I fed the pets, took out the trash and I'm about to wake up properly so I can make the short drive
to one of the temp agencies I'm interested in working with again. The last I was scheduled to report
into work there was some big event in New York involving passenger planes crashing into the World Trade Center.
(I kid you not - it was indeed September 11, 2001.) I do hope this time around they take advantage of
me having my commercial driver's license (which I didn't have back then), as I keep looking for a genuine
reason to renew the thing instead of reverting to a regular driver's license.

I've been keeping the house in order again since Mom's down in south Texas -- I'm honestly used to doing
things on my own, and my ability to do things by myself makes me wonder (curiously) if I'll ever be able
to delegate responsibility to a trustworthy, honest and faithful partner/boyfriend in the future. My life
that I've lived in relative obscurity also makes me wonder if I do have the capacity and capability to truly
love someone -- I think about it a lot, especially since I've learned a lot about myself and my sexuality
over the past few years. I just wish I had a big enough "antenna" so I could be picked up on the outskirts
and fringes of the GLBT radar grid.

I only got a couple hours of sleep last night and I'm debating whether I have the energy to drive into Lafayette.
My stomach's a little uneasy from eating one too many Chex Mix bars (apparently I can't digest peanuts as well
as I used to) and I have a little bit of a headache from being deprived of my sleep. (Switching between sleeping
on air and sleeping on a mattress kinda resets my body a bit.)

I'm not sure if I want to sleep now or sleep when I get back - either decision will screw up my sleep schedule
once again - and I would much rather be well-rested (instead of stressed and overheated) if my mom decides to
send some money from Texas via MoneyGram. (Our gas, water and electricity bills need to be paid pronto!)
Thankfully the insurance on the Nissan is paid and current, but my stepdad hasn't added me to the insurance policy
just in case I get pulled over on the highway or, heaven forbid, I'm in an accident.

I generally hate doing anything on a Monday (I've probably mentioned it before), since it seems like folks who
put off doing things on a Friday all decide to make things difficult after the weekend. I never liked going to
college classes on a Monday (since it usually meant I'd be in class most of the day) but then again, those longer
Tuesday/Thursday lectures didn't balance things out either.

I just heard my watch beep at the stroke of noon, so I figure I should try to get something constructive done
today. My Netflix movies need to be sent back (I watched one and "preserved" the other 2 for watching later)
and I'd like to get one more delivery of movies before I put my account on hold. But it's no big deal since I
still have my XBox 360 and DirecTV as entertainment options, and I notice I don't watch my movies often enough
to effectively use the account. I just wish more of my queue was available to watch instantly.

Have a nice Monday. I'll be in touch.

-- end --

i can't win the lottery. but i can win bacon belts.

I WON!!!11!!

Bonus prizes include: Mr. Bacon puffy stickers, a sloth wristband, a pink elephant patch and a meat tile applique.



yay Fashionably geek!
(ps this is also the site where i found my awesome shirt)

so shes talking...... just not to me. her and my dad seemed to have made up. all she said to me today was "give me the books to return and when i get back we ahve to fill out those forms."
i weighed myself this morning 112.6........ the same as yesterday before i had the little but of ice cream...... that says alot.
i could smell her cooking this morning. she didnt make breakfast cuz i got up so late.... on purpose...... but shes making lunch. looks like chicken pattys or something. i odnt know how this is gonna work cuz im definitly not gonna wanna eat them and shes gonna get pissed. i wonder how much a chicken patty can put on?
maybe we all wont eat together and then i can get away with no one noticeing. but if no one eats with me i wont eat at all. AHHH i hate when this happens my mind and my stomach tell me different things

$339.2 million in three weeks! Egads. Is Ray Romano in this thing? Did people get confused when they saw John Turturro in the trailer and though it was Everybody's Raymond? Or, wait, I don't know any 14-year-old boys so I haven't heard much about this aspect of the movie, but does Megan Fox blow something up with her tits or something? Is that what it is? Does Megan Fox blow Ray Romano up with her tits? Wait, but then people would be mad and wouldn't want to see it. She blows Doris Roberts up with her tits, right? That must be it. That's it.

-Defamer

"...the test [of an effective judge] is whether he or she can effectively subordinate their views in order to decide each case on the facts and the merits alone. That is what keeps our judiciary independent in America."

