Actually working for a living

This job is really putting a cramp in my blogstyle. I might be out of commission for a while. In the mean time, don't these look good?

Post Harry Depression

It's over. I finished it last night at 11:30pm.

I won't say anything here because I don't want to taint any part of it if you haven't read it.

How am I going to top it? What will I read next?

Can I save me from myself?

This is my last post until Monday.

Will I be able to keep myself from reading the last chapter first?

Will I neglect Joel and lock myself in the bathroom?

Will I blow off my adult night out, feigning illness and go to the park to read?

Growling for Growlers

He will probably kill me when he sees this, but my husband is very modest about his beer. He doesn't want to draw attention to himself or his beer, and he doesn't like it when I suggest we bring it as hostess gifts. (Feel free to laugh hysterically at my working use of the phrase "hostess gifts").

But he makes great beer. Saisons, Alts, Belgian Tripels and Doubels, IPA's, APA's, Stouts, Cream Ales....

You should stop by for a beer, but don't tell him I sent you. Tell him my dad sent you.

Joyce and Arthur

Yesterday I took my lunch hour to run at the Midtown Y. I run on the track, which I like because it is very cushy and is a completely controlled environment. Good on my knees and I don't need to think about whether or not there is a car coming or if the sidewalk is heaving.

Weekdays at the Y bring a lot of Seniors. I know this sounds objectifying, but I love old people. Yes, I admit I often find myself thinking the little old men are cute, but mostly I enjoy talking to seniors because they have such rich stories, they are almost always mellow and accepting, and shit-all if they haven't seen a lot in the course of their lives.

Yesterday I met Arthur and Joyce. They were both walking on the track as I made my way around it. Joyce had her walker and was wearing a blue polyester dress (long sleeved), TED stockings and SAS shoes, in taupe. She had a head cold, so stopped often on the track to blow her nose. Oh, and I am pretty sure she was wearing a wig.

Arthur was wearing brown pants, a short-sleeved brown cowboy shirt, complete with pearl buttons and some black Postal Service-issue tennis shoes. Arthur was moving faster than Joyce and finished his walk well before she. I decided to stop and say Hi.

Joyce had had her 3rd hip replacement several weeks ago and Arthur made her go to the Y several times a week to walk. She said he was her "slave driver" and Arthur, for his part said that he pushed her to walk because he Loved Her. "That's what 60 years together will do for you", He said. They told me that they had two developmentally disabled boys. Arthur said that Tyler worked at the Star Tribune. Joyce clarified in a whisper that Tyler was a dishwasher at the Strib's cafeteria. Their other boy lived in a group home outstate. They told me they had lived their entire adult lives in south Minneapolis. Arthur mentioned that he used to be "slender like you... (I assume that he has a vision problem in addition to his apparent gait impairment) ....until I married her and she cooked so well I couldn't stop eating!" Joyce whispered in clarification, "Arthur was always 145 pounds, and you just keep running even if you need a hip replacement in 30 years".

Then we got to talking about The Farm. It turned out that Arthur was born on a farm in Iowa.

Wow. I am from Iowa I say.

Where bouts?

Lake City. Arthur says that he is from Fort Dodge.

Fort Dodge? Wow. Lake City is near Fort Dodge. I mention that my great grandfather was a minister at a Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge.

Not St. Paul's Lutheran? He says.

As a matter of fact, I say, Yes. Did you know Reverand Schwidder?

Ad Schwidder? he asks.

The same one! I say.

He reminisced about Grandpa Schwidder. I never knew him of course, but it sounds like he made the same impression on Arthur as he did on my dad and his siblings. Big. Serious. German. And as an added bonus, you got to listen to an entire Lutheran Service in German.

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What do you think? Isn't that awesome!? I personally can't quite believe how small the world is. I love that I made my world a little bit smaller. I hope I see Joyce and Arther again.

Posh and Becks

I don't typically comment on popular culture or articles from the Entertainment or Human Interest sections of the paper. Primarily because either I don't care or I don't bother to read it. Paris Hilton's prison term was mildly interesting, but only because I now am convinced that she is mentally retarded.

However.

I have to say for the record, that This Middle Western Person (that would be me) just does not get what the fuck they were trying to prove with this photo shoot that is apparently appearing in some American Magazine I have never heard of.

Either I am just not their target market (likely), or their agent doesn't know jack shit about typical Americans. My only impression is that they both really need a good bath.

Ok. That worked. I have been wanting to post about the woes of our leaking dishwasher and hence our ruined kitchen floor. But it is now week old news and we have resigned ourselves to warped, crappy chipping 70 year old tile for now, until we can afford to have a proper kitchen floor installed. If you have children who are crawling, you probably shouldn't come to our house:

I am having a lot of trouble posting and this is a test to see if it will work

Ok. Stick with me here people.



I was in the downtwon Bachman's on Tuesday, looking at their mermaid-cocktail-people of all things. I walked through the card isle and someone opened up a singing card that belted out Love will Keep Us Together...Remember? by Captain and Tenille? God I loved that song. Of course, in 1975 I was what - 7 years old? Augie's age really. So what did I know about music? It was what was playing on the radio that blasted over the intercom at the pool. I also loved Abba and Boz Scaggs, and in a few short years would have attended my first Bay City Rollers concert.



Instantly I smelled chlorine, cigarette smoke and my mother's suntan oil. Sitting on the hot concrete pool deck at Lake City's public pool.



Not to be outdone, later in the day I realized that I was having an overwhelming craving to be sunburnt, lying on a soggy towel, drinking a bottle Pepsi and eating a Twin Bing, quite possibly my favorite candy of all time. You wouldn't know about the Twin Bing unless you grew up in eastern Nebraska, Western Iowa or possibly South Dakota, as they were made in Sioux City.



You can't find a Twin Bing in Minneapolis to save your life. To save my life.

More conspicuous consumptive wants

This poster would look great in Augie and Joel's room.

Welcome to Netflix customer service....

"your expected wait time is fifteen minutes....."

I am only on Minute Four.

Need a book to read for 3 hours?

Read this for book club last night. 3 hours and 9 minutes.

Now back to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix....Chapter 23.

New Job

I've got a new job, which is with a top secret government agency. This is more than I should be telling you, but suffice to say that I don't seem to have the time to post. If anyone wants to send me a complimentary laptop with wireless (along with my perfume) I would probably be able to keep up on my posting....