Confusing!

So, I think I mentioned that I've always believed I was Irish (with a little Scott)/Native, Croatian/black.

And here is the thing, I look Croatian to actual Croatians.
I don't look black.
I don't look particularly Native (though I am going prematurely gray).
And I don't look very Irish.

















See, Croatian. Right? (Also, sidenote: Does my head look small to you too?) (Second sidenote: Isn't it nice that the picture cuts off right before any dangerous cleave sightings? That dress was too plungy and in every other picture it was like "Oh, there's me and Mebbie and Righty." Good times.)

Well, apparently my whole life my Mom had merely guesstimated and as it turns out I'm actually Romanian.

Shit, you guys. I don't know what Romanians even look like. I don't know a single Romanian. I know many Croatians and they look like me.

I have been in Croatian-drag for nearly 3 decades.

I am cognisant that the difference between one former Axis nation and the other is something like the distance in miles from Reno to Seattle.

But having grown up with essentially no racial identity, I really really have none now. With so little to call my own, I'm going to miss Croatian me.

Kamen, Kamen, Kamen! All Kamen; All the Time!

I don't want you guys thinking that all I do is sit around all day and Google (RAWR) Dean Kamen. But there is a lengthy and very interesting article about Dean Kamen in the Telegraph:
Dean Kamen: part man, part machine.

I'm pretty sure which part is the machine. (RAWR!)

Interesting (to me) niblet:
Kamen did spend nearly eight years sharing his home with a girlfriend he met in 1994, but now lives alone. He's decided that he doesn't want to have a family: 'I would rather not be married than ever risk failing at that. It's not like failing at a project: pick yourself up, do another project. But if you have kids and you fail as a father... that's an unrecoverable failure in my mind. I wouldn't want that to happen.'

I think it is a little sad that a guy who takes so many risks and is focused on making products that are needed, but will make him little money (i.e. water and electricity for developing nations) is scared of that risk. On the other hand, perhaps Kamen just knows his strengths and weaknesses.

At any rate, I'm pretty sure that the important thing is that Dean Kamen is single.

Dean,

We don't have to get married. All this girl needs is robot penguin bartenders to serve me perfect martinis. I will accept adorable robots in lieu of marital commitments. (Still single! Tell your friends! But only if they are geniuses! With their own islands!)

Hugs!
q.

Additionally, as I had always suspected, Kamen does wear the same outfit all the time. Thanks, Telegraph! Your article contained exactly the two pieces of information in which I was most interested.

Word of the day: Upset

Upset, (ˌ)əp-ˈset: emotionally disturbed or agitated

Example: Quiana was so 'upset' when her temporary crown broke in half at dinner tonight that she could not finish her cannoli.

See also: 'angry with the world', 'pissed', and 'hurty faced'.

Here is where I blather about nothing:

1. Jim and I started watching Valentine. On the CW… with the Greek gods… starring the stalkery girlfriend from Dexter…. Is anyone watching this? Anyone? Just us. Great.
If you like fun, you should watch this show. If you don’t like fun, there is always ER. (Zing!)

2. Halloween approaches and I am stoked. My costume is 90% complete, so that is excitement right there. Now we just have some baking and decorating left. Mmmmmmmm baking (and the required taste testing).

3. I am throwing myself into winter hibernation mode with abandon. Yesterday (pretty much the whole day) I watched TV and drank delicious egg nog. (I know it is early, but it is Monica’s fault for having it last Saturday.) I am enjoying sweatpants and the nestlike bean bag chair. Winter beverages and winter foods. Hooray for cold weather! Hooray for staycation! Hooray for overzealous beverage companies that sell egg nog before Halloween!

4. I think all my blog friends hate me as it seems that so few people are updating their blogs. With all this lack of blog reading time I suppose I could invest in blog writing. Hmmmmmmm….

5. I am wondering about my fascination with Don Draper (RAWR) in Mad Men and why he is so attractive and feeling as though these rawr thoughts are the kind that a good Bryn Mawr feminist should not think. On the other hand, Don's wife is a Bryn Mawr Girl, perhaps we are all a tiny bit defective in that regard? (Or maybe it is just the design I find sexy. I love the clothes. I should have a sexy design party. We could watch Tron, Pushing Daisies, and Mad Men. Amazing design there.)

Occasional Lengthy, Rambling Posts About Nothing…now at SUC.

Things remain awesome on the island. I’m preparing for my Halloween-stravaganza, getting my robotics team prepped for competition, and helping my newest tutoring student (who is a real gem). In fact I feel a bit as though I am dipping my toes into my real life again. Which, honestly, is making me a little stressed out; but I think I need a little balance between the Wii Fit/TV viewing/ reading festival of Mathew McConaughey-level relaxation and my former complicated overly busy life.

