no santorum covered mitten here

Gross, I know.  But I couldn't help it. It's just too easy.

Here's a random sampling of what's up:

After going on a roller coaster of emotions about whether or not to vote in the Republican Primary yesterday ("We should vote for Santorum because he'll be easier to beat in November!"  "No wait!  We should vote for Romney because I'll be so embarrassed for Michigan if Santorum wins and I should have a say in who the potential nominee is!"), we ended up voting in the uncontested Democratic Primary which may sound stupid, but I really feel smug about showing up and making it clear no one from the GOP field deserves my vote.  FYI:  Santorum stomped all over Romney in Ottawa County:  48.7% to 35.5% with Ron Paul a very distant third at 8.5%.

I ran 6 days a week for 1 month and lost 8lbs. I have signed up for the St. Patty's Day Pacer with my friend Julie who is 100% responsible for me even running again. My mood has dramatically improved. I feel about 9000 times better. After one month, I'm starting to remember that 30 minutes really does kind of feel like a warm-up.  I was planning on today being my off day, but it's 50 degrees out there.  There will be running after work.

Twitter has kind of become a new obsession for me. I "watched" the GOP Mesa, Arizona debate through live tweets from one Dem, one Rep, and one comedian.  I loved it. I have virtually no one following me which makes it amazingly freeing. And I love being able to unfollow anyone at anytime if they get irritating.  I'm still kind of confused by the retweeting and the favoriting, but whatev.

There will be no 3-day Pitchfork Music Festival for me this year.  Vampire Weekend and Feist just won't cut it. If they announce someone amazing in the next few weeks, I'd definitely consider a one day pass. Otherwise, methinks I'm looking at a Wheatland kind of year festival-wise.

The next few weeks are insane at work. Next week is Teen Tech Week so we have 3 extra programs.  It's March Madness so we've got a bracket program and we're showing a movie. And Hunger Games is released so there's a few hours of Hunger Games trivia, crafting, and giveaways coming up. AND I'm attending Spring Institute in Ann Arbor for two days at the end of March which I was excited about until I read the program descriptions and they seem a little...old lady-ish, but whatever!  I'm going to use the time to network and get as many new ideas as possible.

I done booked my Amtrak ticket and I'm heading south to Chicago for a long weekend.  Unfortunately, it's over St. Patrick's Day. Fortunately, aside from needing to head down there to meet with Matt from YOUMedia at the Harold Washington Library (!!!) on St. Patrick's Day (Thank you Kevin!!!) I don't really need to deal with the Michigan Avenue area. Unfortunately, Peter won't be able to go.  Fortunately, it's because he's got tickets to see The Black Keys in Grand Rapids with Reuben that weekend.  Fortunately, I get to stay at Le Casa de Kapetyn-Dekkinga!  Fortunately, I get to see Rebecca and Sandy!  Fortunately, I will most likely get to spend some solo time at the Art Institute! Fortunately, I have no doubt in my mind it's going to be a trip I desperately need to take at the most perfect time!

I'm reading The Fountainhead. It rules.

Happy Bizarre Way Humans Attempt To Control The Rotation Of The Earth Day!

"monkeys with boners would probably improve top chef"

One of the many highlights of the Ripert/Bourdain extravaganza from last night.  The whole thing really was exactly what I expected:  2 guys sitting around talking about food.  They each took turns "grilling" each other about various things (did you know Eric Ripert has been on Martha Stewart twenty times?  and Tony Bourdain thought heroin and cocaine probably interfered with his cooking, but believed LSD was an asset?) which did feel a little...rehearsed.  Seeing as though these guys do this a couple times a week and have been doing this for well over a year, I'll forgive them.  What I didn't expect was so much food politics.  Local, organic, sustainable practices were lauded while the junk food/fast food industry was likened to cigarettes.  I was particularly thrilled when the subject of fois gras came up and was defended as a practice.  I've only been lucky enough to put that deliciousness in my mouth once, but it might go down as one of the greatest food moments of my life.

Also, I think I need to go to Vietnam to eat.

Dinner at Bistro Bella Vita was quite good though I mildly regret getting the little neck clams with pasta.  When will I ever learn that a. pasta in restaurants is almost always overrated and b. seafood should not be ordered in the Midwest.  Having been brought up on the East Coast, sometimes I just long for some outstanding seafood. Best to wait until I get back out there this summer before going that route again. Melissa's duck was amazing though. And the beef carpaccio was also melt-in-your-mouth yummy. I only wish she and I had 4 more hours to hang out and talk. It's a rare thing for us to be alone and when I do get that time I realize just how good we can be for each other. I'm hoping for a lunch and maybe some window-shopping in the not too distant future

Saturday afternoon, despite having not gone to bed until the wee small hours of the morning, I ran my second 5k!  And it was awesome!  It was a fundraiser for someone who has been diagnosed with cancer and has reached that terrifying experimental therapy stage not covered by insurance. They managed to raise $5000 which is astounding given they thought it would end up just being a couple of friends. It was my friend Julie's first 5k (which turned out to not be an actual 5k, but thanks to Endomondo we made it one!) and my second one since December. I'm hooked. Next up is the St.Patty's Day Pacer on March 15th!

