EVERY DAY IS AN ADVENTURE

summer evenings

2009-05-14T17:25:00.002-05:00

it is a gorgeous early summer evening and i have all the windows and doors open (the ones with screens anyway) to enjoy the breeze. the birds have been chirping all day, the trees rustling in the wind, and its lovely here. i got to sleep in, eat ice cream, and just made myself the BEST dinner (sauteed chicken, pine nuts and garlic with pesto and angel hair pasta. bellisimo!). today i am supposed to work on 20 pgs of my thesis to turn in monday; i'll get to that i'm sure.
for now, i'm just enjoying the day.
hope you're all having a wonderful MAY so far! xoxo

letters

2009-05-08T19:16:00.003-05:00

dear end of the semester,

i waited a long time for you-- the entire semester, in fact. and you have finally come, and i am glad you're here, but i am sad that my coursework for my master's is done. i am also going kind of insane with all the papers i need to work on, etc., when i have no more motivation. and i have no time for friends, blogging, etc., but i'm glad you' re here because it means i get to sleep a lot! my fav thing! huzzah! now its time for you to go away and summer to start so i can have a normal life again, like the one i had pre-grad school. only this time, it's like a real summer vacation! yay!
love,
me

the secret to life

2009-03-31T14:44:00.004-05:00

good lord it's been a while!
but you know, life gets in the way of blogging sometimes. important point: who reads this blog? pls please comment and be like "here!" so i know. just curious! xoxo

anyway, grad school is in it's denouement, if you will, and i have literally 1 month left of master's student coursework. then this summer i'm here in williamsburg writing the thesis and i defend in the fall. i'm trying to get a job (other than the Harv) so i can stay here another year and apply for phd's and then fall of 2010 i'll start my PhD program.
ah, plans. how i love them. i also plan to drive up to boston/nyc area in early june and i'm coming home to texas for the end of july/beginning of august. it's funny how i came home during the coldest part of this past year so my heating bill has overall been low, and im going home during the hottest part of the year so presumably my electric bill will be low. nice! i just now thought of it that way, and that's awesome.

so world, springtime in virginia is mighty nice. there are tulips and daffodils everywhere (daffodils in my yard! and i pick them and put them by my computer and its GREAT). i have all the windows open (the cats really love this) and birds are chirping and everywhere (prob. b/c i have 2 birdfeeders out...) and i can hear my wind chimes singing in the breeze...it's really really lovely!

other things in life are not so lovely, but that's okay. this is the secret to life: i'm okay when everything is not okay.

i haven't quite achieved that yet, but i'm trying. and that's the best we can ever do...

Lookin' Fine in 2009

2009-01-04T22:17:00.003-06:00

hello pumpkins! im here in houston, enjoying my vacation/working for my dad and things are going well. new years has come and gone and we're in 2009, which i hope will be an awesome year.
did yall make resolutions?
my resolution, as cheesy and cliche as it may be, is to: CHILL OUT and enjoy things. stay up later, be more spontaneous, work harder, stress less, dress up more, take lots of pictures, have fun and enjoy life.

not that i havent been enjoying life, but last semester was tough and now that i understand grad school a little better, i can move forward and enjoy it! im so psyched about my awesome thesis (who doesnt love Twilight?*) and virginia is awesome! (+ it's "for lovers")
so who's coming to visit?? get your bids in quick!

also! cheryl and chandra and anyone else who reads this who i have not yet seen/hung out with: let's hang out soon! i leave for virginia on jan. 18th, so let's make this happen!
xoxo!

*i would like to point out that despite all her reluctance to read the series, my twin sister ended up reading all 4 in like 2-3 days and now LOVES it. HA! she described her boyfriend to me thusly: "i want you to know that my boyfriend is like my jacob" "but womb buddy, why isnt he like your edward?" "because edward doesnt exist and i love native americans"
love it.

"Sorry Professor, My Cat ATE My Homework..."

2008-11-12T10:41:00.006-06:00

oh, stella. she loves to chew on paper, i don't know why. thessie has tried to emulate her, but it's just not the same as my furry, white paper-shredder. she LOVES to rip up paper (computer paper/post it's especially, but also loves magazines and newspapers) and she went to town this morning on my outline for my next paper. LUCKILY she ripped up the part that i wasn't really using so i can still read what it says....

ha, i forgot about the "6 things i love post"

2008-11-10T20:48:00.012-06:00

i knew that if i didnt get it done yesterday i'd forget! but never fear, thanks to yall leaving me comments i remembered that i owed you all this post, and here it is! let's start with 3 things that aggrevate me and then go to 6 things i love:

3 things that make me frown/pull out my hair/plot someone's death:

1- when my prof consistently keeps us late as fuck for our monday night class. it goes from 6 to 8 20, but then he decided it goes until 9 and didnt really tell us. i walked out one day (i wasnt feeling very well AND i was like fuck this, im leaving) but i cant do that every day. some people commute to richmond and dont get home until 10 and then have to turn around the next morning for class! REALLY uncool. and this prof just cant tell time-- i was kept waiting 45 min this past friday for my appointment with him. i dropped my book in the hallway 3 times so he'd wrap it up with whoever was in there, but to no avail. this makes me Furrriousssss! (and yes, this happened tonight, as it does EVERY FREAKING MONDAY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)

2- the speed limit in williamsburg is 25, and most people go 25. wtf?! dont they know the add 10 rule? and when i'm on my way to class it's an add 20 rule! it makes my blood pressure rise to an unhealthy degree. people are also mostly tourists and the street signs and directions are confusing, so NO ONE ever does what they're supposed to (yeild here, stop here, etc.) AAARRRRGGGG

3- working a lot (4 days this week) for only $7.25. i know they cant afford to give me more, and i should probably get a job that pays more, but it's fun/i love it/everything's great OTHER than the fact that i make like NO $. i got a $75 paycheck the other day-- i was like are you kidding me?

6 things i LOVE sooo much:

1- fall in Virginia. you've got to be KIDDING me it's so awesome! chilly, crisp, sunny, awesome fall color, not too cold (saratoga springs, i'm looking at you). PERFECT! (this picture was taken out my bedroom window and looks at the ravine that the deer sleep in. it was taken last week)

2- my girls. it's so nice to have animals to hang out with/distract myself with while i'm eyebrow-deep in school stuff. had i only known this in undergrad, i would have been a happier person! seriously! i'm never really afraid at night like i prob. would be living alone in the woods b/c i have them there. its sort of irrational since they're not attack cats or anything but it's so comforting. and NOTHING makes me happier than to wake up and have two sleepy cats hanging out and snuggling. ADORABLE!

3- my favorite websites:
a) jezebel.com is so amazing, i would die without it. it's a total treat now-- i love it so much i never let myself read it until all (or most, or even half) of my work is done for the day. i may not agree with everything they say (megan, sometimes tracie, and i despise moe, thank god she's gone) but i keep abreast of the world through this. the comments are frusterating b/c people comment like effing CRAZY the literal SECOND the post is posted so i never comment b/c the thread is always too long (and archetype has always commented first anyway) but still-- LOVE.
(nessa, what's your jezzie comment name?)
b) nytimes.com i learn so much by reading a couple articles a day that i have no idea why i didnt do this long before. and its awesome b/c most of my friends read the same articles so we can talk about them
c) apartmenttherapy.com i dont have as much time for this one as i'd like, but it's so inspiring and awesome. the comments are where i get the most information and help and it's so cool to have this little community. i've posted many comments and 2 main questions so i feel like im part of it.

4- i have just discovered the beauty that is Itunes Genius tool. holy shit this thing is awesome! you pick a song that you like in your playlist and hit the button and it matches up all the songs in your entire library that it think match with that song and then (apparently) makes suggestions of things to buy based on what you like. it hasnt made any suggestions for me, possibly b/c i have so much music already? no idea. but i only listen to playlists (i have like 800) so having a tool that creates new playlists of songs i already like at the click of a button? GENIUS! oh wait, that was the idea... ;)

5- Houston. i love you houston, and i miss you. i love williamsburg too and am perfectly happy here and not very homesick at all, yet i just cannot WAIT to come home! i cant wait to see all of you and eat all the food (barnaby's, mai's, empire, brasil, mockingbird bistro, WHATABURGER OMG, etc etc) and just enjoy being HOME! get ready kids-- around dec 15th! YAY! (camera phone taken in 2002 or 2003)

6- school. i LOVE school! no matter how stressed out it makes me at times, i absolutely LOVE it here. i love the discussions, the discourse, the sharing of ideas and broadening of horizons/intellects. i LOVE LOVE LOVE it. and on that note, i'd better get back to my work so i dont fail out :) xo!

i've been tagged! joy!

2008-11-09T09:57:00.003-06:00

hello everyone. good lord, it's been over a month since i last posted stuff on here! well i'm sure none of you are surprised by this news: GRAD SCHOOL IS INSANE. and keeps me busy. and even though i love every minute of it, fuck it's stressful/crazy/intense/hard as hell. there's a lot of things i've been up to lately so even though i had plans to post a pictures blog, i'll try to do that later and just move to handy bullet point format to get all this info out:

-- ive been tagged by cheryl, which is awesome! thank you! i will post my "6 things i love" later in the day because 1) this post is going to be long enough already and 2) if i dont do it today i might not get to it for a while. so that is forthcoming! posthaste!

- the weather here is GORGEOUS. i mean utterly beautiful fall color cold awesome. Kem pugh is visiting me this wkend (well she just left this morning) and we had a BLast-- but back to my weather thing-- on friday when she was here we were really hot and had to wear t shirts and jeans (it was like 78) yesterday it was 60s something, last night it was in the 40s and today its in the what, low 60s? its always colder in my cottage b/c i'm in the woods and right now i have the window open so the sunshine can pour in and i can hear the birds but i have to say, my toes are CHILLY!

- i decided to get a new birth control (Merina, it lasts 5 years and is AMAZING omg just ask me about it) and get off my anti anxiety meds at the same time a couple weeks ago, which was a BAD IDEA. all that at once-- am i insane?! the anxiety meds were making me sleep like insanely (14 hrs a night and still tired) so while i feel like myself again (esp. on this new birth control) i didnt really do the math and think, "even though i'm not really a super anxious person to need this medicine all the time, maybe staying on it in the middle of the most stressful situation ever would be smart" noooo i didnt even think it! so to say im stressed is an understatement. i'm contemplating going back on it but...well...you know, you never WANT to be dependent on pills of any kind, you know? and i know i really dont need them REALLY, but...
unfortunately this has brought out 2 of my worst coping mechanisms: shopping/buying stuff and eating. i have spent so much $ on random crap for myself that i told my parents i didnt want xmas/bday presents this year b/c i bought all the stuff i wanted. this is RIDICULOUS, especially knowing that i am a BROKE college student and all this $ i'm spending are LOANS but for some reason i just cant help it. i do, however, have a really cute new wardrobe for the winter (which i needed! and everything was on the sale rack at Gap or from h&m!)...
and the eating thing? i dont even know what to do about that. i'd love to claim being pregnant like chandra (well ok not really, that would screw up my life plan right now), but really i am just stressed out so i eat a ton of whatever it is that's in front of me (usually pasta b/c im cheap and its easy to make). i barely even taste it anymore! it's just a diversion from all the reading/work/paper writing/etc etc. has anyone ever conquered this bad habit? someone help! i'm definitely not getting skinnier and while i'm pretty good at being happy with my weight this is getting out of hand. i feel like a hippo. help!

- my birthday and halloween were awesome (pls refer to facebook and/or myspace for pics). i went as me circa prom may 2005 (thank god the dress still fit!), my friends looked awesome and one friend (a boy, which makes it funnier) went as ME. weird? yes. a lil' awkward? TOTALLY. but funny? fuck yes! hilarious.

- i met my landlady (she had to come here to put some stuff in the attic) and that was crazytown. she is totally batshit insane but in a nice way-- she kept telling me i had so much positive energy that negated the negative energy that was left by the previous tenant (?). she thought i was awesome (as does everyone) so thats cool, but she's def. a little weird. luckily since we're apparently BFFs now i can be like "hey i dont get my student loans until mid Feb. so can i pay rent for the semester then?" and hope she will be cool with it (she might be? maybe?)

-- shit it's already 11 am and i have SO much work to do. i had this come to jesus moment with my 2 advisors on friday when Kem was here and they were both like "work harder" which makes total sense but sends me into a tailspin of anxiety. basically i took a job at great harvest bread co (my 3rd one-- did i tell yall this already?) and they work me a LOT-- only like 12-16 hrs a week, which would normally be nothing, right? but NOT WHEN YOURE IN GRAD SCHOOL. most people in my program dont work, and if they did they've quit by now (srsly. i asked.) my prof literally told me to stop working so much b/c he could tell it's stressing me the fuck out. and even though i LOVE being at work (its fun to do, i love the product, i work with precious high school kids that are adorable, etc.) its really killing me. actually you know whats really killing me? the fact that i get $7.25 an hour. thats CRAP. i made more than that at my first Harv on 1960 and champion's forest! but they just opened and the owners still havent even taken a paycheck yet...sigh. at least theyre good people. and i get free coffee and bread and stuff like that...

