It’s the first of many social experiments. I think we watch too much tv. And I dislike that our living room is set up around said tv set. Also, I don’t do laundry very promptly. So putting the tv in close proximity to the laundry might help. Because in the time I watch a movie I can clean two loads of laundry. I think we all know where I’m going with this.

After staggering down the stairs and depositing all of the gadgetry that comes with a tv (dvd player, vhs player to hook the old tv up to new equipment, et cetera), I discovered that I’d accidentally bent the cable connector thing. The little point in the circle of the adapter/extension thingum.

For a geek, I really am not good with technical names. I’m not sure whether I should get better at that or not. I’m going to side with not, seeing as how I’m lazy.

Anyway.

The tv is downstairs! And unwatchable since I need to get a new adaptum. I guess we could theorize that the universe doesn’t want me to do laundry since this magically happened as I was trying to make doing laundry more feasible. Or I’m just ridiculously clumsy about things. We’ll never know.

Right now I’m counting my pennies so I can get a new lawnmower. The one we have works just fine, but the ignition pully thing you have to heave to get started, well, I’m not strong enough to do it. Many times it takes Andy a while to get it going and if he can’t do it easily, there is really no chance for me.

One of my friends has a manual lawnmower and has used it for some time without many problems, so I’m going to get one of those. Besides, it’ll help me build up my wimpy arm muscles and my yard isn’t very large anyway.

I also need to hook up my rain barrel some time next week because I’m pretty sure we’re all finished with snow for this season. Spring is on the way!

Edited to add: funniest image ever: Darth Vader attacking with a cat. I think that tops the Ceiling Cat image as to what I’d put on a customizable credit card if I ever decided to get one.

I’d never sat through an episode of Veggie Tales before and you know what, that show is hilarious. We watched the one about the grapes of wrath. =D Seriously, it’s worth watching. Like an intellectual Spongebob Squarepants.

Unfortunately, we have a large cache of alcoholicy beverages left over from a party Andy threw (through? is there another thru that’d work?) on Saturday and I’ve no idea what to do with them. We’ve got enough wine coolers to last me until 2014. Of course, that’s taking into consideration that it takes me two weeks to drink a wine cooler. I’m a sipper.

I’m tempted to stick all the beer in my trunk and leave them in the breakroom at work with a sign that says TAKE ME HOME on top. Because I’m not making room in my frig for booze and it’ll go bad if you don’t keep it cold.

I might keep one or two and use them to make sauerkrat and kielbasa.

I’ve also read about a beer can chicken recipe but I don’t think I’ll try it since it involves shoving a beer can up a chicken’s nethers. And while I am a meat eater, I’m not about defiling the corpses. I just season them. If our situations were reversed, I’d just want the chicken to do the same. Although based on what I’ve learned in movies, the chicken would probably be happy just pecking at my eye balls.

Anyway, time for me to frolic around at work until it’s time to go to school. On with the rat race!

Andy was all hyped up about his prep and barred me from the kitchen while he was working, which is always just fine with me because there is no couch in our kitchen and in my life, men belong in the kitchen anyway. That’s just how things go. But here is why…

I don’t know if you all remember when I used cookie cutters to make cupcakes. It’s not a revolutionary idea and we’ve made star shaped pancakes before by applying the same principle. But never have I ever considered using cookie cutters for meat. Especially not steaks.

But Andy is a creative soul and this is what he came up with.

The steaks were great although it makes you feel a little weird cutting the leg off a steakman. A little cannibalistic. Especially when you dunk the head in sauce.

Jas demolished the angel.

It was disturbing on many different levels.

It was so fun. The double square cards confuse her but otherwise she’s good. It makes me want to buy a deck of Uno cards because I’d bet she’d get the idea of those too. Take out the Draw Twos and wilds and we’ll be on a roll.

Still. It’s a little unnerving being beaten in a kids game by a sack of bones, skin, and energy that you build yourself. Honestly, biology is a miracle. Scientists may know exactly how it all works but the sheer fact that this system is in place? Miracle.

