Updates

The two lizards I have are still alive. The one is still somewhat sickly, but I am doing my level best to provide a good atmosphere with lots of juicy crickets. The crickets chirp intermittently, which is actually sort of soothing. Next time, I need to buy smaller crickets.

My brother and his wife are fine. They experienced some lashings of rain, and some fairly strong winds, but they are healthy and safe and waiting for life around them to return as people come back from evacuation. I am thankful for their safety, but also concerned about the damage elsewhere.

I went to IKEA with my mom today, and picked up a very basic table top, and legs to screw into it, to replace the really convoluted multi-level Jerker desk I've had for the past several years. It's weird to think that I played my first ARG at that desk, and created two more, before finally getting sick of the way my workspace kept devolving into little piles of things all the time. I now have one level, one very basic plateau with which to lay out my digital life. For now, it's very satisfying. I can play poker with friends, and work on sekrit things with somewhat of a clean slate.

Mom paid for a bunch of stuff, which she absolutely did not have to do, but was also incredibly nice of her, and she included a make-your-own pillow which was essentially the cushion itself and the slipcover - a slightly off-white background with embroidered bees scattered across. Awesome. I also have Anna cookies and pear sparkling soda and a rearranged office with the cords and cables slightly more under control than previously. James has been teaching me hold 'em, and now the stories he tells me are triply hilarious and interesting. I've always understood the basics, just from context, but now that I've tried a few practice tables, the resonance has come through. I like that part of the learning curve, when things suddenly gather depth unto themselves. As if my eyes were suddenly able to pick out smells, as well, and collate them neatly into a delightful information overload.

There's always lots to do.

Flipper Baby Dates Jennifer Aniston

So, I went to see Swift Kick last night in Oak Park - it's Open Door's improv group, and I'm pals with a few of the people involved, including the ever-funky-cool kittylad. It's been a little while since he and I have hung out, and my lame (but true) excuse is that I've been feeling a little down in the dumps, a little unmotivated. It's not that I haven't wanted to see many of my friends, but I am highly aware (more than I used to be, surely) of how my mood can be really pervasive and influential in a social setting, and I didn't want my glum to get into anyone's peanut butter.

Swift Kick was fun. They played fast and loose with a Whose Line Is It, Anyway? kind of format and kept the energy high and upbeat throughout the entire show. The humor was fun and light and decidedly non-nasty (which can be a real big relief after enduring countless hours of snark in other entertainment venues), and they had fun taking our suggestions for situations and locations and topics to riff on.

Afterwards, we went to La Majada, where I had some guacamole (even though I wanted quesadillas con chorizo), and two margaritas. I should've stopped at one, because the La Majada margaritas (on the rocks, yes, salt please) kick my ass something fierce. As it was, I got a bit swimmy (pleasantly so) as Ian, his friend Steve and I traded stories about forensics and Northern Illinois University. I was still a bit foggy going out to my car, so I talked to James for a bit, and then drove home, staying up late learning and playing hold 'em.

I also got to talk to weephun on the phone a bit - he was laid over in Chicago overnight from a trip through some flight timing circumstances that left him so exhausted that we weren't able to meet up. It made me sad, but I am pretty confident that someday I'll get to hang out with him and give him a gigantic bear hug and stuff. One of the nicest guys I know, for all his rat bastardness. ;)