Rosey's Ramblings

2011-10-15T19:10:00.001-05:00

Last night, after creating some musical stylings about pedo trees, I drove down to mom's house so we could hit up some of the Northwest Arkansas crafts fairs today. Yesterday, I was only coming down because mom would enjoy it but that must have been a byproduct of staying awake over 24 hours on Fridays because this morning when I woke up I was really excited about going. We set the alarms for 6:30am, got up & around, packed a cooler full of drinks, grabbed Charlie and Jessica and headed out the door.

We always go to War Eagle first because its off the beaten path, down a long curvey road and there's a single lane bridge to get to the parking area. Because its one if the most popular locations of the whole weekend, if you don't get there early you're going to be sitting in your car, in line, for hours.

We got there before most if the traffic, looked at everything, spent some money (I bought 2 pkgs of chicken soup mix) and then headed into Rogers for lunch at Pandas.

Unfortunately, that's where our big day of crafting ended. Before we had left the house this morning, mom had decided to remove the cable ties that were on the little rolling cart we use for these kinds of adventures. And she decided to use a pocketknife that my dad had freshly sharpened. Yep, she stabbed herself with it. Not a cut, a puncture. It had bled all morning, all over everything, and had also been swelling and bruising. By the time we got to lunch she couldn't move it and it was throbbing and really hurting her.

We went to the ER because the urgent care center told her to. She got a tetanus shot and some antibiotics and they checked to make sure she didn't damage a nerve or tendon. She's more upset about the cost of going to the hospital than she is about anything else. To entertain ourselves for the hours we were at the hospital, we spent our time making fun of mom.

Guess we will try to go crafting next year.

2011-09-17T11:48:00.001-05:00

A fire, in September.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2011-09-17T11:26:00.001-05:00

What a miserable, dreary day for the Henderson family reunion. We are all soaked, people are cold, the kids can't play. BUT... we are all together and there's good food to be eaten and new babies to be cuddled. Maybe it's not such a bad day after all.

Hey You Kids, Get Off My Lawn

2011-06-13T20:52:00.001-05:00

Today, while driving through the parking lot of my apartment complex, I came up behind 3 kids who were walking down the center of the lot. As I pulled up behind them, 2 of them moved out of the way; the third one, a boy of about 12, turned around and held his arms up acting like he dared me to hit him. I smiled and waved and he moved slowly off to the side. I just wrote it off as him clowning around, being funny for his friends.

But then, as i drove by them, he ran up behind me and smacked the back of my car. I'm sure he was still showing off and probably thought he was being funny, but it just instantly went right through me. It was a tad dangerous, he could have gotten hurt. It was disrespectful for him to treat my car that way. It pissed me off. I immediately slammed on my brakes and opened my door to pretend I was getting out and they all screamed and took off running.Obviously I would not have done anything to him, just wanted to scare him a but. But now I'm sitting here feeling like a curmudgeonly old person. Stupid kids anyway.

Look Out Girls...

2011-03-17T02:52:00.001-05:00

Looks like someone was having a bit of fun in the breakroom.

Or maybe this person just doesn't like single women.

Oh Hai There, I Haven't Seen You In A While

2011-03-11T10:31:00.004-06:00

So I've been so busy blogging about World of Warcraft that I have once again neglected this place. But I'm back, at least for today. There are a few things I wanted to get down for future reference. Things such as the two 911 emergencies from last weekend. And some news about more positive subjects like my weight loss and that other thing I try not to talk about.

Where to begin... how about last weekend. It was horribly exciting. But mostly just horrible. Friday afternoon, Friday the 4th, I had a hair appointment at Melinda's shop in Cassville. When I was walking to the door of the shop I heard someone off in the distance faintly hollering. It kind of sounded like "help" but I wasn't sure. I paused, there was silence. I put my hand on the door, hear it again. I almost convinced myself it was someone calling for a dog but it nagged at me a bit that it was "help". So I paused again, heard it twice and walked around towards the side of the building. I noticed a pickup pulled over on the edge of the ditch several houses down the road with its headlights on. About that time, I saw a gray haired gentleman raise his head up near the tire of the truck and he spotted me. He started waving his arms and began yelling "help" louder. I knew Melinda was in her 2nd year of nursing school and since I was still on the porch of the shop, I ran inside to get her. She and I start running down the road towards him and she turns around to tell the others to call 911. To make the story shorter.. the poor old guy had hopped out of his truck into the ditch and somehow the clutch popped or something and the truck had rolled on to him and trapped him. Both of his legs were twisted over each other and the front drivers side wheel had rolled onto them up to his knees. The cops came, jacked up the truck a few inches, pulled him out. He lost both of his shoes under there somewhere. Then the ambulance got there after a few minutes and checked him out. He insisted he could stand and was fine so they helped him up. But then took him by ambulance to have xrays done.

The next day, Saturday the 5th, my Uncle Garry was getting married to Sheila. It was a nice quiet ceremony at his house. Everything went fine until after the vows when the happy couple was cutting the cake. The stairs to the basement are in the middle of the living room floor. There is a 3 foot wall around 3 sides of the stairwell, but where you walk down them is, of course, open. A friend of the bride, a tiny little 78 year old woman, was trying to get a better picture of the cake cutting and took a step backwards. She stepped back right into the open stairs. Several people gasped and I turned around in time to watch this little old woman fall down 30 stairs to a concrete basement floor. It was horrible. Luckily, Sheila is a registered nurse. And a friend of hers who came to the wedding is also a registered nurse. Apparently she was completely out for about a minute. She had a gash above her left eye, her nose was broken and bleeding from the nostrils and a gash on the bridge, there was a hole the size of a nickel completely missing from her top lip. She had landed on her wrist which was swelling and both knees were gashed open, one a good 4 or 5 inches. My uncle yelled for someone to call 911 but I looked around and everyone was just standing there frozen. So I grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911. It took 20 minutes or so for the ambulance to get there (out in rural area). The woman was taken to the hospital. When she got there, she refused to be treated due to religious beliefs. She wouldn't even let them clean her up. I can't believe she just went home. I can't even imagine how she must have felt the next day. She needed a lot of stitches, she needed her nose set, she couldn't tell us what month it was or how old she was. Horrible.

Okay, enough about that. Let's talk about some positive stuff. My place of employment began a weight loss competition on March 1st. I just had my first weigh-in a few days ago and I lost 7 lbs in my first week. That's good considering I had already been eating healthier since the beginning of the year and had joined a fitness club in January also. I was very proud of myself. However the past couple of days... I've had a bit of a struggle. My hormones have caused me to remain constantly hungry the past 2 days. I just had pop-tarts. Shame on me. But I will get it together and work it off by exercising twice as hard this weekend.

Also, I haven't talked about this much at all, but I quit smoking on January 2nd and haven't had a single puff since then. It wasn't a New Years resolution. I didn't plan it in advance or really put any thought into it at all. It kind of just happened that the stars all aligned and I smoked the last cig in my pack late Sunday evening a few hours before work. I thought "well I'll just stop on my way to work and get some". Then as I was driving to work I thought "well, I don't actually smoke at work, so I'll stop on my way home in the morning". Then the next morning I thought "well I'm just going home to go straight to bed, so I'll just buy some when I wake up later". Then after I woke up I thought "well I don't have any plans to go into town right now so I'll just buy some on my way to work". And there the process repeated. By the 3rd day, I just stopped thinking about buying any at all. I still think about cigarettes, but it hasn't been hard as far as my body physically craving them. Mentally, however, I do want to smoke from time to time. But it's the same way I feel about travel for example. I mean I wish I were in New York right now because I've always wanted to see it. But I can't be, so oh well. That's how my mind thinks about the cigarettes. I sure do remember enjoying them and I wish I had one right now. But I can't, so oh well. Nothing more than that. It's been way easier than I imagined it would be. Especially since I am combining it with a diet. Or maybe it's easy because I'm so worried about the food, I'm not worried about the cigarettes. Either way, it worked and that's all that matters.

So that's how things are going with me. Exciting stuff, huh?

History of Google Doodles

2011-02-08T00:33:00.002-06:00

Let's start out by answering the question I'm sure you've already asked outloud - what the heck is a Google Doodle? Well, that's simple. Have you ever noticed an artistic or creative Google logo when you go to google.com? Something different than just the word Google spelled out in colorful lessons? Those are Google Doodles and they are used to mark important historic or cultural events in the world. I've always gotten a kick out of the ones I happen to see, but I know I've missed a bunch because I use the Google search bar more often than I go to google.com. Luckily, I just accidentally discovered Google keeps an archive of all their doodles and I can g back and look through them whenever I want. You could too if you click this link.

News Flash: I Now Have A WoW Blog... But It's Not Here

2011-01-15T07:09:00.007-06:00

This blog that you are reading right now? This blog (as a whole) is actually pretty sucky. It's just a little personal blog that has been around for several years and has been subjected to a unique combination of blandness, stupidity and neglect. Of course, I've recently discovered a new-found fondness for blogging about WoW and I've been throwing those posts up here. Amazingly this has caused a few people to actually find their way over here to read a few things. Since I feel like continuing to blog about WoW is something I want to commit to right now, I have decided to split those types of posts off onto their own dedicated WoW blog and let this one continue to dredge along as a personal blog.

That being said, allow me to direct you to http://worldofelfi.wordpress.com/ - aka Elfi's World. I have transferred the WoW posts and associated comments from this blog over to that one and after I few weeks I will be deleting them from here. So everyone please be sure and bookmark the new sight. I can't wait to see some traffic over there.

Uldum's Floating Cat Head Revisited

2011-01-14T00:56:00.003-06:00

It's been almost a month since I first talked about discovering a floating cat head in Vir'naal Lake in Uldum. As soon as I spotted it I thought it was odd. I spent a good 5 minutes in-game swimming around it, trying to click it, trying to jump on it, etc. I couldn't discover any reason for it whatsoever. So I simply screen-shotted it, made a silly little blog post here and forgot about it.

But now... now the floating cat head is catching the attention of other people. Important people. People like Zinn over at Jinxed Thoughts who also thinks it's very odd and has set about investigating the whole thing. I hope she is able to track down an explanation so we can get this settled once and for all. I would hate to have unexplained floating cat heads infiltrating my dreams.

Yesterday Was A Wow Day For My WoW!

2011-01-09T18:14:00.002-06:00

Seriously, yesterday rocked. Is it odd that I'm most excited about Stood In The Fire? That's the only one that is completely random and out of my control. The rest of them I had to work for. Lol. I was on cloud 9 yesterday. The only downside was that most of my favorite WoW friends are no longer in my guild and I didn't get to share my moments with them.

Thank God for Kind Tanks

2011-01-08T02:55:00.009-06:00

As a resto druid healer who has spent my entire career spamming rejuvenation, life bloom and wild growth (with an occasional regrowth in tight spots), I have been hesitant to heal any dungeons in Cata. Well, maybe hesitant isn't exactly the right word. It's more like I've been scared shitless. Spells and buffs and talent trees have changed so drastically. My old rotation is total garbage. The spells Blizzard now wants me to use as my mains I've never even thrown before. On top of all this, I've decided to stop using Healbot and begin using VuhDo. I made that decision based on reading this post by Jasyla over at Cannot Be Tamed. Once I decided to use VuhDo, I of course had to learn how to set it up. And there's no better way to do that than to read Tamarind's post over on Righteous Orbs.

After getting my addons whipped into shape and rearranging my action bars, I needed to practice. But we all know how pugs go, right? A lot of individual agendas, no concern for anyone else's mana, rage quitting, ninja need rolls, and (most relevant to me) everything is the healers fault. Who needs that shit? I'm in a delicate emotional state right now, getting yelled at by random strangers does not sound appealing. Luckily I got the chance last night to group up with a few friends so I suited up and took my first trip into Grim Batol. Unfortunately, none of them were tanking and tanks can be the biggest issue in pugs, so I was still a little worried.

Turns out, we were lucky enough to get one of the rarest forms of tanks in the game these days - a nice guy. And overall, I didn't do too bad. I certainly learned what I needed to tweak with VuhDo and I learned how my mana was being used so I can control it better next time. Because of this success, I'd like to give a big shout-out to Thatlilshyt from server Undermine for being a great tank. He explained boss fights immediately and thoroughly, he never once yelled at me when I wiped us on a trash pull or wiped us 3 times on the first boss. He even took his time moving forward so I could drink without having to tell everyone I needed to drink. Amazing. Because of this tiny bit of patience, we all succeeded and I am now better at healing than I was. And it didn't hurt any of us. Except for the cost of repairs after wiping. :)

Deepholm? More Like Deepressing!

2011-01-06T09:03:00.011-06:00

Tired of all the diplomacy and the touchy/feely/girlie emotion stuff? Me too. Let's talk about Deepholm. I hate it. Seriously hate it. Before I got there I heard so many people talk about how beautiful and awesome it was and I got so stoked to get in there and experience it. But it honestly bores me. I don't necessarily think it's ugly, but I also don't think it's beautiful. Everything is shades of blue and gray, yawn. There are chunks of sparkling rocks floating everywhere, yawn. And even though I'm not claustrophobic at all, the place feels like it's closing in on me. The whole place is depressing and makes me sad.

I even hate the Temple of the Earth (except for the handy port to SW, of course) because I seem to always have to fly around it 6 times before I find the entrance. Then when I do get in, I never can remember which set of stairs leads to the portal so I run around the circle in the middle 4 or 5 times cursing loudly. Does that sound like fun? It's not.

I do enjoy gathering cinderbloom and heartblossom, but there doesn't seem to be a huge abundance of it either. Basically I zone in, pick flowers for several minutes, do two or three quests, pick moar flowers and then get the hell out of there for the day.

Sigh. It's gonna take forever to finish the quests in here.

Wall Of Text Wherein I Prove I’m A Liar

2011-01-05T08:43:00.005-06:00

*Disclaimer: the following post is not an attempt to solicit any explanations, apologies or etc. It's just me clearing my mind.

Have you ever stated with certainty that you feel a specific way about a subject and then later, after ~~drama unfolds~~ an unexpected change, you realize maybe you don't feel that way anymore? Well it just happened to me. My last post here, less than 1 week ago, was all about how WoW was just a game for me and how the recent issues in my guild weren't stressing me out. I even stated that as a game it should never be a source of stress for me on a personal level and if it does ever cause stress or I become upset about in-game relationships then it would be time to quit playing. Well guess what... I'm stressed out and upset about in-game relationships. And no, I'm not going to quit playing the game. So, I was wrong. It can be more than a game.

My guild has recently gone through some major shit and it has finally taken its toll on me. I'm not going to get into what happened with great detail. Everything I said in my last post about not choosing sides and not believing one story over another is still true. The initial situation I was referring to then (which was a chunk of people leaving) is not even what's bothering me. What is bothering me is that chunk of people left because of their personal issues with my GM. My GM stood her ground and accepted the fact that she was losing all of these people because they didn't agree with her about whatever. It was a shock and a bit of a loss to the guild, but nothing we couldn't recover from easily enough (numbers wise). Because of blog posts and bitter comments and the like, things did get a bit nasty over the past 2 weeks but I continued to stay out of the fire and remained friendly with both Side A (people who left) and Side B (GM and several others).

I was pretty sure things had finally gotten as bad as they were going to be and a sort of healing process could begin. I don't yet have any desire to be a guild officer, but I did tell my GM that I would be more than happy to take over guild bank organization as a way of helping out while we were short-handed. And this week my plans were to devote some time and gold into stocking the bank with a good number of flasks and potions everyone could use for raiding. Through all of this, I have been there for both sides. People from Side A have chatted with me about their feelings and I have listened patiently and gently without ever trying to defend Side B or telling Side B that I've even spoken to anyone on Side A. I've also talked with Side B and listened to whoever needed to vent about anything without ever trying to defend Side A or telling Side A I have heard things about them. But the bottom line was - I wanted to remain loyal to my guild (which consequently meant my GM).

I talked in my last post about how my guild was just a natural part of the game to me and I couldn't imagine playing without being in it. I didn't really clarify this, but that wasn't as much about having the guild name attached to my character as it was about associating the game with 3 specific people. It would be 4 people, but my brother (who introduced me to the game and the guild) no longer plays. So, 3 people. My irl buddy David, my GM and my GM's husband (who was originally the GM when I joined). These 3 were the main people who guided me, encouraged me, and helped teach me how to play. They may not even realize how important they were to me, but I've had them each on a pedestal this entire time. My GM's husband cheerfully loaned me 80 gold when I hit level 60 and couldn't afford an Epic Mount. He was the GM at the time and I couldn't even fathom how much money 80 gold was. It might as well have been a million dollars to me then. I stressed over paying him back as quickly as possible. I farmed herbs relentlessly. Little did I know 80 gold meant nothing to him. It was such a big deal to me. He was always such a happy, helpful GM and then just player. My friend David is one of the biggest WoW nerds I know, so he was very helpful and inspiring at every turn. He doesn't play as often currently as he used to, but man he used to. The guy keeps spreadsheets of gears and enchants and can rattle off all that mathematical shit about spirit regen and blah, blah, blah. He is such an asset to have around. I have picked his brain for lots of things. As for the current GM, she's just a pretty cool person. She is extremely knowledgeable about the game. She knows enough about each class that she can recommend who needs what loot, when I raid with her she knows every fight and can explain them well; she is well organized and not afraid to take charge. I always knew if I had her approval in what I was doing, I was doing alright. I follow her blog and her twitter account because I like the way she writes. We even love a lot of the same music/bands.

So here's the unexpected change that happened last night and prompted this post. My GM, her husband, a co-gm and several core raiders (along with who else, I just don't know yet) left the guild last night and created a new one on our server. It devastated me. I understood their reasons. But it devastated me. Let me try to explain the two emotions I went through. First, I felt hurt and left out that this was obviously something that took a bit of planning and I wasn't asked if I was interested in joining them. I know I'm welcome to join them. They expressed that last night and I believe it. But that's not the same as being included. When my GM was thinking of who she really wanted in her new guild, she didn't think of me. Now maybe that's because she started this new guild to be dedicated to progression raiding on Friday & Saturday nights and because she knows me, she knows I won't give up every Friday & Saturday night to raid. No sense asking someone if they would like a peanut if you know they're allergic to peanuts, right? But if you google the name of her new guild, you can find their forums and the first posts are from around Dec. 21, 2010. Which means they didn't just decide to do this in the past 3 days, there's been some thought and planning put into it. And I didn't know until yesterday. So, yes my feelings are hurt. It doesn't mean I'm mad at her or even that I don't understand why. It certainly doesn't mean I would have followed her (though I probably would have, hard to say now). It doesn't mean I am going to give her the cold shoulder. Why? Because we're friends. And I'm cool like that. I will get over the disappointment in no time. Life goes on.

The second emotion I have is anger. Not directed at my GM on a personal level, but directed at my GM in a business sense. Here's where the line gets fuzzy. Try to think of it as related to a work environment. If a good friend of yours is your supervisor at work, there will likely come a time when what they have to tell you at work will piss you off; but when you go out for drinks that night, you shouldn't be mad at your good friend. This is what I'm talking about. She had to do what she needed to do and I understand that. But from a guild point of view, it's hard to understand how she let all of the people who are now known as Side A leave the guild (resulting in shit being stirred and drama being had) because they had issue with her when she probably knew she wasn't going to be in the guild much longer anyway. Because now we have a Side C. The people left behind. And it seems like somehow that could have been avoided.

