blame the bugs, man

i should be asleep right now- but obviously, i am not.

i blame the music. more precisely, i blame the bad music running through my head. if i'd blogged earlier, i could've had cool songs in my head. van halen's "hot for teacher" played on my mental jukebox while reading a related article in the latest issue of details magazine. i heard one of my favorite U2 songs in the car on the way to the radio station- "desire" was stuck in my head for a good half an hour after i got out of the car, but i got sidetracked and forgot to sit down and write about it.

right now, however, it neither bono nor diamond dave are singing in my mind. no, readers, currently a combination of "this is your night" by some 90s one hit wonder (that i will undoubtedly think of later)and "magic stick" is running through my head. it does not make me happy. it is not bringin a smile to my face as i type this. to make matters worse, it seems that my next door neighbor (the downside of apartment living) has decided that 11:45 at night is an ideal time TO MOVE FURNITURE. if one more thing slams up against our shared wall, i will go over there, knock on her door, and not so politely offer my services. i am so glad i sleep in the other bedroom, where i hear nothing but.....mostly silence, unless a dog has found stubby, the black and white cat without a tail that roams around the complex....oh, and whatever the loud popping noise was i heard a little over half an hour ago.

so i'm being kept awake by two annoyingly bad songs....and a mysterious bite on my foot. i acquired it yesterday, when the kids and i were playing in the elmo sprinkler at school. naturally, i had my shoes off, and of course i ended my afternoon by discovering i had a bug bite of some sort on my foot. i'd written off the assailant as a mosquito or perhaps a chigger, until this afternoon, while the kids were napping, when i reached down to scratch the itch inside my shoe and realized that the pain that followed meant an attack from a fire ant was more likely. ah, yes- fire ants. another southern feature not mentioned in the tourism pamphlets for south carolina. we did not have such beasts in missouri, nor in baltimore, for that matter.....or maybe i just didn't run in the right circles. they're nasty little ants that i have yet to learn how to distinguish from regular, docile, yankee ants. the big difference between the two kinds of ants is that the fire ants bite- a lot. in fact, the bite on my right foot seems to actually be three bites....at least that's what i think i saw when i was trying to figure out why my ankle had swollen during the course of the day. first the bites itch, then they burn.....terrible.

while were talking about things not mentioned in south carolina's tourism pamphlets, i should probably share two very important words with you: palmetto bugs. perhaps you know their cousins- roaches? palmetto bugs are roaches so large that i believe three or four of them ganged up on one of our past state governors and demanded to be called "palmetto bugs", instead of roaches, because of both the implied patriotism (the palmetto tree is on our flag, for goodness sakes), and because they're large enough to be our state bird. they seem to diappear in the winter, but in the summer, it would be wise to stomp around in big, heavy shoes to provide maximum squishability. i certainly wouldn't want to run into one of them barefoot. in fact, i wouldn't want to run into one period. every time i encounter one, i find the nearest adult to stomp (or otherwise incapacitate) it for me. blech.

somehow, after all that, ace of base's "it's a beautiful life" has entered my head. i'm not sure how or why this has happened, but maybe it's enough to put me to sleep.

owowowowowow

my teeth hurt.

don't be alarmed- i'm not. i went to see my fantastic orthodontist, dr. zetz, today, becuase i'm kind of high maintainence. my last visit was monday afternoon, when i swapped my tangerine-colored bands for turquoise ones. somewhere during the process (during the post wire-removal tooth brushing), my crown let go. for those of you who are unfamiliar with my oral issues, i have had a crown for the past ten years, after heading down a flight of stairs in a less than conventional manner. (thank goodness the metal door at the bottom caught me. too bad it shattered one of my front teeth in the process.)unfortunately, last september, my crown decided it no longer wanted to be in my mouth. so, in a scenario i'd imagined many times before (with great horror), there i was, mid-conversation, and all of a sudden, there my tooth was, having fallen onto the floor. for some reason, it was less traumatic than i'd imagined.

after it became clear that the runaway crown was not going to stay in my mouth, i tucked it into a stylish rubber glove, left it on my computer desk, and went on about my business. i attended a wedding without my tooth, bought groceries without my tooth, figured out how to speak normally on the air without my tooth, went out to movies without my tooth, drove back to kansas city to see old friends without my tooth, sold avon without my tooth.....it wasn't a big deal. (don't take this to mean that i will be content to live out my days without my tooth, though.) in all honesty, i think the disappearance of my tooth bothered other folks more than it did me. i mean, honestly, what is the first thing you think of when you meet someone who is missing a front tooth? go ahead, you can say it- "uneducated hick". i've been guilty of making snap judgements like that, too. it's only human. that said, i wandered around fairly oblivious to the fact that i was missing a tooth.....unless i caught someone staring at the gap in my mouth while i was talking to them. children seemed to handle it the best, unsurprisingly. ahh~ the innocence of youth! i had a couple come up and ask if i'd lost my tooth just like their older siblings had. they were pretty unfazed by it- after all, kids lose their teeth all the time, starting with the front ones.

i freaked out a little (okay- a lot- i was in tears) after my first dentist suggested a conventional bridge. here, i had one tooth that was toast, and now i'm hearing that the best way to fix the tooth is to grind down the teeth next to it and make a bridge. well, this was not acceptable, because

a. why is it we're grinding down perfectly good teeth?
b. if a kid knocks into this whole mess too hard, suddenly i'm out three teeth. hmmmm...think i'll pass.

actually, to be perfectly honest, i left that office in tears, resolving to find a new dentist who would offer another (non-implant) solution. i found that dentist soon after the first dental incident, and once i got across to him that while i was sure implants were a truly wonderful thing, they would not be demonstrating just how wonderful they were in my mouth. however, there was another, more pleasing option- and it didn't involve grinding anything down. i'll be getting a maryland bridge. (shall we go into the eerie coincidences here, given my upbringing? nah- wait for the book.) anyway, in an effort to make said bridge work, it was suggested that i go get braces. so, off i went to see dr. zetz.

to make the story slightly shorter, my errant crown was wired into my braces, with my colored bands over the top. (apparantly, most "grownups" don't use colored bands with their clear braces. however, i do not feel old enough to be considered a "grownup", and don't really care to fit in with "grownups" anyway. too many of them are old and stuffy.) my crown had the wandering spirit monday, which continued that evening and the next day, as it was sort of reattached to the neighboring teeth, but not nearly securely enough to guarantee it wouldn't come flying out of my mouth again soon.(plus, feeling and hearing vibrations as i talked was getting just a tad annoying.) so, i went back in to see the orthodontist on my lunch break. the crown was rewired again, i was put back together, and here i sit, with slightly sore, though happily vibration-free, teeth.

tired, sore, vibration-free teeth. it's way past my bedtime...once again. (one of these days, i'll manage to sit down and pound out an entry a little earlier in the evening.....)

wasting time pondering brandon lee's demise

i'm wasting time at the radio station. dames and i are supposed to go to the 9:00 showing of the new kevin bacon flick- the woodsman....or something like that. (the woodcutter? lumber jack? paul bunyan: behind the music? wait......that last one's gotta be cable worthy- i should email vh1 with that suggestion) anyway, i have 40 minutes before i meet her, so i figured i'd tinker with the ol' webpage for a little while, and since this is linked to the page, a new entry seemed natural. (besides, it's been a couple of days, and i owe it to the five people- readership is up!- who read this to provide them with something new to peruse.)