-- ok my last thing that i HAVE to mention esp. b/c chandra and cheryl talked about this: the Twilight series. i am going to be dead honest here and say 1) I've never liked vampire stories, 2) i knew this was sentimental romance novel utter crap that people are freaking out over and 3) i read all of them in a week and while i understand why people love them (hell, i couldnt put the stupid things down) there is SO MUCH in there that is AWFUL. like how bella's so helpless! and she needs either a vampire or a werewolf to take care of her (and can i just say, anyone on team jacob needs a wake up call-- bella was NEVER going to end up with him! hello! who would even think that! and although jacob is awesome, who would like him better than edward! come on!). the author is Mormon and there are some Mormon overtones (unintentional im sure, but the patriarchal stuff is there, as well as the family being the eternal divine unit-- as evidenced by bella, edward and renesmee [WORST. NAME. EVER.] living together forever, etc)
SOOOO what is my point? my point is THIS IS MY NEW THESIS. yes everyone, i am dead serious. i hit a wall when researching Mormon feminism (my previous thesis topic) because i realized all the discourse on this subject had been written by Mormon (mostly former mormon, actually) feminists and what can i add to that as non-LDS (latter day saint)? what angle can i spin on that? it's possible i could come up with someone, BUT
for one of my classes (an english women's studies class) i came up with the idea of talking about Twilight and am comparing these novels to 19th century utopian literature. i dont WANT to b/c i HATE literary criticism but thats the direction im being pushed and you have to move outside your comfort zone in grad school (see? its HARD!). i told my 2 advisors about that paper and they were like, "fuck yeah that sounds awesome! seems like you got yourself a new thesis topic!" so (hypothetically, since everything is subject to change) i will be folding in my comparing Twilight to utopian literature into a broader thesis where i discuss romance novel formulas, why these books are so popular (i dont have an ultimate answer of course, but i will speculate and lean heavily on the Twilight message boards) and hopefully will answer the question many have asked, "what is a nice Mormon girl doing writing about vampires?" (answer: she turned the frightful/erotic/unknown into tame, caring, perfect beings that feed into our fantasies).

OK children! that was a lot of information. leave me comments and please, by all means, expect me to interview you about the Twilight books. xo everyone!
ps- im home for like a month from dec 15-jan 15th. get ready. chandra, i want to see a baby bump!

pictures! finally!

2008-09-24T17:25:00.004-05:00

some PICTURES for you!

the first picture is me a couple days ago with my new glasses (and shorter bangs that i cut myself). what do you think?

second picture is on my walk to school. i get to pass those gorgeous morning glories every day.

third picture is my office in my house.

yay!

an apology and an explanation, of sorts

2008-09-22T14:32:00.003-05:00

greetings and salutations, dear friends. i want you all to know that i think of you often, each one of you (cheryl, chandra, nessa, holly, etc etc etc) and hope that you're well. if i'm lucky, i may have a second to read your blogs to see how you're doing (esp. after the hurricane! btw my parents still dont have power and they said it might not be until MID OCT! very uncool).
however.

grad school is awesome, and i love every second of it. but I. AM. SO. BUSY. OMG.
i have so much reading to do, and writing, and even when i have "free time" it's not free b/c i have to organize this or fix that or maybe even nap? because for some reason i AM SO TIRED ALL THE TIME (i think it's the reading) so i sleep a lot. and i wanted to say i'm sorry to those of you i dont get to talk to often-- it's not that i dont want to, or dont care at ALL! it's because holyshitiamsoBUSY!
i also got a job at Great Harvest Bread Company here (harv #3!) and i only work 10 hours a week but it makes me busier. but i love working there SO much! it's really fun. and i love every minute of grad school.
i just prob. wont get to talk to you all until christmas. but FEAR NOT!
i shall be home (most likely) from like Dec 19th to Jan 20th! A WHOLE MONTH! JOY!
so that's the update. gotta go read read read
xo!

ps- but i do want to reiterate that i am SO SO happy and i LOVE grad school and my life here! LOVE it!

writing a blog because i'm avoiding homework

2008-09-02T18:32:00.003-05:00

it's funny how the old habits come back, isn't it? back in the day i'd avoid homework by talking incessantly on aim, or writing in my livejournal, or watching random videos people had forwarded me (sadly there was no youtube at that time) (saying that makes me feel oddly old). now i'm blogging-- not that i'm totally avoiding reading, but i would like to give you, dear readers, something to read and an update on my life. k? now, onto a handy bullet proof format b/c i really don't have much time (i have like 300 pages to read of random, dry articles for american studies intro class tomorrow, and Wharton's entire House of Mirth to read by Thursday, so I have to get cracking).

-- grad school is awesome. i love my classes, my profs are awesome, i already have a little posse of friends, williamsburg is fucking great, virginia beach is really close so i'm going to the beach with some friends this wkend, going to colonial williamsburg (students get in for free) next week, seeing Hamlet 2 this week with the posse (all aforementioned activities are with the posse). oh and my cottage is AWESOME. i ADORE it. pictures forthcoming, i swear-- my lame computer doesn't want to accept pictures from my camera for no apparent reason, so i'm going to have to figure out another way to do it. (i need to just get a card reader). you guys will swoon-- the office, where i am now, is awesome and pink and pretty and i LOVE it!

-- my posse is great. it consists (so far) of Maggy, who graduated Rhodes College in '06 and is fron NC/Dallas, is very outdoorsy, says awesomely smart stuff in class and is interested i
african american culture in appalachia (sp). Nikki just grad. UNC this May and is a cheerleader type (she was a cheerleader, actually) and is interested in material culture and has this adorable and fun boyfriend that lives in DC and comes here most wkends. Shaun is 26, our only boy so far, and has a master's from one of the SUNYs and and undergrad from...university of rochester? he's from rochester, NY and has the most insane accent. it's like a cross between michigan and jersey-- very odd. he's into literature and when we were watching the House of Mirth movie with Gillian Anderson for class the other day i cried at the end (it's so sad! she kills herself and eric stoltz sobs "I LOVE YOU LILY") he was like "i LOVE this shit! i love misery!" he's a sweet pea.

that's pretty much it so far but we're a very inclusive posse-- anytime we see anyone from our department and especially our class, we invite them to hang but everyone's so crazy shy! there's a few married people and people that live in Richmond/Newport News/VA beach so they commute and dont really hang but thats ok. we're trying to expand our group so i'll keep you posted.

-- my classes are: intro to amer studies for grad students (we all have to take this), 20th century women writers (there's a lot of undergrads in this class! and its VERy heavy on the reading), and an independent study i'm taking with my advisor on African American Religion. that's the one i'm most excited about b/c i have never studied it and it's fascinating. today in class my advisor, Maureen, said, "can you think of a single black leader now that is not involved in religion in some way?" (she said obama, but other than him, who else? and i couldnt think of anyone. can you?). fascinating! maggy's in that class with me and then 3 other girls that are af. american so i'm very interested to hear some of their personal history with the subject. it's going to be effing amazing! hooray!

-- for some reason i'm REALLY into studying to secular music. like in latin, old school choir in a cathedral music that was written in the 1200s. i have always loved it (it sounds so ethereal, and it's so soothing, esp. when they sing "deus" which means god) and it's marvelous study music.

-- virginia is gorgeous. just the other day i was driving around and i saw this beautiful sunset over the trees and thought, this is SO beautiful! there are little public gardens all over town that you can go sit in (one has these HUGE passion flowers and morning glories, it cheers me up so much everytime i walk by) and the weather, while slightly hot (people keep bitching about the 90 degree weather-- im like are you SERIOUS), is lovely. it's actually cold at night! so amazing.

-- williamsburg is really cool. my classes meet right at the front of the campus, where it hits the school (it actually hits Merchant Square, if you know anything about wmsbrg). there's tons of little cafes and shops and stuff right nearby. it's so great! the parking is a nightmare, but luckily i got the insider's tip from Wendy on parking down the street in this parking garage where they never ticket so you can park for free. weee!

-- clearly i'm happy as 800 clams right now. everything is going really well so far (despite the fact that i havent gotten my student loan check...grrr) and i just LOVE it here. hooray!!! :D

Quick update

2008-08-24T15:33:00.004-05:00

ok everyone, i don't have a lot of time b/c my dad's still here and we have a lot of work to finish (he leaves tomorrow and we're still putting up new blinds, outside lights, hanging stuff, etc etc etc etc ad nauseum) . here's the reader's digest version of the past week (has it only been 1 week?)
last sat: picked up liesl and we drove out. driving with a trailer is intense (but i got EVERything in there, thank god). the cats meowed (mainly thessie) a ton so we let them out and viola! they were so happy. they spent the entire trip sleeping in the backseat on liesl's duffel bag.

last monday: got to the cottage. hooray! unpacked, it was so hot in here. we couldnt figure out how to turn on the AC. sucky. we wander the area, get stuff situated, etc.
tuesday: got paint, found the target, found the lowe's, drove around, etc. painted the office pink (where i am now-- so cute!). painted bedroom light gray but its really lavender (grrr) so whatever.
wed- ran into my grad student, wendy, at the ams building totally by accident! crazy. got the AC to work (had a guy come out only to tell me there's a ON switch. yeah i feel dumb. and he charged my landlady $110, but she seems ok with it). also learned my Sprint service doesnt really work in the house. Verizon, however, does, so i may be switching.

thurs- went to the outlet malls nearby (FUN)! took wendy out to dinner!
fri- went to the norfolk mall, h&m was a letdown. picked up my dad, went out to dinner.
sat.-- dad and i spent a ton of $ at lowes, etc. and started fixing up the house
sun- same as yesterday
tomorrow-- orientation!!
wed-- CLASSES START
ahhhHHHhhHHHHHhh!!

my brain still doesnt get the fact that i live in Virginia. so weird. i will be writing more later but have to go now!! xoxo my dears

Feminist Musings on lady gymnasts

2008-08-11T10:18:00.003-05:00

hello hello, good morning, salutations, etc etc. i leave texas for virginia this saturday; i am (mostly) packed and hope to god i can fit all my crap in a 5'x8' trailer and my car. including 2 cats in an AMAZING kennel AMAZINGLY and KINDLY donated by miss Cheryl! (i'm psyched about the kennel, not so psyched about seeing how my cats react to driving 22 hours).

in the meantime, i would like to discuss something: Olympic Gymnast's Fashion. (as seen on China and USA last night). mainly, the scrunchies. WHY, dear god WHY do we have scrunchies?! you dont need all that elastic fabric nonsense, you need a tight ass rubber band to hold your hair back! and why pony tails? why not elegant buns like ballerinas? i feel like the messy pony tails and 800 huge metal clips in the girls from China's hair made them look even younger than their 10 years (i swear they cannOT be at least 16!). They had simple red, long sleeved leotards (can that be comfortable? aren't they hot? why long sleeves?) and some wore a little glitter on their eyelids (again, reinforcing the 6 yr old look). maybe they all love to watch Hannah Montana in their spare time?
USA was better (thankfully not so much glitter on the eyes) in long sleeved (wtf with the long sleeves?) leotards with some sort of stylized starfish/star on the left boob/side (or was it right?). anyway, their hair was much cuter-- a lot of them looked like typical 16 yr old teenagers, with bangs poufed a little in the front held by a bobby pin (a look i rock all the time and actually am rocking right now) and that pony tail thing that you do when you dont care how you look so instead of pulling the hair all the way through the elastic you let it loop. does that have a name? i used to do that crap all the time-- who wants an annoying pony tail flying around your face unless you're going for a cute, sporty '50s era look? not me, thank you (plus i dont have enough hair for a pony tail anyway...). the only scrunchie i noticed was on the girl whose dad was an Olympic gymnast from what, Russia or something? so i figured he made her wear it (and her fall from the uneven bars-- OUCH! that sucked. but she's pretty and kicked so much ass on the balance beam)

their make up looked more natural (china, you can def. wear mascara like USA) and i thought overall they were cute and pretty. HOWEVER
i wonder what makes me think of judging/noticing their make up? do i notice make up on the male gymnasts? no! (and also, i havent seen their event yet). but i think it's more noticable because women gymnasts often have very childish, square bodies-- hardly any boobs, they are short, small, and have powerful (yet small) muscles. when they have make up on, they look older-- almost more like teenagers, since teenagers (in america, at least) tend to almost always wear make up. everyone i spoke to about the gymnasts said "good lord, the chinese girls were BABIES" (and it doesnt help that theyve been accused of lying about girls ages and the girls really are under 16).
the male gymnasts, however, definitely look like "mature" guys-- hugely powerful shoulders, very muscular, etc. i have no idea if it's preferred that they be short or tall, but either way they don't look like children like the girls/women do.
why do we idolize this sport so much? why is it more fun to watch/is so popular than almost any other olympic summer sport? what about it do you love so much? please comment, i'd love to hear your opinions!

ps- can we bring back that ribbon thing on the floor excercise? you know what i'm talking about-- that shit is amazing!

back from Aspen!

