Feelin' fine.

After being sick for a week, i think it is gone, gone, gone. My sister pointed out that my sudden stoppage of nicotine inhalation may be adding some uncomfortable elements to my current lung snafu... anyway, i've coughed up some pretty nasty stuff (don't you love reading this?) and been inside for about five days now, so yeah. Think i'm ready to hit the great wide world now, with my new, amazing (hopefully) lungs.

It also came to my attention that i haven't had any coffee since January first, which sincerely amazes me. It's just that when i'm sick, even the thought of a cup of joe sort of makes my skin crawl. So should i use this as an opportunity to wean myself off of the black stuff? Not that i drink it black, in fact i prefer milk and sugar- brown- sugar.. but still. Someone as high-strung as me probably doesn't need to be imbibing any caffeinated beverages on the whole. Hm. i think i'm gonna go with it. See if i can mellow out a little, which would indeed be nice. Walking down the street without feeling like i'm going to have a panic attack for absolutely no reason would be a welcome change, that's for sure.

Also, hooray: my chapped hands have finally healed up. For some reason, while we were up North, the skin on my knuckles got seriously fucking fucked. At the airport on the way home, i was fairly certain that people were avoiding me because they didn't want to catch whatever i had... what they didn't know was that i was merely lotion-deprived, and had probably washed too many dishes and made too many snowballs. Seriously: it was gnarly.

And i forgot to tell you all about one of the most fun things we did on our winter vacation: the Redneck Dog Run. (those are my sister's words, so it's okay.)
On the second night we were there, Hilary drove Nat and i and three dogs up to a remote road in the snowy wilds. i squeezed in the back of the tiny Nissan truck with Eris, Hilary's brown-sugar with bat-ears pit bull, and Nat got the shottie. Her bf's two black lab (with some Newfoundland? anyway, they had big paws) adorables rode in the bed, tongues lolling in the icy cold. We were trying to beat the light, but failed, and ended up running the dogs in the blue half-light that is my favorite time of day, and into the darkness.

Basically once you're at the beginning of the road, you let the dogs out, and start the car and drive. We probably topped out at fifteen or twenty, the dogs racing along in front of us almost the whole time. They are leaving lovely tracks in the (no longer) unspoiled snow on the side of the road, which reminds me of Winnie the Pooh for some reason. Eris actually manages to look small next to Zeke and Jack, and when they bound ahead of her she shifts gears and always regains her ground. Eventually, Eris and Zeke run off the road somewhere, where we lose track of them for about 15 minutes. We use this time to get out of the car and have a snowball fight, and throw some hunks of ice up in the air for Jack. Why do dogs love this game so much? No matter. We love it too.
Driving back down the road, whistling into the cold air for the last 2 dogs, hoping that all is well. Finally a black shape: Jack's brother is back. But where is Eris? Ah, here she is, looking humbled, indeed. We will never know where they were that evening. She hops back in the back of the cab with me, and we all head home. The dogs are tuckered out all night. And i sincerely hope that i get to do this again someday.

p.s.) if you have a lot of free time, and i'm sayin' a LOT, then get lost over at the Weblog Awards. i've found some funny stuff, like Sleeveface and Raymi and my new music blog. And if any of these aren't your cup of tea, there is plenty more where that came from. But honestly, you might lose an afternoon. And an evening, and the wee hours........

"Jeremy's.... iron."

..Does anyone remember that Simpsons episode? Where Lisa is given the (supposedly simple) task of anagrammatizing "Jeremy Irons" into a description of the man himself, and that is all she can come up with? Ever since, i have had that scene randomly pop into my head every once in awhile, and then i spend the next five minutes or so trying to figure it out in my head. Honestly, i don't even know if one exists! But it is the challenge, the challenge.

In other news: it's quite possible that i'm over my fear of flying. Which is good considering i've got a 4-leg trip ahead of me this x-mas. Flying with Virgin (the airline, you perv!) doesn't hurt, either. Does anyone know about this? How you get on the plane and there is weirdly soothing techno music playing, and purple and pink track lighting running down the entire length of the cabin? Also, you can play games or listen to music (and a fairly decent selection, actually!) or even watch TV for free? i found it to be very helpful, as it is basically a huge distraction mechanism on the seat in front of you. Although i suppose the double vodka-ginger ale i had before boarding probably did its share. I'll try and tackle the next flight sober and see how that goes.

Also: if you don't know what to get that hard-to-shop-for person this holiday season, how about something special? Also, Heifer International will set up a family in need (in a third world country) with a flock of chicks, a goat, a sheep or cow, rabbits, etc. so that they will have something to sustain themselves with, and to possibly sell as well. Nat's mom did this for me one x-mas and honestly, the feeling never left. i thought it was such a great thing to do. Enough with this buying tons of crap for people that probably don't need/won't use what you get them anyway. Here are a couple of other links as well.

Well! Now that all that's over with: how do you all feel about "tony" as an adjective? i kind of forgot how much i enjoy it. What else? Oh, here is a link to a Nina Hagen video that you should probably watch. No, seriously. You have never seen anything like it. Her voice is amazing. And her personal style is... well, it's even more amazing.

Okay, time to go check some student papers for plagiarism... the things we do for love!

Until next time, folks. Oh- and try and remind me that i'm quitting smoking this New Year's. Because i am.