starting over

in the true spirit of the new year, i thought i’d post some resolutions. first honoring my favorite resolution-maker, bridget jones.

“1: uggg - will obviously loose 20 lbs. #2: always put last night's panties in the laundry basket. Equally important: will find nice sensible boyfriend and stop forming romantic attachments to any of the following: alcoholics, workoholics, sexaholics, commitment-phobics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits, or perverts. Will especially stop fantasizing about a particular person who embodies all these things.”... (ok well maybe a sexaholic wouldn't be so bad... as long as he was faithful... ) :)


a few of my own resolutions… trying desperately to avoid things like “lose weight” and “find a boyfriend” (although those are always top of the list, i don’t want to set myself up for disappointment).

1. make financially responsible decisions
2. find a new job (and fast)
3. realize that i am not defined by my job
4. spend time volunteering for something i feel strongly about, but not related to work
5. realize i am not defined by relationship status
6. wash my face every night before bed
7. spend more time reading than watching tv
8. learn to stand up for myself and say no
9. be more physically active
10. make new friends

on an unrelated note... what will you do with your leap second?

happy new year everyone!

fo shizzle

new favorite website

enough said

(thanks to tlmc for this)

3rd time's the charm...

my fan club has suggested that tlmc and i co-author a post. (thank you fan club for that vote of confidence). i am so happy to have mims in town. the first night she was here we stayed up until almost 3:30am just talking, mostly about boys (big surprise). mims is smitten with this guy casey, its cute to hear her talk about him. "christmas morning" (dec. 27) was fun, mims was so surprised to get her ipod. it made me happy to get her something she liked so much.

i went to kohl's today and while piddling through the throw rugs, i caught myself maneuvering to get a better look at the stranger across the way with red hair. i know its weird, but i really am attracted to boys with red hair. strange i know, but then again, i never claimed not to be.

tonight we went to dinner at midtown, ate half-priced fajitas and contemplated playing bar trivia. in the absence of friendly competition, the conversation quickly digressed to sex and politics, and the politics of sex, double standards, taboos... no big surprise. now we're sitting on the couch eating truffles, watching lost and trying desperately to remember some of the points of wit and wisdom that we chuckled over loudly. as we got up to leave our waiter told us to have a good night and without thought we chimed together "you too!" mims pointed out how odd it was that we always automatically reply to casual well wishes with "you too!", "have a nice flight", "you too!", "enjoy your meal", "you too!" even if the other person isnt flying, eating or in the position to have a good evening. (ok, so its much funnier to hear miriam say "you too!" in her quasi-rain-man-esque voice, you'll have to take my word for it)

its christmas again!

again i woke up before 8am, my internal clocking working against me. with nothing productive in mind, i waddled downstairs for the morning dog ritual. i curled up on the couch wading through many infomercials and settled on watching the hebrew hammer, a funny movie, irreverent in every way. about 10am something came over me, an uncontrollable urge to clean, but not just vacuum and straighten the pillows clean, an urge to purge. i started with the kitchen pantry, a catch-all for things that dont have a place like the lint roller or the picture frame without glass, plug-in air fresheners, not to mention canned food past its prime and half eaten stale bags of chips. i purged and cleaned, emptying out old food, flushing it down the disposal and tossing the empty cans and jars into the recycling bin. i filled a box full of unused house wares, a fondue set, white mixing bowls and an old coffee maker to take to goodwill. hearing the low roar of the garbage truck i hurled two heavy garbage bags full of recycling out to the street along with the little red bin. making my through the living room and kitchen, i tossed out half-burned candles that i dont use anymore, old mail and those little bags with spare bulbs for the christmas lights. upstairs i began working on my bathroom closet, throwing out half-used bottles from the bubbler and scores of free samples and shampoo from hotels.

