But with a wicked case of scoliosis

Is that your scapula or are you just happy to see me?

This is why I dress in jeans and sweatshirts. I am totally not fit to be let into the public at large. Apparently there is a market for us, though...

Spoiled much?

No thanks to Katie, Gazza has reverted back to her old habit of sleeping under the covers. It's not too bad (she makes a great spooner), but she's still a bed hog. Since her haircut, her coat doesn't retain nearly as much dirt and mud, but still...

The past several evenings after I got up to shower, I've returned to my room only to find this:

From November 2008

From November 2008

Traffic has gone to the dogs

Driving across 520 from Bellevue, I was stuck in traffic. All of the sudden, it occurred to me that something was different with the car in front of me. Huh, interesting.

It seems the eastside has some odd traffic sights. Thanks to Jason for this one:

How early is too early?

The age old debate has finally come and gone this year. We all act indignant because radio stations are playing Christmas music, stores are putting out Christmas decorations, and restaurants are joining in the festivities... all before Thanksgiving. For the record, I think that it's absurd, but they do it every year. Let's just get over it, shall we?


I do wonder, however, what it's like in other countries. We define prior to Thanksgiving as "too early," but Thanksgiving is obviously an American holiday (or at least the fourth-Thursday-of-November Thanksgiving is anyway). What is unofficial line elsewhere in the world? Advent?


And on that note (get it? get it? note?), let the Christmas music begin!

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving!

Where days and nights merge

Coming to work last evening, I walked through a set of double doors that open out to the ICU elevator bank. Though I never saw his face, I saw him there with his back to me- shoulders slumped, orange "caregiver" badge slung back, toothbrush and toothpaste in his back pocket. He was intently texting somebody, waiting for the elevator doors to open. I'm sure he was headed up to one of the "sleeper rooms" where parents pretend to get some rest. I imagine it's a fitful sleep, not wanting to sleep so deeply that they might miss the pager's call, beckoning them back to their child's room.

Sometimes we get glimpses of life just outside of the busy, crowded ICU rooms. And often its heartbreaking.

Nocturnal once again

I spent most of my first year in Seattle living in my grandmother's basement and working nights. The Seattle I came to know as an adult was peaceful, devoid of traffic, and moved at a slow pace. I would now say that in comparison to, say, Chicago, Seattle does run at a somewhat slower pace, but I now know that the traffic is a force to be reckoned with and that it's really no more peaceful than most big cities (here we could digress into the definition of "big city," but whatever).

I took this picture when I was wandering around the Pike Place Market. So different during the night. So... peaceful.

I'll take my sugar without coffee, thanks

I was talking with a fellow nurse on Facebook chat tonight. She's a Hoosier transplant here in Seattle as well. We were discussing her apparent caffeine addiction, recently come to light with her quitting of the coffee.

Simultaneously, I was chatting with an old aquaintance. We were in school together at Culver for our freshman year. I thought it was amusing that he, an old Hoosier friend, and I were discussing the finer points of coffee in Seattle as well.

I don't even drink coffee, people!

Shh, don't tell Seattle! They might give me the boot...

Creepy

Walking into my building this morning, two people were milling around the front door. Seems there was a break-in at the techie store on our lower level. Eight computers were taken and then they got into the rest of the building where the condos are. Several units had been attempted, but none were actually entered. Apparently this happened early Sunday morning.

This is especially frightening to me because Gazza went to the door and started barking out of a dead sleep about three in the morning. I figured she had had a dream or heard something that set her off- I didn't imagine it was an actual break-in. Gazza is a big dog and I don't doubt she would attack if she saw me in danger (as evidenced by the moth episode), so in that I'm somewhat less scared. It's just that the fact she reacted at all makes the whole thing more real.

When I think of robberies, I think of men in black with stocking caps, face masks, and guns- like the kind on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (hi Munoz!). The reality is that they're like anybody you'd see on the street. Anybody your dog might bark at.

