Hometown: The Roch, MI (aka. The Crotch, aka. Crotchscratcher, aka. Crotchmolester, aka. Rochester)
Currently Living: Clawson, MI
Height: 5'8
Weight: Ha ha, yeah right
Favorite Color: Blue (preferably navy)
Profession: Researcher
Favorite Nickname: Trick, Sloan
Favorite Drinks:Vodka Tonic, Guinness, Diet Dr. Pepper, Dirty Martinis, red wine
Favorite TV Show: Friends, Sex & The City, Project Runway, The Amazing Race, Iron Chef America
Least Favorite TV Show: A Baby Story, I Love Lucy, Martha Stewart, Everybody Loves Raymond, every hour long drama
Favorite Books: The History of Love, Beloved, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Fight Club, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The of Being, SurUnbearable Lightness vivor, Empire Falls, The Corrections, The Bell Jar
Favorite Movies: Little Miss Sunshine, Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Wordplay, American Beauty, Life is Beautiful, Amelie, Breakfast Club, Singin In The Rain, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sleeping Beauty, Dancer in the Dark, Duets, The Virgin Suicides, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Austin Powers I, II & III, My Best Friends Wedding, Moulin Rouge, Tommy Boy, Billy Madison, The Shining, Gone With The Wind, Bridget Jones' Diary, Chicago, Love Actually
Guilty Pleasure Movies: Xanadu, Dirty Dancing, Overboard, Groundhog Day, Steel Magnolias, 10 Things I Hate About You, Bond movies, Footloose, Clue, Murder By Death, High Spirits, A Cinderella Story
What I Do Too Much: Check email, crossword puzzles, complain about my job to friends and family,
Obsessions: sushi, Indian food, ranch dressing, toenail polish, song lyrics, hands, awards shows, symmetry, avocados, maps, dreams, This American Life, the display in my car that tracks my MPG
Pet Peeves: loud eaters, slurping, gulping, arrogance, snoring, bad grammar, repetition, late mergers, ripping cardboard, the word "chunky", intolerance, couples in a restaurant sitting on the same side of a booth, pop-up ads, privacy manager, men that drive without shirts on, being foolish, unfairly jumping to conclusions, being made fun of, cat-calling, people who type too hard
Greatest Fear: crossing bridges
Relaxing Activites: late night drives to sing by myself, headstands, hot baths,
Wish I Was: Ansel Adams, Jenifer Aniston, in love, living alone
Prized Possessions: ring from my grandparents, flower pot of my Grandma's, electric blanket (temporarily broken), tongue scraper, my bed
Craziest Thing Ever Done: getting a tattoo, strip Jenga
Things I Eventually Want To Do: skydive, buy a guitar, learn how to play the aforementioned guitar, take flying lessons, travel to France, write a novel, learn how to play the harp, tap dancing lessons, run a marathon
Thursday, June 29, 2006 Believe it or not, I'm walking on air....Ladies and gentlemen. I have an announcement to make. It's the moment you've(I've) all been waiting for. I would like to announce that I HAVE A START DATE FOR MY NEW JOB.
Can you believe it? Yesterday there was this big flurry that apparently my start date had been set to July 1st (yup, that'd be Saturday). So I was getting this barrage of calls and emails trying to figure out why I was quitting without any notice. But things are mostly set and I have 2 months to get my act together and hand off the reins of one job to move to the other. Yes, 2 months is a long time but it allows multiple things to occur:
~ Me to finish school at the same time I'm switching jobs. ~ Me to finish school without have to fork up the $1,000+ tuition if I were to leave my job before the semester is over. ~ My boss to have enough time to find a replacement for me. ~ Me to hire in at a higher salary having a completed Master's degree under my belt (which I need to use lately since I've lost a couple pounds and my pants are hanging off my ass).
And most importantly...
~ To concurrently celebrate being done with school and starting a new job. My birthday conveniently falls right around that time too. Suffice it to say that I plan on being intoxicated for most of the end of August to mid-September (while my mother is in town, conveniently).
I'm optimistic this time. But still hesitant to start the fireworks. Maybe for this weekend at least, I'll just stick to sparklers.
