We made cookies last night, and they were good

I guess I've been neglecting my responsibility to continue my quota of doing fun and interesting things so I have something to blog about. For that I must apologize, not only to all of you who put your faith into me for maintaining my life of awesomeness, but also to myself, because frankly I am missing the awesomeness myself. I hate to blame something as boring as the weather, but the fact is it is cold outside and I can't muster the energy to walk the two miles to the National Museum of Art, even though it seems a perfectly lovely place to spend an afternoon while David is at work. Frankly I should be going to the gym, and that is only about four blocks away, but again, all that winter bluster makes me perfectly content to wrap up in my favorite blanket and snuggle into the couch while I watch "Big Fish" on TV. (Which, by the way, is a totally awesome movie, one that I did not fully appreciate the first time I saw it, but even with commercials it brought actual tears today.)

We've actually been spending the last few weeks talking mostly about babies, running through various scenarios of how we might make it work. Obviously the answer isn't easy or obvious. I hope we haven't waited too long to start the process. I don't think of myself as old, until you start adding on 18 years to your age of total responsibility for another life. We've been feeling some self-imposed pressure to quickly make a decision so we can get moving, when the reality is it isn't quite that simple. We found a local agency that holds seminars on the whole adoption process for people considering the option, and so are just waiting for them to announce their 2008 calendar. The internet provides a great deal of information, but we need some context in the form of a real live expert to help talk us through it.

In fluffier news, we are also planning our trip down to see my brother at Disney World at the end of March. We are both big theme park fans, but will have a week to play, so we're also looking around for other fun things to do in Florida. Maybe drive down and see the Everglades, or David found this place where you cans swim with manatees, and there is always the Space Center. Something fun like that. Feel free to forward on any ideas or recommendations if you've got 'em. We briefly considered a three day criuse to the Bahamas, but the thought of being on a ship with hordes of drunk twenty year olds on their spring break somehow doesn't seem all that fun.

On Saturday the hospital is holding their annual New Grad Day, where people come in to take a look at the hospital, interview with managers and decide if they want to work here. I can't believe it was a year ago that I came, last year flew by so quickly! They've asked me to go to lunch with a group of them, and of course I said yes. I would be such a good recruiter. What I have to remember is that I need to figure out which are the ones I actually want to work with before I reveal how awesome a place it is to work. ;)

In TV news, while I fully support the principle behind the writers strike, I am quite miserable over the loss of "Pushing Daisies" on Wednesday nights. Fortunately I still have Project Runway and now Idol to keep me entertained. These early weeks of Idol are by far my least favorite, I somehow am immune to the appeal of people desperate to humiliate themselves just to get on TV. But then there are the ones who are sincere and charming, and though probably won't have the talent to really get through the Hollywood week, at least I got to enjoy their presence for a few minutes anyway. There are great people around, even in Omaha.

I just read an article that says to have a million bucks by retirement, at 25 you have to start saving $300 a month. If you wait until you are 35, you have to save $700 a month. It is all about having time for that interest to compound. I'm not saving quite that much, but if I retire to Thailand or Costa Rica I think it will be a lot cheaper anyway. I mean, right? I just have to stay healthy enough to make that work. Note to my siblings though - open up that Roth IRA and start saving now!

Finally, how about McCain winning Florida? I really didn't see that coming. He makes me more nervous of course, because of all the Republicans I think he has the best shot of actually winning, and I disagree with much of his platform. But in the long run I still think it is the best choice for our country, a clear repudiation of the worst of the Bush administration. Just having a president I can trust not to torture people is a win in my book. How amazingly depressing is it that I have to say that, that it isn't just a given? How quickly the mighty can fall when our leaders exploit fear in exchange for power.

And I'm still rooting for Obama. Until last week I would've been ok with Clinton, and, well, I'd still support her/them over any of the "I'll double Gitmo" crowd. But I can't root for anyone who says that hope is just a fairytale. Life is only that cynical if you make it that way. Plus, think of what a great Senator she could be for NY if she weren't busy playing to the lowest and most generic common denominator by running for President?

Travel dreaming

I don't intend for this blog to become just a bunch of links to videos and stuff, but I can't help but to want to share these little gems. This isn't a video, but is an interactive panorama of Angkor Wat. (You have to have Quicktime installed on your computer to view it.) It is taken on what I believe is the south side (with the main entrance on the west, past the monks), so just gives a little impression of the grandeur of the whole complex. But yes, the stairs really are that steep (out of principle I avoided using the staircase with the metal railing you can see in the photo, which practically forces you to crawl up the stairs rather than walk).

The rest of the site is pretty fun too if you start browsing around. Look at the link for Machu Picchu, which only reminds me that my life will not be complete until I've been there.