i learned an interesting tidbit (to me, anyway) earlier today. while my two year olds napped and i stuffed my face, i worked my way through the latest issue of one of the, like, three girly magazines to which i subscribe. so there i was, reading.....uhm....i think it was vogue, since it was devoid of the exercise tips and "success stories" from formerly fat people featured in the other two girly magazines i read. anyway, there i was, flipping past the fashion spreads featuring clothes i'll never be able to afford and probably wouldn't wear anyway, past the photos of the various "beautiful people" of new york, and started reading some of the book/tv/movie reviews. buried in one of the tv reviews, i found the answer to a question i'd been preoccupied with a few years back.

remember when the crow came out back in the early 90's? it's a great film- one of my favorites, in fact. (despite the fact that i still haven't found the time to wrestle my special edition copy out of its nearly impenetrable plastic covering.) anyway, there was a big to-do about it, because during the production of the film, its star, the undisputable hunk (not to mention fairly talented actor) brandon lee was killed tragically by a bullet that was accidentally loaded (instead of a blank) into one of the guns that was being used as a prop in the film.
___________________________________________________
my apologies to all of my high school english teachers (especially mrs. karen mccarthy) for that horrible run-on sentence. please don't hold it against me.
___________________________________________________

anyway, at the time i'd tried to search out the name of the actor who'd accidentally shot brandon lee. however, we didn't have the internet at my house and i was too lazy to prowl through back issues of magazines at the library to try and figure it out, and......then other things took higher priority- like getting through my high school classes....and the college ones...and finding jobs...and stuff of that sort and eventually "who killed brandon lee?" just didn't seem like such an important question.

it's funny how sometimes topics that seemed inportant fall by the wayside and then are reawakened later on. in the past week, brandon lee (and the crow, which, let's face it, was certainly better than at least the first sequel (the only one i bothered to see), despite even the presence of iggy pop) was mentioned in two articles i read- in vastly different magazines, no less. the topic first came up in this month's issue of spin magazine, which featured an article on "the 66.6 greatest moments in goth". (i hope i quoted that properly. i left my copy of the magazine in the studio and it appears someone else wandered off with it.) one of the moments- the exact number escapes me- had a picture of brandon lee (as the crow) accompanied by a mention of the film and the fact that he was killed during the production. i thought about looking up the name of the shooter, but again, other things took greater priority.

so there, i sat, stuffing my face and flipping through my magazine while the little ones slept, and i started reading the reviews. there, buried in one of the tv reviews, i found an answer i'd sought briefly years ago and never found. (an answer you probably couldn't care less about, but after all, it's my blog and it's important to me.) just in case you wondered (or you're boning up on jeopardy worthy trivia), the name of the actor who shot brandon lee during the making of the crow is michael massee. he's in some upcoming show with bill pullman. somehow the name of it just didn't seem as important........

procrastinating with billy idol

i had a lot to do today, which i suppose is why i'm blogging so late. not that i was actually doing important, meaningful stuff all day. actually, about half the day was spent doing meaningless stuff while further putting off the meaningful tasks. i'm an admitted procrastinator. sometimes it works out, sometimes i wind up pulling an all-nighter. but i digress......

i was in bed at 10:30 last night. hard to believe that 5 years ago, at 10:30 on a saturday night, i probably was getting ready to go out dancing. scratch that- 5 years ago, my saturdays were spent at the college radio station playing 80s music for about 20 listeners tuned in to maryville's (missouri) cable channel 8........or was it channel 9? i can't remember. at any rate, i was wiped out last night. i must be getting old or something.

you know the little link at the top of this page that says "next blog"? have you ever clicked on it? i spent fifteen minutes hitting it repeatedly and looking to see what other people are doing with their blogs. for some, it's a place to advertise. others set up their blogs to be bulletin boards. i ran across a few photo albums. (this one was of particular interest.) there were a lot of seemingly interesting folks just living their lives online- just throwing their journals open for the whole world to see. (several would have been more interesting if i'd payed a little more attention in my french and spanish classes. i'm afraid the japanese ones are way beyond my reach, though.) i found an interesting blog by a girl in knoxville who blogged mostly poetry. one of her poems that stuck out was about how she had one class left to take before she could graduate, but it wasn't offered over the summer. she went on to talk about how she had no idea what she was going to do with her life......i had to comment. at the end of april, i will have been out of college 5 years. it's hard to believe how quickly time flies. while i have some idea what i'd like to do over the next few years, i certainly have no idea what sort of job i will retire from when i'm 70 (or 80, as i'm sure that'll be retirement age by that point).

speaking of advanced age, do you have any idea how old billy idol is? i can remember seeing him in the world book encyclopaedia yearbook when i was little. (i forget the year, but i remember reading about michael jackson's "thriller" and seeing a picture of a blond guy with his lip curled in a sneer on the same page.) i played some of his stuff in college during the aforementioned 80s show on saturday nights- his cover of "l.a. woman" was a favorite of mine. anyway, as i read a couple of magazines (procrastination) today, billy appeared not once, but twice. it seems he's released his first new album in twelve years. (actually, i should correct that- it's his first album of new material- he's put out a few "greatest hits" type discs over the past few years.) both rolling stone and blender recently interviewed him.....i'm saving both articles, but here are some of the more interesting little tidbits about mr. william broad:

~he changed his name after one of his school teachers wrote "billy is idle" on a report card.
~his film debut was in oliver stone's 1991 movie the doors (as "cat"- haven't seen the movie in a long time) i liked him better in the wedding singer, though.
~the first record he bought? "she loves you", by the beatles
~he has a sixteen year old kid named will. (how odd would it be to call billy idol "dad"?)
~billy still wears leather pants, at the ripe old age of 49! i can only hope to be half that cool in another 23 years. (however, i will try to refrain from wearing leather pants. they just don't look quite right on most short people....let alone short nearly-50 year olds.)

oh- and since he's got a new album out, he'll probably be coming to a town near you. check his website for more details.

that's all for now. i discovered that the "next blog" is totally random, and i'm curious to see what other folks are releasing out onto the internet. this could take all night.

searching for a topic.....

i'm not sure what to write about this morning.

there are a couple of topics i've been tempted to address, but discretion is the better part of valor sometimes.....so all i can say about one is

thank you for taking time out of your busy day (or night) to peruse my blog.

and the other? well, the world continues to spin, regardless.

with that out of the way, what's left? i could go with current events: terry schiavo (if nothing else, at least folks are finding a new way to procrastinate- work on living wills instead of tax returns), or the ever-popular michael jackson case (whether he did it or not- and i'm leaning toward "not"- he seriously needs to see about some therapy). i could always take a quick spin around the internet to see if any new, interesting sites pop up on my radar....

that reminds me- it's time for a new poll on my page. any suggestions? it's something i'll be pondering this weekend, so maybe the new one (whatever it may be) will be up monday. feel free to check back and cast your vote.

the latest issue of rolling stone came yesterday- to the right address, no less. the cover story this time is "the children of rock", and various rock star offspring are posed on the cover. the big names are there- keith richards' daughters, paul simon's son (as well as art garfunkel's), james taylor and carly simon's son, et cetera. however, i can't help but wonder why sean lennon is featured, yet his half brother julian is conspicuously absent. did yoko throw her weight around and ban him from the shoot? was he simply not asked, since most of the folks on the cover are young and "beautiful". (though i've always found julian attractive, myself.) come to think of it, otis redding's son is on the cover, yet he's just a year or two younger than julian.....

now that i've bored everyone except my dad (also a julian lennon fan), i suppose it's time to wrap this up and tinker with the website, or something equally constructive.........

ta-a-a-a-ake me ho-o-ome

i started the water for my bath and left it running- the tub almost overflowed. oops. that'll teach me to multitask.

