Little Ms. No Name

Why John Cusack is the reason I'm still single.

2008-07-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

Dear John Cusack,

We need to talk. I don't really like to lay blame on problems in my life on other people, but frankly, this is a situation where I think it is deserved. You are totally the reason that I am still single. Specially, your portrayal of Lloyd Dobbler in the classic movie, "Say Anything".

I'm sure this isn't the first time that this accusation has been laid on your shoulders, I mean, Lloyd is a fantastic character; The whole stereo above the head with "In Your Eyes" playing, still makes me mist up all these years later. But that is the problem, it is too perfect, too wonderful.

John Cusack you are much too much.

It doesn't help the matter that cool elements of your personality always shine through your characters, like Lloyd's favorite t-shirt, the London Calling one... I heard that was from your actual collection. Much like your other movies, you prefer to wear your own clothes, you like to have some input on the soundtracks (Grosse Pointe Blank, still a collection of music that makes my hair stand on end in happiness). I can't help but fall for it, hook, line and sinker.

Due to my Lloyd-lust, I've dated a series of dark and brooding types. You know the ones, prominent eye-brow ridges, a bit of a widow's peak/pompador thing going on, lots of dark clothing. But they are never you, Mr. Cusack, not quite charming enough to pull it off.

So, John, I'm writing this to say that I think I'm going to have to break up with you so that I can move on, and find myself a new man.

Besides, I've got a bit of a crush on Aiden from Sex and the City to nurture now, he likes the outdoors and fits in well in a city. I think we might get along a little better.

Hope all goes well for you. Sincerely,
Mindy

2008-07-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

Friday night was the Friends of the Library open house. It made me feel all grown up and appreciated. I wore a nice outfit, showed off my new haircut (bangs! I've re-cut the bangs!), and got to hang out with two of my favorite peoples; Alisha and my sister Kristal. Kristal was the coordinator for this shin-dig, and I think she did a splendid job. We had yummy little finger foods... mmmmm sushi, fruit, tiny pieces of brownie... and it was on the roof of the library. As the aural backdrop for the party, we had the sounds of the Arts Festival going on below. I found out that my magical little name tag would get me into the festival for free, but I didn't feel like dealing with 95+ degree weather, and crowds. My tolerance for bottlenecking peoples who constantly step on my feet has pretty much disappeared. I'm crotchety I tells ya! I wanted to get back to my house and watch my DVR'd episodes of Secret Lives of Women! Or maybe The Soup!

My sudden crochetyness? crochetyhood? has inspired me to look into some activity groups around town. Yeah, scary, I know. But I feel it's time for me to branch out, since I haven't been meeting too many new people while playing Wii tennis in my own living room. (Wii tennis elbow hurts just as much as real tennis elbow, by the way). So, this will be an experiment in social networking. And don't worry, I've twisted Mary Ann's wii bowling arm into going with me. I'm a pretty sociable person, but it's always nice to have an emergency buffer.

Saturday morning was another SIL-ly day at my sis Kristal's house. We had my mom, Kristal, Kris, and myself sitting around crafting. Or actually, they were crafting, I was working on my best impression of a person with no spine or muscle tone. I sat slumped in the chair for the better part of three hours watching everyone else be creative while everything I brought to work on seemed sooooooooooooooooo boring. Apparently I have Crafting ADD, and cannot stick with any one craft for longer than 20 minutes at a time. So even though I had jewelry stuff, crochet stuff, and drawing stuff... I worked on my posture instead. But we had good talks and a yummy lunch. Mom made curry chicken sandwiches, which I will post the recipe for once she gets around to typing it up, and we had left over snacks from the open house. All in all, a very pleasant morning!

Saturday evening, there was another break in my lonely, lonely life... Alisha's birthday party! Woot! We gathered at my house, which was now slowly getting cooled off by the addition of a second window cooler, courtesy of my gracious mama; installed by my manly brother and brother-in-law. We ordered Bombay House take-away and came back to me casa to enjoy the temperature outside. Tess, Alisha, Mary Ann, Becca and I hung out and laughed a lot. We played Wii bowling, where Team Mary Ann/Alisha totally spanked Team Becca/Mindy. Poor Becca is video game illiterate though, I was giving her the benefit of inexperience, but Alisha and Mary Ann are very happy winners :) The evening will live on forever in the white trash miner dance, Becca's never-ending supply of surprises she just happened to have in her car, and what happens to a group of girls when they aren't expecting the sprinklers when they go off. Good times... good times...

2008-06-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

OMG, Spaced is finally going to be released in the US, in less than a month!!!

2008-06-22T00:47:00.001-07:00

I love Weeds and I just saw the Secret Diary of a Call Girl... I'm not sure how I feel about it... but this game brought out a mean competitive streak in me...

2008-06-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

See that red X in the middle of the map there? That's my 'hood. Good old Glendale. You see how it's so close to downtown? That's really convenient for getting around, I'm really close to both 215 and I-15. It's a cute little residential area with nice old houses.

Recently I got a new neighbor, a new addition. I shall call him, "Appropriately-Time-of-Day-Challenged" Rooster. The ATODC Rooster, if you will, is just that, challenged. He likes to crow, whenever he damn well feels like it. The sun comes up, cock-a-doodle-doo... Wow, that's entirely appropriate, the sun has come up, it's a new day, HARKEN THE NEW DAY MR. ROOSTER!!!
11:00 AM? Not so much a time to be crowing.
2:35 PM? Whatcha doin' buddy?
8:15 PM? Are you fucking kidding me?!

I like animals. I have two cats and a dog. I have a bird feeder for the wild birds. I took horse riding lessons (English AND Western, thank you). I can't watch movies where an animal gets hurt, I just lose it.

I do not like the ATODC Rooster. We are not friends.

Now, I think there might be a reason the ATODC Rooster is so talkative. He seems to be completely alone. Yeah, no chickens to follow around, no other roosters to intimidate. It must be a lonely life. For a rooster. 5 minutes from down town Salt Lake. Please refer to the above map.

I am so confused.

2008-06-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

I spend so much time talking about my own illness that I have completely forgotten to mention the amazing efforts of other people I know battling their own problems.

