Get out the snowboots

The weather guys are predicting two to four inches of snow tonight and a little more tomorrow. That's no big deal, compared to the snow they get in, say, Utah. But in Brooklyn, where the white dogs' tummies only hover a few inches from the sidewalk, that's Big Snow.

Here are some pics from the last "snowstorm."

The soundtrack in my head

All morning, I was singing "Hey hey hey, goodbye."

Then the Emperor's theme from Star Wars played briefly, right around 11:30 or so.

Suddenly, at noon, I noticed that "The Lord of the Dance" was playing in Obama's inauguration. The skies cleared, and I've been humming a happier song since then.

An anniversary of note

I can't remember not knowing Sue. She started dating my uncle sometime after I was born, but for me, she's just always been in the family. At Christmas or Thanksgiving at my grandparents' house, you could always tell when she was at the party because she was constantly letting loose with one of her signature belly laughs or saying, "CHUCK!" with the utmost exasperation in her voice. Being a stubborn Butler with a mischievous streak a mile wide, my Uncle Chuck usually deserved her admonishment.

After two decades of flirting, Chuck and Sue finally decided to get married on New Year's Eve. The got hitched at a friend's house in Key West, and today is their two-week anniversary. Having Sue officially join the family makes me prouder of our little clan, and I couldn't be happier for the two of them.

Cheers to both of them!

It's barely even January

I'm going to put my Christmas decorations away soon, I swear. Before January ends... no, before Mary B. gets here! Any minute now...

Watch for flying tomes

Wow. Tethered was fun! I reached the last sentence of the book and literally threw it across the room. I wasn't sure what had happened, and the lack of resolution irked me because I cared about the characters. (It might have been problematic to try to watch 24 and The Golden Globes while I finished the last 10 pages.

But around 4 a.m., I woke up thinking about the story, and the pieces fell into place. I sighed with relief. Now that's a good story.

Mmmmm, books

As a lifelong lover of books, I've gone through phases where I'll read ravenously, slurping through as many volumes as I can get my hands on. Other times, I just read casually, taking in magazines and the occasional novel.

I've been on a real tear the last few months, pouring through books one after another after another. Tonight, I'm riveted by Tethered, a novel by Amy Mackinnon. I have actually found myself so involved in the pages on the subway that I get irked because the ride seems so short.

To me, there are two general types of novels. They either seem to be terribly obvious, where I can guess what's about to happen, or I figure out how the story will unfold too early in the book... candy novels like the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris or even the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. Fun, but a little sleazy.

On the other hand, I've also been privileged to discover the type of books that wow. These stories surprise me. They're so well-written that I instantly fall into the pages with abandon, and whether or not I admire the characters, I care about them. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski swept me away like that... I laughed and cried and actually felt like shit when it was over. That's powerful writing. So too is Rick Bragg's work, whether it's All Over but the Shoutin or my more recent read, Ava's Man.

I'm glad I've fallen back into a cycle of prolific reading, and I'd like to grow my list of books to read... What do you recommend?

You can check out my virtual bookshelf by clicking here.

A hangover Haiku

Karaoke night
the ear pain I inflicted
now pounds in my head

Snow tires on a Ford Focus

Johnny and I are loading up the dogs in a rented car tomorrow so we can go visit the Jersey clan. We usually ride the bus, which takes about two hours on the local track, but we decided to rent a car this time, since it costs the same to board the girls and buy two bus tickets.

Getting to John's grandma's house is not much more than an hour's drive, and it's usually a treat for me to get to drive anywhere these days. But this trip might get interesting... I just checked the weather online, and it looks like we're gonna get some snow tomorrow. Maybe I'll bring the dog sled, too, just in case the girls have to pull the car through the snow.

Let the countdown begin

It's just 14 days until Mary B. moves to Brooklyn!


Woo hoo!!



The girls are waiting....

Good morning, sunshine

My normally cheerful demeanor was slightly dampened today for one reason:

Cat yak.

At 2:33 a.m., I startled awake to the noise of Pumba retching up a hairball. On my pillow. Beside my face.

At the first gurgling snort from Orange Leader, I sat straight up and scooped the cat off the bed in one motion. Everyone else in the room launched into action, too. John sprung up to get paper towels, and Sophie and Maggie ran over beside the cat to wait for the treats that were surely about to spring from the cat's mouth.

