Lunatic Ramblings

Fright.

2009-07-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

When one lives alone in a house, one should not watch marathons of "Ghost Hunters" before bed. Especially if your kids are not there either. Just a helpful hint.

So, while I was awake last night...*cough*...I remembered the time, when Arianna was about 6, she had this thing where she'd wake up in the middle of the night and wind up sleeping on the floor at the foot of my bed. Now, at that point, I only had a full mattress, so most of the time, when I was sleeping, my feet would dangle over the foot of the bed.

So, on this particular night, she decided it would be a good idea to attempt to wake me by reaching up and grabbing my ankle.

Now...

I'm a light sleeper. So, when, in that fuzzy state between deep sleep and sort-of awakeness, you perceive that something is reaching up from underneath your bed and grabbing your foot....well, let's just say that every cell in my body retreated into the direct center of the bed. If it had been physically possible for me to cling to the ceiling like they do in cartoons, that's totally what would have been happening.

She must have heard whatever noise I managed to emit at that point, because she popped her head above the foot of the head, and asked "What?"

The stream of expletives that emanated from my body PROBABLY weren't good for a 6-year old to hear, but TOTALLY justifiable, in my opinion!!

(For the record, she just laughed her ass off once she realized what had happened. My child is a sadist.)

Before/After.

2009-07-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

Before: (nice normal red....granted, more faded than it was growing up, but still my red.)

After: (NOT the color I was going for, but....opinions?)

Learning.

2009-07-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

I've been busy, as indicated by the above books. I am killing myself for summer term, because it's considerably shorter than the other terms, and they pack in the same info into a smaller window of time. In addition, my psychology course is a fast-track one that will finish everything in 5 weeks. I'm seriously on brain overload. I know I said I'd write more often, but cut me some slack for a little bit.

After summer term is over, I'll have about 6 weeks of vacation before fall term starts, and hopefully I'll be doing FAR more fun things for a good portion of that time!

Until then, if you hear a giant boom in the distance, that's just my head.

Collections.

2009-06-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

So, let me start this by saying I'm not exactly normal....

In point of fact, I'm slightly quirky.

In addition to the odd personality quirks, I go through stages in my life where I start collecting random things. Usually it's just because something catches my eye, or I randomly think "Oh, that would be fun!"...but, needless to say, my apartment is full of some things that you people might think are a little off the beaten path of normal...

I'll start with the simple, semi-everyday things....

1. Books. How does one collect books, you may ask? Wellllll.....see below:

(yes, those are double front stacked on each shelf)

Not to outdo my reading material, there was a time, a few years ago, that I was shipped off to India for work. And I came back with a new obsession....

2. Elephants. They are everywhere in my house. In random spots, like an Indian elephant baby mobile hanging from my ceiling, or on my bookshelf, hanging out in corners, and in a special little shelf thing I devoted especially to them:

After the elephants came something else I decided one day would be fun...

3. Gnomes. Yes, gnomes, okay?? Shut up! I TOLD you I'm not normal! Anyhow, I have one on my computer desk...one in my bathroom...some outside...inside...you name it:

After the gnomes, my friend Stacey got hooked on collecting poppets. And after many months of watching her take picture after picture with her roaming poppets, I finally broke down and got my own...I mean, just one couldn't hurt, right? Which leads us to...

4. Poppets.

*Ahem*....MOVING ON....below are some other random things that haven't quite grown enough to be considered "collections"....yet. Give me a little time and I'm sure I can rectify that.

(This is the area above the sink in my kitchen)

But, before you think I'm some kind of crazy cat lady in the making, living amongst piles of newspaper 10 feet high, etc....I'm really not!! I promise! I can prove it!!

So there!

Friends.

2009-06-16T05:01:00.001-07:00

It's 5 am, I've got a headache from the depths of hell, and it's actually worse when I am sitting in the dark...and, amazingly, staring at a computer screen may be helping. And, unfortunately, maybe I tend to be a little too "deep" in the wee hours of the morning. Sorry about that.

Anyhow, I know I promised light-hearted fare here...but, hey...it's a personal blog, and sometimes I may get personal. I'm usually a "stomp it all down deep and don't let anyone see the crap" type of girl, but maybe that's a bad thing? I've done a lot lately to help myself grow and try to be a better person, so maybe I should open my soul a little? Who knows...but, it's still dark outside, my head is pounding, and I have nothing better to do. So here goes.

I've been thinking a lot lately on the subject of friends.

I guess maybe because of how I grew up I've always been a little wary of letting people completely in. I have always been the girl who on the surface looks like she has tons of friends and is really open with them, but that's just the surface...for the most part, I am super-secret-agent about protecting myself, and keeping parts of the "real me" hidden from people. However, with that said, I have lots of people I genuinely LIKE, and people I know fairly well, but I honestly don't know how you really classify friends. There are people who have been in my life FOREVER (some since before I was born, even...hi, Kristin!), and then there are people who are far more recent, but yet they feel like they've been in my life forever. They are few and far between, but I tend to hold on to the really important ones...they make my life a much better place, they put up with my shit and don't give up on me, and I love them for it.

I've been criticized for having an online life. That I tend to hide behind a computer instead of going out and dealing with actual people. But, maybe that's easier for me. It's natural for me to hide behind the written word...it always has been. I come from a wordy-writing family...I think it's how we communicated best. My father wrote me stories when I was little, instead of actually showing me that I was important. Instead of sitting down to talk to me, he gave me fables in which I was the heroine, facing big, bad dragons, etc. Which was pretty cool as a kid, but looking back, wow...that's kind-of a sad testament to our relationship.

ANYhow....the point is, I have tons of people online who I can consider "friends" in the most shallow sense of the word...but I don't have a lot of people in my day-to-day, tangible life who I can do the same with. I rarely let the walls down enough. The people (and you know who you are) who have gotten past that giant, brick wall beneath my skin are in there forever....and with a few of them, that's a very good thing. With some of them, it's proved not to be. But, you live and learn, and sadly, that's been the prevailing motto of my life.

I've had people tell me that I come across like a bitch in social settings, because I do not jump into conversation and emote myself all over the place. But, the thing is, I CAN'T. I am the girl that sits in the back and observes. I can see where this could come across as cold and distant....and distant, yeah I can see that...that's just who I am...but, cold? I don't think I'm a cold person. It makes me sad that some people think that, but I can't physically be "happy gushy sunshine girl" in a public setting, 100% of the time. Maybe sometimes I can pull it off, but I mostly think that is me over-compensating for what I know people perceive me as. I don't like people thinking badly of me, so the actress comes out.

But, I don't see myself as a bitch, and genuinely, I don't think I always come across that way. I mean, I am quiet, but I have absolutely no problem getting people to talk to me...my recent foray into the higher education system has shown that to me. I've been able to make friends in class really easily, and even somehow managed to wind up being the mouthpiece for study groups, which is crazy, since I hate being the person in the spotlight.

Anyhow, here comes the point of this ramble....

What do you do when someone you've let get past the walls turns out to be a giant fraud, and you find out that they've shit all over you, said horrible things and generally treated you - behind your back - like you are the lowest-of-low life forms...when to your face they were still wearing the mask of "friend"?

This pisses me off on many levels, because I've always been super intuitive about people, and I can generally read in the first second whether or not they are going to be worth the trouble. But, sometimes, people fall through the cracks. Most of the time I may notice, but I overlook, and that's my own fault...but, other times, I genuinely am caught by surprise at the inner evilness of some people.

I was talking to my best friend the other day (who lives less than an hour away, and I never spend time with....see what I mean?)...anyhow, we were talking about a situation, and she expressed confusion about how I could be so crazy intuitive (and she's seen that in action throughout our lives)...and yet, how I still manage to somehow miss the insane, general blackness of soul in some people I've let get close to me. We came to the conclusion it is because those people actually BELIEVE their own web of lies...therefore, my inner radar doesn't go off, because they aren't being deceitful on the surface...they're just fucking crazy.

So, I guess my question is....how does a girl like me, who HATES confrontation, handle a situation where she finds out that someone she thought at one time was a friend has said (and I have written proof) some really horrible, shit-stirring things about me? It's not just the mean, bitchy things that were said that annoy me so much...most of the time I can be all "whatever" about them. I mean, I know who I am...I've been through enough crap in my life to be somewhat secure in my skin. But, what really gets to me is the shit-stirring. Is it really necessary to try and make my life more difficult? What is the purpose of that? Is their own life so miserable that when they see even an inkling of happiness in mine, they immediately try to stomp it down, pour gasoline on it and attempt to light it on fire?

Do I call this person on their shit, or do I just continue to cut them out of my life? Which is worse? The inner vindictive bitch in me wants to plan elaborate schemes to yank the life out of them and make them cry...but, then that just puts me on their level, doesn't it? So, I just keep ignoring...which is super easy for me to do. I can put up that ice-wall with the best of them. But, is ignoring really the best way to go? Or is that just me avoiding, and playing the "stomp it all down deep and don't let anyone see the crap" game? I really don't know what to do. I go through a daily ritual of weeble-wobbling on this issue, and I really don't want to fall down this time. I've fallen down enough in my life already.

Neighbors.

2009-06-15T00:14:00.000-07:00

So, I am now living in a ground floor unit of an apartment complex...which really isn't so bad, because I have a nice, big private fenced back yard, and it's a pretty cute place. HOWEVER, with that said, that brings up the subject of my neighbors.

Now, I've got 2 kids, so I've gotten really good over the past nine years at being able to tune out things that would drive a normal person insane. (Yes, I know that implies I'm not normal...I'm okay with that.) But, the point is, I'm really spectacular with being able to ignore stuff when I want. Which is good, because I guess it appears my upstairs neighbors are loud. I know this, because whenever anyone comes to visit, they're here for like two minutes before their eyes get large as saucers, and they stare at the ceiling with horrified fascination.

In actuality, I'm unsure of how many people live up there, exactly. I mean, I think it's an older couple, their teenage-ish daughter and HER 1-year old baby, and POSSIBLY the daughter's boyfriend. I'm not sure if he lives there, or he just is there all the time. At any rate, it's just a 2-bedroom place, so I think it's verging on clown college up there. I mean, seriously...if they could pack anymore bodies in, I'd be amazed.

Also, I think they may possibly have a bed in the living room. I mean, judging from some occasional "sounds" I manage to notice, that's what I'm presuming. But...yeah...CLASSY.

Oh, and that 1-year old baby? I think she is the spawn of Satan. The child does not sleep. And apparently, she also feels that the period from 9 pm until roughly 3-4 am is the optimal time to shriek bloody murder, run like a water buffalo across the ENTIRE apartment, and possibly occasionally either throw dishware or large human bodies against the ground above my head. I mean,don't get me wrong...I have kids. I understand that they can be loud. But...MINE ARE ASLEEP DURING THOSE HOURS! And they were when they were babies, too. They also never murdered small villages in the wee hours of the morning.

Also, everyone up there seems to have a sick fascination with showers. Like, seriously. I don't know what they're doing up there to get as dirty as they must be getting, because in my little experiment for this post today, I counted roughly 12 showers taking place. In one day. Twelve. Maybe the bed in the living room is part of a "movie set"? Otherwise, who the hell needs a dozen showers a day? The reason this matters to me is because when they shower, it dictates my water pressure. And occasionally, I'd like more than a trickle...thanks.

So, that is the scoop on my upstairs neighbors. On to some others....

Up until the last few days, the couple that lived on my right were a nice, elderly couple that I never heard, and very rarely saw. But, in this last week they moved. And in their place, I have now acquired a cracked out version of Stephen King, complete with jet-black mad scientist hair, and torn Pantera tank top, and his wife...fat Elvira. This is the initial impression I got of them as I mowed my backyard, and watched them watch me (a little too intently, I might add) through the crack in the fence.

If you don't hear from me in the next few days, they've tunneled through the wall and eaten me.

Well, Howdy!

2009-06-14T10:31:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm back, bitches! (I'll stop a moment to allow for the applause to die down....)

Anyhow, it's been a LONG while, and I assume I probably only have like 2.5 people with me actually still on their feed-reader. Alas... There's been a lot of changes at Casa Adena, of which I won't really go into...this was supposed to be a little, light-hearted blog, and I'd like to get back to that point. I miss the funny writing.

So, I am on my 10 day vacay in between terms at school (yes, I'm filling my brain w/ higher education now!) Once I start back up, I'm sure I will have many humorous things to relate to you...(Biology! Something funny is bound to happen!) I have filled this next term w/ far too many -ogy's, and my brain will probably be mush by the end of it, but what the heck!

