Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout

I just got home from a librarian conference, but long before it even occurred to me that I could or should be a librarian, I wanted to be a DJ. So I'm pretty excited that my current career actually led to a (very small) connection to the Current, my favorite local public radio station. I was so happy to be mentioned in a post on the Current's website not just because I crave attention, but because I adore the Current and love being associated with it in even a tangential way. I really can't overstate how important the Current is to my daily life. I totally rely on the Current to provide my daily musical soundtrack. I love not having to put in the effort to pick out my own music. I don't know what I want to listen to, especially when there are now so many musical choices available. I totally trust the Current to, well yes, keep me current on new music, and aware of local music, and educate me about all the classic rock music I missed.  And figuring out all the new d...

I think about how I'm a LOT like my mom in so many ways, especially around her birthday. But I did NOT follow in her footsteps recently. How did I stray? By refusing to take credit for my food-making prowess. Let me set the scene...one of our favorite Luedtke family memories is of the Thanksgiving when my mom prepared some type of premade frozen fruit pie. My grandpa found the pie to be super-delicious, and said "Colleen, did you make this pie?" (Not sure who else would have made or supplied this pie, but I assume my grandpa was just so excited he didn't think this through). And my mom replied, "Mm-hmm, glad you like it." One of our grandpa's nickname was "Popeye" for pretty good reasons... My sister, brother, and I were all like "What?!!" but we didn't actually say anything, and my grandpa didn't seem to notice our disbelief. Not saying we were terribly discreet, but he couldn't see or hear very well... When my g...

As my birthday is rapidly approaching and I contemplate getting older, I feel like I've changed in many way, but one thing has remained constant: I continue to be a clotheshorse. And yes, that's a word I actually use because my mother used to say it (just like "bee's knees"). According to the Online Eytmology Dictionary it was originally a wooden rack for hanging wet laundry on, and by 1850 also meant a "a person whose sole function seems to be to show off clothes." I'm not really into wearing wet laundry, but that second definition is definitely me.   One of my favorite aquamarine dresses I'm not saying that I'm into high fashion or trendy fashion...mostly I just like cheap and fun fashion (my apologies, environment). I really can't identify too many brands that aren't sold at Target. But I just love to buy clothes and put together outfits. There is nothing like the anticipation of getting to wear something new...or the frustr...

Now that the danger seems to have passed, I think I can safely tell the story of my encounter with treacherous rice. The rice of my potential doom Simply put, I ate some bad rice, and for the following 24 hours I was worried I was going to get sick.  It wasn't rice from an exotic source, but merely prepackaged rice from Target. We eat it all the time, and all one has to do is put it in the microwave and heat it up.  So just a few nights ago, I sat down to enjoy some of this rice with some "stir-fried" veggies and soy meat. I use quotes because I'm not sure I technically meet the standards of stir-frying, but I chop up some veggies, throw them in a pan with some soy sauce and hot sauce, and voila!, I have a stir-fry.  (On a tangent...I don't usually claim to "cook" because I think cooking should involve more thought and artistry, but I think I cook as much, if not more, than most Americans. I chop up a lot of vegetables, anyway. I just...

I'm used to saying odd, inappropriate, and regrettable things. Sometimes my filter is just gone. This can happen for many reasons, and while alcohol is often involved, nervousness and exhaustion can also be culprits. Sometimes something makes perfect sense or seems really interesting to me, but I totally misjudge my audience. I'm also no stranger to saying things that aren't technically true (yes, now known as "alternative facts"), as I'm a big fan of the social lie. We all have a different moral compass, and mine is often pointed in the direction of making things go smoothly. Just this holiday season I unabashedly declared "Christmas is for lying." But recently I unintentionally said something completely untrue for no discernible reason and it was so unexpected it caught Chad's attention and made him laugh. He even suggested that we tell our playwright friend Jim about is as he might be able to use it as material.  The surprising comment? ...

I want to help make the world a better place...but I'm fundamentally lazy. So there's very little chance that I would have gone to the Women's March in St. Paul last weekend if I had to deal with the inconveniences of transport and parking. (In my defense, I have an extremely underdeveloped sense of direction, so who knows where I would have ended up). But luckily for me, I have a friend from church who had a parking space in St. Paul and offered to drive people in her van. All I had to do was show up at her house, just a 15 minute drive from me, at her house at 9:15 a.m. So I got to go to the March. Actually, it was more of a slow amble, because there were so many people who were there...which was amazing. Almost 100,000 people showed up (only 20,000 were expected) and it was positive, and calm, and well-organized, and funny (some really creative and hilarious signs), and inspiring and empowering. So many infuriating, frightening, maddening, and discouraging things...

We're just a little over two weeks into the new year, and I took down our fake Christmas tree last night (somehow managing to cut my lip...either too much or not enough alcohol involved) so I better get this post about resolutions finished. Just after I started writing this post, a friend at work asked me if I do resolutions. I do think making resolutions at New Year's is a rather arbitrary exercise, but I approve of the culturally encouraged tradition of taking some time for self-reflection and growth. I certainly have several ideas for things that would make good resolutions for me. While I don't think the fact that it's 2017 makes it more likely that I'll implement these changes, I still think it's helpful to acknowledge that these WOULD all be good ideas. So I guess I wouldn't call these resolutions per se, but more "wouldn't it be nice if"s: I ate fewer chips/crackers I drank less alcohol I spent some time doing yoga I spent some tim...