n e n i e http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/ When I tell a story, it is not as an ideologue who wants to pit one absolutist ideology against another, but as a storyteller who wants to share her way of seeing. -Arundhati Roy en-us Copyright 2008 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:36:28 -0700 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification PenUlimate Final Thoughts
Redd:  Hey Nenie, you got a minute?

Nenie: Yeah.

Montage of Redd explaining a long and complicated situation involving jobs.

Nenie: Wow, that sucks.  But, well.  Like, for better or for worse we live in David Mamet's universe, yknow?

Redd: True, like not as misogynistic...

Nenie: Clearly.  But the people whose loyalty you're agonizing over have no actual loyalty to you.

Redd:  But if I had the right leads... 

Nenie:  Listen, it's times like this that I ask myself two questions.  "What would David Mamet do"  and "What would Maria Callas do?"  Then after a while I stop and ask myself the real big question.  "What would David Mamet have Maria Callas do?"

Redd:  Yeah, and David Mamet would have Maria Callas stab the protagonist in the back, so where does that leave me?

Nenie:  Whatever diva.
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/penulimate-final-thoughts.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/penulimate-final-thoughts.html Minuteman Philosophy Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:36:28 -0700 Prophecy
In Chicago, depending on what side of town you're from, they give you a baseball cap.

Being born in Elgin to a guy who came to this country and lived on Addison and Harlem, my hat was blue rather than black.

Home is a concept that's become increasingly difficult to define as our world grows older.  One of the signature concepts of modernity in general and the current brand in particular is an anchorlessness that beckons us away from our homes and into the misty plains of diaspora.  There's no use, it's hegemony and its siren pull is too strong, too enticing to resist.  Move away, leave it all behind, rack up your frequent flier miles trying to recapture what it is you've forsaken.

It's true.  

You really can't go back.

It's a little too much like the second act of The Fantasticks.  You've seen too much, the context  that home now lives within has altered its meaning, and all that remains is the sickly sweet aftertaste of something you can never have again.

 
That's the beauty of being a Cubs fan.

A real Cubs fan, not a Bandwagoneer V1.0, a fratboy who's looking for the biggest open air party north of Grant Park, one who knows enough not to boo Sox fans, for they're our brothers in arms.

A real fan, one who learned at a young age that being a Cubs fan was a lifelong calling, a double-edged blade of suffering and redemption akin only to Catholicism in its demands of faith.

Watching this season has been heart-wrenching for me. We're how many games up?  How many above .500?  This is a math that most Cubs fans are unable, due to the articles of the faith to even begin to comprehend.  I cannot believe, my faith falters as we come in for the approach.

But I know that somewhere Steve Goodman is singing.

I know, because I believe that down in the Billy Goat of the hereafter Mike Royko is ordering a round for the house while Harry Caray is saying "I told you so."

I know that my Uncle Sal is smiling.

Because this one is for Santo and my Mom.  This one is for those of us who are still here to watch one more season in the sun, the rain, the gloaming and yes, even the  lights.

For this is our time.

This is our year.

I know this because of prophecy.  I know this because of faith.

I proposed to my wife and hours later Sammy Sosa hit his 500th home run.

I married my wife and hours later Greg Maddux won his 300th game.

It then, only goes to follow that my child will come into this world with their Cubs as World Series Champs.

So they'd better get cracking, because Toaster's gonna be here in February.
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/prophecy.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/prophecy.html Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:33:35 -0700 More Sweet Than Bitter
Sticklers for precision will say that I didn't quit since I didn't walk out of the place never too return.  That, instead, I gave my notice and will be out of there in two weeks.

To me, it feels like I quit.

My last day will be on August 21, which is funny, because I started working at the Minuteman on August 21, 2006.  At the time, I thought I'd be there a few weeks before I was swept away into some other, more fabulous life.

I'd be sad about my time at The Minuteman, were it not for the fact that it paid the bills, took care of my family and introduced me to a lot of really great people.  Not the least of which was myself.

I learned that I was capable of biting my tongue and working retail, a profession that Drieg had long since told me I was incapable of doing because I thought it was beneath me.  And it's true, the last of that particular brand of elitism died in me these past two years, but sadly, I still never quite shook the shame I felt at having to work retail.  I'd always been told that I was destined to do great things, and working at the Minuteman as Food and Beverage supervisor just didn't feel like a great thing.  Even when I received my promotion this January and was out of food service and into group sales...just didn't feel right, even though a large chunk of my job was to make sure that kids got books.  

Now, all of that is being jettisoned.

I'm leaving to go back to teaching.

I can't tell you how relieved and excited I am to be going  back to the classroom.  It's been two years and I'm more than ready to get back to it...so here's to the next adventure. ]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/more-sweet-than-bitter.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/more-sweet-than-bitter.html Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:51:02 -0700 Anniversary
Where did all the time go?