I think part of that balance is retaining my 3 nights a week in rule and another part is quitting Smart People on Ice. Some of you probably noticed that I quit updating. I did make my goal and while I enjoyed putting things up there and knowing what I had been up to all that time, I wasn’t entirely honest about my activities every day and it was making my life more complicated. Part of the change is also learning to say ‘no’. ‘No’ is a very useful word, and letting go of all my feelings of obligation has been very challenging, but I am working on it.

In other news, work has been pretty stressful and I think that it is time for me to accept that my job will simply be harder and I will have to work very hard. It has been a while since I have been really challenged in my job either by workload or difficulty/complexity of tasks. (Of course dealing with idiots has been a constant challenge.)

In awesomer news, have I mentioned my ridiculous infatuation with geniuses (Hey, Dean Kamen! Still waiting for your call. Sitting here by the phone. Limbering up. Call me!), and obsessions with terrifying animals and Muppets are all featured heavily in the news lately? Uhm… cause they have:

1. Why Australia is not #1 on my list of vacation destinations, three words: spider eats BIRD. IT ATE A BIRD AND IT IS A SPIDER. If you don’t want to sleep again (ever) click the link. (I can’t stop looking. BLEEEEHHHHHHHH!)

2. Muppets you can make and own at FAO Schwartz.

3. Muppet Noir Murder Mystery being shopped according to The Hollywood Reporter.

4. More Muppet Youtube videos. GENIUS.

5. It looks like I have some tough competition in my quest for the hand of/stealing the life of Sir Richard Branson:

"He's got to be that guy that we all just secretly want to live his life. Even if it's just for a week I mean wouldn't that be incredible? If you had to pick one person he would be the guy for me, I would want to be him for a week." — Charlize Theron on Richard Branson.

Back to the rambling:

Last weekend I assembled the majority of my (awesome) Halloween costume and became aware that even though I had not really intended to be a slutty anything this year, a girl dressed as Big Bird cannot really help but look whore-y on account of the bare legs and feathers. Bare legs + feathers pretty much always = Vegas showgirl. The only saving grace is that my costume looks extremely… homemade so at least I won’t look like I was going for sexy. (Perhaps it is that I actually am unable to suppress the sexy.)

End of incoherent message.

This is why I kind of want to punch people in the face.

So soldiers in Iraq take in stray dogs and then want to bring them home. This I get. It is only natural that in times of high stress, soldiers would form such attachments.

I also acknowledge that the Iraqi dogs, when again abandoned, will have bleak and short futures.

However, 50,000 people signed a petition to force the Army to fly this dog back to the states. 50,000 people signed a petition to fly a DOG to the US.

I just feel like these 50,000 people could maybe be placing the weight of their collective opinions behind something more important. Perhaps better benefits for our soldiers. Or maybe protecting our rights from our intrusive government. Or standing up against the use of torture.

I’m glad the puppy gets to live a good life, but I would like it a lot if people cared as much about other people as they do a dog.

I also wonder how many of these people actually vote.

The shoe on the other foot.

It is an interesting thing to walk with a limp. Normally I walk with a clomping stride.

There was a time when I was younger and svelte, when I ran every day and walked with that hip forward shoulder back posture that characterizes girls from better schools.

Since I injured my foot my stride has been off and I walk with a clompyness that I am foolishly embarrassed by. It isn’t as though people probably notice the boyish clomptitude of my stride. But I do.

My foot has been hurting quite a bit for the last two days. In spite of icing and massage and elevation, my foot has hurt to the point that I have consolidated my trips away from my desk. And even as I walk now I move my hip differently, protecting my foot. When people notice that you limp they look at you differently; their eyes slide to your feet and away in a speedy shift.

I don’t think I’ve ever had that experience; the exhausting combination of shame/pity/curiosity in someone else’s eyes that would make me a hermit if I endured it for longer than a day.

Thanksgiving Update!

Even though Thanksgiving is not until Monday, I always force my parents to do the turkey today so I don't have to deal with Monday traffic on the way back down to Seattle.

So far the turkey has been bathed, had its butter massage, and been stuffed with homemade stuffing. (Which sounds quite relaxing from the turkey's perspective... other than the stuffing.) Last night I made 2 pumpkin pies from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook.

Left to make:
Potatoes
Gravy
Creamed corn (hurl)
Green Beans
Rolls
Cherry Pie
Whip cream

But right now I'm watching some Ghostbusters and drinking Coke made with real sugar. REAL SUGAR!! Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

I think I will peel some potatoes and then lose some Foosball.