2008-07-22T10:48:00.013-05:00

hello everyone, i'm back. all my summer trips have passed, been awesome, and left me more awesome but infinitely more tired (and with less money) in their wake. i got back from my aspen trip last night and realized that i have 18 more days of work until i move. insane! i am also really not into long drives in the car after driving 12 hours yesterday, but i'm sure by aug 15th i'll just be ready to go. i've been getting that stressed/omg is everything done/ahh i'm moving feeling for a while but it just got kicked up to 11 and im not even going for a few weeks! insane. i know that i can never go back to things the way they are right now (living at home, working for my dad, hanging out in spring, etc) so i'm trying to enjoy things but i'm also so ready to have my own, new life...

but enough musing, onto my aspen trip! what really can i say? it was gorgeous and incredible, my cousin jen looked radiant and had a wonderful wedding, i enjoyed seeing my entire extended family (there's only 15 of us, plus 2 new cousins) all together, aspen is incredible and incredibly gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and as i was wandering around the restaurant on top of aspen mountain i literally bumped into Antonio Banderas.

yes, yes i did. no pictures, but he stared at me for a while (the hair must have thrown him off) and his wife, Melanie, was nearby but looked totally busted with too much plastic surgery compared to the gorgeous, perfect Antonio. he was walking with his mother, and as they were trying to pick a table (the restaurant is cafeteria style) he asked her where they should sit, and she didnt answer so he started singing in this operatic voice, "it's a myyyysteryyyy!" SO CUTE. omg.

here are some pictures, for your enjoyment (the rest can be seen on facebook and myspace):

my sisters on their hike around Maroon Bells in aspen

womb buddy and myself at our "romantic" vegan dinner in aspen that was SO EXPENSIVE OMG.

note: drinking at such a high altitude such as aspen means 1 drink= druuunk.

this picture was obviously staged.

on top of aspen mountain

family photo before the wedding!

most gorgeous wedding EVER- the altar was aspen logs that the groom cut himself. so lovely!

a little drunk, very happy at the reception

on the beach in North Carolina

2008-06-22T19:58:00.010-05:00

hello faithful readers, im blogging from a beach house on the coast of north carolina. i just ate like 2 lbs of crab legs and im in a total food coma so this is not going to be super long. but the beach is great, im exhausted, the seafood is fucking amazing and thank god we have internet because i love just sitting here and reading apartmenttherapy.com

so ive been on the road for a long time, blahnblah, and a couple days ago i went to Williamsburg, VA to check out the town adn my cottage. holy shit people! the cottage is more awesome than i thought (pictures forthcoming) and my landlady is getting more awesome! yay! also the town: super great. there's a ton of amazing stores, its wonderful to walk around, the school is gorgeous and i got a ton of W&M paraphanalia (a w&m tote bag, t shirt, sweat pants, decal for my car, decals for my parents, t shirt for my mom, polo shirt for my dad....yeah i went totally overboard). the school bookstore is literally a barnes and noble, which is ridiculous, but whatevs. super cute town

ok im fading here so let's get to the cottage. it's a lot more lodge-y than i realized, mainly b/c you walk into the wood panelled room. i have a bunch of furniture that she already has there; the office is tiny tiny and not the "guest room" i thought at all (which is totes fine) and the bedroom is huge and i have this crazy weird shaped walk in closet with a pretty window. i also have a porch swing! yay! onto the pictures:

Stuff n' Things

2008-06-02T13:01:00.006-05:00

hello muffins, how's it going? i have a few new tidbits for you today, and other than that, i'm just laying low and trying to spend $0 in the next 2 weeks before my vacation starts (Cheryl, this does not apply to you-- i'd love to see you before i leave again!).

so, without further ado, here are the tidbits:

my really awesome grad student friend, Wendy, went by my cottage and snapped some pictures! (i srsly owe her a HUGe dinner). this is what she had to say:

i just drove by your cottage. i'm not completely sure what i think, but i had my camera with me, so i snapped some pictures. it is behind a motel, but you follow down the road until it becomes more of an unpaved path, and there are a few houses back there. some are pretty nice. yours is the most overgrown/rundown. i didn't look inside or anything, but i would think it's potentially cute but also potentially really rundown. i could see a couple of ripped screens and the people in there now have taped up newspaper for their curtains. don't know what that's about. part of me thinks it would be really fun to live there, and part of me thinks it looks a little serial killer-ish because it really is in the woods. if it were a 2-bedroom and you had a roommate, i would definitely think it would be cool, but living alone there might spook me out.
so that's my impression. i'm sure it would be a fine place to live, and it's a good location -- i don't want to sound too negative.

the later she said this:

Hey i passed by today, but the door was open so i didn't look inside or anything. to answer your questions, the area isn't sketchy at all. i mean, the other houses are all nice and have nice cars, and today there was an old man outside working on a fence. it's just dark because it's in the woods, like the name says. i think you'd need a flashlight if you were going to walk back there at night.
the motel isn't sketchy either -- williamsburg is largely motels. it looks like some families live there full time from the toys outside, but that's not uncommon since, as you've noticed, williamsburg has crappy housing options.
looking at it again today, i thought it was less weird - maybe i knew what to expect. i wonder if the landlady comes by the weekends. if i pass by during th eweek and the door is closed i'll look inside.

* so what is your opinion, my loyal blog readers? go for it? i'm actually pretty effing psyched despite the fact that i am a TOTAL scardey cat and would prob. be freaked out at some point living in a cottage alone in the woods. but whatevs. opinions? advice? anyone?

I have also been looking at the school newspaper (The Flat Hat) and reading the comics to get a feel for the campus-- it looks like it's a LOT like Skidmore (the town's not super friendly with the students, the bigwigs/school board is NOT in tune with the students's opinions, etc.). here is what to expect for fall weather, i suppose?

you know, i said i had tidbits to share, but i really can't think of anything else of substance. im just getting excited for my Carolinas vacation that's coming up-- oh, i did remember something: Does anyone have any tips for travelling with a dog? Mom and i are taking Baxter with us (75 lb english springer spaniel, well behaved but excitable) on our road trip and i was wondering if anyone had any similar experiences, advice, links to helpful websites, whatever to share. we are staying in Comfort Inns along the way (they allow dogs, although we didnt specify how big Bax is) so that's good. any advice will be GREATly appreciated!! xox everyone, till next time...

home, home again. i like to be here when i can

2008-05-23T13:06:00.005-05:00

that line in the title is from katie's aim profile when she's in ohio. since she usually is home during the summer, it reminds me of summers (and also makes me happy, because it means i can call her cell phone and reach her pretty much all the time).

anyway. back home. plane ride was perfect (slept from take off to landing, thanks to a shitload of xanax, and was sitting with some VERY nice people. the kindness of strangers is always shocking and happy), getting home was great, and i don't even mind the hot weather. (much). i plan to lay out by my pool this ENTIRE 3 day weekend (and do a little laundry and cleaning, of course, b/c my room is an explosion of random STUFF from my trip). i'm pretty freaking happy too, and it's not hard to see why-- i just had the best vacation of my life with many dear, dear loved ones, i work for like 3 weeks and then i go on another 2 week vacation (road trip with Mom and Baxter to Hendersonville, NC, then onto the Outer Bank beaches for a week with the whole fam minus a womb buddy), then i work for another 3 weeks, have a 1 week vacation (road trip with mom to aspen for cousin's wedding, FINALLY see WB and everyone), then i work for one month and I MOVE TO VIRGINIA!

i know these events have been covered previously in this blog but sheeet, i just have to say it again. LIFE IS GREAT right now.

i still haven't signed a lease on my cottage but that's forthcoming-- speaking of the cottage, let me cut and paste what the lady said when i asked her to describe the place:

" To answer some of your questions, the cottage is approximately ninehundred square feet with about a hundred taken out with my storage/bedroom.There's a double bed & night stand plus two small desks (to use asdressers) in the bedroom I rent (which BTW gets wonderful morning light). Itook out a table & chairs for the living/ dining room & there's two smalltables tucked behind the doors under the built-in bookcases in thatCathedral ceiling wood panel room. There's a separate office with a hugedesk in there. Microwave on small table in kitchen plus old fashioned"Hoosier" in addition to modern cupboards. There's a washer/dryer thatdoesn't work cause a tenant - many years ago - broke the handle & I can'tget a replacement. I'm in no position to provide a new one for someone elseto wreck then skip without paying."

So obvs this lady is a little bonkers but HOLY SHIT 900 SQ FEET YAY! i cant freaking WAIT! everyone is invited to come visit me!

LESSON OF THE DAY: There was a time before built-in cabinets in kitchens; houses were smaller and kitchens were smaller. A typical kitchen might have had a Hoosier cabinet, an ice box, stove, sink and perhaps a pie safe. These Hoosier cabinets were free standing units designed to keep all the essential kitchen items in one place. They were marketed as labor saving devices.

anyway, punkins. time to go. but look at my myspace and facebook to see trip pictures, and later i may update with a webshots album of even more pictures. xo!

city mumbling in the early morning

2008-05-20T00:38:00.003-05:00

hello everyone. it's late and i'm very, very tired but i'm trying to stay awake tonight so i can be REALLY sleepy on the plane tomorrow. in nyc right now; listening to the garbage trucks beep and "mash their dinosaur molars" (or whatever it is that you said today susie that totally makes sense) in the early morning.
speaking of mornings, i was in maine this morning eating a bagel with my dearest kate! then i took a bus to boston (2 hours or so) and the hopped directly onto a bus for nyc (4 hours or so). my tailbone hurts.
luckily mikey carried my heavy bag up the stairs (6 flights) and we walked to a very lovely dinner with good friends. now i'm here, listening to the city mumble at 2 am...

VERY excited for home tomorrow. it's been one of the best vacations of my life but i cant WAIT to see my cats, parents, and MY VERY OWN BED. omg. i am going to lock myself in my room for at least a week. i need some alone time, and im also broke-- did a LOT of shopping.
miss you muffins. xo

ARE YOU GOING TO NYC TODAY?!

2008-05-07T10:20:00.003-05:00

why yes, yes i am.

see you tonight, city!

Updates!

2008-05-05T13:30:00.002-05:00

hi muffins. so i feel like i have 8,000,000,094,983,983 things going on right now and it's crazy. let's get to bullet point format because that will calm my frazzled nerves.

- im leaving for the Dr in 20 min because the tiny ativan he gave me are NOT STRONG ENOUGH. i have started freaking out about the plane ride and i want XANAX
- i have a ton of stuff to do to get ready for my NYC/BOSTON/MAINE trip and it's making me crazy. i have to make sure i dont forget anything (UMBRELLA) and that i have enough layering/warm clothes for the Cape, Maine, etc. HOORAY!
- this weekend we had perfect weather and my mom and i had a garage sale. it was great! we're exhausted, but we made $400 and sold so much stuff-- nothing over $2 (most things were 25 or 50 cents) so you can imagine how much crap we got rid of!
- i also got a tan. yay!
- sold a ton of crap on ebay and craigslist also. HOORAY! (to buy some of my randomness on ebay, look for seller Neverwhere2)
- also sold $100 worth of stuff at Buffalo. shocking! they barely took anything but they gave me a lot of $ for it. i'm going to try them again in June
- purging stuff is awesome! i feel like i have a total handle on what i own now (even though i still want to get rid of more stuff) and it's greatness. i feel so productive!
-rachel tanner is in korea and her blog is awesome: http://whatamidoinginkorea.wordpress.com/ read it and be sure to comment~!
- my mom and i celebrated our awesome productive weekend/early mother's day (since i'll be in nyc next week) and i got her an automatic corkscrew for wine bottles! it's so awesome. look it up on target.com (it's oster automatic corkscrew). my mom LOVES it!
- congratulations are in order for Cheryl and Saul buying a house! HOORAY! congrats guys! i will DEFinitely be coming over a lot, especially since you are near me now! yay!

excited about the future

2008-04-21T13:48:00.002-05:00

so good news everyone: i got my cottage! details and pictures shall be forthcoming. basically the lady who is renting it out (she has the same last name as i do, did i mention that? TOTAL fate) was supposed to rent it to someone else, but they pulled out at the last minute (again, fate). so she's working out a lease for me to sign and i'm getting more info on how big it is, etc. i seriously feel like the world is vomiting rainbows in my face and everything is effortless! now i can't be super super set until i sign a lease, but it's still great! YAY!
this weekend i spent all of yesterday cleaning out every nook and cranny that held my stuff and it was AWESOME (exhausting but satisfying). i ended up with 7 huge black garbage bags of trash, a ton of crap for our garage sale (details on that forthcoming), and a ton of clothes for sale (buffalo exchange, here i come). it feels so great to edit! today i've been making lists (I LOVE LISTS) of what i need, what i have, and what i need from ikea (mmm ikea...). this is so exciting! i can't wait :)

in other news, my amazing nyc/boston/maine trip is approaching quickly and i couldn't be happier. it's going to be so much fun it's ridiculous. HOORAY!
what all is going on with you?

I am going to William and Mary

2008-04-07T11:09:00.003-05:00

i chose william and mary and just emailed my acceptance to them! HOORAY! there are lots of reasons why i finally chose this one, but the highlights are:
1. it has the best reputation in American Studies of all the schools i applied to
2. there's a prof there doing EXACTLY what i want to do (women in american religion)
3. it's a gorgeous place and i would love to live there
4. i'm thisclose to renting a cottage with cathedral ceilings and wood floors (YAY)
5. it's 1.5 years, so cheaper than any other program (with the exception of UT)
6. my fav prof at skidmore has tons of friends from harvard that teach there
7. i can prob. get into a much better phD program from w&m than anywhere else (unless i stay at w&m, which is possible)
8. i've made friends with a grad student via email, wendy, and she seems really awesome so i already have a friend there!

here's a good story: i was looking at w&m's radio station website when i came across a show that sounded great and the DJ played a lot of music i like. i thought, "hooray! i can make a friend!" and DJ turned out to be my friend Wendy, the american studies grad student! what are the odds? i mean REALLY? i feel like that's a total sign.

so thank you everyone who have offered help, support, a shoulder to stress out on, etc etc. please come visit me in Williamsburg, Virginia! i move in beginning to mid August, so let's hang out before then!

