1. Mrs. Doohickie on the mend after yesterday's surgery.

2. OMG Japan! Thoughts and prayers out to all those affected by the earthquake.

3. I still gotta finish my taxes.

1. Feel like I'm getting a bit stupid from overwork. Looking forward to two days off.

2. Hoping to get my brain together enough to spend the weekend reading this.

3. Would I be a bad person if I got cable tv again?

JL - no.

1. Having a hard time with my apartment hunt. I found a place I like but I feel like I'm going to get screwed again. Ugh. I can't deal with another year shrouded in shittiness. I'm a good tenant - hell, I'm a good person. Why is this so hard?

2. Did really well with working out this week... Hopefully won't fall apart like last weekend.

3. Broken keyboard on my personal laptop and new restrictions on Internet use on my work laptop = productivity through the roof and less pointless screentime at night. All around, an improvement.

1. Insanely busy and stressful week at work - I'm not normally a TGIF kind of guy, but Thank God it's Friday! Clear weekend except for OMD in concert tomorrow night. Hoping to listen to lots of records and whittle down the stack of unread magazines.

2. In a synth pop mood so I've loaded all three albums from my favorite of the genre - New Musik.

3. Thinking about beer. Beer beer beer. I think I'll be having a beer or two the second I get off work this afternoon.

1. Drove to Pittsburgh earlier this week on a whim. That was a stupid idea. The weather is currently blowing serious ass, and I got a cold.
2. I really wish I was at home
3. My dog decided she doesn't like my father-in-law, tried to bite him, then took five shits throughout his house. She's never been anything but perfectly sweet and properly house trained....until this week.

I only just found out about the tsunami, because at my in-laws house, there is no internet/television. My thoughts go out to those in need.

1. Drove to work today to see signs saying "coastal beaches closed due to tsunami warning," and was intrigued, assuming there was a mid-pacific under-sea earthquake. Then I looked at the news online, which was how I learned of the earthquake in Japan. Crikey.

2. Not really looking forward to a weekend of family drama, but that's part of being in a family.

3. Though we're renting a decent place, and work is going well, I really am itching to move. But life is going well enough, so I have no room to complain.

1. I have a painful bump under my nose which might be the beginnings of a pimple and might be from blowing my nose too much or both.

2. I just got off a sales call and the sales guy was so inept- made me glad to be good at my job or at least good enough to know when to shut the f up.

3.Bf is going away for 9 days with his students and I think I will miss him but also be glad to have the whole bed and no snoring for a while, esp since I haven't been getting sleep.

1. Last day at work until 23 March - Yay!

2. Broke down in tears after watching 3 minutes of the news report on Japan. Those poor people driving along the motorway to their deaths ... The new report talked about 'buildings and vehicles' swept away, but all I could think of was those poor, poor people.

3. I have Ina Garten's roast chicken for dinner tonight. It's my default chicken recipe, amro, and is always good.

1. We're hosting an open house for anyone who wants to escape the protests for a few minutes and/or use an actual bathroom, and OMG WE NEVER HAVE PEOPLE OVER AND THEY WILL JUDGE US!!!!

2. And we have to clean the BEDROOM... oh, god, it shouldn't take much, but it's such a yak-shaving task (you know, when you have to do something before you do something, before you do something, and eventually it involves shaving a yak). I can't go in there without saying, "Yeah, it'll be easy to organize this mess of books... but first we need to get the new bookshelves instead of these stupid wire things that weren't supposed to go there anyway..."

3. We're going out for some nice dinner tonight at a fantastic new restaurant... which is owned by the VERY EXTREMELY SUPER CATHOLIC girl and her then-creepy then-boyfriend, with whom I shared a house briefly about 10 years ago. It was such a weird situation. I don't know how to separate the restaurant from the people.

1. Baked some sourdough bread and also Banana Muffins With Chocolate Chips this morning. House smells good!

2. The husband is going out tonight to some kind of surprise birthday party. This means I have to handle bedtime for both kids by myself. Friday night, woohoo!!! At least I don't have to cook dinner.

