Raindrops on roses

Due to an urgent request by one TMB, who is bored at work (despite working 12+ hour days??), I am now posting a midday blog. I’ve been thinking of doing a Friday favorites post for awhile now, so here’s my first attempt on the fly.

1. Bon Iver, Blood Bank
Last week the blue juice in my car ran out, on one of those awful Midwestern winter days where the dirt flies onto your windshield as you sail down the freeway. In this situation, you resist using the wiper fluid as long as you can because it's probably going to freeze to your window immediately, which will require you to blast the defrost as you attempt to gauge the distance between you and the cars in front of you using a tiny opening that is either just low enough on your windshield that you have hunch or just high enough that you have to drive butt-off-the-seat for 20-30 seconds.

In this case, the blue juice death trap wasn’t even an option so I was kind of freaking out. In the end, I made it to my exit, pulled off into a nearby parking lot and (seriously) took a pile of snow and smeared it all over my windshield with my bare hands until I was satisfied with the clarity. (There wasn’t a gas station for at least another mile and I was running 25 minutes late to practice. Don't judge me or my resourcefulness.)

What does this have to do with Blood Bank? That song was playing as I was doing all this, and when I got to work the next morning I saw that the cover art for the EP is this:

Justin Vernon has a talent for writing songs that sound like winter even if they don’t explicitly mention it in the lyrics. His songs are so pretty that I am actually able to like appreciate the beauty and mystery of the cold when I listen. It’s a nice break from cursing the patches of ice and piles of snow.

2. Peppermint Patty Pieces
My boss came back from Phoenix with a bunch of candy that I’d never seen before. Pepperment Patty pieces are like mint M&M’s and they're an amazing winter snack. Mint is the only addition to chocolate that lessens my gluttony, so it's a big win-win.

3. Friends with benefits
Heads outta the gutter people. Since my budget cleanse began, I’ve seen a show at the Guthrie for $13, gotten 4 free lattes (!), and stayed at a free hotel suite downtown due to my fabulously hooked up and generous friends. This weekend I’ll get free food and hotel courtesy of the dance team. It’s easy to stay on task with saving money when you don’t have to cut out all the fun.

4. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Last week I was craving Josh Lyman. When I tried to watch my Season 3 West Wing DVDs, I kept falling asleep. Too much thinking, my brain said to me. Must have more 30 Rock. Unfortunately Tina’s not working on my schedule so I had to branch out. I ended up settling on this truly awful show on Hulu because it was written and created by Aaron Sorkin, but isn’t nearly as well-developed or nuanced (am I selling it yet?). I just wanted the walk and talk, people!

4 episodes later, I found myself hysterically laughing as the characters (supposedly writers and cast of an SNL-type show) attempted to counter a kidnapping plot of 3 American soldiers in Afghanistan. Excuse me? Shouldn’t you be busy writing “I’m On a Boat”? It was bad by anyone’s standards- and exactly what I needed. My bizarre attraction to Bradley Whitford, receding hairline and all, continues...

5. My team

We're off to Sections this weekend- what could be the end of our season, or a stepping stone to the State Tournament if we place in the top 3. Needless to say, I've neither eaten nor slept all week. Yesterday I developed a pretty cute eye tic that has mercifully faded.

Throughout the season, we've been telling them that they can't worry about the other teams, that we just have to do our own personal best rather than focusing on winning. I do believe that, but I can't help hoping that our personal best is better than that of all the other teams. In other words, please dance gods, let us WIN.