Japanese Game Show - Recreating Olympic Games - Matrix Style

I would watch this with the same excitement as I watch Survivor. Really.

Japanese Game Show

Game shows suck - unless you are in Japan!!! How come all we get is Pat Sajak for thirty years when Japan gets this kind of awesomeness? More to come...

More fun internet Tomfoolery and Shenanigans

glumbert - Stop Motion Battle

Hat tip: Radha

Holidays are for monster movies

I have seen the Cloverfield, and behold, it is awesome.

It is gimmicky to be sure, and I do wish they'd gone with a better actor in an extremely key role. But my fears of never seeing the monster, aka "Lost", were unfounded. It isn't a monster movie, exactly, in that you never really know what is going on, but within the scope of the story there were plenty enough thrills and special effects to keep me satisfied. Apparently I got extremely squirmy during a scene in the subway, because David is still making fun of me for it. But it was fun! There seems to be little point in nit-picking the film apart, because while there are many things that were odd or misjudged or that just didn't work, the overall effect was spot on. It is like Blair Witch on crack, with the stakes multiplied by a thousand. Plus an actual monster.

Spoiler!!! Well, sort of. Based on a tip, we stayed through the credits until the very end, just to hear a garbled whisper. It turns out you have to play the whisper backwards to understand it. Uh, is it just me, or does that mean everyone who figured it out was illegally recording the movie??? Isn't that sort of a lame thing to put in, literal incentive for people to pirate your film? Plus it has no bearing on the movie anyway, as far as telling you anything extra about the characters or who lives or dies or whatever. I'm all for clever bonus features, but I don't think that really counts.

But overall, a great way to spend a freezing cold Monday afternoon.

Red Politicians as Buffy Villains

This is simply too delicious if you are a Buffy nerd like me. Huckabee as Caleb is funny enough, but comparing Romney to Mayor Wilkins will enthrall you for much longer than you really should be wasting on nonsense like this. My only quibble is with Guiliani who is no Angel, even an evil Angel. My first thought was Glory and the whole God-complex thing, but someone in the comments mentioned Principle Snyder, which I think is hysterically apt.

Also buried in the comments section someone gives the Democrats similar treatment, except with a positive spin. I dunno if I'd pick Hillary as my Buffy (or Obama as Willow/Edwards as Xander), but the reasoning behind the picks are still funny.

My weekend, plus ruminations on the meaning of life

It's been a busy weekend. BFF Tiffany was here, and took us to meet a friend of hers who recently had a new baby that was cute beyond compare. Also we had fondue, which is always a good thing. We brought the dipping stuff, and they provided the cheese, and made the fondue from scratch. Can we all say "super yum" together now? For a bonus we had chocolate fondue afterwards, so my tummy was in tummy heaven all night, it was a very good thing.

Tiffany, besides showing off her fancy long lady hair, also got us talking and thinking about babies, as in, having them. One. Well, or more. Three days later my head still feels about to explode. I really wish I had the instruction manual to life, because all of the sudden things seem complicated, which isn't really something I have a lot of experience dealing with. Everything in my life has been rather smooth sailing. Well, that isn't completely true, but certainly nothing has been as frustratingly dense as this. Then there is that part of me that is like, did God make me gay so I wouldn't have to worry about having kids this time around, and would I just be thwarting his plans for me by making it happen? Or did he make me gay in order to give my kid a valuable perspective about, I don't know, something. All I know is that I hit 35 in a few weeks, and David is already 40, so if we are going to adopt we need to get on that bandwagon right quick. Anyhoo, lots of ideas and thoughts and fears are percolating through the old noggin. I'm ok with not having kids as long as we make the decision to not have any. But I don't want to be 50 and say, why didn't we do that?

Tiffany also brainwashed me and got me to sign up on Facebook. So while I swear I am not going to get addicted to that like I was to Friendster a bunch of years back, come say hi there if you like. But this blog will remain my main focus.

More good news: the Bickersons finally got eliminated from the Amazing Race. All together now, a huge sigh of relief.

Back to work the next couple of days. I think American Idol starts this week, but I always hate the opening rounds so I won't be too sad if I miss it. Everytime they tell someone they should never sing again I want to slap their faces. Everyone should sing. All the time. It is good for the soul. That doesn't mean that everyone should be a professional singer or deserve a recording contract, but there is a whole lot of leeway between those two extremes.

And that's all I've got.

If this is winter I might like it here after all

Well, I made it. In the end I was more mentally exhausted than physically. In fact I'm pretty amazed at how well my body held up. I remember not too long ago where I was afraid I'd never be able to stay up for night shifts, much less one that had a day shift on either side of it. I have no plans to try six in a row again, but at least I know that if push came to shove I can do it.

My favorite patient of the adventure cracked me up the last night. On a fellow nurse "That one is very pretty. She is a piece of cake." On Ellen Degeneres "I don't like that woman. She scares me." She kept saying that to thank me for taking care of her she wanted to make me dinner. Later a commercial came on her TV for a hot tub, and she told me she would buy me one. (I got the distinct impression she's bought gifts like that before for people.) I just have this image of her in her youth, a high society free spirit. People are just awesome.

Then there was the other patient who was watching coverage of the primaries, who said he was for Huckabee. When I said I liked Obama, he said incredulously "But he is a Muslim!". ::head in hands:: We kept the tone light, but then later he offered "Well, I hate Guiliani for two reasons. One, he likes abortion. Two, he wants to let the gays get married." I wanted to say, well, this gay is about to give you a blood transfusion, so perhaps you shouldn't be so rude. lol Other than that he was a good patient though, a very spry 80 years old. Plus he was pooping blood, so I gave him a pass.

Tonight BFF Tiffany arrives from NY for a few days. Tomorrow we are going to another friends house to see his new baby and have fondue. But this guy is going to make the fondue cheese from scratch, which excites me to no end. I'm always excited when I have extreme culinary delight in my near future.

Is anyone watching Project Runway? I love that show. And this season everyone is so ridiculously *nice* to each other, all helpful and encouraging. I love it. Who says you can't be a diva without being a total bitch? However I'm starting to feel the pain of the writers strike. I need my Pushing Daisies!!

David is experimenting and is making gnocci for dinner tonight, which I'm looking forward to, so I should probably get back downstairs and offer my help, even though I'm rather pathetic in the anything but washing dishes department in the kitchen. (Except for baking of course.) We're also hoping to take down the Christmas tree tonight, and that is going to be a mess.

Oh, and just for grins, here is another reason why the 70's were super-bitchin'. The longer you watch, the more it hypnotizes you until by the end you wonder how you've survived all these years without this particular piece of joy in your lives. Also, Karen Carpenter is flawless. It's a fact. It's indisputable.

my ongoing slaving for the machine, political intrigue and a dog even I enjoy

Five down, tonight left to go. Glad it is a night shift, because it gives me nap time today plus it should be slower paced tonight. The last two days have been good overall, but I got the inevitable 6:30 new admission both days, which always sucks. But hey, the husband of one of my patients gave me a small box of fancy chocolates, so that was fun. I'd rather he spent his time talking her into not refusing 99% of the things we want to do for her, but what can you do. Every time she refuses, she always says "Let's not make a big deal about this" in her cute accent, and despite myself I can't help but to find her totally adorable. They were going to put in a central line at the bedside, which would have been awesome to watch, but she was too agitated so they decided to send her down to get a new PICC put in under anesthesia. Sad for me, but so, so much better for her.

A big yay for McCain. I wouldn't count Plasticman out yet, but I really don't see how Guiliani is going to recover thank goodness. Huckabee still freaks me out though, and I bet he wins South Carolina. I couldn't be happier that Obama won Iowa, but I'm actually glad Clinton pulled it out in New Hampshire. I want Obama to win ultimately, but I want him to win it, not just walk away with it. This is turning into a much more interesting primary season than I ever expected (remember when Clinton and Guiliani were both expected to win hands down?), so that is good at least.

Well I'm gonna go take a nap. But I'll leave you with a cute video. As you probably know, about the only thing I appreciate less in life than a hyper dog is snow, but even I can't deny that this is adorable (and looks way fun.)

How far you can walk into a forest? Halfway.

Three down, three to go.

The good news is that my body, unbelievably, seems to have little problem at all staying up for night shifts. I just finished my second in a row, and while there were definitely some yawns of gargantuan proportion, I wasn't ever fighting sleepiness or anything. Also, I love night shifts. It is all so much quieter, I love tucking a patient into bed and then not really doing more than peeking in to make sure they are still asleep and breathing every few hours.

The bad news is that, come end of shift, my body loses its sweet survival mode protections, and I come home and feel like I spent the night partying with Paris Hilton. Dang I'm wiped out. And now I have to go back and work two more busy weekdays. ::sigh::

Other fun events: cleaning actively bleeding wounds so bad the patient started sobbing on eye contact. (We love you dilauted!) A French woman who enjoyed refusing to let anyone but me touch her. Actually she didn't really like me touching her either, but she couldn't resist flirting a bit and I took the opening and ran with it. Distraction can be a great tool. Another guy who only spoke Spanish, again reminding me how badly I want to speak Spanish. At least I could say "tiene dolor?" or "esta bien?" every so often. The best part with him was drawing some blood, and one of the caps came off the tube and I spilled blood all down my pants and on my shoe, which isn't nearly as funny as it sounds. David saved the day with that one with some expert use of hydrogen peroxide and saved my favorite scrubs, but I still had to walk around for about three hours with blood on me, like, gross. Oh, and how can we forget the lovely doctor who started a patient on a heparin drip who is such an impossible stick that her "daily" labs had to be rewritten to be done only on days she has dialysis. The night doc finally had to come and do an arterial stick on her, but used a heparinized tube so the results were all skewed and useless. I had to leave that mess for the poor day shift. I hope they figure that one out before tomorrow.

So despite the headache, I'm halfway through my six day marathon. It hasn't really been that bad, I just wonder when the mental fatigue is going to really hit me. Because it will.

Better news for the future though, BFF Tiffany is coming to visit next weekend. Woo hoo! I hope the weather cooperates so we can get out of the house for some adventuring.

I think I should go sweet talk David into making me some waffles, I need some comfort food.

Celine has been amazing while I haven't been looking

I haven't paid attention to Celine Dion since Titanic, but this makes me love her all over again, and for all the right reasons.

Iowa speaks up

I'm obviously thrilled with Obama's win yesterday. I know a lot of people on the left felt that a Hillary win would be an extremely satisfying punch in the jaw to Bush. But while Obama won't give us revenge for the past eight years, he is the one to bring us all together and start cleaning up the mess. The battle is far from over, but I find the results extremely encouraging.

I also have to have a shadenfruede giggle at poor Mitt. I read that he spent upwards of $100 million in Iowa. I don't dislike him, but he is so plastic that I could never actually support him. (I still can't get over the "I'd double Gitmo!" comment.) But Huckabee, wow, that is scary. That is the monster that Rove and Bush created by fusing religion and politics, the evangelicals now want an actual preacher to be President. I can't imagine him actually winning the nomination with most of the DC machine against him. But wow. So despite my misgivings about him, I'm still rooting for McCain in New Hampshire.

My favorite statistic, though, is this one.

Total Voter Turnout (approximate): 356,000

Percentage of total vote
24.5% Obama
20.5% Edwards
19.8% Clinton
11.4% Huckabee

The clear Republican winner got less than half the number of votes that went to Obama. This just feels good.

I heart Amy Adams, plus Virginia wants to kill you in its restaurants

So my fantabulous seven day vacation has come to an end. Tomorrow I go back to work, and have to pay for those days off by working six days in a row. Three days, three nights, but of course not in a row, a day, night, night, day, day, night. I'm gonna die probably, and it has been nice knowing you all. But still, it was worth it spending all this quality time at home, we actually got a bunch of stuff done, including backing up my harddrive onto an external hard drive we bought in, oh, say June. But it is finally done!

We did go see "Enchanted", which I was a little embarrassed about, but there were only two actual families with kids there, the rest of us were all, uh, overage. It is a cute movie, with some funny Disney references (go Judy Kuhn!) and of course I always enjoy a nice Alan Menkin melody. The reason we went though, was the day before on Netflix we watched a movie called "Junebug", and we both completely fell in love with Amy Adams, so had to get another fix. I guess she is in that "Charlie Wilson's War" too, but that one looks way more boring. "Junebug" is sort of weird, and I didn't "get" all of it, but Amy Adams and the other lady in it give such great performances. Well, they all do really, but those two really stand out as special. If you like Indie movies, don't miss that one. And now I love Amy Adams even more that I found out she does all her own singing in "Enchanted". Won't some Hollywood producer make all my dreams come true and make a movie with her, Toni Collette and Allison Janney in it?

We went Italian for our anniversary dinner, which was delicious. But the best part was our waiter. After we sat he came over and whispered something that only the chandelier could have possibly heard. So I did what any normal person would do, I smiled and said "I'll have a water." Then he looked at David, so I guess I said the right thing. David ordered a peach/raspberry iced tea. A few minutes later he comes back with our drinks. He looks at David and says "psss psss pss peach pss pss pss raspberry pss pss pss?" David smiled and said "Okay". So the guy leaves. "What did he say?" I asked. "I have no idea" says David. A second later the waiter comes back with another glass half filled with slices of peaches and walks away. "Huh" we say in unison.

I never did understand a thing he tried to say to us, although I guess we were good at guessing because whatever we said back to him seemed to be the right thing. Or maybe he would go back to the waiters station saying "these two guys are totally crazy, nothing they say makes any sense to what I'm asking them!" Anyway, it kept us laughing the entire night. I gave him 20%, even though he never gave David any more iced tea or peaches.

The worst part was while we were waiting for a table there was a couple smoking at the bar. As if I needed another reason to hate Virginia. David couldn't handle it, so we had to wait outside for a few minutes until our table was ready. Another guy came outside to smoke, but had the courtesy to do it both outside and downwind. At least some Virginians still have some manners.

Despite myself I can't help getting excited over the Iowa primaries. We humans are just wired to love contests. At this contest is going to be anything but boring.