Europa Sings to All Who Hear

I am that person.

2009-12-18T15:52:19Z

You know the one. The person who wears red on Valentine's Day, green on St. Patrick's Day, and orange & black on Halloween. The one who remembers that it's Administrative Porfessionals Day. The one who brings a beach ball during the summer. The one who decorates her cubicle for every occasion. Yes, in my office, I am that annoying she.

Last night, I draped icicle lights around my cube, stuck a Santa hat on the corner, and piled small ornaments around my normal stuffed animal menagerie. Today for our holiday lunch, I am wearing a vest (yes, a vest) I made in college with poinsettias and 'Seasons Greetings' on it. And jingle bell earrings. And silver and gold. (everyone sing now!)

Fear me. Smack me. Wish you were me. (You know you do.)

:-)

Happy holidays, all!

New happy song...

2009-12-15T16:06:37Z

I just found a new happy song: Fireflies by Owl City. Lyrics below. It's silly. It's a little off. It's bouncy. It's like me!

Do you have a happy song? You know, one that just makes you grin stupidly when you hear it? I'd love to know what it is. I'm always looking for fun, upbeat pieces. Let me know in the comments...

Fireflies
-----------
Fireflies lyrics
Songwriters: Young, Adam;
You would not believe your eyes
If ten million fireflies
Lit up the world as I fell asleep

'Cause they'd fill the open air
And leave teardrops everywhere
You'd think me rude
But I would just stand and stare

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightning bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance

A foxtrot above my head
A sock hop beneath my bed
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

Leave my door open just a crack
(Please take me away from here)
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac
(Please take me away from here)
Why do I tire of counting sheep
(Please take me away from here)
When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

To ten million fireflies
I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes
I got misty eyes as they said farewell

But I'll know where several are
If my dreams get real bizarre
'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet Earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
'Cause everything is never as it seems
When I fall asleep

I'd like to make myself believe
That planet earth turns slowly
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay
Awake when I'm asleep
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams

Today...

2009-12-10T22:00:08Z

Today I wish to dance.

I won't because the CEO and my boss are here and may not appreciate butt-wiggling in the cubicle.
I won't because I had a doctor's appt before work #1, labs at lunch, and work #2 until close after work #1 and I only have much energy and time.
I won't because I'm tired and it might make me hurt more.

And all that makes me sad.

But I want to dance so I will let me soul wiggle its not-so-little butt to the iTunes in my head and hum to myself on the way to the bus between works #1 & #2.

And that will be enough for now.

HAPPY B-DAY, JAZZFISH!!!

2009-11-28T00:08:17Z

Happy birthday, dear jazzfish!

Can you believe we've known each other for about 18 years?

"What, ho, my lord?" "THAT one!"

*hugs*

P.S.

2009-11-18T18:24:07Z

The wireless access End User agreement read as such:

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT (EULA)

I promise to refrain from any hanky panky
Or anything that would make anyone get cranky.
Anything I do with this connection that is lame,
I absolve Chelsea Market et al of any blame.

Please send comments and feedback to chelseamktadmin@realityartisans.com

LOVE IT!!!!!!

In NYC!

2009-11-18T18:22:36Z

Random crazy one-day trip to New York city. We're seeing the matinee of HAIR! and eating lunch right now at a diner with wonderful gluten-free food. And it was budgeted and saved for in advance so I can actually enjoy myself. WHEEE!!!!!!

PT position achieved!!

2009-11-17T17:44:48Z

Through some crazy, random happenstance, I managed to get a great PT position!

SW & I went on a double date with my cousin & her gf this Sunday. Her gf wanted to paint pottery. Since that's pricey (for me), SW & I agreed to split a piece to cut costs. (We painted this adorable gecko. It's going to be so cute.)

We went to a place in Adams Morgan I'd never been to, and I paint pottery much more than I should. It must be new, within the past few years. It's right across the street from DCAC and I'd never noticed it beforehand.

Anyway, we painted for about two hours, and then we apologized profusely to the woman working there since it was now after closing time. (To our credit, at least we seemed to care about this fact. The other table showed no sign of letting this woman go home any time soon.) I cleaned up the table while she checked out SW and my cousin.

On a whim, I asked her if they were hiring. She said they weren't. Apparently they hire all their workers near the end of the summer for the fall/winter seasons. Sadness. So we left.

