosed with breast cancer. its very scary and sad and bizarre how things change with one phone call (in this case, an email).  she had surgery on halloween to remove the tumor and her surgery was successful.  since then she has been undergoing chemo every few weeks (you can read more about her here) and will eventually undergo radiation.  even with insurance, fighting cancer is extremely difficult financially.  vicki does not have short term disability and has to take off work to go to her treatments.  my other aunt (vicki's sister) and our family organized a benefit for her.  i was not able to go due to high airline prices, but basically everyone else in my family was there.  here is a video my brother shot and edited of the event:



pretty much everyone in a team vicki tshirt is related to me (lucky them!).  a few things i thought while watching this video:
1) my sister-in-law does NOT look pregnant enough!
2) my brother homie is going to be awesome with the video camera! (thanks mom and dad for giving it to him!)
3) my other brother player is so funny - he's the one who attempts to hug vicki a foot above her head
4) its a good thing i wasn't there, surely i would have screwed up in the kitchen!
5) my family is just awesome!
6) i should PAINT something to do with breast cancer!  [mentally note: because then, even if its bad, people will still enjoy it!!]

i have some more thoughts on healthy and bc, but those will come later... for now - continue fighting!

not my lover

eek!  i'm kind of running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  wait.  is that right?  you know what i mean.  i hope.  anyway, i'm leaving today for 10 days.  just did yoga (woo hoo!) gotta shower, do laundry, pack, eat some bfast, etc.  lots to do!  and i accidentally overslept.  was up until 2am watching nikita with higgi and then slept until 8:30 and then put an eye mask on to cover the light streaming into my room.  assumed i'd sleep another half hour or so.  nope!  3.5 hrs later i woke up.  oops!  anyway, now i am rushing, so can't write long.  BUT did want to post this video for my friend anny in manila.



hope to see you soon!

state of the art

omgosh.  art is hard.  why don't people tell you that???  i suspect every person has some sort of creative bone in his or her boday - ha.  i wrote boday instead of body.  anyway, i'm sure everyone could be artistic, but many people choose not to be.  and now i know why.  its hard.

i signed up for an acrylic painting class at the bcae.  i've had two classes.  and its hard.  BUT i really like it.  so i may have found a pasttime.  !!

for the first class, i walked in not even a minute late and everyone (4 people and the instructor) were busily drawing.  drawing?? no one told me there would be drawing!  i can't draw.  drawing is hard.  doodle.  i can doodle reeeal good.  but not draw.  and besides, aren't i taking a PAINTING class??  i didnt know you had to do one to do the other.  sigh.

so i start drawing.  and she teaches us some things that we can do to test proportions and dimensions and stuff.  that was helpful.  the "sculpture" we were supposed to draw was SUPER boring.  it was a white vase with a white shell and a white saucer and a white mug and a white bowl.  the point was we were going to be painting using only white and black.  to learn about shadows.  so i draw part of the sculpture and the instructor, anna, i think, came over and helped me.  but i didnt like it.  so she said i could start over.  i so i erased it and decided to draw the spotlight that was lighting up the "sculpture."  so this is what i drew.

i actually don't think it looks that bad.  and then she tells me i can start painting.  and everyone else has moved on to painting.  and so i just sit there.  i have NO IDEA what to do.  like... i can figure out that i should pick up the paint brush.  is that one word?  paintbrush?  i guess so.  i picked up the paintbrush and just kind of LOOKED at the white and black paint she has squirted out for me.  where do i start?  do i mix?  and everyone has water at their station.  am i supposed to use water??  i had NO IDEA what to do.  i waited a few minutes for her to make her rounds again and then i was like "umm... i have never painted before.  i have no idea what to do."  she was like "oh, do you do anything artistic for work?" and i said "nope.  i sit at a desk and work on spreadsheets."  i think she finally understood.  she was dealing with a novice.  painting virgin, in fact.  she picked up the brush and put it in the water and then mixed a few colors and just kind of went with it.  she gave me some tips and i started.  it was super hard.  i mean, difficult.  it was sooo difficult.  and she kept coming by and encouraging me, complimenting me, in fact.  she then said "it looks like a graphic novel."  and i didnt really get what she meant until we put our paintings up at the end of class.  i, of course, was the asshole who didn't follow directions and painted something TOTALLY different from everyone else.  but once i stood back, i could tell it DID kind of look like a graphic drawing.  here it is.

