violet

Happy day-after-bird-day!

We have returned from Thanksgiving dinner with Hay's family. I am exhausted and covered in dog slobber. Hay may or may not be coming down with a cold. Photos of cuteness will be posted, just perhaps not yet. Too. tired. *zonk*

Poppy-syncrasy

I have never heard the song Muskrat Love so every time someone mentions it my mind automatically plays, in the voice of Barry Hay no less, “we've got a thing that's called Muskrat Loooove”. :) I wonder if Golden Earring appreciates this. Prob'ly not.

Lucky lady

Did you know that Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom are dating? I've known for a couple days, but it's still sinking in.


This photo I found over at MollyGood is too amusing to pass up. According to Molly this is a photo from an Elizabethtown photo shoot. The trailers for that movie were so bad that it didn't even register as a movie I'd want to add to the trusty Netflix queue. The fact that these two are together does not change my mind. Kirsten “slammed” rumors of a relationship with Orlando back in September.

I have a total crush on Legolas, but am oddly not attracted to Orlando Bloom in real life. Is that weird?


The hair, the quiver and bow, and the ears are what do it for me. Miaou, miaou, miaou.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you're stuffed with turkey or its equivalent and surrounded by loved ones who are in the same tryptophan coma as you.

Hay and I celebrated the day with Thanksgiving breakfast (at 1:30pm) and will have our proper Thanksgiving meal tomorrow with his family.

I assure you I am not complaining.

This week most of the company is on vacation, which would lead one to think that one who remains at work rather than taking “easy days” off from work would have an “easy short week”. Nope. Any quiet time is taken up by the many projects, which have deadlines of next week, that have been shoved to a deep crack where the floor meets the baseboard in the very corner of the room. I am staring at 10 pages of notes, trying to squish it all into one concise document to present to the entire company about (something technology-business-y).

ACW and B are probably the only people who have seen my previous work (well, and Hay, but: dur) and that will remain the case, but trust me when I say that I am the master at taking technical jibber jabber and making it so that anyone off the street could at least understand the fundamentals of the topic. My high school creative writing teacher told me that I have this talent in response to a story I wrote about an electrical outlet and I have since let that praise go straight to my head. I'm sure there's a word (or term) for my kind, I just don't know what it is yet. A technical empath? :)


Oh, and one more thing: I don't know what's going on with Michael Richards, but his apology on Letterman was truly ass-i-nine. When he started talking about “the Blacks and Katrina” I got physically ill, walked out of the room, and asked Hay to bump the recording ahead past his pathetic excuse for an “I'm sorry” satell-gram.

OJ special will not air, book will not be published!

News Corp. Cancels O.J. Simpson Book and TV Special

NEW YORK — News Corp., the parent company of book publisher HarperCollins and the FOX network, has canceled publication of the O.J. Simpson book and television special "If I Did It."

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

In the book, the one-time football superstar tells how he would have killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman if, in fact, he had done it.

A dozen FOX affiliates had already said they would not air the two-part sweeps month special, planned for next week before the book's publication. (continued, Fox News)

Man, this thing is such a disaster. Why anyone thought any of this was a good idea is beyond me. I heard the publisher of his book, Judith Regan, talk about why she wanted to publish it, and in my mind it's the same odd logic as Charles Rangel's opinion of why the draft should be reinstated. Appropriate to state que la freakando f? I think so.

20 questions

Blatantly ripped from the pages of Avi:

1. Where is the only place you can go and feel safe?
Not to be a total drama queen nut case, but there is really no place in the world where I feel completely safe. The closest I get is at my mom's house, wherever she happens to live.

2. What was playing in the background when you lost your virginity?
Sadly, I remember this. It was either Tangerine Dream ~ Poland: The Warsaw Project or The Private Music of Tangerine Dream. I cannot listen to either of those albums without thinking of that experience.

3. What was the first color your room was painted?
White. Until Hay and I moved into our current house I never had a bedroom with painted (or treated in any manner) walls. The first color of our bedroom in the house we live currently was a very dark teal.

4. Where did you go on your very first date ever?
Hmm. I am trying to remember if I dated James before Jim or Jim before James. It was either to see a movie or bike riding around town.

5. If you had to pick one toy from the 80’s to be buried with, what would it be?
From the 80s? ... A Strawberry Shortcake doll, I guess. My favorites are from the 70s -- a stuffed toy wombat and a stuffed toy eggplant.

6. If you could have gone to any high school (real or fake) which would it have been and why?
I loved my high school, so I'd go to my high school over and over and over again.

7. What was the first curse word you said?
My brother taught me to say, “I'm a little fuck” at age 3. I started sing-songing it in the grocery store, much to my mother's horror.

8. What was the first “adult” movie you ever watched?
I know this one! Um, um, um... Well, if Porky's counts, then that's the first one. If something more hard core is implied, then I hafta say, who the hell pays attention to the names? Just get it on, for chrissakes! (I whole-heartedly admit to being mannish in my porn watching style.)

9. What was your mother’s vocal range?
This one takes the dumbest-meme-question-ever cake.

10. What was the meanest thing you have ever done. Was it justified or unjustified?
I kicked my older-by-several-years brother in the balls when I was 10. I thought it was justified, but my mother and brother did not.

11. What was the name of your first pet?
Garfield. He was a cat. Well, a kitten. He didn't live past the kitten stage, through no fault of my own.

12. If you could say anything to anyone and not get popped in the eye what would you say to whom?
I don't have an answer to this question.

13. What are you thinking right now?
Where'd all the good people go?

14. What would you do if you ended up on PYMMOTI?
Before I read Avi's post I didn't even know about PYMMOTI, so before I would have done nothing. Now I'd probably laugh.

15. What are you doing on Friday?
Kittysitting and going to the in-laws' house for turkey dinner.

16. What is your favorite method of torture?
Tickle torture, but not on myself.

17. What do you want your last words to be?
“Never saw that coming...”

18. What do you want as your epitaph?
“This daddyfucker's on her way to kitty heaven!” ? (It's a play on Avi's epitaph. I don't care what it says on my gravestone. I'll be dead by then, unless I pre-order like my dad has.)

19. Which bodily function do you enjoy more?
I like hiccuping, except when they hurt.

20. How would you like to die?
I wouldn't, thanks.

What is this party word you speak of?

I may be too ancient to understand basic concepts, but let's try.

What does the verb to party actually mean? And, how does one have an all night session of partying at a club? Does that mean that the partier danced, ate food, partook of drugs and/or alcohol, and screamed really loudly to the people next to him/herself because the music was too loud?

If you're not at a club but rather you stay at someone's house all night having arrived with the intention of attending a party does that mean you partied all night, or had a slumber party? How about if someone's bra was put in the freezer? Does that make it a slumber party?

And, now I'm also curious about clubbing. Does that word imply you hit multiple clubs in the same night to party at each one? What if all you did was talk really loudly to the person next to you, foregoing the drugs, alcohol, food, and dancing? Is that just hanging out at a club? Or, is that still partying?

