Last Sunday Greg and went to the Screamfest horror movie convention at the Wyndham hotel. I think Greg was disappointed that it wasn't bigger (it wasn't nearly as big as MegaCon) but there were some interesting people and vendors there. We didn't have to pay for tickets, we won tickets from ORock, yay!
We met and got pictures with Jane Wiedlin, from the Go-Go's. We asked her why she was at a horror convention -- she's done some sci-fi movies (and was on one season of the Surreal Life, which is kind of horrific, I guess) but never anything horror related, and she said they invited her without really explaining why, and she figured why not? She was very nice, and very tiny... I think she is even shorter than I am.
There were also lots of actors from various horror movies, which I didn't know. I am not a horror movie fan, even though I am married to a very knowledeable, expert, horror movie FREAK. :-) There were also some people in costumes... I have no idea what the costumes were, but they looked cool.
I talked to some cool people and bought some artwork and saw Patricia Quinn (Magenta from the Rocky Horror Picture Show) and met Lloyd Kaufman. He's the president of Troma, he wrote and directed a bunch of classic cult movies, such as the Toxic Avenger. We got pictures with him, too -- he asked the girl working with him to come take our picture, and it sounded like he called her Labia. When she gave me back the camera I asked her what her name was, and she said Jane. I kind of frowned, and she rolled her eyes and sighed "He calls me Labia".
We left the convention around 1, and decided to go downtown to eat lunch at Tijuana Flats and go to the library, and maybe take a walk around Lake Eola. It turned out to be Gay Pride day, and the festival was right across the street from Tijuana Flats. It was a beautiful Florida day. They had a stage set up in front of the history center, and Miss Sammy was the hostess. We walked around all the booths, I got a Gay Yellow Pages and a Cirque du Soleil enamel pin, and picked up the new Watermark.
We had the new spinach artichoke tostada at Tijuana Flats, and it was so good I couldn't shove it in fast enough. They say it's a promotional special, if they don't add it to the regular menu it'll be a crime.
We walked through the CityArts gallery and saw some wonderful artwork -- anyone who remembers the days of OVAL will be shocked to see what the space has been turned into. I saw art by a few former OVAL members, like Donna Dowless and Liz Watkins, but didn't see any by several of OVAL's best. I wonder where Cameron Moore is now?
We spent a while looking through the library and came outside just before the parade started, so we went up to the second floor of the parking garage across the street and watched from there. It was a great place to watch the parade and take pictures!
We saw Moira and Jana from the Philips Phile, and Savannah, and Billy Manes from the Weekly. Disney had several cool floats, and Cinderella's carriage with huge black horses. They handed out Mickey ears to the kids in the crowd. Universal Studios had some of their Mardi Gras performers, including the stilt walkers, and they threw beads.
There were bikers, and people who got married at the Metropolitan church, the Orlando Gay Chorus, and floats from Parliament House and Southern Nights. The one from Faces was the funniest -- they had a U-Haul with women squirting the crowd with turkey basters. (It's a famous lesbian joke: What does a lesbian bring on the second date? A U-Haul.)
Good times!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Virginia Trip
We drove up to Virginia on Friday, 10/6. It's 700 miles, we left at around 5am and arrived at our hotel (the Comfort Inn on 460, across from the hospital) a little after 4pm.
The leaves were just starting to turn, so the mountains looked green with bright spots of red and yellow. It rained most of the first day we were there, but it was beautiful.
Saturday morning we met my cousin Robin and her daughter Casey, and Courtney at the IHOP by the New River Valley mall. Other than the service (which was strangely terrible) we had a great time! I completely forgot to get any pictures of Courtney, but we did take a couple of pictures with me and Robin and Casey. Robin also gave me a pretty gift bag with bread and homemade apple butter... mmmmm....
I had planned to go right to Spruce Run, but decided to put that off until Sunday in the hopes that it would stop raining and I could get some decent pictures. So after breakfast we headed off to Radford.
Even though my Dad went to Va Tech and I think he always hoped I would go there, too, I really liked attending Radford. It's a smaller university, not many people have heard of it because it doesn't have a football team -- it was actually a women's college until the 70's. They have a decent English/Fine Arts program, and I ended up majoring in Journalism, with a minor in English. (Two more classes about boring Beowulf or Chaucer or something similarly boring and I would have had an English major, but I couldn't hack it.)
I showed Greg all around the campus and the terrible places that I used to live -- one of which used to be a giant apartment complex called RU Living. (Yes, at good old Radford U, the "are you" jokes abound.)
We then went to Blacksburg and walked around downtown. I was heartbroken to find out that Books Strings & Things, the best independent bookstore in the world, was closed. The Lyric Theatre was still there, and has been renovated and reopened, and Gillies was exactly the same. We ate lunch at Macado's, where I used to go all the time with friends/dates.
All day on Saturday it was windy and cold, with sporadic rain. The sky was that solid white that it gets before snow.
On Sunday we woke up to fog and more rain, but it was our last day, so visiting Spruce Run couldn't be put off any longer hoping for sun. I drove across the mountains to Spruce Run, which actually looked almost exactly the same to me as it always has. We drove to the New River and took the Eggleston road over to Pembroke.
Greg had never in his life seen roads like this, and they are just impossible to describe, you can't imagine what that kind of tiny, winding, mountainous road is like until you actually get carsick on one. I spent my whole childhood being various degrees of carsick, especially on the school bus.
Then we drove up to Mountain Lake Hotel, where I worked at the front desk when I was 17 (this was the year before they filmed Dirty Dancing there). It was terrible -- there was so much fog we literally couldn't see the lake. The actual hotel had changed a lot, but the front desk area still looked the same.
On the drive back down we stopped and took some pictures from the side of the mountain. There were a few moments of clear spots, but I'm still disappointed that we couldn't get any pictures of the lake.
We visited my Aunt Hun on the way down the mountain. She was in the hospital recently, and I have been a little worried about her, but she looked really good. I took her some pictures of Mom & Dad, and my new house, and all the relatives in GA. She was one of the main reasons for the trip, and I really enjoyed seeing her.
Then we went to Pearisburg and drove past my old high school. The downtown area of Pearisburg is pretty much closed up, which is a shame and probably directly related to the new super Wal Mart next to the high school.
Then, finally, rain or no rain, back to Spruce Run to see the house I grew up in. When Mom got pregnant with me, Mom and Dad were living in Atlanta, and they decided to move back to VA to raise me where they grew up. Dad built a house next door to Aunt Cleo, and next door to where he was born and raised. I remember when I was 4 standing inside the staked-out area that was going to be my bedroom.
So we went first to Dorothy Jean and Frances' house, right on the other side of "my" house. Dorothy Jean just immediately offered to take us over there, and she introduced us to Alicia and Bruce. They seem young (early 20's?) but they were just so sweet, they told us to come right in and look at every single room. They even told Greg to go ahead and take pictures!
I know it's a cliche, but it really did look smaller. They have made a lot of improvements, but it still felt like "my" house. I almost cried once. :-) Greg took all the pictures and told me to just concentrate on looking around, which was cool. The sun even came out a little when we were walking around outside, looking at all of Dad's trees.
Then we went back and visited with Dorothy Jean and Frances, they both looked really good and Greg enjoyed meeting them. We walked over and said hello to Charlsie and Homer, and saw Allan.
I also drove down to the church to take some pictures there. The sun was out and it was beautiful.
We stopped to visit Carolyn and Kim, but they weren't home, they were out of town.
The next morning (Monday 10/9) we left our hotel around 6am, and it was really foggy until we got to Fancy Gap, and then it just all disappeared and the sun came out.
I can't wait to go back!
The leaves were just starting to turn, so the mountains looked green with bright spots of red and yellow. It rained most of the first day we were there, but it was beautiful.
Saturday morning we met my cousin Robin and her daughter Casey, and Courtney at the IHOP by the New River Valley mall. Other than the service (which was strangely terrible) we had a great time! I completely forgot to get any pictures of Courtney, but we did take a couple of pictures with me and Robin and Casey. Robin also gave me a pretty gift bag with bread and homemade apple butter... mmmmm....
I had planned to go right to Spruce Run, but decided to put that off until Sunday in the hopes that it would stop raining and I could get some decent pictures. So after breakfast we headed off to Radford.
Even though my Dad went to Va Tech and I think he always hoped I would go there, too, I really liked attending Radford. It's a smaller university, not many people have heard of it because it doesn't have a football team -- it was actually a women's college until the 70's. They have a decent English/Fine Arts program, and I ended up majoring in Journalism, with a minor in English. (Two more classes about boring Beowulf or Chaucer or something similarly boring and I would have had an English major, but I couldn't hack it.)
I showed Greg all around the campus and the terrible places that I used to live -- one of which used to be a giant apartment complex called RU Living. (Yes, at good old Radford U, the "are you" jokes abound.)
We then went to Blacksburg and walked around downtown. I was heartbroken to find out that Books Strings & Things, the best independent bookstore in the world, was closed. The Lyric Theatre was still there, and has been renovated and reopened, and Gillies was exactly the same. We ate lunch at Macado's, where I used to go all the time with friends/dates.
All day on Saturday it was windy and cold, with sporadic rain. The sky was that solid white that it gets before snow.
On Sunday we woke up to fog and more rain, but it was our last day, so visiting Spruce Run couldn't be put off any longer hoping for sun. I drove across the mountains to Spruce Run, which actually looked almost exactly the same to me as it always has. We drove to the New River and took the Eggleston road over to Pembroke.
Greg had never in his life seen roads like this, and they are just impossible to describe, you can't imagine what that kind of tiny, winding, mountainous road is like until you actually get carsick on one. I spent my whole childhood being various degrees of carsick, especially on the school bus.
Then we drove up to Mountain Lake Hotel, where I worked at the front desk when I was 17 (this was the year before they filmed Dirty Dancing there). It was terrible -- there was so much fog we literally couldn't see the lake. The actual hotel had changed a lot, but the front desk area still looked the same.
On the drive back down we stopped and took some pictures from the side of the mountain. There were a few moments of clear spots, but I'm still disappointed that we couldn't get any pictures of the lake.
We visited my Aunt Hun on the way down the mountain. She was in the hospital recently, and I have been a little worried about her, but she looked really good. I took her some pictures of Mom & Dad, and my new house, and all the relatives in GA. She was one of the main reasons for the trip, and I really enjoyed seeing her.
Then we went to Pearisburg and drove past my old high school. The downtown area of Pearisburg is pretty much closed up, which is a shame and probably directly related to the new super Wal Mart next to the high school.
Then, finally, rain or no rain, back to Spruce Run to see the house I grew up in. When Mom got pregnant with me, Mom and Dad were living in Atlanta, and they decided to move back to VA to raise me where they grew up. Dad built a house next door to Aunt Cleo, and next door to where he was born and raised. I remember when I was 4 standing inside the staked-out area that was going to be my bedroom.
So we went first to Dorothy Jean and Frances' house, right on the other side of "my" house. Dorothy Jean just immediately offered to take us over there, and she introduced us to Alicia and Bruce. They seem young (early 20's?) but they were just so sweet, they told us to come right in and look at every single room. They even told Greg to go ahead and take pictures!
I know it's a cliche, but it really did look smaller. They have made a lot of improvements, but it still felt like "my" house. I almost cried once. :-) Greg took all the pictures and told me to just concentrate on looking around, which was cool. The sun even came out a little when we were walking around outside, looking at all of Dad's trees.
Then we went back and visited with Dorothy Jean and Frances, they both looked really good and Greg enjoyed meeting them. We walked over and said hello to Charlsie and Homer, and saw Allan.
I also drove down to the church to take some pictures there. The sun was out and it was beautiful.
We stopped to visit Carolyn and Kim, but they weren't home, they were out of town.
The next morning (Monday 10/9) we left our hotel around 6am, and it was really foggy until we got to Fancy Gap, and then it just all disappeared and the sun came out.
I can't wait to go back!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Virginia is for Lovers
I can't remember exactly what year it was that my parents moved to Florida from Virginia.
