hey world, check me out

maura @ 8:53 am

You may have noticed that we’re all redesigned here at mauraweb! today. And even updated to the most spanking-new version of WordPress, woot! I couldn’t be happier with the new look, the result of much hard work courtesy of the mauraweb! technical team. Leave a comment if you like it, too; the tech team loves praise.

With only 2 weeks left in the semester isn’t it just the perfect time for me to get sick? Of course it is! The worst thing about having a cold is the relentless body maintenance. What I want to do is sit somewhere soft and warm and do the work I need to do. What I have to do is blow my nose, get up and get more tissues, drink lots of water, get up and get more water, get up and go to the bathroom (from drinking all of that water). It makes me cranky, like Pee-Wee in the episode when he’s sick. Maybe I’d be less cranky if I had house-shaped slippers!

once in every lifetime there comes a lot like this

maura @ 8:09 am

The theme song for the Young Ones has been popping into my head at odd moments over the past week or so. Why? I do not know.

And even more randomness from the universe: not one, but two people yesterday gave a shout-out about the librarian tatoos at Archie McPhee. I’m soaking in it!

And now, A Concise Answer to the Question “Why Do I Hate the Car?”:
Time spent driving from Gus’ school to my internship yesterday: 25 minutes
Time spent looking for parking: ONE ENTIRE HOUR

it’s day 10…

maura @ 7:31 pm

…of Gus’s 11 days of spring break. I should have something at least mildly entertaining to say, a quip about kindergarteners in Fort Lauderdale, perhaps. Or a humorous blow-by-blow of our family vacation to Washington D.C., during which it SNOWED in APRIL (how’s that for material!). But I’m tired and mildly sick (Gus’s cold finally rubbed off on me) and I still have a ton of work to do.

So I leave you with three things:

1. Thanks to Jonathan, I’m a hobo!

2. My least favorite things from our D.C. trip (besides the weather): the insect zoo was closed for renovation, and there was a line for EVERYTHING. Because the entire damn nation goes to our nation’s capital over Easter weekend, duh.

3. My favorite things from our D.C. trip: these sculptures and this book at the Hirshhorn.

just a second

maura @ 8:16 pm

Honest, that’s all the time it will take to post this, then back to the homework for me. But this is literally the physical embodiment of a Steven Millhauser story (possibly “The New Automaton Theater”). Watch the video! You won’t be disappointed.

the sidewalk’s a carpet and the bushes are the walls

maura @ 7:12 pm

Voxtrot, I am so over you.* My new band crush, thanks to Punk Rock Karl, is Even in Blackouts. They play incredible power punk/pop, the singer has a fantastic soaring voice, and they’re from Chicago to boot. How could anyone not love them?

* Okay, that is a lie told for humorous effect. I still love you, Voxtrot, there’s no need to pout.

You can listen to some Even in Blackouts songs on Pure Volume and MySpace. It’s going to be really hard to wait ’til my birthday for their CDs, I may just have to break down and buy them sooner.

On another note, a glance at my course calendars plus the fact that today was merely day 1 of Gus’s ELEVEN DAYS OF SPRING BREAK has led me to conclude that I have a frankly inhuman amount of schoolwork to do between now and the end of April. So expect updates to be spotty around here. Unless I find another band I can’t stop listening to.

brief + random thoughts

maura @ 7:43 pm

Numbered, for easy reading. That’s my game.

1. It was 74 (!) degrees here the other day, so we let Apple go in the courtyard of our building. I miss the little guy far more than I thought I would. Maybe we should get a real pet.

2. T-1 day until Gus’s 11 (!!) day spring break. I also have all of my final papers + projects due for school within the next 4 weeks. No sleep ’til May!

3. Punk Rock Karl redesigned his blog all fresh and lovely-like, with music too! Go there now to read and listen, esp. to Even in Blackouts and The Epoxies.

then i’ll dig a tunnel

maura @ 7:07 pm

Hello universe, I’m ready for March to be over now. It seems like there’s been a succession of small annoyances over the past month and I’m just tired of it.

First I got an irritation on my arm, necessitating a visit to the dermatologist. Total bill = $140, ouch. Also, we got a parking ticket. Yeah, that isn’t really an illness, but at $115 the ticket nearly made me sick, anyway. And now I have a cut on my finger. Finger cuts are the worst — all those nerves, so so painful, hard to type.

I’m currently recovering from a shin splint. At least I think it’s a shin splint — Jonathan thought it was a blood clot, but I think I’d be dead by now if so. My leg was a little swollen and it squeaked when I flexed my foot. It is getting better, per the interweb’s instructions to elevate, alternate heat and ice, and take ibuprofen. But it’s taking forever and I haven’t been to the gym in over a week, which makes me grumpy.

And how did I even get a shin splint, anyway? I do go to the gym, but it’s not like I’m iron man or anything. A little cardio on the elliptical machine, just like the 70 yr old working out beside me. A little weight-bearing exercise, in the hopes of heading off osteoporosis when I’m an old lady. Hardly the stuff of shin splints.