Rick Santorum is going to be in Holland tonight. At Hope College. Which is so gross I can't really even think about it too hard because it makes me sick to my stomach. He's leading in the polls out here in Michigan and I just can't believe it. I kind of got into it with a "friend" on facebook who was attempting to defend him. Go ahead and call me a hater, but there is absolutely nothing defensible about that man's positions. Contraception is bad! The right to consensual (GAY!) sex in your home means you'd have the right to pursue polygamy and incest! Give me a fucking break.  Go home, Santorum. Your 15 minutes are just about up.

i'm afraid of twitter the same way i'm afraid of bangkok

Ever find yourself obsessively checking facebook? Or Pinterest? Or, in my case, both? And you swear you're going to only check it once this hour, but then you're waiting in line at the grocery store or for water to boil or for a commercial to be over and before you even know what's happening you're staring at your feed and it looks exactly the way it did less than 5 minutes ago?

Sounds like someone needs to join twitter, right?

I signed up for an account awhile ago and was so overwhelmed by the #hashtags and the @ing and the lists and the whatnot and did nothing but sign up and start following Patton Oswalt, Anthony Bourdain, and Cory Doctorow. 

I recently starting feeling a bit like a moron for not embracing twitter. Afraid of technology that has already been embraced by the mainstream?  Puleeeese. What am I?  A 60 year old librarian?  Today I got back on there, did a little reading, started adding some celebrity-type people and some real-life people and downloaded the app to my phone. 

I gotta say, I'm digging it.  I have yet to tweet. Or retweet. But I do enjoy the format. And that twitter actually encourages obsessively checking it will work out in my favor methinks.

In news not related to Erin being 5 years late to a technology party: 

8th St Grille just added 6 more taps bringing them to a grand total of 27.

Sharon Van Etten was disappointing. Bad sound quality (unHEARD of at the Ladies Lit Club) and just kind of boring.  Only the 2nd time I've ever walked out of a show at that venue.

Tomorrow Julie and I are running a 5K!

Sunday I have the pleasure of dining at Bistro Bella Vita with my wonderful sister-in-law and then spending the evening hanging on every word uttered by Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain!

As usual, it looks like Peter and I will be unable to hit up Chicago together this spring.  Again. I was going to just skip it, but I realized I was looking at not getting the heck outta town until our camping trip in May.  Despite it being the same weekend as that ridiculous "holiday" I prefer to call "Amateurs and Assholes Get Drunk In Public," I think I'm going to do it.  Hit up the old Amtrak on Friday and come back either Sunday night or Monday night depending upon the availability of the Chicago folks.  

Thoughts, Chicago folks?

we like pockets and we need pockets and we know how to fix our pockets

Two weeks ago we hosted brunch. I love brunch. Brunch makes January better. Brunch means chorizo and potatoes with baked eggs. Brunch means Joan's Bloody Marys. Brunch means flan. Brunch means good friends getting together on a Sunday for about 7 hours. Brunch means all things awesome.

Until the day after brunch when you have post-brunch blues.

The day after brunch my friend, Julie, came upstairs a-glow and full of energy.  She had recently started running on a treadmill at home, was eating better, and as a result had lost a bit of weight. She somehow got me to agree to go for a 30 minute run that night and if I didn't go, I had to pay her $5.00.

It has now been almost 14 days and I have run all but 2 days. 

We have devised a ridiculous plan that involves me taking sweaty pictures of myself to prove I ran and and if I don't, I owe her money.  Week 1:  $5  Week 2: $10  Week 3: $15  Week 4: $20.  I'm fast approaching week 3 (gulp) and so far so good.  And guess what?  I feel about 1000 times better! And I've lost a little weight! And 30 minutes really isn't all that long! I got a membership to the Aquatic Center in town-which has a small gym with weights and a couple of treadmills-so there are no excuses. And  February 18th she and I are going to tackle a 5K downtown.  

It's going to be awesome.

I've also started giving myself permission to "Feel Time" as my friend Ivy would say. My brain is hardwired to always think about what I "should" be doing.  "I should clean the bathroom. I should do the laundry. I should clean the kitchen floor. I should go grocery shopping. I should I should I should."  All this should-ing  makes me feel like I have no control of my life and like a failure when I don't do what I "should." Epic mental health fail! Giving myself permission to Feel Time seems like the perfect medicine.

My latest television obsession is A Cook's Tour with Anthony Bourdain. omg. omg. omg. I was excited about seeing my mythological husband (NEXT SUNDAY FEBRUARY 19TH!!!!) and his good friend Eric Ripert, but now I'm crazy, ridiculous, insanely excited! The episode on The French Laundry was so effing good I have now redoubled my efforts to get out there and eat at The French Laundry. His bbq episode made me want to go to North Caroline, like, NOW and eat east and west NC bbq. I absolutely love it and him and am already mourning it being over. I don't care that it's dated. I don't care that he can be cheesy and too personal. It's the best kind of food show.

Tonight we go to a wedding potluck/open house/reception thing for friends of ours who were inspired by us getting married last fall so it's low key and growler-filled. After that we have one of those birthday parties to go to that could be awesomely fun or horrifically overcrowded. Either way I'm determined to not be Kara-ed and Sohan-ed. None of this walking home at 4am thing. None of this just-one-more.

I've got $10 on the line.