iChing

OK, so I've been dreaming lately about being self-employed. Starting a business, working from home, peddling crap out of the trunk of my car . . . something like that. And, because I'm enamored of the shuffle option on my iTunes, I've decided that music should tell my fortune. We'll give it three chances to tell me where I should invest my life savings. Good times, eh?

1. If I Wuz U -- P.M. Dawn
Well, right off the bat the hinky spelling the title would seem to suggest that I wouldn't be doing any editing.
"Mirror mirror whatcha got for me?
Since I'm you and you're just so me
I know they've lost themselves instead
I know that destiny's face is red
I can see my rainbow's real sweet"

Oh, P.M. Dawn, you hippie weirdos. (I don't even know how this album got on here -- did it come with my computer? Does that happen?) Perhaps this choice just reflects my own lack of direction. But I don't like the idea that destiny's face is red. What does my destiny have to be embarrased about?!?

2. Come to Me -- Otis Redding
Otis wants me to come to him and be his love for he loves me so. He sounds kinda sad. Do you represent my potential sugar daddy, Big O? You know I'm not that kind of girl. He's down on his knees, though. Sigh.

3. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood -- Neko Case
Great, more obfuscation and ambiguity:
"Of the fox confessor on splendid heels, And he shames me from my seat"

Whatever dude, was the question too broad?

Fine, maybe we should just do a yes or no question. I really like the idea of running my own junkyard. Is that a good idea?

1. Mule Train -- Maddox Brothers & Rose
"Clippety clop clippety clop clippety clippety clippety clippety clippety and so on, etc."
"They'll keep going 'til they drop"

Hmmm, are you saying it might be fairly monotonous drudgery? That's not what it seemed like on Sanford and Son.

2. Right is Right -- Rufus
"Right is right, wrong is wrong." What is WITH all this equivocation. I asked for your opinion. God.

3. My House Has Wheels -- Southern Culture on the Skids
Well, that's irrelevant, but I do love a trailer. Do you think there's money in junked trailers? Winfred, S.D., would beg to differ.

Well, I believe this reading was inconclusive. If it'd been the Magic 8 Ball I was asking, it would have said "Ask Again Later." So screw it.

P.S. Send any questions you would like to put to my collection of 3,540 songs. Maybe you'll have better luck.

Soul Train Processional

I guess I need to shut up about how Minnesotans don't dance:



That is some Abeln-quality performance, y'all. Does anybody know how I can hang out with these people? Please don't tell me they're all from out of town.

Take This Job

Dude, d'you get that at the DMV?


It's my first day back at work, and I spent a lot of it sort of in shock. "Wait . . . this is my job? This kinda blows." I know. I'm such an ungrateful wretch. I should be glad I even HAVE a job. This is no time to be unenthusiastic. Now is the time for bright eyes, bushy tails, and ass kissing.

Also: I was so relieved when I finally found this "career." It took me a very long time to get around to it. The thought of trying to convince various hiring entities to take me seriously in some other format seems like a wearying, discouraging odyssey. Lord, preserve me. Literally. Just cook me down into a jam and seal me up with some parrafin. I could use the down time.

I think I should probably work for myself. I have trouble with authority anyway. Of course, if I was my own boss, I'd probably hate myself even more. But it seems like the sheer terror of having no safety net at all could give birth to some serious entrepreneurial brillance. Or homelessness.

If only I had the genes or temperament to snag me a sugar daddy. . . if only I could feel comfortable letting someone else take care of me. Stupid feminist work ethic.

Un-Toxic

I'm off this week due to some cost cutting at work, but it's kind of a gift, the time to myself. I've been filling up the days with some different stuff. A mix of purposefulness and lounging. Good times! Yesterday, I took a ride on the Midtown Greenway:



I've been meaning to go check it out, and it doesn't disappoint. Such a lovely trail with gardens and green space, and even a Freewheel Cycle/Sebastian Joes ice cream at the back of the Midtown Global Market/old Sears building. You don't even have to go up to street level. I can now say that I've been over the Martin Olav Sabo bridge, and keep my Twin Cities cred:



The interesting thing about the Greenway is that west of Hiawatha, where the path is below the level of the street, it's difficult to know where you are. You have to rely on the signs for the exit paths and the street names on the bridges overhead. The grade is far enough below the street that you can't really see landmarks, except for all those new condo buildings in the LynLake area. The whole thing is sort of it's own separate world. A pretty, quiet, green, separate world. Very peaceful.

My biggest task this week has been a diet that I've assigned myself -- The 20-Day Rejuvenation Diet Program by Jeffrey Bland. The theory behind it is nothing too revolutionary: mostly whole grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats. It cuts out common food allergans like dairy and wheat (things it's hard to do without for 20 days!). But I'm trying to get to the bottom of some ongoing gastrointestinal distress and chronic fatigue. I'm trying to see if "detoxing" a bit might help me out or give me some hints about what might be going on.

But DANG this thing is complicated. There are very specific menu plans for every meal for all 20 days and very few of the dishes are repeated. I'm buying groceries like a crazy person and cooking like half of every day. If I was working this week, I don't think I could manage it. My strategy now is to slack off a bit on the menu plans but just make sure I'm eating the "approved" foods. I am feeling a bit better, so I think it's worth the effort. But, you know, a girl's gotta leave the house sometimes.

The Final Word

My boyfriend Jay Smooth, not surprisingly, has a insightful analysis of MJ:



Isn't he dreamy?

Lovely

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I listened to the audio book on a road trip over the 4th of July weekend. It's a heartbreaker, but I was glad to have "read" it. It focuses a lot on the issues of women in the last four decades in Afghanistan, so .... harrowing. Especially the years under the Taliban. Not that this is nonfiction, but I assume it's not too far from the truth. I'd recommend it.

View all my reviews.

Lady Detective

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a entertaining, quick read. The main character is immensely likeable and the story or series of stories are tidy but intriguing.


View all my reviews.