Well, thanks, Jen. And happy birthday to Paul "Christlike" Cockeram, while I'm at it. OK, so the engagement thingy ... Everything in this story, incidentally, takes place in PA, where we were celebrating holidays with my parents ... On Monday, Marc and I went out for some last-minute xmas stuff. While we were out, he said he wanted to buy me a game (as in, the board variety) so we'd have something to play on xmas eve and xmas day. I picked out a copy of Scattergories, and he said he'd wrap it for me and give it to me as a Christmas Eve present. Weird, I thought, but what the hell. Next day, we returned from going to church (blech!) with my parents, and Marc asked me if I wanted to open my present. We went into the living room, and I opened the present, all the while making smartass "oh-gee-what-could-be-in-here" comments. After I unwrapped the box, Marc said, "Hey, wasn't there shrink wrap on that box when we bought it yesterday? Maybe you should open it and make sure everything's in there." I opened the box, and after much exploring its contents and assuring Marc that yes, everything seemed to be in order, he suggested (very pointedly) that I might check under the cardboard insert. I obeyed; the ring box was revealed. At this point, he was down on one knee (presumably, I had thought, to help me check the contents of the box). There was much shock and confusion on my part, but I somehow squeaked out a 'yes.' Grandmothers (who had been obliviously chatting in the next room) were notified so they could commence weeping; parents (also in the next room, but in on the plan) made jokes about finally getting rid of me; Holly and Melinda were phoned; the ring was admired. The tentative plan of attack is as follows:
Provided we can secure sites for the ceremony and reception, the nuptials will take place during the first part of October in South Carolina, most likely in the Pawleys Island area (near Myrtle Beach). All members of sixlayerkate will be encouraged to attend the festivities. Stay tuned for more details.
posted by Kate at 10:35 AM link/comments
Thursday, December 26, 2002
Yay Kate! Happy engagement! As a Christmas gift and all...you ought to describe the surprise factor involved here...as in total surprise or semi-surprise, down-on-one-knee surprise...by the way I'm at Paul's house as I post this, and there is a disturbing plethora of holiday desserts available. More desserts than necessary, I fear. Also, Paul turned 27 today. I'm not trying to trump your engagement story, but let's all remember he's a near-Jesus type guy, Christmas birthday and all that.
posted by Jen at 2:23 AM link/comments
Tuesday, December 24, 2002
So it's Christmas Eve, and I've already gotten the best present ever. It's a ring. From Marc. ohmygodyouguysi'mgettingmarried
posted by Kate at 10:22 PM link/comments
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Fabulous! Go here. You can enter a search for your name, or your friends' names, or any damn thing you want, and it queries google to see what it "thinks" of you. I'm having fun typing childish phrases (such as "my bra") into the query box. The results?
posted by Kate at 9:14 AM link/comments
Monday, December 16, 2002
I'm clincially stupid as a result of my brain floating in about 16 gallons of congestion. The sight of my throat ("say ahhhh") made my doctor say, "Wow. No wonder you have a sore throat." Hooray for December.
posted by Kate at 10:30 PM link/comments
Man. That sucks. A moment of silence for Kaya, please. *sigh*
posted by Kate at 10:22 PM link/comments
Saturday, December 14, 2002
So we thought that Kaya was better. It turned out that she had internal leakage. We put her down last night, which I think was one of the hardest decesions that I have ever had to make.
Sorry Kate I guess you won't be able to meet her when we come to cleveland.
posted by Nat at 3:45 PM link/comments
Friday, December 13, 2002
Oh, dear god. I just used the phrase "touch base" in a business call. "I just wanted to touch base with you about these web updates." Those were the words that came out of my mouth. I'm going to go find an olive branch.
posted by Kate at 11:12 AM link/comments
Thursday, December 12, 2002
Still have uno ferret, Pandora, the one I had a Hiram. The other ferret, Robin, died in October -- old age, sort of passed on in his sleep. Pandora is ancient. The vet said Pan was one of the oldest ferrets she'd seen. She's doing fine in her old-ferret way -- trundles around the apartment for 30 minutes or so, recalls her younger days when she used to dig up my plants, and then curls up and sleeps for 23.5 hours at a time.
