03.26.11

1. Getting up and about early, and on the road by 10, just as planned.
2. Discovering a quicker and easier way to get to I-35 South.
3. MPR's signal lasted long enough for me to hear Car Talk.
4. Getting an idea for an artist's book while driving.
5. Low hanging, Howard Finster-like clouds in the north Iowa sky.
6. A field of gigantic white windmills
7. Spinning in perfect time to Robyn Hitchock's "Airscape."
8. Eliot,
9. Kelly,
10. And Eva.

03.25.11

1. Blaze is finished and photographed.
2. Tying up loose ends feels good.
3. All packed up.
4. Meeting Pam G. for great conversation and
5. Delicious dinner at Blackbird.
6. Talking to Sean C. at the MCBA opening about showing his work for Constellation.
7. Meeting Nicole Drilling there and having a nice chat full of laughter.
8. Marcia! I love Marcia!
9. Lynette was amused, not judgmental (as I'd feared) about the avatar story.
10. Falling asleep happy and well-loved.

03.24.11

1. Yorkshire tea.
2. Hardboiled eggs, pink grapefruit, and a whole wheat bagel with plenty of butter for breakfast.
3. A productive morning in my studio.
4. Morgan's brilliant ideas. It is fun to work with someone who thinks outside your box!
5. Feeling competent, as my calls get returned and work proceeds as it should.
6. Gary Schiff responded quickly and affirmatively to our request for a letter of support for the mural.
7. A rambly, slightly one-sided telephone conversation with a slightly inebriated Swedish lady.
8. Sticky, nutty brown rice.
9. A tidy resolution to an annoying errand.
10. Cracking up over cats & invisibility and tiger squirrels with Alex.

03.23.11

1. Feeling amused, rather than upset, by the unexpectedly large amount of snowfall overnight, the quarter-inch of ice beneath it and having to remove it all from my car. I've come along way, baby.
2. Nor was I too bothered by a long delay at my quirky Hmong mechanic's.
3. I love it that they have a shrine to Buddha in their office,
4. and that they're next to May Day so I could just sit and work and piddle on the computer while I waited.
5. May Day's delicious quiche.
6. Chatting with George Farrah and Eric Altenberg. That cafe really is a nexus of this hood.
7. Muffler repair = $40. Fender repair might be $200, but a certain ex-boyfriend will chip in since he wrecked it.
8. Meeting Christy Binoniemi, master felter and lovely lady, for our art trade.
9. Walking and stretching and zoning out at the Y.
10. The moon is still huge and amazing, even though it's not full.

03.22.11

1. Sleeping in a bit, but not enough to mess up my internal clock.
2. A great telephone chat with Dan.
3. I did a bang up job editing and fleshing out his McKnight statement.
4. He loved it.
5. A really good walking workout at the Y.
6. Hanging with Alex for a glass of his birthday gift wine.
7. It was very good. I guess I should buy $10 reds now and then, rather than $5 ones.
8. Alex found my match.com stories hilarious.
9. The mysterious noises I heard at 2:30 were not from the kitchen ceiling caving in (I later discovered it was an open screen door).
10. Earplugs. That way I didn't hear the phantom noise and got back to sleep.

03.21.11

1. Marcia.
2. Alex.
3. Eliot.
4. Lynette.
5. James.
6. Lacey.
7. Morgan.
8. JoAnn.
9. Mike.
10. Dan.

03.20.11

1. A quiet Sunday morning.
2. Rain.
3. Funny stories from Alex.
4. Finding awesome clothes,
5. meeting a bunch of cool ladies
6. and hanging out with Lacey at two clothes swaps.
7. A nice chat with Marcia.
8. Another nice chat with Pam.
9. Cranking through some tasks I've put off for too long.
10. A sense of accomplishment.

03.19.11

1. Strange but interesting Ethiopian music at Franklin Artworks.
2. I found a beautiful pink granite paver in their parking lot.
3. Delicious, healthy food at the Birchwood.
4. Catching up with Lynette, who was in good form.
5. Running into Juana and Ben. Oh--and Corinne.
6. Cafe stop number 2: Blue Moon.
7. A charming Facebook message from Rick Horton.
8. The Y was nearly empty at 7:30 on a Saturday night.
9. A long, fragrant bath.
10. A calm, quiet night at home.

