well, it's my birthday, too, yeah! Actually, I'm not all that excited about my birthday in and of itself. But I am excited to have taken the day off, and that my cookout is in just a few days.
And I wish that Lunesta butterfly would fly by my house. I know it's actually a moth, but I like to think of it as a butterfly. Please flutter by, butterfly. I need your help.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Yet another Year
Birthdays get harder every year. Not because I care about aging. It just reminds me of having to carry on without my baby brother. I always felt so connected to him and that we had a special bond that was tough to understand. This waned over time and changed into something different as we became adults. But we were still close, and we had experienced so much grief and joy together that I really never imagined that I could have a life without him. And so, each birthday is just another reminder of all that I've lost, instead of a celebration of my own life.
Monday, September 18, 2006
This Week's Public Service Announcement
I have decided to add a new feature to my blog. We all want to do our part to make the world a better place. But sometimes it's hard to figure out where to even start. So, dear readers, together we'll share our experiences and do what we can. Last week's post about diamonds was the first PSA. Your purchasing power can make a difference.
But on to this week's topic: freecycling. The Freecycle network is a nationwide network of Yahoo! Groups full of local folks who have items to discard but do not want those items going into landfills. Items are posted by sending a message to the group, the "winner" is selected by the poster from the interested responses, and together they make arrangements for pick-up. This is a great way to get unwanted items out of your home and into the hands of someone who can put them to use. I've been offering items and taking items for a couple months now and it works well. I urge you to google "freecycle" and look for more on the network in your area. Try it and give us updates.
But on to this week's topic: freecycling. The Freecycle network is a nationwide network of Yahoo! Groups full of local folks who have items to discard but do not want those items going into landfills. Items are posted by sending a message to the group, the "winner" is selected by the poster from the interested responses, and together they make arrangements for pick-up. This is a great way to get unwanted items out of your home and into the hands of someone who can put them to use. I've been offering items and taking items for a couple months now and it works well. I urge you to google "freecycle" and look for more on the network in your area. Try it and give us updates.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Through The Years
Class rings were a pretty big deal at my High School. Girls wore their boyfriends' rings with yards of yarn wraps in colors to match their outfits, or in our school colors (maroon & white) on Fridays. Guys wore their girlfriends' rings on gold serpentine chains. In my high school years, I only had a guy's ring a few times, and never for very long. I never had a serious boyfriend until I was in college, so wearing a guy's ring was a weird thing for me.
Most kids ordered their rings in the fall of sophomore year. I waited until junior year b/c I couldn't figure out which of all those little panels to pick. I didn't want Sparky, our mascot, and I only played soccer the one season. I was always busy, but a lot of it was karate and church things rather than school things. I also remember looking at the choices and wondering why we didn't have fencing, or drum core, and a lot of other things that were clearly available at other schools. I finally settled on karate (girl) and a tiger head, which was the karate school icon. In retrospect, I would pick Sparky and the castle image. But it's all a moot point b/c I lost my ring not long after I got it. I think it went down the big drain in the kitchen at my restaurant job. I looked everywhere for it that night, but never found it. I went home scared and told my mom, and she was upset but tried not to be. She told me not to tell my dad b/c he'd be upset. I don't know if she ever did tell him. I do know that I never brought it up again b/c I didn't want to upset him, either. Secretly, I've always wished that it would turn up somewhere, somehow. Like, someone found it somehow and tracked me down. Or somehow my dad actually had it all along and never said anything about it. I don't actually believe that will happen, but I do think about it from time to time.
Sadly, I also lost my High School yearbooks several years ago. Maybe that's part of the reason I try to hang onto little bits of memorabilia that other people wouldn't, because some of the bigger pieces have been lost over the years.