Kate -- email me your phone number (or numbers) and depending on how things work out in the complicated world of one Brian Hanna, Paul and I might give you a call while we are in the area -- no clear details on when that will be, however. hirt8573@uidaho.edu.
posted by Jen at 6:11 PM link/comments
My boss, a small, well-dressed, ultra-classy, dry-witted Canadian, is clearly losing her mind. Evidence: Me: Hi. Welcome back. How was your trip?
Her: It went well. It was surprisingly easy getting in and out of O'Hare.
Me: Well, that's good.
Her: Yeah. Cause you know, getting in and out of Chicago can be a bear.
Me: That's what I've heard.
Her: Get it??! Bear?? Chicago Bear?? HA HA HA HA HA!!!!
Me: Heh heh heh.
My Inner Monologue: Boing.
posted by Kate at 1:54 PM link/comments
And while I'm at it, Jen, do you still have ferrets? You haven't mentioned the little buggers in a long while.
posted by Kate at 9:52 AM link/comments
What is it about animals that compels them to think, "Hey. That looks wildly inappropriate for consumption. I'd better eat it."?? I realized yesterday that LazarusTheCat, as if he hasn't given me enough headache the past few months, has been slowly ingesting the cheap sparkly cotton "skirt" I have around the base of the Christmas tree. I'm not at all concerned about the skirt being ruined (it cost me all of 99 cents). I am concerned, however, that I'm going to spend the next week or so pulling bits of sparkly cotton out of his ass. Anyway, Nat, I'm glad to hear that Kaya's OK. Do we get to meet her while you're in town?
posted by Kate at 9:49 AM link/comments
10 - 15 feet of black nylon string!
jesus fuckin' christ.
Ah well they took it out of her intestine where it had gotten all wraped up and what not.
she will be coming home tomorow and to cleveland on sunday. Or rather monday as it is one hell of a drive.
See you cleveland folks then
posted by Nat at 1:40 AM link/comments
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
Just finished grading about 95 freshman portfolios, portfolios of their best and brightest essays from the semester. But this is my last semester in the trenches of English 101, and now I get the luxury of riding out my graduate career in the comparibly comfy trenches of 102 and (be still my beating heart) even a creative writing class. There is possibly nothing worse than grading 95 portfolios over the course of two days. Although, one highlight was reading of one guy's "bed of sexual paradise" which he decided was an appropriate and macho topic for his descriptive essay. Nice.
posted by Jen at 8:57 PM link/comments
Ah man Nat, I hope all turns out well for your dog. Sick pets is not pleasant.
The tattoo Jen, will be across the top of my back. The bear's shoulders along under my shoulders, it's tail... odd that any bear has a tail, though some native american tribes, who also called that constellation a bear, say that the 'tail' is in fact three hunters chasing the bear.... anyway, that tail will run out onto my left arm more than likely.
When all's said and done, and I have copious amounts of money to piss around, I will get a detailed outline of a real bear done around the tat.
Ear tattoo's kinda weird me out. Unless they are done right, it looks like they haven't bathed ever.
Oh. My car, the '98 Neon, is dead. There are hopes it may be resusitated but they are dim. The head gasket cracked, and the nice auto shop guy wants $2,100 to fix it. Tack on another $1,100 to $2,000 if the piston underneath is damaged as well.
So, Steve and Belinda took me out to the Iota to see one of our favorite bands from Canada. Peepshow. Maybe Nat has heard tell of them in the great white, sunny now, north. They kick ass, and are fun to hang out with. What's funny is their opening act this time was a Bjorn Berge, a Norweigan Blues player. That's right, they got 'dem blues up in Norway. When I first heard he was the one opening, before I heard him play, all I kept think was 'A Norweigan Blue? Is he pining for the fjords?'