My friend Dov Siporin was diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year. He has gone through one course of chemo and radiation, and then surgery. He had over a foot of his intestines removed! During the surgery they found a tumor on his liver. So now he has started his second course of chemo and will be having surgery on his liver in a month or so. And in the midst of all this, he's been training for a 175 mile relay race. Yeah, no, seriously. Dov is bad ass. He's one of the funniest and smartest people out there. While he's going through this, he's consistently made sure that I'm doing ok. What a guy. And people are noticing how impressive he is. ABC 4 Utah did a segment on him recently. They set it to "Dear Prudence" by The Beatles, but he really wanted Social Distortion's "Far Behind"...

He was also on X-96 Radio From Hell's "Ask a..." segment. I'm trying to find the podcast for peoples listening pleasure, I'll update that as soon as I find it. Edit - (I have found the Radio From Hell podcast, it is from the May 28th episode, you can listen to it for free on iTunes at this link.)

He's working on writing a book about the whole experience, and has been keeping a blog about it as well.

Oh and P.S. Fuck Cancer.

2008-06-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

I love my little house, it makes me inordinately happy. I'm sure I've harped on this before, but it is so adorable, I can't help myself.

Now that the weather is nice, I've been doing some fun things in the yard. Although trying to rip out all the weeds in the front garden beds do not really equal fun on most days... I'm still really enjoying it.

Look, I planted some tomatoes!

I can't wait to host my next craft day, cause we will certainly be comfy on this back porch.

2008-06-16T15:51:00.000-07:00

My friends rock, I mean it. They totally rock. I've been lucky enough to have them re-post my little art sale all over the net (through which I got my first sale, thanks Maureen!!), but now look what Niki is doing! She's hosting a yard sale in my benefit. How awesome is that?!

Take a look at her blog entry for all the details, including how to contact her if you want to donate stuff to get rid of.

Rock on Niki, rock on.

Put the Fun in Fundraising!

2008-06-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
if you've been reading my blog lately, you may have noticed that I have a few, you know... health issues. If you don't know, there is a painfully detailed post here about it.

Well, one of the consequences of all these problems has been my loss of income. I haven't been able to work since March, and haven't received any income since then. I used up all my paid time off and long term sick while in the process of getting diagnosed. I'm going on disability through my company, which will mean I'll be making 60% of what I used to make. If I just had rent and utilities and those usual things to deal with, it'd be tight, but I could do it. The problem is, my medical expenses are steadily racking up.

So, to make a long pitch a little shorter, I'm going to try to sell some of my art work for donations that'll go towards these medical bills.

Right now, I have 18 prints from a show I participated in at Kayo Gallery. It is a 5 inch by 5 inch print. Linoleum cut, letter press and hand coloring on black cold press paper. This is what they look like, sorry for the grainy image.

As I said, there are only 18 available. I am creating a new set of prints that will be available if these run out, they will also be a limited numbered edition.

I am asking for a minimum donation of $20 + 2.50 (for shipping in the US) to receive one of the prints. Of course, if you do not want a print and just want to donate, I will gladly and appreciatively accept that as well. :)

It is through the support of my friends and family that I have been managing to stay so up beat, and also stay afloat. You people continue to amaze me every single day. Thank you for being there.

Love,
Mindy

2008-06-07T23:16:00.001-07:00

Today was the Arthritis Foundation Walk. I managed to rustle up $75 in donations, thanks to you guys! My darling friend Niki came with me to share in the joy of walking a mile in the freezing (hello, June, is that you?) weather. And she very patiently put up with all of my excuses to stop: "I think that Burns needs to potty." "I want to let this group pass." Ooops, I think my Camelback is clogged." "Uhm, can I just stop?" She put up with all of this, even after I managed to do this to her...

There were cute kids and dogs, and beautiful views at the Wheeler Farm.

After all this madness, and a yummy meal at Brewvies. I took myself over to Kate's pad where we tie-dyed some onesies in preparation of a very special October arrival.

2008-05-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

The annual Arthritis Walk is coming up in just a few short weeks on June 7, and I will be participating this year. As ya'll know, one of the symptoms of my UCTD is severe rheumatic arthritis, it is a major pain in the ass, and well... joints. I've been becoming more active in the Arthritis Foundation and am really impressed by the work they put into trying to make peoples lives better, and the preventative measures they are trying to get the medical field to put into practice.

If you're interested in knowing more about the walk, click here.

And if you feel the sudden need to donate some money to the cause, I'd appreciate it if you did it through my donation page.

I'll be posting photos from the walk!

2008-05-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, a wonderful magical time of year. The time when parents openly take their children to R-rated movies, when people openly chug beer and smoke all kinds of illicit substances under the beautiful Utah sky. Yes of course, it's Drive-In season.

I have a tremendous soft spot for the Redwood Drive-In. Since Mary Ann and I turned 16 we have been there all summer pretty much every summer. Mary Ann is my longstanding movie buddy, and generally our taste synch's up pretty well. And you consider, you're getting two movies for the same price as one at a theater, sweet deal! Besides, you get to bring your own snacks and crank up the volume to that deafening level that I seem to require these days. All those years of playing guitar with no ear plugs, and not to mention concerts where I was practically strapped to the speaker. Smart move Mindy.

So Mary Ann and I opened our summer tradition last night. We took my Jeep, put the seats down, put down foam pads and blankets and settled in to watch our two movies.

Don't waste your time on:
"Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay". I actually don't think I've squirmed through a worse movie. I've really been trying to think if I have. I never saw the American Pie movies, but I know this is worse. I've never watched all of Meet the Feebles, but I think this had more gag factor, and I mean gag reflex factor. In the first five minutes you had to endure a poop scene and masturbation scene. I basically had a Han Solo moment, "I've got a bad feeling about this". And the whole movie went from bad to worse. Painful racial stereotyping, gross for the sake of being gross sexuality, and Darwin Award level stupidity. The only redeeming part of the whole movie was Neil Patrick Harris playing a deranged version of himself. At one point he downs a bag of mushrooms right in front of a police roadblock and his 2 minute vision quest is the only funny part of the whole movie. Bottom line, even if you had smoked yourself into a permahaze in junior high at the back of the school, I doubt you will find this movie worth harshing your mellow.