I know it was before 2001, that was the year they moved from Florida to Georgia, where they live now. It was after 1989, which is when I left Virginia and moved to Florida. I planned to stay here just a few years, and now I don't think I'll ever want to leave.
It was around 1997, or 1998... It was the last time I was in Virginia. It was the summer of the really bad fires in Florida, and I drove my car stuffed with boxes of my displaced childhood junk through the smoldering tree stumps on the side of I75.
Next week I'll be driving back up to Virginia for the first time in almost a decade. When I last lived in Virginia I was 23, single, wore a size 5... In retrospect, I think it's fair to say that I'd never been in love, although at the time I thought I had.
I'm excited to see the road that I grew up on -- a tiny, winding, single-lane road that literally began existence as a cow path. I want to see the house I grew up in, on the top of a little hill at the base of a big mountain. I'm trying to arrange it so that I can get together with some of my friends from high school, which would be wonderful.
I'm really, really looking forward to taking lots of pictures, and showing my husband the beautiful country where I grew up. A born-n-raised Florida boy, he's never seen anything quite like my mountains. I wish the leaves would be changing, but I think it'll be too soon.
Virginia is for lovers!
I know it was before 2001, that was the year they moved from Florida to Georgia, where they live now. It was after 1989, which is when I left Virginia and moved to Florida. I planned to stay here just a few years, and now I don't think I'll ever want to leave.
It was around 1997, or 1998... It was the last time I was in Virginia. It was the summer of the really bad fires in Florida, and I drove my car stuffed with boxes of my displaced childhood junk through the smoldering tree stumps on the side of I75.
Next week I'll be driving back up to Virginia for the first time in almost a decade. When I last lived in Virginia I was 23, single, wore a size 5... In retrospect, I think it's fair to say that I'd never been in love, although at the time I thought I had.
I'm excited to see the road that I grew up on -- a tiny, winding, single-lane road that literally began existence as a cow path. I want to see the house I grew up in, on the top of a little hill at the base of a big mountain. I'm trying to arrange it so that I can get together with some of my friends from high school, which would be wonderful.
I'm really, really looking forward to taking lots of pictures, and showing my husband the beautiful country where I grew up. A born-n-raised Florida boy, he's never seen anything quite like my mountains. I wish the leaves would be changing, but I think it'll be too soon.
Virginia is for lovers!
Sunday, September 24, 2006
UFC 63 Party
Last night we had our friends Geoff and Jen, and Gary and Alice over to watch UFC 63. This was actually the first time we've had official guests in our new home, and it was muche fun.
I used to feel like I couldn't invite people over if everything about my home wasn't perfect, but I know that I can't live my whole life like that. If I have that attitude, then it'll always be something... Then before you know it, I'm dead, and I never had any parties.
I had guests last night and showed them my piles of unpacked boxes, my two unpainted, spackle-slathered bathrooms, my 32-year old kitchen wallpaper, and my nonexistent landscaping. Yay!
I do quite like our home, though, especially our artwork. We have some of my art on display, we have a painting by Cameron Moore, one by Lance Parker, one oil reproduction painted for my father in the 50's, we have a photograph of the Gates that we bought in NYC, we have a watercolor we bought on the street in NYC, we have a giant portrait of Marilyn Monroe, we have a wedding picture of ourselves. I love our artwork! But we still need more. :-)
Gary and Alice brought Shepherd's Pies, one meatless and one with chunks of dead animal. Oooh, the yumminess... Plus, they gave us the leftovers, and we had it again for breakfast this morning. Mmmmm... I think it was even better the second day.
Geoff and Jen brought us a housewarming gift, beer, more beer, and a beautiful red rose from their garden.
I had Fat Bastard chardonnay, which Jen liked (I am quite a fan of the Fat Bastard wines), and also Coppola claret. I don't quite like the Coppola claret as much as I liked the Coppola rosso, but the terrible Coppola people have stopped making the rosso, so the claret will have to suffice.
I wasn't sure how our fuzzy little monkey face kitty would enjoy having guests, but she was very sweet and social, if a little sheddy. Extra points to Jen for knowing the movie character that Sydney was named after! High Art is a completely wonderful little movie that it seems no one has ever seen.
UFC 63, baby! The main event was BJ Penn vs Matt Hughes in the welterweight title championship. Matt Hughes was originally scheduled to defend his title against Georges St. Pierre, but GSP was replaced by BJ Penn after an injury.
I didn't think BJ Penn was going to be any kind of a match for Matt Hughes, who has Pat Miletich and Rich Franklin in his corner, and is a typical Miletich-camp unstoppable machine. BJ started off strong and, I'm sure, actually won the first two rounds. He accidentally (?) gouged Matt in the eye with his thumb... He said it was an accident, but who punches with their thumb out at at 90-degree angle? Hm. Matt has taken worse than that (such as Frank Trigg's genuinely accidental groin kick) and kept going, so after being checked by the doctor, he was back in it.
By the third round BJ Penn looked really gassed -- just absolutely exhausted. (Since it was a championship fight it could have potentially gone 5 rounds, which I think might possibly have killed poor BJ.) Matt rocked him with an uppercut and then took him down -- despite Rich Franklin screaming at him to stay on his feet -- and ended up in side control, trapping BJ's arm. Once Matt goes into his ground & pound mode, it's all over. Big John stopped the fight at just under 4 minutes into the third round, and Matt Hughes retains his title. Woot! A country boy can survive... :-)
Greg and I are so excited to finally have some MMA friends to watch UFC events with. How can it be that not everyone loves this sport as much as we do? I can't wait 'till the next one!
I used to feel like I couldn't invite people over if everything about my home wasn't perfect, but I know that I can't live my whole life like that. If I have that attitude, then it'll always be something... Then before you know it, I'm dead, and I never had any parties.
I had guests last night and showed them my piles of unpacked boxes, my two unpainted, spackle-slathered bathrooms, my 32-year old kitchen wallpaper, and my nonexistent landscaping. Yay!
I do quite like our home, though, especially our artwork. We have some of my art on display, we have a painting by Cameron Moore, one by Lance Parker, one oil reproduction painted for my father in the 50's, we have a photograph of the Gates that we bought in NYC, we have a watercolor we bought on the street in NYC, we have a giant portrait of Marilyn Monroe, we have a wedding picture of ourselves. I love our artwork! But we still need more. :-)
Gary and Alice brought Shepherd's Pies, one meatless and one with chunks of dead animal. Oooh, the yumminess... Plus, they gave us the leftovers, and we had it again for breakfast this morning. Mmmmm... I think it was even better the second day.
Geoff and Jen brought us a housewarming gift, beer, more beer, and a beautiful red rose from their garden.
I had Fat Bastard chardonnay, which Jen liked (I am quite a fan of the Fat Bastard wines), and also Coppola claret. I don't quite like the Coppola claret as much as I liked the Coppola rosso, but the terrible Coppola people have stopped making the rosso, so the claret will have to suffice.
I wasn't sure how our fuzzy little monkey face kitty would enjoy having guests, but she was very sweet and social, if a little sheddy. Extra points to Jen for knowing the movie character that Sydney was named after! High Art is a completely wonderful little movie that it seems no one has ever seen.
UFC 63, baby! The main event was BJ Penn vs Matt Hughes in the welterweight title championship. Matt Hughes was originally scheduled to defend his title against Georges St. Pierre, but GSP was replaced by BJ Penn after an injury.
I didn't think BJ Penn was going to be any kind of a match for Matt Hughes, who has Pat Miletich and Rich Franklin in his corner, and is a typical Miletich-camp unstoppable machine. BJ started off strong and, I'm sure, actually won the first two rounds. He accidentally (?) gouged Matt in the eye with his thumb... He said it was an accident, but who punches with their thumb out at at 90-degree angle? Hm. Matt has taken worse than that (such as Frank Trigg's genuinely accidental groin kick) and kept going, so after being checked by the doctor, he was back in it.
By the third round BJ Penn looked really gassed -- just absolutely exhausted. (Since it was a championship fight it could have potentially gone 5 rounds, which I think might possibly have killed poor BJ.) Matt rocked him with an uppercut and then took him down -- despite Rich Franklin screaming at him to stay on his feet -- and ended up in side control, trapping BJ's arm. Once Matt goes into his ground & pound mode, it's all over. Big John stopped the fight at just under 4 minutes into the third round, and Matt Hughes retains his title. Woot! A country boy can survive... :-)
Greg and I are so excited to finally have some MMA friends to watch UFC events with. How can it be that not everyone loves this sport as much as we do? I can't wait 'till the next one!
Thursday, July 27, 2006
P!NK
We got to the House of Blues last night at just before 7pm. Greg had to show his ID to pick up the tickets, and the dude behind the counter had to go get his manager to verify Greg's identity. On his driver's license Greg has long hair & a beard, he's wearing contacts and he's pre-diet cuddly. Now he's got short hair, a soul-esque goatee, glasses and 40 pounds less cuddliness... and he really needs a new driver's license.
Since we had reserved seats upstairs, we got special pink stickers to wear that granted us access to the "VIP" area. We got in early -- before the giant line of unfortunates who were waiting for general admission -- and the reserved seating in the balcony turned out to be a church pew right on the railing. Sweet! We also had our own waitress. It rocked, I will never go to HOB to stand with the general admission unfortunates again!
Doors opened at 7, show started at 8, and by 7:20 the whole floor was just packed. It was a sold out show, and I was so grateful to be right over the stage on the balcony instead of fighting for position amidst people who are all taller than I am. At 5'0, I am on normal folks' armpit level, and a crowd like that is exceedingly unpleasant. Not to mention pointless, since I have only a small chance of actually seeing anything.
I sipped my dirty vodka martini and congratulated myself on being able to afford to pay twice the price to be comfortable... while remembering how it felt to be young enough not to care. :-)
It was a really interesting crowd to look at. Lots of pink hair, several mohawks, many many lesbians. Supposedly our friend Craig was there, but we didn't see him.
I told Greg that the opening act was this Matt Nathanson dude, who I knew nothing about, but I was just positive that he would be a less talented, less attractive John Mayer wanna-be. I pretty much called it.
He was funny... not sure that helped. I felt bad for him and clapped a lot.
P!NK came on a little after 9. She wore a short black dress with a wide swingy skirt, big ol' black leather boots, and carried a riding crop (which had quite a narrow head -- more painful, you know). She said that the show was really special to her because the HOB in Orlando was where she played her very first show (as Pink)!
There were three songs I was hoping she would do, but knew she probably wouldn't do all three, and maybe not any. 1) God Is A DJ - this was a single, but not one of her biggest hits. I love it, and think it would be great live! Seemed like a pretty good chance... she didn't do it. 2) Fingers - this is from her new album = good sign. It's not going to be a single, though = bad sign. The song is about her lying next to her sleeping husband in the middle of the night, videotaping herself masturbating. She laughs dirtily several times in the song, and it's not particularly nasty by Pink standards, but I love it. I didn't think she'd do it... She didn't do it. And, 3) Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely) - sounds very No Doubt 80's-esque, it's boppy, it's about trying to get the person that you love to just go away for a minute and leave you the fuck alone, but also come back. She did do it! Complete with skippy 80's dance! I sang along with every word, and really wanted to get up and dance next to my pew.
She also did Stupid Girls, Just Like a Pill, Family Portrait, Don't Let Me Get Me, There You Go, I'm Not Dead, Who Knew, and Trouble. I kept thinking her backup singer looked familiar, and Greg leaned over and said he was thinking it too, and then she introduced her as "Susie", and Greg and I looked at each other... Oh my God! It was Sweet Susie MacNeil, from Rockstar INXS, what a surprise. Pink even had her sing a little bit of "Bohemian Rhapsody" which the crowd sang along with her. She looked exactly the same, and frankly I think she might be better off as Pink's backup singer than the dude that won the contest.
