Filing
See that box on the right? That's filled with filing for one client.

That stack to the left is a mere sampling of the filing I'm doing on another project. I'm not even including that to illustrate my current woe. I just couldn't crop it out properly.

I've been meaning to tackle that box, to at least go through it and make sure nothing has fallen between the cracks, but I haven't had three seconds to pour the contents onto the floor since, uh ... December 07.

Garden Bounty

For the purpose of this post "squash" refers to crookneck, patty pan, zucchini, yellow summer squash or any other type of squash that you get 10 tons of at the end of the summer.

I didn't have much of a garden this year since I was gone for half the summer. But I normally don't plant any squash type vegetables because their prolificacy frightens me. And I figure why plant something that other people will be dying to get rid of?

We haven't had any squash this season until Bob got some from a colleague and I got some from a colleague and then Mom and Dad brought some from their garden. Zero to sixty just like that.

So last night I made the casserole. I'm sure everyone who's ever had a load of squash on the kitchen counter has seen some version of this recipe but I'm posting it anyway. I don't know the origins of this version. My Mom makes it. My Grandma made it. The measurements are guestimates. When in doubt, grate more cheese. My version uses way more than a handful. It would be tough to really screw up this recipe.


Slice a bunch of squash.

Saute in butter (or your favorite fat of choice) and garlic. Add salt and pepper.

When they get soft and seem about done:

Toss in a handful of grated cheese (1/2 cup)
Toss in a handful of bread crumbs (1/2 cup)
Dab of milk (1/3 cup)

When it's all stirred and cooked, take off the burner and break an egg into it. Stir the egg around.

Scrape the whole thing into a casserole dish. Add grated cheese to the top.

Bake 15-20 minutes. Last night I put it at 300.

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Also as an update to my last post, my sweetheart has written a wonderful review of Burn After Reading.

Tuesday's Notes

I finally caved and bought some bulbs. They kept extending my coupon. It expired on Friday. Then it was good through the weekend. Then it was good until Monday at midnight. Rather than buy several $25 bags of 50 bulbs, I bought fewer fancier ones. I want it to be worth the tulip bandit's while. Altogether I think I got about 50 which I will no doubt be bitching and moaning about in a month when I have to plant them.
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I might have already written about this. For almost my whole checking-account possessing life, which started when I was 16, I balanced my checkbook to the penny every month. I can't remember when but in the last year or two, I balanced and if it was within $5 I wouldn't worry about it. Now I've started to round up and round down to the nearest .50¢ for all the entries in my checkbook. I don't think I'm properly conveying how major this is for me to be so lax about my checkbook. And I think this is personal growth. Is it really worth it to spend an hour trying to find .17¢?
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I bought new yoga clothes and I wore them for the first time last night. The top is awesome but the pants felt like they were falling down the whole time. By falling down I mean my buttcrack was getting some air. Jeez, when I was a girl pants came up and covered your entire bottom.
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If you're a Coen Brothers fan, I highly recommend Burn After Reading. I saw it with my Mom and Dad over the weekend and we all enjoyed it. Really great performances from everyone.
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I'm not watching Heroes this season. Nothing you say will make me change my mind.
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One of my notes looks like it says "order owre." I have no idea what that means and it's annoying me more than it should.

Baby Elephant
I have been so busy the past week I've barely had time to pull up my pants.

I've lived in this area for closing in on 20 years and I've never had any interest in going to the zoo. However, today my mother-in-law (epic zoo volunteer) took us to see the baby elephant and he was so freaking cute it hurt. Sorry I didn't get a cuter photo but he didn't do something really cute until I put the camera down. Also, it was a wait in line and shuffle through type of thing so not like I could gaze all day at his ever-loving cuteness and wait for the perfect shot.

We need a word for the gap between what the salesman tells you his company can do and for how much and what the service entity can do in reality.

P.S. Happy Birthday Erin



(she's the one on the right)(also that outfit I'm wearing is an awesome red jumpsuit that I wish I had a photo of me standing so you could really enjoy it)

More photos of Erin.

My Desk
Today's featured topic is a tour of my home desk area.

Against the back wall there's a giant Attack of the Clones DVD promotional banner. You can see half of Yoda's head at the top. Standing in front, a full size C3PO cut-out and C3PO wears my Star Wars purse from Bolsa Bonita (she has some similar purses in stock right now, if you're envious.)

