Affable Olive

Farewell to thee

2007-08-10T16:35:00.000-05:00

I'm going to stop blogging for a while. My life bores me right now, so I know it's boring you all, especially since my only hits come from relatives now. I quit posting interesting things months ago, if I ever did.
I'm not going to just shut it down. I want the account because it proves somewhat useful for commenting on H.n.B's blog.
Maybe I'll revamp it and come back later when I have the time to keep it up nicely.

Excitement

2007-08-08T14:53:00.000-05:00

This week has been by far much better emotionally. Monday was crappy, but not as crappy as the past two weeks, so I'm recovering nicely. After all, it was only four months. I'm now realizing somethings that are helping.
Besdies my new shoes (!) there are a few things I'm excited about:

Pioneering!!!!!! I've been looking forward to this for about two years, and now it's going to happen. I turned in my application and I was a little discouraged because you have to apply for it and I don't have too much self-esteem... I was talking with my car group yesterday about it. They were all very supportive and Deborah Clasky has been nothing but excited for three weeks. This morning I went to take breakfast to the pioneer school and I met a sister that I think may become my best friend. She's barely a year older than me and we have tons in common. (Truthfully, I went because it was rumored there were young brothers there and I was scoping them out. Not hopeful for those three.) A sister in my hall is going this time and I told her that I turned in my application and she yelled "THAT'S WONDERFUL!" So, needless to say, their excitement is getting me pshyced.
School. I've finally decided what I want to do and mom said that she can pull some strings for a job when I finish. Seeing as how I'm going to a tech school, all I have to do is finish the classes I've got (4) and then there's only one more! That means I could meet my goal and gradute before I'm 19. That makes me happy.
I'm getting a car! Wouldn't that make you excited?
The Bourne Ultimatum. End of story.

I put some new shoes on...

2007-08-08T14:29:00.000-05:00

I find it odd that my shoe size keeps shrinking. There's no avoiding the fact that I've reintroduced morning coffee into my day and an effect of that is I'm not really (read: NOT) eating breakfast...or lunch...or dinner, and I don't think it has to do with that...maybe. Typically, you lose the weight first in your feet. Anyway, I saw some cute shoes in an ad for Payless, so I went. They have cute and cheap shoes and for service, that's what I'm going to need, especially since I'm going to be PIONEERING!!!!! I couldn't decide between two pairs and they were different enough to get both of them, so these are the shoes I purchased:

Aren't they cute!? I'm wearing the polka dot bow ones right now with my pjs. Funny thing is, they're an 8 1/2 wide. The solid brown ones are 9 wide. I was always told that I wore a 9 1/2 or a 10. Mom then relates to me that she used to have to buy me wide shoes when I was a little girl because I had narrow ankles and my feet were so wide at the toe part. What's up with not telling me this? Wide is avaliable at Nordstrom for crying out loud. They're so much more comfortable than the regular shoes that I've been wearing and they fit ten times better! Maybe I won't fall as much.... that's just wishful thinking though.

It all evens out

2007-07-30T10:53:00.000-05:00

One blog for this month. Impressive. I've been swamped with school. I'm trying to finish in a timely fashion. There are a million and one things I'd like to blog about, but I'll make a list and get to them next month, which I can promise now that I've unloaded a person from my daily itinerary. In chronological order:

Peanut attack Friday of the convention
Mesha's baptism
Bubbles' Graduation Party
Andy broke up with me
Easel Weasel Beezit came for the weekend. Did some therapeutic shopping.
Left for Kentucky with Jules.
Shakespeare Tavern with group of 30. Picked up (my) kids with Lost Aunt.

Peanut attack was awful. I've gone 23 days accident free now and after that Sunday at the new Chinese restaurant where I was yelled at by my father for not specifying that there should be no peanuts on my plate, even though I ordered something without peanuts, I've had an acute sense of asking about peanuts and peanut oil everywhere I go. The baptism was wonderful, as well as the dinner on Sunday for her. I'm skipping the graduation party. Though fun, I have a feeling that it aided the disaster the Monday after (point 5 on the list). Eas came out. I spent $60. It still wasn't enough to satisfy me. It's rare that I look for fleeting happiness in such empty things, but buying stuff always makes me feel better, especially when I get to swipe that pretty piece of plastic with my name on it. It did feel good buying those shoes, which I am in love with. Oh! And I found the same pair of pants that I had 5 years ago, wore out, and turned into cut-offs for $10! I was so happy at that moment. I bought a shrug marked down to $10 from $98. That's always gratifying when you buy something so drastically marked down. Sunday of last, I left for my Oliveparents and then the next day, we left for Kentucky. (Ask Poly to fill you in on the details of that morning and my frantic panic about going to Fry's, which I am now in love with.) Kentucky was beautiful and they grow a lot of corn. Jules had to go for business. She was doing a title search for some property with oil wells on it that were leaking into the water, since they were out of use. I was able to spend a whole day helping her and decided that I'd like to go to school to be a paralegal and work for a real estate company, so that I could deal with the deeds and mortgages and wills and stuff like we did for that property. I enjoyed all the research and following the trails to make a puzzle. Jules and I took turns taking pictures. Neither of us are HnB, but I think we got some good shots. The downtown of Owensboro, KY (the third largest city in KY) is quaint and going through a revival. Neat town. One night we drove to Evansville, IN and saw the college that would send me mail daily my sophomore year. THAT'S a town I'd love to go back to. I'm going back to KY anyway because I made a friend in the congregation up there. She's in pioneer school as I type. We stopped and ate at a restaurant recommended by some friends of mine in Nashville that regretted they could not meet me for dinner, but said I must come back and visit. Jules bought lots of beer and we had to leave through the brewery. The car thus smelled like beer all the way home. My zen died near Dalton. It was a sad moment when we had to turn to Atlanta radio stations. I hung around till Sunday evening to be able to go to the Tavern. Had a roaring good time. From there, my Lost Aunt took me home after we picked up the kids from her X. I've never seen those kids so surprised, or so happy to see me. When her 5 year old daughter ran up to me and hugged me, it was the happiest I'd been in two weeks. There's nothing like a hug from a 5 year old to cure all. Now, I'm home and dreading tomorrow. A group of people concerned about me told me that it would be best if I came home and faced him. I know I like to run from problems and I have issues with denial. I told myself that I wasn't going to let him impair my life, so I have turned in my application to regular pioneer (which means 70 hours a month minimum with his mom). I'd really like to spend my first year pioneering out here, but if it gets to be too much, I may spend a few months out of the 12 pioneering in a congregation in Atlanta some where. I have a lot of feelings about what happened and I'm still confused about what I'm supposed to do because I don't know what I want... at all. For about 10 years, my life plan was be single, support myself, live in Atlanta, travel, pioneer. That was it. Sure I wasn't really happy with it, but that's what I'd decided. My worry was my allergies. No one would love me enough to give them up. It's a cramp in my lifestyle, but I've lived with it all my life and have no choice. Any guys that might be interested in me would have a choice. I never dreamed how happy I'd be with a guy. Never dreamed.

Victories for Jack and Meg

2007-06-27T15:46:00.000-05:00

I really have nothing to say. I'm half way not alive right now, to put it in dramatic terms. I fell Monday. Shopping is quite my enemy right now for more reasons than I can't find the stinking shoe I want to buy. Rain+flip-flips+me do not equal a good combination. Fell flat on concrete at Lenox Square. So yeah... I'm in some more pain right now.

There's quite a bit of stress in my life for me to have so few responsibilities at this time. It'll ease off in July. School is just in my face right now. Plus, my proctor at the Oconee Libarary has an exam that I NEED to take and she can't protor it until mid to late August. Bite me. She asked if I could wait to take the test until then. Woman, if I had the test sent to you now, I think I'd like to take it now. She just doesn't want to have that many responsibilites because it's obvious when you look at her that she's lazy. I don't know how many times she calls in sick a week. She could read to the little kids and just pass by my cell everyonce in a while. I think you know me well enough to know I haven't cheated on the last four exams. So, I'm taking it at Bogart. The libarian there sounds MUCH nicer and far more helpful too. From now on, I'm taking my exams there.

Mehsha is getting baptized on July 7, 2007 (07/07/07), so all that read are cordially invited to come see her dedicate her life to Jehovah at the Gwinnett Civic Center. I'm very excited for her. Not sure how we're doing the dinner yet. Since everyone is everywhere, we may wait to have it in July.

I did get "Icky Thump!" Right now, I'm developing a full opinion on the album so that I can write up a full review. It's fast becoming my favorite Stripes album. Funny story- well, funny to me. When I was with the Clasky family at the hospital last week when Andy was having his surgery, I had carried my things to do in my White Stripes bag that I bought at Music Mitown (lest we forget). I sat down and the woman across from me says to the two women with her, "Look she likes the White Stripes too." I look up as I was scrolling down my ADP songs on my fauxPod and proudly say, "Yes. I've been a fan since 'White Blood Cells.' " (I don't know why I say that. Probably because I feel I have something to prove, especially to these middle-aged women who don't give a flip and are just waiting for their relative to get out of surgery. Hello, you aren't in Wuxtry's! It did impress WestPalm Kimmi and Feather that I bought my first Stripes album when I was entering the seventh grade though.) ANY-way... so I strike up a conversation and Deborah has no clue what I'm taking about but the other woman, Doorbell Woman, begins an extensive conversation on how she agreed to buy her 15-year-old son "Get Behind Me Satan" because she liked the "Ringin' my doorbell" song. (The only Stripes song acceptable for field service.) She continues to do her best to quote the lyrics, though being middle-aged, you can see she'd either listened to it once or is going through meonpause and having memory problems. She then asked if that was their only album. Pssh! Fifth, and their sixth was on store shelves as we were speaking and I couldn't get away because I was nervous about some cist on my boyfriend's hand. I proceed to explain the other albums that her son needs to get in order to really know Meg and Jack. She mentions something about how it's cute that a brother and sister can work together. Oh boy, now you've got me deep in conversation about something that you probably didn't really want to hear. So I explain how they were married until "Elephant" and then masquraded as a brother and sister and if you got into the band after their fourth album, you would never know because they look so much alike. I gave details on their birth names and how their is actually a certificate for their marriage from 1996 and that the divorce was some what public, etc. She then decided she'd get in touch with her son and tell him to look up the new album and that as soon as she left the hospital, they would go get the album. I then plugged myself up to my Zen and Doorbell Woman and Deborah proceeded to have a conversation about how long it takes at a hospital.

A victory for Jack and Meg.

I was conversing with a friend of mine in Tennessee, Smithville to be exact, who is also a fan and has been since "Elephant." Eh, let's give him a nickname. None of you know him, so I'm on my own here. Camper Chris. (inside joke w/ me and his sister.) He borrowed a copy from a friend of his in the congregation. We began discussing how I burned Jammie's a copy and his fiancee and I have been on a crusade because she is very much a fan as well. He gave "Icky Thump" a 4 out of 5. Jamie said it's such a better album than "Get Behind Me Satan." Really, it is. Camper Chris said that the friend that he borrowed his copy from was very unwilling to part with it, but it was the first album that Jack and Meg released that this guy liked. He really loved it infact.

Another victory for Jack and Meg.

MORE puppy news...

2007-06-14T10:43:00.000-05:00

Here's two updated pictures of the cutie taken this morning by Mr. Thompson:

Also, within the last hour, we've renamed Massie. Her name is now Guinness and we're going to call her Guinne (pronounced like 'guinea' in 'guinea pig'). Mehsha decided that she didn't look like a Massie, so we quickly decided on a dark stout name.

By Ecky Thump! A USB Flash drive Album?

2007-06-14T08:51:00.001-05:00

So it's a little less than a week until the White Stripes new release "Icky Thump." I'm still throughly excited and trying to scrape some pennies together. Not sure how I'm going to obtain this album, since at 10 AM I will most likely be at Athens Regional with the Clasky parents and Andy. (He's going in for minor surgery and asked me to come with them.) At some point during the morning, I will probably have to sneak down to Wuxtry's and get myself a much needed copy of what I've been waiting months for. A few days ago though, I recieved my daily White Stripes update by way of their newsletter than I signed up for (they're playing a special show in west Hollywood if anyone wants to fly out there with me and still have the chance of not getting a ticket cuz there's only about 100 for this show), and they've made 3,333 limited edition USB Flash drives of both Jack and Meg. Check 'em out: http://whitestripes.kungfunation.com/. I just thought that was the most off the wall but intresting way to release an album. Very much Jack and Meg's style. The whole album is on there in Apple Lossless format, but the drives work with PCUs and Macs. If someone wants to be LOVED FOREVER they can be awesome and spend $100 on me and get the set. Nah, just kidding, but they would be totally awesome to have and if I had the money to be a die hard collector of White Stripes merch, believe me, I would've already had these preordered.

"ICKY THUMP" IN FIVE DAYS!!!!!!

New Developments in the Puppy Plot

2007-06-14T08:42:00.000-05:00

Well, Dacey will not be coming home with us the second week of July anymore, but rather a just as cute liver colored and ticked German Shorthair Pointer will be coming home with us. Mr. Thompson said he can already tell that Dacey (aka- Recoil), will be far more of a hunter and less of a family dog. He also said that it might cause some problems with Skeeter. So on this website http://www.vcgsp.com/, we will now be getting the one under the name of Quest, but we're naming her Massie. Mr. Thompson said that by nature the liver colored ones are far more relaxed and more family dogs than strictly hunters and that Massie will continue to let Skeeter rule the roost, so to speak. Personally, I kinda favored the liver colored ones. Everytime I picked one up, they would just snuggle down into my arms and coo. There are also plenty of new photos up of the puppies at Mr. Thompson's website. Mrs. Thompson is very excited that we're taking Massie home because then she'll get to see her since Mr. Thompson is going to help us train the dog.

Skeeter's new friend

2007-06-07T09:50:00.000-05:00

After much deliberation and a visitation yesterday to Mr. Thompson's house, we're getting another dog! Go to this website here: http://www.vcgsp.com/ to see pictures of the puppy that will come home to our house in four weeks. If you click on the tab for "puppies and photos" and click on page 3 of photos, our puppy's name is currently Recoil. Right now, all four of us agree on the name Dacey, which is Scottish and means "from the South." These dogs are German Short Haired Pointers. This will be dad's retirement project. Dacey is going to hunt with dad, but still be a family pet. She's going to be a lot of work (more than Skeeter), but a lot of fun at the same time.

A bit of randomness

2007-05-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

So I'm brewing my afternoon pot 'o coffee, strictly for my survival, and I started thinking (and that's where it all went wrong): "Ecky Thump! Why are the 'coffee' colors for walls more creamy and tan than brown and dark black? Coffee fresh brewed isn't blonde. You have to make it that way. How many people drink their coffee unadulterated vs. adulderated?" So yeah, those were my thoughts of about 30 minutes ago.
Plus, I was thinking that this Sumatra sure does smell like cat whiz before you brew it. It's SO good though! (Don't worry Jules, it was half off...)

Topic for discussion #87

2007-05-14T13:55:00.000-05:00

Yes, I should be working but this is seriously the first time I've been in the office and acutally been able to stay in here for a little while without suffocating. The upstairs AC went on the fritz Friday I believe, and the guy fit us in today. It's absolutely freezing up here. Now 70 degrees isn't "freezing," but when I had gotten used to dealing with the upstairs being 87 degrees, I had to switch to pants and a sweatshirt until I get used to it again. Of course, the downstairs hasn't quit the whole time, so at least you could go downstairs to breath and it chilled off nicely Friday and Sunday evenings after the rain, so it wasn't unbearable- at least for me. Dad and I were the only ones that slept upstairs though. (My parents' room is on the first floor. He switched with Mehsha.) So, before I get to work, I'm going to blog about something that I've wanted to blog about for almost a week now.

I believe I was getting my daily dose of CNNHLN Wednesday when they ran this story about an Ohio woman who was upset about what it said on the side of her Starbucks cup. I assume most of you have seen the whole story or heard part of it, but she's a real idiot. To stop drinking Starbucks just because of a silly little quote is stupid. The quote that upset this woman read:

Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for
strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well
be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves
for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the
catastrophes we need to endure.

It's attributed to Bill Schell, a Starbucks customer from London, Ontario. I think almost eveyone that reads this has had a cup of Starbucks coffee with one of these sayings on the side. In fact, P. June actually blogged about one that she got a while ago. This woman is all upset because of the atheistic opinions expressed on the side of the cup. She's quoted as saying:

As someone who loves God, I was so offended by that. I
don't think there needs to be religious dialogue on it. I just want coffee.

For pete's sake! If you just want a cup of coffee, buy the beans and brew it at home! And P.S.- woman there are plenty of independent coffee companies that just have plain white cups and their emblem printed on the side of the cup jacket, a la Jittery Joes (but of course, those are just an Athens thing). Just incase you haven't noticed, you're doing exactally what the purpose of those quotes on the side of the cups are supposed to do: spark discussion. It was funny because on CNNHLN they showed a clip of the PR person for Starbucks saying that the cup has done it's job, sparked discussion. Tricia Moriarty, the PR person, said that they are not the opinions of the Starbucks company. Hell-O! How could they be the opinions? They've had so many comments that are on boths sides of the issues (religious, political, etc), that's just whacked to accuse them of supporting this opinion. The Ohio offended woman (Stu Pid-Idiot) said that she wasn't going to buy Starbucks anymore. It won't stop me, and I definitely don't agree with this guy's comments, even though I know I'm paying more for all the fancy stuff written on the side of the cup, but sometimes you just gotta have a cup of Starbucks and nothing seems to compare. Yeah, they're really hurting if they lose $4 a day from one coffee drinker. I think Poly will more than make up for what she's not going to be drinking anymore.

OK, just had to rant and rave for a moment. Been holding that in. Back to work.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55564
http://www.wlwt.com/family/13274910/detail.html
http://www.daytondailynews.com/r/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/06/ddn050607cup.html

By ecky Thump!

2007-05-10T16:06:00.000-05:00

Get your own Flash MP3 Player

As you know, my darling White Stripes have decided to come back together, release an album, and do a little touring. I was seriously considering getting tickets to Bonaroo or a show that they are playing in Birmingham (???), AL, but I'm also seriously broke right now, so not only can I not pay for a ticket, forget about paying for the shots needed to visit each state. Naturally, I was very excited still for the album (see profile picture), and still even more excited to hear the first track "Icky Thump." When I found out, I txtd Feather, who I knew would be just as excited about the news as I was. As suspected, I was right and she also added, "Who comes up with their album names?" Obviously, they do, but still, where did this one come from? I immediately went wiki digging and found this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecky_thump

There, it explains three different possibilites, the third being the album "Icky Thump." First on the list was:

A traditional phrase By ecky-thump! (an exclamation of surprise) in Lancashire dialect, described in the article Yorkshire dialect

From there, I followed the "Yorkshire dialect" link where I furthered my investigation and wiki told me: ecky is described as being Lancashire, not Yorkshire, slang equivalents of heck, itself slang for hell, in Partridge's Dictionary of Historical Slang, Penguin 1972, entry for Heck.

Why, thank you wiki. Still though, as many websites as I folloed, I was unable to find out where the "thump" came from, but it still sounds totally cool.

Also listed on the "Ecky Thump" Wiki page is this explaination:

"Kung Fu Kapers", an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies involving a secret Lancashire martial art known as "Ecky-Thump", which mostly revolves around hitting unsuspecting people with black puddings

I don't know about anyone else, but that sure sounds "Monty Python"-ish to me, and I will now be looking for this episode. Laughs will ensue.

So this is definitely my new cool phrase that will make me look like a total dork, but I'm still using it.

Also on the player are covers that Damien Rice did. Very cool. Very cool indeed.

Confusion and the 3rd degree

2007-04-30T18:29:00.000-05:00

Today was confusion day. Even the Cheat has been out of it. Right now, I was supposed to be at my Oliveparents'. Well, plans changed and I'm still at home. Tomorrow, I have to be at my Oliveparents because I have a concert that I'm going to. Not quite sure how I'm getting there. I'm feeling odd about this trip. It's been about two months since I've made a trip to Atlanta. Now, it's not that I'm not looking forward to going. Far from it. I've got an awesome day lined up for tomorrow. A fresh full helping of Tori and the Posse in the morning, a drive to Stone Mountain, and I'll top off the day by blowing out my ear drums by Arcade Fire. What could be more exciting? Then Friday, my craving for Thai rice will be fulfilled! Followed by some shopping (I need new black heels and flats) still with Eas, and ended with some of the best Turkish food ever to grace A'retta. I can't wait. Not sure how I'm getting home after my soiree with my ATL gang, but that doesn't matter to me right now. I just know there's no way that I'm skipping out on any of it. Meeting and grocery shopping Wednesday. Saturday/Thursday, I'll fit in a book study. Meeting Sunday. Home next Monday. I'll be with my Oliveparents'. Thing is, I know I haven't been in a while, but I'm having some mixed feelings about this visit. When I was packing last night, I just wasn't into it, and that's not like me. Part of it is, I don't want to leave Andy, which is pretty stupid because 1.) I'm not breaking up with him, 2.) it's natural to miss him, and 3.)we've been apart for a week before. Something about this trip though seems like I'm betraying him. Lately, it's felt like I am living two lives in two different places. There's the one out here and the one there. Somehow, I have to merge them without feeling...poser? wannabe? fake? High school drama. *sigh* I asked for it.

This story has high popularity rankings right now in the real world, so here's exposing it to the blog world. Last Sunday I went to my lost aunt's house and watched Buffy and Howdy Doody while she and her mom worked in the front yard and her dad, Andy, and Biscuit worked in the backyard putting together a playset for the kids. The orgininal plans has been rescheduled from a previous Sunday, so I was unsure if my invitation still stood since I played a less important role in the outworking of the plans. After the meeting, I found out that i was still invited and I asked mom pronto. She asked if the boys were still going to be there. It was right before that time of the month for me, so my temper was shorter than usual. I said, "I don't know," just as my "whatever" answer. Mom says, "You know they're still going over there. You just lied to me." So I was still granted permission to go, but when I got home, my punishment was issued. My keys were going to be taken away from me for a week. I served my time, since I knew it wasn't for that one time. (I with held information from teh previous month and slid by with a talking to and they were a lot worse than just a dsgruntled whatever answer.) It wasn't too bad, and I think it put a cramp more in mom's life than mine because Mehsha and I did things. Still, I served my time and received my keys today. Jeepie and I went to get the oil changed. Better than nothing. I do love driving.

Friday, I went to go see a movie. I was half watching the previews, but still couldn't help but notice how many sequels and "thirds" are coming out this summer. Some, I can't wait to see. Others, I'll go see for necessity's sake. Then there are the ones and you can't imagine who even thought to resurrect the original concept- much less a third time!
I do want to see:

Spiderman 3- I liked the first two and I'm sure I won't be disappointed in this one, except it looks gawd-awful long.
The Bourne Ultimatum- Oh how long I've waited! All the elements that an action movie needs, plus Matt Damon. I can't wait to see how they top the chase scene from Supremacy.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End- Finally the second one will make sense! This one you can't resist.

Not too keen on, but will probably see anyway:

Shrek the Third- Just because of sequel law, and the fact that I'll probably have to take the kids I babysit
Ocean's Thirteen- didn't really love the "Twelfth" one, but Andy wants to, so I'll probably see it with his family

WHY????????????:

Rush Hour 3- How old is Jackie Chan? Like 60, right? Come on. You can watch the first two on tbs all the time, why waste your money to see the same movie just in a different setting?
Resident Evil 3- OK, I didn't see the first two (obviously), so understandably, I wouldn't want to see a third.

Plain ol' sequels:

Evan Almighty- Now, Steve Carell is awesome. This will probably be very funny. I'll most likely see this one.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer- I'm not into comic book movies. Just Spidey. Didn't see the first one, so same theory goes for this one as resident evil.

All I have to say is I'm going to see a lot more than five movies this year.

Librarything

2007-04-23T17:56:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago, I was using the "next blog" option, which I have since quit doing because it's a scary world out there. Anyway, so on this one blog, there was a widget on the sidebar linked to a website called Librarything. It's a website where you can create an online catalog of your books. You can add them by using any feature of the book. After starting out by using titles and authors, I quickly realized how easy it was to use the ISBN, and I found out what the heck that was. For me, it's not such a big deal. I only have 117 books (evidently), but others have well over 10,000. You can add up to 200 books for free, and you can join for your lifetime for $25 or yearly for $10. I just thought it was a neat way to show what I own, my favorite authors, favorite childhood books, etc. There's a tags option too. I just love tags. Plus, it has a "recommends" page, which is always a great way to facilitate growth for a collection. It's too bad they don't have one for music. I'd be all over that, but I have a lot more CDs than I have books. So check out my "new feature" on the sidebar.

Where is everybody?

