Red Nose

Brain Trip Love List

I'm caught in a snag, trying to do something wild and creative and cool with a project -- but I can't quite get my fabu ideas out of my brain and into the computer. I have faith, though.

Anyway, time for a Love List, because maybe if I focus my mind on things I love, something will trip my brain into solution mode. Here's hoping.

I love:

• Playoff hockey. Go Red Wings! Hoist that Stanley Cup high over your heads. Also, go Bears! Bring home the Calder Cup!

• Vanilla malts.

• Green tea.

• Crossword puzzles.

• The tanzanite ring I'm wearing right this very minute.

• La Crema chardonnay.

• Brewster Rockit.

• Waltzes. (My favorite is The Emperor Waltz by Johann Strauss.)

• So You Think You Can Dance. (Except for Mary Murphy's screeching.)

• Hand cream.

• How Elmore Leonard writes. (Can't wait to read his new novel, Road Dogs.)

• Wearing flip flops.

• Long summer evenings.

• Reading advice columns.

• Talking to my sister.

• Roses.

• Listening to cool talks on TED.

• True Blood (Whee!! New season premiere on Sunday!!)

• Thunderstorms, when I'm not caught in them.

• Lazy Sunday mornings.

Hope your weekend is filled with things you love, too.

Post Playoffs Love List

I'm still a little sad that my Capitals got beat down by the Team Who Shall Not Be Named on Wednesday, but there are many many things that I'm loving this Friday.

• I love my team and I love my fellow fans. When two minutes remained in the game and it was clear that a comeback was not in the cards, the entire crowd rose and gave the team a standing ovation for the rest of regulation, through the traditional team handshake, and through the team's raised-stick salute to the fans. It was such a good season, so full of great games. I admit that I got a wee bit misty. See you in the fall, boys!
• I love that it is 8:00 at night and it is still light outside.
• I love New York in June, how about you?
• I love frozen custard, vanilla with chocolate sprinkles.
• I love azaleas in full bloom, especially when they're big and wild rather than trimmed and sculpted.
• I love Sean Connery as James Bond.
• I love penne with sausage.
• I love turning off the alarm clock when I go to bed on Friday night.
• I love getting checks in the mail.
• I love not having to travel for the foreseeable future.
• I love a Gershwin tune; how about you?
• I love Ted.com - "TED" stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design." The videos on the site are quite wonderful, ranging from scientific inventions, to brilliantly illustrated research on social issues, to witty talks, to wonderful music. Check this one out and go into your weekend smiling.

Vernal Equinox Love List

It's Friday AND the first day of astronomical Spring here in the Northern Hemisphere, a win-win if there ever was one.

Yeah, it's kinda cold here in the Nation's Capital, but it's blatantly sunny so I can forgive Mother Nature for her chilly attitude, especially since the redbuds and forsythia are already blooming. That kinda takes the chill off, yes it does.

Anyway, to celebrate springtime and all sorts of other things, here's a Love List.

I'm loving all kinds of things lately:

• Taking my lunch to work. Yes, really! I brought my lunch to work three days this week. Not only was it delicious, it helped a $20 bill stay in my wallet.
• Ovie's 50th goal! The Great 8 has now scored 50 or more goals in three of his four seasons in the NHL. Some people dislike his exuberant celebrations, but I love them because of his obvious love of the game.
• Shortbread cookies.
• Good jokes (well, maybe bad jokes, but definitely really really funny jokes), told really well, and introduced with Klezmer music.
• Redbud trees in bloom.
• Magnolia trees in bloom.
• Forsythia in bloom.
• Just about anything in bloom!
• MRI technicians who talk to you and tell you how long a scan will take and who give you a chance to pull the underwear out of your butt before sliding you into the tube and who can give a barely noticeable injection.
• MRI clinics that give you coupons for a free nosh at the local bagelry!
• Looking at MRI scans and seeing just how ooky your eyeballs look, but not seeing any obvious brain alligators.
• My happy place. I went to it yesterday during the MRI.
• Not having to cough during an MRI.
• The Evil Blanket of Perfect Warmth. I suppose that bears explaining. We have an old Army blanket -- you know, the green wool kind -- that has been washed many times until it's very very soft and completely non-itchy. It imparts the perfect amount of warmth over your body. However, if you cover yourself with the blanket while watching TV, you will never see what you intended to watch, because you will fall asleep instantaneously. And that is why it is Evil, but Perfect. And I love it.
• Twitter. It's dangeresque!
• Having sound bites on my iPod. I'll be listening to some good music and then..."Men don't just into window seats and die!" "No dear, he died first." "Well, how did he die?" "He died because he drank some wine... with poison in it." (First person who can name the movie that's from gets two pats on the head.)
• Lemonade.
• A'float Sushi in Pasadena, California. I'm going to Pasadena for work next week and will definitely have dinner there!
• SnackWells vanilla cream sandwich cookies and coffee -- hmm, I think I'll have some now!

