Oops, I haven't been here in over a week. Sorry! But I totally have a good excuse, guys! See, there were these houses just screaming to be toilet papered, and then these songs which desperately needed to be karaoked, some movie marathons I had to fall asleep to, a ton of gay men to befriend, a couple video games that required (hours and hours of) playing, a shitload of bars that needed walking to, and a whole lotta vodka to be consumed. Which doesn't really leave a girl much time to stay home and write about feelings on her blog.

I don't know how I managed to pack so much general mischief-making and petty pranking into one week, but I'd like to thank alcohol. And my friends. (But mostly alcohol.)

Though we are WAY too lazy to pull something like this off:

Even though instructions on how to do it are right here.

Heh heh heh.

We all knew today was coming, that it was gonna happen...but still, the feeling of excitement, joy, and just SHEER RELIEF was overwhelming and amazing and a whole bunch of other words ending in -ing. (Hi, where's my book deal?)

Even my favorite guys got into the spirit:

Some great reaction photos (uh, of people) are posted over at Gawker, here. Hi, Michigan! Can I come hang out with you, pretty please?

Yesterday, on my one and only day off this week, I woke up at 9am. After having gone to bed around 4am. After having drunk much wine. 9AM, PEOPLE. And though I managed to scream the word 'fuck' (at someone, even) twice before 10am, it ended up being a lovely, lovely day.

I went to the Getty, mainly to see The Belles Heures, a six-hundred-year- old illuminated manuscript. Six. Hundred. Years. Old. It boggles the mind.

I love computers and technology as much as the next gal (and I will cut a bitch who tries to take my iPhone away) but as technology moves forward at breakneck speed, many data storage and retrieval systems are rendered obsolete. I mean, good fucking luck getting any data off a 5¼-inch floppy disk nowadays. But books? Still around! Still awesome! In your face, modern technology!

The endruance and accessibility of manuscripts and incunabula (early printed books) is one of the reasons I find them so fascinating; I love learning about the origins of a form of data storage, one still going strong today, and which I've built my career upon.

This particular manuscript exhibit at the Getty was remarkable in the scope of what you're able to observe. Normally when a manuscript is on display only two pages can viewed at a time. But in this instance the Getty was responsible for producing a facsimile edition of the manuscript, which required it to be unbound for photographs...which meant multiple loose pages on display. The art has held up amazingly, with clear, vibrant colors depicting neat little beasties and morbid scenes of torture and death. Religion - SO FUN!

***

Other rad stuff I saw at the Getty:

Christ Crowned, Gerrit van Honthorst

Portrait Study, Théodore Géricault

Christ on the Cross, El Greco

Christ and the Adultress, Valentin de Boulogne

This guy!

Yeah...that last one? Just an actor who played a character on my MOST FAVORITEST TV SHOW, LIKE EVER. Totally spotted him checking out paintings...and might have squealed just the teeniest bit. Because even surrounded by history and culture, I'm a 13yr old girl at heart.

Title AND author's last name:

(Earlier: It's funny cause they're for children)

What's that, you say? Easily amused? Uh, yeah. SO VERY.

Again, the fact that I find this kind of thing funny is a clear sign that I've spent too much time cooped up at the library. I checked the medical reference books, and they all agree that the only sure remedy is to instead spend some time cooped up at the bar.

(Did too.)

So, with that in mind....cheers!

Ok, as to why I was so tired yesterday. (So, so tired.)

Tuesdays are the pretty much the only day that I have to rise before the tender hour of 11am. On Tuesdays, horrible Tuesdays, awful Tuesdays, Terrible (!!!) Tuesdays, I have to be awake at 7am. Or, if I push it and decide that 'disheveled' is a fine look for a professional work place (always!), I open my eyes by 7:30am.

As someone who generally doesn't work early, is a raging night person, and -oh yeah- lives above a bar, you can imagine that Tuesday mornings are generally a painful affair all on their own, even when I stay in, as I attempt to most Mondays. Still, it's a difficult thing for me to fall asleep anywhere even close to midnight...which is probably why this past Monday I just said, 'eh, fuck it'.

A friend was bartending nearby, a few other friends were already in attendance, it was a beautiful night for a walk, and inexplicably, it was 'disguise night' at the bar. There was NO WAY I was staying in, particularly after that last one. I was instructed to wear sunglasses, a hat, and/or a trench coat, so something of the ilk. This presented a problem since, hello bar exercise!, I was walking. There was no way I was wearing said crap on the walk, and carrying a purse pretty much screams "My valuables are all right here! Mug mug mug mug mug!", so I made do with sticking some eyeliner in my pocket and setting off. And voila:

I know you're thinking: "WHO IS THAT?!?" I mean, your mind is like, totally blown, right? Heh heh heh, I so sneaky! I wonder if the CIA is hiring...

There was our bartender, Kanye Best:

And Carmen Sandiego. Or Paddington Bear. Or just some creepy rapist. (She is hanging out in the bushes...)

A couple Officer Sexys were in attendance, too, but strangers look at me weird when I try to photograph them, so no visuals there.

So, that's it. I was tired (and disheveled!) at work on Tuesday because I stayed out all night drinking...with a moustache. Oh, and then I went to another bar, and played Kerplunk. And got my ass handed to me.

I was so, so right about 2009.

Hope you all had a fabulous holiday. I sure did, and holy fucking crap, I am so glad they are over.

Here are a the highlights, because I am way too tired to attempt to make much sense, which I accidentally just typed as 'mush sense' and almost left if cause that's actually kinda dead on, my brain is mush, and also did I mention that I'm tired? Almost too tired TO BACKSPACE? That is very tired.

Christmas Eve started out as it always does, at a Chinese diner, with my family. By the time tea was poured, my grandma had talked about how old people need to just die already, and my parents joked about sex. In front of me. AND MY DATE. So. That was fun.

Later that night I only went out a little bit, not a whole lot, and was home by some reasonable time at night/early morning, so no, I did not ruin Christmas this year. In fact, I totally shocked the hell outta my family by HA HA HA not buying them gifts! Instead, I took all the money I was planning to spend on them, went to the holiest of holy places (that would be Target) and shopped my fucking brains out for a good 30 minutes, until my cart was stuffed-to-the-gills full.

Wait, what?

The season for giving?

Huh?

Oh, yeah. Dudes, be cool. I bought toys. Like, for children. And then, after playing with them and taking pictures as proof that they in fact did exist and no family, I didn't lie and shaft you this year, I donated them all to Toys for Tots.

My family was mad touched by this, and started throwing around words like "proud" and "remarkable" and "maybe not adopted, after all". It was awesome. (Of course this, being a good deed, was not my first idea. So, thank you for the suggestion, Jenny.)

Then we all got prettied up for Christmas dinner, which I was allowed to join in on, now being an official member of the family. It was a catered event, which I was delighted to discover meant 'all you can eat sushi'. And other foods. But sushi, you guys. Never ending. It was awesome. And the dinner conversation was slightly more tame, that is, after my mom sorta kinda accidentally flashed my friend Ryan. (It's ok, my mom's hot.)

Aaaannnnnnddd then there was New Year's:

Out of five people, only one of us remembers anything that happened after about 1am.

That one person was not me.

But by some lovely twist of fate that I would like to explore more this year, 9am New Year's Day found me bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, playing Spongebob video games in my Batman pjs. So...2009. Year of the Dork, apparently.

Cheers!