And then, he played. And God's honest truth, I've never heard, nor seen better playing in my life. One guy, Bjorn. One twelve string guitar, and his foot stomping.. made for an awe inspiring show. The guy rocked. And he was booked through the Norweigan Embassy. Apparently a new young member of the embassy staff thought it'd be nice to bring a musician to our fair country so we could get a better appreciation of their culture. He picked Bjorn, cause he's apparently a star over there. Look him up, I highly, highly recommend it guys.
www.stringmachine.net
posted by Mike at 12:14 AM link/comments
Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Argh, Nat. I'm so sorry to hear that Kaya's sick. I hope the vet manages to find some explanation for what's happening.
posted by Kate at 9:51 AM link/comments
Monday, December 09, 2002
So I was bitching about snow in October. And now that it is december we are having a veritable heat wave. It is sunny and 32 here today, it is supposed to get even warmer tomorow. Odd that DC got all of that snow and we are loosing ours. One more sign that the apocolpse is nigh.
Our Dog is sick. Can't keep anything down, has been at the vets since saturday, with an I.V. trying to keep her hydrated. I never knew one could put your dog on lifesupport. Crap. And they have done loads of expensive tests on her (not to mention some fifty x-rays -- if nothing else gets her the radiation will) all to tell us that they haven't the foggiest idea of what is wrong.
Blech.
posted by Nat at 2:43 PM link/comments
Mike, where on your body are you tattooing Ursa Major? Are other constellations to follow? This is all very interesting. I'm considering a fern tattoo. I've been saying "considering" for so long that I probably won't actually do it. Ever seen an ear tattoo? A friend has a tiny black snake tattooed inside her ear. It is very cool.
posted by Jen at 2:00 PM link/comments
Saturday, December 07, 2002
Ahh, tattoo's 2 through 21 are in fact one tattoo... that one tattoo just happens to be the constellation ursa major. Nineteen stars make it up, twenty if you include the double star in the big dipper part.
And southern drivers in snow follow one of two practices.
1: Drive as absolutely as slow as possible, crawling over the roads, as if the spedometer breaks 15 mph they will veer violently out of control.
2: Drive as fast as possible, because if you go fast enough, it won't matter how much snow and ice is on the ground. After all, there's still a road underneath it all.
posted by Mike at 5:35 AM link/comments
Friday, December 06, 2002
I think the South deserves a good wallop of a winter storm now and then, just to remind them that next year, they shouldn't freak out over an inch or two. Here, we haven't had any snow at all. But the fog has been visiting for a solid week, and I'm sick of it. I've been forgetful all week and I blame the fog. Like fog in my head.
posted by Jen at 11:53 AM link/comments
*scratches head* Uh. Burton? You're getting 20 tattoos tomorrow? Isn't that ... um ... maybe a bit much? I love it when the south gets snow. The resulting chaos always looks like something out of a Godzilla movie, with people running around in horror and vehicles skidding off roads. When we get 7 inches of snow in Cleveland, we sigh, grab an ice scraper, and hope that the salt doesn't rust our cars straight through. Then we drive to the store, stop for a cup of coffee, take in a movie, and get up the next morning to go to work. I'm not suggesting that we're hard-asses. Just unimpressed.
posted by Kate at 11:25 AM link/comments
Ah my lovlies.
Turkey day was a success. With maybe only a dozen calls to my mother asking:
How long does the turkey cook?
Oh... it's on the bag. Thanks mom.
Creamed onions, milk?
Oh... okay then, doing it right, just wanted to make sure.
Are you sure, there really isn't a cavity as such, just an indentation. Alright. Stuffing, in the indentation. Thanks mom.
And so on, so forth, until miraculously God's light shown upon my tiny little kitchen and just as the guests arrived the turkey was done, and all the sides came out of the oven perfectly finished.
