Sunday, November 30, 2008

Five Golden Rings ...

I know, I'm becoming a video blog these days. I haven't been able to focus the things that are going on around me into coherent words anymore. They have to do with work, and worry, and money, and stress, and hope, and waiting, and wanting the perfect holidays, and missing my family, and just trying to let go and relax and get into my Matt Place.

But until I can do that - here's a video. This group is at my graduate school, Indiana University. I never saw them perform - this was a couple of years after I left. Y'all may have seen this before, but it's cute - enjoy the start of the season:


Saturday, November 29, 2008

I Can Bring Home The Bacon ...

... but watch out for the pan ...


Thanks to my friend Linda. :)

Friday, November 28, 2008

MatterThanksgivingPics

We got a maid service to come on Wednesday. Up early on Thursday - why did the cat pee in the dining room today?!? Turkey brined overnight out on the deck in a cooler with water, salt, sugar, allspice, garlic and thyme. Baked and cooled pumpkin pie early. Made stuffing and got Mr. Gobble in the oven. Mashed potatoes early. Got the table set and the cat pee cleaned up. Roasted yams with olive oil, salt, thyme and real maple syrup. Guests came. Cathy and John brought great cheeses, fresh bread, grapes, port, and Maya. Diane brought incredible creamed corn and wine (she knows us so well). Last-minute dash to get everything on the table together. Everything worked out. Exhausted. Slept heavier than I have in weeks.















Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving



Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I know, it seems to be all about gluttony and excess ... but that's not why I love it. It's about welcoming people into our home, sharing what we have with them, being thankful that - as poor as we feel these days - we can still afford to share what we do have - and being thankful that we have each other in our lives.

Sure, it's a lot of stress, mostly self-induced. We spend a lot of money on this day every year. We invite everyone that we can think of - from as far away as Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio (I'm not kidding, our invited list this year was 47 people!). We stress over getting the house cleaned and having everything perfect - well, looking decent. I'll be up late tonight doing chores, and will be up well before dawn tomorrow doing even more chores before I even think of starting to cook.

But in between the stress, I'll turn on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (yaayyyyy!!!!!), and put on good music, and turn our house into someplace warm and welcoming and friendly for our guests. And we'll get to see Cathy and John, and their two-year-old daughter Maya, and Cathy's sister Diane, who are all absolutely incredible people, and we'll be better people for having spent the day with them.

So enjoy. If you're so inclined, leave a comment - tell us all what you're thankful for this year.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

MatterBulletPoints

Oy. The past week in a nutshell:
  • Second interviews with two candidates. I wasn't as impressed the second time around.
  • First interview with someone recommended by another person in the firm. Wrong.
  • A long, very difficult discussion with the rest of our Core Team. The economy sucks, and our firm laid off at least five people last week. We're not hiring anybody ... it would send the wrong message, and if we do hire, we'd more than likely have to lay someone off within the next six months. So - no hires. Meaning, our AP team is losing a person, even though we already run a very lean department. Ouch.
  • Most of my team, while scared of the additional workload, says "We'll make it work. We'll pull together". There's no other choice.
  • The most odious member of my team immediately harped on getting additional workspace, since we're losing someone. Nice empathy, babe.
  • Same team member than copied me and another manager on one of the rudest e-mails I've ever read, voicing her opposition to a new advocacy program we're implementing. Basically, she only works here because it pays the bills, and demeaned everything the firm stands for. A "come to Jesus" meeting is going to take place next week. I don't think she's long for this world, professionally.
  • Had dinner Friday night with someone I knew in college, who now teaches at said college. How cool to know that so many people on the faculty there remember me and sent warm wishes.
  • Our Thanksgiving has turned from just Scott and I to six people, including a two-year-old. I'm over the top with anxiety about getting the house cleaned. I can't believe I'm taking the time to write this.
  • Scott decided to hire a maid service to do some heavy cleaning before the holiday. Unfortunately, as of right now it doesn't seem that anyone can come the times we need them to.
  • My sleep schedule is sooooo fucked. I got up at 4:30 this morning. Not that I've gotten anything accomplished today. I still have to vacuum and steam-clean the carpets and go to the store. I'll put off buying everything we need for Thanksgiving and stop at the store each night on my way home from work this week.
  • I have to work on Friday, to make sure there's some minimal coverage in our department. Blech.