W&M

2008-04-01T12:53:00.002-05:00

i think i may pick william & mary. am feeling faint and sick at the prospect of choosing. scary!!!

the PROs and CONs of grad school

2008-03-25T12:24:00.005-05:00

dear discounted easter candy,
i love you, even though you are not weight watchers approved.
sincerely,
karen

so schools. still haven't heard from umass Boston, got waitlisted at UT women's studies (thank god its not a no) and i have w&m and purdue. I've gotten many opinions, looked at housing, emailed current grad students at each program, etc. here is the pros and cons list, because it helps me a lot:

PROS

UT: where to begin! best housing, cheap moving costs, cheap living costs, get to live with LIESL YAY, all my friends there, i love the city, i have an austin cell #, internationally known school, i'd get to work with AMS people while in the WS dept., there are a lot of people who would help me do great things, i have a better chance of getting into the AMS program for a PhD. did i mention i love austin the most??

PURDUE: i find out next week if they are offering me a TA position (all tuition paid, i'd start teaching classes by 2nd semester my first year which is GREAT since i want to be a prof.), cheap living, not terribly expensive moving costs, don't have to reapply to get into the Phd, profs are nice, dept. is very accessible and emails me often and with helpful info, they seem like they really want me, grad students very helpful and nice, i have family in indianapolis (>1 hr away), friends in chicago (>2 hrs away, also amazing city)

W&M: really great program, it's the only one thats 1 year so it's less $ than purdue (unless purdue gives me a full ride...), GORGEOUS area, my fav. prof at Skidmore said go there over anywhere if you can, lots of great profs, grad students say it's a great program and the faculty are very accessible and give you their home #s on the syllabi, etc.

CONS:
UT: i want a master's in american studies (but can live with WS), i am really sick of the race/class/gender ws's trifecta, i'm annoyed that UT sucks and are really hard to reach in every dept.

PURDUE: it's indiana, the town is pretty much just the school, not as prestigious as other programs, don't know a soul at the school.

W&M: really expensive apartments, expensive moving costs, the prof i want to work with sort of blew me off, one year intensive program (you finish your thesis during the summer) so i don't know how i'd apply to a PHD program, i'd have to take out 50k in loans.

so basically: i will go to UT if i get in and Purdue doesn't offer me any $, but it's most likely that Purdue will offer me $ so i'm prob. going there. but if Purdue doesn't offer me that much $ and UT lets me in, I'll go to UT. w&m is my last resort at this point.
got it?

IN OTHER NEWS: mikey is moving to brussels for 3 years at the end of may. he and i have a wonderfully insane trip planned (may 7-20th, in nyc, boston, marshfield, cape cod, maine) that involves a lot of fun and possibly a lot of drinking (and lots of amazing friends of course). then i have a family reunion in north carolina for 2 weeks in june, one week in aspen for my cousin's wedding, and then i come home and move to either indiana or austin.

Cat videos + my amazing outfit

2008-03-20T13:37:00.009-05:00

i noticed this video (taken around christmas time, i believe?) of my girls on their cat tree. they still act just like this, btw (and please take special note of thessie's tail wagging at the beginning)

also, here is a picture of me in my awesome outfit today:

ps- still trying to decide w&m vs purdue. i was leaning towards purdue, but now my fav prof at skidmore said go to w&m. aHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

American Idol tidbits

2008-03-19T11:32:00.003-05:00

does anyone watch American Idol? i usually never do but saw it last night b/c Dancing wasn't on until 8 instead of 7, blahblah, and it's kind of like a train wreck that you can't turn away from/bad karaoke. i won't even get into the fact that i've been singing for a while and am well versed in pop singing and every single fucking season it sounds like SHITTY KARAOKE so i never watch it (and wtf america, 8 seasons?! really??). ANYWAY. i saw it last night and read this on www.televisionwithoutpity.com and DIED LAUGHING:
"But here's the thing: when Amanda sings, I feel like I'm in a bar; when David Cook sings, I feel like I'm in a club; when Brooke sings, I feel like I'm in an amphitheater; when Jason sings, I feel like I'm in my dealer's living room; but when David Archuleta sings, I feel like I'm watching a high school talent show. Every time. And it's a performing arts high school for gifted kids, absolutely. And he's clearly the best in the talent show, and he'll totally win and deservedly so. But if you're asking me to list the places I'd pay to be, I'd rather see Amanda at the bar, David Cook at the club, Brooke at the concert hall, and Jason at my dealer's house than go to David A.'s talent show."

HI-larious. that is all.

ps- Dancing is not that exciting this season b/c most of everyone sucks. :(

Dear Austin, i love you. Love, Me

2008-03-17T11:21:00.005-05:00

hello all my faithful readers. i was just reminded that Dancing with the Stars comes back on tonight, and although they do not have any awesome celebrities this season (other than steve guttenberg, of course, because HI three men and a baby best movie ever!), i'm still excited. hooray! something to take up my mondays and tuesday nights! and top chef is on again also so that is wed. nights (although, im a little ashamed to admit, but i dont love it like i love proj. runway).
anyway. I'm really too sleepy to blog much-- had a fantastic weekend in austin, saw old friends, had lots of wine and good food, shopped a lot, got tangled up in some sxsw, dressed up and had a fancy dinner, and generally had a wonderful time. i did not, however, sleep much or well, so i'm very much looking forward to going to bed directly after Dancing is on (aka 8 30 pm).

it was also lovely to have a weekend where i didn't obsess over grad schools. i am super lucky and thankful to have options, but i keep going back and forth until i'm almost insane. i had some good chats with grad school-knowledgeable people this wkend (general consensus: purdue) so that was helpful. i am still waiting on women's studies at UT and umass Boston. UT american studies, my dream program, said no. :( i am sad. however, there are other schools that want me, so i will make it work!
bon nuit mes chous.

The College of William & Mary said YES!

2008-03-11T10:58:00.009-05:00

holy shit ya'll. the College of William & Mary said yes to grad school! sweet god in heaven i never thought THAT would happen. they only take 33% of applicants! it's the second oldest school in the nation (founded in 1693) after Harvard! It's in Williamsburg, VA, site of Colonial Williamsburg (where they have people dress up and do blacksmithing, etc). They are offering me no funding whatsoever, which is tricky (11-12k per semester just for tuition), but i'm pretty much in the same boat at Purdue (i applied for a TA position in women's studies but i may not get it). however, let's focus on how shocking and amazing it is that i got into this school:

fun facts: w&m has a lot of secret societies and had the first ones (take that, skull and bones at yale!). thomas jefferson went there, jon stewart was class of '84, it had the first law school (and still one of the best, today), and a ton of other important people (like supreme court justices) are alumns. Phi Beta Kappa was founded there in 1776 and it has a huge greek life (but no greek life for grad students).

fun fact from wikipedia: Unofficial traditions include the Triathlon, a set of three tasks to be completed by each student prior to graduation. These include jumping the wall of the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg after hours, and if so inclined, running through the Boxwood Maze to the Palace itself, steaking through the Sunken Gardens, and swimming in the Crim Dell.

Another unofficial tradition, which the College administration attempts to quell each year, occurs on the last day of classes in the spring and is referred to by the students as "Blowout." On this day, it is customary to wake up early, begin drinking before one's classes, and show to up to class intoxicated and spend the rest of the day at the numerous keg parties which are always held. On this day, a student can win a t-shirt claiming they stayed sober on that day if they blow a .00 into a breathalizer, which is usually administered by a student group at the Sunken Gardens.

Crazy! There is also a lot of drama surrounding the recent departure of their president, and that info can be found here: http://jezebel.com/356171/state-fires-college-president-for-hosting-sex-workers-art-show (via Jezebel, my favorite blog ever)

YAY ME! i still want to go to UT, but i'm hopeful that if i got into w&m, i might get into UT? maybe?? please? i should know by this week! (also waiting on UMassBoston, but unless they offer me a full ride that's a no).

one last quote: "William and Mary can make a good case for being the most selective public college in America. Its size . . . is ideal, the envy of a good many prestigious private colleges. Its setting and its own lush campus . . . provide the stuff calendars are made of. Its academic program . . . is no nonsense, followed by impressive placement in graduate schools and jobs." Richard Moll, author of The Public Ivys: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities.

busted face.

2008-02-25T11:05:00.006-06:00

so this weekend was GORGEOUS-- perfect weather, just awesome. i decided it would be a good time to try riding my new bike, and it was. it was fun, and i really enjoyed it, until i lost control and flew face first into a brick mailbox. i was home alone so no one was around to come get me, my face was bleeding a lot, and i had to carry my busted bike like 6 blocks home. it sucked. i had ice on it all saturday and some ice on it yesterday and it's better, but it still hurts a lot and i feel like i look really busted. i have a dr's appt at 3 20 to have it checked out and i really hope i get a painkiller or two. it does't really super hurt right now, but still. thank god my older sister was there to listen to me and offer icing/advil advice!

at the moment, i am really sleepy. effexor? possibly. *yawn*

so here's a picture of me being sad and in pain. just for your viewing enjoyment:

anyway, that's really all i have to report. i had a good sat. dinner with jessica at my favorite place, Barnaby's, but i had to go home early because my nose was beginning to swell again.

in other news, who wants to drive to galveston with me this wkend? i feel like it's beach time.

3 posts in one day! wow!

2008-02-20T13:13:00.004-06:00

tim my friend, i didnt know you had a blog! and thank you for commenting-- i appreciate it! i am stealing your game:
Game 1.0
Here're the rules: I get a point for each category that I do each day. We'll see how I do for the next week.
The categories are:
Think
Create
Learn
Move
Friends
Music
Challenge
Opportunity

today (since it's only 1 pm, we'll put what i plan to do today into account as well)
think: read jezebel and wondered why is every young person voting for obama? wtf am i missing here? i just dont really love him. hillary...i dont know.
create: 2 blog posts today! and i wrote some emails...does that count?
learn: lots of things, i read many blogs each day
move: not much yet, but i plan to ride my bike later
friends- chatted with a few people via gchat, plan to visit nessa at 3ish
music- am re-discovering tori's Scarlet's Walk
challenge- god, just getting up this morning? i was very very tired
opporunity- to be a good person, and i'm bringing nessa chicken soup because she is sick.

how's that for the first day of the Game?

today in pictures

2008-02-20T11:35:00.012-06:00

ok, onto the pictures! the first is me driving in my sound of music sweatshirt. some of you know this sweatshirt-- it's from a sohompre high school performance of sound of music (it was terrible but the sweatshirt is awesome). i always wear it when im tired or not planning on going anywhere (here, i am just running out to dog sit). i wore it in college A LOT. its very comfy and kind of like a security blanket, you know?
anyway. the next pictures are the dogs i dogsit! the first one is Rocky-- he's a boxer. i love him because he's so cute! look at those eyes...

this is ginger-- she's CRAZY and runs around all over the place

<--aww murphy! so cute! she is the oldest and precious. very sweet.
below is murphy getting out of the way of rocky and ginger play fighting.

i loved the sky yesterday! this is the sky with the mormon temple near my house in front of it.

the sky as i drove home from work. (the last 2 are of me, today, in my office)

comfortably numb

2008-02-20T11:15:00.004-06:00

hello all. this is going to be a bullet-point style blog of things, because my attention span is not very large right now.
- my coworkers shooting darts in the cubicle next to me doesn't even bother me
- i am sort of spacey and numb, like i'm floating on a cloud today. there is a reason for that.
- i had a really, really, REALLY bad weekend that involved going a little crazy and a lot of crying for no reason (well there are some reasons). thank you everyone who was there for me and who listened and offered advice. it helped A LOT.
- i am lonely. i'd love to hang out with people more but it's hard-- i have so much free time and other people don't. well i just want you all to know that for anyone, anywhere, not just me-- just a friendly call, or email, to say "hi, i was thinking about you" goes a LONG way. it's something that i try really hard to remember because it can mean so much.
- my cats are great, btws. a little destructive of the house (they've broken 2 glass hurricanes that had candles in them that my mom had on the dining room table, whoops) but none the less they are great and adorable.
- no new news from grad school. i will know prob. by march 7th or so at the latest. the suspense was killing me, but not anymore.
- i have decided i need some new projects. one of them will be to take a picture of myself and 1 other thing every single day and post it up here. starting today. (in a new post)
- weight watchers is going pretty well. i didn't do so hot this wkend, but eating crazy things helped my mood so it's kinda a trade off...
- i bought a bike yesterday. and even though i put the seat all the way down, my feet still can't reach the ground. it's been so long since i'd ridden a bike that i had trouble getting started and my mom LITERALLY had to hold the handlebars and push me along like i am 4. then i started going fast down the driveway and was like "whoawhoa MOOOM whoa help!" as she laughed hysterically behind me. i need training wheels.

