Ikea will break your spirit but classic rock will restore it

There are many things with which I have a love/hate relationship.  Like:

this beast

and 

sake

And one of these things is most definitely Ikea.  On the love side of the love/hate spectrum, Ikea is nearby and incredibly cheap and has frozen yogurt and lots of really cute things for the home, such as:

this Cupid pillow I've been coveting

among many other things.  But Ikea can be soul-crushing.  You enter the maze that it is and follow all the brightly-colored arrows through the entire store until you can no longer see straight.  Should you choose to purchase furniture, you have to lift the incredibly heavy, disassembled, boxed pieces yourself, schlep them to your car (into which they might not fit), and then carry them into your house.  

Yesterday afternoon, Eric and I took a trip to Ikea in an attempt to make his apartment more . . . habitable.  We came armed with a list, which fooled me into thinking we could get out of there in a reasonable amount of time, but let's just say that didn't happen and we were ready to wring each others' necks by the end of the experience.  We bought a huge entertainment center, a desk, desk chair, and bookshelf, and lots of little household things.  Pretty sure Eric was more excited about the candles and vase he bought than any of the bigger, more practical stuff.  

More than two whole hours after entering the neon labyrinth, we pushed our carts to his car and loaded it up, me nearly in tears from hunger and exhaustion and frustration (okay, fine, I was literally in tears, not just "nearly"--ha!).  Thankfully, Eric had the sense to take me to dinner immediately after, where I had broccoli lo mein and two lemondrop martinis.  My happiness meter skyrocketed.  

That is, until we had to drag all the million-pound boxes up to Eric's second floor apartment, resulting in my back being nearly broken (I wore a back brace and flats to work today: seriously).  The good news is, we built some furniture while rockin' out to a pretty amazing playlist, that resembled this:

1. Unknown Legend--Neil Young

2. If I Laugh--Cat Stevens

3. No Woman No Cry--Bob Marley

4. The Only Living Boy in New York--Paul Simon

5. Blue Sky--Allman Brothers

6. Angel from Montgomery--Bonnie Raitt

7. Gypsy--Fleetwood Mac

8. Drift Away--Doobie Brothers

9. Who'll Stop the Rain--CCR

10. Running on Faith--Eric Clapton

11. Ready or Not--Jackson Browne

12. Out on the Weekend--Neil Young

Make yourself a copy of that pronto--I promise, it will work wonders. ;)

A "Genius" Idea

Friday night, after a fun happy hour with coworkers (hello, cucumber vodka cocktails, I love you), my dear friend Doro and I had a belated birthday celebration over a fantastic meal at Zero Zero. We had grenache, one of my favorite salads of the summer (heirloom tomato, avocado, pickled onion, and bread), and pasta they make in-house. Mine was full of eggplant and cherry tomatoes and ricotta, and I ate every last bite!

Doro gave me a lovely pair of earrings that I've worn twice but have yet to take a picture of, but even more awesome than that . . .

She made me a genius cd.

I mean, literally, it's an iTunes "genius" cd, but it's also just genius:

My sweet (and smart!) friend Doro took my very favorite song in the world, Nightswimming by REM, and plugged it into iTunes' Genius, which finds similar sounding songs in your library. The result (with some sharp-minded editing) was this:

1. Nightswimming--REM

2. Fake Plastic Trees--Radiohead

3. The Boxer--Simon & Garfunkel

4. These are the Days--10,000 Maniacs

5. Pictures of You--The Cure

6. Tonight, Tonight--Smashing Pumpkins

7. At My Most Beautiful--REM

8. No Surprises--Radiohead

9. Colorblind--Counting Crows

10. Disarm--Smashing Pumpkins

11. Caring is Creepy--The Shins

12. Stay--Lisa Loeb

13. Close to Me (Closet Remix)--The Cure

14. Drive--REM

15. Just--Radiohead

16. Ode to My Family--The Cranberries

17. Blowin' in the Wind--Bob Dylan

18. This Must be the Place--Talking Heads

19. Lovesong--The Cure

20. Fall at Your Feet--Crowded House

I guess iTunes' Genius really is a genius cause those are some damn good songs. Disarm has always been my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song--throwback to 9th grade--and Colorblind is on my top 5 songs of all time list, I'm pretty sure.

Oh, and re: the Emmy's, this pretty much sums up my opinion:

Happy (manic) Monday!

Exorcism

So if your roof and ceiling had leaked/crashed in four times in the past year, would you consider it a metaphor or a sign from God/The Universe? I am beginning to suspect that I'm missing a deep, philosophical message.

