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March 2004 ArchiveWednesday, March 31, 2004Queen of the 14th Level of CollapseTaking a break from work, I just played Collapse on MSN Games. I often get the to 8th or 9th level, rarely 10, but today - 14. HA! 822,292. The cause for my superskills could be: A) The coffee smoothie I made (forgive me for breaking my anti-caffeine stretch) B) Listening to Air America all afternoon C) Having just handed off my tax info to my accountant posted on 3/31/2004 04:39:59 PM Tuesday, March 30, 2004They Better Make Gay Marriage Legal......So I can marry the women of rockabilly! How's about gay polygamy? Friday night while I was laying low and working on Masquerade, I flipped through the channels. On WYCC I caught 2/3 of Welcome to the Club a Beth Harrington documentary about Wanda Jackson, Lorrie Collins, Rose Maddox, Janis Martin and Brenda Lee. I was already a Brenda Lee fan, especially Sweet Nothings. But boy-oh-boy, a whole new door of kickass music just flung open. posted on 3/30/2004 02:14:30 PM Friday, March 26, 2004 My Grandpa Carl Agerbeck and I when I was 3 or so One Less Agerbeck I just found out that my Grandpa Carl died early Wednesday morning. He died in bed in the Garland Texas home he shared with my Grandma Ann. He was 77. Grandpa Carl grew up in Racine Wisconsin, I believe. He was in the Army stationed between the US and Germany, with his four sons (Richard, Robert, Carl and Roger) all born in Germany, and his two daughters (Diana and Carol) born in the US. He worked as a construction specifications writer, and was a Certified Construction Specifier. I have to fully admit that I wasn't very close to Grandpa Carl and didn't know a whole lot about his life. The Agerbeck family politics are a tangle of estrangements that really aren't worth dredging up and certainly not appropriate to publish here. But I will tell you a few memories for some sort of posterity. When my father Robert was an infant, my Grandpa Carl, Grandma Ann, Uncle Richard were in car accident. My dad went through the windshield and landed in a snowbank. He was fine save a scar going from his eyebrow down his nose. It wasn't until I was in high school that I learned that in that same accident Grandpa's skull was shattered. A doctor came out of retirement to put his head back together. He was in the hospital for months healing while Grandma took came of her two young sons. It baffled me that I didn't hear this story until so much later, and looking at my Grandpa you'd never know he'd went through that. My grandparents own a cabin near Spooner, Wisconsin. One time when I was in middle school, we were visiting. I'm awfully sure he had a computer that he was writing his Army memoirs on. And if that's true, I think he was the second or third person I knew who had a computer. I don't remember many one on one conversations with Grandpa. I was in the cabin drawing, and he came up to me and said, "So, you like art. Let me show you my kind of art." He proceeded to show me a few of the coins he collected and the stories behind them. That same trip he showed me how to hold a gun and it scared me to hold it. Another time he showed me blueprints for a project he was writing specification for a university in...Qatar? Genealogy wouldn't be a strong suit in our family, but the story goes that our name, Agerbeck, just went back a few generations. Our family name was Nielson/sen or Schroeder and my ancestor lived in a boarding house with multiple Nielsons or Schroeders. They kept screwing up his mail, so he thought, "Enough! I'll changed my name to Agerbeck." Named after Agerbaek, Denmark from which he hailed. I like that our name came from a solution to a mail snafu. I plan to go to Agerbaek before too long, a town of 1200 near Esbjerg. My dad would joke that "intelligence had skipped a generation" and hit my Grandpa and then me. I always respected that my Grandpa was very intelligent. I heard that one of the administrators of dad's school had saved the letters that Grandpa had written to the attendance office excusing his children because they were so eloquent. Right now my head is swimming with all sorts of familial thoughts. My wise friend Anne emailed this morning, saying "It's like a stone thrown into the pond of family politics--it sends ripples out." Thankfully, when I was in Minnesota, I asked my mom to invite the "edited" family over for dinner Friday night. By edited, I mean that contingent that I'm in touch with that's positive and supportive and that I adore. We had a delicious dinner and had loads of fun and laughs talking and playing darts. I know that I am in a much better headspace right now because we had that good night last week. Fundamentally, I believe that family is much more about who you choose as your family who you support and love and who support and love you, than it is about blood relations. Happily, I have a very strong family in that sense. posted on 3/26/2004 11:30:43 AM Wednesday, March 24, 2004The NumbersJust home from 6 days away 2 days travel Amtrak train today was 5 hours late!