Speaking of, I'm leaving work in 1 hour and then it's off to the lovely Northern expanses of Michigan. It's actually not that far away, but far enough to sit by one of the Great Lakes on a beach all weekend. I'm going up north armed with Scrabble, a book, a fierce determination to kick some ass at miniature golf, the boy, and a crapload of margarita mix. I cannot wait. Have a happy 4th and I'll see you round these parts next week. Sorry there is to be no blogging from up north. I don't think the motel (oh yes, it's a motel) we're staying at has high speed wireless internet.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 Help me get my feet back on the ground....Snippity snippet day to catch up. Here's how random my last batch of days has been:
~ I went to a birthday party with speakers blaring polka music all afternoon.
~ I watched Suz complete a triathlon on Sunday. Needless to say, I'm sold. Stay tuned cos I'm planning on signing up for one in September and probably the leg of a relay in August. The swim leg.
~ I, along with Brian S., Chuck, Kelly and her mom enacted some dolphin calls while cheering Suzy on at the triathalon. And some well coordinated cheers.
~ I've been privileged to be the occasional cowbell player for the boy's musical rehearsals. Sadly, I cannot get through 5 knocks of the bell without busting out into giggles.
~ We had a bird set up shop in our fireplace. A fireplace with glass doors so that when you walked into the room, he was just kind of sitting there, fancy bird cage style.
Ok. That's it. I'm boring. What can I say. I'm going up north this weekend with the familia to relive our childhood where we used to go when we were all little. It promises to be a fantastic weekend! I should get back around here before then. Smooches.
7:43 PM
Friday, June 16, 2006 I can't remember the last thing you said as you were leaving, and the days go by so fast....I recently had a sharp pang upon realizing that things move on without you. That people you used to share everything with have faded, almost to the point of full loss. Certainly to the point of unfamiliarity. Or the point of cordial politeness instead of that manic ease and fun that you always used to have.
The change has been imperceptible in degrees. Maybe less phone calls. Or less effort to see them. Then you get to the point where more than a year has gone by and you realize that you no longer know anything about what they like anymore. Who they hang out with. If they're happy. You mostly just hear about their ongoings through other people. So you can feel like you still have an inkling of their life. So you can feel like you actually still know. But you mostly wonder if they're the same person at the core. And if reconnecting with them would be horribly awkward or if the fundamentals of their personality are maintained.
My inherent reaction is to feel wretched that I've ever let things drift this far. I always feel bad for my own failures. And I fully justify that someone else could hold it against me for failing to stay in touch. Yet at the same time, there's no reciprocation. They've lost me just as much as I've lost them. They no longer know who I spend time with. The things that I've laughed and cried over. I'm sure they hear just as much of my ongoings through others too, and I mostly wonder if they think that I'm the same or not. I am and always will be a believer in taking charge. I have no cause to complain that people have drifted. My sentiment is, I let them drift.
And so it is a common thing to blather on about -- losing touch with friends. But so it is. Time marches on. I suppose we all choose who we want to make that effort with no matter what and who we let drift away. I guess they eventually get mingled into memories. I suppose that it would be just an email or phone call away to change it. But haven't I already let them drift? Or maybe, they've already decided to let me drift.
3:27 PM
Monday, June 12, 2006 I can tell that we goin' be friends....Ohhh...and so Monday drags me down again after such a fun weekend. Even though I know full well that I should be devoting more time to contructive work over the weekend, I justify it allll away. For example, "Well, it's unheard of to do work on Friday night! I just busted my ass all week, I deserve a night off!" Or another example, "Well, I have to clean the bathroom and do laundry on Saturday, and that should roughly take....all day. And by the time I'm done, it'll be time to go out." Or, perhaps one more example, "Man, I swam today and went for a walk, and have been out in the sun all day. I definitely think a Sunday evening nap is in order." So as you can tell, I took the slacker vibe to the limit this weekend. And now Monday blows.