Hooray!

Forwarded from my Step-mom.

A new feature! Actual forwards from my step-mom. For your enjoyment.

How do I miss these things?

My nerd cred is totally tarnished by not knowing about (Captain Jack from Torchwood) John Barrowman's musical past. Did you guys know that John Barrowman is an accomplished singer? With CD's out? A career in musical theater and a biography and what not?

I clearly need to spend more time aggressively googling hot sci-fi guys. (RAWR!)

Here is his newest music video:





I was going to make some cute comment about the next Torchwood mystery is why anyone thinks Burn Gorman (Owen on Torchwood) is a heart-throb. (Zing!) And here I see that he is also a musician. He is the "BBC 1Xtra Human Beatbox Champion" and has done work with Groove Armada and The Streets.

Then I was going to leave it there, but I had to look up Gareth David-Loyd (Ianto on Torchwood) and here I see he is the frontman of a blues band.

Together the men of Torchwood could start the nerdiest nerd band of all time!

Greetings from Mountlake Terrace!

I don't want to continually toot my horn regarding this particular issue, but my Staycation Plan of Inaction is a masterstroke of brilliance that artfully demonstrates how fantastic I could make the world if all of my energy wasn't spent on developing new poo jokes and daydreaming about Dean Kamen.

I am, in fact, so pleased with my staycation, that maybe I will stay here forever. I am less strict now with the rules, and I think that maybe after all my time running around like a crazy person, maybe I just need to spend a little time nested in my bean bag chair with a cookie, watching David Krumholtz solve crime using math. (OMG MATH, you guys.) Don't worry, my staycation stretch will not affect my blogging, which I hope to return to its normal schedule by Monday.

Additional gloating: I recieved 2 (TWO!) nice things yesterday.

1. I did someone a favor and she brought a mocha to my office. You see, I did something nice for her that I didn't have to do and that was not convenient and then she gave me a snack. Clearly she understands the nature of favors. De... wait for it... licious.

2. Our old custodian saw the state of my desk when he popped by last week and this week he mailed me a single pristine sheet of bubble wrap in an unmarked envelope. Perhaps he also heard how a crazy agressive dame got up in my face and I stood up and kicked her out of my office. Things at work are rollercoasteresqe in nature.

End of gloat.

In other news, I got my temporary crown on Sid, the Tooth of DOOM. This one damn tooth is costing me a fortune and the oft offered let's tie a string around it and tie the other to a door knob and slam the door idea would certainly have been more efficient than: filling it badly, adjusting it, filling it again when it chipped, pulling the whole shebang out and refilling it, having a root canal, coming in to adjust the filling due to pain (later to find out that this is probably a microcrack problem), having a temp crown put in, and then a permanent one next week. Apparently owning a grouchy tooth is akin to raising a child. I just hope that Sid wants to go to state school because I'm not paying for another shi-shi East Coast boutique fancy pants education.

I am especially annoyed at Sid's timing as this Friday I make my pilgrimage to Mother's for turkey and whatnot and having a hurty tooth at Thanksgiving is very irritating. The good news, however, is that I get to use my very neat new Enhanced Drivers License to cross the border, which will either be awesome or a complete clusterfuck. I am looking forward to doing some fun Vancouver-y things, and will do that rather than think about the last time Kim and I crossed the border and the wait was so long that we *almost* ran out of snacks.

In my final piece of non-linear non-sequitorial thought: my grandma (who reads this blog, by the way, so I should probably clean up my language- though, I won't) left me a very important voicemail to let me know that any non-Tom Selleck festooned birthday cake will be unsatisfactory for her next birthday.

Foggy Day

I love waking up on my island, the fog slugging about. It feels like mystery and smells like the ocean would, if it wasn’t full of so many things living and dead.

It makes me feel like I’m on the edge of an adventure; that I could walk through the wardrobe, or run straight into Dr. Who.

Today is a foggy day. And the first day I am allowed to put up my Halloween decorations. It is the first of the month and I will pay all my bills. I am very satisfied to have everything all paid up. Everything in its place.

Yesterday I started coaching my Robotics Team again. The core of great kids from last year’s team are back and I think this year we will put both a 7^th and 8^th grade team into competition. Why not field two teams? It isn’t as though I’m busy or anything.

Tonight is the first Pushing Daises of the season. I will enjoy it with pie and new friends. I will play with their baby and dog.

The fog means fall is creeping in, and with it the best holidays, warm sweaters, winter food. All year I long for hot cocoa, stews, soups, and casseroles.

And I am happy.