driver's license requirements are different in Iceland

Bjöööööööörrrrrkkkkk!
I don't know where to start. It's heartbreaking but then there's the cat (who is kind of an asshole!) and her cape/dress all-in-one, and the bar scene, which is just the best until it shades into the worst. Björk knows how to bypass the rational brain and go right for the subconscious mind that communicates in images and dream knowledge.



plus this one because it's such a great song.


(TIPS AND TRICKS: on a mac keyboard, you just have to click option U to get the umlaut and then type whatever letter needs it.)

mermaid migraine cure

Not much to post today because I've had a migraine most of the day. It's going away now because it finally started raining. Thank you, rain! (also: I took a lot of headache drugs.)

Anyway - maybe this mermaid is also post-migraine! Maybe she is smiling because her underwater headache finally dissipated! Maybe that's her mermaid bathrobe and she's just chilling on her mermaid couch which is made out of bubbles!

p.s. I attended a class on e-books today and the side effect is now I want an iPad mini.  It would be a nice companion to my old school keyboard kindle. Do I really need it? hell no. Do I want it anyway? YES I DO.

five things I saw today

1. flirty baby in bespoke dinosaur sweatshirt. I was shelving a book and the baby was being walked around by his fingers by Fedora Dad - the baby caught my eye and gave me a tiny smile and it was adorable.

2. first pages of Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson. So far I LOVE IT.

3. Confusing forms. Part of my job is compiling notes every week from our morning meeting. The notes are written into a blank form that has been evolving over the last few weeks. One of the latest is printed front and back and the days were profoundly out of order (like Tuesday on the back of Friday). CHAOS. but it all worked out.

4. SO MANY COMCAST PAGES. I'm trying to figure out a better deal. Because we've had service for so long, the bill is mondo expensive and it's not even THAT GOOD. But guess what happens when you try to see offers for existing customers? The website somehow can't find that page. It's bullshit is what it is. I wish I could resolve it with internet searches and the power of my mind, but I think I'm going to have to call someone. UGH.

5. This is not even from this month but I'm going to write it down anyway.  Around the time of the release of How to Train Your Dragon 2, I witnessed a little girl go to the reference desk and ask with great dignity about reference books on dragons, like where they live and what they eat and where do they lay their eggs and how do you train one and what do they like to do and it also needs to have lots of pictures... I loved how she snuck the training in there like it was a total side note when it was obviously her main concern! We didn't have a book checked in at the time which directly addressed all of these issues, but the librarian found her something to begin her research.

beep beep, who got the keys to the jeep?

Like many spectacle-loving Americans, I watched the Super Bowl halftime show this morning on youtube. MISSY ELLIOTT!!!  I miss Missy! I didn't even know how much until I saw her again. I've collected a few videos so I have them all in one place when I want to watch them.

(other Katy Perry Spectacular note: I really loved that lion puppet she rode in on at the beginning - all that PLUS dancing sharks?? Come on! No complaints here.)



These videos are like a time machine to the late 90s/early 2000s. Wouldn't it be cool if they WERE a time machine? I'm not ruling it out.



Lots of MTV at the time familiar faces in all of these videos.




The Rain is the first time I remember seeing/hearing Missy Elliott. What a memorable song/video!  It seemed so different to everything else out there - so deliberately weird but compelling - like an alternate science fiction future in which we all look magnificent in our garbage bag garments and gold glitter head pieces.

I keep almost getting to what I want to say, but it's battling with the fact that I have to go to bed because I work in the morning so I can't quite get it right. Probably just as well. In a nutshell: she's an idiosyncratic national treasure and a hugely talented writer/performer/producer and I'm glad she's back.

brain ants, ant ants, ATLANTIS

I feel a major book purge coming on.

This is an exaggeration.

I feel A book purge coming on, which always seems major even when it's necessary and will improve my life. (I keep going to book sales and it's not like I'm coming home empty handed.)

ANYWAY. Do you ever get rid of books? How do you do it? Is there a system? There was a time in my life when I'd have said never would I ever, but I'm older and wiser now. Any collection needs maintaining or it will get stale and die - I've bought some things that seemed like if not a good idea at least a good deal, and some of those simply must go. It won't be bad once I get going, but I find myself reluctant to get going! I need the shelf space and there are some obvious candidates, and YET. Hmmm. A cushy conundrum, really.

Other things occupying my attention today:

• Busby the cat is feeling better enough that he does not care to eat his fancy prescription food and instead wants to eat (I mean REALLY wants to eat) Otis the striped cat's food. Again - not a problem with dire consequence, but still a problem.  
• Soda Crush Saga. 
• what will happen when I've seen every single British crime show? 
• I'm finally reading Wolf Hall! Have you read it? Did you like it? 
• my new calendar book that I made myself from a moleskine. I love it. More on this at a later date. 
• sewing: what next? I've got a long list of things I want to do, but I need to just jump in and do something - anything. (a familiar story.) 
• stupid black ants I hate you even though you're just doing what nature designed you to do. 
• blog stuff  - this joint looks very 2008. WHAT TO DO. It's not that I care so much what it looks like (although I do), it's that it's not very twenty-teens functional and we're in the middle of the twenty-teens! 
• pinterest, I love you

Okay. Enough from me for now. I will return. 

tree line

I'm in the beta group on flickr for the new uploader and camera roll, which means the computer found a bunch of pictures I never uploaded, like this one from the central valley of California in April of 2011. ANYWAY. Look out, is all I'm saying because there were a bunch of pictures I forgot all about (like this one) that are now in front of my face and some of them I'll be putting in front of yours.

