hello laura,
how right you were about march coming in like a lion (with a snow storm that began on march 2) and going out like a lamb! the weather today is gorgeous - totally sunny, a little breezy, and in the low 60's. i must admit, i thought that old adage was trite b.s., and so had never paid much attention to march's comings and goings, but i will probably do so from now on... after all, it was spot-on this time, and won't it be interesting to see if it's as spot-on next year?
in other news, i'm getting pretty excited about coming west - even the idea of las vegas for three days is growing on me. in preparation for all the pool-side relaxing i plan to do, i spent the better part of this morning waxing my legs, and, er, the other bits that should be hairless for the wearing of bathing suits. about las vegas, though, i've been thinking: don't you feel the time is right for a new tatoo? i do, and - even though i made you promise to stop me getting any more after that costa rica-induced one - i feel like this trip should be commemorated with something small, somewhere hidden. think it over... but, if you're wondering, i already know the 'what' and the 'where'.
friend, be good. i will see you soon.
-the baron
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
see this
the baron and the husband do not often go to the movie theater, and not exactly for lack of want. sometimes a film piques their interest (or her interest; the husband is very kind to humor her) enough that they will make the effort get out of the house and into a megaplex movie house (for instance, this and this and this), but this happens very infrequently. more typically, she spots a commercial on television or an interesting looking review online and makes a note to add it to the netflix queue(for example this one, and this one, and this one).
however.
2009 looks to be a year that the baron might see 3 movies IN THE THEATER, which is kind of amazing. see what's in store for us all, below:
'star trek', release date may 8, 2009
'harry potter and the half blood prince', release date july 17, 2009
'where the wild things are', release date october 16, 2009
however.
2009 looks to be a year that the baron might see 3 movies IN THE THEATER, which is kind of amazing. see what's in store for us all, below:
'star trek', release date may 8, 2009
'harry potter and the half blood prince', release date july 17, 2009
'where the wild things are', release date october 16, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
what?
recently - not so recently, really, but in the last year or so - the baron has taken to sending text messages from her mobile phone rather than taking the extra time to make a phone call.
this - texting - works for her for a number of reasons, including that the baron has always preferred email communication to actual talking on the phone. (in fact, the husband initially courted the baron almost entirely via email... and for their first christmas together, in december 2002, she gave him a hard copy print out of all their correspondence to that point.) there are very few people with whom the baron wants to talk on the phone... sending off a quick, declarative sentence or a quick question seems to her an optimal choice.
ahem.
it hasn't been super easy for her, you should know, reader. though she grew up in the post-atari age, she never really got good at video games the way some of her peers did; the dexterity required to make quick, deft and relatively short finger movements doesn't come naturally to her. (this is why, if ever you've sent her a text message, it takes her awhile to get the reply back to you. that, and she has this phone; not so easy to pick out letters on the razr.)
ahem.
so, the baron likes the idea of texting, but isn't good at it, but she's game and is trying to capture the zeitgeist and get with the program.
but.
somethings she just cannot abide. somethings like this [on the topic of wedding invitations and rsvp cards]:
"the baron: 'Just got the invite! So pretty!"
respondent: "!im scared sum1s invite unraveled. i rcvd a reply card mailed 2 me with no info on it."
what? is. that. supposed to be? the thing is, the baron's brain would not have been able to make those words... for her, the message read like a word puzzle, one that was hard and that she sucked at. don't misunderstand, reader: the baron takes PLENTY of liberties with the english language (these all-lower-case sentences, for instance! her liberal use of the word 'hacky', as in 'oh, god, this angel season 3 is sooooo hacky.'). there's only so far she can take it, though, and into the realm of letters and numbers and punctuation joining together to make single words is TOO FAR. so. don't expect any shortened words from her, reader, oh, no. you'll be getting the whole, long, bloody mess EVERY TIME.