2007-04-19T22:20:00.000-05:00

I have a feeling Poly is the only one keeping up with my blog anymore. I keep desprately trying to post on H'n'B's, but with my computer being... mentally challenged, there's not much I can do to fix it. It just seems to be awful lonely...

Yeah, about that weather...

2007-04-19T15:21:00.000-05:00

Poly posted a few weeks ago about our crazy Georgia weather. Like my dad always says, if you don't like the weather in Georgia, just wait five mintues.

Last Sunday, we had all that wind. Well, this is what happened in my backyard:

The line rider

2007-04-13T16:33:00.000-05:00

I think I'm begining to have waaay too much fun with the "edit" feature as far as my blog is concerned. It's just too neat to resist for someone like me that always likes to put their own touch on things. Oh and I'm trying to break my current record for number of posts in a month. Current

I just realized that it's Friday the 13th. Oh well.

Maybe this will be the last thing that I share with you all today...maybe. Or I could further abuse the fact that I finally was able to login. Mehsha showed us this site a few days ago. It's www.official-linerider.com. I've only had time to play with it a little bit, but it's defentitely another one of those time wasters but impossible to tear yourself away from sites, a la the jacksonpollock site that Poly had on his "just because" link a few months ago. Just check out this video and then go have some fun yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcu8ZdJ2dQo

Pictures from their special two-week appearance!

2007-04-13T15:54:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many of you know that Mehsha had two chicks for two weeks. They lived in her bath tub. Though I was allergic as all get out to them, they were some of the cutest little buggers you've ever seen! And just think, they're going to grow up and be ugly chickens. And yes, we were all well aware of the health hazards and the neighborhood by-laws. It was so fun having the little chirpers around though. It's like when you have a cat and she has a litter of kittens. You just have to do it once. The black one she named after Poly and the grey-ish white one she named after I dunno. Yeah... ask her about that.

Home is where the heart is

2007-04-13T14:52:00.000-05:00

It finally let me log in! This old piece of junk. I disabled cookies to get to the log in box and then it's all upset that I disabled the cookies! Make up your mind you old hag of a compy!

To really send shivers up y'all's spines, I'm listening to Hilary Duff's latest album, "Dignity" right now.

So, since I addressed the fact that I am dating Andy now, I can post about this here. The other day, we were chatting about my relationship with someone that lives in Atlanta. We've discussed this before that anything that makes him uncomfortable, he needs to let me know. Once of the first things that we discussed was my desire to move back to Atlanta. Everyone that reads this knows I love the city and even just two or three months ago, I would've given anything to move back. That was a point of discussion because he wants to live out here, or at least have a house here, for the rest of his life. In December, that would've been the biggest issue and I probably wouldn't have dated him because of that. Thing is though, I know I'm not leaving. I'm dedicated to this congregation as much as he is and I was not planning on leaving the congregation for the first three to five years anyway. Andy just wants to live here for the rest of his life, not be tied here, which was a big relief to me. He wants to travel and be a part of the international construction work more than anything else. Georgia is always home. And when my family moved out here, I decided that I could deal with being here because as long as I'm with my family and in Georgia, I'm happy. The congregation did a lot as far as changing my attitude toward moving back. There's no way I could see leaving most of these brothers and sisters. So my roots are tied here now, but there's no denying that I need some of that fast paced city mentality to survive, and that's how my relationship with my friends in Atlanta comes into play here. He realizes that they are my ties to something that I still need a little bit of to function, and he's willing to make concessions to make sure that I'm happy, since that's all he desires. It was great to hear that he doesn't want me to break off any friendships I have because he knows that those are my connections to the city and if he makes me cut all ties, he will have a hard time trying to deal with me and make me happy.

The city will always be in me. Andy called me his "half-n-half" girl today, and I truly believe that's what I've become. I love both the city and my semi-country life out here and I don't know what I'd do without either of them because I think having both in my repertoire of experiences makes me a more well rounded person.

Maybe there is hope

2007-04-12T15:13:00.000-05:00

Although my taste in country music has been revived from my first grade year, and this has upset at least two of my readers, I'd like for both of them to know that I haven't forgotten my roots. Jules, yours and Smellie's hard work in pointing me in the right direction musically has not been in vain! I still remember the look on your face when you saw "White Blood Cells" in my music collection and all you could say was, "We raised her right." No I haven't forgotten all the fun I had at Yo La Tengo and how totally awesome alternative rock is. My favorite band is still the White Stripes. (My favorite solo artist is Tori Amos, but that upsets Jules too.) And I was VERY excited to find that my "brother-sister" duo *cough*liars*cough* have not disbanded all efforts to bring me my favorite head-banging music and produce a new album! So on June 19th, I'll be in line at BestBuy (or Wuxtry's) raring and ready to get myself a copy of "Icky Thump," and wear it out completely the first week I have it. Right now, all I can wait for is ADP (you just aren't cool if you don't get the abbreviation), but you better believe me, after that I'll be camping out all over again. Yep, definitely can't wait for this one either. And here's the cover art featuring my two favorite pasty freaks:

Also leave comments on the new layout. I'd love to have y'alls imput on what you might like to see. (The feed from everythingtori.com stays, so don't even mention that.)

Happenings of a Weekend- aka "The Young and the Restless"

2007-04-09T17:07:00.000-05:00

I had not realized that it's been a month since I posted here. Thing is, I gave myself those three weeks off from blogging that Poly and H'n'B were trekking across Asia, and although there's been plenty of drama going on here, there hasn't been much that been worth posting about- or that I've had the time to post about because it's taking all my extra time to deal with it. In my efforts to get back into the swing of things, I'm just going to post about my weekend.

For starters, I'll take this moment to inform, confirm, and restate something: I'm dating Andy Clasky (aka- String-bean Andy). Bubbles (who has since proved that there are quite a few lights turned off upstairs, if you get my drift) broke up with him mid-December. I started liking him in late November, and he started liking me before he was actually free to. Our relationship has been going very well, to the point where we have been seriously talking about what we'd like to do with our future. He's sweeter than gummy bears and all he wants to do is take care of me for the rest of my life and let me pioneer. We're both very dedicated to going into the International Building Work after the O.C. congregation is solid, which he will be having more of a share in since he was appointed as a ministerial servant last month. Plus, it sounds like we're getting very close to it coming to fruition and he wants to serve in what his family has been looking forward to for nineteen years and I would like to be one of the first pioneers. Everyone is getting pretty excited.

I feel like I'm getting sick. It's kinda like a chest cold, but considering that I've done my inhaler for the past four days, it could quickly turn into pneumonia for the third time since albuterol weakens the lungs. Yeah, I feel like crap, except my allergies have almost been non-existent this season. I'm taking the most wonderful prescription decongestant ever. And one of the side effects is lack of sleep due to more energy and that's just a perk in my book, especially since I can spend more time outside since the yellow dust doesn't kill me when I walk out the door. Everything is a gorgeous shade of green out here now, even though it's like 40 degrees outside. All thanks to recycling too... of chicken crap. Omigod did it ever smell HORRIBLE out here for about a week solid. You would have thought everyone's septic tanks had exploded. Since the Clasky family rents 10 of their 17 acres to the Dickens to farm, there was chicken crap about 50 yards from there house, and not just theirs but you could probably run into a field covered with crap if you traveled a mile in any direction from any point in the county for a week. It was SO GROSS NASTY. In the interim, the poo came into play in a revenge plot hatched by Andy and for a week extra, Biscuit's truck smelled just as bad. Ewww... thank goodness it's just one week outta the year.

So yeah, my weekend, which was pretty packed for a change. Friday, I spent about five hours in service with my dad, our Lithuwanian P.U., and Andy. Though I was the only chick in the group all day, it was still a good day in my book. I was able to introduce my dad to three of my calls and have some good conversations with them. From service, I kidnapped my dad and took him to the cingular store because it was my favorite day that comes every two years: contract renewal! After talking to David (the guy I always talk to there because he thinks I'm cute and gives me a discount), he gave me his opinion of which of the two phones I had it narrowed down to and told me which one he thought would best fit my needs so I got... this one. It's so cool. I can have as many different ring tones for as many different people as I want. It has a great camera and it does video as well. It keeps a good charge and drops less calls and I get better reception in the house. As an added bonus, sony ericsson has vastly improved their txtmsg center, which is very important to me since I now have unlimited cingular to cingular txting and about 200 for you other people that just don't get it. Plus, Andy and Biscuit have the same phone so we can send videos to each other because I'm positive that they want to watch me walk through Barnes and Noble and give my comments on all of the bargain shelf books and I'm just dying to see them drive their 4-wheelers though cow turds again. Excited with my new purchase that cost me all of $10 (after I get the rebate), dad and I rushed home, changed and left for Aunt Bee's. Her husband is the coolest pagan ever, and he makes the best BBQ in the whole O.C. That's what he cooked for us, Dimwitt & Eliza, and the new family that's moving up from Miami, who I shall call the Perez family. They have a daughter who is 18 and will have no trouble adjusting here to life here. She taught everyone there that night how to "ernk" people. There's no sense in explaining because Mehsha will get you all eventually. Got home, caught up with Poly, and passed out around eh... 1 A.M .me thinks.

Saturday I got my butt outta bed for service. Worked with a brother who I thought had developed some sort of issue with me, but found out that he's just been working (he's a school bus driver) and doing this fireman's training from 5 AM-5 PM each day and he's still managing to pioneer somehow. So he's not mad at me, just very tired. It was an OK morning. After service, mom and Mehsha left for ATL, dad and Jiminy Cricket left to the Stephenson Rd. KH for an RBC meeting, and I took my lost aunt to lunch at Depalma's downtown. That's some of the best Italian food in the coolest atmosphere in all of Athens. We talked relationships, did a little bit of gossiping, talked about plans to attend Jammie's wedding in West Palm (her home town), and chatted about Russian history. There aren't too many people that have a passion for Russian history like I do, and it was totally funny to find out that she is as into it as I am. She told her cousin that we will stay with in West Palm if I travel with her that she will be bringing her au pair, which cracks me up. She said it makes her sound rich, even though I only work for her one night a week watching her (my) kids. I love her kids, she's like a lost family member, and I know she's having a tough time right now, so I treated her to lunch. Following the delicious Italian food, I did the grueling drive to Stone Mountain where my Oliveparents live. It was high time for a family dinner and I have a wonderful time. Food is always good and we broke open the bottle of Dom Peringnon. It was good stuff. I was only allowed sips of that. After my slice of the best chocolate cake on earth, it was time to drive home because it was all I could do to keep from falling asleep. The chocolate just makes me so drowsy. Passed out at arrival time.

Sunday. Dad gave an outgoing talk in Conyers at 3:30 PM, so us Olivegals went to the meeting at 10 AM here at home. Afterwards, I collected phones and went played which one is who's with the mothers of the children that the three identical phones belong to (i.e.- mom, Momma Hayes, and Deborah Clasky). I was feeling pretty stupid, or maybe just not lucid. From there mom, Mehsha, Andy, and I went to lunch at Chinese. It was quite entertaining when it came time to open up the fortune cookies with us adding "on the toilet" to the end or "in the bed." Mine was, "Tomorrow will be a productive day. Don't oversleep [in the bed/on the toilet]." It made sense either way, and I proved it wrong too. I knew I was smarter than that cookie could ever be. At 4:30, we all went bowling. All is Mehsha, Biscuit, Andy, and me. Biscuit did some good bowling, making it over 130 both times. We were kinds forced to invite two other kids in the congregation. It's not that we have a problem with them, but our buffer girl that knows them well is under house arrest for false charges (as far as many people are concerned, not just us kids), and these two kids just don't talk much but they know her really well. Thing is they were on their way back from their grandmother's when we started our first game. It only takes us two hours to bowl two games and we were done and leaving when they got there. That was awkward... we all felt so sorry for them, but none of us had enough money to bowl another game and we all had plans back at the Clasky house that their stepfather didn't allow them to come to. The four of us do a lot of stuff minus adults and their mom wouldn't let them come without her husband and seeing as how he's 18, that either means he can't hold his own or she's overprotective. Anyway, that's none of my business, but so we all drove back to the Clasky residence and started playing baseball in the field. I took pictures, which are some of the funniest things you've ever seen. After some 4-wheeler rides, it got all complicated when our house arrest friend, Jordie-Porgie, showed up with her mom, little brother, and little sister. See, it was freezing by that time and we were all trying to go inside, they were keeping us out there, I was raring for some hot chocolate, and it just became a huge fiasco. Jordie and Biscuit like each other, but Jordie's parents are over protective. Though she's only 16 and he's 21 and they have full right to stop it and they should, they're taking it too far. They won't let her talk to any of us, just because we're friends with Biscuit. Her mom had to stay around while she and Deborah Clasky went over their talk because Biscuit was there. My mom had set an 8:30 curfew for Mehsha and I was trying to make hot chocolate for people and somehow the number kept growing till there must have been 20 cups on the counter and...ahhh! So after the hot chocolate was fixed I hugged everyone and ran from that place. Passed out after Andy and I finished studying the REV book together and here I am now about 24 hours later, being pushed out of the chair.

Can't wait to tell you all what I've been listening to lately. I'll give you a hint: it starts with a "c" and ends with "ountry"

Handwriting

2007-03-08T19:50:00.000-05:00

Woo Hoo! I finally got blogger to work. It's been quite testy with me for this past week. Something was up with it and I couldn't log in or see comment pages, etc. That's what happens when you have a piece of crap for a computer. This is how I feel, and I'd like to do to this computer what Bubs did to Compy 386.
I've also been very busy otherwise... yeah... that's all I'm gonna say there. No wait, I'd also like to say I really like the way this kind of busy makes me feel. Now I'm done.
I'm sure all of you are going to admit me to a mental hospital when you hear this, but I really like Keith Urban. His new CD is very good. I'm not suggesting it because I know you all would call down evil on me, but I'm just saying, it's pretty good.
Anyway, I did this when I had my xanga and I'm duplicating it here! Tada!

The results of your analysis say:
You like to be surrounded by four solid walls. You are a shy, idealistic person who does not find it easy to have relationships, especially intimate ones. You are affectionate, passionate, expressive, and future-oriented. You are a talkative person, maybe even a busybody! You enjoy life in your own way and do not depend on the opinions of others.

What does your handwriting say about YOU?

Words of Wisdom from the Gray-headed Lady

2007-02-22T14:22:00.000-05:00

My Grandmama T has always had gray hair. She started graying at 14 years old. It's hereditary as well, incase you've seen them mixed in with the dull brown of my hair. As you all know, she's staying with us for a while. Yesterday, we were talking about our congregation and how there are so many brothers and sisters in our congregations on their second marriages- as in both husband and wife. All but one native elder on our body is on his first marriage and his wife is too. (We've had families like ours where my mom and dad have never been married to anyone else move in, but I'm talking these brothers have been here twenty years and have only served in West.) The thing is most of the time, their first husband/wife is still in the truth some where. Crazy. So we're telling my Grandmama and she said she remembered years ago (she said it had to have been about thirty) when she went to a convention and in the marriage talk, it was greatly stressed to make sure that you were in love with the person you were to marry. She didn't quite understand why they would stress that so much and was talking about that on the ride home with the family that she and my mom had carpooled with. The other young brother in the car with them (she said he's probably in his fifties now) said that there were so few witnesses that people were marrying just because they were marrying in the lord and they thought that it would be alright anyway. Then a few years down the line, it would hit the couple that they didn't really love each other. My ignorant little 18 year-old self says, "They should've made it work though." Grandmama said, "Yes, I do agree with that, but there is a strong difference in between loving someone and being in love with someone. Remember that."

And I will. It explained so much of things, in general. I just wanted to share the wisdom.

While we're on the subject...

2007-02-18T21:53:00.000-05:00

So the other two did posts about their addictions. I figure I better follow suit. First, though, a small update. I actually just got back from South Carolina yesterday. Surprise. It was only a suggestion on Tuesday, but by the time dad got Thursday off of work, I was having to frantically pack and move my piano lesson so that I could still have it. This was not a trip I wanted to take. Yes, I love my grandmother and I love seeing her. I even like the beach, but this trip wouldn't even meet the dislike category. All I could do was sleep, eat chocolate, and get incredibly carsick- all three are signs of something to come, which still hasn't arrived. It was just a sickening trip all around. I was so ready to come home.

My recent addiction involves television. I don't watch much of it in the first place, and even less of movies and such. I just don't have time for it. In recent quests to wake my brain up from this hibernation, I decided to start watching some television that might be considered more educational. Most of the time, I'm enjoying some mind sludge on vh1 or Mtv, with very little variation except for the office (if I'm home on a Thursday) and Beauty and the Geek on Wednesday nights, followed by some MythBusters occasionally. News has never been of interest to me. I preferred to be quite ignorant and if something stayed on the news long enough or was important enough, I'd hear about it eventually from dad or somebody. After I got home from that incident where I was without keys for about two hours (and obviously a mind for much longer), I decided I'd look into CNN for the sake of rejuvenating my brain. To start with, I tried the traditional CNN. That bored me in all of five minutes, so I went to CNN Headline News (abbreviated CNNHLN). For some reason, that channel grabbed me. It was perfect for me because you get all the top headlines in 30 minutes to an hour. Usually, I'm distracted while watching TV anyway, so this works well for me because if I have to go do something, I can still catch the latest guy who is claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole's baby or the next idiotic way to get yourself put in jail in the 30 minutes coming. It's slightly shameful that those topics make the Headline News, but it has to be entertaining and I think that's what drew me in; though it's that very reason that turns people off to news channels anyway. In my mind, there is no other way for me to get the news. And to think, I was always the first one to grab the remote and change it at Poly's if it was on CNNHLN...now it's basically the only channel I watch.

10 Things for 10 People

2007-02-13T23:20:00.000-05:00

I'm blogging at 11:30 from my house im my holey pjs. Lovin' it. I took this from a friend of mine in Snellville that uses Xanga mostly, but I liked her post and I wanted to do it too. I hope she doesn't mind if I copy her.

- List ten things you want to say to ten people but know you never will.
- Don't say who each is.
- Feel free to comment

Even if you don't believe me, I know it's the way I feel: I'm finally over you. There were countless times where I thought that I would have to give you up completely and that made me so sad to even dwell on the possibility. What makes me so happy that I've finally reached this point is because I want to be friends with you for the rest of my life. Most of the time, I'm irritated with you, but you personally, have never made me unhappy, and I think that's why I like you. More often than not, I have fun when I'm with you. I probably still did even when you threw cars at me and put grandaddy long legs on the slide so I couldn't go down. Even though I'm over you, the sad part about it is that if you ever changed your mind about me, I'd be right there quicker than you could say my name. Sure, we're a lot alike and we're basically brother and sister, but I trust you more than any other friend of mine. I know I can tell you anything and you will keep it in confidence; if I stop mid-sentence because I'm having a hard time getting something out, all I have to say is "ya know?" - and you know, even if I don't. Since that won't happen, I'm on a quest to find another you.
I wish I knew you better. You are one of the main reasons why I want to move back to Atlanta. I like hanging out with you and I feel like I know you REALLY well, but that's only from second hand information. I'd like to find out all of that first hand. We obviously have a lot in common, just not a lot of time to spend together. And just so you'll never know, your clothes are always really cute. (lol.)
Of all the people I left in Snellville at SHS, you are the one I miss seeing the most. You were always there for me and the parts of me that I wished were stronger, were what you possessed the most of, and I think that's why you helped me so much and why I went to you. I'm sure you are still more mature than me and I'm secretly wishing that you would go to UGA so we could have coffee every once in a while. Still bummed you couldn't come to the Memorial that year because I think the truth woud've helped your cynicism, which has become only stronger over the years. If you do go to the University of Chicago, I'd make a trip to visit you, and bring a butter book to share.
You are never what I thought I would like, but I don't think people have types and compared to most of the guys I've liked, I've never liked one quite like you. If you would pay $150 for a nosebleed ticket to see Tori Amos and desprately wanted to move [back] to Atlanta like I do, I'd go against everything I know is right and stand for and marry you next year. My mom would have a fit for more than the obvious reason that I would only be 19, but you treat me the way I want to be treated in a relationship. Best of all, we both want to serve Jehovah to our fullest potential. Eventually, I would be insanely unhappy with my domestic life if I did marry you just as you are, but you are such the gentleman that I'm not sure I'd mind it too much.
When you took on the motherly role that you did, I welcomed it. Now, I resent what happened, but I learned from it. Looking back, you came in at the wrong time and did the wrong thing because all you did was aid my downward spiral. Still, I hold you in high esteem and hope that you take the magazines regularly like you used to. I always thought you were so close, yet so far away.
Sometimes, I wish I had never taken you on to, in a sense, mentor you. That's right, although you call me a best friend and I'll always be there for you, I'll probably never put you on the level you put me on. I'm proud of you though. You're getting baptised soon and I'm insanely happy for you. I know how much you want it and sometimes, I wish I could just sock your father for how protective he is of you, but I do my best to show you what it's like to have some freedoms when you are with me. I see so much of myself in you, and that scares me sometimes, but looking at myself now, I know you'll get on the right track and that you're on it right now. It does make it easy to help you fix things. In the year I've known you, you've come so far and most of that isn't me at all. You're doing it by yourself and that's what makes me happy to be able to be your "big sister," and not so much your best friend. I WILL always be therefor you though. NEVER forget that.
I feel special when you call me your best friend. Nine years is a long time, but we don't get to see each other much, partly because a looming cloud of drama follows you where ever you go. Your latest drama includes your "boyfriend." That situation upsets me. He isn't the one for you. It makes me mad to see you treat him the way you do. You have a wall up that isn't founded. All he wants to do is be close to you and you won't let him. He's too good for you. The only other thing that I don't like about you is that you care far too much about what people think of you. I don't have much room to talk, but this is a far bigger beal with you because it affects you in ALL parts of your life, so much so that you don't live for yourself at all. You would be angry with me for saying this, but you are so much like your mother. Otherwise, I do like to be your friend and I wish you would accept my help.
Although you are on a slightly lower level than my best friend, you will always be my best friend. Yeah, I have to admit that's confusing, but you don't have to worry because it doens't mean much. You always think of me and though you don't share the same wave length with me like he does, you give and give and give to me and I wish I gave more to you. There's not enough time to thank you so much for what you have done for me. Recently, physically and sticking with me to the end. You helped me so much so in the in the past that I owe you my whole social life. You are the only reason why I don't have a chip on my shoulder and wear chunky black eye liner. Of course, I get upset with you because we don't have much in common at all except girl stuff, but you have all the qualities I need in a best friend and I hope I never lose you. Thanks. Many zillions of thanks.
I've never met you. I think we'd get along too well, but you seem to be making a stupid decision. I don't like what you've done to my best friend, but you don't know you've done it, so I can't really hold you accountable. It's your current stupid decision that is saving him from doing what his heart keeps urging him to do, thus enabling him to keep his goal in tact.
Rehashing the past mistakes, no doubt is hard for you, but I do appreciate it. I do appreciate your advice so much. It has helped. Many zillions of thanks to you too. Love you so much.

Thank you and good night!

DSL finally

2007-02-13T16:46:00.000-05:00

Just letting everyone know, we've got it. It's been five incredibly long months. I'm not doing this in my holey pjs, but I am doing this in the home office. It's amazing. This is all I have time for. Literally. I have a REV book to study, but here's what I almost yelled out at the meeting last Sunday when the Bellsouth Brother came up to us and said to call and order it:
YYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
YY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of recent importance

2007-02-09T16:31:00.000-05:00

I've got four little indians at the house right now. Contessa, Ethan Toad-head (another young boy in our congregation that is in the same grade with Contessa), plus two neighborhood kids. I'm thinking I might go all Agatha Christie on 'em and take them out one by one. I feel like mother hubbard or something. How appropriate that there's nothing in the cubbards at Mountain Man's house... ever.

I haven't locked my keys in the car since Sunday, but I did dream about it last night. Mountain Man locked his keys in the car Thursday for the second time this week. It's downright contagious. Oh, speaking of Mountain Man, his fiancee (Like Totally Nineties Woman) has moved to our congregation. She offered me a job with her current employer if I was interested. I told her not currently, and it would probably be a little while after she married him before I'd be willing to look into it. She is totally trying to be my friend. Honestly, I may be 18, but I'm not that naieve.

Wednesday was exciting as all get out. I got my own credit card in the mail. It's so beautimous... sparkley and all capitol one-ish. Deborah Clasky went all crusader voice and did the commercial... word for word.

TOMORROW IS DSL DAY! The brother is hooking us up today and by Monday, I can be blogging from the own comforts of my home in my holey pjs. Plus, I can do school too... maybe.

If I Only Had a Brain...