Then yesterday my cell phone rings. It's the woman from the pottery place. Apparently one of their workers just gave notice. She said that I'd been very friendly and she'd noticed that I was a good painter (I preen a little now, since my visual art skills are...well, there's a reason I act in front of folks instead of sell my sketches or sculptures). And would I still be interested in working there? WOOT!

I asked some questions and eagerly said YES! Alright, in reality, I said YES and then asked the questions, but I did ask how much it paid, when I should expect to work, and such.

I'm really looking forward to it. I get to be creative, interact with people, sit down occasionally, and make gifts in the process of earning a little bit extra. I start Saturday, 12pm-6pm, for training. Yippee! For once, being my normal self got me something besides a pat on the head or being taken advantage of. YAY!

The Blade closes?!?!?

2009-11-16T18:48:11Z

Apparently the parent company of the Washington Blade, DC's largest and most well-known gay newspaper, folded this weekend and closed all its publications today. That's at least five major metropolitan areas that are losing their main source of queer-related news...and no more Blade.

My sweetie picked up the Blade every Friday. If ze wasn't headed downtown, I picked it and brought it home. We found our relator in the Blade; we still have the paper where our house was advertised. Granted gay men are not really buying in our neighborhood, but it was there!

The other gay publication in town is not nearly as news-heavy and it's almost entirely geared towards gay men.

It hurts my heart and pisses me off that the has to happen and has to happen as the marriage "debate" comes to the district.

F*ck.
-------------------------------------------------
As my sweetie said, more eloquently than I could:

For all its faults, this is very sad. The "Washington Blade's" website is giving consistent Page Load Errors, so they don't even appear to be online anymore -- or their site is overwhelmed with hits as the news of their closure spreads. I've been a regular reader of the "Blade" for all 14-1/2 years i've been in DC and have had several op-eds published by them. If they can't find another "home," they will be truly missed.

The "Blade" has been on my kitchen table as my meal-time reading almost every week for going on 15 years. I relied on them for both national and local LGBT news -- although they were often light on the T and the B was usually completely invisible. I don't want to eat dinner over a laptop. And i can't imagine how i'm going to cobble together local LGBT news now. And with a looming marriage equality fight here in the District, this is going to be a serious problem. The "Blade's" ability to disseminate information and analysis about what was going on really did help link its readers to the community.

Fortunately, Facebook has become a fantastic political organizing tool. But not everyone is here. And it's just not the same as sitting down to read a community newspaper....

I am very sad for me and all of us today.
-----------------------------------------

europasings @ 2009-11-06T14:50:00

2009-11-06T19:51:57Z

So if you were me, where would you apply for seasonal employment? I definitely need some cash and this seems like a possible, if not good, short term solution.

View Poll: Seasonal

Book Musings

2009-10-22T18:52:51Z

I used to love choose your own adventure books. My childhood was spent reading them, Encyclopedia Brown, and Cam Jensen books. This explains a lot. I've always loved mysteries and puzzles. I never really cared for the older Nancy Drews (she was too girly for me), but I did get into the Nancy Drew-Hardy Boys mash-ups in high school. (Frank & Nancy even kissed in one!) As well as the Sweet Valley Twin Thrillers & Christopher Pike books. Mysteries while scaring myself. R.L. Stine wrote some good ones too. I never really got into Stephen King, though. Too scary. But my first serious boyfriend and I did write a story with an version of It in it: Itt. We were so creative. Snort.

What books defined you as a child and why?

bad theatre

2009-10-10T23:18:40Z

It's been a long time since I've been to a theatre show that I didn't know someone in. I wish it had been a while longer. However, if I'd known someone in the show I saw Thursday night, I would have had a better idea about what I was about to see even if I'd have to find something positive to say about it.

I am not posting the name of the show & theatre online because everyone deserves a creative outlet. I merely wish I had not been one to see this specific outlet.

In short, it was a trainwreck. You name an aspect of a theatrical production, and there was something wrong or VERY wrong with it. To start with, the audience was on three sides, but the lights had not been focused properly. I couldn't look at the stage without staring DIRECTLY into a stage light. This may have been a blessing in disguise though.

The acoustics sucked, but then the music was really loud and the greek choruses weren't speaking together when they were supposed to be so that didn't help.

The costumes...ah. My 6th grade production of THE TEMPEST used the same sheets, I'm sure. At least in 6th grade the sheets stayed on. This production would benefit from a few large boxes of safety pins.

The choreography had clearly been taught to them and not really retained. Especially at the end. That last dance looked a bit like tourists fleeing the mall after the 4th of July fireworks ended: jumbled together, completely lost, and sort of horrifying to watch.

