I deserve the largest Rice Krispie treat in the world.

It's been a busy, hectic morning. I've just gotten the chance to relax a bit (meaning, I've just gotten the chance to read my thirty one emails I received over the weekend). Instead, I got a big-ass Rice Krispie treat.

I have literally three minutes to spare.

Dear Friends,

I like my job but I have been extremely busy every day this week and haven't had time to write a real post.

Today I have been going mad with stuff to do.

That's actually a good thing, though.

I want you to know that I'm not shirking my blogging duties, even if I'm being published elsewhere occasionally.

My boss will be out of town for the next two weeks, so hopefully regular posts will resume on Monday.


xoxo,

Tyler.

We're all a little bit Mandy Patinkin.

Occasionally I get emails from the Chicago Theatre about pre-sales for upcoming shows. I've only been there once (or The Arcade Fire), but generally the shows there are not really appealing to my demographic (read: younger than fifty-five).

But then, last night, I received this in my inbox:

I showed Christina, who responded, "OH MAN. I would TOTALLY go to that! If it was free! But if I could go I would start a blog just about that one night!"


So who wants to buy us tickets for Christmas?

Better late than never.

For once in my life I have actual work to do (I know, right?!), so I haven't had time to write a post today.

BUT!

My recap of last week's P-Run is up over at This Recording. This week I'll be getting it in on time, but hey, at least I'm leaving my mark on the world, right?

Thxgiving recap, of sorts.

Sometimes having a long weekend is just as exhausting as working an actual job.

The Thanksgiving break was nice, even if I had only been at my job for three days. But it was also packed, and I stayed pretty busy. I saw two shows; The Pipettes played on Wednesday at the Double Door (which was pretty fun), and M.I.A. was at The Vic on Friday (and I lost my shiiiiiit). I also made a Coke cake and had some delicious food on Thanksgiving. Katy had a birthday and we went bowling in Skokie after unsuccessfully searching for an open ice-skating rink. I'm still a horrible bowler, and I played my worst-game ever despite making a 7-10 split. Of course, when one only bowls twice a year at best, one cannot expect to break a hundred.

I am glad it is Monday, even if it means I'm back and work and my job is slightly terrifying. But I think I find it so scary because I don't really know what I'm doing yet, and the idea of keeping someone else's shit organized when I don't even file my own emails is pretty frightening. But I'm not necessarily stressed or anything, since I have about an hour of actual work that I space out into eight hours of the day. The rest of the time I stare out the window, watching traffic.

Perhaps I'm still just shocked I'm getting paid so much to sit in my own office and watch buses drive by several floors below me?

I may try to be productive and write something worth reading, instead of boring posts like this. I'm supposed to be recapping P-Run for This Recording, although I had to skip last week as I missed the show because of the Pipettes and couldn't manage to find a rerun until yesterday. And I'm frustrated because Bravo doesn't post its shows online, which makes it difficult to get screen caps from the show, natch. I also thought about writing a post about Marianne Faithfull, which is doable provided I get my ass in gear.

I kinda just want to take a nap. Bleh.

"That's exactly what lesbians say."

Occasionally, I have nutty GChat conversations with Katy. Sometimes the stuff she says is so fascinating that I want to share them with the world. To know Katy is to love her, but to read transcriptions of her instant messages is to look deeply into her soul.

Today, Katy got all sassy with me about my music tastes, which naturally evolved into a conversations about lesbians. With Katy, it always turns into a conversation about lesbians.


Katy: julia and i had an extensive conversation about who we hate more: john mayer or james blunt
me: oof, james blunt.
Katy: thats what she said
Katy: i tend to agree
me: john mayer at least had a mediocre career for a while that wasn't completely tragic
Katy: the sad thing is that anyone likes either of them
me: i liked his first album
Katy: ugh
me: it really spoke to me when i was 18
Katy: i have hated him since day 1
Katy: radiohead spoke to me when i was 18
me: this was also around the time dashboard confessional spoke to me, so give me a break
me: i was misled
Katy: you and my sister were kindred spirits
Katy: i forget you're of a younger generation than me
me: oh shut up, i'm a year younger
me: we're the same generation
me: liz phair was also speaking to me, and that one stuck
me: at least her first album did
Katy: how are you not a lesbian?
me: shut up, exile in guyville is not lesbian rock
Katy: yes it is!!
me: just because i listened to some indigo girls BRIEFLY does not make me a lesbian
me: NO
me: it is not lesbian
Katy: sigh
me: whitechocolatespaceegg MAYBE
me: exile in guyville transcends gender and sexuality
Katy: i dont even know because i never listened to it
me: it's about all of us, katy. it's about all of us.
Katy: thats exactly what lesbians say
me: i think you're a horrible person sometimes.
Katy: why?!
me: BECAUSE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING.
Katy: you cant take the heat, mister
Katy: i have never preferred female bands or singers anyway
me: that's because you hate women.
Katy: i like my mom
me: that's not a good argument
Katy: i had a roommate that was a lesbian and we were BFFs
Katy: and she was 35
me: what? you had a 35 year old roommate?
Katy: it was during an internship at the place i did therapeutic horsemanship, so we lived together for 3 months
me: how are YOU not a lesbian?
Katy: because i like to be pretty
me: lesbians like to be pretty
Katy: not hannah, my 35 yr old roommate
me: 35 year olds don't like to be pretty, katy.
Katy: angie harmon does
me: just when i think i'm winning, you pull out a law and order reference
Katy: thank you!
me: dick wolf runs your life.