2007-02-04T23:59:00.000-05:00

I'm completely exhausted right now. Today ended leaving me satisfied and happified, only after quite an ordeal. I just finished watching Pride and Prejudice (2005). I haven't read the book or completely seen any of the other adaptations, but I love love love this one.

On to the stupidest part of my day. Right now, I'm staying with my greenparents- after concert etiquette- and Papa was too ill to go to the meeting, and so I decided that I wanted to go to Easel's meeting. I got out of bed at 10 AM and proceeded to take my time going about Sunday morning rituals. I left Eas a voice message and a txt telling her to call me back. At almost 12 PM, she called me and said she would love for me to come to her meeting, especially since her parents had gone to East Griffin to give a talk and her brother would not have been able to sit with her. Quickly and excitedly, I got dressed and was ready to go. I should've noticed that I was more absent-minded than usual when I had made about 30 mental notes to get something to eat before I left and then proceeded to leave without getting even a nutri-grain bar. Directions from the Northridge exit in hand, I left the house and drove for my first time on 285. (Sunday morning was probably the best time for a first.) I made it there in a timely fashion and was 5 minutes early for her 1 PM meeting. Eas wasn't there when I got there and made it just in time for the song. We picked seats and enjoyed ourselves throughout the talk,(which DOES NOT mean that we chatted through the whole thing). Eas has problems with her blood sugar and she mentioned that she felt it was getting low and she had to go out to her car and get some crackers. This was about 30 minutes before the meeting ended. My tummy was rumbling too, so I picked up my purse to get some mints. In the process, I noticed that the pocket on my purse for my keys was very empty. They weren't in the big part either. All I could hope was that they were in the parking lot somewhere. I hurriedly went to go see and Eas joined me as I met her in the lobby on my way out. I got to jeepie to find all the doors and trunk locked, but I didn't see the keys. So I wandered around to the passenger seat and saw the keys... in the ignition. "Shart" was the only word that came to mind. I went back in feeling very distracted, but it didn't much matter because the brother went through probably 15 paragraphs in 30 minutes and I wouldn't have gotten much out of it anyway. At the immediate end of the meeting, I called my parents. The first phone call contained a VERY upset mom and dad, not only because I had locked the keys in the car, but because I had gone to Sandy Springs by myself. Once again, I lag in communication... or selective hearing. I'm gonna call it plain ol' absent-mindedness on my part- seriously. Dad decided that he would drive to come unlock the door. I didn't want him to have to drive 3 hours round trip just to unlock a car because I knew I would get hell once he got there, but to a less severe degree because he would have had lots of time to cool off. When they got to the house (dad was away giving a talk as well and they were at hospitality), dad called me and I told him to wait and see what a locksmith costs and that there was a brother in the congregation that thought he could do it. He was much cooler by that time and said calmly, to give him a call later. The young brother tried, and if I had automatic locks, I think it would have made it so much easier for every one that tried. He suggested to go to Pepboys and see if someone had a slim jim and could get into the car, since it was going to cost $55, plus labor for a locksmith. That didn't fly, so Eas, who stayed with me the whole time, in the cold, without a coat (I knew I picked a good friend 12 years ago), took me to Pepboys. OK, I think this was the most uncomfortable part of the ordeal. Two young girls in a Pepboys, in their skirts, looking quite lost in the first place. After standing around for about 15 minutes waiting for the head mechanic, the young lady at the desk said she'd get someone for us. Promptly, she did- thank goodness. We discussed it with the fellow and he said that it would be $40. I had that in my wallet and was throughly willing to pay it since he was very confident and had the tools in his hand to do the job. He followed us back to the Kingdom Hall and for about 30 minutes, tried the manual lock with a long metal stick. First, he tried the driver's side. Then we got out a mirror to help him see and not just have the two of us trying to help him out. From there, he switched to the passenger side with the long metal stick. He quickly abandoned that tool for the slim jim and within about 10 minutes, he had the door wide open. I was so happy I could've hugged him, but instead, I paid him extra, which he was probably much happier with. It's so frustrating to be so close and not to be able to get in! He was getting flustered too and seemed to be just as happy as Eas and I were to see the car open. The most embarassing part of it is... I just locked myself out of the car on Wednesday. The good thing about Wednesday was that the trunk was open and I just crawled in and unlocked the doors from that point. For about a month now, I've been very airy inbetween the ears. I've even restricted my tv watching to basically CNN and Discovery channel (and I've found I really like them both), but I'm not sure whats wrong. It was SO good to see that door open wide. The paint was coming off my nails and my hands were so chapped they were purple and my nose was a hot pink, but it still doesn't matter. I hopped in and blasted the stereo and the heat. Elated, I called my mom and dad, who were happy to hear that I was safe and had gotten into the car. Dad said he was sorry it cost me so much, and offered to reimberse me. I told him that there was no reason for him too because I was the one that locked the keys in the car and it was not as hefty a fee as him driving there or calling a locksmith. From that point, Eas and I hurried off since Poly had been waiting for us at the Starbucks down the road for about half and hour and both of them had plans for the Superbowl. Coffee never tasted so delicious. I couldn't have been happier- and probably haven't been that (this) happy in a long time. Contentment abounded. I was so exhausted- to the point where I completely relaxed and could've sat there and chatted the night away, and the obviously gay baristas were happy to have us gabbing gals to keep them company (Poly had left).

I learned that I should look into getting one of those retractable name badge holders for my keys and keep it attached to me at all times. See, the Jeep even beeps when you leave your keys in the ignition, so I'm at a complete loss so as to how I left them there so I must need something else to help me keep track of them. Also, it's pretty hard to break into a Jeep Wrangler, as simple and manually as they are built. Finally, echoing my "pretty good year" post- I picked a great friend, who stood in the cold for nearly two hours, drove me to Pepboys and stood with me, though she was very uncomfortable, and dealt with her friend who is evidently losing it mentally and still, she went and got coffee with me after the whole ordeal. Though we've been through trials before, there's nothing else that proves to me that we're stuck with "with super glue around the world and the alfalfa sprout" than this past week. One thing that's stable and there are so many more reasons than the few she manifested today that make her terrific, despite the fact that I get annoyed with her a little more than with my other friends. End of story, it means so much to me.

Aroma of a Concert

2007-02-04T02:13:00.000-05:00

I no longer reek of the urine, pot, and beer smell, but did up until all of an hour ago. Just got home from seeing a band that I would love to go see again. Yo La Tengo. I have to admit, I went knowing very little and having heard very little of theirs, but it was just time for a concert. My last one was November. The opener went on for an hour from 8:30 to 9:30. The opener was Tennament Halls. Yo La Tengo went on at 10:00 and played to 12:15. Quite long enough for me to develop a taste for them and I started enjoying myself after the first song and was hollerin' for them to come back when they went off after their first encore. To someone that doesn't delve into the "cult following/non-mainstream" type music like what they would fall under, Yo La Tengo might sound like your typical rock band, but really, the trio knows how to put on a show. I don't know what their studio stuff is like, but I would pay $20 any day to see them play again. Jolly good show. This being my first show of 2007, I was moved to think about all the bands I've seen over the past two years. My list is as follows:

2005:
-June: Music Midtown (first official concert- I was 16). The White Stripes, The Features, Louis XIV, Bloc Party, Interpol, Devo, Lemonheads... and that's all I can remember. (GREAT pick for my first.)

-October: Weezer/Foo Fighters show. Mae opened. (Missed the opener due to traffic on 85. Weezer rocked as expected. Foo went poo and we left before their set was over. Heard the songs I wanted though.)

2006:
-March: Charlotte Martin. David Berkeley opened. (Loved [love] him and hope that he'll play a show in Atlanta I can attend soon. Disappointed in her and that stupid Korg.)

-September: The Raconteurs. Dr. Dog opened. (Forget the opener, this was the second time I'd seen Jack White in person! Man that was a great show! Plus, it was at my new favorite venue, the Tabernacle.)

-November: Mat Kearney. Griffin House opened. (Once again, I knew very little about both but was over all pleased with the show, especially for $18. Got nice and close to the boys at the Roxy.)

2007:
-February: Yo La Tengo. Tenement Halls opened. (Very pleased. Yo La Tengo has a new fan... at least for their shows. Where else can you get an over 2 hour preformance where the band members play themselves ragged?)

Next month, I've been invited to accompany a new sister in my hall to see Snow Patrol. I'm looking forward to spending time with this sister, as well as getting to see this band that I had no interest in until their most recent album. Plus, OK Go is opening and I really like them, though I group them with the Killers, etc. because they came out all around the same time, and that's a bad thing when I "group" an artist. What I'm really waiting for (literally I get excited at the mention of a tour) is when this artist comes back to town. I'm giddy with the thought right now... but of course, that could be lack of sleep. Nah!

Pretty Good Year

2007-01-26T15:39:00.000-05:00

I'm going to quit posting if you guys don't at least tell me how stupid a post I've put up, but of course, I haven't given you any opportunites this month yet... barely. Maybe one.

So, not much of a public nature has been going on that's of any sharing importance. The only thing I can think of is the fact that this month marks a year since we've moved out here. In just this year, the county has grown so much. I can drive around and be like Deborah Clasky who has lived here twenty years now, and say, "I remember when that wasn't here," or "There used to be a gorgeous old house right where that building was." I do it all the time when I drive thru Snellville and Loganville now. I lived in that area for thirteen years and it's changed so much that you wouldn't recognize it if someone had moved away around the time I moved there. It's not that way here yet, but someone that visited us when we first moved out here would see changes now, especially where we live now.

We moved twice this year. Twice. I had only lived in two houses my whole life and then we live in two in one year. That's quite a shocker. I'm used to having new cars around every few years, but a new house every few months... I can't imagine living like that, but I know some people do. It was hectic enough. The second time, we did most of the moving ourselves, but it worked out well. We had a lot of help from our congregation. Everyone was willing and offered to help. Plus, the house was twice the size of the rental we moved into, so there was plenty of space to put boxes. The rental house. Was that an experince. Roaches are not the bugs to mess with. I'm sure everyone has heard my mom's story about the roach being on her at night... yeah, we had some unwanted guests. The house was cute and adequate, but thank goodness we snagged our house. I'm still quite in love with my room AND bathroom. My bathroom was recently painted a sea foamy green. Very spa-ish and all the fixtures are up and in place. Towels aren't for the floor anymore. My room will soon be a soothing grey with my old favorite, navy blue, and what I always wanted, lime green, accents. I can't wait. Overall housing worked out great in the end. We're going to be able to have a bookstudy in our basement once it's finished and there's plenty of room for grandparents as well. Plus, there's very little yard to take care of and the neighborhood is great, but moving back to Atlanta is still my ultimate goal.

As far as I go in this pretty good year, a lot changed too. I wouldn't have ever dreamed I'd move into this congregation and fall in love with it. I was immediately welcomed by three wonderful sisters who haven't stopped caring for me since. In the course of starting to pioneer, one has become my partner and always supports me. She makes it even easier to attain my goal of regular pioneer service by this September. Though her sons have thrown me for a loop this past year, they've come to be just like my brothers. I got my driver's license in April of this past pretty good year and I've used it and abused it. Hopped a few curbs. Almost been tagged with a few tickets. Used it to go to Atlanta and back two dozen times. It's the ultimate freedom. I started babysitting, which I will be free from on March 31, 2007 when her father gets married (the wedding of the year: Mountain Man to Totally Like Nineties Woman). I've come to adore the little brat I babysit and give her the hardest time about the stuff she does. At least I can keep her mouth and hands clean. New glasses, a recent addition in this past pretty good year, but they're still included. Then there's the friends. Within one year, only two of my "best friend" slots remain occupied by the same people. Some left the truth. Some I left. Some I gained. Either way, my current circle of friends from all ages is probably the best group I've had in 10 years. (I really appreciate all of y'all- including my family!) That's the thing that makes this past year pretty good. I've got a life! Once in a while, I'll get it together enough to have one, so I enjoy it while it lasts.

So I leave you with a picture of my new glasses. (Click Me!...except mine are the blue ones)

Half-way thru my vacation

2007-01-01T23:05:00.000-05:00

Nothing much has been going on lately, I guess, that's really been of importance for the blog, or it's been stuff I've wanted to keep from the blog since most of it has been related to my personal life. Plus, I've been on kinda a "vacation." I got my time in for December like a week before, on December 22 I think. As a result, I have not gotten my usual dish of pioneer gossip, which we aren't supposed to do and I've gotten much better at it, but still can't seem to keep my mouth shut about somethings. I only share most of the time because I'm defending someone. Today, it was gossip about every family you know and tell their business. I successfully kept my mouth shut as far as spilling beans on a few situations that came up that I knew stuff about. If I were out in service back in the O.C., other things might be happening, especially since Bubbles broke up with Andy (drama I'm not going to discuss), but I'm not. I've been in the ATL since Saturday. Visited "Drama-ville" on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. Population: 2- Hickler-Stickler (aka- Barbie) and Froggie. I'm not even thinking about starting with THAT melted marshmellow mess. I switched over to the new blogger a few minutes ago. Yeah... see how boring things are right now? I was thinking about starting instead of "Affie Recommends" when we get DSL this month (YAY) an "Albums of the Week" thing. I've finally got all my music on my zen (2,995 songs- so close) and I'm in certain moods that influence what I pick for the week or what I buy for $7 at Wuxtry's, and although most of it is stuff y'all have heard of, I think I'd rather do that, though it would tie me to the computer once a week instead of once a month, but with there only being three of us blogging (besides P. June, but she's on a different site), that's not such a bad thing.

Blogging from my e-mail

2006-12-22T23:17:00.000-05:00

Here H.n.B. I'm not doing this begrudingly. I actually have been wanting to try this since I asked you how to do it months ago and totally ignored the e-mail with the instructions until it mysteriously disappeared on me. Since I'm in my e-mail, I'm copy+pasting something from an e-mail Easel sent me since she's the only one that really does forwards anymore and I seem to enjoy getting the ones like this. So here's the part about November Babies:

NOVEMBER BABY

Trustworthy and loyal. Very passionate and

dangerous. Wild at times. Knows how to have fun.

Sexy and mysterious. Everyone is drawn towards

your inner and outer beauty and independent

personality. Playful, but secretive. Very emotional

and temperamental sometimes. Meets new people

easily and very social in a group. Fearless and

independent. Can hold their own. Stands out in a

crowd. Essentially very smart. Usually, the

greatest men are born in this month. If you ever

begin a relationship with someone from this month,

hold on to them because their one of a kind. repost

in 5 mins & you will excel in a major event coming

up sometime this month.

Mindless TV

2006-12-08T19:28:00.000-05:00

I'm forever getting on to Poly about his mindless TV, whether it's Deal or No Deal or Parental Control (but that one's pretty good, I must admit. I'm a sucker for MTV reality). This time, I've found my junk reality TV. It's called Beauty and the Geek. I slightly remember when they first started advertising this show on the WB and thinking it was a bunch of crap. I think most reality shows are a bunch of crap. A few weeks ago, Mehsha was down sick and missed the Sunday meeting. When we came home, she was veging watching Beauty and the Geek. I got sucked in. That quickly. All of five minutes had passed since I walked into the house and I was hooked on the show.

The concept is pretty basic. Eight "beauties" are paired off with eight "geeks" and they are supposed to benefit from the experience. Most of them say they do. I don't know how sincere the first couple that gets eliminated can say that, but I know the last two couples have definitely learned something. Each episode, there are two challenges. One for the guys to learn more about etiquette and dating, girls in general. The girls' challenge is supposed to help them learn more over all. The winner of the girls' challenge protects herself and her partner from the elimination round and the winner of the guys' challenge does the same. Each group gets to pick who they want to go to the elimination round. In the elimination round, the girls are tested on the things that they were supposed to learn and study for their challenge and the guys are tested on things that they did for their challenge. Overall, it sounds fairly boring with me just explaining it, but when you put the ditziest and prettiest girls in with the brainiest and dorkiest guys, it makes for quite the entertaining show. There are tons of funny quirks that accompany a reality TV show, like the fact that after the guys walk out and present themselves to the girls, a girl must pick the guy and then they have to pick a bedroom. The weird thing about the bedrooms is, some of them have two twin beds and some of them have a queen bed. That makes for some interesting points in the show. (Not like that. Shame, shame...) Of course, there's the unavoidable reality show drama, etc. Typically, you have to shoot me in the head, tie me to the chair, and sit me right up at the TV to get me to watch reality shows, but this one is so much fun and I really like to watch it.

At this point, MTV is playing reruns of the show daily. They play two episodes at 5 PM and 6 PM. Now, the CW (UPN and the WB meshed together) is embarking on the third season Wednesday, January 3rd at 8 PM. I've finally found some Wednesday night TV, and it's quite hilarious. Check it out.

The first supper

2006-12-08T19:06:00.000-05:00

I'm still quite excited about this, so I'm going to give a quick shout about it on the blog. I cooked dinner for the first time from scratch last night! It's pretty miraculous considering I cooked, it was edible, and it didn't involve rice. I made spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli. It was tasty. I was in EarthFare yesterday and I looked in the frozen foods case and saw ravioli. I asked mom and she said that we could have them for dinner. So I started pulling them all out and looking at the ingredients. Well, everyone of them said "may contain nuts." I can't stand that. So I was bummed for a moment and then mom said that we can make our own and she would teach me. You guys wouldn't believe how easy it is to make pasta from scratch! Though we had a mishap where the egg mixture broke through the flour dam and went all over the counter, we fixed it and I did it by myself. Mom supervised and helped with the filling since there was no recipe for it. It was absolutely cool to cook my own dinner, and it not be beans and rice. It kinda gave me the idea that if I had the resources, I'd like to make my own food completely nut free and like market it places. There are tons of people with peanut and nut allergies and I'm sure they get just as frustrated as I do, and my mom for that matter. She told me I had to start learning how to cook my own stuff or I won't ever get to eat anything but rice when I move out on my own.

I'm no longer opposed to learning how to cook. It's actually fun.

P.S.- I'm babysitting until 11 PM tonight. Just had to share that too.

Can't wait til April

2006-12-04T16:48:00.000-05:00

So I've been planning on this since I had my phone for a year on July 4th (yeah, national holiday. We thought it would be a good day to renew our service). Shortly after I got my phone, maybe six months, I was steeped in txting. It's probably a hobby of mine by now. Definetly a habit if not a hobby. I would say habit because it costs me money- a lot of money usually, but it's too much fun to quit. When I started I knew that I would need something with more of a key board than just my 12 button number pad. So I started looking at the different multimedia phones with the full or extended key pad. Well, I'm all for cute, and none of the ones Cingular had were cute enough for me. Blackberry. Cute (and yummy) name. Not to cute phone. A few weeks ago, I stopped in the Cingular store to just look and see if they were cuter in person or something wasn't on the web. There's no getting me to leave Cingular. We've been with them since "Bellsouth Wireless." Whatever the motivation, I wanted to look and see about new phones. I'm slightly lost and the guy behind the counter can see that but he was really nice to me and asked me what I was looking for. I explained that I was looking to get a new phone (duh. Why else would I be standing in front of a display of phones?). I gave him some details of what I wanted, and that my biggest requirement was that it have a key pad with all the letters on it and I didn't have to press multiple times to get the letter I wanted. He showed me the few that they had and I said I wasn't too keen on Blackberry because they just weren't quite me. ( I didn't tell the clerk they weren't cute enough. I wanted him to take me a little more seriously than that.) He then tried to win me over to the Blackberry side. I am easily swayed. He showed me his and was bragging about sending paragraph long txts. I said I did than anyway, it just took so long. He knew what I was talking about. He let me test his out and try some different features. It was so WAY cooler than my little flip piece of junk that has begun to look like a piece of junk. Although the Blackberry was very alluring, I told him it just didn't seem to be what I was looking for. He must have been able to tell that I was looking for one cuter and told me that Blackberry was coming out with a new phone. The Blackberry Pearl. He showed me that website on the Internet (on his phone) and I was quite taken. This phone is so for me. It doesn't have seprate keys for each of the letters of the alphabet, but it meets every other criteria so the fact that some letters share keys doesn't matter to me. Its smaller than the other Blackberry products and that's a big thing for me. I didn't want something so bulky, even though I carry around bags big enough to put a file cabinet in. Plus, it would be perfect since I don't have Internet at my house, I can use it on the phone with a usage plan. It's just exactally what I want. It's just going to take some saving on my end, but I'll be there by April.

It's it loverly?

Out of his element

2006-11-29T17:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm doing the whole blog at the library thing right now. Can't seem to get in touch with mom for some reason, so stopping here didn't seem like a big deal, though I'm starved and mentally exhausted from going on Eliza Jones' studies with her this afternoon.

Severly disappointed I'm missing Easel's first recital in a very long time tonight. Severly. It's all around free and any concert she's ever done has always sounded wonderful. Totally severly disappointed.

Now for a quickish blog:
Today we worked some territory in Athens, since that's where we meet on Wednesdays. Once again, Andy and I were put together. It's been some time since we were put together two days in a row, so it doesn't bug me that much, but it's either making Deborah Clasky mad as heck or it just tickles her because she always brings it up. Anyway, he has territory in the elite part of town. It's the equivalent of Buckhead to Atlanta. So we're back there working and we go to this one house. It was a fairly nice old lady, but she didn't want us to come back- ever, so we told her we'd make a note of it. Turns out, it's already on the back of the card. Andy had already made a mental note of it, he told me as we walked away from the house, and that he had forgotten in the whole 60 seconds it took him to get up to the door. Bless his heart. So for the next few doors we talked about ailments and he's so an old man when it comes to aches and pains. It cracks me up since lately, I've had the immune system of a horse. (Watch me get pneumonia this winter...) Well, we round the corner and the prez of the homeowners association asks us to leave and says that they consider the work of the lord to be soliciting as well. We finished that street and moved on to one further back on a boundary. Again, someone mentioned that we were considered soliciting in their neighborhood, (which you can't really call it a neighborhood. They just put a sign out front and want to keep us out but it's still all city owned back in there.) So then a cop comes down the street and asks us if we were soliciting anything and that he had gotten a few calls. Andy very diplomatically says that we aren't selling anything and we aren't asking for money, just sharing a scripture. The cop says fine and goes along. He really didn't care anyway. We finish up the street and leave, just to keep the peace for those old windbags back there. Andy who was head of the group despite having two elders with us, decides it's time for a break. We're awfully close to just about everything back in that area, so he suggests Race Trac. Dimwitt excitedly asks if we can break at Earth Fare. Andy looks a little worried, but we give him directions and we all get out for a snack. Everyone else is inside, and Andy and I are walking in and he stops me and says, "You gotta help me. I didn't want to tell Dimwitt, but I've never been here." FINALLY! MY ELEMENT! We're in downtown Athens at the health food store, where we shop weekly. It's like being in some parts of Atlanta and if I close my eyes I can imagine I'm in Five Points or the Virginia Highlands and I'm not so homesick anymore. So like a little puppy dog, I take him around the store and show him where the drinks are and snacky type stuff and tell him that I'll be at the coffee counter getting a latte. He wanders around for a while and calls me on my cell saying he's kinda lost. So I go get him and he pays while I finish waiting on my drink. When I'm done, I find Dimwitt has walked out the door and so I follow to see Andy in the van. I asked him how his experince was. His exact words were, "I felt like Joe Dirt when he messed something up and all he could say was 'I'm new here! I'm new here! I don't know what to do!" We busted up laughing and I told him that now he knows what I felt like in Race Trac. It was quite funny, but I guess you had to be there.

Still two more things to blog about, but I guess those will have to wait.

All we could think of was...

2006-11-27T18:49:00.000-05:00

Well, I have a few things to cover before I get to that.

I swore that I would never cook dinner for Contessa's dad, who shall now be Mountain Man- at least until I can think of something better, but microwaving some mac-n-cheese and steaming some veggies and picking up a rotisserie chicken isn't dinner. And even if you want to call it cooking dinner, I'm doing it for Contessa. Since her father has started seriously seeing a sister, she and I have really bonded. I got back from Atlanta and didn't get to pick her up until 4:30 from Deborah Clasky's house. Deborah babysits on Thursdays and was happy to pick her up for me and I was very grateful, since I was having a good time spending the rest of last month's pay check with peeps from Baltimore at the AmericasMart. When I picked her up, of course I walked right in and scared the beejesus out of Andy and she ran and jumped into my arms. Three months ago, that would have never happened. She and I are pretty good friends now, and I am so happy for that.