this - texting - works for her for a number of reasons, including that the baron has always preferred email communication to actual talking on the phone. (in fact, the husband initially courted the baron almost entirely via email... and for their first christmas together, in december 2002, she gave him a hard copy print out of all their correspondence to that point.) there are very few people with whom the baron wants to talk on the phone... sending off a quick, declarative sentence or a quick question seems to her an optimal choice.
ahem.
it hasn't been super easy for her, you should know, reader. though she grew up in the post-atari age, she never really got good at video games the way some of her peers did; the dexterity required to make quick, deft and relatively short finger movements doesn't come naturally to her. (this is why, if ever you've sent her a text message, it takes her awhile to get the reply back to you. that, and she has this phone; not so easy to pick out letters on the razr.)
ahem.
so, the baron likes the idea of texting, but isn't good at it, but she's game and is trying to capture the zeitgeist and get with the program.
but.
somethings she just cannot abide. somethings like this [on the topic of wedding invitations and rsvp cards]:
"the baron: 'Just got the invite! So pretty!"
respondent: "!im scared sum1s invite unraveled. i rcvd a reply card mailed 2 me with no info on it."
what? is. that. supposed to be? the thing is, the baron's brain would not have been able to make those words... for her, the message read like a word puzzle, one that was hard and that she sucked at. don't misunderstand, reader: the baron takes PLENTY of liberties with the english language (these all-lower-case sentences, for instance! her liberal use of the word 'hacky', as in 'oh, god, this angel season 3 is sooooo hacky.'). there's only so far she can take it, though, and into the realm of letters and numbers and punctuation joining together to make single words is TOO FAR. so. don't expect any shortened words from her, reader, oh, no. you'll be getting the whole, long, bloody mess EVERY TIME.
Friday, March 20, 2009
terms of endearment
the baron worked a half day today, and wow, was she glad for the time away from her desk. the weather today, though cool, was clear and bright, and she spent the afternoon either in the yard with the dogs, or in front of the television sewing.
she's lately been working on a quilt - the biggest so far - and it's taking a VERY, VERY long time to complete. to help pass the time, the baron has been steadily working her way through the television series 'Angel', and YES READER SHE IS EMBARRASED ABOUT IT. SO PLEASE DON'T JUDGE HER; SHE (and the guy at cdepot, from whom she just purchased 'Angel' season 5) IS JUDGING HERSELF A LOT ALREADY.
ahem.
one of the episodes that she saw today was from the second season, called untouched, about a young woman with telekinetic powers. it's a terrible episode - as most in the series are - but one thing stuck out for the baron: the young woman's father (who had evidently abused her in her youth) called her 'rabbit.' the husband calls the baron 'rabbit', too, but, you know, without the creepy context. well, unless you think robert jordan is creepy.
ahem. the baron finished quilting her largest ever quilt, and had moved on to the binding around the time the husband came home from work. they decided to order out for dinner, and to put in the movie that had come to them from netflix. it was 'breakfast on pluto".
directed by neil jordan and starring every male irish actor you, reader, can imagine (seriously: liam neeson, brendan gleeson, cillian murphy, and stephen rea all in one movie?), 'breakfast on pluto' is kind of great, about a (criminally) thin boy - called patrick - who really wants to be a girl, and who spends the first hour and 50 minutes of the film looking for his mother in london. this slip of a boy, barely and sometimes passing as a girl, experiences happiness, something like love, sadness and a fair amount of brutalilty. this brutality comes in all the ways you think it might, at the hands of men for whom patrick's all mixed-up masculinity and femininity is too easy a target.
patrick, on his way to female, tries out a couple new names: patricia and kitten. you know what, reader? the husband calls the baron 'kitten', but something about patrick's lovers saying 'kitten' in their husky voices was very, very off putting. and what else? one of them, stephen rea - as a sad sack magician - called patrick 'princess'. and reader? that's right, the husband calls the baron that too.
so.
all in the course of one day, some of the baron's favorite things to hear have been made, uh, icky. icky, icky, icky.
fortunately, the husband has a couple of other names for the baron, ones that most probably won't make it into the vernacular any time soon. you're wondering what those names are, reader? keep wondering - some things have to be kept secret and safe.
