all personal...no politics...

Well, Thursday just kinda flew by. We've been busy today thanks to the ominous weather report for tomorrow: 12 inches of snow. I'm thinking that's probably way off the mark, but heaven forbid anyone should be without stacks of movies and books just in case. Me? I'm off tomorrow. I really hope it does snow like crazy because nothing makes me happier than snuggling up on my couch for a day while snow is falling and Love Actually is on the tv. I'm not going to be very happy Saturday morning at 7:20am when I have to trudge through the stuff to get to work by 8, but I'll deal with that when it happens. AND tomorrow a young gentleman will be stopping by in the afternoon to snake my drain. Hells yes, I say! Though my neighbor's shower is far superior to mine it'll be nice to not leave the house to bathe. Plus, you know, not having to look at the vileness that is currently occupying my bathtub will be nice too.

Though working on a Saturday is never fun, I'm looking forward to my weekend of which night one kicks off tonight. A much needed late night noshing and cocktailing with my former roommate is the plan. We haven't hung out in months and both have much to catch up on. This is one of those people that I absolutely positively adore and miss very much. We were the finish-each-others-sentences kind of friends. We rarely see each other anymore for a myriad of reasons. I'm optimistic that tonight will be the beginning of a much more consistent friendship. Friday night is an early night for me due to the working on Saturday. Saturday night I'm hoping to head to G.R. for an evening of BuzzTime-a game which I have technically played before but have no idea how to play. It was New Year's Eve. And Sunday I'm being very brave and heading to multiple malls for a day of shopping.

It's going to be a very good weekend.
I just know it.

my life is like a bad chick lit novel

I'm not going to go into details or anything, but if sometime in the near future one finds me drinking bottles of cheap wine alone with my cat and singing bad 80s love songs at the top of my lungs it's time for an intervention.

No more DVD Release Parties! I was up against Santa Claus and a parade downtown and still managed a respectable audience of 138. No more popcorn. No more unruly children. No more substandard computer animated cartoons. I'm being forced to continue this event in the spring, but am scaling it way back to only 2 or 3 films instead of 5. I've said it before and I will say it again: it is not my job to program for children. I will miss the now infamous emails I would send out after the show explaining how things went as will the staff it seems. I received an email from a coworker suggesting I continue sending out a weekly email describing my observations and interactions with patrons and then turn it into a book. Though occasionally you do have a good one (last night a 15 year old girl asked if she could "rent out" the library auditorium to throw her Sweet 16 Party) most patron interactions are brief and boring. "Yes, it sure is wet out there! Sounds like we're in for some snow! No, I haven't read the latest Karen Kinsbury. I'll have to check that out! Yup, it IS busy!" Not exactly page-turning material.

In honor of this momentous ending, I celebrated a little too much at the Sandbar. I had some good times with some regulars. And on the way home I discovered an unconventional method for ridding myself of the hiccups. It was a rough start to the day especially given that the drain in my bathtub was (and probably still is) clogged even after 2 bottles of Draino. It is currently filled 1/2 way with disgusting rusty water and floaty bits of junk. A call was made to the caretaker extraordinaire but I'm not holding my breath that it's been taken care of. I know I would have felt 100% better had I been able to stand in a steaming hot shower for 15 minutes. If the situation hasn't improved I've already lined up a shower for the morning at the front house.

Is it just me or has the U.S. started acting like an abusive spouse by blaming Iraq for the unstable environment? Now wait just a second, here. Before we (foolishly) invaded that country (illegally and unnecessarily) Saddam Hussein was doing a fine job of keeping everyone in line. Sectarian violence wasn't an issue. And it's not a coincidence that the violence increased right after the Democrats won back the House and Senate. They aren't stupid and they watch CNN right along with the rest of the world. Iraq's afraid we're going to pull out and everyone's looking to grab power and control. The White House can say whatever it wants, but it's also not a coincidence that memo was leaked the day G.W.B. was supposed to meet with al-Malaki. Don't call it a civil war and just keep insisting that al Qaeda is involved ("There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented, in my opinion, because of these attacks by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal." That's a G.W.B. quote.) and maybe no one will notice when we pull out leaving that country a complete disaster. You think he'll ever define exactly what victory means in Iraq? Because I'm starting to wonder if victory means there are no more Iraqis left.