So confusing...

What a Betty!

If you want your carpet to match the drapes (so to speak) then try betty, “the first safe color specially formulated for the hair down there.”


Offered in these fantabulous colors: BLONDEbetty, BROWNbetty, AUBURNbetty, BLACKbetty, and FUNbetty (pink).

Thanks to Back in skinny jeans for introducing me to the product! I wonder if you can do highlights...

keyword analysis

I like to include you all in the funny parts of my day. Although one of my biggest keyword finds, karen corr naked, isn't listed I think this is still a funny listing.



You know. Except for the BD Diagnostics bit. Yah... Yup. Not funny. Oh, and the Skylar Deleon search is apparently not funny either. I didn't even remember that I'd mentioned him over a year ago in a post about good child actors going bad. The rest is funny, though! I promise! I think...

TomKat4evah

I apologize in advance to those who are still put off by this couple, but I just have to say that I'm really happy for Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. They seem like a great couple, loving parents, and... like real people again. Sure, sure, there was that super awkward time of couch jumping and trying to force feed us this business of calling Katie “Kate” because she's “a mother now”, but... C'mon, they look so happy and in love!



Original photo: Robert Evans
Photo found via: I'm Not Obsessed / People

End of season garden treasures

Saturday Morning Fever

Hanna-Barbera has weekly vintage cartoon clips! This week's includes Moby Dick Remixed #1 in which the characters try to beat the censor that keeps bleeping out the word “dick”. I'm pretty particular about my cartoons, but this was kinda funny. Cred to Pop Candy for leading me to the HB SMF site.

Unsettling.

Worker kills IT supervisor at business park

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- A shooting at a suburban business park left two people dead in what police are calling an apparent murder-suicide.

An employee and his supervisor were meeting alone Thursday afternoon in an office at BD Diagnostic Systems when other workers heard gunfire, said police spokesman Cpl. Michael Hill.

"Right now, we don't know what the motive was or what the meeting was about," Hill said. "This is a horrible event for all the people in this office."

Police identified the supervisor as Harold Creech, 59, and the employee as Morris Lyons, 52. Authorities would not say whether a gun was recovered.

Creech supervised the information technology department at the office, said Susan Glack, who acted as family spokeswoman.

The office park is located in the community of Sparks, about 20 miles north of Baltimore.

BD Diagnostics' Sparks facility manufactures instruments to test for infectious diseases, according to Colleen T. White, a spokeswoman with BD Inc. BD Diagnostics is a division of the larger company. (CNN)

Body image and the only control goes out of control

This post contains adult subject matter. Parental discretion is advised.

Ana Carolina Reston died Tuesday of complications from anorexia. She was 21 years old, 5' 8" tall, and 88 lbs. Although our stories are not similar, her story inspires me to share my own.

People take up eating disorders for a lot of reasons. My reason was because I was an overweight tween and was convinced that boys didn't like me with that extra weight. I chose bulimia over anorexia because I love food. I didn't even understand that throwing up was a way to lose weight until I heard about it on a TV news special. As soon as I saw that special (which, of course, was trying to steer people away from it) I knew it was the answer for me. I lost 30 lbs in one summer and arrived to my first day of high school with a beautiful-to-me figure.

I stayed the same weight my first year of high school. In my second year I began dating an older guy. Over the 2 years that we were together I gained 30 lbs out of apathy for my relationship and for myself. When he and I broke up I resorted to bulimia again. I lost the 30 lbs.

I kept this weight off until I moved out of my parents' home and my boyfriend went away for a year abroad. I gained back 15 lbs. I returned to bulimia when I was hooking up with my roommate while still dating my boyfriend long distance. The roommate told me I was special while my boyfriend was placing me nowhere near the top of his priority list. He was dating other people too, so we were actually cheating on each other. Doesn't make it any better, but in my head it made sense at the time.

I kept the weight off until my 3rd year of college, when I was in a relationship with a man I had known from high school but met up with again in college. We didn't actually care for each other and chose to eat instead of just break up. He finally broke things off after a year and I resorted to bulimia.

I then began dating his best friend. My relationship with my ex's best friend was extremely tumultuous. He cheated on me when I was on a business trip and we broke up. I returned to bulimia for a few months, during which time I hit bottom about my issues with men. I resolved to live on my own and enjoy being independent and was able to end my dependence on bulimia.

I was not looking for the love of my life when I met Hay, but that's ironically when you find it. When I started dating Hay I fessed up to my bulimia (he's the only man in my life that I ever told) and told him I would do my best to not do it again but asked him to help me if I ever did.

I've relapsed for a day or two every so often over the many years since. It's like an old friend, my learned coping mechanism for my problems, so sometimes I choose it over dealing with my issues until I remember that it's not the right answer.

This is not how I lost 50 lbs over the last year. Blogging my thoughts and feelings has had a lot to do with my weight loss success. I've managed to maintain my weight through normal eating and sporadic exercise (as in, a walk every now and then :), although I'm not 100% convinced yet that I will be able to keep the weight off permanently.

I remain untreated for my bulimia, and as each day that I don't participate in this self-destructive behavior passes I can more easily tell myself that there is nothing to say to my health care providers about it, that it is something in my past. I don't think this is the right thing to do. If I ever go to therapy again (went once for a family issue and once for a boyfriend issue) I have told myself that I will tell my therapist. If I never go to therapy again I will likely not tell anyone except my children who have a right to know their family medical history and who deserve to know their mother as a whole person, not just the good parts.

I'm not good with finishing posts on such a sappy note, so: End scene, close curtain, and good night to all my adoring fans. I hope that my story inspires no one to become bulimic and someone to seek treatment for it. You are not alone.

Poppyland drama

We think our neighbors staged their home so that they could sell it. It's a big conspiracy. Do people normally cart in staging furniture to stage their rooms for photos that go on the web? I know that Sell This House and other such programs talk about staging your home, but our neighbors actually emptied entire rooms and put staging furniture in them for photos then brought their own furniture back in. Their home looks amazing. They just forget to mention that their home (across the street from ours) shares a property line with a saw mill that runs 6 days a week, including holidays, and has an ugly fenced dog kennel hanging off the back of the house. To each one's own.

PS - If you were looking for info about the chocolate pie, see the update below.

choco-choco-choco pie

Update: Since so many people are asking, the above is just this:


...with Nestlé Toll House chocolate chunks all over the top. The pie dish is reindeer-themed and comes from Christmas Tree Shops.

housekeeping part 2

I tend to make foolish mistakes. When I was cleaning up the blogroll I inadvertently removed ThoughtNuggets while removing a blog that truly is dead, Thought Bubbles. If you were on the blogroll before but suddenly find yourself removed then please please please leave me a comment or send me an email to let me know. Make sure to include the link to the blog you are no longer seeing. Thanks. :) Sorry once more to NuggetMaven!

.:|giggle|:.

I am now very excited to pick out my holiday cards. :)

I have started shopping online for gifts, and so far these are my two favs:



Both are available from HearthSong.