i sat down to chat with friends online and began to wonder what brought on this frenzy. yes, miriam is coming today, but as sam pointed out why clean for mims? i think after some emotional upheaval last night from a not fun conversation with my mom followed by a troubling and yet empowering talk with an ex, i felt the need to take some control over the clutter in my life, emotional and tangible. i've always been one to clean, even worse than this, during times of emotional distress. at least its productive. the christmas present i'm giving myself today is a little bit of control and a healthy dose of sanity.

miriam just called, she was a little late leaving, but should be here around 6. i'm very excited. we're doing "christmas morning" tomorrow. we'll wake up early and i'll fix a big breakfast of something exotic. we'll open presents, drink champagne until we're silly and spend hours curled up on the couch talking about how mean boys are and how we need to write that book... just like old times.

merry christmas!

i wish you all peace, love, and adventure in the coming year.

in the meantime here's a fun christmas game, find out your secret christmas name

love,
cuddly floppy-stockings

big day

today, for all practical purposes, is christmas... at least for me and my family. the price's are a wonderful clan. so down to earth and funloving. we always have christmas a few days before so as not to force anyone to have to make those difficult 'where-do-we-go-for-christmas?' decisions. andrei came home from the airforce last night to much fanfare. the family is anxious to see if he'll be giving mccamy a diamond ring before he leaves to go back. tonight could be pure but lighthearted chaos. 30 people or so will cram into my aunt and uncle's house across town, we're having festive holiday lasagna tonight (hey, its hard to feed that many people). there will be a lot of digital cameras, children whining about how it takes the adults to long to eat (because they just want to get to the present opening you know) and other general silliness.

i must be off, i have artichoke dip to make and a visit to get my hair did.

merry fake christmas!

oh and mims will be here in 2 days (she's going to be so excited to see the puppy i got her!)

ta da!

so a few weeks ago i told the tragic story of my dead oven. well, now there is a new oven in my life and its very shiny. thanks to dad, louise, maw maw and paw paw for making this happen (and sears too). i have many presents left to wrap so this post won't be long. by popular demand, my new oven!

spreading cheer

so the cutest puppy in the whole world and i have been busy getting out our christmas cards this week and we have a few left over and invite anyone who would like to receive a christmas card from us to leave your name and address as a comment or email it to heathernc@hotmail.com and we'll be happy to put one in the mail to you.

cheers!

mixed emotions...

a big fat YAY for being done with this semester and a big shiny YAY for the new stove! i'm so exhausted... mentally, physically, emotionally... i don't know if i'm coming or going. i wrote my letter of resignation for my job. not that actually plan on turning it in anytime soon (not until another superhero position becomes open anyway), but i feel like its an emotional release, me giving myself permission to move on... i do love what i do, its just a lot... and the culture is just awful. its not fun to work 50+ hours a week and come home sobbing everyday. so we'll see what the future holds, but for now its time for bed.

pixie dust

ok, not to sound bi-polar or anything, but i'm feeling less sad face today and thought i would spread some new optimistic energy around.

so i took some time wednesday to spend with my junior world savers sorting toys at the salvation army christmas bureau, where all the toys from angel trees and donations all over the county are sorted to bring a little bit of [insert winter holiday observance of your choice here] cheer to less fortunate kids and families. in a poorly lit, unheated abandoned walmart in south charlotte i was brought to tears at the outpouring of humanity and generosity as i watched (and helped) unload cars and vans and big huge boxes from individuals, families, corporations, and church groups of clothes and toys and food and just about anything that anyone could ever need or want. and these toys weren't cheap plastic dollar store action figures, but leapfrog learning toys and brand new clothes from old navy and the gap. and the bicycles, ohmygod the freaking bicycles. i was told there was about 5,000 bicycles (most of which i moved and labeled) all donated. holy toledo batman! it was unbelievable. no one made people or corporations give stuff, but they did it on their own. and not by filling a shoebox and shipping it overseas to get lost on the black market, these toys are going to kids and families in our own city. wow. i found out later in the day that there over 10,000 kids who were registered with the angel tree project and each one of them was guaranteed 2-3 toys and 2-3 pieces of clothing... each piece donated by a stranger.