I Made My Deadline Love List

I just sent a big project off for review, so I'm feeling free! At least as free as you can feel when you know that the excrement will surely hit the propeller on Monday, when I have to turn my attention to another MUST DO NOW project.

As we used to say in the circus, "It's a hell of a life!"

Anyway, it's Friday and I'm feeling like a Love List.

• First and foremost, watch this unbelievably sick goal by the Great 8, Alex Ovechkin. I love that we saw this live on Wednesday night. We sit high above the arena, just to the left of the net, and saw the puck go in. The place went nuts!

• I love that I am finally feeling better. I have been tamping down on my caffeine and salt consumption, which is not easy for me wah wah wah, and I think it just might be making a difference. Or it could just be a placebo effect. I don't care; it seems to be working.

• I love Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer tea. It has replaced my evening cup of coffee.

• I love Joe. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

• I love love love Friday Night Lights. The storylines are much improved from last season and the acting is amazing, especially the kid who play Matt Saracen. I have been missing it on Friday nights lately, so...

• I love On Demand.

• I love my new Dell Mini-9. I'm still working out a few glitches to do with the wireless (and it's on my network end, not the Mini's) and I'm getting used to the placement of a couple keys on the tiny little wee keyboard, but I adore the fact that it came equipped with Minesweeper, FreeCell, and (AND!) Mah Jong.

• And it fits IN MY PURSE!

• I love that, because of the wealth of games on the Mini, I have finally torn myself away from Snood.

And now it is almost time to lock up the laptop, turn off the light, and head for the Metro. Why? Another hockey game, of course!

Super Bowl Weekend Love List

Yes, the Super Bowl is Sunday and I am lazily rooting for the Arizona Cardinals, mostly because they are the underdogs, but also because I cannot bring myself to root for a team that is from the same city as the Penguins.

So, in honor of the Super Bowl, I present this week's Love List. I love:

• Rick Rolls, especially the one that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade organizers pulled.
  
  

• This extremely interesting project from Emily Troutman -- watch all the way through!

• The fact that Listening is an Act of Love is now out in paperback. I don't mind pimping this at all, because I love the organization and I love the book. Go buy it!

• Emergency yodel.

• Food Court Musical. Okay, not just that, but all of Improv Everywhere's stuff. I ask you: Would you have the nerve to take off your pants on the New York City subway? Yeah, I thought as much.

• And even though it's a commercial, I can't help smiling at this:

• Two hockey games this weekend! Two -- one against the Red Wings (gah!) and one against the Senators. Come on, boys, we need those four points!

• Super Bowl party at my sister's on Sunday, after the hockey game. Go Cardinals!

Inauguration Love List

It's Friday and it's bitter cold. "Restructuring" is looming at my company. I have a fatty liver. (Like how I threw that in there?) I'm still coughing and snorking.

I think I need a love list. I love:

• Rice with butter
• Flash's great diving goal against the Pens
• All the goals against the Pens
• The sun
• The first two seconds of going outside
• Cheratussin
• Hot showers
• Dove moisturizing body wash
• Using up every last cent in my 2008 FSA
• Payday
• Friday Night Lights is back!!
• Green tea
• Soup -- all kinds of soup; soothing, soothing soup
• Silent lungs
• Getting better
• Being able to sleep in tomorrow
• The excitement over the upcoming inauguration 
• Four-day weekends

Have a good one!

Long Vacation Love List

I am now officially on vacation for the next two weeks!! Woo! I have not had a two-week long vacation in a long, long, long time. Now... do I sit on my ass or clean out the basement? Finish my novel or wrap gifts? Take a bunch of Mom's stuff to Goodwill or go see Slumdog Millionaire?

My, the possibilities are endless.

Tell you what, to kick off this long stretch of not working but getting paid, I'll do a love list.

I love:

• My Bruce Boudreau and Alex Ovechkin bobbleheads! Gotta love those giveaway nights.  
• Hockey fans, especially young men who paint themselves up to spell out the team name, and then have trouble figuring out how to sit so that the name is spelled out correctly. Oh, and their liberal interpretation of pants.
• A Caps win over the Blues, with Kozzy getting first star of the game for his two goals.   
• Steak for dinner.
• Joe making dinner.
• Unexpected wee bonuses.
• Saying "Happy holidays!" and "Merry Christmas!"
• Getting my FSA squared away, and having it be easy to do.
• Cleaning out my email inbox.
• Coupons for 25% off service at my Honda place, especially when I'm due for a big maintenance job.
• Gas for $1.67 a gallon! I'm actually paying cash for a full tank of gas and not clutching my heart.
• Harpsichord music.
• Adeste Fideles.
• The Hallelujah Chorus.
• The thought of rest.
• Advil.
• Eggnog!
• Cheese curds -- and the fact that Trader Joe's has them! Oh, for some squeaky cheese!
• Johnny!
• My whole entire family, in all their glory.

Holiday Love List

A good night's sleep -- mostly -- and a dose of Pepto-Bismol straightened me right out, so my stomach and I are feeling much better this afternoon. That's a good thing, because I'm off to the hockey game once again!