The kids are growing, and cracking me up daily, so I may throw some of that in here, too. I know that I really started slacking off w/ the blogging once twitter and facebook began to suck my brain dry...bad social media!!

I may even start taking pictures again. I mean, sometimes I see some odd stuff! Like this, for instance:

So, I hope you're all still with me. Or maybe you'll trickle back. We shall see!

I SEE YOU!!

2009-03-20T08:12:00.001-07:00

September 11

2008-09-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

I wrote this article, story...whatever you want to call it...2 years ago for the 2,996 Tribute. I don't have any problem running it again, on a day like today. The same feeling still holds this year, as well as any year, since 2001.

******************

When I first signed up for this project, it seemed like such a good idea. 2,996 people, each one memorializing someone who died in the 9/11 attacks. I entered my name, and got assigned Anthony Perez.

However, try as I might, I could not find anything about him online. The only thing I kept running across was a small blurb with a picture on memorial sites:

Anthony Perez- 33, Locust Valley, NY- Technical Specialist, eSpeed, Cantor Fitzgerald Confirmed Dead, World Trade Center, At/In Building.

The picture I kept running across was a picture of him holding his son. Such a simple picture, but it conveyed so much. Unfortunately, it told me so LITTLE about the man behind the photo.

I began to regret taking on this assignment. How could I possibly do this man justice? How could I convey his life, the feelings of the people that loved him, the unimaginable loss for his children...when all I could find was the basic facts, and a few paragraphs about him from friends?

Then, I thought maybe I should take another route with this- Cantor Fitzgerald. Anthony worked for eSpeed, which was an offshoot of Cantor Fitzgerald. This changed everything for me.

When 9/11 first happened, like so many others, I was glued to the TV, Newspapers, the Radio...anything that would fill me in on what was going on. It was so massive and heart-wrenching and horrible, and I swear I cried for 3 weeks solid. I was devastated at the human loss, even 3,000 miles away from the epicenter. I have never been to NY, but for that period in time, I felt like I was FROM New York.

One story, one company...one horrible fact that I was riveted to, was the fate of the company, Cantor Fitzgerald. 658 people from that company lost their lives that day. 658 people that started their day like any other day before it. 658 people who's lives were gone in one horrible instant- All because they had the misfortune of being on floors 101-105 of the North Tower, when at 8:46 in the morning, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into them. The impact of the plane was on floors 93-99. Anthony worked on floor 103.

4 flights of stairs.

Cantor Fitzgerald sustained such a massive loss of life....roughly TWO THIRDS of its workforce...in an instant. There is no way those people survived the impact. 2 to 6 flights up from such a massive explosion....there was no way. The only comfort out of such a horrific loss of life was that it had to have been instantaneous. AA Flight 11 was the first plane to crash through the towers that day. No one in the North Tower knew what was coming, or what had hit them. The South Tower wasn't so lucky. They had an inkling of what had happened, and I'm sure some sort of dread that the same fate might befall them. So, I guess, in a sense, Anthony was lucky. He didn't suffer.

But, still....658 people from the same company...gone. Just like that. So many lives....so many mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, husbands, wives, cousins, sisters and brothers....gone. So much tragedy and loss, and the man I was assigned to memorialize was one of these 658 people. People that I couldn't get out of my head....employees of Cantor Fitzgerald. It seemed fitting that I be assigned one of their employees, but all the same, I felt woefully inadequate to memorialize him. How do you sum up 33 years of someone's life? 33 years...one year older than I am today. How could I possibly sum up his life, who he was, the ESSENCE of Anthony, based on one tiny paragraph and photo?

I was dreading Sept. 11th, wondering what I could possibly write that wouldn't sound trite and stupid....and still be worthy of this man's life.

Then I got an email....

An email from a friend of Anthony's. Someone who had worked with him before he took the job with eSpeed. Someone who missed him so much that she still carried this photo of him around in her wallet...5 years later.

She told me that the group they worked together in was a VERY tight knit group....more like family than co-workers. I get that. I understand. When I was working in the corporate atmosphere, the people I worked with became my family. It seemed like I saw them more than I saw my ACTUAL family. It was a huge loss when our group was outsourced, and we had to "break-up" our little family. To this day, I am still friends with these people, and if any of them were to perish in the way that Anthony did, I would be devastated. Beyond words. So, I understand her loss, and I am very sorry for it.

I asked her to tell me a little about him, and she did. Here he is, in her own words:

"Anthony was a loving father, husband, brother, son. He was a loyal friend, a pain in the butt, a prankster, a nudge, too smart for his own good sometimes. He was a techy kind of guy, thru and thru! We worked tech support together, as peers and then as a supervisor/lead team. (and he called me boss lady in his typical sarcastic teasing way...) He had a wicked sense of humor. He was a die-hard NY Islanders fan. He wasn't perfect, no one is, but he was a good man regardless."

She also sent along an email chain from 9/11. An email chain from people that used to work with Anthony, and who were extremely worried about him in the hours that followed the disaster. I won't attach that here, but suffice to say, it was filled with memories, and worry, and eventually...with loss.

I thank her so much for her help in telling me a little about him! It helped me immensely.

Eventually, I found a website FROM Cantor Fitzgerald....a memorial for their employees that had died. Anthony's page had many, many entries from people that loved him: his wife, his family, his friends, his co-workers....but the ones that touched me the most were from his children: Olivia, Anthony James, and Alexis. They were so young when their father was killed, and they have had to grow up missing so much.

"He was a great man. I loved him and I played with him and I helped him. When he needed help Anthony James (son), Alexis (other daughter), and I would ALWAYS help him! Last year in 5th grade we had this huge field trip and I invited him to go. He missed work on that day and came. We had a great time and enjoyed it together! Then he took me to work! All of his co-workers thought someone was sick on my other side of the family and I had to go with him. The real truth was I wanted to go and I begged him and he finally said yes! Shhhhhh! I share a lot of memories with the Perez family but it is so hard to talk about them!
WE MISS U DADDY!" - Olivia Perez, 6th Grade

***********

" Daddy I love you very much and miss you a whole lot. I'm so sad that you can't come home. Mommy tells me that you are with us all the time, so I hope you can hear me when I talk to you. I love you very very much and miss you. Big Hugs and Kisses."- Alexis Perez, Age 4

***********

"Daddy you are the best daddy ever. I miss you every day. I wish you could come home. I miss playing all the computer games with you and working on the house. I know you're in heaven now, but I like to think that you're also here with me playing ball, going to school and riding my bike.
I love you and miss you very much. Hugs and Kisses" - Anthony James Perez, Age 6

And finally, just recently, from his oldest daughter, Olivia:

"Daddy, oh god. Its been How long? like... five years almost since i last saw you. I miss you so much. You've brought me so many good things in life, and I just can bear to be without you. I've grown and changed and it's just amazing to me of how I've lived. Without you. Please keep an eye over Anthony James, Alexis, Scott Anthony, and Mary, and grandma, and grandpa, and scott, and brian, and the rest of the family, because we love you ,and we think about you constantly."

I think that's really all that needs to be said.

Anthony Perez

March 31, 1968 - September 11, 2001

Adena, A Retrospective...

2008-08-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, let me preface this by saying that up until a few days ago, I had NO pictures of myself from my youth. None. This is mostly due to the fact that my parents and I don't really see each other all that often, and when I was a kid my dad was BIG into a film slide stage....so, no print pics, other than school ones.

So, the other day, my daughter brings home a folder that my mom gave her...filled w/ pics of me from grade/middle school. Nothing of high school, which is sad, because my senior photos? Smokin'!!

Anyhow...after I giggled and snorted for a while, a post idea emerged in my head.

So, behold...a small Adena retrospective:

Now this is me in 2nd grade. I think I'm laughing at the fact that I'm wearing a velvet dress w/ a lace bib. LACE!! ME??

*laughter interlude*

Apparently, I was in a "mood" that day, because the class photo shows me flashing the photographer some knee:

Now, on to 4th Grade, shall we?

What. The. Hell. am I wearing?? Holy hell! Let's forget that ever happened.

On to 5th grade. Did I mention I was a skater kid? Behold the bi-level haircut, and the homage to "Pretty in Pink", which I freaking love(d).

On to 6th Grade. Still a skater, but deep into the mid-80's clothing, apparently. Yes, that IS an Izod shirt....COVERED WITH A FISHNET VEST!! Go ahead, laugh. I understand.

Ahem. On to 8th Grade. This may be the worst yet. Note the fluffy hair and bangs. The mock turtleneck and V-neck sweater...and THE BOW IN MY FOOFY HAIR!!! I'm tempted to burn this one....seriously.

That's it for school photos. BUT, to redeem myself, here is a pic of me at 18. Why I didn't bask in my hotness, I don't know. I'd kill to look like this again.

Olympic Walking

2008-08-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

So, I've suddenly become somewhat motivated to DO stuff...which doesn't happen very often with me...at least not for a while now.

I took stock of myself the other day, and realized that maybe I don't really like myself sometimes. So, I am going to try to change that.

First step? Get my body back in shape!

So, my bff and I decided to start going for walks a few times a weeks. And by WALKS, I'm not talking just a trip to the store. We are both tallish girls, and we don't get winded, so we are a good match for that sort of thing.

Last night was the first time I've done anything like that in a VERY long time, and I, of course, approached it kind-of insanely.

3 hours later, we were done walking. THREE HOURS! In this town? Yeah..um...we covered a lot of ground. Amazingly? I have blisters, because my uber-cute camouflage sneakers aren't the best for long walks, apparently...but, that's it. I'm not sore at all. So, that's a great sign.

Anyhow...funny story. We were walking down one residential street, and we passed an elderly couple and one of their friends sitting out on their driveway...throwing a ball to their VERY blind dog. Which was funny in and of itself. But, after we waved, and got a little past them, we heard one of the ladies call out "Girls? Girls?"

We turned around, and she said "We just wanted to give you a rating!" We were SOOO confused...up until the point she held up this GIANT placard w/ "9.9" written on it.

It was so random. We laughed for a while.

Funniest Thing Ever!

2008-08-11T13:33:00.001-07:00

Yeah, going to work that day was TOTALLY worth it, don't you think??

These Music Meme's Kill Me EVERY Time!

2008-07-26T00:36:00.000-07:00

Yet another one....but, a bit different.
(Thanks, Hilly. It's past midnight, and I'm doing this!)

Anyway the rules are as follows: (So Sayeth Hilly)

1. Put your mp3 player or music player on your computer on random.
2. Post the first four lines from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song (Skip repeat artists).
3. Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
4. Don’t fucking cheat, you Google whores!

MY SONGS!

1. Steal my heart, and hold my tongue.
I feel my time, my time has come.
Let me in, unlock the door.
I've never felt this way before.
(Coldplay- 'Til Kingdom Comes)

2. Today I am dirty
I want to be pretty
Tomorrow,
I know I'm just dirt
(Marilyn Manson- The Nobodies)

3. You were once my one companion . . .
you were all that mattered . .
You were once a friend and father -
then my world was shattered . . .
(Phantom of the Opera- Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again)

4. And so she woke up,
Woke up from where she was lying still.
Said “I gotta do something
About where we’re going.”
(U2- Running To Stand Still)

5. These moments are brief
When you can truly say you know yourself
You must lose your mind in order for you to find it
And sometimes you've just got to fall
(Cloud Cult- I Guess This Dream Is For Me)

6. Karma police, arrest this man, he talks in maths
He buzzes like a fridge, hes like a detuned radio
Karma police, arrest this girl, her hitler hairdo, is making me feel ill
And we have crashed her party
(Radiohead- Karma Police)

7. In this farewell
There's no blood
There's no alibi
Cause I've drawn regret
(Linkin Park- What I've Done)

8. In the light, In the daylight it's all wrong
To revel in your memory
The smell of your body
And the seconds that it kept me warm
(Matt Nathanson- Bare)

9. Come the day
You see the sun
Hit the arch
A history song
(The Good, The Bad & The Queen- History Song)

10. I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played,
and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
(Hallelujah- Rufus Wainwright )

11. Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
(The Fray- How To Save A Life)

12. Many times I've tried to tell you, many times I've cried alone
Always I'm surprised how well you cut my feelings to the bone
Don't wanna leave you really, I've invested too much time
To give you up that easy, to the doubts that complicate your mind
(We Belong To The Night- Pat Benetar)

13. You think that we connect
That the chemistry's correct
Your words walk right through my ears
Presuming I like what I hear
(No Doubt- Spiderwebs)

14. And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time
(Damien Rice- The Blower's Daughter)

15. Must be your skin that I'm sinkin in
Must be for real, cause now I can feel
I didn't mind, It's not my kind
It’s not my time to wonder why
(Bush- Glycerine)

16. Pain from pearls-hey little girl-
How much have you grown?
Pain from pearls-hey little girl-
Flower for the ones you've known.
(Indigo Girls- Kid Fears)

17. These back steps are steeper to the ground
The brightest stars are falling down
I'm walking the edge
I'm walking the tightest rope
(Mat Kearney- Falling Down)

18. Well you must be a girl with shoes like that
She said you know me well
I seen you and little Steven and Joanna
Round the back of my hotel oh yeah
(The Fratellis- Chelsea Dagger)

19. Even on a day like this when you're crawling on the floor
Reaching for the phone to ring anyone who knows you anymore
It's all right to make mistakes, you're only human
Inside everybody's hiding something
(Dido- Slide)

20. Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long.
No matter what I say or do,
I still feel you here 'till the moment I'm gone.
(Sara Bareilles- Gravity)

What's Been Going On?