Oh a big "what up home fries" from the Mehsha corner. She misses you all in our dwindling blog land and if she had access to a compy, she would be blogging. There's plenty for her to say. And so much that I want to blog about, but just don't have the access to. Definetly like the new phone that I want to get and the mindless TV that I have finally indulged in and totally love. It's depressing, but so lets get one thing I wanted to blog about out of the way:
This Thanksgiving weekend, we drove to see my Grandmama T. She had her gallbladder taken out two weeks ago and we went to visit her and help her out. She went out for the first time today to go to the chiropractor. She feels great. It was an emergency surgery because she developed pancreatitis and that's pretty serious. People die from that. So we went to help her out this weekend and it was an OK trip. I knew it wasn't going to be a top ten, if anything a bottom ten trip. (I did find a spiffy brown corduroy blazer on sale that's perfect and there was no tax in SC. Don't know about here...) Overall, the best part about the trip was the ride we take now going and coming. We take I-20 to Columbia and then 521 I think is the number, but we do some bypassing now and go thru cities like Manning and Andrews that we didn't go by before. Manning is a cute city. We haven't stopped there yet, but it doesn't look as podunk as some of the other cities we drive thru (i.e.- Rembert and Salters). On the other side of Manning, there is this farm with goats. As we were going thru there on Thursday, there was this brown blob running across the road. It looked almost big enough to be a small horse, but we knew it wasn't. Man was it running fast. We got closer to see it was a fairly large goat and watched it hop the fence. Then there was a white and brown splotched one that hopped over after it that was even bigger. The brown one ran into the little shack there and all of the other goats (about 15) were just staring at the only brown one that had just run across four lanes of "traffic" and a wide median. Those of us in the car (mom, Mehsha, and me) were just dumb-founded at this event. All we could decide was that they were bored since nothing was open and it was Thanksgiving. The other splotched goats dared the smaller brown one to run across the road to the field across the street and eat some grass and then run back. The other goat that had hopped the fence but was still on the right side of the road was over the fence so that he could see and time the brown one because he had to do all of this in 30 seconds or less. That was the most logical explanation. When we came back through on Sunday, they were all laying down asleep, obviously still exhausted from the dare on Thursday.

Goats are not very cute farm animals and I couldn't ever move to South Carolina.

I miss this thing

2006-11-17T17:10:00.000-05:00

I could literally write a novel now. Right now. All here. I feel indebted to my blog and the fact that it's been horribly neglected lately for my pen and paper ( which somehow always seems to win over keyboard and fingers). I've been saving this link up for quite a while and I'm just hoping that H'n'B hasn't posted it before, but I'm sure most of you all ready know these because you're cool like that.:
http://www.neatorama.com/2006/07/24/the-25-most-important-questions-in-the-history-of-the-universe/
Have fun. This one is good too.
http://www.mentalfloss.com/
There's too much going on right now to try and tell y'all about it.

A bad feeling

2006-11-09T15:35:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I just never came out of the depression that I went into on Friday or what, but this is pretty serious. I just got in the car and drove today. Well over 60 miles from Oconee to Barrow to Jackson then back home again. (Don't ask me how I got to Jackson. I'm not quite sure myself.) I just have this horrible bad feeling. It's not from Grandmama T. either because I actually talked to her while I was driving. She was winded, but sounded like herself, which was absolutely awesome. It was good to hear her voice. I was about to cry I was so happy, but that didn't last. The feeling. I don't know what it is and that's the worst part, but I know it's making me feel bad about everything I'm doing, have done, will do, want to do, need to do. There's a confusion along with it if you can't tell. I know you all must love me for being so boring lately.

Well, here's the negative one. Give it a whirl. Be brutal. I can take it. You know how much self-confidence I have (or don't have):
http://kevan.org/nohari.cgi

e-i-g-h-t-e-e-n and the kids table

2006-10-30T17:48:00.000-05:00

I probably won't have time before Thursday to blog, so I'll go ahead and blog about being 18, even though I'm not quite there yet. It feels like it though. It always seems to be such a big deal to turn 5 or 13 or 16, but I didn't feel different until I turned 17. There was a day too. Probably the 12th of 13th of November of last year. This time, it was early, not late. About a month ago I started feeling different. And suprise, suprise! Dad remembered it was the 2nd and he came in and told me last Thursday that I only had a week left. I said that couldn't be right, but checked my calendar and it was. Now, I've only got two days. That's a big thing for dad, seeing as how he always thinks it is the 3rd or 4th. It's exciting, yet unsettling all at the same time.

I was talking to an elder and his wife in our hall and he asked me how pioneering was going. I said it was wonderful and I was really enjoying what I was doing. He said that they were very impressed with what I was accomplishing and that they had really seen me grow up. I asked him what he meant, since they have only known me a year. He explained that I have really matured and seemed much more secure with myself, like I had grown up not in a physical way, but mentally. That made my day because all I could think about in this past month that I "felt" older was that I was even less prepared for what was to come and that my 17th year was a total bust as far as preparing me for the next one. Part of me not feeling "ready" probably has something to do with the fact that I'm tired of growing up and being so self-concious. A few weekends ago, I was in Alpharetta. We ate at Pure. Guess where I sat. The kids table. The biggest thing about it was that I wanted to sit there. I didn't want to sit with the adults and hear them talk about stuff that is interesting, but not as much fun. So I sat with I Dunno, Mehsha, and He who tells jokes (at least I think that's his nickname). It was the most fun I had had in a very long time and I didn't care what people thought when Jokester put the chips basket on his face and picked up his pencil and pretended to fence. Or when Mehsha and I would bust out in various rap songs like "MoneyMaker" or some Lil' Jon song, and "Holla Back Girl". Normally, when Mehsha yells out in a resturant, I'm sushing her all over the place, but I didn't care. I felt happy sitting there. Pretty much care free. Sure I want to grow up and all, but I want to be able to feel secure and to go wild everyonce in a while. Like at the Raconteurs concert. It felt SO good just to yell and scream, especially in people's ears that you wanted to move out of your way. When I sat with the kids, it felt good to know that I didn't care I was sitting with the kids and I was pretty proud when one of them would act up. I'm sure that I Dunno hit the people sitting at the table behind us when he threw a napkin holder, and all I did was wave when they turned around to look at us and give us dirty looks. Mehsha just told me, "See what you've been missing!?" And I did. I realized that I can act 12 or 13 some of the time and it doesn't hurt me, but I feel better. One of my biggest peeves is that I don't think I was really 12 when I was 12 or 13 when I was 13, and now I want to go back. Well, that's impossible so the next best thing is to be secure with yourself enough to act like 12 or 13 sometimes, and I hope I'm getting close to mature enough to act that way.

I have made a few decisions as far as my future is concerned. I met my new C.O. on Saturday and I love him. I really do. Not like that, but I could get attached. He and his wife are very warm, fuzzy, happy, huggy people, and probably to most of y'all's suprise, I love huggy people. No matter how I'm feeling, I'm always up for a hug. They got up on the stage to give their experince and it made me want to pioneer with them so bad, so I'm going to take a year off of school and pioneer with them because I really want to go to pioneer school with them. He sounds exactally like Bill Clinton, which makes sense because they are both from Arkansas. The C.O. and his wife visit in January. I can't wait.

Still haven't made any decisions about some other things that have been floating around in my head... but I did do this today and I'd be much obliged to you all if you would just follow the directions on this page: http://kevan.org/johari?name=AffableOlive.

See you when I'm 18!

Just a simple little update

2006-10-18T14:36:00.000-05:00

So... I cut off from service after four hours today. Deborah Clasky finally realized when I fell over at about 2:30 that I needed to go in. I barely made it here, but I have some school work that I needed to send, so I drove here. I'm hoping that I can make it home. Yesterday, I went out for four hours while it was raining, so I don't feel too great today and I hit my head getting into the van again and that still hurts. I'm hoping that will go away tomorrow, or sooner.

Speaking of driving... I may have to get a real job. I finally babysat again this Monday. Contessa's dad (who still doesn't have a nickname) had given me off four work days in a row and now I'm working again. But it seems that the truck is having trouble starting. Thing is with the truck, it's 18 years old. That's quite a while for a car, even if it doesn't have 100,000 miles on it yet (it's only up to about 70k). But if it quits working, that means dad has to drive the Jeep everyday to work and it's not like I can just adopt the Trail Blazer from mom. That's her car. Dad's vehicle for as long as I can remember has been free range for users. Nobody really touches mom's car but her, unless I'm washing cars. That leaves me, the continuous auxilary pioneer, without a car. I don't expect mom and dad to just buy me one either. They really can't right now, especially since we just moved and don't know the money situation yet. It also takes a lot of saving to buy a car. I don't have enough to do that now. So... I'm hoping and praying that the truck can hold out until I finish high school and can get a real job. If not, I don't even want to think about that.

The DSL situations is looking very bright at this point. Cable is not avaliable in our area. We are too far in the boonies. A brother in the congregation actually works for Bellsouth and is THE DSL guy for the O.C. Isn't it glorious? Bellsouth told us that all the ports were "full." Well, this brother said he has to check, but he always leaves a few open for businesses and he considers us a business. Mom needs it for work and I need it for school. It's a necessity. So he's calling tomorrow to tell us for sure if he has a port. If not, we'll be without for another two months.

As far as the situation with Andy Clasky goes, I'm going to answer P. June's questions:
3. “Personal/Meaningful” = Intimate/Private? For instance, do you discuss things with him that you wouldn’t normally talk about with anyone else just because of convenience and proximity? Or that you would ONLY (previously) talk about with Easel? Would maybe all the conversations of the infamous “month” fall into the personal/meaningful category?
Andy and I have done well this week so far. Yesterday, I met in the afternoon and was sandwiched in the middle seat of his truck with him driving and another sister on the other side of me with Billy Ray Cyrus on softly in the background, and that was a little awkward, but it only lasted an hour and then he went in and I stayed with Deborah. We were only together today for about 2 hours, and even then I wasn't going to doors with him since we are doing this tract work, which is going suprisingly well. I've placed almost my whole 50. I have about 15 left. In two days. But the answer to all of those questions is "yes," so I do realize that some things have to change. We haven't been together so much lately so conversation has not been "personal/meaningful" at all. Some simple conversations about what we have been doing (drinking a lot of hot chocolate and visiting race trac and a few blurbs about Billy Ray Cyrus and Jammies), and about what we are encountering in the territory. Light and fluffy stuff. I'll just have to see if it happens to ease itself back into old ways, but of course, one thing has changed since this first became a situation. Most everyone that reads probably knows what has changed again too.

Jules sent me some things to think about as far as schooling and hopefully we'll have DSL next week and I can hunker down with those e-mails.

Here's a little something special. I know everyone has seen this, but it's been years since I have taken it. Probably about five, and that does not encompass the last nine months that I have been out here. It's all over. This was my score: 76% Dixie. Your neck must be a little pink! Last time I took it, I was 45% Dixie. Andy says that there's not much left keeping me from saying "yee-haw" instead of my "that sounds like fun." Mom says that the Claskys are becoming bad association because my grammar is going and my southern accent, which used to be light, is getting to be just as thick as molasses. The other day, our P.O. was saying that we need to get all of this territory done. Andy looks back at me in the rear view mirror and asks me to say it. He likes to hear me say it because I sound SO very redneck when I do and I'm always sticking it to him and his mother about their grammar, when I'm getting just as bad. It's really starting to get scary y'all.

Situations

2006-10-10T15:48:00.000-05:00

Situation #1: Well, I'm at the library. You know, the only one in the other O.C. that doesn't have any books. We can't seem to get DSL or dial up at our house. Thing is, DSL is limited and there's not an avaliable port at the moment. Dial up doesn't work with either of the two computers that we have right now. One is missing the component needed since it was part of a network before and the lappy has so many restrictions on access now that it's close to impossible to do anything but tax returns on it. I'm not babysitting either, so I can't charge my Zen or check my e-mail. I had to come to the library, end of story.

I ate a lady bug today. Not sure if I just spit it out or if I did actually swallow it. Either way Deborah, Andy, and Tori Amos were all throughly cracked up at my reaction. It's been years since I swallowed a bug. It didn't taste good at all.

It's my first fall out here. It's prettier than the spring. All of the morning glories in the fields are blooming gorgeous colors. They have started to defoliate the cotton and that stark white up against the brown is just...there aren't words for it when you come up over a hill and all you see is this sea of white. The sorgum is turning that deep maroon color and it's just... you have to see it to believe it. It's got to be the prettiest it's been out here all year. There's a cotton field right by the Clasky's house and I'm trying to convince Mehsha that we need to take black and white pictures. She can do it with her camera and she's got quite the eye. Also, we found out that you can get to the county line from our property and there is a river there. Y'all, it's just absolutely gorgeous. We drove home from the outlet mall that ate Dawsonville yesterday straight down 53. It was just so peaceful and calming and... y'all all need to get your butts out here this week or next and just see it. Just look at it. It's so purdy.

On to Situation #2. Well, I've been seriously thinking about college these past few weeks. There has been pressure from older forces to decide. It's really bothering me that I can't make a decision. I want to know what to do and what I want to do, just doesn't seem practical. For the past five years, all I have wanted to do is go into the field of journalism. These past two years I haven't given anything in that department any thought. I have just been focusing on school and service. I just need some idea and it's not coming to me. I had a suggestion to just pioneer after I finish school for a year and take that time to decide. That really doesn't suit me at all. I would feel like I was just spinning my wheels, though I love service and being able to devote ALL my time to that would be kinda nice... oh that sounds more appealing as I think about it. Thing is, I don't want to bum off my parents for forever and I don't want to feel like I have to get married to support myself. It's a thing with me, I know. But I'm taking suggestions for occupations. I'm also going to talk to Eliza who used to work for UGA in the Journalism school and she may be able to help me find some division of journalism that won't be so competitive and might pay a little better, but $30-40,000 sounds like enough to sustain me, and just me. Added to another pay like a room mate, it may be more than enough. It's puzzling me.

Situation #3: OK, I'm going to try not to use names, but y'all will know who it is. Who else do I spend 50 hours a month with in service that's a guy with a serious girl friend? Thing is, he has started to do things that I wouldn't expect a guy WITH a serious girl friend to do, like make me a sandwich or pay for my breakfast or share tons of inside jokes, etc. So I'm not too worried about him leaving his girl friend. I don't expect him to and there's no reason. I don't like him that way and we are just good friends. Thing is though, I had someone tell me not to talk about personal/meaningful stuff. I totally know where that person is coming from and it's good advice that I'm taking to heart. I'd just like to have y'all's opinions/definitions on "personal/meaningful" conversation. We sit in the car for 50 hours a month, so it's not like we can sit there in complete silence, I'd just like to know what everyone cosiders fall under that category so that I can make sure and avoid things of the sort. So I'm taking suggestions here too. From everyone preferably.

Thanks and I hope to blog again soon.

Life is a highway and I may get the keys taken away

2006-10-02T14:39:00.000-05:00

There's not much going on here, except a critique of my driving, which was needed. All this getting talked to has my driving on the forefront of my mind and I'm trying to work on it. Contessa was scared when we took the turn today, but I took it at 15 MPH instead of 45 MPH, so we definetly stayed on our side of the road and out of the grass. The completely wacked thing was that Contessa's father (who really needs a nickname) didn't give a flying flip about how fast I was driving and that I hopped the curb. He said he wanted to ride with me sometime. When I finally pulled in the drive way last Monday, I just about threw up. If anyone got hurt in the car with me, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself and would have definetly thrown up. Even Andy Clasky was puzzled when Contessa's father begged him to take Contessa for a ride on his 4-wheeler. Poly's father, Big A, talked to me Sunday, so I knew this was serious, and my dad talked to me on the way home. I drive so great at night, so I just need to apply the same rules to the day light. I have gotten so relaxed with my driving and that's the biggest problem. I'm having touble balancing focusing on the road, checking my mirrors every 3 seconds, and keeping an eye on my dash like mom says too. I look up to the road and lose my bearings of speed. In my opinion, today I did really well. Much better. It also depends on my music. "Zac and Sara" seems to be a dangerous song. It was on when I hopped the curb and when I sped in Poly's neighborhood yesterday, so I didn't drive to that CD today. Just have to make some changes. I want parents to feel confident that their kids can ride with me and be safe, not just kinda safe and they reluctantly let them go.

I turn 18 in 32 days. I'm not looking forward to it.

Completed my first month of auxilary pioneering and made my time. I was excited.

In other news, tried some Turkland coffee this weekend from an old person's toe. I enjoyed the grounds. DSL gets hooked up on Wednesday. I feel so out of the blogging community since we don't have it at my house. We're switching to Gain detergent. It smells so good. Maybe I'll have something more interesting to write about.

Our house, in the middle of our street

2006-09-25T15:02:00.000-05:00

I just illegally downloaded that song! Yay! Anyway... so I almost wrecked on my way taking Contessa back to her house about an hour ago (that's where I am now). I took the turn into her neighborhood waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fast. I was in the opposite lane and jumped the curb and was driving in the grass. I did a total no-no and jerked it back onto the street. You don't jerk Jeepie around. Gosh, I was so scared when I jumped the curb on the other side of the street. We made it safely back to the house. It takes something like that to keep you from being careless. So... if you ride with me in the next month (my six are up) be prepared for the safest ride of your life.

On to the house. It's absolutly glorious. Mom is in love with it, which is all any of us need. The stinky thing about it is that I have to walk to the middle of the cul-de-sac to talk on my cell phone, which I use for almost all my calls and right now, it's necessary because we won't have a home phone until this Thursday, nor will we have DSL until then. Don't know when we will get cable, or shall I say dish. That feels like a dirty word to me, but cable doesn't run out where we are. Y'all, we have rural delivery. Someone in a car delievers our mail. Forget a mail truck. Now we aren't Mayberry Rural Free Delivery, but we are rural. I love having my own bathroom. Right now, it's missing it's fixtures like a t.p. holder and towel rods, but mom is going to go ahead and get the piant for it and such and I can knock it out all by myself in an hour or two. All I've been taking is baths since I don't have a shower curtain yet either. Most all of the boxes are in the garage right now because we had a bad roach problem at the other house and roaches love cardboard and mom doesn't want all those boxes in the house, so unpacking is taking a little longer. The kitchen is basically done. I did that for all of Sunday. I never realized how big the house was until we got all of our stuff in it, and our stuff doesn't fill it up. It's a great house though. I want everyone to come visit.

That's all I have time for right now.

Moving on up...

2006-09-21T15:10:00.000-05:00

To a bigger house. Mom keeps complaining that we have too much stuff. Well, we're going to have to buy stuff to fill this house. We gave away a lot of furniture that dad wishes we still had. Mom doesn't. She wants to buy new stuff. I've been packing, racking, and stacking (oh... no one gets that here...) since 9 AM. I told Brother Piano Teacher not to come this week. It's an absolute mad house here. There are packing peanuts and boxes, full and empty, everywhere. I've got a stack five boxes high in my room. I was desprately trying to compress my shoes into one box. I've bought 4 pairs since we moved here and they didn't even fit in one box the first time, so I don't know what I was thinking. It seems a bit over kill to have just moved 8 months ago and now we're doing it again. After this time (my fourth house), we won't be going anywhere for a long time. (YAY!!!!) This house is great y'all. Everyone has to come out, spend the night, and come out in service as well. A sister that comes out on Tuesdays has the totally awesome Farmington territory. Yesssssss! I can't wait. It's so boonies out there. Dirt roads and all. It touches Greene county. But so, a few notes to myself as far as things to remember when I move out, and some pointers for others:

Keep books dusted weekly and you won't have an asthma attack when taking them off the shelves.
Don't try and put 24 pairs of shoes in one box. Just don't.
Never give up the boxes that have your name on them. Stupid sheets and towels. We have a lot of SHEETS.
Don't start dancing around to "Zac and Sara." You're bound to fall over some boxes.
Don't put all your yearbooks in one box. And if you do, don't try and pick it up.
Make sure nothing odd is written on your boxes. No funky little drawings or once cool sayings. They don't look right 8 months later.
Don't let your sister write on your boxes either, or people will think you smell like poo.
Sharipes must keep their caps on when not in use. Those fumes are strong enough to make you fall over boxes, especaily if you start dancing to "Zac and Sara." And they make marks... everywhere...

So! Tomorrow is the big day! I'm doing out in service and someone has to take care of my stuffs. ALL my stuffs. Well, I have to go finish packing now... gack. My room is almost done. The laundry pantry is done and so is Mehsha's and my bathroom. I can't wait!

THE Concert!

2006-09-20T17:34:00.000-05:00

It's my 50th post! WOOT WOOT! Mehsha got a digital camera today, so she has constantly been taking pictures since she and mom arrived home shortly after I got home as well. We went out to the house again today. They have finished repairing all of the holes in the walls, some big and some little. I don't know if I've updated the housing situation since we got the door handles and closet systems, but those were installed late last week I believe. Today, a lot of progress had been made as far as getting the HV/AC working correctly, etc. and the kitchen cabinets have door knobs and drawer pulls. It looks great. So does the golf course. We're getting VERY excited. We start moving Friday and will be occupied with that ALL WEEKEND LONG. We have a moving company doing the big stuff and the majority of the boxes, so we're good there. I've picked out colors for my new room. No tan. Same navy blue (love it), a kinda limey green, and a very Strong Sad grey. Again, it will be the perfect little boy's room. (No joke, when we were selling our last house, I had navy blue and tan. Every family that came in there said, "Oh! This will make a great room for my son!" It could be a good girl's room too!! Beats me why I never went for the really girly stuff.) The closing date is this Friday. YAY! I'll be in service half the day. YAY! I may not have to baby sit either. YAY! YAY! YAY! And Contessa's dad pays ahead of time, so he doesn't dock pay or anything for the next month. It's glorious.

Now, on to the concert that I have that post-show funk washed off me. I'm skipping all the way to when we entered the Tabernacle (wish I could have found a better link). Sure it was an odd day, but I'm not going there here. Mom and dad did let me drive all by myself in the Jeep, to my Greenparents and then back again today. It was my first trip all on my own that far. 130 miles in two days. No big, but it was my first time. Very exciting. Papa didn't expect me to show up by myself. So fast forward to the concert again. That was also my first time at the former gospel church turned concert venue. It was so cool. The acoustics were great. After all, it was a former black church. Like speaking in tounges black church. You could tell that it had been a church, not just because of the name or the left over pews scattered about but the HUGE organ pipes! All I could see was the tops of them when I entered the floor area since they had a large back drop up for both the opener and the Raconteurs. Afterwards, when they were taking the set down, I got a nice look at them. They were so tall. I wonder if they keep them clean... anyway, so first we walked down into the basement, which is smoking only, so we promptly left and went to the ground floor. We were there at 8 PM and the opener, Dr. Dog, went on. Jules and I stood for about two songs and I wasn't too impressed. Neither was she. They were just OK. No recommendations whatsoever. So we started touring the place. They hadn't done much as far as changing the layout of the former church, but they sure did add a whole lot of paint. The ceilings, stairs, air ducts... everything was covered in flowers and stars and other assorted designs. Very cool atmosphere. Plenty of bars. I was very surprised that the place didn't smell more like booze than it did. It was a lot cleaner than I thought, but I did refrain from drinking anything so that I didn't have to inspect the restrooms, where ever they were. You go up stairs to get to the basement level from the street, then again to get to the floor level, and then there are two more levels, but we only went up one more. That was where the BIG bar was. Jules didn't get any alcoholic beverages all night, but of course, if you were craving a beer, it was only Bud and it was $6, which was just as much as a mixed drink. Though she didn't drink anything except Coke, we were poised to do a lot more damage than that. First, while the other band finished and the tech's tuned up for the Raconteurs, we sat and chatted on the long pew on the second floor, right next to the bar. It was in the same room as a whole bunch of nice looking couches. They looked GREAT considering all the drunks that passed thru there all night long. Shortly before the Raconteurs went on, Jules and I went ahead and bought our proof that we went to the show. Both of us got the brown t-shirt and I got Mehsha the black one (neither of which could I find a piccy of). We debated about getting the special venue only poster that was totally cool, but we didn't and when we went back after the show, they were sold out. Oh well. But so, we hung around til the other sister showed up. We secretly passed her her ticket and she got in. We positioned ourselves perfectly. There was just enough room in front of the bar on the right hand side of the ground floor to fit two rows of people. That was the perfect spot to stand. We had about 3 feet of fire lane walking space in front of us, so there weren't people pressing on us, nor was it impossible to see. I got some pretty good pics with my cellie. MUCH better than the ones I got at the Weezer/Foo Fighters show last October. For good reason too. Not only were we right on the level (hehe...my baby's on the level) with the guys, I had 3 feet with no heads in front of me and we were only about 15 or 20 feet from the stage. GOOD position. We had people that were trying to edge us out, but there were three of us, and two were seasoned show go-ers and I went to Music Midtown last year. I KNOW how to stand my ground. Boo-Yah. Plus, the group of four beside us were about Jules' age and were pretty good about not getting edged out. One of the women though, was totally hammered before they even took the stage and maybe four songs into the show, her husband had to take her home. It was a shame. She was real entertaining. When the other sister got there, she realized that the brother that was supposed to be with us wasn't there. Turns out, he was too sick to come, so she called another sister in her congregation who left from the meeting to come to about half the Raconteur's show. The other sister left at the song after she was a householder for a talk. It was all quite hilarious, and I still find it funny. So at about 9:15 or 9:30, the boys took the stage. Oh did they work the crowd. They worked so well together. And the tour ends two months from now and started back in March. They mesh really well. Jack threw guitar pics out the whole concert. Partick threws his drum sticks out after the show. After we tried to get the set list and I was vying for either of the Jacks' water bottles, and the other twosisters that were with us got their proof and I got a 7" live single of "Hands" only because it looks totally awesome and was only $10. The t-shirts were only $20. The prices at this show were so reasonable. Afterwards, we celebrated with the usual Krispy Kreme dozen assorted, half glazed and half choclate glazed. I also got a hot chocolate. Race Trac's hot chocolate is good, but Krispy Kreme's is the best. It was so good, and it was already getting chilly. We arrived home at 12 AM. All in all, it was the best show I've ever been to. Small venue, great band, awesome atompshere. So more than satisfied.