Off to clean and start laundry ... why do I do this to myself?

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

For the rest of our lives we were told that we weren’t good enough.

A beautifully written post by Dogpoet.

If you beat someone relentlessly, eventually they will stand up to you and defend their territory. Sometimes, it's all they have.

Please please please please please read.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Matterpics

I've been exhausted this weekend ... I actually slept in until 7:30 on Saturday (!), took a nap later on, and went to bed early last night while Scott was working late. But I woke up at about 1:00 a.m. and never did fall back to sleep. So I got up at 2:30, thinking I'd go back to bed within an hour or so once I got sleepy ... nope. Of course, now I'm sleepy, but it's too late to take a nap and too early to go to bed. Ugh.

I took a few pictures once it got light out - it was pretty foggy for a while this morning:











Mmm ... bread ...

Now the house is clean (well, downstairs at least), laundry is done, dishwasher emptied, groceries bought, pet store bottom line is healthier after our visit, and it's early enough that we can relax before dinner.

If I can stay awake that long ...

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

November 12 of 12

Read about the 12 of 12 phenomenon here - and join in next month if you don't already.

These pictures were all taken on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 in Seattle, Washington.


7:28 a.m., on the way to work. The rainy season has started in Seattle:


7:29 a.m. One really shouldn't take pictures while driving down a steep hill in rush hour traffic in the rain. I'm such a rebel. Blurry, but there's the Space Needle ahead:



5:10 p.m. No work pictures - my day was spent in meetings, and interviewing two candidates for an opening on my team. It's already dark out - grrrr! Just got in my car and ready to head home:



5:11 p.m. Another dark and blurry shot of the Space Needle:



5:19 p.m. Traffic was horrible, so I took a slightly different route home. Some buildings on the way that I haven't seen in a while:



5:29 p.m. Almost home - passing by Seattle University:



5:35 p.m. Home, and hungry. Tasty treats from Trader Joe's:



7:16 p.m. Finally getting around to making dinner. Guess what we had:



7:35 p.m. Kali with her favorite toy, aka "Baby Egg". She's obsessed with it. She even sleeps curled around it:



7:36 p.m. Kali waiting for Scott to drop or throw Baby Egg. Notice Hunter hiding in the corner behind the picture:



7:48 p.m. Scott posted a picture of the shrine he erected to Notre Madame du lapin de chocolat. This is just a beautiful statue we bought in Puerto Vallarta years ago:


7:54 p.m. Scott gave me a wonderful neck and shoulder massage with this balm he found in the International District. Niiiiiice:


And now off to bed. Happy 12 of 12!

Monday, November 10, 2008

"So I be written in the Book of Love"

Six and a half minutes. Worth it. Please watch.

"You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then spread happiness -- this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness -- share it with all those who seek it. Quote me anything from your religious leader or book of choice telling you to stand against this. And then tell me how you can believe both that statement and another statement, another one which reads only 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'"

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Matterpics

This one is actually from Election Night:



The view from our bedroom:




After a day of downpours:





The colors in the backyard:



Scott in a (righteous) "discussion" with a neighbor - that's another story. Go Scooter!!!!

Constitutional Amendments Against Scott and I.

I've had a hard time dealing with this ... I'm sure I should have commented earlier, but I haven't even begun to reconcile my feelings yet.

I will say this:

If you are truly defending the sanctity of your precious marriages, stop getting divorced. Let's pass a constitutional amendment banning THAT. And let ME vote on it.

'Nuf said. Sacred, my ass. If marriage is so damned sacred, pay attention to that little "'til death do us part" line. Remember that?

I've stated my opinions before. Two consenting adults who love each other and want to affirm their relationship as binding, with the legal, cultural and financial benefits available, should be able to marry. Or whatever you want to call it.

If you also want the blessing of a church, fine. Then you can also have a church wedding.

