double take

so i'm sitting at a red light today, when i see a car pass by with a... disembodied mannequin head poking out the cracked open window, hair blowing in the breeze like the most natural thing in the world.
 
this is an odd little town. 
Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2007 at 03:14PM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments5 Comments

entertainment

part of my background soundtrack for the day found here and here. and here. "come on closer" is a good tune as well, but the youtube vids are, ahem... well... blushworthy. even if they ARE all computerized.

props to jeff for the introduction to jem [the artist, not the cartoon].

Posted on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 02:39PM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments1 Comment

prose

i have voiced my disdain for rhyming sympathy cards in the past. i was reminded of this today.
 
what is wrong with people? i am certain i actually said this out loud on my search for sympathy cards today; i physically threw my hands up in disgust at a number of them. it all just seems so inappropriate to me. big loopy scripts, pictures of flowers or oceans, overly verbose text, bad theology... and the overarching feeling of helplessness tied to buying such cards in the first place. it feels like trying too hard, yet not enough. i was discontented with the cards, with the situation, with the brokenness of humanity. just a quick browse through the sympathy card section of your local drugstore will, if nothing else, tell you this: we do not know how to grieve well. most cards seem like an afterthought of production -- they are awkward and fumbling, and they say both too little and too much. no one really wants to think about death and its finality, and this is reflected in our sincere but clumsy attempts for closure. which sounds a lot like our own efforts, cards or no.
 
it's an odd thing. in the span of five days i have heard about the deaths of four people... the father of an old high school friend; my friend's client; my boss' sister; my friend's boss's brother. my friend's father is the only one i have met of this list. none of these people have really impacted my life. but their passing affects others, who do impact my life in one way or another. what do we do with this part of our social family tree, this Immediate Grief, Once [or Twice] Removed?
 
i feel like i am familiar grief, but in reality, i have no idea. the only funeral i could ever have been considered involved in was for my father's grandmother; i barely knew her. my mother's mother died several years ago; i knew her even less. brief interactions by a five-year-old for a few weeks overseas do not a relationship make. all other funerals i have attended have been on behalf of others. now, i would be more than happy to continue life in this way. but the reality of the situation is that someday, grief of my own will come. what then? i have no idea.
 
it was not meant to be this way, i don't think. but here it is just the same.
 
i don't have any answers. just don't ever buy me a rhyming sympathy card.
Posted on Monday, February 5, 2007 at 06:51PM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments10 Comments

it's official

- february: the still-strung lights and garland have now crossed from quaintly "festive" to simply "tacky".

- super bowl commercials: as with snl, i will remember the good old days.

- weather: cold.

- lists: boring.


[- just for tjb: dude. you really need some airborne.]

Posted on Sunday, February 4, 2007 at 10:39PM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments5 Comments

refreshed

so, apparently, i done slept through my alarm this morning [or, more likely, i never ended up setting it in the first place]. it was a little disorienting.
 
boy, it seems bright today. and i feel great! haven't slept that well in a while. [clock check] 8:07? uh oh. is it saturday? no, it's friday. really? maybe it's saturday. i hope it's saturday? but i think it's friday. it can't be sunday? NO. NOT SUNDAY. friday. it's friday. pretty sure it's friday.
 
ah crap.
 
but i really do feel good. mmmmm sleep. 
Posted on Friday, February 2, 2007 at 08:11AM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments4 Comments

gentleness

- Do we base our extension of tenderness (particularly physical) on our perceptions of other people? Meaning, are we naturally more gentle with petite, thin women than big-boned, sturdy ones? Or does that change if the big-boned girl is emotionally fragile? If the thin girl is spunky and street-wise will I be less likely to treat her with gentleness because, hey, she can take care of herself?

[via val at notesalongtheway

Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 08:43AM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments1 Comment

um

"so, what country are you from?"

i'm accustomed to getting things like what's your background, where are your parents from, what's your ethnicity. it was the abruptness and particular wording that threw me off today. we stepped onto the elevator and the door was barely shut before the 50-or-60-ish woman asked. and the casualness was disconcerting, as if, clearly, i must get this question all day long. do i look that different? interesting.

Posted on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 12:07PM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments21 Comments

stewing

my second attempt at beef stew went better than the first. nothing exciting, though. at least this time the power didn't go out, leaving me with crunchy soup.
 
i'm hoping the third time's a charm. anyone have a good slow cooker recipe for beef stew? sarah f, i'm sure you have tons of 'em. 
Posted on Monday, January 29, 2007 at 08:43PM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments4 Comments

getting old already

i suspect another year where it snows every single freaking sunday until further notice.

meh. 

Posted on Sunday, January 28, 2007 at 10:07AM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments3 Comments

amused

i have, surprisingly, not gotten any blog hits from rob bell google searchers. but i've gotten a few other ones i'm amused by, including "mdog scraping" and "help wanted"+"make believe job".
 
however, this one is my personal favorite for the irony:
 
"techinical writing skills"
 

speaking of which, would you buy a book if i wrote one? why do you read this thing? i'm taking a survey.
Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 at 08:39AM by Registered Commentermdog | Comments10 Comments