- Senator Barack Obama, June 2005

"... [a] wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life and those life experiences."

- Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Speech at UC Berkeley School of Law, 2001

These statements stand in contrast to each other.

If the President truly believes what he said in 2005, how could he nominate Sotomayor? Had the comments been about how a white, Ivy League trained lawyer would naturally have a better understanding of the laws on the books, would the nomination even had been made? Then-Senator Obama made this speech before voting against confirming President Bush's nomination of Judge Janice Rogers Brown to the SCotUS. There was some concern over her ability to remain impartial based around prevoius rulings and statements.

I am not saying this automatically disqualifies Judge Sotomayor, but it would be wrong to not ask for a more in-depth explanation of what she meant with this and other racial comments. This is not something that show just be brushed past becasue some wing nut extremists are calling for her disbarment. This is precisely WHY you have a confirmation hearing.

Ok, feel free to open fire.

Yesterday, I drove out to Antioch with Rick and Lisa and Cat for Rey's birthday party, where pretty much the only other people I knew were Rey and a couple others. Nevertheless, I joined a game of Apples to Apples, which is generally more fun when you Know Your Judge but is entertaining regardless (and a good way to get to Know Your Judges, anyway). There were close to a dozen people in the circle.

When I play, I like to go through each person's choice one by one and evaluate it in turn, throwing down each card without looking. Yesterday, however, I got the idea to transition from one to the next, keeping with the theme of the adjective. I had Frightening, so I took us through the Apples to Apples House of Horrors, where we discovered such horrifying things as TV Evangelists. Then I had Philosophical, where we discussed things that were philosophical, like the Indy 500 (they had a lot of time to contemplate things during the race) and Homer Simpson ("Mmm...[something that didn't work]." Wait, let's try that again. "Mmm...Meatloaf!").

After a particularly raucous one, Jessica asked if I could make stories for all of them. Ethan thought I was a hard act to follow, so he gave me his cards to make a story about things that are Radiant. Like...cabbage, the most radiant of all vegetables, which you can find in the grocery store next to...gold chains, which are worn by Mr. T, who hangs out with his best friend...Katharine Hepburn and gets together and...fights forest fires. I had just invented Improv Mad Libs Apples to Apples. It was terribly ridiculous, and I was making all these strangers laugh.

They found me so funny, in fact, that when someone got the card for Awesome, it was demanded that I make up an Awesome story...and people would record it.

So I present to you, The Most Awesome Story Ever Told.


I was under quite a lot of pressure, but somehow, the cards fell pretty awesomely. Not so with my birthday tale for Rey on how to be more Refined, which had a pretty good start and a decent middle but fizzled out toward the end.


Jessica thought I might actually be a Mad Libs writer. Once I become a YouTube sensation, however, maybe I can be! I HAVE FOUND MY CALLING!

So I'm turning 19 today heh...
Excet I'm sick whit a cold which kinda dampens the mood I have a fever and stuff....
Well at least I GOT MY LAPTOP BACK yesterday which is a BIG YAY!!!
I missed my laptop....
Sorry if I soud like a crazy person...I blame the fever....
I've gotten some gifts today...or more like cards whit money inside which is nice you can buy stuff whit money...well I'll se what I'll get from my friends later...They said they'll make me a cake so that'll be nice!
I can't have a dinner whit my realtives like I was supposed to cause me and grandma (she and gradpa are visiting..) is sick and my other gradma can't visit then cause when she get's sick it gets really bad....
I can't have a party whit my friends eighter cause my grandparets are her so we don't have room for my friends from some towns over to come and stay until grandma and grandpa gpoes back home...
Anyway I'll post more later feeling kinda dizzy now!

And oh yeah Happy Birthday to </a></b></a>

God, this is turning out to be the longest freaking day, and it's not even noon yet. Work is dead - so dead that I've already gotten ahead of schedule on everything on my desk, I've already gotten ahead of schedule on the quilt shop's website, I've completely cared for all my Ponystars, I've already cared for all my Unicreatures and organized my land plots and my herds, done all my training and run out of adventure experience, and have run out of pets to click on the click exchange site. I've read the Ponystars forum, the Unicreatures forum, the UP forum and my entire flist, including the friendsfriends list, and all of Fark.com.