(post script: the title 'breakfast on pluto', since its release in 2005, has always reminded the baron of a song called 'girl from mars', which is why, in recounting this story, she was heard to sing, 'and i still dream of you, i still love you, the girl from mars'.)
(post post script: incidentally, reader, the band who sings 'girl from mars' is ash. they're irish.)
she's lately been working on a quilt - the biggest so far - and it's taking a VERY, VERY long time to complete. to help pass the time, the baron has been steadily working her way through the television series 'Angel', and YES READER SHE IS EMBARRASED ABOUT IT. SO PLEASE DON'T JUDGE HER; SHE (and the guy at cdepot, from whom she just purchased 'Angel' season 5) IS JUDGING HERSELF A LOT ALREADY.
ahem.
one of the episodes that she saw today was from the second season, called untouched, about a young woman with telekinetic powers. it's a terrible episode - as most in the series are - but one thing stuck out for the baron: the young woman's father (who had evidently abused her in her youth) called her 'rabbit.' the husband calls the baron 'rabbit', too, but, you know, without the creepy context. well, unless you think robert jordan is creepy.
ahem. the baron finished quilting her largest ever quilt, and had moved on to the binding around the time the husband came home from work. they decided to order out for dinner, and to put in the movie that had come to them from netflix. it was 'breakfast on pluto".
directed by neil jordan and starring every male irish actor you, reader, can imagine (seriously: liam neeson, brendan gleeson, cillian murphy, and stephen rea all in one movie?), 'breakfast on pluto' is kind of great, about a (criminally) thin boy - called patrick - who really wants to be a girl, and who spends the first hour and 50 minutes of the film looking for his mother in london. this slip of a boy, barely and sometimes passing as a girl, experiences happiness, something like love, sadness and a fair amount of brutalilty. this brutality comes in all the ways you think it might, at the hands of men for whom patrick's all mixed-up masculinity and femininity is too easy a target.
patrick, on his way to female, tries out a couple new names: patricia and kitten. you know what, reader? the husband calls the baron 'kitten', but something about patrick's lovers saying 'kitten' in their husky voices was very, very off putting. and what else? one of them, stephen rea - as a sad sack magician - called patrick 'princess'. and reader? that's right, the husband calls the baron that too.
so.
all in the course of one day, some of the baron's favorite things to hear have been made, uh, icky. icky, icky, icky.
fortunately, the husband has a couple of other names for the baron, ones that most probably won't make it into the vernacular any time soon. you're wondering what those names are, reader? keep wondering - some things have to be kept secret and safe.
(post script: the title 'breakfast on pluto', since its release in 2005, has always reminded the baron of a song called 'girl from mars', which is why, in recounting this story, she was heard to sing, 'and i still dream of you, i still love you, the girl from mars'.)
(post post script: incidentally, reader, the band who sings 'girl from mars' is ash. they're irish.)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
a hateful mood
today, the baron is in a hateful mood, having received some meh advice from her endocrinologist yesterday, having come back to work to find 100+ emails awaiting her, having already fielded a 15 minute phone call from someone wanting something STUPID STUPID STUPID.
the baron, she is in the dumps. down deep in them.
so.
to change the mood, to raise her own spirits, she's going to give a little consideration to some of the more lovely things in her life. like, for example:
the husband (the baron's VERY FAVORITE PERSON ever)
the dogs (mostly good. sometimes bad. always charming.)
decaffeinated coffee
decaffeinated tea (this moment, she's having decaffeinated chai tea with honey.)
bloody marys with grey goose vodka
neil gaiman (and, REALLY, 'good omens'. reader, get thyself to a copy of this book post-haste.)
grey goose vodka
sunny days
colin firth
'atonement' (which the baron just finished. amazing book.)
'the daily show'
springtime (daffodils and tulips are peeking through the mulch!)
singer 1732 esteem sewing machine (a life changing device.)
'gilmore girls' (the early years, not the later ones.)
