arletterocks

July 9th, 2009

Bang!

7/9/09 05:41 pm

Novice shooter's class booked! (Why is it so much easier to book a class at the shooting range than a doctor's appointment, anyway?) I've been shooting before and loved it, but formal classes are incredibly useful. (See: the Motorcycle Safety Foundation weekend course, which promptly made me a better cyclist and driver.) (Note: Get motorcycle.) The .22 they use for the class isn't especially exciting, but hey, I'm there to learn, not to get a girl-boner from firepower.

Tonight's a documentary on Scandinavian black metal at YBCA, tomorrow's the SFMOMA party for the new Avedon exhibit and then grunt work for Sand by the Ton, and more Sand grunt work the next day. Sunday's shooting and then finally watching the Jeff Buckley documentary "Amazing Grace," which I've been waiting to see again since I saw it at Cinequest in 2005. Stuff, stuff, stuff.

I worry sometimes about being an experience junkie like I'm a music junkie — a couple of Zen lessons I've read about chasing new experiences kinda make me squirm in my chair a little if I think about them too hard. But when I'm alone, my head is a comfortable, quiet place, and that's my measure of whether I'm living right. It feels like an old leather jacket that's broken in just right.

I wish I could hand that feeling off to more people, but I'm not sure how many would sign up for it if they knew how much work is involved. And if I've learned anything, it's that you can't sucker people into learning.

But now, I'm heading to House of Shields with a Cory Doctorow book — on paper! I know, right?

May 29th, 2009

ah'm goin' to maker faire!

5/29/09 06:36 pm

Saturday only. Will be there around noon. Whee!

May 14th, 2009

(no subject)

5/14/09 11:26 am

Been going running around Lake Merritt nearly every day for a couple weeks. It's just over 3 miles -- 3.2, I think. Yesterday I plotted the route around the lake and found landmarks every half-mile so I could keep track on my run. So far I can only get about a mile and a half before I have to walk and catch my breath, then I walk about a quarter-mile and run the rest. A mile and a half isn't much, but hell -- I'm running nearly three miles in all, and that first mile and a half is inching upward every day. A week ago, I could only make it to the mile mark.

I was obsessed last week with finding the right music to run to, but ended up listening over and over again to the loudest and most obnoxious Throw Rag songs I could find. Then I accidentally ran my iPod Shuffle through the laundry, so the last couple days I've been running in time with my own breathing, which actually works even better than music.

April 28th, 2009

Guess who's drinking on the patio with music nerds this weekend

4/28/09 12:25 pm

The Love Song of Alfred "Bloody Mary" Prufrock

Let us sit then, you and I,
When the morning seeps across the sky
Like a bloody Mary spilled across a table;
Let us grill, with certain sauces,
The curling shrimp,
The spears of asparagus in tart marinade
That shame restaurants spawned by Chez Panisse:
Sauces with the bite of witty argument
And inebriated intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question ...
Oh, do not ask, "Is that pitcher empty?"

Let us sit and let us visit.
In the honeysuckle the finches come and go
Talking of Calexico.

March 31st, 2009

(no subject)

3/31/09 05:06 pm

All this sunny cool gorgeous weather is making me mopey as hell.

February 6th, 2009

Writer's Block: Conchordance

2/6/09 02:16 pm

Who is cuter: Bret or Jemaine?

View other answers

God, I hope I ever have to make this choice in person.

They're both beautiful. One looks like you could crush him, and the other looks like he could crush you. With that choice, everyone can be happy! And either way you'll get your quota of awkwardness bad posture. *hearts*

Tags:
flight of the conchords, fotc, writer's block

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January 15th, 2009

Shoulder cat

1/15/09 04:42 pm

Shoulder cat

This is what I came downstairs to this morning.

Awwwwr.

January 10th, 2009

Maybe I can have a working camera again someday

1/10/09 06:10 pm

Oh blessed heavens, the camera insanity I've been dealing with (incredibly blown out photos with a strong magenta cast, hideously overexposed even when I crank the aperture and ISO down and set the shutter speed to one bazillionth of a second) is probably due to a CCD failure. Meaning I can box it up and mail it to Nikon, and if something's wrong, they'll fix it for free.

This whole "not having a working camera" thing is bunk.

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October 23rd, 2008

Wikipedia link of the day: Multiple gunshot suicide

10/23/08 02:37 pm

"Multiple gunshot suicide occurs when an individual commits suicide by firearm and succeeds in inflicting two or more gunshots upon himself before incapacitation ensues."

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October 3rd, 2008

In 2010, I GO TO FRESNO

10/3/08 12:57 pm

For this.

Not before then, though.

(The tour hits Fresno in late summer of 2010.)

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October 1st, 2008

Consume!

10/1/08 07:48 pm

"No, the most disgusting thing about [Palin] is what she says about us: that you can ram us in the ass for eight solid years, and we'll not only thank you for your trouble, we'll sign you up for eight more years, if only you promise to stroke us in the right spot for a few hours around election time."

September 26th, 2008

I can't believe that's all the wisdom I can muster.

9/26/08 10:35 pm

So I've been doing my damnedest to cut the sulking and moping, for, like, two whole days. Life needs me to be a grown-up right now —

— actually, that'd be my coworkers, really. But I sure would like to pretend to be a grown-up for a bit. Life can't all be drinking beer and eating peanut butter cups. Sometimes you gotta do laundry and wake up on time. When you sulk too much, eventually your laundry basket, socks or birdcage is gonna start to smell funny.

God, I wish that were a metaphor, or that my laptop lived a little further away from the laundry basket.