03.18.11

1. Rising and shining and getting to work early
2. and then running out of work and getting an unexpected day off.
3. Plenty of time to embroider
4. and finish my CSA application.
5. My work looked great at the SMARTS show.
6. Sean Connaughty's gorgeous XYZ show
7. and lovely music.
8. Talking with Drew Peterson about graffiti.
9. An amusing chat with a slightly drunk Bonnie Wivinus.
10. Feeling more positive and content. Pleasant human contact can do that, especially after a rather solitary week.

03.17.11

1. Embroidering this weekend.
2. Maybe visiting Eliot this week.
3. Visiting friends and family in Balto, Phila and NYC in a little over a month.
4. Going to Lacey's cabin in May or June.
5. Constellation events near me. http://constellationmpls.wordpress.com/
6. Planning and executing them.
7. Having my backyard view be prettier after that.
8. A week off to do GOOD THINGS.
9. Maybe two off...?
10. Warm weather = bicycling.

03.16.11

1. Up and at 'em on scoring good and early!
2. The snow is really and truly melting.
3. A positive and productive meeting with Ted at Acme: he wants to do the mural.
4. Morgan's help with the application.
5. Rich's great idea of using an old image of Powderhorn Park and its speedskating rink.
6. A delicious smoothie for lunch.
7. Delicious red pepper pesto and asparagus for dinner.
8. Wow! I scored over 600 essays today = almost $20 an hour!
9. I also got through most of my paperwork pile between 9:30 and 11:30
10. And into bed before midnight.

03.15.11

1. Old faithful: Yorkshire tea.
2. Chugging along nicely on my Pearson scoring work.
3. A strawberry-banana yogurt smoothie for lunch.
4. And a Mojo bar.
5. Funny emails from Lacey, including
6. An invitation to go to her cabin near Chisholm this summer!
7. Amusing in kids essays, like "Bob and Cookie" and "Bob and Snookie."
8. Going to the Y at 9 PM.
9. Running into Kirsten and chatting as I walked the treadmill.
10. Feeling healthy and happy as I tucked myself into bed.

03.14.11

1. Two from the weekend: a half moon encircled by haze.
2. Birch trees with peeling layers of bark.
3. Lots of Yorkshire tea.
4. Working from home.
5. Acupuncture.
6. Chiropractic.
7. Sparkling water.
8. Patience.
9. Pistachios.
10. Mad Men! I'm done watching the whole series for the second time. What will I watch in the evenings now to wind down?

03.13.11

1. A really excellent, long night's sleep.
2. A gorgeous, sunny day, perfect for
3. A couple more hours of cross country skiing.
4. Eveleth's picture-perfect main street. I think I may have to stay there the next time I do an up north skiing trip...
5. The Paul Wellstone Memorial off Highway 53.
6. DJing the ride home--well, part of it, till my companions requested less strange music.
7. Knitting.
8. McDonalds fries for dinner. A rare treat.
9. A long, hot bath with lavender oil and lavender-mint soap.
10. Getting in bed earlyish and knowing I could sleep late the next morning.

03.12.11

1. A lazy morning at the lodge.
2. A delicious ad hoc breakfast: hard-boiled eggs, black beans, sourdough pretzels and baby dill pickles.
3. In bed. By a fireplace!
4. A really beautiful ski trail.
5. Gliding.
6. A Farm Girl saison at the chalet pub.
7. Great people watching at the lounge.
8. Some hilarious ski racers.
9. Local lady Deb, who entertained us and gave us a real treat for later.
10. Being good and sleepy and a bit tipsy as I ended a lovely day with lovely people.

03.11.11

1. Getting out the door and on the bus on time
2. With my awesome grey and orange rubber laptop backpack.
3. Joining my coworkers for breakfast at the Target cafeteria: a mushroom--pepper-spinach-cheddar omelet for $3.50.
4. A fairly slow, quite day at work.
5. My very sweet colleague Stephanie.
6. Heading north with Heidi and Lynette in Heidi's comfy new RAV4.
7. Finishing my essay for the Shift show in the car.
8. Not freaking out when I realized that it was supposed to be 2500 characters, not words (duh!).
9. Hanging with my lady friends over a couple nice Odell IPAs.
10. What a good thing it is to not fear the minutes spent alone with myself before I fall asleep.

03.10.11

1. A productive morning.
2. Getting my bikes over to be looked at for their tuneups.
3. Realizing spending $150 to snazz up two 20+ year old bikes is not so bad.
4. Once again, a lovely day of subbing at SPA.
5. Some amazing finds at Practical Goods (but I really must stop all this shopping!)
6. Realizing I needed a new wardrobe for my new life...
7. Good or nerve-wracking: button shopping at JoAnn's?
8. A late dinner of brown rice and steamed broccoli with tahini sauce.
9. Packing without too much ado.
10. Turning off the lights at 12:15. A good thing because in years past I'd've likely been up several more hours "getting ready" to go away for the weekend.