- ok, so let's address why nothing bothers me anymore. i decided the anxiety i've had for the past couple months (aka years) was coming to a head and i needed help. my Dr. gave me effexor yesterday and i started it then. the effects shouldn't be felt until what, like 2 weeks? but he also gave me ambien to sleep and i still feel numb because of that. not sleepy, just slow and numb. but not anxious, nor am i really unhappy, or super lonely anymore.
i was feeling anxious (shocking) about my decesion to get back on anti depressants (i was on them for about a year or so in 03-04) because of how anti depressants are stigmatized: you are either crazy so you need them, or you are overmedicating because you just need to chill out. while i agree people are way overmedicated and i dont want to feel numb, i also dont want to feel panic-y and i dont want to be that person who is always neurotic on the phone and it's like "what's the crisis for today?" you know? i hate feeling numb but i'm going to do my best to find the balance between non anxious and numb.
i'll let you know how it goes.

ps-- who reads this blog? my bff, mikey, admitted to not reading it. it made me kinda sad, because do i have much of a readership? i think there's 4 of you?

Karen's Guide to Surviving Hangovers

2008-02-11T09:58:00.000-06:00

having had some drinks in my day (and by some drinks i mean gotten blackout drunk on MANy occasions...what? i went to college), here is my Guide to Surviving A Hangover.

Step 1-- Don't drink so damn much! geez, alchy! calm it down!

if step 1 is not an option or you are always wasted, proceed to step 2.

Step 2: drink as much water at the bar as you can. get your friends to shove it down your throat, whatever, just get some water!

Step 3: DO NOT DRIVE. i say this very hypocritically but really, you could hurt yourself, others, and a DUI just fucking sucks. DON'T DO IT!

Step 4: get thee to an eatery. it can be a diner, McD's, tacos, whatever-- just EAT something! in fact, eat as much as you can without getting sick. and drink WATER.

Step 5: try to take some advil before your pour yourself into bed. keep the advil and a tall glass of water by your bed-- you're going to need it later.

Step 6: drunkenly wake up sometime in the early morning (7, 8 am). drink an ENTIRE glass of water and take 3 advil.

Step 7: GO BACK TO SLEEP. this step is VERy crucial so you can feel like the floor isn't spinning anymore

Step 8: sleep as late as humanely possible, and only wake up when your head isn't splitting in half and you must get food.

Step 9: get something to eat-- preferably something that's not too too heavy but nothing light. most people go for fast food, and that seems to work well. if you can, get a SODA of some kind. that always seems to help

Step 10: TAKE MORE ADVIL (keep in mind you can take 2-3 every 4 hours, so try to stay somewhat in those perameters).

Step 11: take it easy. try not to get too upset about how much of an effing idiot you were at the bar last night. and try to, next time, not drink so much okay?

This Message Has Been Brought To You By: the fact that Karen was a drunken effing crazy on saturday night, and while she will still go out with friends anytime, there will be no more crazy alcohol comsumption. because really, it's dangerous, and not good for me, and i drive home long distances, and act like a stupid crazy person. so we're going to chill on that for a while

YAY! PURDUE UNIVERSITY said YES!

2008-02-06T14:02:00.001-06:00

YAY! i got into Purdue University for grad school! this is what the email i received today said:

"Dear Karen - I am pleased to be able to tell you that the graduate admissions committee in American Studies at Purdue has recommended your for admission to the M.A. program. You will be receiving official notification from both the program and the Graduate School soon.

In the meantime, we are working on possible funding packages for you. One of the areas we are looking at is a possible teaching assistantship in the Women's Studies program. They require students to complete an application and other materials. The application is will be available soon on-line at the following URL: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/womens-studies/graduate/assist_app.cfm. Once the application is available, I will notify you and have you complete it. You can then send it directly back to me so I can compile the other information they need.

We are also pursuing the possibility of a teaching assistantship in the Department of History. As I stated above, we will be back in touch soon with more information. Congratulations and I look forward to hearing from you!"

YAY! i wrote back this gibbering email saying thank you like 10 million times! great news! Purdue is in West Layfayette, Indiana. it's less than 2 hours from chicago and less than 1 hour from indianapolis (where my aunt, uncle and cousin live, which is awesome). Purdue is a great school, i had some wonderful responses from profs there, and the living expenses are CHEAP. plus it looks pretty:

so let's take a closer look at this school....the mascot is the Boilermakers, wtf? it's a train, and a "Purdue Pete" (aka someone in a crazy mascot uniform) acts like the conductor, or "boilermaker". unfortunately the purdue website is hard to navigate so that's one strike against it. the colors are black and gold (not bad). this is what it says about history: "Founded in 1869 and named after benefactor John Purdue, Purdue University began its journey with six instructors, 39 students and a mission to provide agriculture and mechanic arts education." there's about 5 campuses (i'd go to the main one, in west layfayette) with 70,000 students overall and 40,000 at the main campus (nice change from skidmore's 2500 people, thats for sure). it's in the top 10 for football, and apparently the "Big 10" thing was the president of Purdue's idea in the late 1800s. it's quite cold and snowy but NOTHING compared to saratoga. (and i miss snow so that's nice). it is 17 hours from my house, and i will have to travel 1061.75 miles to get there from Houston.

alright! this concludes (mostly) your (and my) lesson on Purdue! (to the left is an aerial shot of the campus)

so we have 3 more schools and 4 programs total to hear from (umassBoston, william&mary, and UT for american studies and women's studies). UT is still my #1 school, so we'll see. i kind of feel like it's a marriage proposal to each school-- kansas turned me down but purdue said yes!

purdue does have many great things going for it, and whatever happens-- i will be a grad student in 2008 somewhere! HOORAY! three cheers! HIP HIP HOORAY :)

new kylie minogue is great

2008-02-04T13:31:00.000-06:00

hello world. doing the bored at work so i'm blogging thing again, and can i just say that im really ready for a long hiatus of my job? it's not any fault of my job, really, i am just really ready to take a break and go somewhere and play for a while. i bought a plane ticket to nyc in May, which is GREAT (2 weeks of debauchery and fun in the city, boston, marshfield MA, portland ME and freeport ME, possibly saratoga?) but it's also 15 1/2 weeks away (i just counted). at least i have smaller goals (i.e. weight watchers) in the meantime. but it's still a long ways away!
("ways away" is that even correct? where did that phrase come from?)

so i had the bright idea that downloading tv shows on my ipod and only watching them at the gym would be great motivation, right? well it's not working. what i have learned is that i need driving techno music at the gym to match my steps to-- when i try to watch tv i slow down so i can watch more carefully (plus the ipod screen is tiiiiiinnnnyyyy). so that great idea doesnt really work-- but watching the shows when i have 30 min left of work and im BORED and antsy could work :) sneaky. oh and my fav and almost only music i can listen to at the gym? daft punk's discovery. i prob. would just cancel my gym membership w/o it-- on friday it actually induced me to RUN. i cant remember the last time i ran w/o being chased...come to think of it, i can't remember the last time i was chased...

random gossip/celeb tidbit: ive never been any kind of fan of heidi montag but i just watched her video for her hideously bad song "higher" and omg. heidi, we are laughing AT you, not with you. jesus.

that's pretty much all i've got lately. until next time...

ps- mark down a NO from univ. of kansas. i'm trying to pretend like im not totally bummed but boo. :( i have 4 schools left to hear from but its hard not feeling like it may be a NO from all of them

Que sera, sera (what will be, will be)

2008-01-24T11:15:00.000-06:00

guten morgan mein leibchen, bonjour mes chous, hola mi tacos.

i am way out of it today due to taking a valium yesterday (it was a bad day but it got infinitely better once the valium came along) and forgetting that now that i am on weight watchers, my body's kind of in starvation mode so it will affect me longer! the odd thing is i took it at 4 30, chilled out, made a DELISh dinner with my mom, and then all of a sudden after dinner i started to get way more out of it and spacey. i promise these are not the time-release kind (do they even make those?) so i was barely able to stay up for PR and passed out. and i am still feeling the effects today!

by the way, so many people have trouble using the correct "affect" and "effect." pertaining to a subject it's "affect" as in, "this affects me so much," and pertaining to an object it is "effect" as in "the effect on the environment is unknown"

someone who knows grammar better (i.e. labes) can explain it better. this concludes your grammar lesson of the day!

so i was reading up on some presidential candidates and all i have to say is: obama, i think you're mean and don't have enough experience; hillary, i want to vote for you but now i just dont know; romney you are such a robot and we should not have a mormon president; mccain, i not-so-secretly like you and i think you're our BEST hope for a republication; guliani is a THUG; huckabee is a religious zealot who will probably grow a long beard and pretend he's the second coming of jesus.

that concludes our presidential opinion part of the blog.

i'm on weight watchers now, for those of you who don't know. it's very hard, i'm often hungry, but i'm making it work. why not? it's a lot cheaper, i really don't need huge portion sizes, and i can afford to lose some of the lbs that have snuck on since college. i have a FANTASTIC support group (mikey, bets, kenne) who are all doing it with me and thank you to everyone else who offers words of encouragement along the way.

work update: work is a little crazy, as my coworkers are all being loud right now (and in my out of it state, im SO distracted) and yesterday my boss quit. what does this mean for the company? total chaos. let's hope it doesn't upset my position too much.

i am really REALLY antsy to move and hear from grad schools. kansas sent me an email telling me they'd shoot me a letter in about a week! AWESOME. i researched some tuition costs and got a ballpark figure of what each school would cost (including: tuition, rent, bills, food expenses, gas, etc.-- i am not going to be rolling in student loan $, but i refuse to be a starving grad student). oddly enough, William and Mary, Purdue, and UmassBoston are all about the same (tuition is around 11k per semester and living costs would be about the same) and UT and Kansas are the same (tuition is about 3k, living costs will be the same). Kansas is CHEAP for out of state! i am very impressed. they pride themselves on that, and with good reason! it's also in a very pretty city (lawrence, KS) and the campus is very lovely as well. let's hope i have a lot of options for grad school (and lots of scholarships, or a full ride, or fellowships, etc etc). yay!

so womb buddy is moving to portland next week. it's pretty! and pretty cold. here is a lovely picture:

Good luck wb!

2008-01-23T12:34:00.000-06:00

this was actually kinda hard:
Here's how you play: Once you've been 'tagged', you have to write a blog of 10 weird/random habits/goals/facts about yourself. At the end choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names and WHY you chose them. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them to read your blog. You can't tag the person who tagged you, since you can't tag me back - let me know when you've posted your blog so I can see your answers.

1. I hate HATE the smell of the candle wick when you blow it out. You know how it smokes a little? It makes me gag, so I always blow on it until the ember is out or put a lid on it. That’s a weird fact—I just HATE that smell. I bet I look pretty awesome blowing on that thing till it stops smoking though :)

2. I love school. I don’t think that’s weird, only I used to talk about the class we had that day in the bar and projects—and don’t even get me STARTED on my thesis topic. You will be bombarded with info! That’s why I’m so excited to go to grad school—I start finding out from schools in a couple weeks! YAY!

3. I am not a morning person. I feel like everyone probably knows that already. I prefer to wake up naturally, around 9 or 10 am. I used to sleep in a lot later but I feel like I waste the day if I do (unless I’m up past 2 am, and then I will sleep in as late as I can to recoup sleep). I don’t drink coffee often, so in the morning just wait till I’m awake if you expect some coherent conversation. That said, I hate naps. I always wake up feeling so groggy and like the apocalypse has happened and everyone is gone but me. Weird feeling…

4. I hate cell phone companies. They really screw everyone in America into paying exorbitant amounts for services that we don’t need or don’t work. You know that in almost every contract, it states that if you have no service where you live, you still can’t get out of the cell contract? So when I had cingular (now at&t I think?) and moved to Austin where there was no cingular tower, they said I’d have to pay $150 to get out of my contract. Luckily, a nice lady at customer service took pity on me and let me out of my contract for free. YAY! And now I have sprint.

5. I am a VERy picky movie person. There are some things I just don’t want in my brain, you know? No horror, no suspense, no thrillers, I hate murder mysteries of any kind (this goes for books too), no intense period pieces that are jane austen-esque (Atonement, I’m talking to you), no stupid slapstick, etc. etc. I don’t think its too much of a problem, as movies are quite expensive these days. I just don’t want to pay $10 for something that I would want to erase from my brain (walk hard: the dewey cox story, I’m talking to you)

6. I used to hate tv. In high school, I said often that “tv is the devil” and never watched it. When I was younger, we occasionally had cable so I would watch things like Hey Dude, Salute your Shorts and Get Smart (one of my fav shows at the time) but I guess I thought it was cool to hate tv in high school. I never watched Melrose place, 90210 or anything like that (I’m not into soaps, really. Why are they called soaps, btw?) in college I was also apathetic, but living with Katie showed me the light. She insisted on having tv b/c of football, and we had many good times watching What not to Wear, Most Extreme, and Family Guy (plus a lot more that I was prob. Too stoned to remember). Now, tv is my best friend. :) travel channel, food network, bravo, logo, etc. I love you all. If I get into grad school I am going to have to get a dvr to record my shows. Is that expensive?

7. I hate loading the dishwasher. Its so gross! I do it a lot anyway, but I think touching food-nasty plates and things is GROSS. I also hate dirty old sponges—do you know how many bacteria, etc. is in your kitchen sponge! Change that at least once a month.

