Birthday Fortnight

Dagnabbit if I'm not falling behind already! It's been two weeks since my last post. As usual, a lot has happened. Fortuitously, I've been keeping good mental notes so here goes a data dump update of m' last two weeks:

Travels:

• *Oklahoma City to visit CS - weekend of Jan. 8

Guests:

• #LJ up from Austin - weekend of Jan. 15

Culture (pronounce "cult-chuh"):

• *OKC Natl Memorial (hauntingly beautiful)
• *strolled around OU campus (goooooooooooo Sooners!)
• #Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Sporting events:

• *OKC Barons (hockey - brrrrr)
• *Chief's game @ Hooters (at least the fried pickles were good cuz the Chief's sure weren't)

Theatre (pronounced "the-uh-tuh"):

• Shrek: The Musical (talented folks, so-so show, & crappy sound @ The Music Hall. Thank-God-for-1/2-price-tix!)
• Another American: Asking and Telling @ KC Rep (accidentally showed up a week early - excellent performance, though a little longish and loosely connected monologues are not my thang.)

Work/Meetings/Projects:

• ULibs mobile website releases/ads
• African American Read In releases/ads
• Robot's in the Social Landscape / Dean's Gallery opening (covered by 2 media outlets!)
• Friends of the Library board meeting
• legislative update w/ Senator Justus
• Provost's 20/20 Task Force
• Vice Chancellor of Communications and Marketing Search Committee mtg

Music:

• *"Gospel" Brunch @ The Boom (campy fun)
• #Mama Ray's Blues Jam @ BB's Lawnside BBQ (always a good time!)
• #Her HRC Battle of the Bands @ Crosstown Station (Go Animals with Armour!)

Games:

• #Wii Jeopardy & Wheel

Movies:

• *Country Strong (country GONG! - actually not that bad for a made-for-Lifetime movie)
• Rabbit Hole (all around excellent, nuanced performances)

Restaurants:

• Blanc Burgers & Bottles (consistently inconsistent. previously delicious lentil burger was overcooked and greezy)
• Po's Dumplings x2 (curry chicken is on the money! wonton soup was good but doesn't hold up to Blue Koi's. )
• *Beverly's Pancake Corner (home of "Chicken in the rough" - whatever that means. sassy service and amazing chicken fried steak!)
• *Tarahumara Mexican Restaurant (quite possibly the best TexMex I've ever eaten! holla for the swirly margaritas & complimentary queso!)
• #Gates BBQ ("HI MAY I HELP YOU?!" barbeque-saucilicious-perfection!)
• #Bristol Seafood @ Power & Light District (Sunday brunch was my best Bristol experience. almost died for the seafood enchiladas!)
• #Cafe Trio (six words: pork chops, gnocchi, OH-MY-GAWD!)
• Margarita's (typical Taco Tuesday)
• Westport Bar & Cafe (yummo curry carrot soup & perfecto mussels w/ tomato & fennel)
• Sahara Mediterranean (counter service, which is not my fave, but tasty fo' shizzle).

Bars:

• Hamburger Mary's (Bad Music Sunday w/ m' boyz)
• Finish Line (smokin' but not in a good way - coughcough)

TV:

• OWN
• True Blood season one - eps3-7 (Bill sucky on Sookie)
• The Fashion Show (Calvin in the finals? Oh HELLL to the no!)
• Real Housewives of...
• Atlanta (simmer down Nene - BAM! knock 'em dead Karaoke Kim!)
• Beverly Hills (can't believe I'm saying it, but feel sorry for Camille - f.u. Fraser!)
• Watch What Happens LIVE (have another one Jackeeeee)

(m' 4freakin'1st) Birthday:

• gifts ($$ for m' iPad - now if they'd just announce the release)
• greetings/well-wishes (4 cards, 6 calls, 11 texts, approx 300 fb posts! shazaam!)
• inches of snow (4-7)

Also this week...

food:

• made, shared, polished off my annual Hanukkah/holiday matzo ball soup (delish).
• bad food & bad services @Thirsty's. (don't go there).
• wonton soup @Po's (good, but not as good as Blue Koi).

tv/movies:

• True Blood season1, eps1&2 (interesting enough. quirky. bloody. BAD acting. didn't love it. that said, i recognize the need for exposition so looking forward to more).
• Joaquin (mo'fo'n CRAAAA-ZEEEE) Phoenix's "I'm Still Here."
• The Closer last 3 eps o' the season. (total old person show, easy watchin', i heart Kyra/Brenda).
• Top Chef All Stars (chicken feet, Casey. really? really?)