Almost made me seasick

I was driving behind a VW bug yesterday. Rain water had pooled in both taillights, and I was absolutely mesmerized by its sloshing.

Sometimes these are the only vacations we get...

Time is for dragonflies and angels

...the former live too little and the latter live too long.

~the Golux

Time is also, apparently, for me.

Went to the doctor for a follow up appointment today. The upshot of the visit is that my achilles needs a whopping dose of tincture of time (and a bit of physical therapy). Got the boot for a few more weeks too. Oh joy.

As I was getting up from the couch where I had spent half an hour icing my heel (with frozen peas and carrots), The Beast was watching. Putting weight on my foot, it cracked loudly and she looked down at it with her head cocked. Sometimes I feel like doing the same thing...

In which Matt Nathanson leaves me a voicemail

I introduced Erica to Matt Nathanson (at least I think I did) when we went to his show at Barnes and Noble two weeks ago. When I checked my voicemail during lunch last week, Erica had called to say hi... and held the phone up to the radio for one of his songs! I sat there with a big grin on my face, listening to my dearest Matt sing to me from my phone. 

It totally made my day :)

Yeah, me too

Saw this when I was last in Chicago:

Where are your safe places?

Crazy cat lady. Maybe.

Erica? Katie? KT? You know how you were wondering about the whole cat thing? Well, you're in good company!

Gymnastics tryouts are next month

We jumped from late summer to early winter here with little to show for the interim except for a brief explosion of color. And while that was indeed quite a show, I'm not sure it was worth it. Ask me in the spring.

The strip of grass that The Beast frequents is now plastered with wet leaves. They are actually pretty slick. So when Gazza squatted to do her business, her back legs slipped out from under her and she ended up doing the splits, help up only by her front legs. I couldn't help laughing out loud. She briefly struggled to get back into position, but in the end she just peed there doing the splits.

I'm sure the cars passing by thought I was unstable standing there laughing at my dog in the rain, but you would have too!

Yep, back to nights for the next two months

And the bacon is as good as I remember it... both actual and metaphorical.

Badum-ching!

Heads will roll

I was driving around Fremont the other night. As I rounded a corner (or more accurately a roundabout), I noticed a second floor condo with the shades up and all the lights on. I can't help but look when I see something like that. I try not to, but curiosity usually gets the better of me. I mean, if it's that big of a deal, close your shades- you know?

Anyway, I did a double take because the walls were covered with... animal heads. That's right, somebody in Fremont has two walls of mounted game. I couldn't see exactly what kind they were, but I still found it comical. If anyone in Fremont should have their shades closed to hide a dirty little secret, it's those people on the second floor!

Rain, rain go away

It rained nearly nonstop for five days. Welcome to winter, Seattle. 

Good days to work, I guess.

Love, it goes both ways

I can feel the change

The change you've made in me

But will I ever see

All the things you see in me

When you say that I'm one of a kind

I don't see it but you believe

That I'm so strong and true, I promise you

I'll try to be that kind of man

Because you love me like I am

When it comes to love

I may not know the rules

But there's one thing I know

My heart belongs to you, just you

Who would you sing this to? Who would you love to sing this to you? Just think on it awhile.

Clickity click!

Hey, remember Tangrams? I used to love them, but I haven't seen any around since, oh, second grade.

For those of you pining for the days of yore (spent gathered around in Story Circle, taking care of the class hamster, and playing with Tangrams), I bring you... Assembler.

Oh yes, let the drag and click begin!

Thanks Dad! I think.

All the crocs of the rainbow

Rainbows make me inordinately happy. 

White crocs? Does anybody actually wear those?

FINALLY! Somebody gets me!

At least the Calvin and Hobbes obsession if not the peanut butter and cottage cheese toast and pickled beets part...

Doesn't this only happen to fifty year old men??

So it seems I've either badly strained or torn my achilles tendon a bit. Either way, I'm walking around in this stupid boot, all the while feeling like somebody is sticking hot pokers into my heel. I wish I could tell you it was some game winning goal, but the sad truth of the matter is that I don't know exactly when it happened. The fact that I play soccer poorly (but with gusto!) makes the whole thing sadder still...

