dianaschnuth

Ugh. Need more hours in the day. Still have stuff to do.

Recent events: Went with Aaron, Kris Heath and Jamie on the Haunted Train Ride in Waterville on Saturday. Cookies and cider and an hour-long train ride for $9. Cheesy “actors,” but a fun evening nonetheless.

Went with Aaron to the Michael Moore rally yesterday. Unlike anything we’ve ever attended before. Learned a few things we didn’t know, got extra fired up to go vote Kerry. More later, I think.

Tonight I finished Order of the Phoenix while I should have been cleaning the bathroom. Good Christ, what next? Oh, and according to the FAQ on J.K. Rowling’s website, she’s not done axing characters, either. How could she be, given the prophecy? Now I can’t wait for books six and seven, either… Damn. At least now I can go and read all the Harry Potter websites and message boards without fear of spoilers… for the published books, anyway.

(I do love how she remembers how it was to be sixteen and presumptuous and impertinent and full of yourself and all that. Of course, I wasn’t a wizard, but I remember being kind of like that… though I swear I wasn’t nearly as much of a moody bitch as Harry was.)

Oh, and thanks, Eric, for mentioning the Wired Creative Commons CD. I went and downloaded it via BitTorrent while I played a brief stint of Civ III this evening, and I’ve now burned it with the intention of bringing it in the car with me tomorrow. Good stuff so far… the Beasties and David Byrne are worth the free download, IMO. 🙂

OK, I’m going to go scrub the bathroom sink before I fall asleep.

Aaron accosted me as I arrived home this evening—quite late, due to a traffic backup on Reynolds Road—and made me promise not to get all depressed and funky this evening. It wasn’t so much the verbal demand as it was the incessant tickling and throttling and schnuthberries on my neck that made me agree to this arrangement.

So, I ate dinner, watched the news, checked my e-mail, read my blogs, tried to find some of Sheryl’s family on those genealogy sites I mentioned earlier (no luck yet), cleared a couple things off the stack on my desk, and played Civ III for a couple hours. Perfectly content. I was just contemplating staying up for a while longer, just because I don’t have to get up early tomorrow, but my body is rebelling.

At this moment in particular, the cat has decided that I’ve ignored her long enough, and is curled up in my lap, purring and kneading my right arm. At least she doesn’t slide off like she did when she was a teensy kitten.

Yeah, I think it’s time for bed. Do not read Harry Potter, do not collect $200. Come on, kitty. Let’s go upstairs.

Not that I don’t like our new house or anything… but I do kind of miss having a downtown area to walk around. Tonight, I could have seen myself braving the cold chilly wind and traipsing down to Grounds with a notebook and pen. Maybe bringing a packet of Splenda and pocketing the miniature bottle of caramel sugar-free syrup from our fridge and ordering a decaf.

Sure, there are places in Toledo I could have driven to, but there’s something different about having the walk to clear your head. When you’re driving, you (or at least, I) have to pay attention and don’t have much brainpower left for properly zoning out.

I like being closer to more things we can drive to, but not being able to walk to real shops and stores and restaurants takes some getting used to.

Maybe this is just a manifestation of the weird depression I seem to have been in lately. Can’t seem to shake it. Don’t want to sleep, don’t want to do crap. I’ve been terminally bored for nearly a week now. It’s a little early in the chilly season to be going through this—this was once what I expected to go through every February. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not nearly as depressed as I once was, and it’s been quite a while—years—since I’ve been even recognizably depressed… and this isn’t nearly as bad as I’ve been in the past. I can handle a general lethargy. It’s just pushing through it, when I know that it has no reasonable cause and no foreseeable cure, that’s the trouble.

It’s been a few days, so I figured I’d check in with my faithful readership.

On the stiff neck front: it no longer hurts everywhere, but one or two muscles are still stiff. It doesn’t bother me that much, though, and another good hot shower and a nice long night’s sleep may make it better. That, and not playing on the computer all hours of the night.

On the job-hunting front: Designski never got back to me. I submitted my updated resume to Thread on Friday afternoon/evening, and have yet to hear anything beyond the standard autoreply e-mail. Just checked the Sunday Blade classifieds online, and the only thing even remotely close was a graphic design and vinyl cutting job op. Must be for a sign maker somewhere in town.

In other news: I keep having bad dreams that someone is going to spill to Aaron what I’m doing for his birthday. It’ll still be a good present, even if he finds out what it is ahead of time… but I really hope he doesn’t. And if you know about it, don’t post anything damning here, because he does read my blog. 😉

Skipped out on Sunday’s LakeShoremen banquet, mainly because 1.) the main course was pizza, with the remainder being potluck style (read: Aaron and I would be eating salad and nothing else), and 2.) the venue is two hours and fifteen minutes from here. This is also where all the rehearsals will be held for the 2005 season, which makes me a little unhappy. I’m planning to go to the first few rehearsals, see how the drive is, see how happy I am with the membership and the music and getting to really march again. If the drive and the mental payoff don’t equal out, I’m turning in my mello. I mean, really. That’s farther than driving to Cleveland.

In other news: MY GOD, PEOPLE, EITHER LEARN TO SPELL OR USE YOUR SPELLCHECK. Professionals look like complete idiots when they misspell words like “preform” or “there” or “your” or some such thing. Good Christ. The common layperson writing a random “tommorow” or using the wrong “its” can be excused… but for God’s sake, people, proofread the copy that’s going to the printer for a mass-media run! I know I’m the queen of finding the spelling error / typo, but I know I’m not the only one who catches this sort of thing.

Oh, and my printable Imation CD-Rs from Amazon were actually non-printable Spin-X CD-Rs, according to the two incorrect items I’ve received. I’m apparently getting a refund and a $5 coupon off my next order. So, so annoying. The question now is, do I want to try to find some other brand of printable CD-R on Amazon, or do I give it up and just order another Muppet Show DVD?