Because I didn't!Imagine my confusion when my friends Min and Chris kept talking up Brighton Pier and its Helter Skelter as we made our way (slowly, snackily) from the train station and through the town on our way down to the seaside on that chill and windy September day.
I finally asked them what the heck they were talking about and they, baffled in return, explained that a helter skelter was a carnival ride.
Oh! So it's an actual THING!
Y'know, here all this time, for years and years and years, I just thought the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" was a metaphor for a drug trip. OR SOMETHING.
Seriously, you guys, the song makes so much more sense now that I know that it is also a real thing and NOT just a metaphor... for something.
I've been ignoring my kitchen faucet for quite a long time, much as one ignores a spider in a corner of a room you don't use much in hopes it just goes away and you don't have to squish it.
The faucet was not in good shape and was clearly in need of replacing. The plumber I had to hire pretty much immediately after moving in over two years ago told me that much, but I replaced the sprayer myself and it's held in there ever since.
I actually had been planning on replacing it over Christmas and then pushed that back to the end of this month, but the faucet had other ideas. This morning when I went to make my life-giving cup of coffee, I turned on the faucet and the water poured out from where the faucet meets the sink plate.
It heard me, you see, telling the cats, "I don't have to go anywhere or do anything tomorrow!" with delight because it has been a really busy post-holiday week. It also seems to have been subtly aware of my "be less spendy" resolution (which was enacted at the New Year only because enacting it at Christmas is a recipe for misery) (I'm kind of allergic to claim anything as a New Year's resolution, aren't I?)
SOooooo, I went to the internet and looked for a new faucet. I'd looked at Ikea faucets before, and kind of thought I'd get one of those, but nothing struck me this time, so I went over to the place which has become my Big Stuff hardware store (my local shop Dresslers is my Everything Else hardware store): Home Depot.
I know, right? I used to HATE that place, but Menard's started failing me, and I still have never had a good experience at any Lowe's (plus they generally suck at things like not being huge cowards and de facto bigots on a corporate level), but especially after my whole bathroom redo, I now feel really comfortable there and I always find what I need. Weirdness.
So I found a faucet I loved which was more than I wanted to pay, but it was very well reviewed (and anything comparable but cheaper which I liked had substantial numbers of worrying reviews) and beautiful and I figured a faucet should last a long time so if I pay for one that should, I won't end up spending more + more time and effort replacing a cheaper one sooner.
Let's hope that works out, because while it was not really hard (that is, not tricky), it was exhausting installing the faucet. Part of that was that I was doing it alone so there was no one to hold the actual faucet in place while I tightened the screw. As I told my Dad, "So I got my ab workout in," from getting up to adjust the faucet and then getting back under the sink to work on the tightening it down -- back and forth, back and forth.
Faucets are like puzzles, but they're really easy to install. They really are -- do not fear the faucet -- especially if you're replacing one and not starting from scratch with a brand-new sink where you have to cut holes and all that.
Every thing I try here in Condo-land makes me feel more confident about whatever comes up next. I'm still going to leave the electrical stuff to the professionals and any really heavy work (like my dream redo of new counter tops), but the rest of it? I'm up for it!
I started off the year with a New Year's Day 5K at Lincoln Park (where we keep one of our lovely zoos). It was a civilized 11am race, but I got there early since I wasn't sure where to park or how to get around. I tend more toward Grant and Millennium Parks in my Chicago city park-going and had never actually been to Lincoln (or its lovely zoo).
I got my "packet" (tag, chip, and free shirt -- that was IT! Not even two dozen fliers telling me about other races and running services in which I might be interested! Bah humbug!) (Just kidding. Kind of.) and found myself with plenty of time to kill before the race, so I went walking around the park which is, in the habit of Chicago parks, really gorgeous and possessed of an enviable lake view. I discovered what appeared to be a MUCH cheaper parking lot on the other side of the area where the race started and ended (*siiiiigh*) as the one I and many others parked in belonged to the adjacent history museum and therefore had VERY EXPENSIVE parking rather than the usually much cheaper park rates (siiiiiiiiiiiigh). (We learn by being a bit callow and getting ripped off.) And then I found myself outside the zoo itself where I could glimpse alpacas and camels through the fence. And frankly that was a pretty big thrill already, but then!
(dramatic pause)
THEN I discovered that the gates to yon zoo were thrown asunder and entrance was FREEEE! So I went in and stared at weather-hardy animals which included really awesome fancy exotic big goats (taica? taipa? t-something?), the aforementioned camels and alpacas, kangaroos (I know, right? But there were totally blase about the whole cold thing), and ZEEEBAS! Very pretty zeebas. Sooooo pretty.
And, yes, I did talk to them that way. No one was around. BUT THE ZEEBAS!!!
