Little Miss Understood

Addicted to Alias

2006-04-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is Lenni and I'm an Alias Addict. Sure, the last couple of seasons haven't been as good as the first and second, but I can't stop watching. I still think they're awesome. I became addicted to Alias when I started watching it this season, and realized I needed to go back and watch every single Alias episode that has ever existed. It started out with just one episode a day. Then it became two, four now as many as six episodes a day! When one episode finishes I demand like a three-year-old who's had only one potato chip "MORE ALIAS!" You should've seen me when Season 3 disc 1 got lost in the mail from Netflix. I had to wait nearly a week to see what the hell happened to her for two years and what is that ring on his finger?! I had the shakes.

My favorite part about my Alias addiction? How I somehow think I'm in as good shape as Jennifer Garner and no longer do my daily routines normally. Walk down the stairs? Thats for sissies! I'm going to somersault/fly down the stairs and jump up ready to kick your ass bitches! Cook dinner? What kind of pussy do you take me for? I'm going to throw knives at the food to cut it up and karate chop your ass into making dinner for me!

And now we're finishing up Season 4, and Season 5 resumes this week (uh oh..no LOST because of the 2 hour Alias, trading one addiction for another..) I wondered what I would do without my Alias fix.

So, I added 24 to my Netflix list.

Mallrats

2006-04-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I finally watched the movie Mallrats. What a kickass movie. I can't believe it took me this long to watch it. I love Kevin Smith, and Jason Lee - whats not to like about this movie?! Hands down Jason Lee is the best actor in that film. And he's so cute without the gross mustache he has to sport for My Name is Earl.

Mmmm..Tastykakes

2006-04-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

One thing I hate about my commute home, other than sitting in 20 minutes of traffic is when there's a yummy tastykake truck sitting in front of my car. All that beautiful deliciousness six feet tall just driving along the road. And right at the time when I'm all hungry and ready to eat dinner. I just want to dive into the human-sized kandy kake and live happily ever after covered in chocolate peanutbutter yumminess.

Is there something so wrong with that?

Did I tell you I met Ben Folds?

2005-12-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

Cause I did. I met him last month before his Philly show at the Electric Factory. I was scared out of my wits, and SO excited that I was completely exhausted after meeting him and didn't really want to talk about it much because it required all the energy of re-living the experience. Which was amazing. In case you couldn't tell from that picture, I was FREAKING OUT because Ben was touching me.

I won a contest off of his website: www.benfolds.com, and really - who wins that stuff? I thought no one really won those contests, they just talked about winning. Ben himself was like "So, how did you get backstage passes and free tickets?" I also got to meet The Fray: www.thefray.net If you're looking for some new music - they're great. Think Coldplay plus something else and thats them. They're good. And very nice too. But anyway, back to Ben.

So I met Ben and he was very nice. He has a surprisingly big butt for someone who I thought was so scrawny. Plus, he's very nerdy and quiet. I thought, "It's okay that I'm totally freaking out and have no idea what to say to BEN FOLDS other than 'I would SO have your babies', because he's a rock star and he goes through this all the time!" But, not so much. He was a little shy, almost. I had put all this pressure on myself to try to make myself memorable, like "Oh my gosh, Frally and my baby twins - I met this totally cool and weird girl today!" But - I realized once it was over that's a lot to accomplish in 10 minutes of talking to someone. Instead, I asked him a totally random and good question.

"So..Glen Phillips writes this song, and I know you sang with him on his last album and all
"Yeah, Glen! I haven't seen him in awhile. I did sing that one song, but never heard how it came out..? There was some other chick in there too, and she was kinda loud."
"Yeah, its a great album! The other girl comes out sounding a little louder than you, but if you listen you can definitely hear your voice and can tell that its you."
"Thats cool.."
"So anyway, he sings this song and he says its a true story, but not HIS true story and it just sounds like it might be a story you would tell...so.."
*Blank Stare* "So, what song is it?"

"The song's called Drive By..."
*laughs!* "Uhm, yeah, its my story and its true but its HIGHLY exaggerated, version. My Dad's not really that crazy."

So thats my big conversation with Ben Folds. The song's called "Drive By" by Glen Phillips (former lead singer for Toad the Wet Sprocket)

"love actually is all around."

2005-12-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

I recently re-watched "Love Actually". What a great movie. I forgot how amazingly great that movie was. And such a perfect start to the holiday season!

Speaking of Christmas, MD and I helped my Dad get the Christmas Tree today. Usually this involves driving to a tree farm in the middle of no where (also right around the corner from my Dad's house) walking to the furthest corner of the field where I decide the perfect tree is, cutting it down and dragging it all the way back. This year we cheated! We bought a tree from the farm that they had already cut down earlier today. AND its not as fat as I normally pick. I like fat trees. Also of interest, the tree-topper is not your typical star. Its a toilet paper tube that Daddy and I decorated into a Santa Claus when I was five. Faded and all, its still my favorite ornament.

Mooooovies

2005-11-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

I love movies. MD and I went to see Walk The Line this weekend. It was really a great movie! I loved it! I've read it does an amazing job of truly portraying the love story between Johnny Cash and June Carter, which just makes the movie that much more fascinating. But what I didn't realize before I saw the movie was that the whole movie was solely their love story. It's an amazing love story, but I had thought the movie chronicled Johnny Cash's whole life, sort of like Ray - but country. It doesn't. It touches on how Johnny came to be in the situation he was in when he met June and then from there tells only their love story - glossing over some of the other things in his life. I really thought it made the film worth seeing, and I loved it. Plus Reese Witherspoon is gorgeous and a phenomenal actress. And she has a cool name, Reese. Witherspoon. Reese. Witherspoon.

Cool side note: if you didn't already know, Waylon Jennings plays his father, Shooter in the film.

TP & MD

2005-11-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

Tell me - when you're out of toilet paper, why would you go to the trouble of getting a new roll, throwing out the old one, but not put the new roll on the holder? Just, put the holder back in its place..empty and place the new roll of toilet paper next to the toilet.

Thus, the joys of living with the man with ADD.

"They're after me Lucky Charms!"

2005-11-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

Why do Lucky Charms taste so delicious straight from the box? Sure, they're good in milk too - but I'd rather eat them like potato chips. Mmm...dehydrated marshmellows.

MD can pretend he doesn't love snacking on them straight from the box too - but I know someone is stealing all the pink hearts and its not the cat.

2 years in the real world

2005-06-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

So, I've been out in the real world for two years now. I hit the two year mark at my job last week and it sorta freaked me out. How long can I continue to say that I'm "just out of school." And what in the heck do I say when I can't say that anymore? I do get the question every now and then "so, where did you work before you worked here?" and I love being able to say "I was in college.." Sweeeet.

My good friend over at thedonutgame.blogspot.com has started this super cool game called "The Stationary Wars." It involves lots of letters and randomness. I actually can't wait to start sending mail - how cool is that?!

Now, I'm hungry for pizza! Or a cheesesteak. Mmmmm..real cheesesteak...

I heart my trainer

2005-06-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

So I've been doing personal training since January and I love it. It really helped me trim down, lose some weight and really feel like I'm in good shape. I still have a lot of work to do, but I really feel awesome. Training can be kind of expensive, luckily my gym is VERY cheap for a gym, but I still can only afford a month or so of sessions at a time, before I have to do some work on my own again and then sign up for some more. I took the last couple of months off to do it on my own, and now I'm back with my trainer starting today and I love it. Its always different, it always feels good, and I'm always working my ass off. For some reason, the same workout without someone next to me is completely different - I have no idea why. I'm still trying to figure that one out.
Plus, my trainer is this awesome girl Jenn. She's really nice, she always distracts me from how hard doing what I'm doing is, and she always tells me I can do more than I think I can. I'm pretty gullible, so I typically just believe her and finish it. She's really an unbelievable trainer, I think because she just does a great job gauging me and my abilities and pushing me just enough. I don't think I can rave about personal training enough - I'd recommend it to anyone.
Now, if you'll excuse me, all of my muscles are a tiny bit achy so I'm off to take a hot bath.

Wedding Mania!

2005-06-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

So, I've been pretty MIA recently, to my family, email, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I feel bad about it, and I was handling the insanity pretty well until yesterday when I just broke down a little bit. But then, I went to MD's sister's wedding, and it was amazing so all is well again.
This weekend MD and I had two weddings, one in Virginia (Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Madden!!) in which I was best man..or groomsmaid of honor. I would say my speech was a 10, I embarassed the groom and made the bride cry. Rock. Then yesterday was MD's sister's wedding (Congratulations Mr. & Dr. Miller). I've been to four weddings in the last four weeks so I've gotten quite a bit of exposure to this whole wedding thing. And I have to say, every wedding I went to was gorgeous and lots of fun and very romantic. Though I have to say I pretty much want my wedding to be just like MD's sister's. It just suited my personality and it was wonderful.
Everyone keeps teasing that MD and I are next, which is very sweet - and going to all these weddings has eased the "freaking out" aspect of the concept of marriage, but I just want to be older. I'm not sure why, it just seems like I would be more comfortable with the concept if I were a little bit older.
In the meantime - I'm back to packing up my closet to make room for MD - YAAAAAY! I'll finally get to see him again, and then every day because I'm adopting him for a couple of months until we move into our own place!
As a side note: MD's entire extended family told me at the end of the evening that I should run, now, and fast. I think I'm going to take that to mean that they like me if they want to save me from the insanity of MD.

Star Wars

2005-05-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

Speaking of MD....it's a miracle we're still dating. Not ONLY did he wake me up at 9am on a Saturday (apparently the 8am attempt failed miserably. I have no recollection of such incident.) but he didn't feed me and he took me to a 10:30am showing of Star Wars. Thats right..10:30am Saturday morning I was watching Star Wars. To be honest the first 10-15 minutes are kind of blurry because I was still wiping the sleep out of my eyes. And as soon as I was awake enough to comprehend where I was I started being hungry. I'm not a good person to not feed. When I'm hungry and you withold food, I get grumpy. In fact, I've even been known to whine. Good thing he walked me straight from the theatre to the restaurant for lunch. Otherwise, things could've gotten dangerous.

Oh yeah, and I really did like the Star Wars movie.

House

2005-05-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

When House first aired on Fox, I hated it. But now I'm a total addict. Its not my fault - it comes on right after American Idol and nothing else is on TV (hence, why I'm watching American Idol...or at least thats my story and I'm sticking to it!). Main reason why I love House: he just drugged his ex-wife's current husband by tricking him into chugging a beer at a formal restaurant through a "pissing contest" so that he could get the guy's ass to the hospital because he kept cancelling his appointments. Its sort of like I sometimes live vicariously through House, because he says all the things to people I sometimes wish I could say.

In other news..I think MD and I have found an apartment we love. Important feature to said apartment: there's a very large second bedroom that will be MD's study that he can trash, and destroy and put all his weird boy decorations in to his heart's content. Including the really nerdy pea poster. You know, the one with the pea pod, and inside each pea is a different color and some cheesy quote about accepting differences...yeah..i know..

Time to start stalking Jon....

2005-05-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

There's lots of random things I feel like posting about at the moment, so please take some time to appreciate my mild ADD.

First, the Victorian Guest House Lady turned out to be a little bitty bit crazy. So, we're definitely not living there. She started talking about being a role model for her children and how being an unmarried couple a does not make a good role model and proceeded to ask me personal questions about my marriage plans. First of all, I just want to live there - I don't want to raise, or help raise in any way, shape, or form her children. Second of all just because I have a roomate currently does not mean I'm a drunk college kid - so don't presume such a thing. I had to kindly explain that my existing roomate and I were two working professionals who chose to live together to save some money. Now kiss my ass.

Second of all, while I don't agree with this school's decision to ban this pregnant girl from graduation I understand that since they are a private Roman Catholic high school why they wouldn't allow her to participate in graduation. However, please explain to me why the father was allowed to participate? If the decision was for "safety" reasons, fine - but shouldn't her name have been included in the program as a graduate? And if a doctor had cleared her to safely walk across a stage - what exactly are the safety concerns this school is concerned about? This leads me to believe that due to the religious association of the school they banned her due to her pregnancy alone. Why then, is the father not also held responsible?

In a related issue - I heard Howard Dean talk this morning about Democrats and abortion and he clearly spoke to what I believe. He said he doesn't think anyone thinks abortion is good - he believes the decision about personal healthcare belongs to the patient (women) and their doctors and politicians need to get out of it. He also said that common ground lies between us all: reduce the number of abortions. Under President Bush's abstinence only education, abortions have increased 25% since he took office. Dean said we need to educate the population about safe sex and do what it takes to reduce the number of abortions in America. I heart Howard Dean.

And finally, despite the crazy guest house lady and other bumps in the road to finding living for August, MD and I might just have found a place to live! I think I'm just going to try to be like my good friend Jon. I'm going to move into his apartment complex and I might even be buying a car just like his. So Jon, I hope you think I'm hot because I'm going to start stalking you.

Moving...again

2005-05-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

So it appears that I will be moving yet again. I am still hoping to stay in my apartment, or at least in the same apartment complex just into a different apartment - but its not looking so good. And the more I keep looking at apartments the more it makes me want to curl up and cry. I wish I could afford to buy something and just live there. I also wish I could just not have to pack up things or worry about where I'm living. I know I'll end up living somewhere great and everything will be fine - but just thinking about all the moving stresses me out like nothing else. The nightmares will start around mid-June, even though I'm not moving until mid-August. And I do mean nightmares, bad ones.

The good news is that I'm moving in with MD, so this means that I will no longer have to deal with roomates. Don't get me wrong, I've loved all of my roomates - but living with MD will be really nice. No matter how much you love your roomates, all of them - you're still relieved to have your own space. So, here we go again, apartment hunting. Though, I have to say there's an ad in the paper for a Victorian guest house that I'm hoping is as awesome as it sounds.