Day planner

Friday: Welcomed the return of my co-worker who accepted another position elsewhere but has since decided she likes it better back where she was. (*cheer*) Went home a smidge early since I went into work a smidge early and crashed on the couch.

Saturday: Took Ripley to the groomer's, went grocery shopping while she was being groomed, brought her home, went to two game stores and Subway with Hay, came home and made a pie, then went with Hay and the pie to home of another of my co-workers and his lovely wife for a yummy dinner and hang out session.

Sunday: Woke up late, cooked more of those Pillsbury Cinnabon buns, went with Hay to Agway to buy a case of suet and Home Depot with Hay to buy a 28' ladder, came home, and crashed.

Monday: Called in sick due to general malaise-iness, slept in, took it easy for the day, then brought Georgie to the vet's.

Something I've learned which makes me quite happy: A handful of peanuts fills me up so that I don't snack at night and helps to clear out my system. Fascinating, isn't it?

Something I've learned which I just didn't know before: According to the show Intervention alcohol can cause atrophy of the brain and result in increased violence and aggression of its user.

Housekeeping

I'm going through my blogroll links to check that bloggers are still blogging. I give a lot of slack to the long-term bloggers who haven't posted in several months, but if it looks like a site has been abandoned or taken over it's outta here. Lemme know if I axe your blog but shouldn't have. Also, if I have a link to your site that's out of date please let me know what the new link is. I started from Z and am up to the H's. Not too bad for one night's work.

And, finally, I swear I fixed this a long time ago, but tonight I definitely moved Bearette's blog up to where it's been in my heart for over a year now - the blogs I just can't live without section.

tRippin’

Now I understand why Perez thought Fergie was ripping off Gwen. Here's Gwen's new video for Wind It Up which is very similar to Fergie's Fergalicious:



It's all been done before so who cares who's ripping off whom. I just saw a snippet of Janet Jackson on Ellen's show and she was sampling two songs at once while ripping off her own Rhythm Nation dance moves. Happens.

Spider-Man 3 trailer

Watch an exclusive trailer in HD and widescreen at ifilm. See the full movie in theaters May 4, 2007. Yip!

Jaren is not as catchy as Jam

...but, I have a feeling that's the relationship to watch for the rest of this season of The Office. I mistakenly visited GMMR* before watching tonight's episode, saw the episode title, and knew exactly what was going to happen for the entire episode. I hate it when that happens.

I love the faxes from future Dwight. Brilliant.


*Don't click that unless you want to spoil your Office appetite.

A plea to the masses

Can we pretty please stop talking about Kevin Federline so that he just disappears off the planet? This is the last time you will ever see me mention him. That is all.

And now for something completely different, Logan's Run ~ Futurepast:

Does anyone else see the utter irony in this?

Carey's Fur Coat Lost in the Mail

A $7,500 fur coat Mariah Carey donated to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has been lost by the United Parcel Service.

The coat was en route to Mongolia, where it was to be given to refugees to help them keep warm this winter.

Animal-lover Carey sent two floor-length mink coats she received from a rich admirer to PETA bosses, asking them to donate the furs to the charity's annual winter drive to help clothe homeless and needy refugees around the world.

According to PETA sources, one coat was on its way to Switzerland, where it was to be packaged in a sealed container bound for Mongolia to be included in a Swiss Animal Protection Society drive -- but the coat never arrived.

UPS tells PETA the coat cannot be located and is lost. After filing a claim, the anti-fur charity will be reimbursed the full $7,500.

The other coat Carey donated did get to its destination -- Los Angeles -- and will be used as the canvas of a new anti-fur campaign, created by graffiti artist Marcus Suarez.

The coat will be used as a prop at PETA protests later this winter. (Daily Dish)

This sounds so ridiculous as to possibly be fake. *tsk*... I just can't wrap my head around this one.

Accountability

Texas executes killer carjacker

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Convicted killer Willie Shannon was executed by lethal injection Wednesday night for the carjack-slaying of a man who was on vacation with his family in Houston more than 14 years ago.

Shannon spoke directly to the widow, two children and brother of his victim, Benjamin Garza, and acknowledged that he "took a father."

"It wasn't my fault. It was an accident," he said of the shooting.

Shannon, 33, smiled and hummed as witnesses filed into the death chamber, and said he was going to heaven. He said if he saw his victim, he would ask Garza for forgiveness: "I'll say when I see him, 'I'm sorry."'

He urged the relatives of his victim to "go home, have fun, smile. I'm happy. Why should I lie now. I have no anger. I have no fear."

Ten minutes later at 6:24 p.m., he was pronounced dead.

Garza, 38, was trying to catch a catnap in a parking lot July 19, 1992, while his wife and three kids were shopping nearby for some shoes when Shannon jumped inside, pulled his gun and demanded the family's 15-year-old Ford wagon.

Shannon has said that his gun went off as the two men struggled in a parking lot when Garza refused to surrender his station wagon.

Garza had been living under a new identity in the federal Witness Protection Program for a decade after testifying at drug trials in the Rio Grande Valley. Shannon has said he thought Garza believed he was there to kill him, and started fighting for his life.

"I was just unlucky. And he was unlucky, too," he testified. (CNN)

No, Sir. You brought a loaded and UN-locked weapon with you, you premeditated the carjacking, you chose to struggle with the man that you chose to carjack, and you shot him. That's not unlucky, that's murder. Take some effing responsibility for your actions. Don't tell his family it wasn't your fault and that you're happy, you jackass!

Sitting, waiting, wishing Poppy remix

Is it Friday yet? ... No? ... How 'bout now?

Blogger Rumsfeld Gates

That would make a nice baby name, n'est-ce pas?

Blogger can bite my bum, it's been down for a long time for me. All I wanted to do was post the following (NO LONGER) BREAKING NEWS items:

-- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down, sources tell CNN.

and...

-- President Bush nominates former CIA chief Robert Gates as defense secretary to replace Donald Rumsfeld.

An interesting day in the USA. Sometimes midterm elections do matter. :)

The pessimist's interpretation of the midterm election

As presented by The Daily Show:

Shut UP! *shove*

I just got back from a full day of meetings and client visits to this email:

Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2006 16:09:02 -0500
From: CNN Breaking News
Reply-To: newseditor@MAIL.CNN.COM
To: TEXTBREAKINGNEWS@CNNIMAIL12.CNN.COM
Subject: CNN Breaking News

-- Britney Spears files for divorce from her husband Kevin Federline, citing irreconcilable differences.


Wow. In celebration of Britney's independence the SS Cede will serve grilled maple-flavored pork chops and homemade mac and cheese on the main deck. BYOB.

Vote, baby, vote

Hay and I got up extra early to vote this morning. Despite a shot of Starbucks coffee drink from the dairy case my ass is not awake yet. Nothing new there, actually.

So, did you “write in” any names? I almost wrote Hay's name for one, but then what if he won? I don't want a politician for a husband.