Thankfully, my friend David is still in my guild. Although without the GM and her husband, it hardly feels like my guild. I know it wasn't easy for her to hold a guild meeting last night and make the announcement. I have much respect for her because she did that in person and was willing to discuss it afterwards. I certainly don't think they are over in their new guild laughing at us or throwing crazy celebration parties. I do sincerely hope she feels relieved and I hope that means she can now look forward to logging in again and enjoy the game like I know she used to. I will continue on with my guild although I have no idea what lies ahead of us. I will continue talking to my friends, regardless of what guild they are now in. And yes, that includes my GM (because I know you're reading this). My devastation, my hurt, my anger... it's just a result of the shock of everything. I will be fine. I may be a bit quiet for a day or two because I need to process everything and try to figure out the next step for me, or my guild, or Kim (you know she idolizes me). But I'm still cool.

It's been an interesting ride recently. I've gone from being excited and anxious about helping my guild achieve great things, to remaining neutral and friendly during a guild split, to feeling like a homeless reject who isn't going to have a chance to do any raiding. Quite a rollercoaster. Luckily, I've got a level 20 worgen who has never been in any guild and I can always log in there to just enjoy playing for a while and take a break from all the sad stuff. And who knows, maybe that worgen (feral druid, btw) will one day soon get the chance to join an amazing guild.

It Will Always Be Just A Game

2010-12-29T10:18:00.003-06:00

** Update: I wrote this post up fairly quickly this morning. I am bad about writing something, doing a quick proof-reading and then posting it. I do not take the time to revise things and make them sound better. There are a couple of instances below where I said I wasn't affected by the drama that has recently occurred in my guild. But those words aren't accurate. Of course it has had an effect on me. My friends are no longer friends with each other, things are tense and strained, people are gone and people are bitter. It affects me. What I should have said is the drama didn't involve me. I cannot determine who's story rings the most truth because I didn't witness any of it and none of the parties involved have ever acted or talked negatively to me. I just wanted to clear that up because saying it didn't affect me made me sound like I didn't care about anyone and that's simply not true. I care about all of them.**

This January marks the beginning of my 4th year in World Of Warcraft, a game my brother had been trying to talk me into playing for at least a year before I ever did. I held out because I had heard stories about how addicting it was and I have always been someone who enjoys going out socially with friends and family as much as possible. But he finally convinced me to try the 14 day free trial during the winter days of January 2007 when I was mostly stuck in the house. I immediately loved it (like I was afraid I would) and created a permanent account before the trial was even over. I joined the guild my brother was in immediately because he and one of my real life friends from work (hi David) were in it and they told me I had to be too. I had no idea really what a guild even was, but I had one. Over the past 3 years there have been 3 other people from my life outside the game who have also joined this guild, 2 of which are very dear friends of mine. And David had other friends who lived in the same local area as me and played, so I actually got a chance to meet several guildies at a few LAN parties and have gotten to know them outside of the game.

Over the years I have also developed great friendships with some fellow guild mates who don’t live locally. It’s probably hard for people who don’t have much of an internet life to understand how you can call someone a friend if you only know them online, but trust me, it’s easy to do. These are people that I chat with for hours a week, who’ve offered their help and support to me (even if it is in-game I’m referring to), who I’ve logged into Vent with and actually heard their voices and talked with them. I follow them on Facebook and through their blogs and Twitter accounts, etc. Some of these people talk to me more than certain members of my family do. Yes, they are friends.

Like any guild, there’s drama. I’ve seen a few people rage quit or get kicked over the years and we’ve had people who have had to quit because of personal life. While it’s always sad to see someone go, none of these had ever really had any effect on me at all. But recently, that has changed. Our guild is suffering a meltdown of sorts. Instead of just 1 or 2 people leaving for their individual reasons, we have handfuls of people leaving and all for connected reasons. Guild officers have left. People who have been a big part of my WoW life, people who I absolutely loved to log in and see, people who I do consider friends… are gone now. The past month or so has been one surprise after another with drama and gquits. Our guild forum is filled with goodbye messages and whispered chats are taking place in-game.

As much as I wanted to avoid hearing anything, if you are friends with people on both sides of the split, you’re gonna eventually hear what happened. I’ve heard/read several sides of it. Some people seem to be wondering WHY I’m not more upset about what has happened while others seem to be just waiting for WHEN I will be become upset about what happened. But here’s the thing everyone needs to understand… it’s just a game. I don’t want to belittle anyone by saying that and I don’t mean to be disrespectful to anyone who is seriously upset over what they’re feeling about all of this. But, none of what happened ever happened to me personally. I do not do drama. I don’t ever pick sides because I love everyone. It’s just my nature to be happy. Maybe you think I should be upset that my friends were treated like this. But guess what? I have friends on both sides of this thing so how do I determine who is right, who is wrong and who got treated badly? I don’t have to because I wasn’t involved in any of the original issues. I’ll never know who’s telling the story correctly. And it’s not worth my time to even try… because it’s just a game. I can still play the game and I can still talk to all of my friends (as long as they remain on the same server as me) while I’m logged in. I can even still run heroics with any of them that remain on the same server, they just simple have a different guild name now. I’m sorry everyone is upset with each other. I’m sorry for the stress my friends are feeling. I’m sorry we can’t all be one big happy family. But really, it doesn’t affect me or my game at all. And I hope me saying that doesn’t piss anyone off.

My guild just seems like part of the game to me. I can’t imagine playing without being in it. I never searched for a guild or joined one based on criteria I had in mind. It just simply came with the game because my brother put me in it. And I like it there. Yes, there have been troubles recently and there have been drastic changes and we may or may not have an uncertain future. But I log in just to have fun playing a game. It’s supposed to be an escape from real life. A way of forgetting your troubles. It should never be a source of stress or frustration (except of course for when you are wiping repeatedly on a boss). If I ever get to the point where I am seriously upset about in-game relationships or I dread logging in… then I’ll quit playing that day because it would no longer be a game. So yes, I’m staying in my guild not because I’ve picked sides, but because it’s my guild. I am ignoring the drama. I am concerned about all of my friends and I am sorry they are going through this, but it has no bearing on my game play.

In closing, I have no idea whether any of my WoW friends will ever read this but just in case they do I want to say: I value your friendship, I look forward to remaining in contact with you, I’m sorry your feelings were hurt the way they were. But I am not choosing sides; I do not believe one person over another. I refuse to. I have no way of gauging who is telling a truer version. I’m over it. I’m just playing a game. I love you all.

I Have Weirder Dreams Than You

2010-12-18T05:45:00.003-06:00

It's true that every one of us has weird dreams. It's also true that a lot of people do not remember their dreams and that makes me sad. My dreams are so elaborately detailed and incredibly bizzare. They're a great source of entertainment for me. I usually remember them when I wake up but most of the time they fade away pretty quickly. After a few minutes they are usually gone completely. I have always wanted to keep a dream journal but I don't for several reasons. One, who wants to grab a pen and handwrite that shit? I'd much rather type it into the pc because that's faster. Besides, I just woke up! I don't want to do anything that requires too much manual dexterity and my computer is not in my bedroom so it's not an option.

The other reason (and this is the main one)I don't keep a dream journal is because the second I wake up I already needed to go to the bathroom 5 minutes ago. Every day of every month of every year of my life, I wake up and do the pee pee dance/walk to the bathroom. There's no time to stop and smell the graphite lead (that's pencil humor people, keep up). Now, I know what you're thinking... why don't I leave a notebook in the bathroom so I can write the dreams down while I'm in there. Um, NO! I am not a guy, I don't just sit there for endless minutes multitasking. The bathroom is gross, even if it is my own. You get in, do your business and get out. I'd much rather hang out on the couch. Shudder.

So no daily dream journal for me. However, on occasion the weirdness of my dreams sticks with me longer than just a few fleeting minutes and after I finish peeing, I will go sit at my laptop and type in what I remember. I thought I'd share with you one of the dream synopsisssississes I recently wrote. This is exactly how I typed it in my groggy state, I have not corrected any grammar or anything below. This is all about content not presentation. Enjoy!

I'm driving down a pretty curby, hilly road. I remember seeing the speedometer and I'm going 60 but the car behind me is right up on my bumper worse than I've ever seen. He's so close to me I can't even see the front of his car out my back window, just a closeup of his face and his hands on the wheel. I also keep hearing a car engine start every few minutes. I remember thinking "his car must be dying while he's driving and that's why he gets so close to me - when it's dead he has no power brakes. I can hear him restarting it." There's nowhere to pull over to let him around so I decide to try and speed up.

Flash to me sitting in some sort of cafeteria booth with a plate of food in front of me. I suddenly reach out and shove the plate of food towards the other side of the table and I shove it so hard that some of the fried chicken falls off the plate and rolls onto the floor. Oh crap. I stand up and lean over to assess the situation. That's when the guy sitting at the booth behind me says "oh man, I'm sorry bout that". I look and recognize it's they guy in the tailgating car. He has a big bowl of mashed potatoes in front of him. I turn to him and say "I was trying to hurry so I could get out of your way." He says "yeah, I wish I were in front of you because I'm afraid I'm going to hit you." I get ready to sit back down and he says "Wait! Since you're up I should just go around you right now." So he stands up, picks up his huge bowl of mashed potatoes and walks around me to the booth in front of me where he sits down again. I feel so relieved.

Uldum Is A Strange Place

2010-12-16T00:42:00.005-06:00

I have captured a huge number of screenshots over the past week. Shots of cut scenes, npc's saying funny things, fun quests, my rag-muffin gear that I change a piece of after every 6 or 7 quests, etc. But I don't want to post too much about the quests or the zones before people have a chance to see it for themselves. I don't want to be a spoiler. So instead I thought I'd show you one of the weirdest things I've run across so far and I promise it won't spoil anything.

In Uldum, while flying over Vir'naal Lake, I spotted a floating cat head. I have no idea if it is supposed to be there or if it was some weird glitch, but it kinda creeped me out. It's bigger than my head and looks like a bobber from the bottom. Some sort of weird ancient Egyptian custom I guess.

Cataclysmic Laughter

2010-12-15T00:32:00.006-06:00

I am loving this expansion so much. Blizzard stepped their game up yet again. It's been so much fun actually taking the time to read the quests and pay attention to the details. Several days ago, while questing in Mount Hyjal, I bounded through an ogre cave on a mission and stumbled upon some poor fellow being held prisoner. When I interacted with him he told a story about how he had been doing research when suddenly he found himself in his current predicament. You had the option of immediately accepting his request for help or you could ask him another question about how his research was going. Me, being my normal smart-ass self, chose to ask the question before agreeing to help. This was his answer. (So sorry I accidentally saved it in .gif format, it looks crappy. I was too busy laughing at what I was seeing to pay attention to what I was doing.)

This was pretty early on in my Cata experience and it made me realize I was gonna have a lot of screen-shotting to do if things were gonna continue to be this awesome. And trust me, things did continue this way and I did take a lot of screenshots. There will be more to come here shortly and they will actually be pretty jpegs and not crappy gifs.

* Scary how this is turning into a WoW blog, isn't it?

Cataclysm: A New WoW Beginning

2010-12-10T06:48:00.007-06:00

Thanks to a combination of a new expansion, a shift in my social life, a change in my work hours, and the fact that it's too cold to be outside for the next several months, my WoW nerd-level is increasing. Rapidly. With the release of Cataclysm I have committed myself to stepping up my game. No more clicking the quest accept button instantly and then using quest helper add-ons to tell me what to do. No more asking about every possible upgrade in guild chat so someone else can tell me what I need. No more tabbing out to wowhead to figure out where zones or NPC's are. Okay, that last one wasn't really a big issue, but still. My point is, no more half-assed casual play.
I've been playing for nearly 3 years and it's about time I stop wandering around like a noob.

[interlude]
Please allow me to make a small interjection here. I am serious about what I have said above, but let me clarify that this does not mean I am becoming a hardcore raider. I do plan on gearing myself better and actually studying fights for a change so that I can be a raider who will benefit my guild. But I cannot at this point committ to raiding every Friday, Saturday, Monday & Wednesday (or whatever). I mean, for one thing, it will eventually be summer again and the drive-in will be open. Also, I like to leave my house at least several times a week. That is all.
[/interlude]

I plan on grinding rep for the proper rewards... and the fun ones. I plan on reading each quest and trying to learn the story, to immerse myself a little bit more in the lore of the game. Because really, who would play this for years and years and years if there wasn't actually a progressing and interesting story? The lore is a big reason this game has grown and I finally plan to pay it some respect. I plan on learning dungeons and raids. I will become more knowledgeable of my professions and know what I need and why (as opposed to stumbling around zones saying "ooh look, a sparkly flower"). I will understand the talent trees and actually place points there based on my understanding and not by looking up guildmates of similar class on the WoW armory to simply copy theirs. I will have the proper glyphs, enchants and gems. Oh man, just talking like this is getting me all pumped up. Woo hoo, I am so excited to be at this stage. (image via www.ackadia.com)

With the expansion being so new, I have no in-game proof of my new committment as of yet. I'm only about 75% of the way to level 81. I have only picked up a few nodes of cinderbloom and stormvine with my herbalism. I have done nothing with alchemy. I have fished up some Mountain Trout, but have done nothing with cooking. I will be doing archaeology, but have not yet looked up the trainer. I'm off to a bit of a slow start compared to others. However, keep in mind that I have only played any Cata content for about 2 1/2 hours. That is because I did not get it installed until Wednesday and even after it was installed, I spent my time Wednesday night still questing in Northrend. Icecrown, to be specific. Although I should have had it done months and months ago, I was determined to finish Northrend Loremaster. After I got Cata installed, I only had 14 IceCrown quests to complete to get the achievement. I made myself do it. Just part of my new dedication to the game. I had to go to work on Wednesday night with 4 quests left to do in Icecrown. When I got home Thursday morning, I sat down and completed them. This meant that I could now begin playing Cataclysm. After bed, of course. So Thursday night after bowling and before work, I went to Mt. Hyjal. I felt drawn to choose it over Vash'jir because of the Cenarion connection. A druid's gotta do what feels natural after all.

What you can see to measure the extent of my nerdiness is my life outside of the game. I'm not saying spending money makes me committed, but in the past month or so I have purchased several things to help myself become more immersed in the game. One of these things was the novel 'Warcraft: War of the Ancients Trilogy'. It should help me learn the back story of who and why. It should also just be a fun read and I hope I enjoy it enough to want to read more of the Warcraft books. When it came time to purchase Cataclysm itself, I felt a strong desire to not only buy a physical copy (as opposed to the quick and easy digital download) but to buy the Collector's Edition. I will admit the mouse pad, art book, soundtrack cd, deck of trading cards, behind the scenes dvd, and the in-game pet were a nice bonus to this decision, but I just wanted the Collector's Edition simply because it was special. Not rare exactly, but limited to an extent. I also bought the BradyGames Signature Series Guide for Cataclysm. Again, as a way of having the resources in front of me to actually learn what the hell I was doing instead of just googling shit at the last minute or asking for help in guild chat. The guide is wonderful. It is NOT a step-by-step walkthrough of questing. It IS a wealth of information about the new zones, the changes that have been made to classes, professions, dungeons, etc. It lists factions available to grind rep with and what their rewards are at each level of rep you gain. It's amazing. It's so amazing, I bought one for my best WoW mate. (image via www.Merecal.com)

I have been taking the guide to work and reading through it on breaks. I have learned some interesting things that you may or may not already know. I'm going to share a brief list of changes that have been made that I hadn't heard about yet. Then, after the list, I will promptly end this giant wall of text (I do apologize for said giant wall of text) and bid you all a cheese fondue!

Some cool changes in Cata I hadn't yet heard about:
- you are immediately proficient with any weapon you are allowed to use... no more skilling them up by type
- there are no longer ranks applied to spells and abilities... as you gain levels these will automagically improve themselves for you
- the new secondary profession, archaeology, does not have you competing with other players for items (unlike herbing, fishing, mining, etc. where someone can get it before you do)... each thing you are required to seek is only tied to your specific character
- one of the guild perks is "cash flow" which generates an extra 5% of money from an enemy you kill and deposits it directly into your guild bank. This is so awesome to me.
- there has been a change to the minimap which allows you to see a skull icon at the location where you can find a specific, named enemy you have been told to kill for a quest. Also, when you target that enemy, a yellow exclamation will appear on his portrait.

Much love,
Elfindale

Open Letter To Blizzard

2010-12-07T06:51:00.005-06:00

** UPDATE **
I now have the Collector's Edition in hand and already installed. I had a friend tell me our local Best Buy did indeed have copies of it in-store (even though their website assured me weeks ago that it would not be available for in-store pickup if I ordered it online... how confusing), so I went over there the minute they opened on Wednesday morning and brought one home. I am a very happy WoW nerd right about now. I also called Target and cancelled my order, so that's taken care of. Now if only I still weren't too busy with Christmas to stay logged in every waking hour.

Blizzard, I love you. I really, REALLY, love you. And I am so very excited that Cataclysm is here. Except that, I'm not because mine isn't. Here, that is. Hence the reason for this letter. Why isn't my Cataclysm Collector's Edition here yet? I mean, I know I ordered it from Target and that you are not responsible for shipping it from Target to me... but yet, you are responsible for them not having shipped it to me yet.

Today is December 7th. Launch day! My copy of the expansion was not allowed to be shipped before today, and I just don't understand. I mean, I do understand why it couldn't be shipped out when I ordered it, or even why it couldn't be shipped out 2 weeks ago. But why couldn't it have been allowed to leave the warehouse 2 days before launch day? Then I would have it tomorrow or the next day instead of having to wait until next week (in all probability). The fact that you didn't turn the expansion on until 12:00am PST just proves my point. You have the power to prevent people from playing it after it's installed until you are ready for them to play it. Why couldn't I have received it in the mail yesterday and had it installed and ready to go when the clock struck the magic number? Having it in hand wouldn't have gotten me in any quicker than anyone else.

I know what you're gonna say... I could have easily purchased the digital download and would have been playing instantly. Or, at the very least, I could have attended one of the several launch parties in my area and carried it home with me in just a few hours. And yes, you are most certainly correct. Except that I wanted the Collector's Edition and not the digital downloaded one. I wanted the box, the disk, the art book, the cd. I wanted it in my hands so that I could hug it and squeeze it and call it George. Maybe even snuggle up with it on my pillow at night. I checked all the area stores weeks ago and from what I saw, the Collector's Edition was not available for in-store pickup in my area. So, I ordered it online. And now I sit here waiting.

To make matters worse, I had prepared myself for the wait and convinced myself that I could finish up some quest lines in Northrend while everyone else was falling all over themselves in the new areas. Then, when I got there in 5 or 6 days, things would be cleared out a bit and I could enjoy myself. But this morning I received an email that tore apart all of my optimism and prompted me to write this letter. I got an email from Target... "Thank you for shopping at Target.com. We wanted to let you know that there is a delay with one or more items in the order you placed..." Cry. Sob. QQ. I don't think I'm gonna make it. Blizzard, you have made me emo.

