things that are happening

HELLO NEW YEAR, WEEK THREE!

Before I get to anything else, I'm obliged to post this video because I LOVE IT.
I saw this on SNL back in November or whenever it was on, and it made me sit up and make a happy muppet face at the TV. It reminds me (and a lot of people) of Morris Day and the Time, but that only enhances my enjoyment!  It's so good and they're obviously having a good time being excellent at their jobs - something we can all aspire to in our way, even if we don't have a horn section.



And now on to the THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING:


WORK:  I love it. Things get weird (mostly in my head) but then they level out. I’m trying some new things and so far I haven’t DIED FROM SHAME or whatever I was afraid of. I love working in the library. My coworkers are great PLUS I am literally in a building full of books every day that I work which is an optimal environment for me. Do I want to punch people in the throat occasionally? Of course! I’m only human. But I laugh or am excited by ideas more often than I want to punch anything, so thumbs up to that.

AT HOME: Busby the cat has diabetes! But he’s responding well to treatment so far which helps mitigate how wretched I felt for not noticing how wretched he was feeling. :( He's only been on insulin for a couple of days and had his first blood check at the vet this afternoon. The vet is pleased and the tech said "he is such a good guy" so obviously these people know what they're talking about.  More on this at a later date, I'm sure.

At the GYM: ha ha ha! Yeah, no. But I should get my sneakers on and go for more walks. I ate a lot of cookies over November/December as I am reminded every time I try to wear clothes that are not pajama pants. (Which is every day!)

WRITING: Oh, man. I haven’t been neglecting my blog because I’ve been so busy writing elsewhere - I’ve been largely on vacation from all of it. BUT...

READING: has been going great! We live in a golden age for reading and no one can convince me otherwise.

Here's the official video for Uptown Funk - I include it here because I can never listen to the song just once, even though it's showing up in every movie trailer on TV.

what do you consider fun? fun, natural fun

who needs to think when your feet just go? 

Something tonight made me think of Mariah Carey's Fantasy (below), which of course made me think  of this! Sometimes a person needs a little break from holy nights, angels singing, santa babies, reindeer, silver bells, bing crosby, silent nights, marshmallow worlds, chimneys tonight, angel gabriels, ETC. Tonight is the night I needed that break or the question would truly be whatcha gonna do when you get out of jail for throwing christmas CDs off of the overpass?  (I LOVE THIS SONG.)

It's just a little break, is all.



Here's Mariah on a roller coaster wearing roller blades in the 90s. If we want to make this into a christmas song, just imagine that the roller coaster car flies off and Mariah delivers extended vocal notes to children all around the world. Anyway - I know a lot of people grouse about how this uses the beat from Genius of Love, but as I recall she was always up front about how much she loved the original song. It's not like she was trying to sneak it, she was celebrating it. I don't consider myself a huge Mariah fan by any measure, but this song and (ha ha) her CHRISTMAS SONG are pretty dang great no matter how you slice it.

sexy high speed car chase crimes (for the greater good)

(I was just trawling around my own photostream and found this picture from the Grand Coulee Dam, not that you can tell it's from there.)

WORK: Despite working at this location for a long time as a sub, I've found that being a permanent employee is very different - I have to pay attention in a whole new way. (I say after noticing a my-fault mistake on a paycheck.) I'm sure I'll get used to things soon enough. Right? Right???

TV:  Orphan Black!!!! Is anyone watching this? I'm not quite done with it so don't tell me the end but I can hardly stand it, it's so good. (and suspenseful.)

BOOKS: just finished Neil Gaiman's latest and am still mulling it over. It's easily read in one sitting which I think is the right way to read it, but it's not easily condensed to a single thought bubble so I am STILL THINKING. (it was good, though.)

I think just three categories tonight. Until next time, please enjoy this new Franz Ferdinand video. I saw it this morning and fell down the Franz Ferdinand youtube rabbit hole shortly thereafter. Despite this song being called Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action their songs make me want to commit sexy high speed car chase crimes. INTERNATIONAL SEXY HIGH SPEED CAR CHASE CRIMES! Okay, this one makes me want to commit sexy high speed SCIENCE CRIMES (robin hood/ greater good variety). Like, Franz Ferdinand and I will get this bee problem sorted out!




