The Clint Eastwood Factor

Lady Detective

I had a weird dream last night where I left my car at a gas station. I just felt like leaving it. Sometime the next day, I received a ransom note from a stranger trying to extract money for the car. Knowing that it was at a gas station, I went back to the gas station to talk to the attendants to find out if they were trying to blackmail me. When I arrived there, my car had a bunch of tubes and stuff in it. Working at the gas station was a bunch of young guys, kind of sweet and boisterous, and with a little flirtatious conversation I was able to glean that they thought my car was abandoned so they just decided to fix it for practice and because they were bored. Also, because I was so charming, they were going to do it for free. Sweet! I wish that actually happened. I also figured out that some random guy driving by the gas station wrote down the license plate number and had sent me the blackmail note just to see if anything would happen, because he thought the car was abandoned.

Frodo Feet

It doesn't seem to matter what shoes I wear around - flats or heels, sandals or closed-toe shoes - my feet get messed up in the summer. The material of the shoe straps, buckles, or just plain leather rub on the skin of my feet and give me some major blisters which I then cover with several band-aids. It' s terrible! I don't know what to do to prevent this. Go barefoot? Gross!

The Clint Eastwood Factor

I have only seen two movies by Clint Eastwood - "Bridges Over Madison County" and the one where he's a bank robber and voyeur. Both those movies are really, really bad and Clint Eastwood is a really, really bad actor in them. Because of these movies, I hate anything that Clint Eastwood touches. It may be unfair, but I'm judgemental like that. That same factor applies to good, though. After I saw "Ghostdog," I was absolutely interested in anything starring Forrest Whittaker. This type of grudge-holding (positive feelings or negative feelings) does not just apply to movies, but is rather a pattern I see in other areas of my life besides movies. It could be seen as a weakness, but it could also be seen as an old fashioned character trait called "loyalty." Even Clint Eastwood would appreciate that.

Candiru on Oprah and Interdenominational Chatter

I had a terrific Memorial Day weekend! It was a mix of spending time outside, enjoying friends, spending time with Mr. D, and catching up on some work. I went to a few BBQ's, and had some interesting conversations. Among them, we discussed the existence of a "penis" fish, which was backed up by the phrase, "it was on Oprah!" On agreed intent to google, I found out today that it really refers to the Brazilian candiru fish, which IS totally attracted to urine. My bad! Also of note was some discussion on the Lucumi religion, Buddhist meditation, and organizing social justice campaigns for the UCC.

Mr. D and I biked up to Evanston under the clouds on Saturday, and went to my favorite bead store. And this cool store too to look at rocks and geodes. I shared meals on Sunday with some different girlfriends, and even did some jewelry making. I'll try to post a picture soon of my latest beadation!

Job 2: 3 More Sessions, Job 1: 39 days and Counting

I am going to work my second job today, after my first job. I have been doing this job, recording meeting minutes for suburban public meetings, for five years! Not only is that a very long time commitment, but it also a very long time to have two jobs. I think the first 4 months out of college I had one job. Since then (2002), I've had at least two!

The extra money has been really nice, and I've felt that I've needed it. Over the years they have been flexible about the time and the deadlines of the projects. But still, as my days at my full time job dwindle (39 days!) I am really looking forward to a change of pace. And to doing something different. And to only having one job for a little while. Yes!

In other news, I am planning a road trip to North Carolina in June to try to find an apartment. My awesome friend and Piscean sister, Meghan, is coming on the road trip as well. I hope to make some appointments before I go to see some places, and also to make a few fun stops on the way. Memphis? Nashville? Ashville? Indianapolis? These are all possible stops on the way to my new intellectual paradise.

Headscarf Hands-Free

This morning on the train I saw a twist on the "hands-free" cell phone thing. Honestly, it was so distracting! There was a Muslim woman who seemed to me a more *liberal* type of Muslim, which I am basing (in my ignorance) solely on her clothing choices. She was wearing a green headscarf with embroidery and beading, and a bright magenta shirt. She also was talking on a cell phone. She had her big ole cell phone pressed against her ear, tucked into her headscarf so she didn't have to hold it. It was convenient and somewhat practical, I suppose. But it was still weird. I wanted to take a picture with my camera phone, but I thought that might be disrespectful.

After my previous post, I was thinking about street corner preachers. What type of message would I actually be interested in or identify with from a street corner preacher? I decided that rather than a preacher railing on about cigarettes or weed or Doritos, I'd rather that he publicly condemned the people on the bike path that let their dogs drink out of the water fountains THAT ARE MEANT FOR PEOPLE. That would be awesome.

"Bring a water dish for your dogs, good people of Chicago, or you are going straight to hell!"

Don't Curse My Doritos

State Street in Chicago is apparently an informal entrepreneur's paradise. Last week I was walking around on a weekday after 5 p.m. On every corner, someone was trying to exchange something - change for beer, religious pamphlets, hip-hop CDs. The religious pamphlets were especially notable - I probably saw 4 different people handing them out between Van Buren and Monroe Streets.

There are different types of pamphleteers. There is the guy who lurks and just slides the pamphlet into your path as you walk by, there's the friendly pamphleteer, and an aggressive one. Then there are the street preachers giving their messages. There's one guy who always stands in front of Old Navy with an amp and a microphone, talking about the dangers of weed and cigarettes. At least I get him. A few streets down on this particular day there was another street corner preacher. As I walked by him, I caught an earful of him cursing Doritos. Doritos? Is that really necessary? I mean, nutrition is a serious issue but I don't think it's serious enough to take Doritos to task on the street corner. You know?

"Bitch, crazy." And How AC/DC Provided Me A Slice of Heaven

I used to work with teenagers for my job. One day, I told one of them, "The one thing I wished that someone would have told me in high school is that some people are just crazy." After I said it, I wasn't sure that my sentiment really translated to anyone else besides myself. But it took me awhile to learn that in the working world because I tend to internalize a good deal of problems or situations and try immediately to solve all kinds of problems that don't belong to me. Realizing that a lot of times that it wasn't about me and that I should just let go was a helpful lesson. So professors and parents and mentors out there, please tell your kids, "Kids - some bitches are crazy! And you can't really control that."

This past weekend I went to an AC/DC concert, put on by kids from Paul Green's School of Rock Music. It was the most fantastic show that I've seen in awhile. Little kids rocked guitar solos, banged on the drums, and screamed into the microphone. A little 11-year-old girl sang, "Highway to Hell" and it was absolutely precious and hilarious. The kids were having such a great time, and the moms were too as they slurped down Michelob lights at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and "Whooo-" ed their kids. It was ferocious fun, and felt great to support a cool music program for kids. You can catch another fabulous show on May 19, when these little rockers will be performing Led Zepplin tunes. Don't miss it!