Wash your hands...

I visited my derby wife and good friend Louise in Boston two weeks ago. She was working, in one of her classes, with a world famous surgeon, not because he was so skilled but because he had a mandate of 8 operational procedures that you, as a hospital, could do to increase the success of every single surgery. Not based on skill. Can you guess the first thing? You can. Because you all have:

1. Wash your hands.

Who knows what the other 2-8 where because we get so obsessed with "wash you hands - WHAT - IS THAT TRUE? Is it true that surgeons forget to wash their hands? How is it that medical institutions ignore these rules!

Wash your hands. For 20 seconds.

That is the only aspect of the whole H1N1 thing that I'm thrilled about - all the public service announcements:

Wash your hands.

Cover your mouth.

Stay home if you are sick.

Domestic Goddess Diva - day two - I worked on an apron that I had started in March. I watched a "Haunting" episode (or 2) about Ballard (WHAT there are ghosts in Seattle - in Ballard - my neighborhood?!?!?). I went shopping for spices. I met some girlfriends out for a beverage. We laughed, we chatted about derby, we chatted about the Mutter Museum, our Thanksgivings... I started the evening with "My friend Louise, works with a professor - a surgeon..."

I washed my hands.

For 20 seconds.

When Do Herbs & Spices Give Up the Ghost?

I felt like such a domestic goddess today as I thumbed through the spice box to see just how old they were and why they were all dated 2008... Didn't I cook a turkey last year? (Turns out that I didn't.) What happened to 2009 spices? How old was this chili? And this oregano?

The whole day I was a domestic goddess as I stayed home for yet another day of furlough. We are taking two weeks this year and I am taking them both in November (which means I'll be broke in December.) Today I got up, dropped Lara off at the bus stop and went to the store to get some breakfast treats for a friend who was coming over at 9:30. Indy and I worked on derby stuff (while eating coffee cake and drinking coffee) before she headed out to pick up her daughter at noon. I had a peanut butter sandwich (with honey) for lunch. I always forget to each lunch on my days off and end up starving which means I can't eat my tasty salad. Made some calls about an HIV presentation I'm going to give on Monday.

I changed in to sweats and dropped off some stuff at the dry cleaners, walked around Greenlake (3 miles) and came home to answer more emails and start dinner. Whole foods. Slow foods. Homemade food. Beans and rice. Plain and simple and delicious.

After dinner, I decided that I needed a nap. Even as I rocked as the "domestic goddess" DIVA, I was still tired. I did a lot of derby work and some things for the CAB. I worry though, that if I was honestly a domestic goddess diva - for real and not just for a few days a year - that I could end up an alcoholic. I mean because I was thinking, around 3 p.m., that it would be great to have a glass of wine while I started dinner... and one would have been fine. But once you open the bottle... and it's only 3 p.m.... that can be a slippery slope.

Luckily I'm only pretending.

A real thunderstorm...

I was driving home from practice tonight in my least favorite Seattle weather - sheets of rain blowing sideways. I had the wipers on fast and was pulling off the freeway, heading home when I decided to call my office to remind me to do about a gazillion things before I left for vacation (with an ear bud - safety.) A huge blue light lit up the sky and I was at a loss of what to say. It's been so long since I've seen a thunderstorm - a "real" one that stops my in my breath and humbles me. One giant blue flash that lit up the entire sky.

There is usually a flash - one - with a one rumble that ends up on the news the next day. The giant blue flash. The rumble. This time it was followed by more flashes and zigzags of lighting shooting across the sky. The sheets of rain came down harder and more rumbles. I was secretly thrilled. I loved it. It was a great - the intensely brief thunderstorm that caused me to slow down driving home - shoot the apartment - scared the kitty friends.

Inspired...

Tonight I went and saw Regina Spektor (an anti-folk singer song writer, born in Russian, emigrated to the US at 9 years old) with Lara at the Paramount tonight. We had combined funds to purchase the VIP tickets from the Legal Voice Auction. I hadn't been to a concert in ages. I was excited - exhausted and couldn't way to just go out and hear a great show.

I stayed late at work and headed down to the show. The "Paramount Club" which is what the VIP ticket bought you wasn't much more than a private bar with cheese, salami and crackers (I kid you not.) But the bar line wasn't crowded, the drinks were resonably priced (I haven't had a White Russian - which I chose in honor of Regina Spektor - in years.) It was kind of funny because some of the patrons, you could tell, went there all of time time. Some patrons were new - and were asking things like "how do you do this? I mean how do you cut these cheeses with there little knives." Hmmm. It was fun to be "exclusive" but not really - that exclusive.

The show itself was FANTASTIC! I was introduced to Regina Spektor by my friend Brandi who had bought her CD from CD Baby (which essentially gave you two for the price of one. One you kept - one you shared.) I had become a huge fan. But then MyPod (my Ipod) played her constantly (as it does with the Gorillas) and I had to take her off for a while. What a great show! Her vocal range is amazing. She's a super talented pianist and her lyrics, much like Andrew Bird's, make you listen, laugh and feel totally engrossed in the story she's telling you. It was such a great show and honestly, the whole time I was inspired and kept thinking... why aren't I the filmmaker I thought I would be?

Hmmm.

Inspired.



My two favorite songs from tonight: Machine and Folding Chair.

My favorite song - On the Radio - from her previous work.