Pretty in Pink

2005-05-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

So today the CFO and I were wearing matching outfits. Bright pink shirts and beige colored pants (mine had pink pinstripes). Naturally, I take this opportunity to give him crap. And he says we're not wearing the same thing because he's wearing a shirt and I'm wearing a "blouse, sweater type thingy". Riiight. See why he's a CFO and not a fashion consult? And then moves on to say he's wearing socks and shoes and I'm not. I told him next time he wears this outfit he should try the heels. He procceeded to stand on his tippy toes and say "Yes, I'd look good in heels." Don't forget to picture all of this on a tall Irish executive.

Yes, I love my job.

One Down, Four More to go....

2005-05-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

Yay! The first wedding of the year was this weekend and it was a LOT of fun. The bride never looked happier or more excited. She was just having a blast on her wedding day and I was so happy for her! It was a looong weekend though and I'm exhausted. I feel like I could never go through all of that - its so much work! I'm pretty sure eloping is at the top of the list for getting married. Okay, maybe not..I do want a pretty wedding, but I think small is good. I also think this weekend's bride would agree!

Also as a side note: MD thought my exhaustion was hysterical. I'm not sure what about me being sleepy was funny but apparently its a hoot. I think because I probably seemed almost drunk mumbling about being tired and needing a nine hour nap and really liking the new dark chocolate peanut m&m's. Mmmmmm...yummy.

Well congrats to the new Mrs. And she must really know I love her because I even missed a Ben Folds concert in Philly to be at her wedding...

Anniversary

2005-05-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

Today is MD's and mine's six year first-kiss anniversary. Thats right, we first started making out six years ago today in my parents driveway. And now look at us, we're all growed up and we've been actually dating for a year and a half now. Whats even more amazing is that he remembered our first kiss anniversary, and I forgot in the midst of all these weddings coming up!

If I want your opinion I'll give it to you.

2005-05-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Its such a weird thing I've observed recently. I tell people I'm going to be buying a new car, and they tell me what to buy. Its not really a "Oh, I love this car I have and its great, you should check it out." Its more of a "This is the car I drive that I love that rocks, and this is the car you have to buy." And when I say "Oh, thanks for the info, I'll have to look into it." The response is usually to continue to pressure me into buying whatever kind of car they KNOW I should buy. Maybe they're trying to prepare me for going to the dealership or something, but I hate it. I know your car rocks for you, and I like your input, but don't tell me what to buy. Its a lot of money, and its my money and I will research it and make a decision that works for me. Anyone else experience this?

Ben Folds Rocks My World

2005-04-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today was the release of both the new Ben Folds album and the new Bruce Springsteen album. I bought them both, Ben for me, Bruce for my step-mom. Ben's new album couldn't be cooler. The songs are amazing, the big ass book full of pictures is beautiful, the lyrics are unbelievable and I'm saving the DVD to make MD watch it with me on Thursday during our tv night. I was freaking out in Best Buy because I was so excited to be buying it. I remembered this time to buy the "explicit" verson, which so far includes the word "shit" only. I'm only on track 7, because I decided to save the remaining 4 songs for my commute to work tomorrow morning. It should make morning bearable. I made sure I bought the "explicit" version because I'm naughty. And I wasn't wearing any panties when I bought it, just to prove. And for any random people wondering, Ben also makes an appearance on Glen Phillips new album "Winter Pays for Summer." Also an amazing album. I read somewhere that the song "Drive By" by Glen is actually a true story from Ben Folds - but I haven't found anything to confirm that yet. It sounds like it could be, but I don't really know for sure.

Now, if you'll excuse me I need to go take a nap at 10pm so I can wake up to watch Ben on Conan tonight.

I'm still alive..I swear

2005-04-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

Wow..I haven't updated in a long long long ass time. I'm so sorry!! I've been bad, very bad. Spank me! Okay, maybe not. So - a lot has happened in the last couple of months! I went on my cruise with work. Think spring break - but free. We were totally spoiled rotten by the cruise staff. SeaDream II Yacht, I miss you! And the hot boys who served me pina coladas poolside, massage-side, and well..in the middle of the ocean even. No joke, one of the hot guys in the little white uniform swam out to serve us Painkillers. It rocked and I loved it. Now I just have to try to get awarded again so I can go to Cabo next year!

Feel free to scorn me for not updating in two months...I promise I won't be this delinquent again.

I love the 90's

2005-02-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

I think I'm stuck in the 90's. I never thought it would happen that I liked "old" music, but I do. Two of my favorite bands are The Goo Goo Dolls and Toad the Wet Sprocket. I'm sorry - no matter how old I get I will always love their music! Toad's lead singer Glen Phillips has branched out on his own and his music is AMAZING. Check him out, and if you're feeling particularly ambitious check out the album he put together with Nickle Creek.

But really this entry was supposed to be about The Goo Goo Dolls. I love them - they put on a kickass show. And I think Johnny Rzeznik is hot. This baffles me - because Johnny Rzeznik doesn't fall anywhere in the normal realm of who I think is hot. But for some reason I'm totally in love with him. He's probably the only rockstar I've ever really thought was REALLY hot and he is truely a rockstar.

Now excuse me from writing about quality music, its time to watch American Idol. I know. Don't say it.

Shut UP Katie Couric!

2005-02-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

I was watching the Today show the other morning, and I think I'm boycotting that show permanently for the Early Show. I never really knew the names..I just knew one had the diversity group of hosts (one male, one female, one asian, and one african american) and the other had Katie Couric. I can't stand how Katie Couric interviews people. Mostly because she doesn't really interview them at all. Just just talks and talks and talks, and you see the celebrities think that its their turn to answer her question and they open their mouths..and Katie just keeps talking. She answers her own questions, and they barely get a word in edgewise. I really want to smack her and say "Katie! You ask good questions! Now shut the fuck up and let them answer it!" Plus, I'm pretty sure that they rely on the hotness of her legs for ratings. She's always showing off her legs - which are hot, and should be shown off - but I wish they didn't glow so much. Its blinding really. Shut up and put on some pants Katie Couric!

Cruisin'

2005-02-01T04:56:00.000-08:00

My job is a very funny thing, for very many reasons. I take on VP's and send the CFO to kick their asses. I read a lot of CNN. I basically bum around because I don't have nearly enough work. But apparently, they love me. Because they're sending me on a cruise for being a peak performer of 2004. They're chartering a yacht and sending 50 of us plus guests to the Virgin Islands. I really didn't believe it, until about...yesterday when I got the email telling me to call the travel agent to book my flight to St. Thomas and returning from Puerto Rico. Oh yeah, and that because there's limited space on the cruise they're giving us luggage so we know how much to pack. They're giving me luggage! And I was so bored at work yesterday I just pulled out a book and started reading. yeeah. I like my job.

I swear, I'm still alive

2005-01-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

So, I've been gone awhile! Sorry! I was away on vacation with my family. We went to Disney World for two days and then off on a Disney Cruise for four. It was awesome! It was gorgeous, the boat was so much fun, and it was just a really good vacation. I got to go snorkeling and eat and eat and eat and eat. I went to the gym four times I felt so guilty for all the eating. But it was well worth it. I'm pooped from all the travel and work, I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend and relaxing to recover from the travel and working. Oh yes, my first day back the CFO cc's me on an email to my boss using the words "absolute clusterfuck" regarding something that had happened, or rather..didn't happen that day. Oh yay, welcome back to work. I hope everyone else had as good a New Years and first week of January as I did!

Tina Fey must like Hackers

2004-12-29T21:53:00.000-08:00

I watched Mean Girls tonight, which was pretty amusing. I like Lindsay Lohan in movies but I'm not sure I'm such a fan outside of her films. But anyway, during the film I thought I recognized a song that was from Hackers. And at the end of the movie when the song they start rolling the credits to started playing I KNEW that song was from Hackers. Turns out I was right both times around - there's not one, but TWO songs in Mean Girls that were in Hackers: "The Joker" by Josh Abrahams and "Halcyon & On & On" by Orbital. Either I'm super smart or just really nerdy. I'll let you decide....

Just call me Betty Crocker

2004-12-19T15:57:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I get into a funk. I have a few different kinds of funks, and two happened to hit at the same time this year. I tend to be a pretty optimistic person. I believe we choose our own happiness and if we're feeling sad or upset its because we've chosen to feel that way. Usually the choice is not a conscious one, but I try really hard to consciously choose to view things in a positive light and to generally be happy. As a result there are typically a few days or weeks in the year when I'm just feeling out of sorts, and down. The past couple of weeks I've been quite as cheery as normal, and I've been a bit sensitive to any weird little thing that normally I can brush off easily. I guess in a way its a touch of winter depression, but its hard to call it depression for me. I'm a bit down, but nothing crazy, I'm still pretty happy and positive - just not as normal for me. I'll snap out of it in another week or two. I think the weeklong cruise in the Carribbean and 10 straight days of vacation from work in early January are going to cure that pretty quick.
The second funk I'm in is this need to bake. I can cook okay, and I'm getting better at it. I think the trick with me and cooking is finding recipes I really like, and having the groceries and time. But baking I'm pretty good at. When I was younger I used to love baking brownies - but I would bake them from scratch: melting the chocolate in a double boiler and everything. Last week I made chocolate chip cookies. Tonight I'm going to make Snickerdoodles. I'm thinking about also making sugar cookie dough and bring it to my parents for christmas and we can all cut them out and decorate them together. Mostly because I don't have cookie cutters. I'm also thinking about trying to make scones and cinnamon rolls. I love cinnamon rolls. The other thing I love about baking is usually you have everything you need for it, whereas with cooking, if you don't plan ahead you have to go to the grocery store. I think my baking funk is helping my sad funk- its hard to be sad with a kitchen full of cookies.

Miscellenous

2004-12-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

Random things today. First, Calendar Girls is a hilarious movie. It really is hysterical and I reccommend it to anyone. Okay, any girl.
Second, I get made fun of, quite a bit, for being obsessed with Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. I realized some interesting things about that show since I've been renting them season by season and that is that Dr. Quinn was a bleeding heart commi bastard liberal. Book burning episode - all about how books with "immoral material" shouldn't be censored and anyone should be able to read what they choose. Prejudice against the Indians? Dr. Quinn uses all kinds of their medicines. In fact, she went all the way to Washington DC to protest their treatment by the Indian Agents. Women's right to vote - Sully sold them land so they could vote! Women racing horses - Dr. Quinn kicked all their asses! Dr. Quinn was the liberal of her time. But when that show was on TV it was considered wholesome family programming teaching about tolerance, and equality. Kind of ironic considering the last election. Just struck me as interesting. I think Dr. Quinn shaped me into the liberal I am today. Same issues, different time period - how come no one else sees that?
I finally hung my diploma over my desk after living here for four months now. I love it.
For some reason people don't think ever do any actual work. I move millions of dollars around every day, but thats not real work.
I feel a baking frenzy coming on, and I'm just hoping everyone makes it out alive.
I had the best lunch today that I've had in awhile. I met MD at Panera Bread (that place rocks) and had French Onion Soup and half of an Asian Chicken Salad. So. Good. Their French Onion Soup is hands down the best store-bought French Onion I've ever had. And now I'm craving more.
That is all, have a nice day.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

2004-12-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

Today, I finished reading "Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War" by Douglas Brinkley today. I followed it up by looking up the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" website to see what they had to say. Since I'd read a somewhat unbiased book on John Kerry I thought that I would at least see what the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had to say, and compare it to what was in the book. Douglas Brinkley may not be 100% unbiased, but I would say he based his book on as much information as was available. He had access to all of John Kerry's personal diaries, and he interviewed a number of people who were there with John - including those who disliked him.

Having said that, the "Swift Boat" people are nothing short of assholes. I can't think of a nicer way to say it - they make me sick to my stomach. I read as much of their website as I could stomach and then I had to leave. They accuse John Kerry of lying and misleading about his Vietnam record, but they never say excactly what he was lying about. As specific as they get, his is first Purple Heart, saying it was nothing more than a scratch and he didn't deserve it. And the man who claims he treated John Kerry for the injury that gave him his first Purple Heart isn't the man who signed his papers saying he treated him. John Kerry also does not recall ever meeting this man. How many men did this doctor treat in Vietnam? Thousands? How can he specifically remember John Kerry and that injury if there's no paperwork with his handwriting on it to prove it? I'm sorry dude - you had your chance thirty years ago to write about John Kerry's treatment, if you actually did treat him.
The media has repeatedly said that John Kerry received his Silver Star for shotting one Vietnamese, running away with a B-40 in the back. What they often leave out is the fact that this same Vietnamese had already fired that B-40 at John Kerry's Swift Boat and could at any given moment turn around and fire it again. I would've shot that guy too, in the front, back, side or upside down. What John Kerry REALLY got his Silver Star for was that when his boat was ambushed - twice in a row - he did not flee the river. Instead, he beached his boat and went after the guys that were shooting at them. No one had ever done this before, so the Vietnamese were caught off-guard, and didn't know what to do. John left his crew in the boat, and he along with one other man went into the line of fire together to chase them. He could have sent someone else into danger. He could have fled. Instead he pursued. Thats what he was awarded the Silver Star for.
The Bronze Star was awarded for, after his arm had been injured when a booby trap exploded near his boat, and a man had been thrown overboard and was being shot at by snipers, John put himself in the line of the snipers' fire and pulled the man back into safety.
The men who claim that this isn't the case are all men who were not on Kerry's boat, and were in the proccess of being ambushed, in addition their boat had just been half-blown up. Add on top of that they were several hundred yards away and how the fuck do they know what John Kerry did or did not do?
George Elliott is a fucking moron. He signed the papers for John's awards, and now, 30 years later is saying he was wrong. Oh wait, he changed his mind - he was right. No wait, he was wrong. If he does mean that he was wrong, that negates the papers of every award for every man that he ever signed. You had your chance 30 years ago to not sign those papers, and you signed them. I don't care what the fuck you think now because it doesn't matter. In addition, he stood by John Kerry's side in 2003 to support him, along with Admiral Zumwalt in saying that no one had the right to question Kerry's war record in the manner that they were.
Also on this "Truth" website they talk about how every man up the chain of command does not support John Kerry and says he's lying. They don't know what he's lying about but his military physicals will tell them! Except for Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, supported John Kerry in every election until Admiral Zumwalt died before John Kerry ran for President. Thats right, the ADMIRAL who personally knew John Kerry. Captain Hoffman has good reason to discredit Kerry, Kerry continuous pointed out the holes and problems with Hoffman's "Sealords" program which was really, a total flop. Sealords was Hoffman's way of trying to become Admiral, and Kerry spoke about that openly once the war ended. Of course he's saying bad things about John Kerry now.
Bottom line to me is this: all of the paperwork in the military records, in addition to the men who were actually at Kerry's side, and who actually worked under him supported him and everything that the military has said about John Kerry's military record and awards. There were many who did not agree with the things he did when he came back to protest the war, but they admired him for doing so and for standing up for what he believed in and trying to make a difference. And they all support the truth for his war record. No one has the right to now question anyone's military record, especially not Republicans! You want to try to strip John Kerry of the worthiness of his Bronze and Silver Stars, when the military records of the man you voted for have been lost and are unproveable. But what has been proven is that George W. Bush had some cushy military jobs, and Dick Cheyney had several deferments to get a Masters degree, and his final deferment was because he got married. Hey Dick - don'tcha think there were married men in Vietnam? In fact, one of Kerry's good friends and crew members Don Droz died when his daughter was just three months old and left his wife to raise his daughter Tracy without ever meeting her father.
If you don't like John Kerry for his idealogy, or maybe because he did stand up and was anti-war when he came home, fine. But if you think you have the right, or that anyone has the right to question awards given to soldiers by the military then you should go straight to your nearest military office and sign up to join our soldiers in Iraq right now and allow ME to decide whether or not you deserve any recognition for any acts of bravery you do.
John Kerry did anchor his war record to his run for President - who wouldn't have? He served bravely, and he served even though he didn't agree with the war. He served because he felt that he owed it to his country and that it was his duty. He also felt he could not speak against the war if he hadn't been there himself. What better qualifications could you have to try to run for President? That he loves his country so dearly he was willing to die for it. That does not give us the right to question it any further beyond verifying the facts provided by the military. Period.