i'm not at all saying that its important to teach young children to expect expect expensive electronics or name brand clothes every christmas, but to me what stood out is that just when you think that society has completely sold out to the commercialism of it all, to see that many people who remember that the greatest joy is in the giving... sigh... happy face :)

another fun note of interest is that we have a new financial director at work. she's so calm and practical (she sorta sticks out in our field, but its a good balance). she's probably in her mid-40's, single, into yoga and meditation. she has subtle and sarcastic sense of humor which i enjoy. late last friday afternoon she and i were the only ones left at the office and she casually walked in my office to "ask me a few questions". i thought perhaps about the financials for my grant or something. she picked up a condom and while looking somewhat uncomfortable, asked me to "fill [her] in on this whole AIDS thing". so i started with the elevator speech, basics about how you can and can't get it... yada yada yada... she listened intently and looked very relieved when i said you couldn't get it from kissing. without prompting, she mentioned that she might be getting into some "kissing and cuddling" this weekend and having been out of the dating circle for about 20 years she wasn't really sure what exactly the "deal" was. after all of the technical stuff she told me that she had sorta started dating this guy in her yoga class. she went on to say how she'd known him for years but never found him really physically attractive, but the more she got to know him the more she was attracted to him personally... deeper than physical attraction and that because of this emotional and intellectual attraction she now felt the desire to be more physically intimate with him. she shared with me that she hadn't so much as kissed anyone since her divorce 20 years ago. immediately i was delighted to know that i wasn't the only one who operated this way. call it prude or repressive or whatever... but i feel less alone knowing that someone else out there feels the way i do about the subject of physical attraction. just because i don't have overwhelming animalistic urges to pounce men with square jawlines (ok, maybe in college, but i'm more mature now) doesn't mean i'm not a sexual being or that i'm a lesbian (as some may suggest), it just means it takes more than biceps to get my attention.

tuesday (i was out sick on monday) i asked her how the date went. she beamed and told me it was amazing. that kissing and cuddling on the couch was the highlight of the evening and that it made her feel alive (or at least a part of her she thought was dead). i thought for a minute about how quickly that part gets skipped over or at least not given the attention it deserves. the power of touch or a kiss with someone that appeals to you more than physically is so powerful. i'm happy for my friend. i hope i don't have to wait 20 years, but i do want to feel that again. and for the moment at least i'm not sad about being single, i'm happy that a really cool person like my accountant friend has found someone.

ok, its past my bedtime... and tomorrow is friday.

gray skies

so i haven't been my normal optimistic self lately. i don't know if its the weather or holidays or looming finals or what. i have decided that i'm definitely not cut out to live alone. my roommate is gone a lot lately almost never spending the night here, when i leave for work its dark, when i come home its dark. all my friends are married or live hours away. my cell phone and instant messenger, my only connection to the outside world. not that i ever feel like being social anyway. i'm sad because i'm alone and too sad or tired to do anything about it. i have my first full size christmas tree since i was 11. its very festive, fun old family ornaments, star themed ones that were gifts from friends and a plethora of multicolored bows made from the ribbon that tied bridemaids' bouquets from all of the weddings i've been in the past year or so. i really should be working on my finals or helping murray address his christmas cards. the dishwasher is competing with friends in background. i just got off the phone with miriam, it was the highlight of my day! she can't get her soon enough. i'm also looking forward to my 2 week break from work. its been so disheartening lately. i spent an hour or so sobbing in my program director's office this afternoon. its a rough climate politically and i'm taking the fall out from it all pretty personally. it seems like no matter how hard i try, its never enough. she pointed out that i let too much of my personal value be dictated by other people. i know she's right, but i don't know what to do about it. tomorrow i'm spending most of the day working at the salvation army with my jr. world savers. maybe i can get my mind off things.