"We will continue to be flexible, and we'll make the changes necessary to succeed. But there's one thing I'm not going to do: I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," Bush said later, in a speech here in the Latvian capital. "We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren."

What about their children and grandchildren?

guess who's back?

Well, that didn't feel much like a holiday. I suppose having to work Friday didn't help. Nor did having to work Sunday afternoon. Ah well. It's Monday, again.

Despite it being all too short, it was a lovely weekend. The Beechwood wasn't the wretched experience anyone expected it to be. The hike was nice. The vegetarian feast was non-existent, but the whole wheat roasted vegetable pizza was delicious. Work on Friday was fine. I read almost an entire book on Saturday (don't be too impressed--it's modern fiction and enjoyable, but ultimately a pretty light read) and was planning on finishing it, but was tempted by a wine and cheese party at Amy and Scott's. I had a hard time transitioning from solitude to a crowd, but had a really nice time nonetheless. I was also the one who made the suggestion that perhaps the Notre Dame/USC game could be on as "background" on the ginormous tv. Junkie. I'm a football junkie. Sunday I worked, caught up with the Trav on how his vacation went (must. make. a. trip. down. South. North Carolina and Tennessee looked beautiful), watched the Patriots eek out a win over the Bears--and Dad? I leapt up and yelled "YES!" when they intercepted with 2 minutes to go ensuring their win. I am my father's daughter!--and then watched the normal Sunday night Fox programming. Today is errand-running day: drop off laundry, drop off already-late-DVD, go to grocery store, run to bank, go to post office, run to Walgreens, drop off car, run home....Yeesh. I think a later night movie is a possibility and then I'm heading to bed as early as possible. Tomorrow is the last DVD Release Party of the season and I'll need all the rest I can get to survive!

I'm on week 2 of some pretty big lifestyle changes. I've been running consistently for the past 2 weeks. I've stopped eating in front of my tv (again!) and am refusing to answer the phone while I'm eating. I haven't been going out nearly as much. I've been reading more. I have made plans for Thursday night with my much beloved and much missed best friend Christina to catch up. I have made plans with my much beloved and much needed co-worker Molly for a Sunday of shopping. Though the past year wouldn't seem like it, I crave stability and structure and succeed best when those things are in place. I miss my friends. I miss getting a good night's sleep. I miss the healthy lifestyle I created. Not having a car has isolated me and made me dependent--2 things I abhor. These were all my choices and I don't regret them, but I'm happy to be working towards a saner and healthier life.

3 weeks from today I'll be anxiously looking at the clock in anticipation of my much needed trip back to wonderful, amazing, perfect Vermont for 7 whole days!

save a turkey. eat some tofu. or lentils. or seitan. oh forget it. eat the turkey. it tastes good if i remember correctly.

It's the night before Thanksgiving. One might think the library would be closed the night before Thanksgiving as most people would not be needing library services. I can see us being open until 5pm. I can see us being open until 6pm. But 9pm? I understand the whole taxpayer thing but are we really an essential service? Isn't it more wasteful to pay a whole bunch of people too much money to remain open for the few who absolutely positively need to check their myspace accounts?

I'm not bitter.

Quite honestly it's really not that big of a deal. My plans for tomorrow involve being conscious and presentable by 1pm to attend the Berghoef Thanksgiving Extravaganza at the Beechwood. And really that's not the main event. Post Erin being able to hang out with a huge family, a hike in the Dunes is planned. And post that I'm making my favorite vegetarian "meat"loaf, mashed potatoes, sauteed beet greens, my new vegetarian gravy and hopefully a somewhat healthy green bean casserole. And maybe some black olives from a can. Why black olives from a can? It's an Erin Davison holiday favorite food memory. I only wish I had the cutglass dish my Mom used to put them in and place directly next to my place at the table.