Triumphantly enter:
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was just adorable. Seriously, just adorable. I've been hearing lots of good things about it since it came out and I'm happy I finally saw it. Jason Segel wrote and starred in this pretty realistic take on a horrible break up. It is easy to relate to his shell shocked character who is simultaneously desperate to get over his ex, while at the same time having the need to poke at the bruise and make sure it still hurts. I really don't want to give any of this movie away because you just have to see it yourself; just know, it's a very complete comedy that'll leave you "awww"-ing for more. Oh and bonus, male frontal nudity.

2008-05-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Things I wanted to be when I grew up (chronological order):

Elementary school teacher.
Veterinarian.
Comic book artist.
Science fiction author.
Junior high teacher.
Famous opera singer.
Geneticist.
Children's book author.
Famous rock/pop singer.
Comic book writer.
Fashion designer.
Music store owner.
Book editor.
Sound engineer and music producer.
Film actress.
Film producer.
Photographer.
Travel writer.
Magazine writer.
Music store and boutique owner.
Modern dancer.
Belly dancer.
Book store owner.
Hair stylist.
Professor and author on human sexuality.
Music store owner.
Graphic designer.
Layout and print.
College professor.
Professional musician, bass.
Jewelry designer.
Professional artist, printer.
Music store owner.
Mother.

That about sums it up.

2008-05-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

The inaugural craft day was a blast! If you didn't make it, don't worry, there'll be more soon.

And as a bonus, here's a video that Becca shared.

Be prepared to be shredded by rock.

Awwwwww yeah, that's White Gold baby. And while they are brought to you by the Milk Board... I just don't care.

2008-05-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here, I think it's official. Woo!

Things have been busy lately, I've been working on disability stuff, which is slow going and rather tedious, but moving along. I had been feeling a lot better for a couple of weeks, and then boom, all swollen again. Bother.

I'll tell you though, this nicer weather has gotten me ten kinds of motivated. I've been slowly digging out all the grass that had encroached into the front flower beds in preparation for planting some new flowers. I want to find some nice native plants, but also some non-native things like poppies, cosmos and lavender. I also re-potted all of my inside plants, which all seem a tad perkier since I did it.

I've been doing more cross stitch and teaching myself some embroidery. This has been a blast and a have a project list a mile long, I just need the skills to pay the bills. And on a happy note, I got my sewing machine back from my mom. It's a long story, but suffice it to say, that machine was mine! :) So the next step is to make sure it still works and then get out the test fabric and see if I can stitch in a straight line anymore. Everyone better expect hand made gifts this year.

I have been doing craft days with the SILLY group (Sister-in-law...y, kind of). On our first day;Kris and Brittany, Kristal and Sarah, and my mom and I got together and worked on projects and had a fabulous lunch. Then we had another gathering a couple of weeks ago where Laurie also came and we had the rest of the family show up later. We had a big family meeting where my family all pitched in ideas and help for me, which was above and beyond generous.

This coming Saturday is the first friend and family craft day at my house. I haven't gotten too many responses back yet (AHEM) as to who is coming, but I hope we have a full house. We're going to be also working on getting a gift bag put together for Becca's recovery from her heart surgery. She may be feeling up to joining us, and I hope she does! That girl is stronger than just about anyone I know.

Anyways, good things seem to keep coming my way lately and I've felt incredibly lucky. I just hope I can keep up the motivation and translate it into more improvements in my health. Werd.

2008-04-10T10:32:00.001-07:00

Oh me oh my, how I love crafting. I love having the time (for the first time in my life) to really complete projects. I've been doing cross stitch, because for some unknown and unexplainable reason it is easier for me to hold a tiny little needle than a crochet hook or knitting needle. So my yarn skills are suffering, but man am I in love with stitching! I want to move on to embroidery, especially once I found http://www.sublimestitching.com/ These little kits are so adorable! When I get a form of income again, I'm going to buy a bunch of supplies and start making things for peoples. I want to make all sorts of randomness. Oh the ideas are just bubbling away in my head!

2008-03-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

Bonus!

I found the entire second season of the IT crowd on Youtube. Whoooo hoo!

2008-03-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

what am I so afraid of?

Losing my independence
losing my home
losing the capacity to function
never getting a chance to live life
being stressed out about being sick all the time
never finding peace again
being alone and never being with someone
not being able to have a child because of my illness
having to rely on my family
not being able to rely on my family

what do I need to do to help myself?

attempt to figure out disability, how to get on it
find some peace in every day life
stop being paralyzed by my indecision
work on art or other things that make me happy
stop being so petulant
be more proactive about my health
take control.

2008-02-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, the amazing disappearing Mindy. I've not been so blog oriented lately. I'm trying to find a job and feeling slightly pigeonholed by my past 5 1/2 years at my current job. I feel like I would have been better served by working in a field that would line me up for a future career. It seems like I'm shooting off in a million different directions and can't hone in on one specific route. I talk and talk, but can't seem to discover any viable solutions.

Do I:
Open my own boutique, online or physical.
Attempt to sell my art online.
Focus all my attention on school.
Transcription from home.
Go back to retail...?

I'm very torn and feel like I wasted my best years at a job that has left me frazzled and unfulfilled.

2008-02-03T21:20:00.001-08:00

Oh and P.S. I turn 29 tomorrow.

2008-02-03T20:36:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't been around for a long time. I moved recently, to a fantastic new house (I promise to post pictures as soon as I finish unpacking) and it took me a while to get my net reconnected. But in the meantime, I've had some struggles.

I know that most of you reading this are going to know that I've been having some health issues, and I just kind of wanted to address this up front, because this is going to have to become a major focus of my life so I can try to get well again.