My father's told me that trying to figure that one out will occupy a lot more than the next four years, so I might as well suck it up and let it slide.

I honestly don't know where my life would be if it weren't for Nena.  Nor, did I ever think the past four years would have gone down the way they did.

That's kind of the point of getting married.  It's about having someone else there with you when the shit that's going to go down, goes down.  Not so you can blame them, not so you can comfort each other, but so there's a witness that will vouch for you and say "Yeah, that totally just happened."

That's the whole point.

I don't know that I have any advice to share, other than to say.  Everyone is crazy.  The trick is finding someone whose crazy is compatible with yours....
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/anniversary.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/anniversary.html Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:12:48 -0700 Two Down Skip Caray has left us.

Sadly, he'll always be remembered as Harry's kid the same way that Harry will always be remembered as "Cubs announcer, Harry Caray."

Skip was a great talent in his own right, and though I'm loathe to say anything nice about the Atlanta Professional Baseball Club, Skip was a class act and a helluva mentor, having raised a great successor in Chip, who will never be a letdown to the Caray legacy the way one of Harry's partner's kids is to his family.

Take care buddy.]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/two-down.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/two-down.html Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:13:31 -0700 A Moment...
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has left the building.

I'll never forget seeing Gulag Archipeligo sitting on my father's shelf as a kid and thinking that someday I'd be big enough to read that and A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

I hope future generations will have the foresight to read them and look into a world that we're always a heartbeat away from revisiting. ]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/a-moment.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/a-moment.html Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:32:33 -0700 Slim Mochaccino Returns Vampire Prom was last night and a good time was had by most...

Slim Mochaccino Returns

OK, I had a good time and my cousins Romeo and Rigby had a good time.  See...

Romeo and Rigby

The turnout was pretty good and way better than expected.  Afterward, I took the girls to the local IHOP only to discover that the bastards were closed.  So we settled and went to Denny's before heading back to the house...

But you don't want the recap.  I know what you want.

Ladies and Gentlemen...Vampire Prom Playlist ]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/slim-mochaccino-returns.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/slim-mochaccino-returns.html Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:26:10 -0700 Public Service Announcement
Nana:  I killed Thumper today.

Nena:  Huh?

Nana:  Thumper, I killed him.

Nena:  Who's Thumper?

Nana:  The rabbit out back.

Nena:  Ah.

Nana:  Yeah, I had this squash, a yellow squash in my garden.  It was going to be ready any day now.  I got up this morning and went to go check on it and it was gone.  So I went back into the house, got my .22 and shot him, right in the middle.  He jumped up, flipped over, kicked once and fell dead.  Right to the heart.

Nena:  Well then.

Nana:  I buried him out back, poor thing.  I'm going out for his friend Bullwinkle tomorrow.
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/public-service-announcement-2.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/08/public-service-announcement-2.html Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:25:44 -0700 Vampire Prom
Seriously, they are.  Your local Minuteman will be open until midnight Friday night for Vampire Prom.

We were joking around at work when I told Cmdr. Yellowstoner that I'd totally be up for DJing Vampire Prom. 

"Yeah, play some Death Cab, a little Promise Ring and a bunch of Joy Division, New Order and Cure."

"That's a great idea Nenie.  You're on."

So I'm DJing Vampire Prom this weekend.  I've been having WAY to much fun prepping for this.
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/vampire-prom.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/vampire-prom.html Minuteman Music Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:46:44 -0700 Public Service Announcement
Nena: HOW MUCH?!? QUANTIFY IT!!!!
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/public-service-announcement-1.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/public-service-announcement-1.html nena Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:19:11 -0700 Day Late...Dollar... Finally

A few months ago Underdog and I made our long awaited pilgrimage to Wrigley Field. 

Well, I'd clearly been before...but never with Underdog, mostly because he'd never been before himself.

We'd been trying to get things organized for a few years and this year we actually got our act together.

May 17, day game v. the Pirates, that ended in a tragic one run loss for the good guys.

It was a nice game.  Mom, Dad, JLo and NotPuffy all made it out and we sat in the bleachers and took in a decent game and some nice weather.  Sadly, we just weren't able to spend quality time taking in Wrigleyville, but these things happen. 

Anyway, pictures here.


Oh and assorted other pics from my May trip home are here and here.
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/day-latedollar.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/day-latedollar.html Cubs Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:59:19 -0700 These Are My People
Kinda exhausted, really.  Watched all of the All-Star Game (save for the bottom of the 12th and all of the 13th due to TiVo delay issues.)  So that set me up for a really rough week. 

I know I'm getting old, because I feel the need for sleep in a much more immediate and visceral way than I ever have before.  It's freakin' nuts.

Yeah.  But this is not the weekly recap.  This is the late Thursday night special.

Saw this last weekend and have kept meaning to post it.

"Subway Stripper Arrested"  In my mom's home town.

