And so it begins again....

A new year, a new president (well, in 2 weeks...), a new starting point for people who like starting points. I don't usually make new year's resolutions because I think they're crap. I think people should start doing good/healthy/positive things any day of the week and keep doing them because they are good/healthy/positive, not because it's a certain day on the calendar.

That said, here are a few good/healthy/positive things I've been doing but plan to continue to do or do more of in 2009:

1. Composting. It's easy and it's good for your garden. What? You're not growing your own food? Relax, I'm not either. Well, I tried to grow veggies, but I failed. I will try again this year with the help of the organic compost pile I started last summer. Now that I've learned many lessons from the many mistakes I made as a novice gardener, I think '09's crop will be bigger and better (and hopefully tasty...?)! Check out Martha's site for tips on composting. I also wanna give a big shout-out to my housemates for saving egg shells, veggie scraps, and coffee grounds for me this year. I hope to repay them with yummy homegrown veggies in the coming year.
2. Recycling. Duh. Been doing it, will keep doing it. Am quite pleased about the addition of plastics 3-7 to the list of acceptable plastics. Not so pleased about it all being carted off 100 miles away for processing, but hopefully the city will get its act together for a local recycling plant soon.
3. Activism. It's no secret this robot is a gay robot in love with a gay guanaco. Some say our love is wrong. Some think we're adorable. I've decided this year I'm actually going to get down and dirty and participate in various public protests to gain some civil rights for gays and lesbians. I'm also going to try to help out some puppies and kitties while I'm at it.
4. Spirituality. It's been over a decade since I've felt even remotely spiritual, much less religious. That's slowly changing. The ziegeist has felt particularly hypocritical in the sphere of the Divine in the past 8+ years. But I think 2009 is going to be a year of rebirth (forgive the cliche) for me. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
5. Shakin' my booty. Yep, I'm talking about exercise. The thing everyone talks about in January. It's almost as if the national psyche aligns into one giant hive mind causing the throngs of overweight Americans to buy sweatpants and head to the nearest gym en masse. You wanna talk about New Year's cliches? Well, this is it! But seriously, I've actually been exercising lately. Baby G and I went to SF and walked EVERYWHERE for 10 straight days, I've been biking, walking, hiking... I can even climb the 3 flights of stairs at work now and not want to fall down and die at the top. Now that is some change I can get behind! (Pun totally intended.)

So, there you have it. Tiny Robot's five things she's been doing but plans to continue doing and/or plans to do more of for 2009. You got 5 things? Post em in the comments section or on your own blog.

A week off the grid...mostly

I spent the previous 3 days traveling to, through, and from Oklahoma. A fairly boring state, yes, but mostly flat in topography, allowing for quick travel. I was sent there to learn how to cull data from our ILS via MS Access. Yep, a whole 6 hours of tables, queries, and SQL. My meager brain was oatmeal by 3:30 pm.

After the session ended I whipped my green name-tag holder off over my head and strode out of the very imposing, but aesthetically-lacking, OSU library toward my car. I had a very cold bottle of stolen water in one hand and a file folder of powerpoint presentation pages in the other. I made it to my car and of course, went the wrong way. Again. I got lost many times in the tiny town of Stillwater. It's small and everything looks the same: either small house or campus building.

Not all who wander are lost, but I certainly was. Fortunately, work is reimbursing me for mileage.

Some thoughts and experiences:

1. Students in the OSU library are allowed food and drink. Wild! And their library was quite clean. I checked. Yes, all five floors!
2. Oklahoma seems to be under threat of tornado much of the time, even when there are no storms nearby. Paranoid much?
3. It is somewhat dangerous to drive while listening to David Cross do stand-up. There were a few times I laughed so hard, I almost swerved into the other lane.
4. The Club Sandwich at Wendy's is pretty tasty and wayyy less fattening than a cheeseburger. (Although, I had a couple of those on the way home...)
5. No matter how soft the hotel bed, your own bed is superior.

Calling all carts... Calling all carts...

I'm back from the 'liberrian' convention in DC. Whew! It's odd to be away from HN for so long, but also a much-needed break.

The weather was gorgeous (compared to here, where it rained the whole time and now the rivers are cresting...) and the food was delicious. We saw old friends and new museums. We took lots of goofy touristy pictures and walked about 8-10 miles over the course of 5 days. I witnessed a book cart competition and I saw Julie Andrews speak for her contractual 15 minutes. It was great! I even learned some stuff. I think Baby Guanaco had a good time, too.

Up this week:

• Laundry, grocery shopping, lawn maintenance (damn you, overly abundant rain!), cleaning my room.
• Sampling new wines (thanks for the Argentina connection, Nan!).
• Getting ready for the finale of Charm School.
• [Putting my portrait in the Lame Hall of Fame.]

Salado

To say thanks to the kids who work for us, we took them to lunch today at an ancient little restaurant called the Stagecoach Inn in Salado, an antiquing town. (You know, one of those little towns that has no more industry or large employers, hence a plethora of boutiques, antiques, and eateries of ye olde towne variety that little old ladies frequent.

The inn has supposedly been around since the Civil War, playing host to a variety of now-dead white warring males (Robert E. Lee, anybody?). The restaurant proudly features 150-year-old recipies and the dining room's drapes matched the wallpaper exactly, the pattern breaking only for the view outside. A little dizzying, to be sure.

While the decor was trite and banal, lunch was really quite tasty. I had King Ranch Chicken with veggies accompanied by a banana fritter. Yes, a mashed banana battered, deep fried, and crowned with a maraschino cherry. Unfortunately, the giddy guilt-inspiring ingredients and preparation method didn't really add up to a taste extravaganza. It was merely a "meh" fritter. Oh well, the scoop of vanilla ice cream with strawberries I had for dessert made up for it.

Tired

The party Saturday went very well, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we received many lovely gifts. Sunday we didn't do much, except sleep and watch tv. Needless to say, I'm really tired this week. The shootings at VT brought gloom to fatigue.

This coming weekend I plan to get some RnR and sunshine, as we are heading West to go camping. The tent has actually been set up in the yard since Saturday and we've used it as an outdoor living room until yesterday, when it rained. Now we have a soggy tent. Hopefully it will dry out in today's forecasted 80 degree weather. It has to be rolled up tomorrow night for the trip.

Baby G, Stef-is-super, and I are taking the plunge tonight and co-signing a lease on a lovely property. Soon we'll be living one neighborhood over from D&M of dogblog fame and about 10 miles north of the Booklahver. Small world, eh? Fabulous!

It's catching??

The archbishop deacon of Trinidad & Tobago says Elton John's mere presence on the islands could turn everyone gay. (And I thought I had superpowers!) I think the archbishop needs to get out more. That island livin' is frying his gray matter.

Whutttt?

You mean toll roads aren't the answer to our crumbling infrastructure woes? Gee...