"long cool woman" by the hollies is running through my head. it was the last song i heard before i got out of my car. i tried to make it home during "paradise city", which lent itself better to a blog entry, but traffic was a little slow. i had a guy on one side of me roll down his window to talk to the chick on the other side of me. i was half tempted to move forward a little and cut off their conversation, but i didn't. i was tempted, though.

"paradise city" would have been a great blog topic. once upon a time, when i heard that song, i'd visualize the video as it played. however, that all changed the day i saw "can't hardly wait" for the first time. it's sort of a mindless movie, but i like it anyway. (in my opinion, sometimes you just need mindless entertainment..... and the thought of seth green trying to be gangsta cracks me up every time. however, that's beside the point....) there's a scene in the movie where charlie korsmo (remember him as the kid in dick tracy? well, he's a little more grown up in this movie and plays a nerd who crashes a party.) winds up getting drunk and hopping up onstage for a rendition of "paradise city". that is what i picture when i hear the song. *giggling* sorry- pictured it again.

i injured myself today. i was getting out toys for my two year olds and would up nailing my funny bone on a shelf. it was horrible- not only was a shooting pain radiating down my arm, but there was this sensation of intense heat. it was horrible. it still hurts a little 4 hours later. (sometimes, i'm kind of a weenie.) i figure a warm bath will help- assuming all the water doesn't wind up spilling out onto the floor.

oh- i've been playing catch-up with my george carlin 2005 page a day calendar again. the thought for february 28th:

When they print the years of someone's birth and death, can you resist figuring out how old they were?

nope. i can't. i also search through the obits for causes of death and if they lived to be over 100 and other strange things of that sort. i suppose it's morbid curiousity or something like that.

ok- bathtime. i got three new rubber duckies tonight, and i suppose i should test them out or something. (i'm well aware that i'm a raging dork- it's okay.)

deep thoughts about......nkotb?

i have had an interesting assortment of songs running through my head this evening. most recently, it has been my favorite collective soul song- "gel". before that, however, the tune playing repeatedly on my mental jukebox was "step by step" by the new kids on the block. (perhaps that was brought on by finding all of my new kids memorabilia in a box in my dad's garage last weekend.) the evening started off with salt n pepa's "push it". (i'm afraid i have no logical reason for that one- sorry.)

the avon order is mostly done- just a couple of orders left to bag tomorrow, and then i can work on cleaning the rest of the apartment. that reminds me- i need to move a load of laundry into the dryer. back in a sec..........(jeopardy music plays)........

i have to fluff up the old stuff before i can put in the new...so i've got 20 minutes before i must abandon this and have my own private laundry-hanging party.

several topics came up over the course of the day- most too heavy to ponder on my blog. after all, i had a deep, reflective entry last month. too much of that and people might start to think i'm vaguely ...what's the word? intellectual? philosophical? not sure. anyway, no deep blogs for a few more days. it'll give me time to sort out my thoughts, among other things.

next to my computer, i keep a copy of my holiday 2003 photo. we'd just gotten back from our first trip to the grand canyon. i'm smiling by the canyon, and for once my skin may have even been clear. it was a chilly day, and behind me, there's fog rising up in the canyon (from the colorado river). too bad i didn't still look that happy after our little hike. we hiked a couple of miles down the bright angel trail, and i thought i was going to die on the trip back up. little old men passed us heading back up the trail at breakneck speed. it was....a little embarrassing. our first trip to the bottom was this past november, when we hiked the hermit trail down to the colorado. again, i wasn't sure we'd make it back up, but somehow we did. somewhere in there is a metaphor for life- it gets tough, and at times you wish someone would carry you the rest of the way, but somehow, you make it yourself, and the completion of the journey is its own reward. (funny, i thought i'd said i wouldn't get deep- oops.) anyway, i was looking at the picture and thinking this sort of stuff. we're heading back in a little over a month to hike another part of the canyon....remind me to take a "before" picture again to use as next year's holiday photo. (somehow, the "after" pictures always seem to feature yours truly looking like i've been through a fight and lost.)

it's late, and i should retrieve the laundry and head for bed.

i need slezzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

i've spent several hours catching up on laundry, phone messages, and it's already after midnight. i know it may sound like i accomplished a little something, but i don't feel it, because i still haven't sorted out the giant heap of makeup in my living room and bagged it up for delivery. in fact, maybe a fifth of my orders are done. i feel like i'm letting customers down- i'm already a couple of days behind after my weekend trip- but i am about to pass out.....sleep deprivation, anyone?

one final thought before i crawl into bed.......whatever happened to taking road trips? i spoke to several folks at work today- both parents and teachers- and most were aghast that i drove 15 hours by myself from here to kansas city (and back) this past weekend. when i was little, we drove everywhere. i wasn't on my first plane until middle school. is it merely a matter of convenience? (why speant umpteen hours in a car when you can reach your destination after a few hours on a plane?) does it tie into the lack of vacation time americans have compared to folks in other countries? (we want to make to most of our vacations, so we fly to save time and have more to spend at our destination?) something to ponder....i had plenty of time to think about it during the drive......

i'm procrastinating, so this'll be long

sorry i've neglected the blog lately. i found out....let's see.... right after i posted my last entry that my friend (and #1 backup) aaron is getting married in 2 months. this is a little alarming for a couple of reasons:

1. my other backup is getting married next month
2. aaron has known his fiancee a grand total of two months

i'm trying to be happy for him, but am too busy wondering if he'll wind up divorced in a couple of years. after all, if i'd married every guy i thought was "awesome" after knowing them a couple of months- you know, because "when it's the one, you just know"- i would've been divorced several times over by now. i already told aaron i'm going to be the person who stands up mid-ceremony and objects. (i was informed that he'd tape my mouth shut in advance.)

anyway, onto other things. i spent sunday hanging out with my buddy jamie, who was kind enough to drive me around town in search of gnomad photo opportunities. we made a stop at her radio station, star 102 (KSRC), where she's the queen of promotions. i gnome-napped her gnomad, alaska, and took random pictures of the gnomads around the building (KMXV- mix 93.3 is also in her cluster). when we wandered back to my house several hours later, we were pretty suprised to see that dad and kathie had returned from their florida vacation....almost as surprised as they were to see my car, since they thought i was coming to town a week earlier. dad was tickled with his birthday gift (live aid on dvd), and rushed out to buy me young einstein on dvd. (what do you mean you've never heard of it? it tells the story of the invention of beer- a must-see!)

uhm.....what else is noteworthy? the drive yesterday was relatively uneventful. i paid $2.05/gallon for gas, which was outrageous, though cheaper than many parts of the country, from what i hear. it's a good 15 hour drive, but at least it's scenic and i ran into some good radio stations along the way. i ran into one near knoxville that played both "lust for life", by iggy pop, and "it's my life" by talk talk. naturally, i sang along to both. i also blame both songs for my inability to follow the speed limit exactly.

today, i had a blast from the past- one of my old bosses from athletic attic called out of the blue. i was so floored i had to call heather, who also remembers the "h-train". (long story, don't ask). it's strange how people reappear sometimes, isn't it? there's still one person from that workplace i'd love to track down...... just out of curiousity.

i suppose that's it. i came home to a ton of laundry, dishes, and a huge avon order still begging to be checked in and sorted out. i need to head for bed early (i'm still wiped out), so i suppose i'd better get to work. until next episode......

