So after we've had a blow-up, mac gets super clingy and has a tendency to be demanding in whiny ways. I want nothing more than to be left alone and am prone to crying at the drop of a hat.

I'm having a rough time today and despite sleeping in have come to church mostly so I can have some time away from mac but not completely alone. He is going with his uncle after church for a few hours and I really need to get myself out of this headspace.

Ideas? Preferrably low-cost/free ones.

A nice escapist movie?

OMG I totally am going to have to sign up on Facebook, aren't I? How did I become such a late adopter for technology stuff? (Answer: when it all became social networking stuff, I bet.) But my SO is flipping out because our niece and her dad (his brother) are having an online brouhaha. Which means that every single person in the world except me and probably Bev are on there now. (eta: hee, and Sheryl.)

I really am so antisocial. All those people I knew, I don't necessarily want to see again. Or talk to. I mean, what kind of conversations could I have with old high school people. "Hey, remember when you threatened to kill me and then I made friends with that kid who got kicked out of the city school because he knifed someone and then you left me alone? Good times, good times." Okay, that (former) kid probably wouldn't friend me.

Heh.

Anyway, I probably will join, 'cause I'm a sheep like that. Then you all can listen to me complain about talking to people.

What else? Oh, last night I was lolling around watching Northern Exposure ("The Big Feast") and eating organic buckwheat cereal. And I was wondering how I came to live such a crunchy granola lifestyle. And then I realized what I was missing: actual crunchy granola. Mmm, granola. Does anyone have a favorite brand, or a good recipe?

Ideas? Preferrably low-cost/free ones.

Go to the library and find some new books?

Go to a museum? Are there any cool shows going on now? Maybe a museum like the Museum of the Moving Image? I think they have video games there.

Go to a neighborhood that you like but don't visit often and walk around? (How cold is it today?)

Go hang out in a cafe with a diverting book for a couple hours.

Walk over to Tom Scola's place and borrow some graphic novels.

Get a slice of cheesecake at Junior's.

A gallery/museum/fun store you wouldn't be tempted to drop money in? Bookstores are also good for me in this way. I tend to 'phase out' in these places, which helps to break the rumination cycle.

Bless both your hearts msbelle. You are doing such a good job.

Doing something craft-y like knitting or macrame or origami would be good. I also like some online Solitaire type game to totally stop my brain working, or maybe some exercise -- yoga is particularly good.

I would vote movie, msbelle. And I found Benjamin Button to be complete engaging in the way that when it's over, I had to bring myself back to real life.

The thing about facebook is, you don't actually have to have conversations, but you get a vague sense of what's going on with the person anyway. It's about on the level of the people my parents run into in the grocery store and then tell me about later.

I'm having Facebook conflict...I just joined at the behest of my peacenik family. A good 80 of us are there, with more coming every day. [We used to have a board but it was so clunky and annoying after having been blessed with the buffista board, that I fled.]

Yesterday, I met with a friend to discuss my resume. He suggested that I a) remove the overtly political stuff and b) join Facebook because a lot of orgs who would be looking for me look there for background. Awkward. The upside is that the peacenik family is all 20+ years older and are all excellent people.

I'm pretty reserved in my friending habits. Maybe that will help.

A fellow from my high school class has reached out but I swear, I don't remember him at all.

And still looked dirty! He was particularly scruffy in that.

To be fair, scruffy comes with the Crockett territory.

Damn, I just saw the best anti-predjudice ad on USA. It starts with people saying how they aren't a stereotype (Asian guy says, "I don't own a laundromat," for example) and goes into why prejudice is bad (two guys say, "Everyone deserves wedding presents," older black guy says, "The back of the bus sucks"), and I don't know, it was just really moving, and included all kinds of people -- someone on crutches, someone with a shitload of tattoos, etc. Impressive.

If you go here [link] it plays automatically