In closing, I just want to say that when the next expansion comes out please consider allowing it to be shipped 2 days or so before launch date. I don't care too much about logging in at the exact moment it goes live, but it would be nice not to have to wait a week on it.

Also, please consider not launching an expansion so close to the holidays ever again. I ended up about 80 quests short of Loremaster before patch 4.0.3a hit and although I obviously should have been questing harder earlier in the game, I believe I would have made it if I hadn't spent the weekend before the patch out of town for 4 days celebrating Thanksgiving with my family. And now this month I have to wrap presents, attend parties, decorate, clean, bake, visit family out of town, go shopping for gifts, etc. It really sucks that it came so close to Christmas. But, I am simply speaking for myself and I know there are millions of others out there who are logged into Cataclysm right now with not a care in the world. And those people... they make me jealous.

Forever yours,
Elfindale of Azuremyst

Poetry Corner

2010-11-19T13:56:00.008-06:00

Remember the disclaimer.

The Body

A twisted body, rotten and bloating
In an obscure pond, moss-covered and floating
There is no face, there is no soul
Where the heart once was there's only a hole
Drained of all blood, bones mostly shattered
Both eyes are missing, teeth ripped out and scattered
A grotesque sight, a hideous stench
The mere thought of the thing makes my gut wrench
I turn to go, careful to cover my tracks
Like I did yesterday - the third time I came back
Like I'll do tomorrow when I come once again
To stand and stare at my life's greatest sin

Craft Fair Weekend

2010-10-28T21:57:00.001-05:00

On Friday, Oct. 15th, mom & I had a craft fair weekend. Every year North West Arkansas goes craft fair crazy. And so do me and my mother. War Eagle is our favorite, then we head to Bella Vista, Springdale, and Pinnacle Hills in no particular order. This post is gonna be picture heavy. Strap in. Here we go.

War Eagle is by far the most popular one and generally has the biggest crowds. Mom and I usually get up early and head there first because there's only one road in and one road out so if you don't get ahead of 90% of everyone else then you get to spend like an hour in your car waiting in line to get to park. There is even more congestion due to the fact that the craft fair is spread out on both sides of the river and the only way to cross it is a single car bridge. So they have to alternate car traffic from both directions and accommodate pedestrian traffic too. War Eagle Mills and Farm is a beautiful place, even without the craft fair. Check out more about it here.

When we arrived, we came in from the east and immediately crossed the bridge to park on the west side. Trust me, that is the best strategy. Even though we were early and were way ahead of the crowd, there were quite a few people ahead of us. Here's the parking lot at the moment of arrival:

Here's what we first saw after parking and walking towards the action:

This next photo is blurry, sorry about that, but it shows what it is like inside one of the huge craft tents. This is just one side of the tent, each tent has two sides just like this. And on the west side of the river there are 4 of these tents.

After going through everything on the west side, we get in line to cross the bridge and head over towards the mill:

There's already quite a crowd on this side:

Here's a pic of the mill and the east side of the bridge:

On this side, the crafters just have single tent booths setup. It's more open and thins the crowd out a bit:

It's a lot of walking and shopping, so Mom (orange shirt) offered to buy us each a fresh squeezed lemonade:

After we had seen all there was to see, we crossed the bridge again and headed for the car. A couple hours had passed and the crowd size had grown like 10x. Remember the line to cross the bridge a few photos ago? Here's the same line, going the same direction, now that we're leaving:

In fact, the line to the bridge is all the way back to the first tents we went into:

Now you see why we get there early. We managed to avoid having to wait like that. After we left War Eagle, we went to the Bella Vista craft fair which is so much smaller I can't even describe how much smaller it is. I didn't take any pictures there. It's just a few tents in a field in the middle of nowhere. While in Bella Vista, we stopped and had lunch at Dairy Queen.

Next stop was Springdale, AR for the Holiday Inn Convention Center craft fair. I had been waiting to get to this one since... well, since last year actually. Because the only real purchase I make during craft season comes from this location. And I don't even have to go in the front door. This is the craft fair where I find Carey Huckaby every year. He's a spray paint artist from Austin, Texas and he creates spray paint paintings and sells them right outside the main entrance. I could stand and watch him all day. This is the 3rd year I've seen him and it's the 3rd year I've purchased one of his paintings.

Here he is painting the one I bought this year. His work is so popular you have to jump in and buy the painting before it's done because otherwise someone else will have bought it before you get a chance to. Once I saw him put down the yellow & orange, I paid for this one. My other two did not have these colors so I knew it'd be one to add to my collection.

More pictures of Carey at work on different paintings can be found on my Flickr page.

And to see pictures of the past two paintings I have purchased from Carey, check this old blog post.

These Are Good Genes

2010-10-19T18:36:00.003-05:00

Willow Smith, daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. She's 9 years old. Amazing. She looks so much like her daddy, lol.

Nostalgia, I Haz It

2010-09-30T10:52:00.006-05:00

Not only are these some of my favorite toys, the ads themselves look so funny compared to today's commercials.

And just because it's one of the most widely remembered jingles ever...

Why I Hate My Cat

2010-09-17T22:49:00.002-05:00

Takara (tuh-car-uh) is technically Scott's cat because he decided he wanted a kitty and he brought her home. But because we are roommates and the kitty lives equally with both of us, I consider her to be mine too. And I hate her. Not really, but really. Mostly because she's so pretty and petite and playful and I just wanna hug her and pet her and squeeze her and call her George and she doesn't like me at all. It' so frustrating. Part of it is because since I'm the unofficial woman of the house and do all the cleaning, I am the one that has to yell at her when I find her walking across kitchen counters or up on the table. So she's actually a bit scared of me.

She's a pretty timid cat anyway, does not like company coming over at all, and any sudden movements will make her turn tail and run. She doesn't like to be held and will scramble to jump down instantly. She will lay on my lap occasionally, but as soon as Scott appears on the scene she runs to him immediately. When I walk by and find her curled up somewhere and looking cute, I bend down to pet her precious head and she bolts. If she is passing through the living room and I coincidentally start to get up out of my chair, she bolts. If I am coming out of my bedroom in the morning and she happens to be in the hallway, she bolts.

Her relationship with Scott, on the other hand, is awesome. She follows him around like a puppy dog. He can pick her up and hold her in one hand or squeeze her against his chest in a tight hug and she's content either way. No matter where she's at in the house, the minute she hears his voice she comes running for him. She has a game she plays with him where every time he sits down in his recliner and reaches for the handle on the side of the chair to recline, she attacks his hand. It's seriously a game of hers. You can totally tell she does it on purpose. Sometimes she will hide behind the couch and jump out to get him when he reclines. Sometimes she will come dashing out of the kitchen to catch him. But she always gets him. Then while he is reclined she loves to lay at his feet on the recliner. And when she feels playful instead of sleepy she spends the entire time dashing wildly around the room but always jumping across his lap on every round. I mean the cat loves him like nothing I've ever seen. And I don't get it. He yells at her sometimes, why isn't she scared of him like she is me? I feed her sometimes, why doesn't she love me like she does him? That's why I always joke about hating her... because I'm so frustrated that I don't get any affection from her. She's a brat.

Get this - when he goes to bed at night and shuts his bedroom door, Takara will sit outside his room and cry for him. Even though I'm looking at her down the hall from the living room and frantically patting my lap while calling her, she pays no attention to me and cries for him. In the mornings I get up and go to work a few hours before Scott and I will either find her already sitting in front of his door crying, or me walking around wakes her up and after I get out of the shower I find her sitting in front of his door crying. And we've had her for over a year. Ridiculous.

The picture above is just one more reason I hate her. Tonight she decided that being at Scott's feet wasn't good enough and she's spent all evening looking cute and curled up by his side. He's trying to use his laptop and keeps moving her because she's in the way, but she just comes right back. Meanwhile, I'm across the room in my chair relentlessly begging her to come sit on my lap. Stupid cat.

Crazy Things My Mom Says

2010-09-13T15:27:00.002-05:00

Mom is getting older and crazier by the day, so I've decided I should start jotting down some of the hilarious things that spew forth from her mouth and share them with you guys occasionally. We'll start with something she told me a few weeks ago that absolutely cracked me up.

Mom says: " The neighbors got a new horse the other day. It always stands near the fence but it's never facing the road. I'd bring it an apple, but I'd have to shove it up it's butt."

Your welcome interwebz.

Random Thoughts

2010-09-08T16:21:00.004-05:00

Eggs should come with bits of diced bacon already inserted inside the shell. Not only would it be easier to make yummy scrambled eggs, but how awesome would a hardboiled egg with bacon be?

Having the ability to listen to your iPod all day long at work = WIN.

I wonder how many pigeons get sucked through airplane engines during takeoff.

Great, now I want to read one of the Pigeon books by Mo Willems.

Seriously, I love those books.

Also… I like turtles.

Oh man, the interwebz always get me so sidetracked.

How cool would it be if someone would develop a phone app that would replace my garage door opener? Then no matter whose car I’m in, I could open the garage. That would be so convenient. Someone get on that.

How can bowling be so fun and frustrate the hell out of me all at the same time? Oh right, it’s because the people I bowl with crack me up. And there’s pizza and beer. Even though I hate beer. Blech!

I find it weird that some people don’t like Oreos. I mean, c’mon. What is wrong with these people?

Is it odd that I attend rap concerts, rodeos, art museums, tractor pulls, hard rock festivals and musical theater productions all within a matter of months? I didn’t think so.

/end random thoughts

Musical Interlude

2010-09-06T19:59:00.005-05:00

I don't know how it happens, but every time I realize I've an over-abundance of spare time and decide to fill it by revisiting this here blog... my world goes crazy! I have been working on 1 post for over a week now. And it's not even a good post.

In the meantime, take the time to enjoy this video. The Muppet Show is timeless and I am so glad I grew up getting to watch it. Animal is my favorite Muppet because he's a drummer and I am obsessed with drums and consequently drummers. Combine that with a great classic song and the unique style of Muppet humor and you get a big ole pile of WIN!

Ch..Ch..Ch..Changes!

2010-08-24T17:27:00.004-05:00

Sorry about all the new backgrounds and colors going on around here lately. I get bored and decide to prettify the blog. Then every time I do, a few days later someone will point out to me that it's hard to read because of the colors, or it doesn't show up right in their feed because I've changed it. So then I have to try and find something that is not boring and still allows everyone to read it easily. I'm actually really digging this current design. Maybe it will stay up longer than a few weeks.

*** Edited on 09/17/10 - looks like it only lasted 3 weeks. I really started hating it after a while.

Poetry Corner

2010-08-19T18:22:00.009-05:00

I thought I might start posting a few poems I have written. Some of them may be recent, some of them may be poems I wrote 10 years ago. I'm not going to bother explaining them. All I ask is that as you read them, you remember what I said about my poetry in the last paragraph of this post.

Regrets

Loose bits of past regrets, floating all around me
Clawing at me, pulling on me, trying their best to drown me
Sneering at me, leering at me, being really hateful
Trying to out-shadow all the things for which I’m grateful

Zipping by, flashing by, displaying my wrongdoings
I cannot tear my eyes away, they’re addicted to the viewings
Bad decisions, bad ideas, bad choices I have made
Are all right here in front of me, chronologically displayed

They get to me, these little bits, and make me feel ashamed
I let a tear slip down my face, my head begins to hang
Then suddenly I find my voice, I raise my head up high
And scream at all my past regrets “My spirit will not die!”

Revenge Of The Nerds: Nerds Are Now The Norm

2010-08-17T10:34:00.016-05:00

Raise your geek flags high and wave them around proudly, we are winning the war! According to this article, 'Tyranny of the Fanboys', from New York Magazine in July, most of the things once considered too nerdy to talk about are now loved by almost everyone.

"Yes, all the favorite obsessions of nerds and fanboys (or fangirls)—vampires, superheroes, manga, and sci-fi—have now been successfully incepted into our collective pop-culture dreams....

...these days, fanboys are never excluded because they run the culture. They may still sit in rooms alone, but they commune endlessly with other fanboys online, praising what they already like and shouting down anyone who won’t join in. And somewhere, these days, there’s a teen alone in his garage, wondering if it’s safe to tell anyone that he’s not particularly psyched for a Kick-Ass sequel and that he fell asleep in Inception halfway through."

I don't think the author sees this as a positive thing, but that's alright; he's entitled to his opinion. Personally I am thrilled this type of shift is taking place because I have always rode the line between wanting to go to BlizzCon in costume and also being completely aware of the fact it would mortify my friends and family... so I refrain. Maybe if nerdiness continues to gain popularity I can not only feel free to attend these types of conventions but I may find someone who'd be willing to go with me.

Music From My Childhood

2010-08-10T09:38:00.007-05:00

I was born in 1970, so when the 80's rolled around I was the perfect age to really listen to, appreciate and enjoy the hell out of that amazing 80's music. It's my childhood. I went from age 9 to age 19 during the 80's. Those are some important developmental years in a kid's life. Music was a HUGE part of it. I remember getting my first radio with a tape recorder around the age of 10 and spending hours with the tape paused on record, waiting for certain songs to play on Rock 99 out of Springfield, MO and then unpausing the tape to record the songs from the radio. I got to be really good at timing it just right and not getting any of the dj's talking. A few years later, around age 14, my mom came home from work one day and asked me to name my top ten favorite artists because she worked with a young girl whose birthday was coming up and mom wanted to buy her a popular tape for her birthday. So I sat down and compiled an amazing list of names like Cyndi Lauper, Kool & The Gang, Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears, Chicago, etc. Two weeks later, for my birthday, mom had bought me every tape I listed. IT WAS AND STILL IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT I'VE EVER GOTTEN. Simply because I had no real possessions at that age, I lived to hear those songs on the radio and it was a really sneaky, thoughtful way to get me a present.

I also had a really cool neighbor (Terry Kidwell) who was a year older than me and who introduced me to two things: rap music and Wham. Funny combination, no? The Wham album, Make It Big, was one of his favorites and I soon grew to love it as much as he did. "Careless Whisper" and "Everything She Wants" were great songs. But he also listened to a lot of rap music and passed that along to me as well. Where he got his hands on it, I don't know. Because in small town Missouri in the early 80's you didn't hear rap on the radio. I don't know who introduced it to Terry, but I'm grateful. He soon had me jamming to Kurtis Blow, RunDMC, Doug E. Fresh, Grand Master Flash, etc. Good stuff. I still love the Kurtis Blow album "America". And everytime I hear "You Be Illin" by RunDMC, I think of Terry. Some of my all time favorite songs are from the 80's. "Come On Eileen" by Dexie's Midnight Runners and "Burning Down The House" by Talking Heads. And of course, "Take On Me" by Aha! The 80's gave us Deff Leppard, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi and even Paula Abdul. Lol.

Point of all this rambling, a coworker of mine came in this morning humming a melody I recognized from the 80's and I spent some time online trying to figure out what it was. It finally hit me - "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. During all of my searching and thinking, I stumbled across this website which lists the Billboard Top 100 for each year from 1980 - 89. I thought you might enjoy looking through them as much as I did. Find them here

And now I will leave you with video I found on YouTube this morning... 10 minutes of little 80's video snippets.

If You Really Knew Me....

2010-07-30T21:01:00.002-05:00

If you really knew me, you would know that I cry more from pride than I do from sadness. I tear up every time I’m at an event where the national anthem is being played. Or if I watch little kids sing (like at a school program). Or while I’m singing Christmas carols. Or various other things just like this. You know what I just noticed? It’s weird, but those things all revolve around music or singing.

If you really knew me, you would know that I struggle EVERY DAY with keeping myself happy versus making other people happy. And it’s a pain in the ass. Every once in a while it builds up and I have a mini explosion of depression where I spend one day (I never stay down long) at home, all alone, in my pajamas. But even though it sounds rough… I wouldn’t want it any other way. Because making other people happy is what I love to do and ultimately makes me happy. So it works out and is totally worth it like 99% of the time. I mean, I have my moments, but mostly I’m a pretty happy camper. I’m almost always optimistic and I do a pretty good job of keeping my struggles hidden on the inside. Because I love you all and you’re all worth it.

If you really knew me, you would know that I have a weird sort of ADD for life. I don’t have ADD in the typical way at all. I can do the same activity for hours and hours and hours. But I have some sort of weird ADD condition which causes me to change my interests and hobbies constantly. I think it stems from the fact that I love learning and doing new things. But in a few weeks I’ll be done with it and moving on to something else. It’s probably because there’s always another new thing to learn and do. It sucks because I have trouble finishing projects and rarely spend enough time on one thing to get to a point where I do it really well. It seems like as soon as I have done it for a few weeks and can do it right, I move on. I never get better than average at anything. But I sure can do a lot of different things, so I guess it works out.

If you really knew me, you would know that there is something wrong with me in my head. I hate being fat and convince myself constantly that “tomorrow is the day”. But tomorrow comes and I’m so upset I didn’t wake up skinny that I convince myself I’ll just try again tomorrow. This is a very sad, but true, story.

If you really knew me, you would know that I am ridiculously shy in real life. Sure, I’m awesome on the internet. But in person, unless you’re in my circle of friends that I see all the time, I will probably be extremely quiet and won’t talk to you; because I expect people not to like me. I don’t even like talking to the cashiers at Wal-Mart. I am afraid I’ll say something stupid or embarrass people somehow. My cheeks get all red and I keep my face and eyes lowered. Some of my friends have told me that when they first met me, they thought I was a snob because they were told I’m hilarious and then I didn’t even speak to them (except to be extremely polite, cause I’m a very polite person) for days or weeks. Then, once I’ve “let them in” they realize how lucky they had it and wish I would just shut up again.

If you really knew me, you would know that I have always wanted to do two things: photography and writing. As a child I dreamed of growing up and working for National Geographic magazine. I used to make mom buy me used NG’s at garage sales and I would hoard them in my room. As an adult, I still dream of being really good at these two things; though I no longer want to combine them. The writing, in particular, is my main love. But photography is easier than writing, so I tend to concentrate more on that. One of the reasons I haven’t broken out with a great American novel is because I’m a perfectionist. I hate the idea of sketching out a story and planning out a plot, etc. I want to just sit down in front of a blank word document and write the first sentence and then write every consecutive sentence until I reach the end. Obviously that will never work; unless you’re working on something very short, bringing me to my next paragraph.

If you really knew me, you would know that I sometimes write poetry. My poetry covers a wide variety of subjects. I say “sometimes write” because I have never really sat down and worked on a poem. They just seem to randomly spew forth from my brain in a huge rush and I have to immediately find some place to write them down before they’re gone. This comes in spells. A lot of poems have simply never been written down because I just wasn’t able to stop and do it. Sadly, they are soon forgotten. Several years ago I was a poetry-writing madwoman. Then I had a dry spell for quite a while. I never know when it’s going to happen. It seems to depend on what’s going on in my life. Sometimes it’s happy things, sometimes it’s not. A lot of my poems seem to deal with the occult or supernatural, which I love reading and hearing about, but do not practice or participate in. So if you read any of those, don’t be concerned. They just came to me, I didn’t experience them.

