"ACCEPT YOURSELF"

I visited Mermaidhead today and sat with her in her living room in the chair as she fidgeted on the couch. She looks so good now that she is out of that hospital and in her house again. I mean, wait, she looked fine in the hospital, she's always gorgeous, but she looks smiley and glowey at home. I brought her construction paper and posterboard; inspiration struck her in the morning and I happily brought art supplies to fulfill her creative mojo.

You know, not that it matters what I think in this regard, but we were talking today about life and ideas and meaning and purposeful, mindful living and I think that really, whatever people that she and King Neptune guide into adulthood are going to be really fine people. I really think that. I do.

That said, we got the laptop and sneaked a look at tiny punk baby shirts and laughed at awesome "onesies" with funny, badass graphics like the one with a tricycle that read "boobie, binky or blankie-- nobody rides for free" and laughed about "there are people fucking on the back of my shirt!" and "mommy drinks because of me". So funny. Yes, yes, I'm completely Jewy superstitious about not buying baby items before a birth too, but it was just a look at a website, nothing was purchased. Just a peek. I pride myself on giving tiny children dirty t-shirts. This is my plan, always. I am that gifter.

After, I ran to the gym and got a super-fast workout and two mile short-run in just before they closed. The first 3/4 mile was shitty, but then I found the right song (not surprisingly, I run with music in the same way that write to it) and was able to rock out the rest of the run fast and evenly and well and perfectly paced. Pace is key. I see people hop onto treadmills or start on races or just run around the block and just haul ass and seem confused as to why they can't run very far. Pacing is everything, I feel. I learned that one the hard way-- even though I'd trained really well, and even though I knew better, I was so excited to be finally running a marathon that I ran just a tiny, tiny bit faster that my usual pace for the first few miles that day and really struggled to keep myself feeling fueled and energetic later in the race. Now when I run, I hit this pace that I know is the perfect pace for me and it feels good and strong and any silly crap that popped up during the day disappears.

I might be nuts if I didn't run. It's the best time to just be and just think and just feel my muscles and tendons and bones and joints and sense of balance and all just work together. It's a funny thing, too. When I set out on a run, my mind is always busy and filled with to do lists and errands and projects, but stride after block after mile, my brain sort of rearranges itself and settles down and I can just be.

Anyway, enough seriousness, I'm watching a show on television asserting that the Bermuda Triangle (Puerto Rican Trench at about 5 miles deep) and the Pacific Dragon Triangle (Mariana Trench at about 11 miles deep), because they both fall, latitudinally, about the same, are connected in at planetary core by a land-bound blackhole that connects via wormhole and thereby presenting a hypothesis that black holes, active Atlantic volcanism and less-abstract versions of white holes exist on earth (in an igneous way), interconnectedly and this theory is being supported mainly by example of agonic lines.

Okay, wait, that was serious, also. Nerdy as shit, too. Okay, uh, forget I just said all of that.

I'm going to bed. Night, folks.

"STRETCH OUT AND WAIT"

Purim was a blast. Irish Ho and I sipped, stayed for the whole Megillah, shook our groggers, howled to see the rabbis in drag as they did a mock American Idol thing as the Dreamgirls (oy-- and I understand this morning that several rabbis around town did this same theme! What's with all the drag? I love it!). We didn't costume ourselves, but entirely enjoyed the swarm of costumed kiddies around us. The little girl dressed as a bat who I made mention of last year was there again last night, this year as Superwoman. What a swell kid! Especially when she snuck up behind us last night and clobbered us both on the head with her inflate-a-bats, giggle-shrieking at her own cleverness. Too cute.

Anyway, today everyone I know is either very sick, very hungover from last night, very out of town, has probably already had their fill of me for the week, will probably have their fill of me in the coming week, or busy preparing for a simcha, so I am taking myself on a brain date. First stop The Field Museum to gawk at the Gregor Mendel genetics exhibit, then to a nice lunch, then to the bookstore. Now, that is my kind of day.

Later skaters.

PS-You know the lapel pin contest is still open. Nobody has coughed up correct answers. What gives? Here I am dying to give you guys so much loot and I can't get any takers. Sheesh.

"IN BETWEEN DAYS"

I am in a tidy up and decompress mood today. I went to a really great social action brainstorming session last night that was both informative and just the shot in the arm I needed. It was nice to hear really grounded people talking about no social goal being too lofty and being willing to show people everything they know about organizing and mobilizing and brianstorming and cooperation and project management.

It was wonderful! So wonderful. I have been thinking a lot about that sort of thing lately, so I really soaked up the information and felt heartened to see so many people working so well and doing such good work.