I've suffered from arthritis my whole life, winters have always been painful for me, but it's always been manageable. About 5 years ago I had a bout that was so severe I had to go to the ER, but I was better in a couple of days. Well this winter I've been in a state of constant flaring for nearly three months now. To explain how I've felt to be under this much pain is difficult. Imagine having the worst cold, or a flu for about three months. That constant aching, that constant brain muddle, the sense of just not being quite right, and being tired all the time. This is what I've been struggling with. The problem has been, my inflammation was out of control. I couldn't move my arms, my hands were locked in, and my feet were so swollen I could barely wear shoes. It was finally necessary to get into a rheumatologist. I went in and have been receiving a barrage of tests. Deep medical history, 15 vials of blood taken at once, x-rays, intense muscle stress tests, it has been a draining and scary process. Lots of potential disorders were bandied around, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sjogrens, SLE, Raynauds. All autoimmune disorders, and all very likely since autoimmune disorders run in my family. My mother, sister and I all have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is a genetic thyroid disorder. So we all have hypothyroidism, which is part of my severe weight gain over the past 6 years. (Thyroid controls your metabolism, your energy levels, and is essential in mood stabilization through B-vitamin absorption, without it you become lethargic, start gaining weight, lose your hair, and generally develop depression.) My sister also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogrens. Sjogrens causes every moisture creating part of your body to stop functioning properly. She is incapable of crying at this point. She has to use eyedrops all day. It damages your eyes and sinuses. My brother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis several years ago, and he has the disease pretty well under control, but he still flares periodically, and that is scary as hell to witness.

Finally all the tests were done and I came back into the office to get a really crappy answer, I have two conditions working in tandem right now. Antiphospholipid syndrome is basically a disease that cause hypercoagulation. It opens me up to the risk of blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, edema, etc; and actually explains the reason why I've had two miscarriages, if I ever get pregnant, I might be a high risk pregnancy. But luckily, it seems very mild in my case, and I just take a baby aspirin every night. The other condition isn't as clear cut. Undifferentiated connective tissue disease. And as the name suggests, it's a very nebulous diagnosis. It's little like a timebomb. It can develop into any of the disease I mentioned previously, although in my case, my body has more lupus like symptoms. Or it could become mixed connective tissue disease, which would be several disorders working together. Like possibly lupus AND sjogrens. Or, the third case scenario is that it won't progress. That we caught it somewhat early in the midst of a massive flare, and we may be able to manage it.

I had to start taking meds for it, and all the meds that are used for autoimmune disorders are nasty beasts. They have varying degrees of severity when it comes to side effects, and also varying degrees in cost. One of my sisters meds that she gets once a month costs her $450 out of pocket.

They started me on the most common jumping off drug, Plaquenil. Plaquenil is primarily used as an anti-malarial, but it has disease modification factors that inhibits your immune system from attacking your joints, tissue, muscles, organ, or nervous system. It is generally well tolerated and can be used for several years without worry of toxicity. I started it and was getting ill within two doses. I had severe stomach cramps, I had to be near a bathroom at all times, I was waking up several times a night to dry heave in the bathroom. It was debilitating. I was on that for a month and a half, and I lost 20 lbs, I also was so exhausted and still in so much pain that I ended up in the ER again. Finally the doctor decided that I wasn't tolerating, it wasn't getting easier on me, so I was taken off that.

I had a two week gap where the doctor conferred with other rheumatologists about the next plan of action and I could detox from the plaquenil. The idea of prednisone was bandied about, but it is a steroid and as such will make you gain weight and can put strain on your heart. I decided to stick with the pain for the time being.

I was then given my next med to start, methotrexate. Methotrexate still kind of scares me. I'm now officially on chemotherapy medications. They are toxic on your body and I have to get my blood tested every two weeks. Being as it a chemo med, I'm also losing more hair than I already was, I joke that I'm going to have to start wearing crazy wigs to cover up soon enough. I'm taking prescription strength folic acid for my hair, but it still falls out like crazy.

The truth is though, I'm really fucking scared.

These meds are a little easier for me to tolerate, I take 6 pills all at once, one time a week. For the next 12 hours I'm supposed to stay home in case there are side effects, which can strike at any time. For my combination of conditions and meds, there is a serious fear of pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot on my lung. And I in fact spent 6 hours in the hospital two weeks ago getting checked for the possibility of one. I got a CT scan which is now my least favorite medical procedure and tons of blood work, ekg, x-rays. Luckily I came back clean, with just a painful tear in the chest wall around my heart. Muscle tears are possible with UCTD if you're flaring, because everything is strained.

So now, I'm confused, sad and stressed out. Medical bills are starting to stack up at a phenomenal rate, and being as desperately depressed with my work situation is just making things worse. I feel that I need to change my job, to save my life. And I'm being told this by family and friends every day. I'm just scared to not have insurance, because I'll be under care for this for an unknown period of my life. It could go into remission or it could advance.

I want to work with a personal trainer who works with people with chronic disease, but that's really expensive, but I know that losing weight would make my life a WHOLE lot better.

But more than anything, I just want to feel the sensation of energy again, the rush of joy with accomplishing something big, I want to feel creative and work on my art more, I want to just not be so scared and alone.

I'm really sorry to dump this out, considering this blog has generally been a pretty lighthearted affair, but I really needed to get this off my chest for my own piece of mind, since I've barely spoken to anyone about this, and not many people know what I'm really going through. Just know, I love my friends, and I love being around you. I want nothing more in the world than to be with the people who lift me up, and make me feel good, laughing and taking my mind off of things.

I love you, whoever manages to read this whole mess.

Peace,
Mindy

2007-11-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

Some people might not know this about me but I take in pure breeds and give them a weave and then tattoo eyebrows on them...

2007-11-05T21:10:00.001-08:00

Yeah, learn their names cause you wanna.

2007-10-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

I am so going to pimp out a couple of things here.

Firstly. Simplify Media is an amazing company. They make it possible to share your itunes library with any of your friends you'd like to. I had some technical issues with my version when it first started and it was addressed by non-other than the co-founder Paul. He helped me through it, and I got a peek at his collection, which, while in my uber-music elitest ways was a little lacking deserved some props. Down load this bidness right now! Come find me, savascha, and listen to my music!

And secondly, I know I haven't been around to post much, things have been a little hectic in my life lately. One of the reasons has to do with my other blog I'm working on. Welcome to The Vadge Blog. The brainchild of my dear friend Oval Office and I. We have a very talented crew of sass-assy ladies working with us, and are going to take the leap to a full fledge website soon, with links, and things to buy and everything. It's vadgetastic!

Alright, I promise a real update soon, but in keeping with tradition, here's a lovely video. It's business time, ladies and gents...

2007-08-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

What if company meetings were like a blog comment free-for-all?