8. I love writing things in my planner. Most of you know that I am anally organized, but it’s the only way I’ll remember anything. I also hate surprises. There is so much pressure to react a certain way! I mean, a wedding proposal is generally a good surprise, but make sure the person will most likely say yes! And don’t surprise visit me or whatever. I love you, but I need to plan our visit or else I will FREAK out. I am crazy anal, I know.

9. I hate juice. Unless there’s vodka involved. But I don’t like it in most any other context.

10. I like how most of these started either with “I love” or “I hate.” To change it up, I would say: I get very scared very easily. I think people are standing in my hallway in the middle of the night ready to kill me, I get scared walking to my car at night anywhere, I get scared being alone, im afraid of a lot of things (spiders, death, not getting into grad school). In short, I am a scaredy cat.

tagging people-- labes, ellen, wb, fleabag, trapes, lauren, kristen, angel, and anyone else who would possibly do this amazingness.

Cats are Essential for Human's Well-Being

2008-01-18T12:54:00.000-06:00

look at this great quote i came across today: "Cats are more than just pets," said Naoki Yanase, a professor of English literature at Seijo University. "They radiate serenity and are essential for the well-being of humans."

yep! that also reminds me, thessaly is more likely a Japanese Bobtail cat than a Manx, because manx tails don't have a curve or kink in them and Thess's tail has a 90 degree right angle in it! (so cute). so, world, i now own a Ragdoll/Siamese and a Japanese Bobtail/possible Domestic Shorthair.
i am sure you are riveted by this new breakthrough.

anyway. in other news, i bought some things from itunes for the first time the other day, and .99 doesn't seem like a lot at first for a song but it adds up! jeez. i bought a few tori b-sides that have eluded me thus far so it was worth it, but still. i'm also trying to download music and such but haven't found anything that i really like! people! send me your suggestions!

so it's friday and i have some fun things going on today and not a lot else going on for the weekend. and i found out that most of my rec's were sent to grad school and Purdue sent me an email, "we'll let you know mid-February" which is SO exciting and i just want to move and go to school and paint my new apt and have fun with it! life! let's get on with it!

that is all. happy weekend people.
(next post: i'll talk about tv. new what not to wear today, and i am rather enjoying this Make me a Supermodel on bravo. lets discuss)

and here is a video of ellen and me in Galveston:

it's a new year and i'm glad to be here*

2008-01-15T13:46:00.000-06:00

bonjour mes chous, comment ca-va? i dont even know if that's totally right...

so i'm bored again. not a whole ton of a lot has been going on: i had a WONDERFUL starbucks date with cheryl last night (and hope to see her a lot more in 2000 and GREAT), i had fun getting a little tipsy (who am i kidding, i was flat out drunk) on saturday night with nessa and jesse, carrie, angel, and it was fun drunkenly running into Jessica, Liesl and Tanya at poison girl.

other than that, the only thing that has happened is ellen came into town, which was GREAT and FUN and i think i'm esp. bored now that she's gone b/c we had good times while she was here. went to museums, nasa (which is totally like a dirty McD's playground), galveston (that was fun), hung out with nessa and her bf jesse a LOT (yay!), lauren came into town, and we ate a lot of good food (ruggles, barnaby's, empire cafe, to name a few). it was good and fun and it was nice to show a die hard yankee that texas is fun. YAY! but now she's gone and i'm bored again. want to come back ellen? ;)

other than that, i am REALLY excited to say: ALL MY GRAD SCHOOL STUFF IS DONE! TURNED IN! fini! only now comes the fun part: waiting and having really no idea what schools i'll get into, if any. i'm not trying to be fatalistic, only realistic, as most of these programs only take 7-15 people max. every year and there are SO many factors going into who is chosen. i did my best this year and we'll have to see if that was good enough. For now, a review of the schools i applied to: univ of kansas, purdue univ. in indiana, umass boston, univ of texas (2 programs-- amer studies and womens studies), and william and mary (that's my longshot-- they are SNOBBY and expensive). #1 is UT for many reasons, but kansas and purdue are right up there at #2. umass boston is my back up (even though its a great program) mainly b/c it (along with w&m) will be the most $$ program if i go there. w&m will be $$, but i think it's cheaper to live in williamsburg, virginia than it is in boston, and w&m is a lot more prestigious than umassB. we'll see. i honestly don't know-- and i won't until march or april. so cross your fingers for me, i'll cross the eyes, and i'll keep everyone posted. there may be some visits to schools in march/april/may, there may not. there may be some celebrations to be had, there may be news that i'm contemplating suicide. we'll see. :D plan B is to move to Austin, so either way, I'm out of here.

in the meantime, i am spending time fantasising what my new apt (wherever i do move) is going to look like, what furniture i'll take with me, what new furniture i'll need, etc. the key word here is fantasy, as i have no idea what kind of $$ i'll have to get new furniture, or depending on how far i'm moving i may have to take less things (and it's not like i have a lot of furniture that really is mine, other than my bed, desk, desk chair, and...well that's it). luckily, as the only daughter who has not taken furniture off to some exotic (or not, hello college station) locales, i figure it's my turn and i get whatever's left. since we have a surplus of furniture, it looks like i could possibly take a lot of things. YAY! i also am enjoying spending time on the behr.com website to look at paint (i want things in a deep merlot-y violet purple, with light ballet pink, white, and lime green as accent colors). to match this theme my furniture has to be either black or white (im leaning towards black) and most of the furniture we have is wood so there may be some spray paintin' up in here. it's all hypothetical but enjoyable and i'm looking forward to making a major life decision and really, sort of, starting my twenty-something life. (not looking as forward to the papers i will have to write, or the # of pages i'll have to read, or the tons of loans i'll have to take out, but it's going to be worth it).

anyway, that's that. what's new with you?

ps- the cats are doing great. they are spoiled little babies and i'm sure are not as excited about my moving as i am since they'll have to leave a huge house and fun grandparents to play with.

*quote is from a Yeasayer song that i am listening to right now

TWO THOUSAND AND GREAT

2008-01-02T14:20:00.000-06:00

hello muffins, and happy 2008! hope you all rang in the new year with sufficient revelry and all that-- i did, even though i had planned to stay home with my cats. my older sister and her bf surprised my parents by showing up on monday (i knew they were coming and thank god they told me-- i HATE surprises, btw) and we went out to a nice bar on washington (chaise lounge next to walter's across from maryjanes) and it was empty except for us and a few of khrys's awesome friends (don't worry, i found the one gay in the group and we talked about mikey, life plans, and cats the whole time).
all of khrys's awesome friends that were there worked at vet offices, so i had a great audience for my usual barrage of Thessaly and Stella-related information. They loved the cat tree, btw.

in the meantime, ELLEN is coming today! JOY! we have a fun filled 5 days planned that include: museums (esp. the HMFA jewelry exhibit), Space Center Houston, Galveston, ellen getting her haircut by my favorite person at www.salonmatos.com, ellen possibly getting her nose pierced, and other such merriment. if you would like to see us and youre in the area, give me a call. i'm sure we'd love to see you.
in the meantime, its last minute errand running time! i hope ellen's connecting flight in chicago isnt delayed because of all the snow, etc....

Holidays, ELLEN!, austin, stuff

2007-12-26T11:26:00.000-06:00

what i didn't mention in my last post is that after i hid my make up brushes in a drawer, Stella went all the way downstairs into my parents bathroom and got one of my mom's make up brushes from the mug on the countertop and brought it ALL the way back upstairs to drop on top of the covers.

seriously.

so now all the make up brushes are under lock and key in my house. in other news, i had a fantastic wkend in austin (one of my favorite cities ever) and am very excited that my friend Lauren (whom i visited) 1) no longer has to work as a jewelery making slave at her job and 2) is coming to visit next week! speaking of visiting,

ELLEN IS HERE IN A WEEK! YAYAYAYAYAY! i am quite excited about that (and can't wait for one of my most cat-loving friends to meet my girls)! yay! much merriment will ensue and i would love for any and everyone to meet my fantastic friend, so lets all get together, yes?

also, i hope everyone had a great christmas/holiday and has exciting plans for new year's eve. personally i hate driving long distances on NYE and i don't know what anyone is doing so i'm pretty much hanging out at home. which is fine-- i'm excited for 2007 to be over and 2008 to start so ellen can get here! YAY

and now for the picture portion of my blog: (these are on myspace as well)

thessaly pops stella on their new cat tree

stell and thess sleeping all squished on the top.

and finally, the girls as they mostly sit on there-- thess hanging out and trying to get stella's tail and stell in the tube watching birds outside.

aren't they great? :)

My college degree = nothing compared to a cat

2007-12-20T22:11:00.001-06:00

a few things before i go to bed:

last night around 6 am (stella's favorite time to wake me up and demand to be pet) i woke up with a small fuzzy thing on my leg on top of the covers. i turned on the light to realize it is my expensive bare minerals kabuki make up brush (i believe it was somewhere in the vicinity of $30 and it's only 2 inches tall). i had sleepily noticed stella on my desk (where i keep said brush) and thought, "great, another thing i have to hide from the girls."

just now, as i was reading my favorite blog ever (neil gaiman's, of course), stella demanded my attention (a loud, "MEROWR" over and over again, which means in stella/siamese speak: i am bored! help! do something! get away from that computer!) and jumped up on my desk as i sat here (also waiting for my freshly painted nails to dry, btw). now this will be hard to explain, but i will try:
my desk has a triangular shelf on the left corner, which i keep a lamp on top of and some random stuff in the small cranny beneath. i keep my make up stuff in a shoe box top and pull it out in the morning when i'm putting it on (that way it stays organized, easy to reach, and out of sight when i dont need it). stell started to stick her head in there (its not big enough for much of her) so i put my make up brush under a tiny bowl (it fit perfectly). Stell proceeded to go to town on the shoe box top, pulling it out from under the triangle shelf and pawing at the cup to get at the brush. it took her .5 seconds to flip that over and get my brush (which she proceeded to lick and chew, and i promptly removed it from her jaws and it's air drying after being thouroughly washed).

my point is that my girls are super smart. thess has learned to jump up on the kitchen island counter (right in front of the stove, which freaks me out) to push open the heavy but easily opened drawers so she can jump within. wtf? what do you do when your cats out smart you? i'd get some baby gates and other baby proofing materials if i didnt think they'd laugh, stick out a claw, and dismantle any precaution with a Bond-esque skill. They're not even 1 year old yet!
seriously, what am i going to do with children? i think i need to stick with cats...

ps- now the make up brushes are hidden in a bathroom drawer, which they haven't figured out how to open....yet....

just some pictures

2007-12-18T13:15:00.000-06:00

This is me trying to take a pic with Thess this past Friday for a Christmas card! she didnt want to be held
Then Thanksgiving with the Fam and Bax

And these next 2 are a "see if you can find the kittens" pictures...
(then there's my thessie bear and Stella)

hi stella bear! she's on our christmas table :)

time FLIES in december

2007-12-18T12:57:00.000-06:00

hello world! how's it going? i'm sitting here sneezing up a storm for no reason and alternately trying not to tear up like an idiot as i listen to tori's pheonix and san diego shows. her tour ended this week and it KILLS me not every show was available for bootleg downloads! i still got what, 10? and i plan to grab a few more (even though they're $11 a show...)

anyway.

things have been going well and december is flying by in a flurry of christmas activities like always. this past weekend i attended a wonderful xmas dinner at angel's house and ate my weight in eggplant parmesan and mashed potatoes! YUM! and our office christmas party went well also.

so yesterday i was looking online for a new cat condo/cat tree thing, as my girls have destroyed the really cheap and crappy one i got them and clearly need something else (if you don't provide them a place to jump, scratch, sleep, and hang out, they will find ways to do that with the furniture you already own). i came across http://www.stepsforpets.com/ that has the most AMAZING cat trees i have EVER SEEN (good dog stuff too!) and the prices are out of control. a cat tree of such caliber and size would easily cost $300-500 somewhere else but they're selling them for $100 or so and FREE SHIPPING! clearly i am over the moon about this, and even better-- my family is getting me THIS ONE for christmas! YAYAYAY! they are going to freaking DIE! how fun does that look?! i totally want to hang out in that little hammock.

Clearly all i want for christmas is stuff for my girls. can you believe i've only had them 3 months? they really are my favorite things in the world and make me really happy (i obviously shouldve got them many years ago in college if that's what it would have taken for me to be happy! :)

other than that, i have a full week planned, and i'm going to detail it for you (lucky!) ;)

TODAY: i am leaving work in 1 hour (thank god, cause it's only tuesday and it's draaaaaagging) to pick up my twin's xmas present, drop off some toffee at my vet's office as an xmas present, run by the bank, mail my sister's present (if i can get a cd made in time to accompany it), and get to the theater with my mom to see THE GOLDEN COMPASS! ive been really looking forward to this since i read the books, and even though i hear it's disjointed and whatnot, i dont care because i've actually read the books. for those of you who haven't, you are missing out like CRAZY. get on that, NOW.

then we get home and i have to redye my hair (constant and annoying, but you cant look this good without effort! ;), roll my sugar cookie dough i made on sunday into 3 doz sugar cookies (and decorate them) and general merriment with my mom, cats and Bax in the kitchen.

