I just finished reading The Information Diet, which I think I mentioned before - it's all about how we need to stop ingesting the equivalent of twinkies into our brains, and spend more time on the stuff that's important to us. I can happily report that I haven't looked at The Huffington Post all week, nor have I watched The Daily Show.   I miss it a little bit - I do have a crush on Jon Stewart - but it's nice to have time to listen to the podcasts I love, read the magazines I enjoy, and not get all riled up about politics.  I also started using Rescue Time, which is a bit of software that sits in the background analyzing the sites you spend time on, seeing where you lose productive time.  So I can't sneak little breaks checking out the new Jason Wu collection at Target without Rescue Time noticing.  It's a little creepy to be honest, so I might not use it forever, but it's definitely nice to be able to get a reality check on my attention span.

I haven't been as good about meditation lately.  It seems so difficult to set aside 20 minutes to just sit and do nothing.  Yet I know it's important.  I know the difference it makes for people, and could make for me.  So I keep trying.  Eventually it will become second nature.  Like the oil pulling I do every morning.  I know it sounds crazy and new agey, but I haven't been sick at all yet this winter, and normally I come down with every cold that passes through the neighborhood, so I'm stoked about that.

This week I'm going up to my office in San Mateo, but the highlight will be Saturday, when I go to the American Bach Soloist's choral workshop in San Francisco.  A full day of singing the choruses from the St Matthew Passion.  Ahhhhh, bliss....

It's been a while since I posted a Funny Local News video, and when I searched for one on youtube, I found this one, from LA's ABC 7, filmed in a Target parking lot in Fontana, which is, coincidentally, the Target I most often go to.  I park in that parking lot!  It's a good thing the rogue carts don't get my car. Man, if you only watched local news, you would be forgiven for being afraid of your own shadow. If you're ever looking for something to be afraid of, watch local news. They'll make sure you know about some new killer disease or rogue shopping cart that you should watch out for.

Welcome to Fall (also, the Way Marketers Get Me)

Hey everybody!  I haven't blogged in FOREVER.  I suck at blogging sometimes.  If you wondered where I went, not to worry, I'm still here.  And it's fall, so I'm happy.  Fall has always been my favorite season.  Actually, I'm especially happy that I'm happy this year because we lost Baby T in the fall, and I was worried that I'd be miserable, associating it with the loss.  But it's going ok.

So I came home from Target the other day with, among other things, a fall-looking mug.  When J asks me why the hell I bought a mug when we have, like, 50 of them collecting dust, I responded thusly.

Target sells this mug for $1.99.  And you might think that it's just a cheap mug, right?  But you would be wrong.  Because let me tell you.  I'm going to dig out the espresso machine that I put away when it got warm, and I'm going to make myself white chocolate mochas and pumpkin spice lattes, and what I will do is wake up early, and drink my coffee in this mug, holding it in my hands and feeling the comfort and warmth of it, and listen to Telemann while I read thoughtful magazines like the Atlantic and the New Yorker, and do my Artists Way Morning Pages, and look out the window and think what a lovely day it is, and a cat will snuggle at my feet.  I will feel calm and contented, and I will have a productive, amazing, kick@ss day.  And it will all be because of the $1.99 mug.  This isn't just a mug.  This is autumn crispness and meditative mornings and kick-butt days.  All for $1.99.  I mean, seriously, how could you expect me to turn that down?


To which he replied that he couldn't expect me to turn it down, and by all means, I should consider getting a second one the next time I'm there.

So, thanks to Target, my table in the mornings looks like this.  Candle: $5.99.  Mug: $1.99.  White Chocolate Mocha ingredients: $2.00.  Tablecloth: $9.99.  Autumn Bliss: Priceless.

11 weeks and 2 days...

Not like I'm counting down to the end of this first trimester or anything like that...

Here are some things that are making me happy right now:

1) The autumn stuff is making an appearance at Target, which makes me happy because that means that autumn is coming, with cooler weather and a chance to wear some of the fall maternity clothes I bought today.

