In like a Lion

So excited for spring. Ready to be done with the monotony and grey of winter. I want to be active again.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

Good editorial in the NY Times today. Joe Chase and SP needs a smart plan for the next decade... though I don't know if they've learned that plowing over the farm fields isn't really yielding them much gain (Marcus still went there)

"Slumburbia" by Timothy Egan

German Art Students

A sort-of farewell show at the High Noon this Friday. 21+ $5.

http://host.madison.com/entertainment/music/article_cf88a361-c567-59cc-b72c-427f3831bb45.html

Oh German Art Students, how awesome you are. I'm sad to lose one of the last remaining Five Dollar Foundation bands of my youth. But I suppose it's time.. Happy trails to the new trio. You rocked it at the first MAMAs all those years ago.

Congrats on a job well done!

rain rain go away

What a drizzly, damp day. Made it out to La Baguette and nearly had the Seinfeld marble rye episode play itself out, except I managed to get the last loaf. It was so totally worth it.

Also scored some phenomenally awesome chili cheese dogs at Mad Dogs. Best ever: the cutest 4 year old boy in the world trying to figure out how to eat the massive hot dog. oh, and they have coke zero.

Going to miss Coco. He was the best! F NBC.. although I do love Chuck.
Project Runway is starting again... any over/under bets?
blerg. it's January.

Happy New Years!!

Happy new years all!

I got through all of the stress of the Edgewater drama of December, and then basically collapsed into a sinus infection and sleep-recovery mode so I was better by Christmas, only to then befall another illness a few days afterwards. So it's meant a lot of reading and sleeping for me. Monday the whole cycle starts anew. It's been a great weekend so far to catch up on a number of items that have taken a backseat during the last few weeks and months.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll spend my time systematically archiving and filing the 1400 or so emails I have in my inbox. I've taken a couple of stabs at spam-control during some marathon council sessions where I can click and delete while I listen to the debate raging, but I hate Microsoft Exchange's archiving functions, especially on the web version.

Mary lent me David Plouffe's "The Audacity to Win" which was an interesting read for an election junkie like myself. There were a number of times Obama was quoted about how he felt about the campaign and running for office, and at points I had to read them out loud for me and the bf to laugh at, because I had pretty much verbatim said the same things while a candidate running.

I have a number of personal and policy new year's resolutions I'm looking to make good on. (Got 4 weeks to the frostiball.. time to hit the gym, this whole "elected official" thing does a number on my cortisol & stress levels...that door knocking was really good for me.)

Had a fun, albeit low-key new years. Saw some friends. Hit the old fashioned. I really like how they limit new years to just their card members. It was nice not to be uncomfortably smashed in between a ton of random strangers. There was no cover, free champagne and tasty little snacks. BF & I started reminiscing about the year that was, which lead me to all my iphone pics, nearly a year's worth that has accumulated on my phone. My cousin Sarah has done this really nifty photo diary thing on flickr that I look at with awe and envy.

One of my resolutions should be to get my canon powershot fixed, the lens is jammed, so I can take better pics than just my iphone shots. I love how Sarah just picks the little and simple everyday objects and moments and turns them into simple, enticing images. Perhaps a little project of my own like that would do me some good. I had been doing some shots-on-the-street during the prez. election. Otherwise, all I've got up on my flickr account is some statue of liberty stuff (Congrats to Hoofer Council and Paul Davidsaver for taking it on again this year!!)

At any rate, in March I'll be the monthly artwork exhibiting at everyone's favorite local sandwich shop Mildreds!

Sarah's pictures give me wanderlust & I'm so proud she's getting to do some modeling now that she's in New York. She always had the family height and bone structure I didn't (the difference between having a 6'4" German and a 5'6" Italian for fathers).

Francis is doing well in China. We've been getting very short, sporadic updates. He's available to be on Skype at like 5am our time, so I've only caught him a couple times. Once at 5am, and then a couple times around 5pm, which is morning there, before he's off to teach classes. It still baffles me that none of the buildings there have central heat, in a (small!) city of 700,000 people. He's freezing his ass with but a single space heater to keep his whole apartment space warm. Last night bf and I put up some plastic wrap over our really crappy 1960s single-pane slide windows in the bedroom. With recessed track blinds, our other apartment windows will have to stay uncovered so we can control the light (and awful window condensation!) in the apartment. The bedroom's a lot better now, though the loose plastic wrap billowing from the heater air is freaking the cat out.

We went yesterday and pilfered hockey skates from N's mom's house. I think we're off to Tenney Park to go skating. I think it's been since high school the last time I went skating. I'm really excited, even though the temperature outside is awful. Dusty and crew are/were out at Brittingham to rock out to some broomball at 1pm, but I wasn't quite functioning in time. The medicine I was on had me fall asleep really early last night, so I woke up at 3:30am wide awake and cranked out on some work before tiring out and going back to sleep at 7am.