3. The 3 year old and I have been working our way through Carl Sagan's Cosmos on demand on Netflix. I get such a kick out of hearing her whisper to herself about planets and stars and stuff.

Those poor people driving along the motorway to their deaths ...

Yeah, that's been the most devastating footage for me too for some reason. Total nightmarejuice for my brain... Just awful.

1) Plans are solidified for a quick road trip to Dallas next weekend. I haven't been back in over two years, so I've got some serious catching up with friends to do. Plus, Screeching Weasel!!!!

2) Have some overdue car maintenance to do this afternoon. Nothing major, but this is my first time attempting brake-work on my own. I'm getting more confident in my abilities with this kind of thing, but I'm terrified I'm going to fuck something up, so I've bribed my gear-head dad with beer to supervise.

3) Waiting for the lunch hour to be over so I can run downtown real quick to do some gift shopping (Mom's birthday tomorrow and I may pick up something for my buddy that's letting me crash at his place next weekend). Gorgeous day, and I'd hang out longer if not for #2 and the fact that the wind is blowing like a banshee.

1. This week has been crazy work-wise. Looking forward to this weekend and being off next Wednesday-Friday for our trip to visit Stynxno's brother and sister-in-law.
2. I bought some Shea Body Butter from the Body Shop to help with my dry hands from too much paper-handling, and it's really working! Hurray!
3. So look forward to next week's trip to the 'burbs. Time to visit all the chains I miss here in NYC! Mmmmm, junk food.

We're going out for some nice dinner tonight at a fantastic new restaurant... which is owned by the VERY EXTREMELY SUPER CATHOLIC girl

I hope you don't plan to order meat!

Hi amro, I agree; I woke up today to the reports and footage from the Japan tsunami. Mind bogglingly sad doesn't begin to describe it.

1) I impulse-bought a brand new set of touring / backcountry skis this week, thanks to $150 in REI gift cards. Hope there's enough snow up high to use them on Sunday as planned!

2) Boulder is currently experiencing WINDYPOCOLYPSE with 50+ mph winds since 2AM and sure enough, within the last hour we've received reports of a new fire started up in Lefthand Canyon. As if that area didn't get enough havoc and destruction wreaked upon it from the Fourmile fire last year. Sigh.

3) I have apparently lost my mind, since I'm considering registering for my first 5K running race since... gee, high school actually. This should be fun. And humbling. I mean, we only have some of the best endurance athletes in the world competing out here right?

Hugs to everyone. I'm going to hunker down, avoid the news, and try to accomplish some actual work now.

1. Heard from family in Japan already-everyone is okay, thank the Lord! Please, please may others be so lucky.
2. Totally unrelated, but going out for Japanese food tonight with 20 friends who wanted to celebrate that we are not leaving the area, after thinking that we probably were.
3. Had a job interview yesterday-went good but I don't think I knocked it out of the park-damn my nerves! Think we are both thinking about each other. This job would be a happy stretch for me.....how to convince them to take a chance....

I have Ina Garten's roast chicken for dinner tonight. It's my default chicken recipe, amro, and is always good.

I watched the show segment where she does this recipe on Youtube. She talks in such a calming way.

1. First, devastated by the dreadful news from Japan. Very glad Washington appears to have escaped tsunami damage, but horrified by what happened to the Japanese who died. Don't want to think about what it would feel like to shake that long, either. I still live in dread of my next Pacific Coast earthquake, as I've never gotten used to feeling the earth move.

I have apparently lost my mind, since I'm considering registering for my first 5K running race since... gee, high school actually.

2. So glad you are doing this! Made me smile to read this. And you cando it, as long as you ignore those elite runners. (We normal people never even see them leave the start line.) I started running again after many years of not doing it, and I actually finished a marathon. And now I run a half marathon a year, along with shorter races. Just don't rush your training and be smart about your shoes -- frankly, the closer to barefoot you get, the less injury issues you'll face.