one wedding and two roach funerals

you know the opening scene of four weddings and a funeral? the one where hugh grant and his redheaded friend (she died in the last couple of years, by the way) are running late to their first wedding? i thought about it as i rushed to my friend ash's wedding this afternoon. surprisingly, i wound up being only about 15 minutes late.

i met up with heather, my best friend since high school, and we went out for a mexican lunch, and then she was kind enough to chauffer me around town (i'm not ashamed to admit i don't really know my way around kansas city.) on a gnomad-photographing mission. we passed through the plaza (the big, ritzy shopping area downtown) on the way to the nelson-atkins museum, where they have these huge badminton birdies on the lawn. we wandered around for a little while, posing the gnomes on various sculptures, and then realized i was supposed to be home getting ready for the wedding.

on the way home, we stopped by the store where ash was registered so i could pick up a gift card, as well as a regular card to stuff it into, and then, seeing my reflection and realizing i forgot to pack a pair of tweezers, we ran to a beauty supply shop where i spent 5 bucks on a pair of tweezers, despite the fact a brand new pair i spent a whopping 99 cents for arrived with my avon shipment in columbia this morning. i ridicule folks who are vain enough to put on makeup in the car, but time was of the essence, so while heather drove, i plucked away. (thank goodness she didn't hit any bumps, or i would've needed only one contact lens this afternoon.) i applied toenail polish while shimmying into a dress, and rushed out the door with my mapquested directions (i'd forgotten the invitation and directions in columbia- whoops), and found the church in time for the presentation of the bride.

my original plan was to take all my assorted travelling companions to the wedding (gnomads, of course), but i already felt dorky with one. however, ash and his new wife were quite accomodating and let me take their picture with bodhi. after taking a couple of photographs outside the church, i hopped into the car and blindly followed a ford explorer to the reception. since i knew no one at this affair, except for ash, i busied myself sitting in a corner deleting old photos off the digital camera. ash introduced me to a few people after his arrival, but most just went on about their business. it was good to see ash again, and talk to him for a little while, but then i headed over to see one of my surrogate parents for a couple of hours.

so, now i'm back home. i had one message on the answering machine, and i'm fighting the temptation to call one of my other friends for the third time in two days......i've had a great conversation with his voicemail, though. i'm also trying to figure out what to do tomorrow. apparently, my college is planning on demolishing my old dorm, and i'd like to get pictures before that happens- but that would also be a 3 hour round trip. heather mentioned a trip back to the plaza to photograph the gnomes with some deranged-looking easter bunny statues, and jamie offered to take the gnomes and me to her radio station. i also have a bunch of worldly possessions in dad's garage that i really should go through, and a couple of friends i'd like to get in touch with while i'm in town. or i could just do dad a favor and buy him some bug bombs- i found a roach making out with my duffel bag when i got back this evening. gross! another one scurried under the couch as i walked down to the basement to get on the computer. needless to say, i'm now carrying the flyswatter with me at all times. (i still haven't located dad's can of raid.)

my surrogate mom's friend, doug, and i got to talking about 80s music tonight. he mentioned the remake of "video killed the radio star", originally by the buggles. (it was the first video played on mtv, by the way.) he was convinced christina aguilera sang the remake, though for some reason i'm thinking more along the lines of the presidents of the united states of america. this will nag at me, so i will look it up and then the flyswatter and i are headed upstairs to bed.

notes from the road

the day started off well enough- woke up to toby and shaun playing one of my favorite billy idol songs on the 104.7 wnok morning show. (the morning rush is on vacation) they turned it into an all-request show. i thoroughly enjoyed it, except when i lost the signal while on the road.

as i write this, i am sitting in my dad's basement in kansas city. he and his wife have taken one of her grandchildren to disneyworld, and i have a wedding to attend tomorrow afternoon. (i also have a wedding gift to buy tomorrow morning, and a wedding invitation/directions to said wedding to locate tonight- i'm pretty sure i packed them. otherwise, i will be calling home and taking dictation, i guess.) i have killed two small roaches so far- which is just plain gross. furthermore, i have no idea where dad keeps his can of raid (assuming he has one), so i've had to beat the little critters with a flyswatter. gross. thank goodness they grow 'em smaller here in missouri- none of those buick-sized "palmetto bugs"........so i guess kc has something going for it after all. yuck- is that a spider in with the geneology stuff i am taking back with me? once again, gross.

it took me 15 hours on the nose to get here after dropping my young charge off at school this morning. i probably could have cut the time down more, but i stopped each time i got into a new state to take pictures of the gnomads, as well as a round of photos at one rest stop per state. i'll try to do better next time.

a few of the highlights:

mile 215 (tennessee)- stopped at a gas station- wound up stuck in line behind two folks who seemed to be redeeming handfuls of lottery tickets. then, instead of just taking the cash, one couldn't figure out how to fill out a powerball form, and the other couldn't make up his mind which tickets to purchase with his winnings. (the second customer then approached me in the parking lot, asked where i was going, and then had no idea that kansas city was west of eastern tennessee. what has our public education system come to?)

mile 2something something (also tennessee, but forgot to write it down)- saw a man riding a bicycle on the highway. i'm still trying to work that one out. he may even be out of tennessee by next summer. maybe.

mile 375ish (tennessee is one big state, let me tell you)- while flipping through radio stations, i settled on one playing love and rockets' song "so alive". naturally, i sang along (as if you don't), then shut up long enough to find out it was part of the "way back cafe"- their retro lunch program. also played- "after the rain" by nelson, and "high enough" by damn yankees.

mile 460 (you guessed it- tennessee)- heard "dizzy" by the goo goo dolls. i haven't heard that song on the radio since we played it in college.

mile 578 (illinois)- passed this car...i cannot even attempt to describe it in all its glory. let's just say i'd love to know how the driver (i presume) attached all those tchotchkes to it, especially the model plane with working propeller that was resting on the trunk. a picture will definitely appear on my wnok page after i get back to columbia. whoever the mastermind behind that decor was, they're my hero.



mile 785 (near fontsell (?) missouri)- i was regretting all those cokes (caffiene's a diaretic) and bottles of water. the toilet at the truck stop where i gassed up was possessed. it flushed three times before i was done.....then refused to perform at the proper time. however, i was too relieved to care.

mile 791 (missouri)- just in case you wondered, pets are not allowed in the restrooms at the wright city rest area. it's even posted, in case you forget. (this public service announcement brought to you by the folks who don't like to see your pet drinking out of the public can.)

i've had way too much caffiene and way too little sleep. time to run upstairs befopre i have to haul out that flyswatter again.

great plans going awry

plan a- get to bed early
plan b- scribble out belated birthday cards (which i purchase in quantity), then get to bed early
plan c- wash dishes, call mama, take a warm bath while reading, get to bed earlier than usual

well, the bathwater is currently hot, not warm, so i have time to mess around a little on the web. i updated part of my wnok webpage, checked my email at least twice, used one of those mapping sites to figure out a route for tomorrow's trip that does not involve atlanta, and cruised through a few blogs to see what other people are writing about. most were sales pitches or foreign ramblings, so here i sit, without a clue what to write about this evening.

the last time i drove out to kansas city, my car hit 50,000 miles in tennessee. i believe it was in nashville, but i'd have to check the note i scribbled on my dry erase board to be sure. (the note was transferred from my arm, where i scribbled it while driving because i didn't want to stop and look for scratch paper.) i just rolled over 56,000 miles on my lunch break today. so- no milestones this trip....but there's always the road trip to maine later in the year. (i'm also pulling for the florida keys, too, but that may have to wait a year or two- we'll see.)

