Bit O' Smart

2009!

2009-01-04T22:18:00.003-05:00

I'm back baby, back!

My new year's resolution is to restart my blog - for the few people who are interested (i.e. Robyn and maybe my mom). So, apparently my last post was in June 2007. So lets have an update!

July 2007: My dashing boyfriend moved in with me...into a one-bedroom apartment. Twas tight. Also I turned 28 years old! Go me.

August 2007: I went to Port Huron and kicked it with the family. Also! I quit my part time job since I had a suga' daddy to pay half the rent.

September 2007: Returned to school for the 3rd and final year of classes. That was exciting.

October 2007: Boyfriend Matt turned 29 years old and we went to Dave & Buster's. I liked it there...it is like Chuck E. Cheese for adults with liquor.

November 2007: I applied for an internship for 2008/2009 - that is the last step of my doctoral training! Also Matt and I started seriously shopping for a house to buy.

December 2007: Christmastime! I was given a trip to Disney World to take place in March. Also, I went on several interviews for the aforementioned internship. Twas grueling and very tense.

January 2008: The new year brought more internship interviews and lots of praying that I get a good one. There was also snow. And Matt & I continued to try to live in our tiny apartment. It was made easier by the fact that Matt's job had him travel for a week every month.

February 2008: Is it bad that I can't remember what we did for Valentines Day? Oh yeah, he just reminded me, Matt was in Miami with another woman (for business he says...) and later we went out to a nice dinner. Also! At the end of the month I got an internship I wanted at a local insane asylum! Yay!

March 2008: I got to use my Christmas present! Matt & I went to Disney World - it is the happiest place on earth you know. Also, we found a HOUSE! We put an offer on a house!

April 2008: We closed on our house! We - well Matt cause he has the money - bought a house! It is a three bedroom bungalow in Alexandria, Virginia. We have a great big front porch and a garage out back. We were very happy and scared cause it is a lot of responsibility, owning a house! Things were heavy but we hired movers. One of the midgets was only four foot tall but he strapped that dresser to his back and hauled away!

May 2008: There were many boxes and unpacking and to-do in the new house. I did not paint anything because we had other things to get out of the way - such as waterproofing our damp basement and installing central air conditioning. No one can live in Virginia without air - at least that is my opinion. I also had finals to complete and papers to write for school.

June 2008: This was the last month of my last semester of classes for the graduate school! It entailed a great deal of work and it was also nostalgic, as my classmates and I knew we were all soon going our separate ways off to internships across the country (and in two cases, outside of the country!) Also - my boyfriend Matt became my fiance Matt! I got a giant ring full of diamonds. I usually am not one for a lot of bling - but I wouldn't trade it for nothin! See people, some people do buy the cow!

July 2008: I turned 29! I tried not to let it happen, yet it did. I officially entered the last year of my twenties...and I didn't cry. I also started my internship at the hospital. I only got a few days off between school and internship - so it was a busy month!

August 2008: Matt got a raise at work, which was excellent since my internship pays less than I would get working the fast food counter. Also, it was hot. Very hot.

September 2008: My mother hosted a lovely, small engagement gala at her house in the beginning of the month. There was a hurricane the same day! Is that lucky or not? I am not sure.

October 2008: Matt turned 30 and we had a pirate/parrot themed party at the house. There was beer pong. Matt and his boss were a team and they won! Matt's brother & sister-in-law had their one year wedding anniversary. Year-old wedding cake does not taste good. No, it does not.

November 2008: I (and Matt...but mostly me) hosted Thanksgiving at our house for twelve people. For some reason I bought a 24 pound turkey and I cooked it f***ing beautifully! It was a masterpiece of poultry. It was so huge nothing else fit in the oven.

December 2008: And lastly - December. The holidays went by too quickly! But now that we have a house so I could actually fit a Christmas tree! It was big and did not have many ornaments on it at all - despite my "ornament making activity" (i.e. forced labor) on Thanksgiving. And in writing this, I realized that I did not take a single photograph of our first Christmas in our first house. Now I have another New Year's resolution - not only write a blog once a week, but fill it with pictures!

Peace Out!

Longest Post in Existence!

2007-06-04T13:37:00.000-04:00

1. What is the last alcoholic beverage you drank? A grape jello shot...wait...is that a beverage? It is more a gel than a liquid.

2. Do you follow college football? Not particularly , no.

3. Who took this survey before you? My brother and my sister.

4. Who was the last person to send you a text message? Kirsten. We were coordinating meeting up to Race for the Cure, which is tough with 7,000 people around.

5. Last time you went swimming in a pool? Hmmm....I was in a pool on 6/2/07, but only up to my knees. But I did get fully wet at a roadside water-park in Delaware on 5/27/07.

6. Are you happy? I have much to be happy about, so yes. But I will be happier when school is out for the summer.

7. Where was the last place you went shopping? I guess online shopping doesn't really count, cause you don't go. So I guess outlet shopping in Delaware on Memorial Day weekend. Did you know they don't have sales tax there?

8. How do you feel about your hair? We have a live & let live relationship. Some days we get along, some days we don't. When we don't I fantasize about maiming it and getting really short hair.

9. Where do you live? Arlington, VA

10. Last thing you ate? Popcorn!

11. Do you wish you were some place else right now? Since I am at work, sure I do. Unfortunately I wish I were in the library or similarly occupied with schoolwork...which is sad.

12. Last time you kissed someone? Monday mornin'.

13. Do you have any expensive jewelry? Yeah, some pieces. Of course it depends on what you call expensive. Since they were gifts I don't know the actual cost.

14. AIM or MSN? AIM is generally on.

15. What classes are you taking now? Statistics, Cognition, & Learning Disability Assessment

16. How many hours on average do you work a week? I try to make 20 hours but it is slowly killing me. ;-) I shall quit before the fall.

17. What's your favorite TV show? Hmmm....I do love the Office. And Heroes. But all is over now for the summer.

18. How many kids do you want? I dunno...like four or something. I figure I'd grow a couple and adopt a couple.

19. Do you watch the Olympics? Not really. I appreciate that they exist and love that there are people who can achieve that level of athletics. But I prefer not to spend my time watching. Kinda like how I am with PBS.

20. Sing in the car? Of course. And since I am generally a passenger it can get awkward.

21. Who was the last person to call you? Matty called my cell phone to say pretty things.

22. What's your sign? Cancer...us moody crabs.

23. Do you have a favorite number? Not really no. I like to say "a baker's dozen" cause it makes no sense, but I prefer the phrase to the number it represents.

24. Last time you did volunteer work or made any donation? I have 10$ to the Fraternal Order of Police a couple months ago. But I quit donating stuff.

25. What do you spend the majority of your money on? Tuition. But that is loan money, so it isn't really mine as I did not earn it. My own meager monies are spent largely on rent and food.

26. Where does most of your family live? Some in Northern Virginia, a bunch in Michigan, one in San Francisco, and one in Pittsburgh.

28. Ever been called a hoe/slut? My sister does on a fairly regular basis...but my mom made her promise not to do it in front of our grandma.

29. Ever been called a bitch? Sure. When I worked on the psych ward I was called a bitch several times a week!

30. Got any guilty pleasures? Of course....ice cream, stupid girl novels, and cartoons. :-)

31. Favorite kind of beer? I drink a lot of Blue Moon, but am unwilling to designate favorites.

32. Have you ever experienced true love? The love for a kitty is always true.

33. Did you ever collect Beanie Babies? I didn't even have one, let alone a collection.

34. Ever bought anything on ebay? Yup! I got a faux-autographed picture of Steve McQueen on ebay, an out of print metal cd for an ex-boyfriend's birthday, and an old gameboy for which to play Tetris!

35. Myspace or Facebook? Myspace. I've never been on Facebook.

36. Yahoo or Gmail? Despite my brother's scorn, I use Yahoo. I am just used to it and I have all my folders with emails to keep in Yahoo. I hear Gmail is nice though.

37. What was your favorite subject in school? I enjoyed my "Drugs of Abuse" class.

38. Do you sometimes wish you were someone else? Not particularly, no.

39. Fall for the bad guys or girls? As a teenager sure, but I lost that unhealthy habit with maturity.

40. Favorite movie? I agree with my brother and sister, who basically said this is a stupid question. People who have a "favorite movie", no qualifications necessary, are usually idiots.

41. Last time you saw your parents? I saw my Mumma last weekend because we cured cancer together and this past weekend cause she lent me a suitcase. I saw my Poppa...hmmm...longer ago than that. I guess it must have been just before Easter when he was in town for a meeting.

42. Do you have any talents? Rocking at Tetris may not be a real talent. But who am I to judge.

43. Ever been in a wedding? I officiated a wedding! I WAS the wedding. Beat that!

44. Do you have any children? Nope.

45. Last movie you watched? I actually went to the theater Sunday afternoon and saw Knocked Up. I laughed a lot, but thought that it was only okay.

46. Are you missing anyone at the moment? Of course! But he calls and says nice things.

47. Did you take a nap today? No time for napping! I don't nap, generally.

48. What kind of car do you drive? I don't! Not owning a car, the two I drive most are borrowed. Sometimes I get behind the wheel of Matt's Audi or Mumma's Acura.

49. Ever been on a cruise? Indeed, in the Virgin Islands. Twas fun and I would like to go again.

50. Favorite vacation spot? I enjoy the Caribbean of course, but not having been everywhere yet I don't think I can really name a favorite.

51. Favorite genre of music? I enjoy anything that rox. Yes, rox with an X.

52. Do you have any hot friends? Of course.

53. Ever met anyone famous before? Not that I am aware of. Of course, I coulda and I just didn't know.

54. Favorite actor? I don't know! There are so many quality folk out there. There seriously isn't any person that, when they are in a movie, I have to go see it.

55. Favorite Actress? See #54.

56. Are you multi-tasking right now? Watchin' a Tivo of Will & Grace, writin' this thing, and eatin' some popcorn.

57. Could you handle being in the military? Probably not. I like to ask a lot of questions and I am not good with just doing as I am told (just ask Capt. Matty who I am just ignore).