* 2 days visiting family 2 games of darts, lost both, but much fun 9 people at Mom's for a delightful dinner Friday night 2 days graphic facilitation ~ 150 people I graphically facilitated 1000 square feet of paper used (filled with drawing) 1 bald eagle seen 8 free meals overall upon returning 1 voicemail message (hooray!) 4 bills in mail 4 catalogs 1 thank you note 141 email messages 90 were spam 2 (non-spam) made me laugh out loud 1 episode of All-Star Survivor missed! Argh! * SO happy I called ahead and spent that late time puttering around Winona State University's campus, not in the tiny Winona train station. Hooray for knowing how Amtrak works - always call ahead! posted on 3/24/2004 11:34:43 PM Thursday, March 18, 2004Things I Know1. I am officially tired of winter. 2. Square dancing = being in the Now. 3. I am very, very good at packing. 4. I'm off to Minnesota until next Wednesday, both business and pleasure. posted on 3/18/2004 10:42:48 AM Wednesday, March 17, 2004NetworkI added the movie Network to my Netflix list from watching A Decade Under the Influence after seeing one scene. It crept up the queue and was delivered today. This movie is almost as old as I am, but I haven't seen anything so timely. It's mix of media, politics and religion - amazing. I would say I'm not a fan of any of the three, but I was captivated. With it's timeliness, I'm wondering if we're in a cycle of ideas and circumstances that's aligned orbits with the movie again, or if it's always been timely and I'm just cluing into it now. The writing, the acting, the vocabulary kicked by butt backwards and forwards. Such a nice feeling since I have been feeling very ho-hum about my slew of rentals for awhile. I highly reccommend it. And it seems especially appropriate that I saw it on the day I voted. posted on 3/17/2004 03:32:09 AM Thursday, March 11, 2004100% YouIn the wake of my The Client Filter post (see 3/5) I've been thinking slightly more about the topic of being oneself. Normally, I don't think I about it. I don't have to. I'm already doing a really good job at being myself. I think if someone hooked me up to an authenticity meter, I'd score really high. Being 100% Brandy Agerbeck is one of my tenets. It's something so basic, it just seems silly to write about. When I was a kid, I precociously thought of my future career, "I want to make a living being me." I'm very happy and proud to report that I do. So, I could write pages about this. But it all comes down to the fact that life is short. Each of us doesn't get a lot of time on this planet, so it only makes sense to be yourself as much as you can. Life is too short for bullshit or being someone else for somebody else. Time's ticking, ladies and gents. I'm obviously not a political creature. Last night I read this Martha Graham quote for the first time: "There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost." Let me emphasize: "There is only one of you in all of time." *POW* Which reminds me of a beloved Buckminster Fuller quote: "I am the only guinea pig I have." And from that old Broadway gem, Don't Rain on My Parade, by Bob Merrill and Jules Styne: "I gotta fly once I gotta try once Only can die once, right, sir? Ooh, life is juicy Juicy and you see I gotta have my bite, sir" Yes, sir. posted on 3/11/2004 07:36:17 PM Monday, March 08, 2004 Aaron Rothman and I at his wedding reception. The wedding weekend was fantastic but too fast. I got into town safely and took a Super Shuttle up to the rehearsal dinner. After finding and hugging Aaron, his nearly-bride Rebecca introduced me to a table of her friends who had room for me at their table. She started with, "This is Aaron's friend Brandy. They went to Grinnell together." Then there was affirmative "aaahhhhs." But then she said, "She made the cat" and they all had a resounding round of recognition. I made a stuffed cat my last year of