Consider this product placement.

There are very few inventions that I believe have truly made my life better. For example, I can think of maybe two major contraptions that have, in my lifetime, made improvements upon my being. Those are the iPod and the DVD player. Seriously.

I have recently discovered Burt's Bees Medicated Lip Balm. I'd used the plain old regular Burt's Bees before but it actually made my lips in worse shape, as the oil in the chapstick clogs the pores around my lips, which then makes me break out. I don't enjoy looking like I have herpes, so I usually suffer on with dry lips. A few weeks ago, however, my lips were in serious pain, and I broke down and bought a new tube. Not only are my lips as moist as, well, things that are moist, but they also constantly smell like chai tea, thanks to the clove oil used as an ingredient.

Having the scent of chai tea follow me around every day has certainly made my life better.

A good case of the Mondays.

Today is my first day at my new job. So far I've answered the phone once and created a PDF form, mostly because I don't have access to most of the things I will eventually use to perform my daily duties. But that's okay, because I've basically spent the first half of the day staring out of the HUGE WINDOW IN MY BIG OFFICE.

Um, yeah, I HAVE MY OWN OFFICE.

So things are pretty damn good right now.

Also, my parents had a terrific weekend in Chicago. The first evening was rough because they weren't used to walking (my mother was convinced that one city block was actually three) or the cold (it was forty degrees, which is "freezing"). But I was impressed how well they behaved: my dad didn't talk to every crazy person he encountered, my mother only asked me about my job about fifteen times despite my instructions not to, and they managed to commute around the city without major injury (although my mother did get her hand caught in the door of a bus). They even took the Broadway bus from Diversey to Bryn Mawr BY THEMSELVES, which is quite a feat considering the last time I tried that I got off five blocks before I needed to because I couldn't handle all of the crazy.

My only complaint about this weekend is that my mom refused to buy me astronaut ice cream at the Museum of Science and Industry, but hey - in the grand scheme of things, is it that big of a deal? Not when you manage to get a great shot of wallaby balls!

Have a terrific day, Internet.

Last day last day last daaaayyyyy.

I don't have anything interesting to note, really. Just excited that I'm outta here in less than four hours! Hooraaaah.

But since it's Friday, I'll post some videos. Last night Julia and I went to see Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings at Park West, and it was a fantastic show, despite my fear that she would pull me on stage to dance (she pulled about fifteen audience members throughout the entire show and I there was only one person in between me and the stage). But I've been listening to them constantly for the last couple of days, and here are some sweeet jamz.

It's Sew Time.

OMG, you guys! Project Runway!! I'm sew excited that it's finally on again. It's been a rough year without it, but I think it was sew worth the wait, right?

I'm mostly excited to take the opportunity to pretend that I know / give a shit about fashion and write recaps of each episode, even though every fourth blogger on the Internet is doing the same thing. But hey, I'm just happy to have a topic to write about every Thursday for the next few months. Thanks, Bravo!

Adam and his friend Mel came up with this complicated game this year where the winner could win fifty dollars. It involves everyone who participates picking three designers (randomly from a hat). There's also a complicated point system, which I'm not going to try to explain because I still don't get it. I know you're rewarded if your designer wins a challenge or cries. I wasn't able to watch it at Adam and Alissa's last night, so Carl Weathers picked out some designers for me.


Here's who I got:


1. Victorya
Victorya is one of the many designers this year to have a pretentiously misspelled first name. Also, she's kind of boring. But she went to University of Chicago, so she's smart! And maybe socially inept! Maybe that'll make for some nutty encounters with the rest of the cast.


2. Sweet P
Oh, thanks a lot, Carl, for picking the leather-clad Joni Mitchell. Again, she was rather boring, but maybe she'll have an acid flashback or two.


3. Kevin
Kevin made a point to mention that he was straight. Thank you, Kevin, for making the brave choice to come out like that. It must be hard being a minority. - it gives you and Kelis something to talk about. And can I just say that his facial hair is terrifying? It took me a while, but I figured out what he reminds me of:


Now, some random thoughts:

The best part of the episode clearly was the opening, when they had everyone sprint across a field for fabric. The producers rewarded us for waiting a year for this by having a fat designer this year. Thank you, Heidi Klum.

I would support Stephen if only for the fact that he's from Chicago, but I can't because he's a serial killer.

I can tell Rami is an authentic designer because he wears a measuring tape scarf.

OMG HATE.

Sew far, I'm a little underwhelmed. And I think Heidi is, too:




UPDATE: Because you're dying to know, I'm sure, here are the rules for our P-Run tournament, courtesy of Adam:

+1 if your person moves on to the next round (but isn't in the top 3)
+2 if your person is in the top 3 (but doesn't win the challenge)
+5 if your person wins the challenge
+10 if your person wins the competition
+3 if your person cries (maximum of 6 points an episode, crying cause they were kicked off does not count)
+2 if Tim tells your person (directly) to "Carry on" or "Make it work"
-2 if your person is in the bottom 2
-3 if your person is kicked off