'the new yorker' magazine
the baron's endocrinologist (who, even though he delivered some crap news to her yesterday, is still kind of an awesome doctor.)
raspberry body butter (and satsuma too.)
her current house (especially when robert's just been there.)
the gentle leader (for coercion's sake.)
that's her list for now, and you know what, reader? her mood, it seems to be lightening... but the day is young and her doldrums run deep... the baron has decided to think on this topic a little more. (she'll get back to you, reader.)
the baron, she is in the dumps. down deep in them.
so.
to change the mood, to raise her own spirits, she's going to give a little consideration to some of the more lovely things in her life. like, for example:
the husband (the baron's VERY FAVORITE PERSON ever)
the dogs (mostly good. sometimes bad. always charming.)
decaffeinated coffee
decaffeinated tea (this moment, she's having decaffeinated chai tea with honey.)
bloody marys with grey goose vodka
neil gaiman (and, REALLY, 'good omens'. reader, get thyself to a copy of this book post-haste.)
grey goose vodka
sunny days
colin firth
'atonement' (which the baron just finished. amazing book.)
'the daily show'
springtime (daffodils and tulips are peeking through the mulch!)
singer 1732 esteem sewing machine (a life changing device.)
'gilmore girls' (the early years, not the later ones.)
'the new yorker' magazine
the baron's endocrinologist (who, even though he delivered some crap news to her yesterday, is still kind of an awesome doctor.)
raspberry body butter (and satsuma too.)
her current house (especially when robert's just been there.)
the gentle leader (for coercion's sake.)
that's her list for now, and you know what, reader? her mood, it seems to be lightening... but the day is young and her doldrums run deep... the baron has decided to think on this topic a little more. (she'll get back to you, reader.)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
free-minded thinkers, there may be be a glimmer of something on the horizon
the baron was heartened to see this article at salon.com this morning... there may be hope for us after all. california, this is your chance to make it right!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
everything that happens will happen today
recently, david byrne and brian eno collaborated on an album called 'everything that happens will happen today'. the baron would call herself a kind-of fan of david byrne... she LOVES 'true stories' (is there a better song out there than 'dream operator'? no, reader, there is not.), both the movie and the album, but a lot of his other music leaves her cold. bored. frowning. as for brian eno, the baron's relationship with him and his music is slightly more complicated, as in: hey, brian eno, all that u2 stuff is brilliant. but that other stuff is really. really. bad. also, when she imagines brian eno, he always looks like this:
the husband, apparently, doesn't have the same complicated feelings about this dynamic duo as does his wife... he's a fan, and the baron cannot count the number of times she has hopped into the husband's car to find that damn 'ambient 1: music for airports' BLASTING from the husband's car speakers. (by the by, she has often had the thought: is there any unlikelier pairing that a chevrolet extended cab silverado and brian eno's 'ambient 1: music for airports'? she wonders if that combination - sturdy american craftsmanship and high brow english artistry - is happening anywhere else.)
a few weeks ago, when the baron casually mentioned that she had heard the title track off 'everything that happens will happen today' - heard and LOVED the title track - the husband just-as-casually asked if she had any interest in seeing david byrne live? after all, to the husband's palate, byrne and eno are two great tastes that go great together; only hearing the music IN PERSON could make the flavors any more tasty. it was soon discovered that david byrne was, in fact, touring in support of his new album: the husband, seeing that a show was coming up at radio city music hall (a venue to which neither the baron nor the husband had ever been), booked tickets for the show, tickets on amtrak, and a room at the Lexington and 49th W hotel. because, reader, what's yummier than the music of david byrne and brian eno played live? the music of david byrne and brian eno played live IN NEW YORK CITY, with a vegetarian's paradise 2 chaser.
the show was last weekend, and you know what? the baron and the husband had a super-duper excellent time. some verbal snapshots from their trip:
*******
[after a most satisfying lunch at house of vegetarian]
the baron: i want...
the husband: hm?
the baron: ... some botan rice candy.
