But enough about you

Syd has not been enjoying the thunderstorms. Yesterday, as a particularly strong clap made our house shake, he ran away and when I went to look for him, I found him sitting in loaf position in the bathtub.

Awww. Poor guy.

um..
um..
hmm.


i dont know a thing. i feel like someone just told me everything i knew about numbers and math was misleading. and then asked me to solve an equation.

its all very weird, a major paradigm shift but i keep trying to tell myself dealing with a small amount of confusing reality is probably a lot better than being happy with grand delusions.


the outernet is soooo complicated.

I upgraded Ubuntu on my decTOP, the server that I got when tithonium bought a set of four to get the 4-pack discount.

It was only slightly interesting. ( I was only briefly running Gutsy, but Hardy seems happy. )

I don't actually recommend new decTOPs at this point, except for people really like the ruggedized case or really care about it being as cheap as possible, primarily because the decTOP has only USB1 and no builtin Ethernet, though it does come with a USB-Ethernet dongle. Newer options are out there that have the nice low-power characteristic and actually have USB2 and Ethernet built in. I'll try to edit this entry soonish with one I've heard of (which, sadly doesn't have complete Linux drivers yet).

First and foremost, I'll be throwing an official house-warming party on Saturday, July 12th from 8p to 4a. More details to come, but for now consider yourself forewarned. No theme this time, just bring your awesome.

Second, while the new place doesn't have much of a view it is perfectly situated for the fireworks show. I'm not planning on anything formal, but feel free to stop by on Friday evening. We'll have the barbeque fired up, the fridge stocked and there's plenty of street parking. [Map].

Don't dip your fingertips in bacon grease that's at cooking temperature.  Just don't. 

I've had my fingertips in ice water now for an hour or two.  They start hurting again maybe 15 seconds after I pull them out.  I hope the wine kicks in soon. 

I hate typing with one hand. 

so i fucked up he fucked up we fucked things up.. and there is no us.

but theres this part of me that hopes every night he'll crawl in bed. and im really scared that one day i wont have that feeling anymore.

im not ready for this much disillusionment.

ive been living in a make believe world.

which would almost be okay, except the one person i thought i had was never really there with me.

Lisbon is very hot, but very very cool.

Having a great time in Portugal. The first event, last night, drew an overflow crowd. My apologies to all those who had to stand, but thanks for staying. The warmth and hospitality of my hosts and my Portuguese readers will be something I will long remember.

We have another Lisbon signing this evening, and have added a fourth event, for Thursday, this one in Porto.

Haven't posted for a while. Things have been busy.

I got layed off last week which is lame but I'm making due. With unemployment and odd jobs, I can last 5-6 months without having to panic. Of course, that's assuming that NOTHING goes wrong like my car breaking down, I get really sick, etc. so send whatever hopeful thoughts you can muster to the deity of your choice for me. :-)

Chris and I are well. Things are strong and I feel loved and happy and gleeful when I see his hot scruffy face. Mmm...

I'm going to Canada to visit Eric and Leah at their beach cottage next week. In true Lippert fashion, Eric and Leah gave me an airline ticket. This whole unemployment thing has me watching my pennies VERY carefully, so a ticket to Toronto was out of the question. But then when I talked to Eric, we realized that it's unlikely that I'd ever have enough vacation in the near future and that if I wanted to go, I should go now. I'm hoping to do some sort of work trade with him to at least pay him back for part of it.

Played some DnD tonight but had a power failure around 9:30. All these things going on in my brain are making me very energy poor.

So yes, Canada next week. Palm Springs the first week in August. And then Burning Man (still not 100% confirmed). With all this...how did I ever find time to have a JOB?!

oh yeah. favorite people of the night award goes to my friends.  no matter how far i dig myself into my emo selfpity hole, they manage to coax me up a rope (whoooooot for bad 1am metaphors)


honestly, i have a handful of genuinely amazing friends, a job i love, and an amazing apartment.  and at my age, in this city, i think that trifecta is a pretty amazing feat.


maybe this is all the happy i get, maybe its silly to worry about heartbreak when i have so much to be thankful for.

something needs to turve.

I fled downstairs at 6 a.m. due to many p.m. wakeups. ("Mommy, why do I see a monster in my closet?") rojonoir woke me up at 8 a.m., and I realized in a panic that I'd have to hustle to make the 10 a.m. Music Together class. I would have been on time, but I discovered at the last minute that Oliver was not walking. (He had fallen down and scraped his knees the day before.) I carried him to the car and to the Music Together class, where he sat around depressed while others danced. (Megan, dressed as a fairy, was in top form, holding my hands and laughing hysterically.)

I decided to make a doctor's appointment and canceled the afternoon play date. Megan fell asleep on the way home from Music Together, transferred to the couch, and woke just long enough to fall asleep on the floor, still in her fairy costume.




Oliver listened to books on tape until I joined him, at which point we spent twenty minutes watching the clock go around and discussing how it worked.