2008-07-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

Answer- Not much.

I got laid off (for the most part) last week, because the sector of business I currently work in is doing pretty badly because of the economy. There's simply not enough work to keep me busy. I have been working half days, or like 3 days a week for a while now, just to do the stuff that did come up...but, it's tapered down so much that there's no point in that, anymore.

Which is actually okay, because working so few hours a week was actually costing me money to work. So...yeah...unemployment is looking better. I'm actually making more staying at home than I was working. Go figure.

I guess I should be blogging more, but...well...I haven't. I need to be publicly flogged, I know.

At any rate, the tattoo idea I had a few posts down came into fruition over the weekend. My friend finally told me to come over for my free b-day tattoo, and so I had him do that one. I pretty much told him the idea, and he free-handed it, so it's not exactly like my drawing, but I think it turned out pretty cool, regardless: (click pic to make larger)

It's pretty symbolic for me, and not everyone will understand what the hell it's about, but that's okay. I know.

None of my other tats have any sort of meaning other than I liked them. I have 2 Celtic ones...because...well...look at me. But, other than that, I pretty much saw designs, and thought "Oh, I like that!"

This? Entirely to do with my writing.

Maybe nothing will ever come of it, and I don't even know if I'm any good. But, it's something that I've always loved to do, and I'm really doing it now. I've completely finished one novel, am 3/4 done with another, halfway done w/ yet another, and have about the first 3 chapters written on 2 more. I honestly don't know where all the ideas are coming from, but I'm going with them when they pop into my head.

I'm not terribly happy with the one novel that's actually done, but I think I needed to fully finish it...just so I could prove to my brain that it could be done. I'm so much happier with the other ones, and I've been spending most of my spare time working on them. I haven't really been posting here, because I think all my creativity is being sucked up by the novels. (And, for the record, how I write in this blog is NOT indicative of how I write stories...thank god.)

I'm not going to be all pretentious and say I'm a writer...because nothing has ever been published. I will say that I'm trying to be one, and I guess that is something. It means a lot to me, even if no one else ever gets to read what I've written.

I dunno...hard to explain. But, the tattoo...an open book w/ blank pages, and the word "write" in Tibetan Sanskrit. It may not be perfect, but then...neither is my writing. So, it all works out in the end.

Teacher, I finished my assignment!

2008-06-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

So, there was this writing meme making the circuit. Well, it didn't start out as a writing meme, but Vahid turned it into something fabulous, and then Hilly quickly followed.

I thought about doing it myself, because I'd like to fancy myself a writer, after all. But, I was worried. What if my contribution sucked? But, today, I bit the bullet, and sat down and quickly wrote something out.

Here's my attempt.

So, the idea is, take these five questions and answer them...creatively!

1.What were you doing 10 years ago?
2. What five things are on your to-do list for today?
3. Snacks I enjoy…
4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire…
5. Places I have lived…

And here I go. Be gentle with my delicate writer's soul....

1.
She stared at the bleak landscape surrounding her, and watched quietly as the tumbleweed bounced along, pacing the truck. Had she really gotten up enough courage to leave everything she had ever known?

Leaving an abusive relationship had been hard enough…there had been all the drama that surrounded that sort of thing. The fear, the loss of everything she owned, the court proceedings that had been there to protect her…but, she hadn’t been entirely sure that they would be enough. She didn’t trust her ex, and when she found out he had conveniently moved 2 blocks away from her new place, she knew it was time to leave.

But, this? Packing up and moving to a state she’d never even been to before? This was reckless! She turned and gazed at the boy driving the truck. He’d been her best friend through all of the craziness of the last year, and somehow that friendship had turned to something more. She was still kind-of amazed about that.

He had known she was scared and unhappy about the situation with her ex, so one day he took her to the park, set her down on the grass, and pulled out a map of the United States.
“Close your eyes and point.” He’d said.

“Why?” she’d asked, but did it anyways. She opened her eyes, and her finger was resting on Colorado.

“How do you feel about the mountains?” he grinned.

So, now, a few weeks later, they were on their way…off to a new state, a new life…something entirely different.
She closed her eyes and breathed.

2.
She stared at the computer screen. She’d never been one for lists, but she read somewhere they were supposed to make things easier.

She quickly typed. #1- “Clean the house.” She looked around at the disaster surrounding her, and quickly erased it.

Let’s try this again. #1- “Write.” She opened Word, and stared at the manuscript. She sighed. Not today…the damn muse was hiding again. She closed down Word, and erased that suggestion.

Okay…think…. #1- “Eat something.” That was easy enough. A few minutes later, she was back at the list. Did that really count? Probably not. She sighed, and hit delete.

#1- “Do some laundry.” Fuck. That would involve organizing clothes. She quickly erased it, thought a moment, and then smiled.

#1- “Go to best friend’s house, drink and watch movies.” She stared at the list and nodded. Well, at least she could accomplish one thing today! Lists were stupid, anyhow.

3.
She downed the Dr. Pepper, and grabbed a few pieces of hard candy. The junk food expo was great, and she was having a grand time gaining a million pounds.

She’d already eaten some Smartfood popcorn, washed it down with a slurpee, and then followed that with some Hostessy goodness. She took another swig of her soda, and listened to her stomach make accusing noises at her.

Maybe she’d go to the veggie convention next week, after all.

4.
She stared at the mountains surrounding her. Was she really in Scotland? It seemed like only yesterday she’d sold the film rights to her first mega-successful novel for the unheard of sum of 1 billion dollars, and now here she was! Glencoe was as beautiful as everyone promised!

Next on the itinerary was Ireland, because she was Irish, after all. She always believed that if she stepped foot on the soil there, something magical would happen. She wanted to go there first, really, but she realized she had to wait. Something in her had somehow always missed a place she’d never even been to before, and that feeling had always thrown her off a bit. But, she’d wanted to see Scotland, too…so, she went there first…leaving Ireland’s magic until last.

She was glad she’d been able to make sure her closest friends never had to worry about money again, and she’d already bought a house. That was quickly followed by the purchase of a new car that actually ran, she sent her kids off to have fun at various camps, and then she went on this vacation of a lifetime…by herself. She breathed in the fresh air, and watched the mists roll over the mountains, and smiled. Life was good.

5.
She gazed out at the ocean. There was nothing like the Oregon Coast. It was the most beautiful place she’d ever been, thus far, and she wondered how she had ever managed to live away from the Ocean. There was something about the water that instantly put her at ease, and made everything calm inside of her.

Colorado had been beautiful, but she missed the ocean so much when she was there. The lakes were gorgeous, yes, but they weren’t the same. They couldn’t compete with the ocean.

California had the ocean, too…but, it was different. Too glitzy, too perfect…it didn’t have the rugged, wild beauty that the Oregon beaches did.
She sat down on the cold sand, and watched the crashing waves roll towards her…reveling in the feel of the water tickling her toes.

Murder: In Two Parts

2008-06-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

Scene One-

Setting- Pristine, clean house...quiet before bedtime.

Woman- Hey can you make sure the house stays clean before you come to bed? I worked all day cleaning it, and I know how you are.

Man- No problem. I doubt I'll move off of this couch, anyhow.

Scene Two-

*Five Hours Later* Woman wakes up and goes downstairs to find house DESTROYED. Clothes strewn everywhere, food on floor in both living room AND kitchen, plates and bowls on furniture and floor, food and utensils and gunk all over kitchen, trail of popcorn leading from kitchen to living room, Hansel and Gretel style...etc, etc...

Woman spends 20 minutes cleaning at 3 am, and then stomps upstairs, where man is awake and looking suspiciously like he "wants" something.

Woman- DON'T even think about it!! If you think you're getting anything after I had to clean up a giant mess that you were SUPPOSED to contain, then you're sadly mistaken.

Man- *looking GENUINELY affronted* B-but....I DID contain it!!

*stunned silence*

Woman- To what?? The INSIDE of the house??

fin

Stealing Mosaics.

2008-06-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

Stealing this from Karl, who stole it from someone else, who stole it from someone else...(Lather, Rinse, Repeat.)

The concept:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? right now?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is one word that describes you?
12. What is your flickr name?

And my resulting mosaic? Click on it for a bigger view.

1. Adena Mound, 2. The famous Fly Mushroom, 3. T&E General Store, 4. Greener Pastures, 5. 264319~Gerard-Butler-Posters, 6. Drink Dr. Pepper!, 7. Glencoe, 8. Candy, 9. The Writer, 10. Snowmen family in TX, 11. Dork., 12. Dominoes

I've Just Discovered a New Psychiatric Problem!!

2008-05-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

So, today I'm at the counter at a gov't agency, talking to the lady behind the desk.

Another lady, who had been sitting, filling out paperwork at a table, got up and hesitantly walked towards us. Once she reached us, she asked "Do you have a dictionary?"

The girl behind the counter said no, so English nerd me asked her what she was trying to spell.

She said "Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome."

So, I started to spell it, but judging from the panicked look I was getting I decided to ask her "Well, let me see what you have written, and I'll tell you if it's right."

She shows me her paperwork, and it says...

"Post Dramatic Stress Syndrome."

O.M.G.

I'm seriously patting myself on the back for not busting out laughing, because I SOOOO wanted to! Instead, I just managed to say "Um...It's not DRAMATIC....it's TRAUMATIC."

She looked at me completely blankly, so I just told her to write down the letters as I said them.

Whooo Boy.

Sometimes people scare me.

ambivalence.

2008-05-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I've been neglecting this blog so much.

It used to be that it was my writing outlet, because I was too lazy to sit and actually write something more than a 4 minute blurb about something. I've always had to have some sort of creative outlet in my life to keep me (semi) sane...whether it be writing, art, music...whatever. Just something that I'm actually CREATING.

And for a while there, this blog was that.

But, now I've been actually, really, honest-to-God writing (Like in WORD! OMFG, amazing!!) and I haven't really needed this outlet that bad. What I've been doing probably isn't that great, but it's still mine, and I'm still creating...even if it's horrible.

I also used to blog to keep track of all my friends I've made in bloggy-land, but now Twitter has pretty much taken over THAT little necessity! (Because, honestly, what BETTER way to keep track of people than 140 character blurbs??) Ha.

I used to post photos here, but now I have Flickr to do that.

My poor blog has been outsourced. Which is really, really ironic, actually.

So, here I sit in my darkened living room, listening to the sound of the washing machine playing behind Mat Kearney playing through my earbuds....staring at a half finished manuscript on my computer, and neglecting my poor, pathetic blog.

I honestly don't know how I feel about that.

Tattooed Thoughts?

2008-04-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

So, the written part I already have tattooed. I have it just below my neck, between my shoulder blades.

It translates to "Write."

The rest of it, I want to have added. A book with blank pages. Telling me to hurry up and fill them, already!

This is just a rough sketch, and will be much better once actually drawn on me. The book will be further up, on my neck, and the stars will look better, probably smaller and more stylized - cascading down my neck and around the writing.

What do you all think? Yay? Nay?....

Scarily True.

2008-04-16T19:46:00.001-07:00

Your Slogan Should Be

Between Love and Madness Lies Adena

The Slogan Generator

Ghost Forest

2008-04-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

So, every once in a great while, the Coast has a big storm that is strong enough to wash away significant amounts of sand from the beaches.

And, sometimes, when that happens it uncovers something ancient.

This is called a "Ghost Forest", and it's the stumps of trees that are around 2000-4000 years old and were suddenly buried in some sort of cataclysmic event. It buried them so quickly that it preserved them in their normal positions.

Usually, they are covered by the sand, with only the tops of one or two of them poking their heads out....but, with this last storm that blew through, it uncovered an entire forest.

I have more pictures here.