In a completely unrelated interesting facts about John Kerry - after he ran for Congress and lost he was considered unpatriotic by the members of his district. The media had played up the cover of his book showing the American flag upside down so often, that he was considered unpatriotic. What the ever-so-educated populous of America didn't know was that the upside down flag is a distress signal used in the military. People were egging his house, slashing his tires and one night threw rocks through his windows. One landed three inches from his newborn daughters head in her bassinette.
During this same period of time John went to law school at Boston College and then proceded to become a public prosecuter. Thats right, prosecuter, not defender. People people thought John Kerry was self-serving and always thought he had alterior motives, this shocked the public.
The people who do not believe that John Kerry has moral values are either ignorant, or are using the phrase "moral values" to mean their own personal religious agenda.
And thats my rant and I feel better now.

Ode to Angela

2004-12-08T05:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I called my good friend Angela on my way home from work. We chatted for about thirty minutes, and then Angela said: "Well, I have to get going. I'm turning into a prune."
Lauren: "What?!"
A: "I'm getting all pruney."
L: "Where...are you?"
A: "The bathtub! You've been talking to me this whole time while I was naked! in the bath!"

I was not really surprised, its Angela. Angela has more energy than just about everyone I know, and what's so great about Angela and her energy is that she spends so much of it on the people around her. You can always count on Angela to make you feel better when you're down, and to give you a laugh just when you need it in the middle of the day, and to lay around in jammies and watch sad movies with you. When we were roomates in college, I used to go hang out with Angela after I got out of the shower, before I'd gotten dressed. We called it "Towel Time." As many of you college kids are taking finals, I'll always remember the day I screwed working on my Geography Portfolio to go swimming with Angela. I figured, its Georgraphy, my last semester of senior year, and I'm always going to remember swimming with Angela and I won't remember jack shit from that portfolio. All true. I will always remember screwing the stupid ass portfolio and hanging out with Angela in the sun and swimming and chatting, just enjoying some last time together before graduation insanity began in the next few days. I definitely got a C in Geography - but it was one of three I got my entire time at JMU. And I'm still employed!

So Angela, this is my ode to your craziness and how much fun it is, and how much I miss you. I really do miss living with that girl. True. She doesn't really do dishes more than once a week. True, she decorates your living room with her clothes. True, you find weird legos and toys scattered all over your dining room table. True - we can get into some real knock-down drag 'em out, the football guys were scared of us fights, but we always get over it and work it out and become the best of friends at the end. And I still miss living with her, and I'd love a pile of dirty dishes, and a hurricane of clothes and toys all over my living room if it meant I could live with her again.

Movie Time!

2004-12-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

I watch a lot of movies. I never realize how many movies I watch until I start looking in the paper for a new movie to go to and I've seen them all. Add on top of that the three movies a week I watch from Netflix, and thats a lot of movies. And now I've recently discovered how to use OnDemand from Comcast, and the fact that we pay about $2 a month for Starz, and thats a crapload of movies. I thought I'd offer up my two cents on some recent movies I've watched.

The Terminal: the only thing that really stood out to me in this movie was Tom Hanks. His acting in this movie is very very good, and his accent is amazing. Catherine Zeta-Jones was barely in it and wasn't really all that spectacular. Nothing was really all that amazing about this movie, other than Tom Hanks.

After the Sunset: this movie isn't great. Only because it seems confused between being an action/crime drama film and a romance. Most of the movie was about the relationship between Pierce Brosnan's character and Salma Hyack. But then the other half was about Pierce maybe...but you're not sure if he's going to...steal this diamond and Woody Harrelson trying to catch him at it. The interactions between Brosnan and Harrelson are hilarious, and that is a bit of the saving grace of this movie.

National Treasure: I really liked this movie. It was a Indiana Jones meets the Da Vinci Code. It may not have been really believable, but it was very entertaining and I enjoyed it.

The School of Rock: Okay, I know I'm a little behind to have only just seen this movie, but I loved it. Jack Black really did an amazing job in this film, and he cracked me up. Joan Cusack is also hilarious in this movie. Jack Black's interaction with the kids really is just heart-warming, and this movie really is a feel-good film. Plus, its funny. I really liked it.

I have Unbreakable to watch tonight and I really want to see Closer and Kinsey soon too. Plus I've heard good things about Finding Neverland, and a little film called Sideways. I'm pretty excited about my upcoming movies to see, though probably at least half of the ones in the theatre I'll end up renting from Netflix.

My cat's insane

2004-11-29T20:08:00.000-08:00

I've written before about how my cat is a total blonde..for a cat. But she's also absolutely insane. Recently my cat discovered the joys of playing with string. Please note, my cat is 13 years old. Now that she's decided she LIKES playing with string, she wants to play string all the time. ALL the time. So she follows me around my apartment CRYING until I play string with her. She immediately becomes ADD and starts sprinting around the apartment. So I put down the string and she resumes following me around the apartment until I play string with her again.

Her second new habit is sleeping on my head. No. Really. On my head. She has decided that sleeping next to me or at my feet or on my back is no longer enough. She needs to share my pillow with me, and consequently when she tries to put her whole ass on my pillow, some of it ends on my head and in my face. She never used to do this, just all of a sudden she has this urgent need to sleep on my face at night.

Whoever said cats were easier than children or dogs has never owned my cat.

The Girls Locker Room

2004-11-23T04:56:00.000-08:00

At what age does it suddenly become acceptable to just walk around naked with strangers? In high school - NOBODY walked around naked. Everyone did the "I'm changing without ever showing more than 10% of my body shimmy". Suddenly, at the gym at work all the women walk around half-naked. Some even walk around mostly naked. One woman was in see-through underwear, and no bra for the entire time i was in the locker room showering and getting dressed. When does that happen? When I turn 35 do I suddenly not care if people see my boobies? It's so weird. And they probably all think I'm strange because..even if everyone else is wandering around naked looking like a porno waiting to happen I'm still doing the shimmy. They probably think the same thing of me: "Whats that weird dance that really young girl is doing, and why isn't she naked like the rest of us?"

Surprise!

2004-11-17T05:37:00.000-08:00

Ahhh..I can FINALLY write about Dave's surprise party. Not that he reads this anyway. But you never know. I threw MD a surprise party last weekend for this birthday - luau themed. It was awesome that so many people came out to wish Dave a Happy Birthday - he really had a great time. And if anyone wants to come over and do it again because I have a crapload of food leftover, feel free. Whats most amazing is that it only took us about an hour the next morning to get everything cleaned up. What clean partying friends I have!

Also, I would like to note that Kim makes a mean Fish House Punch and drink it with exteme caution. Use that same caution in opening our freezer. It's currently booby trapped because of all of the food.

Janet's Boob

2004-11-16T19:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know I'm a solid year behind on this. But I was thinking today about all the fuss that has happened due to Janet Jackson's boob. And I was thinking about how the Europeans must thing we've fucking lost our minds. OH MY GOD! THE HUMAN BODY! LET'S FREAK OUT AND SUE EVERYONE.

Seriously, it seems to me like this could have been a good opportunity to celebrate the beauty of the female body rather than make it something to be ashamed of. Who doesn't know what a boob is or hasn't seen it? I mean, even my littlest brother when he was three or four loved boobs and he would yell "BOOBIES!" and grope them whenever they came near him. Whats the problem? Just seems kinda sad to me that people were offended by a boob. Never knew my body was so offensive.

I'm too old for this shit

2004-11-10T05:02:00.000-08:00

So last night I went and saw Yellowcard. I went because my sister really wanted to go and wanted me to take her. I like Yellowcard, so I figured it'd be great! Let me start out by saying Yellowcard - kicks ass. Seriously. But THREE opening bands? Don'tcha think thats a little much?? The Starting Line turned out to be one of them, which also rocked, but two on top of that? Thats just crazy talk.

During the first opening band's show they started playing and old REM song. MD and I look at each other going "YEAH! This is a great song!" So we're singing and dancing to this song and I look around and notice that everyone around me is staring blankly at the band. I mean, I knew everyone there was younger than me - but c'mon..its REM! I turn to my sister and go "You know this song, right?" and she was like "Uhm. No? Why would I know this song?" and I said "It's REM!" And she said "That's a band right?" I suddenly felt extremely old.

At some point in the beginning of this concert I go to the bathroom, which actually is pretty decent at the Electric Factory. And I hear this girl in the stall next to me call to her friend "Hey Em! How're you doing?" and Em evidently answered "I"m peeing in an actual toilet this time!" I don't think any further commentary is necessary.

I have more stories to tell about how I almost died, punched some dude repeatedly in the liver, pushed a massive guy off of me screaming at the top of my lungs "Get the fuck off of me" and my sister's friend lost her shoe. However, I have to get ready for work now, so I'll have to post more on this concert later. I do feel like half-warmed over ass this morning from the four hours of sleep I got last night. How on earth did I do that every night for all of my senior year? When did I get so old?

Military Records

2004-11-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

My step-mom emailed this to me, and I thought it was fascinating.

Democrats
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaignribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars, and Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit.
* Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but received .311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.

Republicans
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked MaxCleland's patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from duty.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role making movies.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem," although continued in NFL for 8 years.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.

Pundits & Preachers
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
* Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
* Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don't shoot back.)

Moral Election

2004-11-03T05:34:00.000-08:00

I read on CNN this morning, somewhere that I don't feel like digging up to put up here because I'm sleepy that the biggest issue in this election to Americans was...morals. And 78% of those who chose morals as their biggest issue voted for President Bush.

Okay. First of all, why on God's green earth would morals be the biggest issue in this election? Its not like Clinton where we're talking about a man having an affair. What about our soldiers dying in Iraq - shouldn't that be more important than "morals." In fact, MORALLY shouldn't that be more important than morals? Whats best for the people dying for our freedom?

Okay, that aside - even if morals ARE the biggest issue for Americans..which is retarded...why in hell would you choose the man who LIED to the public about a war that we're waging, and the same man who wants to change the backbone of our government to specifically deny equal rights to a specific group of people.

And also, I would like to say that the whole "more votes than any other President" is not really an accomplishment because our population is growing so of course each election will allow the next person to have more votes than anyone who ran before them. Highest voter turnout in history - thats an accomplishment.

National Celibacy Day

2004-11-02T04:47:00.000-08:00

Celebrate National Celibacy Day today, November 2nd: No Bush, No Dick.
Sent to me from my friend Ryan.

While you're at it, bring complete sentences back to the White House - vote for John Kerry!
Sent to me from my friend Leann.

Don't forget to vote today, no matter who you choose to vote for.

Lunch

2004-11-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

Cheap yummy lunch of the week goes to...sushi from super fresh! I can get a whole plate of california rolls and a drink for less than $5.50. Add in no crowds, freshness, convenience and I get to read my book and I think I'm madly in love with Super Fresh and the cheap lunch.

J-M-U DUUUUUKES

2004-10-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

So, its back to JMU this weekend for a little Homecoming action and I'm very excited. Not only do I get to see all the kids who are still in school, but I also get to see all the alumni I graduated with and got to hang out with. It was such a blast, I loved JMU and I miss it terribly. Its such a weird feeling going back to visit everyone and everything. It reminds me of how much I miss them, but it also reminds me of how far I've come since I've graduated. Even after all of the worrying about everything and worrying about whether or not I'm competent enough to be in the real world I've realized that I'm okay. That graduation thing is scary, but it all works out.

Anyway. I'm off to go cheer for the dukes! I bleed purple. Have a great weekend!

Pet Peeves

2004-10-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

I have my share of pet peeves, just like anyone else. I'm pretty laid back, but a few things just really grate on my nerves. Repeating myself for example. If someone honestly doesn't hear me - no big deal. If someone just keeps asking me the same thing over and over hoping for a different answer - pisses me off.

