Monday, April 30, 2007

FYI

This blog will no longer be updated...

Friday, April 27, 2007

That's What Hippie Mantras Are For

I've been letting all of my frustrations with life out lately. Unfairly for the people around me, it's come out it in the foulest of foul moods. And it's just stupid. Being all Queen Bitch isn't gonna get me anywhere and it's just makes my mood worse in the end. Because then I just end up feeling bad. Whether or not my peeps understand my stress, it's still no reason to bring them down. That's hard to remember when you're feeling so crappy... you're like "wtf? why isn't everyone feeling like this?"

The reality of it is, they probably are in their own way & about their own things. Everyone's almost always got something to feel crappy about - relationships, family, work, money - whatever. What's good to remember is that most people mean well... I'm certainly not all pissy because I don't give a shit about anything or anyone. But it's still no excuse. I think things just get misinterpreted most of the time. You think someone doesn't understand you or where you're coming from and, 9 times out of 10, that person probably feels the same way. And it's totally possible that you're both right. But like I said before, being a bitch isn't gonna help.

So, as I was trying to chill out on my couch earlier, I decided to just suck it up & deal. Get out of my little funk and put on a happy face. I mean, I'll never be all sunshiny & bright, that's just not me. But I can be pretty outwardly chill... even about things I'm internally freaked by. And that's what I have a hippie mantra for, right? It's never as bad as it seems. And it usually all works out, one way or another, in the end. At least in my experience. So, if you see me in a corner with my eyes closed talking to myself... I haven't gone crazy. In fact, I'm trying very hard not to lose whatever sanity I started with. I'll just be thinking:

It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together
It will all come together

Plus, I have some good outlets... vodka & tequila. HAHAHA... Just kidding!! I mean great friends who seem to be ever so patient hearing about my life stresses. I hope I'm as equally helpful for them.

Oh, and I have a little bundle of cuteness who can almost always make me smile. Even when he's just laying around, bringing the stink....

Oh, the Cuteness!!







Saturday, April 21, 2007

Out & About

So, lest anyone start to think I don't leave my house at all since Goyle arrived... last night I finally got out and saw a movie. Yea! I saw "The Namesake," which I thought was really beautiful. I liked it so much that I feel bad that it didn't get the money I spent on the movie. They accidentally gave me a ticket for 300 instead. Even after finding the website, I still have no idea what that movie is... but I did get to see the right movie in the end and thats really all that matters.

This, of course, means that G-dog was left all alone for 2.5 hours. Damn, if it's not heartbreaking everytime I put him in his room. I've read that Boston Terriers by nature do not like to be alone and he knows already when I'm coaxing him into the room it means alone time for him. So, he runs upstairs or "hides" on the arm of my old couch. And then, once I get him in there and manage to get myself out and close the door, this is what I have to look at:



Do ya see him there in the corner looking all sad and tragic... like being left alone with some toys, a nice bed and fresh food & water is some kind of puppy torture. (sigh) I'm thinking of starting to put him in there for about an hour a day to see if he gets used to it more... plus I might try revamping it a bit. I know he's still a lttle puppy and just not used to being alone but it doesn't make it easier for me. And I HAVE to get away every once in awhile... for sanity's sake.

Speaking of puppy being alone & revamping... I have to run out and get a few things because I'm gonna work on my patio today. Clean it up, rip out the dumb plants, plant some grass, put together my table and that should make a world of difference right there. I am also working on an idea to make it a little more private, too. For those who don't know, it's basically in my neighbor's driveway with only a stupid short fence seperating us - not the best view for sure - plus, since it's basically a museum for addicts, there are always people around (except at night - it's nice and quiet on that side of the house at night as no one actually lives there). Now, they are all very nice as far as I've noticed. But I am, by nature, not one who likes to be bothered by a lot of different people who I don't know. Especially ones who like to talk. A lot. And only about their little museum. Anywho - hopefully the privacy part will be easy enough & cheap enough for me to pull off. We will see how it turns out... I've been dreaming of a little outdoor space since I moved out of my mom's house. And now I have something and even if it's not my ideal, I'm gonna make it work. Because I love love love hanging out outside when it's nice... reading, chilling with friends, napping. Ah... see? I'm relaxing already.

And since I have a lot to do today... I better get started on it all.

Friday, April 06, 2007

Movies! Stress! Just another Friday night...