Who gives a damn about the profits of Tesco? 


I've never seen most of these videos before today and this is NOT what I have in mind when I hear the song, but it does fit the bratty persona of the character in the song.



This is the "band version" of the video for this song, which is lo-fi silliness but preferable to the weird official version.

five things

1) I just painted my toes An Affair in Red Square, which makes me think of the Pink Martini song Dosvedanya Mio Bambino

2) Water has tasted weird all week and I thought maybe I was getting a sinus infection, but it turns out that the city switched from our normal Bull Run (mountainy, wonderful) water to some weird ground water (groundy, tolerable) because of mudslides. Maybe it wasn't mudslides - I saw roiling muddy water on the news, but I wasn't really listening. ANYWAY. The important thing is that delicious Bull Run water will be back soon.

3) RAYLAN! BOYD! Justified is back on TV and I am so happy. Downton Abbey: I hate (but secretly love) that this show is making me soften my position toward evil Edith.  Also, why does everyone hate Mary? Even season 1 Mary had some redeeming features. I feel so sorry for Daisy - she got railroaded every which way for that wedding. (here endeth my cryptic manor house talk, except for one more gossipy thing: did you know that Julian Fellows -creator of Downton Abbey- is also an actor who appeared as pompous comic relief (Earl Kilwillie)  in many episodes of Monarch of the Glen?)

<--- this is what Raylan looks like when he explains things plain and simple to lowlifes and criminals, usually right before they go and do the thing he just asked them not to do. Since he also explained the consequences, I can't feel too bad for them. Crime makes you stupid.


4) earlier this week I went to the Title Wave Bookstore, which is where the library sells withdrawn items. I totally scored and got there when they were having an incredible sale on CDs. I got 2 box sets - the What it Is! Rhino collection and the Complete Stax/Volt singles 1958-1968 set for a very good  price.  They don't have the booklets, but as far as I can tell they're in good shape otherwise.
This song is on What It Is!


and both these songs are on the other:

(not this version, but I couldn't resist the live performance/ dancing studio audience.)

5) Otis the kitten is growing so fast he doesn't have the best control over his limbs or center of gravity; he's gangly and awkward like a teenager. (he's also ADORBS, so no worries that anything has changed on that front.) I'm sure the complicated parkour jumps and free running he plots in his head are flawless but his execution is a little off, which results in crashing and whining and more mad dash capering before anyone notices that he's knocked something over.

love that bridge

I saw AgesandAges as an opening, opening act on Friday and I enjoyed their set so much! Even from far away with the crowd still arriving, even though there are a lot of band members and they had to stand in front of two other bands' equipment - they stuck in my head and I had to come home and do some internet searching right away.

Video #1  Navy Parade (escape from the Black River Bluffs) - this video gives a fine view of St. Johns (in North Portland) in the wintertime. I L-O-V-E the St. Johns bridge and you can totally see it in this video along with green jello, some sort of fraternal lodge interior, doctor's office waiting room interior, hey - that one guy looks kind of like Ryan Murphy, cafeteria interior, paper hats, squeaky vinyl banquette St. Johns bar interior, THE BRIDGE, handclaps, tambourines, la la la-ing my heart out, AgesandAges I will hold your hand even though these sort of public displays are outside my bubble of comfort.




Video #2 So So Freely - reading about this band I've seen "tent revival" mentioned more than once. It makes sense - the blended voices, the rise and fall; there's a revival rhythm there, for sure - but also the sense that we work on these problems of life together. (I haven't been to anything that would be called a revival in a lo-oong time, but it was a factor in my childhood and I just saw some old-time camp meeting tents on my road trip - I'm experiencing some reflexive nostalgia despite linking to a video called 'no nostalgia' and having no desire to go to a religious revival ever again.)