I carried Oliver out to the car for the doctor's and then put him in the stroller. The doctor said, "Wow, he's the second kid I've seen today who's come in a stroller because he won't walk!" He diagnosed Oliver with soreness and a case of worry, then prescribed a bath. Oliver recovered just in time to get hyper for bedtime. I sang lullabies to keep the rage at bay while he drooled toothpaste down his chin. Bed happened eventually. rojonoir came home. (That is the happy ending to all my crazy days.)

Two of the ten Republican sponsors of a new proposed constitutional ammendment to save straight people from the horrors of monogamous gay people living together in the suburbs happen to be none other than Senators Craig and Vitter.

Senator Craig recently plead guilty to propositioning a cop for anonymous gay sex in an airport restroom.

Senator Vitter recently admitted to repeatedly patronizing a prostitute that happens to be a look-a-like for his wife and is apparently more open-minded about his diaper fetish.

The other eight are apparently more discreet.

From http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SJ00043:@@@P

S.J.RES.43
Title: A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage.
Sponsor: Sen Wicker, Roger F. [MS] (introduced 6/25/2008) Cosponsors (9)
Latest Major Action: 6/25/2008 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. COSPONSORS(9), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)

Sen Allard, Wayne [CO] - 6/25/2008
Sen Brownback, Sam [KS] - 6/25/2008
Sen Craig, Larry E. [ID] - 6/25/2008
Sen Enzi, Michael B. [WY] - 6/26/2008
Sen Inhofe, James M. [OK] - 6/25/2008
Sen Roberts, Pat [KS] - 6/25/2008
Sen Shelby, Richard C. [AL] - 6/25/2008
Sen Thune, John [SD] - 6/25/2008
Sen Vitter, David [LA] - 6/25/2008

There we were, driving down Lake City Way, malafrena, myself, and the kids. I see Chicka Latte, one of those new fangled PG-13 strip clubs in a drive-up coffee booth that lovestohateyou has mentioned a couple times, and point it out to malafrena. Considering that it's about 50 feet from Ricks, I suspect the owners know what they're doing and find it odd that the employment page on the Chicka Latte site doesn't say anything about only hiring 18+.

Anyway though, we had an almost-but-not-quite-enough censored chat about the Chicka Latte - "Oh, that makes sense with a name like that." "Really? It makes me think of that fast food place, Chick-Fil-A." "Eeww chicken flavored lattes." Somehow we let it slip about people serving coffee in their underwear which got the kids interested.

Then the kids switched to knock-knock jokes.

The Boy: "Knock Knock"
Me: "Who's there?"
The Boy: "Chicken flavored bomb"
Me: "Chicken flavored bomb, who?"
The Boy: "Chicken flavored bomb, YOU!"
Both kids: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Both grownups: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Whew!  It was a whirlwind weekend here at Chez Mew, and in true Kristen format I still managed to get a few naps in.  Heh.  Friday night Matt was exhausted after work, so Rosalie and I left him home to rejuvinate while we headed down to Alki with some friends to drink and watch the sun go down.  After many hours of laughter, running amok, and tasty beverages we were ready to head back home.  I have not ever spent time on Alki before, even though I've lived in Seattle for 17 years.  It really is a lovely place, especially over in the grassy area at the end where we were some of the few people populating it.  The sandy areas were crammed full of people, so we avoided those like the plague.

Saturday was Rosalie's last full day in town while Matt was around, so we got up and had a family outing to Bainbridge Island.  We enjoyed a delightful voyage on the ferry and up on arrival we headed immediately out to the Bainbridge Vineyards and Winery for wine tasting.  Oh man, do they make a good wine over there, and they are the only winery in Western WA that grows their own grapes!  We tasted everything for $3 apiece, and then bought a case of whites to drink on the hot sunny days that seem to permeate our summer months here these days.  Yum!  Afterwards we went for some lunch at a place that had amazing food, but the crappiest service I've seen in a long, long, LONG time.  Not only did I tip them nothing, I actually went so far as to write "worst service ever" on the receipt of my credit card statement.  I highly recommend you avoid the Winslow Way Cafe if you're out in that area, unless you have almost two hours to sit around and wait for food to arrive. 

After the Bainbridge ferrry back home, I took a nap and then met up with Leya to go to the Wildrose.  We hung out there, drank beer and ate burgers, and then went to the dyke march for a while, where I ran into my ex, Maxx, who I haven't seen in quite some time.  It's always fun to see people who were a large part of your life so long ago, and it looks like she is doing really well, which makes me happy.  After marching for a bit, Leya, Amy, Dasha and I decided to go to my house and drink and play Apples to Apples, which was great fun.  After that I went to sleep and they headed to the Madison Pub.  Later, Matt and Rosalie picked up Leya from the pub and brought her back home to me.  Mmmm..!