Daughtry's first single

Listen to Idol finalist Chris Daughtry perform his first single, It's Not Over, at AOL. Preview more songs from the album here. The full album is available November 21. Thanks to Tabloid Whore! for the heads up!

On cleaning, starring, killing, sailing, (over)eating, reading, driving, and opinions

Yesterday afternoon Hay and I finished cleaning out our garage which was royally messed up from summer projects. Basically, every year we mess up our garage so badly that no cars can fit in there, but because we live in an area with a lot of snow during the winter we always clean out the garage in October to fit the cars back in. I wasn't ready until this weekend to help out with that project, but we finally got it done. We only had to throw away 7 bags of garbage and recycle one load of cardboard boxes. (Only. Ha.)

Last night I went to see my co-worker's kids star in their school musical. When the show was over we went to find her kids. Her son's eyes lit up when he saw me, which was quite unexpected. He has never been particularly excited to see me before, so I didn't quite know what to say. I finally stammered out that he did a fantastic job and that he should be very proud of himself. Next we saw my co-worker's daughter who squealed my name and skipped over both parents to give me a ginormous hug. I feel bad that my co-worker and her husband didn't get a hug until asked, but I appreciate that she was so excited to see me. :)

This morning I went to read Perez and that's where I found out that Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death by hanging. Hussein is definitely a control freak (to say the very least) because he was pretty effing pissed off that he won't die by firing squad. Apparently he sees more honor, fulfillment, and (what? ... perhaps reverence by those who have judged him) in being riddled with bullets than just getting his neck snapped. Maybe I've got it all wrong. What do you think/know?

After the cheerful time spent considering Hussein's demise I went sailing with another co-worker and a bunch of his friends. The water was a bit choppy and the weather was pretty cold, but I still had a fan-freaking-tastic time. Today was the last sail before the boat is tucked in for the winter. I took photos, but forgot my USB cable at work, so I can't share those with you until tomorrow. For now just pretend you were there with me. To help you along, I'll let you know that we talked about the following subjects: politics, (lots of) layers of clothing, bagels, the Boston Red Sox, England, France, Moscow and “Будьте здоровы!”, Italy, computers (surprise), and terrorism.

When I returned home I was starving so Hay and I went for lupper-dupper to LongHorn for steaks. I had two fountain soda Cokes, bread, salad with blue cheese dressing, baked potato with butter and sour cream, and the New York Strip steak. Hay and I always get our dessert to go when visiting LongHorn, so there's a chocolate stampede waiting for us in the fridge. If you've never thought to do so, instead of stuffing yourself silly or refusing it altogether even though you crave it, get the dessert to go! Then you can have a romantic feed-each-other moment with your sweetie (or a pig-out by yourself) once your belly has recovered from the meal.

I am still reading Microserfs because I barely read it while I was studying for my certification, and now I'm trying to get myself back into reading (including the Face Down series of books that B got me into a while back). It's weird how I get so excited for reading and then go completely off of it, but: a) it's time to catalog shop for the winter holidays; b) in my defense I read thousands of pages for my certification. Really! Every page of 6 of the books, as well as a bit of the lab book! So, a break from reading is actually a treat right now. Still, don't want to lose the taste all together and only watch TV all the time. Bad for the brain.

Oh, (B, hide your eyes) did anyone watch the Mythbusters where the crew proved that talking on a cell phone while driving is more dangerous than being at .08 on the breathalyzer scale while driving? I didn't see it, but Hay was telling me about it. I can say from my personal experience that I am less able to pay attention to my physical surroundings while trying to talk to someone on the cell phone and drive at the same time, and that I've been rear ended by someone who was on her cell phone and distracted. I'm not saying this proves any scientific conclusions, but how about you tell me what you think?

I've given you lots of information to process, so I'm going to stop typing now and let you digest it all. (Ha! I'm funny!) If anybody needs me I'll be face down in my chocolate stampede.

cinnamon buns

ShinyStat

I've added a new counter for the number of people simultaneously visiting the blog, under the "Party people in the house!" section. Please let me know if any advertisements appear or other slimy things happen when you visit my blog. Thanks! :) I just enjoy seeing how many other people are here with me.

“Innocent” tail shaking taken to a ho. nuva. level.*

French artist Alizée performs to her hit song J'en ai marre:



...and, then there's her performance set to the Ying Yang Twins' song, Shake:



What a difference a song makes...

Cred to JJ for introducing me to the dirtier version.



*“whole 'nother level” is a famous line by character Eugene Struthers played by Keegan-Michael Key on MADtv. This clip with Xzibit and The Rock is my favorite (and happens to be the newest as of this moment).

Random bits

When I was in college I studied French, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese all in the same semester because I had just realized that I could not continue on my path to becoming a veterinarian and wasn't sure what to study. That was the only semester I achieved a 4.0 GPA (perfect score for my university). I went on to graduate with a BA in French and a minor concentration in Asian Studies. By the time I finally realized I needed to switch majors from pre-vet to French I was already a senior, so I was a second-year senior when I graduated. I have always been embarrassed by this because on paper it looks like it took me five years to study French and that my cumulative GPA means I sucked at it. In fact, I never got below a B in any of my French or Asian Studies classes, but by the time I switched majors the damage to my GPA and pride was done. I'm looking forward to the day when I can accept the past and not be embarrassed by it. Right now the only satisfaction I get is that I somehow graduated with a GPA of exactly π. My French name is Natalie. My Chinese name is 白思治。

When new people meet me they think I'm either weird or nice. I am much more complex than those two words, but those are the two first impressions I inevitably make.

I would much rather experience life vicariously through others, although I absolutely adore travelling to and being in new places. I am on the edge of introversion and extroversion, so am always either tired from my experiences or disappointed with myself for not experiencing something new. My favoritest places on Earth:

⇒ Peggy's Cove, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
⇒ Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
⇒ Schroon Lake, NY
⇒ York Beach, ME and its surrounding towns
⇒ Okmulgee, OK
⇒ Knoxville, TN
⇒ Liège, Belgium
⇒ London, England
⇒ More to be determined

I enjoy helping others, but I don't enjoy the resulting reliability upon me.

I am often in my own little world so people basically need to yank me out of that to communicate with me. It's easier to yank me out via IM or email than it is in person.

I have enjoyed drinking coffee since the age of 7.

I've always hated the phone because of two rather traumatizing-at-the-time experiences in my youth. I'd rather not get over this trauma, because I rather like not enjoying the phone.

I hate Thursdays. Except when the day is over.

That day that just happened just now just a moment ago? It SUCKED.

The Office better be particularly stellar tonight. I need TV therapy.

Trans-spired

Do any of you ladies wear a “man's deodorant”? Do any of you men wear a “lady's deodorant”?

I switched to Old Spice High Endurance Invisible Solid (Pure Sport scent) about a month ago because the only women's deodorant on the planet that actually works for me has been discontinued, so I had to take drastic measures. Men's deodorant seems to work better on me. I'm down right stinky if I don't wear the right deodorant, and that's on a regular low-impact day. You don't wanna smell deodorant-free exercise Poppy.