Most kids ordered their rings in the fall of sophomore year. I waited until junior year b/c I couldn't figure out which of all those little panels to pick. I didn't want Sparky, our mascot, and I only played soccer the one season. I was always busy, but a lot of it was karate and church things rather than school things. I also remember looking at the choices and wondering why we didn't have fencing, or drum core, and a lot of other things that were clearly available at other schools. I finally settled on karate (girl) and a tiger head, which was the karate school icon. In retrospect, I would pick Sparky and the castle image. But it's all a moot point b/c I lost my ring not long after I got it. I think it went down the big drain in the kitchen at my restaurant job. I looked everywhere for it that night, but never found it. I went home scared and told my mom, and she was upset but tried not to be. She told me not to tell my dad b/c he'd be upset. I don't know if she ever did tell him. I do know that I never brought it up again b/c I didn't want to upset him, either. Secretly, I've always wished that it would turn up somewhere, somehow. Like, someone found it somehow and tracked me down. Or somehow my dad actually had it all along and never said anything about it. I don't actually believe that will happen, but I do think about it from time to time.
Sadly, I also lost my High School yearbooks several years ago. Maybe that's part of the reason I try to hang onto little bits of memorabilia that other people wouldn't, because some of the bigger pieces have been lost over the years.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Witchy Woman
That's a bit of a stretch for the title of this blog.
I need help with a couple of things (go figure!). This time, it's fun, though. You get to vote (YAY!!). Every year, I want to be something cool/funny/hip/cute for Halloween. But I never seem to know of any parties to go to and I just kind of blow it off. Then, the weekend before Halloween rolls around and I've waited too long and then I inevitably hear of some party I could go to, but I have nothing to wear. So this year, I've resolved to do this early, and if I don't get invited to a party, then I'll just wear my costume to the grocery store. And church.
So far, I've come up with (i.e. "lifted") the following ideas:
1. Pez Dispenser (I like this one especially because Pat collected Pez dispensers)
2. Egg
3. Potato(e) Head (with a bucket of parts!)
4. Sequined girl popping out of cake (I like this one because the cake would cover my "problem areas" but still be kind of cute, and not too smutty)
5. Witch (suggested by the little girls next door when they asked me to be in their Haunted House)
Let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions. I always come up with obscure and confusing costumes, so the ideas I listed are already "out of the box" for me.
Also, I am in search of some Halloween music & sounds CDs that I could borrow now to get me inspired to decorate and work on my costume. If you have any suggestions for those, please post.
I need help with a couple of things (go figure!). This time, it's fun, though. You get to vote (YAY!!). Every year, I want to be something cool/funny/hip/cute for Halloween. But I never seem to know of any parties to go to and I just kind of blow it off. Then, the weekend before Halloween rolls around and I've waited too long and then I inevitably hear of some party I could go to, but I have nothing to wear. So this year, I've resolved to do this early, and if I don't get invited to a party, then I'll just wear my costume to the grocery store. And church.
So far, I've come up with (i.e. "lifted") the following ideas:
1. Pez Dispenser (I like this one especially because Pat collected Pez dispensers)
2. Egg
3. Potato(e) Head (with a bucket of parts!)
4. Sequined girl popping out of cake (I like this one because the cake would cover my "problem areas" but still be kind of cute, and not too smutty)
5. Witch (suggested by the little girls next door when they asked me to be in their Haunted House)
Let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions. I always come up with obscure and confusing costumes, so the ideas I listed are already "out of the box" for me.
Also, I am in search of some Halloween music & sounds CDs that I could borrow now to get me inspired to decorate and work on my costume. If you have any suggestions for those, please post.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Touch of Grey
Sorry if I misspelled Grey, but I'm too lazy to look it up to find out how Jerry spelled it.
That dang white eyebrow hair is back. This is ridiculous. I have got thick, dark hairs in all kinds of very unattractive places that I have to pluck. The last thing I should have to do is also pluck thick, grey hairs out of my freaking eyebrows. If I had the energy, I'd be flailing right now.
I decided earlier today that tonight would be Pluck Night (random sidebar: "Pluck Night" reminded me of "Fight Club," which is the image that this week's cover of CityBeat is channeling. I wanted to tell Heidi this when we picked up our copies tonight, but for some reason, I couldn't turn this thought into a sentence that would make any sense, so I just moved right along), and I was later upset by my decision because I discovered after making said decision that I am missing a pair of tweezers.