i told my friend alissa about my class and she was like "only you would assume you could come into something and do it really well the first time."  i was like "yeah, i had NO IDEA how hard it was!"  then we had homework.  the homework was to take a painting thats already been done (something famous, most likely) and then print it in black and white and paint it.  anna actually had 4 printouts for everyone, but there were now six people in class, so i offered to find my own painting.  i looked up my famous painter, charles dwyer and found a painting that i liked.  here is a link to the actual thing at gallery m.  here is a picture of the black and white photo i printed out.

and here is what i painted.  btw, faces are super dooper hard.

so thats that for now.  i've done a few other things and will post those soon..

[new song by gotye]

i have a dream...

someday this will not be an issue...

we're black today in support of stopping sopa and pipa.

[really this just means that i didnt get my act together to put together a real post.]

online freedom!!

what would you do-o-o for a kit kat bar?

argh!  its tuesday (kind of like monday since i didnt work yesterday) and i didn't get enough done at the weekend!!!  ugh!

i was going to try to see my little tonight, but now i'm not sure i will be able to... i have painting homework (still need to write about that - der!) and will probably be at work late.  the rest of the week:  wed is painting, thur is platelets, fri is movie and dinner and sat is art class.  sun i head to the west coast for 10 days.  argh!  maybe i shouldn't do platelets this week...?  idk... i've been up for about an hour (its 630) and should have done yoga.  i think i'll go do that now and then shower and head to work.  so much to do!  so little time!!  i'd also love to clean my closet before i leave on my trip...

so this was an interesting photo.  found here.

what do you think?

also, what should i do about seeing my little this week...?

i am not your gameboy

so apparently there was a big football game on last night...?  and i am guessing the pats won, which i'm mostly indifferent about.  but this video made me laugh because i'm pretty sure i have said at least half of these things



found here.  i'm not nearly as annoying as that girl, though, right??

[song by freezepop]

make you go boom boom boom

so super quick because 1) most of the people who read this are at an event tonight and 2) the other main person who reads this as soon as things are posted (that i know of) just left me where i am...

here is a flash mob that big sisters did.  i wasnt in it because i couldnt go that day (which bums me out, i think my little would've liked it, a lot), but in the same area at the pru as the other flash mob from the other day...



ok, i'm off to be super productive and paint.  which i am going to write about soon.  i promise.

bubble pop electric

i want to learn how to do this

i've seen it a few places and i drink enough bubbly that i should be able to, right??  anyone have any idea how to start this sort of thing?  i think i need wire handle thingies.  wire twisters?  cutters?  you know those things that look like pliers.  maybe its a plier.  hmmm.

i have the wire and cap for the bottle i opened when i learned i was going to be an aunt.  that would be a cool gift for a baby, non???  its never too early to get her excited about bubbly!  ;)

[song by gwen stefani]

au milieu des autres

so last night was uber weird.  cool, too.  but weird.  i kind of had no plans and hadn't seen my little in a long time, so i called her and we made plans for that evening.  she was at her sister's house instead of her own house.  they are in the same neighborhood, but i dont know exactly where her sister lives.  so i was kind of walking aimlessly on the street until she found me.  she is so fearless in her neighborhood - as well she should be - but i am always on high guard.  i 1) clearly do not fit in around there and 2) may look like an easy target?  i'm not sure.  anyway, i picked her up and we took the bus first to copley and then got on the green line to go out to brookline (which is kind of a suburb of boston, but a very fancy one).  she showed me that she was wearing the earrings and necklace that i gave her for christmas.  apparently she wears them every day.  i was totally impressed.  i had mostly forgotten about the gift, but was also touched that she liked them so much.  she asked me if the earrings were expensive (and i must thank k for them since she gave them to me to give to my little) and i said "don't worry about it."  apparently she is allergic to certain types of silver and those don't make her earrings swell (so i think she thinks they're expensive....).

anyway, we went to this cafe in coolidge corner for game night.  the store where i buy all my board games hosts a game night every tuesday night.  i've always wanted to go but never had anyone to go with and so i dragged my little (of course i didnt tell HER i was dragging her, i told her we were going to have LOTS of fun - and we did!).  last night was family night and most tuesdays are advanced nights.  first we played this game called bag-o-loot, which was an easy card game.  it was fun.  she and i played alone because all the tables were full.  then we started this neat game of connect four that is really in a circle.  that was also pretty cool.  then the main dude asked if we'd like to play bag-o-loot with some other people and we said sure.  oh, there was a puzzle game, too that we started playing.