Some of the different pop-culture & music year-in-review stories that have been getting all kinds of play this week, I go huh? that was a hit song? It made me realize that I've really had my head under a big (Edgewater & council shaped) rock since April. I'm looking forward to 2010 to reconnect with friends and people my own age and get a solid schedule together that balances the personal with the professional. Excited to hook up with Annie after running into her on Willy Street last weekend. Want to hear how her shelter work at the Salvation Army is working out,and now I'll have another Project Runway junkie for the new season -though something tells me she probably can't afford cable these days either. I can hope though!!

It kind of really sucks when the Christmas present that gets you most excited is a salad spinner. Cooking really has become my outlet. I was so excited to learn that the Kitchen Gallery carried Waechtersbach mixing bowls. The sunshine yellow one I got at TJMax got a hairline crack in it (from all that whisking action!) and now I know I can replace it when I need to. I was also eyeing up a larger version. That metal target monstrosity I have is ready to be tossed.

So my apologies for not blogging more. I really lead a very boring, non-descript, non-stylish life. Again, I envy Sarah and her Boho life a number of days. Don't know what people would think if I started coming to council meetings in that delicious shade of Chanel lipstick she's been rocking. Round these parts its definitely substance over style.. but I'd like to keep a little hip, hipster style while it's still age appropriate. I'll have my whole life for pantsuits.

Happy new years all!
May your new year and new decade be 100 times better than the last.

Next up...

Hooray!
Budget's done. Birthday's passed. Burying my head in work. Looking forward to the city chilling out for a while. Fat chance with the Edgewater & Apex spinning fast & furious (though Apex less so). Excited to see Barrett's running! Demo is started on the houses next door. Got out to do some inspection field work yesterday. Ran into Adam and Julie getting back from the CNI retreat (thanks for the sandwich box!!)Dad's coming soon for Thanksgiving... still not sure how to navigate 4 thanksgiving events. Bummed that Wed is going to conflict with TLNA meeting. I like that bunch & their orderly meetings. Mom said that WISC had a nice editorial about the council and the budget, but I'm not seeing it posted (yet) online. Mr. Greenbaum still hasn't given that phone call. Hope all is well.

Still not sure what to do with this blog. I hate spamming people, and I really don't want to expound on any theories or policies. I get excited, pissed off, frustrated, you name it about stuff, but it's not my place to comment. This isn't the forum.. I get no forum. I get to just hold it all inside so I can be fair to all. right?
:)

I've got enough on my plate without kicking up new dust. I have nothing interesting to say. I haven't seen anything cool, haven't done much of anything cool, and what little cool stuff I've done, I don't feel like sharing. Not now at least. and I really don't think people are into hearing about what I watched online/tv last night, what color my new shirt is.

I get to just be a robot (your robot!), and a small part of me gets saved for my friends and bf and family. not to be shared.

Everyone lately has had that robotic look to their faces. Christmas should be nice, except Dad's out east, and Francis is abroad. I hope the christmas tree will survive the cat.

happy upcoming holidays & festive eating!

Worlds away

My brother went to China to teach English to (hopefully) Elementary school students. I have a lot of problems with China. A LOT. Don't get me wrong, the people are fine, but I'm a pretty spitfire, politically engaged American, and I'm sure I'd get myself into all kinds of first-amendment, freedom of speech issues, if I was over there. There's no way I could go into a Chinese school and teach Chinese children English and steer clear of politics and social issues (because that's what I do, who I am, politics pervades my life).

So in honor of Francis' story, I guess I'd like to post his chronicles, because there's no way in hell I could ever do what he's doing, and I'm proud of him, even if I'm freaked out and worried. (and something tells me Blogger isn't accessible in China)

We're not getting a ton of information. Francis isn't really a loquacious person.

Here's the latest:

"So, its been sorta a weird roller coaster ride but here is the NEW INFO. I am no longer teaching in Wuxi. The school I was supposed to go to decided they didnt wanna hire me after all, nothing I could have done. So they found me a teaching position in Changzhou, 1 province over from Wuxi, at the ***** Foreign Language School, and my contract has changed in a good way. For starters I'm making 5000 RMB instead of 4000, I am provided with a dormitory room with everything provided except I pay water and electricity every month. I am also given a meal card for use within the school. I am still in Nanjing at the moment and leave in 2 days time to my new school, (saturday night at 9pm your time). I am providing you with the contract but this is where I am at right now. Lots of love"

I think I found the school's website. It actually looks really posh. Much different than the 2005 esl teacher review I found, though the school does look like maybe it's been built after 2005. It appears that there's 1000 students from kindergarten through high school. Actually, it kinda puts Arrowhead, Brookfield Academy & Marquette to shame, from the looks of it. To be honest, there really isn't much to compare it to, save for really ritzy prep academies no where near the midwest.

I really hope that it's the school in the photos that Francis is off to. All the best little bro.