This morning I woke up at 5:30 am to rain dripping from my ceiling onto my bed. I called my landlord immediately (awaking him, I am sure) and sent in emergency lesson plans for a substitute, since I had to stay home to do damage control and wait for the landlord and roofer to arrive. This is what my ceiling looks like right now as I am typing:

Looks awfully familiar, huh? Probably because this is the fourth time this has happened in the same spot above my bed. Gaela thinks I need to rearrange my room, which I'm willing to give a shot, but it seems to me that there's something far more serious than bad feng shui going on here . . .

I think it might be time to try to exorcise all things negative! Any tips on ridding oneself of literal and metaphorical demons? Because it seems to me that the first step in getting rid of bad things is to acknowledge them (0r is that just a ouija board/preteen seance myth?), here is my official, beseeching list:

1. Ceiling Demon, please go away! I don't know whether you represent the Water-trying-to-put-out-my-Fire, or are symbolizing the deluge that has pummeled my life these past few months, but please allow my roof to be properly fixed so that me and my pretty satin quilt can stay dry!

2. I need a new roommate, as Ji is moving out April 1st. Does anyone know of a lovely soul seeking a bedroom in an expansive, amazing apartment in north Oakland with laundry and a little garden? It's cheap! And I'm a nice girl! Loneliness and anxiety begone.

3. Arnold Schwarzenegger, I never say the word "hate" . . . but I find you despicable! How dare you cut California's education budget by $22 billion, all the while spending millions on a new death row at San Quentin? How dare you allow 900 educators and supporters in the San Francisco Unified School District alone to lose their jobs next year? What an incredible disservice to our state's children. If not in our young people, where on earth are your priorities? (If you live in California, please join us tomorrow for the March 4 Rally for Education).

4. Ex-orcism Playlist:

(I can't help but to attach music to all the important people and events in my life. Because my relationships have been particularly tumultuous lately, I'm taking a break from dating and expelling these particular demons in the form of a Farewell Exes! playlist).

Tragedy (Emmylou Harris)--JPM

Do What You Have to Do (Sarah McLachlan)--JPM

Nobody's Girl (Bonnie Raitt)--CP

These Days (Jackson Browne)--CP

Case of You (k.d. lang)--MKM

If I Ain't Got You (Alicia Keys)--MKM

To Be Alone with You (Sufjan Stevens)--DC

Nigerian Afrobeat (Fela Kuti)--AJG

La Belle et Le Bad Boy (MC Solaar)--AJG

Trapeze Swinger (Iron & Wine)--AJG

Almost Lover (A Fine Frenzy)--DAT

How Sweet (Leona Naess)--DAT

Party in the USA (Miley Cyrus)--EWA

Where is My Love (Cat Power)--JRH

*with a special addendum of Ball and Chain (Anthony Hamilton) for CML, my long lost bff.

Onto happy things!

Things I love right now:

1. Junot Diaz, I love you. I love you and everything you write. I am halfway through Drown and am reminded of how brilliant you are and how I will soak up everything you write forever.

2. Freeman & Milo:

baby F on 4th of July, 2009

Milo at dinnertime a couple weeks ago

3. My student DR. Yesterday he and I were working on his "flashover" poem (we read this incredible article from the New Yorker about Cameron Todd Willingham, a man executed in Texas in 1994 for a crime that fire experts are now proving he did not commit--it dealt with arson and murder, and detailed the scientific concept of flashover, the moment radiant heat meets the flame and the fire bursts out of control--so I asked them (and myself) to write a poem about flashover, comparing it to a metaphorical "flashover," or moment all hope was gone, so to speak, in their lives). DR was comparing fire's flashover to the beginning of Hurricane Katrina, and with my prodding, was doing an excellent job with imagery. His first stanza:

Rainstorm gone wild--

trees ejected from the ground,

houses crushed by water,

a car flies through the air

and plants someone into a wall

Here's our convo:

me: D, we want to create a strong, concrete image that the reader can visualize, so create a scene for us. Who did the car plant into the wall? "Someone" is too vague.

DR: (thinking) . . . Bob?

me: (giggling) Welllllll, I mean, you could say "Bob," but that might make the poem seem a little bit funny. The tone of the rest of the poem so far isn't funny. How about "a child," or "a father," or "someone's sister" or something?

DR: (thinking) . . . Would "John" seem a little more serious?

Ha! SO CUTE! I love them. The "squeaky wheel" theory means that I constantly whine about my 5th period monsters, and that I never talk about how incredibly sweet my 2nd period kiddos are. They're wonderful and adorable and make me laugh and smile big every day.

4. Blue Bottle Coffee. And for now, back to my 3rd cup, and my attempt at writing the "love poem" that is due to my girls' poetry workshop in my living room tonight. :)

Progress!

So the Progress! playlist has at last been finalized . . . and here it is (Lane, it will be in the mail tomorrow!):

Dancin' with Myself--Billy Idol

Pursuit of Happiness (feat. MGMT and Ratatat)--KiD CuDi (thanks Miss!)