[after a cab ride where the baron spied an ad for the barney's warehouse sale]
the baron: hey. after that lunch, don't you want to walk a little?
the husband: um, okay.
the baron: i mean, we're not THAT far from w17th, right?
[reader, they were at mott and canal streets]
the husband: okay - sounds interesting.
[15 blocks later]
the baron:... so how far do you think this really is?
the husband: well, once we cross houston we'll be close... i think houston puts us at 14th?
[15 blocks later, crossing houston]
the baron: hm. it looks like we're coming up on 3rd... so, not 15th.
the husband: ....
[9 blocks later]
the baron: hey, why are we on the east side?
the husband: we should go left.
[5 blocks later, at 5th avenue and 17th street]
the baron: yay! w17th! wait. i think we have to bear west a little more.
the husband: ok.
[2 blocks later]
the baron: oh! i remember this! there's the entrance, under that scaffolding!!
the husband: wait. what's with the line?
the baron: oh... it's the last weekend, so things are really deeply discounted.
the husband: you said nothing about a line.
[it's worth noting, the line was 1/2 a block long, it was 45 degrees, and it was windy.]
the baron: *sigh* let's get back to the hotel.
the husband: taxi!!
[at the hotel]
the baron: what time is it?
the husband: about 6:45pm.
the baron: and we need to leave at what time?
the husband: probably 7:10 or 7:15.
the baron: are you sure? that we have to be seated by 7:30?
the husband: yes.
[at radio city music hall, at 7:30]
the baron: so... where is everybody? i'm so glad we were early.
the husband: ...
[at radio city music hall, 7:45]
the baron: i wish i'd brought a book.
[at radio city music hall, 8:15-ish. the house lights dim and david byrne comes out on stage]
[at radio city music hall, sometime between 8:15-ish and 10pm-ish]
the baron: wow. people really LOVE david byrne. and, those dancers are kind of terrible. and what's with everyone wearing white? also, i think it's kind of mean that david byrne is making the back-up singers dance... those ladies are, ahem, endowed and i bet you a dollar they're not wearing sport bras.
the husband: look at all these people dancing! it's terrible, and totally entertaining.
the baron: i am definitely not drunk enough for this.
[after a most satisfying dinner at vegetarian's paradise 2, while the baron and the husband tried to hail a cab on 6th Ave/Avenue of the Americas]
the husband: taxi!
taxi: puts on blinker and slows down.
strange girl, moving ahead of the husband, as if to hail the slowing cab: taxi!
the husband, moving to block the girl from getting the cab and opening cab door: did you really just step off the curb?
strange girl, under her breath: that is so rude.
the husband: are you fucking kidding me?
*******
reader, the baron recommends that you take a listen to the byrne/eno album... you can hear it, in its entirety, below.
also, and lastly, the baron celebrated her 32nd birthday last sunday. woot!
the husband, apparently, doesn't have the same complicated feelings about this dynamic duo as does his wife... he's a fan, and the baron cannot count the number of times she has hopped into the husband's car to find that damn 'ambient 1: music for airports' BLASTING from the husband's car speakers. (by the by, she has often had the thought: is there any unlikelier pairing that a chevrolet extended cab silverado and brian eno's 'ambient 1: music for airports'? she wonders if that combination - sturdy american craftsmanship and high brow english artistry - is happening anywhere else.)
a few weeks ago, when the baron casually mentioned that she had heard the title track off 'everything that happens will happen today' - heard and LOVED the title track - the husband just-as-casually asked if she had any interest in seeing david byrne live? after all, to the husband's palate, byrne and eno are two great tastes that go great together; only hearing the music IN PERSON could make the flavors any more tasty. it was soon discovered that david byrne was, in fact, touring in support of his new album: the husband, seeing that a show was coming up at radio city music hall (a venue to which neither the baron nor the husband had ever been), booked tickets for the show, tickets on amtrak, and a room at the Lexington and 49th W hotel. because, reader, what's yummier than the music of david byrne and brian eno played live? the music of david byrne and brian eno played live IN NEW YORK CITY, with a vegetarian's paradise 2 chaser.
the show was last weekend, and you know what? the baron and the husband had a super-duper excellent time. some verbal snapshots from their trip:
*******
[after a most satisfying lunch at house of vegetarian]
the baron: i want...
the husband: hm?
the baron: ... some botan rice candy.