I just finished watching The US vs. John Lennon, another awesome documentary. I had really wanted to see it when it was in the theater but as usual with any sort of independent/documantary film, I didn't want to drive to Cleveland and then it was in Akron one week but I didn't notice until it was too late. Anyway - it's another movie I would recommend if you are at all a fan of John Lennon or just interested in seeing another example of abuse of power by a bunch of idiots, aka the US government. It's just amazing how not much has changed in 30-some years.

Speaking of movies, there haven't been many new ones catching my eyes these days. But I'm thinking of ditching Goyle in his room (yes, his room) for a couple of hours this weekend and going to see The Namesake. I'm sure puppyhead will not be overly thrilled with that but I'm one stressed out chick these days and chilling in a theater is always something that helps me relax. And I have heard good things about this movie... but we will see if it actually happens.

So what is it about stress? It just infects you and won't let go... And it always seems to hit you from all directions at the exact same time. I'm one of those people who just ingests it and has a really hard time letting it go. Blah. It's my insane sense of responsibility that brings it on the most, I think. I always wonder if I am doing enough, holding up my end of it all, etc. And sometimes I'll just get so frustrated that I give up completely in a situation. But I think that just stresses me out more. It's quite often that my stress is a reaction to other people's actions and how those actions might fuck with others (and yes, honestly, myself). I don't know, maybe that's how it is for everybody... and it's not that I don't have my own issues, they are there and I am aware. But, like, there are things that are just about you and you can deal with that kind of stress a million different ways. And then there are things that affect a lot of people around you and I guess I find that people don't take that into consideration a lot. But maybe I don't either. Maybe I'm just being a giant baby.

But all the causes of stress aside... what do you even do about it? With me, I always just think I need to suck it up and deal with it on my own. Lord forbid, I involve anyone else... If I do, I just end up feeling so much worse. Like, other people have their own shit to deal with, right? And so, if it gets worse... what then? How much can one person really handle? I've seen so many people around me just stop dealing with it... either by stuffing certain things in more (no problem here! {just not healthy}) or by passing it off to other people (just not cool). And I really don't want to go either of those ways... I like to deal with things and move on. But who really knows how the fuck to do that all the time?

Meanwhile, Snickerbutt is super adorable but his little helpless puppyness is it's own brand of stress. Because he is totally relying on me... and I've got to step up and be all responsible for him. But I do know I can handle this... so that's one thing, at least.

Speaking of dealing with stress, I hear sleep can help... so I'm gonna go try that out. A nice long weekend with lots of sleep and all my problems will go away, right? HA! Whatever...

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Goyle & FUTK...



This is a sweet little picture I took this morning in bed. Goyle participating in his favorite activity... chewing. Chewing on his toys. Chewing on blankets. Chewing on me.... today he actually bit one of my boobs. Ow. Lack of sleep, lack of me time, lack of allergy pills... it's not for the faint of heart this pet parenthood thing. But it is all worth it. Right now, he's asleep (in my lap, of course) and having a dream of some sort. It's so f'in cute, I could die.

While he sleeps, I'm watching the Dixie Chicks documentary Shut Up & Sing. I would recommend it even if you are not a fan. I, personally, am not ashamed to admit that I am a fan. I own all the Dixie Chicks cd's. Their latest is in my car - still on heavy rotation almost a year later (I choose my country very carefully, I can maybe stand like < .5% of it because... well, let's just say... Fuck You Toby Keith). Anywho - the movie sort of bounces back and forth from the crazyness of the response to Natalie Maines' concert remarks to how it impacted the making of their most recent CD, Taking the Long Way. I think it's just a good reminder of how fucking lame it is to just follow and never question. Or maybe that is just my interpretation. It's the "rousing" part of my personality, I might follow you but you better give me a damn good reason (I learned that from taking the Jasper test on Monster).

So, inspired by the Dixie Chicks, that's my Sunday night advice: Always question your leaders. If you don't like their answers... bring the noise.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Puppy Love

Goyle is officially his name. It suits him, I think. He is a pretty spoiled pup so far... going to work with me and getting all sorts of extra love there. Tonight I HAD to go to Target and since I had no where else to put him, he went to puppy jail...



I don't think he appreciated it much. But I did come home with some treats for him. Including a little sweater so he won't freeze his butt off outside and a little piggy toy.



Plus, ge got some actual dog treats. The X-small sweater is still huge on him. In fact, it looks like he'll just pee on the sweater. Oh well... I also got him a cute bed, which I hope will one day be used. Right now, he's only happy sleeping on people's laps. Like now, I'm sitting on the floor and guess where he is... my ass is like super asleep and I can't move. But he's freaking adorable so I allow it...