But my biggest pet peeve of all is passive aggressive people. I honestly think that anyone who communicates passive aggressively has retreated back to the age of three. You're mad. What do you do? Stomp around, sigh, sulk, act pissed off until I say "So. You seem angry. What are you angry about?" Or there's the people who clue you in to them being mad by doing mean things to you until you notice its unusual. This is slightly older than 3, but only to that awful age in high school when you acted 3. What REALLY gets my goat is when I ask someone to communicate with me, and open the door for them to NOT be passive aggressive and instead they continue to be passive aggressive until I figure out what it is they want.

Honestly - I really want to shake these people and say "hey! guess what?! the world doesn't tip-toe around your anger and hold you until you feel comfortable to tell us whats wrong." If I were to behave that way at work, I would get nowhere. You have to be able to communicate in this world, and if you can't do it with your closest friends, how on earth do you expect to do anything with it in the real world? The world doesn't have room for passive aggressivism, you're just going to have to learn how to express yourself like everyone else.

And...thats my vent for the week.

NO WORK

2004-10-19T04:57:00.000-07:00

I really don't feel like going to work today. At all. Its rainy..I just want to lay around in my jammies watching movies all day.

*sigh*

Political Rhetoric

2004-10-19T04:38:00.000-07:00

I was thinking yesterday driving home from karate about this whole election and how, as exciting as it is I would really like it to be over because I'm tired of reading about the candidates. But I was also thinking about the two candidates, and about my own political views, and about how liberal has become a four-letter word. Whats so wrong with being a liberal? And if liberal's bad, how come conservative isn't? It's mostly based on religion, and how liberals believe there should be absolutely zero in our government. Whereas conservatives want to integrate the principles of religion. Let's review: liberals like the consitution, conservatives want to bend the rules on that part a bit. Liberals want to create a world where everyone has the freedom to do their own thing. Conservatives want the whole world to believe in Jesus and stop being gay. *Please note: I am talking about the extremes here because thats how the liberals have been portrayed. The whole thing just doesn't seem right.

But in further thinking about the election and the two candidates I also noticed that Bush doesn't really have anything to say. Its mostly just "keep doing what I've been doing." Because thats been such a successful plan. Kerry has all new plans, and he's been attacking George for this plans. Look at the ads: Kerry's ads outline plans. They also attack Bush. Look at Bush's ads. They attack Kerry. Thats it. No real, well some things haven't gone right but we're going to do this to make it better.

I'm sorry - but step back and look at the world. The largest deficit in our history. We're at war in Iraq, which at the end we will win....?. We do not have Osama bin Laden. Medicare prescriptions have increased for seniors. Social Security is about to be privatized leaving my generation and my parents generation with no social security at all. Abortion rates are increasing. And George W. Bush has said that he's done a good job and plans to continue to do the same.

A lot of people don't want to vote for Kerry because he's "too liberal." Liberal does not mean that you can't be religious anymore. It just means that it gives gays, agnostics, and aethists the same rights and access to benefits in America as everyone else. Because Kerry isn't touting his religion doesn't make him non-religious. I can't believe how many people are going to vote for Bush for religious reasons. It can't possibly be for a succesful record in office or for a good future plan to change things. He's so arragant as to claim nothing's wrong. The economy's improving! Not really. More people are despairing and just gave up looking for jobs and thus fell out of your unemployment rates. Which are still record high.

Just...interesting.

MIA

2004-10-14T03:13:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated here in awhile...oops. Its been incredibly busy and I can't post from work anymore. This is the main reason. Its hard to go to work all day and sit in front of a computer and then come home and..sit in front of a computer? I don't think so. I stay online at night long enough to check my email and read my favorite websites and then I go do something else because I can't stand the computer screen for much longer. 9 hours a day is enough, thank you very much.
And in an attempt to make this actually a post, I will tell you a story about my grandpa. He's a pretty cool old man, but sometimes he gets his facts a bit confuzzled. Mostly the numbers facts. For example, if Grandpa tells you that Cousin IT just gave birth to triplets its not only possible - but likely that really Cousin IT had one child, it just took three hours to do it. So I found that a local brewery is hosting an "Oktoberfest" special on Thursday nights with German food and beer. Grandpa loves all things German, and so do I, and so does my Daddy. Armed with this knowledge I started trying to get them all together to go to this Oktoberfest night. It includes three courses and a different beer with each.
Grandpa saw an ad in the paper for it and said he didn't want to go. Because they give you a LITER of beer with each course and thats too much money to pay for beer you're not going to drink because thats just too much beer.
Think about this for a moment. Three liters of beer - thats like one and a half 2 liter bottles of soda. Thats a lot of ANY liquid, much less beer. They couldn't give anyone that and then say "have a safe drive home!" So I called the restaurant and its 10 oz of beer. We're going next Thursday.
Shout-out to my little Sarah in Bulgaria. You rock babycakes!

Doh!

2004-09-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

Ever done one of those things that was just SO INCREDIBLY STUPID you could kick yourself to the curb? Yeah..I hate when I do shit like that. I'm not a dumb person..I just do dumb things, regularly.

I swear. I'm not as blonde as I look.

My Little Brother

2004-09-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

My little brother and I have a pretty unique relationship. He's three years younger than me and he's my best friend. Not in that "i tell you everything" kind of way, but more in that "i know you'll always be in my corner there for me" kind of way. We're pretty close and we always talk about stuff, and when we were younger we would make up all kinds of games and play together all the time.

For some reason today I remembered a particular instance in my childhood with my brother. I was busy watching tv and he started pestering because he had to show me something. He made me get up and follow him into the bathroom where he showed me his poop. He was proud of it because it was the longest poop ever. To this day, I haven't seen poop longer - I remember it. And weirdly - so does my brother.

No $5million for you

2004-09-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

I've ranted about Lance Armstrong and how people want to keep him down before, but this really takes the cake. SCA Promotions Inc is with holding paying Lance the $5 million they owe him for winning his sixth straight Tour de France because of allegations of doping made in a book by one of Lance's competitors. Allegations made by a competitor, which cannot be proven, and a book that Lance is suing the publisher and the authors on.

Look, Lance is the most tested athlete for drugs and every single time he's ever been tested he's tested negative for doping. Some competitor writes a book and thats enough evidence to withold payment on something you owe? Thats downright dispicable to me. If the Tour de France officals declared Lance the winner, then you owe him the money, no matter what your "investigation" turns up. If the Tour thought that the allegations were valid, then they would hold an investigation and remove the title from Lance. But until that time - what right do you have to conduct your own investigation? Thats shady. I heart Lance.

Sick Co-Workers

2004-09-21T07:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have this co-worker who is sick. Not just sick..very sick. He came down with a cold about...two-three weeks ago, and he just kept coming to work. He got sicker and had to go to the doctor. His cold turned into Bronchitis. He got some antibiotics, and he STILL kept coming to work coughing up a storm all over the place. He had to go BACK to the doctor again over the weekend and got MORE antibiotics, only these put him to sleep. What does he do? He takes them only at night, so that he can come to work.

For chrissakes man! I hate this for a few reasons. First: the guy has taken ONE day off this year and it was two weeks ago to take his daughter to her first day of school. That means he has at least 19 more vacation days left to take between now and December. Does he know you don't get paid more, or get a special award for not missing work? You have vacation days for a reason: so you can relax, take time off (when you're sick especially) and come back to work refreshed. Second: Stop bringing your sickness to work, because I'm going to get it from you, and I WILL have to take a vacation day to recuperate. Third: Hearing you cough all day long is not only a bit gross, but very annoying.

Seriously, if he would just take one day to take his antibiotics and sleep all day he would be better! He's going to either continue to get sicker or its going to take him weeks to get better because he's only taking his antibiotics once a day at night! He can't take them on the weekend either because he has graduate classes. *sigh* It makes me want to reach over this cubicle wall and smack him.

Kerry's Top Ten

2004-09-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

I read today John Kerry's Top Ten list from being on Letterman last night, and it cracked me up, so I thought I'd share:

Kerry's "Top 10 Bush Tax Proposals" are:
10. No estate tax for families with at least two U.S. presidents.
9. W-2 Form is now Dubya-2 Form.
8. Under the simplified tax code, your refund check goes directly to Halliburton.
7. The reduced earned income tax credit is so unfair, it just makes me want to tear out my lustrous, finely groomed hair.
6. Attorney General (John) Ashcroft gets to write off the entire U.S. Constitution.
5. Texas Rangers can take a business loss for trading Sammy Sosa.
4. Eliminate all income taxes; just ask Teresa (Heinz Kerry) to cover the whole damn thing.
3. Cheney can claim Bush as a dependent.
2. Hundred-dollar penalty if you pronounce it "nuclear" instead of "nucular."
1. George W. Bush gets a deduction for mortgaging our entire future.

I also had a chat last night with my Dad about who he was planning on voting for, and being a generation older than mine I found what he had to say interesting. He said that he's planning on voting for Kerry because of the terrible job that Bush has done with the economy. He said that Bush has walked into an economy with a surplus, and now its a deficit. He went on about all the economic issues and said "Look, if you rate his job performance so far, I think he's done a poor job. I think we should give someone else a shot. No matter if you're Republican or Democrat just look at job performance and where we are compared to where we started. Things have gotten worse - lets give someone else a try. The unknown is better than what we already know: Bush's economic policy doesn't work..we know that! Let's try something else now!"

I think my Dad had a good point. My grandfather is also voting for John Kerry..something about damn conservative commi bastards...I also think he has a point. No matter who you vote for - I hope you vote!

Mmm...food

2004-09-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, MD and I went to the restaurant festival in West Chester. It was a lot of fun. It was gorgeous outside and we just wandered up and down the streets checking out all the different kinds of food and all of the people. It was so beautiful and just very relaxing. MD was feeling sick all weekend, so some time in the sunshine felt good. And now this morning I'm feeling not quite up to par. I think he got me sick.

Also this weekend we saw Skycaptain and the World of Tomorrow on the IMAX screen. That was really cool. The movie is just..very fun and I really enjoyed it. Though I wish Angelina Jolie had been in it more, she played a great character but was on screen for MAYBE 10 minutes, tops.

We also stood in the pouring rain for about two hours to cheer on the JMU Dukes at the Villanova game this weekend, which had its fun moments - mostly when we were warm and dry later. But I'm still glad I went. Unique weekend this weekend!

splash!

2004-09-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

Today is dunk tank day for our United Way Campaign. Thats right, we bring a dunk tank to our parking lot, stick all the bosses up on it and charge a buck a ball to dunk them. CFO is up at 2:45 and he's matching all of the money raised while he's up there. I am SO dunking his ass, even if I have to run up and push the button to do it!

Makes me think...if I could put anyone in a dunk tank..who would I put..?

I think I'm dead

2004-09-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

I tried to give blood today (and got a free lunch pass for trying too!) and couldn't because of a low iron count. Again. I was 2 measly percent too low. Why is it that whenever you can't give blood you feel completely rejected and like you're not good enough? Anyway. My blood is normally really low, but today i just felt like a freak. My blood pressure was 100/58. I don't think I have a heart beat really. Or if I do its not really doing anything..just hanging out..having a good time in my chest.

Pet Peeves

2004-09-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those days when you just want to be left alone? And for some reason on those days people seem to just annoy the crap out of you for no real apparant reason? Its not really their fault its just..that kind of day. Its on days like that when pet peeves really get on my nerves. Other days its sort of irksome, but nothing noteworthy. But on those days I just want to break things and scream at people for getting on my nerves. Mostly work people more than anyone else.
Today's one of those days. The way I sit is sort of strange, I'm in a cubicle, but because of limited space in the area near my cubicle one of my co-workers sits right next to me with no wall between us. Desk bumped up to desk, no real personal space whatsoever. Most days I like that I can just talk to him or allocate work to him without having to get up, I can just swivel my chair. But when he gets on my nerves, I wish to God that wall were there. He's a smart guy, but he tends to just be stupid sometimes. Asking repeatedly the same question just varies the format. They're usually questions that will be answered as the project gets further along but he doesn't have the patience to just dig it and try to work through it. Sometimes it feels like he needs me to spoon-feed him his job. And today - I just don't really have the patience to deal with him. Good thing he's only here for another hour!

Such a Goof

2004-09-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I can be a real goofball. I definitely went to the extra effort to make my lunch last night so I didn't have to make it this morning, and so that I could have a free happy relaxing lunch today eating my turkey sammich and reading my book. But noooo. I forgot my lunch. *sigh*

161 Movies To See

2004-09-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

My Netflix list is down to a whopping 161. I haven't seen it that low in months. I usually hover around 165, and every time I rent a movie, I add more movies to my list. I decided that until my list was down to 100, I couldn't add any more movies because thats just out of control. I can't really even see whats on there, and I forget what movies I have on my list. Either way - I love Netflix and I'm so happy to have my list getting smaller and my repertoire of movies getting bigger!

I've even recruited my parents into subscribing..whoooo. Spread the Netflix love. I have an offer for a free month, if anyone wants the info just email me and I'll send it to you!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2004-09-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

Its my Daddy's Birthday! Happy Birthday Daddy!

In other unrelated news...

I've been meaning to write about a service project I did last week. My company is currently raising money, as it does every year, for the United Way Foundation. This year's goal is to raise $90k. Not too shabby. They divide us into teams (I'm a team leader) and then ask each team to have a goal of getting at least 80% of the people on your team to contribute at least $10. They offer payroll deductions, and you can also direct your money to whatever portion of the organization you'd like, or allow United Way to fund whatever needs the most funding. The company goes all out for this fundraiser. There are events every day of the week for three weeks. They let us wear jeans to work for two weeks. They do raffles for an extra day off this year, basket raffles, a clothing drive, a food drive, a used book sale, a bake sale, a fitness contest, a kids essay contest. And tons of prizes including gift certificates, days off, box seats to the Flyers and Sixers, and even airline tickets to anywhere in the US. And of course the infamous Dunk Tank where the VP's each take a round in the dunk tank and we get to dunk our bosses for a dollar a ball. The CFO matches every dollar spent trying to dunk him and last year he raised over $500 in his 15 minutes in the dunk tank.