They say because of poor design (read: minimal blood supply), these things take a long time to heal (*snerk* heal... heel...). All I can tell you is that I'm pretty sure an amputated foot would grow back faster than this is taking.

Sad but probably true

"You want me to choose between you and your dog?" by explodingdog

I'm not entirely sure you want to know my answer to that question. How much do I really like you?

Use only a soft-bristled toothbrush please

Saw this little guy in the beginning of the month. Sort of reminds me of the pumpkin we had outside of our house in college. Yeah, he was pretty bad. But while he needed a, well, to be pitched, this dude only needs better dental care.

In which there are more blue states than red... again

Only this time I do identify with blue!

I'm really curious what the yellow people say. I say potato, you say... oh, nevermind...

I'm so totally, digitally close to you

I know it's short and kind of lame to post this, but I found this article really interesting. I find the psychology of Facebook fascinating. 

To be honest, it suits my social style quite well too...

Bloggity blog blog

What did you do tonight?

I found myself answering, "stockpiling blog entries" a few nights back. It's a tad bit embarrassing in retrospect (especially considering that I have an audience of, I don't know, ten people). But it doesn't bother me too much. Lots of things on my mind and cool sites I've stumbled upon. It clutters my mind if I don't put it somewhere. Much of my life goes into a personal journal, but the more benign observations and thoughts make it onto WwW (you're welcome my faithful ten).

"What? What more could she possibly have to say in a journal?"  Just remember that social awkwardness creates unlimited fodder and time to think. Oh loyal readers, you have no idea...

Anyway, better out than in, I say!

Tracking the elusive metropolitan feline

...or is in a raccoon? Either way, somebody's got some cleaning to do!

You think I'm kidding but I'm not

I realize my home is not an orthopedist's office, but I want both of these!

This, my friends, is the sad truth about why my mother has decorated all of my abodes.

Just call her "Grace"

I swear to you as I was laying* here in bed, I watched the dog curl up into a ball and poke herself in the eye with her back paw. She turned to look if I had seen, sort of licked her lips, and put her head back down. Who am I to judge, anyway?

*Again with my geek crush. Go learn something!

Before the 55 pound beast crawls onto my lap for the evening

The Beast does reasonably well during the strings of days when I work (of course, today was my last day until mid January, but whatever). I feel a little bad* because by day three, she obviously has accumulated energy that even Bob can't run off in two or three hours. Plus she gets all attention-needy. 

She has started doing this thing now when I get home and take her out to do business. She hobbyhorses down the hallway, doubling back to me, front paws in the air as she dances on her hind legs. And then when we walk out, she hops and pounces her way to the grass. The thing is, though, she holds her head up high, sniffing the air and everything she passes by. She's so giddy that it makes me feel like I'm taking a prisoner who has been in isolation for a month outside for the first time! She lollygags the whole way back inside and then tears and leaps back to our door. I laugh every time, but a little part of me feels guilty. 

And then I think about how I only work three days a week and that she goes to the dog park for several hours every day. At least. Dog? You and me, we're ok.

*bad vs badly? May I direct you here? I love, love, love this woman- I give you permission to geek out and read her other stuff.

Sounds about right

I think the Happy Hospitalist is onto something here. There's the positive Spaghetti Sign* and now I give to you the Twenty Sign.

*The inverse relationship between survival and lines, tubes, and drains.

What's "combover" in Italian?

Gazza's fauxhawk is getting really long. In fact, it won't stand up straight unless she's really dirty and the mud that's caked in provides structural support. So when I came home tonight from work I had to laugh. She'd gone out in the pouring rain today with Bob (dogwalker extraordinaire) and then obviously been cleaned off with a hose. Her poor little fauxhawk now looks like a bad combover as it lies on one side of her head.

The fashionistas of Seattle, that's us!

Got pain?

Just head to Germany for a short coma. Mmmm, ketamine. Interesting.