The Raconteurs

2006-09-19T23:27:00.000-05:00

THE SHOW WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bought cool stuff that wasn't as overpriced as I thought it would be. The guys played great together. Jack and Brendan were hot (and I hope they haven't lost their looks two hours later). Will post about details tomor... later today, when I can hear and speak again. Gosh, it was a great concert!

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

2006-09-14T13:01:00.000-05:00

Some day this week, I said I was going to post about piano. Before I have to do school, well, I should be doing school, but let's do this first. It's more fun.

In my books for the past two lessons (counting today's as one), we have been working with the key of D Minor. Turns out, most folk songs are "written" in that key. Everyone knows about folk songs. They aren't really written down. Same way with folk stories and oral traditions. Yada, yada, yada...so, today we did one that my book just calls "Introduction and Dance," but in 1968 (I looked up the specific date) Mary Hopkins released "Those Were the Days." (Not the theme song from "All in the Family.") It's the exact same song, and she didn't have to pay copyright overlords because it's a folk song.

For last week, in the key of D minor, I was assigned to practice "Scarborough Fair." What immediately comes to your mind when you hear that song? After you think of the city in England (or hamsters [?]), don't you think of Simon & Garfunkle's version of "Scarborough Fair?" Personally, I'm not an Paul & Art fan, and it had been years since I had heard the song. Also, I'm not one to have this desire to learn to play popular songs from 1940 to about 1979. (Don't touch the 80's. That's my favorite decade.) Don't get me wrong. I'd love love love to learn how to play a lot of the songs off "Good Bye Yellow Brick Road," and maybe even a little Elvis Presley or Rolling Stones ("Dandelion")Thing is, I fell in love with playing that song! No joke, I sat down Monday morning at 9:30 AM and didn't get up from the piano til I heard my tummy rumble at 11:30 AM to go eat. The whole time I played that song. It's beautiful. There's something about it that makes me want to play it. Typically, I'm not one to get up in the morning either and immediately sit down at the piano. For the past two days before I left for service (after dad left. I couldn't possibly think of concentrating with him belting out the lyrics.), I was sitting down and playing that song. Monday afternoon, I got a little curious about what Simon & Garfunkel's version sounded like, since it had been years since I pulled "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme" out and put it on the good 'ol turn table. (Which I'm going to get fixed when we move in. The Best Buy out here repairs turn tables.) My favorite clip of the song is linked above, but I also found this website that explains the whole history behind the song. After all, doesn't every folk song have a past? That webbie has an explanation of the lyrics, the full song lyrics (it's actually a lot longer than Simon & Garfunkle's version), and why the herbs parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. The explanation is interesting to me about his lover's sudden disappearance and I learned what a "Scarborough warning" was. I would go into all of this if I though you would be interested, but really it's three small paragraphs on that webpage for those of you that feast on useless information like I do. What I would like to go into is the use of those particular four herbs. To some extent, I knew that herbs symbolized virtues, similar to the way flowers commonly do today (i.e.- roses and love). Each herb is explained on that website. Parsley is still used to soothe "bitterness" or trouble with digestion. Sage signifies strength. Rosemary signifies faithfulness and love, while thyme represents courage. All in all, This makes it clear what the disappointed lover means to say by mentioning these herbs. He wishes his true love mildness to soothe the bitterness which is between them, strength to stand firm in the time of their being apart from each other, faithfulness to stay with him during this period of loneliness and paradoxically courage to fulfill her impossible tasks and to come back to him by the time she can. (I took that straight from the webbie.) Still don't know why I love to play the song so much though. It's still intrigues me.

Otherwise, I've been traipsing all over the Internet today and I found this German (full) version of "99 Red Balloons." (Or "99 Luft Balloons" in this case.) I love it in the one of the verses where Captain Kirk is mentioned and it's surrounded by all this German. How come German pop music kicks butt and always has?

There's this really neat place called Race Trac...

2006-09-13T16:34:00.000-05:00

OK, so...where is everyone? Have I been that boring lately? That's pretty depressing that I'm so busy I'm boring. Does that mean I have to be lazy to come up with things? Honestly, I was thinking when I was out in service today that I need to start carrying around a little notebook with me NOT for return visits, but for doodles, sonnets, letters, notes, and novelettes. Just to write down the crazy things that happen because these first few weeks have been quite the experience and I'm still in love with service. Friday we're doing VFW and Farmington. There's a place I want to stop in Farmington and a notebook without lines would be a welcome addition to my service bag.
We were at one door long enough for me to write a full blown novel, but it was OK since it was POURING out here, like I assume it was in Atlanta. I was all the way in the back of the van, ya know, the place that I pay rent on. The seat in the back right on the third row. The rain was coming down and the householder had a semi-garden. There were still black-eyed susans growing in the patch right outside my window. Really, they were more taking over the once was veggie patch. With the rain coming down on the flowers, and the drops on the window and I would focus back and forth on the plant and then on the window and the conversation seemed so distant. For about five minutes, I could have probably written down a few verses before the feeling left. That's why I want a notebook.

Also we went to this neat place today. It sells ALL sorts of things! They have cookies and ice cream and hot dogs and chips and...almost anything you could ever want. It's called Race Trac. It's not like I've never been in a convenience store before, but usually just to go to the restroom and then I promptly exit the premises. Today was chilly and wet, so I wanted something warm. Nobody let out a peep about the new Starbucks or Jittery Joes...not even Panera. We (7 of us) all went in and there was this wall of soft drinks, slushies, and coffee varieties. I don't know if the others were actually coffee, but I wanted some hot chocolate. There wasn't a barista to place my order with and the place to pay wasn't any where near the coffee wall. It was odd. Andy Clasky had to basically walk me through the whole process. First, you get a cup from below the coffee wall. Then you put the cup under which ever coffee or hot drink variety you think you might want. This was kinda familiar. I've been to the World of Coke and they have a self-serve type room. After that, I was completely lost. I found the hot chocolate button. You have to press this button and the hot chocolate comes out of a soda fountain type machine! And it tasted really GOOD! Then I had to find my own lid and all that. The cashier did give me 2 cents extra for change. He told me to keep it. It was very different, but cheap! I only paid $1.15 for a 16 oz. hot coca. Eliza said that pioneers can't do Starbucks four days out of the week and that I'll learn truly what it's like when I start paying for myself. I guess I will. Andy said there's this place in the O.C. that cooks their own breakfast, like biscuits and sausage and eggs and grits. That sounded really good. He said we'd have to make it out there one Friday. I hope soon. I didn't know gas station stores could be so much fun!

America Foils Again

2006-09-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

My aunt Jules sent this to me and I realized that everyone that I would want to send this to that would understand why I think it's so funny, reads my blog. Instead of just clicking 'forward,' I clicked copy, paste and here's the joke:

New terrorist organisation

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F.Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement.He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of maths instruction. "Al-gebra is a problem for us," Ashcroft said. "They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every triangle'."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of Maths instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."

White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President.

Some visits from the homeland

2006-09-12T15:25:00.000-05:00

Wow, the eighth visit to my blog today was from Israel. I would check and see how they found my blog, but my compy is on the fritz. It probably has to do with looking for a shmear distributor, or looking for relatives. Who knows? It could get a little scary though. Scary in a cool "hey I have had 5 site visits from Israel" kinda way. Will blog about pianos later. You see some cool ones in serivce. You can also find out that a good friend of yours has a Yamaha grand and has invited you to come play it. Sweet.

8. 12 September 14:24 Bezeq International, Israel

Naming Names + Housing update

2006-09-08T18:17:00.000-05:00

I totally stole this from P. June's yahoo blog, but I haven't done this sort of thing in SO long and this one was one that I liked way back when.

My 10 Names

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name): Jock Hill Creek (uh, if we had stopped at "hill" it might have had some potential)

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your mom's side, your favorite candy): Thyra Truffles (I had to leave this one because not only do we have the same grandmother, evidently, we have the same favorite candy.)

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your middle name): Mcar (that's not fly at all)

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Purple Panda (Oh, that one cracks me up)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Caroline Decatur (Gosh, we were born in he same city too! We could appear in a sitcom later like Hope and Faith.)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.): Gremehysne (OK, is that even pronounceable?)

7. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, favorite drink): The Purple Mojito (This one cracks me up too.)

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first name of both your grandfathers): Charles Leroy (Really, this doesn't work if you're stealing it from someone you're related to...)

9. FUTURISTIC NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne and the name of your favorite shoes): Ralph Nine West (Again, really can't take this from someone you're a lot alike either...and that doesn't even sound futuristic!)

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother/father's middle name and the next name you hear on the tv/radio/talk): Laurie Mehsha (I actually heard her real name, but we can't put that here can we? It does sound like a pretty cool name though.)

Housing Update! Let's all gather round. We close on the new house on September 22nd. Yeah, 2 weeks away. That just means that by October, we can be getting settled in and having people out and over. I'm getting excited! We did calls back in that neighborhood this afternoon and Eliza was in our car group and asked which house it was. So we drove back there and back the totally cool drive way to the awesome house. So there are about six people that know where we will be living already. Don't tell mom and dad. Where we will be living is supposed to be on the down low. It's a very nice neighborhood (good grief, it has a golf course) and dad doesn't want people to start thinking things. Anyway, so mom went out there to set up closet options and then to pick out door knobs and door handles for drawers and such. There is a wood swatch on the floor in the kitchen here, and I suppose that's for me. My room is the only part of the house that needs to be hard wood before we move it, but it will probably end up being done shortly after we move in, but mom says it needs to be done ASAP. The carpet is a shag type stuff and would give me bad allergy problems. But otherwise, the rest of the house, besides the four bedrooms upstairs, is already hard woods and mom was really sold on that. We have to get a frige, but everything else is already there, and is stainless steel. The old washer and dryer are coming and will be what I will still be using for the time being. All I told mom was that they still (kinda) work, and there's no sense in getting new ones yet. I'll keep you all updated, but that's about all I can think of right now.

Country Club Chic

2006-09-05T16:28:00.000-05:00

Well, hasn't it just been the busy past four days? Maybe not for y'all, but for me it has been. So lets do a brief recap:

Friday: Service. After all, it was my first day of CONTINUOUS AUXILIARY PIONEERING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!! Can you tell? I'm already behind though, but not by but an hour or so. I couldn't have stood any more of Friday morning service though. There was a odd number out, but a lot of people showed up at O.C. field service, so I'm not going to complain about the odd number. What I am going to gripe about here for a minute is being sandwiched in the third row of the van. The worst part was I was back there with the love birds. Feather was up from West Palm for the weekend. Don't get me wrong. I love love love Feather. What I don't like is being in the back seat with Feather and Jammies. From Deborah Clasky's I was supposed to jet off to the library to take the rest of my French exam. At 12:30, mom called and said that my proctor said that the tape still hasn't come. My French teacher needs to get her act together. The exam and final grade for the course was supposed to be turned in by this Thursday. So much for that. It's not my fault either. I was ready to take the exam a whole month before this date and things could have been turned in on time if I had not been sent the tape for year 2 of French. I took the new found hour to nap before chasing Contessa around the neighborhood. I talked to her dad about it this time because she left the garage without asking and then I gained another girl from across the street. She was not part of the deal, but their neighborhood is SO the epitome of suburban. All the kids get home from school by 3:30 and they all play at each other's houses until about 6:00. Then it's time for dinner. It's weird. The moms don't give a flying flip where their kids are because they know that they will end up at home sometime before dinner.

Saturday: UGA GAME!!!! More excitement, but once again, in the car with Jammies and Feather. I'm skipping the majority of the details here because they all concern Andy Clasky and I talking about...stuff. We won. Of course. Screamed my lungs out. I had to pick them up off the peanut and whiskey covered stands. Almost had an allergic reaction. I did pretty good. It was against Western Kentucky University. They have the funniest looking mascot. Then we had Ricky Bobby and his son calling them the warts. Caleb Bobby was cute though. His dad kept saying that he was going to play for UGA one day. You keep thinking that Ricky. The only way Caleb is going to play is if he's really smart and can get in or he's super good at football and gets in. It's getting harder to get into my farming college out here. We ate dinner with Jammies and Feather. It made me a little heart sick. That night, I half way rooted for Tech. It looked like they might beat Notre Dame there for a minute. Oh well.

Sunday: GREAT talk that morning. Too tired to get my required weekend 2 hrs. That's why I'm behind. Chilled at home. Pay-per-viewed She's the Man. I laughed SO hard. Cat napped all day.

Monday: So I had plans with Biscuit, Andy, and Sweet as Sugar. There's no other way to describe Andy's girlfriend. She's been through so much and still manages to see nothing but the absolute best in the crummiest person. Andy and Biscuit didn't get back from dove hunting until noon and by that time, mom had already said that I was coming with she and Mehsha to the mall. I didn't want to shop for what I was being made to shop for. I'd rather just not wear one at all. So then I missed Sugar's visit. She called me today and said she was disappointed. We were all supposed to go to the Elder covered bridge and swim in the swimming hole. They got to. I was at the mall and for once, I didn't want to be there. SHOCKER! No really. It is. Mehsha wants to start running, so I took her to the park and while she jogged, I walked behind exploring the contents of my MP3 player, looking for something upbeat. She jogged around for 45 minutes. It was about 2 miles. I don't mind taking her. Dad wants me to start walking again anyway, especially since I didn't get to swim this summer and already have quite the sinus infection. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, it's my responsibility to get Mehsha to the park. Crashed Lappy. I did it, well, actually, my creative zen did it. I got the scariest blue screen yet. It was one that I had never seen before on any computer. It told me that it was dumping the memory. I just about screamed. Mom did. So Lappy is going for a check up tomorrow. We booted it back up and NOTHING was there. It wanted us to load on all the software, which belongs to my mom's work, so we don't have it. Mom and I are pretty sure that it was the Creative Zen software that messed up the laptop's system. This old Dell gives us the blue screen all the time. It's it's "I give up" screen. Honestly, this poor Dell doesn't have the components that it takes to run some of the stuff that we make it run. It was formatted to be part of a network and it isn't any more. Me crashing the laptop for the second time in a year sent mom the message that Mehsha and I probably need our own computer to run all of our stuff on instead of the one that her work provides. I may help pay for it, since I would like for it to be mine. With all my online classes, it only seems logical for me to have my own compy, as well as the music that I started keeping on the lappy now that I have my MP3 player. Dang...I didn't get to put my videos on it...and those are gone. Oh well.

Today was my first FULL day of service. Squished in the third row again, but we did a lot of musical chairs and then Andy let me get in the front seat for the afternoon since the group of 15 suddenly shrunk to 4 including one that had to go to a study and I always take the House to House records. So it was three of us out for most of the time. It was almost just Andy and me, but that's not right. Came home, napped, played piano and got some good news as far as problem #2- or the housing one, which ever number it got. So half of the problem is solved, we're putting a contract on a house bigger than our last one in THE AWESOMEST neighborhood I've ever lived in. Y'all are the first to know, so keep it on the down low for a bit. A week or so ago, we decided that no matter what, we were going to be in Lane Creek Plantation. Holy cow y'all. We put an offer on this house on a beautiful lot. The house is "eh," but it's FAR bigger and better than the one we are in. Mehsha and I have already decided where we are setting up the air hockey table so that I can kick her butt at it all over again. It hasn't been played since January. Andy and Biscuit have already asked when they can come over and play it. That's probably the thing that has me the most excited, besides that I get my own bathroom. FINALLY! I had one at the Tucker house, but it didn't matter then. I didn't have to share anything then. The best thing about this neighborhood is that although we are probably going into debt to get this house, it will go up in value. Most likely significantly too. IT'S GOT A GOLF COURSE!!!! If you click on the link, it tells you when it reopens. Dad knows the pro that has redone the course, and dad says that there is no way that this course isn't going to be great to play. Best of all, it's in our neighborhood. How much more convenient can you get?! When we first started looking out there, the course looked awful. It looks better every time we drive by now. Mom says it's going to be the country club of the O.C. People at school already think that Mehsha is "rich." When she tells them that she lives in Lane Creek, she'll never hear the end of it. A lot of really nice $550,000 and up homes are being built back there and there are others like the one that we have a contract on that fit our budget better. Although the parents have said it's not our problem to worry about, us kids are well aware of the changes that will have to be made for us to comfortably afford this house. Dad doesn't seem worried, but mom is a little anxious, as always though. So, who's coming to visit? Now, we have five bedrooms and a basement so we could stuff people everywhere! I can finally have that big group out for service that I have been wanting to have for eight months now. We'll have a designated office separate from the guest room and all that jazz. Tentative closing date I think is September 29th and we have to be out of the rental by the 30th. Believe me. We will.

Johnna Doe

2006-08-31T08:08:00.000-05:00

I've only got a few to do this, but I would like to say that I've found my true love, at least for now. It's small, black, fits in my pocket, and has all my music on it. Well, almost all of it. I spent probably 8 or 9 hours ripping music on Tuesday, so I'm burned out on putting the remaining 20 or so on the computer to sync it. Those are the ones that I have to t-y-p-e in all the info for so they don't come up "unknown" on the player. This is not only the most expensive item I own (the Jeep is not in my possession today), but it's the coolest item I own. I decided to go ahead and spend every last penny I had on it (and it's warranty plan) on Monday because Best Buy has it on sale. Really, I would have rather had the white. It looks cleaner and you wouldn't be able to see my greasy thumb prints all over the key pad, but I couldn't find it for the same price anywhere out here in the boonies. Nobody had the white one out here, so I tried online and I couldn't find the white one for the same price online anywhere either. Price was what mattered since I already knew this one was what I wanted. Don't speak to me about iPods. For the past few days, "Johnna Doe" has been taking up my time. That's Mehsha's temporary name for it. Personally, I'm not one for naming objects, unless you call adding -ie to the end of anything naming it (i.e.- cellie, jeepie, etc.), but Mehsha wants to name it. Right now, it's genderless so she's just calling it "Johnna Doe"- a cross between John and Jane...to her anyway. If she doesn't come up with something better soon, it won't get named at all. There is this weird thought in my mind to call it yrollam, just because it looks the same and that became synonymous with MP3 players of this type a few months ago. That would be wrong, creepy, gross, etc., but it was just a weird feeling. It won't look like that one for long. I still have these cool fuzzy stickers and I'm debating on if I want to cover it with the cool stickers. That'll probably be a NO in the end since mom wants to make covers for it, and I know how bad stickers stick when they get hot. We're going to the fabric store to pick out what I want sometime next week. Maybe Monday. I'd rather make my own than pay for the ONLY one that they carry for it at Best Buy that's all black anyway and it's $30 or $40 bucks. It came with a little sack to keep it in, and that's doing the protecting job for now. I'm thinking light pink leather for the case...or RED leather. That decision will be made when I get there. Leopard print fabric would look totally awesome if mom did the whole front in plastic/vellum type stuff like she wants to. It's definitely worth the money. I don't care about all the specs or the rest of it, but I would like to say thank you to two readers who know who they are that helped me figure out MP3 players, and why this one fits what I wanted better than others.

So far, I'm still figuring out what all is on there, but one song did come up that I've been listening to only once a day that I had thrown in the trash. I can't find quite the suitable audio, so here come the lyrics:

"Unsent"

By Alanis Morissette

Dear Matthew: I like you a lot I realize you're in a relationship with someone right now and I respect that I would like you to know that if you're ever single in the future and you want to come visit me in California I would be open to spending time with you and finding out how old you were when you wrote your first song

Dear Jonathan: I liked you too much I used to be attracted to boys who would lie to me and think solely about themselves and you were plenty self-destructive for my taste at the time I used to say the more tragic the better the truth is whenever I think of the early 90's your face comes up with a vengeance like it was yesterday

Dear Terrance: I love you muchly you've been nothing but open hearted and emotionally available and supportive and nurturing and consummately there for me I kept drawing you in and pushing you away I remember how beautiful it was to fall asleep on your couch and cry in front of you for the first time you were the best platform from which to jump beyond myself what was wrong with me

Dear Marcus: You rocked my world you had a charismatic way about you with the women and you got me seriously thinking about spirituality and you wouldn't let me get away with kicking my own ass but I could never really feel relaxed and looked out for around you though and that stopped us from going any furter than we did and it's kinda too bad because we could've had much more fun

Dear Lou: We learned so much I realise we won't be able to talk for sometime and I understand that as I do you the long distance thing was the hardest and we did as well as we could we were together during a very tumultuous time in our lives I will always have your back and be curious about you about your career your whereabouts

I LOVE THAT SONG!

Internet revives the radio star

2006-08-27T16:41:00.000-05:00

About two years ago, I discovered that Yahoo! had started something called LAUNCHcast. It was their online radio. You have to have an account with them for it to work, but on my old account, I had build up quite a collection of rated songs. Thursday, I got a link for Pandora, as most of you guys probably did too. I started playing with this yesterday and started finding some similarities and differences, lending me to prefer Pandora over LAUNCHcast.

The LAUNCHcast concept is similar to that of Pandora: creating specially formatted radio stations for you to listen to. With Yahoo's thing though, you create only one radio station especially formatted for you. First, you have to go though each main category of music like jazz, hip hop, rock, alternative, etc. If you click on a certain category, then it drops down and you get to chose from about 12 mainstream artists most closely associated with that genera. You can click them all or just one. It then creates your own station, so you have, like with mine, (Disclaimer: right now it doesn't really reflect my music tastes, but what I recently rated last time I listened) the genres listed are reggae, electronic/dance, and country. Not sure where those three came from. Usually it says something more like "adult alternative," rock, and jazz/ R & B. It plays songs from the major musicians that I picked and then it recommends songs from all the decades. Some obscure and others mainstream. Now let's break it down that you have the basics for Yahoo's radio.

First, lets go for the most annoying aspect of both of these online radio stations: advertisements. With Yahoo, it's overbearing. On your own personal radio station, you have unlimited skips until you get to 500 songs in a month, but about every 5 songs, you get a commercial, mostly advertising for you to upgrade and get a subscription. Sometimes it's for concerts in your area, or who ever is currently sponsoring the commercial free radio stations because there are two or three of those daily that have limited skips but no commercials. Right now it's Pepsi and Crest toothpaste. On the other radio stations, you get commercials about every 3 songs. (There are about 30 different stations that are open for listening to if you don't subscribe, but then it jumps up to about 70, or something close to that, if you subscribe.) So far, I've been listening to Pandora for about 3 or 4 hours and all I've gotten was one visual advertisement for Rock Star: Supernova. That sight was a little disturbing (Hello?! Who isn't creeped out by Tommy Lee?), but I have it minimized most of the time, so I don't see the visual ones. No audio advertisements at all. That was the biggest thing that won me over.

The rating system. Here, I have to say I favor Yahoo's way of doing things. They let you rate the artist, album, and song all differently. I find that very useful because for instance, with the White Stripes album White Blood Cells, that album isn't my ABSOLUTE favorite of theirs (Elephant!! Woot Woot!!), so I have 4 different levels of how I can rate all three different aspects of the song. I would give the band the fourth/highest level, the album the third/next highest level, and if the radio station was playing Aluminum, I would give it the lowest/first level because that song STILL gives me the jibblies after 7 years. Since I've rated all these things separately, I know that I'll still hear tons of the White Stripes, more of White Blood Cells, but I'll never have to fear hearing Aluminum and getting the jibblies again! Yay! The perfect situation. With Pandora, I've already had them play a song that I love love love by an artist that I'm not crazy about, so I had no choice but to click the thumbs up button for the song, but I have to wait for them to individually play each song from that artists and rate it when it comes along on the station that I created. That's one thing that I can do with Yahoo also. I can search for songs, albums, artists and rate them without ever having to hear them play. So I can completely avoid ever having Enrique Iglesias even though I rated Ricky Martin highly. Just kidding...maybe... If Pandora has that option, I just haven't found it yet in my site exploration. I know I can add artists to a station that I have already created, which I did. When I created my White Stripes station, I immediately added the Raconteurs and Led Zeppelin, just because they go together like peanut butter and jelly (just not around me).