I'M SO BORED YOU GUYS. *cries* Seriously, if I had the days off to waste, I would totally take the afternoon off and get the fuck out of Dodge. The slowness is also a pretty bad thing because if nothing's coming across my desk, that means less money coming into the firm. :( :( :(

*peers at her days off again* I wonder if I could swing it anyway...

My favorite comic hits the nail on the head...again: http://ping.fm/QTpGh

I woke up early and had some coffee and went back, and then I was dreaming about school, in a portable I think. I had some good questions about the graph the teacher wanted to make, but I was afraid to speak up because I thought I might actually say the questions out loud in real life, because I knew I was dreaming. That's an odd kind of lucidity.

I guess LoudTwitter is down.  So I'm no longer posting my Tweets here. If you want to follow me on twitter my name is hockeycrew there as well. 

Life's been interesting lately.

• We got a new cat and cannot think of a single thing to name him.  He's currently going by the shelter name of Happy.  He's a little over affectionate for my liking but a really nice cat (crappy webcam shots of him on Flickr).
• We have a new roommate named Ben.  It's a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship.  He needed a place to stay, we needed some rent money to help with Adam's unemployment. It's working out well and he and Adam go climbing together (see Candiacrew.com blog post mentioning him).
• I've been hiking in the White Mountains again.  This is something I used to do every week.  So far I've done the Welsh-Dickey loop and gone to visit Chamney Falls.  Both are pretty minor hikes, but they are progress.
• This progress is aided by the fact that I'm doing at least 2 miles a day walking with the dog.  No matter how much my feet hurt. (follow progress at daily mile?)
• One of my closest high school friends is expecting a baby with his wife.  I'm so excited for them, but at the same time I'm terrified that I'm getting older and no closer to starting a family of my own.  I mean I think the dog is a lot of responsibility.
• And the Pup is growing like a weed and still wonderful! (See Flickr, dog set here)

I do need to find more time to hang out with my friends (spread out all over the United States and Canada though) and to make friends other than my husband and coworkers in New Hampshire.

So, my dad just got back from Nicaragua. (For the record, I kind of wish I could start every story like that.) He was down there shooting footage for a documentary aboard a Naval vessel (or so he claims. With his mild-mannered personality and the amount of wacky travel he does, it wouldn't surprise me if he were actually an International Man of Mystery), and as a present he brought me back...an MRE!

Obviously, for the sake of dorky fannish research science, I had to consume said MRE so I could report back on exactly what they contain and whether or not Rodney was right that they're actually pretty yummy. bmouse was kind enough to join me for this experiment, and to provide a second opinion—I am not necessarily to be trusted as, like Rodney, I also like airline food. So join us as we get as close as we can to the SGA field team experience...and take lots of ridiculous photos and generally behave like dorks. Woo!


( What lurks behind this humble exterior? Find out! )

Two other things, while I am being dorky:

1. Much to my delight, ( this was parked on my street the other day )

2. My dad also smuggled back from Nicaragua a pair of Cuban cigars. He and my brother and I smoked them last night, and it was one of the most pathetic things I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing/witnessing. All three of us couldn't stop hacking and coughing and having to stop and lean over and spit in the grass. OMG WE FAIL. Alternately, smoking cigars only makes you look cool if you are Barney Stinson/Robin Scherbatsky/my grandfather. It doesn't work for us mere mortals.

But MREs pretty much rule.

What a crazy weekend!

Eric didn't have a good Friday, so I took him out to dinner, his choice. We ended up at Johnny Rebs' Southern Roadhouse. Eric had a half chicken and a full rack of baby back ribs, along with collard greens, BBQ baked beans, and a buttermilk biscuit. Apparently it was the best BBQ he'd ever had. It was ridiculously entertaining to watch him so excited to be eating...and so messy! The place was pretty authentic...looked like a ramshackle tavern/cabin, peanuts on the tables and you could throw the shells on the floor. Just what he needed.

Rachel and Nace's engagement party was Saturday. Mty goodness I'd forgotten how hot the Valley gets! But they rented poolside cabanas and had the a/c on inside...lots of yummy food, too. I met all of the other bridesmaids [she's got SIX!], and it was fun to see her grandparents and brother and everyone. Had a great time, even though I had to leave before cake! :(  My parents demanded equal time while I was up there, so we grabbed some food and then I went with my mom to see The Proposal. It was actually much better than I'd expected...I tend to roll my eyes at 'romantic comedies'....but this was actually hilarious!