Also the garbage disposal broke (after only 6 yrs, shouldn’t it have lasted longer?). The toilet broke, and then the other toilet broke, but only for a minute, thankfully. Then the vacuum cleaner announced its slow decline when it stopped sucking. Usually we are happy when things no longer suck, but of course the vacuum cleaner is an exception.

I guess all’s well that ends well, because we now have: 1) a new, virtually quiet garbage disposal; 2) new, lower-flow toilet innards; and 3) a new, bagless and sucking vacuum cleaner. And I hope that Al Gore will forgive us buying a new vacuum cleaner rather than trying to get the 10 yr old one fixed, because the new one is bagless, and that’s all eco, right? Plus we will Freecycle the old one, promise. Let me tell you about the bagless: the first time you use it you will be shocked, SHOCKED, at how much stuff comes out of your carpets. Who knew what could hide in low-pile area rugs?

a life full of children and animals

maura @ 9:53 pm

It’s been a long long time since I’ve had a band crush. I used to have them all the time. But that was pre-Gus, and now there’s less time + money + energy for musical pursuits. I’ve talked about this before; I am a broken record (har).

I have had a few band crushes in the past few yrs. Pipas, Math and Physics Club, Franz Ferdinand, Feist, and the Shins. Yes, I am always behind the times, and not as indie as I used to be.

I am having a band crush right now! I’ve fallen hard for Voxtrot. Again, slow on the uptake: their first release was in 2005. But their first full-length album is coming out soon, so I haven’t completely missed the boat.

The funny thing about a belated band crush is that you experience all the levels of fandom at warp speed. The whole shebang has taken me about 3 weeks: “Hey, this band is pretty good…man, that (self-released EP) record rocks…damn, I canNOT stop listening to this song…cool, check out those hidden unreleased tracks on their website…hmm, this EP is okay, not fabulous…wow, the new record sounds so, well, PRODUCED…yeah, I used to LOVE them, I mean, I liked their FIRST record.”

Except that I’m lying about that last bit. I still really like them, even though the new songs that are being blogged are slicker than the old EPs. I mean, that shit happens when you have money to spend making a record, right? And the strings on “Steven” just slay me.

we were born to live here

maura @ 8:02 pm

Apple has changed (again)! One night last week I came out from putting Gus to bed to find that the lil’ pupa was…twitching…flexing…convulsing, if you will. I was simultaneously disgusted and fascinated; I could NOT look away! I even took a little video of it, figuring that by morning the change would be complete (though Gus is much less interested in Apple these days than Jonathan + I are).

And it was. Apple is now a beetle. At first he* was pale brown and looked like a small firefly. After emerging it seemed like all Apple wanted to do was eat and bury himself under oatmeal. For some reason this really bothered me, and I was all: Slacker! You just pupated for two weeks, get up and move a little!

* Why is Apple male? I don’t know.

But then we realized that he was still growing and changing, getting bigger and darker every day. He’s also getting more active. He’s taken to pacing around his little bug house, occasionally even scrabbling against the walls to try and get out.

Apple, dude, we will set you free soon! As soon as the weather gets a bit warmer. It’s been fun watching nature in all its glory, but it’s time for the bug to go live outside. Jonathan even made up a little song about how we love Apple, but if we saw him in the cupboard we would have to smush him.

if i mail this letter you can send it back to me

maura @ 7:36 pm

Have I told you about my new wallet yet? No? Then pull up a chair, Cher!

Once upon a time I had a Badtz Maru wallet. I got it at a Sanrio store in L.A. while visiting my brother at college, oh, 10 yrs ago maybe? It was really excellent: made of this weird plasticy mesh with a billfold, change purse, plenty of card pockets, and a velcro closure. There was even a nice little external pocket for oft-used items like my metrocard, food coop ID, etc. It was super rad.

By last fall the plastic was cracking, and the velcro was fuzzy and shedding. It was clear that the era of the Badtz Maru wallet had come to an end.

Of course I wanted a new wallet that was EXACTLY like the old one, who wouldn’t? I searched and searched the giant interwebs, but couldn’t find a match. Finally I found one that I thought would do the trick. It was made of durable plastic, had a fun design, and featured a billfold, card pockets, and a change purse. I asked for it for xmas and was pleased as punch to receive it.

Except, all was not as I’d hoped in newwalletland. Yes, the wallet was pretty, but the plastic was sharp and pokey on the edges. Yes, it had the essential change purse, but the plastic was so tight that it nearly refused to release the coins inside. Yes, it had card pockets, but they were not as spacious as the old wallet’s pockets. I’m packing a lot of plastic these days, what with the school ID, 2 library cards, 2 access cards for internship libraries, my certified nerd card, etc.

Who is my wallet savior? Why, the lovely Ms. Jill Bliss, of course! A talented designer and craftrix, she makes one fabulous wallet out of soft, washable cloth. LOTS of pockets! A zippered change purse! Fun fabric prints! (I lassoed myself up some cowboyz.) And no pointy edges.

Thanks Jill!