I'm A Free Bitch, Baby

2010-07-17T23:47:00.004-05:00

Tonight I went to a Lady GaGa concert. You wanna make something of it? I'm not too old for it, cause your only as old as you feel and I have felt like 23 for the last 17 years. And I act about 23 too. Is that wrong? No. It means I have more fun than you do. True story.

I know she's controversial and weird to some people. I know some people enjoy her songs on the radio but don't care much about her past that. Some people don't even like her music. But me, I'm a fan. Of her music and of her. Tonight just reconfirmed that for me. For one thing, I really like her songs. Not just because they're catchy, but because of the tremendous amount of natural talent GaGa possesses. Her voice is amazing, especially live. She can play the hell out of a piano. And does. But its more than that. It's hard to explain what I mean. She's a musical genius. She's definitely underrated at this point in her young career. I mean, the music world loves her for her marketability, her record sales, etc. But they aren't yet paying enough attention to recognize what a tremendously rare "true artist" she really is.

Another of the MANY things I like about her is how she sincerely reaches out to society's castaways. The freaks and geeks. The fat and the ugly. And everyone else in between who are picked on and made fun of and ignored. She encourages them in her interviews and concerts to be proud of who they are and to stay true to being however they want to be. I love that. It's such an important message. She wears weird costumes and makeup simply because she likes them. She says weird things because that is honestly what she was thinking. She's not doing an act on stage. She's just being herself. Tonight at the concert she announced to everyone that we were free to be ourselves, that the "freaks" were now the people outside and that she had locked the fucking doors. Do you know how truly amazing that was for some of these people to hear? For them to think, even if only for a second, that here is a place where they are accepted no matter what.

Now you may be wondering why this was important to me, because if you know me then you know I'm only a slight freak and a partial geek. But I do have issues that make me feel unwelcome to "society". Being fat is no fun for me anyway, but throw in all the disgusted looks, behind the back snickers and even outright meanness and I tend to not go out and do a lot of things I want to. Plus I gotta worry about how people my age from rural southwest Missouri aren't supposed to go to GaGa concerts. While I was at the concert I didn't care about any of that. I was proud to be there and to just be me. I was a free bitch, baby. And isn't that really how music and performers should make you feel? Yes. Yes it is.

This One Time, In Jail

2010-07-15T17:07:00.006-05:00

So here's a story not a whole lot of people know. I have been arrested. And not just the cute little "follow me over here to this desk and we have to officially book you". No, my arrest was down and dirty. Seriously. It was a horrible experience and I have Vietnam-like flashbacks about it still. There are so many things about this story that are frustrating. Including the way I was treated, the reason for the arrest and how the whole thing even started. Hold on to your hats... here we go.

February, 2005. I am sitting on the couch in my home in SmallAssTown, Missouri. It's dark, maybe around 8:00 pm. There's snow and ice outside. Suddenly my roommate and I hear a loud crash. I got up, glanced out the door, didn't see anything and we went back to watching tv. 20 minutes later we hear a car on the highway below our yard slam on the brakes and slide a long ways down the road. We get up, flip on the porch light and that's when we see (thanks to the car's headlights) a huge tree has fallen across the road and this guy almost hit it. Obviously, this is a problem that should be reported so that the tree can be removed from the road and people won't drive into it in the dark. So my roommate volunteers to make the call because she knows I hate talking on the phone. She calls the county sheriffs office, reports the issue and location. End of story.

Next morning, I am in bed. Sleeping in baggy shorts and a holy t-shirt. I am awakened by a loud pounding at the door. I answer the door with Medusa hair. A police officer is there and he asks for me. I say "I'm me". And he immediately places me under arrest. He made me step out onto the porch, he turned me around and cuffed my arms behind my back. He did follow me back into the house to step into some shoes, but that's all I got to do. I didn't get to change clothes, brush my hair or teeth, or even grab a coat (remember there's snow and ice on the ground). By this time my roommate was up and she was trying to talk to the cop to find out what I had done, where he was taking me and how to get me out. All he said was I had a warrant out for an FTA (failure to appear at a court date) and he was taking me to the County Jail and she could follow him up there to see how to bail me out. Then he walked my handcuffed, barely-dressed self out to the car and shoved me in the back seat just like you see on tv.

I forgot to mention.... I have been sobbing and crying since this all started.

We have a 20 minute drive to the station. Although he did read me my rights before putting me in the car, he has not said a word since. I'm still crying. We get to the station, he takes me into where prisoners go (not the office area) and sat me down on a concrete bench in a holding cell. He did not close the cell door, but I am still handcuffed. I don't know if any of you have ever been handcuffed behind your back, but it's not comfortable. Especially when you are sitting down. And remember, I'm wearing pajama shorts on a concrete bench in February. I'm freaking freezing. Shivering violently. And sobbing. Lots of sobbing.

After letting me sit there by myself for about 10 minutes, another officer comes in and leads me to the counter across the room. They finally decide they can take the handcuffs off of me and give me a lecture about not trying to make a move. Now maybe you don't know me... but I've never been in trouble. I mean, I'm afraid to talk loudly in libraries because it's against the rules. So obviously I have no record. There's no reason for them to think they should be afraid of me in any way. It was actually almost funny. But I didn't laugh. I was still crying.

They finally explain why I'm here. In 1998 (seven years prior) I failed to appear in court. I blinked. Umm... why would I have had a court date? I know nothing of this. Well, it's because in 1996 (nine years prior) I wrote a $15 check that bounced at the little local grocery store in SmallAssTown, Mo. The light sorta goes on for me at this point, because I do remember the issue with the bounced check. I remember it because when it bounced (which was a complete accident) the store posted the check beside the cash register for all the world to see. And my mom spotted it. In 1996 she saw my bad check posted at the cash register and she immediately drove over to my house and dragged my ass up to the store so she could witness me paying for the check. And I did pay for it. The original $15 and a $25 fee. I handed the cash to the chick behind the register. My mom stood there and witnessed it. When I asked for the check, she took it down off the register but said she couldn't give it to me because she wasn't sure if that was the correct policy and the boss wasn't there for her to ask. I had never bounced a check before, so I didn't know. The clerk said she would write it down, tell her boss the next day and they would tear up the check.

Guess what? Obviously that didn't happen. I now know I should have been given the check so I could have destroyed it. But they kept the check and obviously turned it in months later to the prosecuting attorney. Or whatever they do. So in 1998 the court got around to being concerned about my check and scheduled me to appear in court. Except they forgot to tell me. Because I never received any notice about it at all. I didn't show. A warrant was issued. In 2005, my roommate called the sheriff's office to report a tree had fallen across the road. When they tried to verify the address and asked her for her name, she gave them my name. Simply because I was the property owner and my name would tell them exactly where I lived and the tree was located. When they ran my name, they found my warrant.

So, back at jail. They've finally taken the handcuffs off and explained what's going on. My sobbing has dwindled down to silent tears. My roommate has been next door for the past 45 minutes trying to bail me out. I get mug shots taken. In my pajama's. With bed head and a tear-streaked face. Then they photographed all of my tattoos and fingerprinted me. The old-fashioned way with ink and paper. Then they put me in the drunk tank, with the door open, so I could sit down while I waited to be bailed out. It took another hour before my roommate sprung me. And $250, which I had to immediately give her back. The whole thing sucked. I still don't understand why I was treated so badly. I got a court date, appeared on time, was told by the assigned attorney to agree with everything he said, stood in front of the judge while the attorney explained how I am guilty. I was sentenced to 6 months unsupervised probation and had to pay court costs, plus $15 for the check that bounced and $25 for the bounced check fee. Again. Fun, huh?

Now honestly, this was 5 years ago. I'm mostly over it. And I had no problem with my probation of course. After I completed the 6 months with no issue it became a sealed record that I don't ever have to tell anyone about (as far as job applications). So, no big deal, right? Well it does make an entertaining story now. And I can usually freak people out by announcing that I've been handcuffed and mugshotted. Because I'm so not the type. But the whole experience did affect me. And I lost out on a job because of it. About a month after the court date I graduated college and had a good lead on a job with a company that supports banking software. I knew someone inside, I got an interview... and because it was all currently going on I had to admit to being on probation for passing hot checks. Not really what a company that works with banks wants to hear. I was so upset.

Anyway, that's my horrible story about how a technically innocent person spent some time in the big house.

Holy Schnike

2010-07-10T19:10:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I've updated this place. I feel really bad about that. I have been so busy keeping up with my Rosey's 365 Photos Project daily blog that I have neglected this one. I realize now I did the whole thing wrong. I should have just done my "photo a day" action here on this blog since it's my oldest child. But I didn't. So I am just gonna have to learn to pay attention to both blogs at once.

Today I leave you with a youtube video of 100 of the greatest movie insults (according to the guy who created the video). It reminded of me of so many great old movies and actually prompted me to look up a few I was unfamiliar with. Enjoy.

** WARNING ** - THIS VIDEO CONTAINS VERY VULGAR, HORRIBLE LANGUAGE -

Adventures In Food

2010-03-20T16:25:00.010-05:00

Yesterday Scott and I decided to try out the Vietnamese Restaurant in town, Bambu. I loved the "feel" of the place. The decor and soft lighting worked well together and the whole place was very clean and structured. We had the crab rangoons and egg rolls as appetizers and were both very pleased with them. Because we watch a lot of Anthony Bourdain, we both ordered a Boba tea to drink (pictured above) and they were very interesting. Boba tea is a sweet flavored, smoothie type drink which contains large tapioca pearls. Good flavor on the drink, but the "pearls" ended up being too annoying after the novelty of the whole thing wore off. Next time we go, I'll just get a diet soda.

I was very surprised to find that the menu was not nearly as strange as I expected. There were basically two types of dishes you could choose from, various meats over vermicelli and various meats over rice.

I ordered the Chom Cha Thi Nuong - shredded pork, bbq pork and a pork & egg pancake served with rice, a carrot medley and a side of fish sauce. The bbq pork had a sweet glaze on it and I poured the fish sauce over the rice and mixed it together with the shredded pork. Very delicious.

Scott ordered the house specialty, the Bon Bo Hue soup. The description said it was spicy beef noodle soup and the broth came from cooked beef bones. It also said it contained beef, oxtail and pig knuckles. He thought it was a great chance to be adventurous and I encouraged him to order it. He was a little skeptical of the pig knuckle, but I helped convince him that with the meat pieces all diced up and mixed together he'd never even know. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. The meat was not diced into small pieces at all. In fact, in the center of his bowl was an entire huge pig knuckle. Just sitting there staring at him. Combine that with the unique (ie kinda gross) smell and he didn't manage to eat very much of it. But I totally applaud the effort. And it looked cool.

We both decided we would definitely eat there again, But I'm pretty sure Scott will simply order one of the rice dishes next time. I love trying new things and enjoyed the whole experience immensely. I highly recommend this place to anyone who likes food adventures.

An Open Letter To My Checkbook

2010-03-16T08:27:00.005-05:00

Dear Checkbook,
Why do you enjoy making me anxious? Are you trying to get me to cry? Because if you are, it's working. I remember just last month when you were full to the brim with all of my gooey tax return goodness. We were so happy then. We went shopping together and drove wherever we wanted without worrying about gas prices. I paid off some bills completely and sent in the rest a few weeks early. Those were great times.

But now I look at you and I just can't believe what I'm seeing. There's an emptiness surrounding you that I can't explain. Just last month we paid all of our bills early together. Now we'll be paying everything a week late. How did this happen? Is it because I've been frequently visiting Ebay? Is that what's hurting you? I promise I will stop. I have to stop. I can't stand to see you this way. Especially since I only have 8 days of work left before my job ends. I know that as a dislocated worker I will be able to provide you with some unemployment money, but it's going to be such a difference I'm just not sure it's going to be enough for you. I know it won't be enough.

We have to stick together, Checkbook. I won't be able to survive the job hunt without you. Please pull yourself together. Show me the error of my ways. Show me the places and things that hurt you unnecessarily. And promise me you'll hold on as long as possible. Promise me you'll learn to both stretch yourself and limit yourself all at the same time. I will do the same for you. It's the only way we're going to be able to enjoy having this upcoming free time. I mean, what's the fun in not having to go to work if you can't afford to go fishing?

Love,
Kristy

Poetic Dreams

2010-03-05T14:05:00.003-06:00

Poetic Dreams

Looking at the screen
Watching myself type
Hoping I can find the words
To create some sort of hype

In my dreams I’m famous
Wealthy as can be
Writing for a living
So happy and free

But then when I awaken
I remember that’s not true
So I put my dreams behind me
And pretend that I’m not blue

In my life I’m happy
Not too much keeps me down
But I know that I’d be better off
If I could just make some damn money writing these poems.

Cool Art

2010-02-25T20:07:00.006-06:00

These are the only two paintings I own. I bought the one on the right in 2008 and the one on the left in 2009. And this year I plan on buying another if I get the chance. They are space themed paintings, but that's not what's cool about them. What's cool about them is that they are spray paint paintings. And I watched them being created both times. The artist was on his knees, a can of spray paint in each hand, using pages from a newspaper to create the mountains you see. Each painting takes approx. 6 - 8 minutes from blank white canvas to finished project. And it's an amazing process to watch. All the paintings he cranks out just seem to be random space scenes. None of them really look like any of the others (as far as all having moons, or all having waterfalls, etc.) and have different color schemes. The two times I've seen him in action has been at the annual fall crafts fair in Sprindale, AR. And both times there was a huge crowd around him buying the paintings before he finished them. I got each of these by hollering out "the next one is mine" and paying for them before any paint even went down.

Now, I do love the two paintings that I have. But the guy paints a lot of pictures that are way more detailed and colorful than these. His name is Carey Huckabey and he's known on the interwebz as the "6th Street Spray Paint Artist" in Austin, TX. I have found a few youtube videos of him, but none of them are very clear or easy to see. This was the best one I could find and when he finishes the painting and picks it up, you can see it's either paper or posterboard. The ones I own are painted on some sort of glossy plywoodish (new word) board. Oh, and I should also mention that my dad made me the beautiful frames. Here's the video - watch me!

The Jello Gelatin Disaster

2010-02-22T11:08:00.008-06:00

It all started innocently enough. My nephew Charlie recently started following a Weight Watcher's point plan diet and to be supportive I promised him I'd bring down a large supply of Jello for him. Jello's perfect for a diet because it fills your belly without many calories and all you need to make it is water. So saturday I stopped by the local Wal-Mart and loaded up my cart with 12 boxes of Jello in various flavors and a few other things I thought he would enjoy and would be useful. Then I proudly delivered the goods to him and he was very excited. But after a few mintues we discovered I had made a mistake. I had bought regular Jello gelatin instead of sugar-free Jello. And where sugar-free Jello is only 1 Weight Watcher's point for the entire box, regular Jello (the kind I bought) is 8 points for the entire box. Way too many wasted points. So guess who's going back to Wal-Mart to return some Jello? That's right, I made my mom. No not really. I went back to Wal-Mart to exchange my 11 boxes (we opened one before we realized the mistake) for 11 boxes of sugar-free. And I learned a very valuable lesson... I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.

So here's what happened. ~~Back in the old days,~~ A few short years ago, when you walked into Wal-Mart with a return, the greeter at the doors would put a pink sticker on the item or the bag to let the Customer Service Desk know that he did see you walk in the door with it. Now they have an inventory scan gun called something that I can't remember. Dang, sidetracked. I worked at a Wal-Mart Distribution Center for 7 years in Bentonville, Arkansas and I can't remember what we called these freaking guns. Gah. Anyway, so now they have to scan each UPC code and print out a little sticker to put on each item. So the old man at the door grabbed my bag of 11 boxes and started scanning and tagging. Not only was he very slow, but he ran out of room on his little table to place the stickered vs. non-stickered boxes of Jello. So it took some extra time while he juggled them and moved them around over and over again. But finally he prevailed and I had a bag full of stickered items. Off to the service desk.

Silly me. I had assumed that basically I was gonna dump the Jello boxes out on the service desk counter and then run back to the Jello aisle and grab 11 boxes of sugar-free Jello, bring them back to the service desk for verification and then walk out the door. I was wrong. At the service desk they told me they needed my receipt. Luckily I still had it in my purse because I hadn't entered the amount into my checkbook yet. Then they went through the process of writing up a defective tag FOR EACH BOX. Now Jello is not expensive to begin with, but the ones I bought were the Great Value brand and were $0.38 apiece. So finally we had a seperate tag on each box of Jello. And she's ringing up the total so she can hand me my money back. I guess they don't do exchanges anymore, only returns. I don't know. In the meantime, because all of this has been such a lengthy process I'm bored and begin making idle chit chat with the service desk clerk.

"I'm really sorry about this. I know returning Jello is a little unusual. I just grabbed the wrong kind accidentally."
"Oh that's okay, people return food all the time. We'll just throw these away with all the rest"
"Excuse me?"
"We have to throw this Jello away. Ever since 9/11 we aren't allowed to re-shelve food items of any kind."
"Excuse me?"
"Yep, it's all going in the trash."
"I could have thrown it away and saved myself these last 20 minutes. Heck, I would have eaten the Jello myself. I could have donated it to someone who has little kids. I know plenty of peope who would have eaten that. I can't believe it's getting thrown away."
"Yep, that's our policy. Here's your $4.67."

I pocketed the money and hung my head as I walked to the gelatin aisle to pick out 11 shiney new boxes of sugar-free Jello. I can't believe they throw all food returns away. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that Jello. I mean, I understand that food can be tampered with, but.... crazy. And I do realize that by returning it and getting my money back I didn't have to spend additional money to buy the right items. But still the whole thing just really bugged me. The $4.67 was not that big of a deal. I wish I would have given the regular Jello to someone. What a crazy policy.

Ramblings... I Has Them

2010-02-11T20:33:00.010-06:00

And off we go.

I love to lolspeak online. I don't know why, I just do. But I do not lolspeak irl. Very often.

I seem to be funnier and much more popular online than in person. If I could do everything online I could rule the world.

I'm reading a book called The Urban Hermit and it's strangely inspirational. I keep wondering if I would be able to ignore being hungry for so many days that it just faded away. As a professional fat ass it's something I've never endured for more than a few hours. But this book has me thinking about it.

When you find yourself absolutely pissed off at someone who honestly did nothing wrong, what do you do? I'm mad because I don't like a decision this person made and the affect it had on me... but this person had every right to make that decision and I'm quite sure is better off for it. There was no reason whatsoever for this person to even wonder about how it would affect anyone other than themselves. But I'm pissed to the point of being distant and cranky and they deserve to know why. Or at least I think they do. Yet I also know it's not fair of me to whine about helping themselves and not considering me.

I sure wish I ~~could write~~ had the courage to write like Heather Armstrong.

Last night I had a dream that I was on an accidental roadtrip (driver got us lost after a wrong turn) with a co-worker that I cannot stand and a friend that I rarely talk to. In the dream I liked the co-worker and I woke up pretty pissed off about it.