Wine was had by all (by all, I mean me and my co-worker Allegra) and a fine meal had. Belinda came home in time to bring an apple pie, more friends showed, then dragged me out to play
BEER PONG.
I won't go into details. But there's a ping-pong table, lotta beer, and one ping pong ball. Good fun, I crashed in a drunken stupor on some strangers guest bed.
The very next night I got smashed on three jack and cokes, three quarters jack, a splash of coke, and ice.
Oddly enough those two nights are the most drinking I've done in months. Sorta nice not having to worry about a paper, like some people who should be writing a paper.
Not that I'm one to point fingers. God knows I did more than my fair share of over procrastination.
Take the appartment Kate. Take it and run. Having a ghost builds character. And more stories to write about on the blog.
In other news, it snowed here in sunny VA. You'd think these yokels were ready to shut the state down because of 6 to 8 inches. They plow, but they don't SALT!
On top of this, as I was walking to my car this afternoon, children were sledding in the STREET! Doomed. We are all doomed.
Oh.
Tomorrow I look into tattoo's number 2 - 21. Hopefully I can get them all on the same day.
And, buying a pipe. I miss smoking my pipe.
posted by Mike at 2:26 AM link/comments
Thursday, December 05, 2002
"foing" an anchient germanic root for the common english word "going" although it has dicidedly sinister conotations.
posted by Nat at 8:06 PM link/comments
Its not as if he died in the apartment, right? Nor is his skull foing to be your door stopper. . . So I can't see what the big deal is. Hell perhaps we have all rented apartments because the previous tennant died, and just haven't known it. Happy thoughts I know. Hell if the rent is cheeper and you can take the better apartment, for the love of god woman take it.
Back to the paper. Well I mean back in the I-havent-looked-at-it-in-a-week-so-I-should-probably-do-that-some-time-before-I-turn-it-in sort of way. It is nice to see that I haven't learned anything sice junior hight when I was doing my homework on the bus before school.
posted by Nat at 8:04 PM link/comments
Yeah it's eery to move into a dead guy's apartment! Need you be told? But I guess he didn't die in the apartment, so that's something. Our neighbor in our building -- Paul and I have seen her exactly three times in the last year and a half. All sorts of stuff is piled up outside her door -- phone books, newspapers, mailers. About once a month, Paul and I, as we unlock our door and kick aside the debris around her door, ask each other if we should, you know, call the landlord or something, but then we get creeped out and don't do it. We rationalize that if she's dead, it would smell bad, and the landlord would be around looking for unpaid rent, hence it's not our problem.
There's is also a guy possibly living in the weird yellow truck that is always parked in front of the building. It's like a painted-over Hostess delivery truck or something, and he's stenciled "Odd Jobs" and a phone number and his name on the side. He's always sitting in there eating Arby's.
posted by Jen at 6:23 PM link/comments
Ah, good. All is well with you nether-bloggers. Oh, Nat, I'm glad you still drink instead of doing papers. You're cute when you procrastinate. Jen and Paul, visit me when you're in Cleveland, dammit. Please? In other news, the first-floor apartment in my house has become available because, creepily, the guy who was living there died in some enigmatic "accident" in California. This guy's been giving me (and the two other women who live in the house) the willies for months. Willie-inducing activity (I found out a lot of this information by talking to my landlady and doing some online sleuthing): Monday, my landlady called me and said that he had died "under mysterious circumstances." What the hell. Anyway, the bottom line is that I'm thinking about moving in down there. It has loads more room than my little place, plus I'd actually have a porch. Zack says it's eerie to move into a dead guy's apartment. The idea doesn't much bother me. Anyone have an opinion?
1. He had moved to Cleveland from California with a) no job; b) no car; c) few possessions.
2. He paid his security deposit and rent in cash.
3. He never left his house except, it seems, to purchase thousands of dollars' worth of expensive electronic equipment, none of which anyone living in the house ever saw him moving in, leading me to believe that he was doing it all under the cover of night.