She came back on for an encore in bare feet, jeans that were too long, and a t-shirt. She did a beautiful acoustic version of a Janis Joplin tribute (not sure of the name) and Dear Mr. President, which she sang with the Indigo Girls on her new album (Susie and Pink's bass player sang it with her live). That song always makes me cry, and I kept trying to get Greg to listen to it because I knew he would like it, but he never did -- what a loser. But live, he loved it too! I think he may have gotten a little weepy. We gave her a standing ovation after that one.
She ended with Get the Party Started, which was just as much fun live as I knew it would be.
I just love Pink's attitude, she cares what people think about her but she doesn't let it stop her from living her own life. I love the way she dates women unapologetically (or did, before she was married). I love the way she is very sexually aggressive, but still really giggly and silly. I love how she is violently independent, yet girly. Most of all, I love her twirly headbanging.
Let's look at P!NK:
Since we had reserved seats upstairs, we got special pink stickers to wear that granted us access to the "VIP" area. We got in early -- before the giant line of unfortunates who were waiting for general admission -- and the reserved seating in the balcony turned out to be a church pew right on the railing. Sweet! We also had our own waitress. It rocked, I will never go to HOB to stand with the general admission unfortunates again!
Doors opened at 7, show started at 8, and by 7:20 the whole floor was just packed. It was a sold out show, and I was so grateful to be right over the stage on the balcony instead of fighting for position amidst people who are all taller than I am. At 5'0, I am on normal folks' armpit level, and a crowd like that is exceedingly unpleasant. Not to mention pointless, since I have only a small chance of actually seeing anything.
I sipped my dirty vodka martini and congratulated myself on being able to afford to pay twice the price to be comfortable... while remembering how it felt to be young enough not to care. :-)
It was a really interesting crowd to look at. Lots of pink hair, several mohawks, many many lesbians. Supposedly our friend Craig was there, but we didn't see him.
I told Greg that the opening act was this Matt Nathanson dude, who I knew nothing about, but I was just positive that he would be a less talented, less attractive John Mayer wanna-be. I pretty much called it.
He was funny... not sure that helped. I felt bad for him and clapped a lot.
P!NK came on a little after 9. She wore a short black dress with a wide swingy skirt, big ol' black leather boots, and carried a riding crop (which had quite a narrow head -- more painful, you know). She said that the show was really special to her because the HOB in Orlando was where she played her very first show (as Pink)!
There were three songs I was hoping she would do, but knew she probably wouldn't do all three, and maybe not any. 1) God Is A DJ - this was a single, but not one of her biggest hits. I love it, and think it would be great live! Seemed like a pretty good chance... she didn't do it. 2) Fingers - this is from her new album = good sign. It's not going to be a single, though = bad sign. The song is about her lying next to her sleeping husband in the middle of the night, videotaping herself masturbating. She laughs dirtily several times in the song, and it's not particularly nasty by Pink standards, but I love it. I didn't think she'd do it... She didn't do it. And, 3) Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely) - sounds very No Doubt 80's-esque, it's boppy, it's about trying to get the person that you love to just go away for a minute and leave you the fuck alone, but also come back. She did do it! Complete with skippy 80's dance! I sang along with every word, and really wanted to get up and dance next to my pew.
She also did Stupid Girls, Just Like a Pill, Family Portrait, Don't Let Me Get Me, There You Go, I'm Not Dead, Who Knew, and Trouble. I kept thinking her backup singer looked familiar, and Greg leaned over and said he was thinking it too, and then she introduced her as "Susie", and Greg and I looked at each other... Oh my God! It was Sweet Susie MacNeil, from Rockstar INXS, what a surprise. Pink even had her sing a little bit of "Bohemian Rhapsody" which the crowd sang along with her. She looked exactly the same, and frankly I think she might be better off as Pink's backup singer than the dude that won the contest.
She came back on for an encore in bare feet, jeans that were too long, and a t-shirt. She did a beautiful acoustic version of a Janis Joplin tribute (not sure of the name) and Dear Mr. President, which she sang with the Indigo Girls on her new album (Susie and Pink's bass player sang it with her live). That song always makes me cry, and I kept trying to get Greg to listen to it because I knew he would like it, but he never did -- what a loser. But live, he loved it too! I think he may have gotten a little weepy. We gave her a standing ovation after that one.
She ended with Get the Party Started, which was just as much fun live as I knew it would be.
I just love Pink's attitude, she cares what people think about her but she doesn't let it stop her from living her own life. I love the way she dates women unapologetically (or did, before she was married). I love the way she is very sexually aggressive, but still really giggly and silly. I love how she is violently independent, yet girly. Most of all, I love her twirly headbanging.
Let's look at P!NK:
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Antmusic For Sexpeople
Back in the olden days, when I was a teen: in the pre-compact disc technology era that required what was commonly known as a "record player", I bought a lot of albums.
I still have all of them. In alphabetical order within each section (clearly, soundtracks and compilations and such must have their own separate sections).
I spent all my money on albums. Well, other than, obviously, books/clothes/makeup... I spent a lot of my money on albums. There were many albums that I wanted to buy but couldn't afford (which my parents seemed completely unable to believe, when they looked at my giant stacks of albums).
So there I was one day, reading an article in Seventeen magazine about how to be popular. The main point of the article was to be yourself. Do not pretend to be something you're not, don't follow the crowd to try to fit in. The article used listening to Adam and the Ants as an jumping-off-a-bridge type example of something foolish to try and suffer through for popularity's sake.
I had never heard of Adam and the Ants, but I figured if listening to them = suffering, they must be good. Luckily, the National Record Mart in University Mall had a copy of Kings of the Wild Frontier. Even better, it was packaged with a free advance-release copy of the next single, Stand and Deliver.
It was 1980, I was 14, and the idea of music that everyone hated combined with that picture of Adam was enough to make me spend my precious album money on a record even though I had absolutely no idea what it would sound like.
I loved it! Kings of the Wild Frontier is a great album. I managed to special order their previous album, Dirk Wears White Sox, which was only released in England on a small label. I bought every single, since most had non-lp b-sides. I bought bootlegs of live concerts.
The music had a punky edge, as well as a poetic perversity. Adam Ant formed his band in the late 70's, when punk was beginning, and they often played with the Clash, Siouxsie, the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks.
When the album that Stand and Deliver was on was finally released, I ran out and bought it immediately. Prince Charming wasn't great. It was far less punky and raw than the older stuff, but it was pretty good. I was sure that on the next album, Adam and Marco (Marco = songwriting partner, guitarist) would get back to their real selves.
The next album was Friend or Foe. Before it actually came out, a single was released -- Goody Two Shoes. In those dark pre-internet days, when a song was released in England before America, it was absolutely un-gettable here. But I, being both a hormonal teen and a spastic Antfan, had my sources in England and was soon in possession of a cassette tape of Goody Two Shoes being played on British radio.
I could not believe the poppy sappy crappiness of that song. I cried. I no longer waited anxiously to get the Friend or Foe album, because I knew that it would suck, I knew that the pre-fame rawness of Adam's songwriting would never be seen again.
I was right -- the rest of Friend or Foe was more poppy crappiness. It was also by far the biggest commercial success, especially in America, thus cementing Adam's decline.
Still, whenever I would go see Adam live, even in the late 90's, he would perform all his old stuff, with very little of the later songs thrown in. Sometimes he didn't even play all of his "hits", which makes me wonder if he liked them very much, either.
He is working on an autobiography, which will be released this fall. He made the most money, by far, on Goody Two Shoes (it still shows up in commercials periodically, too). I wonder what he'll say about it?
I still have all of them. In alphabetical order within each section (clearly, soundtracks and compilations and such must have their own separate sections).
I spent all my money on albums. Well, other than, obviously, books/clothes/makeup... I spent a lot of my money on albums. There were many albums that I wanted to buy but couldn't afford (which my parents seemed completely unable to believe, when they looked at my giant stacks of albums).
So there I was one day, reading an article in Seventeen magazine about how to be popular. The main point of the article was to be yourself. Do not pretend to be something you're not, don't follow the crowd to try to fit in. The article used listening to Adam and the Ants as an jumping-off-a-bridge type example of something foolish to try and suffer through for popularity's sake.
I had never heard of Adam and the Ants, but I figured if listening to them = suffering, they must be good. Luckily, the National Record Mart in University Mall had a copy of Kings of the Wild Frontier. Even better, it was packaged with a free advance-release copy of the next single, Stand and Deliver.
It was 1980, I was 14, and the idea of music that everyone hated combined with that picture of Adam was enough to make me spend my precious album money on a record even though I had absolutely no idea what it would sound like.
I loved it! Kings of the Wild Frontier is a great album. I managed to special order their previous album, Dirk Wears White Sox, which was only released in England on a small label. I bought every single, since most had non-lp b-sides. I bought bootlegs of live concerts.
The music had a punky edge, as well as a poetic perversity. Adam Ant formed his band in the late 70's, when punk was beginning, and they often played with the Clash, Siouxsie, the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks.
When the album that Stand and Deliver was on was finally released, I ran out and bought it immediately. Prince Charming wasn't great. It was far less punky and raw than the older stuff, but it was pretty good. I was sure that on the next album, Adam and Marco (Marco = songwriting partner, guitarist) would get back to their real selves.
The next album was Friend or Foe. Before it actually came out, a single was released -- Goody Two Shoes. In those dark pre-internet days, when a song was released in England before America, it was absolutely un-gettable here. But I, being both a hormonal teen and a spastic Antfan, had my sources in England and was soon in possession of a cassette tape of Goody Two Shoes being played on British radio.
I could not believe the poppy sappy crappiness of that song. I cried. I no longer waited anxiously to get the Friend or Foe album, because I knew that it would suck, I knew that the pre-fame rawness of Adam's songwriting would never be seen again.
I was right -- the rest of Friend or Foe was more poppy crappiness. It was also by far the biggest commercial success, especially in America, thus cementing Adam's decline.
Still, whenever I would go see Adam live, even in the late 90's, he would perform all his old stuff, with very little of the later songs thrown in. Sometimes he didn't even play all of his "hits", which makes me wonder if he liked them very much, either.
He is working on an autobiography, which will be released this fall. He made the most money, by far, on Goody Two Shoes (it still shows up in commercials periodically, too). I wonder what he'll say about it?
Monday, July 10, 2006
UFC 61: Bitter Rivals
On Saturday night we went to Gator's Dockside to see the UFC 62 pay-per-view, in what we thought must be a misguided attempt to save money. The PPV costs $40, we figured we would have to spend that much on food/beer. But we only spent $30, so we saved $10, bitches!
The fights were actually surprisingly dull. The main event (in my mind, anyway) was Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock. I loathe the Ken Shamrock, and quite like the Tito. Obviously, the younger, hotter Tito was destined to win, hopefully in a humiliating fashion. My former favorite ref Herb Dean chose to stop the fight controversially quickly, though, and this is coming from the chick who is always screaming at the tv for referees to stop the fights sooner -- I am always so worried about someone getting hurt. But a a few elbow shots from Tito, which weren't defended as quickly as Herb apparently would have liked, and the fight was over in less than 2 minutes. It was a pretty good fight, and I don't know that it should have been stopped so quickly.
I was glad to see Frank Mir return after being injured, although he has gained approx. 600 pounds. He held up really well though, came back with new energy in the third round, and won. I bet a few more months of recovery and training and he'll be back at his former peak-of-physical-hotness weight.
We really liked hanging out with Gary, who wore a very attractive pirate-y skull and crossbones do-rag (and was, shockingly, the only one there wearing one). We also really liked his girlfriend, who we both really feel like we know from somewhere, but can't think where.
Overall, it was so much fun watching a mixed martial arts event with other fans. We want to go back for UFC 62 on August 26th!