2007-08-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

You know who I miss? I miss the guy who lives in the apartment behind mine who likes to wear nothing but a bra and panties and eat giant bowls of cereal. Oh partially naked guy, I won't be able to see you again until the leaves fall from the trees... and no longer obscure my view... I hope you still live there by then.

Oh Daniel!

2007-08-13T20:11:00.001-07:00

Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter Fame hits Avengers' Dame Diana Rigg in the face with a condom!

I wouldn't have believed it until I saw it myself. Oh Mrs. Peel, you poor poor woman.

Thanks for the tip Niki!

2007-08-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

In my mind, I wonder what Amy Winehouse sounds like when she speaks...

I like to picture her sounding like Kat from Miami Ink...

But In reality, I bet she sounds more like a British Fran Drescher... I don't know why...

Not that there's anything wrong with Fran Drescher... Right?

2007-07-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

I really want to thank everyone being so nice about my Gramma and getting in touch wit h me. She is amazing, and we hope she'll stick around a little bit longer, but that if she is in a lot of pain she can go quickly.

She grew up in Duschesne (an unpronounceable Utah town name) and work in a local hotel as the general assistant/go to girl. She met my grandfather, who was 25 years her senior there. She was 17 when they got married, and alone and pregnant she moved to Salt Lake City to wait for Grandpa to finish building Strawberry Reservoir. She had to deal with burying three babies, and it took her several years to have my mother, and another 8 year for my uncle Joe.

She has worked her entire life, she's never once thought of not working. Her children were instilled with that at a young age, my mother started dancing professionally at age 3 and was making all her own money by the time she was 11. My uncle did odd jobs and saved every dime. I think he still is.

To me, my gramma was a second mom. My father left when I was 18 months, and I was the youngest of 6 children. My mother sank into a deep depression and wouldn't leave her bed for several years. Finally she did and decided to go to school. She became a paralegal by the time I was 6. Meanwhile, I was so small I needed care all the time. This fell on Gramma and Grannpa. I knew how to dial their phone number before I could tell you my own. Gramma would drop me off back at home, and I'd call her within hours begging to come back. We had special dinners together, peaches, toast, and chocolate milk every night. And we'd just sit and talk. I had my own drawer in her dresser that had all my treasures in it, my blanket, my costume jewels she gave me, cigar boxes of grandpa's to put special rocks and toys in. And when we slept I shared a bed with her, we'd fall asleep talking and holding hands. She'd tell me stories from memory, like Thumbelina, and Pinnochio. She is a very dramatic story teller.

Every morning we'd wake up with the train rumbling through Rose Park and we'd get up to go take care of her horses, Raffi and Sunshine. I helped with every aspect of their care and got to learn how to ride bareback. I fed the barn cats, and they would follow me all across the stables. I had my own dog, so to speak, Tiffany. She was a Keeshund, the most gentle dog on the planet. She was so well trained that she knew how to herd me away from trouble and bring me back to Gramma if I strayed too far. She always had pets, and taught me the love to be found in caring for something other than yourself. She owned (my brother know owns it, but she doesn't know) a 10 acre piece of land near Fruitland in the Uintahs. I spent nearly every other weekend there growing up. There was a tree fort, and a huge fire pit, and the river at the bottom of the pasture that had a sand bar. There were cactus's and juniper trees, and Indian paintbru sh. Red ground and beautiful blue skies. That was our retreat and our haven. I'm so grateful it will remain in our family.

When Tiffany died when I was 18, I was completely devastated. Raffi passed, then Sunshine. But we have her filly Dixie still.

The hardest part of dealing with gramma has always been "her episodes". She was not diagnosed with Bi-polar disorder until she was in her mid-50's. She had been self medicating by being an alcoholic. She would stop drinking, or later go off her meds, and would just deteriorate. She went through psychotherapy, and even electroshock until she was in almost her 60's. She had a tendency toward paranoia, and bouts of almost amnesia. She would be picked up by the police disoriented and confused. As her age progressed it became full blown dementia. She can barely contain any memories anymore, and what she does remember is confused and possibly untrue.

This is the worst part of watching her fade. She was the most active, lively, irrepressible woman I've ever known. She needed a fence on her land, she built it by hand. She got lonely in her later years, she dated a much younger man. She gave me my first bottle of hair color (officially a hair rinse) in the same color she's used for the past 30 years when I was 9 years old, an a le ather mini-skirt when I was 11. She loved listening to Cocteau Twins with me when I lived at her house for a brief time when I was 17 and had been kicked out. We would listen to them and just talk about life. She has always loved me as a daughter and I hope I am worthy of that lov e.

No matter what happens Gramma, I will always love you as my second mom and my first and most important best friend.

2007-07-17T23:08:00.001-07:00

Funny thing, most people move to the world of online personals (oh I'll admit it) when they feel like they've run out of good chances to meet people in the "real" world.

I'm some times amazed and yet not at how quick the judgments of people are. Uploading a bad photo is like going out in public in your PJ's and curlers, what is the impression you're making. Because this is a world of snap judgments.

I know, because I do the same, "eh too bald, too brooding, too... Utah" I've noticed a remarkable trend in similarity, looks wise. And if all of these men who say they are into the outdoors and traveling the world and hot babes, but having a deep emotional connection... then why are they still online?

I suppose this is really naive of me... but I'm not going to date where I work, and frankly I don't get out as much as I do.

Beggars shouldn't be choosers, but still... Bareguyut69, I don't think it's going to work out.

2007-07-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

I've never been a huge Daft Punk fan, they're entertaining, it's easy to dance to. It reminds me of too many alcohol fueled nights at Bricks when I was 19... but this song has been stuck in my head ever since I saw this first video.

But now we had to have a video fight off... fight...down? Uhm.... whatever, which one do you think is better?

Hard choice, huh?

2007-06-28T17:15:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the tip Becca, Dan Deacon rules. He rules this fucking planet.

2007-06-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

I am absolute smitten by this man right now. I've always had a major soft spot for magicians. I even had The Harry Black magic kit when I was a kid and never got very good at it. But I've always been fascinated by magic of all types, psychological especially.

Meet Darren Brown... ...an adorable British man who simply does the most amazing feats of psychological trickery.

Here's just a very very silly clip of his. Sorry, but I couldn't get an embedded version.