Sunday morning Matt left to fly to Texas and I was in a house with two VERY HUNGOVER women so R stayed home for the day, and Leya and I headed to the Pride parade downtown.  After watching -most- of the parade, we caught the monorail over to Seattle Center, ran into a few exes of ours, and enjoyed the Pride Festival for a bit.  I have to say, Pride seemed so much more meaningful to me back in the early 90's when we still didn't have discrimination protection on as many levels as we do now, and it felt so much more commercial this year than it did when I used to go.  I wonder if I am just old, old and jaded, or just jaded?

Anyway, after a quick bus ride home, Rosalie, Leya and I headed over to the zoo to see Indigo Girls with our friends Rebecca and Paul.  We ate splendid food from Whole Foods, got hot and sweaty and sang while it was a whomping 80 degrees and sunny, with a light breeze.  There were no issues falling asleep when we returned home, even with the condo at a sweltering 85 degrees.  I think I could have fallen asleep in an oven by that point.

Today was a trip to the eyeglasses store because Rosalie can't seem to locate her glasses, and then we went to the zoo again.  This time to see the animals instead of hot lesbians.  After nearly 4 hours of traipsing about the zoo we all felt like wilted lettuce and have just returned home.  The original plan was to have tasty cheesy chicken soup, but a bagful of ice and some chilled salad sounds more appealing to be honest.  We'll see.

Hope you are all finding spectacular ways to stay cool in this heat.  I admit I'm a native, and when it gets above 75 I start melting.  Whew!

I think I started to post this poll a few months ago, but got carried away and the question got lost in the process. The topic is the adjective "cute" as opposed to "hot" (or "sexy").

Poll #1213874
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Someone says you're "cute". What's your response?*

On a scale of "cute" (1) and "hot" (10) where would you put yourself?

What percentage of the time do you get called "hot" (or the equivelent) - as opposed to cute? 100 means that nobody ever says you're cute.

And, just for fun, on a scale of 1-10 how attractive are you?

* Assume it's someone you either like or find attractive. E.g., it's not creepy, lecherous, inappropriate, whatever. Also assume it's genuine.

dont hitachis have some magic eight year warranty?

is that something i made up? 

(Some Like It Hot (1959))

Mowing the lawn, whacking the weeds, edging, fixing the backyard gates. Just give me a goddamn cloud or two.

Too much work, too much heat, but we did have some fun. We had a nice family bike ride in the shade (yes!!!) in Ravenna park. The boy is still learning how to use the coaster brakes, so we had to be careful on the hill since he hadn't done hills yet. I remember being 5, barreling down the hill in front of my house, feet sticking straight out sideways - it was all good until a car pulled out, blocking the sidewalk. I stopped in time, though not sure how. I just remember lying on my back somewhere near my bike, blood oozing out my elbow, knee, and shoulder. Yeah, maybe avoid that with the next generation.

Anyway, great fun sitting on a bench by the stream watching the kids run back and forth, playing pooh sticks on the bridge. In the shade!

Some work on setting up a virtual meeting for a regional organization I'm part of - IM wins, I think.

I watched St. Trinians. Not bad. The whole anarchist caricature was a bit much, with almost no substance, but still a bit of fun, complete with zany heist. Oh, and this song from the soundtrack, another obscure nod to more revolutionary underpinnings - Sophie Ellis Bextor - If I Can't Dance:


The red and black dresses are a nice touch.

An old high school friend got back in touch with me. She had been my best friend, but time and distance and religion separated us. (She is LDS, and I joined the church only to leave it later, which is much worse than if I hadn't ever joined it at all. She never ever once said anything to me or in any way made me feel like she thought less of me, but I felt uncomfortable anyway.)

We talked on the phone and had a decent, if groping, conversation. Somehow I have forgotten (if I ever knew?) how to have proper conversations with people I don't already know intimately. Like I would get to a point in the conversation where I would think, "Oh, shit, I don't know what to say!" and she would say, "So how are your parents," and I'd think, "Oh, right, that's what normal people, who have conversations, do in conversations."

We dodged all the things that were too hard to say. She said that she thought kindergarten would be an adjustment for her son (who hasn't even been to preschool), and I knew as a mom that she was scared for him, but she couldn't say it and, according to the rules as I guessed them, I couldn't either. I told only the very whitewashed version of my family, including an outright lie, that my mom likes where she's living. I kicked myself afterward. Why lie?

She was my best friend, and I shared with her parts of myself that most people would think are too silly or sentimental to be shared. (I have two Madame Alexandar dolls on a shelf in my office, and she knows exactly what they mean to me, and they mean exactly the same thing to her.) So we touched on those in the conversation. I think that we both knew that whoever we were back then was still in us.

It's just weird that it's all so far away. I've had so many life experiences since then that those are fairly buried, even though they were so important then, and still are, really.

How does a person hang on to all the things that were, and are, in their lives?

I bit the bullet on Friday and signed a 2-year lease on the Greenwood space. 1300 sq ft, with 30' ceilings! And another 300 sq ft of stretching space for good measure.

I went there tonight after class with a few of my students and a fellow instructor and all were very excited about it. It's starting to feel real!