Library on a Rainy Afternoon

I never tire of giving blood, if only for the love and respect shown me. I've posted before that I am O negative, thus universally beloved and desired. My iron is better lately, and I have extremely lovely veins of a sky-blue hue. Today's donation, organized by my do-gooder husband, was up in the skyscraper of his office, so I was nervous that the altitude might affect me (that or giving next to a bunch of lawyers). Best to shore up one's iron with a Charburger. Oh so tasty and greasy and yes, I did have the fries as well.

At some point during my rapid donation (I also give really quickly and boy, do they heap the praise on that quality!), I started grimacing. Several nurses attended...but I was only worried about my husband. Across the way, he was getting stuck multiple times and was moaning and groaning. Apparently lack of hydration can make your veins not as supple as, say, mine. And Mr. Dark Magic every morning had already had his coffee and then some. Poor guy. They finally got the needle in but not without a lot of poking.

I saw my friend Dean at the blood drive. He said he was there because "it's all about the snacks". Hear, hear. I skipped the options due to my earlier beef-fest, but was very interested in the icing-filled oatmeal cookie and the Orangeade. High fructose corn syrup plays a prominent role in our society, especially within the blood donation community.

Ok, I must go rest my point of entry in my heaving, buxom veins and pamper myself the rest of the day.

Tomorrow, after all, I'm going to Williamsburg with the entire 5th grade for the day. I doubt I'll feel any love nor respect on that trip.

I Am Reminded of My Son's 4th Birthday and My Husband's Lex Luthor Costume

"Lex Luthor Bailout" with Jon Hamm from Jon Hamm

If I Were at SXSW...

I would have gone to see The Thermals. Nice review.

Also, a friend of mine is in a movie that just won a couple of lovely awards there! So I would have gone to see that. "That Evening Sun" was filmed in the Blue Ridge Mountains, FYI.

But I'm not in Austin, I'm here in bustling Raleigh, which shows record growth and steady housing prices and new restaurants. For my birthday, we went to Jibarra...very nice, very spicy. My husband had made a chevre, tomato and leek crepe for breakfast...so we weren't terribly hungry. Just tried some small plates. Tonight includes mystery plans made by my boss, and including my husband...and surely involving Duke basketball, another hallmark of Raleigh (and of course Durham). The Dance is usually part of my birthday celebration, and fine by me.

Here's to 41!

For Your Netflix Queue

I found this on Twitter, so don't accuse me of reading GOOP (though I have, occasionally, gone on there...it seems less busy than Oprah's web sites).

Gwyneth's friends' top five movies to see...including Sofia Coppola and Stephen Spielberg.

Of course, our five-day rain has ended, so perhaps no one will be renting movies. We ourselves are trying hard not to read anything about the ending of Battlestar Galactica, since we still haven't completed season 2. Oh, and we gave up on 24. After EIGHT. YEARS. That's harsh. I thought I was a completist.

Heavy Scent of Hyacinth, and Cherry Blossoms in Bloom

This will be the 20th romantic March 13th I've spent with my husband.

He reminded me of this last week.

Him: Hey, it's our dating anniversary!

Me: Hmmmm.

Him: What?

Me: It wasn't technically a date. More like a hook-up.

Him: Twenty years does not a hook-up make.

It was a beautiful spring day, the woman who wanted to date my husband was conveniently out of town, we borrowed his mom's Miata, and I bought new sunglasses. I also took off work. Leaving the office, my co-workers said, "You're going on a date." No, no I said. Not a date, just hanging out with my friend. We drove around, had dinner, saw a movie ("Enemies, a Love Story"), drank some wine. My cat (yes, Wissy...even then) overturned a bowl of fruit on my dining room table at my turn-of-the-century apartment.

Twenty-four hours later we were a couple.

Daily U2 Report

I love the opening hymn, uh, song: "No Line on the Horizon". I think, but am not sure, that some reviewer I read said that the song was about the muse. But I was reading on the treadmill at a 10.5 incline so who the hell knows.

I love "Breathe" and "Stand Up Comedy" thus far. The slower-tempo songs haven't grabbed me yet.

Note to contemporary Christian musicians: You can use cryptic, poetic language, and guitar work that isn't strummy strummy, and your voice in a less pained manner, and still get across a message of love and hope.

But I probably still won't listen to you.

The sick child thing is hopefully over, and boy did it get old fast. Trapped. Bored. Emotionally drained. These things come to mind.

Lost has been on a roll and how. I teared up during last night's epi. How can you not when Mssr. Le Fleur is aching?



Also, that statue looked like...um...hold on, let me check the Internets...



Ah, the Egyptian god Anubis, said to be protector of the dead, and able to revive them to life. OH REALLY?

In other cultural news, the new U2 is fun thus far...but I need to give it a good listen. It sounds like synthed-up "Boy" at times.

The soccer tourney was canceled due to lingering snow in Richmond. And no, we did not get a hotel refund. Note to self, and you people: Read the fine print. Dammit! Oh well, an early birthday present - a hotel room for a night without us in it!

I'm reading "The Senator's Wife" and find that I am bored silly. Yet, I can't stop reading it. This is a good thing, right? A mental break? An escape from worry? A blink during the economic and educational staredown that is my day-to-day life? "Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice" was a challenge (though written so well that the bizarre subject was clearly drawn and the mysteries about her clearly examined), but completely gripping. I identified strongly with Gertrude Stein...and not just because she was a lesbian Jew in France during World War 2.

Seriously, I might have to wade through her crazy prose because she was compelling as hell. Her books yes her books and even the poems and why not the poems I think yes the poems and the books, the books of war and lives and Alice B. Toklas. Then again, maybe I'll just read more Janet Malcolm.

And I can not let today pass without mentioning that in San Francisco, judges are debating Prop 8. Having seen "Milk" last week, I feel more galvanized than ever...gay people deserve the same benefits, protections, and community support in their relationships that straight people do. I have tried and tried to understand arguments against gay marriage, and I just do not get them. Not sure how much harder I will try, when I see friends who are being completely maligned for being in love. In this season of Lent, I feel like some couples are enduring their 40 days in the wilderness...may they find the strength and bravery to come out of it unscathed.

Sick Child/Snow Day Monday