its weird... usually i'm the one talking friends out of similiar funks, but now its me. who will save me? maybe i'll just have some nyquil and curl up with my book.

hope to bring something more uplifting soon.

its been a while...

ok, so i know i'm a slacker and haven't posted in a while. i could blame it on finals and working lots of late hours. saturday i had a christmas party for work and sunday i spent most of the day in the library working on my project for class, coming home around 4pm to take a shot of nyquil and turn in early. unable to go to work this morning i've done much of nothing. drinking gallons of orange juiced laced with various decongestants, i've worked myself into a coma like state. tripp thinks if i make a fun new post people will leave me sympathetic comments. i did also promise to post picture of my new sassy red hair. tragically it has faded some and please forgive my photography skills (or lack there off).
other points of notice since i last wrote... i got my tattoo re-colored, the yellow had faded quite a bit but is now restored to a lovely vibrant tone. i also saw the movie version of rent. it was quite well done. i have to confess that i did sing (however off key) through the entire thing. one of my jr. world savers gave me naked, by david sedaris, i've been piddling through that and enjoying it very much. oh, and big drama the day before thanksgiving, my oven died, tragically in a cornbread making incident. i sat on the floor sobbing, to be comforted by my dear father who offered to take on part of the expense of the replacement as a christmas present (to be delivered on december 12). i gathered up fresh herbs and organic stock and finished making thanksgiving dressing and yummy sweet potatoes at my aunt and uncle's house.

well i better get back in bed, i have to all well by the weekend, my best friend jennifer daniels in playing in charlotte and tlmc's (who thinks i'm giving her a puppy for christmas-ha!) coming to town in just two weeks! yay!

*cough*hack*sniff*

bring on the dressing!

its no secret that gluttony-fest 2005 is just a few days away. yours truly will be traveling up to asheville, nc, towing dressing, gravy and sweet potatoes for a fun filled time with 30+ of dear family. i thought that i might have the chance to host this motley crew in my home again this year, but when my mom and step-dad said they couldn't make it because they were going to have nearly a full park (they own a recreational camp ground just outside of ashe-vegas) i decided that just wouldn't do. its true mom and ron don't have room for more than 2 or 3 guest inside their humble mountain dwelling, but i convinced them and the rest of the family that the spacious picnic-like shelter draped with thick plastic and warmed by chimeneas would be the perfect place for this price (of the price's chicken coop) clan to have a little turkey. so apple pies, mittens and puppies all in the car, should be a big time.

on a side note, i made off with a pre-release black market edition of creative loafing last night from the mint museum. doesn't hit the stands until tomorrow, if you want to be cool and know what's going on before everyone else, its gonna cost you.

oh and there will likely be pictures of tcf's new sassy red hair up soon, so stay tuned.

sugar and spice

by popular demand, here is where you can create your own cool south park character like mine in the previous post.

so the football game was wonderful, clemson took an early lead and beat florida state 35 to 14. i love college football, ok, mostly just clemson. even if it means tailgating at 8am, its definitely worth it.

