Is that Flash music player not awesome? I find it awesome.

So I needed a brain break earlier. My internet kept going down. And just when it would come back up, there'd be a power thing and the lights would dim for a second. And then I'd lose my internet and have to reboot the router. This happened maybe five times. I was starting to take it personal.

Oh! Sidetrack! Hang on...

So as you may or may not recall I wrote a few weeks ago about an interesting addition to the list of wireless connections in my 'hood. And I speculated then that the wireless network might be the newest mode of communication. And fuck me sideways if I wasn't on to something. Because today as I was trying to get my internet back up I saw this:

Huh? Huh?

Nutty. It's all I can do not to change my listing to "I'm LUE and you all SUCK" or "LUE got a restraining order". Or maybe a more concise "LUEsers!"

If I have to sit and wildly speculate about this damn LUE thing I might as well do my part to make other people wonder.

Anyway, where was I? Oh. Music.

Actually the story I was going to tell is both boring and rather embarrassing so I'll just skip it. Instead I will mention that we are currently in a winter weather advisory dealie until Wednesday because of the cold. I have never heard of a weather advisory issued that would last until the next day.

It's cold out.

I finally watched Juno tonight.

For the sake of the story we'll pretend I saw it in the theatre.

Good movie. Good cast. Well-written (although a little heavy on the hipster old school pseudo-slang).

But I had to laugh a bit at the idea of a pregnant high schooler in Minnesota being some sort of oddity. We had a daycare where I went.

Oh well. Ever since Fargo I fear that my home state is perceived as a conglomeration of small towns stuck in a Good Housekeeping magazine circa 1977.

You know what makes it all feel better? Truckin' songs.

You heard me.

Coffee Creek : Willin'

Coffee Creek : Truck Drivin' Man

Son Volt : Looking at the World Through Windshields

Whiskeytown : Theme for a Trucker

These help too:

Son Volt : True to Life

Old 97s : Four Leaf Clover

Replacements : Left of the Dial

They're all live versions so I'm not taking food out of the mouths of overfed record label execs. Thank god! Those poor poor millionaires...

Actually, I take that back. Four Leaf Clover doesn't sound live, but it isn't the album version with Exene Cervenka. So there you go.

Anyway, there. Music.

Helpful Tips to Avoid Overdosing (Perhaps Fatally) on Drugs. By Claire:

1. Do not hang around Pete Doherty.

2. Do not hang around the Olsen twins.

I think that has to cut down your chances by at least 42%.

ETA: Well, apparently I made my list too soon. As rumors of an Olsen involvement have been denied. Damn.

So it seems as thought overdosing is the new black for 2008. Do we have a trifecta in play?

I was having a good day today. Got some work done. Some billable work done.

I even dealt successfully with changing a light bulb. Even though the glass part broke and I had to pry the metal part out of the socket with a pliers. I was very proud.

But then I decided to push the envelope. I went and checked my cellphone bill. Thinking maybe I went a little over last month. I was wrong.

$200 over last month.

Now I do have the money to pay for it, it just means I can't buy food for a month.

I suppose I needed to go on a diet anyway.

Stupid starvation. It sounds a lot more fun than it actually is.

It is currently five degrees below zero in the Twin Cities. Although once you get around this temp it really stops mattering what the actual number is. It's just really fucking cold. Going outside you immediately become aware of any exposed skin because it stings. Stay outside much longer with exposed skin and of course it stops stinging. Because by then skin becomes numb.

My usually balmy apartment is even cold. I actually had to put on a long sleeved shirt and everything. I've got supplies to last through the weekend. I made sure of that. Although I may venture out for a business meeting tomorrow afternoon.

But today I'm taking it easy and hiding out inside. Maybe I'll actually get some work done.

Maybe not.

I seem to have the worst luck with my neighbors. I don't know any of them. The ones that I did know have since moved on.

Last week, for instance, I met my downstairs neighbor when he started pounding on my door one morning. Turns out the work the plumber was doing created a hole in the pipe going down to his apartment. So he was coming up to find out why the hell blackened nasty water was streaming into his bedroom.

Or today. Take today. I was walking out the door to go meet a friend for lunch when I noticed that the huge green metal dumpster out back had been turned on its side. I won't even speculate how. That thing must be heavy. But I noticed it was only about an inch away from my caretaker's car. Upon closer inspection, it looked like it had hit the car, ripped off a side panel and put an inch-long gash in the body.

So my dilemma: do I call my caretaker (who is probably enjoying a leisurely Saturday morning) and tell him someone fucked up his car overnight, or do I keep my mouth shut and move on and let someone else ruin his day?

After some waffling (and not the tasty kind of waffling) I called him up and told him about it. His reaction was, "Oh, looks like it missed my car. That's good."

No, I thought that too. But it hit your car.

I think I did the right thing. But at this rate, the whole building is going to view me as a harbinger of doom and destruction.

Tips for Keeping Down Food (by Claire):

1. Do not watch 28 Days Later. While eating.

2. Do not watch any medical show, in particular one where they show a gunshot wound to the head. While eating.

3. Do not watch The HIlls. While eating.

4. Do not watch—

Actually, I just wouldn't recommend watching The Hills period. I don't know about you, but I just don't have much interest in watching any show that follows people around whose only skill in life is being born and/or marrying into money. Because that generally does not equate to interesting. Or literate.

And this is coming from someone who'll watch pretty much anything. I watched Paradise Hotel, for gods sake. But I can't sit through more than a few minutes of the stilted, forced "banter" without squirming uncomfortably and reaching for a rusty fork to jam into my foot.

Which is something else that I probably wouldn't want to watch while eating. But it's still a far sight preferable to The Hills.

I have no idea why I do this. I just spent 10 minutes trying to figure out one word from a quote from the latest Gossip Girl episode. There is something seriously wrong with me.

But I totally figured it out. Turns out (if I guessed correctly) it's a screenname.

So, do I win anything?

Well I can't say this year hasn't been interesting so far. Mine has been a step forward here and there followed by a giant leap back. Which is, believe me, an odd way to live. But no more. I need to refocus my life.

So I've decided to quit my part time job. I started it thinking I would be working only a few hours a day and it turned into something completely different. I am grateful for it. I got some great clients and met some amazing people.

But I will always hold a very special place in my heart for the crazies. Take, for instance, the guy today who came in for a business card. So: typical questions. What do you want it to say? Do you want an special ink colors? Do you want any images on it? And the guy was like, No, it needs to be really simple because it's for an escort service and if any of the ladies are picked up I don't want it to be obvious that's what it's for.

I love that! So I was like, okay how about... a cat? No. He didn't like that. (Too obvious?). A Mack truck? No. A... butterfly? No.

He finally just settled on text, in case you're wondering.

I will miss the randoms so much. They were like these zany little spots in the day that just made you step back and smile. Most of them, anyway.