Things to do differently next time:
1) Arrive 3-4 hours early
2) Immediately order enough food/drinks to last through the night
3) Greg will wear makeup and women's clothing in an effort to avoid the lines in the men's room (no lines in the women's room for UFC sporting events, due to the pitiful lack of female fans)
4) Wear UFC t-shirts ordered online, thereby making us look (in comparison to college kids) not only older, but sadly geekier
5) Ask management to turn on closed captioning, so we don't miss anything when the yelling gets too loud
6) Impose our will
The fights were actually surprisingly dull. The main event (in my mind, anyway) was Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock. I loathe the Ken Shamrock, and quite like the Tito. Obviously, the younger, hotter Tito was destined to win, hopefully in a humiliating fashion. My former favorite ref Herb Dean chose to stop the fight controversially quickly, though, and this is coming from the chick who is always screaming at the tv for referees to stop the fights sooner -- I am always so worried about someone getting hurt. But a a few elbow shots from Tito, which weren't defended as quickly as Herb apparently would have liked, and the fight was over in less than 2 minutes. It was a pretty good fight, and I don't know that it should have been stopped so quickly.
I was glad to see Frank Mir return after being injured, although he has gained approx. 600 pounds. He held up really well though, came back with new energy in the third round, and won. I bet a few more months of recovery and training and he'll be back at his former peak-of-physical-hotness weight.
We really liked hanging out with Gary, who wore a very attractive pirate-y skull and crossbones do-rag (and was, shockingly, the only one there wearing one). We also really liked his girlfriend, who we both really feel like we know from somewhere, but can't think where.
Overall, it was so much fun watching a mixed martial arts event with other fans. We want to go back for UFC 62 on August 26th!
Things to do differently next time:
1) Arrive 3-4 hours early
2) Immediately order enough food/drinks to last through the night
3) Greg will wear makeup and women's clothing in an effort to avoid the lines in the men's room (no lines in the women's room for UFC sporting events, due to the pitiful lack of female fans)
4) Wear UFC t-shirts ordered online, thereby making us look (in comparison to college kids) not only older, but sadly geekier
5) Ask management to turn on closed captioning, so we don't miss anything when the yelling gets too loud
6) Impose our will
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Satan Lives in the BP
Yesterday I went to the BP by my office to get a diet BooKoo. A certain person, who I won't name but I do happen to be married to him, had to get up at 5am yesterday morning... Anyway, I was sleepy by lunchtime.
So there I am in the BP, and there my diet BooKoo isn't. They had a million RockStars and RedBulls and BooKoos and Monsters, none of them diet.
I get my diet Coke with lime, and head for the counter. Then Satan shows up, and somehow I end up buying a (smallish) bag of Lay's Salt & Vinegar chips.
This is literally the first time in 6 months that I have just cheated out of pure weakness. I have cheated before, but it's always been pre-scheduled, and with my sweetie. I feel bad... I know it happens, and I am human, and no one can have perfect willpower all the time, and I'm doing really good, and one bag of chips isn't going to make me gain back the almost 30 pounds that I've lost. I know! I still feel bad. I am afraid of heading down the wrong road, just a little at first, and then farther, and then the next thing you know I am in Fatville.
I bet a kickboxing class would burn a lot of calories. Plus, I'd get to kick stuff... I like to kick stuff...
So there I am in the BP, and there my diet BooKoo isn't. They had a million RockStars and RedBulls and BooKoos and Monsters, none of them diet.
I get my diet Coke with lime, and head for the counter. Then Satan shows up, and somehow I end up buying a (smallish) bag of Lay's Salt & Vinegar chips.
This is literally the first time in 6 months that I have just cheated out of pure weakness. I have cheated before, but it's always been pre-scheduled, and with my sweetie. I feel bad... I know it happens, and I am human, and no one can have perfect willpower all the time, and I'm doing really good, and one bag of chips isn't going to make me gain back the almost 30 pounds that I've lost. I know! I still feel bad. I am afraid of heading down the wrong road, just a little at first, and then farther, and then the next thing you know I am in Fatville.
I bet a kickboxing class would burn a lot of calories. Plus, I'd get to kick stuff... I like to kick stuff...
Monday, June 26, 2006
Top Ten Top 5's
Top 5 Musical Artists To Listen To On A Sad Rainy Day:
Rupert Hine
David Bowie
Coldplay
Billie Holiday
Nick Drake
Top 5 Cutest UFC Fighters:
Frank Mir
Rich Franklin
Forrest Griffin
Tito Ortiz
Adrei Arlovski
Top 5 Chicks I Might Want To Have Sex With, Even Though I Am Not A Lesbian:
Jennifer Tilly
Tera Patrick
P!nk
Portia De Rossi
Allison Bechdel
Top 5 Things Made Of Chocolate:
Dove Bars
Godiva Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bars
Peanut Butter M&Ms
Cadbury Easter Eggs
Sixlets
Top 5 TV Characters To Whom I Am Oddly Attracted But Would Obviously Never Do Anything With, Even If They Weren't Fictional:
Vic Mackey (The Shield)
John-Boy Walton (The Waltons)
Tommy (Third Rock From The Sun - the later episodes)
Jim (The Office)
David (Roseanne)
Top 5 Movies I Can Start Watching At Any Point During the Movie, and Laugh:
Groundhog Day
The Wedding Singer
Caddyshack
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Top 5 Colors:
Sky blue
Shiny black
Pastel Pink
Dark Purple
Crimson
Top 5 Things About My Husband That Might Possibly Surprise You:
He likes to cook
He watches "America's Funniest Home Videos"
He has toenails that point upwards in an aggressive, bloodthirsty manner
He dances around in his boxers to Kelly Clarkson
He was born a female
Top 5 Menstrual Products:
Advil
Instead cups
Anything with "wings"
Unscented, biodegradeable unbleached tampons
Chardonnay
Top 5 Reasons I Am Looking Forward To Going Home From Work Today:
Hugs and kisses waiting for me at the door
Salmon for dinner... yum
Working on my new painting
Almost finished with really good book
Wet kitty nose waiting just for me
Rupert Hine
David Bowie
Coldplay
Billie Holiday
Nick Drake
Top 5 Cutest UFC Fighters:
Frank Mir
Rich Franklin
Forrest Griffin
Tito Ortiz
Adrei Arlovski
Top 5 Chicks I Might Want To Have Sex With, Even Though I Am Not A Lesbian:
Jennifer Tilly
Tera Patrick
P!nk
Portia De Rossi
Allison Bechdel
Top 5 Things Made Of Chocolate:
Dove Bars
Godiva Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bars
Peanut Butter M&Ms
Cadbury Easter Eggs
Sixlets
Top 5 TV Characters To Whom I Am Oddly Attracted But Would Obviously Never Do Anything With, Even If They Weren't Fictional:
Vic Mackey (The Shield)
John-Boy Walton (The Waltons)
Tommy (Third Rock From The Sun - the later episodes)
Jim (The Office)
David (Roseanne)
Top 5 Movies I Can Start Watching At Any Point During the Movie, and Laugh:
Groundhog Day
The Wedding Singer
Caddyshack
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Top 5 Colors:
Sky blue
Shiny black
Pastel Pink
Dark Purple
Crimson
Top 5 Things About My Husband That Might Possibly Surprise You:
He likes to cook
He watches "America's Funniest Home Videos"
He has toenails that point upwards in an aggressive, bloodthirsty manner
He dances around in his boxers to Kelly Clarkson
He was born a female
Top 5 Menstrual Products:
Advil
Instead cups
Anything with "wings"
Unscented, biodegradeable unbleached tampons
Chardonnay
Top 5 Reasons I Am Looking Forward To Going Home From Work Today:
Hugs and kisses waiting for me at the door
Salmon for dinner... yum
Working on my new painting
Almost finished with really good book
Wet kitty nose waiting just for me
Food... Again...
A few more pounds, and I will have lost a total of 30. I kept a few pairs of jeans/shorts/tops from when I was skinnier, and it's fun to go through them to see what fits now. I'm 2 sizes smaller, and I think by the time I'm at -30 I'll be 3 sizes smaller.
I needed to lose 53 pounds to get down to my healthy goal weight, so I am right around halfway there. I know that making a permanent change to eat healthier and get some excercise is the best way to lose weight and not gain it all right back again, but it sure is taking a freaking long time to lose weight. I've been at this now for 6 months.
It's been 6 months since I've flopped down in front of the tv and hadsalt & vinegar potato chips and coke for dinner, or ordered fried shrimp, or baked buttery biscuits, or had a Dove bar...
I love our cheat meals, though. I appreciate decadent food so much more now that I'm not eating it all the time. (I really need to plan a potato chips/coke cheat night sometime soon.) Yesterday we went to a buffet, which is automatically a bad idea because buffets always make me feel like I should eat as much as I can without actually dying. They had great southern food, though -- stewed tomatoes and okra, chicken and dumplings, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans cooked with ham, banana puddin'... Not that I ate all of that, of course... just giving examples... I don't think I'll be hungry again until sometime on Thursday.
I needed to lose 53 pounds to get down to my healthy goal weight, so I am right around halfway there. I know that making a permanent change to eat healthier and get some excercise is the best way to lose weight and not gain it all right back again, but it sure is taking a freaking long time to lose weight. I've been at this now for 6 months.
It's been 6 months since I've flopped down in front of the tv and hadsalt & vinegar potato chips and coke for dinner, or ordered fried shrimp, or baked buttery biscuits, or had a Dove bar...
I love our cheat meals, though. I appreciate decadent food so much more now that I'm not eating it all the time. (I really need to plan a potato chips/coke cheat night sometime soon.) Yesterday we went to a buffet, which is automatically a bad idea because buffets always make me feel like I should eat as much as I can without actually dying. They had great southern food, though -- stewed tomatoes and okra, chicken and dumplings, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans cooked with ham, banana puddin'... Not that I ate all of that, of course... just giving examples... I don't think I'll be hungry again until sometime on Thursday.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Requiem
Last week a guy who lived in the condo almost right across the street from us was found dead. The mailman (who is from Jamaica and also lives here) reported to authorities that the guy hadn't picked up his mail in a long time... and there was a bad smell coming from the condo.
They don't know how long he had been dead, and I don't know how he died. Apparently he lived alone and was an older guy.
The next day I noticed the flag by our clubhouse was at half-mast.
One of my favorite lines from Bridget Jones' Diary is about her fear of living alone her whole life, and being found weeks after her death, half-eaten by an alsatian (which is, I found, a type of German shepherd). It's one of those things that's only funny because it is so horrifically true.
I remember I was so happy living alone, and being alone in general, before I met Greg. But underneath all the indpendent happiness was always a vague underlying fear of being alone forever.
Being old alone would be so hard. My parents are old (Dad=90, Mom=84) and I see how hard it is for them just to get through a day. They live in a retirement home, and have people to do their cooking and much of their cleaning. Still, things are hard when you are tired all the time, can't see as well, can't hear as well, can't walk as well and have no idea what people are talking about when they reference new movies, popular music or that "internet" thing.
I see how far they go just to help each other out (Dad waits in the bathroom while Mom takes a shower, because last year she got dizzy, fell and broke a vertebrae; Mom tries to see for Dad, telling him what's on his plate at dinner, and helping him find a package of walnuts in the Wal-Mart) and I can't imagine how they could be alone.
I still like being alone. Greg is going out of town for a week soon, and I'll miss him a lot, but I'll be okay by myself. The first day I'll really enjoy it, the third day it'll be getting a little tiresome but still nice and peaceful, the day before he comes home I'll be so anxious to feel his lips on mine I'll have trouble sleeping. I like being alone, but I like being with him even more.
I have no idea what the guy's name was, or if he has any family, or what his religious beliefs are. I hope he wasn't sad when he died.
They don't know how long he had been dead, and I don't know how he died. Apparently he lived alone and was an older guy.
The next day I noticed the flag by our clubhouse was at half-mast.
One of my favorite lines from Bridget Jones' Diary is about her fear of living alone her whole life, and being found weeks after her death, half-eaten by an alsatian (which is, I found, a type of German shepherd). It's one of those things that's only funny because it is so horrifically true.
I remember I was so happy living alone, and being alone in general, before I met Greg. But underneath all the indpendent happiness was always a vague underlying fear of being alone forever.