My computer lives on an anthro cart. They aren't cheap but they look nice and when the world turns into The Road the good guys will be pushing these along instead of grocery carts. This thing is sturdy. Someday the top shelf will need to be cleared off for a printer but meanwhile, on the left is a giant box filled with Karuk related research. The box on the right is filled with craft-stuff from the fifteen minutes I thought I was going to get into crafting. Now it's stuff I'm never going to use, but can't bear to get rid of, taking up space. On top are my two boxes of critted manuscripts from Clarion West.

I can never remember exactly what computer I have but it's a Mac and it's big and shiny and I love it. It is surrounded by tons of crap including zillions of notes scribbled on scrap paper, stickie-notes and index cards, my iPod, a spindle of CDs and a spindle of DVDs and craft gloves that I wear to support my mouse-hand wrist when typing and highly recommend.

The music stand thing on the left has a paper with a bunch of Mac short cuts on it because I can never remember them. It also has a couple things on it that I want to learn on the computer but never get around to, like things with sound files. When I returned from Clarion West, Bob had left me a picture of William Gibson to watch over me and he does.

My chair is a $50 craigslist special. Over-crowded bookshelves are self explanatory. On the end of the tall bookshelf I have tons of hooks that I use to organize camera cords, charging cords, earbuds and a spare pair of glasses. Hanging from the ceiling is one of those cool paper shades hanging on a light-bulb. I use that in the winter so I can see what I'm doing during yoga practice without having to use the overhead light.

Before and After

Hey, guess what I did today?

This has been on my list for several weekends. It's been that thing that I was determined to do next and never got around to.

We have every-other-week yard debris pick-up and tomorrow is the pick up day so I made sure our tub was full.



Yes, it is crooked. My arms got tired and I sloped unexpectedly.

There's another hedge in back I want to turn into an alien head. I have no experience at sculpting hedges. But I guess worse-case-scenario I have a hideous shaped hedge in my backyard. Maybe next weekend.

During the gardening today I managed to smash my right pointer finger between something and now it's bruised and hurts. But I can still type.

The weather report tells me we're in for several days of hot followed by a day with some rain and then back to medium. I'm watering like crazy in what's left of the backyard because I have a busy week and it's going to have to fend for itself until rain day.

Friday Theme: Overwhelmed
I like the idea of iTunes and being able to have all my music in one place but I also find it overwhelming. Every time I go to organize a new playlist or add some songs, there's so much stuff. It's too much.
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True story, I think about the holidays starting in September. Not because I'm one of those people who lives for the holidays but more because I like to get a head-start so that I don't have to go out in the the dark rains of December and fight the crowds to get my shopping done. Or else pay an extra $15 to make sure the thing is shipped in time.

Lately I've been overwhelmed by how much stuff I have. All my drawers and cupboards seem stuffed and every time something new shows up I have to poke around to find a place to put it. I was thinking for Christmas this year, I'd like to give everyone a bag and invite them to come over and take some of my stuff. Maybe a book or a knickknack or a kitchen gadget.
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I have my stack of bulb catalogs here and still can't decide what to do. Last year I bought 108 and it was a drag putting them in the ground but I enjoyed the flowers when they arrived.

The way things are going now, I'm trying to simplify and I'm betting I'll be happy I don't have a giant bag of bulbs to stick in the ground in the Fall. The bulbs from last year will still be there in the Spring.

I can't decide.
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Is the quality of rubberbands slipping? This has been bothering me for a long time. I'm a big fan of the rubberband, especially the big giant ones that you use for holding together stacks of documents. I once bought some florescent ones for the office and was sad when I used the last one. I didn't see them in the catalog we use to buy office supplies and haven't seen them in a store again.

I use small ones, too. For holding together cords and cables. And I use one around my checkbook to keep it from flapping open and also for holding a pen. These are great tips. Try it at home.

I always have a bunch of rubberbands hanging off my bulletins boards and other office props, at home and work. And it seems like half the time they're all dried up and break the minute I stretch them. Are they supposed to be stored in an airtight container? Once you use them they're out in the world. They should be more durable than that.

Invent a Word

This is a photo from December 2004 at a Frankfurt U-Bahn station. I "m sure I've posted it or a version of it before. There's no particular reason I'm posting it now, I just like the photo.

Here's a note from my "things to blog about" scrap of paper at the office. The office scrap has some good ideas but they are long and would take some thought and research and I'm not sure when I'm going to get around to that.

I think I'm finally accepting that I am incapable of getting my act together at the moment and this is how it's going to be.