Betsy Ross and a nice, stiff alert drink

To read about the two most trusted names in news (that'd be Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert) visit Rolling Stone. Consider yourself in the hot seat and on notice if you don't read the article.

Halloween countdown

Number of minutes Poppy left work early to greet trick-or-treaters: 120
Number of decorations placed around or outside the Cede household: 57
Number of bags of candy purchased: 5
Number of hours the light was on (the sign that we're giving out candy): 4
Number of trick-or-treaters received in said time: 6
Number of trick-or-treaters who were the neighbor kids from our street: 6
Number of fairy princesses that made the entire event worthwhile: 1

I look like Drew Barrymore, dammit!

Inspired by AnonymousCoworker. I am confused that Drew Barrymore is not represented, because I'm quite certain I look a lot more like her than I look like Posh Spice.

Google it

KATIE'S REVENGE: An interesting “eye for an eye” case.

“Don't fuck with me, fellas!”

Hay and I watched The Omen 666 last night. Before the movie started Hay decided to go put together a load of laundry, so I sat in the living room watching Damien swing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth on the DVD's menu screen. After about 30 seconds of that I shut off the TV, ran upstairs, and told Hay I just felt like keeping him company. :) The movie was great, the right amount of copying the original but updating to today's world.

Also this weekend we watched our second Lewis Black special. Hay saw Black on a YouTube clip of The Daily Show, and ever since we've been recording Daily and have added all of Black's specials to our Netflix queue. He's a really funny (political) comedian, and I love his finger twitch and burstful anger to emphasize points. I like how he can explain politics to those of us who have a small portion of our brain reserved for understanding this subject, then he can turn its darkness into something we can laugh at. This world is a really scary place, always has been and always will be (until it is decimated), so a little laughter is great coping medicine.

We did some other stuff this weekend, but it doesn't fit into the fuck theme, so I'll omit it. What'd you do this weekend?

“Don't bug me.”

psa

Turn your clocks back tonight (if you participate). Who's excited that DST will be longer from now on? And here I thought we were getting rid of this silly clock changing ritual. murr......

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Country

I was visiting Rhea over at The Boomer Chronicles and learned that these two guys are hitching to every state capital in the USA. As of this moment in time they have visited 23 states in 19 days. If you're willing and able to help them reach their goal you can contact them directly at: 310-494-8058 or If you want to take the virtual journey with them visit their flickr space.

“Just let me lie here and depreciate.”

:)

No clever title for this post.

I got a Tetanus booster shot yesterday and I wasn't sure I was going to make it through my day. I was super exhausted, and at 9:00pm I realized how much my arm ached from the shot. At least it didn't hurt going in, but there are some scary stories online about reactions to the shot. My advice: Either read the stories ahead of time and make the decision not to be vaccinated, or skip the stories on the other end lest you be freaked out that you're about to be paralyzed, in extreme pain, and forget who you are.

Lily Allen ~ Littlest Things

You know how much I adore her, so I have to share her newest video:



It evokes my melancholy. :)

hot topic

I've completely stolen, ripped off, and robbed this from Avi. Thanks, Avi!

1. Explain what ended your last relationship.
I flew home from a very exhausting business trip and saw my boyfriend on the other side of the luggage claim terminal. He had it written ALL over him that he had cheated on me while I was away. He admitted to the cheating when we were back at my apartment. Since the girl he cheated with had moved out of state while I was on the trip my newly ex-boyfriend attempted to use me as a fuck buddy while he carried on an emotional relationship with the chick who moved away. I broke it off, moved on, and 10 years later am still with, and happily married to, my rebound man.

2. When was the last time you shaved?
Do I lie or do I avoid the question? Hmm. ... This morning, of course! (The real answer is probably a week ago. I shave more often if my skin is exposed.)

3. What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m.?
Watching Intervention while waiting for Hay to come downstairs so we could leave for work.

4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago?
Reading Avi's answers to these questions.

5. Are you any good at math?
On paper I'm not half bad. If I try to do it in my head I'm AWFUL at it. I used to be much better....

6. Your prom night? what about?
I was asked to the prom by two different boys, both younger than I was. I refused both of them and didn't bother going. I'm not a prom kinda gal.

7. Do you have any famous ancestors?
Famous by whose standards?

8. Have you had to take a loan out for school?
I haven't. I went to a university that offers tuition remission to its employees and their children. My father was kind enough to continue working at the university until after I graduated. Thanks, Dad. :) I worked the same job my entire time at college to pay for books. For room and board: I lived at home the first two years (I paid for my own food, I was weird that way), then rented with roommates using cash from my job as well as supplemental cash from Mom, then lived on campus as an RA (“free” room and board). Hay still owes a bit on his loans, but we'll pay them off by the end of the year.

9. Do you know the words to the song on your myspace profile?
I know the words while I'm listening to the song, then afterwards they core dump right outta my head. I like the video a lot, as I've mentioned before.

10. Last thing received in the mail?
Devil's Playground (2002) from Netflix.

11. How many different beverages have you had today?
Two: Coffee and water.

12. Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine?
For work I will. For home I'll talk into answering machines for the people I know screen all their calls.

13. Who did you lose your CONCERT virginity to?
Wang Chung and Tina Turner. Definitely a gang bangery.

14. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach?
No, I stare at the ocean waves.

15. What’s the most painful dental procedure you’ve had?
Nothing? I had a ton of cavities at age 11. I was so terrified of needles that I didn't have Novocaine for any of the fillings. I had one refilled last year, again sans Novocaine. I did have my wisdom teeth out at 19, but they ached rather than hurting after, and the aching only lasted a few hours.

16. What is out your back door?
My back yard, which has a bunch of gardens, trees, feeders, wildlife, and general nature goodness.

17. Any plans for Friday night?
Currently there are no plans for Friday night. I'm happy about that.

18. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair?
What's wrong with my hair?! I love the ocean. As long as it doesn't try to kill me it can do whatever it wants to my hair.

19. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns?
Nope.

20. Have you ever been to a planetarium?
Yes. It's been several years, so I'd like to go again sometime. (Avi's answer preserved.)

21. Do you re-use towels after you shower?
Until they're stinky, yes.

22. Some things you are excited about?
Halloween, ... yup.

23. What is your favorite flavor of JELLO?
Horse hoof!

24. Describe your keychain(s)?
They're encrypted for my pleasure.

25. Where do you keep your change?
In a big Radio Shack tin in the shape of a battery, as well as lying around wherever I lazily leave it.

26. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people?
2003

27. What kind of winter coat do you own?
What kind of winter coat don't I own?!

28. What was the weather like on your graduation day?
Sunny.

29. Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed?
Funny story, that. We have been sleeping in the spare bedroom for a year because our master suite is too freakin' huge for me to deal with. About 3 months ago the bedroom door started shutting on its own. It doesn't latch, but it no longer stays in the completely open position. We stick a kitty cat door wedge between the door and the frame so that the cats can come and go as they please. Our preference is: open when it's not too cold or hot; closed with the heat on if too cold; closed with the A/C on if too hot.