WEDNESDAY: work, get home, mail my sister's present if i didn't already, track my mom and dad's xmas presents and see if they're getting here in time, find out where the hell the books i ordered on amazon on DEC 3RD are, hopefully get my cat tree and set it up for the girls, go to target and get cat food and spend way too much cause it's target and that always happens to everyone i know, do laundry, watch PR and annoyingly text bets and mikey and oH YEAH hang out with jessica

THURS: work, finish laundry, pack for austin, hang out with ADRIENNE who gets into town, finish all errands, etc.

FRI: leave for austin with jessica jacobi at 10 am, hang out with LAINEY for lunch, then party with lauren and joe and jessica and go to Alamo Drafthouse for movies.

SUNDAY: pick up Kara in san marcos, leave for houston around noon, come home, see emilie? rest, recover.

MODAY-TUES. enjoy CHRISTMAS! YAY! merry christmas everyone!

xo.

ps- to all my friends who i havent seen this month (i.e. cheryl) lets hang out in january because my friend ELLEN is coming! (her blog: http://dancingmathgradstudent.blogspot.com/ )

Merry Christmas and Holidays and new Year and Hannukah

2007-12-12T11:42:00.000-06:00

the girls are fine and quickly recovering from surgery. i'm still sad to see their little tummies shaved (and the huge tattoo on their bellies that says they've been spayed) but i'm SO glad that's over! now, if i'm lucky, i won't have to take them to the vet or anything for at least another year! YAY!
speaking of, Thessaly turned 6 months earlier this week and Stell is 9 months now. Their bdays are guess work, so I'm putting Thess's at July 3rd and Stell's at April 3rd.

so last night, as i was watching the victoria's secret fashion show (just so i could see the spice girls, which wasn't as exciting as i had hoped) Seal and Heidi klum did a duet! it was so cute so i had to download it, it's called "wedding day" and it's adorable. i love you heidi! that reminds me, there's a new project runway tonight! if i'm good and get all my grad school things taken care of, i plan to watch the Americas next top model finale, the first episode of Crowned (a ridic new reality show that i'm sure i'll hate) and the latest PR before turning in. my life sure is exciting these days, hmm? :)

speaking of excitement, i can't wait for angel's christmas party this sunday! i love xmas parties. i haven't been out and about in a long time and i'm excited to see everyone. also, i'm visiting austin in 2 wkends and that shall be glorious. i'm bringing all the necessary tools to make my old Peach Pomegranate martinis! all you need is pomegranate vodka, peach schnapps, oj, and some cranberry juice. they are delicious and LETHAL and i cant wait! it's been too long since i've had a good old fashioned drunk night.

our company christmas party is this friday and it should be...fun? the food will be fantastic, and any and all of you readers are welcome to come. oh btw, it's at my house. so it's not like i can leave early...ah well.

check out this Time 2007 introspective best of lists-- it's been a nice work distraction http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article

xo! merry holidays everyone!

I AM A NERVOUS MOTHER

2007-12-07T13:20:00.001-06:00

i haven't posted in a while because i haven't done anything lately nor do i have much to say (who are we kidding right?) but i'm BORED and that's why i started this blog in the first place: to give me something to do when i'm bored!
so the girls are getting spayed today at the Houston Humane Society and the every amazing CHERYL has answered my millions of questions and been supportive of my crazy nervous mother-ness. thank you cher! i only wish the HHS wasn't in EAST CUPCAKE good lord it's far away! houston can you be a little smaller? geez.
so i woke up at 6 25 and threw on some clothes, didnt even bother to brush my teeth and ran out the door. the kittens were not pleased at being shoved in their carrier so they were meowing a bit and i was feeling crazy guilty (they are also, i'm sure, starving and thirsty, since no water or food was allowed past 11 pm last night in accordance with surgery). i left that early for an 8 pm appt. because i figured beltway traffic, esp. on a fri, would be insane. not so! i drove quickly and got there at 7 15. the girls slept in their carrier while i read a book until 8. i brought them in, asked if they could be left together and was denied that request (GRRRRR DO AS I SAY THEYRE MY BABIES) and was told to come back at 4.
i then drove and drove and drove and finally made it to work around 8 50ish. i'm gross, i still havent brushed my teeth (i absolutely hate being at work w/o showering first, oh well) and im EXHAUSTED b/c the girls were up and about from 4 am on and i couldn't sleep.

(dear coworkers: please turn off that tacky singing christmas tree thing so i can hear my ipod. thank you)

so im prob. going to leave here at 2 30 to get there by 4, and then the drive home at 4 pm fri traffic will be BEASTLY. so please call me, cause i'll be in the car with two sick, sleepy kitties.

other than that, not much to report. i've watched a lot of tv and slowly recovered from my sickness. come to think of it, i don't believe i've seen a single person other than parents and coworkers in 2 weeks! no wonder i'm antsy for a starbucks date...

so out of it i cant even think of a title

2007-11-29T10:22:00.000-06:00

Hello world, it’s been a few days. I’ve been dying of viral plague for a while (really just a sinus infection and bronchitis) and thanks to my amazing Doctor and his giving me the most insane antibiotic out there (Cipro; apparently they give this to people with anthrax) and my Hydrocodeine syrup (YAY) I am feeling a LOT better. Well I feel fuzzy and weird like I took a painkiller and since I’m at work right now that’s not totally awesome (I can’t focus on one task to save my life right now). In fact, it’s really kind of hard to focus/see the computer screen. Hmm…

Anyway. The past 2 days I’ve been at home watching bad daytime tv (Bravo will you quit with the marathons of Real Housewives of Orange County?! NO one likes that show!) and my kittens have been taking naps with me (aww). I also caught a little bit of last night’s America’s Next Top Model (stopped watching that show 7 seasons ago when it got reaaaaally fucking ghetto) and it was the go-see episode, and at least 3 out of 5 girls were late getting back! Now girls—if you’re going to be on ANTM, you’ve surely seen at least one show before, right??? And surely, you know that anyone late back from the go-sees gets totally disqualified and yelled at during panel, right?! Jesus girls, it’s what, season 908234097? Learn from previous seasons! That’s why I can’t watch that show anymore—everyone on it are such fucking morons. Ugh.

Btw, I would like to point out that on Sunday, I asked tori for 2 songs: Butterfly and Pretty Good Year. And she played them on Monday night in San Antonio, when I couldn’t be there!! ARRRGGGGGGGGG! And that show is not one of the ones released as a bootleg. So sad….so sad….but thank god for ROBERT who youtube’d videos of those songs and more! YAY! Thank you thank you thank you!

i had some other stuff to say but i am really out of it. thanks, hydrocondone syrup. to be continued....

TORI TORI TORI TORI TORI

2007-11-26T13:19:00.000-06:00

here is what i submitted to a tori fansite undented.com about my experience last night:

Yesterday was one of the best days of my LIFE. I have loved tori since 1995, seen her only 3 times and to finally meet her…it’s weird to meet someone you know so much about and who means so much to you but is a stranger...let’s start at the beginning.

Greg, Juan and I got to the venue in the freezing cold (odd, for Houston) around 1 pm and only had to wait about 2 ½ hours for tori to come out. The Meet and Greet was small and everyone was delightful (we made some new friends). I really could NOT believe tori was right in front of me! People have said this before, but it certainly bears repeating: she was so gracious and kind to everyone there, taking her time with everyone and talking to each of us like we were the only people in the world. She looked gorgeous. I gave her a book for Tash, her daughter (I gave her Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle) and she was so kind. I also asked for Butterfly and Pretty Good Year and she wrote them on her hand but it didn’t seem like Butterfly was coming. Another fan, Liz, asked for Cooling and she wrote it down also. Amazing! My life is complete!

She then left and we went off to await the show. Her opening act, Yoav came out around 8 and was really great—I was impressed with the way he looped drumming and such on his guitar to create some great songs. He cited The Cure and a few other bands as influences and thanked Tori for bringing him on tour with her.
Tori then came out as Clyde, one of her dolls and it was great. Here’s a song breakdown:
Bouncing Off Clouds—great, high energy, sounded good
Little Earthquakes- well done, passionate and intense
Juarez- she seemed to have fun with this one, made a lot of shooting gun motions with her hands
Mary- Tour Debut! She played this one with the same intensity as the last 4 songs—it sounded very similar to the studio version; she didn’t change it up much
Little Amsterdam- amazing!
Beauty of speed- my fav. Track on the album. She forgot the 2nd verse and instead of singing, “even still I was built to tolerate your temp-erature” went straight into “I tried to strike a deal with the universe, smacked upside of the head.” The lights on “see the colors changing” were fantastic
Professional Widow- the band was jamming! Go Matt! He was on fire tonight, as was Jon
Tori came out in her stars and stripes jumpsuit (I KNEW there had to be some political something somewhere) and danced for a while before Big Wheel. She was radiant!
Big Wheel- standard version, full of energy. Dan seemed to leave right about now and didn’t return until after t&bo
Space dog- I love the intro to this. I recognized it b/c of previous legs and boots and it was electrifying.
Pancake- well done, relatively standard
She then said her “very good friend” from high school was in the audience tonight, and that “means a lot.” I wonder who it was? Does Beenie live in Houston? We can only hope…
Introduced the band, and a very jammy Cornflake Girl.
Doughnut Song- long intro to this, I had no idea what it was but I wasn’t surprised b/c of the “come in Houston” line (we all cheered). Very powerful choruses and bridges with the band
Glory of the 80s- standard, not very exciting but still well done
I’ll be Burning—GORGEOUS improve, very passionate. Something like “I’ve been breaking since Lawrence, Caroline, like a phoenix rises from the ashes, I’ll be burning till then, till Pheonix” very interesting. Hope everything’s okay with her. Breaking?
Cloud on my Tongue- now that I have more of an idea of her tattoo, borneo, and the genesis of this song, it was even more powerful. She sang “the girl’s in circle’s and circles” over and over in the low register.
Peeping Tommi- thank you Robert. This was gorgeous
Virgina- powerful, she was in full voice
Black dove (January)- also figured this one, b/c of the “but I have to get to Texas” line, and she sang that so loudly. She and the band have a very tight take on this song. They played these staccato notes in the beginning all together and you could tell Tori loved it.
Code red- Good lord this just gets better and better. The instruments totally drowned out Tori and her piano though.
Yay everyone rushed the stage!
Precious things- she did the grrrrrrl hands up her legs but didn’t growl so much on the vocals. So great from right in front of the stage!
Not David Bowie—good lord this was AMAZING! Matt, Jon, Dan and Tori were grooving so hard it was great to watch. YAY! (this was listed as Spark on the set list)
Hey Jupiter- lovely, and she sang the Dakota Version lines all the way through. A great ending to the show.
And I was lucky enough to get Dan’s setlist!

This show was even better than the Dew Drop Inn Tour in College Station in 97, and that’s been my number one concert thus far. The audience was respectful, no loud singing, talking, or getting up from their seats—everyone was quite reserved and you could hear a pin drop most of the time. It was incredible and I wish SO MUCH I could see another show!

I also wished i dressed up more-- I honestly didn't really believe I would meet her until she walked out. It was so great! my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. I have honestly met one of my favorite people in the entire universe! YAY! ps this picture is me 1 hour ago, freezing in my cubicle with my new ($12) hoodie from the gap and the SET LIST.

it's 9021-Over, Jennie Garth!

2007-11-21T10:10:00.000-06:00

I can’t take credit for that amazing headline—it’s courtesy of people.com or something. But I’m so glad jennie garth went home! I was so over her like 3 weeks ago. And Marie certainly can’t dance but she cracks me up for some reason. Btw, if Mel B doesn’t win this I will KILL SOMEONE! GIRL POWER! I love the spice girls. I mean LOVE! So I’m voting for Mel—go to abc.com and vote for her next Monday night too! Come on people!!

So yesterday I spent time with haley and it was so great! She came over and met the kitties (and loved them, like everyone) and we hightailed it to Barnaby’s, my fav. Restaurant ever. YAY! After stuffing ourselves (thanks for dinner fleabag!) we meandered around Highland Village to see everything all lit up and ran into Anthropologie. Being around that area with Hay reminded me of us living together last year and we both got a little nostalgic. Haley said it was crazy weird to be back in Houston as LA is where she’s happiest now and I remember that feeling from my college days. Thank god I live here now. Also, I got an amazing balsam fir tree candle from Anthro (the same one I had last year in hay’s and my apt) and it smells so much like Christmas! So excited for the holidays!
After that we went to Volcano’s and ran into haley’s old crowd, which was fun. Kelley came up too and we all sat around and chatted. Now I was beyond psyched to see haley, of course, but I was a little bummed I was missing the semifinals eliminations for Dancing when lo and behold, I noticed it was just us on the patio and THERE WAS A TV. So of course I switched it to abc and watched the elimination round (with no sound, but it was oddly better that way). I’m glad I missed hearing Avril Lavwhatever (isn’t she too punk rock for this show? Wtf?) but I really wanted to hear Michael Flatley, lord of the dance! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Riverdance! Too bad their costumes were so weird and they looked like dancing airline pilots. Ah well. Clearly I will stop at nothing to see my fav. Show. Finale is next week so there’s only 2 eps left! Thank god for Proj Runway.

Alright enough tv geekiness. After that, I left and made it home to wait for my older sis and her bf Tim to come into town. Mom and I passed the time by watching one of my all time favorite movies EVEr, Victor Victoria. I told mom no wonder I love the gays—this is like my fav movie and im sure I saw it cause she rented it for us eons ago. Yay Julie Andrews and Robert preston! I love it so.
Then khrys and tim got here and I introduced them to my kitties and asked them about a million times, “aren’t they CUTE?!” in fact, I just asked khrys that via gchat RIGHT NOW. Thank god they’re not getting sick of it yet. Cause my babies are just THAT CUTE.