yes, i know i travel a lot. it's a big world out there, and life's too short to spend it all in one place.

i believe i've covered all the basics for this trip- aside from the call to the credit card company to let them know i'll be travelling. nothing like trying to buy gas on a road trip and having your card declined because the company thinks it's been stolen. (i'm glad they have safeguards in place, but i try not to carry too much cash on trips, and having one's card declined can be a tad.....embarrassing.) i've packed two dresses for the wedding (both will probably be totally inappropriate due to cold weather or some such thing), two pairs of shoes (out of the like, 5 pairs of dressy shoes i own), a couple of earring options, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, body wash, face wash, face scrub, face mask, face cloths, stuff to dry out my face, stuff to moisturize my face, and makeup (yes- i actually own some) to cover up my 5 billions zits after the various facial "remedies" don't do their jobs. i also have my one decent pair of jeans (no holes anywhere near the pockets or belt loops, and i can get into them, despite being a bit lax as far as working out lately), a sweater, several long sleeved shirts, a couple of short sleeved shirts, pajamas, socks and the like.....and i snagged the digital camera to go with the 4 gnomes accompanying me on this trip. (i'm well aware of my dorkiness.) i'm sure on the road tomorrow, i will think of at least 4 things i forgot. ah well, it's only a weekend.


speaking of travel, my non-irish dad is spending his st. patrick's day birthday at disneyworld. with that in mind, happy belated (by the time you stumble onto this blog) 59th birthday, daddy! (next year, can i go along?)

obscure lyrics about slumber

it's an obscure tune tonight....."sleep", by savatage. never heard of it? you're not the only one. in fact, i stumbled across the video somewhere during my formative teen years, liked the song (surprising, since i'm not really known for my fondness for ballads), acquired the cd, and still only liked...that song. anyway, the only part i can remember right now (and you'll have to bear with me, because i'm not at home and can't double-check the lyrics) is something to the effect of.....

so lay back
call off the attack
if you look deep dreams
are nothing that i lack
all i seek is
a final chance to speak
but i would let
the whole thing keep
if i could just sleep.....

as i recall, that's basically how the chorus goes. if it bothers me enough tomorrow, i'll dig out the cd when i'm home on my lunch break. (i'm a little anal retentive like that.)

that was a little creepy. i just got up to check the bathwater (hot bath in garden tub = good, flooding the bathroom = bad), and noticed the door to the garage was open. a little creepy, especially at nearly 11 at night. however, the garage doors have been down since the parents left early this morning, so i'm not too worried. (my heart did skip a beat, though.)

ahhh....anyway, the kids went to bed around 8 p.m. (i'm mean), and i spent a good couple of hours getting the latest makeup order together. it was over $1000, but, i'm ashamed to say, probably $300 of it was mine (mostly business supplies). i should make it all back- plus some- though. one day i'll be rich.....just not anytime soon, i'm afraid.

i spoke at length with one of my coworkers last night. i won't name any names, but i was troubled by his situation- he's old enough he should be looking forward to retirement, yet he's working three jobs, at all hours of the day and night, mostly to support his BROTHER IN LAW. not his family- his wife's. in fact, to be perfectly accurate, he's supporting his brother in law's unemployed live-in girlfriend. when he told me the latest last night, i advised marriage counseling. i have since revised my opinion. THE GRAVY TRAIN NEEDS TO LEAVE THE DEPOT. head for the hills, man. look into moving out of state and changing your identity or something. i mean, i'm all for helping out the less fortunate, and certainly family should help out family to an extent, but not if they are unwilling (though perfectly able) to help themselves. (it's a damn shame the money spent taking care of these sponges can't be taken off one's taxes.)

i could follow that with my observations on the crap people put up with, but the bathwater's getting cold and i'm getting sleepy.

(by the way, happy 60th- i mean 40th- mom)

what was that noise?

i'm borrowing my mechanic's computer while he changes my oil, rotates my tires, and checks to make sure my car will make the 2,000+ miles journey to kansas city and back this weekend. my not quite 3 1/2 year old zx2 has better than 55,000 miles on it, and while i'm not really worried, i still have my fingers crossed that he doesn't find anything majorly wrong with it.

the title of this entry refers not to my beloved vehicle, but to the unfortunate ripping i heard as i squatted down to help one of my two-year olds in the bathroom. i have never been so glad to have two shirts with me- one wound up around my waist, lest small children wind up scarred for life at the site of my pale white butt.

ah, yes.....some moments remind me what a dork i really am. unfortunately, this dork has a "to do" list as long as my arm....the latest overnight babysitting gig starts tomorrow, and not only do i have to prepare for that, but i will drop off the younger child at school on my way out of town friday- a trip for which i still must pack. just a little motivation, there. but first, i must change these pants.

now playing on my mental jukebox...

i know eyes are watching, so i have to write a guarded entry this evening. it's killing me, because i'm a pretty open person, and tend to say what's on my mind. however, all i can say this evening is uuuuggghhh- what a day.

not that it was all bad. i mean, really- aren't there good moments in even the crappiest of days? i got several avon orders, somehow managed to get my savings account up to a decent level, and realized that a magazine for which i won a free subscription a couple years ago has started sending me duplicate copies. fine by me- it's a music magazine, and i'm more than happy to tote the extra copies into work for other djs to use.

songs in my head today: "she drives me crazy", by the fine young cannibals (heard it on the morning rush this morning), "mr. brightside", by the killers (one of my current favorites- second only to "dragostea din tei" by o-zone), and for some reason, as i nuked leftover burritoes for dinner, "you sexy thing" -the dee-lite cover, not the original- played in my head. the last selection is particularly interesting, since i'm currently quite unsexy- a little bloated, completely zitty, in desperate need of some treadmill time, and so forth. (now, where's that call from playboy? kidding.....no need to panic, dad.) nothing like lack of sleep, stress and tasty junkfood to screw things up.

speaking of a lack of sleep.....i should attend to that, instead of the other six things i need to do tonight.

anyone else remember the posies? their song "lights out" is now playing on my mental jukebox. i'll take that as a hint.....

lions and tigers and bears and....5 year olds?

the gnomes and i made it to the zoo yesterday, despite my working late at 104.7 WNOK. we got a couple strange looks, several chuckles, and a few of folks stopped to admire the gnomes as they posed for pictures. if you care to look, i've got both bodhi's and martin's photos added to their pages on the gnomads website. (in case you're wondering, martin is not mine- he's visiting from florida, and i'll pass him on after our trip to kansas city next weekend.) have you checked out bodhi's enounter with recording artist howie day yet? if not, you can find it here.

i'm pleased to report i survived the slumber party last night.there's nothing quite like entertaining 17 (mostly) 4 year olds at once. for the most part, the kids were well behaved, and easy to keep in line. around 11 p.m., we witnessed "mommy fever". as soon as the barbie rapunzel movie ended, one child wanted to go home. as soon as she was picked up, another wanted to go home. and another. and another. and another. originally i'd planned on staying until everyone was asleep, but a couple of the kids were still bright eyed and bushy tailed at midnight, so i wished the party hosts well and drove home. from what i understand, the last of the lonely kids was picked up around 1:00, and everyone else was asleep about half an hour later. not bad for a first slumber party, though. *yawn* excuse me, i need a nap.