58. Are you hungry or thirsty? Thirsty.

59. Favorite fast food restaurant? I don't know that I have one. I used to imagine that I could make a SUPER fast food restaurant with McDonald's french fries, Wendy's frostys, Burger King chicken whoppers, Taco Bell bean burritos, and Arby's curly fries. I would call it Kate's Get-Fat-Atorium.

60. Favorite Nightclub? Do we call them nightclubs anymore? I like 18th Street Lounge and I like places that have good martinis.

61. What is your average cell phone bill? Like my brother's, mine is on auto-pay. But I think it is around 40$.

62. Do you own a camera phone? Nope. I have four crappy background options on my free-with-the-plan phone.

63. Ever had to take a sobriety test? Nope. I mean, sure I am drunk like 75% of my day, but I don't have a car so I sobriety tests don't factor in all that often.

64. Most expensive speeding ticket? I have never had a speeding ticket. So nay-nay-boo-boo.

65. Can you speak any other languages? Esperanto. No, just kidding. I speak an itty bit of Spanish. But otherwise, no.

66. Last time you went to the gym & worked out? Is it bad that I can remember? I quit my gym and I have missed it a bit. But it was an expense I couldn't afford and something I didn't have time enough for. I do remember last time I ran...outside...with the commoners.

67. How many pairs of shoes do you own? I can't believe that my brother said five. You can put a zero after that five and have a conservative estimate of what I own.

69. Last place you were at? I am not sure I understand the question. I am "at" the couch right now. Before that I was "at" school until 8pm for class. Before that I was "at" my therapists office (cause I am crazy!). Before that I was "at" school for more work. Boo.

70. Ever been to Las Vegas? Yup. I went with my Daddy! It maybe was not the most randy time ever, as I was with my Daddy. But was tres fun.

72. Ever been to Mexico for spring break? Nope. I have never been anywhere for spring break. I kept getting sued when I was in college so I kept having to go back to the jurisdiction in question.

73. Have you ever bought a hermit crab? :-( Oh god, why would you ask such a horribly mean question. I bought Fred & Ethel, the hermit crabs, at Bethany Beach. When we came home from the movies Matt's cat had upturned the terrarium and swatted the crabs around the house! Boo! Ethel died within twenty-four hours. Fred hung on for 3 more days, but alas, he too perished.

74. Ever deleted a question off of a quiz? Why would I? It is not like they are mandatory and you HAVE to answer everyone, or even answer them truthfully. Of course, whomever constructed this quiz either can't count or did delete some questions, as there are several missing.

75. What do you think is your best feature? I guess that depends on the situation. If there were a flood I think my killer ability to float would be my best feature. If there were a plague my stellar immune system would be my best feature. Way to think topically questionnaire maker!

76. Have you ever been gambling? Yup. But I am not good at it. I just tend to break even. Plus, I'd rather keep my money.

77. Last show you saw on/off Broadway? I say Carmen with my mumma. Was that the last show I saw? I think so. I like opera, but it is long. So now I know to bring twizzlers.

78. Ever been deep sea fishing? Nope, but it looks fun. Not that I would want a Marlin hanging on my wall.

79. Do you have your wisdom teeth? Yup. Of course, they are not in my mouth. I was all drugged up and asked the oral surgeon if I could keep them. He rinsed my bloody teeth with peroxide and wrapped them in gauze without even blinking. Then he suggested I soak them in peroxide overnight to get the pieces of bloody gum off. I keep them in a pretty wood box.

80. Favorite place to be? Europe.

81. Have you ever been to New York City? Woohoo. The big city! I went there once with an ex-boyfriend and I went there once with my mumma. The trip with mumma was righteous. I enjoyed it so very much.

82. Favorite sit down restaurant? I enjoy the place up the street, Harry's Taproom, quite a bit. I also enjoy the Blue Duck Tavern.

83. Ever been to Disney Land/World? I enjoy the happiest place on Earth so very much! I have gone several times, both as a child and as an adult. It never gets old. Never!!!

84. Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Hmmm. That is a tough one. Instead I will go with my top five in no particular order: Cosmo from Fairly Odd Parents, Bender from Futurama, Stewie from Family Guy, Bugs of course, and every gay person on the Simpsons.

85. Last thing you cooked? Popcorn. Really. I did not microwave it. I made it on the stove, in a pot.

86. How is the weather today? Hot. Humid. Gross.

87. Do you e-mail? This has got to be the stupidest question I have ever responded to. Yes.

88. Last letter/piece of mail you received besides junk or a bill? I got a lovely thank you card from Sam n' Mike n' their baby. I gave a gift.

89. Favorite store? I don't think I have one. I like Target. And Ikea.

90. What's your ideal car? A free one that always runs no matter what and never needs gas.

91. Last voicemail you received? Matty (boyfriend) instructing me how to reach him since he is travelling for work.

92. Do you drunk dial? Nope. I don't need to as I rarely drink alone. I mean, maybe once or twice in the past, but the question is posited in the present tense.

93. Stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone? I threw it at my then boyfriend once cause he pissed me off. The screen got cracked. I am impulsive I guess.

95. Favorite band? I don't have a favorite. The last new music I listened to and really liked was Amy Winehouse, but she is one person not a band of folk.

96. Last time you were sick? I don't know. Oh wait, yeah. I had some sort of food poisoning back the week before St. Patrick's Day. Twas gee-rhoss and I did not eat solid food for days.

97. Do you dance? Yes.

98. Last concert you went to? I think that was O.A.R. with the boyfriend. Twas my Christmas present to him.

99. Ready for the weekend? It is only Monday. So yes. YES.

100. What did you do last night? I was at a BBQ until 8ish. Then I swung by my parents house to say hello and borrow a suitcase for this upcoming weekend's jaunt to the Motor City. And then home to watch the cartoons Matt n' I had Tivo'ed. They were reruns, but still.

I'm not a good blogger...

2007-06-04T12:40:00.000-04:00

...But I can do other things! We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Here are some of mine!

I can cure cancer! I spent Saturday morning (we left the house at 7 a.m.) walking to cure cancer. I hadn't known that is all it takes and I got free yogurt & sunchips at the end. Yay!

I cannot pass up funnel cake. On Saturday, after a long nap, I went to the Herndon Carnival. Is anything better than a sunny day with carnies and funnel cake? I think not. If I ever get married there will be funnel cake instead of a traditional cake.

I can make my boyfriend throw up. If you make someone ride with you on multiple rickety carny rides after feeding them only funnel cake, they may throw up just a little bit.

I cannot tap a keg so that it appropriately vents the air. I felt bad when the first dozen round of beers were all head. I was at a graduation party for a gal my boyfriend knows. They assumed that my UofM background made me some sort of kegs-pert. Ah well.

I can push through my accelerated summer semester at school, or here's hoping I can. It lasts until the beginning of July and, so far, during the week I get about 4 - 5 hours of sleep each night.

Worst Day Ever? NO! BEST!

2007-04-04T20:46:00.000-04:00

I had thought that today was going to be crappy...but then I thought about it and it isn't.

First: A raging thunderstorm woke me up at 4 a.m. Initially I was annoyed but then I realized, I love thunderstorms! So yay!

Second: The snotty girl at the coffee place thought I was invisible and would not give me my cup and when she finally did the urn was empty of coffee! But then the French Vanilla came out full and happy!

Third: I wasn't very hungry for dinner so thought some cereal might hit the spot. So I opened the box of Lucky Charms my favorite Robyn in the world sent me to see me through finals last semester. I hadn't opened it yet and when I did I saw the strangest thing in the world! It was so bizarre that I had to call people and tell them. I opened the box and then I opened the plastic bag...and what did my wondering eyes behold? No Lucky, all Charm! There were no oat pieces at all! It was ALL MARSHMALLOWS!!! Initially I thought, Ew! But then I realized, it is all marshmallows! So yay!

Kate Update (It Rhymes!)

2007-04-03T22:27:00.000-04:00

I just had to share with you all (you all 2 people who look at my blog). This Alanis Morissette video is like a car wreck...I can't look away. And I can't decide whether it is just the most hilarious thing I have ever seen or if it is just weird weird weird. Either way she looks great.
I have been a busy gal! This weekend was full of stuffs, fun stuffs! I went with my lovely neighbor friend to see African drum music by women African drum music by women from Guinea. Twas very interesting and neat, made me wanna dance all around. One thing about those women, they were in no way body conscious and just seemed to be having the best time! I am so glad I know people who suggest such events. And then I woke up early early (go to work early!) on Sunday morning to walk with Kirsten all around the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms. Twas fun! It was before 9 a.m. but there were still a large number of annoying tourists with their strollers the size of tanks. I was bitchy and walked through a bunch of photos (to be fair, I would give them a good 15 seconds to take the picture!). I am also gonna get tshirts made that say "Don't Climb on the Trees! Don't Pick the Flowers!".
School has been nutty! I had to interview for externships over the past couple weeks, even though the externships would be for the next academic year. It wasn't harrowing...but it was anxiety producing. I get to hear who wants me on Monday the 9th, they start calling at 9 a.m. I interviewed at four places: 1) my Holy Grail of clinical work, 2) the convenient & probably very good place, 3) the possibly good stepping stone for future work site, & 4) not right for me. I have my fingers crossed for the Holy Grail of course but who knows what I can get! Two of the places have murderers (but I won't say which) in their clientele! Excitement!

Snow!

2007-02-25T23:02:00.000-05:00

Yay for snow! This is my courtyard at my apartment complex...so pretty. I took a lovely walk in all this snow down to the grocery store. I was expecting it to be crazy crowded because as soon as people see one snow flake they think all stores will run out of milk, but twasn't. Apparently no one wanted to drive in all this gorgeous snow but since I don't own a car twasn't an issue for me. Yay for snow!