i haven't posted much lately, i've been busy here and there. a lot has happened. i had several clients die recently which was totally sad, the campaign to end aids rally stopped in charlotte, i spent last weekend in atlanta for a little mini vaca and a thomas the tank engine and friends themed 3 year old birthday party. work continues to wear me down, with constant conflicts and uncertainties, so i'm considering a little change of scenery. being the emotional shopper that i am, i've made several noteworthy, however emotionally catalyzed purchases. first being a pair of earrings. now i know that it doesn't seem like much, but i almost never wear earrings, but did recently to a fundraising event for work and to my surprise received much encouraging feedback. so i'm trying to make an effort to wear them more. maybe it will make boys like me, we'll see. in a more recent and obviously more desperate (read:expensive) attempt to spend away my blues, i purchased a new christmas tree. for the last few years i'd been using a small pre-lit model, but gave it to my darling mims when she left for florida. no lie, literally with tears in my eyes, i spent an hour trying to decide which artificial tree to invest in. finally deciding on a full foliage, seven-footer from target. i opted for the non-prelit variety, because i couldn't decide between white or colored lights, and prelit options are really quite a commitment. you know why women usually decorate the christmas tree? because if a man did they would want to change between colored and white, blinking and non-blinking, mini and jumbo lights at least twice a day. (yes, read in between the lines for not-so-subtle rants of bitterness). maybe its just the cold weather or the shorter days, but i'm feeling pretty lonely lately. i was recently solicited by an m.o.s. (member of the opposite sex) having these same feelings. this individual expressed his loneliness and then asked me to come over and hang out (specified, no sex), because he doesn't like to be alone. (well, duh no does all the time) and really, i try to be sympathetic, but i just don't know if i can let my body and mind be used just to fill a void, without the slightest indication of wanting more [of a defined relationship, not sex]. what am i? a one cuddle-slut? its just not my style. i don't get it. am i alone in this?

ok, enough of that... the good news is thanksgiving is next week, yay for dressing and more football! and just a few weeks after that the lovely tlmc will be coming to stay. i am soooo looking forward to that. and you might notice that i have a new reader (two if you count the troll, whom i love and miss dearly!)

that's all for tonight, send flowers and nice thoughts this way, in the meantime i'm going to have another truffle.

a self portrait

if the girl next door is a superhero was a character on south park.

tomorrow at 5am i'm leaving to head to clemson to see the tigers take on florida state. i've packed the fridge full of tasty tailgate food and beer. our friends are in from italy just for the game. should be a good game. i'll be sure to fill you in on it later.

trick or treat!

can you guess which is which? just kidding. that devilish delight is my old roommate and very bestest friend miriam, aka, mims, hooker, tlmc, and pookie. this picture is a little dated, as mims is now a ravishing brunette, something she took on recently upon entering law school. that doesn't mean she doesn't sport lots of pink and blow the curve on legal writing assignments in true "legally blonde" fashion... she just happens not to be blonde anymore. i'm dedicating this post to her mostly because i miss her tremendously. its quite amazing, we're very different but have been almost inseparable for 7 years now. just yesterday i had to sign up for my time off work over the holidays. i knew mims was going to be around (or at least in the state), and so i frantically had to get a hold of her, and her in turn contact her parents to see exactly what time the fam demanded of her holiday break. much to my excitement but not surprise, they told her that she might as well just stay with me, and come home for christmas. yay! we made grand plans about road trips and nights of endless debauchery. now whether any of them come to fruition or not, remains to be seen. i would be perfectly content sitting on the couch in cozy pajamas all day, giggling about boys, laughing at dub-ya and maybe occasionally getting all dressed up to go to target.

holiday wishes

a very special Happy Halloween from the Cutest Puppy in the Whole World, Murray!

(and little help from photoshop!)

yay for jenny cartee pottery!

you may notice the link at right for jenny cartee pottery. my friend jenny is very cool. we've known each other nearly our entire lives. she makes way cool pottery. here are some shots of my collection, including my new plates.

seen here, cool candle sticks, bowls, beer mugs and my new plates. yay!






here are some serving pieces, bowls, platter, honey pot, covered casserole and a wine chiller. cool antique buffet courtesy of maw maw and paw paw stewart. cool tapestry from my trip to l.a.





this is my kitchen sink. not all this stuff is piled up in the window at once, but i was trying to be concise, all this stuff is in my kitchen. in the far left of the window is a tall vase that jenny friend gave me for my birthday, then a small lidded thingy to keep my corse salt in, a few bud vases, salt and pepper shakers, my way coolio butter dish and my garlic keeper. the soap dispenser is a jenny piece too, i like lemon scented soap in the kitchen so jenny made me a big lemon to keep my soap in... aw.