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Check it Out...

I got a puppy!


Now what do I do?

No, really. I'm already having mommy guilt. His name was Brody but after hanging with him for a few hours, I'm leaning back towards Truman. Or Linus. Or maybe something else. Yeah... I'm in trouble. He's so cute & sweet, I'd hate for him to have the wrong name.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Out of Sight, Out of Mind


Last night I was chillin' - watching a movie - when it occured to me that I have a tattoo. It's weird, forgetting something like that but I do it all the time. When I was getting my tattoo, I specifically put it out of my line of sight so that if I was to ever regret it I wouldn't have to see it all the time. Obviously, my idea was a good one... I probably won't even get around to regretting it since I barely remember it's there. But last night had me wondering how it's doing back there. Since it's a pain in the neck (literally) to look at your lower back in a mirror, I thought I'd take a picture. Which in and of itself is as not nearly as easy as I thought. I got a lot of shots with just one wing in & none of the shots is in focus but it gives me (and you) an idea...


And there you have it... my tattoo. Hmmmm, this is where I should send people when they ask to see it. Hehehe.

Almost Spring...



And my toes are all ready to go:

Thursday, March 08, 2007

But Wait There's More!

I'm pretty much addicted to magazines. And UK fashion & shelter magazines totally rock. Plus, they attach the greatest & most random free things to them. I've gotten coasters, cds, etc. But this is the best yet:


That's right, bitches! Free UMBRELLA with purchase of March's Marie Claire UK edition. And it's funny because I was in dire need of a new umbrella. My last one was very nice indeed... a Monet water lilies umbrella that I had been coveting in some catalog. And I got it FREE from the lost & found at Bob Evans. But it's all broken and sad now. Lately, I've been seeing many pretty ones on various online stores. But I have a certain uncomfortableness with paying more than $10 for something that's gonna break with one strong gust of wind. So, this was perfect... $7 and I got a new adorable umbrella & a fun magazine!

Contemplation...



My friends & I checked out pound puppies this afternoon. There were so many cuties there and it made me sad that I couldn't save them ALL. I'm undecided if any of them was the one for me but now I'm even more hooked on the idea of getting a dog. It won't be long now, I'm sure. So I bought a book to prepare.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Hoodwinked...

Goodnight, John Boy




OK, John Boy is really waving hello to you all out there... also, he wants to know where his fucking overalls are. Anybody?

Friday, March 02, 2007

Seriously?

so you're having an ok friday... your work decides to let you drink during the friday meeting and so you get to get your buzz on early. the meeting ends and you chill at the office for a little bit before driving home. you drink a little water and you're good to go. next thing, you're home and ready to start your weekend for which you have many plans of being productive. you make a little dinner (whole wheat mac & cheese, baked chicken nuggets, chocolate milk). then you start to settle in for the evening with grand plans of watching a bad lindsay lohan movie (just my luck) followed by a good indie flick (thumbsucker). suddenly you start to feel a little chilly so you turn up the heat and grab yourself a blanket. then you start to feel a little more chilly so you put on your giant fluffy robe. then your head starts to hurt a bit and you get a bad feeling about all this. so you go upstairs and search for your thermometer. which you can't find anywhere. and your search isn't helped by the fact that you're full on shaking now. and you know that even if you find your tylenol, it wouldn't help to take it now. so you go back downstairs with your shaky cold achy body and you plop down on the couch with as many blankets as you can find. you might as well try to get comfy because your sick ass is gonna be there all weekend. sigh.

cleavage monster

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Why Are These People So Orange?

So the Oscars... some thoughts... besides the obvious... which is BOR-RING:

When watching the Oscars it is very important to have your remote handy for one reason: Mute. Trust me on this one.

For starters, is it my TV or is everybody at the Oscars really fucking orange? Wait! That Little Miss Sunshine girl is white as a sheet so it is these people. Who in the makeup department did that to Leonardo Dicaprio?

The commercials during the Oscars are worse than the show itself... that one with Callisaurus Rex from Grey's Anatomy was just... zzzzzzz. I mean, she's a pretty hot chick, why wasn't she in the shower with the new Dove shower gel? No, instead, she's introducing the commercial that some random person made... it's like I made the commercial.

HOLY SHIT! What is with Jack Nicholson... he's all BALD and shit.