Now, I have 2 pairs of tweezers, so I was tooled up to get the job done. But that doesn't matter, because I spent a lot of perfectly good tweezing time in a desperate and vain search for the other pair. You see, it is incredibly, horribly disruptive to my train of thought when I realise that I actually cannot find something. This is because, no matter how messy my place gets, I *know* where everything is located. So not knowing where something is located is really problematic for me, and I tend to obsess over that thing until I am able to deduce where it might have ended up and return it to its proper location.
The problem with the current situation is that I cannot begin to imagine where the tweezers might have gone. They could really be anywhere since they were probably misplaced during the move. And knowing that they are probably here, but that I don't know where they are, is the worst. I am aware that this obsession is bordering on unhealthy, but still: can someone please offer me some validation here? Tell me I'm OK. Share your stories. Make me feel normal again...or just hold me.
That dang white eyebrow hair is back. This is ridiculous. I have got thick, dark hairs in all kinds of very unattractive places that I have to pluck. The last thing I should have to do is also pluck thick, grey hairs out of my freaking eyebrows. If I had the energy, I'd be flailing right now.
I decided earlier today that tonight would be Pluck Night (random sidebar: "Pluck Night" reminded me of "Fight Club," which is the image that this week's cover of CityBeat is channeling. I wanted to tell Heidi this when we picked up our copies tonight, but for some reason, I couldn't turn this thought into a sentence that would make any sense, so I just moved right along), and I was later upset by my decision because I discovered after making said decision that I am missing a pair of tweezers.
Now, I have 2 pairs of tweezers, so I was tooled up to get the job done. But that doesn't matter, because I spent a lot of perfectly good tweezing time in a desperate and vain search for the other pair. You see, it is incredibly, horribly disruptive to my train of thought when I realise that I actually cannot find something. This is because, no matter how messy my place gets, I *know* where everything is located. So not knowing where something is located is really problematic for me, and I tend to obsess over that thing until I am able to deduce where it might have ended up and return it to its proper location.
The problem with the current situation is that I cannot begin to imagine where the tweezers might have gone. They could really be anywhere since they were probably misplaced during the move. And knowing that they are probably here, but that I don't know where they are, is the worst. I am aware that this obsession is bordering on unhealthy, but still: can someone please offer me some validation here? Tell me I'm OK. Share your stories. Make me feel normal again...or just hold me.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
...if that girl wants to contribute to murder, human rights violations, children at war, slavery, unsafe working conditions, and continued economic disparity in 3rd-world nations. Sounds harsh, I know, but they're not my words. There's plenty of information out there on this:
http://www.fguide.org/Bulletin/conflictdiamonds.htm
http://wghfilms.com/bling.htm
http://www.amnestyusa.org/diamonds/index.do
I'm not suggesting that anyone trade in the diamonds they already have. That's just crazy talk. But I am asking that you consider seriously if another diamond, or a bigger diamond, is something you really need in your life, and if having that thing is really worth the kinds of horrible things that happen to bring those diamonds to this country. I think it's time that we as Americans, and especially those of us who are Christians, use our fiscal clout to speak about our expectations for the standards of living for all of God's children.
http://www.fguide.org/Bulletin/conflictdiamonds.htm
http://wghfilms.com/bling.htm
http://www.amnestyusa.org/diamonds/index.do
I'm not suggesting that anyone trade in the diamonds they already have. That's just crazy talk. But I am asking that you consider seriously if another diamond, or a bigger diamond, is something you really need in your life, and if having that thing is really worth the kinds of horrible things that happen to bring those diamonds to this country. I think it's time that we as Americans, and especially those of us who are Christians, use our fiscal clout to speak about our expectations for the standards of living for all of God's children.