Being old alone would be so hard. My parents are old (Dad=90, Mom=84) and I see how hard it is for them just to get through a day. They live in a retirement home, and have people to do their cooking and much of their cleaning. Still, things are hard when you are tired all the time, can't see as well, can't hear as well, can't walk as well and have no idea what people are talking about when they reference new movies, popular music or that "internet" thing.
I see how far they go just to help each other out (Dad waits in the bathroom while Mom takes a shower, because last year she got dizzy, fell and broke a vertebrae; Mom tries to see for Dad, telling him what's on his plate at dinner, and helping him find a package of walnuts in the Wal-Mart) and I can't imagine how they could be alone.
I still like being alone. Greg is going out of town for a week soon, and I'll miss him a lot, but I'll be okay by myself. The first day I'll really enjoy it, the third day it'll be getting a little tiresome but still nice and peaceful, the day before he comes home I'll be so anxious to feel his lips on mine I'll have trouble sleeping. I like being alone, but I like being with him even more.
I have no idea what the guy's name was, or if he has any family, or what his religious beliefs are. I hope he wasn't sad when he died.
Saturday, June 3, 2006
Fatness
I have lost 21 pounds so far, and according to this chart: http://www.weightwatchers.ca/health/asm/calc_healthyweight.aspx I should weigh between 102-123 pounds... I started at 163, and am now at 142.
Since I have teeny bird bones I should be on the lower end of the weight range... My goal is 110 pounds, so I have 32 pounds left to go.
I am at kind of a plateau, I haven't lost any weight in the past few weeks, so I need to kick it up a notch. I haven't been getting as much exercise as I would like, so I am making an effort to go on the treadmill every night after work. I did skip walking during my lunch break for a week or so, because it's just so flippin' hot outside I get all sweaty and gross. I have devised a way to walk around and kind of circle the building so I can pop inside and do an interior lap, just long enough to cool off in the AC.
I also joined a weight loss group here: http://muchedumbre.com/forum. There are 10 of us trying to lose weight, and whoever loses the most (as a percentage of beginning body weight) by the end of July wins. We..each put in $20, so the prize will be $200, awarded at a beach party. I am not really expecting to win, but I'm hoping the experience of sharing with a group will renew my motivation.
I have also gone down two clothing sizes, and (ugh) one bra size. I remember how much I used to love to shop back when I was a size 3, I am really looking forward to being able to buy cute clothes again (instead of baggy fat-girl monstrosities).
The good news is my C-cup boobs are every bit as perky as my D-cup boobs were. I was a B-cup back in the olden days when I did weigh 110, I am hoping no droopage will occur when I get there again.
:-)
Since I have teeny bird bones I should be on the lower end of the weight range... My goal is 110 pounds, so I have 32 pounds left to go.
I am at kind of a plateau, I haven't lost any weight in the past few weeks, so I need to kick it up a notch. I haven't been getting as much exercise as I would like, so I am making an effort to go on the treadmill every night after work. I did skip walking during my lunch break for a week or so, because it's just so flippin' hot outside I get all sweaty and gross. I have devised a way to walk around and kind of circle the building so I can pop inside and do an interior lap, just long enough to cool off in the AC.
I also joined a weight loss group here: http://muchedumbre.com/forum. There are 10 of us trying to lose weight, and whoever loses the most (as a percentage of beginning body weight) by the end of July wins. We..each put in $20, so the prize will be $200, awarded at a beach party. I am not really expecting to win, but I'm hoping the experience of sharing with a group will renew my motivation.
I have also gone down two clothing sizes, and (ugh) one bra size. I remember how much I used to love to shop back when I was a size 3, I am really looking forward to being able to buy cute clothes again (instead of baggy fat-girl monstrosities).
The good news is my C-cup boobs are every bit as perky as my D-cup boobs were. I was a B-cup back in the olden days when I did weigh 110, I am hoping no droopage will occur when I get there again.
:-)
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
The Office (Not THE Office)
Things that suck about my office:
That I have to listen to 107.7 all day, every day. Right now it's "Piano Man", just a bit ago it was "Wind Beneath My Wings" and any minute now that self-indulgent whiny pretentious James Blunt's "Beautiful" will come on. A few weeks ago a co-worker switched the radio to 105.1. During their Retro Bistro lunch hour they played "Push It" and I knew that wouldn't go over well with the honest, churchgoing ladies in my dept. The next day it was back to 107.7.
That I am the only one in my dept who has ever heard of Quentin Tarantino.
That Jim doesn't work here. Or Pam, either.
That sometimes I have to be here at 7:45am, and sometimes I have to stay until 9pm, and sometimes I have to work on Saturdays.
That one of my churchgoing co-workers thinks that all gay people have made a conscious choice to be sinful, and will go to hell -- and that our gay co-worker is a friend of hers, and seemingly her hateful, rightous attitude bothers me more than it bothers him.
That it is too hot outside to go for a walk during my lunch break without getting sweaty. That I don't have any place to walk other than the parking lot.
That I have 4 more hours of work to go today, my 9.5 hour day (+ 1 hour commute).
They just announced it -- James Blunt coming up after the commercial break.
That I have to listen to 107.7 all day, every day. Right now it's "Piano Man", just a bit ago it was "Wind Beneath My Wings" and any minute now that self-indulgent whiny pretentious James Blunt's "Beautiful" will come on. A few weeks ago a co-worker switched the radio to 105.1. During their Retro Bistro lunch hour they played "Push It" and I knew that wouldn't go over well with the honest, churchgoing ladies in my dept. The next day it was back to 107.7.
That I am the only one in my dept who has ever heard of Quentin Tarantino.
That Jim doesn't work here. Or Pam, either.
That sometimes I have to be here at 7:45am, and sometimes I have to stay until 9pm, and sometimes I have to work on Saturdays.
That one of my churchgoing co-workers thinks that all gay people have made a conscious choice to be sinful, and will go to hell -- and that our gay co-worker is a friend of hers, and seemingly her hateful, rightous attitude bothers me more than it bothers him.
That it is too hot outside to go for a walk during my lunch break without getting sweaty. That I don't have any place to walk other than the parking lot.
That I have 4 more hours of work to go today, my 9.5 hour day (+ 1 hour commute).
They just announced it -- James Blunt coming up after the commercial break.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
P!NK
We just bought tickets for the P!NK show at the House of Blues on July 26! We got the partially-secret reserved seats in the balcony, that are only available if you call the HOB box office and ask specifically (you can't get them through Ticketmaster at all). The vast majority of the HOB is general admission, there are only a few reserved seats, so Greg called right as they went on sale, and we got 'em! I'm so excited. I love Pink!
So I'm kind of pissed: a) at the people I work with, and b) at myself. I really should able to behave as if I were an actual adult, being kind and understanding and NOT being selfish and childish. Actually, come to think of it, I am doing that: behaving as if I were an actual adult... I am just feeling and thinking selfishly and childishly.
Anyway, since I came into this dept 3 years ago, I have given money to collections for presents for kids being born, houses bought, funerals, marriages, grandkids being born, hospital stays, etc. So I just bought a house, where's MY goddamn gift card?! I haven't said anything to anybody, I know they just forgot (we are really busy lately), but I am really kind of pissed. I got married right before transferring into this dept, I am not going to have a baby, so this is it for me: this was my one big chance to get some of that money back. Where's my collection? Where's my card that everyone signed? I have given money twice in the past 3 years specifically for others who bought houses. Fuck.
I really dislike this stupid job anyway, frankly. I also dislike my 40-minute, 25-mile commute on three different toll roads. I used to drive 10 miles, around 25 minutes, and no tolls. I used to fill my tank about once a week, now it seems like I have to stop for gas every other day.
A few months ago was my 10 year anniversary at this company. I'm 40 years old, I have spent half of my adult life at this company. Gads.
Revised goals for the next 6 months:
* Find new job
* Lose 20 more pounds
* Find excercise class that I enjoy
* Try out my new pool
* Set up easel/paints in sunroom
* Remove hideous wallpaper from kitchen and master bath
* Have back patio screened in
* Go back to Newport, VA to visit relatives I haven't seen in 10 years
* Get a tattoo
* Resist all temptation to adopt another cat
So I'm kind of pissed: a) at the people I work with, and b) at myself. I really should able to behave as if I were an actual adult, being kind and understanding and NOT being selfish and childish. Actually, come to think of it, I am doing that: behaving as if I were an actual adult... I am just feeling and thinking selfishly and childishly.
Anyway, since I came into this dept 3 years ago, I have given money to collections for presents for kids being born, houses bought, funerals, marriages, grandkids being born, hospital stays, etc. So I just bought a house, where's MY goddamn gift card?! I haven't said anything to anybody, I know they just forgot (we are really busy lately), but I am really kind of pissed. I got married right before transferring into this dept, I am not going to have a baby, so this is it for me: this was my one big chance to get some of that money back. Where's my collection? Where's my card that everyone signed? I have given money twice in the past 3 years specifically for others who bought houses. Fuck.
I really dislike this stupid job anyway, frankly. I also dislike my 40-minute, 25-mile commute on three different toll roads. I used to drive 10 miles, around 25 minutes, and no tolls. I used to fill my tank about once a week, now it seems like I have to stop for gas every other day.
A few months ago was my 10 year anniversary at this company. I'm 40 years old, I have spent half of my adult life at this company. Gads.
Revised goals for the next 6 months:
* Find new job
* Lose 20 more pounds
* Find excercise class that I enjoy
* Try out my new pool
* Set up easel/paints in sunroom
* Remove hideous wallpaper from kitchen and master bath
* Have back patio screened in
* Go back to Newport, VA to visit relatives I haven't seen in 10 years
* Get a tattoo
* Resist all temptation to adopt another cat
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Turkey-head Ducks and Cardinals
It is nice to walk around at home and know that it's all ours! Right out back behind our little back yard -- practically IN our back yard -- is a pretty little lake with a fountain. I seriously can't wait to screen in our back patio, it'll be so peaceful and relaxing. We can watch the ugly turkey-head ducks (although, according to the head of the condo association, we are not allowed to feed them), we can admire the lovely hibiscus blooms, we can say hello to any elderly neighbors that might happen by. Plus we are planning to install a kitty door, so we can put the litter box out there... yay. The other people's screened-in patios look pretty big, so it would really add a lot of space.
I just realized today that I left my Marjolein Bastin cardinal decorative bell hanging on my ex-apartment porch. Dag. My Mom & Dad have one just like it, and it was kind of neat to have matching ones. I love cardinals especially, I remember seeing the bright red males and the pretty brown females often when I was growing up. They are the state bird of Virginia, you know... Of course you knew!
I love waking up in the morning and hearing birds singing, instead of motorcycles revving. I can't wait until my sweetie comes back home and we can go for walks every night when I get home from work. it's so quiet and peaceful.
So during the horror of moving, we went off our "diet" a little. One night we went to Steak & Shake and I got a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich and french fries, and he got a bacon cheeseburger. Anyone who eats healthy will know what happened next. As it turns out, eating grease was not much of a time-saver in the end (so to speak).
A day or so later we got a pizza, and it didn't even bother us. I guess our stomachs re-adjusted to greasy grossness pretty quickly. Then, just purely to comfort myself on Sunday when he had to leave town, I got KFC. Oh, the shame.
So, all in all, I gained one pound back of the 18 pounds I had lost. Given all the stress, I am just going to call it even and start anew. Monday, yesterday and today I ate really well, so hopefully I will start losing again.
Boy, that KFC was good though...
I just realized today that I left my Marjolein Bastin cardinal decorative bell hanging on my ex-apartment porch. Dag. My Mom & Dad have one just like it, and it was kind of neat to have matching ones. I love cardinals especially, I remember seeing the bright red males and the pretty brown females often when I was growing up. They are the state bird of Virginia, you know... Of course you knew!
I love waking up in the morning and hearing birds singing, instead of motorcycles revving. I can't wait until my sweetie comes back home and we can go for walks every night when I get home from work. it's so quiet and peaceful.