linden trees? lime trees? i like it either way

at some point last weekend, i mentioned that i'd been watching the music video that inspired the "numa numa dance" that's been all over the internet. well, i've been at it again. we have a link to it on wnok's website, but i figured i should also put a link here.

while we're at it, here's a lego parody of the video i just found. (i started off with a link to the site where i found the parody, but then i couldn't get it open. so, here's WNOK's link.)

it seems i'm not the only one who likes this song- check out what i just found on another blog.

so what's the appeal? well, there are some similarities to the video for "take on me" by aha. (egads- is that song really 20 years old?!?) it also features relatively simple lyrics, an infectious beat......all that cliched pop stuff. oh- and the boys of o-zone are pretty easy on the eyes, i suppose.

will we ever play them on 104.7 wnok? i doubt it, unless they cut something in english. will i go out and buy the cd anyway? it's already on my list.

a party of titanic proportions

5:30 came way too early this morning. i could use a nap after work (before the slumber party), but i've got a quick trip to the zoo planned. (the radio station and the zoo are less than a mile apart, and i'm a member, so i can go without digging in the couch for admission money.)

as i sprinted out the door this morning to come to work, all i grabbed was a box of cinnamon life cereal. life's not as inspiring as tacos, to be sure, but it's not horrible either. i think all they had was regular life when i was a kid......we were allowed to eat it as an occasional break between boxes of generic cheerios. (my parents weren't big on dealing with sugared-up children- a practice i follow at school.)

i'm quite glad it's the weekend. there was too much drama this week at work. working exclusively with women is tough sometimes. i've discussed this with several friends, and we've all agreed that working with men is a lot easier. (i'll keep that in mind for my next job.)

so, the big slumber party is tonight. seventeen girls were invited, sixteen are attending (plus the guest of honor, of course). the original plan was for me to stay all night, but i need my sleep....which would be interrupted approximately every half hour by a random child who needs to use the bathroom/needs a drink/misses mommy and wants to go home. so, i will be leaving after everyone's asleep. perhaps we should watch a really boring film, like "titanic", which i personally have never seen- nor do i have any desire to see it- but most guys i know were bored out of their gourd and watched it only because they had a hot date who'd talked them into it. instead, i am arriving half an hour early and leaving as soon as the last child goes to sleep. (so- can i borrow your copy of titanic?)

speaking of movies- unless i screwed it up somehow, the college movie poll is up on my wnok page. (if i managed to mess it up, please bear with me- i'm new at this sort of thing.) please take a moment to vote, so it looks like people actually look at my page. thanks. the poll will be up for two weeks, then i'll replace it with something new- any suggestions?

that's it for now- i found a site with dvd easter eggs, and it's time for a little exploration. pass the cereal, please.

i just wanna fly......

remember that song by sugar ray? it came out *thinking* either late in my high school career or early college. (this will drive me nuts if i don't look it up- one moment, please........1997....end of first year of college. i feel better now.)anyway, it just popped into my head for no apparent reason as i sat down to work on this.

my station 104.7 wnok hosted a "girl's night out" party with howie day tonight. he's a relatively new recording artist from bangor, maine. according to a biography i found online somewhere, his first live gig was at captain nick's, a seafood restaurant in bangor. the same restaurant where bodhi and i battled a lobster dinner right after christmas. anyway, i thought it would be funny to get a picture of bodhi and howie together, since they've both been to captain nick's and, well, it seemed like a cool idea at the time. i was unable to attend tonight's event (babysitting), but conned a coworker into taking care of it for me...hopefully there's a decent picture or two i'll be able to put up on bodhi's page.

in other news, the battle with the local post office continues. today i received not only another priceless piece of dad's junk mail, but also a letter from rolling stone " there's more i could write, but i have to be at work at 6 a.m.

grrrrr

i am cranky today.

i feel better admitting it......and now i have to head back to work.

but at least it's friday.

alice cooper and crackers

i sat down to do an entry while on my lunch break, but couldn't log in for some reason. pity. i'd heard "school's out" during my drive home and was reminded of a commercial one of the office supply chains had right before school started this past summer. it featured an angry preteen girl confronting alice cooper in said office supply store. she said something to the effect of "i thought you said school was out forever", and alice replied "school's out for SUMMER"....something like that anyway. i still giggle thinking about it.

okay- one thought for the day over with.

i'm so glad it's almost friday that i can hardly see straight. the week has flown by, though. in another week, i'll be in the middle of putting my charges to bed (overnight babysitting again), and in a week and a day (that'd be friday, for those of you following along at home), i'll be on my way to kansas city for a college friend's wedding.(this weekend's babysitting will pay for the gift.....once i figure out what to buy.)

dinner is a more immediate concern. nothing in the kitchen inspires me, except some mint chocolate chunk cookies i made last night, and while they leave my breath minty fresh, i doubt they have any other actual health benefits to offer. (not like that's an actual criterion, but still......i'm trying to make an effort here.)i'm craving tacos (as if that's anything new), but i think some campbell's mexican style chicken tortilla soup is as close as i'm going to get. it'll do- especially since i'm too lazy/broke to make a run for the border.

i caught the mailman today- and for once he wasn't hiding in his little mail van, reading the paper. i handed him dad's mail from yesterday (it's ba-ack!), and received a look of.....was it amusement? you know how in office space the pimply guy (whose name obviously escapes me right now)is always muttering about how he could set the building on fire? that's about how i felt. not that i was going to give into my pyromaniacal tendencies, but i really contemplated kicking his tires. i still haven't figured out how this all started, or, more importantly, why it seems that no one can figure out that "individual only" on a forwarding order means that individual does not reisde at this address. (not "he's here, but we want to make you do that extra bit of work" or "we all up and moved- even the resident with the vastly different last name.") it reminds me of an animation on ebaum's world i can't link to (old computer) and probably shouldn't anyway (boss reads this, along with who knows who else). ugh.

that's it for now- the crackers i put in my soup are now perfect- soggy, but intact- and i should fish them out before they disintegrate completely. (which leads one to wonder....how does alice cooper eat his crackers? okay- so maybe i'm the only one wondering......)

greetings and salutations!

i'm not quite sure where that came from either.

i have a song running through my head (as is often the case), and i need to get it out. i'm not sure how it got in, but for some strange and horrible reason, the peabo bryson/roberta flack duet (1983, for you fellow 80s music geeks) "tonight, i celebrate my love" is stuck in my head. that one line is playing an endless loop. please hold while i find a cd to play in an attempt to chase out this dreadful song....................i'm too lazy to swap out the cds in my stereo, and i've been working my way through an imported duran duran singles box set......why is my cd not playing? hang on....i have to get up and walk across the room and everything. i think i fixed the problem, but also came across something interesting- i seem to have two of the same disc ("all she wants is" in single form) instead of a copy of "serious" in said sleeve. this is distressing, especially since one of the tracks on the "serious" disc is "all along the water", which is one of my favorite songs from the liberty album. argh.

now that i've bored all but maybe one other person reading this, let's move on, shall we?

idea gathering for the upcoming poll on my wnok webpage continues. i figure i'll have the poll up before the weekend....but feel free to get your comments in between now and then. i've also been contemplating other areas of my sections of wnok.com. since i'm such an 80s music nerd, i'm thinking about putting together a page for other 80s music nerds to enjoy. maybe some early 90s stuff too- a lot of groups spilled over. we'll see.....yet another thing to do if i come across some spare time. i also need to work on the photo section....gotta see about getting the scanner my mom brought down hooked up and see if it's worth a damn. another night....