As far as the music goes, on my personalized station, I was introduced to the New P's, The Jam, Blue Merle (one of my favorite "sounds like Coldplay" bands), etc., but it's not much of a let's look for underground artists kinda thing. So far, with Pandora, I've found at least 3 artists (one from each of the stations that I've created) that I've never heard of but have the major possibility of falling in love with. There are far more obscure artists on Pandora versus Yahoo, though Yahoo has a larger music database. This was the winning feature of Pandora. We all know I favor anything no one else has heard of. After all, doesn't it sound insanely cool when you get to say that the latest band you're into is either a local or a total unknown? Then you give the person a copy and spread the word and hope that they keep that indie spirit in their music. So far, the station that I favor is my White Stripes station, though I've heard of most of the artists that they are playing, maybe not the songs though. I also created one for Tori Amos, which we might as well rename "Women that play piano, kinda sing (but Tori can sing), and write angsty music" station, which is going to be nice when I'm in that kind of a mood. Yahoo offers a feature like this where you create different stations for different moods, but you have to pay $3 a month for that.

Over all, Pandora fits me better. More unknowns and less commercials. Their rating system could be better, but I'm not complaining for fear they might up the commercial playing. With my stations, I'm being very selective with what I add because I don't want to just throw all my stuff into one bin, and that's my solution for keeping things that I don't want played, not played. I'm trying to stay within the genera. I want my ducks scattered in this game.

Someone did something wrong and it wasn't ME!

2006-08-24T15:18:00.000-05:00

French Exam right? I took care of problem #6 so that I could focus on this thing today. I was geared up for ace-ing this test, and I could have...had I had the right listening tape. There are five sections to a French exam. I decided I would get the culture, reading, writing, and grammar done before I did the listening part since it is usually the easiest for me. I finished all but the writing and went to do the ecoute (to listen) part and it was the wrong tape. The exam I was taking was French 11F. My teacher sent me the tape for French 12F exam, the second semester of my class. My proctor and I decided that she should call and we would reschedule. Now, I am brimming with self confidence. Not only do I now have more time to study, I know exactly what to study. There was one cultural question about Quebec and it was asking what would you want to visit if you went. Well, there was one place that I wasn't sure of the spelling of so now I can REALLY kick this exam's butt. Can anyone say "I'm getting an A on this test?" I can. I mentioned this to my proctor and she was like, "This is their problem and it's not like they are going to make up a different test for you just because you've seen this one, not unless that's what they usually do. It's their fault. I think they should wave your grade." AMEN!!! Then I'd have an A on the course anyway. Another burden lifted and some time for more studying. Oh yeah...

After being thoroughly happified first by seeing how easy the test was and then realizing that I now have more time to study, I decided to take a little joy ride down the county line. It only took about 30 minutes to get home instead of 5, but it was one of the most beautiful rides I've taken down some of those roads. While I was taking my exam, or the part that I could finish, it rained a medium summer rain. I decided to put in The New P's Electric Version, one of the few that I kept out when I put away my CDs. Instead of just taking 53 on back home, I went 441 to 186 to Cole Springs. Something dawned on me too driving down 186, it was: "Hey, I have a call there I need to make, and they're home NOW!!" I was completely out in the boonies and that was the first thought that came to mind. It tickled me, but then I thought, "YES!!! Pioneer spirit!!!" If I had not been in my very relaxed clothes (ie- Weezer shirt and oversized gauchos), I so would have stopped. I had the magazines ready and everything. The countryside had a slight misty feel about it. Things had cooled off, so I turned the air conditioning down low and put down the windows. The outside smelled good, and that's a rarity considering how many cows and horses are out here when it's hot. Going down Cole Springs, there is a stretch of land that has a few barns and a large pond. It almost had close to a fog over it and it looked so peaceful with the cows laying out there. Wish I had a camera then. I've never seen that road look more serene. I slowed way down since no one was behind me and I turned the music down for the effect. It was one of the most satisfying joy rides I've had since I got my license. As I flew (literally- the tires weren't on the ground) down my favorite curvy road with the windows down and the music up as far as it goes, I got a few honks and smiles and it rocked just as much as The New P's do. The only thing that kinda disappointed me was that last Friday I blew the dash speaker in Jeepie so the windshield didn't vibrate like it usually does. All in all, I was very satisfied.

Then something wrong again, but this time, it's not really wrong, but it is me. I went to pick up Mehsha because I needed to talk to her and help her to understand what's going on. She's still mad at me as high heaven and started crying when she got in the car with me. No talking happened. I hope she will eventually understand, but I can't worry about her because what she's worried about doesn't matter since she has the wrong idea. That's Mehsha for you though. In picking her up from school, I found out why she wants an L.L. Bean backpack and started wearing ribbons in her hair. There's no variety in the girls at that school. Even less with the guys. The monotony was depressing. Please keep Mehsha in mind. I never thought it would be this hard on her.

Problem #6

2006-08-24T10:25:00.000-05:00

I would like to take a moment to say BOO-YAH!!!!!! to problem #6. Thank you. I have a French exam in 2 and a half hours and I now have the confidence that I'm going to smoke this thing's butt. I'm feeling much better. It feels like a big burden has been lifted and I'm feeling the most carefree I've felt in a long time (with as much as I still have to do). I'm thinking bloggie won't be left behind. It is supposed to come with me through good and bad right? Come along bloggie, we've got some things to do. Au revoir is right Jules, but I prefer A bientôt (see you soon).

When the going gets rough

2006-08-23T20:58:00.000-05:00

I'm taking some time off from the real world, or more like the life I created for myself for the past seven months. Blogger might end up being included. I've asked for time off, and my mind said it was OK and that I need to focus on school and service anyway. Plus there are some friends that have been getting the back burner that are worth catching up with since another one will be pushed aside for a while until I can figure out how I feel. If I don't update, there are probably a lot of reasons influencing that so don't push an update. That probably means I'm not in a sharing mood. I have a French exam tomorrow, and a piano lesson that's going to be rough for certain reasons, so this is going to be it for a while. Love you all and I hope you understand.

Weekend Update

2006-08-21T14:11:00.000-05:00

Even still more job perks. Contessa's dad just got a new computer and they have high speed so I don't have to leave this glorious privledge behind when I up and go to "work" anymore. Now I can be just like P. June and Poly. Sit at the computer during work. And the sweet thing is it's positioned so that all I have to do is turn around and I can see the couch and... TADA! there she is. It was also more than nice what he did for me Friday. He understood completely when I asked to get off by 3:30 on Friday for a much needed weekend away from problems 1-5. He did even better than 3:30. I only had to watch Contessa for 15 minutes and then he was there to get her, which was better than I thought because it took over 2 hours to get to GSAM this past Friday. Traffic is a foreign idea to me now, but there is plenty of it once you get past the little city of Duluth! From Abbots Bridge all the way to Haynes Bridge was traffic and stop lights as far as the eye could see. Despite the tiring traffic that dominated Friday, the whole weekend turned out great, but of course, I was insanely goobly from the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that I ate too many of. The movie is now one of my favorites. The GSAM group watched "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." I LOVED it for so many reasons. I'd like to get my own edited copy. (Aww, this brings back memories...there's a cat in my lap. My cat.) Saturday was a treat except for the ride home to the other O.C. and the car sickness that was making calls and trying to read the Bible in the morning. We (Polyglot, I Dunno, Mehsha, and I) watched another good movie. "When A Stranger Calls." All in all, I was more than satisfied with what I took part in this weekend.

I would also like to say thanks to all that read the "blank post" and thanks for those who have offered help and support. I just needed to get it all down. Just to let y'all know, this week is off to a slow, but better start. Thanks so much.

Fakin' It

2006-08-17T11:57:00.000-05:00

I'm staying away from anything of the thought provoking sort, though I've done more than my share of thinking this week in trying to figure out something to do about Problems 1-6. 6 decided to rear it's nasty self at me last night and I was up later than late. (No, problem 6 has nothing to do with Mehsha. We're doing better, since she's not here to fight with any more.) Both P. June's and Poly's posts weren't really helping me be distracted from what I've got going on. Remembering the past isn't good when you're trying to deal with the present. I've been trying to keep busy and forget about them. School has become a welcome distraction for me. I've been working on my favorite class, 5 Novels of Change. Right now, I'm living on the Mississippi instead of in the other O.C.

Skeeter and I have been bonding since Mehsha has been at school. He's a poodle, on the very small side, so he's naturally needy. He's bred to be one person's companion, but Skeet is sweet to all. Hands down, he's THE best dog we've ever had, besides Sam, but he couldn't come in the house. (That was our 200 lb. English Mastiff. He was that big too.) He's always preferred mom over me, but since yesterday, I've had little clicking paws following me around. It's really easy to hold him. It's like holding a baby, but I don't know of a single baby that I've held that only weighed 4 lbs. Except Skeeter continuously smells like dog. Babies smell bad every once in a while, but then they smell good again. I may bathe our little 2 year old today.

Anyway, piano lesson today. Wait...yeah, let's just skip straight to today's lesson. No wait, well, I'll share what I found out yesterday about my piano with someone eventually because I think it's interesting. Oh heck, YOU WILL ALL KNOW. I found the shrillest notes on my piano. The second highest A, and the highest D,E, and F. They are so shrill that they ring back with an extra tone, which may just be my ears. I'm supposed to have "perfect" hearing. Either it's so bad that I'm missing something when the note plays or either they are so good, I'm picking up something that most people don't hear. I'm surprised that my piano is still intact after I was banging on it yesterday. I was just short of taking the thing apart, or busting it to pieces. I found some tape on a key that was sticking. One of the lower B's. It played much better after I removed the tape. How did tape get on a key? The same way paper "snow" got under all of the keys, Barbie took a fall down a (never) ending pit, and the way some of the keys now have red and green accents. At least she's creative and imaginative. Mom beat her butt when she drew on the piano. It hasn't come off in 11 years. Wow. 11 years feels like a long time...hard to believe it's been that long. Today, with one less sticking key, I had the COOLEST piano lesson I've ever had. I took piano for 5 years, 5 years ago, and I know I liked doing it then, but I have a better appreciation for what I'm learning now. With the added dedication that I'm putting into my lessons, we're flying through stuff that took me 4 years to do. Some of that may be the prize at the end of book 4. By that time, Brother Piano Teacher said that we can do TORI AMOS!!! In my free time, I've been piddling with "Pretty Good Year," (if you have this one Poly, I don't know about it. The live improv before sounds easy in a cutesy way.) but not seriously enough to have any of it where it sounds cohesive, except maybe the first four measures. My favorite lesson until today's was the one where there sheet music book for Under the Pink came in and my piano teacher was quite intrigued, so he stayed 30 minutes longer than we pay him for and played "Pretty Good Year," "Bells for Her," "Cornflake Girl," and "Over It." I was enthralled that day. Humming along. (I can't sing. Especially not like Tori.) That was an exciting lesson. Today beat it. Just incase you haven't been reading the blog from the beginning, which most of you have, I LOVE LOVE LOVE David Berkeley. Mom had quite the engaging conversation with him the first time we saw him. We (as in mom and I) decided that we had seen David before and all we could come up with was Whole Foods. If he wasn't married, I'd be preaching to him for more than one reason. A few weeks back, Poly told me he had gotten the sheet music for basically my favorite song of David's, "Fire Sign." I printed it out and showed Brother Piano Teacher, and he started showing me how to play it. The first three pages are very simple to play, but then it gets to the part where it only gives the melody that his voice is making and the chords that he's strumming on the guitar. After all, the sheet music is written for guitar. That was probably three or four lessons ago. He asked me if I wanted him to look for a book that showed the chords and how to break them up for each scale so that I could break up the guitar chords and play the rest of the song. He said that people that play piano in bars and stuff usually carry around books called Fake books. He explained that Fake Books just have the chords for songs. They are about 1000 pages or something close to that with popularly requested songs. If they tried to put it down note for note, the book would be too heavy to carry around. People that play this way are "faking it" in a sense because all they have are the chords and they are breaking them up so where it sounds right and putting notes inbetween, thus, why they call them Fake Books. Hyped up once again because I was going to play something that I love, I enthusiastically said yes, please do. I love the piano and I love playing, but what I'm learning in the lesson books feels perfunctory and I'm not into it as much as playing something that I have a passion for. Today, he brought the book with all the chords in it. First of all, it's a new book, so I'm going to be excited. Second of all, he said to play the songs I was assigned last week and then we would look at the chords book and try and break up the song. Was I thrilled? NAW! That was the happiest I've been all week. I played the songs and then all we did for the rest of the hour was listen to "Fire Sign" and break up the chords. He did it first and in a surprised manner, I sat down after he told me to try it. There's not a way that faking it can be taught, so he showed me and helped me along. Each person is going to think that a different arrangement of a chord sounds better than another one, so it's the basic concept that can be taught instead of the notes. It's completely different from reading notes off a page. It is one step closer to playing by ear, which is something I hope to be able to do once I'm perfect. Since we didn't get to do anything out of my lesson books, my assingment for the week is to work on breaking up the chords so where I like the way they sound and incorporate the melody within the chords. Next week, I show him what I've got and he'll help me out if I've picked out a chord arrangement and there is an easier way. I'm learning how fake it, but even better; I'm learning how to play "Fire Sign." Sweet beans.

Five, Six, Pick-up sticks

2006-08-16T20:09:00.000-05:00

I was cold feeling inside and out all day. A hoodie and blue jeans was my attire today and I was still cold, and it has nothing to do with the carton of ice cream I hugged at lunch. Got a blister playing the piano today...somehow. It's on the base of my right thumb. How you ask? I have no earthly idea. I've got a piano post for tomorrow though, so I'll save the other things I was going to say for then. I watched the pilot of "The Office" today. I bought it on DVD (the whole first season) at Target for $17. It was on price cut. Did lots of laughing during lunch.

Our house guest has been here three whole days now, or three days and three nights. She's here for pioneer school. I'll call her Big Affie. Her name is spelled the same way as my first name and we have the same first and last initials, only she's older by two years. That's her only qualification to get the suffix "big." She's actually smaller than Mehsha. It's hard now when someone just calls out "Affie" and two come. Maybe I should actually go by Affie for the next two weeks and make life a little easier. Having her here is great. I'm getting to know her inside out, but I'm not being easy to get to know this week (i.e.- white post). Thank goodness she's staying two weeks. I wish she could stay longer. Really, I am learning a lot about her though and she definitely doesn't act 19 either, or at least not all the time. If you've met her, you know that I look two or three years her senior. It's so much fun. I love having guests. Mom said that she wanted to have five kids, and she would have had it been possible, and ya know, I don't think I would mind as much as I thought I would. Since she's been here, we (me, Big Affie, and Mehsha) have all become serious pick-up stick players. I'm in line for the next challenge. I never played much when I was little, though the Greenparents had a nice set that has come to be a dilapidated set after four grandkids. It was occasional, just like for Big Affie. We have a set right now and Mehsha pulled them out at the mention of them on a television show and Big Affie made a nostalgic comment and they decided to start playing. After I finished getting ready, I too, joined in. Last night, I lost both games I played. Tonight, I'm the undefeated champion, but of course, there are only three of us playing so it's not that hard to be undefeated or defeated for that matter. You get really into it. It takes a lot of concentration to pick out a stick that you think won't make any of the others move and then try and figure out a process to get it out of the pile without screwing the rest of it up. Very complicated. Mehsha started making piles. Hard piles. And the game will literally take an hour or so to finish. So in efforts to stay away from the real world today after I blankly spilled some of my beans on the blog floor (which set my nerves on edge, but felt a little better just knowing someone can see it if they wanted to), I looked up pick-up sticks more for origin of the game, not so much for the name. Most everyone knows that rhyme and the line goes "five, six, pick-up sticks. Seven, eight, made a mistake..." or wait, is that last part from a double-dutch rhyme? I think it is. (I used to kick butt at double-dutch too, before they took recess away from us.) Yeah it is. The real nursery rhyme goes this way: One, two, buckle my shoe Three, four, shut the door Five, six, pick up sticks Seven, eight, lay them straight Nine, ten, a big fat hen Eleven, twelve, men must delve Thirteen, fourteen, maids are courting Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen Seventeen, eighteen, maids in waiting Nineteen, twenty, my plate's empty ...(I didn't know from 11-20) That's beside the point. The game started in China. All I have to say is: duh. Didn't all the cool stuff start in China? Or almost maybe. The Arabs did have the "0" concept, but they started algebra too, so that cancels out the good thing. In China, sticks of this sort were used for divination and then it became a form of a gambling game. That's kinda what out version is, since it has point scores for each color stick. From China it went to Korea and Japan and then across the Bering Strait, like everyone and everything. I was also surprised to find that they were originally called "jerk straws" then "jack straws," as well as pick-up sticks. And I never thought about it before, but Jenga is a form of pick up sticks. So, I'm being called for a game now and I'd like to defend and keep my title, so I'll stop there about something everyone else probably thinks is boring.

Blobber

2006-08-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

Isn't he eerily cute? He's clear and nameless right now. Soon he'll be clear and with a name. P. June put one on her blog so I hope she doesn't mind me being so poser. All you see at the bottom of my blog now are these jumping eyes and a little bitty square with my page stats. If you click on my friend here, you go flying to spacefem.com where the totally useless quiz is. The box goes to some page that tells you I had a visit from someone in Spain to my blog (I suppose by way of H'n'B's blog, since we're all linked together). I'll post something of a different flavor later, but things won't settle down in my head right now enough to think about what I want to post. We have a house guest and lots of other things going on right now. This is my escape time. Shhh...mom thinks I'm writing essays. I have to get away from the bunnies and find a switch.

It's there, but don't bother with it

2006-08-16T08:01:00.000-05:00

I prefer not to post about these sorts of things [The ISFJ is not likely to express their feelings.], but Easel isn't home (well, she comes home tonight and hopefully we can have a nice long talk) and I don't really have the time (and nobody else does) to sit and chat on the phone and tell someone all that's going on, and few would know how all of this is actually affecting me. [ISFJs...When down on themselves or under great stress, the ISFJ begins to imagine all of the things that might go critically wrong in their life.] I'm going to go at this by introducing the problems I feel I can share starting with those of the most importance because there are two that I probably won't share. If you do decide to highlight and read, NONE of this leaves the blog.

Problem #1: Mehsha returned to school today. It was dad's final decision, but I think it was made for the wrong reasons. He says that he wants to finish paying for her braces first. Today, I finally heard that if Laurel Springs turns out to be the better choice for her, come winter, she'll be outta there. So, in a selfish manner, I'm hoping really hard that it doesn't work out. Yesterday we went shopping for her school supplies. Anyone can tell when I'm upset about something. There are usually the beginnings of tears in my eyes, I want to be by myself, I'm short in conversation...etc. In Target, that's kinda hard to do, but I spent all my time wandering the opposite side of the store and only met up with them at the check out counter (where I saw a sophomore in college that I know, so we chatted a moment...it was awkward). She and I have been fighting (mostly about this) since Sunday. We had quite the fight and I was far more emotional that usual. Everyone needs a good cry sometimes, but it never feels right when you cry. Nobody is pretty when they cry either, so it's just not natural. But I don't feel this is right for Mehsha [You deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit into your personal value system.]. She's doing this for three reasons she could give me, and she left one out that we all know is the real reason. 1)She wants to please dad. Response: That's all fine and dandy, and it's what she should do. Children be obedient to parents, even if you don't agree with what they are saying (and even if it has nothing to do with you, ie.-me). She told me that she didn't really want to go back to school, which brings me to her next reason. 2) She is worried about the money situation and wants to do her part in helping out. Mom said that the $2000 that goes for her schooling is made by her working and that there's nothing she needs to worry about because school is a totally separate expense than the others we have. 3) New clothes and a cell phone. Dad says the cell phone ain't happenin' (thank goodness), but the new clothes she's all geared up for. We went shopping yesterday for a "back to school outfit" at the mall. Of course, it wasn't cheap. (I got this insanely soft hoodie for the cocoon feeling it gave off. It gave me a warm, cozy, calm feeling, but it didn't last.) WE ALL KNOW THE REAL REASON THOUGH! Social. Life. That's what she missed most and was the only reason why she has wanted to go back. Homeschooling she loved. The lack of association she hated. Yesterday after her orientation, she came home talking about all the clubs that this school offers. Over. My. Dead. Body. I know what happens when you join a club. I was in a few. That's NOT what she needs AT ALL. As you can see I'm still semi-upset about this, but the family is coming to terms on all of this and I'm losing my self-righteous attitude about it all, especially now that I've heard there is a strong possibility that if she blows 'em outta the water, she's going back to Laurel Springs. She'll kick that school's butt. I know she will. She may be a smart aleck, but she's also genius smart. She would have been gifted certified if she could sit still long enough to take the test. That's what I'm hoping happens. They aren't going to take her out if she doesn't like it though. I do think she'll be back next year though, in Laurel Springs. I'll be done and we'll be settled in a house, which brings me to the next problem.

Problem #2: Housing. Right now, we are in the tiny rental. Both mom and dad are getting fed up with looking and are discussing just staying, which would be fine if we had an office, but we don't and being here and the fact that we have come to love having guests about the house, it's come to our attention that a fourth bedroom/office is a necessity. What we need and what we are used to and what we would like to do are all out of our price range. The other OC is expensive. They think very highly of their county, for good and bad reason. This county is 98% white and they want it kept that way. You aren't allowed you put a mobile home on any more property now. It's a law. The existing ones can stay, but no new ones. What we came from in Snellville would run us around $400K out here. We've found the perfect house. No renovations necessary, unlike the one with the hot tub and putting green that would need a lot of help (plus that one now has a contract on it). The one we want is huge. It's bigger than our old one, but we would like to finish a basement apartment for our special pioneer out here and there's still room for in-laws, if that becomes necessary. It's got FIVE bedrooms! Master, Mehsha's, mine, guest, and office. The kitchen is wonderful and it's already got hardwood floors on most of the main floor. I'm in love. Anything else we have looked at since then has been "ehm..." to me. We put a lowball offer in and the builder countered. Dad spent three days reworking our budget and he figured we can do it. Then he and mom decided that they didn't want to be SO tied down and dad still wants to go to Europe next year and buy me a car. First of all, Europe has been talked about since they came home from Paris...ah, 15 years ago. I don't think we're ever going. Dad can't sit still with a car long enough for us to be slightly stable economically. In my 17 years of being with my father, we have had 13 cars. I think we've had more cars than stray dogs take up at our houses. Me+car= not urgent. I'm fine staying home if I don't have a vehicle, except my job kinda makes things a little difficult. We have three vehicles, but one is older than I am. That Ranger isn't going to quit, it just lacks A/C and dad doesn't have A/C all day long and if I have Jeepie...he's rollin' the redneck way: windows down, rear-view mirror missing, dented side. Whole nine yards. I'm not allowed to drive the hazard vehicle, though I love the way the treadless tires ride on dirt roads. All it needs is an "I Heart Watkinsville" bumpersticker, and I gotta get to Bell's to get one. I could talk about the car situation all day because it's been a stress factor too. As much as the housing situation is NOTHING I have control over, it's given off more stress than the things I can control.

Problem #3: One of the few things I find true joy in doing has become a "situation." For about six months, I've had a plan in mind that I was going to start continuous auxiliary in September and go on the regular pioneer list after six months. No big right? Well, String-bean Andy quit his job to finish school and will be continuous auxiliary as well. He started this month. Andy's mom has become my service buddy and she's going to be his too. This is horribly obvious to see where this is going. Friday, Sis. Circuit overseer's wife came out in service with us in the other OC and before she left with Eliza in the afternoon, she mentioned that I needed to be extra careful about what I wore etc. with a young brother pioneering as well. That's just dandy. First of all, Andy is NO WHERE NEAR someone I would consider dating or getting the least bit involved with. All adults say that things like that change when you spend a lot of time with someone, but honestly, Andy and I have NOTHING in common. Not a single thing. He can't tell, but most of my comments about the things he finds enjoyable are so loaded with sarcasm it's gushing out the sides. Andy and I do talk about his brother a lot though because Andy still has definite ideas about his brother and me, as well as his brother and his girlfriend. Second, Andy has a very serious girlfriend. They have plans for marriage in one to two years. It's gonna get sticky. I'm not going to bother to separate Problem #4 because it fits so well here: Deborah Clasky has my life planned, spiritually speaking. Having someone as enthused about this as I am is wonderful, but I hate to disappoint her if I find that I can't do more than 50 hours a month. This problem is on the wane because I can work with this one and it's not so urgent to be dealt with and I know here, I'm going to do my thing, although what Deborah wants does matter quite a bit to me. She and I have become close during these past seven months.