I'm so relieved to be getting them off of the backup drive to my old kaput computer and into the cloud.  Those drives don't last forever and my computer certainly didn't - I'm so pleased to save the pictures!

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.

the end of December

(winter scene from somewhere on Mt. Hood, taken sometime in December of 2009)

Greetings! It turns out that if I want to say something before the end of the year, I pretty much have to say it now because I work tomorrow and have 2 books to finish if I'm to make my Goodreads goal! 

(Northanger Abbey: Almost done! Catherine is sneaking around the abbey thinking the thrilling worst at the moment. The other is a collection of gardening columns from Vita Sackville-West that I can't remember the name of... Anyway - it's arranged by month and I am in December, so I should be able to make it to the end in time.) 

This, the TENTH YEAR of this blog, has been my year of least posting. In the new year I'd like to get back into the habit of a lot of things, of which blogging is one. I don't know. It helps arrange my thoughts, somehow. 

Well now it's after midnight and time for chapter 10. More on books and thoughts and pictures and everything in 2015! Or tomorrow. You never know. 

atmospheric measurements

Hello!

Checking in from planet Jen. I hope things are well on earth.

( ha ha! stating the above under this particular photo of a painting in a book makes me laugh because it maybe implies that on planet Jen we wear domino masks and loose braids and faux-ermine trim on our black velvet ballgowns while getting ready to write a blog post. MAYBE WE DO on some other part of PJ, but on my particular archipelago at this particular time it's more bathrobe and pajama pants.)

ANYWAY. I have been busy! Work and things. I work more hours now and was just awarded a special job on top of my job but still in my job, job which is exciting! But it doesn't start until Dec. 1.
Details to follow if it doesn't kill me week 1. (week 2 I'm taking vacation!)  Not work has also been good! I've been doing a lot of reading, a lot of needlework and crochet and whatnot, and before it got cold a lot of gardening. GOOD STUFF. I love it all and count my lucky stars that I'm in a position where if I want to, I can pretty much.

How are you? I hope that whatever planet you're on is atmospherically pleasing.

OMG - I almost forgot, which is weird because this is the reason I wanted to be sure and have at least one blog post in November: as of November 20 something, I have had this blog for TEN YEARS! TEN! That's a lot. I may or may not say more about this in the future.

okay. that's all for now. I am ending this transmission. I was going to do more photos but then I lost 20 minutes futzing around with them which is counter to my mission of:  get in, get out, but go more often. Be well, comrades.

star ratings of immediate thoughts

TONIGHT'S FULL MOON: five stars. I feel like I could probably read by its light,  which means it's of a particularly fine quality. Bonus four stars: total lunar eclipse. (sorry) (ha ha ha!) I plan on being asleep when the eclipse comes, but I bet it will be amazing. (moon, next time think about falling in the earth's shadow sometime before I need to be in bed.)

STREET SWEEPER: four stars. Good work keeping ahead of autumn debris, street sweepers! I also like the sound they make. I got so mad last summer when I'd think I heard the street sweeper, but it was just that guy riding his lawn mower down the street.

COYOTE I SAW ON THE WAY TO RETURNING BOOKS AFTER MIDNIGHT TO THE LIBRARY:  three point five stars. Full stars for the majesty of nature and the undeniable pleasure of seeing something wild with a big fluffy tail crossing the city street like she owned it, but then this coyote was probably eating people's cats and chickens for which I must deduct.

MIX CDS: five stars.  I hadn't made one in ages but when the radio news got too grim and my sister was having to drive a lot for work, I got busy! The beauty of these is I did not have time to fuss too much. Too much fussing is always my downfall. I pick a random theme and GO FOR IT and it has been fun. I bought a little external drive for my laptop (since it does not have a disc drive) and it works like a champ.

SLEEPING: all of the stars! I think sleeping is greatly underrated and I'm going to go do it right now.

spiderville, tomato towers

This photo is from the 22nd, but it's still feeling pretty true today. These spider ladies have built elaborate webs going every which way ALL OVER my tomato plants. I try not to disturb anyone, but it's not always possible. And let's be honest - they're not worried at ALL about disturbing me. They don't even like tomatoes! I think they're just messing with me, honestly.

more books

Hello again - here are a few more recent-ish (mostly from July because I am behind) book impressions.  What are you reading? Do you dig it? My up to the minute book update is that I'm reading The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Ugh, it's so good. People at work are tired of hearing me talk about it. ("oh, it's fiction? Nevermind." OR "never heard of it" OR OR OR I could go on but I won't. I just reassert its felicity at every freaking opportunity and hope someone will eventually take me up on it.) 

Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick  by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky Read July 16

Love, sex, comedy, funny, Queen, crime, color, library, hating your job, loving your job, financial crisis, sex fascists, sex comedy, one cool trick

Explicit but big hearted. Funny.  Surprising. A perfect meld of writing and artwork. 

                                 

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill  Read July 19 - 20

Epistolary, marriage, language, depression, infidelity, fidelity, sometimes the city is not your friend, short, wild animal feelings in your chest

if you enjoy reading about complicated human feelings including ones that are not always positive and if you can tolerate a journey that reaches a stopping point but doesn’t feel like the end (because complicated human feelings keep on shifting and turning and don’t easily resolve), try this book. The writing is beautiful and it’s short!

the two covers: I prefer the one on the right but the library had the one on the left so that's what I read. The insides are the same! 

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch  Read May 26 - 28  

Constable Peter Grant discovers that there’s a lot more to London policing than he thought: trickster ghosts, magic, wizards, and a lot of other urban fantasy stalwarts. My favorite parts (I tore through this book and couldn’t wait to get back to it when I had to put it down), dealt with the Rivers of London that give the series its name: they’re an ancient, powerful, embodied, bickering blended family and have chosen Peter to keep the peace.

 

Adults with jobs, nobody gets kidnapped, no misunderstanding, their siblings get married, when it clicks it clicks

It Happened One Wedding by Julie James Read in July 

I usually don’t read contemporary romance novels unless they’re funny, but someone mentioned this on twitter so I gave it a go. I liked it! It’s only funny incidentally, but I enjoyed it regardless. Our couple consists of an investment banker and a FBI agent. The closest thing to hijinx is that their siblings are getting married and they’re thrown together in situations with religious parents where they have to pretend they’re not doing it. What sets this apart from many contemporaries is that while they have a little friction at first (because someone is a bit of an asshole), they enjoy each others company! They are equally successful in their jobs! And despite one of them being in the FBI, nobody gets kidnapped or shot. Despite one of them being an investment banker, nobody gets thrown out of the family business. Grown ups in love acting like adults!

this is planet earth

it is finally raining! Only a little, but I'll take it. Everything is crispy and dusty. If I was in charge of the weather, it would rain (gently) for a week and then resume sun. (NOTE: I am not in charge of the weather.)

golden afternoon light

There has been so much going on I don't know where to start, so I will start with the Duran Duran Unstaged viewing that Bec, Ms. Tara and I went to. GOOD TIMES. This was a "one night only" theatrical showing of the youtube collaboration between Duran Duran and David Lynch from a couple of years ago. Basic premise of the original: special concert that was broadcast live with a layer of Lynch on top. Some might find it a curious collaboration but it makes perfect sense to me: David Lynch is fluent in visual non-linear dream language and Duran Duran songs are often lyrically oblique and musically nocturnal. (Playing right now in my headphones: Night Boat.)

ANYWAY - it is a concert film, an art film, and a good weird time. Special guests Kelis, Beth Ditto, Mark Ronson, and Gerard Way all seemed genuinely stoked to be on stage with the band and it was just really fun. Would watch again!



Here's the teaser trailer. You can't really tell, but that's an egg in a rubber gloved hand.


Here's Planet Earth with Gerard Way. (Couldn't find any other full songs on the internet. Gerard Way is an adorable tiny moppet.) I think there was some editing between the time it originally appeared on the internet and when it appeared in theaters for ONE NIGHT ONLY (plus some other nights) because in our showing, Gerard Way had bright red hair shining through the black and white.

Here's the sign after the movie with the marquee turned on!

why not do it today?

Today is Internet Slowdown Day. This John Oliver piece is from a while ago, but his description of the net-neutrality issue is the most passionate yet informative (and hilarious) that I've seen.  Anti-Cable Company Fuckery INDEED.

Write your representative! (or call if you can, phone calls count for more somehow.)

supermoon spider bites

I think a spider bit me on the face or near-face region last night during the SUPERMOON which seems like it should give me at the very least a minor superpower.  (do supermoons feel super at all now that they happen 3 months in a row, etc.?)  Nothing yet, I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED.

Zinnias are wonderful and no one will ever convince me otherwise. So if you've got some problem with them keep walking pal. 

RANDOM FOUR (OR FIVE): 

•I'm sad that So You Think You Can Dance is over for the season, for this was a very good season! I loved this take on the show and how it has changed for the better. The author of that piece has stronger feelings about Adam Shankman than I do, but I 100% agree about the fabulousness of Cat Deeley. She's the best! 

•spider season - I have to admire the optimism of the spider that builds a web across the front door every day. 

•this is the part of summer that is hard. It's still summer in spirit, weather, and fact but the days are getting shorter, the kids are back in school and wah. Winter is coming. 

•Finally watched Season 2 of Game of Thrones. I enjoy it, but it's really murdery.  I have to turn my head a lot. 

•I found a bunch of local garden blogs and am now filled with ideas and a sense of inadequacy! Woo! But I don't mind feeling inadequate to a task (some tasks, I should say)  - it takes the pressure off, somehow. 

Same Zinna picture but different.

and now to bed - I'm sleepy!