Sunday, February 21, 2010

Kittens, coffee mills, martinis and heart attacks

It's been one of those days. It just reached noon and I've already experienced a tantrum, several meetings, cleaned up gross trash and poured my heart into the life of a fuzzy terror.

Let's start at the beginning. Yesterday, BOYFRIEND and I bought a rescue kitten from the Huron Valley Humane Society. She is 5 months and 16 days old, and she is of the gray tiger variety. She is as cute as can be, but never take anything at face value. What that basically means is that this kitten is trouble, as most all kittens are. She climbs. She runs circles around the apartment. She paws at fingers and toes.

Last night was our first experience sleeping with our new kitten, which is now named Rhea. I woke up several times in the middle of the night to make sure she was still alive. I had baby heart attacks each time. She's still tiny, mind you, and I was afraid I would roll over on her and suffocate her. I imagine that in reality, rolling over on a cat would probably be something you couldn't miss... something that would wake me up. But still. I worry. Needless to say, I poked her awake several times to make sure she was still breathing, and eventually she left the bed for its underside for some peace and quiet. I got no sleep.

Then the day began. She ate. She did her "business." She drank some water. Time to play. I spent the better part of the morning trying to tire her out because I had scheduled office hours in Manchester's Coffee Mill today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Chris works today, so this would be her first experience "alone" in her new home. The trick is, how do I make sure she doesn't destroy my apartment while I'm gone? I make her exhausted, that's how! Easier said than done. She has the energy of a Red Bull and she never quits. Then she decided she isn't allowed on the kitchen counter. Great. Basically I was a half hour late trying to get her in her "room" so I could go to work free of worry. I'm sorry to the few people that patiently waited for my arrival.

So now here I am. I'm at the Coffee Mill and will be until about 2 p.m. today. Then I have to leave to take some pictures of the Cub Scout banquet at the American Legion hall. It's going to be hardcore awesomeness.

Oooooo, also! Also! On Friday evening I attended the Ann Arbor Artini bar crawl with my boss-boss, Michelle Rogers.... and her friends, who happen to be the parents of Ryan Michaels, our 12-year-old movie critic. I managed to keep to myself that I disagree with a lot of his Ebertesque movie reviews, but that is neither here nor there. It was a fun little experience, and I managed to consume alcohol with my boss without totally embarrassing myself. That's not necessarily an easy thing to do when the event you are attending requires that you consume at least five martinis. At least! And obviously I have no choice in the matter, because we wouldn't want me voting on the "best martini" without being able to make an educated guess! That would be a travesty! So I said alright, if I absolutely have to I will consume these five brilliant beverages and somehow remain standing.

So that has been my weekend so far. More to come, obviously. It's still early in the day and I could still walk in to see a devastated apartment. Behave yourself, Rhea. Do it for mom.

I know I'm about two weeks late on linkspam, but that's because all my linkspam so far has been Twilight and Robert Pattinson related, and I figured I'd spare you. I'm collecting and filing and will post soon if proper news presents itself.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Something in the water...?

Lots of serious stuff went on this week in the greater Manchester area. For one, Bridgewater had another missing persons report. The man (Robert Melvin Wise) was found shortly thereafter dead in Freedom Township.

About a month ago, a female resident of Bridgewater (Anna-Maria Wheeker) was also found deceased. I suppose surprises like this are always more rare in smaller communities. It has me worried that maybe I'm jinxed, because a lot of the athletes I did regional features stories on were getting injured a week or so after their story would run. I'm not particularly superstitious, but I'm starting to wonder. This has been a very sad start to the year for Bridgewater Township. My condolences to both families.

On a serious but happier note, the deadline came and went for Manchester school board candidates for the May election. Two seats are available and five people are running, including Ron Ellison (incumbent), Vicki Miller (incumbent), Jeff Messman, James Chinavare and Robert Weinhardt. The school board will be putting together a "Meet the Candidates" forum where community members can come ask questions and get to know the candidates that are running. So far it sounds like the Chamber of Commerce will be co-sponsoring. The Enterprise may be involved in sponsoring as well, but we'll see. Also I've volunteered to be the moderator, so there's that.

Also notable, March is reading month at the elementary school and some cool things will be going on. For one, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox will be at Klager March 1 to discuss cyber space and all that jazz. It might be useful before that day to give your kids a rundown of what an attorney general does. As far as most of them are concerned, he's just a man in a suit that knows stuff about boring topics. Maybe tell them that he gives away free candy if you ask him impressive questions and then drill them on Michigan politics? Could be a useful learning tool.... maybe.... no? Fine.

I have some funnier things to say maybe, but I'll save those for a different (less serious) post.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Lifestyles of the (not) rich and (not) famous!

I might not be rich and famous, but I can sure try to be in close proximity to those who are... including... drum roll, please...

(enter): The President of the United States! (applause)

Yeah, sitting U.S. President Barack Obama was announced yesterday to be the commencement speaker at UofM's spring graduation ceremony. So take that, Harvard. Take that, University of Hawaii. You're playing with the Wolverines now!!

It looks like myself and fellow employee Daniel Lai will be shlepping our media stuff around A2 to cover the commencement address. All of this is very exciting for me because I'm going to feel all reporter-like because of: Secret service. Yellow tape. Police dogs. Cryptic media passes. Retinal scans? Who knows!