this is called, fall still life. this is a special piece, a vintage treadaway piece. before jenny got married last october, she was jenny treadaway. she made me this piece for throwing her a bridal shower and bachelorette party and being in her wedding. i heart this bowl. to celebrate fall, i filled it with indian corn, a little pumpkin and some fun colored squash varieties. the bottom is full of rosemary out of the yard, so it smells yummy too.

some might say that all of this is frivolous, but its really not. jenny is a strong believer in making pottery that is for use everyday. i eat and drink off of my pottery everyday. i have several other mugs and cups that aren't shown. all of her pottery is food-safe, microwave, oven, freezer, frige and dishwasher safe. it makes every day special, and makes me very happy. yay!

"i will miss your lips and everything attached to them..."

oh to be in love, lust or anything in between, to swell with excitement in the anticipation of a kiss, to sacrifice sleep for hours of conversations about everything and nothing all at the same time and still wake with a smile that cannot be contained... aw, i want that.

elizabethtown is a great movie, not at all what i expected, and to be honest the initial draw was because of paula deen's (food network star) role. in some ways its the same "uptight guy meets whimsical girl who teaches him to loosen up, look at life differently, the fall in love, yada yada yada". usually those movies annoy me more than anything. but this one is different, besides being packaged in beautiful cinematography and a fabulous soundtrack, the lessons learned about how to look at life are not just for the lovers, but for everyone... allow yourself time to grieve, but for pete's sake, move on, get over it and live a little. there are lots of great quotes in this one. my favorite headlining this piece. other favorites "just dial HELL, i'll answer", "trust me, everyone is less mysterious than they think they are", or "i'm impossible to forget, but i'm hard to remember".

go see it, have a great weekend everybody

sad sad time

so my cell phone is dead, d-e-a-d. *sigh* i took it to the phone place, they fiddled with it and ta-da it worked again... until i got about 5 minutes away and it went... i feel so disconnected from the world. and not only that, but lost comes on in less than an hour and not only do have to watch it alone, but i can't even call someone and have them comfort me through it. and before i catch any lip about being a superhero... that doesn't mean that i don't get nightmares.

wanted: someone to cuddle with on the couch

we can maaaaaaake it

so it started out being a pretty crappy day. step-dad went into the hospital at 2:00am with kidney failure, got into a large um, disagreement with my supervisor, and other small aggravations just grew. i was just about at my breaking point when i called my dad and asked him to take me out to lunch. we went to a little greek owned place, crown point restaurant on sardis road. after some yummy chicken orzo soup, i regrouped for the day. just before we left, i noticed a vaguely familiar face walk by, and a sugary sweet, ear piercing voice said, "thank you honey" behind me. i turned around to see none other than tammy faye bakker messner. i giggled, star-struck. without a second thought, i stood up, walked over and introduced myself. i felt as if i had more legitimacy than the average intrigued passer-by, and pointed out to her that i attended middle and high school at heritage academy (which later became crown christian academy after the whole scandal thing, i didn't feel it was necessary to bring up that incident). [here for a then picture or here for a now picture]

i even tried to give myself more validity by telling her that my uncle had been her diamond broker for about 15 years, and that she sent my paw paw (grandfather) a card when he was in the hospital. at that point, she stood up and said "my god, you're one of my children!". oh yikes! i don't know if that's what i was going for. but now, after all the excitement, i have to reflect... you never know what will brighten your day if you let it.

and to answer the question on everyone's mind, yes she really does wear that much make-up.

brr

i would just like to say "brr" to a chilly 39 degrees this morning in the qc. despite the coldness, i refuse to wear close-toed shoes. mostly because i dislike wearing shoes all together (and i dont want to hide my cute feet from the world!) . i will not be defeated by coldness!
happy monday y'all.