Yesterday we went out to our favorite Plums Cafe for breakfast...my waffle with fresh berries and home-made whipped cream was incredible! On a whim, we decided to check out an apartment complex I'd seen a Craigslist ad for....which turned into a whirlwind hunt all over Orange County...and we ended up putting a hold on an apartment - lease starts July 31! This is insane, because I'd been planning to move mid-September! We gave 30 days this morning, and will have a 12 day overlap to pack and clean and move after the Bar ends July 30. Like my mom says, we're great decision-makers and are excellent at doing things quickly [hey, we got married in 3.5 months!].

We got an AMAZING deal on one of The Irvine Company's properties...1 month free for a recent graduate, 2 for 1 pet rent and deposit, $200 off for putting a hold on a place the day we visited, and $200 off if we sign-up for automatic checking withdrawls for rent! It's in a MUCH nicer/quieter neighborhood, and the apartment layout is exactly what we're looking for, and there's a huge walk-in closet and we'd have a patio. Rent ends up being a tiny bit less than we're currently paying, which is fabulous. I'll have a 15 mintue commute instead of 1 mile, but that's still awesome. Eric will have closer to 30ish minutes, but that's still not too bad, and he can definitely handle a commute better than I can.

This morning we woke up and did some indoor/weight training instead of walking/jogging. I did 3 sets of arm exercises instead of the 2 sets I usually do [15 bicep curls, 15 tricep pulls, and 15...something else that reminds me of rowing, per set], 50 squats and 20 situps! Not too shabby for the first time in over a month!

In short: busy weekend and we're moving!

In case anyone is interested, the opening statements of the Sotomayor confirmation hearings are being broadcast live over at C-SPAN. It's being broadcast pre-recorded over at CPAC, so you can come in at an earlier point there.

*crickets chirp*

Um, okay. See ya. :)

P.S. I think Sheldon Whitehouse might just be made of a whole passel of awesome. Yay, Rhode Island!

Curse like a sailor and feel better
Torstar News Service
13 July 2009 05:11

Holy #%$@!!!

Damn, that feels better already.

And that’s just what British scientists would expect, saying they’ve learned cussing may be good for you.
Their study, Swearing As A Response To Pain, is published in August’s Neuro

Report, a journal “for rapid communication of neuroscience research.” The report by researchers at England’s Keele University found volunteers withstood pain longer when they resorted to distasteful invectives. So, just let loose when the pain comes.

Dr. Richard Stephens, who led the research, said he got the idea for the study after watching his wife give birth to their daughter, spilling a slew of swear words as she pushed and pushed and pushed.

While stubbing your toe can invoke an unfettered stream of profane platitudes, it may also be an inherited guttural response from our hairy-backed ancestors when faced with fearsome predators.

Stephens said that may explain why swearing is still in vogue around the world.

BRB, out of town for a while.

See ya!

My orange and yellow roses came back :)

i'm thinking about getting it since i need a new mascara anyway & the brush makes me kinda curious.
on the other hand it's rather pricey for a drugstore mascara.
so, anyone tested it & feels like sharing their opinion?
thanks!

Asian tourists take part in the Boryeong Mud Festival on Daecheon Beach in Boryeong, south of Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, July 11, 2009. The 12th annual mud festival features mud wrestling, mud sliding and a mud king contest. More pictures here

First off, are there crafty people who want a box of miscellaneous yarns? I couldn't even begin to tell you what I've got - I used to crochet a teeny tiny bit - but now I have a bunch of balls of various yarns and nothing to do with them. They're probably not uber-high quality or anything but you can have them for free.

Things I need to do tonight:

1) Run
2) Update teh elljay with some info about Maine and reviews for the recent books I've finished (all 3 of them)
3) Laundry (hi mom! Yes, I do laundry ALL THE TIME... if Aaron and I would just stop *sweating*, this wouldn't show up so often :) )
4) Finish unpacking half-empty box into plastic bin, move to basement
5) Put item I want to sell by purse so I can bring it in to work
6) Get measurements of filing cabinet that I want to sell to email to the one person who was interested