catheroominations

I was planning to be in Seattle this weekend to see Dave Matthews play an acoustic set with Tim Reynolds, but I canceled the trip to be with my family while my dad has surgery on Friday. Effing cancer.

My friend Rachel needs to sell our tickets. She has decided to turn the ticket sale into an auction to benefit Team In Training. She recently signed up for the Summer 2008 Season and will run two races with me. This is her first step in fundraising for the cause.

If you’d like to purchase 2 tickets to see Dave, Tim, and the Dalai Lama (details here) send an email to catheroo AT gmail DOT com. If you live in Seattle, Rachel will FedEx the tickets to you.

Bidding starts at $100 for the pair each which is the original ticket price, plus the cost to send FedEx.

You don’t want to miss this! I mean, Dave is awesome himself, but the Dalai Lama!? Awesome.

Got electrolytes?

Originally uploaded by catheroo

I spent a sunny California day in Santa Cruz today, helping to hydrate Team in Training runners. I gotta say, having people be so happy to see you is a pretty cool thing. Also cool? Not running!

This is how I greeted Matte tonight:

“Hi! My feet smell rancid. And I have bad gas too.”

My feet do smell horrendous. It’s the shoes I wore to work today. I swear. It isn’t the fault of my feet. The shoes have no ventilation whatsoever, so when I take them off, the aroma permeates the room. Matte used to sell shoes, once upon a time, and even he says they’re really stinky. Seriously. P.U.

You so wish you were in my living room right now, don’t you?

Yes, I joined the throngs of fans and went to a midnight release. Rachel, Matte and I decided to do this at around 9:30 tonight. We went to Books, Inc. in Mountain View because I heard they were selling books to those who had not preordered. We arrived and waited in the line of people who spontaneously decided to get our copies tonight. The pre-paid people received their numbered tickets, and we heard them hand out tickets beyond number 200. We thought we’d be sitting outside for hours, waiting for the numbered folks to get their books before we got ours. But just our luck, when 12:01 struck, they let the last-minute sallys in to pay for their books, and GAVE us our books.

We were out of the store by 12:10. While the planners and pre-payers waited for their number to be called. Sweet! And 20% of the FULL priced-book went to Mountain View schools. Bonus!

********UPDATE 11:00 pm********

I finished the book. All 759 pages of it. I won’t mention anything here, just that I refused to put it down (except for the 5 hour stint helping a friend move today.). Who moves on the day the final Harry Potter book comes out anyway?

The West Wing. Why did I never watch this show when it was on? Even though it won a bajillion Emmys, and a close friend who always watches the best shows told me I should get into it, I didn’t. Until I watched Studio 60 I did not know the talent of Tommy Schlame and Aaron Sorkin. And then, just as I was getting hooked, NBC canceled Studio 60, and I was left wanting more.

So Matte dug out his DVD copies of Season 1 of The West Wing. I was an instant fan, with the first episode. I’m not much into politics, but I got sucked into the inner workings of the TV version of the Oval Office. I wondered if our own president is as friendly and humble with his staff as the fake one, Jed Bartlet is. I got caught up in the relationships the President Bartlet had with Toby, Josh, Donna, CJ, Leo, Charlie, and Sam.

And the cast? They are so pretty. Martin Sheen as president? He’s hot as far as presidents go. And oooh, Vice President Tim Matheson. Yum. (Sooo far off from real life, which I guess is the idea.) And Bradley Whitford and Rob Lowe? GAH. The eye candy in that office! Oy! Damn, would I love going to work every day if I had that to look forward to.

But Rob Lowe. Oh, Rob. I had the hugest crush on you, ever, when I was a teenager. You were it. I bought all the cheesy teeny bopper magazines just to ogle centerfolds of you. I saw all your movies: The Outsiders, Class, Hotel New Hampshire, Oxford Blues, St. Elmo’s Fire (even with a mullet…still HAWT), About Last Night, and even Illegally Yours. (Which sucked so hard, I walked out. The only movie I ever left a theatre to escape was one of yours, Rob. I’m sorry, but despite your super fineness, I just couldn’t take it.) I loved you so much, I even forgave your indiscretions and video with the underage girl in the late 80s. And you persevered. You grew up and became a husband and father, and got a job at the White House! (Oh, sorry…sometimes I forget it’s just a show.) What I mean is, you scored a gig on the multi-Emmy winning television show that was The West Wing.

I used to have a poster of Rob on the back of my bedroom door. He was in a white summery suit, with a tank top underneath. And he was ever so sultrily raising that tank top to reveal his abs. My guy friends thought Rob looked effeminate (jealous much?) but I did not care. I loved the “pretty boys” back then (Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran too). I remember being thrilled to take my babysitting money into Coach House Gifts at Oakridge Mall and get my luscious poster. I probably also bought a weepul, and some Mad Libs.

Eventually, I decided I had outgrown Rob, and I removed the poster one day, replacing it with a black and white poster of a shirtless man in partially unbuttoned jeans that was captioned “Not all men are created equal” or something similar. (How did my mom let me have that?!)

Now The West Wing has rekindled my teenage lust for Rob and makes me really want to ask Matte if I can get this and put it in our second bathroom:

You are still such a total babe, Rob. To the max.

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I had my little man put to sleep today. His kidneys were failing and he had become extremely weak and thin. It was a heart-wrenching decision, but I had to do what was best for him. I had him for 13 of his 15 years. He came with me from Lexington, Kentucky, under the seat in front of me on the plane. He was my first pet, that was all mine (if it is ever possible to “own” a cat).

Jasper was such a sweet, affectionate kitty, and he tried to remain so even while he was sick. He was always trying to please me up until the end. I knew he was not well when he stopped greeting me at the front door, or sitting with me in the bathroom while I got ready for work.

This is supposed to be the best time of my life, with my wedding in just a couple of days, but today I am just too sad. I will miss him terribly. I am taking comfort in knowing that he is no longer hurting, but this was the hardest decision I have ever had to make.

Rest in peace, my little bubs.