The pictures don't really do justice to how cool it was. Some of the stumps were almost as tall as me, and with all the water rushing around them, it was very surreal, and very, very beautiful.

So, we spent a gorgeous day at the beach, but my camera ran out of juice by the end. Somehow, the camera gods were smiling at me, and I caught this picture in a split second moment:

I freaking love it. I may blow it up and have it framed.

I love the beach, and although I only live about 45 minutes from it, I don't go nearly enough. I need to change that, I'm thinking...

Drawing

2008-04-05T23:07:00.001-07:00

Colored Pencil Drawing
Originally uploaded by deenerann

I haven't drawn in ages, and I have a zillion sets of colored pencils around. I hardly ever use them, usually preferring Graphite...but, tonight I pulled these out.

One thing about colored pencil. NO ERASING!!!

This whole thing was drawn w/o erasing, which is why her eyes are all wonky. I want to erase one of them and fix it right, but I can't. So here's the final, imperfect drawing.

The scanner didn't pick up the correct color...her hair is actually a lot blonder, and her skin is a warmer peach...but, I can't get it to scan the color correctly. Alas.

Dramaz!

2008-04-05T10:38:00.001-07:00

Okay, semi-serious post. I didn't sleep well last night, and I'll probably just wind up rambling incoherently, but I'm honestly curious.

So, without further ado....

MAN, there's a lot of drama going on in the blog-o-sphere right now! (And, no, I won't link to any of it...this is just a generalized statement, without pointing fingers.)

I'm as guilty as anyone in reading it all when it happens (kind-of the train wreck mentality, ya' know?)...but, when it comes to jumping in to any of it, I tend to stand WAY back at the far end of the room, and just watch. I don't really want to be involved in all that.

One of my bestest friends does it all the time in chat rooms....does it for fun...and I think it's hysterical sometimes the way she can get people to completely FREAK out by just writing...but, personally, I tend to steer clear of it. Maybe I do that in real life, too.

I mean, I can fight with the best of them. I'm a redhead, and I've got a lot of Irish/Gaelic in me, and when I fight, I FIGHT (as anyone who really knows me can attest to)...but, it takes a huge amount of crap to get me to that point.

Normally, the main thing I do is I jump in with quiet sarcastic / snide little comments directed at people, and I know I do that a lot. That's actually probably worse than just openly freaking out on someone...but, I HATE confrontation, for the most part. (Although, that all goes out the window if we're talking about relationships. Then, confront away!! I'm ALL about the big fight if you're actually in a relationship w/ someone. MUCH better than silently stewing.)

So, I guess...I just want to know why some people seem to feed and thrive on causing as much shit as possible online? Personally, I come online to escape all the crap and drama of my real life. I don't know as it would make me feel any better to have it going on all around me online, too.

I don't blog a lot of personal stuff. Yeah, I post about my kids sometimes, but mainly I try to be entertaining and funny on the blog, or just write quick little random thoughts (although, Twitter has taken that away from my blog. Much easier to Twitter all that.) Anyhow, I just never thought anyone wanted to hear about my everyday dramaz shit...so, I made the decision to not really blog about any of that.

I have made some real friends online, and if I'm having a bad day, or whatever, I usually get emails asking about it. I'm totally fine with that. If you're openly ASKING about my shit, I'll tell you, but I won't just force it on the unsuspecting reading public.

Which is probably exactly why I've been neglecting the blog so much. If I have nothing amusing to write, I won't do it. If I'm feeling insecure and shitty about myself, then I won't have anything amusing to write. There's the rub. I've been in a bit of a downward slump as far as how I feel about myself, my writing...everything. I'd rather just read about other people's lives than bore you with my own.

So, here's the question...for those of you that like jumping into all the drama, and stirring the proverbial online pot....why? I'm not trying to be bitchy...I just honestly want to know. Maybe it's something I should do more of....I don't know. I'm an opinionated bitch in my own mind, believe me...and my brain is always going a million miles a minute about things, but I tend to monitor what I say or do very carefully. Believe me, there is an INORDINATE amount of catty stuff going on in my head that most people will never know about. Maybe that's a problem I need to address? I dunno.

I'm not trying to start a flame war, believe me. Just be honest, K?

That's it.

Forum's open. Have at it.

Bored, Ver. 2.1

2008-04-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

The weather here is schizophrenic. Two days ago it was snowing. Today it was about 65 degrees and sunny.

My poor flowers in the front yard are so confused.

Also, change of subject, but...

I love FireFox...I really do...but, after so many years of using IE ingrained in my brain, I totally forget about the tabs in FF.

And, when I DO use them, I instantly forget they're there and move on to other things, with tabs still open in the background.

So, um...if some people are looking at their blog stats, and wondering why the hell there's an IP from Salem, OR hanging out on their blogs for HOURS....um, yeah...sorry about that.

You don't have a stalker.

I'm just an idiot.

Dear Shopper at Wal-Mart:

2008-03-22T18:44:00.001-07:00

Maybe you should reconsider this outfit:

That is all.

Love,
Me.

MOVIES!

2008-03-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

Got this from Hilly ...and, as promised...another Meme!

* Pick 15 of your favorite movies
* Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie (or quote them from memory because you are that bad ass)
* Post them on your blog for everyone to guess
* Fill in the film title once it’s been guessed

These are your rules:
* No Googling or using IMDB search functions (Don’t cheat!)
* Leave your answer(s) in the comments

And here they are....in NO particular order...

1. "Yes! You taught me that people will do anything for a potato."

2. "There can be no victory here... why do you smile?"

3. "I can't help thinking that at some point someone is going to produce a piglet and we'll all have to chase it."

4. "Gentlemen, good luck. If you need me, I shall be in Australia."

5. "Just look at the face: it's vacant, with a hint of sadness. Like a drunk who's lost a bet." -Lucretia (aka GeekMommy)! "Shaun of the Dead"

6. "I know what you would say, and it would seem like wisdom, but for the warning in my heart."

7. "A man tells so many stories, that he becomes the stories. They live on after him, and in that way he becomes immortal."

8. "It's the end of the month, they're out of toilet seat covers!"

9. "She's gone. She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen." -Hilly! "Say Anything"

10. "Nah. The last tour I did was ten years ago. It was Aerosmith, but they've gone and cleaned up their act. It's all wheatgrass juice and fuckin' pumpkin seeds. I hope you guys are still crazy, or I'm outta here."

11. "I had two heart attacks, an abortion, did crack... while I was pregnant. Other than that, I'm fine." - Dave! "Amelie"

12. "Back when I was picking beans in Guatemala, we used to make fresh coffee, right off the trees I mean. That was good. This is shit but, hey, I'm in a police station." -Kapgar! "The Usual Suspects"

13. "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife. But after what you just said, I'm not even sure I want to be that any more." -Again, Kapgar! "The Princess Bride"

14. "I swallowed a bug."

15. "It's hell out there. Matthew's trapped with an evangelist from Minnesota."

There you have it!! Have fun!

Plea.

2008-03-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

Lazy.

2008-03-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

A Meme In Pictures

Here’s how it works:
1. Go to www.photobucket.com
2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box
3. ~~Use only the first page~~
4. Insert the picture into your Blog

1.) What is your Relationship Status?

2)What is your current mood?

3.) Who is your Favorite Band / Artist?

4.) What is your Favorite Movie?

5.) What kind of pet do you have?

6.) Where do you live?

7.) Where do you work?

8.) What do you look like?

9.) What do you drive?

10)What did you do last night?

11.) What is your Favorite TV Show?

12.) Describe yourself:

13)What are you doing today?

14.) What is your Name?

15.) What’s your Favorite Candy?

Self-Control

2008-02-29T18:13:00.000-08:00

So, I'm standing in line at Wal-Mart, in their customer service area.

In front of me stands this girl. She's probably like 13-14, there with her probably 19-20 year old boyfriend (eww...but, it IS Wal-Mart...)

ANYHOW...her outfit. Oh my god, her outfit!!

This is where self-control comes into play, because I was dying...dying...to take a picture of her with my cell. But, there were equally scary people behind me, and I was afraid that if they saw me taking pics of the obviously underage girl in front of me...well....Yeah.

Self-Control, Adena.

So, I'll try and explain in the best detail I can:

Starting at her head...she was wearing a white hat, straight out of the 60's. You know, kinda like a bubbly baseball cap w/ a little ball on top?

Then she was wearing a skin tight sparkly tee-shirt.

Then she was wearing an UBER short plaid school-girl looking miniskirt. (Which, um...20 year old boy sleeping w/ a 13-14 year old....MAYBE you should think about discouraging her from going out with you when looking like she just got out of Catholic Jr. High. Just a tip.)

And then...THEN....to top the whole ensemble off....

She's wearing these legging...things. They started at just below her knees....leaving the great expanse of her bare thighs below her uber-short miniskirt for all to see. However, these leggings....they were white....FLEECE....bellbottomed, and hung down over the top of her white, LA-Gear looking tennis shoes. (And we're talking LA-Gear from the late 80's)

I honestly don't know how else to explain it. I really wish I had been able to sneak a picture!

But, Self-Control, Adena.....Self-Control.....

Quirky

2008-02-23T09:41:00.000-08:00

So, there's this meme making the rounds, and all the cool kids are doing it, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.

You're supposed to list 6 quirky things about you, and then tag 3 people to do the same. I don't tag. So, I'll just list.

Here goes!

1. I have an extraordinary amount of books, and I re-read them all. Sometimes multiple times. There are books I have that I almost know by heart, for the amount of times that I've read them...yet that never diminishes my pleasure for the story.

2. I love going to overgrown, slightly freaky places to take pictures. Especially cemeteries. I LOVE cemeteries...and I love photography. It's a quirky combo.

3. I get overwhelmed in large groups of people. So much so that I will most likely fade to the back of the room, and just observe people in silence. I love to observe people. However, I know this makes me come across as aloof and cold sometimes, when really, I'm pretty open and funny when I get over my insecurities and let myself join the crowd.

4. I don't really like jewelry. I mean, I own a lot of it, but I never really wear it. With that said, I only have quirky, funky jewelry. I HATE gold, and I'm not that big on diamonds, and the like. Give me something unusual and off-beat...something that isn't sweet and dainty, and I'd enjoy that SO much more than your typical solitaire.

5. I buy bags of ice on a weekly basis. I MUST have cocktail ice in my drinks. I'm kind-of OCD about ice. I must have it to crunch on when I'm drinking soda or juice. I loves me some ice!!

6. I am obsessed with Gerard Butler. Like unhealthily obsessed. Like I could dip him in honey and eat him with a spoon obsessed. *hangs head in shame* But, seriously...who WOULDN'T be obsessed with THIS??

And there you have it. Only a small sampling of the reasons Adena is quirky.

Meet Miguel

2008-02-19T23:07:00.000-08:00

God, has it really been a month since I've posted??

(shh.....let us not speak of it...)

Anyhow, not much besides work and the neverending flu has been going on, so I've had no real reason to bore you all with the details of my non-existant life.

HOWEVER....I survived 3 weeks or so of no car, because my old car finally died after at least a month of trying to kill me.

No, seriously. It tried to kill me. It decided to start spewing antifreeze fumes into the interior of the car as I drove. After a week or so of that, I finally managed to get the man to tinker with it, and he did something that made it so it started spewing the fumes OUT OF MY GRILL....so, I got horrified looks as I drove down the street. People running in all directions from the smoking car that may explode at any time.

Anyhow, I had to resort to catching rides from friends, etc...which really sucks. I hate not being mobile.

So, I got my taxes back, and scoured Craigslist, and found myself a new car.

Here he is......his name is Miguel.

Why Miguel? Well, I bought him from a Mexican kid, and he's quite um....tricked out. See the car bra? It's a cell phone pic, so the crappy photo quality makes it hard to see the LETTERING on my windshield....speaking of Racing.

BUT, the advantages of buying him from the Mexican kid far outweigh interesting decals, and such.

He kept it in tip-top shape, and added all sorts of spendy filters....and he put in a great stereo system.

So, now I get odd looks from cops as I roll down the road with my bass blaring behind my tinted windows.

I Got Nothing

2008-01-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

So here's another iTunes meme!

1. Put your music player on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the Next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT. Add some lyrics, if you want!

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY: "Rock Is Dead" (Marilyn Manson) Haha, I’m totally going to start saying that, too! Can you imagine the looks I’d get?

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? "I’m No Angel" (Dido) No, I’m not.

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? "Gravity" (Sara Bareilles) This is one of my favorite songs, and is heartbreakingly true. ["You hold me without touch. You keep me without chains. I never wanted anything so much, than to drown in your love and not feel your rain."]