And I know that may sound dumb but when you are sitting across from what used to be a cluster of cells and evolved into this full blooded, breathing laughing rationalizing creature… it just strikes you as amazing.

Anyway, I’m off to fawn over traffic lights.

Exciting and sad all at once. He is getting so big that it’s almost ridiculous. I can’t believe he’ll be three months old on Tuesday. I feel like I must be tripping over the days because they’ve gone by so quickly.

Monday is March 1. I can’t believe it rushed up so fast.

Ah, March. You are going to be a weird month. I can already tell.

It’s for this reason that I subscribe to the local news outlet’s RSS feeds, as well as most of the prominent local bloggers. I’m amazed at how much I’ve learned and I’m afraid most of the information makes me want to start skinning our city council. Not that I would, mind you, because I imagine it’d be messy and they’d probably slip through my freakishly long fingers like the greasy little eels that they are.

Currently the big to-do is dropping several million dollars of tax payer money into upgrading a private hotel and building a skywalk to the civic center. Also on the council table is an attempt to build a second museum with underground parking even though every year without fail, that entire section of the city floods… You know, minor detail. It’s just water, yeah? They only have to close a bunch of streets…

Normally I’d be less likely to criticize except that just a few months ago when they were looking at the budget, they decided to butcher our police department so they could pay to hang baskets on streetlamps up by the university. So they could give money to hotel developers to spruce up our downtown, even though there is nothing to actually do at our downtown unless you want a lapdance. But hey, at least the club where you can get them done is world famous!

This is ridiculous. And the funny thing is that they are doing this to draw people back to our city.

The catchpa, as it were, is that the school districts are shit and we have rampant crime so all the middle class families are fleeing. I really don’t blame them. If we could afford a house in a nice school district, we would too.

It would help if they could read the writing on the wall. And if the developers weren’t giving them blow jobs under the table. Leave that to the ladies at the club downtown!

*herds cats*

It made sense to me.

Anyway.

I’ve decided that I’m going to start going to these city council meetings, seeing as how they are open to the public and give you microphone time, and pucker up the courage to speak. Because the walls of my kitchen sure have heard what I have to say and they really can’t make any changes. But these people can. And do, every week.

One major caveat is that my walls don’t chuckle about how when I get enraged, my already tinkery voice vaults up to audible levels that only really irritate dogs. Also my face gets really hot and I have this thing against public speeches.

But these are my fucking tax dollars! I pay the bill. I have a say. I just need to actually get up there and actually say it. I can apologize to the dogs with damaged ear drums after I leave since they’ll all be on the streets seeing as how our city can’t find it in the budget to finance our city animal shelter either. Yay rabies!

This would have been more impressive if I had more money. Alas.

But one thing that amazed me about the conversation was that all of the problems stemmed from stereotypes being applied whilly nilly and no conversation being made to the people it surrounded.

So my thing for today is this: if you have a problem with someone or suspect that there is a problem with someone and you want to help them, TALK TO THEM. Don’t make assumptions. And certainly don’t gossip with others and create assumptions. Ugh.

Life is so short, so finite, and to be spending it mucking about with silly drama when you can just confront those people is just ridiculous. As it turns out, we have a person we have to confront now that I didn’t anticipate. But this really just needs to stop, so I plan on doing it because it just needs to be done.

All these relationships have been wrecked because no one had the gall to ask me pointed questions, fears I would have happily dispelled in just a short amount of time. Ridiculous.

And I wish relatives would stop assuming that I’m a loser with no friends because that really is complete bull. Just because I don’t talk about them with you doesn’t mean I don’t have any! I keep most information about my life close to the vest unless there are questions asked. That’s how I’ve always been.

There are few things that aggravate me more than having to repeat myself, which is why I generally only tell a story once or twice. So just because I don’t tell you about something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. For fucks sake. You’d think that’d be obvious, right?

LEAVE ME ALONE. I’m fine. And if I want something, I know damned well how to get it. Quit worrying and gossiping about me. Especially when all you do is fuck shit up that I have to go and fix anyway.