4. There were odd banging and pounding noises coming from his apartment at all hours.
5. He was in the process of legally changing his surname to that of the captain from one of the spinoff 'Star Trek' series.
6. He was still on probation from a 2001 incident wherein he was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon with "intent to cause harm."
7. He kept unscrewing all the light bulbs in the common stairwell of our house.
posted by Kate at 4:12 PM link/comments
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
Plane tickets purchased. We jet out of Spokane on Dec. 17. Destination: La Casa Cockeram, with eventual jaunts to Cleveland to see Brian Hanna's new condo. He says he purchased a ten-foot long couch, so that's bound to be creepy.
And the 20-page paper is done, I'm rollicking in my abundance of free time, and come Monday morning I will have a tower of about 100 freshman portfolios to grade. But we're going to an 80s party on Saturday night, and I believe Paul will be gelling up his hair, so all is right with the world.
posted by Jen at 2:14 PM link/comments
Amanda's birthday was last week and I decided to buy her Black and White (that new game that came out years ago) as it isn't like we have anything ebtter to do with our selves than sit around and play vidieo games, but the winter looks like it might be long and once the car tires freeze to the ground we won't be going anywhere fast. Anyway, apparently the damn program won't run on Xp, and I haven't been able to find a patch online. But one site mentined that it might work if you run it in Windows 2000 compatibility mode. Great! only how does one do that? Any ideas?
Reguarding papers getting done. I have discovered that the more you drink, the less work gets acomplished. For some reason I didn't rember this all so important lesson from Hiram. But with my own papers coming due, and the amount I have been drinking, I have discovered that they don't go well togather. So I guess the paper won't get done. God loves the icomplete and so do I.
posted by Nat at 12:55 PM link/comments
So Jen ... Any progress on the purchasing of plane tickets? My Thanksgiving holiday was a lovely combination of overeating, watching television, and spending far too much money on Christmas presents. I'm a pathetic sucker for the holiday season. You should see my apartment, all decked out in Christmas decor. I've even hung miniature Christmas stockings with the cats' names on them. No lie. I had to go to the doctor this morning. This particular doctor (an endocrinologist) is in the habit of poking me in the stomach for no logical reason that I can discern. I needed to be dressed up today, because I've been invited to participate in a dean's meeting and have to hobnob with stuffy bureaucrats at 1 p.m. Being poked in the stomach is ever so much more complicated when there's a business suit involved. My solution was to wear ultra-casual clothes to the hospital and carry my suit so I could change at the office. After my appointment (and subsequent bloodletting by a technician who managed to blow one of my veins, rending the inside of my arm black and blue), I stopped by the hospital gift shop to buy a pair of nylons. Inside the gift shop, among the racks of cheery stuffed animals and cheap costume jewelry, was a display of one-time-use disposable cameras. "Cameras!" read the display's sign, "Preserve your precious memories for years to come!" Now I ask you, who the hell runs around taking pictures in the hospital? "Oh, goody. Uncle Bob's just out of surgery. Let's snap a few rolls for the family Christmas card!"
How'd the turkey turn out, Burton?
posted by Kate at 12:07 PM link/comments
Monday, December 02, 2002
So break is over and I'm back in the hectic world of academia. Jen's progress on 20 page paper due tomorrow: 16 pages. Paul's progress: 26 pages, done, all must scoff at him. Students who missed class today: 4. Of those 4, number who came to the final minute of class: 1. Excuse: "I just woke up." Density of fog since Friday: disconcerting (I can see a couple hundred feet, I think, and the sun? What sun?) Number of plane tickets purchased for trip to Ohio: zero. Annoyance level of at least one parent over this fact: 10+ and rising. Jen and Paul's self-imposed deadline for purchasing tickets: 24 minutes from now. Chances of actually purchasing tickets: slim. Chances of minor arguments over unpurchased tickets: high. Stay tuned.
posted by Jen at 6:08 PM link/comments