But then there's this amazing (looooong video) of his show called "Trick or Treat", which is basically an intense mind trip. In this one, a girl has an "out of body" experience with her own death simulated.

2007-06-04T17:39:00.001-07:00

I'd like to introduce you to Ben. He's my favorite interweb star. Cause he makes me laugh my ass off. Please, feel free to visit him at his many websites:

The Heather and Ben Show
i <3 snacks
Inside Ben's Head

And partake of this lovely gem, that first made me love him, all those two long years ago.

2007-06-03T20:59:00.001-07:00

Ever had one of those days were you get up and just decide that doing anything more taxing than reading two books is a very bad thing?

And by the way, just because the three books I read this week were recommended to me by my 15 year old niece means nothing... Other than the fact that I just read two young adult books and an anthropological study on why some cultures thrived, progressed and then decided to go kill other people and take their land.... uhm.... so...

Now I'm going to bed, with visions of Manifest Destiny skipping through my head.

2007-06-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

Happiness is a 20 movie pack of Cult Classics.

Reefer Madness, check.
Omoo-Omoo, The Shark God, check.
Child Bride, check.

The list goes on, lots of sex, drugs and... test tube babies.

I can feel myself going numb from joy.

Ok, new internal debate. Keep gym membership, or nix gym membership and put that money towards car?

And if anyone (of the four people who read this blog) ever feel the urge to help me house hunt, since I like to give up after the 15th "no pets" refusal... I won't say no.

Off to tend to sunburn now since I decided to wander off in the mountains for a long time, sit in the beautiful sunshine surrounded by juniper trees, get completely lost, have to walk down a wash with huge storm clouds behind me and almost miss my family's property by about a half mile.

2007-06-01T20:16:00.001-07:00

I'm just going to continue posting videos forever... It's what makes me happy.

2007-05-31T09:59:00.001-07:00

Well, ARUP caught on that people were spending time on Blogger, so now it is blocked from work. There go my most creative moments!

Update? Yes, let's.

Other ankle, whamo, ouch. Only had a brace for a week, but it was one of those monsterous boot things.

My brother Eric and his wife came to a family function. *jaw drops* and she managed to stay civial and not blame any of the problems of their children on me. I spent the first couple of seconds they showed up saying "what the hell?" over and over without realizing it. Hopefully they didn't notice.

I'm on the hunt for a car, so I can spend less time injuring myself, and more time: doing what I want, not asking for rides, going to SL Cemetary for lunch like I used to, driving to Antelope Island or Saltair, going camping, going to the gym, going to a movie by myself, grocery shopping, going to appointments without having to schedule around when I might be able to get a lift, DOING WHAT I WANT!

Ahem.

Let's see, with no television (by choice) I've become the voracious reader I used to be. I'm almost back up to my old speed, I can read approximately 400 pages in two days. When I'm back up to one day, that'll be a good thing.

I've been out doing more walking, well since I got the monster boot off, but I really want to be back up to hiking like I was before I hurt my ankle. I held my own, for the most part, in Goblin... but I was despondent about not being able to climb and be crazy like everyone else. Must. Get. Weight. Off.

Sadly, there is nothing else to report. So I'll give you another video. Remember Oasis, Wonderwall? Well, this is how the song should have sounded....

2007-05-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

I just love Feist. And this is the most adorable video, to the most adorable song.

2007-04-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

Talkin' bout our generation!

Dude, this is the coolest thing I have read in a LONG time. I want a Rock'N'Roll granny on the Dole in my family!

Coolest Grannies ever

2007-04-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

Oh I am so excited! I am going to Goblin Valley from the 20th-22nd! It's my first real vacation in nearly four years! I can barely contain myself. Three days of camping and hiking and being with good friends. How exciting! We're going for Becca's birthday and it's going to be a reall occasion. My only sadness is that there is no way I can take Mr. Burns with me. He'd just cook in the heat and I wouldn't be able to keep up with anyone. My brother and sister-in-law normally look after him, but they are going out of town for spring break with their kids. Gah, I wish I could afford a house sitting. I've got someone to look after the kitties, but Burns needs some real attention. *sigh* I'm sure I'll figure something out. It's the one down side to pets, it's hard to just pack up and go on a trip without thinking too much.

Ah, but vacation! Yay!!

2007-04-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

All I need is one week off work, someone to watch the babies, a hammock, 40-50 comic books (or 10-20 graphic novels) especially of the Hernandez brothers persuasion, my iPod, lots of Hansens soda, my craft supplies and not a soul for miles around.

To help the offleash areas in Utah

2007-03-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

To all people who enjoy walking with their dogs off-leash in Parley's Gully--

It's crunch time. Those who want Parley's inaccessible to dogs are working hard to make it so, and we need to work just as hard for our rights. We're asking all of you to email your City Council Representative, and to forward this to anybody you know who also feels that dogs should be allowed off-leash in Parley's Gully.

THE ISSUE SO FAR
The City Council has put together a small group to discuss a compromise between those who want no dogs in Parley's Gully, those who want dogs off-leash throughout the park, and those who fall somewhere in the middle. While we are hopeful of a positive outcome, it's difficult to envision a positive scenario that makes all sides happy.
This could result in a standoff between sides, and a decision by the City Council to ban dogs from Parley's.

Read below to find out a few ways you can help.

1. EMAIL YOUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER (SLC RESIDENTS) OR THE COUNCIL AT LARGE (NON-CITY RESIDENTS) Even if you've already written your City Council Representative and the council at large, please write another simple note letting them know how you feel about having your dogs off-leash in Parley's--and how it may or may not affect your vote. We want to work with the City Council, but we need to make sure they know where we stand--and how many of us there are.