Crazy Lucy and Nutty Emma

Crazy Lucy


Nutty Emma


You may recall that Lucy is the dog of Hay's parents, and Emma is the dog of Hay's sister. Both Lucy and Emma have the same dog father, but different dog mothers.


Lucy links: puppy fuzzball, foxy lady

*mutter* I really thought I had a photo and accompanying post about the Lucy and Emma photos that are on my fridge, but I guess I never posted them. So, pretend you knew what Emma looked like before today.

Moose season

Please don't traumatize yourself if you just can't bear to see dead animals. I took this photo through the front windshield as we were driving to visit far away relatives. Click here to see the smaller photo; click here to see the slightly larger (cropped from an original that is not uploaded).

Crow has been consumed. And egg. And whatever else you're supposed to eat when you screw up real bad-like.

I did something really super embarrassing at work today. I sent an email meant for one person to an entire group of people. It wasn't just a matter of replying to the group instead of to the sender, I actually initiated the message chain and manually typed the wrong address in the To: field. When I realized my mistake my face and neck instantly burned from turning red with embarrassment. I didn't get reprimanded, although I've beaten myself up enough about it that no external punishment short of torture would compare.

So, what's your most embarrassing work story?

“You knock my socks off.”

Last night I cuddled up with Hay and we watched Monday's episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. This show just keeps getting better. I never, ever expected to love a show with Matthew Perry (“Matt”) and Amanda Peet (“Jordan”) quite this much, since I've never much cared for them in other TV or movie projects they've shown up for.

I cannot tell you how resistant I was to feeling emotion for Harriet and Matt, but when she leaned in and softly stated, “you knock my socks off” as Sting was onstage playing Fields of Gold on the lute, I just burst into tears. It made me ache inside.



(Aww, crap, I just watched the clip to make sure the line was in there and I'm all teary-eyed again.) The song plus the combo of the romantic moment are too much for me to take. If you missed the show, or aren't even watching it yet, see the full episode online at NBC.

One S60 mention unrelated to socks: Kudos to Jordan for passing on the weekly Temptation Island-meets-the-media show. It's a creative idea, but it's definitely more harmful than good(ful) to TV viewers and to the show's participants.

Returning to the socks topic, this Thursday Pam and Jim finally speak:



Sorry about the freaky My Name is Earl promo that precedes it, I don't make these promos. :) I'm just happy they're talking again.

Mum-y

Online TV review

You don't even understand how incredibly psyched I am that the major networks are streaming episodes of their current shows. This means that whenever, wherever I need a TV fix I can get one legally without breaking my bank. I've been able to preview a bunch of shows I wasn't sure if I would like or not, and I have to say that this has helped me to realize the following:

1. Miami is such a beautiful city, but I cannot stand David Caruso's voice in CSI: Miami.
   
2. America Ferrera is am amazing and beautiful actor, but she plays the Ugly Betty part so well that it's easy to forget just how smokin' she really is.
   
3. The New Adventures of Old Christine is really Elaine with a kid and a brother and an ex-husband with a younger girlfriend named New Christine. I love it!
   
4. Kidnapped is a great show, but I'm honestly not sure how it can have sustainability. Either Leopold dies or he comes home, or we as the audience get bored with the fact that he still isn't home, and the show ends.
   
5. I'm disappointed that A&E has only semi-joined the online episodes boat, which leaves me unable to find any legal episodes of Intervention at the A&E site or at iTunes. Quel dommage.*
   
6. Fox sucks, and uses Windows Media Player for their videos, which means my Mac currently cannot show their videos unless I reinstall Bootcamp and Windows then access their site from my Windows partition, or unless Microsoft wants to allow Macs to play in the digital rights management game. Ftarded...

I really should just be a movie and/or TV critic and stop this silly dabbling in technology.



*I do realize that A&E is a cable/non-major network channel, but I've been mulling over how to make a post about Intervention all day, and this is the best I could do. So. There ya have it.

•: holiday, celebrate :•

It's time to fess up your favorite holiday shopping sites. My new pick for this year is:



Old standbys: ThinkGeek, Wishingfish, What on Earth, and T-Shirt Hell.

So, *nudge nudge* tell me yours!

Paxilback

Java Jabber sent me this parody of JT's Sexyback which is very. well. done. For your viewing pleasure, The Gray Kid and Daniel Stessen:

The bright side? At least my face doesn't have a yeast infection...

On notice:

     

...at least the NEW! sensitive skin version. It smells like:



I assure you that I don't want to smell yeast infection cream on my face all day, every day so I will likely abandon this product before I even find out its benefits to my skin.

The very worst part for me is that I spent all day yesterday trying to remember where that smell came from, because I've not needed a remedy for a yeast infection in over a decade. When I finally recalled where I had smelled that...odor...before all I could picture was plunger after plunger of ooey gooey cream, and it disgusted me. As it should.

Early New Year's resolution

With the political campaigning season upon us I have been bursting out with rage at the local politicians I have either seen on TV or in person using slimy methods to meet The Voters. The other day I caught myself in the middle of my rage at a local politician my dad and brother accidentally spoke with at our local pizza place and decided that I don't like myself when I'm hating people. So, I've decided to stop hating in general, particularly the ironic circumstance of hating hate.

Please support me in this decision by not mentioning the following topics: politics (period), fungus consumption, child molestation/pornography, the highly privileged looking down upon the rest of us, animal cruelty, Jay Leno, catty bitches, domestic violence, K-Fed, hunting, the untimely demise of Dead Like Me, tail docking, inconsiderate projectile vomiting, war (“what is it good for?”), misogyny, and Mel Gibson. Edit: And driving/road rage! How could I forget that one?!

Thank you for helping me to not be compared to my Crazy Aunt who also spits rage-infested monologues to empty rooms, and have a great day.

Somethin' stinks in Mandy's house

Soooo, I was just watching this week's episode of Criminal Minds when I noticed that one of the women from Flavor of Love was playing a bank robbery victim on the show. I turned to Hay and told him this information. I then mulled said information over in my brain for a bit, because I couldn't quiiiite place which season she was from. And then it dawned on me. She is Somethin', aka Ms. Poops on Flav's Floor from this season! Everybody except, apparently, the casting folks for Criminal Minds, knows who she is! Even Wikipedia does! This photo's credit: VH1

My proof is in the Dish DVR pudding: Ms. Poops hanging out in her drawers on a bank floor while a serial robber (among other serial-ness) brandishes a MAC-10. Ms. Poops in her sad yet slimming mug-looking shot for Mandy Patinkin's group to analyze. (I edited out the local channel info, but I assure you that I did not edit any of the other data.) Although I cannot find another source on The Internets regarding this fact, I am 100% certain that Tykeisha “Somethin” Thomas is pictured above.

Admission: The Office

I liked the flirting between Jim and Karen last night. Mel, I know you're disappointed with me. HOWEVER, I thought it was a bit slimy that Jim was using the same flirt techniques on Karen as he had with Pam. Ya know? He's a playa. I definitely agree that Pam will be back with Roy while Jim and Karen date through the merging of the Stamford and (Slough, hehe) Scranton branch.