So I spent the afternoon making chili and trying to clean off my desk. Sadly enough (or not, depending on your perspective), snow and chili were the highlight of my weekend. I spent Friday night fighting with Matty over evidentiary standards in the American judicial system and then I went to work on Saturday. But I did enjoy the sleeping in! AND when I got home on Saturday I had Girl Scout Cookies waiting. Yay! Now, off to a new week....but maybe tomorrow will be a snow day! Here's hoping!

Happy Birthday to the Presidents

2007-02-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

Yay for the Presidents! Happy birthday to all of them. If I ever become president, and it is highly probable, I will insist that my friends and family buy me presents and make a cake on both President's Day and my actual birthday. But for now, it shall suffice as a wonderful reason not to go to work!

For all those interested I celebrated my Valentine's Day this past weekend. While Saturday was relatively ruined by a losing college basketball game (0ver which Captain Matty was devastated), the weekend wasn't a total loss. I did manage to see Breach, that real-life spy movie. It was good, emotionally complex and whatnot. And then I got my Valentine's present (a stunning and gorgeous ruby necklace) from my man. Sunday Matty and I made the best chocolate Valentine's day cupcakes ever then went out to eat at the fancy Blue Duck Tavern. We made ourselves chubby because after we split the Blue Duck's homemade apple pie we came home and ate those cupcakes.

I sent Matty home with a dozen cupcakes (I am gonna have a big fat boyfriend), sent four to his parents, and am bringin' four cupcakes to work for my officemate. But that leaves me four whole cupcakes for me! I am gonna eat one every day for the rest of this week. Now that I have fancy jewelry I can go head and get big and fat! Yay!

Big News!

2007-02-10T19:20:00.000-05:00

As many of you know I have slacked quite the bit in terms of the blogging world. And once I was gone I felt like I needed a big ole' comeback so that you all forget and forgive my lapse. And a big comeback requires big news! After all, my sister is probably going to Italy for the summer and my brother got a big, fat, rich lawyer job. So I have been thinking for the past couple of weeks about what kind of news I could possibly have to compare to my darling siblings.
School?....same old, same old. Plus, it's not like I can talk about my patients.
Work?...eh, dull and bothersome.
Personal life?...my gal Katharine left me for the great white north. That is sad news, not the big, happy news that belongs on this blog. My lovely boyfriend, Captain Matty, may move to my neighborhood, ending our long-distance relationship...but that isn't news cause it hasn't happened yet.
But today, mere minutes ago, I found my big comeback news in this lovely picture. I am pleased to announce that this celebrity and I have the same thong. I can tell you that it came from Victoria's Secret and that it is sitting in my dresser drawer as I speak (or type). It is my fervent hope, however, that this one minor underclothing incident is and will be the only thing this woman and I ever have in common.

I Am Smart!

2006-12-05T22:47:00.000-05:00

I was up last night until 4 a.m. finishing my paper! Yay for lack of sleep and papers being due at noon today. So because my brain is on strike due to lack of sleep and I decided that there were other things I could do without a brain.
Simpson's Trivia Game!
That is what I can do with my half working brain.
I scored a 740 bitches (and by bitches I mean Sam & Emily).
So beat that!

*Postscript*
As Matty aptly pointed out the link didn't work, but I fixed that. It clicked it to make sure it works and then I had to play a round. I got 1040 this time! Y'all wish you were as great as me, admit it!

Ghost Kate

2006-12-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

Since I always get yelled at for not writing enough, let me say now you are unlikely to see me in the next two weeks. I shall be the ghost Kate, flitting through places so you aren't even sure you saw me. The reason for this is finals. I have one short paper due tomorrow, a long final due the 13th, and an even longer final due the 15th. Crazy! This past weekend I engaged in a few social activities but they shall be my last for until the evening of the 15th.
Friday was Katharine's going away party. :-( Even though I organized it, it was still so sad! Of course the peeps there were lovely but I refuse to celebrate the departure of my friend! I will tolerate it - but that is it! It was an after work thing so I still managed to get home by midnight and get some sleep so I could write my paper Saturday morning!
Saturday was Matty's family Christmas party. Twas fun! There was a lot of food and people. I adore the holidays...the songs and decorations rock. I thought I looked pretty, but apparently my sweater was a bit too low cut as Matty's mom said I looked 'sexy.' While I appreciate the props, that was not exactly the vibe I wished to put out there for a family party. Alas...in the future I will try to reign in my natural appeal. ;-)

Turkey Rox

2006-11-26T21:46:00.000-05:00

Yay for the longest weekend! I had a fantabulous time and did absolutely NO work at all (which is actually kinda scary and will necessitate an all-nighter at some point). But it was absolutely worth the break....I could tell by cleaning out my pockets.
I found:
1. My Hollywood Video gift card - which used to have 25$ on it, but now only has 20$. Matty n' I rented The American Haunting and my high-maintenance man needed water to go with his movie. The movie ended up being not as scary as one would have hoped and in the end had a certain creepiness that I expressly hoped would not be a feature of the film. (I don't want to give it away so I will change the content...I said to Matty "Aw geez, I hope this movie doesn't have cacti. I hate cacti, it skeeves me out so much.")
2. A Blockbuster video card that I had to apply for so Matty n' I could rent a movie to kill the four hours we had between stuffing the turkey and the turkey being ready to eat. We got The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which I enjoyed. Twas a modern day western thingy. And a guy I went to high school with was working the register at the video store...which felt kinda weird.
3. Three paper targets with holes on them! And I made those holes! Friday was the first time that I have discharged a firearm...ever. My parents were all hippy-ish and whatnot. They didn't even let my sister keep the plastic gun that came with her cowgirl Halloween costume. That aside! Twas fun. They were shotguns that sent a load of buckshot out toward the targets (very far away targets I might add!) It appears that hunting is quite the crap-shoot, as buckshot goes anywhere and everywhere. The shotgun was heavy and made a lovely loud noise. There was a bit of kick but it wasn't bad at all. I was a little sad that I didn't win anything. The prizes were as redneck as the game! I coulda got me a slab of bacon, a rack of ribs, or a side of beef. Actually, Matty's cousin Will won the side of beef so big ups to Will! Apparently I wasn't a horrible shot either, so y'all better watch out. ;-)
4. A ticket stub for Casino Royale. I liked it! The blonde Bond was worth it. He is all pre-suave and whatnot. I liked the card playing. I liked all the bouncing around that they did as well. Lots o' action. Plus Matty n' I snuck in the best Ben & Jerry's I've ever had - Chocolate Therapy. Mmmm.
5. A second ticket stub, but this one for today's professional sporting event. I saw the Redskins play the Black Panthers. I found it sad that the Native Americans and the African Americans have to fight for the white man's amusement. But it was really a good game! The Redskins won and I did not think they would. Maybe more importantly, I had a pretzel with mustard! Oh! And there was tailgating! I had never done that before either. Super fun!

What I Enjoy

2006-11-12T19:20:00.000-05:00

Here are some things I have enjoyed in the past week!

Sunday past:
* Getting home at 4am. We sure did do it up right for Alice's birthday...first Cafe Citron then Cloud. Then our tired asses metro'ed home. We had a lovely time. We danced on tables at Citron and we saw some fisticuffs at Cloud. Kids today, so quick to fight over silliness!
* Lunch & Marie Antoinette with mumma. I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. The costumes were fabulous and the characters complex. It was also informative, as I did not know the royal couple didn't consummate the marriage for years. Not that I blame them...who could mate with everyone watching like that!
* Cleaning my monstrously messy house. Twas getting ridiculous.

Monday past:
* A leisurely work day with no emergencies. Plus I found out I could disregard that subpoena!
* Realizing in therapy that I never ask for Christmas presents that aren't in some way practical. How lame of me...well that is what I said, not my therapist (she would never say such a thing!).

Tuesday past:
* Voting! I am a productive citizen. I was told on my first trip to the polling place that it would take at least an hour and a half so I left that joint! I went back around 3 pm and there was no line. I hate waiting, but I love performing my civic duty.
* Not messing up my first Clinic Intake for an adolescent...and boy were there some serious impediments.

Wednesday past:
* The election outcome - way to take back the House peeps! Of course, I am sure it is all due to me. I volunteered at the MoveOn D.C. office calling people and getting them to help and to vote. So yes, you may all thank me now.
* Talking (tricking?) my supervisor into canceling therapy supervision on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Yay for holidays!

Thursday past:
* Holding a 5 week old crying baby and making her fall asleep! At least someone thinks I'm therapeutic. ;-)
* Making a real dinner instead of eating a sandwich or some soup. Twas roasted lemon chicken, roasted garlic potatoes, sauteed brussel sprouts, and steamed peas in case anyone was wondering.
* Watching (most of) Shaun of the Dead with Matty. Sorry again sailor.
:-( My Tivo cut the last fifteen minutes off the movie. I think Tivo was jealous of my new relationship.

Friday past:
* Matty takin' me into the countryside...yay for the suburbs! We even ate at Olive Garden, the five-star Italian spot of the suburbs. (And my sister is gonna be jealous when she reads this, as that is her favorite spot.)
* Learning that the Wizard of Oz was on TBS all weekend. I heart Judy...as do the gay men...and apparently Matt's mom. (She told me she saw Judy live, before she was too bloated from drugs to sing.)

Saturday past (yesterday!):
* Sleeping In! 'Nuff said.
* Watching too many episodes of Futurama and doing too little school work!

Sunday now:
* Baking a lovely loaf of bread...a maple buttermilk white bread.
* Watching my Tivo'ed Wizard of Oz as I work on patient forms for the school Clinic.
* Surfing the internet for information on what to do in Puerto Rico....cause I am going there for the first week of 2007 and am super geeked.
* Spending half an hour on the phone with my Daddy and explaining that I am leaving the continental US with a sailor...not just a sailor, but a republican sailor. Apparently opposites do attract.

Amusement!