Then please get back to me with the 411!

Even harder to get at than my mother's wrapping jobs

Despite my beef with peppermint (Um, ew. Beef and peppermint should never be in the same sentence. My apologies), I still nibble on the occasional candy cane. 

Has anybody else noticed how every candy cane seems to have been shrink wrapped and requires dexterity and brain power beyond what you would expect to unwrap a piece of candy?

A little too close to home

I may have posted this before, but it bears posting again (and again and again). Seeing it this time around made me feel a bit more sick because of what I've seen at work recently. I didn't quite understand why the video portrayed the family's response so violently and in the way that they did. I'm beginning to understand, though.

The video was a bit of a catharsis for me. Please go hug your family as if it were the last.

You can keep your minty freshness!

I'm not a big fan of candy canes. There, I've said it. I'm not anti-Christmas or anything, I just don't like them is all. Maybe I used to, but I can tell you why I don't now.

Back in the days my parents fondly refer to as "the fog," I had a lot of migraines. Mercifully they are not so common anymore. There was one particular medication that worked best when given as a shot (usually in the bum by my mom). And it burned. So when faced with a choice of having jackhammers in my head or a burning bum (still with the jackhammers), I chose what seemed most reasonable at the time- to refuse the shot. 

The drug company wised up after a few years and made a sublingual tab. Unfortunately they never took psychology 101 where they would have learned about Pavlov's dog. So now the taste and smell of peppermint bring me right back to the horrible headaches, chalky taste of faux-peppermint, and nausea. If I want a flashback, just bring out the peppermint.

Incidentally, whoever embalmed our cadavers in college missed psych 101 as well (they must have been partying with the chemistry majors). We can all agree that formaldehyde smells pretty disgusting. Rather than masking the smell with something benign, however, they masked it with wintergreen. It took me years to pop in a piece of wintergreen gum without seeing the image of a cadaver in front of me. It still sometimes catches me off guard.

Every once in a while we'll use peppermint at work to help with nausea. I wish I could say I enjoy that refreshing smell, especially in the setting of the ICU, but I would be lying. I don't and it makes me feel nauseous.

Here's to hoping

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

Emily Dickinson

Days like today leave a lot to be hoped for.

Pillows shmillows

After the whole couch thing, I had begun to suspect The Beast was also sleeping not only on my bed but on the pillows when I'm at work. I chose to overlook the whole thing because, hey, she's staying at home, right? After all, what's a little dog hair?

After three straight days of rain, I'll tell you what it is- a whole lot of mud on my pillows tonight!

And yet... she's staying at home, right?

Real hospital social drama

I know it's lame to post just to link to another blog, but it's short and captured my feelings pretty well. Most hospitals have the whole no jewelry thing going on for valid reasons, but it CAN make interactions a little more... uncertain is all. I think the resulting social situation is funny. 

So, Ringa Ding Dong!

After all, who says a ring means you're off the market anyway? *cough* McCreepy *cough*

In which I sit ten feet from my idol and squeal like a little girl

Matt Nathanson quickly became one of my favorite singers after I first heard of him. I could listen to him nearly any day at any time. So you might understand my sadness when I say I wasn't able to get tickets to his show last night. Fate, however, smiled upon me today (incidentally, it was possibly the only thing shining today. Rain, rain go away...)

Walking out of an unplanned stop at Barnes and Noble, I did a double take when I saw a poster of him... advertising a show... at B&N... for free... tonight. I went all seventh grade girl in the store and hopped around on my good foot when they handed me wrist bands for two people. Oh man. So Erica and I had another fabulous date night tonight (despite the rocky start to the evening). 

My buddy Matt didn't disappoint. In fact, his band played as well and entertained us with good humor. He even gave an impromptu reading of Nicole Richie's new book "The Truth About Diamonds." He was as disgusted as the rest of us and tossed it off stage. Nice. I would highly recommend his shows.

Matt? I love you.

From November 2008

Listening to for the thousandth time

Can't.... stop.... listening....

Thanks Jeremy! I think.