we went to the tables and played bag-o-loot with some other people.  when we got there i said hi to this guy who was standing by the games.  i introduced him to my little and asked if he had been there before.  he said no and pointed to some guy he was with.  i assumed the guy i was talking to was my age.  and the other guy was maybe in his 20s.  but then we played bag-o-loot with the other guy and i started thinking maybe he was... i couldnt tell if he was a teenager or if there was something wrong with him.  i had no idea.  so then it made me question how old the other guy was.  then i started to feel really old.  later, my little said she thought the guy i had talked to was a big brother.  so i think that is the case, BUT i introduced my little as "this is my little sister" and he didnt pick up and say "oh, i'm a big brother, too."  also, later in the evening he commented that i couldnt "steal from family" (when i captured some of my little's cards).

i had promised to get my little something to eat, so we went across the street to naked pizza.  it was actually a GREAT learning opportunity.  all of the signs say "no additives - natural ingredients!" and she asked what that meant.  i explained that most food has things added to them.  then we talked about how she felt most often after eating.  i asked if she felt tired and she said yes.  i explained that, most likely, its because her food has stuff in it that our bodies don't like and thats why it makes us feel tired.  i told her that she would probably feel really good after eating this pizza.  which, i just remembered i have some left!  great.  lunch is served.  anyway, i still need to teach her some manners about eating.  she was trying to stuff the food in her mouth, but it was too hot so it was falling out and it was... egh.  gross.

it was way past 9pm by this point, so we hopped on the t.  at copley, i hailed a cab and we took it to her house and i explained i would run her upstairs and be right back.  no way i was walking home at that time of night.  i got in the cab and the cabbie started asking me questions.  we chatted, which was nice, and it turns out he's algerian.  he also explained that he speaks french and i said i did, too.  so then, AFTER i had paid, i sat in the cab for at least 10 minutes talking to the guy.  in french.  and he gave me his email so i can send him an email to practice my written french.  he told me some story about a french woman who lives in brookline and was dying and gave him some money because he was nice to her and her nephew had fought for the french in the french-algerian war.  this woman's lawyer didnt like that she gave him some money, (i think over $100k), so he took the money out of the guys account.  the cabbie has now hired a lawyer to look into it to get the money back.  the whole point is that this woman's old friend back in france's name is danielle.  the whole thing was one of those situations where i'm like "why do i ALWAYS have WEIRD stories like this??"  who else sits in a cab for 10 minutes talking to their cab driver in french??  maybe this is normal, but i suspect not.

[french song by calogero translated to "in the middle of others"]

some say that we are pawns

i'm worn out.  i was at work for 15 hours yesterday.  fifteen hours.  it was tiring.  i had to go in early to do my expense reports (don't get me started) and stayed late to have a conference call at 7pm.  i got a lot done and am happy for that, but when i woke up this morning i thought "i'm ready for the weekend."  and i am.  which is funny because its not like i did anything big on the weekend!

last week was super busy.  i had an all day offsite meeting on wed.  after that we had a dinner at a restaurant that was quite good, but we were out late.  and lots of red wine.  thursday was another day of all-day meetings and then the company party.  out late again.  more red wine.  (i'm getting smart and sticking to one drink)  on friday, i had a few coworkers in town from overseas and i suggested we go for a quiet, small dinner so that the three of us wouldn't go back to our beds and sleep too early.  we ended up leaving work around 7, walking to one hotel and then here to drop things off.  then we had a drink here which made people perk up, i think.  then we went to the gallows and had delicious food and more drinks.  then we went to franklin cafe where they kicked us out at like 245.  oops.  another late night.  i was in bed on saturday until 1.  my coworkers felt much more ill than i because they finished my drink at the last place.  i, wisely, stopped.  i was forced to take a shot of fernet, though.  who actually LIKES fernet??  thats crazy.  ugh.

