4.29.2012

Five Year Engagement

















I really like Emily Blunt, I could probably watch her in any film and I've loved Jason Segal ever since Freaks and Geeks. Thus, I enjoyed this movie. I saw it with my mom and we sat in the almost front row. I asked how she liked it and she said "It's different." And by the end she said "I like this movie more now". That's probably because SPOILER ALERT: it has a happy ending.

Alison Brie is also very good and has a stellar British accent and she and Emily Blunt have an awesome scene where they speak like Elmo and Cookie Monster, respectively.

Go and SEE IT.

4.27.2012

Funtitled




We have a cat at work right now. We always have one homeless cat, looking for adoption. His name is Shadow which, I think is a terrible name. I call him Kingsley which some among you may also think is a terrible name, but at least it's a slight bit more distinctive than Shadow. Shadow is a black cat. When people come in and see him their black cat prejudices often come out. They say things like: "Stay away from me black cat" or "I don't need any black cats near me" etc. One person broke trend by saying they had heard black cats were good luck. That's cool. Kingsley/Shadow is unquestionably a beautiful cat. He is very tall and lean. His legs are extremely long and he is short-haired. He looks like a panther, thus Kingsley because he has this sort of king of the jungle look about him. He is also quite self-possessed. He does not shrink back from prodding hands or hulking dogs. When he and my husky were introduced he didn't hiss or run away but rather allowed her to smell his bottom in a very dignified and gentlemanly manner. I imagined taking him home to be my cat. I imagine this about every cat that comes into the store.

Black animals, I've heard are the hardest ones to find new homes for. I assumed that this was because of the old black cat superstition but apparently it's because they're lacking in distinctive markings and have less "personality" in their looks. This is what I've been told, at least, and looking at the photo collage of all the cats we've adopted out it's true that the handful of all-black cats are very similar looking and somewhat difficult to tell apart.

Kingsley has been hanging on a bit longer than the last few cats we've had, it's true. But I think it might be due more to intimidation than anything else. He is beautiful and talkative and likes to be pet and cuddled but he also has a penchant for scratching and biting. He isn't vicious but he's a bit bossy and likes to direct you with his teeth. When it came time yesterday for me to put him in his crate for the night he immediately assumed a fighting position: belly up, teeth ready and claws out. He is big and strong and I was going to get scratched from whichever angle I grabbed him. After several fearful and aborted attempts I was forced to just go for it and when I grabbed him he let out a terrible hissing scream that made my stomach lurch and he gave my one hand several long red scratches. I was convinced that I had just completely destroyed our up-to-that-point entirely pleasant cat-human working relationship, but once on his perch he settled down immediately and stared at me for just a moment before settling in for a nice long self-grooming.

UPDATE: Kingsley was recently adopted by a construction worker who has never owned a cat before. No joke. Happy story, the end.

4.26.2012

Find Me


I found this little beauty hiding in the poetry(?) section at my work. I'm gone half the week so sometimes I miss out on new and special arrivals. The PEN/ O. Henry Prize Stories, always a wonderful, inspiring read if you're into that sort of thing. SF-- not speculative fiction or science fiction: short fiction.

I'm only a few stories in but already smitten. My heart gets bigger with every one I read. Recommend.

My Weekend Work



Petting the cat
lifting bags of pet food
climbing and descending ladders
opening and closing the till
making tea
stapling receipts

wearing a name tag
still in training

4.19.2012

NYTimes Book Review's: "By the Book"


I was really excited to see this new feature in the New York Times Book Review-- I love seeing what famous people (and anyone) enjoy reading.


This week's famous person is the Girls-y Lena Dunham and I'm proud to say that I have read both of the "best books about girls" that she mentions-- Lolita and Catherine, Called Birdy. The latter was assigned to my class when I was in Grade 5(!) 


Dunham and I are the same age so maybe this was like...a really cool book of our generation? I still remember the anxiety that came when I was asked to read from it out loud in class and was forced to say a swear.  

The amazing and talented Jillian Tamaki illustrates  the column and while I don't think this week's necessarily looks much like Dunham it is still very pretty.


Check it! 

4.15.2012

Breaking up is hard to do

DSCN2175 by _stringsong

Breaking up is hard to do

Sometimes you hate the person so much that you know you're going to dream about them all night long.

Sometimes you imagine what you'd say to them if you saw them again, something like: Enjoy your future finding women who appreciate ____________ , _____________ and terrible ___________! etc.

Sometimes you can't believe you lasted through the hatred for so long. You can, I think, physically feel when someone hates you that strongly, they don't need to verbalize it. It touches everything between you. It colours you both.

4.13.2012

Moon



In my dreams
a cat hanging on hydro beams
its twin on top holding on to save the fall

I met someone in the grocery
in my dreams he followed me

and up the stairs I turned with
a friend I don't see anymore

she spoke of a woman with seven children and I followed her
while an elderly gentlemen spoke
of the aunt who had raised her on bended knee
scrubbing black out of flooring


4.09.2012

Left-Handed

It strikes me in this moment that as humans we like very much to think that small and insignificant things truly matter while attempting to convince ourselves that the big things really don't.

4.08.2012

Creativity is on the side of health-- it isn't the thing that drives us mad it is the capacity in us that tries to save us from madness.

-Jeanette Winterson, from Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? (encore)

4.06.2012

Around

The tub
a perfect fit
when lying flat-backed against the bottom
my head is touching the edge and
knees folded just hit
the other side
so my ankles can cross over
each other
and my elbows too
perfectly
folded
just touching on each side
the white porcelain

I lie there waiting for
water to rise
to fill my ears in
so the music playing
gets drowned out gradually
and graduates so only
sound left
is falling water
and thumping
heart beating
slightly fuzzed by the escaping liquid
of the heart's murmur and
the deepening water rising just over
the chest

causing deep echoes, melody

I can forget

4.03.2012

Bread

Today an update a
Reader (1)
Could it be you?

What would you have said?
Oh it is only bread

A recipe
a blog with a tongue and cheek name
description of
rolling out dough
just the way you used to

Where could I find a table top
work surface like that one
nothing too porous
to pour flour out upon

There must be some way
to secure the surface
some sort of non-toxic
non-porous shield to put
between

to keep the two sides from touching

I imagine that's how you would want it
how you've wanted it
for a very long time

Today I Discovered

Patricia Lockwood on Twitter and found she is a poet and found some of her poems like these: posted on The Awl and now I would like to buy one of her books if she has any. And I'd like to write the way that she does.