after my run on the treadmill last night, i set out today planning on hopping on again after work. it didn't happen. not only did it not happen, but i ate a huge chunk of m&m fudge on my lunch break (after downing a bean burrito, a large plate of spaghetti o's, and a bowl each of beans and broccoli at lunch), and i made cookies tonight (had to test out a couple for quality control purposes), and had some smoky bacon chips with dip. before i start sounding like bridget jones (read the books, have avoided the movies), i don't obsess over my weight or what i eat or anything like that, though i need to at least tone up a few spots. what looks okay in jeans does not necessarily look so good in a bikini.....and i figured out i have about 7 weeks before i could potentially wind up in one again. predictably, i did not wake up early and hop on the treadmill this morning. ah well, i had good intentions.

i bought supplies tonight for a birthday party i'm helping out with on saturday. sarah wants a "

i really should head to bed. i'm up far later than intended.....not that that happens all the time or anything. at least roberta and peabo are no longer dueting in my head. (sorry if they've now taken over yours.)

engaged? (not me, of course)

it's been an interesting day. i emailed a dear friend of mine to let him know that i'm driving out to kansas city in a week and a half (for a wedding), and his reply came today. it was brief, and a little puzzling, but it was good to hear from him.......and a little unexpected. he said he had something to tell me.....so of course i've spent the afternoon thinking the worst and hoping for the best.

i could elaborate, but maybe that's something best saved for later.

i worked out on the treadmill tonight for the first time in an embarrassingly long time. i just went for half an hour, but i got almost two miles in while listening to duran duran's "greatest" cd. i have every intention of getting up early in the morning to put in some more time on the treadmill, but don't hold me to that- i have a hard enough time waking up in the morning as is.

song running through my head right now- "dragostea din tei" (or however the $%&@ it's spelled) by o-zone......it's the song that was popularized by the dude who did the "numa numa dance". (link to follow when i have the time to look it up.) someone gave me a gift certificate to amazon awhile back. i wonder if they have the album.....not that i'm going to mess with it tonight.

that's it for this episode. there's more i could write, but there's also an open bag of "smoky bacon" potato chips (brought back from canada) calling my name.

maybe i'll be a little more interesting tomorrow.

bob marley and miatas

i just got off the phone with my dad. i was motivated to call after the latest issue of rolling stone got here yesterday and looked like it had been through a war and lost. as you may recall, i ranted about the local post office screwing up my mail in one of my first blog entries last month. i thought the problem was solved a couple of weeks ago, when i scribbled "not at this address, please forward to:", followed by my dad's address, on several pieces of his mail and stuffed them into the "outgoing mail" slot. well, i may not be getting his mail anymore, but it seems my post office was feeling proactive and went ahead and informed rolling stone that i'd moved back to kansas city. brilliant! so, my latest issue, featuring a very tattered and worse for wear bob marley cover, arrived yesterday. (actually, somehow during transit, the cover became a separate piece, but i suppose i should give some kudos to my mailman for keeping it all together. ...maybe when i'm done being irritated by his apparent inability to read a simple forwarding order.)

anyway, the conversation turned to my upcoming trip out to kansas city. one of my college friends is getting married on the 19th, and since i'm too broke to buy a plane ticket, i'm driving out. dad will be out of town at the time (disneyworld, wothout me- that's just wrong!), and i've spent the last month trying to talk him into letting me drive his midlife crisis. you see, dad bought himself a gorgeous blue miata a couple of years ago, and ever since he brought it home, i've been trying to figure out how i can con him into letting me borrow it. i was finally able to drive it during my last trip out to kansas city back in october, but i was chaperoned the entire time, and then he hid the keys from me. so, when we were talking today i thought maybe i could trip him up into at least letting me drive the miata around the block, or to the wedding i'm attending.....or maybe i'd accidentally forget to switch back into my car for the trip back to columbia.
"can i at least look at the car?"
"yes."
"can i touch the car?"
"yes."
"can i sit in the car?"
"yes."
"can i backitoutofthedriveway?"
(laughter) "no, sugar."
dammit. i was so close.

that was pretty much the end of the conversation. he said he had to go- to go hide the car keys again, i'm sure. (i'm also pretty sure bob marley would let me drive his miata.)

gnomads and college movies

"mr.brightside", by the killers, was the first song i heard when i got into my car this morning. consequently, a good portion of my commute to work was spent singing in a bad british accent. i'm jazzed we're finally playing it. it remains to be seen whether i'll get to play it when i'm on air in a couple of hours. (i'll get up and look after i'm done with this.)

*yawning* 'scuse me. it was a long week with with a lot of that "early to rise" stuff. i'm not feeling any healthier, wealthier, or wiser, but that could be because i still went to bed pretty late on a nightly basis. ugh- i think it's finally caught up to me. so much for my plan to work out after my shift....unless i hit a second wind. (or a first wind, really, this early in the morning.)

yesterday was an odd day. things were a little rough in the wonderful world of two year olds, but they behaved a little bit better after their two hour nap. bodhi, my favorite gnomad, was back in town- and brought a friend- so i showed them around school. i took their picture with my boss, who asked if they'd be on my website, too. i was also warned to watch what i say on here....parents might be reading. so- i suppose future entries about school and my observations on parenting are put on hold.....for now. my school day ended with quite a compliment from an unexpected source, which made my day. i'll have to remember to scribble it into my private journal, which has been sorely neglected since i started my blog. maybe i'll just print out all my blog postings, staple them into my journal, and consider myself caught up..........

the state newspaper recently did an online poll to find out readers' favorite "teenage"movie from the past 20 years.....the results came out in thursday's paper. two out of the top five 80s films are from the 80s. in case you missed the article, here's the top 10:

1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
2. The Breakfast Club
3. Dazed & Confused
4. American Pie
5. Napoleon Dynamite
6. Pretty in Pink
7. Clueless/Love & Basketball (tie)
9. Say Anything
10. House Party

where's "Can't Hardly Wait" on this list? what about "Real Genius"? oh, right- that was a college movie. in fact, there are a bunch of good college movies out there.....what are your favorites? leave me a comment or two, and after i have a few built up, i'll set up a poll on my wnok website.
ok- that's an ambitious enough project for today........

feet and mouth dis-ease

i have no idea what to write about this evening.

i was hoping getting that out in the open would lift the writer's block, but it has not yet abated. ah well- maybe something will come to me.

my mouth is killing me. as you may know, i have braces. (picture to come soon....like when i have access to the camera and am actually thinking about taking a picture- or conning someone else into taking one for me.) well, occasionally, those braces rub against the inside of my mouth, and then canker-type sores appear....not a good time. the last time this happened was right after i got my braces. my face swelled up and i looked like i'd been in a barroom brawl. of course, that was the day we had our i.d. pictures taken at school. can you say...reshoot? anyway, i am currently battling a canker sore on each inside corner of my lips, if that makes any sense. all i know is that it hurts....badly, and the lemonade i just attempted to drink didn't exactly help matters any. (sometimes i'm not all that bright.)

the high point of my day was getting one of my gnomes back in the mail. i know- it's a little sad my life currently revolves around a couple of 4 1/2" tall plastic figures. i need a life, and i know it....or do i? you only live once, so you might as well live a little. besides, i've had george michael, my little plastic poseable traveling companion for three years now....the gnomads just have a conveniently constructed webpage for near-instant gratification. nothing wrong with that, especially in a society that has become so overconvenient.