It also puts me in a much better mood to compose a holiday love list for this cold Friday.

I love many things about the end-of-year holidays:

• Hot apple cider on a cold day
• The smell of the air before a snowstorm
• Snowstorms, as long as I am safe at home
• The ham line. I have not stood in the ham line for several years. Maybe it's time for a ham!
• Christmas lights -- all kinds, tacky or tasteful, white or multicolored, it makes no nevermind to me
• The smell of wood smoke
• Real fires in real fireplaces
• Toasting marshmallow in real fires in real fireplaces
• Snuggling up
• Coffee on Christmas morning
• Wrapping presents
• Seeing Joe scurry around as he wraps presents at the very last minute
• My sister's Christmas Eve dinner
• Watching Joe and SonnyeBoy open their presents
• Opening my presents
• Eggnog
• Flannel sheets, flannel nightgowns, flannel-lined jeans, flannel flannel flannel
• Santa coming through the neighborhood on a fire engine
• 24 hours of A Christmas Story
• Making pies
• Holiday parties
• Christmas carols
• Handel's Messiah
• The delicious feeling of anticipation
• Getting Christmas cards (which is why I put up with the hassle of sending them)
• Looking forward to a new year
• Cookies!

I could go on and on, but I'll save some for later. Just like I do with the cookies.

Grey, I Mean, Gray, Friday Love List

Do you ever wonder about the actual correct spelling of "grey"? I mean, is it "grey" or "gray"? Or do I have too much time on my hands?

Never mind. Mr. Google told me that "gray" was the American spelling and "grey" is the British spelling. The best comment was this one:

"Gray" is a color. "Grey" is a colour.

I'm easily amused.

Anyway, it's Friday afternoon, and it's very gray and sort of drizzly, and I've finished everything I have to finish. Time for a Love List!

In spite of the weather and general Novemberishness, I love:

• Having season tickets to the Caps. Tonight's prize: a Bruce Boudreau bobblehead! Let's go Caps!
• Rounding the corner to climb up to our seats and seeing Joe sitting there.
• Coming home to the smell of dinner being cooked. Mmmm.... sausages....
• Gingersnap lattes.
• Thanksgiving.
• Having the day after Thanksgiving off.
• Talking to SonnyeBoy.
• Hearing "President-Elect Obama".
• Grapes and brie cheese.
• Crackers and soup.
• Fleur de Sel caramels from Trader Joe's. Get 'em now! 
• Turning the alarm off before I go to bed on Friday night.
• Jim and Pam.
• C.C. Adcock and Lafayette Marquis -- the band that played at Rene and Arlene's engagement party on True Blood. After hearing them on the show, I immediately looked them up and downloaded their album.
• Watching the Christmas decorations going up at the Bishop's House.
• That I can probably make a break for it in 15 minutes.
• Anesthetic lozenges.
• The feeling of relief I had when I admitted to myself that NaNoWriMo was actually NaNo-NoGo this year.

A Week Late Love List

I am a week late with this Love List Fill-in-the-Blank post. But it is the end of a tiring week that was full of weirdness and yet, productivity, so I'm okay with it. How about you? Yeah? Here goes.

THINGS YOU LOVE

Song you love: Little Deuce Coupe, by The Beach Boys. I'm putting together a playlist based on a podcast and this is one of the songs on it. I liked the Boys back in the day, and I remembered how much when I downloaded this tune and listened to it again. It makes me want to bounce.

Word you love: Snooze. It's very relaxing.

Academic subject you love: I'm so far removed from academic life! I will tell you, though, that my favorite class in college (real college, not Clown College) was an English lit course called Arthurian Legend. Loved. It.

Hobby you love: Blogging. I admit it.

Type of baked good you love: Shortcake. Real shortcake, like sweet biscuits, not fake shortcake, like pound cake.

Type of sky you love: The deep blue of late fall afternoons, so blue and deep you could drown in it.

Beverage you love: Coca-cola, ice cold.

Vacation you love: Anyone who knows me is sick and tired of me saying "Ocean City," so I will say "Any vacation that takes me away from work." But... Ocean City.

Restaurant you love: Holly's. It's a joint on the Eastern shore that serves the BEST fried chicken I've ever had, including Mom's. You can't beat it -- three pieces of chicken and two sides for $8.50!

Way of getting around that you love: Unicycle. If only I could ride one.

Person you love: Joe, of course.

Room in your home (or ideal home) you love: My bedroom, my comfy, comfy bedroom.

Movie you love: Bottle Shock. If you haven't seen it, do. They got the 70s exactly right. And Alan Rickman! How can you not love Alan Rickman?

Book you love: The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E.B. White. I am such a nerd.

City you love: Tampere, Finland. It's clean, and beautiful, and has amazing donuts.

Future plan you love: Retirement. It's out there, somewhere, someday...

Form of communication you love: Hugging.

Junk food you love: Big salty soft pretzels with mustard on top. They sell them at Verizon Center, where I will soon be watching hockey in person.