So during the horror of moving, we went off our "diet" a little. One night we went to Steak & Shake and I got a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich and french fries, and he got a bacon cheeseburger. Anyone who eats healthy will know what happened next. As it turns out, eating grease was not much of a time-saver in the end (so to speak).
A day or so later we got a pizza, and it didn't even bother us. I guess our stomachs re-adjusted to greasy grossness pretty quickly. Then, just purely to comfort myself on Sunday when he had to leave town, I got KFC. Oh, the shame.
So, all in all, I gained one pound back of the 18 pounds I had lost. Given all the stress, I am just going to call it even and start anew. Monday, yesterday and today I ate really well, so hopefully I will start losing again.
Boy, that KFC was good though...
Monday, May 8, 2006
Moving Into My Life
Well, we are finally moved into our new home. I don't know if I have ever been this stressed in my life... I was aware that I was so freaked out/exausted that my brain was functioning at only a fraction of peak efficiency, but was helpless to do anything about it.
The floor guys took two days longer than they promised to get the floors done. I was afraid of that, and had scheduled the movers and furniture delivery late in the week, just in case. The new tile floor was completed the evening before the movers, which was okay -- except that it didn't leave any time to clean.
I had no idea how easy I've had it all these years of moving into nice apartment complexes, where everything is professionally cleaned before you move in. Poor Georgette, I'm not sure she can physically see well enough to clean. We had to put off moving the kitchen stuff until I could dismantle the refrigerator shelves/drawers and clean everything with bleach. I'm still working on cleaning all the kitchen cabinets and drawers, and putting in shelf paper. I always thought shelf paper was for little old ladies who live in little old houses, and there I was in Target yesterday trying to decide between the plain white, the textured or the daisy print. I just feel like these stained shelves will never get clean enough to put our dishes on!
Greg scrubbed the master bath/shower, and installed a new shower head. The shower doors are a whole different color now, and the shower head is a wonderful thing of joy. (Thanks to our friends Gretchen and Eddie, who gave us a Home Depot gift certificate!)
Plus the tile guys ripped out all the carpet, and just dragged it out to the curb in a giant pile of stained berber/stained padding/nail strips. The trash guys refused to pick it up, and the association people were -- nicely -- complaining about it. I don't blame them, it was a 4 ft pile of grossness. So late one afternoon Greg and I had to go out -- in the 93 degree heat -- and put it all into small tied-up bundles, so the trash guys would pick it up the next morning. It took forever, and was really freakin' hard work.
In the midst of all the packing and cleaning, I had to put my sweet kittie Zulie to sleep. It was terrible. I have had her since she was a kitten, for a little over 14 years. She was a sweet little cat who loved to sit curled up next to me on the couch -- not on my lap, just next to it -- and snore. She's been getting slower and more tired for a few years now. I remember when she could jump to the floor from the top of the refrigerator... She hasn't been able to get up there for years. I clipped a lock of her fur, I plan to put it into a memorial locket so I can wear her close to my heart.
I miss Zulie so much...
The floor guys took two days longer than they promised to get the floors done. I was afraid of that, and had scheduled the movers and furniture delivery late in the week, just in case. The new tile floor was completed the evening before the movers, which was okay -- except that it didn't leave any time to clean.
I had no idea how easy I've had it all these years of moving into nice apartment complexes, where everything is professionally cleaned before you move in. Poor Georgette, I'm not sure she can physically see well enough to clean. We had to put off moving the kitchen stuff until I could dismantle the refrigerator shelves/drawers and clean everything with bleach. I'm still working on cleaning all the kitchen cabinets and drawers, and putting in shelf paper. I always thought shelf paper was for little old ladies who live in little old houses, and there I was in Target yesterday trying to decide between the plain white, the textured or the daisy print. I just feel like these stained shelves will never get clean enough to put our dishes on!
Greg scrubbed the master bath/shower, and installed a new shower head. The shower doors are a whole different color now, and the shower head is a wonderful thing of joy. (Thanks to our friends Gretchen and Eddie, who gave us a Home Depot gift certificate!)
Plus the tile guys ripped out all the carpet, and just dragged it out to the curb in a giant pile of stained berber/stained padding/nail strips. The trash guys refused to pick it up, and the association people were -- nicely -- complaining about it. I don't blame them, it was a 4 ft pile of grossness. So late one afternoon Greg and I had to go out -- in the 93 degree heat -- and put it all into small tied-up bundles, so the trash guys would pick it up the next morning. It took forever, and was really freakin' hard work.
In the midst of all the packing and cleaning, I had to put my sweet kittie Zulie to sleep. It was terrible. I have had her since she was a kitten, for a little over 14 years. She was a sweet little cat who loved to sit curled up next to me on the couch -- not on my lap, just next to it -- and snore. She's been getting slower and more tired for a few years now. I remember when she could jump to the floor from the top of the refrigerator... She hasn't been able to get up there for years. I clipped a lock of her fur, I plan to put it into a memorial locket so I can wear her close to my heart.
I miss Zulie so much...
Monday, April 24, 2006
Stuff
We are having the final walk-through of our new condo on Thursday afternoon, then we close on Friday morning.
I am thinking about bringing flowers to Georgette at the closing. She's so sweet. I wonder if she will bring her daughter to the closing? Her daughter is visiting from Spain.
After the closing, we are going out for Thai food with Hazel. Hazel is from China, she came to America in 1989 from Hong Kong, when it was still a British territory. Funnily enough, that's the same year I went to the summer publishing program at NYU and then moved to Orlando from VA. I guess Greg would have been a sophomore in High School. :)
We have the new floors all set to go in as soon as we close, we have the movers set to move us next Thursday, we have the new furniture being delivered next Friday, we have OUC set to turn off at the old place and Fl Power set to turn on at the new place, we have everything taken care of... I hope. I'm trying really hard not to get all stressy. It's exciting! And scary. I'm looking forward to it! Especially after the moving is over.
I am thinking about bringing flowers to Georgette at the closing. She's so sweet. I wonder if she will bring her daughter to the closing? Her daughter is visiting from Spain.
After the closing, we are going out for Thai food with Hazel. Hazel is from China, she came to America in 1989 from Hong Kong, when it was still a British territory. Funnily enough, that's the same year I went to the summer publishing program at NYU and then moved to Orlando from VA. I guess Greg would have been a sophomore in High School. :)
We have the new floors all set to go in as soon as we close, we have the movers set to move us next Thursday, we have the new furniture being delivered next Friday, we have OUC set to turn off at the old place and Fl Power set to turn on at the new place, we have everything taken care of... I hope. I'm trying really hard not to get all stressy. It's exciting! And scary. I'm looking forward to it! Especially after the moving is over.
Monday, April 17, 2006
"To Do" Now That I'm 40
Become poised, unselfconscious adult woman who behaves correctly in all social situations, and does not spill food on self
Go to Paris
Maintain swingy haircut with regular trims, instead of letting it grow just out of fascination at how mutantly fast it grows
Always wear sophisticated, matching underwear/bra sets
Become Kung Fu master
Behave as adult, not flopping into chair as a teenager; also do not make unattractive "oof" noise when getting back up from chair
Get new job that is creative and well-paid
Remove nail polish promptly at first sign of chippage
Go to Paris
Maintain swingy haircut with regular trims, instead of letting it grow just out of fascination at how mutantly fast it grows
Always wear sophisticated, matching underwear/bra sets
Become Kung Fu master
Behave as adult, not flopping into chair as a teenager; also do not make unattractive "oof" noise when getting back up from chair
Get new job that is creative and well-paid
Remove nail polish promptly at first sign of chippage
Friday, April 7, 2006
:-(
I'm so tired. I have been working the opening shift this week, which means I have to get up much earlier than I'd like. I haven't been going to bed early enough, so I've been getting sleepier and sleepier all week. Then the last couple of nights I've had a little trouble sleeping, I'm a little stressy because of all the condo-buying stuff.
Last night I stayed up to watch something on tv that I had been really looking forward to. It actually ran late, so it was close to midnight when I finally got to bed, and my alarm was set for 6. I went right to sleep, but I couldn't stay asleep. The last time I woke up was around 5 and I never did get back to sleep after that. I probably got around 3-4 hours of sleep.
I am so tired and sad. I remember learning years ago that there are three things that must be true before making any kind of serious decision: You must be sober, you must not be hungry and you must not be sleepy. Any of those three things affects your ability to think clearly. I'll try not to do any thinking while I'm at work today.
I am sad, too.
I went for a walk outside, and it's such a beautiful day. It's mid-80's, sunny, a little breezy. I listed to Stiff Little Fingers, Ying Yang Twins, Nick Drake, Bubba Sparxxx and T'Pau... What a completely psychotic combination.
I hate being sad while wearing my new Death Eaters t-shirt, it's so cool. Although being sad is somewhat comparable to eating death... I always thought the name "Death Eaters" was more about being in control of life, being able, and enthusiastic, to bring about death. Being depressed feels like eating death in the embracing, consuming despair, sense.
Yummy death... :-(
Last night I stayed up to watch something on tv that I had been really looking forward to. It actually ran late, so it was close to midnight when I finally got to bed, and my alarm was set for 6. I went right to sleep, but I couldn't stay asleep. The last time I woke up was around 5 and I never did get back to sleep after that. I probably got around 3-4 hours of sleep.
I am so tired and sad. I remember learning years ago that there are three things that must be true before making any kind of serious decision: You must be sober, you must not be hungry and you must not be sleepy. Any of those three things affects your ability to think clearly. I'll try not to do any thinking while I'm at work today.
I am sad, too.
I went for a walk outside, and it's such a beautiful day. It's mid-80's, sunny, a little breezy. I listed to Stiff Little Fingers, Ying Yang Twins, Nick Drake, Bubba Sparxxx and T'Pau... What a completely psychotic combination.
I hate being sad while wearing my new Death Eaters t-shirt, it's so cool. Although being sad is somewhat comparable to eating death... I always thought the name "Death Eaters" was more about being in control of life, being able, and enthusiastic, to bring about death. Being depressed feels like eating death in the embracing, consuming despair, sense.
Yummy death... :-(
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Condo By the Lake... In the Sun
Hazel (our realtor) talked us into making an offer so low that I felt guilty. It was way below the asking price, and we are taking advantage of the fact that poor Georgette is elderly and desperate. Her condo has been up for sale for months, two times others made offers and then couldn't get the financing, and she has already paid to move into an assisted living home at the end of the month.
Hazel said that it was an offensive offer and we are taking advantage of her, but it's business and that's what you do. I literally had trouble sleeping last night. But we kept thinking she wouldn't just accept it, she would make a counter-offer and we would end up meeting in the middle somewhere.
But she accepted it! She was thrilled that we wanted to live there because she likes us so much, and apparently Hazel kept mentioning the fact that it's Greg's birthday... Oh, boy. I seriously want to give Georgette a present or something... like a check for $10,000.
I am so happy! I can't wait to move in! We ended up spending way less than we expected, so maybe we can afford to get new kitchen appliances sometime soon. And replace all the floors, and put in the screened-in patio in the back, and get new living room furniture.
Maybe I'll take Georgette more sunflowers at the closing. I hope nothing goes wrong, everything seems so complicated. Hazel is like a bulldog, though, I'm sure glad she's on my side. She would NEVER have let Georgette accept that offer.
I'm trying so hard not to worry about poor Georgette.
Yay, new home! :-)
Hazel said that it was an offensive offer and we are taking advantage of her, but it's business and that's what you do. I literally had trouble sleeping last night. But we kept thinking she wouldn't just accept it, she would make a counter-offer and we would end up meeting in the middle somewhere.
But she accepted it! She was thrilled that we wanted to live there because she likes us so much, and apparently Hazel kept mentioning the fact that it's Greg's birthday... Oh, boy. I seriously want to give Georgette a present or something... like a check for $10,000.
I am so happy! I can't wait to move in! We ended up spending way less than we expected, so maybe we can afford to get new kitchen appliances sometime soon. And replace all the floors, and put in the screened-in patio in the back, and get new living room furniture.