But beyond all that they also participate in the Day of Caring where they give us time off from work that doesn't count against our vacation time to volunteer at various organizations. About 30 people in the company participate, and I was lucky enough to be able to go. I volunteered for a half day at for the Children & Adult Disability & Educational Services (CADES) in Swarthmore, PA. We helped them make pizzas and salad and cake and then ate lunch with them. After all of my years and time in APO I learned that some things never change. There's still that group of slackers who stop after awhile and just chit chat among themselves. And there's still always a need for volunteers no matter where you go. I loved working with these people, even if it was hard. One of the students, Paul loved to talk about his life and the computer and how he liked to cook. Another student Brian was really very smart, and we played some trivia games with him. I talked to another girl Maria who said that she didn't want to be moved to another room, and wanted to stay where she was in room 10. They're such special people and I've realized that I really miss volunteering. Its hard to get up and go and volunteer, and as much crap as I gave people in APO when I was Service Chair I realize now that even if people only volunteered an hour the whole semester - thats still a valuable hour and its not easy to do. I hope I can volunteer to work with this group again, they really were a lot of fun and just amazing people. And the people who work with them every day helping them and teaching them have such incredible amounts of patience, and deserve to be paid way more than I'm sure they are.

Anyway - thanks CADES for letting me join you, even if it was for only three or four hours. I loved it!

Not Equality - the Horror!

2004-09-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that infuriates me intensely its the debate about gay marriage. There should be no debate. And the more I read about it the more it makes me angry. I really do not understand at all why this is an issue. Two people who love each other committing themselves to each other - NOT THAT! I was reading this article and it is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. It talks about the impact of legalizing gay marriage (they put marriage in quotes. that pissed me off too.) and they made it sound so horrendous - but really they were just explaining how it would give this socially unrecognized group of people equal rights:

The legalization of same-sex "marriage" would affect everything from what is taught in public schools to what is required from businesses both big and small. Small-town newspapers could be sued if they refuse to run a same-sex wedding announcement. Small-town public schools could be pressured to hold "diversity day" education programs. Schoolchildren nationally would be told that traditional households are no different from same-sex households. Businesses giving benefits to their married employees would be required to extend those benefits to same-sex couples -- perhaps even if they have a religious objection. Bridal magazines, Oprah-type television programs and newspaper advice columns would cater to same-sex couples. Same-sex "marriage," Sprigg said, would impact every aspect of society. "I think a lot of people have not thought through the implications of this all the way," he said.

I read all of these things that would happen to society and thought "wow! wouldn't that be a great thing?!" Why is it being portrayed as anything other than that? Why would this be a bad thing? The 'implications'? If giving benefits to same-sex couples from companies that heterosexual couples have is an 'implication' then rock the fuck on.

I had a friend recently ask me if I thought that people were born gay or chose to be gay. Based on conversations I've had with gay friends I believe that people are born gay the say way that others are born straight. I don't remember a time in my life when I CHOSE to be straight, it was just how I always felt. I think the same is true of those people who are gay.

Removing what I've learned from gay friends - think about it logically. Who in their right mind would choose to be part of a group where they are socially unaccpeted, rebuffed by a majority of religions, and denied many of their basic rights? Why would someone do that unless it was in their heart and soul and truly part of who they were? It's not like choosing to be rich where you can buy a big house and fancy car. It's like choosing to be discrimated against - why would someone do that? Just to spite those who disagree with it?

I also read about African-American groups who get angry when the fight for gay marriage is compared to the fight for inter-racial marriage. I read a quote where someone said it was comparing "apples to oranges." This makes no sense. People had to fight for equal rights that were denied to them because of something beyond their control that made them different. How is that not the same thing for gay couples?

I really don't understand why people won't let gay couples be married - it won't hurt them personally. Its not like they are handed guns and free reign to kill anyone who discriminates against them (not a bad idea, really). Whats the problem?

I know people say its because of religious reasons and God intended man to be with woman. Well - obviously thats not true because He also created gay people. Now what the fuck do you think is going to happen to you when you go to heaven and you say "But, God. You're wrong - you couldn't have created man to be with man because...I just don't think so." And really - are you going to go to Hell because you let two gay people get married? If God's really against it - don't you think he'll DO HIS JOB and send them to Hell himself?

Look - I understand that not everyone is going to be okay with gays or gay marriage, but I really think they need to suck it up and deal. You don't have to agree with it. You dont' have to like it. You can preach all you want to the gays about how they shouldn't be gay. But treat them equally. They're human beings and deserve everything you deserve. You can try to convince them to be straight all you want - but in the end you have to let them love who they want to love, and get healthcare and raise children and be able to hold hands in public just like you and me.

And as for gay parents - I'd rather a child be in a loving home with gay parents than an abusive home with hetero parents and if any two set of people can provide a child with a loving home and raise that child to be loving and tolerant and an active member of society then that kicks ass. period. with the number of single parents out there there are plenty of children without fathers or without mothers - it can't hurt to have two of one kind.

I honestly would love to hear someone disagree with me - mostly because I don't understand the opposite mentality and have no idea how someone can feel differently.

My Kitty Cat

2004-09-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

My cat is a strange creature. Her name is Boo and she's 12 years old now, but she still looks like a kitten. She's pretty little, but she has this waddle of a belly which is just funny. She's all gray with white paws and a white face and a black nose. Her black nose makes her so cute. She's also pretty dumb. When I was in junior high I did a creative writing story about how my cat was human for a day and she was a blonde cheerleader who annoyed the crap out of me. Boo also is petrified of everything and everyone that is not me. Even people she's been around for ages, if they suddenly stand up when they've been sitting for awhile, she freaks out and hides underneath my bed. She sleeps with me every night, sometimes sharing my pillow with me and I love her a lot. But among her weird ticks her affinity for catching bugs on the ceiling is the weirdest.
This morning Boo saw a little tiny bug on my ceiling and as usual started freaking out and meowing and pointing to it with her paws. Does she try to get up to the ceiling to catch it? No. She just meows at me until I pick her up and hold her to the ceiling so she can swat it. So there I am standing on a chair in the middle of my room weilding my cat above my head chasing this bug around the ceiling while she pokes at it, looks at me until I move her closer, she pokes it some more until it finally falls and is lost forever in the abyss of my desk and floor. I put Boo down and she happily curls up and promptly falls asleep forgetting entirely about the bug she did NOT catch.
Thats right - not only does she put forth ZERO effort to NOT catch the bug, but she makes me work my ass off for her to NOT catch the bug. It would be so much easier to just catch it with a tissue and flush it. So here's a note to you: when your cat is a kitten don't teach it that you will pick it up and hold it to the ceiling so it can swat bugs. Just kill them yourself.

Reputation

2004-09-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

So. I think I've developed an interesting reputation for myself here at work. On the one hand, I'm pretty sure that I'm revered as a total badass. I've been brought to meetings for the sole purpose of being the muscle and intimidation. I mentioned this morning that someone was on my shit list for being a total moron and my boss said "thats not a place I would EVER want to REMOTELY be." Thats right. My BOSS is scared of me.

On the other hand, I'm also revered as being a complete 10 year old. I bring my tamagotchi to work, get excited about free ice cream, trade candy for the flavors I want and am just generally silly. As a result..I have this very strange reputation that I think I'm okay with.

In other news, my Tamagotchi has grown into a hunchbacked lady bug, or maybe a strawberry giving birth. Either way, I still think that Stewie is very cute and he now has taken to singing and dancing when he feels like it. Though he still gets mad at me when we play the jumping game and I accidentally make him land on a hurdle and then he won't play with me anymore. These things are so addictive. I think I may need to get another one so they can play with each other.

Random

2004-09-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Is it bad that every time I see a Bush bumper sticker I have the overwhelming urge to do something horrible to the car?

The new Tamagotchi Connections are releasing a new one in silver shortly and I don't know if I can resist the urge to buy one much longer.

This week I have four friends with birthdays: Steve, Ryan, Thesa, and Jason. Happy Birthday everyone!

And two friends who just got jobs! Congratulations Angela and Ryan!

What a good week so far.

Its only Tuesday?!

2004-08-31T14:01:00.000-07:00

I did get paid today - yay! and I'm very excited about that. I've been waiting for two weeks until I got paid again to go buy a Tamagotchi because I've been so broke from my move that I couldn't even afford the $15 toy. Now, looking at all of my bills I'm thinking I should wait two more weeks until I get paid again. We'll see. But either way, I really want one.

I also got an email from my super cool friend Persico today. Yay! She's so cool. She asked me what books I've been reading lately and I immediately though "What?! I don't know! I'm not that cultured to be reading books!" and then I remembered that I have a huge stack of books that I've been working on reading for about 9 months now, and that I love books. She gave me some good suggestions for new books and I'm very excited..and now also very motivated to get through my stack so I can read new books!

Persico ALSO informed me that Jem and the Holograms is now out on DVD and I have promptly added it to my netflix list. Thats right - JEM! Doesn't get much cooler than that!

Weekends are good, Mondays are bad

2004-08-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

I think that the badness of Monday is trying to offset the goodness of this past weekend. I loved this weeked, I wish that every weekend could be like this weekend was. It started Friday when my favorite boy surprised me as I came out of work and met me there! We had a lovely dinner followed by "Suspect Zero." I liked the movie - it was really interesting. The premise of the movie deals with a concept called Remote Viewing - which really exists and was used by the US Government. According to the Farsight Institute Remote Viewing is "a controlled and trainable mental process involving psi (or psychic ability)." It describes it by saying that people using remote viewing (which can be done through various methods and styles) "to psychically gather descriptive data relating to a 'target', which is usually some place or event at some point in time." It's been shown that it can be quite accurate and the FBI and CIA have used it, however ceased their program because it wasn't accurate enough. For example, one man described on y100 the other morning about it and he was saying that he could see that someone was buried in this specific place on a mountain under a tree - but he has no relational data about it which mountain or where the tree is. Though he can see it perfectly - he doesn't know where in the world it is. Its an interesting concept and the movie sort of plays with it a bit, along with frightening concepts about serial killers. The movie is filmed a bit choppy, and it doesn't seem like the plot is quite filled out. Going to see the film unarmed with any info about what its about would confuse the heck out of anyone seeing it - it would seem. I think its definitely worth a rent, or perhaps a maintee viewing, but not a night time full-priced show.

Saturday we went and saw Die Hard at a theatre in Phoenixville - it was great! I'd never seen that movie before, and I really liked it. It was cool we got to see it on the big screen, and it was at the Blob theatre, which is just cool. We got to spend some quality time with our friend from high school Jon. He's a cool dude - and ladies, he's single and a hottie so just let me know if you're interested - i got the hook up. Saturday night we spent watching football and relaxing. I worked on my needlepoint which MD accused me of being a 50 year old woman. Since when is needlepointing the habit of 50 year olds only?!

Sunday we bascially just ran some errands and hung out. We stopped by the boy's parents house and saw them for a while. And we got to see my friend Ryan and his boyfriend Brian for dinner - which was so nice! I finally got to meet Brian, what a cutie and a sweet guy. Then we got drunk and watched the Waterboy. I forgot what a quality film that was! Or maybe that was just the apple martini my roomate made me talking. Either way, it was a great weekend. And..now its Monday. *sigh*

This is how you make a good ad....

2004-08-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

Why is it that George Bush can't just make a good campaign ad? He's getting in all kinds of trouble for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads that he has "no connection" to. Just that they talk with his campaign people and they use his campaign lawyer. The lawyer who says that they asked him and he helped just like he would help anyone else. Raiiight. Hey - the Dems need some help with some complicated legal issues..want to do them the favor? Jackass.

Now, the USOC is asking the Bush campaign to remove his ad referencing the Olympics. If you read the policy according to that article, it looks pretty cut and dry:
"The International Olympic Committee and the USOC have the authority to regulate the use of anything involving the Olympics.
An act of Congress, last revised in 1999, grants the USOC exclusive rights to such terms as "Olympic," derivatives such as "Olympiad" and the five interlocking rings. It also specifically says the organization "shall be nonpolitical and may not promote the candidacy of an individual seeking public office.""

So, first he pissed people off by using images of 9/11. Then he "doesn't" support or help put out smear ads about Kerry's time in Vietnam. Then he starts using dead soldiers, and now he's using the Olympics to promote himself. I can't imagine why the living relatives of people whose name's he's used are balking at the ads. Listen up Georgie: its not rocket science to make a good ad for your campaign. Why don't you stick to the things everyone else has done - maybe say, real issues? Then you can get yourself out of hot water and stop pissing off the people you're using in your ads! Oh, but then you'd have to actually talk about YOURSELF and there's really nothing to show there is there. I get it now.

Being a Kid Again

2004-08-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

Kenan said my blog is boring. Thats sad.

Moving on. Tonight I got together, as I do many Wednesday nights with friends from High School (yes...high school) and played ultimate frisbee (yes, ultimate frisbee). I always knew I was weird, but I find this particularly odd. Last week we played kickball, and next week we're playing volleyball. It's like gym class, but way less sucky and without the hot boys making fun of you.

Not that hot boys aren't making fun of me - but more that its okay with me because they're cool and not mean about it. i think secretly they just like me to come to watch my boobs.

See Kenan - a blog with the word "boobs" in it can't be all boring, right?

Netflix Love

2004-08-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

Geeky posted awhile back about her faithfulness to Netflix and steering clear of the new competitors: Blockbuster and Walmart. Among the many reasons was Walmart's active censorship of all of its products. I wasn't so sure this would apply to their DVD rental, and I also figured that most people probably wouldn't notice it on a majority of the movies they watch. I checked out Walmart's DVD rental site today and decided it sucked ass.