on saturday i saw the girl with the dragon tattoo.   i keep wanting to write dragoon.  like rangoon or something.  the girl with the dragoon tattoo.  anyway, have you seen it?  have you read the books?  i have read the first two books and seen the first two swedish movies.  this movie was way better.  its super dark and i loved the style, BUT... go with low expectations.  i'd hate for someone to expect it to be great and then be disappointed.  just plan to be entertained.  and keep in mind its dark.

sunday i didnt do much which kind of sucked.  i hate sundays.  ugh.  i did do yoga at 330, which was good and then met a coworker for dinner at stephis.  it was good and i'm glad we went out.

i have no plans tonight except tomorrow night i have class at 745, so i suspect i will try to leave work early tonight since i will be there late tomorrow.

no real other plans this week.  still need to figure out my closet, but i've gotten the main thing off my back: expense reports.  they only took me 6+ hours.  ugh.  dred.  dread, i mean.  maybe a movie.  yeah, i'd like to see another movie.

ok, gotta get to work.

no idea why, but i woke up with this song in my head:



did this song come out in the us?  it was big in france when i lived there.  no idea how it got into my head...

things that are making me happy

this video is so cool.



apparently its interactive but i dont have time to do that, so if you check it out, let me know if its fun.  i think its by the same guys who did the treadmill video.

yes, it is.  here is that video for reference


OK Go - Here It Goes Again from OK Go on Vimeo.


does anyone have their cd?  is it good?

things that are making me happy

i want to be an artist.  i want to make beautiful things.  this video is cool.  and, why didn't i think of it??



i found it on boingboing but only just now watched it.  and watching it inspired me to actually sign up for a painting class that i have wanted to take for a really long time.  i'm doing it!  so, now, every wed, i will be taking painting.  ha!  je suis une artiste!!

things to make you feel smart

i'm interested in psychology.  sometimes i just don't understand people (thanks to being an intj), but i WANT to understand.  so i read a lot of books and articles on psychology and try to understand better.  i read this book called 'games people play' to help understand people (and myself) better.  its actually a REALLY difficult read, imho, but these videos do a really good job of summarizing it.



and video 2 is here



and finally this is a summary of what to do / how to change



so what do you think of these videos?  are they interesting to you?  not?  can you see how you may be playing these games in your real life?

dream apartment

we all know i love bright pink.  i'm not really a pale pink person.  anyway, i LOVE this room.  how cool is it??  i wonder if i would ever have guts to do that... i bet that would secure my lifelong singledom if i did.  ha

found here in this cool post about color.  i'm not a huge yellow fan, BUT i love the layout and the "bookshelf" of this room.  imagine it in PINK.  how cool would that be??

things that are making me happy

while i was home, i went to a blenders concert.  i can't even begin to explain everything about the blenders. they are a group from fargo.  they were originally a cappella.  acapela.  no.  acappella?  you get what i'm saying.  back in the day when where in the world was carmen san diego rockapella was big, they were big in the midwest.  one of them (ryan) was my dance teacher in 4th grade and i would go see them wherever i could.  i LOVED them.  anyway, when i was home i saw them.  it was cool.  it was a bit more religious than my preference.  but it brought back a lot of memories and was fun.  i went with my parents and we had a nice date.

here is a video of them:


what is actually making me happy, though, is that my little brother went, too.  (with someone else) and he then sent them an email and they wrote back!  both emails are making me super happy.  so here they are:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Blenders <mail@theblenders.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 27, 2011 at 8:33 AM
Subject: Re: Hey fellas
To:

Hey,

Thanks so much for the kind words. We glad you enjoyed the show. And all of those songs you mentioned have a very special place on our hearts. Don't know if we'll be performing them anytime soon, but nice to know people are still enjoying them.

Thanks again and happy new year!

The Blenders

On Dec 15, 2011, at 11:26 PM, wrote:

Dear Blenders,

I literally just got home from your Chirstmas show over at the Fargo Theater. It was fantastic!

I'm writing you because I started listening to you guys back when i was 8 or so (maybe I was 10). You guys are an absolutely amazing harmonizing group and I love it. BUT.... I've never had the opportunity to see a concert of yours where you played all your old songs that I thought were (and still are) amazing; You, The Girl was Mine, Gray Matters, Don't Worry, Be Happy, Charlie Anyboy, Summer Sounds, Tasty Tasty Tasty, 60 Minute Man, Get Ready, Together, Drive By... I mean all of these are just awesome.