Ugh, why do they let Cameron Diaz on these shows? I wouldn't mind so much if she was dancing in her underwear but I kinda hate listening to her speak. And I'm not even sure she could get away with the dancing in her underwear thing anymore... girl is looking worn out. Wait, I just realized... first Britney. Now Cameron. It's the Timberlake doing this! Damn you, Timberlake!

Oh the banter. Horrible. Tom Hanks... what's the last movie he was in?

Some dude is complaining about there being no place to set down the OSCAR he just won. They should immediately take it away from him and bludgeon him with it.

OH, it's my favorite commercial! The American Express one with Wes Anderson!!! I totally have a crush on Wes Anderson. Make another movie soon, Wes! And don't forget to put Bill Murray in it, please!

Bleck, it's followed by an ode to Oprah... mood ruined.

Anne Hathaway seems to have ran into a bird on the red carpet. What is that on the front of her dress? It's looks like a furry bow. No, I'm going with bird. OOOH! Go Marie Antoinette!! Awesome! Less awesome is what the costume designer is wearing...

GAG... mute! I have no interest in any words that come out of Tom Crazy's mouth... unless they are "I am crazy and I brainwashed Katie." OMG... is he sucking on that woman's ear?

Double Ha! Ellen just dissed Beyonce to talk to Clint. Nobody loves Beyonce.

Hmmm... Gwyneth's dress... I can't decide on it. I like it but feel that her boobs are ruining it. She needs to perk those up with a good bra or something and the dress would totally achieve hotness.

OK, every time someone gets orchestraed off stage, I could swear they're playing a lullaby.

God damn, that Kfed commercial is not half bad. Way to go Britney. Your antics have made this guy look not half bad. Yes, I blame you for this, you skank. And I expect an apology when you get to that step. Or should I say, if you get to that step.

MMMMMM... Robert Downey, Jr is still hot. And Naomi Watts is so totally pregnant. There is no denying it now, honey. But she's totally adorable with her bump.

More hot people... Clive Owen & Cate Blanchett. Cate is all sparkly. Clive is yummy in all black. Oh btw... if you hadn't noticed, I'm not actually going to tell you who's winning unless I care if they won. And I don't care about 96% of these awards.

It's Clooney Grant... I'm a little over him and his need to be the new Cary Grant. Good god... mute. That American Idol chick just won. And she's cryer...

Windows Vista commercial. My take? WOW! This operating system sucks! WOW! (I'm still feeling bitter about nine failed Firefox installs... it's probably a user error but it's a lot more fun to blame microsoft)

Jerry Seinfeld has a lot of money and use to be on a really funny show. Other than that... why is he on the Oscars? Will somebody please tell me why Nicholson has no hair?? An Inconvenient Truth just won. Guess they didn't pray enough at Jesus Camp. Also, I'd like to thank Al Gore for inventing the interweb so that I could be blogging & watching the Oscars at the same time.

Clint Eastwood has a huge smirk on his face, it's like he already knows he's gonna beat Scorsese again. Oh... mute. I don't know what he is blathering on about but Eastwood is old and boring.

And keeping with the mute as none other than Celine Dion is on my TV. I thought we sent her to Vegas permanantly... I'm not sure what is going on with her dress but the panels on the bodice are not as flattering as I think they are meant to be.

OK, maybe I should have been listening because now I'm confused as to why the chick from The Office is in the family balcony of this dude who Eastwood just gave a this award to. Not Pam but the one Jim is dating. In real life she is the daughter of Quincy Jones & Norma from Twin Peaks. Anywho - Quincy and her are sitting up there in the balcony with this dude's wife... why? Oh wait... I don't really care.

I am strangely moved by the robot commercial with the song from the opening scene of Bridget Jones' Diary. I do a great impression of that scene.

Howard Stern is so right about Penelope Cruz, you can not understand a word that comes out of her mouth.

Damn, why don't they start this show a little earlier? It's fucking 11:08 and it just keeps going and going. I've got things to do in the morning, OSCAR!

Mute. President of the Academy. One of the 142 things they could cut from this show so that I can get to bed at a decent hour.

Spiderman & Marie Antoinette!! Do you think Drunkst is ever gonna get her chiclet teeth fixed? Damn, Matthew Broderick wouldn't let the Little Miss Sunshine writer write while being his assistant? Harsh.

I just missed the last 15 minutes but I'm pretty sure I didn't miss anything good so let's pretend it never happened. In that time, I did like 26 things. It's called time management... Oscar needs to learn a thing or two about it.