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? "Sullen Girl" (Fiona Apple) No, that was yesterday. I’m okay today!

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE? "The Bottom Line" (Depeche Mode) [“it's something that is out of our hands, something we will never understand. It's a hidden law. The apple falls, destiny calls. I follow you.”]

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? "Little Victories" (Matt Nathanson) [“This time, I'll have no fear. I'll be standing strong and tall Turn my back towards them all”] I LOVE this!

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? "Falling Apart” (Matt Nathanson, again.) [Maybe it's because I'm Crazy. Maybe it's because I just can't honestly tell you what I want] Yeah, so THERE!

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS? "Exit” (U2) True.

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? "Endless Dream" (Conjure One) *le sigh*

10. WHAT IS 2+2? "One Sweet Love" (Sara Bareilles) Aww!

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? "Somewhere Only We Know" (Keane) Ha!

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? “Love You Til The End” (The Pogues) [“I just want to see you when you're all alone. I just want to catch you if I can”]

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? "Til Kingdom Come" (Coldplay) [“For you I'd wait... 'Til kingdom come. Until my days... my days are done”]

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? "Makes Me Wonder" (Maroon 5) [“One day I'll wake up and it won't hurt anymore.”] Now I’m depressed.

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? "Hallelujah” (Rufus Wainwright) HAHAHAHA!

16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? "In God’s Country" (U2) Well, that’s where they WISH I was.

17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? "Endless" (Dave Gahan) [“I'm lost in a moment with you. It feels right We're floating above the stars You and I”] Nice!

18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? "Beyond the Invisible" (Enigma) Now, that’s funny!

19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST? "Fake Plastic Trees" (Radiohead) Silicone Bonsai?

20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? "A Wild and Distant Shore" (The Piano Soundtrack) Wow. No Comment.

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? "Stupid" (Sarah McLachlan) HA! Wow, um…yeah. That’s not very nice, is it?

Stolen

2008-01-17T19:19:00.001-08:00

I Stole this from Karl....which makes my finished result pretty ironic! (click my links, because they'll take you where you want to go)

How to Play:

Go to Wikipedia- Click on random Article (left hand side) The first article title on the page is the name of your band.
Click Random Quotes The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.
Visit Flickr- The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
Use your graphics program of choice (I used the Motivator) to throw them together, and post the result.

Here she is!

Revenge!

2008-01-11T21:16:00.001-08:00

SnackiePoo had this up on her blog, and I thought I'd do it....since it involves music , which is one of my most favorite things ever...

Anyhow, it kind-of freaked me out w/ the spot-on-ness of the answers!!

iTunes RevengeRules: Put your music player on shuffle, press forward for each question and use the next song title as the next answer.

What does next year have in store for me? Bullet the Blue Sky- U2 (Yikes)

What's my love life like? Bare- Matt Nathanson (Now I'm depressed...)

What do I say when life gets hard? No Sleep Tonight- 300 Soundrack (Aint that the truth??)

What do I think of upon waking up? Long Hard Road Out of Hell- Marilyn Manson (HA! This is probably the most accurate on this whole meme.)

What song will I dance to at my wedding? The Music of the Night- Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack (This SLAYS me....only a few people know why)

What do I want as a career? Returns a King- 300 Soundtrack (QUEEN, maybe?)

My favorite saying? Caught A Lite Sneeze- Tori Amos (I'm not sure what it means...)

Favorite place? Fairytale- Sara Bareillis (I wish.)

What do I think of my parents? Sleep To Dream- Fiona Apple (Pretty much)

What’s my porn star name? Drunk Chicken - U2 (Cracking up. Can so picture it.)

Where would I go on a first date? Don't Stop Now- Emmy Rossum (FIRST date? I'm a slut, apparently.)

Drug of choice? Cornflake Girl- Tori Amos (As drugs go...cereal's pretty tame.)

Describe myself. Heartbreak World- Matt Nathanson (Yeah, true.)

What is the thing I like doing most? Endless Dream- Conjure One (Actually, I hate it, thanks.)

What is my state of mind like at the moment? The Ghost in You- Psychadelic Furs (Haunted?)

How will I die? Barrel of a Gun- Depeche Mode (Well, at least I know...)

Honesty.

2008-01-03T00:42:00.000-08:00

Belinda talked me all up in Twitter, so now I have to blog!! AGH!

So, I went to the convenience store tonight, and when I walked in, the clerk was standing outside talking to friends.

I was standing in front of the candy, and he came in and walked over to me, and stood there watching me.

I said "Um...just getting candy..."

and HE said...

"That's okay. I'm just standing here blatantly pressuring you to hurry up."

I looked at him in surprise and he shrugged, and said

"I feel that honesty is always the best policy."

Cracked. My. Shit. Up.

Blank.

2007-12-28T23:50:00.000-08:00

Ya know? I have nothing to say, lately.

I know it's been brutally apparent on this blog, and I don't suppose it matters much because I don't think anyone reads me anymore. I'm fairly certain I lost a good portion of my readers when I switched from Typepad to Blogger.

I've been using up all of my creative brain cells writing my book, and my life has been so boring as of late that I have nothing to write about, anyhow.

For the 1.5 visitors I still have out there:

Sorry I suck.

REALLY Bad Product Name

2007-12-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

Personally, I like the little product blurb, as well. "Cusp of your Cosmo", eh? Never heard it referred to as THAT before....

Proof Guild Wars was Designed by a Team of 14 year old Boys...

2007-12-10T20:07:00.001-08:00

My character...in her "armor".

Now....THAT'S supposed to keep me safe in battle??

And then, there's this....

Yes, I can take off her clothes. Even better, I can get her to dance....in her underwear....

And.....she'll dance for hours, if I'll let her....

Yeah.....Boys.

Oh NO! A New Internet Toy!! Blog by Phone!! OH NOOO!!!

2007-12-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

Google Search Fun

2007-11-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

What have people been looking for when they've been directed to my blog lately?

I'll tell you:

Newscaster Nipples - Um...Okay? When have I mentioned this, exactly?
i have like an orange skin that break off on my nipple what is it? - I don't know, but it doesn't sound good....
cat laryngitis - This seems to be a RAMPANT problem, because I get people looking for this ALL the time.
what is the opposite of disgusted? - Thrilled?
forked house toilet paper - The devil doesn't use toilet paper. It's part of why he's evil.
tire porn - You, sir, have issues.
news reporter tickled upon her feet - Which caused the nipples?
come for the fishing stay for the strippers - That's Oregon.
alligator in the pond moral - Avoid the pond?
do you believe in love at first sight have you ever been hurt emotionally - Well, DO you?

and

choking the monkey - Enough said.

Methinks This May Have Been Planned....

2007-11-11T10:46:00.001-08:00

BEST HEADLINE PLACEMENT EVER

Things Seen Whilst Driving....

2007-11-04T16:53:00.001-08:00

Someone attempting to detail their own car, and make it "Brand Name".

Unfortunately, they must have been looking in a mirror while doing it, because....um, not QUITE right....

Then, while driving at night....a semi driving ahead of me, with his trailer wheels folded in on top of his other ones....well, it made for an interesting rear light display.

At least it was cheerful.

Halloween

2007-10-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

Jack does not say "Trick or Treat". He goes up to the door, looks at the person and says "Put the candy in the bag."

It was kind-of funny.

Arianna had fun, at least.

Photo Geek.

2007-10-28T22:47:00.001-07:00

My friend and I went out (escaped) today, and drove around aimlessly and took pictures. I've posted some of them on my Flickr.

Disturbing.

2007-10-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

My parents are remodeling, which means I've been the recipient of various things over the last few weeks...since my mom is trying to rid herself of some of the decades of accumulation she had built up.

Mostly it's been stuff I can totally use, and I've been looking forward to the day that she picks up Arianna, because it usually means I have a bag of goodies to go through.

So, today I got a bag....

In it:

Some clothes STRAIGHT out of the 80's, that you couldn't pay me to wear.

A rolled up poster. I opened it. It was a picture of Johnny Depp from his 21 Jump Street days. It even said "21 Jump Street" on the bottom. Hysterical.

Then I dig deeper in the bag, and find...

A mason jar filled with hair.

Apparently she kept my hair when I was little.

I'm a little creeped out by this glass jar of hair sitting on my buffet...and wondering WHY on Earth she thought I'd want it.....

News from the "Duh".

2007-10-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

Headline:

Researchers: Men taken more seriously than women when crying

Wow.

Hard-hitting, groundbreaking journalism there!!

Dear Annoying Spammers:

2007-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

When trying to market something that is "guaranteed" to give you "huge erections and stamina" maybe you should NOT send the email from some woman named "Helga".

Because, between you and me....all that name conjures up is a huge woman in a viking cap that could probably decapitate a man with one punch.

And I'm pretty sure that's not the look men are going for when they want "huge erections and stamina".

Or, maybe I'm wrong....

Just something to consider,

Me.

Electricity.

2007-10-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

Um, either my house has some SERIOUS wiring issues that just appeared suddenly, or being that it's close to Halloween, I have some mischievous ghostie visiting.

Case in point:

I go to turn on my lights in my kitchen. They don't turn on. I have a fluorescent light fixture in the middle of the ceiling. I try both switches. Nada. So, fine, I turn on the light above my stove, and go about my business.

A while later, I go to heat something up in the microwave.

The INSTANT I open the door to the microwave, and the light inside of it clicks on, so does my overhead light. They turned on simultaneously.

Um, okay.... I stood there standing bemused for a bit.

Then later on in the night, I go up to my bedroom. The light won't turn on. I click the switch a few times. Nada. I figure the light is burnt out, and I fumble my way to the computer to turn it on to use it's light. Soon as it boots on, my bedroom fixture clicks on.

Come to think of it, it turned on me the other day, too.

I was in on the computer. Light switch was clicked off. Sitting there minding my own business, and then the light turned on by itself. I just turned around, said "Well, hello." and went back to typing. Yeah, I don't scare that easily.

Hmm.

Maybe I DO have a visitor!

Seen Today.

2007-10-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

A teenage boy who weighed maybe 95 lbs, wearing a tank top that he'd ripped down the sides to expose his knobby ribs- With a fresh new tattoo on his (non-existent) bicep.

What did this new tattoo say, spelled out in Fancy Old English?

"Strong."

Um, sorry to burst your bubble, buddy...but Leonidas you're not.

Woozy.

2007-10-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

So, my new job is working in the office of a local manufacturing plant.

Now, the people in the office are normal.

The people in the plant.....well....let's just say they don't drug test at my work.
And half of them look like they've just climbed out of the primordial ooze.

So, today, I had to watch some safety videos with a bunch of the factory people, and so I trudged upstairs, and sat on a bench. Sorta a wobbly bench, but I was on it by myself at that time, and didn't think anything of it.

I'm sorta sick today, too.

Anyhow....up comes two....people.....and they sit down next to me.

Now, let's just state for the record that one of the nicknames of my town is "McMethville" for a reason. And these two definitely belong here.

So, sitting on a wobbly bench with two EXTREME tweekers for 40 minutes....when you're sick....

Yeah.

Fun times.

Gah.

2007-10-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

I am the world's worst procrastinator.

That is all.

Rare.

2007-10-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

Question!

(and yes....I talk fast....I know. Dammit. I may need a transcript.)

New Discovery.

2007-10-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

Seriously amazing singer I just discovered, though he's been around for awhile.

Freaking LOVE him....His name is Matt Nathanson...

Enjoy!

Why Trips to the Store are Never Uneventful....

2007-10-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

I don' t know why I insist on going shopping at night.

I always think there will be less people, and I'll be in and out.... and yeah...there ARE less people...

but, unfortunately there are less CHECKERS, as well...and I end up having to wait eons to get out of the place.

So, standing in line tonight, I noticed:

1. There was a guy in jeans that were far, far too tight. Like, "I know what religion you are" tight. And, no...not something a girl really wants to see....ESPECIALLY if the guy weighs like 90 pounds, and has one of those mustaches he has greased and pointed the ends of....like he wants to live in an old Western and be the dastardly villain.

2. There was a college kid walking around in a BRIGHT turquoise, windbreaker material jogging suit. BRIGHT "Ohmygod, My eyes are bleeding!!" Bright....and he had one leg rolled up, one all the way down, and was wearing....a multicolored beanie w/ a propeller on top.

I'm hoping maybe he was being hazed for a fraternity? Because, this IS a college town. But, then it's October. Don't they haze earlier than this?

