In Maryville, Missouri, I was born at 5:06pm. In Burbank, California, Wil Wheaton's mom was in labor, too.
Some other people also born on July 29th are:
Benito Mussolini
Clara Bow
Johannes Schmidt
Stephen Dorff
William Powell
Diana Vreeland
Elizabeth Short (the Black Dahlia)
Peter Jennings
Alexis de Tocqueville
Charlie Christian
Ken Burns
I still feel ucky, but a whole bunch better than I did yesterday. If I get ten hours of sleep tonight, I might just be good as new for when I see Steve again tomorrow. I'm completely looking forward to it, and to spending my New Year's Eve with him.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
Blecch.
I awoke this morning with a swollen throat, at least a up of phlegm roiling within, an excruciating headache, and a ridiulous level of body aches. Nothing feels feverish or I'd worry it's the flu, but I don't feel good nonetheless. I went to work for a few hours this morning--cranky, in no mood to deal with the madcap minutae that so regularly arrives in my Outlook email. Normally I enjoy tackling this, but today? All I could do was stare bleary-eyed while I trried to make some sense of the boxes and binders I needed to send to different sites today, and not thinking clearly enough to do it properly. Oh, they went on their way, but I'm sure I made mistakes. I'll find out on Tuesday.
I stopped by CM on the way home for provisions--soup, chicken, rolls, good ol' greens; I even got a little container of chocolate-dipped macaroons, and a small serving of mac & cheese. Hey, I'm sick! I need this stuff. At least, that's how I justifed it. Bleary-eyed and aching, I ate it and watched a forgettable movie starring Luke Wilson and slept for hours.
Headhache has lessened as have the body aches, but we'll see where I can go from here.
I stopped by CM on the way home for provisions--soup, chicken, rolls, good ol' greens; I even got a little container of chocolate-dipped macaroons, and a small serving of mac & cheese. Hey, I'm sick! I need this stuff. At least, that's how I justifed it. Bleary-eyed and aching, I ate it and watched a forgettable movie starring Luke Wilson and slept for hours.
Headhache has lessened as have the body aches, but we'll see where I can go from here.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Christmas, for me.
It was a fun, festive evening at Kevin & Justine's new place in the country. I made Christmas ornaments with their kids Dixon and Delia. Delia is two and has an insatiable urge for Hershey's Kisses and her ornaments reflected this. Dixon is five can count to 100 by tens and spell "w-h-i-t-e." I ate green cornflake cookies, drank hot apple cider, talked for a long time about history and Native Americans with Gary Claxton and Brendan Ryan. I sat on a fat leather couch in a big old farmhouse with transoms above every door and 14-foot ceilings. I drank a glass of wine and talked about memories and the startling smallness of this global world with Jim and Dana Stringer. On the way out to their house, I talked to my little brother; on the way home, I talked to my mother.
Once I got home,I started thinking about friends I hadn't seen or heard from in ten or more years. I found a couple of them through internet searches and attempted contact. We'll see how that turns out. Then before I knew it, I was plopped down on the floor by my bed in slippers and sweater with a kitty beside me, opening envelope after envelope of old letters, love letters, postcards, vintage magazines, collages. I remembered Christopher James Wilson, and hoped he got his PhD and started that blues band he always wanted to do. I re-read affectionately disjointed letters from Aaron Brizendine and hoped that he had overcome some of his mental issues. I wondered what became of Dave Moyer. I remembered which girlfriend sent me that unsigned postcard. For all of these, I tried to find them on the internet...because to me, finding an article or a site or SOMETHING on there usually means that the person has evolved up and out in the world and not folded within themselves into a small, small world.