games:

• Wheel of Fortune on Wii! (fun!)
• Price is Right on Wii (less fun, but funny)
• Jeopardy on Wii (bought it but haven't played it yet).
• Scrabble on Facebook (keepin' on, keepin' on.)

meetings:

• Dean's Advisory Team
• Consensus board mtg.
• Kansas Citians United for Educational Achievement community mtg (well-intentioned cluster f-)

new music:

• Katy Perry's Teenage Dream CD ("B" some really fun songs and some duds. should have cherrypicked and not bought entire album)
• Willow Smith's Whip My Hair single ("B+" fun fun fun)
• Glee Volume 4 ("A" every songs a winner)

misc:

• on pins & needles waiting for news from AB-McD
• put cleaning service on notice. (be. on. time. send. same. person.)

All My Children, all my life

Yesterday I had a loovely catch up call w/ a lifelong bestie, KPB-H. We chatted. We chuckled. We hmm'd, hawed, and hurumphed. Right before saying good-bye she mentioned "All My Children" - had I watched, was I watching it, the last time I watched it - something. My answer was that, after taking a several month break (cold turkey) I had checked back in on my Pine Valley peeps last week and - well, on and on and she's new and he's dead and this was wacky and thank God for Christmas miracles!

The details aren't important but the funny thing is her observation as we were wrapping up. "Have you ever noticed how much more animated our conversations become when we start talking about All My Children? We could be down, or quiet, or grumpy (okay, I'm paraphrasing here) but for as long as I can remember (and we've been friends since we were 5), as soon as one of us mentions AMC our conversations come alive."

I don't really have a point to this post other than I was just thinking about what she said and how true it is for me. I am the exact same way not just her but also with anyone I either know or encounter who is a lover o' m' soaps. And I know it's not just me and it doesn't really have anything to do with AMC for that matter. I know and have witnessed many other folks, all ages, races, sexes, and sexual preferences getting equally worked up abouts they stoeries.

I feel like I should have some insightful (or obvious) observation to conclude this post - but I don't. I was just thinking about this and it made me smile. Besides, I've got to get out of here so I can get home to watch TV. True Blood season1 disk1 arrived from Netflix and I hear it calling my name!

Quick update on le life:

• had a (boring but necessary) meeting last night w/ the other members of our rowhouse group's condo assoc. (they are old and have a cat so I was doubly uncomfortable).
• folks in office hosted a lovely little breakie this morning for me and another Jan. birfday lady.
• OH, I named our unnamed liberry performance space this morning after a brainstorm I had in the shower. Are you ready? It's called the "i-X Theatre", the "i-X" short for "information exchange" which is exactly what happens in liberries. Plus it sounds all modern and high tech (which it kind of is) AND the word theatre connotes the arts which connects with UMKC's role as the arts campus for the University of Missouri System. Proud to have thought of the name but even proud-er that I got the folks here to buy off on it within less than 8 hours (most decisions here are made by committee and they can drag on foreons if not longer.) Yay me!

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96 Years Old!

Today is my Grandma Schulz's 96th birthday! I just got off the phone with her (she answered brightly on the 2nd ring) and she sounded great - sharp and funny and as cute as ever!

She asked me, "Do you know how old I am?" When I said, "yes, 96" she laughed and replied, "Well you DO know!"

Then she continued, "I never in my life thought I'd live to be 96 year's old. And I sure didn't think I'd be getting around so good if I did. Maybe I'll live to be a hundred," followed by an aside, "Oh, I hope note."

I jumped in with, "Well I hope you live to be 100. I want to see you on the Today Show."

"You think they'll put me on there?" she asked.

I said I knew they would and couldn't wait to see Willard Scott wishing her Happy 100th from Smuckers!

"Willard Scott?" she said, "Well he's pretty old too. He might not make that long."

She said she's feeling pretty good, just a little low energy sometimes. She also said she doesn't go anywhere even though they (my aunts and uncles) keep trying to get her to go gambling. (She used to love going gambling and could stay up all night playing the nickel slots.) I told her to wait until the weather was nicer and she might change her mind.

I asked her if they'd gotten a cake for her and she replied that they hadn't, yet. "I'm not much of a cake eater anyway," she said. "I've got a lemon pie in there Norma made me though. I haven't had any of it yet, but that should be pretty good. I like cake better than pie anyway."