3. The woman behind me needed to beat her child. NOT that I advocate child abuse, but Jesus Christ! This kid was screaming, grabbing the cart and slamming it into her mom...on purpose, grabbing stuff of endcaps and throwing it on the ground, telling her mom "NO!!" when she told her to calm down....etc etc.

Seriously, lady? If your kid is being THAT out of control, I wouldn't have minded if you tried something a LITTLE more effective than "Please stop, Elizabeth." continuously.

So, now I'm home....decompressing.

and I took this pic of Jack tonight. I am SO in for it when he gets to the dating age.

Huh?

2007-09-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

Got this spam email today...

so you look to Design

Hallo. What's up? Email me at (random email) only. I am pretty girl.
 Would you mind me showing some nice pictures of me?
"I hope it will have some effect," you have spoken  the report says. to
 advice relating

Um....K?

Hopeful.

2007-09-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you that don't know, I am in the process of writing a book. (Well, 2 books...if you want to be technical. I needed a break from the first, and had a story in my head, so I started another one.)

Anyhow, as I was writing the 1st (which is very nearly finished), I started the whole "what do I do to publish this thing?" search. I decided to go the agent angle, because the major publishing houses do NOT accept un-agented material. So, I went about submitting query letters to agents all over the place.

Everything I've read and looked into says that it's harder to get an agent then it is to get published. They are not willing to take you on unless you can make them some money... understandably.

So, from what I can tell...the process is this:

Submit a query letter. If they are interested, they'll ask for sample chapters, and possibly a synopsis. 95% of manuscripts do not get past the query letter process.

Send the sample chapters. The agent will read them and hopefully ask for the full manuscript. If they ask for the full manuscript, there's a REALLY good chance that they'll take you on as a client. It's nearly impossible to get to this stage. Like 99.9% of manuscripts get rejected after the sample/synopsis is sent in.

Okay, so in my process, I got lots of requests to see samples...and a few "no thanks" after the original query letter. The ones I sent samples in to, I either never heard back from or got polite "it's good, but not what we're looking for" form letters. Whatever....I wasn't expecting anything major...this was my first major attempt at doing something with my writing.

Then I got a request for more material from an agency in NY. It's a HUGE agency...represents John Irving (Cider House Rules) and Dick Francis, as well as a lot of other names. They used to represent Kesey before he died. Basically, a lots of clout agency. So, after I started breathing again, I sent her a synopsis and some sample chapters. I was not expecting to hear anything more from her.

So, fast forward to this weekend...and about a month after I sent her the sample.

I get an email from her telling me that she really likes my writing, and told me to fix a few things and send her the full manuscript. (!!!!!) She said that she would wait for it to be fixed. So, yeah...I've been killing myself with late nights trying to get this thing perfect...so, if you don't see me around here for a while, you know why.

Anyhow, here's the deal. She could've just said no, right? The fact that she's willing to wait for me to make revisions, and did not give me a time frame that I HAD to get it back to her is good, right? I mean, she must think it has potential if she's willing to wait, right?

Help me out here. I'm not sure what to think. I mean, should I get my hopes up...seeing as how it's nearly impossible to get to this step in the process...or is this fairly common?

Does anyone know?

Elvis.

2007-09-25T18:45:00.001-07:00

Last night, Arianna was talking about how she had a flea on her earlier in the day.

She said "Yeah, it was like I had a mini Elvis in my pants!"

Martin and I went completely still, and looked at each other...unsure of how to react to that statement coming out of a 7 year old's mouth.

So, Martin slowly asks her..."Um, what's a mini Elvis?"

And she looks at him like he's an idiot, and says:

"Something little that hops around..."

Interview.

2007-09-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

My blog buddy, Jessie posted an interview a fellow blogger had given her, and then asked if anyone wanted her to think of some questions for them.

Sure, why not? At least it will give me something to post.

So, here are her questions:

1. When did you realize that (your parent's religion) was a cult, and how exactly did you break away from it? (changed the question up a bit, because I don't need search engine warfare from people that are still in the religion.)

Um, actually...I don't think I ever believed in it. I went along with it all, because it's what everyone expected of me, and I didn't want to disappoint people. But, my heart was never in it. I let my family and my friend's feelings and ideas dictate what I did until I couldn't take it anymore, and I had to get out.

I had a boyfriend that wasn't in the church, and I moved out with him when I was 19. It was a horrible relationship, and a total mistake, but the one good thing that came out of it was that it got me AWAY...and I could finally figure out what I wanted away from everyone's influence falling so heavily on me, and the guilt they threw on me...causing me to make the choices they wanted.

I lost everyone that was important to me with that decision...all my family was in the religion, and 99% of my friends, as well. They were all instructed to never speak to me...to never act like I existed if they saw me on the street. It was hell for a couple of years...I moved away shortly after, so I wouldn't have to deal with it. But, eventually, I just accepted it. I mean, there's still a part of me that misses my family...how they used to treat me...because it's COMPLETELY different now. They talk to me again (although they're not supposed to) but only because of my kids. They talk to me as if I'm just an acquaintance. I'm never invited over, I'm never talked to socially by the people who created me...by my brothers, who I loved completely, and by my nieces and nephews, who I basically helped raise.

It's a sore subject, sometimes.

But, it's been over a decade since I've left, and the funny thing is, my closest friends...the ones I missed the most...they have all now left the religion, and we are all back to being friends like nothing happened. I understand why they disowned me for that period of time...I can't blame them for the decisions they made...because unless you're in that life...you can't understand the IMMENSE pressure that is on you to be perfect, and do what everyone expects of you, for fear of losing everything. But, now they're back in my life, away from all that pressure.

And I'm really glad.

2. All time favorite band: name it

This is hard, because I love SO much music. But, my favorite band is probably Depeche Mode. I can remember listening to them when I was in 1st grade...taping (yes, taping) their songs off the radio, so I could listen to them later.

I've been to countless of their concerts, and even though I don't listen to them ALL that often, I'm still a huge fan. Still one of the faithful.

3. Were you as much into writing before you started blogging, or did the inspiration come when people began to read and like you here on the interwebs?

I've always written, for as long as I can remember. But, it's partially genetic, because both my parents are writers. My dad is more of an artist, and I got that from him, too...but, he's always written stories...humorous little things for me when I was a kid, or sarcastic stuff for grown ups. My mom is the novel writer...and has written over a dozen, at least. (She refuses to publish, though.)

The blog thing is just because it is kind of like a journal, and I had always kept one of those. My writing is my writing, and an entirely different thing, altogether. I don't write like I do on my blog...but, you should know that, Jessie. :)

4. Secret talent? Special powers?

Um, I kick ass at general knowledge trivia? Seriously, people refuse to play Trivial Pursuit or like Jeopardy type games with me. I guess I have the crazy ability to store useless information in my brain. Not really useful, except when you want to sound smart. :)

Powers? No. I can think of a few I want, though.

5. Did you plan on the mommy thing from an earlier age or did it just sort of happen?

Just sort of happened, definitely.

MSG Free!

2007-09-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

I got a new job!

I start Monday! No more crazy, rude Chinese bosses!

Now I just have to quit. Ha.

I'm supposed to work tomorrow and Sunday. I'm thinking of taking a 4 day weekend before the new job. Thoughts?

The only bad thing is that I will have NO internet access at the new job. None. I will be cut off from the world for 8 hours a day.

Poo.

Sanity.

2007-09-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

I've become addicted to the soundtrack to "300".

I seriously can't get enough of it.

Maybe it's the mood I've been in...

At any rate, I think I've finally started writing again. I got in a state of mind where everything creative was getting zapped out of me before I could do anything about it. Which was slightly scary, because writing has ALWAYS been the one sure fire way I had to make myself sane, and for some reason I lost it for a while there.

I hope it's back.

I think I need a new job.

Or, better yet...I need to become independently wealthy.

I like option #2 better.

New Hobby

2007-09-15T23:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Jason has been teaching me to tattoo. He's been the one doing mine, and he knew that I can draw, so he asked if I wanted to learn.

Hell yeah!

So, his wife graciously allowed me to use her leg as a test subject. She wanted leaves, and she didn't want them to be perfectly symmetrical, or anything like that....so, she told me to go ahead and practice on her.

Done!

Go to my flickr page to check them out...they're the 4 pictures of leaves on the very top. I know they're not perfect, but it was my first attempt...and I have to say that tattoo guns are an ENTIRELY different medium to work with, and skin is kind-of a pain in the ass.

But, it's totally fun, and I'm going to keep at it until I get really good.

Write.

2007-09-12T20:30:00.001-07:00

New Tattoo.

It's right below my neck, and translates to "Write."

It's the first tattoo I have that actually has a deeper meaning...the rest are just because I liked them. 2 are a shout out to my Irish heritage (shamrock and a Celtic knot)...but, this is the first one that really meant anything.

So, now I have TECHNICALLY Eleven tattoos...only six of those eleven count as one, because they all go together. So, I guess I have 5, if you're being picky.

I really gotta stop...this is like an addiction...

Remember.

2007-09-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

This links to my OLD, Typepad Blog...but, I thought I'd repost the 2,996 project thing I did last year.

Don't ever forget the people who died 6 years ago, today...

Remember.

Ten.

2007-09-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've done a meme, and this is blogger, so it's more annoying than Typepad...in that I can't do an extended entry...but, whatever. I'm bored, and tired of only posting once a week, or so.

TEN FACTS
1.Name- Adena
2.Birth place- Portland
3. Hair Color- Red, normally. Currently a dark shade of Kool-Aid.
4. Hair style- longish and curly
5. Eye color- Sometimes Green, sometimes blue, sometimes gray...sometimes a combo of the 3.
6. Birthday- June 27
7. Mood- Dark.
9. Where do you live? Oregon
10. Lefty / righty? Righty...but, I think like a lefty.

TEN THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE
1. Have you ever been in love? Yes
2. Do you believe in love at first sight? Dunno...not going to discount it, but it hasn't happened to me.
3. Why did your last relationship fail? Psychotic Asshole?
4. Have you ever been hurt emotionally? Waaay too many times to count.
5. Have you ever broken someone's heart? Yes...but it was necessary.
7. Have you ever liked someone but never told them? That's my M.O.
8. Are you afraid of commitment? No.
9. Have you hugged someone within the last week? Yes
10. Have you ever had a secret admirer? Well, if it's secret, how the hell would I know??

TEN THIS OR THAT?
1. Love or lust? A bit of both?
2. Hard liquor or beer? I never really drink...but, I hate beer.
3. Cats or dogs? Cats, but I like dogs. You just don't have to babysit cats.
4. A few best friends or many regular friends? Best Friends
5. Television or Internet? Internet, obviously
6. Pepsi or coke? Coke!
7. Wild night out or romantic night in? Romantic, I'm not a big crowd person.
9. Night or day? Night. I love to just sit out in the dark and watch the city lights, or the sky...
10. IM or phone? IM...I'm a better writer when it comes to explaining myself.

TEN HAVE YOU EVER
1. Been caught sneaking out? Yeah, when I was a kid
2. Been skinny dipping? If I did, I have put it out of my memory
3. Done something you regret? Who hasn't?
4. Bungee jumped? No....not a fan of heights.
6. Finished an entire jaw breaker? Yes...this is a girl who eats Ice incessantly. I like the crunchies.
7. Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? Oh yeah.
8. Wanted an ex bf/gf back? Not really.
9. Cried because you lost a pet? Yeah, I've lost a lot of kitties...
10. Wanted to disappear? All the time.

TEN PREFERENCES
1. Smile or eyes: Eyes (and if you mix green eyes w/ my answer to #2...I'm a goner.)
2. Light or dark hair: Dark, for sure
3. Hugs or kisses: Both
4. Shorter or taller: Taller!
5. Intelligence or attraction: Intelligence
6. Romantic or spontaneous: Both
8. Hook-up or relationship: Relationship, though I could probably use a hook up or two.
9. Smelly feet or smelly breath? Um, eww? Feet, I guess. You can avoid feet.
10. Sense of humor or looks: Sense of humor!! (Though having both is nice.) :)

Eat Your Colors!

2007-09-06T16:06:00.001-07:00

2nd post in a day, but it's a good cause.

So, one of my Internet friends, Jessie, has written a book. Seeing as how I am in the process of doing the same (with TWO books!..Yikes!)...I told her I'd help her out whenever I could.

I did some editing on it, since I'm an English nerd, and also told her I'd spread the word when it was published and ready to go.

Her book is ENTIRELY different than mine are, as it is not fiction. She has written a book about how to get kids to eat healthy. It has a lot of informative information, and also some recipes. I've read it. It's helpful....her kids are like anomalies in a world full of kids who eat crap.