Small worlds are sad to me, and always have been. It's one thing to live in a simple world with carefully chosen people--but an isolated mind that chooses not to seek out the expansiveness of education and inspiration, well...that's the saddest place I know of. Another example is someone who lives in a fantasy world of their own potential--where their dreams and wishes flourish in their heads but still go unvoiced. We all do this to some extent, but there are more serious cases. I know them--I have even been in love with them. They do not know how to allow anyone into their lives close enough to even share these dreams. It's too scary for them, or they are afraid they'll "jinx" it. Whatever. As we all know, our mind is our own worst enemy when it comes to tearing us down. So these people may have a brilliant idea that they know would make them happy, but they don't share it with others and eventually the mind breaks it down with something like "You'll never achive that--in a world of black tuxedoes, you're just a pair of brown shoes." With no one else to bolster, the ideas drown in infancy, bogged down by the mind's negative sludge, never to rise again.
I digress.
I went for a midnight drive after reading these bittersweet old letters. I bought a tin of those old-fashioned Christmas candies which I have always loved. You the kind--all manner of bright colors with almost indistinguishable flavors?
The kid in the checkout said, "Yeah, my grandfather still always eats those. They stick together in a big lump and you hafta break them up with a fork to separate them. I wouldn't touch 'em." This put a Cheshire cat-like grin across my face. I thanked him and took my "grandpa candies" with me. Hooray for grandpa candies!
Here's a picture...they had stuck together in one big lump and I had to separate them with a fork. Yep.
I slept well last night. I dreamt of travel and people and places, as usual. I dreamed of being sought after--both negative and positive, and a common dream for me. This morning, Christmas morning, I am alone. Am I sad? Not really. Wishing for more? Definitely. I would enjoy spending my Christmas with loved ones. I need them around me, and I'm not going to say I don't or that I don't feel a bit lonely today. However this "separated" feeling is something I'm used to, so instead I just try to enjoy my solitude, recognize and ackowledge those sucky little feelings, and be thankful for those whom I hold dear. I could use some hugs, some kisses and generally cherished feelings...I could use some "sit down at the table and talk" times, but I shall have them. So what if it's not on December 25? Hollow as it may sound to even my own ears today, I shall eat my grandpa candies and watch movies and read books and work on creating a better environment for my own inner world.
Once I got home,I started thinking about friends I hadn't seen or heard from in ten or more years. I found a couple of them through internet searches and attempted contact. We'll see how that turns out. Then before I knew it, I was plopped down on the floor by my bed in slippers and sweater with a kitty beside me, opening envelope after envelope of old letters, love letters, postcards, vintage magazines, collages. I remembered Christopher James Wilson, and hoped he got his PhD and started that blues band he always wanted to do. I re-read affectionately disjointed letters from Aaron Brizendine and hoped that he had overcome some of his mental issues. I wondered what became of Dave Moyer. I remembered which girlfriend sent me that unsigned postcard. For all of these, I tried to find them on the internet...because to me, finding an article or a site or SOMETHING on there usually means that the person has evolved up and out in the world and not folded within themselves into a small, small world.
Small worlds are sad to me, and always have been. It's one thing to live in a simple world with carefully chosen people--but an isolated mind that chooses not to seek out the expansiveness of education and inspiration, well...that's the saddest place I know of. Another example is someone who lives in a fantasy world of their own potential--where their dreams and wishes flourish in their heads but still go unvoiced. We all do this to some extent, but there are more serious cases. I know them--I have even been in love with them. They do not know how to allow anyone into their lives close enough to even share these dreams. It's too scary for them, or they are afraid they'll "jinx" it. Whatever. As we all know, our mind is our own worst enemy when it comes to tearing us down. So these people may have a brilliant idea that they know would make them happy, but they don't share it with others and eventually the mind breaks it down with something like "You'll never achive that--in a world of black tuxedoes, you're just a pair of brown shoes." With no one else to bolster, the ideas drown in infancy, bogged down by the mind's negative sludge, never to rise again.
I digress.
I went for a midnight drive after reading these bittersweet old letters. I bought a tin of those old-fashioned Christmas candies which I have always loved. You the kind--all manner of bright colors with almost indistinguishable flavors?