Problems #5 & 6 are on a non-share basis. Easel knows about problem 6 and what it's done to me, but I'd prefer if she was the only one at this point because I know what I should do about it, but it's not what I feel like doing. Problem #5 is only a cautionary problem at this point. It maybe a full blown red alert by the end of this year and things will have to change drastically, again. I've never done to well with drastic change. Things need to be slower. Less stress.

Supersloth: My Hero

2006-08-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

My new favorite villian. Forget the Riddler. Supersloth is my hero. The webbie is here (gotta give the guy credit for such a genius villian). Sleeping in a cape? Brilliant.

Where the hell is Matt

2006-08-12T13:57:00.000-05:00

I've got this strange desire to post about Precal and how controversial my book is versus my learning guide and how I think I'm going to have to get a tutor...etc., but that's pretty boring stuff (like I post things of interest anyway). What I want to post are some links that Jules set me about traveling Matt. Everyone was quite jealous about what he's gotten to do. His story can be found here. Part of it starts to sound like a personals add. First, it starts about how he was traveling after he quit his job in Australia and started wandering the world with the money he had. He set up a website for friends and family to keep up with him. Friends began to suggest that he dance in the places he visited. This year, Stride gum paid for him to revisit 39 countries in on all 7 continents for 6 months...to DANCE! in a Napoleon Dynamite fashion. Wait, that's a lie. Napoleon dances better. I'd dance like an idiot if my expenses were paid. Heck, any dancing I do is idiotic. There is even a link to "Meet Matt" at the Stride website. Towards the end of the "About" section of the website, there are phrases like this: "Matt is left-handed," and "When Matt was younger, he could hang seven spoons on his face at once. Sadly, puberty made Matt's face less conducive to spoon-hanging." Then there are other striking attributes to make him even more irresistible like, "Matt has a little piece of extra cartilage sticking out on the rim of one ear and a little hole in the same place on the other ear. Matt has no idea why this is the case," or "Matt is very good with figures and wishes people asked him to multiply things more often," and we cannot forget "Matt has never lost a staring contest." Now, to see Matt dance:

Where the Hell is Matt?

Link-amarinka dinky dink

2006-08-10T08:09:00.000-05:00

OK, I haven't tested them, but they are for mostly my benefit so that I can keep up with everyone. I'm a little slow in remembering. I must have over 200 bookmarks so there's no way I'll stick 'em there because I'll just forget about it then. I look at my blog daily, so I'll look at all those daily now too. This way the only way it would work out, sad to say. If anyone has a problem being up there, tell me and I'll do something about it...like remove you or something. Just lemme know if it bothers you.

Quiz I liked

2006-08-10T07:47:00.001-05:00

I hope I only post this one. Mehsha's blog so far is just these and H'n'B has been posting a few. I wonder what the choices were? This one I'd like to agree with because I like the way it sounds. My favorite color is purple though.

You Are Navy Blue

You're a true adventurer. You constantly find yourself drawn to new experiences, people, and places.
Sometimes you feel quite scattered and bored. If something exciting isn't going on, you feel a bit lost.

What Color Blue Are You?

Bottle Caps and Peppermint Wrappers

2006-08-09T17:15:00.000-05:00

I was so tired after riding with Deborah Clasky this afternoon in service. String-bean Andy was about to tell her to pull over so that he could drive. It was all I could do to keep from throwing up after the first 30 minutes. Fought with the left van door today. Andy was saying jokingly that I spend too much time with his mother (Deborah Clasky) because she seems to be rubbing off on me. It did make for quite the relaxing and reinvigorating 2 hour nap though.

Funny story from afternoon service. I met back at 12 and went out in the afternoon with Biscuit, Andy, Deborah, and another sister and her mom. Biscuit, Andy, and I tend to carry on our own separate conversation from the other three van riders. Andy went to a Bible study with a brother in our hall earlier that morning. He said that in a slightly randomN way, the brother brings up Jammies, who is Andy's older brother. With little segway, he says, "When Affie moved in, I had it all worked out in my mind. She was going to fall in love with Jammies, they were going to date and get married. I had it all worked out. She was perfect." HAHA! OK, there's a lot that most of my readers don't know about this situation, but the moment I moved in, he was moving in on me. Freakiest part about it, he's 9 years my senior, and I'm a minor. That wasn't stopping him at all. It's a sticky situation and now that he has a girlfriend (Feather), people have been coming up to me telling me I'm off the hook. One of the younger married sisters in my hall came up to me when Feather was visiting a few months back and says, "When you moved in, it was like the fresh meat radar went up and he was ready for the kill. You're off the hook now!" Mind you, I spent a lot of time in service with him, but that was never my doing. We did one social activity a piece with each other, and that was too much. Andy and Biscuit actually started forming a wall around me at the meetings back in April or May. He's still a little creepy around me though...NEXT SUBJECT!

The Cheat is about to get fixed the old fashioned way. I'm cutting it ALL OFF. He's peed on my bed 4 times this month. When in a frenzy to get to service on time, you don't have a spare 10 minutes to take off a feather comforter, 2 sheets, and a mattress cover, which is why I was late this morning, not counting the cop on Loop 10 with his radar gun out. I was doing the speed limit. Was anyone else? NO! It's 55 and you can legally go 60 without getting pulled over since it's an urban interstate. Everyone else was doing 70 and drastically slowed down to 45. That left me with no choice but to slow down or rear end someone. It was mom's SUV and I was already late for service. There was no question. That whole bunch of crap just frustrates me that they have to slow down SO much. Anyway, on to what I promised.

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you lovable - even if you don't love them!
You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you
You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil
How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

That's what I got whatever day it was that I took the Sesame Street Personality Quiz. H'n'B proceeds to make a comment to see more posts about pigeons and my bottle cap collection. I'm allergic to pigeons (and there aren't that many out here, surprisingly), though we did have a quail for a little while back at the old house...among other odd birds (i.e.- Hawk, Crow- aka Edgar Allan Crowe, etc.). The hawk is actually a funny story for another time, and if you know my father, you KNOW it's a funny story. Now that I think about it, the crow is funny too. Dad was dead serious about training him to be a house pet when he brought him home, but back to what I was saying. Bottle caps are actually something I was collecting for a while. Of course I collect some normal things like books, CDs, clothes, purses, shoes, old magazines, photographs but I also have eclectic collections of other items like PENS OF ALL KIND!!!! This passion was recognized in the 7th grade when I realized I had about 20 more writing utensils in my backpack than everyone else, and there were lots of pretty colors. If you come in my room, I have them in another one of my collections. Plastic restaurant cups. I have one that has a chain of restaurants on it in Myrtle Beach, a few Relay for Life ones, one from Brookgreen Gardens, etc. Another obsession from when I was little: Hello Kitty. That probably has to do somewhat with my Peter Pan complex that I never grew out collecting Sanrio stuff. My current favorite is Charmmy Kitty , but she's in close running with Deery Lou (trust me, he's very cute and is much cuter on the front of my meeting notebook). So I collect some off the wall things, oh and T.G.I.Friday's peppermint wrappers. Ya know, the ones that you get on the way out of the door because you know your breath smells so bad from eating those onions on your Jack Daniels burger. They have the funniest saying on the back of the wrappers. 2 of my personal favs are, "Your friends will thank you for this," and "Remember, you're not alone." I've got 7 or 8 of them. As Mehsha said, I wouldn't be able to find most of my collection. She's right because she took it. After all, isn't that her job as a little sister? *smiles deviously while plotting revenge on her Russian dictionary* I was able to find "2." It's actually 3, but 2 are the same. The 2 that are the same are my "Smirnoff ICE" blinky bottle caps. They are actually pins that I got from Taco Mac when that was the beer of the night. There are batteries on the back and it powers a blinky red light on the front with the "Smirnoff ICE" label. OK, those two are close to my favs. My favorite one, I don't have any more. I bought a Mexican "Coke" in a glass bottle in Camden, SC and it didn't look different, but the Coke tasted GREAT, so I kept the bottle cap. That one was probably the first, since I remember getting that one a looong time ago. The other one I found was a "Cutolo Rionero" water one. It's Italian bottled water and there's a very ornate water fountain on it in green. There were more, but I assume they have been scattered. Precal is menacingly calling my name and I'm over due for finishing the first lesson, so I'm out.

Job Perks

2006-08-07T17:49:00.000-05:00

It may not be The Office, but it pays well enough for as little as I work and how little expenses I incur monthly (except for those texting charges). It's babysitting, so it's no big deal. All I do is pick her up from school and sit with her for about six hours a week, it's just solid days now with a flat pay. Since I've never tried out the list button on my blog window, I'm gonna click it and see where we go from there.

PROS:

Free food. There's never a lack for junk food at their house. What more could you want besides...
Free cable. Contessa has more channels than I do, and that's a lot of channels.
That's where my most recent cat lives now, and she still loves me. Doesn't everyone remember Kitty? AKA- Tiger-Lilly fandango-smeller samurai "kitty." Just rolls off the tounge, don't it?
I get along with Contessa, who may become the Burger Queen or Chicken Nuget and she's so easy to watch. She fits in well with the family.
In two months (including this one), I'll have enough money for my very own MP3 player.

CONS:

The deal is for Mondays and Fridays. Mondays are fine. That's not my service day and I don't have a massive school subject scheduled for that day. Fridays though...that puts a cramp in any chance of Mehsha and I getting to GSAM once a month and Friday is my well established service day.
Contessa knows it well, and expressed it outward today. She can't sit still for longer than 5 minutes. That'll put a cramp in my studying while I'm watching her.

I get paid well for as little as I do, but if this interferes with getting to GSAM once a month, something might have to change. Gas prices are now a clincher in getting up there as well. GSAM is enjoyable and I don't get to go often in the first place. We'll see how this works out. The steady income is an attractive lure, but Good Soup is an enriching experience.

Digital (Cable) Get Down

2006-08-07T11:17:00.000-05:00

I'm so lonely! Both my best friends leave me on the exact same week! I haven't gotten a txt in...a little over 24 hours. Thing about that is, it's perfect since I'm already about 150 texts over my prepaid limit. Translation: They better stay outta town or my bill is going to be a heckuva lot more than last month. My bill last month was somewhere around $20 over what it should have been. Plus, I'm having to pay for the "over" charges this time. Texting is just so convenient! I can carry on a conversation that I really don't have time to sit and have over the phone. Dad asked me if I could learn to live without texting. Umm...NO! I'd rather pay for the ones I go over with. It's also perfect for them to be gone as well because I've got to get things done! Last Monday and Tuesday, although I got a French lesson done, (All of French is done now. YAY!) I didn't retain as much of that lesson because I was on and off the phone and texting with Easel. I've got Precal to do and a "real job" that starts today. I love texting though. End of story.

Friday morning service was hilarious. Slushie cup symphonies with Biscuit Hayes and String-bean Andy. I think we just about drove my service mom (whom I'll call Deborah Clasky) crazy, but it was her fault that she didn't have enough gas to do the driving territory. It was TOO HOT to do anything but on Friday though. There were fights with the car door and getting "shot at" for looking in the pit. It's crazy to think I didn't place anything! There's been talk around here of moving back close to Poly's side of town, (Ick. Poly's not ick; his side of town is.) but it's the backwoods, redneck moments like these that make me never want to leave again. Who knows what the other O.C. will be like in 10 years though? This post was supposed to be about our digital cable, but look what happened there. Honest though, I'm getting to it. In fact, lets do that now.

Digital Cable. A blessing from the technology industry. I was the only one that knew how to work the whole shebang, and I wasn't even here for the briefing of how to use the set up. Leave it to my dad, the king of spontaneity, to get digital cable and not tell the family. This is the man that gets up one Saturday morning in February and decides that the family needs to go to the beach and loads up the car for the weekend and goes to Panama City. He's also the one that whenever we are in Florida, he says he knows some short cut and we drive for 3 hours looking for something and then the highway just ends. I've seen lots of Florida being with my dad. Anyway, Mehsha and I went to a get together after service Saturday. Mom went to run errands. We all didn't get back til around 5 PM, and Mehsha immediately starts screaming. There was much excitement. There are a zillion channels now. Dad stayed home because the cable guy was coming. This morning I spent like an hour watching VH1 classic. All they were playing were videos from the 80s. Cindy Lauper, The Motels, The Clash...it was glorious. I was surprising myself when I knew most of the words to the majority of the videos. Then there's MTV Hits. All videos. All the time. The way MTV used to be. Digital cable is wonderful, except there are now FIVE clickers to keep up with. Two are currently M.I.A. And of course there's Nicktoons 1 and 2. Guess what they show on Nicktoons? Just guess. REN AND STIMPY! Seriously, at three years old, this was my favorite TV show. I would watch Sesame Street and Mister Rogers in the morning. Then when dad got home at night, we would watch Ren and Stimpy together. I can't wait for it to come on again. That's why I loved the Angry Beavers. It reminded me so much of Ren and Stimpy. I'm such a cartoon junkie, but that's P. June's brother's fault. Digital cable's going to be the death of my imagination. Kiss it good-bye now.

Chocolate covered commercial

2006-08-03T13:30:00.000-05:00

Two days in a row! I hope this pleases one specific reader that says that once a week isn't enough to fufill the needs of my blog. I did forget how much I loved this thing. It's quite the affair we have going on here. I was thinking about posting something deep, but since both H'n'B and Poly beat me to posting and they both did deep stuff, I'm going for the other angle. Brain sludge...scrumptious brain sludge.

Now, I don't know if everyone knows, but I'm allergic to chocolate (among 30,000 other things- but not air [AirSupply either] or TooL). I was craving some of Edy's Double Fudge Brownie ice cream. This is THE best chocolate ice cream that has ever graced this earth. It puts Haagen-Dazs to shame, and believe me, I'm not picky when it comes to ice cream. (I am allergic to just plain 'ol ice cream though- milk products, but not lactose intolerant. That's different.) This ice cream though, I crave it occasionally, usually just every two months, but I only get it about every four since I'm SO VERY allergic to this ice cream. Last night, I had my first helping of the fresh carton (and I'm not one for small helpings, especially now that I've got my appetite back). Of course, I started having an allerigc reaction almost immediately because I haven't had chocolate in a few months. A chocolate ice cream reaction is a little interesting since I start sneezing from the chocolate, have an asthma attack if the ice cream is too cold and I eat it too fast, plus itchy arms. It irritates my excema, but that may be oversharing-I'll take my chances. What would really be oversharing is if I told you exactly what's in chocolate that I'm allergic to. It's not always an immediate reaction, but it was this time because there wasn't already some previous reaction to chocolate in my system. It usually takes about a week to get an allergen like chocolate (others like chocolate: cheese, milk, ice cream in general, etc.) out of my system, but it has been well over a week like I said. Here's the coincidence part. I'm sitting down to watch shark week with my mishpocha (but heavens no! not on the white couch), and a commercial comes on while I'm eating my very chocolatey ice cream and it's a confusing one. Confusing as in you have no clue what might be about when it starts and you're left kinda stunned at the end and all you can say is, "Ooookaaayyyy..." afterwards. A lot like the feeling after you see one of Sprite's new ad campaign commercials and if you haven't seen one, well, you're missing out on a very weird experience. This wasn't a Sprite one. This was for the new LG "Chocolate" phone. It was talking about how it's a V-cast phone and it's got a picture/video camera. Then it says, "It's sweet," or something to the "sweet" extent. Not quite sure why they called it "chocolate," but I bet someone thought of the ad campaign first. In an article I read, it said that they are already available in Korea and are being marketed as a Valentine's Day gift. I can see that. (Boyfriend goes up to girlfriend, "I got you some chocolate for Valentine's." Girlfriend: "Oh..." since she got chocolate the year before, but it soon changes to surprise to see her new phone.) They're going to make a fortune with that since most of us are slaves to advertising. I know there are a few commercials that have made me go out and buy the product, i.e.- Barbie in Swan Lake or Flinstone Gummie vitamins. There was one phrase that the commercial used and it was, "Carry chocolate in your pocket." Perfect, they've created a "chocolate" that won't melt from body heat. In a weird way, that appeals to me. I would never switch to Verizon since I'm far too happy with Cingular. I only need two more people to switch to Cingular and I don't think I'd use any minutes at all, just tons of text messages. (I used close to 500 last month and I'm already too close to that this month. Thank goodness two of my txters are going out of town.) But being able to say, "Hey I've got unmelted chocolate in my pocket," really sounds like something I'd like to tell people. Everyone hates the M&Ms (which I haven't been able to eat for years because they are manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts and on the same equipment...I don't know how I survive at Poly's house, but I have less allergies there than at my house *cough*the Cheat*cough*) after they have melted in the bag and then you have all that dye on your hands and you have to eat them fast. That makes them unenjoyable. Unmelted "chocolate" cell phone. Yummy. Today, Contessa and Mehsha watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Of course, I joined in while I should have been doing French. More delicious chocolate. Augustus Gloop. That would be me if I was a German boy. Eating all of that chocolate and mistaking a golden ticket for nuget, but I'm allergic to nuget too. Oh well.

Feeling better and the French Manwich

2006-08-02T17:13:00.000-05:00

I had not realized that it's been since July 13th that I actually updated, so... hey all! My name is Affable Olive. It's gotten to where I'm usually just Affie and... it's been a while. Hope you're still there.

I knew I was completely recovered today. It wasn't the doctor's visit where they tested me to make sure nothing else was wrong. No. It was the visit to Marshalls/TJ Maxx (I can't remember which one we have out here) where I found some totally awesome deals. When I feel sick, I can't shop. It's depressing, I know. Anyway, I got this cute light-weight jacket originally from Urban Outfitters (my almost favorite store), and it still had the original tags on it. Not only had I seen it in the catalog for $78, I had proof still attached since the tag had not been removed. It said $78 as well. Guess what I paid. Just guess. (Remember in this guess that I am an extreme form of Jewishness when it comes to money, which is why I'm relating all this.) I paid $7. The shirt I thought would look cute with it was only $5. Aren't deals just loverly? There were some KangaROOS (in my opinion, the most colorfulest, cutest, and comfortablest shoes) that were only $19, but I didn't get them. Also, I saw some Pumas and laughed very hard at what must have looked to be nothing at all since I got some awkward looks from the returning UGA students. I didn't care for once. I like being all better.

[Just incase you didn't know, although my goal is to learn Chinese to help out the Chinese group in Atlanta; I'm still learning French for school though. That's not something I'm stopping since I enjoy it. The biggest feat is remembering it. After all, trilingual/multilingual sounds way awesomer than just bilingual.] Now for the French Manwich. I have no clue what they call a sloppy joe in French, especially since Manwich is actually a brand. I suppose I could look it up...wait, I will. "Sloppy Joe" comes out joe trop liquide, but I would assume that's more like saying my friend joe is a messy eater. It's not really a BBQ sandwich so I'm not going to look that up, but onward to my point. My textbook is teaching me conversational French, so I'm not learning grammatical stuff or particulars. I'm learning how to tell people formal and informal ways I like things, don't like things, things I can do with other people, suggest things to do with other people, turn people down for invites (not put downs, which I would enjoy and employ), and of course, words for school subjects and supplies beside the basics like numbers and telling time. Not too much about verbs, etc., which is the stuff I would rather be learning instead of being able to order a glass of orange juice in Quebec in French. At least I won't go hungry (or thirsty) if I ever get somewhere that no one knows English, but everyone knows French. Today was food in my French lesson and it was telling me that a toasted ham and cheese was an un croque-monsieur. That's just about the manliest noun in the French language. Not only does it have a masculine article out front, it is trailed by monsieur, which everyone knows is Mister in French. I was quite intrigued by this. My book is kinda old (for a textbook), so I looked this up. Translated, this means a crunch-Mister, or a crusty-sun burned man. That's not appetizing at all. So I went and did a little translating and of course, you get something different depending on the place you use, but I was fond of this translation: sandwich grillé à jambon et à fromage. Very long, but it has sandwich, cheese, ham, and grilled in it and I feel it's a better choice than the crusty-sun burned man option. If I ever make it to somewhere that French is spoken, and I have this feeling to order a toasted ham and cheese, I'm ordering it the female way because I don't want a man sandwich.

Wow, that sounds like something Poly would have blogged about...Also, Affie's Book/Music Wednesday have both been postponed until the last Wednesday of this month...like you were wondering where it was and didn't know how life would go on without them.

Whatever

2006-07-31T13:27:00.000-05:00

I'm all better now. My appetite came back Sunday. I've been off all the meds since Saturday. Had EaselWeaselBeezit from Wednesday to Saturday. Did the same thing as Poly & Easel on Friday. They as well as Mehsha and I dunno, were with me in the other OC. Had good pizza. Matt Damon wasn't there. Slept Saturday. Went to Atlanta on Sunday. Had hospitality after Clarimont's meeting at Jo's Grille on Ashford-Dunnwoody (very tasty) with people that dad's been friends with forever. Working on French right now. Tons of drama going on, but I'm not sharing. There's nothing to say.

Are We Done Here?

2006-07-24T06:05:00.000-05:00

Affie finally upgraded me to be an Admin on her blog. I have fixed her sidebar. I blanked out (meaning that the code is still there, but the page is ignoring it) her profile since all it told you is that she and I are the contributors to this blog. I also completed her link list. She did most of the work. She was only missing one vital component.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming. Thanks for being such a polite audience.

Still Standing In

2006-07-18T21:22:00.000-05:00

Right about now I figure Affie is writhing in pain from a little too much sun. She meant to apply sunscreen vigorously, but just couldn't remember to do so. She was so happy to be out of the O.C. that she couldn't be bothered to reapply what was supposed to be waterproof SPF 30. After applying a nice coating of aloe lotion and taking two percocets, our little Affie should begin to feel a little better - lobstery, but better. (Ah, how I do not miss the days of Solarcane applications.)

So I will continue my guest posting job. Think of me as the Joan Rivers to Affie's Johnny Carson. Or if you kiddies need a more current pop culture reference, I'm the Joy Philbin to Affie's Kelly Rippa. As guest host, I would like to continue to discuss the kinds of things that Affie would talk to you about if she were here in person. I will call this next discussion Fun Facts About Rice. (I decided to spare you a simple Bubba-esque listing of all the recipes featuring rice in favor of the more interesting facts I was able to dig up on the subject.)

1. The bran of rice is a good source of Vitamin B and can cure beriberi. What is beriberi? Oddly enough, it is a nervous system ailment found in people whose diet consists mainly of unpolished rice. How's that for circular logic?

2. Boiled rice "greens" can be used as an eye lotion. (I guess that's for dry eyes.)

3. Dried sprouted rice grains gives tone to muscles and expels gas from the stomach and intestines. (Good news, you're going to be muscly. Bad news, you're going to fart a lot.)

4. Rice husks can be compressed into high-quality charcoal briquettes. Fire up the barbie.

5. Rice flour is a good substitute for wheat flour in products like chips, pastas and cereals. This one may actually be a good thing for our Affie.

6. Rice straw is a good medium in which to grow mushrooms. (I have no idea what rice "straw" is nor why you wouldn't just grow your mushrooms in dirt.)

7. RICE WINE! And the lesser known RICE BEER. Hooray beer. Hooray rice.

8. Good news, rice paper. Bad news, rice paper is heavily used in the manufacturing of cigarettes.

9. Rice glue. Rice glue is basically made by dissolving rice in boiling water. Um, isn't that what we do to cook rice? How does it know when we want to eat it and when we want to use it as an adhesive? Can rice read our minds?

And...that's all I got to say about that.

Links:
Extended Uses of Rice
Rice Heritage
USARice FAQs
Rice in Wikipedia

Hello from HnB

2006-07-17T08:28:00.000-05:00

Hello, this is your guest poster, Horse N. Buggy. I'll be keeping you entertained while your regular poster, Affable Olive, is off frolicking in the sun. I was hired on a temporary basis to update a link on the side of this here blog. But since our dear Affie can't figure out how to make me an Admin, I'll have to make do with being a simple contributor. I had no intentions of taking advantage of my contributor status, but find that I just can't help myself. (Maybe I shouldn't have watched "Hackers" last night.)

So, what should we talk about? Hmm... Affie likes to talk about hipster music. So perhaps I should present the other side of the coin.

Welcome to Horse N. Buggy's Bourgeois Music Monday.

You should really check out the sounds of a great band...Air Supply. Can you say "couple's skate?" (Shut up. I know I never actually skated during one of those, but I can still say it!) From the smooth sounds of "Lost in Love" to the heart-rending "Here I Am," Air Supply songs will fill you with emotion like no other. Proving that not all men need to sing like Barry White, Air Supply made legions of female fans weak in the knees with songs like "Every Woman in the World." If you don't believe me, buy the Greatest Hits album and tell me you don't get weepy over "Making Love Out of Nothing At All."

