Potpourri and Rihanna

I couldn't decide on one thing, so it's potpourri week!

Hot beverages – It’s that time of year again. Actually, it’s always that time of year in Alaska, but it seems so much more appropriate when it’s not summer. If you walk into my kitchen and head towards the microwave you’ll find a cabinet I like to call the “hot beverage cabinet.” Now that I write that, I see how hopelessly unclever it is. Maybe Elation station? Or Lionel Richie (Hello, is it tea you’re looking for)? I’ll work on it. Regardless of the cleverness of the name, the cabinet is great. It smells like coffee and mint, you’ll find a mug featuring rabbits wearing jogging suits in it, and in the wee hours of the morning it’s nice to have all the coffee accoutrements in one place. Excellent kitchen planning, if I do say so myself.

My desk looks like this everyday. Coffee mug, tea mug, water bottle. I have to pee every 3 minutes.

Using my ID badge – Certain areas of the museum require keys to access (like my office,) other areas require waving one’s ID badge in front of a sensor. I LOVE doing that. It makes me feel like I work at the White House or some top secret government building. Mondays are so much less lame if you are pretending to be in a heist and/or spy film, amirite?

This is how I walk around the museum. In my mind.

Season Premiers – Fall season premiers have been happening for the last couple weeks, and I couldn’t be happier. A girl can only watch so many Magnum P.I. episodes on Netflix. I always like watching the new shows, figuring out if they are going to be any good. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Matthew Perry’s new show Go On.  This week he kept getting mistaken for Rachel Maddow. They really do look oddly similar.

Dreamland – It’s been awhile since I’ve done a book review, so I guess I’m due. I just finished Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep by David K. Randall and I highly recommend it. David is not a neurologist or a sleep scientist; he’s a writer who woke up in the middle of the night after he ran into a wall in his apartment. One his quest to understand his sleepwalking, he started investigating sleep science as a whole, and somewhere along the way decided to write a book about what he found. I spent 2 nights staying up too late reading it. Even my sleep deprived state, the irony was not lost on me.

Full disclosure – this week’s hot jam was inspired by TheVoice. Don’t judge.  It’s Only Girl (in the World) by Rihanna. As much as I appreciate classic rock and jazz and weird hipster music, I have a giant soft spot for pop. (No surprise there.) I love that Rhianna unapologetically sings dirty pop songs to fist-pumping beats. She knows her audience. Also, this video is awesomely bad.

MacGyver and The Beach Boys

When my power went out a couple weeks ago, I wasn't too upset about it. I got a lot of reading done and rearranged my living/dining room, so it really wasn't all bad. Except that my car was trapped in the garage. I know what you are thinking, "Maggie, you idiot, there's a safety release on the inside!"

Pull that red cord to open it!

Ah yes, there is a safety release in my garage. BUT I CAN'T GET TO IT. There's no other door into the garage. Really smart planning.


So when Anchorage was under YET ANOTHER wind warning this week, I channeled my inner MacGyver. (He's really taught me everything I know about being resourceful.) Using yarn, duct tape, an exceptionally well-tied knot (thanks, Girl Scouts!), and the information in a Youtube video about breaking into your (or someone else's?) garage, I "fixed" it so I can get the door open power or no power.

Long story shortish: I want MacGyver to be my best friend and here's why:

1) He would have fixed my garage door. And made a generator. Probably out of the beer cans waiting to go to the recycling bin

2)  He ALWAYS has a knife and that's incredibly handy

3) His first name in Angus. ANGUS. 

4) He always seems to have gum around.

5) He made an electrophoresis machine while in a head trauma-induced dream in Arthurian England

6) Mullet. MulletMulletMullet.

This week's hot jam is Wouldn't It Be Nice by The Beach Boys. When my parents first got a CD player The Beach Boys Greatest Hits was one of the first CDs we got. I highly recommend it. What's not to love about The Beach Boys? They sang mostly bubblegum pop songs about cute stuff like surfing and girls and love. Adorable.

Thanks to a deep love of Full House, I mostly picture The Beach Boys like this:

But look how cute they were in the 60's!

Seriously, what's not to love?

Made-for-TV Movies and Heymoonshaker

Apologies for my absence, so many things have been happening!

First, was 2 weeks of BFF Alaska adventures

 

Then I commissioned a wedding!

Then I celebrated my Grandma's 90th birthday and Barrett's 1st birthday

Then my power was out for 40+ hours.

Shadow fun?

Prior to my life getting so eventful, I found myself watching an incredibly cheesy made-for-tv movie on Netflix. I'm not even going to say the name of it - it was that bad, but I will say that it did NOT star Melissa Joan Hart or Joey Lawrence. Unfortunately.

I've frequently lamented the fact that Netflix doesn't have a channel called "Things That Air on USA on Saturday Afternoons" because sometimes that's exactly what I want to watch. Maybe a few NCIS or Law and Order reruns, a miscellaneous romantic comedy starring either Sandra Bullock or Meg Ryan, and one of the Spiderman or X-Men movies. But sometimes even that would be too substantial. Sometimes I need an ABC Family Saturday afternoon movie.

Full Disclosure: I've watched this at least 5 times. Thanks ABC Family.

Made-for-TV movies are like chocolate pudding. I wholeheartedly love chocolate pudding. It's my favorite dessert. I could eat it everyday, probably multiple times a day, but I know that would be bad for me. And possibly cause me to hate chocolate pudding forever. And why would I do that to myself? In theory, I could watch MFTV movies on the regular. But I don't. I mix it up with NOVA documentaries, and Parks and Rec, and Doctor Who. Because I'm well-rounded. Obviously.

I'm seriously excited about the hot jam this week. Awhile ago I saw these guys on BuzzFeed under the headline, "Why Aren't You Listening To 'Heymoonshaker'?" Valid question. Everyone should be listening to Heymoonshaker. It's "British beatboxing blues" and you're about to be obsessed. (Not to mention, Andy Balcon is kind of a dirty hipster dreamboat, amirite?)

My power has been off for 37 hours. I promise I'll get back to writing soon.