The kid in the checkout said, "Yeah, my grandfather still always eats those. They stick together in a big lump and you hafta break them up with a fork to separate them. I wouldn't touch 'em." This put a Cheshire cat-like grin across my face. I thanked him and took my "grandpa candies" with me. Hooray for grandpa candies!
Here's a picture...they had stuck together in one big lump and I had to separate them with a fork. Yep.
I slept well last night. I dreamt of travel and people and places, as usual. I dreamed of being sought after--both negative and positive, and a common dream for me. This morning, Christmas morning, I am alone. Am I sad? Not really. Wishing for more? Definitely. I would enjoy spending my Christmas with loved ones. I need them around me, and I'm not going to say I don't or that I don't feel a bit lonely today. However this "separated" feeling is something I'm used to, so instead I just try to enjoy my solitude, recognize and ackowledge those sucky little feelings, and be thankful for those whom I hold dear. I could use some hugs, some kisses and generally cherished feelings...I could use some "sit down at the table and talk" times, but I shall have them. So what if it's not on December 25? Hollow as it may sound to even my own ears today, I shall eat my grandpa candies and watch movies and read books and work on creating a better environment for my own inner world.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Caroline Casey attacks a Yahoo! media writer....
Hehehe...before you read this, please know that I myself am highly amused and somewhat ashamed of myself for even being ired enough to write such a passionate response to today's shining example of the drivel that makes headline news on the Yahoo! front page.
But anyway, I'll place it here just so you too can make fun of me and my "righteous" anger. Ha!
***************************************
THE ARTICLE on Yahoo! front page--Sat Dec 23, 2006:
End of a Childhood Ritual
Posted by Cheryl Koch, M.S., R.D.
on Thu, Dec 07, 2006, 9:30 am PST
One of my fondest childhood memories is licking the bowl clean of batter when my grandmother or mother baked cookies and cakes. As far as I was concerned, the best part of any baked dessert was the raw batter before it was placed in the oven.
Today, as the mother of a young child, I'm the one who's busy trying out new recipes for the holidays, and my son is my kitchen helper. But I now find myself hesitating to pass on that bowl I once savored so much.
I'm a nutritionist, after all, so I'm more aware than most people of the warnings about raw batter, homemade mayonnaise, and egg-laden sauces like Caesar dressing and Hollandaise sauce. The reason is a type of bacteria called salmonella enteritidis that's found in raw eggs. It was once thought that salmonella only infected eggs whose shells were cracked. Now experts have determined that all eggs carry the risk of salmonella.
To avoid the risks associated with salmonella and raw eggs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests the following recommendations:
-Keep eggs refrigerated and promptly refrigerate unused or leftover foods that contain eggs both cooked and raw.
-Discard cracked or dirty eggs.
-Follow basic food safety rules, such as proper hand-washing and cleaning cooking utensils with soap and water after contact with raw eggs.
-Eat eggs promptly after cooking. Do not keep eggs warm or at room temperature for longer than 2 hours.
-Avoid eating raw eggs in homemade ice cream or eggnog. Commercially manufactured ice cream and eggnog are made with pasteurized eggs and have not been linked with salmonella enteritidis infections.
-Avoid restaurant dishes made with raw or undercooked, unpasteurized eggs. Restaurants should use pasteurized eggs in any recipe that calls for raw eggs, such as Hollandaise sauce or Caesar salad dressing. If you have concerns, ask your server if pasteurized eggs are used at that establishment.
-An estimated one in 10,000 eggs carries salmonella bacteria that may cause serious problems in children, the elderly, and people with weak immune systems. So take heed. Just because the egg looks clean and the shell is intact, it still isn't safe to lick the bowl.
MY COMMENT:
I guess it's your job to warn the public on such a "health risk." Thank you, Cheryl, for letting us know about your own neurotic decision to end a time-honored tradition in your family, as a result of your own overprotectiveness. And thank you for attempting to present us with these facts without "officially" advising the public to do the same. The slant of your article is obvious--you're just HINTING that we should do the same. I get it...to do anything otherwise would just make us bad parents.