So there's that... but also on my immediate calendar is (because I'm a movie buff) FRIDAY MOVIE RELEASES! Two in particular are making their way to a theater near me today, including 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief' (yeah, I know the title is a bit much) and 'Wolfman' (hot men! howl!) The Percy Jackson movie is based on the young adult book series by Rick Riordon. Yeah, I read it. It's like Harry Potter for Greek nerds.... and oh boy, am I a Greek nerd. You want to know a secret? You know how sometimes young girls (bad girls!) will steal makeup from stores like Meijer or Target? (p.s. makeup is the most shoplifted item at stores like Target and Meijer)

Did I do that, you say? No, I didn't. But the only time I ever "stole" something was when I intentionally "forgot" to return a high school class book. It was on Greek mythology. If that doesn't scream roman/Greek nerd, I don't know what will. I poured over that book like it was crack, but better. So obviously this Percy Jackson series was a perfect match for me because A) sometimes I like crappy teenage angst (hello, Twilight), B) the series plays out like Harry Potter's red-headed stepbrother, and I am now minus one Harry Potter series unless J.K. Rowling decides to write more, and C) I love all things Greek and Roman.

Adding fuel to my Greek Fire (do you see what I did there? i.e. google Greek Fire) is the fact that I have heard a rumor that a certain vampire movie series will be premiering its first trailer for the third installment in the series. Luckily, I have a loving boy toy to drag along with me. He's a good sport.

'Wolfman' is just going to be awesome because it's about werewolves and Academy Award Winner Anthony Hopkins is in it, and he's playing a mean dad. His quintessential role.

On a certainly more Manchester-related note. We now have Facebook and Twitter accounts. I encourage you to become either a fan of Facebook, or a follower on Twitter, or both if you're feeling particularly motivated in the social media scheme of things. It will be fun!

Also speaking of lifestyles of the rich (probably) and famous (definitely), my boss-boss, Michelle Rogers, has a long article thing written about her by some Saline blogger. The blogger is a freelancer for Michelle, but that's beside the point. It's a nice little biography and makes you feel like you aren't working hard enough. It also might make you want to sing natural woman to yourself in the shower and put in more hours at work. Give it a read. She also was interviewed about a year ago by some sort of person. I don't really remember the context, but I do know that it initiated my first Proust Interview blog posting.

Linkspam will follow at some point. I have to get organized first.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Oh fine poetry, I shall judge yee and stuff

Hey there... happy Thursday!

This past week was flavorful. Lots and LOTS of epic things happened... including a Sundance screening, a Hulu marathon, a LOSTNESDAY, a coffee hour with a state house representative, and some really AMAZING toffee candy.

First and foremost, a week ago today I attended the Sundance Film Festival screening of 'Cyrus' in Ann Arbor. As a movie freak, this was a given. I bought those tickets about three months ago before it was EVEN COOL TO DO IT! The two writers/directors were there... and Jonah Hill came as well. We basically found out that A) he is a lot more rotund than when we saw him in Superband, B) he likes Michigan State (boooooo!) and is dating a Michigan student (is that even possible? I bet Thanksgivings are fun), and C) he has some emotional depth. It was a really funny movie, but also finished on a note that meant something... rather than follow the turns that would have brought us right back to the movie circuit we've seen a thousand times. It comes to theaters this spring most likely, but I'm not sure. Keep an eye on local listings. I brought BOYFRIEND along (he no longer has a name on this blog because my eccentricities embarrass him), and he enjoyed it very much. I made his Thursday.

The weekend was pretty hit or miss because I didn't do much... if by don't do much I mean watch Lost on hulu.com from MORNING UNTIL NIGHT LITERALLY WITH ONLY BATHROOM BREAKS! It was hardcore. The final season was set to premiere on Tuesday (two days ago), and I had missed a season. So I needed to watch just that season, right? WRONG! I WATCHED ALL FIVE BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK... and so on and so forth. It was necessary because so much goes on in every single episode that I really needed a refresher. So basically I didn't do much this past weekend and I probably gained a few pounds. Had I been fasting during that period (which makes sense since I wasn't moving my body other than my pointer finger), I'd be in pretty awesome shape. I'm a bit perturbed that Lost is now on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays, because it sort of destroys the whole LOSTNESDAYS thing (courtesy of Miss Cleo). But oh well. The premiere was two hours long, and true to Lost form it made absolutely no sense at all and made me gasp the whole time. WHAT IS GOING ON LOST CREATORS YOU THWARTED MY THOUGHT PROCESS ONCE MORE HOW HOW HOW?

Once I finally caught up and watched the season 6 premiere, I had an awful lot of free time on my hands. I filled part of that free time with some delicious gift toffee candies from a Saline parent and assistant coach. She sent me a nice little card and box of candy to wish me well in my Manchester position. Awww.

I also filled the time by attending a Pam Byrnes meet and greet in Manchester. She's SO SHORT! How did she get so short! I'm taller than her! It was.... ok. I don't really know what to say other than she's a pretty good politician. There were definitely times that I felt like I was being coddled. On more than one occasion I felt like bundling up in a fleece blanket and sipping hot chocolate with her in the fetal position... then I realized she never answered my question and I went, "Wait a minute.. I see what you did there. You trickster." Anyone who thinks she isn't playing party politics is wrong. They all are. But anyone who thinks she doesn't understand what's going on isn't giving her enough credit. She's a smart lady and plenty of her decisions have been good ones. She just doesn't have the gumption to speak out against anyone important because she's running for a Senate seat. QED we are screwed. Our State of the state is poor, has been poor and will remain poor.

So that was my week. Today I shall judge a poetry contest at Saline High School... not because I'm particularly qualified, but because I'm the only one at the office who cares enough about poetry to have actually volunteered. I'm representing our office. Yay me. But if I see one single beret, I swear to you I'm walking out. These hipsters are going to have their hands full...

Linkspam to come this afternoon.