PSA

Has anybody ever stopped the dryer mid-cycle to, oh, I don't know, see if things are dry enough to wear or something? I did that last night, and as I was pawing through the load my hands were burning! I had to wait for the clothes to cool!

No really! I'm of the school of thought that "if it can't handle being washed in warm water and dried with everything else, it doesn't belong in my wardrobe." And when I say "dried with everything else," that generally means on the hot setting. Well friends, I'm here to tell you that that setting is hot. How is everything I own not five sizes smaller??

My dear clothes, I'm so sorry. I'll be nicer next time.

Still haven't solved the big mysteries though

I had taken a nap last week before a dentist appointment. Waking up shortly before I had to be there, I threw the dog a bone (literally) and skeedaddled out. A short time later, I was in the chair waiting for him in the little exam room. My mind still wasn't banging on all cylinders yet, so I lay there watching the fish mobile in the corner. I've always found them amusing, mobiles. I have to deconstruct them each time, trying to make sense of gravity's pull on each of the hanging pieces such that the whole thing stays in balance. It seems they are constantly in motion.

I think that's what lead to the following thoughts. The dentist's office was quiet for a few moments while people were occupied with whatever they were doing. As I lay there quietly watching the mobile, I was noticing its continued motion even when you'd think the air currents had stopped. For some reason, the idea of its continued motion after everyone goes home at night struck me as kind of... creepy. I couldn't explain to you why, exactly. Something about the mobile's movement in the absence of people just seems weird.

I think that realization surprised me. My theory is that we adapt to our surroundings (duh). In the city, motion is closely tied to people. Cities are driven by people and if you take them out, it seems to me that things should largely be... still. That stillness indicates alone-ness. But then place yourself outside of the city, away from people, and that changes. If you're ever out somewhere and sense complete stillness, then something is weird- or about to go badly. You are probably not alone.

I don't know. Food for thought.

Newton's fourth law

You know that bruise on my elbow? No? Well, there's a bruise on my elbow. 

Sure, I tell you it's from soccer, but the dirty, ugly truth is... I did it to myself. And while I wish I could tell you I hit it on the counter or wall, the truth is even worse: I banged my elbow on my own hip. That's right, both of them are bony enough and I was moving fast enough to connect with enough force to both hear from a distance and leave a bruise. 

Isn't there some sort of law of physics that prohibits this sort of thing from happening?

Addendum: interesting to note- if you Google "Newton's fourth law," you'll get an interesting page of results. Apparently I'm not the first to come up with this idea. How sad.

Simple math

In the process of talking about our dogs and showing off pictures of them at work the other day, we were ooohhh-ing and awwwww-ing. There was one photo of Melissa's dog that showed his little yorkie lips. I've always thought Yorkie puppies were some of the cutest ever, but her dog is only half so and has retained the puppy look. So cute!

Anyway, I've come to a conclusion- in the same way that "all babies are cute," all dog lips are cute. That's right. Dog lips = cute.

Office supply physics

Can't afford a simple finger x-ray in today's economy? Have no fear, Scotch tape is here!

Mud and electricity

I learned how to jump a car today:

First you clamp to the positive electrode of the running car. Next you clamp to the positive electrode of the dead car. Then you clamp to the negative electrode of the running car. Finally, you attach the remaining clamp to the dead car's frame as a ground. Then you try to start it.

Thank you, kind soccer mom and most awesome soccer team ever (that would be mine)! It was rainy and muddy today, but we had fun :)

This, my friends, is what texting is all about

Gina

in a car, oh i'm in a car. but not driving

Wenikio

uh oh! did you forget where the steering wheel is?

Gina

i'm in the back seat. perhaps i should look up front?

Wenikio

i hear they hide them up there in he new cars. i miss you- why aren't you in seattle?

Gina

poor navigation mostly. figure out what i should do with my life yet?

Wenikio

be a pilot.

Gina

lies! i'm afraid of heights. kind of.

Wenikio

well driver's ed teacher is definitely out.