Frankly, you'd hold more journalistic credibility if you presented in your article a recorded example of even one case of a child dying from salmonella caught from "licking the bowl." Even that would be enough to satisfy me, as I'm sure other people would too. I can just see it now...scads of rolls of raw cookie dough yanked from refrigerator aisles in supermarkets coast to coast; front-page news of the latest salmonella outbreaks; tearful mothers being interviewed on "60 Minutes", sobbingly lamenting, "Oh, if ONLY I hadn't fed little Jimmy the cookie dough. But I thought it was SAFE! They told me it was SAFE!"...and so on.
This article is of exactly the same ilk as the myriad of other alarmist viewpoints the mainstream media feeds the general public. The world's already faced The Black Death, and cookie dough just isn't a second coming. Yahoo! is really reaching, as usual. Please understand, it's not that I'm holding you personally responsible--your article is typical of Yahoo!'s pseudo-factual journalism...publishing opinion pieces by random "experts", carefully crafted to appear as hard news. I only hope they paid you a pretty penny.
'Tis the season, I suppose.
But anyway, I'll place it here just so you too can make fun of me and my "righteous" anger. Ha!
***************************************
THE ARTICLE on Yahoo! front page--Sat Dec 23, 2006:
End of a Childhood Ritual
Posted by Cheryl Koch, M.S., R.D.
on Thu, Dec 07, 2006, 9:30 am PST
One of my fondest childhood memories is licking the bowl clean of batter when my grandmother or mother baked cookies and cakes. As far as I was concerned, the best part of any baked dessert was the raw batter before it was placed in the oven.
Today, as the mother of a young child, I'm the one who's busy trying out new recipes for the holidays, and my son is my kitchen helper. But I now find myself hesitating to pass on that bowl I once savored so much.
I'm a nutritionist, after all, so I'm more aware than most people of the warnings about raw batter, homemade mayonnaise, and egg-laden sauces like Caesar dressing and Hollandaise sauce. The reason is a type of bacteria called salmonella enteritidis that's found in raw eggs. It was once thought that salmonella only infected eggs whose shells were cracked. Now experts have determined that all eggs carry the risk of salmonella.
To avoid the risks associated with salmonella and raw eggs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests the following recommendations:
-Keep eggs refrigerated and promptly refrigerate unused or leftover foods that contain eggs both cooked and raw.
-Discard cracked or dirty eggs.
-Follow basic food safety rules, such as proper hand-washing and cleaning cooking utensils with soap and water after contact with raw eggs.
-Eat eggs promptly after cooking. Do not keep eggs warm or at room temperature for longer than 2 hours.
-Avoid eating raw eggs in homemade ice cream or eggnog. Commercially manufactured ice cream and eggnog are made with pasteurized eggs and have not been linked with salmonella enteritidis infections.
-Avoid restaurant dishes made with raw or undercooked, unpasteurized eggs. Restaurants should use pasteurized eggs in any recipe that calls for raw eggs, such as Hollandaise sauce or Caesar salad dressing. If you have concerns, ask your server if pasteurized eggs are used at that establishment.
-An estimated one in 10,000 eggs carries salmonella bacteria that may cause serious problems in children, the elderly, and people with weak immune systems. So take heed. Just because the egg looks clean and the shell is intact, it still isn't safe to lick the bowl.
MY COMMENT:
I guess it's your job to warn the public on such a "health risk." Thank you, Cheryl, for letting us know about your own neurotic decision to end a time-honored tradition in your family, as a result of your own overprotectiveness. And thank you for attempting to present us with these facts without "officially" advising the public to do the same. The slant of your article is obvious--you're just HINTING that we should do the same. I get it...to do anything otherwise would just make us bad parents.