First, they're advertising their monthly rate of $15.54 and saying their "competitors" charge $22. Well, that rate is for 2 movies a month, and Netflixs' rate is for their 3 movies a month. They still undercut Netflix coming in at just under $19. That just infuriates me. I'm sure most people would immediately associate their "competitors" with Netflix, and without really researching it think they would be saving almost $7 a month compared to only $3 a month. I think Walmart will be getting an angry "exactly which competitors are $22 a month, i want to know" letter from me.

Second, I decided to test their censorship by looking for the most strenuously rated movie I know of. No, not Showgirls. "Bent." Bent is a movie about homosexuals in a concentration camp. The theatre released version is rated NC-17. On Walmart's rental site, its rated only R. I wonder why that is..they certainly don't tell me why on their website. On Netflix its rated NC-17. Now, how would a Mom feel knowing that a movie that is normally rated NC-17 is edited somehow to make it only rated R? Well, I'd be pretty pissed and I'd want to know exactly what was edited to make it R.

I love Walmart - but this is downright shady and they are definitely getting a letter/email from me about their deceptive business practices with their DVD rentals.

No Wheat = Hell

2004-08-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, now really. This is the silliest thing I think I've ever seen about the church and the best example of how people have lost sight of real religion and replaced it with their version of what they believe is best for everyone. The Roman Catholic Church has revoked an 8 year old girl's first Communion because she had a rice wafer instead of a wheat one because she is allergic to wheat. According to doctrine she must have at least some wheat, just as an alcoholic cannot take communion without alcohol, grape juice will not suffice.

How ridiculous is that? Isn't God's love (according to Christians) for everyone who asks for forgiveness of their sins. No wait - you must also be able to eat wheat and drink alcohol. Really now, does the Catholic church think that that God is going to be forgiving to: a. the 8 year old girl who is allergic to wheat and ate rice instead to honor Jesus' sacrifice or b. the church that forces people to do things that might hurt them because they say so. not God - its not in the bible that you MUST eat wheat or you MUST drink alcohol - its the church.

Things like this make me angry and its the reason I've pulled so far away from Christianity. All of the hypocrisy of "love thy neighbor" as long as you're cool enough to hang out with me and believe in all the things that i believe in. Doesn't each of us have a personal relationship with God - and doesn't that inherently mean that we each believe in Him differently? And isn't it more important to do the right thing than to do what you think is right in the name of God? And isn't there only ONE judge? People use the bible and manipulate it to read how they would like it to read and to say what it is they need it to say and that shit pisses me off. If you believe something because thats what you believe - then its a good thing you live in America and you can say it. But don't use God to tell my friends that being gay is wrong or that sex is bad or anything else. If being gay is so wrong - then why did God design people to be gay? Because He did. But thats another blog for another day. The point is - its not up to the church or anyone belonging to the church to judge..thats God's job, so shut the fuck up and let the little girl eat rice.

one of those days...

2004-08-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

i don't have them very often, but every now and then i just have one of THOSE days. usually its only a part of the day and then it gets better..but so far today has been kinda crappy. i had a hard time getting out of bed, which i was so proud of myself for doing so well the last few days. then i was pretty much ready to go on time - which was a miracle, but then i had all kinds of other stuff i wanted to get done so my roomate didn't have to deal with any of it when she gets home tonight. so i took out the trash and fed my cat and cleaned her litter box, and then took out this big box of my stuff. i walk outside and its blistering hot today. *sigh* the box of trash didn't fit in my car so i had to lug it up the hill to the dumpster. i finally leave for work, not too late, i should be just fine and still get to work close to 9. i start driving and realize that its friday and that means casual day. and that i also forgot my shorts to change into after work. there's no way i was going to wear work pants all day in that heat. so i turned around and changed into jeans and got my shorts and left again. to get stuck in TWO new construction areas, and finally get to work around 9:30. my boss doesn't really care when i get to work, as long as its reasonable. usually i'm in around 9:30am, but i like to be there closer to 9. so i was annoyed. then my co-worker bombards me with questions as soon as i walked in. nothing annoys me more than when people start talking to me and asking me things before i've even had a chance to put my keys down.
but the day's starting to look better. i got a free donut from accounts payable and i meant to get water from downstairs but it turned out to be sprite so free sprite too. mmm..free food and drinks!

Gimmie my money back you bitch!

2004-08-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I talked to one of the many retarded people at my old apartment, and they said that we had no damages and we would be getting all of our security deposit back. Plus, $96 from our "electricity security deposit." Thats right. They have such shitty residents who don't pay their rent that they have to take $100 from you when you move in for your last electricity bill. Either way - this is good news that I'm getting my money back, not only because getting money back is good but also because there was a huge stain on the brand-new carpet in my bedroom from my cat, and I was sure they were going to take some of our deposit for that. But after seven and a half hours of cleaning on Sunday..thats right..seven and a half hours...I was like "damn straight biiatch! gimmie my money back!"
I hope they also managed to unlock the bathroom door. I finished cleaning the bathroom, and closed the door so it wouldn't be used anymore and somehow I locked the door on my way out and there's no one in the bathroom and its locked. I thought it was pretty funny, after all the crap from that place to lock them out of our bathroom after we'd cleaned it all. But dont' worry - we moved the bullets out with us, unlike the last residents.

I have no furniture but I love movies!

2004-08-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

Oh yes. I moved. I never thought it would happen, but it did. And we even managed to do it right in between the rain storms AND I didn't total a 15' truck. Go Budget! You rock! Everything went exactly according to my plans and I was highly impressed with myself. I moved all my stuff into the new apartment and went to unpack and it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn't unpack because I had NO bedroom furniture. Thankfully my new bed (which i love!) came the next day and then on Monday my boy helped me buy a desk (yay ikea!) and even assembled it for me. Thank goodness because it was complicated.
I'm still working on the unpacking thing, mostly because I was busy running around getting more things for the apartment that I don't have places to put them in. But the new apartment is great and I love it. I have a huge closet that might even accomodate most of my clothes.
I also saw an AMAZING movie last night. "Garden State" which Zach Braff (from Scrubs) wrote, directed, and starred in is an amazing movie. What makes it amazing is that its a relatively ordinary story (Boy is confused in life, meets crazy weird ass girl who changes everything), there are a couple of unique twists to the plot, in addition to the storytelling. Its the way the story is told that really makes it great. Zach Braff's character, Andrew doesn't say a whole lot in the movie, he has relatively few lines. But something about the way he plays this character in addition to the artistic nature of the filming makes you somehow understand him and really get involved in his character. Taking out the weird aspects of the film, its an ordinary tale just told so uniquely that you fall in love with it. Hands down this is the best movie that I've seen since "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
I don't think I've ever seen quite this many movies in a year and in addition to my two favorites listed above, add "Saved!" to the list of must-see movies if you haven't seen it already. That was probably random, but oh well.

Bring on the Thunder

2004-08-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Yeah. So, I get to leave in one hour to go start the whole moving proccess which will extend into tomorrow afternoon. I'm very excited to be moving and only a little sad. Strangely I'm not really sad at all because all my little complaints about where I live now will soon be alllll gone! The bad news is that this two day moving proccess is going to take place in the thunder and rain, thanks to Bonnie and Charley. Thats right. I'm moving on Friday the 13th in the aftereffects of two hurricanes.
Yay for being online at home (for the first time in over a year) in less than a week! yippee!!

tommy toes

2004-08-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

its been a busy week. i move on friday and i have to load up all of my stuff into the truck tomorrow evening into friday morning which means i've been packing like crazy. i talked to one of my old roomates last night and she was amazed that i was as packed as i am. i normally wait until the last possible moment and then frantically run around doing everything until i'm abysmally behind schedule in every aspect. however i only have my bathroom and the kitchen left to pack and some clothes from my bedroom. considering a majority of the things in the kitchen are my roomates'. and what made today especially nice was a co-worker gave me one of her homegrown tomateoes! it looks so yummy. i can't believe i used to dislike tomates. i think i'll be stopping on my way home for some mozzerella and basil to eat with it. mmm..yummy!! it should balance out my breakfast of french silk pie nicely this evening.

So True

2004-08-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

Look at how smart our president is:
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

I think for the first time since he took office, I finally believe something that he's said. To cover up for him, Bush had to get an aid to fix things up a bit. Someone who can actually speak English, perhaps..?

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush's misstatement "just shows even the most straightforward and plain-spoken people misspeak." "But the American people know this president speaks with clarity and conviction, and the terrorists know by his actions he means it," McClellan said.

Well, thats just funny Scott. You're trying to tell me that Bush is "straightforward" and "plain-spoken" ? Unfortunately those are NOT qualities I'm looking for in a President. Perhaps "intelligent, honest, trustworthy, heartfelt" any of those would be better adjectives than your fancy way of saying "plan and stupid." And he speaks with "clarity and conviction" yes he does..he clearly and convincingly tells the American public he's trying to hurt them. And the terrorists certainly do know that because he's too busy with Saddam to chase after them.

I really just can't stop laughing..keep talking kids..you'll just bury yourselves...

T-8 days

2004-08-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Stats on my upcoming move:
8 days until I move
11 more commutes to and from work
4 more days of work
20 complete dish settings for the new apartment
1 collapsing ceiling in existing apartment
0 bedroom furniture
0 boxes packed

yeah, i'd say that was a good start. i still need to set up our cable but we have electricity, and a phone number. Saturday we're going to sign our lease - which has an adjusted pet fee since they LIED to us about it and I had to pull out the big guns and threaten them violently with a polite letter. Tomorrow I'm going to try to find a cheap mattress and maybe a desk for my bedroom. An armoir and nightstands will have to come later. i'm so very excited! i can't wait to move out of the ghetto and into a pretty pretty apartment with flowers and trees and no noise or collapsing ceilings! yay!

"Vote for Change"

2004-08-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Can we please talk about how cool this is? A group of big name artists have come together to tour in a concert called "Vote for Change" to raise money to support a group called America Coming Together. They're basically raising money to oust Bush. I love it. Plus, its a cool show, I wanna go! Springsteen, James Taylor, the Dixie Chicks, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, John Mellencamp, and more. Whoo hoo! So. who wants to go with me?

drip drip

2004-08-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

so. last night was an interesting night. beginning with the conversation with my dad regarding my car and the fact that it sucks and the crappy deal that volkswagen offered me for it. i'm going to court now, which should be interesting. then, as i'm talking to my dad, i hear a loud dripping. the bathtub directly above my bathtub in the apartment above me is leaking. a lot. so i freak out hang up the phone with my dad and call maintenance. the conversation goes like this:

"hi, my name is lauren and i live in apartment 123 in complex abc and.."
"hold on! we need to get some basic information first! whats your name?"
"uh. lauren."
"where you do live?"
"complex abc"
"what apartment?"
"apartment 123"
"okay. now. what seems to be the problem?"
(please note at this point i'm annoyed and my ceiling is sort of..sagging..where the bathtub above me is.)
"the ceiling above my bathroom is leaking and it looks like its going to collapse."
"ohh-kay. let me just type this in here...(clicks away)..alright. i'll call maintenance and they'll be out shortly."
yeeeah. i go upstairs and tell the lady to turn off her bathtub and the leaking stops. i call back maintenance and tell them they can just come in the morning because the leaking stopped. and they said they had called the guy half an hour ago already and he was on his way. half an hour later the guy shows up. (please note, now its 11:30pm and it took him an hour to get there. and he lives 15 minutes away he tells me. hmm...) he pokes his finger at one of the spots where the water's coming through..and his finger goes straight through the ceiling. nice. i only live here for 10 more days! couldn't it have waited another week and a half to start trying to collapse?! nooooo my apartment just has to be a bastard for one more week. *sigh*
then my roomate comes home. his dad had triple bypass on monday and now he's having a panic attack and thinks he's dying. the doctors say he's doing great..but he thinks he's dying because it hurts. the man had open heart surgery! i'm just glad he's okay right now and i hope he gets better because i sure would miss him if he decides to go somewhere.
now, its after midnight..so much for packing. i move in 10 days..i should start that soon..hm.

I heart Lance

2004-08-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

My roomate is obsessed with Lance Armstrong. OBSESSED. He has Lance posters, Lance screensavers, Lance's book, and of course, Lance's yellow band along with every single magazine that has done an article on Lance in the last few years. As a result, I've learned quite a bit about Mr. Lance Armstrong, and I've been reading his book, which I can't put down. I've decided that I want to know some of the more recent information (I need to get my hands on his second book) so I did a few searches for Lance to see what else he's been up to. Amazingly I ended up mostly on personal web pages where people have been debating Lance's morality, his values, his priorities. Especially following his divorce and now relationship with Sheryl Crowe. And it's kind of pissed me off.