Click (or copy and paste) this link to find the name of your City Council Representative: http://slcimap2.ci.slc.ut.us/website/council_districts/viewer.htm

Carlton Christensen (District 1): carlton.christensen@slcgov.com

Van Turner (District 2): van.turner@slcgov.com

Eric Jergensen (District 3): eric.jergensen@slcgov.com

Nancy Saxton (District 4): nancy.saxton@slcgov.com

Jill Remington Love (District 5): jill.love@slcgov.com

Dave Buhler (District 6): dave.buhler@slcgov.com

Soren Simonsen (District 7): soren.simonsen@slcgov.com

General Council email (For anyone outside the city limits): council.comments@slcgov.com

24 HOUR HOTLINE NUMBER 801 535-7654

2. EMAIL THE MAYORAL CANDIDATES ON THE CITY COUNCIL
There are several people running for Mayor on the City Council. Please let them know that the outcome of Parley's will influence your vote, even if you're not you're in their Council district:

Nancy Saxton: nancy.saxton@slcgov.com

Dave Buhler: dave.buhler@slcgov.com

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Charlie The Unicorn

2007-03-15T21:34:00.001-07:00

Shuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnn the nonbeliever!

Ankle beautification, for cheap!

2007-03-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Ah, the beauty of torn ligaments. Look at the color, the shading, the videos in the background. Life is good.

Paxilback - Gray Kid parody of Justin Timberlake's Sexyback

2007-03-08T20:46:00.001-08:00

I can not make my phone ring by looking at it...

2007-02-25T20:23:00.001-08:00

2007-02-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs to be reminded once in a while about how cool Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is.

P.S. Things are dandy in the land of Mindy.

Brenna, will you please get your ass out here again?

2007-02-12T19:29:00.000-08:00

This is bullshit. Helicopters are flying over my house. I've been spotlighted while sitting on my back porch. Trolley Square is three blocks west from my house. Directly. If the apartment complex behind me wasn't there, I would be able to see the police on the street.

I am completely shaken up.

Possibly five dead. The gunman is dead.

This is bullshit.

2007-02-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

Well, the birthday went by with hardly a ripple of recognition. Which was just how I wanted it... I think.

Welcome to the 28th anniversary of my birth. In honor of this auspicious day, grown men battered each other mercilessly on a field while struggling to run around with something that looks like a leather covered yam. This is a repetition of the theatrics observed on the day I was born.

So in honor of me being a whack job around my birthday, I wanted to bring ya'll the story of yet another whack job.

Meet Lisa, she is a mother, wife and astronaut. Her field is aeronautical engineering and she is a Navy captain. She enjoys dressing in costumes and hunting down women who get in the way of her and her crush.

So, way to go Lisa, way to hunt that women down, that'll teach her for getting a crush on a single man that you are not having a relationship with.

2007-01-29T16:20:00.000-08:00

Say what? I just found a bundle'o'presents attached to my front door. Inside are all sorts of tiny goodies that are making me all giggly. Icy Hot? Mini crayons? A 50% adorable picture of my dear dear darling and I at her wedding (which is negative points for me trying to not look like a drowned ferrett in the humidity)? And let me just say, BEAUTIFUL necklace. I am the luckiest gal in the world.

And Bumblebee, you are not an asshole, not in any way. You are a little muffin that is full of tasty morsels. You are in reading overload, and if osmosis really worked, I'd say sleep on the books you need for the exam, but it doesn't really work that way. You need to do this, because in a couple of months, we will be free to enjoy the sunshine with our fat dogs and your silly hubby. That is, if I can find time in my busy schedule of becoming anorexic and work out addicted, oh and avoiding finishing gallery submissions at all costs.

Chai?

2007-01-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you a little story that just popped in my head this weekend.

It was my 11th birthday, I was not very excited for it. My mom had made me invite a bunch of girls that I was not friends with. I think it was a slightly misguided attempt at making me become more popular. Well, all that did was make me throw a truly phenomenal hissy fit at my party. This is especially embarrassing, since all these girls had really and truly tried to make a go at having fun at my party. I'd gotten nice presents, and instead of being grateful I ran off to the upstairs to cry my eyes out. It's my party, I can cry if I want to.

I was sitting on the edge of the tub in the bathroom when someone knocked on the door and came in. One of the girls came in and sat down next to me. I don't really remember what she said to me, but I know that she was being incredibly kind. Someone had given me a magic 8 ball as a gift, and she had brought it with her and we played at making predictions. She made me laugh, made me stop crying and got me to come back to the party and start having fun. Sadly, the rest of the evening was slightly ruined by the weather... as it has pretty much always snowed on my birthday it was no surprise... but it was a particularly heinous snow storm which stopped us from completing the festivities at Round Table Pizza.

I've remembered that kindness all through the years, even though I never made any overtures towards friendship with that girl after that. She had really tried to reach out to me, and I was too self conscious to allow it to happen. But I always appreciated it.

I have been lucky enough to reconnect with this girl in the past year. She now works with me and we've been slowly getting to know each other. I think she is a real treasure and would be very proud and honored to be her friend. I think she is kind, and funny. And in my new founded spirit of gratitude, I wanted to thank her for this kindness as I come up on another birthday (17 years later).

Thank you Katie.

2007-01-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

My new gung-ho attitude towards getting healthy is certainly becoming an interesting experience. Coming from a past of being very athletic and into a present of being... the opposite... I think that I might be pushing myself a little harder than is warranted.

Yoga on Thursday with Justin was awesome. The teacher is hard, but supportive. The poses are fairly elementary, but she moves through them so quickly, you're really getting a work out. I was dripping sweat, something I haven't done for a long time. I could barely stay on my yoga pad I was so slippery. Eww. I know. But I was very pleased with the fact that I was able to keep up with all the poses a lot better than I'd expected. My wrist didn't even trouble me, considering we were in downward dog for most of the class. I feel supercharged afterwards.

Yesterday was a tad rough cause I was starting to feel the exertion more. Then last night I went and had my first one on one session with the personal trainer. She is very nice and funny, and totally non-judgmental. We spent the first half of the session getting all of my information in, no surprises there, I'm in the "unhealthy" range. But she helped me put together a realistic and totally normal meal plan, and set an exercise regime that is not too frightening. She thinks that for me to achieve my goal weight loss (in a healthy way) will take me about 8 months. All in all, that's not a long time, especially when I think of how long it took me to become this sedentary.

But this morning, I felt like I'd moved two apartments and then gone for a jog. So I took a nice hot bath today for about two hours. :)

And now my mom is on her way to pick me up and take me to look at some new houses for sale. It's down in the kind of Glendale area, but the houses are just built and reasonably priced. So, we're going to see if it might be worth the effort. Especially if SarahJo moves out here at the end of February, then she could move in with me. We'd have a nice place for all the dogs and cats to run rampant. How would it be to own my own place and not have to deal with asshole neighbor anymore? Not have to deal with an apartment so drafty it's the same temperature as the outside all year round? Heaven.