Then, there was even that moment yesterday. Driving with the windows down, dancing to G Love and The Staple Singers, making jokes with the boy about his trunk being open (never gettin' old!), knowing that my face was sunburned, thinking about a fantastic morning, that I was certain that I couldn't be happier. It's that exact moment. That one. Right there. That one that's getting me through my Monday. That's reminding me that amongst the turmoil of all the bullshit that we deal with on a daily basis. That those moments are still there to be had. When it honestly feels like there isn't a giant weight on your shoulders. When you (and everyone you're with), can shove it all aside and just sing all the words to "Booty Call" and not give a crap about anything else except getting the words right or singing them as loud as you can. That's what it's all about.
Well, it's time for me to head to the gym. And only because I'm beginning to amass pictures and such for my thesis presentation (we'll ignore the fact for now that it's no where NEAR being started/done), I'll give you some really bad bird flu jokes. Enjoy.
Thursday, June 08, 2006 I don't mind, the thing that bothers me is someone keeps moving my chair....Ladies and gentlemen. Something has finally come to the suburban metropolis of Detroit that we've been starving for. That we've been deprived of. That we've driven hundreds and hundreds of miles to get.
Oh yes,
The new IKEA store opened yesterday.
Now, we can all become clones of each other and have more uniform home furnishings that the rest of the country has been privvy to for years. Now, I too can have Hensvik bookcase like my neighbor (but it's actually kind of fugly). Or I can get the Hej candleholders that everyone and their mother has. Or if I'm in the market for a bed frame, a Kongsvik should do. Now, I too can have the finest of Swedish craftsmanship just a short drive away.
I'm tickled pink with delight at the thought.
And apparently, so are a bunch of dillholes who live in this area. Can I just tell you, that the opening of the IKEA store has gotten more local news coverage than any other news story for WEEKS (even moreso than the Pistons losing). There was a 2 mile backup yesterday morning on the highway where the IKEA store is, just from GAWKERS. But perhaps people weren't gawking at the blinding blue and yellow store facade, but the fleet of police on hand, the helicopters overhead, or the hundreds of people waiting outside the store for it to open.
People started lining up to get in on Sunday night. Mind you the store didn't open until Wednesday morning. But OH WAIT!! If you're one of the first 100 people in line, YOU GET A FREE CHAIR!! Holy fuck! A CHAIR, YOU SAY!! I WILL GIVE UP THREE DAYS OF MY LIFE TO WAIT IN LINE FOR A CHAIR!! That's how crazy these people are. Do you have a job? Children? People were even SELLING their spots in line for $100. THE CHAIR COSTS $79 PEOPLE!!
To capture it quite nicely, when they were talking about the store opening yesterday on the news and the variety and abundance of furniture selection available for those shoppers at IKEA, the Channel 7 newscaster actually said the words, "I hope they can find a life there too." Amen, Frank. Amen.
I wonder how soon I can get there.....
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So even though I'm even more busy than I was just a few short weeks ago, I'm doing my very best to keep my mental state more stable than it was before. But my schedule is very comical lately. I'm at my main job half the week and then I split the other half of the week between my second job and my internship. But that's when I don't come home from work every night just to do more work. Even writing this blog is sucking a significant amount of time away from what I actually should be working on. Ahhh yes, I'm just laughing and laughing and laughing at it all.
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Other notable haps of the past few weeks:
~ Swimming in a lake. Like actual swimming not just paddling around. ~ Chilling in a hottub. ~ Going to a Polish festival (NOTE: fair/carnival rides have come a long way since I was young. But I'm still pretty certain that I would vomit on the Zipper. Again,). ~ Frolicked on the swings (they still make me motion sick). ~ Multiple backyard BBQs. 3 to be exact. ~ Had my feet mulched by mutant mostquitos during said BBQs. ~ Drank way to much wine twice during two of said BBQs (apologies owed to Pnut for, what I recall to be, a rather drunken phone conversation, and the boy, for passing out sans nookie). ~ OUR ROSE BUSHES ARE BLOOMING!! I'm back to being the maniac that comes skipping out of her car when she gets home from work to smell the roses. ~ The heartbreak of the Pistons being eliminated by the Heat. If I ever pass Shaq on the street, he better look out, cos I just might kick his ass.
Alright. That's it. I can't think of anything else. Here's another empty promise: I'll write more.
Until then, I'll leave you to gaze fondly upon this:
