New blog -- new...blog.

I am starting up a new blog due to the creepy factor of knowing someone who cannot stop harassing me...keeps harassing me. Damn if I am going to help him in his sickness.

I will explain later.

Best!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Our superintendent in our building just notified me that as of February 15, 2008, the sun will be at a higher level in the sky for longer periods of the day and the sun will melt *all* ice off the roads. So we technically have another month of ice. And after February 15, 2008, ice will be non-existent.


Anyone else hear of this? I have never heard of such a thing and all winter's past, I have never thought of this. Bah.

This weekend is going to be -25 without the windchill added to that number. It is going to be windier by the lake BUT it is going to be 5 to 10 degrees warmer by the lake. Frankly, I would take the -25 without the windchill. We live 2 blocks from the lake so I know, windchill wise, we are officially screwed.

I will be in the Twin Cities on Saturday doing what I do best: Absolutely nothing. I might stop at the Modern. I might read the paper. I might shop. I might get my hair done. I have not decided yet...but I am going to take my favorite bum with me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HELLCAT.

She is two years old today! Seems just like yesterday I was crowning in my doctor's office waiting for him to give me a green light to haul ass to the hospital. And now, with the worst behavioral years (ages 2-4, respectively, until tweenage) upon us, I am keen to the little subtle changes in her behavior. Let me explain.

1. Instead of her saying "no," to the dinner she does not seem very interested in, she now takes the plate of delicious food, all the while giving me the death stare, and smashes it food-side down on the table. She then takes the plate and raises it above her head while everyone ducks for cover. She then throws the plate, making sure she throws it so it does not land on the carpet, for you see, that would be very, very bad to let the plate live.

2. When the boys are riled up and playing, she wants to play, too. She likes to wrestle on the floor with them and tug and play kick and woot! Tons of fun! Until one of them no longer wants to play wrestle with her and then watch out. She expresses her femininity by first grabbing fist-fulls of her brother's hair and then goes in to bite. She does not find blocks amusing, her baby doll she got for Christmas....maybe a little quiet time, independent play? Upon removing her from said brother, she is in timeout for two minutes. Yippee. I really am starting to question the timeout rule that states a child goes into time out for the child's age and no longer.

3. She is almost potty trained! I am so proud of her. She claps. She smiles. She laughs. She is so proud of herself. She has Hello Kitty knickers. She is *so* close to being in the final stages. But, with all things manipulative and evil, she knows how to use this to her advantage. At night, when she is wearing a diaper, she will keep it on...until she gets up out of bed to troll other rooms and sneak toys. When I kindly explain that she must go nighty-night (Blood Diamond was on!), she goes ass-wild, drops to the ground, writhing in emotional pain, rips her diaper off and let's the diaper and its contents FLY. Very, very...challenging.

The only thing that seems to work is when she gets riled up and goes to drop to the floor, I just yell out, "I LOVE YOU!" and then she puts her arms out to me and lunges, wounded, as if she is a misunderstood girl in a strange world. All she wants is her way. That is all she wants. And it is hard because the boys, when they were two years old, they were less, I don't know -- high maintenance.

She is so ambivalent and half the time she is having a tantrum, she doesn't even know what she wants. She is now in seclusion regarding shopping until I can figure out her dickering tool to get her to behave at the grocery.

I TAKE BACK MY OFFERING UP MY FREAKY.

Um, Matt, I just found out you are having a baby with a Brazilian model.

I am thinking you can have a pint with her after she pushes the Sexiest Baby Alive out.

[Sigh]

IT'S ALL GOOD.

This is, hands down, my favorite picture -- the best picture I have seen in months, seasons...bleh. It is so self-explanatory, I could just....put the covers over my head and sleep until spring...with a bottle of scotch.

Wake me when it is April.

MAKE ME FORGET THE DEAD BOY....

I am sad Mark Sway is gone but I must move on and stop feeling weird about seeing him so much as a child and rarely as an adult, even though he was 25 and let's move on to what makes me feel nimble:

I am totallly cool with Matthew. I will work out everyday from now on. I will follow the pescetarian diet and run 10 miles a day just in case Matthew feels like coming up to the beautiful shores of Lake Superior to hang out, have a pint, and get freaky.

I AM KIDDING.

Everyone knows I don't drink beer.

Sweet Dreams, Mark Sway.

Brad Renfro, July 25, 1982 - January 15, 2008

I cannot believe this. This morning, at 9 a.m., Brad Renfro was found dead in his home. He, just last night, was drinking with friends.

I am a creature of habit; I eat the same foods everyday, listen to the same music everyday; work the same job, wear the same clothes and at night, I watch the same fucking movie everyday. For years, I watched The Client and Sleepers almost everyday. I loved those movies when I lived in Des Moines 10 years ago and I had such a *feeling* about Brad Renfro even though he was just a kid, I knew he was going to be, like, the next River Phoenix. I had hoped.

But not this way.

He played a young Brad Pitt in Sleepers and then appeared in Ghostworld. He was in a few other movies but I never saw them.

I absolutely loved The Client. I think it is really hard for me to think about how many 100s of times I have seen that movie to know, now, he is completely, utterly dead. He is 10 years younger than I am.

[Sigh]