Frankly, you'd hold more journalistic credibility if you presented in your article a recorded example of even one case of a child dying from salmonella caught from "licking the bowl." Even that would be enough to satisfy me, as I'm sure other people would too. I can just see it now...scads of rolls of raw cookie dough yanked from refrigerator aisles in supermarkets coast to coast; front-page news of the latest salmonella outbreaks; tearful mothers being interviewed on "60 Minutes", sobbingly lamenting, "Oh, if ONLY I hadn't fed little Jimmy the cookie dough. But I thought it was SAFE! They told me it was SAFE!"...and so on.
This article is of exactly the same ilk as the myriad of other alarmist viewpoints the mainstream media feeds the general public. The world's already faced The Black Death, and cookie dough just isn't a second coming. Yahoo! is really reaching, as usual. Please understand, it's not that I'm holding you personally responsible--your article is typical of Yahoo!'s pseudo-factual journalism...publishing opinion pieces by random "experts", carefully crafted to appear as hard news. I only hope they paid you a pretty penny.
'Tis the season, I suppose.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Busy with bizarrilarities.
The other day, I baked cookies. I have to say, although I bake fairly often, I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. I made chocolate/vanilla, vanilla/peppermint, chocolate/peppermint varieties.
Then earlier this week, I watched "ladies who lunch" having lunch. We're talking four-pound diamond rings, and glitzy shoes and fur purses. They were awesome and I had a difficult time not staring (and, obviously, taking pictures) whilst stabbing my shrimp pasta with a fork.
THE WORD ON THE STREETS:
Tonight some kid who works at Target made me feel like Julia Roberts in that scene of "Pretty Woman" where she gets shooed out of the store because she's not classy enough. He even had other customers giving me dirty looks. Now THAT was an odd experience.
Steve is one super-duper person--he amazes me constantly.
A certain business I know asked me to play their Christmas Party this year, but said they were too broke to pay me to play. Needless to say, I couldn't do it for free. I just looked at the bill and I have to admit that I concluded that what money they *could* spend was probably going to a certain Austin rockabilly band (and probably after that, right up the nose of its lead singer).
I love my newest nerdy little computer game. I also plan to play board games if at all possible while I'm off work for four days.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
I feel good.
I always feel like I give Monica short shrift and so this year, while I was able, I decided to go all out for her. Sometimes I feel like she doesn't look to me for the same kind of friendship as I look to her, but then again she's a supremely independent sort who while in tough times is MORE than there for her friends, she doesn't lean on them in kind when things are tough in her world. So I shouldn't feel too hurt by that, I guess.
Anyway, warm fuzzies have ensued as this email was waiting for me today when I checked it.
********************
Hey sweetie,
Thanks so much for the cake, the massive stash of goodies, cool basket,
gift card, and for being a good friend. The Reece's and red vines are
almost gone and the cake made for a delicious late night snack and
yummy breakfast. You outdone yourself on this bday present!!! Thanks so
much I love it and appreciate the effort you made to make my bday
special. The tres leches cake is the best I've had and makes La
Mexicana's seem like crap.
You are a good friend and a kick ass chick! I feel very fortunate to
have such cool peeps in my friendship posse. I love you! Thanks again
for everything! If you are hankerin' for some cake today give me a
holler.
Kisses,
Mon
***********************************************
Anyway, warm fuzzies have ensued as this email was waiting for me today when I checked it.
********************
Hey sweetie,
Thanks so much for the cake, the massive stash of goodies, cool basket,
gift card, and for being a good friend. The Reece's and red vines are
almost gone and the cake made for a delicious late night snack and
yummy breakfast. You outdone yourself on this bday present!!! Thanks so
much I love it and appreciate the effort you made to make my bday
special. The tres leches cake is the best I've had and makes La
Mexicana's seem like crap.
You are a good friend and a kick ass chick! I feel very fortunate to
have such cool peeps in my friendship posse. I love you! Thanks again
for everything! If you are hankerin' for some cake today give me a
holler.
Kisses,
Mon
***********************************************
Monday, December 4, 2006
Not so bad after all....
Julie pointed out that I've done a lot this year. I suppose it's true.