But this is the note: "Invent a word for when someone tries to elevate something they did for you to more than it is."

I wish I could remember what prompted this.

Everything Comes to An End

I started watching Siskel & Ebert with Bob when we first started living together.

It was a good show for us because they covered a good mix of the big dumb blockbusters and independent films. We can appreciate both. And we watched the show long enough to know how our film tastes measured up with theirs.

We stuck with it after Siskel died and watched Roger with a long line of guests. We still liked the show when Roeper joined. Roeper often surprised us. There would be a ridiculous stinky looking movie previewed and we'd look at each other and say. "Roeper is going to hate this one." And then he would love it.

We've been watching Roger left hoping it would be temporary but Roger never returned.

We knew that Ebert and Roeper were leaving but we didn't know when. There was a show waiting in the DVR last night and we assumed that was the last one. Instead, it was the new show and we didn't make it past 60 seconds of introduction. It was horrific smooth talking salesmen in shiny suits.

I'm having trouble summing up why we liked the Ebert versions for so long but hated the new slick show that to be honest we didn't even give a real chance. I always felt like Ebert and guests were smart people that were giving their opinions and if they loved a big dumb action movie or discovered a fabulous performance in a little undiscovered indy film they'd tell you. The new show felt completely phony.

Morning Meals
I like my junk food but I generally eat foods that are good for me. Especially in the morning. My normal breakfast is some kind of plain yogurt, fruit and granola combination.

Since I got back from the workshop, I make my yogurt and come sit at my desk and I never want to eat it. I want potato chips. See's chocolate. Or today: macaroni salad.

#

Here's a story from yesterday. We were walking to lunch and there was a homeless person outside that ubiquitous coffee place that starts with S and ends UCKS who seemed to be minding his own business. A coffee place customer was on his feet and loudly telling the homeless guy to leave him alone. He had this robotic voice and repeated over and over: "Sir, if you don't leave me alone I will use a weapon." We walked away as fast as we could.

This Year's Crop
There are two that are this big out there. Plus I have about 4 smaller ones. Not bad.

I thought I'd gather up all my little scraps on my desk that say: blog idea and do one giant post except I don't understand most of them.

The following are all notes from when we went to the movies.

How come families on TV or in movies never have small kitchens?

Grace Park is in a new show? What about Boomer?

Instead of all the stupid commercials the theater plays while you wait, they should have readings of classic short stories. And advertise where you can buy the books. They'd probably figure out a way to stupidfy it.

Important Membership Information
I've been a notary public in the state of Oregon since 1992. Only because of work and my special services are rarely needed. I'm only on page 7 of my 90 page "Journal of Notarial Acts." I haven't notarized anything since July of 2007.

I'm not trying to drum up business if that's what you're thinking. I don't charge anyway.

I'm bringing this up because I received a solicitation to join the National Notary Association this week. For $52 here are the fabulous things I get:

A bonus gift. An Oregon Notary Law Primer - "124 pages of hard-to-find information every Notary needs to know." Every four years when I renew my notary commission, the State of Oregon sends me a heavily padded "Notary Public Guide" that is 88 pages long including the index.

What hard-to-find information could these 124 pages possibly hold?

My membership also includes unlimited toll-free hotline support. Answers to all my notary questions. Why bother with the Oregon Law Primer?

Monthly updates – a magazine and a newspaper because you know, I'm always sitting around wishing I had more stupid stuff to read.

Also: a website with members-only forum, advocacy to protect my notary interests, identity theft insurance and discounts to the usual (vague reference to insurance, DHL, Hertz).

I would make a crack about how I wouldn't mind if they had a national conference I could go to. But they do have a national conference and if someone paid my way I would not spend one minute conferencing. I would sit by the pool and I wouldn't miss anything.

Because How Can I Not Post This?

Where Can I Find Native American Porn? (Sherman Alexie joins Dan Savage).

Act Broken Apart
I realize again that I need to drastically revise my vision of what it means for me to have my act together.

Long weekend. I thought I'd get all kinds of things done. I did spend some quality time with Bob. And I baked a loaf of bread. And I did some writing. Only some.

I'm trying to get through the first season of Mad Men. (Aside: both Saffron and Connor are in it.) It's taken me a month to get through 4 episodes because I can't even find time to watch TV. I have no idea what I'm doing but it's keeping me busy.

And I have another super busy week. Maybe next weekend I can get organized. (ha!)