I'm completely torn on the subject of whether social networking is a positive or a negative. I believe that sites such as Facebook and the ability to text, etc. are great for keeping up with distant family members or reconnecting with old friends. It's amazing that we can instantly communicate with each other to relay news about someone's medical condition or reminders of an upcoming birthday party. And I am addicted to the internet, Facebook, text messaging and emails. But I also get sick to death of it all. I believe it's sometimes a bad thing that we don't get a break away from people. I think it causes teens to have more problems and drama than teens normally had before the age of technology. Now bickering, name calling, jealousy, etc. can continue 24/7. Back in my day kids only had to worry about stuff during the school day or at the basketball games. Once you went home you had no idea who your friends were talking to or who was secretly dating who. Today's saturation of information causes a lot of problems between people. I also think it's neat to get a bit of insight into your co-workers and learn that some of them have the same hobbies as you. Then again, it's easy to change your opinion about people once you discover they are hippies or sadists or whatever. And regardless of whether you still like them or not, who the hell wants to see all of their zodiac quizzes and pet pictures. There are times when I'm having a blast playing cards with friends and then see a Facebook update that someone else I enjoy hanging with is at the movies and I find myself kind of jealous that I'm not at the movie with them. WHY? Without this instant communication I would never have known and I'm perfectly happy where I'm already at. There's just as many bad things about constantly being in touch as there are good. I'm still torn.

I find it very frustrating that I don't have a specialty. There is not one thing I know more about than other things. That I'm aware of anyway. It's like I'm sort of a jack-of-all-trades. I dabble in everything that strikes my fancy. And I guess that makes me a fairly decent "all around" type of gal... but it also means I don't focus on one thing long enough to be an expert at anything.

I love doing jigsaw puzzles and I've been itching to do one for quite a while now but I know the cat won't allow one to be on the kitchen table. That sux. I haven't put together a puzzle in a couple of years. For the record, I hate the beginning part where you have to flip over all the peices.

I feel better now. Thanks for listening world. And by world I mean you three people that read this.

Hoar Frost (or Hoarfrost)

2010-02-03T13:05:00.008-06:00

Whether it's all one word or two seperate ones seems to depend on who you ask. But no matter what it's called, it's beautiful. This morning, everything in the Springfield area was covered with hoar frost. Unfortunately I go to work before it's light enough to take pictures, so when the sun came up enough to reveal nature's beauty this morning I could only take pictures of what I found near the building.

We do have an overgrown empty lot behind us which looked pretty cool.

And one of the trees still had some leaves on it that showed up nicely.

There are also some cute little pine trees near the front door.

The funny part about seeing the hoar frost this morning is that yesterday morning I had never heard of it before and hadn't ever paid attention to it. But last night, I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs ( The Lope ) and he had posted pictures from a hoar frost in his area on January 31st. I thought it was so pretty and then boom! here it is in front of me today.

It's Funny How Unaware I Can Sometimes Be

2010-02-02T13:47:00.005-06:00

Lately I have been abnormally grumpy, especially at work. And since my bestest work buddy got fired back in October (major downsizing in my office) and then my next-in-line work buddy decided to change shifts so that I no longer see her, I've just gotten grumpier and grumpier. Actually, I'm not sure grumpy is even an acurate description of it. I'm pretty much an ass lately.

One of the things I'm being an ass about is the fact that my few remaining co-workers are getting on my damn nerves. Before I go on, let me assure you... I do like these people. Or at least 99% of these people. They are perfectly nice, normal co-workers and I don't have any issues with them. Except for the 1% that I don't like of course. I think my main problem is that aside from all the extra work and the fear of losing my job... I just don't have any friends left here. And by friends I mean people who hang out at my house, invite me over to their house, and know me well enough that we can spend hours not talking about work. I don't have anyone to bitch to when I've had a bad call (or 10). No one to take breaks with or go to lunch with. You get the picture.

So anyway, my point is that I'm grouchy with the people that are left. Not on purpose, but grouchy nonetheless. And when one of them gets off a call and says "That guy sucked" or "She was a moron" (YES, we totally talk shit about you after we get off the phone) it just pisses me off that they are disturbing me by talking out loud. I roll my eyes. Why do they think I give a rat's ass about their phone calls? Who made them think we all needed to be disturbed while they attempted to be funny? See.... I told you I'm an ass these days.

I'm confessing this because today I realized that even though I dont' want to hear them, I am guilty of doing the same thing after every other phone call. And I feel bad for being so hateful to them (I've only been hateful in my mind, I don't say anything to them) and then I do the exact same thing I don't want them to do.

And I guess I just need the world to know that this is not Charlie's fault because he didn't want to be downsized... but you can totally blame Kim. She didn't have to change shifts and leave me pissed off and all alone.

Holy Shit, I Am Not Alone

2010-01-19T14:24:00.006-06:00

"I've always avoided fights. I make jokes instead. I tell people what they want to hear to avoid a confrontation. I pretend to want things I don't want, and I pretend not to want things I do want. No one gets hurt. Except me. The lines are so crossed and blurred at this point that I don't know what I want. I just know I want it to be easy."

Okay, can anyone tell me where the above quote came from? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? If you answered that it's from my personal journal, you are almost correct. Because if I actually kept a journal then I do believe those exact words would be in it. But I don't. And those words? Those words are actually from a library book I'm reading called "Girl's Poker Night" by Jill A. Davis. Finding them, those words, was amazing. Because they describe me. Perfectly. And even though they were spoken by a fictional character it was a relief to know I'm not the only idiot that's built this way.

Why Are Things So Difficult Sometimes?

2010-01-14T12:27:00.001-06:00

How can you only have seven people working in an office and not be able to organize a “pizza day”? I seriously do not understand. Local joint selling pizzas half price this week to all employees at our company and people here can’t agree to just order 4 large pizzas and split the price. Instead, apparently we are supposed to all tell one of the girls what pizza we want and give her the money and she will call in everyone’s order tomorrow. WTF? Why would I want to order my own large pizza? Other coworker says “It’s because we all want different things”. But there are only seven of us. And I know that myself and at least 2 other people aren’t that picky. We’ll eat basically any type of crust or toppings. Which brings me back to how can ordering 4 large pizzas and splitting the price be a problem?

Then I hear them discussing that the best time to call it in would be at 11:00 so that it could arrive between 11:30 and 12:00. I guess no one cares that my scheduled lunchtime is at 11:00. I guess it’s a good thing I had already decided I wasn’t going to participate in an office lunch by ordering my own large pizza. Does any of this really make sense? Gah!

Learning To Love Nurses

2010-01-08T07:39:00.006-06:00

You all know that I work in the health care industry doing technical support. This means that I spend most of my day talking to nurses (not all day because we do get calls from the business offices and admin offices also). Obviously, I don't have a great deal of medical knowledge and the nurses usually don't have a great deal of technical knowledge. And that normally causes a communication problem. They are in a hurry, they don't want to take the extra time to explain their problem but yet I can't help them if I don't know what the problem is. And when they do try to explain the explanation is filled with "that thingymabob isn't working" or "I click on that one little picture in the corner". It gets frustrating. It's my job to fix their issue and the more questions I ask the madder the nurse gets and the more confused I get. I stay frustrated with nurses a lot.

But it is still a medical environment and even though I’m merely technical support there are times when the medical side of my workplace reaches out and slaps me in the face. I can’t give you too many stories because I don’t want any sort of trouble if someone I work with finds this blog and thinks I’m giving too many details. HIPPA violations are serious business around here. But you do get the occasional calls like an ER doctor screaming about a critical condition patient on the table and the imaging system used to view x-rays is not working. Things of that nature. And when you get those calls it can really rattle you to the core.

My day started off that way unfortunately. My first call of the day started out normal enough. One of the nurses from Psych Med was having an issue logging into her primary software and while I was in the process of troubleshooting I suddenly heard some shouting in the background. It was a patient who was confused/upset about where she woke up apparently and she wanted everyone to know it. The screaming escalated in a few short seconds and immediately the nurse on the phone with me asked me to hold please and she set the phone down to try and help with the patient. This meant for the next 5 or 6 minutes I sat there and listened to the screaming and pleading and pain and sobbing of someone while several nurses tried to restrain her and calm her down. It was very unnerving and made me realize how special you have to be to work in nursing or any similar fields. I would have sat down and cried had I been there. I was darn near crying just sitting here listening to it. I finally decided to hang up, the nurse could call back when things settled down. One reason is because it was painful to listen to. It made me sad. The other reason is that I almost felt like I was eavesdropping on something I shouldn’t be hearing. There was a real pain and sadness in the sobbing and I just didn’t feel right hearing it. The whole thing really rattled me. What a humbling way to start the day. Today I will have more patience for the nurses that call me. I am very grateful for what they do and how they handle their jobs. They are truly heroes.

I Really Don't Understand People

2010-01-06T07:28:00.003-06:00

I work at a computer helpdesk for a health care organization and answer calls all day long about software and hardware issues. Some of these calls are from people who are at home and are using our remote portal website to login to the system from home and either check their email or do some work. When we get these calls from remote users the first thing we determine is if they have a company owned laptop that we built and sent home with them or if they are just using their own personal computer to connect. Obviously we are responsible for making sure the remote portal is working, their login and password is working, and once they are connected we support everything on our side of the network that they are doing. If they are using a company owned laptop that we sent them home with, then we are also responsible for figuring out what settings on the laptop may be causing the problem they are having. If they can't use our pc to connect to their home wireless, for example, that's our problem and we need to work on resolving it. However, if they are using their own personal pc we are not at all responsible for anything at all that happens prior to logging in to the remote portal. Your laptop won't find your own network? Not my problem. It's your pc and your network, you figure it out. Call Dell. Call your ISP. Call your dad. I don't care because I am not responsible for your stuff.

The reason we operate like this is simple. One, we are being paid by our company to answer the phone for issues affecting the production of our co-workers. The fact that you can't get to www.google.com on your home pc is not something I am getting paid to take care of. It's a waste of company time and money. Second, we simply can't be responsible for perhaps accidentally messing up your pc. I'm sitting in a cubicle in town. I can't see anything about your pc. I don't know what version of Windows you're running. I don't know how your husband setup your wireless router or who your ISP is. I am clueless. So when I get a call like I did this morning I usually just explain that because it's a personal pc and the issue has nothing to do with connecting to our system remotely then I am unable to help. The lady that I told this to this morning, however, did not take kindly to it at all. AT ALL.

She called in because she is continously getting a pop-up dialog box saying that her Adobe Updater has failed to install the latest update. We went through several minutes of conversation involving me explaining that Adobe had nothing to do with connecting remotely, so the message was more than likely related to settings on her personal pc. She accepted that but still wanted to know if I could help her. I explained I could not because I knew nothing about how her computer was configured. She stated that she had called in before and someone had helped her get rid of this message. A) Fucking Whoopty Do, Goody For You. And B) Too bad you can't remember what they did you moron.

Of course, I did not say either of those things and I apologized once again but kindly declined to help her. I did suggest that maybe her user account didn't have enough rights to let the install complete and that whoever set up her pc might be able to give her administrator rights to see if that took care of the problem. But then she wanted to know if I could just tell her how to get into the task manager and do that herself. Uh... NO. It's not done in task manager and for the 4th time WE DO NOT WORK ON PERSONAL PC'S BECAUSE WE CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTALLY MESSING SOMETHING UP. At which point she said "Well what if I just call back and someone else answers the phone and they help me?"

My response? "That's a great idea, you should do that." CLICK. Yep, I hung up on her. Which I never do with customers. It got that bad. I don't understand people. Oh well, only thing left to do is hope she doesn't remember my name. Because if she does, I'll be hearing from the boss in no time. Sigh.

Trying Something New

2009-12-31T10:54:00.008-06:00

So I have decided to start a project in 2010. A project that will hopefully teach me something about myself and test my ability to commit to something on a daily basis for the next 365 days. Starting tomorrow I am beginning a "365 Days of Photos Project". If you think you may be interested in doing something similar, you can learn a bit more about how it works HERE. It doesn't have to start on the first day of the year, you can start it on Feb. 6th or September 15th, whatever you want. Just make sure you do it for an entire year from that date.

In order to make it a simpler and cleaner looking project I have decided to create a sister blog to this one where all my photos can be displayed back to back with nothing else interferring with them - Rosey's 365 Photos Project. I have posted a permanent link to the site at the top left of this page. Obviously I will be taking photos every day but don't expect a photo to be posted every day. I spend a lot of weekends visiting family members who don't have internet service and then there are just other days where life may just get in the way. But I will try my hardest to post at least 5 times a week.

Anyway, it's mostly a project for me but I do hope you guys check it out and see how my year is going.

Proof That I Am Getting Old

2009-12-28T10:27:00.009-06:00

Sigh. I don't want to. I have been avoiding it so well for so long now. But I've been noticing... I'm slowly getting old. There have been little hints that seemed to have indicated it over the past year. I've started cooking and baking more, I briefly thought about raising a garden this summer, I find myself buying cookbooks, I have to keep talking myself out of buying a sewing machine, etc. But during this extended Christmas weekend, it became painfully obvious that despite my best efforts I am unable to avoid becoming old. It is sneaking up on me whether I like it or not. Here's how I know.

8 things that prove I'm finally getting old:

8. I asked for kitchen items and bedding from my parents
7. All the Christmas money I received is being used on bills
6. I left a few gifts unwrapped because I got tired of spending money on boxes, bags and wrapping paper
5. I attended a holiday party and kept walking over to turn the music down
4. I actually cooked several items for the Christmas dinner at Grandma's
3. I brought a cooler full of ice and my own set of bowls with lids to my Mom's Christmas dinner so I could take home leftovers easily
2. At the party I hid my bottle of Parrot Bay coconut rum after discovering people were helping themselves to it and drinking it straight from the bottle
1. I wasn't able to drink at the party because I have GERD and my heartburn was too severe

The Holidays

2009-12-23T15:10:00.003-06:00

It's Christmas time once again. Yet another holiday where I have to somehow find a way to balance my two seperate lives and make everyone happy, including myself. Strangely enough, this holiday is easier to manage than Thanksgiving is. Which is weird because Christmas is much more important. But luckily we celebrate Christmas at my mom's house on Christmas Eve so I can get there early in the morning and devote all day and night to the Henderson clan. Tricky part is always Christmas morning. I gotta get up early and sneak off to the Beeson family events without openly admitting that's where I'm going. Some years it's easier than others. But in the end it does manage to all work out and I get to spend plenty of time with all of the people I love, even if they can never be all together with me at once.

I love them all so much. All of my half siblings, my nieces and nephews, 3 sets of grandparents, Mom & Dad, my father, my cousins and Aunts & Uncles. Even though I have to divide my time and plan every minute and avoid talking about "the other people"... it's all worth it in the end because no matter where I'm at the people I'm with are glad that I'm there. And they love me as much as I love them.

And with that being said, I'm cutting out of work 10 minutes early and starting my vacation NOW!!!

Merry Christmas everyone.

I Have A Fear of Canned Biscuits

2009-12-08T10:27:00.005-06:00

It's true, I'm scared of canned biscuits. Or more specifically, I'm scared of opening the canned biscuits. Weird huh? I have googled it and it turns out I'm not the only one who has this irrational fear. But that doesn't make it any less embarassing. I guess it's the anticipation that gets to me. Kind of like when someone threatens to pop a balloon. The loud noise doesn't scare me, but the anticipation of not knowing when the loud noise will occur makes me anxious. I guess that's the best way to describe it. I'm not really scared of canned biscuits... they just make me anxious. I'm anxious about canned biscuits. Crap, that doesn't make it sound any better at all.

Today is the "Thriller"est day of them all

2009-12-01T21:14:00.006-06:00

27 years ago today, Dec. 1, 1982, was the day that Michael Jackson released a little album called "Thriller". Man, that means I am old. I was 12 when the album dropped. And when I say album, I literally mean a vinyl record. Remember those things? Digital music is so clean and convenient but I gotta be honest... I miss the sound of static from a needle on a record. Seriously. But not as much as I miss Michael Jackson. Not just the Michael Jackson that died earlier this year, but the Michael Jackson who used to create music and videos and perfomances that would stop you in your tracks. And the Thriller album is where he first established himself as the "King of Pop". I can actually remember almost every scene of his "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller" videos. They are 3 of the best videos ever made. Best videos ever made.

Woah, I almost had a Kanye moment there. Lol. Anyway, I know most people these days aren't fans of Michael. But if you grew up in the middle of the Thriller phenomenom, you'd have a much better understanding. The album flipped open to reveal a picture of Michael lying down in a white suit, propped up on his elbow looking into the camera sorta shyly and petting a baby tiger. I pinned the actual record jacket open on my wall like it was a centerfold. I still love that picture. Crap, now I gotta go find an image of it to post here.

In the meantime, watch the Thriller video. It seriously is a huge piece of musical history.

The American Music Awards (live blog)

2009-11-22T19:09:00.014-06:00

Another awards show. Woot! I love these things. This one started off with Janet Jackson doing an 8 minute performance of some of her biggest hits. I love her dance moves, though I will say her outfit was a bit too baggy tonight. But she's a joy to watch. I once drove from Missouri to Denver, CO just to watch Janet in concert and then turn around and drive home. I wish she would come out with a new album.

Okay, looks like Paula Abdul is hosting the show? When she first started speaking the mic wasn't working but they quickly got that fixed. She's only been speaking a few minutes, but so far she doesn't sound like she's either drunk or high like she sometimes does. We'll see if that lasts. She just announced the Black Eyed Peas have won the first award of the night.

Rascall Flatts win for the 4th year in a row. Then Daughtery performs. Now Shakira is on stage. I don't care for the song that much, but I like the performance. Does that make sense? Lol.

Now honestly there's a bunch of boring stuff going on. Some chicks speaking Spanish, Keith Urban singing a song, blah, blah, blah.

REBA! Reba is talking. I love Reba. She gets to introduce Kelly Clarkson, who she is great friends with in real life. I bet it's no coincedence that she is introducing Kelly. I believe they became friends after doing a CMT Crossroads together. And if you didn't see it, you should. In fact, I love almost all of the Crossroads specials they do.

Now Snoop Dogg is on stage, making a joke about getting high. Go figure. Lol. They are announcing the Pop/Rock Female artist and the award goes to... Taylor Swift. Anyone surprised? I'm not. Taylor Swift is going to take over the world.

Ooh, Jay Z is on. Gotta stop typing and listen. Ah, that was amazing. Great song made greater by the absence of Kanye West. Jay Z can do no wrong. And he's dressed so snazzy. I really like Alicia Keys also, she has an awesome voice. But I do have to say that in the outfit she's wearing tonight she looks like she has the chest of a 12 year old boy.

Black Eyed Peas doing their thing. The kind of music they do is very hard to repeat live because of all the mixing that goes into it. But they do really good live perfomances.

Of course Michael Jackson wins Soul/RB Male. They announce it's his 22nd AMA award. Jermaine Jackson accepted the award on his behalf. I always was and always will be a huge fan of Michael. I have no issue with the fact that he won this award (even though everyone knows it's only because he's no longer with us). But I am tired of seeing Jermaine. Nobody ever saw Jermaine until after Michael passed away, now suddenly he's everywhere talking about how much he and his family loved Michael. I'm sick of seeing it. It's just my opinion, but I feel like he and a few other Jackson family members are using Michael's death as a way of getting publicity and money. Of course, I don't believe that of Janet. I've always been a fan of hers and she has her own celebrity that is not based on Michael at all.