Brills

(Was going to embed it in the page...but that wasn't working.)
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/these-are-my-people.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/these-are-my-people.html chile Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:13:50 -0700 This Tastes Terrible
Last night we were down to see the iCubs beat up on the Isotopes.  But due to getting a late start out of El Fe we didn't get to go shopping for toilet paper and Cheerios, or gas up at Costco ($3.77/gal)

So we went back today.

Costco, Target, Furniture store...an aborted trip to the movies (only thing starting within an hour was Wanted) and then dinner at the Flying Star.

Mmmm Flying Star.  We grabbed dinner and then on our way out we picked up desert and a Red Stuff for the road.

Oh Red Stuff.  I don't know what's in it...hibiscus tea and fruit punch...or so they say...but I love it.  It reminds me of the red punch they used to serve in my high school cafeteria.  Unnaturally red, unnaturally sweet, but damn you had to have it.  It was so good that Fesser, Mente and I wrote a play about it being an addictive hallucinogen. 

Anyway, this stuff is different. 

I'd never thought of getting some for the long drive up to the town that diners have forgotten OK, there are a few, but not enough that you can get any kind of variety...and good deserts are hard to come by.  The first person who tells me how good Clafouttis is loses and appendage.

So as we're paying for our deserts, I ask if I can get Red Stuff to go.

Yes.  Yes you can.

As I'm driving back up I-25 to El Fe, Nena decides to try my Red Stuff.  She's had it before and decided that she didn't like it.  But as with most things I like that she doesn't she feels the need to try again.  Unfortunately, after trying again and being reminded that she didn't like it, she starts talking smack.

Nena: Wow, that totally tastes like something you would like.

Nenie:  What does that mean?

Nena: That I would never get that, but I see why you would.

Nenie: Why would I?

Nena: I don't know, it just tastes like what you'd like.

Nenie: Is it really sweet?  Really sour?

Nena: I don't know, it just, yknow, tastes like something you'd get.

Nenie: So you don't like it?

Nena: No, I don't.


*Time Passes*


Nena grabs the Red Stuff out of the cup holder and drinks some more.

Nena: This is nasty but addictive.

Nenie: Then quit drinking it.

Nena: I can't stop.  It's so bad it's good.

Nenie:  OK.

Nena: I mean, it tastes like a mistake

Nenie: Huh?

Nena: It's like being so hung over you put beer in your cereal and then you think "wow, this is good."

Nenie: That's disgusting

Nena: That's what this is like


*Time Passes*


Nena reaches for my drink and has yet more of it.

Nena: UGH!  This totally tastes like a train wreck

Nenie: Then why are you drinking it?

Nena: Because it's a trainwreck, I can't look away.  It's ADDICTIVE!  What's in this?

Nenie:  I dunno.  Red stuff, hibiscus...stuff.

Nena: You drink this all the time and you have no idea what's in it?

Nenie: I like it.

Nena:  It probably has crack in it.  That's the active ingredient.  Crack.

Yeah...this is the way it went for an entire hour back home.  And in the end, Nena drank more of the Red Stuff than I did.

That's my wife folks.  
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/this-tastes-terrible.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/this-tastes-terrible.html marriage Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:19:31 -0700 Free Brett Favre Obama Field Organizer training, but that started at 10a and Nena was still in bed...which is what needed to happen since we've both been so freakin' tired as of late.

Here's some free marriage advice: Exhaustion is hard on a marriage.

We're going to get ice cream with my in-laws later this afternoon who are returning from a much needed vacation in Siberia...my FiL's traditional summer home.

Right, so ice cream, church, Isotopes game...cuz the iCubs are in town.  Not a bad afternoon, really.

But at the moment Nena is watching Bridget Jones 2 and I was having an all too infrequent conversation with Dakotareese.

DR: Brett Favre a Bear?

N: LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT

DR: Likelihood?

N: Don't see the Pack releasing him.

DR: Man Aaron Rogers and Rex Grossman should start a support group.

N: I feel for Rogers, I really do.  But FUCK REX GROSSMAN.  Seriously, you sneak into a Super Bowl and then you FUCKING LOSE!  Fuck you.  Go fuck yourself man...you play like ass, you let a whole city down...I mean, if Trent Dilfer can win a fucking ring, then what the hell is your problem asshole?

And I stand by that.  As ridiculously unlikely as this all is.  I have no sympathy for Grossman.  And longtime readers will know how hard it is for me to say that, since I've been defending this asswipe for years. 

Shit...as I was writing this...things changed...


Wow.

 
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/free-brett-favre.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/free-brett-favre.html bears football marriage Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:22:15 -0700 Public Service Announcement
-Nena
]]> http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/public-service-announcement.html http://movabletype.space-pirates.org/nenie/2008/07/public-service-announcement.html PSA Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:16:38 -0700