One Way Or Another
Stella's going to find a way to wet the bed. And since I've made it nearly impossible for her to pee on my bed, she decided last night (nay, this morning, at 3AM) to do the deed by spilling my entire glass of bedside water onto me, soaking the sheets and startling me out of a deep sleep. Needless to say, I was not pleased. All I can say is, lucky for her, she's cute.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Thank You For Being A Friend
Sorry if you are starting to think that my blog is more about my friends than about me. But really, I'm not that exciting to read about, day after day, anyway. Plus, if you are a friend of mine, you know that I spend a lot of time telling stories about other friends of mine. It's what I do. So, I just want to say that I'm super-thankful for each and every one of my friends. Tonight, I spent a couple of hours with some of the Ladies Who Lunch from work, just having drinks and chatting about work life. One of our lovely Ladies left awhile ago to pursue a new career path and so we don't get to lunch with her as regularly anymore, and we miss her. And so, we all had a fantastic time just being together. And I love that. And I need that in my life, perhaps more so now than at any other time before. So I just want to say thank you, to all of you who read my blog or stop by at work or come by the house for a visit. For the people who call and the people who write, and the folks who pray for me and my family. I really do appreciate every bit of it, and I need it, to keep me going and to make my life liveable. And I hope that someday, I'll be able to help each of you in some way, and to help make the world a better place. It's been a rough few years, and this time of the year (May-September) seems to be the hardest anymore, with all the birthdays and anniversaries and other significant days. So it helps to know that you care and that I can count on you to listen, or distract me, or make me do things I wouldn't do on my own but that I really need to do. And now that this is about as sappy/weepy as it gets, I'm going to cut myself off and say "Thanks," one more time.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
A Little Help From My Friends (Reprisal)
I just want to say that I am so blessed to have such a great group of friends. And to give specific examples, I want to thank Kelly, Jenn, and Lynn for their help this weekend. Kelly went with me (on 30 minutes' notice, no less!) to the West side to pick up a giant piece of carpet. Loading that into the Cav was no small feat. Jenn stopped by today to help with my request about the lattice. It looks like I need to do more work on that, but Jenn's steady support kept my ladder stable. And she really got showered in dirt and splinters while doing it, so I appreciate her help all the more. Just when we were finishing up, Lynn showed up with a whole yard's worth of energy. She took out a bunch of weeds along the side of the house and the carport, took me to get 10 bags of mulch, sprayed all the surfaces with weed killer, spread the mulch, and helped me clean up the weeds and all that lattice. And to top it off, she invited me over to her place for dinner!! So yeah, I am truly grateful for all of my friends and all the help they give me. It's true that I do get by with the help of my friends! ::happiness::
Oh, and Cirque was...indescribable. You just have to experience it for yourself, because I don't have the vocabulary to convey it. And yeah, there were hardly any clowns.
Oh, and Cirque was...indescribable. You just have to experience it for yourself, because I don't have the vocabulary to convey it. And yeah, there were hardly any clowns.
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Cathy's Clown
Turns out that there are actually LOT of songs with the word "clown" in the title. "Clown," "Ass Clown," "Psycho Clown," "Sad Clown," "Clown on Fire," "Clown Devil," "Pound the Clown," (which I really liked visualising until I thought it might be a euphemism) "Tears of a Clown," "Death of a Clown," and even a track by one of my favourite bands, Blue October, titled "Retarded Disfigured Clown." But none with the title "I HATE Clowns," so I had to go with "Cathy's Clown" since she's the one who got me into this mess. It's like, T minus 14 hours until the big freaky clown show and I really can't stand it. I have heard every thought there is on how to handle this, or that it won't be so bad, or whatever. I guess we will just wait and see, but I really might have a psychotic break over this. See if you hear on the evening news about a woman attacking the QUIDAM performers tomorrow. Stupid Clowns. Who ever came up with that idea, anyway? Ugh.
This search for clown songs actually reminded me that I really like some of the music of the Insane Clown Posse. Of course, I can never watch them on TV or go to their shows, or even look at their CD art; and I prefer to refer to them as ICP. But I can still listen and enjoy, and this reminds me that once, a few years ago, I was waiting for my nails to dry at the nail place in the mall when a lady who was probably just a few years older than me asked me if I thought that ICP was OK. I said that I thought they were all right but I preferred KORN. Right after that, her teenage daughter came up with the new ICP CD and I then realised that this lady was really in trouble. I mean, I thought she was asking me if I liked the band. But I think she wanted to know if it was OK for her kid. Uh, lady? Your first clue should be the "Parental Advisory" label (thanks, Tipper, for making it that much easier for kids to spot the music they want to get) on the CD. After that, if it's anything that your kids actually want or if they tell you all their friends have it and it's "fine," well then, it probably isn't. And definitely, if the picture on the front has crazy-ass scary-looking clowns and the song titles are things like "Murder Rap," "I Stuck Her With My Wang," and "Santa's a Fat Bitch," well again, I'd say, probably not OK for kids. I tell you, sometimes I think people should just have me raise their kids. Then I remember that I really like my sleep and Quiet Time and at that point, I just hope and pray that these kids aren't too terrible when I'm old and feeble and no longer able to defend myself using only my catlike reflexes and a small weapons cache.