Video #3 No Nostalgia - I haven't heard the album yet (I will!) and I expect to enjoy it - but do see them live if you can.

history videos

I love this youtube channel! From what I can gather, it's a pair of (high school?) history teachers in Hawaii who make these for their classes. Super fun! The videos are playful and goofy with wigs, costumes, dancing, and FACTS. I kept changing my mind about which ones to include here - I look forward to seeing what they will do next.

note: Most of their videos are done to hits from the 80s, but not all! (all of these are, though.)



WARNING: I had the original version of this song going through my head for 4 days after watching this.




Oh, Alexander. Ma-Ma-Ma-Macedonia!



This is so over the top ridiculous (as were the Borgias!) - I love it. These wigs are particularly hilarious AND there is a poison ring. I  also like the marquee B-O-R-G-I-A over the stage.

happy blonde lady birthday

Today (the 19th) is the birthday of

BUFFY 

and

DOLLY

both of whom you must agree are awesome ladies!  But they've got more than a birthday and hair color in common - both are high achievers despite being underestimated by FOOLS all the damn time; they work really hard in difficult careers, but stay true to themselves and find success. (I now really want to see Dolly show up in an episode of Buffy! I think they could learn a lot from each other and you know there'd be an awesome performance/ fight scene at the end.)

Today the library (in conjunction with Dark Horse and Cosmic Monkey Comics) had a birthday party for Buffy - I couldn't go because I had to work too late, but it made me happy to just know it was happening. (in addition to being Buffy's birthday, today was also the release date for the finale of Season 8!) I wish I could have been there.

(I went to trivia instead, which started later. We won! But I dedicate the victory to the birthday girls.)

Here's a song from each. Buffy and her existential despair/ Disney heroine song: (That "whatever" never makes me not laugh.)



And Dolly being awesome all over the place. (p.s. Porter Wagoner has some CRAZY suits, but he wears them with conviction.)

the ficus mushroom

This week! I don't know where to start so I think I won't - I'll just jump right into TODAY. Today was the day of the ficus mushroom. I don't know if it's because it's mushroom season or what, but today it was observed that there is a big, bright screaming yellow mushroom growing in the base of the ficus in the lobby of the library. It was impressive! It also made me laugh - we would go over and look at it in shifts. At any given moment during its (literal) 15 minutes of fame, there were two or three people looking down at it nodding their heads "that's a big mushroom." I didn't go get my camera - I hope it's still there tomorrow and that it doesn't explode all over with poisonous spores or whatever.

SPEAKING OF SCREAMING - slightly after the mushroom discovery there was a toddler throwing an epic tantrum: unconsolable wails of incoherent rage and sorrow. I felt bad for her - she was clearly having a tough time. Her mom got her out to the lobby (where the mushroom is!) and she screamed and screamed (the doors are not soundproof, alas), until finally she calmed down and they came back into the library. This turned out to be only the eye of the storm - Tiny Tantrum (who was in a very cute little dress) lasted about 20 paces before she melted down again. Her mom put their books down on the counter and they marched right out of the building. As ear splitting and disconcerting as it was (a regular patron who came in right after with his own baby daughter noted that we all looked shell shocked), I felt bad for both of them. Is it worse to be the tiny creature who cannot be reasoned with, or to be the adult trying to reason with the unreasonable?

And now, some videos!




This video of Janelle Monae on Dancing With the Stars makes me so happy - I got those little involuntary behind the eyes tears of joy. Because of the singing? The dancing? The enthusiasm? the tuxedos? the horns? the aviator cap? the lady in the audience who claps like my mom? THE CAPE? Perhaps all of the above.(via Fluxtumblr. )


This one is fun - they're having such a good time, which causes me to have a good time! (I would like to note that Jimmy Fallon STILL cannot keep a straight face! He was the worst cracker-upper on SNL and I see it continues. In sketch comedy it can be a problem, but here I like it - he's clearly enjoying himself and it seems like people are not always willing to admit that they're enjoying themselves, which is a shame.) (via Vulture.)