It's the other white Kate. Kate Winslet. Cate & Kate are very pale chicks.

Here comes the death role call... Awww. Bruno Kirby. Awww. Don Knotts. Awww. A bunch of other people who were cool but who's names I am to tired to type.

Best Actress... that's a good sign. A good sign it's almost over. Helen Mirren... we can just skip the rest of the nominees, I think. And..... yes, I am right.

Reese Witherspoon continues her Tour of Look What You Lost Ryan and looks suitibly hot. But the Fug girls are right about that pointy chin of hers. Oh, best actor... Forrest Whitaker for some movie. Or is it really for his guest spot on ER? You never know w/Oscar.

Oh, they brought out Speilberg, Lucas & Coppola for the best director... how f'd up it would be if Scorsese lost again? Especially to Eastwood. And... YEA! He won! For which movie we will never know, but it's about fucking time. And the place goes wild! No seriously, this is the most awake the peeps in this joint have been all night. I'm pretty sure Cate Blanchett was just doing a happy dance!

I'm so delighted when the gorgeous Diane Keaton is not wearing those stupid gloves. Meanwhile, Jack is on stage and I still don't know why he's bald. Oh, The Departed just won.

And it's over! I'm going to bed.

Vanity & The Art of Relaxation

I do not relax or deal with stress well, nor do I sleep well. As a result, I am internally a pretty impatient person. Oh, I put on a good front for all the peeps in my life but really I just don't deal well with other people's BS at all. Or even my BS, which is better described as my utter stupidity in trying to figure out many of life's fucked up situations... but that's another blog post.

If I could master the art of stress control or relaxation, it's possible that many of my sleep problems would be solved, too. I think all my stress comes out while I'm sleeping. And now I am developing an angry face. It seems that all my stress manifests itself into one area on my face and that is the space between my eyebrows. Some people have a unibrow, I have a angrybrow. When I do not wake up looking like this, I wake up looking like I did today:


And that is... PISSED OFF. To be perfectly honest, I was rather pissed off when I woke up this morning (about 10 minutes prior to snapping that picture). I was having quite a lovely dream and did not appreciate it being interrupted by sunlight beaming into my eyes. But that is not the case many days. I mean, I'm almost never overjoyed to wake up but it's not that tragic. So I don't know why my face has to be so angry about it.

So while you'd think that all the massive health risks involved with stress and bad sleeping habits would be reason enough for me to learn a thing or two about relaxing... it's more likely pure vanity that will spur me to action. Because I'm just that silly.

It's a Love/Hate Thing

So you know that new Mac commercial about Windows Vista... yeah, it's just like that. Plus, lots of stuff doesn't work on it. It's awesomely annoying in the way that you want to throw the device it's on out a window (haha... clever). But the pretty pretty laptop is much to pretty and is fun to at least watch movies on. And it's not like I can't use the interweb, even if I am risking downloading computer SARS by using IE because Firefox was all f'd up and so I uninstalled it and when I tried again it refused to install. Or something like that.

Sigh...

Thursday, February 22, 2007

the object of my hatred!

More mobile blogging fun

i am trying out the blog by email trick now... and i'm going to take this opportunity to bitch about my cable service. wtf is with channels 11 and 9 being all fucked up tonight? The night when 3rd part of the grey's anatomy "event" (11) & the very last fucking episode of the O.C. (9) are on. i have rebooted the mofo box like 8x already...GRRRR!!!

Why Not Try... some words on my blog

Hey there! Sorry about the obsessive moblogging around here lately... just imagine how horrifying it might have been if blogger had actually published all my pictures instead of only 1/2 of them. It would be like, "All pictures! All the time!"

I thought I might again try writing something on my blog... besides titles anyway. But I needed to be inspired to do so and hadn't been until about 10 minutes ago. That is when I found this hilarious website through another site I read:

Why Not Try?

Some of my favorites:
Helping young people across the road, because they are "our future"

Describing daydreaming as "going to commercial"

Impressing future employers by demonstrating how well you can ride an imaginary horse

Helping yourself to one of the free dogs that people leave outside shops

Inventing and using more compression words as a satire on the English language: e.g sexcellent, tryronic, glamourflage, parannoying, quornography, yawnography, pornothology.

Trying to work out where the imaginary face would be, on various inanimate objects

Yelling "I'm fine, I'm fine" every time you sneeze
Hehehe... exactly what I needed.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

how i started my day

how i ended my day

A quick look at what's to come...