It's snowy, I have Simpsons dvds in deck, a pot of veg matzah ball soup on the stove, a new issue of Kiplinger's magazine (nerd) to read, some magenty hair to touch-up, a sleepy cat that is forcing his way into my lap who, apparently, needs petting and a friend who talked me into making a business website for him (nerd). So, my afternoon is booked solid.

"FRANKLY, MR. SHANKLY, I'M A TOTAL NERD (FEATURING MIXED UP 11)"

I just got in. I started out tonight at the Field Museum to catch the Tutankhamun Exhibition before it traveled on in a few days, and I am very glad I did. The transition in artwork (going from less-realistic faces and abstraction in sculpture and drawing to more realistic and less-angular) during the era Akhenaten attempted his religious revolution was terribly interesting-- I have seen plenty of Egyptian exhibitions, but never covering pre- to post-revolution design at once. Also, I find the Book of The Dead, shabtis, maat and canopic sort of things extremely cool, so this was right up my alley.

I was surprised to see a couple of men there in NASCAR t-shirts, making loud comments on every piece as they walked through. My favorite comment, made in reference to a tiny 18th dynasty funerary mask for a fetus, found entombed with Tutankhamun, was: "Them look like Amazon shrunken heads!"

(And, with a sigh of relief, I report that the dates were listed as "BCE"... Don't get started. I just think it's the least-alienating method of timekeeping, that's all. And, you know me, I'm all about trying to alienate the least amount of people possible....)

Anyway, Senorita Nerdita that I am, I have a present for you. Right here. An interactive tour?!? See? Who loves you? Me, that's who. Click through and it's like we were all there together. (Seriously, click through. It's really cool.)

So, then on to vegetarian tapas, which was lovely, although this lovely establishment is in a rather Beautiful People neighborhood and I was confronted wih the notion that somehow fur coats are suddenly very chic for very young women. I mean, I think they look ridiculous and sad at any age, but I'm confused as to why I am suddenly seeing them on the early-twneties set...? When did fur get cool again? Sorry to be a rotten snatch here, but how do you afford a floor-length mink when you're twenty, anyhow? Do I even want to know? I thought fur was one of thse things like veal-- plenty of die-hard carnivores still draw the line on veal. Likewise, plenty of leather-wearers draw the line at fur. But, I am wondering that maybe that's all changing. Okay, what celebrity wore fur and got this going again? It's very 1981 cocaine chic with the furs and the big glasses and all. What's next? Permed hair, stripey leotards and grapefruit diets?

Oy.

Wait, wait, there is a bit more.

The other day, running errands with Sparkypoo, we saw, no kidding, a giant blue tricked-out Cadiallac cruising down the street, driven by a guy in a blue jacket with a white-with-black-polks-dots fuzzy collar. I screamed, "Did you see that? That was a fucking pimp! Holy shit! A pimp! Fast forward to this evening, post-tapas, post-fur coat business. Upon leaving the tapas place, I see it. The blue Cadillac! The pimp! He's right there! And, he was pulling a u-turn and heading in the opposite direction. So, I did was any reasonable person would do. I shouted, "Did you see that? That was that fucking pimp! Holy shit! That pimp!" and set out to follow him. Sadly, I lost his trail, but I can now say I have spent a Saturday night looking for a pimp. That's a first. I don't know what my big whopper plan was once I found him, but I just wanted to see him up close, maybe talk to him and see if he's a real pimp or just, um, dresses like one for the fun of it. You never know. You just never know.

And that, folks, brings me to my final order of business. It is, coming in just under the wire, time for another editon of "If It Could Only Still Be Socially Acceptable To Make A Mix Tape, This Is What I Would Put On One This Week" Saturday... I now believe that this month has been one of the busiest I've had in a long time, and what with the blog tour thing happening I short-changed you guys last week and didn't even make a playlist for you. Maybe I'll make this one extra-great to make up for it. I mean, I do after all, have plans to dedicate at least some of it to this mysterious pimp. Surely that counts for something.

1. You Ought To Be With Me/Al Green (for The Pimp)
2. Out of Range/Ani DiFranco
3. P.I.M.P./50 Cent (pronounced "fiddy cent", mmmkay?)
4. Early To Bed/Morphine
5. Hanukkah, oh, Hanukkah/Barenaked Ladies
6. Candle/Sonic Youth
7. Bulletproof/Morcheeba
8. Jubilee/Alison Krause (from the "Paper Clips" soundtrack. Have you seen it? Ohh, I sobbed.)
9. Knee High/French Kicks
10. Pasta/Endorfin
11. Scrabble-Ina/Marie Frank
12. Wandering Star/Portishead
13. Egypt/The Mercury Program
14. Sore Thumb/ Soltero
15. Trains to Brazil/Guillemots