Dark Ages

I temporarily ditched my iphone, fried my ipod charger and had my camera charger crap out on me. Replacements for the second two are on their way. But it's like the dark ages up in here. Like 2002 or something.

Shiver.

I am sure why...

This strikes me as so funny. You know how in English, some people (not me or probably you, but some people) write things like "got 2 go" and "4ever yours?"

Well, I just noticed on facebook a spanish-speaking friend offering another "salu2."

You know, "Saludos."

Two Things from the Drive to Mpls/St.Paul

1. Pleasehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif, for everything holy, may I never be the woman in the gas station asking her husband if he used the bathroom. And then, if I am, and he says he did not, let me never ask an adult man whether he is sure he shouldn't go here since we're getting back in the car... I do feel myself nagging sometimes and occasionally hear the voices of other people (some of whom I am related to) coming out of my own mouth. I try to stop. Or at least be sneaky so it doesn't sound like nagging. But jesus christ, I want nothing to do with a man who can't keep track of his own urination needs. And no one wants anything to do with a whiny crazy lady who devotes her energy to keeping track of when other adults have or should have peed.

2. How cool is it that after realizing I forgot to get a prescription refilled in Madison, I could googletext "Walgreens 55102," get the number, call them from Tomah and pick it up as a roll into town? The answer, of course, is very cool.

A good idea.

The perfect Valentine's gift-- for him or her.

She gets access to full bottle of wine wherever, whenever.

He gets a ladyfriend with boobs two sizes bigger, filled with booze.

Win-win.

This is what bad news looks like:

But I took it with my cameraphone to show it to the genius the Apple Store.

Cool, huh?

Ain't no nation like a donation*

This article made me want to spend my scare borrowed funds on buying a computer I don't need. I hope people with jobs feel the same.


*cleverest homeless person sign I've seen to date, in Boston circa 2001.

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

Things that have conspired to make my reading of non-fiction history books go much more slowly than it did in college:

1. The having of a laptop computer.

2. The having gotten used to reading cases. Very. Carefully. Mostly.

3. The advent of wireless internet.

Damn, I used to be good at this. And so much faster.

Plugging in

Periodically I get totally overwhelmed by how many things in my life have to be charged. As in, plugged in. Other times I am overwhelmed by passwords and codes, I'll get to that later. The plugging in is out of control. The laptop. The cell phone. The ipod. In theory, the camera batteries but I can't handle it and so I pay out the wazoo for disposable batteries since I can't seem to handle having the rechargeable ones and the charger and an outlet in the same place at the same time. Things are constantly low on juice and I'm doing these silly calculations in my head-- how much longer can I type from this chair? Can I make a conference call from somewhere other than home without my phone going dead. It's a stupid byproduct of being so gosh-darned privileged and upwardly mobile as I am.

And speaking of privilege and upward mobility... the passwords and codes? 4 debit cards Email. Online social networking. Other email. OTHER email. Door code for the journal office. Door code for the clinic office. Bank login. A bazillion credit card logins. FAFSA pin. Social security number. So many things to remember... Yes, it's very difficult to be me.

Online Fogey Networking

This is funny and reminds me of when my mom joined Friendster to see a picture of my ex-boyfriend when we first started dating. Again, NYTimes is behind the curve...

Kicking to the Curb

"Motherfuckingpieceofshit!! I fucking hate you, why are you doing this to me?"

This was what my apartment sounded like for the past hour and half. My printer and I are OVER. The relationship turned a little abusive at the end (ok, that was my fault, I started kicking) and I just can't have something in my life which is so undependable when I am relying on it most.

Printer, best of luck in the future, I hope you find happiness with someone else. But you won't. Because you suuuuuuuck.

Ok, I'm over it.

My New Favorite Thing

Is TV on the internet. It used to be just missed episodes of LOST once I caught up via DVD, but I since I had crap internet at home, I had to watch them in the library at school. Which obviously sucks. But now, NOW! I have my own internet and I am totally caught up with LOST, and I can watch the new episodes... you know.... whenevs... I have expanded my repertoire to other ABC shows-- notably Ugly Betty and Brothers and Sisters. I really like B & S, even though when it came as a recommendation from my mom (complete with a play-by-play of the pilot)... I thought it sounded whack. But mostly I like watching anything from bed or bath. I think my favorite part is the freedom. I am American, afterall.

Season Opener

As you, my reading public may be aware, my #1 favorite activity is Drinking Beer Outside. And the season opened yesterday. It was 65 degrees in Madison yesterday and I capped off a day of class, homework, powerwalk in shorts and SHN meeting with some beers at Brats on State Street. It was lovely-- divine. And made me even more excited for summer, as if that were possible. That's what was so great about the past two beautiful days, they didn't feel like freakish Spring teasers... they felt like a little window into summer and the way it will be. Can't wait.

In other news, file under "Simple Pleasures" or "Are you sure Sarah isn't a total moron?," I just discovered something-- buying stamps on the internet. Since I can't seem to make it to the post office... ever... now they'll send me stamps? I never have to leave the house? This is amazing.

Winter Olympics, Superheroes, American Diplomats, Black History, Oklahoma Statehood, Wonders of America, Crops of the Americas, Baseball Sluggers, Sugar Ray Robinson and... RONALD REAGAN? How am I supposed to choose?

Self-Indulgent

I really can't say no to myself. I mean, I could be worse... but...

Pictured is my new favorite thing to love, taken with my new camera, which I also love.

iLife

Ok, I love apple. I love apple sooooo much. I instinctively trust whatever they do, much like Google. You may doubt it at first, then you see that what they've come up with is a better, sexier, cooler way to live your life. But. This seems a step too far. Let me get this straight-- you have itunes, you pay Apple to download tv shows (that would be free if you watched them on tv...) in mp4 format, which you can't burn onto a DVD to play in a DVD player. So, instead, now you pay Apple $300 to wirelessly synch your computer to your TV and play said iTV Shows through the television.

Sign me up??

DTW

Blogging to you from outside the NWA World Club at Detroit Airport... mostly, just because I can and I am kind of pleased with the cleverness of stealing internet here.
So far this travel as been notable for a few things:
1. There were 3 people, not traveling together, with Downs Syndrome on the flight from Madison to Detroit. I found this curious.
2. The flight from Madison to Detroit is also curiously short at 42 minutes. Lake Michigan foils us again.
3. Another good thing about Madison is the 15 min and $10 it takes to get to the airport by taxi. Also, because Madison has shared taxis (not just for the developing world, anymore...) I was also treated to a conversation between the driver and another passenger, both pretty thugged out which was basically "cold enough for you?" Except using different words. I found it funny that all small talk is the same, no matter who is doing the talking.
4. Having finally figured out how to rip movies onto my ipod, I watched the first 20 minutes of Ferris Bueller on the flight. Unnecessary not only because I also had my computer with me, so I could have just watched it on there. But also because at this point, I pretty much have the movie memorized, so I could have just played it in my head and not had to turn it off once we started our descent.
5. I was also thinking about phases I go through in air travel. Like whether I'm in a tomato juice, diet coke or cranberry juice mood on the flight. Whether I do the crossword puzzle, whether to read, listen to music or, now, watch a movie. I always read the inflight magazine, though. And less Skymall than I used to. Or how I went for about a year really enjoying sit-down meals by myself at mediocre airport family dining-- highlights have been Harry Carey's at O'Hare where I got quite drunk by accident, a really good $15 hamburger in a restaurant at Bradley Airport (the name I can't remember) and too many Chili's Toos to name. Now I am more into exploring the airport, walking down each concourse and trying to find the secret things about that particular one. Like the free internet here, for example.