DecaAwesome List Number One

For the week ending 11/8/08

A word before we start. I am a compulsive list-maker. At any one time, I have a master list that is categorized (stuff for school, special projects, errands, etc.), and a list that breaks tasks down day-by-day. Lists help me keep track of all the many things I must do. I also find them fun. Why? God only knows. Anyway, I love making lists of things that make me happy, and so I introduce to you, the DecaAwesome List, a top ten of stuff from the week. Sometimes I'll include an explanation with the list item and sometimes I'll let these things speak for themselves. In no particular order:

1) The Big Bang Theory and Venture Brothers. The two funniest shows on television. And they're two shows that were specifically designed to be funny to complete nerds. Big Bang Theory is on Mondays at 8 on CBS. Venture Brothers is on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network) every night at 12:30AM.

2) Chipotle - the restaurant. I ate food from there for the first time this week. It's always been a favorite of S and C, but I've never eaten there myself because I'm so damn picky. But then S told me I could have them make my burrito as boring as I liked. So I did and it was delicious. I even liked the cilantro rice, and I usually HATE cilantro. Score!

3) Pilsbury Cinnamon Buns. It's WRONG how good they are. Wrong. Also, I'm hungry right now.

4) Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. Robert Downey, Jr. is maybe the funniest guy ever. I laughed like a freak throughout the whole thing. I just love meta stuff. Shane Black is a genius.

5) My purple pen. It was the one perk I got from judging the student Talent Show at school. It's just a plain Bic, but it writes in purple ink and it makes me happy.

6) Hotel pens. Yes, the nerd has two entries about PENS. The bulk of my pens comes from hotels. Sitting next to my keyboard on the desk is a pen from the Hyatt. I love hotel pens because they're free, and I usually get them when I'm at a conference. Conferences give me that good feeling of possibility so, by association: hotel pens = possibility.

7) Change. Not in a nickel and dime kinda way and not in an Obama way either. I just mean that you can be unhappy and you can change it. You can change your reaction, change your actions, change your situation, and just generally flip the script on almost anything. You just have to be willing to do it.

8) The Artist's Way. I'm reading it. It makes me feel like I'm validating my desire to write more. By reading this book, I am silently saying, "I'm serious about this."

9) The drum part of "Cherub Rock" on Rock Band. One of the most enjoyable songs I have yet played on this addictive game. Also, my band, Monkey Deathcar is very big in Amsterdam.

10) Editing. I was up until 3:30 last night working on the Accreditation Document, and even though the job is a total pain in the ass, it feels really good to fix something that's broken. Who ever guessed that I would be good at fixing anything? I can't fix a car or a dishwasher. I can't fix elections or contests. I can't even glue something back together without bonding two of my fingers together. But damn it, I can fix a sentence that makes no sense. I can make your subject and verb agree. I can maintain parallel construction and proper syntax. I can translate "english" into English. And I can have fun doing it, even at 3 in the morning.

~Hero

Writer's...Something

I got an email on Thursday (I think) from the my contact, Kelly, over at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. They need some notes lickety split, and she wanted to know if I could do them. I'm a tad swamped, but I don't usually say no to work, so I said sure. I need to write notes for two pieces. One of them is a five-minute work that was inspired by 9/11. Thanks to the interwebs, I had a chance to hear the piece, and I got some information and even some good quotes from the composer. The notes should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 words. Sounds simple, right? Sure. I should be able to do this standing on my head, but for some reason, I just can't get my brain to spit out the words in the right order. I wouldn't call it writer's block, but hell, if I could think of a clever name for what I'm dealing with right now, I'd probably be able to dash these notes off in a second. *sigh* *needs sleep*

Last night, J and I went out to dinner with some friends, one of whom we haven't seen in months. She lives in London, and was in town to give a paper at a conference. Anyhoo, after dinner, a few of us walked down to Starbucks and hung out. We were there for three hours, and in that time, I saw a number of folks sitting at tables, typing away on their laptops. Even though I was having an awesome time with my friends, I have to admit that I was a bit envious of these folks. Right now, a few hours typing in Starbucks (and not typing program notes or proposals or articles) sounds better than a beach vacation. Spring Break is coming up, and I keep telling myself just to hang on a bit until then, and then I'll take myself to Starbucks, fire up the new laptop and just type away until they run out of Tazo Refresh tea. Sounds better than Daytona or Cancun at this point.

Also, the revision of my novel is coming along slowly; I did some good work on it this week during a few stolen moments. (Thank you, Google Docs for being so awesome.) I was all ready to send two chapters to my sister, but I was reading the new stuff over and I realized I'd given the brother knowledge of something he's not supposed to know about yet. So now I have to go back and figure out whether I want him to know this thing at the beginning of chapter 9 (and if so, I have to work in the heart-breaking conversation in chapter 8 somewhere), or I have to delete that part of the new stuff and figure out if his motivation stays the same or if it has to change. *facepalm*

All right, I should get back to writing my notes. In conclusion, I will end with a list of things that are currently making me happy (in no particular order):

1. My fiancee
2. Oreo Cakesters (sugar=crack)
3. Torchwood
4. On Demand (so I can watch Torchwood)
5. yellow legal pads
6. Google Docs (if I weren't already engaged, I'd marry it)
7. wearing a thermal shirt under a t-shirt
8. beer
9. my godson
10. text messages