If you guys are ever going to do a concert featuring songs from your first couple albums, I will do anything I can do to see it. I think it could be a great show to have in Fargo somewhere.
(I hope it happens soon because you guys had mentioned that you almost didn't do the Christmas show this year)

Happy Holidays,

i love this picture

from here.

BREAKING NEWS

this just in  at 7:25pm ET in the city of Boston, MA, *I* have changed the path of my life forever!

its official!  i am a minister.  no joke.

Click here to get ordained.

i am a minister in the Universal Life Church which has two tenets:

To promote freedom of religion
To do what is right.

i like those!

i may have to rethink my thoughts on religion.  this is great!

two times the fun

this story on npr was really really interesting for me today.  check it out here.  its about how 45% of our day is completed out of habit (i'm totally paraphrasing) and if you change your environment or the way you do something, it should help to change the habit (and thereby help you to keep new year's resolutions).  thats a link to the written story, but you can also listen to it from that link...

the more you know....

ding ding dong diiiing...

so this is really interesting to me.  i am the first to admit - FIRST - that i don't get religion.  it just makes no sense to me.  people who believe in things that they cannot see and touch and prove scientifically... i just can't do it.  i guess i dont have faith.  there is not a part of my being that can think "THEORETICALLY" such and such... and sometimes that sucks.  because a lot of people get comfort out of religion.  believing there is something higher or more important.  i never see it.  it just makes no sense to me.  IF there is a higher being, then WHY do bad things happen?  WHY this? WHY that?  it just makes no sense.  and the whole "he's trying to test you" argument... really?  really?  REALLY??  i mean... if thats the answer, then i dont want to believe in someone/thing/whatever who/that WON'T make things right for good people.  THAT actually gives me comfort and because of that i am confident and secure in my beliefs.  anyway, this was not meant to be a religious rant.  all i wanted to say was i just don't get it.  its a character flaw.  i'm sorry (not really).  it's also one i'm not going to be working on anytime soon.

in any case, this video is REALLY INTERESTING to me.  like i said, i don't understand religion.  i have never read the bible or the koran or whatever else there is out there.  i don't care to.  but when i hear things like this, it makes me think.



what did you think of that?

follow up

player you were right - apparently fargo WAS on the list last year (at #2).  see here for an article about fargo not being on the list anymore.  but i dont understand why fargo fell completely off the list...

things that are making me happy

i'll just make a list.

1. portlandia is coming back!!!  this show is so subtle with their humor - i love it.  and if you ever want to make fun of me or other left-leaning people, you should totally watch this show.  on ifc.
2. i loved this article about love actually. it made me laugh. i love humorous writing.
3. and i love christmas movies.
4. obviously everything rg related
5. which leads you to this 
6. this little girl is so cute.  from here.  i'm sure all my friends raising kids who are fearful of them being "boxed" into a sex will love this.

1. motivation for me to keep going in yoga
2. i was very happy (/sad) to see jonathan brandis on this.  the rest were good old fun of 90s heartthrobs.  is that one word?  heart throb.  heartthrob. found here 
3. and here is a video my brothers made

dead tired

wasted day.  pity to start the new year like this.  oops!  its 730pm and i have done a whole lot of nothing today.  well, i did go out for brunch at metropolis (never been - pretty good, actually) with kc and their friends.  that was nice.  prior to that, i was in bed until 1130 or something.  elaine called and we chatted for a while.  i played some settlers on my ipad.  a whole lot of nothing, like i said.  after that, i came home and was supposed to meet my friend emily on her way to the airport, but she ended up not having time, so i have basically been half sleeping / half watching tv for the last few hours.  i need to get off my ass and do some things.  there are actually a lot of things to do.  i have to clean my closet and unpack (how long have i been saying this?? at least a month) and do expense reports and finish watching the increasingly bad decisions of todd margaret.  and i think i'll do some yoga since i'm supposed to do that basically every day.

sigh.  tomorrow i'm going to a massage at 8am - woo hoo!  and then i think i'll do my expense reports because a and d come over at 3 to hang with me.  woo hoo.  so thats the day tomorrow.  then this week will be super busy at work.  i have all day meetings multiple days and then events in the evening.  it will be exhausting.

i'm already tired.

this is an interesting story.  i dont think i am counted.