I love black olives from a can.

first i don't go to the sandbar for a week and then i agree with kissinger...

I'm not sure how it happened, but it appears to be Monday.

Despite the score, the U of M/Ohio game was not that close. We were outplayed. Over and over and over again. Ohio's offense was just superior and our defense was incapable of stopping them. And our offense was inconsistent. Ah well. I've been accused once again of cursing Michigan teams. Though I wish I could take credit for being that evil, sadly, I am but a woman. A woman who likes sports.

Sunday was a lazy day filled with food, naps, more food, and the Sunday night Fox lineup. I was looking forward to the Simpsons as they went to Vermont for vacation, but it really wasn't all that funny. Family Guy? Genius. Sexual role playing games involving beloved McDonald's characters are hilarious.

Go big, go long, or go home seem to be the options facing a decision regarding Iraq. I suppose it's considered news given that the administration no longer has a blank check, but haven't these always been our options? How sad that this conflict has continued to deteriorate when a major policy adjustment was something that could have happened a long time ago. Go home seems to be the least likely scenario, but Levin's not going to give up without a fight. And John McCain has clearly lost his mind and has decided to model his presidential run coming out by sounding like G.W.B.:

McCain, a front-running GOP presidential hopeful for 2008, said the U.S. must send an overwhelming number of troops to stabilize Iraq or face more attacks -- in the region and possibly on American soil.
"The consequences of failure are so severe that I will exhaust every possibility to try to fix this situation. Because it's not the end when American troops leave. The battleground shifts, and we'll be fighting them again," McCain said. "You read Zarqawi, and you read bin Laden. ... It's not just Iraq that they're interested in. It's the region, and then us." He was referring to Osama bin-Laden and the late al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

John? We don't have the troops. They don't exist. Unless you're willing to reinstate the draft (which, coincidently, Rangel is pushing as an option) your solution is based on fantasy and not on reality.

You know who is looking at reality? Kissinger. A military solution isn't the answer, nor is withdrawing right away. I'm agreeing with Kissinger. I can't even believe it myself.

I have managed to procure a vehicle for this afternoon, so I'll be running errands. I have some phone calls to make and a sweater to work on and a scarf to finish and a run to fit in. I've been enjoying a pretty big lifestyle change recently so I'm thinking it'll be a lowkey kind of night hopefully involving some Scrabble.

And when I say "lifestyle change" I mean that I haven't been to Saugatuck in over a week.

Yeah. It's still Erin.
It's all good.

politics, polemics, and identity theft! oh my!

Here we go.
It's only been a week and the Democrats are already fighting.

I've loved James Carville since Clinton's win in '92, but attacking Dean a week after a historic election is just plain stupid. Dean's decision to rebuild the Democratic Party at the state level was absolutely the right thing to do. It's a long-term strategy that will eventually bring more people to the Democratic Party as opposed to Rahm Emanuel's same-old-same-old plan of funneling money into key districts.

And Nancy Pelosi's first move as Speaker was stupid too. Don't go backing John Murtha, you nitwit! He doesn't have the support of the House and he's wildly controversial. You lost your first fight. Weak. You looked weak.

God, I love politics.

And speaking of the deliciousness of political theatre, man oh man I wish I'd been in the room yesterday when the Armed Services Committee had a hearing on Iraq with Abizaid. You had McCain, Clinton, Levin, Leiberman, Graham, and Bayh all angling for zingers. At one point, Leiberman walked over to McCain and Collins (a moderate Republican from Maine) and huddled up to share a nice chuckle together. Leiberman made a point of glancing at the Democrats. Don't worry, Joe. It was duly noted that you are in no way a kept man! I suppose the most important part of the whole charade was that Abizaid said pulling out in 6 months (Levin's big plan) was a bad idea. I couldn't agree more. He also admitted that there weren't enough troops on the ground initially. I couldn't agree more. And he said that the answer wasn't to add more troops. I couldn't agree more. What wasn't discussed was the Iraq Study Group to the Stars recent meeting with G.W.B. I can't wait until until that report comes out. Can't.Wait. One of my most favorite suggestions is that we get into talks with Syria and Iran. Woo-wee! Smackdown, George! Daddy's former Secretary of State might come out and say that everything you've been doing internationally to succeed in Iraq is dead wrong. Isolating yourself from neighboring countries because they might not like your little War on Terror probably wasn't the way to go.