Follow this link *click me!* for information about the book, and how to buy it.

SUPPORT YOUR INTERNET WRITERS! :)

Stupid.

2007-09-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, the job is not putting me in the best frame of mind.

The day before yesterday, the Rude Chinese owners made this big to-do about how if there aren't that many rooms to clean in the morning, that I MAKE SURE that I call one of the maids, and tell them not to come in.

Okay...no problem.

So, the NEXT DAY....we have barely any rooms to clean, so I call one of the maids and tell her not to come in.

Fine. Did what they asked.

ONLY....the NIGHT BEFORE, after I'd been home for a while, apparently the owner decided to do it himself, and didn't bother to leave a note, telling me NOT to call a maid. And of course, he called the other one. So, now NO maids are showing up.

So, he should've left me a note, yes? ESPECIALLY after making a big to do that I make sure I did it in the morning. RIGHT? COMMON SENSE, RIGHT??

Noooo.....he told me I was stupid. That I should've KNOWN that he called a maid off, and EXACTLY which maid.

Um, yes. Because I'm psychic.

Bastard.

Color.

2007-09-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

In my mood from hell, I decided to color my hair. I was tired of the washed out red it was becoming.

So, um...I think I went a bit overboard.
(you can click the picture for more detail)

What do you all think?

Disgusted.

2007-08-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

So, has anyone else ever been at a point in your life where you're just completely frustrated and disgusted by almost every aspect of your existence?

Because that's where I'm at right now, and I'm not sure how (short of a few miracles) to fix it.

Cucumber.

2007-08-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

I'm in the sort of mood that is causing me to sit in the dark of my bedroom, staring at my computer screen, attempting to write....while listening to Marilyn Manson and AFI.

Yeah.

Anyhow, funny story....

Chinese Boss-Man was going on and on about the wonders of the Chinese Cucumber yesterday.

So, I was relating the story to Martin...doing the voice, all that...

"Chinese cucumber better than American cucumber....much better flavor....better than English cucumber, too...." (which, come to think of it, can COMPLETELY be taken wrong...)

So, after I get done telling him, Martin just deadpans:

"Why? Are they filled with lead?"

I was crying, laughing.

Just thought I'd share.

I Want To Be Christine!

2007-08-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a friend of mine's house.

She's got like EVERY MOVIE known to man, so I grabbed a few I wanted to bring home to watch.

She convinced me to watch one there with her "because she'd seen in like 40 times, and would totally see it again." So, even though it would effectively have me returning home at like 3am, we popped it in to watch it.

The movie version of "Phantom of the Opera" (Andrew Lloyd Webber's, of course.)

Um, after viewing it, I can safely say that for the first time I was actually PISSED at Christine for not choosing the Phantom!! Even WITH a deformity, that man just Oooooozed sex! Personally, I'd deal with the deformity.

Holy cow!

Anyhow...my friend and I were trying to figure out where we'd seen the guy before...what other movies he'd been in....and thinking that obviously he (as well as Christine) was probably just acting the part, with a voice over doing the singing.

Not so much.

After some research, not only did they BOTH do their own singing for the parts, but the Phantom is the same actor that played King Leonidas in "300".

Um, well no WONDER he ooozed sex!

AND he can sing?

Yes, Please!

So, to prove my point, here are some videos from the movie:

and

Did I mention he's also Scottish?

Cat From Hell?

2007-08-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

I think my cat has laryngitis.

Normally, he's loud and obnoxious. Lately he's been quiet.

Then, the other night I hear this...sound...outside my bedroom window.

Anyone seen "The Grudge"? You know when that ghostie/woman/thing is crawling down the stairs? You know that sound that is coming out of her mouth?

Yeah, that's the sound outside my bedroom window.

After a few moments of debating whether or not I wanted to die a horrible death, I went to investigate.

My cat now sounds like a creepy dead girl.

Have NO idea what's wrong with him. He's fine, otherwise. Active, eating...all that jazz.

He just sounds like he's from Hell now.

I Pity His Future Wife

2007-08-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

My son, who is newly 2 years old, is laying on the couch.

I hear him say "DAMMIT!"

I look over, and he repeats himself. "DAMMIT!"

I roll my eyes. I guess it could be WORSE swearing. So, I ask him "What are you damning?"

And HE says....

"The remote is up there." (Pointing to the top of the entertainment center.) "I need it on the couch."

Typical man. Already.

The Big Two!

2007-08-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Jack!

You're 2 now!

Here are some observations about this time in your life:

Your favorite thing to do is talk. You have to name everything, and everyone. You have to point out everything you see to anyone who might be around you, and tell us what it is. If we don't respond right away, you tell us again. Loudly. Until we acknowledge that yes...it IS a wall! (etc.)

You have, for some reason, while having your diaper changed, decided to alternate between saying "Don't touch the penis." and "Don't hurt me!". While I found this hysterical the FIRST few times, if you keep repeating this, I'll never again be able to take you out in mixed company. (And, don't worry internets! He's fine! I have NO idea where he got this. I'm thinking it's maybe because he hates cold diaper wipes?)

You are the most good natured kid I've ever seen. You're always in a good mood. The brief periods of time that you're in pissy moods, it's remarkably easy to get you out of them.

You are quite obviously left handed. I hope this means you're going to be artistic.

You love to eat. I repeat. You LOVE to eat.

You are obsessed with Lawn Mowers. And Weed Eaters. If you hear them outside, you must tell us immediately.

Seeing the Goodyear Blimp above our house nearly sent you into a fit of glee.

You like to do things like this:

You have the bluest eyes and longest lashes I have seen on a kid. I shudder to think of the girls I'm going to have to beat off of you when you get older.

You can sit in a corner quietly and look at a book for ages. This makes me very happy.

You tell me when you want to go to sleep. And then you don't throw a fuss about being shut in a dark room, and you just fall asleep.

You're fascinated with all things Golf. This makes DADDY very happy.

You are very opinionated. I don't know how many times I've been told "No. Put it back."

You want to learn to skateboard. Please let me buy you a helmet first?

You want tattoos. You are fascinated with tattoos. You draw on your body with a ball-point pen and then proudly show us, and say "Tattoo!"

You love being held.

You love playing with water, but you are terrified of sitting in a kiddie pool, or of taking a shower.

You are the cutest 2 year old EVER!

Happy B-Day Jack!

Neglect

2007-08-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you Internets!

I have been crazy busy trying to finish the book, and working for the insane Chinese folk.
(the wife told me to check for Poo-poo on the mattresses when people check out. Um aside from the ick factor....she actually SAID it like that. "You check for poo poo! Some people...they poo poo! The maids, they come to me and say this guest poo poo! So, you check for poo poo!!" Yeah. YOU try to get through THAT diatribe w/o laughing.)

At any rate, I have not forsaken you. I'm just trying to be creative in other avenues, right now. And after spending hours trying to think of things to write for a novel, it's hard to get motivated to come write in a blog.

*sigh*

Reading Into Things Wrong....

2007-08-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

Arianna has a giant stuffed monkey.

So, I hear her yelling at Jack:

"JACK! Quit laying down and choking the monkey!!"

************

Today, a Chinese exchange student asked me for a fork.

Only, what I heard was:

"Excuse me....may I bother you for a F**k?"

Yeah, it's been a day of double-takes.

Checking In...

2007-08-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

So, the job is going...well.

The owners crack me up. The wife was in a baaaaaad mood the other day. After a while the husband comes in and tells me "Oh. You no pay attention to her. She moody. She on her period. She always like this when she on her period. You no listen to her!"

Yeah. I have a feeling this job will be good blog fodder.

In other news:

I got a new tattoo. It's not colored in yet, so I'll take a picture when that's done.

I'm still GIVING my friend her tattoos. She wanted more than one. And is trusting me to do them! They still need colored in, as well....so pictures of those to come later.

I am 40k words into my book. As of last night. I'll crank out a couple chapters today, probably. It's coming along! If anyone is interested in reviewing what I have so far, shoot me an email.

That's all I got. It's saturday morning, and I'm just waking up. *yawn*

I Moved to Springfield...

2007-07-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

www.simpsonizeme.com

Fun Times.

2007-07-27T19:24:00.001-07:00

So.

I started a job this week working the front desk of a motel.

Run by Chinese folk.

It is fast becoming apparent this will be an...interesting...experience.

Apart from the language barrier, they are quite...blunt.

I got in a conversation w/ an ex-employee on the phone. She said that he took her license, looked at it and said:

"You used to be pretty. What happen? Drugs?"

Then he went on to say:

"Oh well. You not as fat as other girl. She huge."
*
*
*
Luckily he said nothing like that to me.

Only thing he said was "Hotel Industry not pay as much as Software Industry."

Uh. No shit.

Meez.

2007-07-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

Miss Ann Thrope is guilty of making me realize this site is out there.

Damn it.

Tho', scary how much this thing represents me!

Creativity

2007-07-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

So, one good thing about being unemployed...you know, aside from the pesky little being "broke" factor....

I have over 30,000 words written in my book.

I am learning to Tattoo.

In fact, I'm doing a tattoo today! If it turns out alright, I'll post a pic.

If not, no one will ever see it. (Well, apart from the people that look at my friend's body...)

DONE!!

2007-07-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

Well, sort of.

I migrated...but only some. I cut out a LOT...but, kept funny posts, things I wanted to keep.

I have some stuff I need to add later, saved in word. But, um...blogspot sucks when it comes to formatting pictures. I'll do those when I have more time.

Anyhow...

This is my new home, people!

Come visit!!

P.S.
Oh and um....comments. Yeah. Those didn't get migrated. I don't have 20 years free time. Sorry.

This One's For Real!!

2007-07-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

I figured I should post a new post, seeing as how the ones below this are currently 2 years old. I still have to sit down and migrate the rest of the old ones, but it's a royal pain in the butt. So, just an FYI, the posts below are from 2005. I did not just have a baby. :) He's nearly 2!! I'm done popping them out, I hope.

So, how's this layout? Hmm..hmmm?

Anyhow, not much new here. Currently in the job searching process.

Oh, and I'm writing a book! I have plenty of time, so I'm plugging away at it. I know where this one is going, so I'll finish it real soon. And then attempt the publishing process. Yikes.

But, I was just checking in...and seeing of which one of you actually are checking out the NEW addy instead of the old.....*hint hint*

I'm Burning....I'm Burning For You....

2007-07-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted a "stupid Martin Trick" story...

So, let me preface this little tale by stating that Martin was in the kitchen making sandwiches. COLD sandwiches.

Now, we have a small kitchen. For some reason, Martin had the front burner of the stove on. Since he was making sandwiches....well, not really necessary. But, regardless....I was looking in the fridge for something, and he was leaning back, being a sarcastic little butt about something.

Did I mention he was leaning back?

Against the stove?

The stove that was ON (for some unknown reason)?

Yeah, I think you see where this is going.

Anyhow, knowing him as I do, I reached back and pushed him forward, saying something along the lines of "Martin, scoot up, you're going to set yourself on fire."

Then, he turned around.

The next words out of my mouth were "In fact....you did. You might want to put yourself out." (Said w/ respective drollness, I might add.)

He craned around to look at his back, said a few choice swear words, and went running, flaming, through our house, trying to extricate himself from the fiery shirt of death. My daughter is screaming, Martin is panicking, I'm in between laughter and minor worry, and his friend, who is visiting, is staring at the whole scene w/ eyes as wide as saucers.

Martin managed to rip off the shirt, throw it on the floor, and both men pounced on it, putting it out w/ myriads of stomps.

Queue laughter.

After we'd managed to breathe again, he looked at me, and said

"You're going to put this in your blog, aren't you?"Oh, you'd better friggen' BELIEVE it!!

You want photographic proof?

Behold:

EXTRA EXTRA!!

2007-07-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

READ ALL ABOUT IT!!

TEXAS IS MISSING! TEXAS IS MISSING!!

SEE? I HAVE PROOF FROM THE MEDIA!!

WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN???

Would You Like Some Cheese With That Book?

2007-07-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

I have a guilty little secret.

I like to read romance novels.

I'm picky about which ones I read. Cowboys do nothing for me, nor do I like cops, firemen, or military types.All in all, modern romances make me roll my eyes, and nearly gag. I'm really not a romantic, most of the time.

However, there is something about the historical ones. Maybe it's some sort of throwback from my youth, of being forced to watch PBS, and countless British Period Dramas....At any rate, I do read the historical ones, and there are some author's that I swear by...that write funny, smart and engaging books.