2006-11-02T19:27:00.000-05:00

Good Day Folks!
I know tis late to talk about my weekend but I never do anything exciting, or hardly ever. The weekend prior to this past I spent cloistered in the library to write my midterm. I found time to go on too many dates and go to a bar that had board games! First I kicked Matt's ass at Connect Four then a bunch of us got drunk and played Jenga (at my insistence). Although they were hesitant to play at first they got crazy into it. I totally lost the second game.
I only slept three or four hours on Sunday night and turned my midterm in Monday morning...then proceeded to slack-off the rest of the week until I skipped town. Twas fun! I went to visit my friend Matt who resides in Norfolk, as he is a sailor and that is where they live. Although I love driving Mumma's car, it was quite the crappy drive 'cause it was raining and dark. At one point I drove over a series of low bridges and could see the dark, rolling sea right next to me. Then I drove through a very long tunnel. Nofolk was nifty though.
Matt and I went to the beach on Saturday and there was a haunted house on the boardwalk. It freaked me out! There were "cast members" in the dark hallways and they jumped out and yelled things. I made Matt go first and that helped. And then I visited the ocean, well my feet visited the ocean. Twas warm! (Not that I was gonna jump in or anything.) Then Matt and I broke into a really nice hotel to go up to the fancy roof bar/pool. That Matt, such a trouble-maker, not straight edge at all. ;-) Then on Sunday we went to Busch Gardens and I whole-heartedly enjoyed the rollering and the coastering! Yay!
But now it is back the non-amusement world. Boo.

Random 20

2006-10-21T11:51:00.000-04:00

I finally got around to playing the random 20 game...probably because I am procrastinating from writing my take-home Midterm. The following lines are the first lines from the first 20 songs that came up when I randomly played all the mp3s on my computer.

1. Where it began I can’t begin to knowin, but then I know it is growin’ strong

2. Play somethin’ for me Alicia…there you go Chris

3. In the years before central heating, Dutch children would leave their shoes by the fireplace

4. Gimme, As a shortie playin in the front yard of the crib I feel down and bumped my head

5. Hey your glass is empty, it’s a hell of a long way home

6. Que bonita su postenes?

7. Will I wake up some dream I made up

8. Got a black magic woman

9. There’s something there, patrolling the pachinko

10. She set your goldfish free and now she’s sighing

11. I don’t want a lot for Christmas, there’s just one thing I need

12. Move up side and let the man go through, let the man go through

13. The look of love, is in your eyes, a look your smile can’t disguise

14. You cannot quit me so quickly, there’s no hope in you for me.

15. All right, Come on, some folks say that smokin’ herb is a crime

16. There’s a nail in the door and there’s glass on the lawn

17. Everybody’s doin’ the fish yeah yeah yeah (you better)

18. Here’s to you you lords and lady preachers

19. In the end we shall achieve in time the thing they call divine and the stars will smile for me

20. Twenty-five years and my life is still trying to get up that great big hill of hope for a destination.

I Heart Hippies

2006-10-14T17:48:00.000-04:00

Such a lovely Saturday and I am stuck in the library. But I am obviously not uber-committed to my studies, as I am posting here in an effort to procrastinate from my process notes and my take home midterm.
Thursday night my race car driver friend took me to a concert as he had purchased an extra ticket. It was a band called the String Cheese Incident and they were, as he put it, "a jam band." It was oh so very interesting. Apparently jam bands aren't concerned so much with playing their songs the same way every time. Of course they were extraordinary musicians and seemed, to my unmusical ear, quite skilled. I likened their music to what I have heard of Phish, so out came the hippies. They were everywhere! It was charming. I had so much fun watching them. I was trying to think of a way to describe the evening and feel that numerically is the best way.
One free concert ticket (also the number of songs I recognized --> the cover of Magic Carpet Ride they did).
Two guys in the alley next to the theater selling balloons of nitrous (aka. hippie crack, as that is what Race Car Driver called it).
Three weirdos wearing capes at the show. Someone should tell those boys that is not the way to get girls to sleep with them.
Four people who had taken off their shoes and started twirling in the aisles of the theater. Freakin' hippies.
Five white folks with dread locks so massive their hair probably has a name and identity of its own.
Six dollars for Miller Lite! Uber-gross.
Seven unsharing people I saw sparkin' up around us during the show. Apparently it is a fallacy that hippies like to share because none of them offered me anything.
Eight very rhythm-less boys doing some hippie dance that looked like a cross between Elaine's dance on Seinfeld and a seizure. (There were many more inadequate dancers, but I saw eight VERY bad ones.)
Nine neuvo-hippies with their T-Mobile Sidekicks out during the show texting their friends. How is that leading the hippie lifestyle I'd like to know.
And Ten songs were played throughout the course of the show, but as they were each twenty minutes long and were very fluid it felt like a lot.

Seven Things I Learned This Weekend Past

2006-10-09T19:00:00.000-04:00

So here's just a few things that I added to my vast stores of knowledge over the past weekend:
1. It is easy to watch movies where poor, urban youth learn things and rise above their circumstances....especially when they do it through dance.
2. Listening to artists talk about their art is dull. DULL. Unless they made some some super good or super freaky art of course, but these hadn't. Boo.
3. Attempting to recall an hour long conversation from Friday verbatim on a Saturday afternoon is hard. :-(
4. Flip Cup is a fun game that I do not suck at.
5. I make excellent stuffing and Canadian Thanksgiving is nice.
6. It is funny when drunk boys call and only slightly less funny when they call three times.
7. Tivo knows me so well. It taped me The Breakfast Club and The Cutting Edge to watch. *sigh* Perfection.

Stealing a Blog

2006-10-05T12:16:00.000-04:00

I stole this blog from Puddles!
Q: 4TH PERSON ON YOUR MISSED CALLS:
A: Matt, a gentleman friend of mine who enjoys telephonic communication.
Q: DO YOU CHEW ON YOUR STRAWS?
A: Only if I am nervous.
Q: WHAT IS THE NEXT CONCERT YOU'RE GOING TO?
A: I have decided to take concert to mean "accord or harmony"...and I plan to go to a concert never! Screw harmony!
Q: WHAT WORD DO YOU SAY A LOT?
A: Apparently. Apparently I say apparently quite frequently these days.
Q: WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE:
A: A sundae - vanilla with whip cream, however, the chocolate sauce was lacking.
Q: WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU SAID TO SOMEONE AND WHO WAS IT?
A: "Oh shut up!" to Cam the Stalker aka my friend & neighbor. He called my cell phone and used his creepy voice to tell me he was watching me, as he stood outside the window.
Q: DO YOU WATCH TV?
A: Constantly. As the previous post indicates Tivo and I have a true love bond.
Q: EVER BEEN HUNTING?
A: Not yet. I will only hunt the real game....man. And since this is not yet an option, no hunting.
Q: IS MARRIAGE IN YOUR FUTURE?
A: What do I look like, a psychic? Stop pressuring me!
Q: WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOING RIGHT NOW?
A: Sleeping...but I Tivo'd The Office so I am watching that instead.
Q: DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?
A: Just lust at first sight.
Q: WHO'S THE YOUNGEST ONE IN THE FAMILY?
A: Emilie...my fake French sister.
Q: IS DRUG FREE THE WAY TO BE?
A: Of course not...better living through chemistry my friend, better living.
Q: ARE YOU A HEAVY SLEEPER?
A: Apparently, since I have three alarm clocks.
Q: LAST TIME YOU USED A SKATEBOARD?
A: Um...when I was ten years old I think. Probably. I was on a snowboard more recently.
Q: WHERE WAS THE LAST PLACE YOU SLEPT BESIDES YOUR HOUSE?
A: Oh who knows, I sleep around so much it is hard to keep track. Let me go check my collection of motel soaps. Seriously, I think maybe my mom's house.
Q: EVER RUN OUT OF GAS ON THE ROAD?
A: God no, what a horrible thought.
Q: BEST MOVIE YOU'VE SEEN IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS?
A: Hmm...does the two hour long Hugh Hefner biography I Tivo'd count as a movie? I liked that cute little Ella Enchanted, but my options for the past two weeks are limited.
Q: DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WHO COME UP WITH BRAIN DEAD QUIZZES ARE CRYING FOR HELP IN SOME TWISTED WAY?
A: Probably more bored than twisted...and I'm a professional. ;-)
THE LAST PERSON LIST
1. You saw: The Cosi waitress
2. Talked to on the phone: Cam the Stalker
3. Hugged: Hmm...I dunno. Mumma I think!
4. Text: Kirsten who loves her phone but doesn't like to talk on it. :-)
5. Messaged over myspace: Yeah no...I don't think so.
FAVORITES
1. Number: 12...nothin' like an even dozen
2. Song: I don't have a favorite song...but I recall once when my brother was ten he disclosed that "The Wind Beneath My Wings" was his favorite song (and he isn't gay...probably).
3. Color: Plum, like the color of the bruise my brother is gonna give me
4. Season: Fall...because I am pretty in fall colors
TRUE/FALSE
I am a morning person: I enjoy the morning quite a bit, but my family would say unequivocally false. At one point they used to vote who had to wake me up.
I am a perfectionist: Nope! I don't have the energy.
I am an only child: I am the only good one (my parents told me that, shhh...don't tell the others)
I am currently in my pajamas: Should be, but am not.
I am currently single: Indeed!
I can be paranoid at times: Who told you that? Who? Tell me!
I currently regret something that I have done: Not particularly. I try not to regret, but the things I do regret are the ones left undone.
I enjoy texting on the phone: Enjoy? It isn't ice cream or sex people.