college. It was a black cotton cat with a wide smile, a blue velvet shirt with gold velvet stars on it and a spiral tail. I gave it to Aaron as a parting gift. The cat has gathered fans since. I swear the first conversation with Aaron about Rebecca he added, "and she likes the cat." So, it was very neat that this group of folks had met something I made and had such a strong memory of it. That's darn cool. Shortly after that, Aaron's mom Anne sat down next to me and opened with, "How's the kiwi?" Referring to a ceramic kiwi bird that I made that same year of college. That's darn cool too! Jen Bortz and her beau Brad were lovely, lovely hosts. I got to meet their big black dogs, Nimbus and Jack. Jack is just about the largest dog I've even met. Saturday morning he nudged open my guestroom door and climbed up on the futon and sat on me. He'd sit on me one way, get up and snuffle in my ear and then sit on me a different way. Nothing like a big ol' dog greeting to start the day out right! Saturday, Jen drew me a snazzy Mill Street map of Tempe and I was off for adventure. I visited the ASU Art Museum and the Ceramics Research Center. The day was warm and gorgeous and I walked down Mill. Felt great to walk around a new place with just a shirt and jeans. I ate ice cream. We gussied ourselves up and were off to the wedding. The wedding was beautiful, in Rebecca's parents, Toni and Martin's desert backyard. Since Rebecca and Aaron met in grad school as photographers, there was a large photographer population in attendence. So, this was one well-documented night. And like I said, Aaron was giddy and they were just so darn happy. The food was wonderful. My Team Rothman reception table conversation was lovely. I danced a bit, but I did get pooped out quick (I blame the rare dose of sun earlier in the day). But not before Aaron and I took the pic above and I taught him to polka real quick like. On Sunday I soaked up more sun, and roamed Tempe a bit more. My big doofus move of the weekend - I had a 5:30 flight, for which I wanted to be at the airport at 4:30. Before that I wanted to make sure I showered and ate. Well, I bought a ticket for the 1:10 show of Return of the King. I bought a jumbo Diet Coke and sat down. Then I did the math. There was no way the 3+ hour movie, meal and shower were going to fit in the time allowed. I left. At least movies are cheaper in AZ, so it was only a $5.50 mistake. Silly me. Brad gave me a tiny, adorable cactus so I could "bring home a little piece of Arizona" with me. Such a nice gesture and a great little plant. Jen totally packed it up right in a yogurt container. It got home safely and it's lookin' at me right now. The airport security folks paused looking at my backpack and joked about something - maybe they spotted my cactus. I'll never know for sure... posted on 3/8/2004 11:17:12 PM Friday, March 05, 2004The Client FilterThe only real email in my Inbox this morning, "You’ll probably find this funny, Brandy, but FYI, your site so offended the prospect that we referred your way that he won’t be contacting you, and had a few words for me!" This referenced bras and breasts. Funny, The Hardest Word Problem in the World is the only post in months that had a preface to not read if you were opposed to the subject. Apparently, the not-to-be-client read it anyway. C'est la Vie. I could fret over it more - but I stand by my stance that being myself online and off and being highly professional offline and on aren't mutually exclusive. posted on 3/5/2004 08:59:18 AM Thursday, March 04, 2004Happy Birthday, Chicago!I woke up to Eight Forty-Eight on WBEZ, to learn that today is Chicago's 167th birthday! Hooray! I adore this city, but I never thought of it having a birthday in my 8 years here. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHICAGO! Eight Forty-Eight had a panel discussion about the best books about Chicago, and that list is here! Eat a little cake today for the Windy City! posted on 3/4/2004 10:00:37 AM Tuesday, March 02, 2004Sunny ClimesThis weekend, I head to Phoenix for my good friend Aaron's wedding to the lovely Rebecca on Saturday. Today, I heard from Rebecca and Jen, who's letting me stay with her. Now the trip feels real, and I'm looking so forward to it. Happy occasion and warm weather! posted on 3/2/2004 03:01:19 PM Monday, March 01, 2004Fabio?? Huh?I hope Brian W. gets his own show like Adam did. posted on 3/1/2004 09:57:05 PM |
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