Me, too, Grandma. Me, too!

You gave birth to and raised 15 kids and have well over 100 (probably closer to 200) grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. You are a role model and inspiration to us all.

Happy Birthday Cleffie Pauline Moody Schulz! I sure do love you!

Movies, Movies, Movies

With Golden Globes nominations announced last month and ballots being mailed to Academy members next week, movie awards season is upon us. I love the Oscars and make it a point to see as many as the nominated films as possible with the following priority: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor/Actor, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best screenplay, then hit and miss for all the rest. With this in mind I've seen a LOT of movies in the past few weeks (not all of which are or will be Oscar contenders). Here's a quick list:

• The Tourist (a solid "B" - thoroughly enjoyable. good story. good acting. VENICE VENICE VENICE)
• The Fighter ("A+" all around).
• The Black Swan ("B-" weird. not enjoyable. after seeing it I heard a reviewer say "a brilliantly made dumb movie. I concur.)
• True Grit ("A" that little girl was awesome).
• The King's Speech ("A-". great acting. good, though overly-Hollywoodized script.)
• The Town ("B+" I liked it.)
• Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work ("A". as good a doc as i've ever seen. LOVE joan. i laughed and -almost- cried.)
• The Social Network ("B+". interesting. well done. just not blown away.)
• Exit Through the Gift Shop ("B". interesting. mr.brainwash is insane.)
• Easy A ("B+" for what it was, it was great. thoroughly enjoyable.)
• The Bounty Hunter ("B-" it was fine for what it was. i like Jennifer Aniston. i like Gerard Butler['s hotness]. not as bad as the reviews.)
• Burlesque ("B". Fun for what it is. X-tina was great, Cher was Cher - underutilized, but love her!)
• Toy Story 3 ("C" to me. I get why the people who like those kinds of movies appreciated it, but I was bored,bored,bored. and I don't like Tom Hanks, even as a cowboy doll.)
• The Frog Princess ("B" old school Disney charm. plus it's in New Orleans so gotta love that.)

Also, just (re)signed up for Netflix and am so excited about the "watch instantly" feature - super cool! I've lined up a cue mile long and have the first season of True Blood on its way. Looking forward to seeing what the hype's all about. (I know - naked vampires, duh!)

P.S. and unrelated (my beloved doggy) Nixon turned 8 yesterday! (Happy Birthday and we all love you, Nix!)

This year I will...

• lose 20 pounds (or at least five).
• save some dough ($5k min.).
• continue blogging (but NOT every day & not in quite the same format).
• find & embark on a creative outlet (TBD).
• formulate a 5 year plan (new goals a'needed).

That said, I've really never been much for resolutions. Basically these are just what I'm thinking about as I move into 2011. In summary, at least for the first part of this year I'm planning to plan. I reached a lot of goals and milestone 2009 and 2010 and now I need to figure out my next move(s). Back to school? A new job? A creative and/or entrepreneurial venture? I dunno.

Suggestions are welcome (though may not be followed).

2010 in Review

In 2010 I...

• turned 40!
• moved into an amazing townhouse (w/ RD) that I love!
• hosted an Oscars party.
• visited Italy (Rome, Naples, & Messina).
• visited Greece (Athens & Rhodes).
• visited Turkey (Kusadari).
• visited Egypt (Cairo & Alexandria).
• visited France (Paris).
• visited the UK (London).
• visited Austin (LJ, PE, CM, KM, & G).
• visited Chicago (MK-n-CY).
• visited Des Moines (CS/IA State Fair).
• visited DC (MC & m' DCBoyz).
• visited the Lake of the Ozarks (mommala, sis-n-nieces).
• visited Los Angeles (Munkey & MJ).
• visited Mountain View, MO (yay Grandma!).
• visited New Orleans (decadent!).
• visited New York (MW).
• visited St. Louis (BC, LB, JS-n-BabyJ).
• camped & floated along the Niangua River (with pride!).
• hosted visits from amazing out-of-town friends (SugarB, JS-BabyJ, MC-n-GT, CS, Mackles-n-Christmas, & Bahpa-n-fam).
• hosted the fam for X-mas eve.
• got & got rid of a new-to-me dog (sorry SusanLucci).
• marked over a full year of daily blogging (then took a break).
• lived and breathed library robot.
• had an overall absolutely positively awesomely unforgettable freaking year!