Ice Bat chills in his new home

My new couch


Actually, there are two of them...

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Is it Friday yet?

Sunday, February 18, 2007

alex says hi!

Sinead O'Britney

You see what happens when I'm offline for a couple of days? I miss all the good celebrity news. First Brit Brit checks in and out of rehab in a matter of hours and then she done gone completed her tumble into ruin by going and doing this...


WTF Britney? Seriously, call me honey... I know a great hair guy... he can maybe find you a good wig... because crazy is not a good look on you.

Photo via Go Fug Yourself via Oh Know They Didn't

She's Sleeping. Wrapped in Fluffyness...

My original plan when I was snapping pictures in bed this morning was to see what I might look like when I'm asleep... or fake asleep taking a picture anyway. Then I realized I look like this:


Because when I'm sleeping I'm all wrapped up like Laura Palmer (except not dead or in plastic) in a cocoon of warmth. And while I'm sure I look like something underneath all that, I wasn't sure the lighting was quite right for picture taking. So I quickly changed my plan and decided to see what I look within 30 minutes of waking up.

Among the 20ish pictures I took, I liked the one in the previous post the best. I'm a little sleepy looking, my face is a little splotchy, my hair is all disheveled... all in all, I think it's a reasonable representation of what I see in the mirror fist thing in the morning. Except when I wake up with flock of seagulls hair that is...

There was suppose to be more text with that post but I was moblogging it and hit the wrong button and sent it instead. Hitting the wrong button has been my life for the last 24 hours... yesterday, I bought the Motorola Q and the unlimited broadband access from Verizon so that I can have the interweb at home once again. In it's current state, it's not all that useful but after a little practice and once I get a laptop to go with it, I expect that to change.

Oh yeah, and bonus points for the person who gets the reference of the previous post's title - for british eyes only. You won't actually win anything though so don't try to hard...

for british eyes only...

i decided to play with my new camera phone instead of actually getting out of bed this morning

Monday, February 12, 2007

Home Sweet.... uh, Home?

I have officially diagnosed myself with Decorating ADD.

It's a terrible disease in which many home improvement projects get planned (and some even get started) but not much actually gets done. There's so much to do that I can only focus my attention on one specific thing for so long... thus I end up with a bedroom that's almost primed and a bathroom that has almost been stripped of it's wallpaper and so much more that's just not done. And, this does not just apply to rooms in my house but to my furniture, too. I'm somewhat of an impulse shopper when it comes to used furniture. And most used furniture (at least the Goodwill/Abbie Ann's stuff I buy) comes with more potential than anything else... this couch will be awesome when I slipcover it or this table will be sweet when I refinish it. It's like I think I have nothing but time to do these projects.

Oh, and none of this is helped by the fact that I love so many different decorating styles. This creates a mish-mash of furniture and accessories that I have to somehow make work together.

(sigh) There got to be some sort of pill for all this...

Still, things seem to be getting done even if no one thing is finished yet. I can definitely see the light at the end of the decorating tunnel. I'll just keep chanting my hippie mantra* in the meantime... It will all come together. It will all come together. It will all come together.

And when it does, I'll throw a party.

*yes, i'm crazy

Thursday, February 08, 2007

NERVOUS-SYSTEM Jewelry

Have blogged about my love of Etsy yet? I'm not sure that I have... I LOVE LOVE LOVE etsy. There. That's done. Now, let me show you my most recent etsy purchase:

The radiolaria curves bracelet* from NERVOUS-SYSTEM:
A collaboration between a graduate student in architecture and a mathematician.
How could I not buy something with such a cool description?
Black styrene plastic is laser cut into an organic network of distorting ellipses. The pattern displays shifts in direction and scale, creating a sense of movement and tension around the wrist. These complex forms recall those of radiolarians, plant cells and even the familiar honey comb.
They make many other super sweet pieces, too. Like these earrings*:


I found this etsy shop like I often find them... through someone else's blog. The blog in question is Design Milk. Design blogs are awesome, they do all the work and people like me swoop in and buy the cool stuff they find.

*photos courtesy of NERVOUS-SYSTEM

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Things I Could Be Doing

  • dishes - because I am out of spoons, which is weird because otherwise I only have like 9 dirty dishes
  • laundry - i have mounds of clean clothes but am stuck between sizes... insert sad face here
  • painting my bedroom - so i can move out of the cold, cold sun room
  • my taxes - so i can get some sweet, sweet money back
  • yoga - to help fit into the clean pile of jeans waiting for me
  • clearing my TVR out - watching TV isn't very productive but it's fun
  • reading a book - like one of the five sitting next to my bed with one chapter read in each
  • cleaning my garage - before it's even colder tomorrow
  • moving some stuff around - so my house is finally livable
  • One of the 250 or so things left on my 2007 list - because crossing things off of lists makes me happy
Instead I'm...
  • working - because when you're temporarily out of interweb at home you go to the office and you see things there that need done, so sadly, you do them even though it's saturday and it can wait 'til monday
  • feeling sad - because of something a friend told me last night that just isn't fair
  • feeling embarrassed - needlessly i'm sure but straight vodka or not, i can't believe i did that
  • feeling a little more sad - because yesterday was a good friend's birthday and it's been five years since i've hugged him
  • delaying - calling another friend who i haven't talked to in two years and have been missing very much lately
  • smiling - about something random
  • thinking - of ways to spend my tax return because i can't stop spending money right now
  • listening - to an office mouse (gus-gus, is that you?) get into trouble on the other side of the office
  • giggling - because i put the squirrel on top of the tree upside down
  • dreaming - of a real vacation... someday
  • and blogging - because it is the ultimate way to kill time when you don't want to do all the other things you could be doing
Now I'm gonna...

go home and do something else.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Don't Quote Me

I haven't posted a quote in awhile... here is a good one.
"You gotta wonder why we cling to our expectations. Because the expected is just what keeps us steady, standing, still. The expected is just the beginning. The unexpected is what changes our lives."
From Grey's Anatomy "Great Expectations"

New Blog on the Block

I'm really loving this new blog...

3191: a year of mornings

This "collaborative photo blog" was started by two friends - Mav of port2port and Stephanie of little birds handmade - who live 3191 miles apart. Everyday (well, almost everyday), they each post a picture taken sometime during their morning. These are my favorite kinds of photographs... random glimpses into the ordinary.

I used to take pictures all the time... I'd say I have about five cameras and hundreds of photos laying around somewhere. I'd take pictures of anything but mostly I just took pictures of my friends - at the bar, at a game, on a roadtrip, etc. Looking at them now, I notice that my favorite ones are the ones where no one is looking... no real pose or no idea I was lurking around them. Those types are usually my favorite pictures of me, too. No time to make my tense "I hate getting my picture taken" face. I think it captures more of the real person or object, if that makes sense.

At some point I just stopped taking pictures, I think around the time I first moved... I'm sure most of my cameras are still at my mom's house. I started to feel that my camera was becoming a burden to my friends... like they were becoming less and less enthused by the sight of it. It was probably all in my imagination. I notice that almost all my family & friends have pictures that I took up around their houses. So, they must have liked it a little.

At the beginning of the digital camera revolution, I wouldn't even consider one. I don't know why, just a stubborn loyalty to film. "If you want instant, take a polaroid," would have probably been one of my comments at the time. I slowly entered the digital age last year with my dinky camera phone... and while I still love film (and polaroids still rock my world) now I can see the benefits of some nice digital photography, too. So, I've been finding myself drawn towards the camera section of Target quite often lately. I know it's only a matter of time before I cave... especially with my spending habits.

Maybe soon I'll be posting glimpses into my ordinary life, too.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Books 2007

I've started a list of the books I read in 2007... it's over on the side there.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

This is Who I Am

I like to say this quite a bit:
"That's the great thing about issues, everybody has them."
A former friend of mine, who had a masters degree in psychology, hated when I said this. I think she truly wanted to believe she'd conquered all her demons and that it was everyone else who had problems. Really, I don't know what it was about but it was annoying.

I'm pretty unapologetic about who I am. I always have been and suspect I always will be... this is not to say that I believe I'm perfect or better than anyone else. I'm pretty aware of the majority of my issues and it's a long list to be sure. While I have been aware for a long time, I haven't been overly happy or comfortable with myself. Like everyone else, I have had many moments where I feel there's something wrong with me, that I should change, that I really don't deserve much love or respect, and all the rest of that crap. I tend to be very internal… with these kinds of thoughts especially. I think this tends to give the impression that nothing ever bothers me or that I am overly critical of others. Whatever, eh?

You cannot control what people think of you, only what you think of yourself. Plus, if you’re not careful and dwell on it too much, you can let what other people think of you control you. People will always want to put you in a box or explain you with a few sweeping generalizations. It makes them feel better. But, you're usually your own worst critic so why let even more crap in? Just a thought.