not bad for a sunday

wow, its a lot of pressure to have a blog. i've been getting a lot of grief from my readers about my slackness. give me a break, its only my first week with one of these things. it should be more then obvious by now that i don't have a lot of creative energy. domesticity does not make one creative. i have a midterm tomorrow in my public health care management class, and instead of studying, i found many exciting (and some not so exciting ways to procrastinate). first, saturday morning i got my eyebrows done. a glutton for punishment maybe, i was off in search of even more exciting and slightly less painful ways to procrastinate. i went to garden ridge and world market in search of just the right glass bottles for christmas presents, in true heather fashion, i was readily distracted by decorative knick-knacs and picture frames. i came home and rearranged my bedroom furniture (to more appropriately accommodate new picture frames, duh). i finally got prints made from some shots i took in hawai'i this past spring as well as a few i stole from t-nat's deviant art site. after spending a little over an hour telling tripp about how lost is the greatest tv show ever, he was convinced to go out and rent the first few episodes himself. i settled down on the couch and watched last wednesday's episode that sam (not miriam's brother) was so kind to tape for me. since i had to watch it by myself, i of course had to do it during daylight, basically because i'm a big wimp. even disney's villains give me nightmares. i need miriam to cuddle me on the couch. aw... (i miss you pookie!) sam (miriam's brother) supplied me with a virtual plethora of wild and crazy websites just for my viewing pleasure. i spent some time outside picking all of the basil left, some rosemary and thyme from the yard in preparation for christmas presents. yeah, i did nothing exciting.

i heart fall. its definitely my favorite season, and not just because its the season of college football (god bless the person who invented spandex pants--that was one of my campaign slogans when i ran for homecoming queen at gardner-webb back in the day--that clever bit is courtesy of tlmc). i love the crisp air, i love not having to run the a/c or the heat and i'm sure i will very much love my low power bill this month. it should help offset the fact that gas is a jillion dollars a gallon right now. i mean really.

if you need a pick-me-up this week. i suggest checking out anntonies caribbean cafe over by my house. they have a live steel drum band on friday and saturday nights. and no one can be sad or grumpy when they hear a steel drum band. because it makes you want to dance mon! that reminds me of a funny conversation in this very establishment (before they started having live steel drum bands) i had with my dear miriam, my life partner, my pookie. i think it very accurately depicts our personalities.

mims (oogling attractive minority male waiter): "when i go to law school, i'm going to date a minority... i need a struggle, its too easy being white, even a female, we don't have any struggles."
me: "my dad says women make up struggles"
mims: "except in politics i guess, it really pisses me off to look at the senate and see all of those white male faces... that's not what america looks like!"
me: "they should pick members of the senate by random selection"
mims: "like jury duty!"
me: "we should get on that!"
mims (oogling attractive minority male waiter): "i should get on THAT!"

ok, very important annoucement! sam (miriam's brother) just informed me that iTunes 6.0 came out today and that you can download entire tv shows for $1.99 and you don't even have to feel guilty about it because its legal. yay! :)

this is my best side

to satisfy the fans clanging for a picture... because its "necessary for dating purposes" unfortunately this is all i have at my disposal here at the office. i'm still trying to figure out how to put a picture in my profile, it says it needs a url, and the only picture i have with a url it tells me that the url is too long. why are all the forces against me? hopefully someone will come to my technological rescue. in the meantime i'll stick to something i can handle, putting pictures in my posts. i heart pictures. yes, those are my feet on the black sand beaches of kona, hawai'i. the well-manicured toes are courtesy of the schell/bilbro wedding which occurred just days before my trip. once on spring break in college i won a "sexy feet contest" ... note* that's the only thing i won. that's ok... no one ever says "look at the wit, charm and pedicure on that girl" or "i bet she can whip up a mean pesto".