But, for some reason, a lot of the historical writers seem to get all "purple prose" when it comes to describing the sex scenes. Seriously, sometimes it's so ridiculous, that I sit there and laugh hysterically, when I KNOW that's not the reaction they were trying to invoke. I mean, come on...."her HONEYPOT"??

I ran across one the other day....that actually said "his steaming jet of love." Um, seriously? STEAMING? Does he have a disease??

I swear, sometimes I sit there thinking "Do they REALLY think that was a good description? Could we have not come up with something a little less cheesy?"

So, it's actually become a bit of a joke w/ me and the neighbor girls, as they read a lot of romances, too. If we find a particularly horrible description, we'll immediately relate it to each other, laughing hysterically.

So, tonight, we were out lighting early fireworks for the kids, when one of the girls saw me holding a Roman Candle as it was showering its cascade of sparks from the end. She laughed, and said something about that being a good description for a love scene, and it took us like 2 seconds to come up with THIS winner:

"His Roman Candle of love exploded all over her quivering ground bloom flower" (You know, for a 4th of July themed book.)

Seriously. Can't. Stop. Laughing.

I may have to make a list...

Interrogation

2007-06-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamt I was watching a police interrogation.

Actually, quite a few interrogation.

The police guy had this thing on the bottom of his shoe, and he would keep clicking it during the questioning.

*ClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClick*

Until, finally, the suspect would scream "ALL RIGHT, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!! I DID IT!! I DID IT!!!"

This happened for quite awhile. Always the same....ClickClickClick.

So, this morning, I wake up, and in my haziness, realize that Martin has been playing Diablo all night on the computer in the bedroom, and the clicking that was so perversely invading my dreams, was, in fact, the mouse click.

Yeah, apparently, it annoys me.

Motivational

2007-06-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

Things Heard Today, Episode #2

2007-06-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

(While sitting in a waiting room, stealing horrified glances at the obvious meth-heads a couple chairs over.)

Receptionist, to other Receptionist: "I don't like this fake Sudafed stuff. It just doesn't have the 'kick' that the original Sudafed had."

Meth-head #1: *hysterical laughter* *itch itch pick pick*

*************

Later-Meth-head #1 to Meth-head #2: "Yeah, well I asked Jimmy about it, and he said it didn't matter that I had multiple felonies" *itch itch pick pick*

Things Heard Today

2007-06-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

(As sitting in the drive thru lane of the local Mexican food joint, waiting for a rather large couple to pass by us, so we can go. The man was wearing cut off jean shorts, and a cut off / no sleeve plaid shirt barely covering his beat up, no sleeve tee-shirt.)

Martin: (under his breath) "Careful. You don't want to run over Larry the Cable Guy."
_________

(I walk into the living room and see Arianna laying on her back, with her feet over her head, wrapped around the back of her neck)

Me: "What in the WORLD are you doing??"

Arianna: "Experiencing inner peace."

Wendy's Poisoned Me- A Haiku:

2007-05-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

Evil hamburger.
Expelling an elephant,
out of my stomach.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

2007-04-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

So, Jack has been in this verbal stage where he's been having to name EVERYTHING.

Doesn't matter what it is, he has to point at it and tell us what it is. This goes w/ people, too.

Our friend Joe comes over quite often to hang out and play poker. Everytime he comes over, he brings a 6 or 12 pack of beer.

Unfortunately, Jack has picked up on this, and now refuses to call Joe by his name. He is now known as "Beer."

As in, Jack will look around the room, point at us, and be all "Mom....Dad....Nana..........Beer."

Most. Hysterical. Thing. EVER!!

Giggle Freak

2007-04-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

Jack Discovering Balloons.

Diamonds are a Girl's...uh...Bikers? Best Friend?

2007-04-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

I've been such a slacker about writing.I've been busy with work, and Martin has taken over my computer playing "Oblivion", which I stupidly bought for myself, but then realized how much I HATE moving w/ a mouse and keyboard, and much rather like the Xbox controls. (And yes, I know you can buy controllers for your computer, but we can't get it to work right w/ Oblivion....it won't change direction...you still have to move the mouse to swivel. If anyone knows how to FIX that, then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know!!)

Anyhow, point is, I haven't had a lot to write about. I've been a picture taking fool, but I've been posting those to Flickr.

So, I got to thinking....I should probably share stories of funny things that happened to me in the past. I've had a LOT of those!So, here's a good one from Colorado.....

I used to work grocery, and I worked in the Deli at a place called "City Market" in Durango, Co.

Now it was more than your typical deli....we actually cooked. I mean, we had the normal packaged deli stuff, and the deep fried stuff, and the meats...but, we actually got up at the butt crack of dawn, and cooked breakfast from scratch to put in the hot case.

Now, this involved working a 4am-1pm shift. It was a 24 hour store, so the crazies usually were in there around that time in the morning.

Now Durango has a big Harley Biker event called the Iron Horse Rally....where thousands of Harley'd men and women invade the town, and do this giant bike rally through the mountains. It's really impressive. However, with that come a lot of the Harley FREAKS. Now....don't get me wrong...I adore most bikers. However, there are exceptions to every rule.

I remember one day, working in the deli, and I hear my friend, Josh, say something to the effect of "Holy Mother of....." and I turned around to see what he was talking about.

Yeah.

Woman.

In chaps. And a bikini top. And a g-string.

Did I mention chaps?

It was....interesting. Every guy in the store had to hide behind waist height things for a few minutes, tho'.

Anyhow, one morning I dragged myself out of bed for the 4am shift, and entered a fairly deserted store. I rounded the corner to walk through the paper aisle to get to the deli, and nearly ran into this giaganto, majorly hairy biker dude.

Seriously.

Robin Williams hairy.

And he was pretty hefty, as well. Which is all well and fine, and expected in your average biker.

However, what set him apart from the crowd was that he was dressed in a silk, pink floral mini sundress.

Yes, you read that right.

Silk.

Sundress.

Floral.

Hairy.

Now, at 4am, you don't really react well to unexpected situations like that. I'm really lucky I didn't get beat to a pulp by a hairy biker in drag.

But, perhaps he didn't want to break a nail?

Horror Show

2007-04-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

We had nice weather this weekend, and Martin decided to go out and mow the lawn on Sunday afternoon.

He was outside for a while, happily mowing away in the backyard, and I was inside, puttering around the house.

Suddenly, I see him run up to the slider, and start doing a little dance, shedding clothes. Now this wasn't a "Hey, baby...watch me take off my clothes" type of dance. It was more of a "OH HOLY HELL!! CLOTHES OFF NOW. NOW! NOW!!" type of dance.

I watched, bemused, for a few seconds, then he opened up the slider, and rushed inside, still shedding clothes out the back door, emitting a series of "EE EE EEEE!" sounds.

I said something to the effect of "What. The. F#&%?!" and he responded with "Sss....Sp.....SPIDERRRRSS!!"

"What the heck? You're not afraid of spiders."

"I'm not afraid of A spider. I am, however, a little panicked when surrounded by enough spiders to EAT ME WHOLE!"

So, apparently, he was happily mowing away by the side of the house/garage, when he happened to glance at the concrete walkway between the grass and the side of the garage. It is normally grey concrete. When he glanced at it, it was black. Wondering why it had changed color, he went in for a closer look. It was now black because it was COVERED W/ THOUSANDS OF BLACK SPIDERS!!!

I remained skeptical that there could be THAT many spiders, and went out to investigate.

Me.

Who has a spider phobia.

In flip-flops.

So, we go out the front door, and around to the side gate, and I look at the walkway, which is the normal grey cement I was used to.

Martin shuddered and said they all ran out from the grass because he was mowing right there. In fact, the mower was still there, a victim abandoned to the spider hoardes.

I remained unconvinced, and walked down the walkway to peer closer into the grass. The grass which was....moving....Martin, in an attempt to convince me, decided to jump out into the grass to flush some of the spiders onto the pathway.

Sure enough, a good fair amount of them came zipping onto the pavement, and then back into the grass. Nasty, black, fast spiders.And the grass was still.....moving.....on it's "own".

Yeah, me and my flip-flops retreated onto the safety of the driveway, w/ Martin close behind, dragging the mower away from certain death.

So, it appears I need to pesticide the hell out of my side yard. Because I sure as hell am not letting my kids out there to play amongst the army of black nasties.

*Shudder*

I've Really Got To Stop Doing That!

2007-03-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

Me- "Hey, Martin....it's time to get up...."

Martin- "NonoNO! HOW many times do I have to tell you?? STOP turning off the lights at Wal-Mart!!"

Me- *blink blink*......."Ummm.......you're right....I'll go turn them back on.....terribly sorry....

Martin- "THANK you!.....Mmmphdmmmfh......zzzzzzzzzzzzz"

In related news, I dreamt about vampires overtaking grocery stores.

Coincidence?

I think not.

What's Next? Leeches?

2007-03-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend it was spectacularly nice outside, so we decided to clean. The house, the garage...didn't matter....we just needed to overhaul. So, I took on the inside, and Martin took on the garage, because he has this master plan to make it a poker room / home office. (We don't ever park the cars in the garage, anyhow.)

Our friend, Jason, came over to help, because well...he's a guy...and you mention "Poker Room" to a guy...

So, things were progressing merrily along, and I'm in the kitchen doing the dishes when I hear this GIGANTO ROAR from the garage. I figure Martin has tripped over something, because he's not exactly the most graceful person in the world, and think nothing more of it.

A few minutes later, Jason pokes his head in the kitchen.

"Uh, 'Dena? Martin's going to need some ice...and a towel."

I kind-of laugh, and ask Jason what happened, not expecting anything major.

"He just totally split his head open. He's totally dripping blood all over the floor of the garage. I mean, it's REALLY dripping...." was the answer.

Now, Jason used to be a semi-professional skateboarder, so he's seen many a major injury. If he says someone is "really dripping", there's probably a geyser going on.

So, I jet on out to the garage to check out the damage. Martin is crouched on the floor, puddle of blood in front of him, holding his head.....and Jason is totally right....much drippage.
I ask what the hell happened.

Soooo......Martin decided he didn't like the curtain that was covering the garage window. He decided to take it down. So, in order to reach it, he had to climb up onto the computer desk. When he climbed up, he did not pay attention to what was above him, and stood STRAIGHT up (full force) into the edge of the track for our garage door.

Sharp Steel + Noggin = Owie.

We all laughed at his expense for a bit, especially when we forced him to pour peroxide directly onto his wound, and watched him to make sure he didn't fall asleep for a long time.
A few hours later, I ask him how his head is feeling....

Martin- "Hurts like hell"

Me- "Did you just cut your scalp, or do you think you cracked your skull?"

Martin- "I'm pretty sure I cracked it."

Me- "How can you tell?"

Martin- "There was a.....noise."

Me- "A 'noise'?"

Martin- "Yup. I figured that probably wasn't a good sign."

Me- "Um, no...probably not. Are you going to be okay? Do you think you need to go to the doc?"

Martin- "Nah....I'll be fine......On the upside, tho'.....It TOTALLY cleared up my sinuses!"

Me- *Incredulous look*

Martin- "No, SERIOUSLY! It like relieved some pressure on my brain, or something."

Me- "So....you're advocating head wounds to clear up nasal passages? Is this like boring a hole in your skull to help headaches? Bloodletting to get rid of fevers? Are we in 1832?"

Martin- "Shuddup."

NEVER a dull day at my house, I tell you....

TequilaCon Mini-Update!

2007-03-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

Random TequilaCon Happenings:

Sizzle losing her keycard from out of her bra. (Hey, I stored my money and ID in mine!)

Then asking Hilly if she'd check in there and see if she could find it.

Hilly accomadating this request, and feeling up Sizzle for a good couple of minutes, while proclaiming "Hey! I felt some nipple!"

The two of them deciding that after being the feltee and felter, that they should probably just make out, and laying a big, drunken smooch on each other.

Some random guy standing in the hallway watching the entire exchange w/ his mouth hanging open.

Said guy, after it was all over, stumbling out of the door, shellshocked, muttering "This is the BEST night of my LIFE!!"

Me, sober, laughing hysterically at the entire event.

It was a blast to meet you all!

Death From Above

2007-01-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

We took Jack on a walk through the snow.

He loved it...had a blast.

There is a Christian school across the other street I'm next to, and he led us over there into their parking lot. He walked up to one of their side doors and started banging on it.

Then he started to yell.

"GOD?....*

bang bang* ...........

GOD? *bang bang*"

Maybe he's trying to tell me something?

FYI....

2007-01-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

When you fall asleep on the couch w/ "Sesame Street" playing on the tv in the background, you wind up having some VERY interesting Puppet-Related dreams.

I'm just sayin'....