But the worst part, sadly, was the acting or lack thereof. There was one male who had obvious had some training. I could understand almost everything he said and he held himself like he'd been on stage before. I couldn't say the same for just about anyone else. They wandered aimlessly around the set. None of them were comfortable in their sheets (not surprising). And some of them had parts where they we supposed to dance sexily. I tell you, me flopped on a sofa in sweatpants & T-shirt is more sexy than these poor young women trying to look alluring. The most compelling part was when one girl standing to the side, adjusted her halter top when she thought no one was looking.

Still, the most painful moment occurred when the eldest female (mid-50s maybe) went up on one of her speeches. It's happened to all of us, I know. It sucks. But you skip ahead, improvise, or pray to the theatre gods the someone will cover for you. None of that happened. The poor woman went up in the middle of the speech and couldn't go on. She repeated the line she remembered several times. The third time afterwards she said, "Oh dear." (I kid you not) The fourth time, she said, "I can't remember." After the fifth time, everyone just stood quietly. Almost the entire cast is onstage at this point. There is no distinctive characters (at all really). Anyone could have said this line or the next one or SOMETHING. I stared at the program in my lap and prayed for the pain to be over. Finally, the sound guy turned on the scene change music and everyone wandered offstage.

The show ran 1 hr 45 min. with no intermission. I apologized to my sweetheart about 80 times for suggesting we see it. At least we hadn't paid for the tickets.

Bad, bad theatre. No biscuit.

30 Days

2009-09-17T18:06:30Z

I am woefully behind on my 30 days for this site. I've better at the food, but still not great. Ah well.

Day 10-14 Food
10: Quinoa
11: Olive Oil
12: Tapioca
13: Shrimp
14: Fage Yogurt

Day 10-14 Things I like...

10: Animals,specifically my pets
I like animals and, for the most part, they like me. Dogs, cats, rabbits, squirrels, lizards, etc. I especially like domestic furry creatures that snuggle up to you when you are feeling really sick, like Apollo did last night when I was feeling so sick to my stomach I couldn't open my eyes or sit up. Dogs never care if you've had a crappy day; they want to be with you regardless.

11: Puns
I know this may open myself up for some craziness, but I do love puns. I used to have a whole host of jokes memorized who punch lines were puns (e.g., "I left my harp in Sam Clam's Disco," "Transporting young gulls across sedated lions for immoral porpoises," etc.). But the ones that I really enjoy are the witty, off-the-cuff groaners that some folks can come up with.

12: Photoshop
I think Photoshop is one of the greatest programs ever, for me at least. I have all the images in my head, but my drawing skills are crap. My art classes were experiences in fun mediocre, crafts, not the beauty I saw in my head. And then came Photoshop! It made it 20,000 times easier to take what I saw out of my head and show other people or just save it for myself.

13: Nailing a callback
I'm sure this has probably shown up on many other lists, but it belongs on mine too. Obviously doing well at an audition is key to getting to the callback, but I love leaving a callback feeling like you owned the character.

14: Feeling healthy
Not something I've done in a really long time, but I do like feeling healthy. Pain is not fun. Aching is not fun. Falling asleep at my desk and then being wide awake at 1am is not fun.

Day 9: Brown Rice & Karaoke on MySpace

2009-09-10T03:10:45Z

Day 9: Brown Rice ('cause I'm already running out of ideas...)
http://celiacsings.blogspot.com

Day 9: Karaoke on MySpace

I have regressed. Or I would have regressed if they had had such things when I was in HS...or JHS...or ES. Oh heck: or in college.

They have karaoke on MySpace. http://karaoke.myspace.com. This is so embarrassingly addictive. It can record you: audio AND video. I did a trial run. It's awful, but fun at the same time. Kind of like those horrifying auditions on reality performance shows (like the one that opened Season 6 of SYTYCD tonight - weird!).

I will definitely have to limit my time on the site. And that's truly sad to type, folks.

I think I will go start my own collection of terrible karaoke...because I can. Belinda Carlise, anyone?

Day 8: Eggs & Sleep

2009-09-09T03:36:30Z

Day 8: Eggs, http://celiacsings.blogspot.com
(Joined a cool resource today - social networking for celiac folks: http://www.glutenfreefaces.com/)

Day 8: Sleep
Actual restful sleep. Sleep of many dreams. Sleep, where you wake up and feel refreshed like you have recharged your internal battery. Sleep like I haven't had in a number of years.

Sleep like I hope to get tonight and know I won't. Sigh. Sleep is good. I like sleep.