This search for clown songs actually reminded me that I really like some of the music of the Insane Clown Posse. Of course, I can never watch them on TV or go to their shows, or even look at their CD art; and I prefer to refer to them as ICP. But I can still listen and enjoy, and this reminds me that once, a few years ago, I was waiting for my nails to dry at the nail place in the mall when a lady who was probably just a few years older than me asked me if I thought that ICP was OK. I said that I thought they were all right but I preferred KORN. Right after that, her teenage daughter came up with the new ICP CD and I then realised that this lady was really in trouble. I mean, I thought she was asking me if I liked the band. But I think she wanted to know if it was OK for her kid. Uh, lady? Your first clue should be the "Parental Advisory" label (thanks, Tipper, for making it that much easier for kids to spot the music they want to get) on the CD. After that, if it's anything that your kids actually want or if they tell you all their friends have it and it's "fine," well then, it probably isn't. And definitely, if the picture on the front has crazy-ass scary-looking clowns and the song titles are things like "Murder Rap," "I Stuck Her With My Wang," and "Santa's a Fat Bitch," well again, I'd say, probably not OK for kids. I tell you, sometimes I think people should just have me raise their kids. Then I remember that I really like my sleep and Quiet Time and at that point, I just hope and pray that these kids aren't too terrible when I'm old and feeble and no longer able to defend myself using only my catlike reflexes and a small weapons cache.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Down With The Sickness
I love t-shirts with terrible slogans on them. It's true. For example, when I was younger, there was a t-shirt that read "I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody." Also, "Married at last...now I can get fat," and "I'm not smart, but I can lift heavy things". These are shirts that my parents would not let me own. I suppose I'm somehow better for not having owned those, but I still get a kick out of totally tasteless tees.
Here are some of my very favourites I've collected via my involvement with the internet.
http://subscribe.theonion.com/product_info.php?cPath=5_20&products_id=171
http://www.onehorseshy.com/lowbrow/myspace?p=onehorseshy.66616785
http://subscribe.theonion.com/product_info.php?cPath=5_20&products_id=170
http://www.onehorseshy.com/lowbrow/my_other_ride?p=onehorseshy.27786890
http://www.onehorseshy.com/lowbrow/guess_what_chicken_butt?p=onehorseshy.69593909
If you have any terrible shirts to share, please post them in the comments!!
Here are some of my very favourites I've collected via my involvement with the internet.
http://subscribe.theonion.com/product_info.php?cPath=5_20&products_id=171
http://www.onehorseshy.com/lowbrow/myspace?p=onehorseshy.66616785
http://subscribe.theonion.com/product_info.php?cPath=5_20&products_id=170
http://www.onehorseshy.com/lowbrow/my_other_ride?p=onehorseshy.27786890
http://www.onehorseshy.com/lowbrow/guess_what_chicken_butt?p=onehorseshy.69593909
If you have any terrible shirts to share, please post them in the comments!!
Monday, September 4, 2006
A little help from my friends
First, I'm a little concerned that no one else was concerned that I slept with the windows open. Someone could have come in and killed me. Do you people not think of these things?!? Perhaps it's only me that obsesses over the idea of being butchered in my own bed as a result of leaving the windows open.
Second, I'm watching Jimmy Kimmel and he's pulling people off the street to be in a belly flop contest. Now, I would do something like that in a heartbeat. But I have to think that a LOT of people would NOT just stop what they were doing to take off and go be a spontaneous belly flopper.