Hold Your Head Up High--Miri Ben Ari (feat. Lil Mo)

Fear and Love--Morcheeba

I'll Work for Your Love--Bruce Springsteen

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow--Amy Winehouse

The Way I Am--Ingrid Michaelson

Love, Come Save Me--Right Away, Great Captain!

To Start Anew--The Perishers

Woman Be Strong--Will Hoge

The Heart of the Matter--India.Arie

Love Will Come Through--Travis

Stronger--Britney Spears

Stronger Woman--Jewel

You Can Have it All--Yo La Tengo

So Happy I Could Die--Lady Gaga

You Move Me--Pierce Pettis

Hot Like Fire--the XX

Here Comes Your Man--the Pixies

I'm finally satisfied with its progression, and super excited to have a physical (and musical) manifestation of 2010's commitment to forward-motion and progress!!! Except that I fully intend to drink wine and watch the Bachelor tonight, which doesn't seem to be very progressive, huh? Whatever, after managing my 5th period hellions today, I deserve some time-wasteful indulgence. ;) Anyone else watching the Bachelor? This guy is such a Goody Two Shoes, gosh.

Another thing I did today: Make some pretty fantastic vegetable soup. I made it for my posse in Russian River last weekend, but I think that performance anxiety + cooking in a place other than my own kitchen yielded less than optimal results. I made it again today, however, and it's back to its delicious essence:

Speaking of my kitchen, that's another thing--it's so luxurious! For those of you who live in SF or another big city, you know how precious a spacious kitchen is. Ours is even bigger than it looks in this picture, cause it's L-shaped and juts out around the fridge. And we even have a separate dining room, so this bistro table is just extra! Here it is:

So this is how I make my yummy veggie minestrone for anyone else trying to endure this gross, chilly, rainy, wet weather:

Dice a large onion, red pepper, and yellow pepper, and saute in olive oil (in a BIG pot) until pretty well cooked

Add a little minced garlic to the mix

Add various spices . . . I use basil, oregano, parsley, Tony Chachere's, chili flakes, s&p

After all this is well sauteed, add a jumbo can of diced tomatoes (either just one, or a jumbo one and a regular one. sometimes I add a little tomato paste as well)

Fill the rest of the pot (minus a couple inches) up with water and 4 Knorr vegetable bouillon cubes . . .

(Meanwhile, cut a large potato into chunks)

Bring to a boil & add the potato

Let the potato cook for a bit, then add a small pasta (I usually use orzo)

Add a can of kidney beans and a can of corn

And that's about it! I usually check the seasoning & add from there. YUM!

I finally finished Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch (lent to me by my awesome friend Josh Klipp) and let me just say I LOVED IT. And highly recommend it. Imagine that . . . I loved a book about a southern girl in the big city who can't seem to find the right man. How funny! ;) In any case, it's well-written, engaging, relatable, multi-dimensional, quirky, and honest. I'll definitely look out for whatever's coming next from Katie Crouch.

I'm so grateful to have had long conversations with my sis and Lesley (my semi-sis) today . . . I miss my Georgia girls so much. I love California but it's so far away! Oh and speaking of Lesley, check out her ridiculously cute Etsy shop. OMG. Prettiest little girl clothes and accessories and toys you can imagine. And every single one is hand-made! Too bad all my little rascals are baby boys.

And now onto my favorite part of the evening: cheap red wine!

Rockin' New Year Playlist!

Here's to new beginnings and progress, and the commencement of my new blog! I've decided this year is gonna be all about forward motion, which includes daily writing, whether it occur in poems, journals, letters, or this blog. Perhaps true devotion to writing will help me feel better about my 60K of student loans from the MFA. ;)

Today just might center around my Rockin' New Year playlist, which is currently blaring through my kitchen while the black eyed peas simmer. Here it is, for those of you in need of a jolt of energy and positivity and things that make you dance:

Paparazzi --Lady Gaga

Rome--Phoenix

3--Britney Spears

Two Weeks--Grizzly Bear

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover--Paul Simon

Rainbowarriors--CocoRosie

Party in the USA--Miley Cyrus

White Liar--Miranda Lambert

Paper Planes--M.I.A.

Life Your Life--T.I.

Bump Bump Bump--B2K feat. P. Diddy

Fancy Footwork--Chromeo

Until We Bleed--Kleerup feat. Lykke Li

Portions for Foxes--Rilo Kiley

Soulshine--Allman Brothers

No One--Alicia Keys

I make no apologies for Miley Cyrus, and for the record I'm a little obsessed with the Lady Gaga song.

And now onto my 30 Day Shred workout video. Happy New Year!