Day 7: Corn & Sex

2009-09-08T03:19:36Z

Day 7: Corn
http://celiacsings.blogspot.com

Day 7: Sex
It's a great way to spend an afternoon, an evening, a morning, or a few stolen minutes here and there.

Day 6: Herbs & Paths

2009-09-06T17:34:55Z

Day 6 of food I can eat: Fresh Herbs
http://celiacsings.blogspot.com/

Day 6 of things I like: Walking in the woods

I've always been a nature girl, but the older I get the more I appreciate walking through the woods. Hiking is fine, but carries with it a connotation (for me, at least) of lengthy, more strenuous treks, often with a specific goal in mind, whereas walking is a meandering journey at a more leisurely pace.

I love discovering a new path in the woods. In this one quadrant of Fort Dupont Park, I've mapped almost all of the trails. I even found this beautiful, abandoned trestle bridge. It is no longer attached to any recognizable path. Which is good since a very large tree has severed it about 2/3rds of the way across the gully. I hopped across the stream and tried to find where it had led, but the complete lack of use had lost the path to time.

I often take Apollo with me to the woods on the weekends. He gets a nice long walk and plenty of scents to fill his dreams for weeks. I get a companion who still lets me enjoy the solitude. We've never seen another walker or another dog in the heart of the woods. Only the occasional wild turkey, deer, or excessively noisy cicada.

What I do see a ton of around the edges of the park is trash. Tons and tons of trash. It hurts my soul, the amount of shit dumped there. I could furnish a house with it, and often daydream about what type of dwelling I could construct with the detritus chucked in the park. There's plenty of plywood and building materials. A fridge. A toilet. A 1950s stove. There are a couple of mattresses and at least half a dozen TVs. Plastic chairs, buckets, even a computer monitor. Today I saw a crushed up stroller.

I wish folks thought about what their carelessness was doing to the park. Eventually there will be nothing left, but a landfill called Ft. Dupont.

Day 4 & 5

2009-09-05T15:21:46Z

Day 4 & 5 of food: Almonds & Salmon
http://celiacsings.blogspot.com

THINGS I LIKE

Day 4: Flowers

One of the most beautiful photos I ever took was up on Prince Edward's Island (and it wasn't the one of my sister posing with the :Home of Anne of Green Gables license plate). There were fields and fields of Queen Anne's Lace. Absolutely gorgeous! I made my sister sit surrounded by them. I have the photo on my desk at work.

I also love having fresh flowers around my house. They brighten everything and usually come associated with some special event or play. I can't have really strongly scented flowers, but roses & carnations & baby's breath & sunflowers & gerber daisies & so many others are lightly scented and still as gorgeous.

Day 5: Stumbling across a perfect present and having it be affordable

I'm often on the look out when I shop for gifts for family or friends. That way I could have a unique gift and also not have to purchase all of my holiday gifts in a 4-week period.

Day 3: Chicken & Backrubs

2009-09-03T22:24:55Z

Day 3 of Foods I can eat: Chicken
Read post here - http://celiacsings.blogspot.com/

Day 3 of Things I like: Backrubs

Both giving AND receiving!! I have always been a touchy-feely person, but HS was the high point. We used to pile on each other, give each backrubs in the auditorium lobby, and generally have as much human contact as possible. The first semester of college was horrific for me without that (and for a few other reasons).

I often find that theatre folks are like my high school friends. When I go for a while without being involved in a theatre production, part of the stir craziness I get is the lack of physical contact, even in passing. Not sexual, just human.

30 Days of things I like

2009-09-02T17:04:48Z

I'm going to go with things I like on this blog and do my food items from here on at: http://celiacsings.blogspot.com/

Day 2: (going out on a limb and not filtering--crazy folks!)
The look in someone's eyes when they find you attractive for the first time.

[I feel ridiculous typing that, but it was the first thing I thought of yesterday and I didn't write it then. Still since we're all going out on our proverbial limbs, I put it up there and am not filtering.]

This is frighteningly close to the "secretary" or "librarian syndrome". You know, she takes off her glasses or lets down her hair and suddenly she's gorgeous. I don't really mean that type of reaction. Don't get me wrong. It can be flattering to have someone who previously hadn't noticed your physical appearance find you in a specific outfit or at a specific moment attractive.

But what I'm talking about is the moment where that one person who has been totally oblivious to you, finally take a look at you and actually sees you as someone worth dating/kissing/sleeping with/whatever floats your boat instead of just chillin' with. Someone that's not just a "friend".