Love Trumps Absence

2006-10-03T08:57:00.000-04:00

I know, I know....I have neglected this blog and left you all bereft of my precious thoughts and wisdom. Y'all know I'm deep, that's just how I roll. I can go ahead and blame my negligence on school starting up again and being all busy, but that is just a reason- not an excuse.
I had to break my streak of silence for a very important proclamation! I am in love - a deep and true love. A love of Tivo. It is real and it is deep. Tivo does everything I ask it to do, sometimes doing two things at once! If I forget to tell Tivo to do something before I leave home all I have to do is log on to the internet and send Tivo a message. Then Tivo does it! But Tivo isn't just a happy yes-man, always doing what it is told. Tivo loves me back. Tivo thinks of things I may enjoy and records them for me, as long as there is free space. It never puts its own ideas ahead of mine. And Tivo always asks me how I feel about shows so it can guess better what I'd like. Ah, Tivo...the perfect relationship.
I promised Robyn that I would disclose which TV shows I set it to always record - no matter how embarrassing, so here we go no particular order! (Don't you judge me people!)
1. Dead Like Me - on the SciFi channel and Mumma got me into it
2. Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip - West Wing meets SNL, love it!
3. Nip/Tuck - oh so trashy and fun! plus those cute boys keep gettin' nekkid
4. Lost - i missed the end of Season 2 so I have to Tivo until i get caught up
5. My Name is Earl - hilarious whiskey tango folk
6. The Office - hilarious banality
7. Gray's Anatomy - the new medical soap opera, often quite silly
8. Desperate Housewives - seems on the decline, but I may watch
9. Family Guy - gotta love them cartoons
10. CSI Las Vegas - i heart gore & science
11. Help Me Help You - never seen it, heard it may be okay - but Danson is weird
12. 30 Rock - also never seen, but heard it could be okay
13. Heroes - i enjoy the premise and look forward to seeing an episode
14. The Class - kinda funny, very silly
15. Ugly Betty - Mumma says it was good, so it goes on the Tivo! plus I liked the Devil Prada movie
16. The Girls Next Door - take off your judgment hats people, if i wanna watch at 80 year old man cavorting with his three fake-looking girlfriend that is my business!

What the dilly yo!?

2006-08-30T21:53:00.000-04:00

So no one can see my blog! I guess the silver lining to that is a greater level of anonymity than this forum usually provides. Forgot dropping my tiny thoughts into the vastness of the internet world....drop them in so that they can dissolve into actual nothingness! How liberating for me! Of course, then what is the point of a blog after all if no one can see it? This isn't a rhetorical question people! I have received a number of complaints. Even I can't access my own site, except through the blogger dashboard.

If you can read this ramble, good for you! You are one of the view, the special. Pat yourself on the back. For those of you who can't see this, I can say whatever I want to you and you wouldn't know! I could spill all your secrets...

I will republish this biznass and see what that gives us.

Weekend of Immaturity

2006-07-31T10:28:00.000-04:00

Regression is a beautiful thing. This weekend I regressed in age pretty well, acting between 4 and 12 years younger than my actual age (which is old, considering the recent anniversary of my birth).
It all started with 2 for 1 drinks at Halo, a lovely (smoke free!) gay bar near Logan Circle. Such a nice bar! And the bartenders are so pretty that a straight gal such as myself can appreciate the sights. And, at least equally important, I can appreciate the 2 for 1 drink specials. This of course led me to behave like a 21 year old and there was some over indulgence. I did score two free drinks and met a radio personality from a local morning show I never listen to, so i did not much care about his pseudo-celebrity.
The next day I slept past noon! I hadn't done that in quite a while and it reminded me of high school. Since I was already in a teenage place, a friend of mine and I went to go see the latest teen flick, John Tucker Must Die. It was actually funny, I thought. Teenagery, but funny...not quite Mean Girls good, but it is up there.
And lastly, on Sunday I dined with a gentleman four years my junior. The Child was charming and whatnot, but a bit too puppy dog for me. I coulda babysat for him....which I find hilarious! Here's to being so mature about a birthday that I need to go back in time!

Le Jour Heureux de Bastille

2006-07-14T20:52:00.000-04:00

According to free translations the title of this blog means....Happy Bastille Day! I know the postings have been lacking. My only reason for this is that my brain melted and it is still very slowly recovering. I turned in my last final exam on Monday July 3, 2006! Since then I have been enjoying from freedom from classes. I have done a number of things, just look!
* Saw DC's baseball team play Florida with my family type peeps (plus my sister's bf, even though he can't catch a foul ball to save his life!). I drank beer, ate a hot dog, and had cotton candy. That is how I express patriotism.
* Lit 4th of July sparklers in the rain, which is quite a feat.
* Lost several games of pool and drank more beer.
* Rode my bike into another state with the help of Racer - who mapped our trek through DC, into Maryland, and back through DC. We mostly did the Captial Cresant Trail from Georgetown to Bethesda then we skipped on over to Rock Creek Park and rode past the zoo back on down to the river. I was quite proud of myself, even though I plodded along unlike the always energetic Racer. At the end I whined like a baby and refused to peddle up the large hill leading to my house. But in my defense! When my companion and I calculated the distance we settled on at least 23 miles, what with our getting lost and having to turn around. Yay for exercise! Don't worry, I ate a handful of marshmallows as soon as I got home cause you gotta keep up the equilibrium.
* Ate a leisurely breakfast and read the Sunday Washington Post for hours and hours. So happy about that I can't even express.
* DSW. Nuff' said.
* Saw the most ridiculous thing ever. I am pretty sure I could get kicked out of school, become homeless, and start collecting used gum I find on the street and still be better than "The Hoff." But I am pretty sure the girl in the video says he is gay, which makes sense. Or maybe it is a translation thing since I can't imagine that video gets rotated anywhere that English is the native language.
* And now....I am going out with my friend type peeps to celebrate Bastille Day - even though I am not sure what it means to the French. But lord knows what anything means to the French, they are strange.

Bring on da Thunda!

2006-06-26T20:42:00.000-04:00

I love summer thunder storms! Love them! It has been astormin' for days and days. Sure, the sidewalks are flooded, the metro has been rendered largely impotent, and my cats are hiding under my bed...but I sure do love these storms!
Just about half an hour ago the thunder was so loud - SO LOUD - it sounded like four mack trucks going sixty miles per hour just collided on the street outside my house. It rocked. I actually stood up out of my seat...like there is anything I could do about thunder and lightning. But still, I stood up all wide eyed like a dope. Luckily my cell phone rang within seconds so I felt like my jumping out of my seat had purpose. My lovely neighbor had called to make sure I was not struck by lightning. It is a little service we provide for each other, nice isn't it?
Ooooh, the lights just flickered. Maybe I am in for a romantic night of candlelight by myself. ;-) Most likely I am in for a night of take-home final fun! Fun! There is another rumble rumble!

666 Devil Day!

2006-06-06T17:43:00.000-04:00

Happy Devil Day everyone! Of course it is all a load of bullocks (a word I would use all the time if I were British and since I'm not, my using it is pretentious and affectatious...but screw you! It is the devil day!) But not really, it isn't the devil day. It just happens to be 06-06-06 on the Gregorian calendar...tons of people don't even use this calendar. If fact there are likely more people who don't use this calendar than there are people who do. The Chinese alone must outweigh us, not to mention the Jews & Muslims. Point being, I am not scared of supernatural interference on this day. Stupid people doing stupid things in honor of 666 day, however, that is as disturbing as it is likely!

Maybe there is something to this 666 thing. After all, in the preceding days we have been subjected to disgusting the unbelievable things. Not only is Julia Styles playing someone's mother (as unrealistic as that seems), but Anna Nicole is actually going to have a(nother) child. There is a good chance that this one is the real anti-Christ, in my opinion. If the genetic gun isn't loaded enough, all the Trim-spa that woman ingests will warp it. Plus there are other indications that the end is near. Just look at the evidence. There are people eating small dogs, people morphing into animals, evidence of intelligence in Jersey, and -maybe most horrorific- OJ's sex tape (which I suggest you don't actually look at as evidence or your eyes might melt out of your skull).

Saddest Story Ever

2006-05-28T23:58:00.000-04:00

I just posted, so I ain't writin' a lot again. But I just wanted to share this, the saddest story ever. Such is unrequited love...but I am just assuming that. Maybe the giant plastic swan returns his affection. To go along with my sadness, I spent the evening watching an interpretive dance troupe reenact Alice In Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. They spent two hours undulating and screaming on stage wearing rags. At one point they threw a stuffed pig at me. So I got to hold that for the rest of the show. Shoulda thrown it back at their artsy asses. I spent two hours laughing inappropriately at their serious screams and emotive undulations. Hilarious....so maybe not so sad after all. Except for the parents of those dancers. "My son dresses up in rags and tights, screams, and cracks eggs on his head for a living." I rest my case.

Triumph! & Travesty.

2006-05-27T10:55:00.000-04:00

I was fortunate enough to experience a super fun event and a travesty, all within two days. Thursday night Kirsten and I attended the PostSecret / FOUND show, based on these two books! It rocked.

To be fair, PostSecret tends to make me depressed. Some of the secrets are so heartbreaking and people seem to keep them at the detriment of themselves. I honestly don't know why they won't tell someone, not when it is eating them up inside! Not everything needs to be told, but some things should be! The story of the person who, on their deathbed, discloses an extramarital affair to their partner...that is not what I am talking about. To me that is just hurtful and selfish. If you feel the need to cleanse your conscious in such a way, see a priest! But so many of the secrets in the PostSecret book are sad. :-( TBone got me the PostSecret book for Christmas, it was a lovely surprise all wrapped and pretty sitting in my house when I came home. After reading it though, I was so sad that I gave it back to him. Of course not all the secrets are sad, some are funny and some are ridiculous (just not as many).

The FOUND book, I have to say I have never read. BUT! I have been to their website and read what they posted there. And I have heard the wonderfully hilarious Davy Rothbart on NPR's This American Life, telling stories about himself, his family, Mr. Rogers, and reading from his FOUND material. Of course, in the course of listening to Davy I developed a fun fan crush on him (as he is super cool). So I was geeked to go see him in person. He was just as lovely in person as he is on the radio and as I imagined him to be (although possibly slightly shorter, but he is so funny and smart I don't even care). He was wearing the same hat as he is in the picture I stole off the internet. The bonus to the evening was that Davy brought his equally (possibly more, who's to say) cute brother Peter...also pictured! Petey played guitar and sang. The best song was "The Booty Don't Stop" and was compelled to buy Peter's cd so that I could hear it whenever I wanted. I think the fact that these two gentleman are from Ann Arbor (a place ever so close to my heart, as many of you know). So now I have a new favorite song and two crushes! (But Davy is still my favorite). So my vast readership knows, this is just the beginning of the tour and you could all find a show to go to in many cities! They are going everywhere. I highly recommend them. That event was the triumph.