1) Moved to a new home
2) Started a new temp job
3) Got hired permanently at said job
4) Lived for a month off of one week's pay
5) Paid off the IRS monies owed since 1997
6) Got my student loan out of default
7) Booked some great California dates
8) Fell for someone
9) Totalled one car
10) Negotiated way over the car's worth and got the money
11) Paid $3000.00 down on a new car
12) Got a loan to buy a 2006 Kia Rio5 Hatchback
13) Put on several giant shows
14) Got in two car accidents
15) Learned the value of a chiropractor
16) Improved my credit noticeably (as in, I'm now approved more often)
17) Gone on more than one solo camping trip
18) Drank a lot
19) Ate a lot--I put on fifteen pounds
18) Recorded and mixed down a demo
19) Wrote ten new songs
20) Climbed a mountain
21) Got all my money stolen out of my bank account
22) Got a new, local bank account
Now, 2007? Let's see:
1) Start back to school (in production)
2) Visit Uncle Sam
3) Record/release Casey Sisters CD/DVD package (in production--they went for it!)
4) Play in Europe once more (in production)
5) Record with Don Cavalli
6) Get a raise
7) Visit my mom
8) Finish my solo album (in production)
9) HOPEFULLY no more car wrecks
10) Meet someone who falls for ME in return (in production?)
11) Drink less
12) Eat less--LOSE fifteen pounds (SHOULD BE in production)
13) Take a trip to Big Bend
14) Jaunt off to Mexico for a few
15) Refinance car
16) Start 401K at new employer
17) Start savings account (in production)
18) Get a little Schnauzer (okay, so maybe he'll be more 2008 or 2009)
19) Buy a powerbook
20) Buy a nice guitar
21) Buy a decent bed
Saturday, December 2, 2006
O me, that melancholy martyr.
Today I am experiencing a very odd mix of feeling both sentimental and cynical. I want to cherish, and be cherished by, those who are in my life. I want them to call me, I want them to say they care about me and that I make their lives wonderful. I want to hear words like "I value you" or "I miss you," or "I admire you," and yes, even "I love you." Lip-service may not pay much in the long run, but I'm pretty broke right now. I could use some.
This mood is probably hormonal, in all honesty...but just the same, sometimes a person such as I gets tired of being the one who usually reaches out. It happens so naturally for me. I love to love people. Then occasionally, on days like today, I may just be doing myself a disservice. Because truth be told, if I look at myself harshly as I am wont to do, it's almost like I'm "lying in wait", expecting the ones I love to do something for me in return. I want a "gesture", if you will. Grand it need not be...small ones please me on the same scale as a great one. But even the fact that I want that or need that is hard for me to accept.
As I said, this is probably a hormonal thing, but it's still valid. I just usually don't need it so strongly, or feel the need to voice it.
I feel a lot lonely, and a little sad today.
This mood is probably hormonal, in all honesty...but just the same, sometimes a person such as I gets tired of being the one who usually reaches out. It happens so naturally for me. I love to love people. Then occasionally, on days like today, I may just be doing myself a disservice. Because truth be told, if I look at myself harshly as I am wont to do, it's almost like I'm "lying in wait", expecting the ones I love to do something for me in return. I want a "gesture", if you will. Grand it need not be...small ones please me on the same scale as a great one. But even the fact that I want that or need that is hard for me to accept.
As I said, this is probably a hormonal thing, but it's still valid. I just usually don't need it so strongly, or feel the need to voice it.
I feel a lot lonely, and a little sad today.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Well, I have moved over to this site to satisfy my bloggeristic tendencies. Don't mind if I do. I'm sick to death of Myspace, plus this site's better for older blog archives, and I also know more than a few people whose blogs reside on this site.
This Saturday is "road-trip" night. I'm going to San Antonio, hopefully with at least one other warm body, and I'm going to see Barbara Lynn play at Sam's Burger Joint.
Barbara Lynn rocks the funky beat. I'm hoping to talk to her and schmoozle her and hug her and thank her for doing what she does. 'Cause I'm a nerd like that.
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