I'll admit I have very little experience eliciting that moment. I am permanently in the "friend" category, which certainly didn't help my sanity when I was dating. Now it's just fine.

But then I really have no experience with the "secretary" moment either so maybe I'm not differentiating between them well enough. Is there a difference? Maybe it's purely on a perception thing on your side.

Regardless, I really like that moment.

30 Days of europa-friendly Food

2009-09-02T16:07:16Z

Day 2: Millet

I was planning on cooking something else this morning, but I ran across the millet instead. Here's my made-up recipe for the day...

Millet & Pan-cooked Corn

2 3/4 + 1/4 cups water
1 + 1 tablespoons corn oil
1 cup uncooked millet
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
Kosher sea salt with no dextrose added - to taste
Pepper - to taste

Put 2 3/4 cups water, 1 Tbsp corn oil, & a little salt in a pot. Bring to a boil. Add millet & cover. Simmer for 25 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes. 5 minutes after the millet is done, put other Tbsp of corn oil, 1/4 cup water & a little salt into a skillet. Heat up and added frozen corn. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add millet to corn in skillet, stirring together. Millet will soak up the water/oil/corn "juice" mixture. Once thoroughly mixed, scoop onto plate and serve!

30 Days of things I like (too)

2009-09-01T22:06:12Z

I think I'll try to do both of these.

Day 1: Getting to the parking garage at 10:03am and having the guys give you a discounted ticket time-stamped before 10am. I love these guys!

30 Days of Food I Can Eat

2009-09-01T22:04:43Z

I don't know that I'll be able to come up with 30 items, but I thought it would be fun to try. I may still try something more moving, but this will be useful too.

Day 1: Sesame - oil & seeds

I had them today. Something flavorful that won't kill me. YAY!

30 days of something...

2009-09-01T21:49:31Z

I love rosered's idea of 30 days of posting about something. I just can't decide what to post about. Things I like? Things I dislike? Plays? Friendships? Important moments?

hmmm...I better come up with something before I leave for rehearsal...

Why FedEx can kiss my ass

2009-08-14T15:36:49Z

Here's the thing: when someone buys a TV in Fiji with your credit card, the credit card company usually acknowledges that it's probably not you, what with no airline ticket purchase to Fiji and no other expenditures to indicate that you are traveling to Fiji with the express purpose of purchasing a flat-screen TV.

So when someone ships a package from DC to FL while you are at a conference in CA using your FedEx account number, and you have the airline tickets to prove you were not present in DC, you might expect a similar capitulation from the shipping company. You would be wrong, if you shipped it with FedEx.

FedEx says, "Sucks to be you. It's your account. You owe us the $$$. We don't care that you weren't even in the same time zone as the shipping location that day. It's near where you live. You must have done it. Give us money. Oh, and even though you weren't working the day the second package was shipped and were instead in northern Montgomery County buying a car, we don't believe you and you need to pay for that one too."

I'm on my third phone call, on hold waiting to talk to my fourth FedEx person, explaining YET AGAIN, that they will not be getting money from me, that I want my account closed so I never have to deal with this crap again, and that I think it's ridiculous for them to want payment when I clearly wasn't the one who shipped it. AND they can't tell much about the package except that it was shipped to Tampa, FL (or Walnut Creek, CA exactly two months later...I guess since the account number worked so well the first time...). They can't say how much it weighed, to whom it was shipped, or the actual name written on the shipping label. 'Cause it wasn't mine, account number or no.

[UPDATE]
Apparently the people you need talk with are in the Management Assistance division. After explaining everything again ("I'm the Hulk. I'm the Hulk. I'm the Hulk." - Mike Bribiglia) and indicating that I thought they were idiots for not following up on a clear security breach, the man on the other finally removed the charges and closed my account.

I should feel vindicated. I guess I am a little. But mostly, I'm pissed that it happened in the first place, that it took me four people to find someone who didn't think I was lying to them, and that I have a headache from this whole fiasco. Grr.

Owie!

2009-08-11T15:46:43Z

I think I sprained the crap out of my left baby toe this morning. I was the walking dead at 6am when the dog wanted out and the cats needed food. The idea of walking through the wall instead of the door frame seemed like a...well, if not a good idea, it must have seemed at least feasible idea to part of my body.

My poor toe hurts when I walk. It hurts when I'm sitting. It just plain hurts. Wah. /whine

Is there anything you can do for a sprained toe like this? There's nothing really to tape it to...