BUT - they should have nothing to do with each other. You can have one, or both. But only the union performed by an agent of the United States government should be legally binding. Anything else - be it a huge taffeta-laden, "Trumpet Voluntary" blaring, fifth-mortgage-on-your-parents' house confection, or a sleazy drunken Vegas-strip slurring your "vows" in front of an Elvis impersonating "minister" - should be just your own pretty little party, with no legal bond considered. You can have one or both.

But don't you dare keep telling me that I can have neither.

I'm waiting for someone to tell me to use the other drinking fountain. Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm an overly nice, peaceful, gentle person - but I'm an inch away from becoming a snarling, cursing, fist-flailing pummeler of the "righteous".

So ... be careful of who you're pissing on ...

Friday, November 07, 2008

Priceless.

Yes, the election is over ... but it's still a long, long walk to get our priorities back on track as a society ...

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

YES. WE. DID.


After all the nail-biting of today, I'm almost crying right now.


There are people walking around, shouting and whooping it up in our neighborhood. We've thrown the windows open and are screaming out the windows ourselves - even more than we did when we first heard that Obama had won Ohio.

I can't believe that this is real ... it happened. It really happened. We could really, truly turn our country back to what it is about. And be more than a bullying, arrogant superpower to the world - to be a beacon. Again.

And, this is hope for all of us in this country, that we can take care of ourselves again ... take care of our poor, our sick, our veterans, our minorities, our elderly. Go back to the ideal of "all men are created equal" and all that. Go back to the ideal that all of us, whoever we are, wherever we live, whatever our station in life, deserve the same respect and regard as whomever is standing next to us.

Yes, we can do this ... we can. And yes - we did.

Today.

It's here. I'm excited, and nervous, and a little in awe of what's happening. This is a historic election day for so many reasons.

Scott and I will be voting after I get home from work today, so I'm going to try and leave a little early so that we can get to our polling place before 5:00. Seattle, like the rest of the country, is expecting record turnout, so I'm sure we'll be in a long line - but I don't mind. Just to be a part of it is so exciting.

So, deep breath, and patience to see what happens - and no matter what your beliefs are, VOTE.

Monday, November 03, 2008

One Day More.

I know I posted this a while back, when I first found it ... but today is the perfect time to see it again. Cheesy, yes, but perfect.

Please, please, please, if you haven't already done so ...
VOTE TOMORROW.

I know that those whose political views are different than mine have very strong convictions, too. Neither side is necessarily right, or wrong - although we believe our own sides to be the right one. But I truly, with all of my heart, believe that our country has been dragged down for so long by our own leaders ... and we feel that every day. It's physical, heavy and oppressive. There is weight, and stress, and anxiety, and fear. We have become a society of fear - fear of anything and anyone and anyplace and any situation that is not who and what and how we are. But if we keep on in that direction, we'll drown. We'll collapse on ourselves. We will no longer be what, honestly, every single one of us - Democrat, Republican, Independent, every single one of us - believes and wants America, and Americans, to be.

There can be fear, or there can be hope. I choose hope.

The results of this election can change the world, far past our own country. There is so much at stake in this election.



"One day to a new beginning ... "

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Two More Days.

Yep. Two days. Today is November 2, which would make two days from now ... umm, November 4.

Which is, what ... a Tuesday? The first Tuesday in November? In an election year?

Oh, yeah - ELECTION DAY.

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE ...

I don't care what your political beliefs are. Honestly. If you've read more than two posts on my blog, you probably know mine. But that doesn't matter.

BE INFORMED. VOTE. DO YOUR DUTY.

Oh - and if you live in California, you have the opportunity to make a huge difference in the history of this country, this society, this culture - and throughout the world. Please - think, clearly and deeply and truly - about your vote.

Really.



My dream is that someday, in my lifetime, the sanctity of marriage will be a legal and viable option for everyone - everyone - who believes in it. Everyone who truly wants to enter into that covenant.

(Psssst: Don't tell Scott - but I want to marry him. It's about time we're able to make honest men of each other).

Saturday, November 01, 2008