Crow is on the menu post-Thanksgiving.

You know what else makes me hot?

Polemics.

I made the mistake of starting "Letter to a Christian Nation" right before I was supposed to be falling asleep last night. It's a really quick little read that has undoubtedly upset many many people. It's fun. Really fun.

And on a personal note, Berghoef's had his identity stolen. Technically it's not his identity. It's his debit card number, but I much prefer saying he's been a victim of identity theft. Peter doesn't even want to be Peter 90% of the time. I almost feel sorry for the guy who took it as there really wasn't much he could take though we suspect the criminal is currently enjoying a sweet new gaming system that neither of us will ever be able to afford and enjoy. Everything's going to be fine and taken care of, but it's been 24 hours of hassles which will most likely not end anytime soon.

And that, my friends, is why I'm a cash and carry kinda gal.

did it miss the mark or did it just suck?

Who else thinks that "Iraq Study Group" sounds really funny and really sad? I imagine James Bakker and Sandra Day O'Connor showing up in the basement of a dorm at 10pm with tons of research, books, and papers waiting impatiently for G.W.B. to show up all drunk and worthless.

Okay. Maybe it's more sad.

"I will soon send a message to the American people. The message is in the stage of preparation," he said. Without elaborating, he said his message would be in response to U.S. government statements.

That's a nice and scary quote from the lovely Iranian President. I really think we dropped the big ginormous ball on this one. And when I say 'we' I mean the administration. Let's look at it, shall we? Crazy dictator who's keeping a lid on sectarian violence in his country vs Nation on the verge of nuclear capabilities.

Yeeeeah.

If one happens to be out to rent a movie and one comes across "Art School Confidential" do not bother unless you're wanting to sit through 2 hours of stereotypes and substandard writing and directing. There are a ton of characters and good actors (John Malkovich! Angelica Huston! Steve Buscemi!), but that doesn't equate to a decent movie. I am known for being mildly hypercritical so maybe if you're looking for a good time give it a look especially if you have masochist tendencies.

In case anyone is even remotely interested, I'm back on a running schedule. 30 minutes a day this week though I can't wait to start going longer. It feels like I'm just getting started and then it's over, but no need to go and get myself all injured when I'm as enthusiastic as I am. I'm hoping to finally run the RiverBank Run in May of 2007.

You should all do it with me!
It'll be superfun!

And a huge shout-out to my wonderful, amazing, patient, take-charge, successful, talented, superfantastic sister. Thanks to her I'm heading to Vermont December 18th-25th!

and the no-plan plan continues to be a success

Though the tickets to OCMS had been purchased well in advance, the plans for the weekend started coming together in the wee hours of Wednesday morning post-election. A serendipitous text message from Budde put things into motion for Saturday.

The continuing tradition of the Novi Denny's for supper was the official kick off to the birthday celebration. We swung over to Bloomfield Hills to pick up Brad and took 75 downtown (I must confess it was my first time taking 75. Woodward is a far more satisfying experience. Going from the zoo, over 8 mile, and descending into liquor stores and check cashing places on every corner is the way to travel. If I'm going to Detroit, I wanna see Detroit!). The timing was creepily good as we parked across the street, stood in line for mere moments, headed up to the bar and within 15 minutes OCMS took the stage.