Tiny fact: Rashida Jones, who plays Karen, is the daughter of Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton. She's here for a bit of the long haul.

Tiny Poppy fact: My mom told me that she doesn't watch The Office because my stepdad has never worked in corporate America so doesn't “get” the show. So, my secret plan is to get the DVDs as they come out then when my mom visits watch the marathon with her while Hay and my stepdad do manly stuff like go to Home Depot and do wood projects. (They really like to do that together, so I'm not being ... um, err, what's that word ... patronizing.)

Photo credit: HELLO! magazine

Pssssst.

Happy Friday the 13th. :) Bravo has the original Jason movie tonight at 8:00pm. See ya there.

New Justin: My Love

Hay, time to avert your eyes again, Sweetie. Thanks. Love ya bunches.



I love Justin, you know that. BUT!, I have criticisms, both of the song and of the video that has been produced in its honor. Here we go...

Song: Justin. Justin. When you are singing a love song to me, I reallly reallllly don't wanna hear other guys bustin' into the song to make it sound like y'all are singing to each other instead of me. If that's how you fly that's cool, but if you're singing to me...well, not so cool to make me think you're gettin' a little bit o' Timba on the side. Ya feel me? Because, you know boy, I'd like to be feelin' you. (That was my best impression of Buckwild, cuz ya hasta get Buck Wild once in a while. Fake-ass.)

Video: Continuing with the Timbaland theory, if you weren't shaking your fist in a jerking off motion for 1 minute 41 seconds while standing next to Timba, then I might believe you better about not wanting to get with him. Let's pretend, however, that you're talking to the scantily clad woman in the video, and not to me or Timbaland (or T.I.). Why does she have to wear hardly anything? Why do you need to have her bend over so you can smack her ass? Why are you objectifying the woman you claim to love so much? Sexy sells, so let us put down right slutty back into your closet of fantasy, okay? Let's have a redo of this video with her wearing more clothes and you showing her your love. Kay? Kay. :)

Kisses,
♥ Poppy ♥

balloon

My photo:



(Click to see the geese that were flying by when I took the photo.)

Hay's photo:



He takes great photos. :)

certifiable

I just finished taking my second and final exam, and am now certified in some computer thing that isn't terribly exciting but may shape my career's future. Yay, me. :)

In case you were wondering...

If you were ever looking for a gift to get Poppy for any occasion you will always win if you give her this:



Yesterday I bought 4 full bars and 4 candy bars on my way to a dinner. All eight are taunting me from the bottom shelf of my refrigerator. One may need to be sacrificed today.

Freak Show Sunday

Not for the faint of heart. If you think you can handle Poppy's Side Show then click here. Otherwise, please move on, nothing to see here.

Fall treasures

Found amongst the gardens while doing our Fall clean-up:







Go see a few more photos over at flickr.


In case it occurs to anyone to wonder, that's my wedding band on my middle finger. A combination of earlier weight loss and the change in weather to cool and dry has caused my ring finger to shrink too much for the ring to safely remain there. It particularly enjoys falling to the floor when I'm wiping my hands dry after washing them. I began wearing the ring on my middle finger last weekend when I was away visiting friends and the ring kept threatening to jump off while we were at the fair and on our way to see Blue Man Group. After a discussion with Hay on (Monday? Tuesday?), I decided that I would wear the ring on my middle finger for the foreseeable future rather than having it sized. I'm really enjoying its placement. It's like I'm married all over again, and that Hay is now closer to my heart. Odd, but in a very good way.

7 mod 3 = 1

Last night after work I took my first practice test for the second exam. I smoked it. I am so gonna get this certification. Je suis psyched.

Lemme just tell you that I don't need to know what [any number] mod [any number] is in my practical life, but I do appreciate that Google has a calculator that figures out modulo. Woot! Thanks, Google!

100k

I haven't been paying too close attention to my counter because I was getting very low traffic per day, but my blog has now received over 100,000 visitors! As Hay points out, it's not 100,000 unique visitors, but to me that just means that the people who return enjoy reading about my eclectic mish-mash of personal posts and celebrity ramblings. Thanks, everyone! :) :) You all get good karma and a cookie in the mail from the late, great Joan Crawford. Num!

Frosty



Morning Dew

Ahhhhhhhhhhh

The Office is BACK, BABY! WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO! Hay observes that this was the first episode of the season where the timing feels right again. I laughed my ass off throughout the entire episode. I loved whatever-her-name-is throwing the paper clips up in the air, too. I won't say any more than that if you haven't watched it yet. Hay and I were feverishly plotting the show's next moves, and my idea is definitely the most audacious. Oh, I cannot waitwaitwait for next Thursday!

The office and The Office

Well, that was a nutty day. I had meetings and other obligations away from my desk from 9am-4pm today. My head was spinning pretty much the entire time, and I was often confused about what meeting I was at or what I was working on. I guess I'm not used to being quite so interactively busy. I'm really good at doing multiple projects simultaneously when I am sitting alone at my desk (même si my office mates are with me), but add other humans to the mix and it's an overload to my senses.

I'm waiting to say something of more substance until after 9pm, when I will have seen The Office. I'll say now that I have quiet anticipation, but that I don't expect positive movement on the Jim and Pam front this week. I think Stef and Avi are correct - other story lines need to be developed or else the show will fail as soon as Jim and Pam get together. There's a magical anticipation of hoping people come together, but once they're together they're just another couple. I think Roy is going to force a love triangle and then we will be confronted with the possibility that we might want Pam and Roy to get back together so that the tension between Pam and Jim still exists. Who knows. I'm talking from a delirious coffee high and I might even yell at myself in the comments later tonight. :)

My brain is somewhat unresponsive right now, so I'll end my blather for now. Enjoy your day (comma dammit)!

Thank You for Smoking

Last night while Hay and I watched RV Georgia decided that I should get off my laptop and give her love instead of doing whatever very important work I was doing at the time (commenting on other blogs, I believe). When she sat down on the laptop the screen suddenly switched over to Microsoft Word and the screen began producing lines and lines and lines of G's. I showed Hay, because it's humorous that Georgie with a G was able to locate the G key with her (rib cage? paw? belly?). I flippantly commented that I should create a blog for Georgie since she has so much to say. I then considered this further and created a blog for her. We'll see how sustainable cat chatter is.

Today I met with an adult woman with no physical or mental impairments and did for her a technology-related task that would be equivalent to me tying her shoes for her. If you don't know how to tie your shoes I'll teach you how, but I'm not running over to tie your shoes every time you need it done. You know? It's days like this that make me crave cigarettes.