Now for the travesty. I saw X-Men: The Last Stand last night. Boo I say, boo! My memories of the comics aren't perfect, I grant, especially since they belonged to my brother (so I defer to Puddles! in this matter). But that movie did not appear to stick to the facts of the books! Phoenix had some trouble sure, no one dies and is reborn without some psychological sequela, but she was never as bad as she was in the movie! Boo! I am likely upset cause she was one of my favorites. And I am not sure that Rogue woulda done what she did in the movie (at least I don't think). Action was fine, effects were good...but characters were severely lacking and it wasn't true to the X-Men legacy. I will admit that I had several inappropriate thoughts about Wolverine though. Damn. (Clarification: not Hugh Jackman, but Wolverine.) And I did enjoy the Angel fellow - he put on a nice six-pack, far from his days as Claire's bisexual cheating boyfriend on Six Feet Under.

Alphabetical: The Best of the -eticals

2006-05-23T15:42:00.000-04:00

Here is a fun filler blog that I stole from Puddles! This should keep those who feel it is my job to entertain them entertained. ;-) A better entry will come this weekend, in which I will discuss the event I am attending Thursday (where I plan to meet my future husband Davy, who runs this wonderfully creative site.)

Accent: Absolutely not! I have what news anchors call 'region free diction.' Or at least that is what I think. Others disagree but they are just haters that are jealous. I can imitate accents pretty well though, much to the dismay of others. It irks my mother when I read directions aloud in my BBC English, but it sounds smarter than my regular voice. It irks my stepmother when I pretend to be from Mynn-ah-sow-da, but it is fun!

Booze: Absolutely! I like my drinks. Right now it is a dirty dirty vodka martini.

Chore I Hate: All of them? Elves or fairies or whatever should come into my house while I sleep and night and do my dishes, launder my clothes, clean the apartment, and spirit away any trash, dust, or dirt.

Dogs/Cats: Dogs divided by Cats? I don't know what that equals. I like both, want both, have cats.

Essential Electronics: Well none of it is essential but I'd be up a creek without my laptop.

Favorite Perfume/Cologne: I am partial to Ralph Lauren Blue for me and enjoy Ralph Lauren Black for the men folk. (*Freaky side note: I was reading a magazine in bed and came across a RL Black fold-out and liked it so much that I rubbed it on my pillow so my sheets smelled delightfully manly.)

Gold/Silver: For wearing? I tend to wear silver. I am not a big gold chains gal.

Hometown: Fairfax, Virginia. God bless NoVa.

Insomnia: I don't have time for insomnia. Sleep is such a luxury; when my head hits the pillow I am out.

Job Title: Clinical Psychology Graduate Student/ Court Documentation Specialist/ Utilization Review Appeals Coordinator

Kids: I hated that movie. :-( Ew. But if you mean children, got none. May have some one day. If you mean goats, may have some one day. Who knows!

Living Arrangements: satisfactorily arranged. But not properly Feng-Shu'ed as of yet. That is my next project for when I have free time. I like my lovely 1-bedroom in Arlington, VA.

Most Admired Trait: Admired by others? Or one that I admire? Recently an unnamed source said I was the most independent person they know. I believe it was communicated in the spirit of admiration. I admire people who are high-energy and non-procrastinating, as I am not those things.

Number of Sexual Partners: Not enough to be considered a whore, I've been told.

Overnight Hospital Stays: Does it count that I have worked in hospitals and have done double shifts that have taken me overnight? Even those I can count on one hand. Overnight hospital stays I wasn't getting paid for? None.

Phobia: Water that is too dark to see anything in from all directions. I can handle it for a little while, but after that the panic will set in. Jaws could be in the darkness you know.

Quote: I like so many! So I am listing three good ones.
"It is not inertia alone that is responsible for human relationships repeating themselves from case to case, indescribably monotonous and unrenewed. It is shyness before any sort of new and unforseeable experience with which one does not think oneself able to cope, but only someone who is ready for everything, who excludes nothing, not even the most enigmatical, will live the relation to another as something alive." ~Ranier Maria Rilke
"Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead." ~Aldous Huxley
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." ~ Emerson

Religion: Is funny. I am Catholic, but loosely so.

Siblings: The older brother (Puddles!) and the younger sister. Both aspire to careers in law, so I am the odd man out that way. :-( But at least I get plenty of free legal advice.

Time I usually wake up: Some days 6 am and other days 8 am, depending on whether I have class that day. Weekends, around 10 am.

Unusual Talent: I have the unusual talent of having no unusual talent. I also have super spying talents...you didn't see me following you did you? I thought not.

Vegetable I refuse to eat: Can't think of a single one. I like vegetables. I'd prefer not to eat cooked carrots...they are all mushy. But that is a critique of culinary style, not the vegetable itself.

Worst Habit: Sarcastic bitchiness? But sometimes that works for me. So maybe procrastination.

X-Rays: I used to know how to take those! And I got to press the button on multiple occasions. But of me? While I worked there I got a lovely one of my foot (nothing broken). I also once swallowed the pull tab to a soda can (and, yes, I was old enough to know better), so I got a pretty picture of my torso to make sure I hadn't aspirated it (breathed it into my lungs). I didn't.

Yummy Foods I Make: All the foods I make are good. I am still working on meat...I cook non-meat things better still. Though I do think my roast chicken is not bad.

Zodiac Sign: Cancer - not the dying kind. The moody, crabby kind.

The Littlest Bit of Breaks

2006-05-09T21:50:00.000-04:00

I am currently on the smallest of all school breaks! My last final was due in this past Monday and classes start up again this coming Monday. Boo! Boo I say! But I do get July & August off so that is somethin'. And what have I done/will I do for my brief reprise? So far I have done...Nothing! Yay for nothing! I hung out with friends Monday after work and did laundry. Today I blew of a fella who annoys me (go me!) so I could sit on my ass and watch Scrubs. [I have to pause to say how thrilled! I was that Scrubs did a parody of the "I learned it from watching you Dad, okay!" anti-drug commercial. That quote lives in a special place in my heart, maybe because I would be sitting in my room or living room doing something and my lovely Robyn would walk into the room and randomly shout it at me. Ah, the good old days.]

This weekend I am off to Blacksburg to graduate! Of course my wonderful, obsessive sister sent me quite the itinerary for the weekend. In addition to the regular itinerary stuff most people say...like dates and time of specific events, this one included notes on the weather, suggestions on clothing items, and recommendations of what we should eat 'off the clock'. So sweet. ;-)

Meanwhile, I am gonna sit on my ass and play the BEST game ever that Robyn sent me, like two years ago. Depsite my practice I still only get an 88%. Let's see if you punks can do better!

(**UPDATE** As soon as I posted this I went back to the super fun game and got a 98% suckas!)

Look at me go!

2006-04-29T12:45:00.000-04:00

As I am sure others do from time to time, I make it a point to Google my own name to see what is up. My name is not all that unique, but I have generally been somewhere on the first page of results - along with a woman who works in housing for the homeless in Cali, some girls named Kate who happen to be from a certain town in England, and random other girls with my same name that placed in their school's track meet or the like.

I decided to go ahead and search for myself, as a shameless effort to procrastinate writing my paper, doing my project, or completing my take home final. Of course, it worked...cause here I am blogging rather than elucubrating (a word I learned from my starbux cup, thanks corporate america!). My reason for this further procrastination is to express my surprise! I have been moved from the first page of Google results to page four. FOUR! Do they not understand the importance that is me? Doesn't everyone want to learn about the work I did in a neuroscience lab over five years ago? Google needs to give the public what they want!

I blame one particular Alternate Self (name sharer) for my demotion. Apparently I am a voiceover artist, currently working in Anime circles, and requiring multiple search results be devoted to me. Since it is Anime I guess that means I have one of those annoying high pitched voices then. I am even on my beloved Movie Industry Database (a site I look at on a semi-regular basis when I want to cyberstalk some new celebrity). While I am kinda flattered to be included with the stars...I do not like Anime! While looking through the various 'Me's that made the first three pages of results, I also found a site in Italian. Being curious, I clicked only to be asked if I wanted to see nude photos of myself! I am shocked at me! My Italian is not good (i.e. i don't speak Italian at all) but even I know what "nude immagini" and "calendari nuda" mean! Apparently I shoulda kept my clothes on when I was in Italy. Thankfully, clicking on the "nude immagini" (which I did of course, as I wanted to ensure my lighting was flattering) returned the Italian version of File Not Found. I have no idea how I am going to have time for my new careers in voicing Anime cartoons and nude modeling in Italy, in addition to being a burgeoning collegiate hockey star. I guess I better start clearing my schedule.

Popcorn Thoughts

2006-04-21T21:06:00.000-04:00

As I have been attempting to concentrate on my papers and finals and whatnots...thoughts will just pop into my head, unbidden and nonsensical. Here is a list of these thoughts that is by no means exhaustive.

* I wonder how groupies that slept with Vanilla Ice back in the day think of that experience now. And who is today's Vanilla Ice that people will regret later?

* Maybe Bell Biv Devoe were on to something when they say "Never trust a big butt and a smile" in their song Poison. I bet all of J.Lo's husbands & fiancee's wish they woulda paid more attention to early 90's song lyrics.

* When did dancing change from something graceful and pretty to something dirty and primal? I think I'll blame my parent's generation for that.

* Are there really enough mentally challenged and elderly folk to keep the velcRo shoe people in business?