John corralled the girls away from Pumba as I tried not to throw up on the cat while he was throwing up on the floor. Wipe up and toss. Everyone went back to sleep.

4:55 a.m. ... replay! This time we get considerably more icky grosstastic barf out of the cat. Hooray.

It's nap time.

The most important meal of the day

I'm trying to get a little healthier by dropping some weight and cutting back on the sweets and such. Apparently, it's working! After one whole day of eating smaller portions and drinking plenty of water, I lost four pounds.

Yahoo! This diet stuff is easy!

Or my bathroom scale is mocking me.

A belated 2008 slideshow

2008 was a big year, full of changes. We moved into a new apartment, adopted Grandmother's dogs, celebrated my 30th birthday at a Russian nightclub, attended Grandmother's funeral, met the world's most famous blogger, went to Tennessee for Mary's grad school graduation, watched fierce tennis at the US Open, hit a Radiohead concert, celebrated weddings and engagements, met the Bunny from Donnie Darko, and I even quit smoking. Whew!

Here's a belated photo slideshow of my favorite photos from 2008. Enjoy!

Game Night

Apparently, I come by my brown eyes naturally. I spent Saturday night playing board games with some friends in Astoria, and it was a hoot! We played Malarky first, since the game's owners said it's best to play while everyone's still fairly sober. Basically, it's a quiz game based on bluffing. After the question is read, one person draws the card with the actual answer, and everyone else draws a bluff card and has to make up an answer that sounds plausible.

The whole game is knee-deep in bullshit because you get points for calling other people's bluff and also for getting the other players to believe your malarky answer.

Well, I was a natural at pulling convincing BS answers out of thin air, and I was fairly good at calling other folks' bluff, too. I thought the advertising guy might sweep us all, but no, it was the journalist who BS'ed her way to the top. Hahahaha.

Songs for moving to Brooklyn

I made my sister a CD this morning, hoping that it might serve as a soundtrack for her big move to Brooklyn later this month. She's leaving behind a town she's grown to love and the people who make her feel at home there. At the same time, she's seeking her fate in a big city, full of challenges and surprises.

Here are the tracks I picked:

1. Devil Town, by Daniel Johnston
2. Birds and Ships, Billy Bragg
3. My Freeze Ray, Neil Patrick Harris, on Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog soundtrack
4. Welcome to Heartbreak, Kanye West
5. Love Lockdown, Kanye West
6. Shut Up and Let Me Go, The Ting Tings
7. Let's Dance to Joy Division, The Wombats
8. California Waiting, Kings of Leon
9. Pocketful of Sunshine, Natasha Bedingfield
10. Toxic (Version Revisited), Mark Ronson featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and Tiggers
11. Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On), Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
12. At Last, Neko Case
13. First Breath After Coma, Explosions in the Sky off the Friday Night Lights soundtrack

What else so you think might make good additions for a soundtrack like this?

Suckage, or the lack thereof

The vacuum cleaner died. Chasing after the hair of two humans, two dogs and a super furry orange cat who pulls his fur out in clumps was just too much for the $40-Target vacuum.

So we're going hunting for a new carpet sucker. It's an adventure every day in NYC, people!

Welcome, 2009, you sexy beast

Happy New Year, Internets!! I am so excited about 2009, partly because I woke up without a hangover this morning, but also because I feel like there's so much potential buzzing around this year....

Firstly, my sister Mary B. is moving in with Johnny and I later this month! Oh, the baking that we're gonna do... she's got a way with chocolate and sweet bread. Yum. Plus, she likes the girls and Pumby, so all the animals will get more loving attention. She's been visiting this week, since she'd already planned this trip before she decided to move to Brooklyn. We've been shopping and skating, and this morning we're sipping Clementine mimosas. It's freezing outside, and we might just keep the couch warm all day.

Looking ahead for '09, I'm jazzed about our vacation to New Orleans in February and several weddings this summer, including one for my youngest sister Kirby and her sweetheart, as well as another for a friend in Arkansas.
In addition to attending these fun events, I also want to use this year to build on all the good stuff I've got going for myself. I quit smoking in September, something I really didn't think I could do, so now I'm wondering what other changes I can make for myself. With my rediscovered strength, and support from Johnny, my friends and family, who knows what I can do... maybe I'll even exercise a bit.
All in all, I'm looking forward to the rest of 2009. How do you guys feel about the new year?