the low point of my day? a conversation that left me wondering if it is possible to be too much of a friend- how much do you put up with from a friend without feeling like a doormat? something i've pondered. i know, it's mostly just my irritation at being fussed at for something so.......it defies explanation. maybe i should just look at it as building up good karma or something- i don't know.

interesting tidbit: mama told me a while back that if you're of mediterranean descent, your second toe will be longer than your big toe. this leads me to my most interesting (and possible favorite) feature- my feet. not necessarily my favorite feature because they're so gosh darn cute, but because they're unique. my mom is half italian, and the second toe on my right foot is slightly longer than my big toe on the same foot. my dad is of germanic descent, and my left foot reflects that, as the second toe is just slightly shorter than my big toe. just another of my quirks, i guess. i'm trying to remember what brought up our most recent discussion of the topic- i think it was an article i'd come across about how some women were getting their toes surgically altered if their second toes were longer than the big ones. it scares me to think we've actually become that vain.

don't know why i brought up the foot thing- just something i thought about earlier today, while i was in the shower.

i guess that's all for now. it was a rough day with the two year olds, and i'm more than a little worn out.

i'm not the only one reading this?

something strange happened this morning. i'd even call it a little unsettling. i checked my blog....and someone left a comment. i know, i know- not that unusual, right? well, it sort of shattered the illusion that i'm the only one who reads this. (i take that back- i know one other person who reads this, but that's to be expected, because he's.....well, he is who he is. besides, i keep catching him doing it.) but now other folks are reading. it's about as unsettling as realizing other people are listening when i'm on air at 104.7 wnok. (i'm still able to block that one out so i can function. but were i to have to get on a microphone in front of a couple hundred people, i think i'd pee my pants. all the more reason why i didn't go into stand up comedy- stage fright.....plus i don't have enough good jokes.)

so, thank you for reading my random ramblings. in a way, it's nice to know somebody thinks i'm important enough to have something worth saying. it's just going to take me a little while to get used to it.........

everyone else.......

i'm a big fan of ebaum's world.

i just had to get that out in the open. i was introduced to the site by idaho, one of the other WNOK djs, over a year ago. he'd played something called "peanut butter jelly time"during his saturday night show, and when i searched for it on the internet (i googled, as usual), up popped ebaum's world. i spent a good 5 hours that sunday exploring that site, and even a year later, i still check back periodically to see if anything new has popped up. i found my new favorite song on the site a couple of months ago.......though i admit it's not exactly something i could play in my classroom at school. it just gets stuck in my head for some reason, though not well enough that i'd be able to sing it on, say, american idol and not look like a fool. (then again, i don't think i could be dragged onto american idol anyway...i've never even watched a full episode.) anyway, the only part of this new favorite song i've paid attention to is the chorus. one of these days, i'll really focus on the words instead of the animation and figure out what the bunny is saying the rest of the time. however, today is not the day- especially since i'm now racking my brain trying to think of "normal" things i've never experienced. (it's not necessarily a "wish list"- just a series of observations- so please don't get any ideas and try to break my streak, okay?)

1. i have never done the macarena.
2. spin the bottle? read about it, never played it. ditto for "2 minutes in the closet" (sheltered, i know)
3. i have never watched most of the reality shows on tv.
4. i have never heard "who let the dogs out" in its entirety.
5. i have never gotten more than two flowers at a time. (and those two don't count- they were from an obsessed listener, and they were mostly dead by the time i found them anyway.)
6. i've never been to the prom.
7. speaking of dances, i never had a date to one in high school. (went to a few anyway, though.)
8. i have never watched "titanic", despite billy zane being in it. (leonardo does nothing for me.)
9. i have never dyed my hair brown. (blonde? check. red? check. orange? check. blue? check. purple? my favorite so far. green? see college graduation photos. i'll pass on brown (and black) though.)
10. i have never worn stilettos....or any heels over the weenie height of about an inch and a half. (and i certainly have not done this while wearing a catsuit and brandishing a bullwhip, which several friends have tried to convince me is perfectly normal. all i can say is that they're freaks.)

anyway, back to ebaum's world. in case your curious as to what on earth "peanut butter jelly time", the tune that first brought me to the site, was about, try here. in the meantime, i need to try to figure out what on earth the bunny's saying between choruses.

potato chips and overtime

this is the third time in two days i've sat down to concoct a new blog entry (to entertain the one person besides myself who actually reads this), and my mind is a blank. actually, that's not quite accurate- my mind is asleep, not blank. i'm so used to staying up late, but not used to getting up early, as i am doing this week, due to overnight babysitting. i got into a warm bath last night around 10:30 (needed to thaw out my toes after attending one of my charges' softball practice in subzero temperatures), and didn't make it out again until over half an hour later. then, i stayed up for awhile to work on the makeup order that's being placed in a couple of days. (i'm not sure i got anywhere with it- just brainstorming, mostly.) so, late to bed (11:30, i think), early to rise (6:30 a.m.) is not doing my body good. (it probably doesn't help that i'm spending over 9 hours a day with my two year olds- and the prospect of a lunch break is a little iffy, since we're short staffed at school and i'm always open to the thought of overtime.)

why is that, you ask? well, overtime pay can be a great incentive. sometimes i wonder why more people don't take advantage of it.....which may be why most people look at me a little funny when they find out how much i work. you see, my college degree hasn't exactly landed me a $20/hour job. not that i regret going to college- nor do i regret my highly useful majors- it's just a little frustrating sometimes to compare my paychecks (two official, plus avon and babysitting) to what my younger sibling (who went the military route instead of college) rakes in. but, rather than get too frustrated, i simply work harder, as i operate under the theory that eventually hard work will pay off. (if that doesn't work, i'll start looking for a sugar daddy who's not broke.)

so, i continue to plug away- an extra hour or so each weekday with the two year olds (several of whom come ealry and stay late, as their parents are busy working overtime so they can afford the $600+/month tuition at school), followed a couple of nights a week by babysitting, 20+ hours of radio shifts on the weekends (plus filling in other folks shifts weeknights on occassion), sometimes followed by babysitting, and working on my avon orders whenever i can.

however, there is a nice perk to my full time job- one that makes putting up with laughable pay almost worthwhile- vacation time. i only get two weeks of paid vacation (which still seems to be up for dispute, even after working there for better than four years.), but unpaid vacation is fairly easy to acquire. since my radio stuff is considered part time, i can request to have a weekend off here and there without much grumbling from my three bosses. as for babysitting and avon- i tailor both of those around my schedule, so when i'm off, i obviously turn down babysitting (hard for me to do at any other time- i hate to say "no", which lets people down, in my mind) and either take care of my avon orders wholly online or (as i will most likely do at the beginning of may, when i'm traipsing around the bottom of the grand canyon) skip a campaign.

admittedly, i'm a borderline workaholic. i inherited too much work ethic. or am i just buying into the american dream- work hard and achieve greatness? i'm not sure anymore. however, while freezing my butt off at softball practice last night, i came across an interesting tidbit in the december 2004 issue of details: the average amount of vacation time for americans is only 10.2 days, and we aren't required to have any time off by law. meanwhile, canadians lounge around doing nothing for an average 26 days per year (10 are required by law), they get 15 days, as required by law, in china, 25 in great britain (20 by law)and anywhere from 24 (legal requirement in germany) to 30 (average- 25 legally) in france. if you add that to the weekends that most folks have off......well, let's just say that one of these days, i may have to go to canada on one of my famous potato chip runs and not come back for awhile.

speaking of potato chips, a bag of sea salt and pepper flavor lay's chips would go great with the soda i'm taking to work to help me through the day. off to the coal mines...