I am feeling pretty good about life right now. And, I’m becoming more and more comfortable with who I am. I’m not exactly sure when or how this shift in thinking took place but I welcome it. I look around at my life and I feel incredibly thankful for my family, my friends and my job. I have an especially awesome group of friends at this point in my life. Are they perfect? Hell. No. And they don’t pretend to be. But they are, for the most part, shockingly self-aware. I think this makes them better friends. I can be honest with them about my issues and vice versa. There are things that drive me crazy about each one of them and vice versa. But when it comes down to it, they have been there for me and I hope they can say the same about me. They make me laugh and let me cry (or not cry) and they help me not take it all so seriously and I love them (this is getting very touchy-feely… sorry).

You’re thinking, “What the hell is all of this about? This is very uncharacteristic of Miss Mia.” That’s totally what you’re thinking, right? Yeah, because it’s what I’ve been thinking the whole time I’ve been writing this. I’m not sure I had a point; it’s all just a lead up to some future posts.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about myself. What does that mean? Well, there’s astrology, personology, psychology and so much more. And every one of them has an opinion about me. It’s always interesting just how much of myself I see in some of these descriptions. I thought maybe I’d share some of them (and my opinions of them, of course) with you in the near future. In the meantime, I will leave you with the words of two very wise people:
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind." – Dr. Suess
"This is who I am, you can like it or not. You can love me or leave me, cause I’m never gonna stop." - Madonna

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

I Feel Pretty

I got some new hair this weekend... highlights & a cute variation on the same haircut I always get. Since it never looks as good as it does straight out of the salon, I snapped a picture of myself on Saturday. It is not a bad picture, except for the light shining off my nose and the shadows making me look sleepy and my very ugly bathroom wall in the background. Still, it's better than any picture I saw of Britney Spears last week. Poor Britney... she clearly does not have a Brett to make her feel pretty. Anywho - here you go:

Friday, January 05, 2007

Books '06

(I remembered another book & added it on to the list)

In an effort to focus on (or ignore) one blog at a time, I will be joining my book blog with my main blog. It was really just so I could keep track of what I read and I can do that right here.

I had a goal of reading 30 books last year but life intervened and I only got through 16.... I should know better than to make the goal: read 30 books (see previous post). This year, I kept the total goal 30 but split it into three separate: read 10 books.

I have a new Saturday morning habit of waking up early, staying in my nice warm bed and reading for a couple of hours. That should help me finish some of the 12 books I've started in the past 6 months.

Here is the list of books that I finished in 2006:

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

Night by Elie Weisel

Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim by David Sedaris

Dry by Augusten Burroughs

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper

Conscious Eating by Body & Soul Magazine

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore

Party of the Century by Deborah Davis

My Prescription for Anti-Depressing Living by Jonathan Adler

My Pet Virus by Shawn Decker

Blankets by Craig Thompson

207 for 2007

A few years ago, I made a vow to never make grand new year's resolutions anymore. I did this because they are lame and suck the life out of me. About the same time, I stumbled on a random blog (I don't who's) and "borrowed" her idea. It's basically just a huge-ass to-do list for the upcoming year.

Instead of one or two big, nebulous things that you want to do and will most likely quit or fail at (like lose weight or get organized), you break everything up into small, specific actions (lose 10 lbs. or organize DVDs). This way, even if you don't do everything you wanted, you can see progress at the end of the year. That's the theory anyway. I mean, there aren't really any rules to it all.

The first year I did it, I completed exactly 25% of my list. Which kept my theory that I was only living up to 25% of my potential going strong. The next year, I skipped out on it completely. On the 206 for 2006, I had to disqualify 19 items for no longer being relavant to my life. Of the 187 that remained, I legitimately crossed 68 off the list. That's 36%... and I consider that a triumph indeed.

I have 8 different categories: family/friends, academic/career, house, financial, mental/physical, creative, materialistic & miscellaneous. And this year, I couldn't stop thinking of things to add so I have 234 items instead of 207. But don't worry, I'm not going to post the list here. I will be updating my blog with a few of the items as I complete them. I'm not shooting for any specific percentage to accomplish... but I do have a good feeling about this year.

Well, hello there...

New year, same me. I still can't keep up with the blogging thing as much as I'd like. But it's never too late and so here I am, back again for another try. Maybe it's the "new blogger" that's inspiring me...