2) It's Friday, which means that I can hopefully catch up on some sleep. I'm finding it impossible to get comfortable recently. Between getting up to pee every 20 minutes and not being able to lay on my belly anymore, it's really seriously sucking.

3) Mom visited all week and we had fun. She's in grandma mode and we looked at strollers and cribs, hung out at the lake, and went to see Despicable Me in 3D, which I highly recommend.

4) Jason Mraz. Just because.

5) I started a blog where I will write all my letters to Baby. I've been keeping a journal of letters to him/her for a couple of weeks now, but this is quicker and my hand doesn't get as tired. So I'll do both.

6) There are new bags at Target, and new bags make me happy.

7) I finally finished the first episode of Project Runway - I feel like it's back - last season was lackluster for me, but this year, it's going to rock. I'm bummed that the mom from Utah had to go home - I liked her dress! - but that flower bag was pretty bad paired with it. I really wanted the guy wearing the derby hat to go home too - I just find him generally annoying. I hope we get time to watch the second episode this weekend. We're also a week behind on So You Think You Can Dance, and that stinks, too. Sometimes I hate being busy. There are like two shows I love to watch, and I'm so behind on them both.

Old time radio shows and my crush on Peter Cetera

I just discovered The Big Broadcast, which has become my new favorite thing. It's a four hour radio program on every Sunday night featuring the radio drama's of the 30's, 40's and 50's. But thanks to the wonders of technology, I can listen to it whenever I want. Hubby and I are loving spending half an hour every evening listening to Dragnet and Johnny Dollar, etc. What I love about these shows is the way they paint pictures with words, and the way you can imagine things. It's so much more engaging than watching TV. I highly recommend you check it out and give it a chance. It might seem a bit weird at first, but if you give it a shot, you might discover that you completely love it, like I did.

I turned 34 last week, which is really messing with my head. 34? Seriously? I'm 34 years old? When my mom was my age she had a 4 year old. It's all just too weird. I'm suddenly aware of my age. I'm not saying that I'm fighting it or anything like that. Just that I'm aware of it for the first time. Like here's a trippy thought. I began choosing my favorite radio stations in the mid-80's. I kept a tape recorder by the radio so I could record my favorite Wham and Madonna songs when they came on. In the 80's, a lot of the "oldies" doo-wap 60's stuff was just about 20-25 years old, right? Ok, so bear with me here. The music I remember listening to then is now 20-25 years old. So the music I remember listening to is now as old as the doo-wap stuff was then. So yeah, if I think about that too much it starts messing with my head, and that's never a good thing.

And here's another thing. It's no secret that I have harbored a long time crush on Peter Cetera. Since I was about 16. Yeah, well, I was thinking about that crush (while listening to my almost-perfect Peter Cetera station on Pandora) he's almost 70 now, which just seems kind of icky (no offense, Peter Cetera. I still love you and think you're the hottest almost-70 guy I know of. It just makes me feel like you're a grandfather, and it's kind of gross). Was it really nearly 20 years ago when I listened to World Falling Down on my walkman while studying for AP History?

And one other thing. My parents are in their 60's and almost 70. Which is not the correct age for parents to be. 60's and 70 is the age for grandparents. Parents are in their 30's and 40's. Which leads me to the fact that I am now firmly in my 30's. Which makes me want to scream and play some early Blink.

It's just really scary how fast time is passing, that's all. I want to slow it down so I don't miss anything. It's like somebody stuck my life on warp speed and it's just going by so quickly. I guess this is why some people have a mid-life crisis when they're 50. Well, I really want to stop and be still and notice as much as I can.

On that note, I'm having a lovely chill-out weekend. It's the first weekend in about a month where we haven't had any plans, and I'm making good use of it. Catching up on laundry, reading lots of magazines, immersing myself in Vanity Fair, taking long bubblebaths, taking my time in Target, going to the beach, snuggling with the kittens, listening to Peter Cetera - all that good stuff.

Our (future) baby has his first Christmas blanket

I was at the after-Christmas sales at Target and bought my future-baby a winnie-the-pooh blanket that says "my first Christmas" because it was too cute and $6. So Baby already has a blankey. And I'm not even pregnant. Of all the luck.