Let's get a few things straight about Lance, right now. First: Lance had an amazing fight with testicular cancer, with only about a 3% chance of survival and he beat the odds. With tumors in his testicles, lungs, and brain its amazing he even survived - much less survived to come back to competing in one of the most grueling sporting events in the world. What makes him admirable is that he worked so hard to get through all of those things. His fight, determination and courage are all enviable. As for his personal life - he married Kristin (Kik) Richard after he had finished his chemotherapy and was in remission. They started dating a few months after he finished chemo, and married less than a year later. They divorced after five years of marriage and three children. He's been criticized for turning away from her after all the support she's given him and for sticking by his side through cancer. Not true. He was dating a woman named Lisa who stuck by his side through cancer, and after it was over their relationship ended. According to his book she was the one who suggested seeing other people and he had no objections. As for judging him for his divorce - the only offical press releases from him and Kik have stated that they separated and went through marriage counseling and came to the conclusion that their marriage was not going to work but a friendship would. Lance has even said that their friendship is stronger now that they're divorced. Based on other press releases from Kik it sounds as if the pressure of immediate celebrity along with the long time spent apart is what put the strain on their marriage.
Now. None of those things make Lance a bad person or a cheat or anything else. His marriage wasn't working anymore - just like 50% of other marriages in the US. People have criticized Kik for undergoing In-Vitro to have his children because she's Catholic. Thats ridiculous - Lance is sterile because of his cancer, and they had to use sperm banked before he began his treatments or surgery.
Lance has also been accused of doping. I have NO IDEA how people can continue to say this. Look at the man - he's all muscle, but he's still very slim. If he were on steriods, wouldn't he be huge? That aside - he's been tested regularly, more than any other cyclist and every single time he's tested negative. How on EARTH can people accuse him of doping if all of the tests come back negative. Thats just poor sportsmanship if you ask me. Even his accusers have been quoted as saying that all of their evidence is circumstantial. And Lance is quoted as saying that that was incredibly stupid of them to say while in the proccess of being sued for false allegations against Lance.
I don't really understand why people can't say "Wow! Lance Armstrong is amazing. I really admire his accomplishments and look up to him for what he's done for cancer and cycling." Instead people have to look for ways to bring him down and make him seem like a bad person. He's just that - a person! He has his flaws, he's not perfect - reading his book you can tell that he has his arrogant moments...and he knows when he's being arrogant too. But don't we all? I have a real issue with the people who have to bring him down to make themselves feel better. How immature is that? At the very least stop spewing crap when you don't know anything about it. At least have read his book before you make a judgement of him.
And thats my rant about Lance Armstrong. For a good summary on Lance, try this website. Its pretty accurate

Letter Writing

2004-08-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

I've been getting some slack at work about my evilness. First of all, I take that as a compliment. The fact that people fear me at work is a good thing. But they are viewing me as evil for the wrong things. I'm a pretty fair person, I try to view things from someone else's perspective when I start to get annoyed at them and see if I'm justified. This is especially true in any kind of customer service situation. I am a stickler for customer service. If I'm paying for it- I expect it to be pretty good. If its not awesome, I just leave a smaller tip. If its horrible, I leave about a quarter to show them that I did not forget I just thought they were wretched. Every now and then something really irks me and I write a letter to upper management. In all the letters I've written only once have I not received a response. I recently wrote a letter to my new apartment complex because they told us one thing about the pet fees when we viewed the apartment, and after we paid them non-refundable money they changed it by over $500. Thats a lot. I got a pretty quick response (after a couple of nudging phone calls) and it was fixed. Now, Maggie Moo's has pissed me off, big time by not letting my friend use their restroom. So has The Cheesecake Factory - more because I want free cheesecake and I'm on a roll rather than they've made me that angry. Does this make me a heinous bitch, or just kickass because I have the patientce to write letters and get free stuff?

Welcome to August!

2004-08-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

Well! That was one way to bring in August with a bang! First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Kerry! She turned 21 over the weekend and of course this meant partying hard over the weekend in DC. Despite the crappy service at the restaurant, and an asshole manager at Maggie Moo's who wouldn't let us - paying customers - use the bathroom, we had a great time. I got to see all the lovely people I haven't seen in ages, and party with my girls. Then I got to go see The Village last night. It is a great movie - I really liked it a lot. It's so clever and well-thought out. It's a lot of fun. Plus, it was filmed right in my back yard. By "my backyard" I mean about 5 miles up the road from my backyard. Close enough. But before you go to see The Village - don't go into it thinking that its a scary movie. It's not. It's not really supposed to be, either. Its just an interesting story that has some creepy moments. I think they need to change the advertising on this movie because people go into it thinking its a scary movie and they're disappointed when its not, and the awesomeness of this movie gets lost in between. Oh, and you know how they do all those ads to tell people to turn their cell phones off. How dumb do you have to be to watch that and then NOT DO IT! *sigh*

Fashion Today

2004-07-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

I am, by no means, a fashion guru. Mostly because I never cared. I don't like to look sloppy or slutty. Anything in between I wear. I usually end up in jeans and some kind of colored top. Recently I've been venturing into new territory looking at shoes a color other than black or brown and various belts to coordinate my outfits. During my lunch break today at the mall I saw more girls than I can count looking like they just walked out of magazines down the red carpet and into the mall. And by "girls" I mean..young girls. We're talking junior high-high schoolers. How do they have the time to put into their clothes..and more importantly the money! When I was in high school (all of six years ago) everyone got their purses from the Gap and that was cool. Now I see girls with Louis Vuitton and Coach and Kate Spade (who I love by the way) and I wonder - what the hell?! I shoved things in my back pockets..not into Kate Spade?! What is going on? Or did this always exist and I just didn't know it because I didn't care and I didn't know who Louis Vuitton was. Much less Coach. Hmm

Dunkin' Donuts vs. Krispy Kreme's

2004-07-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

This morning I brought in Dunkin' Donuts for everyone at the office for breakfast. And they went over quite well, everyone seemed to like them. I love Dunkin' Donuts. But everyone always talks about Krispy Kremes and how wonderful they are. And I just don't know. I mean. I love Krispy Kreme's sometimes, but they dont' come in a lot of flavors. I like variety! And sometimes I just really want a Blueberry Glazed from Dunkin' Donuts. What a dilemma....

birthday time

2004-07-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

uh oh. Its my birthday this week and I'm not sure quite how I feel about that yet. I'm turning the big 2-3 which my boss teased me about. Mostly because I'm so freaking young. But I am getting old. I have four upcoming weddings this year: my best friend Steve, my ex-boyfriend Tim, my boy's sister, and my old roomate Marney. I guess I can't be that young if all my friends are getting hitched!
But also, the big thing about my birthday is that I hate it. Typically, its the worst day of the year. Not because I hate getting older but because of my parents. Since they're divorced there's always the "who gets to see Lauren on her birthday" debate and subsequent guilt trip no matter who I chose. Then there's the "lets have dinner/throw a party/celebrate - but on our terms with who we want and how we want." The second one is the one that hit me this year. One set of parents offered to throw me a birthday dinner and make me whatever I want. I asked for a pretty easy dinner: shrimp cocktail, corn on the cob, steak on the grill, a salad, and apple pie. Then they asked who I wanted to invite and then gave me crap for wanting to invite my boy. I know - imagine that! I want to share my birthday with my boyfriend. They just get all weird about it - they don't want to have to clean the house, or eat in the dining room, or have to be nice and talk to him and actually get to know him. God forbid he turn out to be a nice guy and they're wrong about him. So, Happy Birthday Lauren - as long as you do what we want.
Though, this is far better than the year I got screamed at for not baking my own birthday cake or raking the grass fast enough on my birthday. And this year I'm getting a gift too - first one in three years! They're helping me buy my new bed..I hope anyway. I haven't really minded that - I don't expect gifts on my birthday. But I do mind that my step-mom has a conniption if I don't get her something for her birthday/mothers' day/christmas or anything else I'm forgetting. I guess I just hate the hypocritical bullshit associated with that part of my family sometimes.
Okay, enough moaning and groaning.

Supreme Weekend Goodness

2004-07-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

It's almost the weekend! And I'm going to see the Bourne Supremacy tonight! whoo hoo!
I also started to buy a mattress, but told the guy I was going to be looking at some other places first and I got to have Chinese for lunch - which is my favorite lunch. It's a good day, despite the pouring rain.

Have a good weekend!

Overzealous? Me?

2004-07-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

Okay. I admit it. I'm so excited about moving that I can't stop thinking about it, talking about it or doing things to get ready for it. It's such a frustrating thing to not be able to start packing because its entirely too soon but still know how much work there is to do before I move. So instead I just keep planning about it. Plus, I'm buying all new bedroom furniture which is adding to my excitement and brokeness but still excitement. So everytime I see a furniture store, I have to go in and poke around and see what I like. I'd like to slowly accumulate more/better furniture. For example, I found this really cool coffee table. It lifts up so that you can eat off it, because we all know that we eat off our coffee table all the time. However, its $300 and I don't even have a bed. I should NOT be looking at $300 coffee tables. See what I mean?
This brings us to yesterday when I decided that, even though our move is three weeks away I was going to call and set up our phone, cable and electricity. Good thing I did, too! They're all booked up for our move-in day, so we are getting our phone connected the day before and cable is queued up for the following week. Assuming the current residents cancel their cable - which they have not done yet. You move out next week people - you should be overzealous like me!

Lunch is the best time of the day

2004-07-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

I've realized that I spend the entire first half of my day waiting for lunch. Mostly because I tend to just futz around in the morning doing little things to keep myself busy thinking "hey! lunch is only two hours away!" and then I do the majority of my real work in the afternoon. But seriously, lunch is the highlight of my day. Its a whole hour smack in the middle that I get to do whatever I want with. Drive to the mall, go home and visit my sister, visit Dave's for a quick makeout session, meet up with friends, sit under my tree and read, go to the gym, the list goes on and on. There's a whole plethora of activities for me to choose from during this sacred hour of the day and most of my morning is spent trying to decide what do do with that time. Plus - I get to decide what to eat! Do I bring a sandwhich from home? Get a salad from the cafeteria? Go to the Chinese buffet up the road? Chick-Fil-A (NOT chika-fil Dave...) And then today it hit me: my life has boiled down to being excited about eating lunch. I think I'm the most boring person on the planet.
Time to go back to reading CNN.

One weekend include 1 business, 1 date, 2 movies, & an engagement please

2004-07-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy weekend! First it started with a barbeque at my Mom's house to celebrate the sale of my step-dad's business. Not because my step-dad wanted to sell his business but because he wanted to be rid of the mother-fucking asshole who was trying to destroy him and steal the business from under him. All I can say about that is that I believe in Kharma and he too will get his in the end. And my mother will be telling his wife about the prostitute he hired while he was in Malaysia.
The weekend then moved on to visit my friend Nick who I haven't seen in a while. We had drinks with his family and then we saw Fahrenheit 9/11, and then hit up our favorite restaurant from high school. Fahrenheit 9/11 was a fascinating film. I read the news every day, and I believe George W. Bush is incompetent just like the next guy - but this film surprised me. There was so much information I just didn't know. Granted: when watching this movie be sure to watch it with some common sense - its done by Michael Moore and full of his slanted view. The one thing I do wish Michael Moore had done was shown the flip side. It would have made his documentary much more legitimate if he compared his information about Bush to information about other Presidents. The statistics only mean something when they're compared to something else. It would have been a more honorable film if he had said "Here's Bush. Here's the other guys, now make up your own mind." The other thing I didn't like was the part about the woman whose son died in Iraq. It was important to see her pain, and how difficult it was for families who had their loved ones abroad. But I didn't like how she supported Bush until her son died. Either you're for the war or against it - but don't be for it until your son dies and then passionately hate Bush. Other peoples sons were dying there too and you supported it until your son died. I don't know if thats really what happened, but thats how it was portrayed in the film. However, that having been said - it was still full of information that I wouldn't have known to get from anywhere else. I would recommend it to anyone.
Then last night I went on a date with my favorite boyfriend to Outback and then to see I, Robot. I loved I, Robot - it was much better than I expected it to be. Will Smith was fantastic in this film and it really was clever. Its a great combination of action and science fiction.
And to top off the weekend, my best friend Steve proposed to his girlfriend Leah and of course she accepted. Congratulations you two crazy kids! And look Steve, you didn't need Dave's help to not fuck it up!

Equality of Political Bashing

2004-07-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you have recently read the articles about how Slim Fast will not longer be showing ads featuring Whoopi Goldberg because of her recent statements at a Democractic rally against George W. Bush. What baffles my mind is why Slim Fast cares. They promote their product and so does Whoopi. They chose her as an a person to promote their product. Whoopi also has a life beyond Slim Fast and their ads, and she has a right to express her opinions. If Whoopi had committed a crime, I can see why Slim Fast would want to not have a criminal promoting their products, but for speaking her mind? Shouldn't Slim Fast promote every woman's right to an opinion and the right to express it along with their product? Isn't that the best way to say that they are indifferent? They cut Whoopi because they don't want to take sides in a political election, just as Walt Disney did when they didn't want to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11. But isn't this move decidedly in favor of George Bush? The same thing happened with this issue against the war with Clear Channel. Companies now regulate public opinion along with their products.
Thinking about this I've realized that most of the companies who have tried to remove themselves from political debate have done so in favor of Bush. They haven't pulled anyone who promotes Bush and bashes Kerry. How many Kerry-bashers out there have been removed? Then I realized that there weren't a whole lot of Kerry-bashers out there. Certainly its not because there aren't very many Bush supporters - there's a country half-full of them. It seems to me that 1. Democrats/Kerry supporters should take the high road and talk about the issues - there certainly are plenty of them. 2. Republicans/Bush supporters need to stop pulling their wealthy strings and let people have the freedom of speech and make the election about issues and not gossip.
I would love to see someone run for President who says "Hey. This is who I am, this is what I think, this is how I'm going to vote. If you agree with that, then I'm your guy. If you don't, well then pick someone you like better." The election isn't about who's better but about who better reflects the views of Americans. I wish they could be more upfront and say what they really think instead of having to try to say what they think people want to hear. Being President obligates them to do what the public wants and not their own agenda. I think that Bush has not done this. I think his religion, and personal beliefs have been his actions in office and not necessarily an image of public opinion. I think he went to Iraq without support of the public. He's trying to pass the gay marriage ban without public support. The public says they are against gay marriage, but they don't want to amend the Constitution. He should try to create a federal law that defines civil unions and enables gay couples to have all the same rights as married couples. I don't agree with that completely either - but at least its a compromise that might actually work without sacrificing someones rights. Just use a different word than "marriage" and the conservatives will be happy. Most of them anyway. I wonder when they're going to realize that homosexuality has existed since the beginning of time and no matter what they do its never going to go away.
Sorry. I got distracted. Anyway...this is my ADD blog for the day. Have a great weekend!

cough cough

2004-07-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

i haven't posted in a while..bad me! but it's been a busy busy few days! After my six hour four mile trounce in the rain for Ben Folds - which was totally worth it, by the way - I got sick. And there's only one good way I know of to kick a cold: spend a day in Hershey Park and stay up half the night to watch Dave Matthews Band. I'm not a huge rollercoaster person. I'll ride most of them, but I generally don't really love it. But Saturday was the best time I've ever had an in amusment park. I rode all but three of their rollercoasters, and one because we just didn't get to it, we ran out of time. Part of what made my time there so wonderful was because no one was pressuring me to ride the rides. My boy was so great - he just asked me to stand in line with him and keep him company. As a result there were a couple I went on because, what the heck - I'd already stood in the line. I hate being pressured and then dreading the ride and then making everyone there hate you because they spend their entire time pressuring you. We had a cute little picnic outside the park at lunch time, and then headed over to the stadium for DMB. Which rocked. As expected. Then I got to call in sick on Monday and go see King Arthur. Which also is a great movie. It doesn't have anything to do with the tale you've ever been told about King Arthur, but I still really liked it. I only wish they'd gotten more into the characters and developed them a bit better to make you really feel their pain. Anyway - I definitely reccommend it.

where did that muscle come from!?