Maybe I'll take Georgette more sunflowers at the closing. I hope nothing goes wrong, everything seems so complicated. Hazel is like a bulldog, though, I'm sure glad she's on my side. She would NEVER have let Georgette accept that offer.
I'm trying so hard not to worry about poor Georgette.
Yay, new home! :-)
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Georgette's Condo
Greg and I are going to our realtor's office this afternoon to draw up an offer for the condo in east Orlando. It's a cool condo -- it's more like a duplex or a townhouse than a condo, really. It's in a quiet community (lots of old people), on a little lake, close to the pool... It only shares one wall with neighbors, and it has a big attic. It has mail delivery to the front door, and trash pickup at the curb.
The one deal-breakingly bad thing about it is the kitchen. The condo was built in 1974, and the kitchen literally hasn't changed a bit since then. It has a gold and white vinyl floor, avacado colored appliances (including a trash compactor), and white/yellow/orange wallpaper. It would be fascinatingly kitschy if it weren't about to be mine.
It's also a galley kitchen, which is a big negative for two people who want to be in the kitchen at the same time. If Greg and I wanted to cook dinner together, it would be a challenge... especially with a cat underfoot. It's also completely closed off from the living room, which I really hate. When I'm in the kitchen doing dishes or cooking, I hate feeling closed off from the rest of the house.
But it's still the best place we've found. It has a great sun room in the front, big windows in the living room, two full baths with lots of counter space, tons of storage, a patio (that's just waiting to be screened in) overlooking the little lake in the back, 2 big bedrooms and a big living room. It has a little dining area that is mirrored, which sounds kind of bad, but it is opposite big windows so it's actually pretty nice. It has ceiling fans and an alarm system, and quiet neighbors.
It's a very small complex too, only 44 units. It'll be a great place to go for walks in the evening after work. Plus it's not at the top of our price range, so we can still afford to replace all the carpets with hardwood or ceramic tile, buy new living room furniture, and get the back patio screened in.
It's owned by a little old lady named Georgette, she's 84 -- the same age as my mom. She keeps the hot water heater turned off at the switch, and never turns on the A/C. She wears a plastic necklace with an alert button on it. She's never had a job, she used to fly planes, she loves sunflowers, and speaks several languages. She's originally from Peru. Her daughter lives in Spain. She doesn't have any pets, but she has a stuffed motion-sensor cat that makes a meow noise whenever anyone walks by, and she talks back to it.
She's very sweet -- she's selling her condo and moving to an assisted living home in downtown Orlando. Maybe we'll have her over for dinner one day.
The one deal-breakingly bad thing about it is the kitchen. The condo was built in 1974, and the kitchen literally hasn't changed a bit since then. It has a gold and white vinyl floor, avacado colored appliances (including a trash compactor), and white/yellow/orange wallpaper. It would be fascinatingly kitschy if it weren't about to be mine.
It's also a galley kitchen, which is a big negative for two people who want to be in the kitchen at the same time. If Greg and I wanted to cook dinner together, it would be a challenge... especially with a cat underfoot. It's also completely closed off from the living room, which I really hate. When I'm in the kitchen doing dishes or cooking, I hate feeling closed off from the rest of the house.
But it's still the best place we've found. It has a great sun room in the front, big windows in the living room, two full baths with lots of counter space, tons of storage, a patio (that's just waiting to be screened in) overlooking the little lake in the back, 2 big bedrooms and a big living room. It has a little dining area that is mirrored, which sounds kind of bad, but it is opposite big windows so it's actually pretty nice. It has ceiling fans and an alarm system, and quiet neighbors.
It's a very small complex too, only 44 units. It'll be a great place to go for walks in the evening after work. Plus it's not at the top of our price range, so we can still afford to replace all the carpets with hardwood or ceramic tile, buy new living room furniture, and get the back patio screened in.
It's owned by a little old lady named Georgette, she's 84 -- the same age as my mom. She keeps the hot water heater turned off at the switch, and never turns on the A/C. She wears a plastic necklace with an alert button on it. She's never had a job, she used to fly planes, she loves sunflowers, and speaks several languages. She's originally from Peru. Her daughter lives in Spain. She doesn't have any pets, but she has a stuffed motion-sensor cat that makes a meow noise whenever anyone walks by, and she talks back to it.
She's very sweet -- she's selling her condo and moving to an assisted living home in downtown Orlando. Maybe we'll have her over for dinner one day.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Boobies
I went in for my first mammogram yesterday... My appt was for 8:15, so I was hoping they wouldn't be busy that early... but they were... I get the feeling that place is always busy.
I took a Jennifer Crusie book with me. I love Jennifer Crusie, she's very comforting to read: she writes such funny, cute, romantic novels. I hate those stupid romance novels! Except for Jennifer Crusie.
I had to wait in Waiting Room 1 for about 20 minutes before they took me back to the locker room/changing area. They gave me a mauve wrap, told me to take off my shirt and bra, and they gave me a grocery-store type basket to carry my clothes, purse and book around in.
Then it was out to Waiting Room 2 for about 30 minutes. It was kind of nice, they had coffee and cookies. It was just so crowded with women (all older than me) sitting around in their hideous mauve wraps.
I was nervous by the time they finally called me. The technician lady was very nice, and I was as comfortable as I was going to get with a stranger grabbing my breast to position it correctly between two cold machine parts to squish. She did two -- one vertical and one horizontal -- on each breast. It did hurt, it wasn't unbearable pain but it was painful. She kept telling me to try to breathe.
Then it was back out to good old Waiting Room 2 for another half hour before they called me back for my sonogram. That wasn't painful, just cold.
I had thought that someone would sit down with me to go over the results, but the sonogram technician just told me, as she walked me back to the locker room, that everything looked fine and I could go.
The whole thing took about an hour and a half. I wasn't having any particular scary problems, but it was a pretty emotional experience. I kept thinking about my mom, who had breast cancer twice. I remember the first time, they found a small lump that she hadn't been able to feel. They kept her for a long time trying to get a better picture of it -- she had about 7 separate mammograms done. They couldn't get it clearly, so they sent her to have an MRI done, which did show it clearly, and a week later she had a mastectomy.
Then, about 6 years later, it happened again. She's okay now, after a second mastectomy.
So overall, it was stressful. Even with my Jennifer Crusie book (Welcome to Temptation) to keep me company. I'll have to have it done every year, so I guess I'll eventually be an expert in mauve wraps and boobie squishing.
I took a Jennifer Crusie book with me. I love Jennifer Crusie, she's very comforting to read: she writes such funny, cute, romantic novels. I hate those stupid romance novels! Except for Jennifer Crusie.
I had to wait in Waiting Room 1 for about 20 minutes before they took me back to the locker room/changing area. They gave me a mauve wrap, told me to take off my shirt and bra, and they gave me a grocery-store type basket to carry my clothes, purse and book around in.
Then it was out to Waiting Room 2 for about 30 minutes. It was kind of nice, they had coffee and cookies. It was just so crowded with women (all older than me) sitting around in their hideous mauve wraps.
I was nervous by the time they finally called me. The technician lady was very nice, and I was as comfortable as I was going to get with a stranger grabbing my breast to position it correctly between two cold machine parts to squish. She did two -- one vertical and one horizontal -- on each breast. It did hurt, it wasn't unbearable pain but it was painful. She kept telling me to try to breathe.
Then it was back out to good old Waiting Room 2 for another half hour before they called me back for my sonogram. That wasn't painful, just cold.
I had thought that someone would sit down with me to go over the results, but the sonogram technician just told me, as she walked me back to the locker room, that everything looked fine and I could go.
The whole thing took about an hour and a half. I wasn't having any particular scary problems, but it was a pretty emotional experience. I kept thinking about my mom, who had breast cancer twice. I remember the first time, they found a small lump that she hadn't been able to feel. They kept her for a long time trying to get a better picture of it -- she had about 7 separate mammograms done. They couldn't get it clearly, so they sent her to have an MRI done, which did show it clearly, and a week later she had a mastectomy.
Then, about 6 years later, it happened again. She's okay now, after a second mastectomy.
So overall, it was stressful. Even with my Jennifer Crusie book (Welcome to Temptation) to keep me company. I'll have to have it done every year, so I guess I'll eventually be an expert in mauve wraps and boobie squishing.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Life and Panties
Today at work I'm wearing a pretty blue mosaic-print dress that was too small for me a couple of weeks ago. I've lost 13 pounds so far, and it was a lot of fun going through the stuff in the back of my closet that's been too small for me for the past few years, and being able to wear it now.
I wish my co-workers didn't bring in food so often. At least once or twice a week someone brings in bagels, or cookies, or a key lime pie, or brownies. Today it's chips and salsa, which wouldn't be too bad calorie-wise, but my poor tummy is still pretty unhappy from yesterday's pukefest. I don't think salsa would do me any good today.
My sweetie got relatively good news at the doctor's office today. He had a problem that was either going to turn out to be a possibly lifelong irritation, or an agressive, deadly form of cancer -- and it's NOT cancer. Holy cow, I don't want to even consider that it was a possibility.
Kind of sucky about the probably lifelong irritation, though. He'll be able to take care of it, but it's not going away. The doctor told him welcome to adulthood -- this is the kind of thing that just happens when you get older. Gee, thanks! He's only 32, poor thing.
I got dressed in the dark this morning to try to avoid waking up my husband, and I just realized I have my undies on inside out. I am so not taking off my pantyhose in the ladies' room stall, so I guess they'll just have to be happy being inside out today.
I wish my co-workers didn't bring in food so often. At least once or twice a week someone brings in bagels, or cookies, or a key lime pie, or brownies. Today it's chips and salsa, which wouldn't be too bad calorie-wise, but my poor tummy is still pretty unhappy from yesterday's pukefest. I don't think salsa would do me any good today.
My sweetie got relatively good news at the doctor's office today. He had a problem that was either going to turn out to be a possibly lifelong irritation, or an agressive, deadly form of cancer -- and it's NOT cancer. Holy cow, I don't want to even consider that it was a possibility.
Kind of sucky about the probably lifelong irritation, though. He'll be able to take care of it, but it's not going away. The doctor told him welcome to adulthood -- this is the kind of thing that just happens when you get older. Gee, thanks! He's only 32, poor thing.
I got dressed in the dark this morning to try to avoid waking up my husband, and I just realized I have my undies on inside out. I am so not taking off my pantyhose in the ladies' room stall, so I guess they'll just have to be happy being inside out today.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Clean Sheets Feel So Good
Yuck, I'm sick. I don't know why I'm sick -- maybe I ate something bad yesterday, or maybe I have a stomach virus.
I felt pretty okay before going to bed last night, but then I woke up already puking. How is that even possible? I puked all over the bed and the table... oh, the grossness. Greg helped me into the bathroom where I continued puking for a while.
My poor sweetie cleaned up the bedroom, took off the puky sheets and took care of everything. (These were, by the way, the 1,000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets that Greg gave me for my birthday. Ack.)
He helped me back into bed and got me some Pepto and some water, and stroked my head while I tried to go to sleep. He's so sweet, and I feel so bad for him for having to take care of me last night. He said it happens, and I didn't mean to vomit all over the bedroom, and I would do it for him. That's all true, but still... it was so gross!
For the rest of the night I had to lay perfectly still on my back, if I got up or turned over I got really nauseous again.
I'm feeling better now.... I wonder if it was a bad idea to order salmon at Bennigan's?
We had a great time yesterday going to visit one of Greg's old friends from high school. They were best friends for years, and Greg was the best man at his wedding. Yesterday was the first time they'd seen each other in more than 5 years.
They live in a mobile home in Plant City, in the middle of the most beautiful old oak trees and cow fields. They can't relate to us wanting to live in Orlando, with all the traffic and crowds and expense. They were also surprised to find out that Greg hasn't been inside a church in years, they expected him to be a pastor by now... Ha!