Seek them out. The show was amazingly good. AMAZINGLY GOOD! They played for 3 hours with one big set break and 2 encores--thank the Lord for that second encore. It would have been a letdown had they finished the night with the less-than-spectacular cover of "Walk of Life." It was the only weak moment in the whole show. And though I knew that these were tendersweetyoungthings, I swear none of those guys are over 30. And I'm more in love with Ketch Secor than ever. And quickly developed an obsession with Willie Watson. And their bass player Morgan Jahnig. Oh hell, I love them all! There were minor technical difficulties on Let it Alone, but that was really it. They're like Greensky Bluegrass only tighter and better. The Majestic Complex is quickly becoming one of my favorite places for shows. Not only is there a bowling alley connected to it, but the beer of the night for me was Two-Hearted on tap. First of the season for me.

Post-show we headed up Woodward to meet Vito and Glick at what I thought was called the Chalet, but now I'm thinking might have been Mt. Chalet. It was one of those bars that I long for here in the Holland area. Laid back, decent prices, good crowd minus the brief bar fight that erupted and was quickly stopped thanks partly to Mr. Russo. We closed it down and then headed back to the Budde residence where I was put to work peeling potatoes for a late night snack of deliciousness complements of Brad who didn't just open a bag of frozen fries. Oh no.

Sunday was a time for sleeping in and waking up in time for brunch with the Budde family where once again Brad wowed in the kitchen: Pancakes with apples and brown sugar. Dang me.
There was some brief hanging out post-brunch and then we started the uneventful trip back to Holland.

It was a good birthday. A very good birthday.

So I'm back to the grind of daily life. A new day, a new week, a new year.

One other note: If you get a chance, watch The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It is an outstanding documentary about a singer/songwriter/artist who was and is hugely influential in the (I can't believe I'm going to use this term, but oh well...) "outsider" art and music world. Wilco's covered him. Pearl Jam's covered him. Sufjan's covered him. Beck's covered him. Aside from the obvious interest I have regarding that aspect of his life, it really chronicles his on-going lifelong battle with mental illness. It's unbelievably honest and heartbreaking. It borders on exploitive, but is still worth watching. The more I talk about this film the more I realize how this is a disease that touches a vast majority of people. And this film shows how difficult it is to understand and how difficult it is to deal with someone who is mentally ill. I'm hoping to pull off a program this spring at the library centering on this issue. This one's personal.

and it all comes down to Virginia...

I honestly don't know if this day can get any better.
I haven't felt this good since 1992.

When I finally went to bed last night at 3:30am, Jennifer Granholm was re-elected, Debbie Stabenow was re-elected, the Democrats were up 23 seats in the House, and the 3 remaining Senate races had reached the recount/too close to call stage (though, honestly, how long could it take to count the votes in Montana? How many people live there?!). Plus we can now go booze it up in Zeeland! When I woke up this morning the Democrats were up 28 seats in the House, McCaskill had taken Missouri, and the Democrats had taken back the Michigan House.

And then I got to work where the news just kept getting better.

Tester took Montana.
Webb is up about 7000 votes in Virginia.
And Rumsfeld is out.

Oh, I've just got to repeat that.

Rumsfeld is OUT.

But of course I can't just be happy now, can I?

I now live in a state that has banned affirmative action. Shock and disgust would accurately describe how I feel. It was a sneaky and confusing proposal that never should have made it onto the ballot in the first place. I'm optimistic this will eventually get overturned in the courts. Sadly, it was framed in a "whaddya mean my white kid from the western side of the state isn't going to get into U of M while a darkie from Detroit with lower SAT scores and a lower GPA is?!" Upsetting for a few reasons: it exposes the dirty secret that shhhhh!

racism still exists!

and it completely overlooks the hugely damaging aspect which is women's issues. It sucks. (By the way you can see a delightful picture of me-unshowered and flush with the excitement of having just voted-and my just slightly misquoted take on Prop 2 in today's GR Press. I most certainly did not say "iron the bugs out!")