Anyway. Onto another work day! It’s dragging cause I just want to be home with my family. Ah well. Happy almost thanksgiving!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY LOU!

2007-11-19T15:22:00.001-06:00

i had to have this as a seperate post, as it's a very special day for my CINDY KRENEK! who joins the ranks of the quarter lifers.

HOORAY! to one of my favorite people!

my weekend in pictures

2007-11-19T14:50:00.000-06:00

i'm already exhausted and we didn't even do that much this wkend. okay, we drove from houston to austin and back in one day, then to college station, the ren fair and back the next. it's a lot more than my usual lay around weekends, and i'm barely hanging in there. and there is more merriment to be had! the week has just begun! i cant wait for dancing with the stars semi finals tonight!

since i have nothing fun to do today but clean, go to the store, clean, laundry, etc., i will recap this wkend in some pictures.

ENJOY!

First off, it's WB and me in Veggie Heaven in Austin with Lauren and Joe on Sat. around 3 pm.

yay! we are so colorful. well ok im the colorful one. wb was like, "aren't you sick of the pink yet?" and im like NO! BLASPHEMY! etc.etc. (to be honest i am kinda, but then i look at pictures like this and am like i am so BRIGHT! i feel like a crayon-- in a good sense)

next is lauren wearing her bday present from WB (an expertly crafted knit cap) and Joe, our fav. boyfriend.

On to the east austin studio tour~! we only went to a few studios but it was AWESOME and we very nerdily and awesomely ran into a studio with a TESLA COIL thing! what is that, you ask? i didnt know until after i saw it and wikipedia'ed it. (look it up, very cool). the dude was playing the beat from "sexy back" and the legends of zelda theme. NERDTASTIC! we loved it! (esp. joe)
this is an aerial shot from the balcony above the tesla coil. joe is the green blob on the left.

Sunday we drove to College Station. It's one of my fav drives-- look how gorgeous and flat texas is!! i LOVE it.

Then WB and i met up with dad at the Texas World Speedway. I declined to hop in the car, but WB was into it, so she and dad suited up and drove around the track going 130 mph for about 15 minutes.

this is a picture from the car that WB took. you can see how the track curves, etc. she got a lot of dashboard pictures (the centrifugal force made it hard to take decent pictures)

and finally, on our way to the ren fair (via navasota and plantersville) we saw this amazing car with not only goats in the back but chickens above them!

well you can't see the chickens, but they're in that wooden box.

why no pictures of the ren fair? probably because we were too busy buying stuff. well WB was too busy buying essential oils (dirty hippy scents like patchouli, sandalwood, and Egyptian musk), rings, and other various sundry items. i bought some amazing rhinestone elephant head studs (my mom saw them and said, "i cant believe you bought the fucking republican party's symbol" but when she saw them on said, "i actually love them") and a small jar of lavender oil (very good quality) that i may make candles or soap out of or something. who am i calling a dirty hippy? ;)

more pictures to come! tomorrow it's a day with haley, then my sister and her bf get in town, wed. is more family fun (at PF Chang's; they have a gluten free menu complete with a gluten free beer for WB) and of course, THANKSGIVING! and most importantly, TORI ON SUNDAY!

YAY

to say that i'm looking forward to it would be the grossest of understatements.

Yay Holidays

2007-11-15T15:03:00.000-06:00

so i have a very busy couple weeks coming up, and i'm excited. i do exciting things (or really anything at all) in spurts with long rests in between (really the best way to go people) and it's coming up on a busy time.
let's go through the entire thing, shall we?
today i am dogsitting, i have to do a lot of cleaning. family's coming in town soon (YAY) and the cats are finally (mostly) better so i have bedding to wash, vacuuming to do, etc. i have cds to make and then Greg is taking me out to olive garden for a belated bday. why olive garden? no, it's not the unending breadsticks and salad (although that's a perk) but the amazing people watching. and i love free dinners (REMEMBER THAT PEOPLE)

anyway. tomorrow it's more dogsitting and work until i pick up the twin at 6!! YAY! womb buddy! i'm excited. we're going to mai's with a bunch of her friends and possibly poison girl for the drink they make just for her (and me), a Capri Sun.
saturday we go to austin for the East Austin Studio Tour with my favorite tour guides, Lauren and Joe, and possibly run into Angel and Lindsey who will also be in the greatest city in texas. SO fun!
we get back in the evening b/c WB has a loft party and a show that i dont think im invited to. but i need to be with my kittens anyway (im a crazy nervous mom).
sunday we go to Trader's Village (or maybe she goes alone, i dont know if i'll like it) then to the Texas World Speedway to watch my dad race his car (he goes at least once a month), and then to the Texas Renaissance Festival (it will be my 2nd but not last time this year). then we come home and probably fall asleep.
monday i have to work and then it's DANCING WITH THE STARS SEMIFINALS! so exciting! i am rooting for Mel B like none other. Girl Power! win it for the rest of the spices!
tuesday it's results show for Dancing with the Stars and HALEY IS IN TOWN!! YAY! she is taking me out to dinner (FREE DINNERS FOREVER) somewhere awesome and then we're going to rehash old times (although we may skip the story of my alcohol poisoning) at Volcano's. i'm prob. going to cop out before midnight because i hate staying out late but it will still be very fun.
Wednesday i work again, then its second episode of Project Runway (Mikey and I have determined the drama is b/c one of the contestants is HIV+), and KHRYSTI AND TIM come in around 11! yay older sister and bf!
thursday is my favorite holiday-- it's full of amazing food, everyone's home but it's not like christmas where there's a ton of family time, and it's the beginning of the holiday season. at our house, we are having a vegan and gluten free thanksgiving (with the exception of the turkey and 2 pies). it sounds intense but it really isn't-- we use cornbread for the stuffing and use soymilk and special margarine (Fleishman's Light) for everything else.

I love hearing about what different families have for thanksgiving or what their holiday traditions are. We usually all make the dinner together (everyone gets a few dishes, although my mom makes the majority of them) and no one thinks i can cook so i get to make the homemade whipped cream (not vegan) and maybe mash a potato or two. we have the sweet potatoes with the (vegan) marshmallows on top, cornbread stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce (we like the can kind), maybe mashed potatoes, a salad, pumkin pie (all vegan and gluten free this year-- clearly WB is going to make that), pecan pie (2 of them) with my homemade cinnamon whipped cream...i think that's it. do we eat anything else guys? we also eat around 2 and then eat again later :) i love 2nd thanksgiving.

ok back to my week. so after thanksgiving (im also dogsitting too) it's friday and sadly WB leaves in the am to go back to california. Khrysti and Tim and i are going to the Ren Fair again (they dress up; i used to but dont have anything to wear anymore. get ready for pictures). it's the Celtic Christmas theme so it should be pretty and Christmasy. yay!
then Saturday i'm still petsitting, hanging out with khrys and tim, and sat. night Khrys is having a party for all her friends in the area (she went to Texas A&M the year before we moved to Houston from Dallas, but still has a lot of friends here).
and sunday is a very special day. Khrys and tim leave and i'm sad about that, but sunday....

IS THE TORI SHOW

yes my favorite human being for a very very long time will be here. greg and i have orchestra row C seats and I AM SO EXCITED. we decided to do it up right and camp out at the venue around noon.
i will CERTAINLY be blogging about that event. SO EXCITED!! YAY!
(will post pic of tori later when my computer isn't being insanely slow)

Where have all the boys gone?

2007-11-15T09:38:00.000-06:00

in response to Betsy's amazing first post (undoubtedly better than mine), i started thinking about dating and what standards i and my friends often have, and are we setting the bar too high?
I don't like to think about this overmuch since i live at home and don't get out often (and even when i do i never meet anyone). where do we meet people now? how do people find mates these days? online? at bars? church? seriously, where is everyone??

okay, i need to not let my somewhat frustration get in the way. but really, where are you all? i never want to meet a future relationship in a bar, but is that standard too high?

a friend of mine asked me what i was looking for in a boy recently, and i realized there are a lot of things i won't settle on: has to be into my music but not obnoxiously snobby about it, has to have ambition/passion, college education is pretty high up there but only because i value mine so much (and the experiences i had there) but a person can still be awesome without it,
must be intelligent and funny, since i am (no modesty here-- this is serious business). i like cute/pretty ones, taller than i am, somewhat fashionable, and absolutely must be fun and cool with my friends. and then there's the question of sexual attraction, of course.

does this person exist? if so, will they love me? are my standards too high? will i love them?

it's kind of easy to see why i'm choosing a life of cats and my parent's house right now. it's easier to hide and avoid it all, but i know it's not better. i feel like awesome relationships come when you least expect them and when you're not looking, so i'm not looking. and i'm very happy as a single person, by the way. i have one horrific relationship and subsequent craziness behind me and i know i've learned a lot about what a good relationship is because of that bad one. and i know that no matter what, i won't settle.

what about you?

My Kittens

2007-11-14T11:36:00.000-06:00

Some of you haven't seen my kittens, so let me introduce you:

Thessaly is a 4 month old brown tabby Manx/shorthair mix and is tiny tiny at 4 lbs. I got her from the Montgomery County Animal Shelter and she is very precocious. My parents affectionately call her Killer.

her tail is about 2 inches long and she wags it when she's about to pounce. Adorable!

Stella is a 6 month old 6 lb Ragdoll/Siamese mix. She came from the awesome people at the Texas Siamese Rescue in Austin and I adore her. She is very soft and a little skittish with everyone but me. She and Thess race around and attack each other and it's kind of adorable. She can jump a million feet in the air and do flips (yes really) when inspired by feathers on a stick. Stella also has a weakness for furry mice (not real ones) and feet under the covers.

Here is a ridiculous video of Stella

See how they love to play? How can you not love them?

good morning everyone

2007-11-14T09:17:00.000-06:00

so cheryl has mentioned that if i'm bored, i should start a blog. i resisted because 1) i will probably talk about nothing but my cats and 2) i have a lot of random things to say so each post will probably be miles long and somewhat nonsensical.
but you know what? it's my blog, and im sure you want to hear about my cats right? (well you'll hear about them anyway, whether i'm blogging or talking). so let the blog begin!

this morning i was driving to work. i dont usually speed too much but i am fond of the at least 9 over the speed limit rule. i turn left from champion's forest onto strack and i'm behind some SUV that is going 5 under. um no. so as i tail them, they SLAM on their brakes like 5 times. i mean almost stopping slam. now i realize tailing is annoying, but its fucking 9 am. are you REALLY going to try to purposely create an accident? wtf?! i may be an aggressive driver but i would never purposely cause someone to hit me. so as i passed them i said fuck you and felt MUCH better. yeeesh.

So most of you know what happened with my cat drama recently, but for those who don't, here's a quick recap:
i want a cat, i find a cute one online from a breeder in Dallas, i send her $$ ($450, yeah i know it's a RIDIC amount for a cat-he was cute). when i try to get the cat i hear he's sick, but she says he's better so i get him. turns out he's WAY sick, she never should have sold him to me, etc. i have a health contract so i say you owe me a refund, she says no i don't have it and your vet is lying. so my dad and i return the cat to her coworker and crazy lady STILL refuses to give us the $. I'm one step away from filing a claim in small claims court when I got a letter yesterday.
No, not a refund: the bitch filed for bankruptcy. SERIOUSLY. so the letter says she has no assets and my claim on her is void unless in the future they determine she has assets and then i can maybe get $ out of her later. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! this one goes to experience, i guess. geez.

time for some HUMANITY IS GREAT stories!
so i paid a $60 nonrefundable deposit to the Houston Humane Society to get the girls spayed this past sunday. Then i realize that thess has some tummy issues and i take her into the vet. $70 later, they don't know what's wrong with her but give me 2 wks worth of medicine for her stomach (it's working, YAY). so i call the humane society and explain i have to postpone both my cats (i want them done together) when they're better. they said sure, but you're going to lose your deposit. im like crap. well okay. and berate myself for being so stupid with $. then 5 min later, they call back, and are like you know what? you can keep your deposit, you just call when they're better. isnt that wonderful?? YAY humane society! yay humanity~!

my other story is that after taking thess to the vet on saturday, i noticed stella seemed to have the same problem (you dont really want to know, trust me). so i had to take her back, and i am pissed because i should have taken her there with Thess in the first place (it costs $47 for the Dr. to just walk in the room!). i take them both there last night and it turns out Stell is fine but needs a shot and a pill, and they didn't charge me for the vet visit!! isnt that amazing! they just charged me for the pills. I LOVE YOU CHAMPION WOOD ANIMAL HOSPITAL! they have been taking care of me and i love it. you guys are so getting a christmas card and some of the Smyth English Toffee.
*this concludes the Humanity is Great part of the blog*

later in the day i'll have to post about Dancing With The Stars and how EXCITED I AM THAT TONIGHT IS PROJECT RUNWAY!!!! FINALLY!!! i love you tim gunn. although does anyone else think it seems like there's going to be a shitload of drama? i have to admit the drama is not my favorite (i.e. i almost killed jeffrey last season). and can anyone come back and be as awesome as Santino? we need more tim gunn impressions.