Third, courtesy of JoeD, I now have a blacklight. I feel a little guilty about this, because it appears that he paid $15 for the light, and the only reason I wanted it was to search around for Stella pee from the Urination Outburst Rebellion of Early Summer 2006. But he suggested that I could also use it for my Halloween decor. Then it occured to me that he probably bought it from the Halloween merchandise that is already on the shelves in a Kroger near you. Now, as a result of having the blacklight, and being interested in what else I could find to glow under blacklight, I have discovered what I find to be The Coolest Tattoo of all Time, Ever. I don't want this one specifically, but this does show me that I could get a tattoo and at some point, it wouldn't even be visible except under the blacklight.
Fourth, the guy who is "the odds-on favorite" for the belly flop contest actually has bigger breasts than I do. For those of you who have never met me, this is saying a LOT about the man breasts.
Fifth, I need some help with various projects around the house. If you can help with one or more of these, please, please tell me now... 1) I have a gate that's come unhinged. I just need extra hands to hold in place while I re-hang it. 2) I need to move my workbench from one area in the basement to another. 3) I still need help getting that dang stump out of the ground (the stump that's grown up right by the foundation). 4) I do need to get caught up on 2 seasons of LOST between now and 10/4. 5) I need to pull down some lattice from the carport roof and I just need someone to watch me and call 911 if I injure myself. So yeah, if you are reading this and can help with any of these, I'll be happy to help with your projects in the future.
Sixth, again, thanks to JoeD, I now have a mirror that stands on a pedestal. I wanted this toi make it easier for me to pluck my eyebrows. This is a good thing, but the mirror is pretty dirty. I wiped it down with vinegar and tried to polish it with a vinegar and salt solution, but it's still got all this...stuff...on it. I don't know if it's tarnish, or some sort of plating, or what. I need help figuring out what to do with this thing.
Second, I'm watching Jimmy Kimmel and he's pulling people off the street to be in a belly flop contest. Now, I would do something like that in a heartbeat. But I have to think that a LOT of people would NOT just stop what they were doing to take off and go be a spontaneous belly flopper.
Third, courtesy of JoeD, I now have a blacklight. I feel a little guilty about this, because it appears that he paid $15 for the light, and the only reason I wanted it was to search around for Stella pee from the Urination Outburst Rebellion of Early Summer 2006. But he suggested that I could also use it for my Halloween decor. Then it occured to me that he probably bought it from the Halloween merchandise that is already on the shelves in a Kroger near you. Now, as a result of having the blacklight, and being interested in what else I could find to glow under blacklight, I have discovered what I find to be The Coolest Tattoo of all Time, Ever. I don't want this one specifically, but this does show me that I could get a tattoo and at some point, it wouldn't even be visible except under the blacklight.
Fourth, the guy who is "the odds-on favorite" for the belly flop contest actually has bigger breasts than I do. For those of you who have never met me, this is saying a LOT about the man breasts.
Fifth, I need some help with various projects around the house. If you can help with one or more of these, please, please tell me now... 1) I have a gate that's come unhinged. I just need extra hands to hold in place while I re-hang it. 2) I need to move my workbench from one area in the basement to another. 3) I still need help getting that dang stump out of the ground (the stump that's grown up right by the foundation). 4) I do need to get caught up on 2 seasons of LOST between now and 10/4. 5) I need to pull down some lattice from the carport roof and I just need someone to watch me and call 911 if I injure myself. So yeah, if you are reading this and can help with any of these, I'll be happy to help with your projects in the future.
Sixth, again, thanks to JoeD, I now have a mirror that stands on a pedestal. I wanted this toi make it easier for me to pluck my eyebrows. This is a good thing, but the mirror is pretty dirty. I wiped it down with vinegar and tried to polish it with a vinegar and salt solution, but it's still got all this...stuff...on it. I don't know if it's tarnish, or some sort of plating, or what. I need help figuring out what to do with this thing.
Friday, September 1, 2006
(i always feel like) somebody's watching me
i have decided to sleep with the windows open tonight. This is bold now that i'm on the 1st floor. I'll let everyon know tomorrow how it goes.
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