Though I'm in an unbelievably celebratory mood (did I mention that whole not-since-1992 thing?!?!), I'm also very cautious. Taking back the House was one thing. The prospect of taking back the Senate is another. The last thing we need to do is start investigating and issuing subpoenas. Let's still do what we said we were going to do: fix our broken country that has been run into the ground by this administration. Prescription drug coverage, health insurance, renewable energy resources, education (get rid of No Child Left Behind!), implementing the suggestions put forth by the 9/11 commission, campaign finance reform, and the oh so big reason why we took back the House: Iraq.

So, there it is. I've been on cloud nine all day, but I'm starting to feel that inevitable deflated post-election season feeling. Thankfully, I have but a short time until drumroll please...........
presidential primaries! In one short year we should be gearing up for a variety of options and some rousing debates. Woo.Hoo.

One day more and I'm in for a much needed and much deserved 3 day weekend. Yesterday was not just about Election Day 2006. It was also the DVD release party for Cars. I survived. Everyone was happy. The majority of the problems have been resolved. I'm officially a library rock star and a victim of my own success. Sigh. Regardless, this weekend is looking good. Mr. Budde is in the Michigan area and contemplating joining us for Old Crow Medicine Show. I might finally get to meet the infamous Vito Russo and I'm hoping Glick will wander over from Ypsi to join us all in a celebration. A culmination celebration. A celebration not only of the glory of the Democrats ending a very long, very cold 14 years of frustration and humiliation, but also a celebration of me having survived yet another year of being Erin.

it's short, but sweet

vote

get your sexy on

I'm bringing sexy back. I got the idea from Sir Justin Timberlake on my walk to work this morning. The decision was made but a few hours ago and I've already got some great ideas and have implemented sweeping changes:

• Instead of the typical Friday cold weather wear of bulky wool sweater, I'm donning the sexy sexy librarian cardigan that just screams "rip me off." Granted, I'm also freezing my ass off, but one must make sacrifices for a good cause.
• This weekend I'm determined to wear a skirt preferably one that is entirely too short to wear to work. I don't care if I wear it grocery shopping or out and about, this weekend I'm not going to wear the Beck sweatshirt and the jeansthatarefivesizestoobigforme all weekend.
• Before the weather really takes a nasty turn, I've got to get in some good boot wearing. I currently own 2 fabulous pairs of calf length boots that have yet to be worn this season.
• I'm going to start building my base. Again. Nothing says sexy like a woman who goes out for a short run of 6 miles.
• Money will no longer be spent on substandard junk food. If I'm going to spend money on food out it's going to be an experience. A deliciously sexy experience. (Burger Nite at the Boathouse is excluded from this as it's $3.00 and they have Founder's Red Rye on tap which is a deliciously sexy experience in and of itself.)
• More books will be read. Words on a page are one of the sexiest things imaginable. Watching Dancing With the Stars to "relax" is not.

This weekend....this weekend...rumor has it kevdek and xtina are in town this weekend. Plus it'd be nice to see, well, everyone who lives a mere 30 miles north of here. I'd venture to say a trip to the Grandest of Rapids is pretty likely Saturday evening.

In one week I'm going to see Old Crow Medicine Show in Detroit.

Let the countdown begin...

six days and counting...

Stupid politics. Stupid midterms. Stupid mistakes being made a week before the election. Stupid media for picking up the stupid story. Stupid Democrats for bungling the response to the stupid story. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I'm hanging on by a thread.

John McCain's now stumping for DeVos.
This makes me physically ill.

I turn into a crazy lunatic person during elections. I don't sleep. I obsessively check polls and watch the news. I also carry with me an eternal optimism that many find cute and I find emotionally devastating. I keep trying to pinpoint what happens to me. My political interests become less of hobby and more of an obsession. When the candidates or proposals I support lose, I take it personally somehow though I'm not convinced 'personally' is the best word. I'm still trying to work it out. I simultaneously love and despise this time of year. I live for elections and yet I'm repulsed by them.

See?
Crazy lunatic person.

I blame being born between Nixon's resignation and the end of the Vietnam War.