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September 24th, 2008

I am Godzilla, you are a Tokyo skyscraper

9/24/08 05:01 pm

I have used my "Godzilla" line before and it is still apt.

AAAAAARRRRRHHH RAAAAARRRRRR GRRRRRR RAAARRRRRRRRRRR

RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHH

Having an unfocused rage day. The problem with exercising more is that when I don't do it for a couple days, I go half insane -- all the extra energy ignites any frustration, hostility or real or perceived injury already going on in my head. It's like chucking propane tanks into a big fire.

WHICH ALSO SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA.

I am going to see if Yelp has shooting range reviews.

P.S. It totally does.

September 9th, 2008

I'm not sure the music obsession is helping

9/9/08 05:35 pm

For a few months I've been feeling, emotions-wise, like I'm back in high school. It's kind of a relief, actually. Everything was so simple then. Unpleasant, but simple. Been sleeping too much, just like then, except these days it's even harder to wake up.

Certainly been enjoying the concomitant obsession with music. I would've killed for an iPod back then. I've been whining about the lack of storage space on my first-gen iPhone, but the thing holds 1,000 songs -- a good 985 songs more than the Bowie CDs I carted around with me everywhere in 9th grade.

Current Mood: moody
Current Music: "Born in the '70s"

September 2nd, 2008

Default

9/2/08 07:00 pm

Post-burn reintegration is flagging. I was doing OK until an hour ago and am now tired and moody. Time to go home, go for a run and brood, I think.

At least I can coax myself back into a good mood by promising myself pizza or grilled cheese whenever I want it!

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August 25th, 2008

That Arlette will marry just about anyone

8/25/08 03:45 pm

dear ed harcourt:

piaf? really? are you kidding? if not, will you please marry me already?

love, arlette

p.s. i'm single!

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August 20th, 2008

More chatblogging

8/20/08 03:41 pm

sonya: i keep feeling like im forgetting something and its driving me crazy
me: you mean you FORGOT our ANNIVERSARY?
how could you!
i knew this would happen
sonya: ah crap im sorry.
am i going to have to hear about this from your mother now?
me:no, she's just dealing by pretending you died
it would be less annoying if she weren't dressing in black all the time
sonya: the funeral flowers are nice though
me: yeah, but she knows i think the coach with the four plumed black horses is a bit much
i drew the line at the jazz band
sonya: but i LIKE the jazz band.
maybe if you hired a jazz band to follow me around i might remember our aniversary
me: maybe if you remembered our anniversary i WOULD hire a jazz band to follow you around
remember? like i used to?
maybe they would've stuck around longer if you'd let them play anything other than the theme from "shaft"
sonya: people need to know my stance regarding badness.
I am for it.

Yes, we have conversations like this in person, because Sonya is the best straight man ever made. She sets the punchlines up every time and then caps them off just as perfectly.

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August 15th, 2008

Overconsumption

8/15/08 04:58 pm

Hi, self! How're you feeling?

Good. Full!

Yeah? Had lunch, then?

Yeah, Quiznos!

Yeah? Didn't you decide this week that you were gonna eat healthy and vegan for a while? Until, like, 20 pounds lighter than now?

Shut up. All the healthy salad places close by 3 p.m. because all the dieting Financial District freaks already had their organic low-carb salads and won't eat again until after they get home from the gym. Plus it was right next to the stationer—

What was that?

Nothing.

No, I just didn't hear you. What were you saying?

FINE I WAS AT THE STATIONERY STORE WHERE I SPENT FIFTY BUCKS ON A PEN.

Fifty? But aren't you trying to save up for a really good digital camera? And haven't you decided that it's about time you start being a grown-up about your finances? And don't give me a line about how "now you can get rid of all your other pens since you have one really good one," because that's just the NorCal-specific hippie brand of conspicuous consumption that leads to people living the "simple life" in half-million-dollar kitchens.

Fine. Fifty-five. It was $55 before tax.

Really?

Plus a Lotta Jansdotter journal. And a little canvas zip-up bag to keep the journal and a mechanical pencil and a pen in, because apparently I am more invested in equipping my writing life than living it. Except I can't use the fancy new pen in the journal because the ink seeps through the pages, so I bought a different pen just for the bag.

But why? Didn't you feel kinda stupid when you bought it?

Yes. And why? Because picking it up and writing it feels like climbing into the gold E-type Jag my dad had to drive for work once. He picked me up in it and we drove to the Chinese restaurant down the street.

. . .
In other news, I have killed the Twitter digests here because everyone who cares about what band I like today and how the clouds look during my commute is already following me.

I can say that because i'm half middle class

8/15/08 10:51 am

sonya: i need good walking shoes, and a new bike seat still
me: get the damn bike seat already!
sonya: i know but i prolly need a new stem for the kind of seat i want and its a hassle and im lazy
me: you must hate bikes then
sonya: come on, dont say that
me: BIKIST
sonya: hey! some of my best friends are bikes!
me: they're not your friends, they're just sucking up to you until the revolution comes!
sonya: i knew it!
me: then you'll wake up dead with a spoke in your eye! and a bullet in your arm! because bikes don't aim very well!
me: and i can say that because i'm half bike!

SMS R&D

8/15/08 05:11 am

15:34 Dry, hacking cough has been traded in for one that feels like a slug the size of my fist trying to sneak up the back of my throat. #
17:37 Dave Matthews Band lyrics on a site about literary tattoos? Honey, please. #
19:57 Bart announcer describing a lost Ninja Turtles wallet can't help giggling #
19:58 oh man the clouds are stupid good right now #
22:30 my idea of fun: dabbing fish sauce on the cat's head and seeing him discover over and over that he smells delicious #

S&H

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