They seem to have a nice life in Plant City, with 2 sweet young daughters and relatives right next door. I wonder if he was thinking about what might have happened to him if, years ago, he'd left Plant City with Greg? Their lives have taken very different paths, and they were a lot alike at one point.
I wonder if he would clean up a puky nightstand?
I felt pretty okay before going to bed last night, but then I woke up already puking. How is that even possible? I puked all over the bed and the table... oh, the grossness. Greg helped me into the bathroom where I continued puking for a while.
My poor sweetie cleaned up the bedroom, took off the puky sheets and took care of everything. (These were, by the way, the 1,000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets that Greg gave me for my birthday. Ack.)
He helped me back into bed and got me some Pepto and some water, and stroked my head while I tried to go to sleep. He's so sweet, and I feel so bad for him for having to take care of me last night. He said it happens, and I didn't mean to vomit all over the bedroom, and I would do it for him. That's all true, but still... it was so gross!
For the rest of the night I had to lay perfectly still on my back, if I got up or turned over I got really nauseous again.
I'm feeling better now.... I wonder if it was a bad idea to order salmon at Bennigan's?
We had a great time yesterday going to visit one of Greg's old friends from high school. They were best friends for years, and Greg was the best man at his wedding. Yesterday was the first time they'd seen each other in more than 5 years.
They live in a mobile home in Plant City, in the middle of the most beautiful old oak trees and cow fields. They can't relate to us wanting to live in Orlando, with all the traffic and crowds and expense. They were also surprised to find out that Greg hasn't been inside a church in years, they expected him to be a pastor by now... Ha!
They seem to have a nice life in Plant City, with 2 sweet young daughters and relatives right next door. I wonder if he was thinking about what might have happened to him if, years ago, he'd left Plant City with Greg? Their lives have taken very different paths, and they were a lot alike at one point.
I wonder if he would clean up a puky nightstand?
Friday, March 24, 2006
Thank God It's...
The Magic game was great, they actually won for a change! I love watching the people around me with season tickets, especially the big hat lady who is there every year, in the same seat, all by herself. She has a giant Cat-in-the-hat-esque hat, with autographs (I'll go out on a limb here and assume they are Magic players) and Magic pins and glitter all over it. She sits on the edge of her seat for the entire game, watching intently. Sometimes she's more interesting to look at than the game... I should get my own hat and have her sign it.
My birthday was great! I went to the spa early in the morning, I got my massage first. It's been several years since I've had a massage, and I told the massage therapist to go really, really easy on me -- I didn't want to end up sore or headachy. I told him I just wanted a really gentle relaxing massage.
During the massage I kept hearing my old friend Lynn's voice in my head -- she's a massage thereapist and the very first massages I ever had were from her. She used to yell at me to breathe... it seems I get so intent on the massage I would completely forget to breathe and basically end up holding my breath. She'd keep yelling at me, somthing about oxygen to your muscles... whatEVer. So, I breathed on a fairly regular basis during my massage. Which, by the way, left me sore for 3 days -- it's a good thing I asked for the gentle massage...
Then I had a pedicure, in a heaty massagy chair with my feet in a little foot-jacuzzi. More foot massaging during the pedicure, which was very nice. Then I had a manicure, then an eyebrow wax, then my hair cut. I was so freakin' sick of the long, long, long hair that when I stood there as she chopped away at my pony-tail I wasn't even traumatized. It was great! I think it helped a great deal knowing the hair wasn't just going to be swept up, it would actually be helpful to a child somewhere. I mean, I really liked my hair, I was just tired of it.
I love my new hair cut! My head is all swingy now. My hair actually gets pretty wavy without all that weight straightening it out.
It was last Friday, one week ago today that I turned 40, had my first manicure and pedicure, and got my hair cut off. So far, 40 rocks...
My birthday was great! I went to the spa early in the morning, I got my massage first. It's been several years since I've had a massage, and I told the massage therapist to go really, really easy on me -- I didn't want to end up sore or headachy. I told him I just wanted a really gentle relaxing massage.
During the massage I kept hearing my old friend Lynn's voice in my head -- she's a massage thereapist and the very first massages I ever had were from her. She used to yell at me to breathe... it seems I get so intent on the massage I would completely forget to breathe and basically end up holding my breath. She'd keep yelling at me, somthing about oxygen to your muscles... whatEVer. So, I breathed on a fairly regular basis during my massage. Which, by the way, left me sore for 3 days -- it's a good thing I asked for the gentle massage...
Then I had a pedicure, in a heaty massagy chair with my feet in a little foot-jacuzzi. More foot massaging during the pedicure, which was very nice. Then I had a manicure, then an eyebrow wax, then my hair cut. I was so freakin' sick of the long, long, long hair that when I stood there as she chopped away at my pony-tail I wasn't even traumatized. It was great! I think it helped a great deal knowing the hair wasn't just going to be swept up, it would actually be helpful to a child somewhere. I mean, I really liked my hair, I was just tired of it.
I love my new hair cut! My head is all swingy now. My hair actually gets pretty wavy without all that weight straightening it out.
It was last Friday, one week ago today that I turned 40, had my first manicure and pedicure, and got my hair cut off. So far, 40 rocks...
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Magic
My sweetie and I are going to the Magic game tonight. My company has season tickets, they're pretty good seats -- they'd be $65 if I had to buy them. I only get to go once a year, which is great for me since I don't care too much about the actual game itself. It's fun to watch, and I like the whole spectacle -- the dancers, the lights, the giveaways, the general air of excitement. Plus tonight is a designated cheat night, diet-wise, so I am looking forward to a big salty pretzel and a beer. Woot!
I'm also picking up my new glasses today. I absolutely hate my current glasses -- I got them before all the trouble started with my eyes, and never expected to have to actually wear them outside. I bought the cheapest frames with the cheapest lenses, and they suck quite a lot. My new glasses are much nicer, and I got the high-index lenses so my lenses will be much thinner. With my -9 prescription, my current lenses are so terribly heavy and thick, and the new lenses should be half the size. It's not as good as being able to wear contacts again, but glasses that don't suck will still be an improvement.
I'm also picking up my new glasses today. I absolutely hate my current glasses -- I got them before all the trouble started with my eyes, and never expected to have to actually wear them outside. I bought the cheapest frames with the cheapest lenses, and they suck quite a lot. My new glasses are much nicer, and I got the high-index lenses so my lenses will be much thinner. With my -9 prescription, my current lenses are so terribly heavy and thick, and the new lenses should be half the size. It's not as good as being able to wear contacts again, but glasses that don't suck will still be an improvement.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Eye Had a Bad Day
On Wednesday I went to 20/20 Eyeglass Superstore on 436 to get an exam and new glasses... I love that place!.. Everyone is so nice, and the chick that helped me on Wednesday looks just like Katie, except that she's Russian... and possibly albino... She was extremely helpful, I love it when they are really honest about whether or not the frames are flattering.
Russian Albino Katie complimented my looooong hair, and I told her I'm getting ready to cut it all off and donate it to Locks Of Love... She'd never heard of it, and when I explained it was a group that made free/low-cost wigs for children who lose their hair, she looked at me -- kind of horrified -- and told me I should just buy a kid a wig and keep my beautiful hair... Ha!
So, after picking out cool new frames/sunglasses, they talked me into trying some new Coopervision contacts, which are supposed to be good for people who have eye problems... Boy, do eye have problems!.. Sorry... I don't think they really understood the extent of my eye issues, but they gave me a free trial pair and told me to give 'em a try.
I wore them for about 6 hours and then took them out, even though they felt fine... My eyes were fine for the rest of the day -- I used my super-fabulous TheraTears gel several times, and my eyes seemed very happy.
Then yesterday morning they didn't feel as good... Extremely bloodshot, very sensitive to light, a little gloopy... Driving to work at 7am I repeatedly got hit in the face with the rising sunlight, like some terrible cornea-targeting laser of pain and blindness... My eyes were watering and burning so bad I had trouble even keeping them open.
I made it to work -- I probably shouldn't have been driving -- and stayed long enough to cover until the next person was able to take over for me...
So I stayed home all afternoon in a dark room, putting drops in my eyes and being really bored... In order to really rest my eyes, I didn't go on the computer or watch tv or read..... I cleaned, I made low-calorie muffins, and I took a nap. I called my sweetie to complain about how bored I was, I watered plants, I took another nap.
I feel much better today -- even sitting at work in front of the computer under flourescent lights, my eyes are doing pretty well.
I think I'll throw out those contacts, though.
*sigh*
Russian Albino Katie complimented my looooong hair, and I told her I'm getting ready to cut it all off and donate it to Locks Of Love... She'd never heard of it, and when I explained it was a group that made free/low-cost wigs for children who lose their hair, she looked at me -- kind of horrified -- and told me I should just buy a kid a wig and keep my beautiful hair... Ha!
So, after picking out cool new frames/sunglasses, they talked me into trying some new Coopervision contacts, which are supposed to be good for people who have eye problems... Boy, do eye have problems!.. Sorry... I don't think they really understood the extent of my eye issues, but they gave me a free trial pair and told me to give 'em a try.
I wore them for about 6 hours and then took them out, even though they felt fine... My eyes were fine for the rest of the day -- I used my super-fabulous TheraTears gel several times, and my eyes seemed very happy.
Then yesterday morning they didn't feel as good... Extremely bloodshot, very sensitive to light, a little gloopy... Driving to work at 7am I repeatedly got hit in the face with the rising sunlight, like some terrible cornea-targeting laser of pain and blindness... My eyes were watering and burning so bad I had trouble even keeping them open.
I made it to work -- I probably shouldn't have been driving -- and stayed long enough to cover until the next person was able to take over for me...
So I stayed home all afternoon in a dark room, putting drops in my eyes and being really bored... In order to really rest my eyes, I didn't go on the computer or watch tv or read..... I cleaned, I made low-calorie muffins, and I took a nap. I called my sweetie to complain about how bored I was, I watered plants, I took another nap.
I feel much better today -- even sitting at work in front of the computer under flourescent lights, my eyes are doing pretty well.
I think I'll throw out those contacts, though.
*sigh*
Friday, March 3, 2006
The Big 4-0!
So, I'll be turning 40 in a couple of weeks, and I am pretty happy about it. I'm not sure why people get so freaked out -- is it because they are unhappy or unsatisfied with their lives? I have certainly had some experiences during my life so far, some great and some less great, but I have tried to learn from all of them, and I like who I am right now.
Did I mention that I've lost 8 pounds? I like that I'm losing weight, but it's so freakin' hard. I actually find that the whole issue of willpower isn't usually the hard part for me, it's not losing enough weight. I feel good about myself when I turn down the cupcakes and danishes and key lime pies that always seem to turn up at work, when I spend my lunch break walking and I go on the treadmill after work, when I eat right and not too much all week long without any exception -- and then it sucks when at the end of the week I've only lost one or two pounds. I want to lose it all right now as a reward for doing so good, dammit!
Turning 40 is making me think back. I really want to track down Tammie, my best friend through grade school and high school and most of college. I haven't seen her in more than 10 years. Weirdly, my college boyfriend Russ called me out of the blue a couple of weeks ago, and it's been maybe 15 years since I've spoken to him. I Googled another one of my exes and found pics of him... boy, does he look old! Ha.
Did I mention that I've lost 8 pounds? I like that I'm losing weight, but it's so freakin' hard. I actually find that the whole issue of willpower isn't usually the hard part for me, it's not losing enough weight. I feel good about myself when I turn down the cupcakes and danishes and key lime pies that always seem to turn up at work, when I spend my lunch break walking and I go on the treadmill after work, when I eat right and not too much all week long without any exception -- and then it sucks when at the end of the week I've only lost one or two pounds. I want to lose it all right now as a reward for doing so good, dammit!
Turning 40 is making me think back. I really want to track down Tammie, my best friend through grade school and high school and most of college. I haven't seen her in more than 10 years. Weirdly, my college boyfriend Russ called me out of the blue a couple of weeks ago, and it's been maybe 15 years since I've spoken to him. I Googled another one of my exes and found pics of him... boy, does he look old! Ha.
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