[after a cab ride where the baron spied an ad for the barney's warehouse sale]
the baron: hey. after that lunch, don't you want to walk a little?
the husband: um, okay.
the baron: i mean, we're not THAT far from w17th, right?
[reader, they were at mott and canal streets]
the husband: okay - sounds interesting.
[15 blocks later]
the baron:... so how far do you think this really is?
the husband: well, once we cross houston we'll be close... i think houston puts us at 14th?
[15 blocks later, crossing houston]
the baron: hm. it looks like we're coming up on 3rd... so, not 15th.
the husband: ....
[9 blocks later]
the baron: hey, why are we on the east side?
the husband: we should go left.
[5 blocks later, at 5th avenue and 17th street]
the baron: yay! w17th! wait. i think we have to bear west a little more.
the husband: ok.
[2 blocks later]
the baron: oh! i remember this! there's the entrance, under that scaffolding!!
the husband: wait. what's with the line?
the baron: oh... it's the last weekend, so things are really deeply discounted.
the husband: you said nothing about a line.
[it's worth noting, the line was 1/2 a block long, it was 45 degrees, and it was windy.]
the baron: *sigh* let's get back to the hotel.
the husband: taxi!!
[at the hotel]
the baron: what time is it?
the husband: about 6:45pm.
the baron: and we need to leave at what time?
the husband: probably 7:10 or 7:15.
the baron: are you sure? that we have to be seated by 7:30?
the husband: yes.
[at radio city music hall, at 7:30]
the baron: so... where is everybody? i'm so glad we were early.
the husband: ...
[at radio city music hall, 7:45]
the baron: i wish i'd brought a book.
[at radio city music hall, 8:15-ish. the house lights dim and david byrne comes out on stage]
[at radio city music hall, sometime between 8:15-ish and 10pm-ish]
the baron: wow. people really LOVE david byrne. and, those dancers are kind of terrible. and what's with everyone wearing white? also, i think it's kind of mean that david byrne is making the back-up singers dance... those ladies are, ahem, endowed and i bet you a dollar they're not wearing sport bras.
the husband: look at all these people dancing! it's terrible, and totally entertaining.
the baron: i am definitely not drunk enough for this.
[after a most satisfying dinner at vegetarian's paradise 2, while the baron and the husband tried to hail a cab on 6th Ave/Avenue of the Americas]
the husband: taxi!
taxi: puts on blinker and slows down.
strange girl, moving ahead of the husband, as if to hail the slowing cab: taxi!
the husband, moving to block the girl from getting the cab and opening cab door: did you really just step off the curb?
strange girl, under her breath: that is so rude.
the husband: are you fucking kidding me?
*******
reader, the baron recommends that you take a listen to the byrne/eno album... you can hear it, in its entirety, below.
also, and lastly, the baron celebrated her 32nd birthday last sunday. woot!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
march 2, 2009
the baron, even after so many years away from her beloved california, still anticipates spring with the first of march. march calls to her mind the scent memory of orange blossoms; her childhood home - the one where her mother still lives - is two streets over from acres and acres of orange groves... every spring, as the blossoms open and fill the air with the rich scent of orange, the steady buzz of bees is all around. spring in riverside is a tricky time - warm during the days, but very cool in the evenings... in her pre-teen youth, in the springtime evenings, the baron would sit by her open bedroom window, enveloped by both an agatha christie plot and the heavenly smell of those orange blossoms.
so.
march in maryland? not so much.
these were taken monday morning, and while the dogs seem to be having the BEST TIME EVER, the baron was keenly missing the buzz of bees all around.
so.
march in maryland? not so much.
these were taken monday morning, and while the dogs seem to be having the BEST TIME EVER, the baron was keenly missing the buzz of bees all around.
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