I wended my way around just the first big loop since I didn't want to end up late for the race and went past the (unoccupied) gorilla habitats. The actual Lincoln Park habitats feature in the plot of the lovely Chicago-based (and co-starring) film Return to Me which I watch at least once a year and adore for its old-fashioned romance and gorgeous Chicago-loving photography. Plus also Bonnie Hunt whom I adore.
So anyway, the race: It went REALLY REALLY well. My official time was 33:29 (10:48/minute average pace) which is almost two minutes faster than my previous PR (personal record) for a 5K and is a 20-second less per-minute average pace than the 10-miler I ran in November.
I have another 5K set for April, but I'm really looking for a half marathon to aim for this spring. There are a few I'm looking at -- just need to pick. I've done 10 miles; 13.1 shouldn't be too hard.
And at some point when it warms up a bit and the sun is shining, I'm going to go back to Lincoln Park for a run and to say hi to the pretty zeebas. Maybe someday, I'll see the gorillas, too.
It's been a decent year for me, but a tough one in many ways, too. Part of the not-blogging is the not really wanting to talk about some of the tougher things that have been going on, and being vague is irritating, so I didn't want to do that, either.
But here is a list of a few of the things that made 2011 a good year (in no order):
Running
Writing
Spending time with my friends
Spending time with my parents
Going back to London
Getting new windows in my condo!
My cats (who are perfect; just ask them)
Good books and good movies and good TV
Living in a place I love
Being able to work from home
I'm sure there are lots more and I could be much more specific on the books/movies/tv (DOCTOR WHO), but I think I've covered most of my bases. I'm lucky. I have a nice little life that suits me well. I hope I can continue to enjoy the little things while still dreaming big.
Happy 2012!
I hope you all enjoy!
Great news buried at the end of bad news (full article):
"Tovey has begun shooting with Dakota Fanning and Julie Walters on Effie, Emma Thompson's upcoming film about the art critic John Ruskin."
There is nothing bad or wrong in that entire sentence (except he had better not be playing John Millais as he is not a conventional enough hottie to play Millais [checks] OH good, he isn't. It doesn't list who he'll be yet).
I liked the pants version better, and I think the artist agrees -- look at all the scratches on her legs.
The first month of DC’s New 52 has come to an end, and I have thoughts!
My thoughts not only concern the slightly-more-than-a-handful of comics I chose to read out of this new batch, but also the way comics are bought and sold.
I went to my nearest comic shop shortly after Week 1 to pick up Batgirl #1 along with the balance of my pre-reboot comics still left over. Based on a conversation with the store owner, I also picked up Action #1 which I very much enjoyed. I enjoyed it more than Batgirl #1, and that is essentially my experience with this reboot.
The two books I loved most of the seven I chose to read are Action, which stars Superman, a character I have never followed, and Wonder Woman, whose new #1 should be used to teach classes on how to reintroduce a comic book character to her oft-disappointed reading public.
In short, two books I did not intend to pick up in the first place but which I decided to get based on positive word-of-mouth turned out to be not just good but the most exciting comics I’ve read in a good long while. Wonder Woman — if it keeps up as it has started — may become my favorite comic ever.
( Read more... )
| Originally published at Sequential Noir |
I was walking into work from the parking lot. I worked almost an hour from Fort Wayne in this teeeeeny little boonie town. A coworker caught up to me at the door and said something like, "A plane hit the World Trade Center." He must have said something about it being an accident, because I said right away, without even thinking, "That wasn't an accident. They'd never let a plane fly that close to the city." That may have been wrong, too -- maybe they did fly that close -- but that was my gut reaction. I often listened to NPR's Morning Edition on the way to work, but I hadn't that morning.
We didn't have a TV, but we both hurried back to our office and everyone was huddled around, talking. There was probably a radio somwhere, but reception sucked where we were. We were trying to get streaming audio on our computers from somewhere but everything was already maxed out. I listened to a TON of streaming NPR programming, so I said, "Let's try Seattle. They aren't up yet."
So we listened to the KUOW's NPR stream for the rest of the day. We found out there was a tiny b/w TV in the print room and went there to gather round and watch the sickening replay we'd already heard of the towers coming down. I didn't stay. Even at postcard size, it was too much.
When they grounded all the airplanes, my friend who works at a trauma center hospital called. She told me they'd grounded the rescue helicopters, too, which was just unbelievable to me. I mean, did you think about that and what it meant? They grounded everything.
I didn't see anything else until that night. It was all sound.
What I remember most about that day is the strange, strange silence of there being no planes flying over. When they finally did again, it was almost frightening. Sometimes even now, I look up at a plane flying over and almost cry.
from Slate via
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cleolinda Groundhog Decade
Hollywood is about to repeat the catastrophic mistakes of the music industry.
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