Red Nose

Rainy Night Love List

It's fixin' to be a rainy, stormy night. We've already had one taste of a downpour, but more is evidently in store.

Time for a love list -- not necessarily one related to rain, but just because.

I love:

• Italian Ice on a hot afternoon. Well, anytime actually.
• Friday Night Lights. I am going to miss this show so much.
• Little perfect moments in TV shows that indicate great acting -- like one in season finale of Treme where LaDonna's husband tells her they're not selling the bar and that they're going to move back to New Orleans. LaDonna (Khandi Alexander) just stares in disbelief, and then -- as the elevator doors close -- she just moves to him and hugs him hard. It lasted but a second, but it brought tears to my eyes.
• The British version of Top Gear. Jeremy Clarkson is a hoot, James May is delightful, and I just want to fold Richard Hammond up and put him in my pocket. The cars that they test are pretty great too -- would anyone like to buy me a Bugatti Veyron?
• Sleeping without the worry of getting up at a particular time.
• People watching on the Metro.
• Ben Tausig's crossword puzzles.
• Vanilla bean Frappacinos.
• Looking at the pictures from my various travels. It almost inspires me to do some more scrapbooking, but not quite.
• Optical illusions. Remember that donut tree from last week? Okay, I'll 'fess up here -- it's actually two separate trees. The power lines do go through them. One is trimmed back severely on one side; one is trimmed back severely on the other. But when you're driving toward them, the trunks align perfectly and... donut tree!
• Yellow roses, especially when Joe surprises me with a bouquet of them, as he did this evening.
• Cool evenings.
• Kittehs.
• Fixing dinner, which I am about to do. Grilled pork chops, salad, and biscuits -- come on over!

At Long Last, A Love List

I have not done one of these in weeks and weeks and it's high time.

As I was walking home from the bus stop on this perfect afternoon, I realized that I've worrying a lot this past week. I've worried about Joe, about work, about money, about everything and anything, It didn't occur to me that I'd been worrying, but when I woke up with headaches -- really, more like face-aches -- every day this week I knew I'd been grinding my teeth in my sleep. And I do that when I'm worried.

Anyway. Back to the love list!

I love:

• Joe, who does not have a hole in his heart. I am really glad and relieved about this, even though we still don't know what caused his weird episodes. I am going to trust that we will find out. We just will.
• The smell of freshly mowed grass.
• Perfect days, with low humidity and sunny skies and light breezes.
• Going to lunch with my group at work. They are a great bunch.
• Shortbread cookies.
• Good jokes.
• Sleeping well.
• The feel of cool air as the fan wafts it over me.
• Gold Bond Medicated Powder.
• Smoothie and White Whisker (aka Greedy Gus), our semi-feral cats.
• Having dreams about my mom, even though they make me sad, too.
• Cool nights.
• Doing demos of my work in progress and having people like it. Whew.
• Realistic, even conservative, deadlines. Unbelievable!
• All of you. Really.

Rainy Day Love List

It's been raining all day, from a light drizzle to a steady downpour, and it looks like it's going to rain all weekend.

Whenever it rains like this, I start humming the old Sesame Street song:

It's a rainy day, it's a rainy day!
It's raining outside and I can't go out to play.
Why do we need the rain anyway?

Then the song goes on to enumerate all the reasons why rain is good.

Yeah, I get it; I still prefer the sun though.

So in lieu of a sunny afternoon, I'll do a Friday Love List. Here's what I'm loving on a wet end of the week:

• A good night's sleep. I actually had a couple this week!
• The sound of spring peepers singing in the wet woods.
• The sight of robins.
• The Stanley Cup playoffs -- Let's Go Caps!
• Speaking of the Caps, I love that we clinched the Southeast Division title already. Third year in a row!
• Cheese curds, especially when they are all melty in a bowl of good chili.
• Fried cheese curds, all by themselves, especially the ones from the Dyckesville Bowl.
• Bowling, even though I suck mightily at it.
• Brandy Alexander, sweet, as served by the Club Chalet supper club in Green Bay. (Thank you, Esteban!)
• Laser tag! Who knew?
• Dancing, all by myself or with somebody or with a lot of somebodies.
• Glow stick bracelets.
• New friends.
• Old friends.
• Seeing friends I haven't seen in a few years.
• Finding out about interesting websites from friends I haven't seen in a few years.
• Firesign Theatre. Shoes for industry, compadre!
• A general lightening of spirit, coinciding (not coincidentally) with the very soon onset of Daylight Savings Time. Light in the evening! I sigh with happiness and relief.

And so another week comes to a close. This weekend promises to be much more laid back than last, and while I miss all my tribe and all the fun we have, it will be good to be quiet.

Besides, SonnyeBoy and his Sweetie are coming for a visit next week. I have to clean the bathroom!

Return Of The Love List

Okay, I have 10 minutes before I run off to dinner with my high school gal pals, and I have not done one of these for a long, long time, and I really  need to do one to keep my head on straight, so here it is -- a Love List.

I love:

• Going to dinner with my high school gal pals. A bunch of us have birthdays in January, so that is the purpose of tonight's get together. We are meeting at a joint called Cafe de Paris -- oui, oui!
• Watching Olympic hockey, especially since I get to see women playing hockey.
• Snowboard Cross -- watching it, that is; I would never in a million billion years attempt it, for I would die a very painful and cold death.
• The silliness of the men's figure skating outfits. Child, please. While I was thrilled that Evan Lysacek pulled out a gold-medal winning performance, those weird spangly snakes on his costume seriously icked me out.
• Cake.
• Wrapping up in a blanket on the couch.
• My younger sister. Seriously, I think she saved my sanity last week.
• Sleep. Peaceful, deep sleep. Perhaps I shall experience it again someday.
• Bagels, toasted with cream cheese.
• Raises, however petite.
• Winning the large puzzle on Minesweeper. (Remember Minesweeper? I have recently rediscovered it; woe is me.)
• Watching my Friday Night Lights DVDs. I cannot wait for Season 4 to start in April.
• The Swell Season.
• Joe slipping into bed beside me and wrapping me up in his arms.

Time to go!

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!