Speaking of cigarettes, when I was about 8 years old my much older brother got into the smoking habit out of peer pressure. He liked to do mean things to me (back then, now he's a great brother!) so he made me smoke a few cigarettes. He tried to teach me about the whole inhaling thing, but I couldn't grasp the concept. Shortly after, my mother found out about this incident and ... I'm not sure why she thought this was a good idea ... made us each smoke a cigarette in front of her. I liked it. I'm sure my brother did, too. I'm not sure that Mom caught on that this wasn't a punishment, but she never supplied us cigarettes again.

I didn't smoke again until college when I would randomly have cigarettes in the company of others who were smoking at bars or parties. One of my f*ck buddies introduced me to clove cigarettes, and I unfortunately liked those very much. Because none of my immediate friends smoked, my mom had just quit a few years earlier, and the idea of buying cigarettes embarrassed me to no end I wasn't able to buy whole packs of any kind, so I would go to the local tobacco shop and buy unwrapped clove cigarettes from a big pile, maybe 5 at a time. (Somehow 5 cigs are okay, but not 20. I dunno, my brain does what it wants.) I would sneak the clove cigarettes into my apartment and enjoy one every few weeks with my bedroom door locked and the bottom stuffed with a towel, window open in winter, spring, summer, or fall / sunshine, rain, snow, or hail so that my roommates wouldn't know what I was doing. I lived on a very steep hill in a city then, so I would sit on this platform in my bedroom and look out over the houses and streets and power lines and bridges and people and bumper-to-bumper traffic while I slowly dragged on my Cancer stick and allowed my stress level to slowly decline into nothingness. I didn't know how to inhale very much more than I did at age 8, but it worked for me.

I've not smoked since college, but every so often when situations are stressful or downright ass-inine I get the craving for a cigarette. I've even gone so far as to almost place an order online for Djarums, and I'm not sure I'll stop the craving until I actually go through with the transaction.

This post feels a little disjointed, but I do want to make one more point: I have a tendency to not do things that would call attention to myself because I don't like the positive or negative attention associated with my actions. The friends and family that surround me do not smoke (my brother finally quit a few years back), so if I did then I would be singled out. I'm pretty sure I'd be a casual smoker if my other relatives and friends did it and it was more acceptable in our crowd. Which makes me resent my situation sometimes. Like today. When I'd really like a vanilla Djarum. But I can't. Because someone would notice. And I can't handle that. Murr.

Last thing, I promise: Netflix sent us Thank You for Smoking which we will watch within the next few days. I'm pretty excited to see it. Yip yip!

The magnets are here!

Yesterday I was finally able to take photos of the magnets and upload them to flickr. Today I am able to chronicle them. Here we go:


Cats.

My mom gave me these magnets as a gift when I was a teenager. Somehow they made it through many, many moves despite not always being on whatever refrigerator I rented/owned at the time.


La vache.

My first true love encouraged me to buy this magnet while we were in Belgium. La vache's left ear fell off before I returned to the States, which should have been a sign for our failing relationship. I still have love him, it just wasn't meant to be. I love Hay infinitely more because he actually accepts me for who I am -- quirky and ditzy and uncaring about high-browedness, which is the opposite of what la vache symbolizes for me.


Upside-down kitty and bee balm.

These were created by a local artist who came to my house once and attempted to take professional photos of the kitties. We got one semi-decent photo of Ripley after a very long time of trying and decided to call it a day. She no longer does pet portraits. I like to think I'm responsible for that decision. :)


Moo.

I love Andy Warhol (and his copycatters). I love Ben & Jerry's. Any questions?


Whitney Houston in bunny form.

My friend Kristen has this exact same magnet. I told her how much I liked it. She bought me one. Every time I see it I think of her. (Oh, and the Whitney thing refers to her “kiss my ASS!” quote on Being Bobby Brown. Guess she won't be saying that anymore...)


I heart choking.

My real estate buyer agent likes to send her homeowners little gifts. This was the gift one year for Valentine's Day. I think it's hilarious. I bet it saves my life one day.


Free meal.

These are yearly magnets I receive from Cooking Club of America, to which I am a lifetime member despite never paying any dues whatsoever. I'm really not sure how that is sustainable for them.


Sunflower.

I am a paying member of this club. :)


Klepto.

It's quite possible that I stole this magnet off someone else's fridge, since I have no recollection of obtaining this and have never used their services for any reason.



upS.

I think I got this magnet at a vendor show. But, again, maybe I stole it off someone's fridge.



Truth spoken written.

Mom gave me this magnet, too. Or, was it Gram? One of the maternals. I love it.


Window to the soul.

Also from Mom. Both my brother and I love Winnie-the-Pooh memorabilia. Our favorite is Eeyore, but Mom doesn't like to encourage our darker side so she gives us Christopher Robin and Pooh. I had always intended to put a photo of my niece and nephew in this frame, and never got around to it.


Où sommes-nous?

Clockwise from left: 1. Hay and I went on a trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia a few years back and picked up this magnet at the Citadel. I love it there. I wish it were closer, or that I was like Hiro on Heroes and could teleport. 2. Texas (Lone Star State) is from B. It wasn't broken until I stuck the magnets in my bag to take photos of after work while waiting for Hay to pick me up. Sorry, B. :( 3. My friend and former co-worker went on a business trip to New Jersey to visit a problem client and asked me if she could get me anything while she was there. I asked her for a magnet. Ask and ye shall receive. Apparently. 4. I'm guessing I stole the Houston (ahem, not Austin) magnet or that it was given to us by Hay's best friend who used to live in Houston while working for Microsoft. I think. Or was that Kinko's? Whatever.



Closer-up photos of the state/province magnets as well as all other photos above are available at flickr.

Lily Allen ~ LDN

This wins my award for best video of the year:



Sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why, would I wanna be anywhere else?

(Thanks, MK. :)

PNN Breaking News

From: The News Room
To: Blogland

After 3.5 grueling months Poppy has finished reading her certification materials. She is relieved. The practice tests and real exam will occur throughout the next two weeks. She is still relieved and is reported to be doing a sit-down happy dance with a smile on her face.

R and R

I've been a little stressed lately, so I was pretty psyched to have a weekend of fun. I was not discouraged by the fact that I had to drive really really far from home to commit fun acts. Fun acts I committed this weekend include:

1. driving to my friends' house for the first time on my own and getting the directions exactly correct except the very last one which I eventually figured out after reversing in the road a few times ;)


2. not taking my laptop or my certification reading with me so that I wouldn't feel guilty about not working


3. going with said friends to another fair for the purpose of consuming a corn dog, onion rings, and a huge milkshake


4. eating pancakes and smoked cheese scrambled eggs for breakfast


5. watching Blue Man Group live for the first time ever


6. staring at a vast selection of baby booze bottles (what normal people call “travel size”) while my friend purchased fuki plum wine


7. eating a roast beef sandwich the size of my head and more onion rings


8. making fun of a super lousy season premiere of SNL, and being grateful for Studio 60's recognition of said lousiness


9. consuming lattes and more pancakes for breakfast


10. making a pirate coaster for Hay


11. leaving one pound lighter than I arrived

What did you do this weekend?

No, I still have not taken photos of the magnets. See, follow-through sucks.