Another Keith Urban moment that I don't care about. It's not that I don't like country music, because I do. But I've never been a fan of Urban. Now that he's done, moving on to Rhianna. Quite a flashy production going on with her performance. Metal and spikes everywhere. Which doesn't bother me, but her outfit kind of does. I don't care for the stripey jumpsuit. But maybe it's just me. The song was good. The lights shining from her spikey shoulder pads was a pretty cool effect. She's definitely changed her persona from when she first burst on the scene years ago. She started out so bubbly and innocent and has slowly showed us that she can actually be sort of edgy and dark. And guess what? I am pretty sure I prefer the edgy dark side of her.

Okay, back to country. Rascall Flatts introduces Carrie Underwood. I like this chick. Now I must admit that when she won American Idol I was actually voting for Bo Bice. But obviously I was wrong and I will openly admit it. Carrie is awesome and I really enjoy her songs and seeing her perform. She's really spicing up the country genre. Especially with the outfit she's wearing tonight. Lol. I'm glad Carrie won Idol and I'm glad she has proven herself as a true celebrity. Her success is not based on her winning, it's based on the fact that she makes good musical choices and sings her freaking heart out. Amazing voice.

Oh boy, Lady Gaga is taking the stage now. This should be interesting. Yep, it's interesting already. You know I gotta give her credit... whether you enjoy her or you don't enjoy her you are garaunteed never to forget her. She leaves an impression on you and that's a definite way to achieve fame. So far it's a fairly normal performance (if you ignore the outfits her and her dancers are wearing), not nearly as crazy as some of her other stuff I've seen. Oh no, I spoke too soon. Now she's smashing through a pane of glass with her microphone stand so she can sit and play a burning piano. You know, like you do. I'm impressed, that's real fire with real smoke. And I'm sure she's got real hairspray on, scary. Now she's breaking bottles of liquid on the keyboard. Seriously, there's always a show when Gaga is around. You will never be bored watching her. Ooooh, fireballs are now shooting forth from the piano. Okay, song is over and no one got burned. A success!

Man, there are so many commercials. I'm waiting to see Adam Lambert and it's taking forever. After the break it's Mary J. Blige. You know, Mary is one of those fantastic artists that for some reason just doesn't get much mainstream recognition. Seriously, the woman is amazing but she's not someone that most people are familiar with. Her R&B status seems to somehow keep her off of the Top 40 stations most of the time and I think that's a shame. I highly recommend everyone pay a bit more attention to Miss Blige. She's a legend. Seriously.

Now it's time to find out who won the T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist Award which is determined by the fans who are voting via text during the show. The winner is... Gloriana? I'm ashamed to admit I've never heard of her, or them, or whatever. Okay, it's apparently a "them" because it's a group. A country group. Who just stated that they've been on tour with Taylor Swift, so I guess that explains it. I'm wasn't joking earlier when I said Taylor could rule the world. Everything she touches turns to gold.

Uh... wtf? Jennifer Lopez is doing a song. Why? I have no problem with Jennifer per se, but I don't consider her a music artist. And I also am not one of those people who thinks she's beautiful. Would I like to look like her instead of me? Hellz yeah. But she's nothing spectacular. And she's only a fair singer. Of course, she can act out her songs really well. In my opinion, that whole thing was pointless. But I'm sure someone somewhere enjoyed it.

Whitney Houston. Wow. Didn't think she'd ever make it back to singing. She looks a bit different, but then again she's quite a bit older and has been through some rough stuff. There were some moist eyes during her song. Not mine though, while Whitney was on I was busy taking video of Takara (our cat) nodding off while sitting up. It was so cute, her head would fall back and she'd wake up, sit back up and then fall asleep all over again. Okay, guess I better get back to paying attention to the TV.

Favorite Country Female Artist. I love all 3 of the nominees, but I'm gonna guess Taylor will win. Yep, called it.

Now, the moment of truth. Favorite Pop/Rock Male goes to... Michael Jackson. He now has 23 AMA awards which has just broken the record for the most AMA awards won by any one artist. I am not upset he won this award, it's to be expected. But I am a huge fan of Eminem and I also love me some T.I. So I was gonna be happy no matter what. Oh great, Jermaine again.

Alicia Keys sings next. This is the first time I've heard this song. It doesn't stand out as awesome, but I'm sure it will grow on me. NOW WE'RE TALKING. Eminem is on the stage. I know most people will think badly of me, but I love this man. He's an absolute musical genius. Are his lyrics appropriate for most people? No. But he knows how to use his shitty life to make himself successful. The guy can spit like no other. Seriously the tempo and cadence of his rhymes is just mindblowing to me. I love it, I don't care what words are coming out as long as he's the one rapping them. I don't care for 50 Cent as much, but he did alright tonight.

Now Timbaland and Nelly Furtado mix a little bit of Thriller into their performance. But then, that's what Timbaland does. Mix it up baby! Speaking of mixing it up, Green Day hasn't really mixed it up at all (awesome segway, wasn't it?) but they are still cranking out the hits after 8 albums. That's some major staying power. I love the song "21 Guns".

Alright, moving on to Rap/Hip Hop Male. Eminem, Jay-Z, and T.I. are all on my list of favorites. I was hoping Em would win it, but I'm not at all surprised that Jay-Z did. His newest album "Blueprint 3" is amazing. Wonder when I'm finally going to get to see Adam Lambert?

Oh look, it's little Ryan Seacrest. He gets to announce the Artist of the Year. Bet it's Michael, whaddayabet? I would be happy with Eminem, Michael or Taylor. And I really like Kings of Leon, I just don't quite think they deserve this one yet. Okay, the winner is... Taylor Swift. Wow, I'm surprised. Not at all disappointed. Just completely surprised. She's so gracious and humble during her acceptance speeches. What a sweetheart.

OMG. It's finally time for Adam. Debuting his first single. Hope it's good. Um, starting off a bit slow and scary. Now it's kicked in and is not at all what I expected. Oh crap, this is not what I wanted to see. I am disappointed. He's grinding his junk into everyone and the whole thing is too vulgar to me. And remember, I love Eminem so I am not delicate. But this is gross. Seriously. He looks weird, the song is weird and the vulgarity is way over the top. Poor Adam. He's got such potential to be somebody, but I'm not sure he's on the right path at the moment. He can still scream, of course, but I don't know if that's gonna be enough to save him from what I'm offically calling a failure.

Show over, unfortunately ending on a bad performance in my opinion. I can't wait to see how my review of Adam compares to all the gossip blogs and entertainment news writers. In fact, I think I'll go look that up now. Peace out!

My Cup Runneth Over

2009-10-30T15:30:00.006-05:00

I was actually handed this vanilla shake at McDonalds the other day. As I looked at it, sitting there oozing all over the place, I thought to myself "you have got to be kidding me... I am not touching that nasty thing. I hope she plans on cleaning that up". Seriously, the lid won't even fit on it.

But as I looked up at the employee who had made it, I saw her smile and say "I accidentally overfilled it. Looks like you get extra today."

There's a lesson for you on how differently two people can perceive the same thing.

The 2009 VMA Awards

2009-09-13T20:00:00.019-05:00

Trying something new... gonna live blog my thoughts during the 2009 VMA's. Here we go:

The show is starting with a tribute to Michael Jackson. Madonna is introducing the tribute and talking about Michael's life, telling stories about her interactions with him. It's a sad beginning. The crowd is subdued. Madonna looks different, took me a minute to recognize her. Her speech is very touching, she looks like she has been crying. I am close to crying myself.

The entire place goes dark as Madonna finishes talking. On the jumbo screen various Michael Jackson video clips begin to play and live dancers appear on stage to recreate the dances wearing various outfits that are Michael's classic style. And then Janet hits the stage as Scream plays. The crowd is going nuts. Beyonce looks like she's meeting a celebrity for the first time when she spots Janet.

Now the show kicks off for real and Katy Perry sings "We Will Rock You" as Russell Brand rises up out of the stage wearing a top hat and looking sexy. Seriously, the guy is HOT. And the english accent just makes him hotter. He's wearing a version of a suit with "skinny pants" and I'm liking them. Of course now he's talking about the "sack of magic and wand" he keeps "tucked up in these delicious trousers" and Taylor Swift is looking seriously embarassed.

First award is up - Best Female Video. Shakira and Taylor Lautner (Jacob from Twilight) are presenting. They cut to show Lady Gaga in the audience and she is looking like a freak. Seriously. I'm embarassed for her. Anyway, she's up against Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry & Pink. And the winner is... Taylor Swift. Was there ever any doubt? Nope. I am fairly sure she will win every award she's been nominated for tonight. My brother jokes around that Taylor Swift could easily take over the world and I completely believe him.
OMG, Kanye West just crashed the stage and stole the mic from Taylor in the middle of her speech to say that he believes Beyonce had the best music video. That was the most douchebag thing I've ever seen. I already knew the man was a major asshole. He has always managed to make a scene at awards shows. But to take somebody else's moment in a category that has nothing to do with him is worse than him just being a dick about not winning one he was nominated for. I love the guys music but I don't think it's worth listening to anymore. He's proved on multiple ocasions that he's not deserving of any respect. Taylor didn't even finish her speech. She just looked so mortified. I feel bad for both her and Beyonce that this happened. What a way to start the show.

After the break, Russell Brand reminds everyone that "we are here to love each other in Michael Jackson's honor". He is referring to the Kanye scene, but doesn't bring any special attention to it by addressing it directly.

Up next, the award for Best Rock Video and Jack Black comes on stage with huge fake muscled arm and a tshirt that says Brutal Legend. Green Day takes the award away from Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, Kings of Leon & Paramore.

Next up is Taylor Swift perfoming live from the subway and then coming out onto the street in front of Radio City Music Hall. I believe this performance was pre-recorded, so there's no evidence of her trouble with Kanye a few moments ago. Next performance after the break is Lady Gaga. This chick is weird. Very weird. And one of her male dancers is wearing a lace thong over his face. But I like her music and even though it's not my normal taste in performances, there's no doubt that it is entertaining. She even began bleeding profusely from her bra right after she banged on the piano. And now she's hanging from the ceiling, spinning slowly and appearing dead. Hmm... oh good, it's over. (Don't tell anyone, but I kinda liked her performance in a way).

Now we're to the Best Pop Video and it's Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Cobra Starship, Wisin Y Yandel (never heard of them or their song) going head to head. And the winner is... Britney Spears. Wow, I'm kind of shocked that it wasn't Taylor.

Green Day performs next and they start inviting the crowd up on stage. Not sure if anyone realized they were going to do that or not, but there were no major injuries so it all worked out.

Then we get an extended trailer of the new Twilight saga movie "New Moon". Love, love, love these books. The movies are decent and the new one looks good. But the books are where it's at.

Beyonce takes the stage with the next performance. I have a huge girl crush on Jennifer Aniston and believe that Jen is the most beautiful person in the world, but Beyonce runs a tight second place. She is absolutely gorgeous. And she's got moves that make the men squirm in their seats.

P. Diddy comes out next with some chick I don't care enough about to remember and presents Best Male Video. This one has Eminem, Jay Z, T.I., Kanye & Neyo battling it out. As P. Diddy is running through the script before the nominees are announced, he says Kanye's name and the crowds goes crazy booing. No love for douchebag Kanye. And T.I. wins the award. I was voting for Eminem, but as long as it wasn't douchebag Kayne, I am happy. I actually got much love for T.I. too, so it worked out.

Jennifer Lopez presents the award for Best Hip Hop video. Eminem beats out Flo Rida, Kanye West, Jay Z, and Asher Roth. Eminem takes the stage to accept his award and thank the fans. He definitely looks a bit older, but I still think he's cute as hell. I'm a huge Em fan.

And now my man Marshall is on stage with Tracy Morgan to present the Best New Artist Award. The nominees are Lady Gaga, 3OH!3, Asher Roth, Drake and Kid Cudi. Lady Gaga wins and she is in another, even weirder outfit than earlier. She's almost wearing a red lace dress (it's like see through) and she's wearing a red lace mask and a huge feathered hat. Halfway through her speech, she does take off the mask and hat and throws them down on the stage so she can speak clearly. Then she tells us that her moonman is "for God and the gays."

Pink performs next and while on stage she is blindfolded and steps into a harness which lifts her 30 feet above the crowd. As she's rising, she rips of the blindfold so I'm not sure why it was even put on. But now she's dangling above everyone doing flips and acrobatic tricks while singing "Sober". It should also be noted her that the left side of her body suit is transparent and a pink glittery heart is the only thing hiding her left breasticle from us. They are really doing some major tricks up there in the air and her voice sounds great through it all. I'm impressed. She lands safely on stage and gets a standing ovation.

This brings us to Video of The Year and we're back to the major names. Beyonce, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Britney Spears. Luckily, Kanye didn't win this one either. Beyonce takes home the award for "Single Ladies". She got up on stage and immediately asked for Taylor Swift to come out and reclaim her moment that had been stolen from her. Beyonce didn't even give her own speech. Very classy Beyonce, I really appreciate that. Taylor finally gets to give her speech and thank everyone she wanted to for her earlier award.

The big finale for the night is Jay Z. They're making a huge production of his arrival and he gives us an amazing performance. He was joined by Alicia Keys who has a big, amazing voice.

As the show is wrapping up, we see a trailer for the movie being released in October that is Micael Jackson's rehearsal footage from the huge London tour he was preparing for. I will go see that movie. The man was amazing. I love you Michael.

My Brother, The Creep

2009-09-09T11:44:00.005-05:00

Last night, at around 10:00 pm, someone knocked on my front door. I was in my bedroom playing video games on the computer and watching MTV2 on the TV. I was vaguely aware that I had heard Scott walking down the hallway sometime in the last 30 minutes or so, but I was pretty sure I heard him say he was going to bed. So I ignored the knock, whoever it is can just go away. I'm not interested. About a minute later, the doorbell rings. I glance at my watch again... yep, it's 10:03. I'm not answering the door for some stranger this late at night. I lean around the corner of my doorway and look at Scott's bedroom door. His door is shut, the lights appear to be off. He's definitely in bed. But he hasn't been there very long, maybe he's still awake. So I give him a loud whisper "Scott, someone's at the door". No answer. Oh well, back to ignoring the stranger at the door.

Another minute passes, more knocking and another ring on the doorbell. I tiptoe quietly down the hall, careful not to make any noise. I sneak up to the door and peek through the peephole. Our porch light isn't on, so all I can see is a shadowy figure. I stare through the peephole for several minutes. I'll admit I was a little freaked out. Especially when this shadowy figure rattled the doorknob. I didn't want to turn on the porch light because I didn't want anyone to know I was standing there, so I just continued staring. The figure turned around and I could see some sort of writing or image on his back. This made me think "what if it's a police officer who needs to tell us something".

By this time it's been almost 10 minutes since the first knock on the door. I reach over, flip on the porch light and crack the door open slightly so I can see who's there. Imagine my confusion to find Scott standing on the porch looking slightly aggrevated. "What the crap is going on?" I ask as he pushes his way inside. Apparently when he laid down to go to sleep there was a very loud frog right outside next to his wall or window, so he had grabbed a flashlight and went outside around the house to scare it away. Locking himself out in the process. It was hilarious. Here I was afraid to open the door and the shadowy figure I was being creeped out by was my own brother. He's lucky I finally braved up and opened the door. He might have had to sleep with that frog otherwise.

I Think I'll Wait For A Sale

2009-08-28T12:15:00.004-05:00

Looks like WalMart is trying to increase their profits again.

MMM.... Eye Coffee

2009-08-26T17:23:00.002-05:00

Spotted this in the coffee shop at work the other day. I decided not to try it.

Relatively Funny

2009-08-12T08:46:00.005-05:00

This past weekend I attended a Tupperware party with my two sisters. Just by mere coincidence we ended up sitting beside each other in order of our ages. I'm the oldest, Wendy is second and Melissa is the baby. During the demonstration, the hostess showed us how you can actually bake a cake in the microwave with the new Tupperware bowls. She made a chocolate cake with cherry pie filling mixed in. After it had cooled she began cutting it and serving it so we could all see how moist and yummy it was even though it had been microwaved.

When she started to hand me a piece, I politely declined by saying "No thank you, I don't like cherries." She tried to hand it to Wendy who said "No thank you, I don't like chocolate." So she moved down toward Melissa and held out the piece of cake, to which Melissa said "I am so sorry, but I don't like chocolate or cherries." At which point we all died laughing. It would have been funny enough if we hadn't been all lined up in a row, but to hear it back to back like that was hysterical.

My sisters and I look nothing alike. If you saw a picture of us all together you wouldn't guess we were even from the same family. But spend a bit of time in a room with us and there's no denying it. We are definitely related.

A Blogging Dilemma

2009-08-05T14:30:00.002-05:00

I’m having a dilemma. A blogging dilemma. I want to use this blog as a place where I can just say what’s in my heart and what’s on my mind as a way of releasing my worries and frustrations, etc. I like that if I did use my blog for that purpose, random strangers from across the interwebz can leave me comments and offer me advice, or sympathy, or simply tell me I’m stupid for worrying about such trivial things. I think that would be a great service to me; it would help me see things from a fresh perspective if I got this sort of honest feedback from people who don’t know me enough to worry about offending me or hurting my feelings.

Unfortunately, as soon as I made my first post several years ago I decided to tell all of my family and friends “please check out my blog”. And several of them do - which immediately meant I am not able to use it as a place to tell the world about any doubts or worries I’m having about my family and/or friends. Because they might read it. And be offended. Or have their feelings hurt. And that would suck…. a lot.

So naturally, I do not use this blog as a place to get things off my chest. I’ve convinced myself that’s okay because I truly do not want the people I love reading something here that may upset them. But lately, I’ve actually been considering inventing an alter ego for myself and starting a new blog that my family doesn’t know about. And the more I consider it, the more it bothers me to realize how I’m censoring myself here on my own blog. It’s not like I am looking for a place to trash talk anyone. I have no need to post anything horrible here, would never say anything like “so and so is such a dirty whore” or “I wish so and so would never speak to me again”. I simply don’t have those kinds of thoughts. But there are times when I want to whine about how I wish someone would make better decisions, or I had my feelings hurt because so and so did “this” to me, etc. And I’m afraid to post those types of things here even though I desperately want to.

So what’s your opinion internet? Should I just suck it up, say what’s on my mind and have enough faith in myself, my family and my friends that nothing I post will cause a serious issue? Or should I start a new anonymous blog and not share the web address with everyone I know? Or is it completely wrong of me to want to get things off my chest in this manner?

Not So Funny Now, Is It?

2009-07-31T07:44:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I stopped by the local Walmart for some groceries and a bag of Timothy Hay (for my pet bunny of course) and I overheard part of a conversation that made me laugh. I was up near the front of the store and passed by a small group of employees all huddled together talking. There were a couple of women who were probably in their 40's, one who seemed to be a bit younger at around 30, and a gentleman who was roughly late 30's. As I walked by, I overheard the sentence "I've heard from several people that Farm Town is better than Farmville." I actually snickered out loud. OMFG, these "middle-aged" people at Walmart are standing around having a discussion about Facebook games. It made me laugh for two reasons. One being, my friends and I have had this same silly discussion and we prefer Farmville... these Walmart idiots are wrong. The second reason I laughed is because working in the IT industry you can't help but realize that the older someone is, the less likely they are to stay on top of the newest trends in technology. Add that to the fact we live in a rural type area and you can sort of understand why it caught me by surprise to realize what these people were talking about.