did i mention its still raining?
happy hump day

soggy

so yes, i'm at the office, but having a hard time feeling productive today. its about the sixth day in a row its rained. it makes me sleepy. actually, i enjoy a good rainy day, as long as i can be at home curled up on my big couch with a book (well duh, not watching tv because i don't have cable..*sniff*). the darkness of this past week has reminded me how much i hate artificial, especially overhead lighting. one of my favorite things about casa de' tcf is the abundance of windows and the way natural light floods in them in all seasons, an important factor in fighting off the evils of SAD (seasonal affective disorder).

in the spirit of project optimism, here are some other ways to fight off the dreary day blahs.
-call a friend and do mad libs over the phone (if you don't have a mad libs book, there are several options available online, even better, write your own)
-learn to cook or know where to find your favorite comfort foods (tcf's kitchen is always open for business)
-invest in a piece of jenny cartee pottery, especially a coffee or beer mug, love it, horde it, use it.
-embrace the rain, rain is only sad if you're trying to stay dry, beat it at its own game, start off just standing in it, find a good puddle to splash in, do a little dance, don't worry, no one can see you. come in dry off, have some nice hot chai in your jenny cartee mug.
-be mindful of what you read. i suggest nonsense books or ones that just make you feel good. try hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, eat mangoes naked, rural studio or hope for the flowers.
-on a day that's not so gloomy, put together a box of funness, stash away candles, cd's, pictures, jokes, or reading material that makes you especially happy. open it and enjoy it on a day like today. its like giving yourself a present, and everyone loves presents.

this optimistic tidbit is brought to you by the fine folk at project optimism.

say goodbye

today i say goodbye to a very old friend... it is my last day with cable television. obscenely high gas prices and threats of federal budget cuts have resulted in some difficult financial decisions. one way to shave $55 a month (a little over a tank of gas) off the monthly expenses, is to say goodbye to tlc, the food network, a & e and other favorites. i feel like i should sit on the couch all weekend and soak up as much of it as i can. i keep telling myself that its going to make me a better person. i'll spend more time reading (stuff other than for class), writing letters, playing with murray or piddling in the yard. i want to send care packages to friends and family in school far away, get to work on christmas presents (homemade candy and flavored olive oil with herbs from my garden), and to finally put together that photo album for my mom. we'll see.

on to a slightly more shallow topic... there are some wildly entertaining commericials out right now. tripp told me about this one where a girl was juggling mints with her tounge, i just saw it, that is pretty impressive. my favorite has to be the one for intel that says "incredible entertainment experiences in your lap from intel centrino mobile technology"... ha! that makes me laugh everytime.

i wish i was artistic, creative, or something. i spent all day yesterday with my dear friend jenny cartee at the mcalpine pottery show and sale. being surrounded by all that creative energy just reinforced to me that i have no artistic ability whatsoever. i really appreciate people who do. i was verbalizing this observation to jenny who is an amazing potter, and she replied with a "its ok, you're organized and very helpful". aww... thanks jenny, now go make me something cool.

there will be a meeting of SPAM, super people against mondays this afternoon at 4pm, rumor has it that a monday is rapidly encroaching on our weekend. we must act now.

just me

hello, now i am a cool blogger like you

actually, as i told harper, having a blog makes me neither cool nor fun, just ask tripp. he'll tell you i'm bland and boring (or at least pretend to be). i wanted to name my blog "melba toast personified", but i didn't.

i wanted to have a blog like everyone else. i wanted to be like the cool kids. i couldn't stand to have a my space, too much pressure to have friends and you have to have a myspace to comment or to look at pictures. and having a catch 27 card was out too, i just can't see the logic in paying to play that dumb game. reminds me of when i was a youngster, how my dad would say he was going to stop paying my friends (which he claimed was the only reason they were my friends to start with) in an attempt to get me to behave. i already feel inadequate on facebook before not having gobbs of friends like everyone else *insert cheesy mantra here* "grad school students, especially those with full-time jobs, do not have lives or time to piddle on blogs or be part of a social e-community"

*discontented sigh*

back to work

happy friday