I'm In Hate

2006-04-20T19:07:00.000-04:00

I'm in hate with a girl here at the library. I sit...shlubbed over my laptop with books on Social Psychology and the interactions of self-presentation & interpersonal psychotherapy piled high around me. And a probably 19 year old, tall, skinny, tanned, blond thing wearing a tube top and hot pants (in the library!?!?!) is sitting across from me. Her lap top is newer and smaller than mine - just like her to me. She keeps flipping her long blond hair and getting up to 'stretch' ...I shall keep eating my ham sandwich. I am probably smarter though - God I hope so. If I walk by and she has Advanced Principles of Astrophysics in front of her I am gonna retch.

Oh good....a more realistic shlubby girl with a bad perm just blocked her from my line of view. I am shallow and ridiculous, I am aware. Let me live in my world of social comparisons - after all part of my paper is on that very topic. ;-)

Pandas & AIDS...but not together

2006-04-04T17:19:00.000-04:00

My friend was so kind today as to call my blog lame, not that she is wrong...but it did remind me that I had a blog and maybe I could write in it.

My first topic is going to be the conference I attending the weekend past. It focused on group relations and dynamics. In other words, the leaders divided us into groups and told us to create a gang....and the Lord of the Flies ensued. I actually liked it, maybe because I am relatively thick skinned (thanks Puddles!) and opinionated. BUT it did impinge on my weekend, as it took up every single day. The scheduling folk didn't seem to care that I do my homework on weekends, so I figured the homework wasn't all that important. If I hadn'ta had to do a presentation on Monday morning I wouldn'ta read nothin'.

The conference did let out early on Sunday and I skipped in the sunshine up to the National Zoo with my Map Maker friend. We had an ice cream cone (side bar: did not know they made a Jack Daniels flavored chocolate ice cream, but if you do happen upon it, it is quite tasty) and saw the baby panda. The panda was, on Sunday afternoon, apparently stuck up a tree...which made for riveting viewing. He basically looked like he was napping 20 ft. above ground. I honestly thought he could not get down. Map Maker relayed a story that the baby panda kept climbing up the tree, much to his trainer's dismay, and consistently gets stuck - on one occasion having to sleep up in the tree all night because he couldn't get down on his own. No wonder panda's are endangered, they are obviously stupid.

Speaking of obviously stupid, I think this is the stupidest man ever and I hope he gets AIDS. When I read this on the metro this morning I became desperately depressed that he once headed South Africa's National AIDS Council and honestly believed "he faced relatively little risk of contracting the virus from vaginal intercourse." He believed that so much that he proceeded to rape a woman he knew had AIDS. So now, not only should he be jailed for rape but he should also get the virus. And South Africa should hire smart people to handle the epidemic in their country.

Sunny Sunny Sunshiny Day!

2006-03-31T18:14:00.000-05:00

It has indeed been a sunny sunny sunshiny day in the Washington, DC area. It is truly spring time. And how did I spend the day? Inside at a conference for school. And how am I set to spend the rest of this glorious weekend? Inside at a conference for school. Boo, I say. Boo.

As for me, I have nothing exciting to post! I go to work...I go to school...I go to sleep (sometimes)...I go back to work....I go back to school. That is not the stuff of scintillating blog posts. Not at all. I do love that Rorschach!

I could mention that I have dated a cartographer since my last post. I didn't know there were still cartographers out there. I guess I figured all the maps were already made. Apparently not. I could mention that I watched that movie "Just Friends" and it turned out to be funnier than I thought it would be. Of course, the wine I was drinking may have altered my view. But who's to say?

Luck O' the Irish

2006-03-18T12:46:00.000-05:00

10 Aspects of a Successful

St. Patrick's Day Evening

1. I was felt up by an actual Irishman.

2. I did not consume any green liquids, cause that is just dumb.

3. I hugged a pint of Guinness as big as myself!

4. I shouted out lyrics to the only Irish songs I know along with everyone else in the joint.

5. I was not exposed to vomit in any way, my own or anyone else's. Ew.

6. I received bar schwag with that says Guinness and Harp on it. (Birthday presents for Daddy!)

7. While I actually paid for one beer I drank, I drank at least six others that were purchased on my behalf. (Way to be Herbie, Coco the Monkey, Jeremy, and whoeverelse! Nice guys.)

8. The debate I engaged in with the Officer was brief and did not result in 'action' on either of our parts. We kept the peace with each other. I am proud of us Officer Morrison, you killjoy you.

9. I was able to walk home from the party in only five minutes on the arms of friends.

And my new St. Patrick's Day tradition......

10. I woke up in a t-shirt that said Jameson Whiskey on it and I am not quite sure where that came from.

Such a time!

2006-03-14T13:40:00.000-05:00

Such a week and such a long time since I posted. I blame puddles for this, as he is my blog conscience - reminding me when too much time as passed. I guess this is what happens when he gets employment and doesn't have all day to police my life.

To recap since we last spoke. I had midterms and a ginormous presentation for work. I thought that I would go overboard last week and just throw my hands up to be done with it all. And at the same time, my laptop broke - requiring a new fan, a new cd reader, and hundreds of dollars on my part. That didn't help my mental state. Since the breakdown, my internet connection hasn't worked. I think they reset something...but I'll be darned if I know what the hell is wrong. I messed around with it, but I probably just made it worse. I will have to swallow my pride and call the terse Verizon help man, whose condescending attitude I despise. Until then all my internetting is being done at work! So stop sending me porn people....you know who you are (Emily!).

I made it through midterms and now is spring break! In honor of the break I allowed myself half an hour of 'imagination time' where I pictured myself on a beach someplace warm going, as they say, wild. And my father has been giving me a vicarious vacation by calling me every other day from St. Thomas telling me what he's been doing, which I am taking as mean-spirited bragging. ;-)

In the internet news, I was shocked to learn what has become of the Red Power Ranger. There was a rumor at one point he went to my high school, but I haven't investigated that. After clicking on that, go look at something happy...may I suggest the clip of Natalie Portman from SNL where she is doing a hardcore gangsta rap. Priceless.

I Heart Robyn Skodzinsky

2006-02-24T16:11:00.000-05:00

This post is long overdue - and as some have pointed out any post is long overdue. But recently a very dear friend lost her mother and posting about Paris Hilton's recent lesbian sex video seemed shallow at such a time. So instead of such drivel I bring you, in no particular order:

10 Reasons I Love Robyn!

1. She is of Hungarian descent and her name has a Z in it.

2. She makes watching the Golden Girls feel cool.

3. She always knows where to find the best deal in town (and I have the 3$ shoes to prove it!).

4. Three words - Wrestling Naughty Nun

5. She usually understands what I am talking about when I say something strange and inappropriate.

6. She encourages my bad habits, candy & gossip....everyone needs a friend like that.

7. You can count on her for anything - and I mean anything, if you thought something was impossible she will find a way. (She is also my role model for 'getting things done!'; as I am quite the procrastinator and could never belong to an organization that had such a motto, but maybe to one that said "getting things done later!")

8. She introduced me to a classic song, the title of which includes the words "Little Grass Shack".

9. She does cool/weird things people should do but don't for some reason - like learn to play the Ukulele and the Accordion.

10. She has actually contributed to peace in the middle east by working here, which is more than the rest of us lazy bitches have done!

Romantic Hangover Day

2006-02-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

February 15th - the day of the romantic hangover. Some people OD'ed - whether it was on sick dopey baby talk, Sex & the City dvds, or copious pints of Ben & Jerry. So y'all take two aspirin and think of ten caustic anti-love comments to get over it.

My V date wasn't as horrid as I had hoped. He remembered it was Valentines, like I was hoping he wouldn't, and brought me roses. But that was nice of him. And then he took me to this Moroccan place (as he is from Morocco). I liked hearing about Morocco and whatnot...and that made him more interesting, bumping him up to a 4 on the Interest Scale.

And now is over to the neighbor boy's house to watch Lost, which I love, followed by Project Runway, which I adore! The neighbor boy has one of those bachelor TVs that takes up the whole wall in the livingroom. Lost is best on bachelor boy TVs.

I Don't Heart Valentine's Day!

2006-02-14T15:53:00.000-05:00

Okay, so maybe I do heart Valentines...sometimes. Other times I think it is pretty dumb. I like telling people I love that I love them, but I should do that more often than one day a year. And the supposed exclusivity of the holiday toward romantic love is just silly. I don't romantically love anybody at this point in time. In fact I may even take my sister's advice and quit dating all together (which she doesn't mean in a fatalistic way). Unfortunately I can't take that advice until tomorrow - at which time I will embrace it fully - because I have a "date" tonight that I am not too keen on with a Gentleman Who Scores a 2 On the Interest Scale (GWS2OIS). It was an accident that I even have this date! The conversation yesterday went a bit like this:

GWS2OIS: What are you doing next weekend?
K8: A lot actually. I am pretty busy with school projects and what not. (Which could be true.)
GWS2OIS: How about Thursday night?
K8: Oh, I have a group meeting for class that night. (True by the way.)
GWS2OIS: How about Wednesday?
K8: Yeah, a friend of mine is coming in to town from NYC and I am having dinner with him.
(Also coulda been true, but we rescheduled for Friday.)
GWS2OIS: What about dinner tomorrow?
K8: Gee...tomorrow? (Brainfreeze!)
GWS2OIS: Yeah, dinner tomorrow could be fun.
K8: I may have a homework assignment to do. (Realizing I am sounding lame.) But maybe as long as it isn't a late night dinner might be okay.
-Editor's Note- At this point it did not enter into my head at ALL that the night in question was Valentine's Day and he did not make mention of it.
GWS2OIS: Great, I will call you tomorrow to nail down a time.
K8: .....Um.....okay. Why not.

Initially I though, hey some free food...worse things could happen. And then, that evening, my darling friend KD so helpfully pointed out that it was Valentine's tomorrow and laughed at me when I cursed what I had done. Curses!