03.08.11

1. Sleeping in till 8, even though
2. It gets light at 6:30.
3. Help from Jennifer at PRG with getting my mortgage loan modification application done and submitted.
4. Knowing I am stubborn enough, resilient enough and conscientious enough to stick out the six to nine months that process will take.
5. Securing $67 in food stamp money this month, since Target has had next to no work for me.
6. Finishing things, simplifying. Closure.
7. Hanging with Morgan at Common Roots.
8. Being productive in the evening for a change.
9. Alex. What a kind, decent person and lovely housemate.
10. More bedtime Mad Men. I'm almost done my second viewing of all four seasons. What will I do to relax at 10:30 PM then?

03.07.11

1. A productive early morning.
2. A helpful session with Maren.
3. A quick stop at the Hope Chest thrift store yields some excellent goodies: a vintage silver and jade brooch, a 1950s suit with a fab jacket (and way too skinny skirt), a hilarious printed cashmere sweater and an Echo silk scarf. $13.
4. Choosing lots of new frame samples and ordering frames for all the artwork I've acquired this winter, and for some pieces that I've had for years.
5. Keith at TC Moulding. What a nice guy.
6. Pleasant interactions with Vienna at the PPNA Arts and Culture committee meeting.
7. A good, long zoning-out walk at the Y.
8. A long hot shower: shaving and scrubbing away some of winter's dry deadness.
9. Mad Men. It is so painstakingly well done.
10. Getting through pain with more composure and perspective than a few days ago.

03.06.11

1. Waking up refreshed.
2. A full day to hang at home and work and putter.
3. Yorkshire tea.
4. From yesterday--more weird crow behavior: roosting on snow banks?!?
5. Halfway through Blaze!
6. Traction.
7. Pesto with fresh asparagus.
8. Working fairly industriously till midnight and
9. Almost finishing my loan modification application.
10. Not too much trouble falling asleep, despite an afternoon nap.

03.05.11

1. Delicious brunch at Citizen Cafe.
2. Some progress, I hope, in my quest for peace and resolution about Rich.
3. Not getting too upset over yet another lost glove.
4. Or about broken-at-the temple sunglasses. Seeing decent cheap ones I might get at Vision World helped.
5. Wearing my new (used) lime green French go go boots for my Saturday night out.
6. Delicious food and good company at Feast.
7. Ellen's lovely pictures at Gallery 360.
8. Nice chats with John, Laurie, and Jane.
9. Shooting the crap with Jameser over half a Furious at Tracy's.
10. Feeling good and sleepy.

03.03.11

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. An especially sweet cashier at the Wedge who was genuinely pleased when I told her how much I liked her perfect little cardigan sweater.
7. Two very dapper gay guys getting into a taxi at Chicago Lake who were cracking up about it being a RAINBOW Cab.
8. Hanging at home with Alex and Amy.
9. "You're awesome!" from Amy.
10. A good day, despite all odds!

03.02.11

1. The privilege of driving to work when I missed the 7:44 bus.
2. Knowing that I'll get reimbursed for the $9 parking fee out of my FAIM startup money.
3. A slow day at work=a rare chance to clean and organize our prep styling space.
4. Even Cathy, who likes to hoard useless junk, got into the clean up.
5. A fun chat after work with Earle.
6. Looking together at Andrea Dezso's awesome work on her website.
7. Help from Morgan with the first real steps toward doing the graffiti grant application.
8. Lively conversation from two of my favorite people over a delicious dinner.
9. A recipe for peanut sauce from JoAnn.
10. Looking forward to another lovely day off Thursday to make art, write grants and be otherwise productive.

03.01.11

1. A warm last day of February.
2. Figuring out what's wrong with my thumb and how to fix it.
3. I don't have arthritis!
4. A courteous, helpful and intelligent CS rep at AmEx, who might actually get the $25 I had to pay for my checked bag refunded.
5. Lots of great clothes, an orange Pyrex casserole and a dozen jam jars at the Penn Ave Arc for under $40.
6. And Eliot's birthday gift.
7. I think I'm done with my (thrift store) retail therapy/wardrobe infusion. Now I just have to get rid of some old clothes...
8. A hilarious lady from Texas in the button aisle at JoAnn's.
9. A nice dinner with Mike at Tracy's Saloon.
10. All in all, a pleasant, relaxing day off!