2004-07-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to the Rufus Wainwright, Ben Folds & Guster concert, and it was amazing. But first, let me tell you. When they say that the concert is at the "Festival Pier" on "Penn's Landing" please know that the "Festival Pier" is a good mile and a half maybe two miles from Penn's Landing. Because we parked on South Street and ended up walking in the rain those two miles to the show. Then the show was almost four hours long, standing, and then we walked the two miles back to the car. Muscles I didn't know I had, hurt. We got soaked for the first hour and a half of the show, but then towards the end of Rufus' performance and before Ben came out things started to clear up, and I was mostly dry by the time Guster finished up. Rufus is clearly a very talented artist. His music is beautiful. Though, I have to say its the kind of music you turn on while you're cooking or reading and just relax to it - not necessarily big concert kind of music. Ben came out and he opened with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" - as I predicted. He played a lot of new music, and one song that was on the Japanese release of "Rockin' the Suburbs." He also played a song for his daughter called "Gracie," which is also his daughter's name. Rufus also came back out and played a song with Ben, it was a cover and Rufus didn't know all the words so he had them in front of him. He has an amazing voice so it was great. He started to play "The Luckiest" and then fucked it up and got confused and then people started screaming for "Rock This Bitch!" and he started making stuff up singing about being tired of Rock this Bitch so he sang "Rock out, with your cock out." And then describing how some people may not have the right anatomy so they should "Hang out with your wang out." Then Guster came out and played "Fair" with Ben, which was awesome. It was just like having the whole Ben Folds Five back..but not quite as cool. Then Guster played some background music while the crew came on and moved Ben's piano off - it was awesome! Guster played a great set, and at the end Ben came back on and played a couple of songs with them. He sneaked on and played the drums at first and then they brought his piano back out. The sound for Ben's piano was all messed up at first and at the end Ben was like "I'm just here to take up all kinds of space and feedback all over your music." It was pretty funny. They didn't play any encore's which was sad, but they played an awesome show, so that was great. It was totally worth the pain and dampness - I can't wait to see Ben again! I'd like to see him again with just him, and hear him play a longer set. He didn't play a few of the crowd's big favorites like "Song for the Dumped" and "One Angry Dwarf." But his new music sounds amazing, and I can't wait for the new album to come out!

BEN!

2004-07-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

In an hour and a half, I get to leave work and go see Ben Folds. If it rains like they're saying here I better get my money back. I know it says 'Rain or Shine' but it says nothing about hail. Don't make me get out my angry face weather gods!

....it's a technical term...

2004-07-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Today was my big presentation. As I was preparing at some ungodly hour this morning it was the first time since graduation that anything in the real world seemed to resemble college. I got up extra early because I didn't read or create my notes the night before, I was nervous, I made most of it up on the spot, and I used the term "big green meanies." Oh yes, I'm in the real world and I used the term "big green meanies" in a professional business meeting. Not just any professional business meeting, a professional business meeting with every major department head in Finance. And the best part: I totally got away with it. Mostly because I also used terms like "twofold" and "advesary" and "inclusive of overhead costs" and "meets UCC code Section 4 requirements" and "protect ourselves from fraudulent blah blah blahs." But also because for some reason I get away with this kind of stuff. I'm not really sure why, but I do. I pouted at my boss on Friday when it was 4pm and we were still at work. What'd he do? Laugh and then tell us all to leave. I lose $3million dollars and they say "don't do that again. here, have $50." The CFO gives us a deadline I don't like and I tell him he's in "Big, big trouble, mister" and he pokes me in the side and walks away. Who said business isn't fun?

Happy Fourth..on the Sixth?

2004-07-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July! I spent the 4th fighting being sick, however there were some highlights from this weekend. I washed Bruiser my favorite Lemon. I watched fireworks from my parents back deck, I saw Spider Man 2, and I watched Wet Hot American Summer. First, Spider Man 2 was great! I loved it, how could you not love it - its Spider Man! It is sappier than the first, but still plenty of action. I enjoyed it. As for Wet Hot American Summer - that movie was hilarious. This is pending the right sense of humor. Granted I kept dozing in and out of the movie, but it was hard not to laugh at some of the great funny moments in that movie. Thanks Steve for reccommending it!

Tomorrow will be the best day EVER. I get to see Rufus Wainwright, Ben Folds & Guster at Penn's Landing. I would be going crazy out of my chair in excitement if it weren't for that huge presentation I have to give to every huge manager in the company at 10am tomorrow morning. But come 10:30 tomorrow morning, all bets are off.

Boys Make No Sense

2004-07-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

Guys say girls don't make sense, but really its boys that don't make sense. Girls are easy - we freak out for no apparent reason, get upset over nothing and we get angry and upset for the littlest things. And while this seems to make no sense at all - thats what makes it work. Girls are not logical beings, therefore when we freak out over nothing it fits perfectly into our character and we have met all expectations.

Boys, however are finicky fickle bastards who never make any sense. One minute they're perfectly logical the next their emotional and sappy in an attempt to appease our romantic side. But the most annoying thing about boys is how you can never get any kind of real information out of them. They're always cryptic and aloof about any essential issue relating to a relationship. "Do you like me?" "See, 'like' is an objective term - how can i know if i like you if i don't really know what like means." What the hell is that shit?! It's not rocket science! Girls want only two things from boys: 1. Security 2. Sweet Sweet Loving. By security I mean that girls want to know whats going on and whats going to go on. If guys were to be upfront about it all, I really think girls might hate guys a little less. I mean, if I guy actually come out and says "I like you a lot. But not in that 'forever' kind of way - lets just have fun." Girls would be okay with that because then they at least would know what the heck is going on and they can be secure about how guys really feel. Even if a guy were to say "I'm not sure how I feel yet - but I dig you." GREAT! At least then they know what the deal is.

Of course..that does take away some of the fun of not really knowing and waiting to see what happens. The result: girls still hate boys because they don't make any sense.

Motivation

2004-06-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did something a bit crazy. I followed those silly text books about setting goals, and I did. This is a huge step for me. I'm just generally too lazy to actually do all the work involved in setting a goal. But yesterday I did it. My goal was to save as much money as I possibly could between now and August 13th, my moving date, to buy new bedroom furniture. My current bedroom furniture I've had since I was five years old. It's white, and made for a little girl...its time to grow up and get some grown up furniture. And a bed thats not too short for me! So I sat down and wrote a budget for myself and created reasonable spending limits for myself. And then after work I went to Crate & Barrell to look at all their insanely expensive furniture to motivate myself to save. Looking at their prices made me go "holy crap! i can't afford furniture! i can't spend a dime!" Though, I know I'll get furniture somewhere thats actually reasonably priced, it helped give me something to look forward to. Flipping through Ikea's website helped too. So wish me luck, and hopefully by the time I move in August I'll have a whole bedroom to live in in my new apartment!

Riddick

2004-06-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

Last night I saw "The Chronicles of Riddick" in the theatre, this follows up seeing "Pitch Black" last week. I have to say, I really enjoyed both movies. Naturally they're not award-winning films, but they're very creative, and interesting. If you're interested in seeing Science Fiction & Action, these are both great films. Don't expect them to be believable, thats why their sci fi action flicks, but they're still great. I also would reccommend seeing Pitch Black before you see Chronicles just because you know a bit more before going into Chronicles - though its not completely necessary. It just helps a little.

Next up - I want to see Fahrenheit 9/11.

Back to the Northeast

2004-06-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'm off to spend a day and a half with Daddy in Connecticut. I lived in Connecticut for about five years when I was in elementary school, and I loved it there. It's been a few yaers since I've been back there, and I'm looking forward to spending the weekend there again. Especially since its just me and Daddy. Of course, we're driving up in Daddy's bright yellow with black checkered roof MINI which just makes it even more fun.

In other news, I also have been dubbed at work today as someone not to cross. I really can't figure out what took them so long to figure it out, but my co-worker today said "I've learned, Lauren is not someone to piss off." I'm so proud that they've learned this. Someone sent me a really asshole email yesterday and I wrote up a super sarcastic response refering to the "Common Sense" policy which can be found in the Finance Library on the second floor. I didn't send the email to the jerkface that wrote it, but I did send it to my co-workers to enjoy. They said it was sarcasm at its best. It's been a good day.

And now that its 11:30, I'm leaving in one hour for the weekend! Have a good one!

Bulgaria Anyone?

2004-06-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can fly from Philadelphia to Bulgaria for only $600?? And that wasn't even me looking very hard, just a quick glance and its $600!! Crazy! So, now this means I definitely will be going to Bulgaria.

You might be thinking - why on earth is Lauren going to Bulgaria. You also might be thinking - Of course Lauren wants to go to Bulgaria. Where else would Lauren go? Well it turns out that one of my kickass littles, Sarah will be joining my kickass Grandbig, Frank in the Peace Corps in Bulgaria. I can't wait to go - I would love to experience such a completely different culture. Plus, my travel bug has been itching lately for me to fly somewhere and I've been looking at flights to all kinds of places just because I want to go. Orlando anyone? Vegas? San Diego? Bulgaria?

scratch scratch

2004-06-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

i have a mosquite bite on the barely existant arch of my foot. and every time it itches and i scratch it it tickles and its really quite a conundrum. Actually, I just wanted to use the word conundrum.

Cinamoo & Pitch Black

2004-06-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

Last night I enjoyed a very busy evening of eating ice cream and watching a movie. But this wasn't just any ice cream, or any movie. I went to this new ice cream place around the corner from where I live called Maggie Moo's. First - its called Maggie Moo's. Second, they had a big cow waving to me a few times when I was on my way home from work. Third, its ice cream. I had to go check it out. It's a pretty interesting concept - you pretty much make your own ice cream. They have about 12-15 basic flavors and then about 15-20 "mix in's" so you essentially create your own ice cream. They scoop it out and then lay it on this cold board, put scoops of candy or whatever you want on it, mix it up, then put it back on your cone. I decided to just test the ice cream though and got some kind of coffee in a waffle cone. Dave got caramel ice cream in a waffle bowl. It was almost $9. I almost fell over when they guy looked at me and said "That'll be $8.42". So..as cool as that concept is..its not that cool.

I also watched Pitch Black last night. It took me awhile to get into the movie, but once I did - it was pretty cool. The idea is just neat. Of course there are no Oscars about to be handed out for this movie, but if you take it for what it is - a scary, science fiction, its not supposed to be believable, movie - it was good. I liked it a lot. Now, I can go see the Chronicles of Riddick!

Next up on my Netflix list is Wet Hot American Summer, as reccommended by Steve. I can't wait!

Weekend Funtimes

2004-06-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went to my friend Ryan's house for his graduation party. It was a great time! I got to spend lots of time with my long-lost friend Renee. Except she's really not long at all, and she was never lost. I just haven't seen her in awhile. Ryan's parents are really great people and a lot of fun. They did tequila shots with Ryan's friends, and just really celebrated and partied hard. It was quite a bit of fun - I hope I'm as cool as them when I get older and have kids. Plus, it was great to see Ryan and hang out with him. Congrats Ryanfriend! Now you can join me in the real world!

Little Miss Understood

Addicted to Alias

Mallrats

Mmmm..Tastykakes

Did I tell you I met Ben Folds?

"love actually is all around."

Mooooovies

TP & MD

"They're after me Lucky Charms!"

2 years in the real world

I heart my trainer

Wedding Mania!

Star Wars

House

Time to start stalking Jon....

Moving...again

Pretty in Pink

One Down, Four More to go....

Anniversary

If I want your opinion I'll give it to you.

Ben Folds Rocks My World

I'm still alive..I swear

I love the 90's

Shut UP Katie Couric!

Cruisin'

I swear, I'm still alive

Tina Fey must like Hackers

Just call me Betty Crocker

Miscellenous

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

Ode to Angela

Movie Time!

My cat's insane

The Girls Locker Room

Surprise!

Janet's Boob

I'm too old for this shit

Military Records

Moral Election

National Celibacy Day

Lunch

J-M-U DUUUUUKES

Pet Peeves

NO WORK

Political Rhetoric

MIA

Doh!

My Little Brother

No $5million for you

Sick Co-Workers

Kerry's Top Ten

Mmm...food

*splash!*

I think I'm dead

Pet Peeves

Such a Goof

161 Movies To See

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Not Equality - the Horror!

My Kitty Cat

Reputation

Random

Its only Tuesday?!

Weekends are good, Mondays are bad

This is how you make a good ad....

Being a Kid Again

Netflix Love

No Wheat = Hell

one of those days...

Gimmie my money back you bitch!

I have no furniture but I love movies!

Bring on the Thunder

tommy toes

So True

T-8 days

"Vote for Change"

*drip* *drip*

I *heart* Lance

Letter Writing

Welcome to August!

splash!

drip drip

I heart Lance

cough cough

scratch scratch