2007-01-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

I have received an invitation to my 10 year school reunion. They created a website for the gathering, and I keep watching it in morbid fascination. I didn't actually graduate from Skyline, I only spent my sophomore year there, and the first two months of my junior year before I went screaming into the warm embrace of Realms of Inquiry (yeah, my hippie high school). To be technical, I graduated through night school, since my senior year consisted of a 1/2 a credit of English... 6 hours of classes and I graduated...

But I digress, to go or not to go. I am flip flopping like a gasping fish on this. While I'm intrigued to see how my classmates turned out, and I have known quite a few of them since elementary school, I'm also completely horrified by the idea of them seeing me. I was by no means popular, and in fact a little bit, well.... mocked and terrorized by some of the jocks. Typical high school experience, though, I'm none too affected by it any more. But most of my friends were older students, a year or two older than me.

But mostly, 10 years is a long time, and it seems to have gone by rather quickly. And I'm looking at these photos thinking, they all look so old! I look so old. And since I'm not married and don't have 2-4 children like the majority of them, I feel even more detached from the whole thing.

Dear God.

2007-01-24T13:25:00.000-08:00

Body Found in Weber County Waste Transfer Station:

CSI has nothing on Utah's waste management specialists.

They saw blood, they found body, death considered "suspicious".

That is all.

-(Updated with link!)

2007-01-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Ira Glass,

How sad I am that I missed you today! You were so close, yet so far away. I wish you'd given me more advance notice, and I would have totally been there. Lunch was included? Why didn't you say so?

Have I ever told you how much I love you? It's true! You're an inspiration to me, and I look up to you very much. Besides you have that adorable little voice that just makes me get all giddy. But now I'm just getting off track.

What I wanted to say is, when are you going to hire me?

Love,
Mindy

2007-01-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

Eww. Medium pulp orange juice is not meant to be chugged.

2007-01-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

Things I love right now:

-Walking around town, music just sounds better when you're walking with your giant headphones.
-Oh, giant headphones.
-The smell of peppermint, can't get enough of it.
-Tea. Any way I can get it.
-Re-reading trashy novels from my youth.
-Watching the sun come up over the mountain from my desk with a cup of coffee, this is becoming habitual.
-Stereolab, but when don't I love them?
-John Fluevog shoes. My $150 investment twelve years ago pays for itself over and over every winter, when I'm not sliding the entire way down 4th south. God bless you Fluevog, and your Angelic Soles.
-Cough drops, even though I'm eating so many it's making my tummy hurt. But at least I'm not getting dirty looks for coughing all day.
-Pearls, I could walk around wearing nothing but strands of pearls and feel like a real class act.
-Cat toys and the hypnotic hold they have over Yeti and Rufus. Without them, I would never sleep.
-Senor Tuber on Toothpicks, aka; tiny body, big head, aka; Mr. Burns. His fatness amazes me, but I won't say no to the cuddlyness.
-Big plans for the future, suddenly they seem so possible.
-Speaking of plans, ooooooh the ideas.

2007-01-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

Guilty pleasures from the sickbed of Mindy:

Watching old favorite movies and allowing myself to be overcome by emotion. A Room with a View, when George kisses Lucy on the hillside in Florence? Where was he when I was there? I was too busy getting my heart broken by the assistant director of the boys choir from Sydney, Australia... Of course I can't remember his name, but that isn't the point.

Sleeping in my new comfy bed with my nice new sheets and comforter. Although I did get to puppysit my brothers dog and that always adds strain on the dynamic of my little family. Burns gets really protective of him, especially since Sammy and Yeti fight all the time. Burns and Yeti are best friends, unless Sammy is here. Then it's all barking and hissing. Meanwhile poor Rufus gets molested by Sammy repeatedly, I had to pull him off poor Roo's back three times today alone! And then it takes a few days for everyone to find their equilibrim again. It doesn't help that I managed to forget I'd let the puppies outside and they were out in the freezing cold for a half hour while I was dozing, luckily they yipped loud enough for the asshole neighbor to notice and let them in the laundry room, which woke me up... I thought they were behaving a little too well.

I'm rereading trashy books from my youth, nothing is more healing to me than reading Anne McCaffrey... let's not talk about it, I don't want to cheapen the moment. Especially since Kelly was so kind to give me five books over Christmas that I haven't finished...

Ordering pizza and not feeling too guilty about it. I needed to get soda for my sore throat somehow, and I'm not about to walk to the Indian-mart in freezing temperatures, no ma'am or sir. I'm going to make some college student do the work for me.

Having a decent excuse for not working on either of the prints I have coming due soon. I need to finish a lino carving in the next week or so, and start playing with my new watercolor technique idea for the gallery submissions. But, it seems like a lot of work, especially since I woke up to a house full of snotty tissue that had been lovingly pulled from the trash and distributed by my adoring pets. That Yeti, he's a natural born dumpster diver. If it weren't for his good looks, that hobo would be out on the street...

Last but not least. Heat. I'm going to have the biggest gas bill just from the past two days alone, hot baths and the heater on full blast... but it is such a nice change of pace from the beginning of winter. And now that I have the landlord finally paying half of the gas (since he attached an appliance illegally to my gas line, it's the least he can do) I finally feel like actually turning the heat up for a while.

Alright, it's time to go climb back into bed, read my trashy book and let my now Sammy deprived pets calm down.

xo-M

2007-01-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

Ah, I love the smell of a fresh new blog. Take a deep breath!

So, I'm timing this new blog to coincide with my need to get a little motivation in my life. I've been *cough* a little lazy lately... and by lately I mean the past five years. But no more!

I'm planning big things, people... big things...

First of all, Operation Salt is coming along, we're planning on submitting to galleries soon.

I may be starting a Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School group here in ol'Salt Lake City, thanks Molly!

The job has moved back to the main lab, which will be a nice change (can you believe, a corner window?! Who cares if it overlooks a heating vent and is an interior corner, if you squint you can see the mountains!)

School?

Yes sir, the times, they are a changin'.

Did I mention I'll be 28 in three weeks?