The Love & The Hate

2006-02-10T18:58:00.000-05:00

Stories like this one make me believe in love. This woman is only three feet tall and she weighed less than forty pounds! A large dog weighs more than that. To top it off she is in a wheelchair and suffers from a brittle bone disease. And yet she has found a life partner (a nice looking one too in my opinion) and has procreated. In addition to his cuteness and fertility I am sure her husband does the bulk of the housework, seeing as she is not tall enough to reach the top of the washing machine. This is great! This is what love stories should look like. I am tired of stories with gorgeous ladies like Nicole Kidman. How hard is it to fall in love with her? I am not watching any more romantic comedies until one half of the movie couple is at least average looking.

But it isn't a boycott...not yet. I only have three established media boycotts. Most people who know me know of the first to, the third is more recent. But I will gladly list my boycott roster here for those who care to know.

1. Woody Allen - Because he has a daughterwife and that is disgusting. This boycott was started back when the world learned of his depravity, so it has been a while. My distaste was reaffirmed by a certain Mr. Nastypants in his 70th birthday interview with Vanity Fair. Not only did he say his marriage to his daughterwife "has a more paternal feel," which is creepy enough, but he said he has no regrets. Fine, don't regret falling in love...but have the decency to regret cheating on your long term partner with her own daughter who had seen you as a father figure for the past decade. EW.

2. Steven Seagal - Not only is he the lamest action hero in the universe, he is also a complete hypocrite. He claims to be a devout Buddhist and even donated a wad of money to his local chapter of Tibetans. For this he requested an honorary lama-ship, which was promptly denied by His Holiness. His Holiness reasoned that an exalted position such as that was not an option for one who made a career glorifying violence and has the stupidest male-ponytail ever. Well, I added that bit about the ponytail, but I feel confident that His Holiness shares my view on that issue.

3. Tom Cruise - He is obviously mentally ill and is diggin his own grave by bad mouthing those in the only profession that is trained to help him. I am offended by his casting dispersions on my field. I would be happy to debate the overdiagnosis of ADHD and the overmedication of our population. But I'll be damned if some scientology believein', couch jumpin', five foot tall freak is gonna call what I do a sham. He can tell it to the aliens that he believes populated the Earth.

So my boycotts don't really effect anyone but me. And maybe the friends I refuse to accompany to movies featuring any of the above. And it isn't hard to keep up the boycott seeing as SS has never made a quality film and TC jumped the shark one Mission Impossible ago, overrated pretty boy that he is.

And to wrap this all up I must give a shout out to T-Bone, who is turning the big 3-6 today! My lovely friend, you were the best sugar daddy a girl could've ever wanted and may you have happiness on this the day of your birth.

I Want One!

2006-02-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

It is completely unfair for some random guy to get a restraining order against Paris Hilton, while the rest of us in the world have to continue tolerate her existence. Unfair I say! Unfair! I want one! Can't we at least get a retraining order against her for the US? We can pawn her off to an unsuspecting nation! It worked with Michael Jackson and Bahrain. But what masochistic country would take her?

On a personal note I have decided that the Chinese Year of the Dog is not gonna be my year. So far it has made me hate my email and my cell phone...only strange guys I am not that interested in/excited about use those things to communicate with me. While the guys (or in this case a guy) with whom you have a lovely Sunday afternoon drinkin' coffee, talking, and laughing apparently got all their fingers broken after they were unable to pay up an irresponsible SuperBowl bet....leaving them unable to dial phones and send emails. I am waiting for my smoke signal or singing telegram.

Super Sunday

2006-02-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

The ladies and I hit the town last night, goin out around 10:30 - which some people falsely believe is bedtime, but untrue! All the good things happen after that hour. The newish place on 19th, the Science Club , was neat looking but the drinks coulda used some improvements. But, as I said, they are newish and possibly have yet to hit their stride. Then it was off to Cafe Citron for some salsa dancing, always a feat at that establishment due to the crowd. It was a very good time...but I am not allowed to say how good as my compatriots and I swore years ago - what happens at Cafe Citron stays at Cafe Citron. Suffice to say if you are looking to drink, dance, and meet exotic men it is the place to go. A lovely Moroccan man offered me Arabic lessons. And I accomplished all this and still managed to make it to bed by 4am.

But one doesn't need to go dancing in (on) bars to have a good time in DC. Just this Thursday past I attended a play that my companion for the evening called 'experimental theater.' That right there made me skeptical. When we arrived I figured out it was a solo play - meaning there was only one actor- and there were no props....so it was just gonna be this chick up on stage for a couple hours. I was again skeptical. The actress turned out to be the writer as well. She played approximately six individuals throughout the evening to tell the story of a low-income housing project in DC that was torn down, forcing the residents out of their homes. It actually turned out to be very interesting and I felt oh so socially responsible for attending such a thing (although as it was not my choice, my companion must take the credit). And now I am no longer skeptical about the play - I am jealous. The actress is my exact same age and she has already written and starred in a play to promote social justice. I do nothing on a regular basis to promote social justice. Maybe I should start the Social Justice League and fight social injustice whilst wearing a cape. Or better yet, maybe Tom and Serj will let me join the Axis of Justice!

All Filler, No Killer

2006-02-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

So I understand from my brother (Puddles!) that I am allowed to just post crap on my blog that is completely uninteresting and formulaic! He says they are themes and memes. And we discovered that the likeliest reason they are called memes is that they are all about me, me! Logical, no? Of course if this is not the reason and you do know the reason, feel free to share it.

Here I go all about me. Me!

Four jobs I've had:
Blockbuster register gal
Neuroscience research assistant
ER x-ray assistant
Crazy person wrangler (Counselor)

Four movies I can watch over and over:
Legally Blonde
Raising Arizona
Goonies
Big Trouble In Little China

Four places I've lived:
Detroit, MI
Fairfax, VA
Ann Arbor, MI
Washington, DC

Four TV shows I love:
Lost
Project Runway
Simpsons
Scrubs

Four places I've vacationed:
Port Huron, MI (yay for Grandmas who live on lakes!)
The Continent (England, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Czech, the Netherlands)
U.S. Virgin Islands (three times, so my bro & sis who've only been once can suck it)
Nags Head

Four of my favorite dishes:
chicken broccoli pot pies a la mumma
filet mignon
spicy tuna roll
soup!

Four sites I visit daily:
Yahoo! where i keep most of my email
What is happening outside where i keep the weather
Superficial Crap cause i like to be bitchy and gossipy
News cause they have the soduku online and they tell me what is happenin' and might be fun to do

Four places I'd rather be right now:
St. Thomas
Paris
in my bed
in Vince Vaughn's bed

Well Duh

2006-01-29T19:41:00.000-05:00

As a graduate student in psychology I generally find my area of academic pervue quite interesting. I enjoy learning about people and what makes them tick. And occassionally I come across some bit of research that makes me say.... well,duh! After reading about some fact that any person off the street would recognize as being true I wonder who picks these research ideas. Specifically, the article I just read concluded that people with low self-esteem who have failed at a task would prefer not to compare themselves to someone they know was more successful. Uh, yeah. If I felt badly about myself and then I failed a test, would I want my nose rubbed in it by being compared to someone who had an exceptionally high achievement? Can't we just use some common sense people?
But I guess asking for common sense may be a bit too much for people. Just ask any person who shot themselves while cleaning the gun after they failed to engage the safety. And this is just as bad. After looking at this I am going to go buy a gun to clean.

Evening Out of the Universe

2006-01-25T09:12:00.000-05:00

Of course into every life a little Amy Fisher-Joey Buttafuoco renunion must fall. I personally think this event marks the decline of our civilization and possibly the coming of the apocalypse. Well, not the event itself...I have learned that many TV executives make a living by trying to figure out the next perverse and disgusting event and televising it for the populous. I also understand that Amy & the Buttafuocos are probably each getting paid more than their combined yearly income. Of course if people watch and it gets a high viewer share then my fears about the decline of civilization will have come to fruition.

But despite such horror, the occasionally ray of light falls into our lives to make up for the perversion. In my case it is my friendly neighborhood bar, Dr. Dremos (www.drdremo.com), which was scheduled for closure this month. A fact overwhich I must admit I was becoming increasingly depressed. They have been given a stay of execution until September 2006 - at which time the real estate developer who bought the property will find out if the county will re-zone that paltry strip of land so they can build a damn ten story 170 condo building. For those of you that don't know Arlington, let me explain that we are by no means short of yuppie pandering, over priced condos that dot our horizon, make parking impossible, and overpopulate what bars and restaurants we have. (My friend and I were repeatedly told we would have to wait half an hour for lunch on a Sunday.) We are lacking in friendly, fun, cheap bars where you can just hang out with your friends and play some pool. Such places are becoming an endangered species and I would move to have them protected under the same laws that have served the Giant Panda so well. (Keep up the good breeding Giant Pandas! Although, tip the to the newsmakers, I could do without the PandaPorn That is private!)

Not prone to ranting, but apparently "insane enough"

2006-01-18T19:53:00.000-05:00

What exactly is 'insane enough'? Well you would have to ask my brother about that. This blog is a direct result of his encouragement and rejection of what I think is a lovely blog name, Bit O' Smart. I told him I can't blog because I am not prone to ranting but he believes I am "insane enough" (his words) to have something to talk about.

So about me to get the ball rolling. I am living the high life in the Metro DC area, rubbing elbows with the lower middle class of our Nation's Capital! Fantastic. I work in mental health and I go to grad school for the same. And yet I manage to find time to have a little bit o' fun....a bit o' smart don't mean nothing if you don't have that. I am currently single, which I find immensely entertaining.

And I would like to close with a shout out to D.E., my grandmother's brother who passed away yesterday. He was one of those happy, friendly people who loved to have fun and socialize. At my cousin's wedding this past summer he stayed up later than both my brother and sister, who are in their 20s, to dance the night away. I spent the day trying to express my thoughts on a card for the flowers...something like 'one such as he will never really be gone because of all the lives he touched.' Of course my next thought was how that sentiment minimizes their grief.....Why are you crying? He isn't really gone!