3. As for what's up here, looking forward to 1) a glass of wine tonight 2) sleeping in tomorrow 3) leisurely long run after I wake up 4) dinner with the husband at what looks like a nice restaurant and 5) on Sunday, making Indian food in the slow cooker, doing the crossword, taking my guitar lesson, and making the weekly grocery run.

1. Have heard through her LJ that my writer in Japan is okay, but did think that she was going to die during the 'quake. Have heard through Facebook that other friends and friends of friends are okay. My nightmare fuel is the pictures of the tossed-around burning houses. What if there are still people trapped inside?

2. The ex of one of my good friends is coming to NYC next weekend and he has asked me if I'd be her unofficial tour guide because as pointless (to him) the breakup seemed, he still cares about her and wants to make sure she'll be okay. It's her birthday weekend, they had originally planned on coming together, and I think she's going to be here alone. So I'm giving her advice, have given her contact info, and will be at least having drinks with her.

3. Oh, and for those of you not on Twitter or linked to me on Facebook, my dad's taking an early retirement. After 40 years as a retail store manager at three different companies, I figure early retirement is the least he deserves. He says he's going to go back and try painting. I can't wait to start bugging him about selling a painting the way he bugs me about writing the Great American Novel.

1. Finally watched Part 1 of the HBO Angels in America last night. . .god it is so devastatingly brilliant. Can't wait for Part 2 from Netflix.

2. I have been preaching about secondary (non-structural) earthquake hazards in our schools for years, and I usually get scoffed at. Stuff like people leaving heavy projectors up high over desks, etc. The NW has the same geology as Japan (subduction zone) even though we are no longer an island arc (we were). The US would be far less prepared than Japan is for this. And it could happen tomorrow or in 200 years.

3. Doing some financial cleanup. . .waiting for the credit union at each step. . .feels good though.

Horrible horrible images. . .I hope that recovery goes well over there. . .and glad that gomichild was not there.

1. So, so glad it's Friday. Zausted. Feeling old. I'd love to get away, but saving money's still a priority right now, though the threat of being laid off seems to have abated some, at least for now. New Orleans or Vegas or Disney World in April would be great. The commercials for Key West are cruel. (Not gonna happen, but it's a nice fantasy. Maybe next year.)

2. I would love, love, love an iPad2. I was thinking of going over to the Apple store in Manhattan and play with one, but I don't trust myself. I really don't need it, but I want it (said in her best whiny voice).

3. So sorry about Japan. I heard this morning on the news before work. So surprised. Everying was fine when I went to bed.

1. So tired. I feel like I've been on full throttle for the past 2 days. (Yesterday was the epic property tax hearing/tailor shop/Target day that I wound up not going to the Irish dance thing although I stood outside the door and tried for about 10 minutes but I just couldn't do it.) I just got home from NARA and started my laundry (which I should've done yesterday) and I need to do my cleaning (which I should've done yesterday) and call my brother and 50 million other tiny little things and I think I'm getting another fever blister which is irritating because I'm really trying to take care of myself and when I get those, it's like a sign of "oh hai, you're not taking care of yourself".

2. I bought lots of exercisey things at Target yesterday (while Target is still on my shitlist, they're better than Walmart) including an obnoxiously bright safety orange colored sportsbra that makes me way happier than it should and I even got real water bottles! So now I can start taking more drinks to work and trying to maybe actually attempt this whole 'actual hydration' thing instead of always teetering on dehydration.

3. Going to be so busy this weekend. I have no idea how long I can sustain this crazy ass pace and then slam face first into work which has a visit from the associate dean (AKA my boss' boss) on Wednesday. I must not crater.

ETA: Just realized I should probably email my father and find out if the family that may or may not be in Japan (since they spend a lot of time in VA/NY/Cape Cod) right now is okay.