It cracked me up so much that I immediately texted my brother, who also works in the IT industry, something along the lines of "ha ha, just passed a group of middle-aged people standing around in Walmart discussing which is better - Farm Town or Farmville." He texted back "lol" and I carried on with my shopping trip. But suddenly a few minutes later, it hit me... wait a minute, I'm middle-aged. I will be 39 in less than 2 months. OMG, I'm getting old and my mind refuses to realize it. Now I suddenly feel bad for laughing at these guys. They are probably around the same age as me. And I'm a Facebook addict who plays the same silly games they were talking about. (I play Mafia Wars too, but I digress). I have even nerdier discussions than this one with my friends. It makes me wonder what the younger people I work with think of me.

And the whole thing has taught me a lesson: The next time I tell a story about anyone who is over 35, I will no longer use the word "middle-aged" to describe them. Instead I will say "older" so it won't appear as though I'm making fun of people who are basically my age.

The Infamous JK Wedding Entrance Dance

2009-07-30T14:52:00.004-05:00

Okay, two things. I know no one reads this blog AND I know that everyone has already seen this video. But I am posting it here because I love it and I want a place to store it so I can always track it down in case I wanna see it 4 years from now and I forget what it was called.

This is so much fun. I actually cry watching it (because I'm a nerd and I cry more for pride and happiness than I do for sadness). I would love to meet all of these people, they look like a fun bunch.

2009-07-28T16:22:00.002-05:00

Just tried to upgrade my Alltel account to a new Verizon phone & learned im not eligible until January. How very disappointing.

2009-07-17T20:15:00.002-05:00

Sitting at Patton Alley Pub with my friends & coworkers to celebrate my bosses bday. Good friends, good food, good times.

2009-07-09T21:25:00.003-05:00

Just watched the space station go over my house in Republic, Mo. Pretty cool.

2009-07-04T12:23:00.002-05:00

Roadtripping thru Arkansas, drinking a new Sonic strawberry limeade chiller. This drink is amazing.

2009-07-02T23:24:00.002-05:00

Tonight we grilled some brats, played some Rock Band & sat outside chillaxin. Its been a good night.

Whatever it is, I hate it

2009-06-30T22:08:00.003-05:00

I am in a bad mood. Or maybe it's a sad mood. Possibly even a minor depression. Hopefully just a funk. Honestly, I have no idea what kind of mood I'm in. I have cried two or three times today. I have gotten angry way more times than I should have. I have laughed less than half as much as usual.

I want to sit here and do nothing but finish the book I am reading. I want to watch a funny movie and laugh myself to tears. I want to login to WoW and complete some daily quests and farm some more herbs. I want to go to bed right now and let sleep end my day. I want to stay up all night and distract myself on the internet.

I am not normally like this. I don't know what's causing it. I don't even know what it is. But whatever it is, I hate it.

Yuck, it's Monday

2009-06-22T09:25:00.010-05:00

Back in the day, when I worked in a factory doing manual labor on a production line, I knew that Mondays sucked because it meant a return to the grind. The weekend was over, no more relaxing on the couch. My time belonged to "the man" once again and since my time had just been my own for two days in a row, Monday was always the adjustment period. The day I was grumpy about being stuck indoors making widgets instead of sitting on the front porch at home and sipping some iced tea. But I was never one who hated Monday's and threw a big fit about them. They sucked worse than the rest of the week, for sure, but it wasn't a huge deal.

However, I am now officially declaring that Mondays suck and I hate them. Let me explain - I now work in a customer support environment on a computer helpdesk. In case that statement alone doesn't make you guys realize how bad my head hurts on Mondays, then let me give you a couple of examples of how every Monday around here works:

1. Did you know that every Monday at least 73% (not an actual statistic, but it's gotta be close to accurate) of all employees in my company forget the password they have used every day for the past 2 years? And when they call in, they make sure to let us know how stupid we are for doing whatever update we did over the weekend which would cause this login issue. Every Monday. Seriously.

2. Did you know that even though our pc tech's only work a normal 40 hour / 5 day work week, people are angry to discover that the broken monitor they called in at 6:00 pm Friday evening was not replaced before 7:00 am Monday morning? Seems as though our hardware department needs to hire additional magic fairies to secretly do the work over the weekends when no one is here. Because the magic fairies everyone believes we already have are just not pulling their weight anymore.

But I think the worst part about working in any type of customer service environment on a Monday is the fact that the majority of your customers are suffering from their own Monday crankiness and taking it out on you. Not only do I dread Mondays on this job, I almost always get a tension headache on those days. It sucks having to apologize to people who are pissed off that "you guys did something to my computer over the weekend" when "we" didn't do anything. But I do apologize. Over and over again. And it gets to me. It really does.

Me having a bad Monday no longer has anything to do with me... it's all about taking abuse from everyone else who is having a bad Monday. I know I'm not the only person who has this problem. I feel sorry for all of us who deal directly with customers. Luckily, Monday only comes once a week.

2009-06-17T23:43:00.002-05:00

Having a bit of insomnia tonight. Watching shows about babies. I want one. But not as bad as i want sleep.

I Has A Bunny

2009-06-11T13:51:00.006-05:00

Earlier this year my beloved hedgehog, Bella, passed away. Not having her to hold in my lap and talk to has been bothering me more and more lately, so I decided it was time to get another pet. After doing some research I found that a Holland Lop bunny may be just what I needed. Cute and cuddly and content to sit in laps, yet not as temperature sensitive or easily startled as a hedgehog. So I found a breeder nearby and last night I went and picked out my new little friend.

Here's a picture of him sniffing around his new environment and checking out his toys. He's 8 weeks old and is actually going to be bigger than I first imagined. I'm still working on naming him... haven't completely settled on one yet. In the meantime, I'm just calling him Bunny.

I've got to work with him to get him used to his new environment and get him comfortable around me. Apparently they can even be easily trained to use a litter box and can then be allowed to roam freely around the house (as long as it has been bunny-proofed, of course). I don't think we'll get to that point, simply because bunnies love to chew and I would hate to risk him chewing on a door frame or an entertainment center. But it's pretty cool to know that I can let him down and he won't mess on the carpet.

2009-05-28T22:03:00.002-05:00

Sitting at a bar, listening to a live band. Gotta be at work in the morning. I should do this more often.

2009-05-10T20:23:00.002-05:00

I am getting ready to wipe my laptop & start a fresh install. Im scared.

2009-05-05T09:58:00.002-05:00

Testing mobile blogging capabilities. If this works okay then I may start building my blog up again. Woot.

Ten Of My Favorite Songs Of All Time

2008-11-17T08:47:00.006-06:00

These are listed in no particular order, because I love them all equally. Click on each song to see the You Tube video.

Foo Fighters - Let It Die

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight

Jefferson Airplane - Somebody To Love

Talking Heads - Burning Down The House

Alice In Chains - Man In A Box

Tears For Fears - Mad World

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta

Staind - Outside (live)

Toadies - Possum Kingdom

THIS SPACE HAS BEEN EATEN BY WEBSENSE

2008-11-13T16:07:00.006-06:00

I had a really good post here a mere hour ago. A post that was a good 5 paragraphs long. And funny, man was it funny. There was even dialogue. Real, honest-to-goodness dialogue. And when it was finished and I realized it was one of the most glorious posts I had ever written, I clicked "Publish Post". And WebSense ate my words.

What's WebSense you ask? That's the internet filtering software that monitors the company network at my place of employment. This is not a post against monitoring company internet usage. I understand why they do it and even though sometimes it seems a bit extreme, it is very necessary. What I can't understand is why, if you are going to block me from posting to blogger, why would you even allow me to log in to blogger, click on the "create new post" button and spend 30 minutes typing it in. Why not just block blogger as a whole?

WHY DO YOU TORTURE ME WITH YOUR RANDOM BLOCKING? YOU ATE MY WORDS AND NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY I CANNOT GET THEM BACK.

p.s. this post brought to you from my unfiltered home network

A Thank You For An Old Friend

2008-10-11T23:31:00.013-05:00

On August 23, 1988 I met Lisa for the first time. I was 17 years old and had just moved into my new dorm room at college. It was the first time I had ever really been away from home. I was an overweight teen with low self-esteem, had lived a fairly sheltered life with few social engagements outside of school hours, was naive & extremely timid. Lisa, on the other hand, was 5 years older than me and already had plenty of life experiences. She was outgoing, confident & vibrant with the greatest sense of humor. And she was determined to force me to talk to her that day. Her family had just dropped her off at the dorms and left....and it was her birthday. Suffice it to say, we became fast friends. I absolutely idolized her because she was everything I always wanted to be.

After the first few weeks, I began going home with her to her parent's house about 4 out of every 5 weekends instead of going to see my parents. I became very comfortable at their house and was quickly treated as part of the family. Being exposed to the dynamics of a family that was so different than mine was amazing. I knew that my parents loved me, but the atmosphere around my family home was basically formal. Kids were to be seen and not heard, etc. Between my new exposure to a family that loved to talk and have fun together and everything I experienced while hanging with Lisa, Brandon and our other friends from college, my basically blank personality got a chance to develop itself. At the time I didn't realize how much of an impact Lisa was having on my life. We were in college together for 2 years and then kept in touch with visits afterwards for years. I started getting less of a chance to visit as the years went by because I was living and working hours away. Lisa eventually married and had 2 kids and I was able to see them a few times while they were both little, but eventually we fell completely out of touch due to some major crap going on in my life. The last time I remember seeing her or any of her family was the winter of 96. But 2 years ago I accepted a job about 20 minutes away from the town where Lisa and her family still live. I thought about her often, but hadn't tracked her down yet.

Then a couple of weeks ago, while at my company picnic, I recognized Lisa's mom standing across a crowded room. I almost talked myself into passing by and pretending not to see her, but luckily I chose to step in front of her and get her attention. We talked for a few and she seemed very excited to see me. In fact, she pulled out her cell phone and called Lisa so I could talk to her immediately. Hearing her voice after 12 years was crazy. She sounded exactly the same and was able to recognize my voice without me telling her who I was. We exchanged cell phone numbers but were both busy at the moment of our chance encounter, so Lisa said she would call me over the weekend. A few days later we talked for a bit and she invited me to meet her and her sister and their husbands at the bowling alley. I had wondered all week how different they may be. What would they look like? Now that we're all old, would they act old & stuffy? Would they be all prim and proper instead of the wise-cracking, foul-mouthed people I loved? But all my worrying was for nothing. Age hadn't changed anything. It was amazing seeing them and I immediately discovered that I still felt completely comfortable around them. But the best surprise was yet to come.

A week later I was invited out to see her house and do some more catching up. Lisa & Larry showed me around the house and land and Larry bbq'd some kabobs while we visited. They are still an extremely close family, so by the end of the night her kids had gotten home, her sister and one of her nieces came over and her mom was there. Everyone was in the kitchen and they all fell into the old routine I had seen so often 20 years ago. Teasing each other, laughing, high-fiving, everyone talking at once, complete chaos. I had to take a step back because I suddenly become overwhelmed with emotions. I looked around and watched all the different interactions. Lisa's kids act exactly the way I expected them to and Lisa is exactly the type of parent I expected her to be. I know it probably sounds weird, but for the first time in a long time I felt at home. And that's the moment I first realized how much influence Lisa and her family had on the person I am today. The humor and affection they so freely shared with me all those years ago helped transform me from a timid, naive 17 year old into someone who loves to be surrounded by fun and strives to show her friends and family how much she cares about them. I should have thanked her years ago, I just never realized. But better late than never - Lisa, I want to thank you & Shelly and your parents for everything you guys have ever done for me, even when you didn't realize you were doing anything. I love you all and I hope we don't have a 12 year gap ever again.

Creepy....Yet Cool

2008-10-10T11:23:00.004-05:00

Click on the picture to read the article associated with it.

My Favorite Time of Year

2008-10-09T13:35:00.003-05:00

Yay! It's finally October, my favorite month of the year. The weather is awesome. There's a crispness in the air that makes me just happy to be alive. The trees are turning colors and looking beautiful. Arts & Crafts Fairs and festivals abound. And most importantly - Halloween is on the way. It's my favorite of all the holidays. I love horror movies, costumes, jack-o-lanterns, witches, and everything else associated with it. This year I have plans to spend Halloween night watching scary movies with a good friend of mine. We're going to eat Halloween themed junk food and sit on the couch all night in our costumes. That way, when little kids ring her doorbell for trick-or-treating we can freak them out.

This weekend is Mt. Vernon's Apple Butter Making Days. I will be there bright and early Saturday morning. Hope to see you there.

Tribute to Miyuki

2008-09-23T16:44:00.008-05:00

Our kitty Miyuki is being euthanized tonight. She has always been a sickly kitty and about a week ago she had a very minor seizure. Then again last night she had another seizure. This one was very violent and she did not recover from it very well at all so Scott stayed home with her to take her to the vet (it's technically his kitty, but I loved her as my own). Before they got to the vet I guess she had another seizure. Vet kept her and said he would call later. He just called. Miyuki has luekemia. She won't be coming home. I'm just glad I made sure I loved on her before I went to work this morning. I had no idea she wouldn't return. She was 4 months old this week.

Here's some pictures of our precious little girl.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-10T19:56:00.002-05:00

The Return of Britney

2008-09-07T22:41:00.006-05:00

In the archives of this blog you will find at least 3 posts that pertain to Britney Spears. But this post will be the first one in which I actually have something positive to say. We have all watched Britney fall to pieces over the last few years and slowly destroy her career and family (and nearly her life). Finally, at the beginning of this year, she was diagnosed with a psychological disorder and began a proper treatment. The past several months have been filled with rumors of her progress. I don't consider myself a Britney fanatic, though I do enjoy her music if if happens to be on. But I have been anxiously waiting for the MTV Video Music Awards to see if she's really better. For her sake and for her children's sake, I was hoping she could overcome her illness.

Tonight was the night of the award show. MTV had been airing teaser commercials featuring the show's host, Russell Brand, and Britney. Then rumors started flying that Brit would open the show. And she did. The show opened with a skit featuring Britney and Jonah Hill (from Superbad) and even though the skit wasn't that funny - those MTV writers aren't always as clever as they think they are - I was immediately thrilled to see that Brit appears to be doing great. She not only looked hot and has gotten back in shape, but there was a clearness in her eyes that I hadn't seen there in at least 4 years. She seemed genuinely amused with being there, she had an air of elegance about her. I don't know how to explain it, can't quite find the words, but there was just something about seeing her tonight which makes me believe that she has completely turned her life back around. She apparently has a new song out called "Pieces of Me" that was released a couple of months ago. Strangely I don't think I've heard it yet, not sure it's getting any airtime at the moment on the local stations here in Springfield. But the video won 3 awards and Britney accepted each award with grace and sincerity. I was glad to see it.

I'm proud of you Britney for surviving the bad times. I hope your health continues to improve and you can regain your relationship with your children and family.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-03T09:25:00.001-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-13T14:04:00.005-05:00

I have decided that every Wednesday will now be "Wordless Wednesday". Which means that I will now simply post a random picture that I have personally taken and no words will be included in the post(aside from this particular Wednesday where I have to explain what "Wordless Wednesday" means). The pictures I choose will hopefully spark some sort of emotion all on their own - whether it's laughter, curiousity, sadness, etc.

So, ignore all these words. Let's post the first picture.

It's A Boy!

2008-08-07T10:20:00.003-05:00

My youngest sister is pregnant with her first child and yesterday during an ultrasound she finally learned the sex of the baby. It's a boy! I didn't really care either way. I couldn't be more excited if it were a whole litter of kittens. I just love babies and I can't wait for my new little nephew to get here. I've already named him JD. Isn't that cute? Of course his mom & dad haven't named him yet, but I'm sure they will grow to like the name I have decided on. And now that we know it's a boy, I can stop buying yellow blankets and white onesies and get down to some serious shopping for the little tike. OMG! Now I can go buy baby shoes. He is totally getting a pair of newborn Nike's.

Melissa had good timing because I've been working at my "super awesome" job where I earn a good paycheck for the past 2 years. The 2 nieces and 3 nephews I already have were born during my years of working at a "crappy sucky" job where I barely made enough money to feed myself. So I wasn't able to buy as much when the babies were born. But I've already got a huge storage container setup in the closet of the spare bedroom so that I can start buying items slowly and saving them all up for the baby shower we will be having. JD isn't due until late December (Christmas baby!) so I've got plenty of time to buy some cute little outfits.

"Closer" by Ne-Yo

2008-07-30T10:23:00.002-05:00

This is my current favorite song - turn it up!

OMG, I'm Old

2008-07-28T11:18:00.005-05:00

I'm starting to feel old. Plus I'm single and have no kids and I can no longer deny that I probably will never have kids. I'm approaching my 38th birthday, so time is running out. On top of that, I have issues related to poor health which are likely to cause me to have trouble conceiving a child to begin with. It just doesn't look like it's going to happen. I can accept that. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have my own child. But if I never get that chance I know I will be fine. For one thing, I have already decided that I want to be a foster parent - as soon as I get my finances to the point where I am able to support myself in my own place without a roommate.

Realizing I am getting old, combined with the recent decline and passing of my grandpa, have gotten me to a point where I'm feeling very sentimental and loving. I want to just pull everyone in close to me and spend as much time with my family as possible. Not just time, but quality time. I want to be all mushy and cheesy and tell everyone I love them every 5 minutes. I desire hugs.

So it really sucks that I have noticed myself becoming a cranky, nagging butthead. I seem to have lost control of my mouth completely. You know you've got to be irritating everyone else when you actually irritate yourself. I find myself venting to family members about what other family members do that frustrate me. NOT COOL. And for some reason I keep sticking my nose into business that does not concern me, such as what everyone elses kids are doing. NOT COOL. It's like I think everyone should raise their children by my morals and standards. But there are several things wrong with this: a) I don't have any children so I have no experience in raising any b) not everyone has the same morals and standards as everyone else, but that doesn't make them wrong c) each child has a different personality and has to be handled differently to a certain degree d) they are not my kids so as long as they are not doing something that will hurt them or someone else - it's none of my business.

I don't know why these things have become an issue with me. I'm not someone whose unhappy or depressed. I don't even get frustrated very often. It's just that I seem to be suffering from sudden (thankfully short) bursts of crankiness that result in me popping off at the mouth and then 10 seconds later being apalled by what I just said. And embarassed about it, sorry for it, etc. Maybe it's simply stress from everything that's been happening. Maybe it's because my best friends are my cousins and siblings instead of someone outside the family and I have held in stuff that I should have been venting because I didn't want to talk about family to other family. It seems like the most plausible cause for my recent crankiness is just because I've let the tiniest of things build up for sooooo long that it is starting to bubble out on top of any little thing it can grab hold of. Maybe I should try to find an outlet where I can vent about these little things before they build up and become so hard to control. I don't want to use a journal because I would hate for someones feelings to get hurt if they found it and read it. I can't do it on the blog because some of my family reads it. Any ideas? Who wants to meet me for coffee every Wednesday at 4:00 so I can get each week of my chest?

