I always secretly, shamefully do memes on Facebook or here or wherever, but then I don't post them because even though I might think they're funny, there is still the awful, awful shame. Anyway, though, I did one of those "put your mp3 player on shuffle" ones, and got this result:

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Ballad of the Sin Eater-Ted Leo

And now I guess I have to get married so I can make that happen.

Also: Dear my livejournal:

Welcome to 2009! In February!

xoxo,

kim

I've found that when I'm using the public library, I like to be as incompetent as possible. The other day I went up to the desk and said, "There is a book I returned that is still showing up as being checked out and now it says it is overdue and I can't return it because I already returned it and I don't know what to do." And the circulation desk person said, "I'll mark it as 'claims returned' and then someone will look for it." And I answered, "Can I check things out now? Should I pay the fine now? I can pay the fine now!" I know what a claims returned means! The next day I was at a non-Chicago Public Library library and I was all, "I don't have a card at this library but I was wondering if I could use a computer here. But I don't have a card here because I live somewhere else." And the librarian told me I could and I asked if I had to just write my name on the list next to the letter of a computer terminal, when it was obvious that's what everyone else who had used a computer that day had done. It is becoming more and more obvious why no one will hire me to be a librarian.

This icon reminded me that season two of Dexter has been making me feel all, "OH NO, Dexter is totally going to get caught now!" when I know that obviously he doesn't get caught because otherwise there would be no season three. This bothers me. I mean, it bothers me that I can't stop myself from worrying about it, not that Dexter not getting caught is the inevitable conclusion if the show is to continue.

I have been all obsessed with Hefner (the band, not the Hugh) lately. For some reason, it is good early morning bus music.

There is a good chance that tomorrow I am going to spend over 20 pounds sterling (I know I could convert this or figure out how to make the pounds sterling symbol, but the fact is that I really like to say pounds sterling) on Hefner cds (I have almost all of them, but the ones I don't have seem to not be easily gettable in this country) so that I can get a free Hefner canvas bag. There is actually a good chance that I would have already spent over 20 pounds sterling if I (1) had brought my credit card to the library and (2) had figured out where to to get a package delivered to, because a package delivered to me would probably just sit around outside the building for a while and then get stolen. And actually, if I give it 24 hours there is a good chance that I will realize that it is kind of stupid and short-sighted to spend that much money on a couple of cds and an awesome bag. This is actually a pretty good argument for not having internet access in your own home: more time to consider purchase and less "mylifewillnotbecompleteunlessihavethatNOW."

Otherwise, here are some words that I like a lot but hardly ever get to use:

-claptrap
-aw man, I know I had at least one more of these. Oh, well.

So, I guess my car was stolen. I mean, I drove it to work the other day and then when I got out of work at 11pm, I kept walking up and down the street thinking I had just overlooked it. I am still sort of hoping that maybe it was just towed, but I've called the impound lot several times and I am inclined to believe that they really do not have it (a note: the people at the impound lot are always alarmingly friendly, unlike the policeman who made me cry because I didn't know my license plate number.).

( the way we were )

Anyway. Yesterday was my first day going to work without my car, and although I hardly ever drove to work when I had a car, it still seemed like a giant hardship to ride the bus. The bus flew past the stop right before I got there, then I waited for a long time, long enough that I started to worry I was going to be late, and I probably would've been except that the driver of the bus that finally showed up appeared to be kind of a maniac, and kept swerving around cars and running red lights. I think that the worst case scenario of my life is that I get killed on public transportation while going to my retail job. Or, it possibly could be the best case scenario. I need to give it a little more thought.

Today, in direct opposition to my whole world view, someone held an umbrella over me while I was waiting to cross the street. And, in the best possible situation of all, she was talking on her phone so I didn't even have to make awkward small talk.

In other news about people who have entered my comfort bubble today, here at the library a guy put all of his stuff down on the chair next to mine, and I thought, "OF COURSE, he would have to sit right next to me," but apparently he is just leaving his stuff here while he uses a computer on the other side of the room. I kind of want to rob him, just on principle.

Yesterday at work a little girl almost kicked me (she was practicing her kung fu moves by the travel books or something, i don't know), and she said, "Sorry!" and I said "No problem!" or something like that to relate that any ill will I bore her was just due to my general dislike of children and not tied to any one particular event. As I was walking away, I heard her mom say, "Don't apologize! It was an accident!" And that made me really mad and a little confused, because I was not aware that you only had to apologize for things you do on purpose. So the other day when I apologized for falling into a woman on the bus, she must've thought that I meant to do that, or that throwing myself into random strangers on public transportation is just how I get my kicks. But actually it was just an accident, caused by the lurchiness of the bus and the earliness of the hour (man, it is hard to remain upright at 6:20 in the morning). Anyway, please consider this a retraction of that unnecessary apology.

I went to Clarksville for the weekend because I didn't have to work. It was mostly not exciting (mom and I saw Wall-E and I got the muffler on my car fixed for $50 instead of the $350 I was quoted here), but there is a new tunnel under the highway and we went to look at it and maybe drive through it while honking the horn. When we got there, though, the tunnel was blocked with vertical metal poles buried in the ground in front of the entrance, restricting access to cars but allowing woodchucks to waddle through with ease. One of the poles had been sawed off near the bottom, and it looked like a car would just barely fit between the remaining poles in order to reach the grassy path on the other side. My dad said, "Let's drive through it!" but I was like, "Dad, I have seen enough slasher movies to be able to tell you that that is a bad idea."

So, is there a term for the phenomenon that, when you vocalize the fact that something is going well, whatever thing you just commented on suddenly just stops being good? Like, a while back ilikeseamus and I were on the bus, and I said, "This bus ride is going remarkably well!" and then the bus immediately died. The bus driver said, "I'm gonna be honest with you, folks: this bus is dead in the water," and we all filed out and got on the train (the bus conveniently died right next to an el stop, so there was that, at least).

This is not a veiled message that my life is going well and I'm just afraid to say anything about it for fear of jinxing the situation, because things are basically, well, not bad exactly but just really, really neutral. Except now I am a little sad because the first sentence of this entry sort of suggests that I have forgotten how to write. SEND EDITORIAL HELP!!!

I kind of wish my parents kept a blog, because, when I am on the phone with them, they always have exciting stories about finding kittens or going to yard sales at the funeral home, whereas all I have to talk about is sweating a lot and the 'use the air conditioner or be able to pay the electric bill' dilemma.

Anyway, there are all these big summer music festivals that I don't have any real interest in (heat! crowds! not being able to see a single thing after paying lots of money to go!), but on Saturday Jarvis Cocker will be at Pitchfork, and I'm just kind of excited to think that he and I will be in the same city for the first time ever! (I mean, as far as I know. I guess he might have stopped by Clarksville a lot in my pre-Jarvisloving days, to visit our excellent bar, gas station or bank. Way back then we even had a grocery store!) (Also, Dear Google, "Joe Cocker" is not a related search for "Jarvis Cocker." no no no.)

So the problem with not writing an entry for a while is that when I try to write one I think, "well, after two weeks I can't possible just write something about how crowded the bus was last night, can I?" And then I just don't write anything instead, and then I feel bad because I kind of liked how there was a heavily edited and very incomplete record of my life out there that I could someday look at and say, "Wow, I sure have liked burritos for a long time."

Anyway, the bus sure was crowded a couple of times last week.