In Memory Of Grandpa

2008-07-21T09:08:00.003-05:00

This is the song Grandma requested be played. It's one that her and Grandpa always loved.

"Beyond The Sunset" by Hank Williams

Should you go first and I remain to walk the road alone
I'll live in mem'ry's garden dear with happy days we've known
In spring I'll wait for roses red when fades the lilacs blue
And in early fall when brown leaves call I'll catch a glimpse of you
Should you go first and I remain for battles to be fought
Each thing you've touched along the way will be a hallowed spot
I'll hear your voice I'll see your smile though blindly I may grope
The mem'ry of your helping hand will buoy me on with hope
Beyond the sunset oh blissful morning when with our Saviour heaven is begun
Earth's toiling ended oh glorious dawning beyond the sunset when day is done

Should you go first and I remain to finish with the scroll
No less than shadows shall ever creep in to make this life seem droll
We've known so much of happiness we've had our cup of joy
And memory is one gift of God that death cannot destroy
I want to know each step you take that I may walk the same
For someday down that lonely road you'll hear me call your name
Should you go first and I remain one thing I'll have you do
Walk slowly down that long long path for soon I'll follow you
In that fair homeland we'll know no parting beyond the sunset for evermore

Rude People: My Fault Or Theirs?

2008-07-09T09:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I stopped into a convenience store for the sole purpose of getting myself a fountain drink. I specify that so you will be able to picture me walking into the store and heading straight over to the soda fountain. No pauses, no distractions. Straight to the soda fountain. I didn't even pause to gaze longingly at the donuts. Seriously. I'm very proud of myself.

Once I arrived directly in front of the machine I did pause for a few seconds to make sure they have Diet Pepsi and to decide how monsterous I want my cup to be. Keep in mind that I was NOT standing with my belly pushed up against the counter. I was actually about an arm's length away. I find it's easier to manuever that way. Maybe I'm crazy. If I were bellied up too close I would have to lean back just to get the cup filled up.

Can you see me there? Just getting ready to reach out and grab a cup? Now picture a big, sweaty, unattractive man wearing a bandanna headband and a muscle shirt suddenly appear next to me. Before I even registered he was there, he was between me and the soda fountain and was filling a cup. Never looked towards me or acknowledged my existance in any way. And when he was finished getting his drink he just stepped away and was gone. This is the sort of thing that happens to me all the time. In fact, after I finally got my own soda and paid for it I was following a couple of blokes out the door and they didn't even hold it open and make sure I cleared it. Just let it slam against me as I was halfway out.

I've always just kind of shook my head and wondered why I inevitabley seem to find the rude people. But I'm starting to think it's my fault as much as theirs. I just seem to be one of those people who blend in with my surroundings and don't really stand out for any reason. Maybe the sweaty guy wasn't being rude and cutting in front of me yesterday. Maybe he didn't notice me. I never speak up for myself. It might have made a difference if I would have said "excuse me sir, I was here first". Although who really says things like that? Honestly. I mean, I know there are people who will speak up. But about something so petty as getting a fountain drink? Doubtful. Except for the assholes of the world, of course. But my point is, I do try to stay out of peoples ways and I am a very quiet person. I'm always mindful of politeness and manners and I make sure and avoid any type of confrontation. I know I am very easy to overlook because even my own mother talks over my every sentence, as if she isn't even aware I'm speaking at all. It's been happening my whole life. So is it my fault? Do I need to wear obnoxiously bright colors and START SPEAKING IN ALL CAPS? Or are there just way too many rude people in the world?

Poetry

2008-07-02T22:07:00.004-05:00

I absolutely love reading poetry, although I admit it's a habit I seem to have strayed away from and do not devote enough time to anymore. For that matter, reading in general has slowed down for me. Referring to reading books, of course. I certainly spend a lot of time reading the internet, I just don't think that has the same quality. Either way, thanks to Amy's post I now have poetry stuck in my head and I thought I would share with you what 3 of my favorite poems are.

"The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. It's too long to post here in it's entirety.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door —
Only this, and nothing more."

"Trees" by Alfred Joyce Kilmer.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

And last, but not least - a poem by Stephen Crane that no one seems to know the exact title of. Apparently it came from a collection called "The Black Riders and Other Lines". Some people (including me) call this one "The Heart" while others call it "In The Desert". No matter the title, it somehow speaks to me very powerfully.

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter -- bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."

CATS & A Kitten

2008-06-26T16:24:00.003-05:00

Seeing the production of CATS this week at HammonsHall was such an amazing experience. It was 100 times better than I ever imagined it would be. Rum Tum Tugger was my favorite character, followed closely by Mr. Mistoffelees. This was my first time ever seeing a live performance of a Broadway production and I can tell you right now that it's a darn good thing I don't live in New York because I would spend all of money going to the theater. I seriously can't even find any words to describe how awesome the whole thing was. Now I'm going to have to be better at budgeting my money because I will definitely be getting tickets for a lot more of these types of events.

The only thing that was disappointing about the night was that photographs of any kind were not allowed. I totally expected no flash photography since that distracts everyone, but it shocked me when they announced that no photos were allowed at all. I had really been hoping to get some good shots to brag about. The next day I did come across someone who had blindly snapped a few pics and ended up with one that shows a bit of the cast. I will post it here, but keep in mind that it was not I who took an illegal photo, just happen to know the person who did.

As an extra bonus, when I got home that night I got to meet the brand new kitten that Scott brought home. She is so tiny and precious. Her name is Miyuki (pronounced me-you-key) which is Japanese for "deep snow". I love everything about her but I especially love that she has 2 different colored eyes. One blue and one green. Here's a picture showing the eye color. She's still really timid right now because she's in a new home and she's so young. But once she warms up to us a bit I will be able to get a lot more pictures.

Time Keeps On Ticking

2008-06-24T11:09:00.005-05:00

No one likes it, but it is inevitable - we all get older every second of every day. It sucks. Sucks to realize how old you yourself have gotten. Sucks even more to see the people around you deteriorate. I have 3 sets of grandparents and for the most part they have all been in fairly good health. I do have one grandpa who's been in a nursing home for about a year because of back and hip issues. Grandpa Henderson falls too easily and he lived alone, so he decided the nursing home would be the best place for him to be. My Grandma and Grandpa Rose seem to be hanging in there okay. Grandma has health issues: she's diabetic, unstable on her feet and prone to falling, recently suffered a heart attack that left no permanent damage. But Grandpa is able to take care of her and they live next door to my parents, so they are in good shape.

But they all just keep getting older. Now my Grandma Henderson is unable to get herself around and can't keep her medicines straight. My parents have to stop by twice a day to dispense her pills to her and make sure they witness her taking them. They've been talking with my Aunt about finding a nursing home for her. She's no longer able to live alone.

And yesterday I received news that my Grandpa Beeson was being taken to the hospital again. He suffered a major stroke 2 years ago that really affected him and his health has gotten increasingly worse since then. Now they've found a slight bit of congestive heart failure. With that diagnosis and all the other health issues he's been having, the doctors have suggested that he be admitted into a nursing home. He is simply requiring too much care for Grandma to continue taking care of him. They admitted him into the hospital for 3 days, but during that time a decision has to be made about where to locate him when he's released.

I never have wanted to get old. I've always been afraid of being old and alone. I don't want my family to see me crippled up and feeble minded. It's not fair that one day someone will be sitting in a hospital waiting room faced with making the decision about whether I get to go home or not. It's a horrible decision. Who's going to be upset the most? Who's going to be the most burdened by it? It sucks. But time doesn't care, time keeps on ticking.

Shakespeare In The Park

2008-06-15T22:38:00.012-05:00

A new co-worker recently hired at my office has turned out to be just what I needed when it comes to experiencing some culture. Not only do we get along really well, but she is interested in going to the same types of events that I am. On June 5th, A.J. and I went to Jordan Valley Park and enjoyed one of the free showings of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". It was my first time visiting the park and was also the first time I've gotten to enjoy any type of theater presentation since moving to Springfield. We had a great time. The show was fabulous. In fact, a few days later A.J. and I ordered tickets for the opening night of "Cats" which is coming to Springfield for a 2-night showing on June 24th & 25th. I am so excited. I'm hoping I get some great pictures and I promise I will post them here.

Until then, here's some pics from the Shakespeare Festival:

Hulk Hogan Sighting!

2008-06-12T13:48:00.005-05:00

I was at a 1st grade boys summer baseball game this past weekend in Washburn, Missouri and was shocked to see that Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea was watching the same game. The Hulkster loves his baseball.

P.S. - this is not really Hulk Hogan.

Yep, You've Heard It All Before

2008-06-04T12:00:00.003-05:00

I'm going to start blogging again. But this time I'm even more devoted than last time. Primarily because I seem to be experiencing an increase in my social life so I should have plenty of new stories and pictures to share with you. And not just the normal, boring "family adventure" pictures. My upcoming adventures include a Shakespeare presentation, the travel version of the Broadway musical "Cats", and possibly a renaissance festival.

In fact, I think I'll throw some new random photos in now.

Recently saw Skillet in concert. They rocked!

I have also been to the Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO

Nosy Neighbors: What Can You Do?

2008-04-16T07:27:00.005-05:00

Quick, name the 1 thing that sucks the most about spring and summer.

That's right, mowing the lawn. I know, I know, some people actually enjoy it. But those are probably the people who own fancy riding lawn mowers and don't have anything else to do on the weekends. If you own a push mower and you would rather be playing WoW, them mowing is not fun at all. The atmosphere at my house concerning how the yard looks is fairly relaxed. We like it to look nice and don't want it to be trashy, but at the same time the yard is never going to be mowed twice in one week and will never win the "nice lawn" award. It's just not going to happen.

Right now the grass is roughly 6" high. It hasn't been mowed yet this year and is right on the verge of needing it but doesn't actually look bad yet. The first mow of the year is always the hardest; we try to prolong it as much as possible because once you start you have to continue to mow regularly until the grass dies. But now we have been thrust in the middle of a lawnmowing war.

We have a new neighbor. One of those sweet, innocent-looking old ladies who reminds you of your grandmother and always ends up being hateful and a trouble-maker. She has lived next door approx. 2 months now and in that time she has paid to have a privacy fence installed in the back yard, has paid someone to come in and do landscaping, has planted a row of hedge between her house and ours, etc. She obviously enjoys being outdoors because she is always out in the yard inspecting everything. As expected, her yard has been mowed several times this season already by either a family member or maybe someone she pays. Either way, she does not mow her own yard, it is done for her.

Two weeks ago, I had my first contact with the grandma next door. I had seen her out in the yard on several occasions before, but had never made eye contact or tried to speak to her in any way. On this particular day, I had just pulled into the driveway with Marshall and Dillon (twin nephews) who I had gone to pick up so they could spend the weekend. We got out of the car and she was at the edge of my yard attending to the newly planted hedge. I accidentally made eye contact and she waved. She sweetly said "hello" so I said "hello" back to her. Then her face peeled back to reveal the demon lurking beneath the surface and fire flew from her fingertips as she said "your yard is starting to get a bit high, needs to be mowed". This was 2 weeks ago, trust me it wasn't high enough to be worried about. But because her yard had been trimmed neatly down to a mere 1/4 inch of grass, she expects our yard to be the same so that it pleases her.

Well, because of all the rain and the laziness (and because we were annoyed that this old lady is obviously going to be a pain-in-the-ass) it hasn't been mowed yet. As I said earlier, it's approx. 6" - which is not too tall for a yard. We are nowhere near having a shaggy yard. But I'm afraid we may be headed that way. Last night the doorbell rang, it was the demon lady from next door. She came over to inform us that we need to mow our yard because she saw a snake in the grass and she doesn't believe we want snakes in our house, therefore we need to mow our yard immediately.

Are you kidding me? I highly doubt she saw a snake in our yard, she just wants the damn yard mowed. If she did see a snake it's not because our yard is unruly but because we live in a brand new subdivision that was nothing but fields and woods 18 months ago. But, I don't believe she actually saw anything. She just has nothing better to do than pay someone to keep her yard pretty and then be upset because nobody elses yard looks the same. She's obsessed with our yard and has apparently convinced herself that we are ignorant bastards who have no intention of ever mowing our lawn and so it must be her duty to continue informing us that it needs to be done. Gah!

What she doesn't realize is that by complaining and making an issue out of this, she has shot herself in the foot. Yes we're slow starters when it comes to the first mow of the year, but we do mow. And we like our yard to look nice. But now that it's become an obvious issue for the nosy neighbor next door? Well, somethings got to be done about that. So, help us decide. We cannot refuse to mow the yard, because the city probably has some sort of ordinance that they would eventually ticket us for. We can always just wait a few more weeks before mowing, but she might file an official complaint between now and then and she would think she won. So, what can we do? I'm thinking that we mow the entire yard except for the strip next to her yard. A suggestion last night is that we go out and gather garter snakes to put on her patio and in her yard so that she quits using that excuse. We could accidentally mow down her hedge. Or we could refuse to weedeat around our side of her privacy fence and let the fence get all overgrown. What do you think? Any other ideas?

Cobwebs & Tumbleweeds: Clean Them or Leave Them?

2008-03-27T12:16:00.005-05:00

Sure has been quiet around this page recently. I hate to see it so dead, makes me sad. I was so excited about blogging when I first started. I'm not sure what happened. I think the biggest contributing factor is that I started blogging while I was working 3rd shift and spent 10 hours at night alone, answering 2 or 3 phone calls an hour. Blogging was a way of killing time. It kept me occupied and helped to stave off boredom. Then, as I transitioned to second shift the phone calls increased and I actually had living people working with me that I could talk to. So, the posting decreased slightly. But now....?

Now that I'm on day shift, the phone calls are crazy. I don't have much free time at all. And I went through several weeks of all blogging sites being blocked by the new internet security they put in place on our work computers. So I eventually got used to not reading my list of daily blogs and not posting one of my own. With the arrival of my laptop I am able to visit those sites once again - if I bring my laptop to work, that is. Since my desktop crapped out on me at home, I use my laptop at home every night. And I don't always feel like packing it up and carting it with me to work every day. Yet another reason I can use to justify the cobwebs and tumbleweeds accumulating on this site.

Excuses aside, I now have to decide whether or not I'm going to try and revive the blog. I have the desire to keep it going. I'm just not sure if I will make the time and put forth the effort. Another worry I have is that I'm getting ready to start a weight loss challenge at work and I may inadvertently turn this into a personal diet blog. That's not the way I envisioned my blog when I first started it in 2006. In fact, when I first began posting I was hoping it would one day be a blog that hundreds of people from all over the world wanted to read. Obviously that hasn't happened. But I do know there are a few of you out there who do check in on Rosey's Ramblings on occasion. What do you guys think? Did I ever at some point write anything of interest? Would you like to see me give it another go? Does the (hopefully) occasional diet entry bother you?

Lacking My Vitamin D

2008-03-18T15:07:00.002-05:00

I know that as soon as summer gets here I will be griping constantly about the stupid sun glaring in my eyes and the freaking heat melting me, but I gotta tell ya - I am ready to see some steady sunshine. I know we've had several nice days over the past few weeks and some fairly decent weekends, but I really, really, really need to see 2 - 3 weeks of bright sunshine with no rain or clouds in sight.

Studies have proven that the lack of sunshine in the winter leads to a deficiency in vitamin d and that, in turn, can cause depression and fatigue (as well as other, more major issues). And I am definitely feeling the affects. One way to help restore vitamin d into your body is to drink plenty of milk. Normally milk is something that I do drink a lot of, but sitting here thinking about it has made me realize that I haven't had very much milk at all for several weeks. And I sure have felt tired and cranky the past few weeks. So what have we learned? We have learned that I needs me some sunshine AND that I'm going home right now to drink a big ole glass of ice cold chocolate milk.

Pictures As Promised

2008-03-11T14:35:00.008-05:00

Girl Scout Cookies and Frozen Custard

2008-03-10T12:11:00.003-05:00

Seriously, what could be better? I've already decided that on my way home from work today I'm going to Andy's to get a Thin Mint Concrete. It's been a rather stupid Monday, so now I have something to look forward to that will make my day better. And once I start spooning all that cold, creamy, minty deliciousness into my mouth, I will forget it's Monday all together. I can't wait.

I tried to find a picture of the frozen treat, but I searched the entire internet and couldn't track down any visual evidence that this thing even existed. So, I am going to attempt to photograph it this afternoon when I purchase my very own. Then, I can make you drool over the picture tomorrow.

In the meantime, I will provide you with some musical and visual entertainment.

And finally, let me leave you with a couple of interesting news stories:
1. Vatican adds 7 new deadly sins
2. Are there drugs in your drinking water?

Rosey's Ramblings

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Hey You Kids, Get Off My Lawn

Look Out Girls...

Oh Hai There, I Haven't Seen You In A While

History of Google Doodles

News Flash: I Now Have A WoW Blog... But It's Not Here

Uldum's Floating Cat Head Revisited

Yesterday Was A Wow Day For My WoW!

Thank God for Kind Tanks

Deepholm? More Like Deepressing!

Wall Of Text Wherein I Prove I’m A Liar

It Will Always Be Just A Game

I Have Weirder Dreams Than You

Uldum Is A Strange Place

Cataclysmic Laughter

Cataclysm: A New WoW Beginning

Open Letter To Blizzard

Poetry Corner

Craft Fair Weekend

These Are Good Genes

Nostalgia, I Haz It

Why I Hate My Cat

Crazy Things My Mom Says

Random Thoughts

Musical Interlude

Ch..Ch..Ch..Changes!

Poetry Corner

Revenge Of The Nerds: Nerds Are Now The Norm

Music From My Childhood

If You Really Knew Me....

I'm A Free Bitch, Baby

This One Time, In Jail

Holy Schnike

Adventures In Food

An Open Letter To My Checkbook

Poetic Dreams

Cool Art

The Jello Gelatin Disaster

Ramblings... I Has Them

Hoar Frost (or Hoarfrost)

It's Funny How Unaware I Can Sometimes Be

Holy Shit, I Am Not Alone

Why Are Things So Difficult Sometimes?

Learning To Love Nurses

I Really Don't Understand People

Trying Something New

Proof That I Am Getting Old

The Holidays

I Have A Fear of Canned Biscuits

Today is the "Thriller"est day of them all

The American Music Awards (live blog)

My Cup Runneth Over

The 2009 VMA Awards

My Brother, The Creep

I Think I'll Wait For A Sale

MMM.... Eye Coffee

Relatively Funny

A Blogging Dilemma

Not So Funny Now, Is It?

The Infamous JK Wedding Entrance Dance

Whatever it is, I hate it

Yuck, it's Monday

I Has A Bunny

Ten Of My Favorite Songs Of All Time

*THIS SPACE HAS BEEN EATEN BY WEBSENSE*

A Thank You For An Old Friend

Creepy....Yet Cool

My Favorite Time of Year

Tribute to Miyuki

Wordless Wednesday

The Return of Britney

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

It's A Boy!

"Closer" by Ne-Yo

OMG, I'm Old

In Memory Of Grandpa

Rude People: My Fault Or Theirs?

Poetry

THIS SPACE HAS BEEN EATEN BY WEBSENSE