Pour forth those Air Supply memories in the comments, ladies...

My Fair Weezer

2006-07-13T21:10:00.000-05:00

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, the last album was crap anyways. Stupid Rivers. Bowing to the demands of mainstream music. Shoulda stuck to garage roots...
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2006-07-13-cuomo_x.htm?csp=27&POE=click-refer

Cousin #1, Take your pick

2006-07-13T17:09:00.000-05:00

And for my last post today, cousin #1 suggested that she needed a nickname. Cousin #1 isn't a very exciting name and I think that it's the funny nicknames that help make a blog amusing, along with the stuff that happens. Today, Aunt Beachy (she would rather be there than here) came to visit, aka- Cousin #1's mother. Mehsha and I had already been discussing names for cousin #1 for a little while and she worked off one of my ideas and came up with Cappuchizzy. It combines coffee and part of her middle name, which she goes by. We both agreed that her nickname had to have something to do with coffee or Rainforest Crunch. Well, loandbehold, her mom comes to bring Grandmama T. and so I ask her what cousin #1's father, Uncle Cliffe, called her when she was little. Immediately, she replies Wartney P. June. My immediate thought was that's PERFECT for a blog! I can call her June for short, or P. June. This, I'm going to open up to the readers. I would like for y'all to pick on or the other. Leave your choice in a comment please. *cough*Wartney P. June*cough*...but don't let my opinions influence you.
**I've been informed that it's Wartley, but it's still awesome.**

Stupid things like this should only happen at the beach

2006-07-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

If I hadn't been at the meeting, lemme tell ya, I would have whipped out my cell phone and snapped a piccy of this absurd event. Most people ride in the backs of pick-up trucks, right? That's common knowledge. People do it every where, but more commonly at the beach. You're soaked. Grandaddy doesn't want your wet butt on the upholstery. Compromise: you and the thirty other people at the beach with you climb into the truck bed. It happens all the time. Well, this was a similar situation, only it was stupider. We're mid-paragraph in the book and this car comes cruising down the street. That's pretty common. It's a one way street and it's residential in the heart of our little village here, so most people don't fly down Jackson St. This car was different. It was a Ford Taurus, with two girls on the back bumper. They had their knees bent on the bumper and were gripping the trunk hood with their bent elbows. It seemed so obvious that one or the other wasn't going to make it to their destination. One was going to slip right off, if not both. At Dimwitt and Eliza's house, where we have the bookstudy, there are multitudes of windows across the front of the house so this was very distracting. Oh and it was SO stupid. Most of the time, people have idiotic ideas like this at the beach, but I keep forgetting, this is the other O.C. Slightly country where people have to amuse themselves. Just to let you guys know, I'm leaving Saturday for said beach and will be gone for a week. NO HARASSING FOR UPDATES!

Poser Music Wednesday on a Thursday

2006-07-13T16:16:00.000-05:00

This post isn't as poser as it parades on to be because it's just one song I'm plugging, not a whole album. I don't know how many of you know Ben Folds Five/Ben Folds, but they/he has always wowed me. "Piano pop" is one of my favorite genres for music, for obvious reasons. Ben Folds is very talented as far as playing the piano and it's so upbeat it's irresistible. I've owned various songs by the band for years, off and on because I'm really good at losing mix CDs. For a while there, it was my hobby because I was leaving them in various computers in different computer labs around the school. I can just imagine the surprise for those teachers to find White Stripes and Dandy Warhol mixes in random computers. On Wednesday, I did my first batch of downloading songs in anticipation for my MP3 player, which I should be able to acquire by late August or early September. In among these songs, I picked out "Landed" by Ben Folds off the Songs for Silverman album. (It comes in edited too.) It's been over a year since I first heard this song, but I'm still in love with it. When I first heard it, I can remember being in my room, doing math homework, and when I heard it...I knew this song was going to be one of my all time favorites. Every time it would come on, I would blast it. 99X only played it for a few months though and I was too shy to call in at five for their requests hour to hear it. Now, it's finally in my possession and it's been on repeat for almost 24 hours. It's not so much the lyrics that got me, but the piano. It's so...yummy! Thing is, it sounds like my favorite James Taylor song, "Fire and Rain" and it also reminds me of the Cheers theme song. Neither of those things are going to stop me from loving it. As far as I'm concerned, they make me love the song more. All you readers take the four and a half minutes to listen to it. If I could play like Ben Folds...well, I wouldn't be taking lessons and I'd be making money playing the piano. He's just great.

Now that I'm on the subject of music, I'd like to share something. I've been listening to a song that I'm actually embarrassed to admit that I like, and I still listen to the self titled N*SYNC album occasionally. Only naturally, this is FAR worse. It's the epitome of pop culture songs, and I like it. I'm not even going to say the name since I just might throw up if I say it out loud, just click this link here. I know, I know...but it reminds me of the Blondie song "Tide is High," and that's the ONLY reason I can think of that would attract me to this heiress' song, since I can't stand her, but I LOVE Blondie. "Heat of Glass" is classic 80s all the way. More specifically, there's a certain remix of the song that I took a shine to at WalMart.com (blows chunks for saying WalMart), so I downloaded it. It's the Luny Tunes remix featuring some Spanish speaking dudes. It's slowed down a little bit and has a more rap--excuse me, "hip-hop" beat to it, and it's not bad at all. Wooh, now that's off my chest lets move on to the next post.

...Chinese food is good take out

2006-07-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

With there being over 3,000 languages in the world, I think I have finally reached a decision. I'm going to do Chinese. I may discuss it with EaselWeaselBeezit and see if she wants to join me in this venture since she is among the number of my friends leaving me in the other O.C. all alone next March to go to China. I feel so left out...I'll be lonely then. By that time, I'll be 18, hopefully graduated or very close. Maybe I'll plan my own trip somewhere else to get my mind off the fact that my two best friends (who have the same birthdate and were born in the same hospital, just two years apart--CREEPY!) are in China without me. Thing is though, I'll start this year learning the language, but will not be able to help the congregation for a year probably. Of course, once I get to where I understand, I'll go, but will not be able to switch. My first priority is pioneering, and I'm not switching over until the first year that we work all of our territory here in the other O.C. (I'm sure all of this is making total sense to my school friends. If you have any questions, just e-mail me and I'll be happy to explain.) I'm pretty sure Chinese is what I want to do. All morning I had these Mandarin news casts on. So I didn't understand, but I haven't heard constant Chinese since I was in Chinatown New York City in 2000-and that's been a while. Just wanted to make sure I could stand the sound of it because I know it's going to be an awful lot of hard work and I want to like what I'm doing. After looking at all this Chinese stuff this morning, I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with my choice. Just wanted to let you all know, especially someone who has been harassing me to get motivated since January, but I know it was all for the best. See now, I've picked something that I like better than what I wanted to do originally, and I had wanted to do that for a year and a half.

In other news, I nuked a bagel for breakfast, beans and RICE! for lunch, and I'm sure I'll delight in cooking my dinner in the microwave as well. We're best friends. Hear that you guys? I won't need you next March. The Maytag will keep me company. We'll microwave and I'll gain 10 lbs. while y'all are gone. It'll do wonders with El Nopal leftovers.

Also, I got two more classes today. Mom brought the box to me and I squealed with joy. She said that she had never seen anyone so happy to get school books and I had to remind her that I was the one that looked forward to starting school, not just for the new supplies either. I loved school- just going to high school. I got the Five Novels of Change class that I wanted, and I think all five of those books are on THE LIST!, and I also got Precalculus first semester. I'm not as excited about math naturally, but it looks easier than I thought it was going to be. Thank you Mrs. Keeney! So summer school...yeah. I can't wait to finish.

HTML Illiterate

2006-07-10T10:46:00.000-05:00

I've spent all morning trying to link to Horse N. Buggy and The Polyglot blogs, but alas, not being in Lit Mag for over a year now, my HTML skills have faded. It's just so easy to press the little link button. Everyone has seen who won the world cup and though I didn't follow it AT ALL, I kinda wanted France to win. Their colors are prettier. This is gonna be really short because I don't have much to say and tons to do. Whatever happened this weekend has been completly forgotten, not because I wanted to, but because I was so nervous on Saturday that Friday lost it's impact and it took all my energy to keep going on Saturday that I was too exhausted to do anything on Sunday. The few events that I remember are swimming in my head due to lack of sleep. Saturday was just exciting, but slightly humiliating in other ways. I realized that any desire to have a boyfriend was either heightened or smothered at certain points. Seeing how the guys fall all over themselves for Easel really was repulsive. Some guy twice her age came up to me after she was done talking to me on Sunday as I boxwatched and asked how old that sister was that was just talking to me. In the rented house of God, I lied and said 15. Then there were some guys Sunday that were more than nice to me. It was the words of Hickler Stickler (formerly known as Barbie to East Grayson) that really shocked me out of the Circuit #15A mentality. She said, "Though you turn 18 in four or five months, do you really want to be tied to one of these dorks by 2o?" Ah...words of wisdom to keep me in the big city mentality. I need to seriously get away though. The other O.C. is great, but I need to travel- not go see friends, just travel. I'm hungry now so I'm going to eat my Carraba's leftovers from Saturday. And I will take this opportunity to apologize to Poly again for Saturday nite dinner. Oh, and for the rest of the day, I will be trying to decide which language I want to take on. Bring on the different alphabets!

Affie's SECOND Music Wednesday: Locals edition

2006-07-05T15:13:00.000-05:00

The power, after flickering 7 times and then going out for a little over an hour, is now on and it's pouring. I wish I had a camera with film or something because Contessa and Meshuggina (that's Marry Me's new nickname- my sister. It fits her well. I'm calling her Mesha for short. The "e" is short, so she's not Meesha, but Mehsha.) are outside, playing with the slip-n-slide in the rain. It's priceless and they are SOAKED!! I kinda wish I was out there with them, but I'd get sick and I can't deal with that this weekend.

Two days in a row! No complaining for a week- from any of you readers!
Now in my efforts to gaurntee you as my most valued reader at least two post a month, I instated reccomendation days, and this is the second one for music. I would call this a milestone because it means I've at least been keeping up with this thing for a month. On to the music. In fashion of last month's, I've picked a solo artist and a band. The special thing about this one is that these two are from Atlanta and from Athens- making them locals and all locals need support. Look at John Mayer, who was an Atlanta for 2 or 3 years and even made it to the locals only stage at Music Midtown (lest we forget) and now look at him. 3 successful albums. Who knows, it could be this post that's the make or break point for these bands...but that's a whole bunch of fluff and stuff. These two are pretty good and I'm tired and don't feel like putting a whole lot of thougt into this. When I opened my CD case this morning, they were on the same page and I thought it would be a neat idea to do a locals edition.

Solo artist: I think everyone that reads, knows my local Atlanta guy. I know that at least if you haven't seen him live, you know who he is. David Berkeley. Now he's kinda cheating as far as being an Atlanta local goes because he was born in New Jersey, but he moved here and lives in Decatur and feels that's where he should be. I feel that way too because when he's in town, there are often plenty of FREE shows to attend. Since he's recording his fourth album in Chicago some where, he's not home right now and thus, we're going without shows for a little while. The only album I'm missing is "The Confluence" and I'm upset about that, but I can draw from "After the Wrecking Ships" and "Live from Fez." Really, I prefer "Live from Fez," since think that he sounds great live and even better live with the full band. On "LfF," he plays half with the full band and the other half is just him and his guitar. It's very peaceful and great for traveling, especially to the Florida panhandle. It works with the May scenery thru south Georgia, which I love- but hate the heat. He's got plenty of talent. When I saw him, which was with Charlotte Martin, it was a plesant suprise. Our group was disappointed in Charlotte because she's so good on the CD, but stinks live. She was far too attached to her Korg. She was actually having trouble with it and she said, "Don't you guys want me to start it back up again?" The crowd yells and screams, but I say no and about 2 or 3 people around look at me like I'm stupid. The Korg brought her way down on my favorites list, but David shot right up there. He played his guitar, sang, and then Will Robertson (who he always is handsome and unavaliable) played bass. It was beautiful. His sound is actually similar to John Mayer's, only his voice is less rough on the edges and his lips don't do that funny thing. He sounds wonderful. I've tried since then to see him 3 times. Both shows that you had to pay for were made 21 and older and then the free show he canceled to go tour the West coast with Guster. He did about 4 shows with them and then came home. I think "LfF" is my favorite, since personally, I think he sounds better live. Most people do not sound better raw, but he's one of the few that do. Kinda like Kelly Clarkson. She was the first American Idol because she sound good without the studio. This fourth David album is what I'm really looking forward to and hopefully, he'll come to Athens to accompany this new CD release. Everyone better be with me.

Band: I don't know much about these guys, since all I did was end up in Wuxtry's one day exploring the Rock bins and decided to try a local flavor. In doing so, I ended up walking out of there having spent the most money I've ever spent in there, carring An Epic At Best. Now, you never know what you might get when you do that. It's not like listening to music clips at WalMart.com and then buying someone you've never heard of. This is taking a complete risk with $9 of your hard earned money (babysitting Contessa isn't exactally hard earned, but it's money I worked for and I'm Jewish) and you don't know what you might get. It was in the rock bin, which encompasses so much, it's not even funny. I could have been walking out of there with death metal and not even knowing it. The album cover with the peaceful bird on a branch that look like they were pieced together from torn paper didn't scream death metal at me, so I figured I was safe enough. Turns out I was more than safe. They sound almost exactally like Ben Folds Five, with a touch of The Format, both of which are up there on my favorites list. They aren't half bad and concidering how many local shows they play, I'll most likely keep up with them and go see a show that they are playing that's not 21 and older. I was impressed for just wandering in and wandering out with it. Some call Ben Folds Five piano pop, so I would have to call these guys that as well. The piano is kinda a fetish for me, since I throughly enjoy it. I was only disappointed in one song of the 9, called "Carolina." Whoever does lead vocals whined far too much, and it wasn't a talented whine like Elvis Costello either. It was so recycled as well. All they did was take some song about missing California and they replaced the state name with Carolina. It's the 2nd song on the album, so I was like, "Oh no, I spend $9 on a piece of crap," but by track 7 I was into it. Tracks 7 thru 9 far out weigh the disappointment of track 2. Those are "wow" tracks. I was most impressed with those three and the flow they exhibited. Track 9 is 10 minutes long exactally and although it repeats itself, it's a song that doesn't get old because it changes sound completly almost 7 times. Those tracks truly make the album something a little different than the other artists that produce music that sound like them.

Enjoy ALL the links. I wanted to make sure everyone got the FULL sound experince of both of these artists. Gotta love the locals.

Save the Drama for yo mama

2006-07-04T13:56:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a week and lemme tell ya...there was drama last Wednesday, but mild. It was funny meeting Jammies' girlfriend. Feather is so nice. She has a great heart and is very sweet to me and Marry Me (who wants to be called Yiddish-a-mamma, but I don't like it). Honestly though, I don't think Jammies has told her everything that she needs to know about his situation, which if there is a missing link in the communication chain, this relationship might not last. It better since Biscuit Hayes and I head up the Let's Get Jammies Down To West Palm At All Costs Foundation. We are doing everything in our power to get him gone. And Feather will let me visit everyonce and a while, and that's all I ask, but I'm so afraid it won't work out. I was talking to Feather's best friend WestPalmKimmi (Marry Me and I actually called her that when we went to the aquarium with them, so we had to kinda explain the whole thing). But WestPalmKimmi and I have so much in common, but she's 26 going on 40, so we have a couple of gaps when communicating, but they are easily closed with some smilies and metaphors. I was talking to her and she said that she had just met Jammies the week before when he went to West Palm to visit before they all came up here and although I really didn't want to say anything about the real Jammies (since he wasn't being himself), but she didn't know and I felt that I could trust her and if necessary, she could protect Feather from anything that she might be getting into. It's been 3 months though and nothing has stopped them yet. Their rafting trip today might prevent something...but I'm not going there. They are great together, but Jammies' problems prove to put some difficulties into the situation. From what I heard today, he was smothering her and not even doing a really good job of treating her as his guest. He better clean up and fast before he loses Feather. If he doesn't fix this and make it work with Feather, Biscuit is planning on putting me in the Protect Me From Jammies Relocation Program, sponsored by the Let's Get Jammies Down To West Palm At All Costs Foundation.

We got a MICROWAVE finally yesterday! That's a big break through for the household that became so dependent upon one right before we moved. Leftovers have been going uneaten because of the lack of an easy way to heat them up. That's why there's only a little bit of Thai left in H'n'B's frige...she has a microwave. Speaking of break throughs, my mom had one this weekend, and I can still hardly believe it. Mom let go big time and let my sister and me DRIVE (well, I drove. She doesn't have a license) about an hour and a half away! Marry Me tried to make a point by asking mom when she got her license and when she got to take a trip of that magnitude. Turns out mom got her license at 15 and didn't do a trip of this magnitude until she was 18. Not a good argument. It's still quite exciting and I can barely believe that I was there. More than that, we were there all weekend basically since we stayed over at Horse n. Buggy's (to whom many thanks are still owed). We were gone from the other O.C. from 3 PM on Saturday to 6 PM on Sunday. I would vote that as the majority of the weekend. We attended the special Saturday edition of GSAM, stayed at H'n'B's and then went to the meeting the next day before leaving that side of town. That also included shopping at Ingles, which makes every GSAM complete. I'm not going into details, but it was quite the weekend. It does mean that going that far away by myself isn't off limits now and Cousin #1 that means I can come visit you now too! The weekend was just crazy. It felt very out of order, but that's what made it so much fun. Tomorrow, tune in for the SECOND Affie's Music Wednesday and just hope that I can decide on something good before tomorrow. Happy now Polyglot? Tag H'n'B! You're the only one left!

Tender are the Early AM Hours

2006-06-28T00:19:00.000-05:00

Even though it's considered Tuesday night, I'm going ahead and doing...Affie's Book Recommendation Wednesday! I've almost been blogging a month. Hehe, I'm currently listening to Sep them...ber's Music Wednesday band. And are they sweet. Much sweeter than jelly beans and better than rice, except I can't eat them...well...but that's Johnny Depp's line. And before I further confuse anyone that might have been interested in reading this, lemme get to the book. This month, today actually, I finished Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. OK, now this is just my opinion, but it was no where near The Great Gatsby. An online review that I read said this: "It is often said that every writer has, at least, one good book in him. Sadly most of them only have one. This certainly appears to be the case for Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby, while flawed (see review), is nonetheless a great novel." ..."Tender is the Night seems to be a victim of this Modernist disease, too autobiographical & self absorbed to tell us much of value about the wider world." (Full paragraph here.)

The book was a disaster to me, as was Fitzgerald's life by the time he wrote it. I recently read Fitzgerald's first novel, This Side of Paradise, and was thoroughly engrossed with finishing it as soon as I could. As his first novel, of course, it's more juvenile than his later writings, but the fact that he was younger gave him a different outlook and one that I could relate to more. When the book review mentions that it's too autobiographical, all I have to do is agree. The two central characters Dick and Nicole Diver, are far too much like Scott and Zelda (hehe) Fitzgerald. Nicole is battling a mental illness due to sexual abuse and although Fitz has her over come it and the insanity consume Dick, it sounds all too familiar. By this time, Fitzgerald was a heavy drinker. Guess who else is? Dick! Coincidence? I think not. In similarity to This Side of Paradise, the book is divided into three sections, but are unsatisfactory in helping the plot line. In TSoP, not only is the division into two books appropriate, it's necessary. There are clearly two different sections of Amory's life going on in the book and it works. (I'm still in love with Amory Blaine. Just as much as Jim Halpert. [see first post]) But these three book divisions, although I see the logic, seem to be more motivated by the divisions in Fitzgerald's life and not in Dick Diver's. As usual, I consulted Sparknotes, but it didn't help much because I guess there wasn't as much to interpret as I thought there was. It's laid out plain as day. I do feel for the main character, Dick though. He starts out healthy and magnetic, and as his wife's mental health improves, his deteriorates, due mostly to the fact that not only has he married a mental patient (Nicole) and must double as her doctor; he has spent a lot of time with other mental cases, since that was his chosen profession. Book 3 seemed the most important to me and I enjoyed it the most. Book 2 seemed muddled and Book 1, although entertaining at times, seemed to really drone on and on. Book 3 contained the climax and the most emotionally wrenching part of the book. There are two passages that I would like to share, just because.

This one amuses me:
"Nicole reproved him when they were in their room alone. 'Why so many highballs? why did you use your word spic in front of him?'
'Excuse me, I meant smoke. The tounge slipped.'
'Dick, this isn't faintly like you.'
'Excuse me again. I'm not much like myself anymore.'

And...I decline from sharing the other one from Book 3 since it is central to the main plot. Really, it's pitiful, only because by this time, this exemplified the Fitzgeralds, so it's more of a sad pitiful. If you're working on THE LIST!!!, then, as #28, you'll have to read it, but I would have to mark my first Affie's Book Wednesday as a nonrecommendation. It is probably the least favorable novel of Fitzgerald's that I've read, but this one only makes 3 out of the 4 novels that he wrote in among a sea of short stories. I've read The Great Gatsby a few times because I really do love it and Fitzgerald is my favorite author. And Jay Gatsby is far more appealing than Dick Diver. And as noted already, I've read This Side of Paradise and enjoyed it. This was a let down for me overall, though some parts were good, but the nonrecommendation still stands.

I'll probably blog later today, so be prepared. There's gonna be drama today!

Eating myself to death

2006-06-27T13:00:00.000-05:00

The Polyglot sent me a txt msg yesterday saying that he was impressed that I was keeping up with the blog. After next week, I'll probably forget about it for a while (more than 3 or 4 days, but not a complete mental loss that I do have one), but a once a week updates I saw as more than fufilling the demands that this blog places upon me.

I'm cold. Very cold. I'm in a long sleeve shirt, sweatpant-type gauchos, and tube socks- very cute tube socks. They make me smile. The shirt and the tube socks I thought to be pointless when I packed them, but are coming in handy. I feel like I'm getting sick, but it's just the lack of sleep and the stress, as well as the jelly beans I ate. First of all, I'm not too fond of jelly beans, but these are Starburst Jelly beans. That still makes no difference so as to whether I like them or not, it just makes a difference because they aren't jelly belly. They are called fruitscreme and there are four flavors: mixed berries, peaches, orange, and strawberry.
Written much later than 2 PM:
I was popping these jelly beans right and left because when under stress, I eat. Even visibly, without reading the ingredients, I know I'm allergic to these puppies. The colors are purple, pink, orange, and yellow-ish. I'm allergic to red dye and yellow dye (blue as well, but it's not so severe a reaction). Going thru the bag, I'm picking out the purple ones first, since the red dye is mixed with blue. There were not that many purple ones and they were soon gone. The next color that I'm least allergic to would be the pink. My most violent reactions are to yellow dyes and the "lake" dyes. Typical reactions to these dyes include: asthma attacks, itchy throat, sneezing, and puffy-stuffy-fluffy-ness. So I was prepared since I was already weak, running on only 4 hours of sleep, for the severest of reactions. 2 or 3 into the pink colored jelly beans and I could barely breathe, so I read the ingredients. COCONUT OIL! (I'm allergic to coconuts.) When did they start putting that in jelly beans?! Mind you, there were about 2 or 3 other ingredients on the short list that I'm allergic to as well, so I threw the rest away, drank lots of water and hoped that I could refrain from using my inhaler. It worked and I shied away from other allergies for the rest of the day, like ice cream after dinner. Ice cream makes me: puffy-stuffy-fluffy, sneeze, and gives me asthma attacks if I eat too much and occasionally upsets my stomach because I'm allergic to dairy. Thank goodness I had rice for dinner, supplemented with Mandarin chicken, beef-n-broccoli, and this really good eggplant & tofu dish that was so spicy, you would have thought you were eating chicken wings if it weren't for the fact that the dish was full of purple and cream colored food- neither of which were shaped like either type of chicken wing. And I'm thinking of sponsoring a trip to El Nopal sometime soon. They have Mexican rice.

And thanks to those that left suggestions for breakfast. Since I'm at my greenparents, breakfast is different anyways, but I've been having an egg and a slice of toast, accompanied by some of the best black coffee. This though, has convinced me to get my butt over to Target when I get home and buy a toaster (preferably the cute hello kitty one), so that I can toast my own sarah lee cinnimon and brown sugar bread at home. Yum.

Again with the movies at the High?

2006-06-25T22:44:00.000-05:00

Yes, again. It's probably not the last movie either. I can't stay away from them. Nor from this blog, but it all has to do with the fact that I'm procrastinating getting things done...like French, even though it's late to do it and I'm currently engrossed with the New P's right now. Really, I'm doing this because I want a time filler, thus a multitude of posting has occurred this past week. Plus I've been tired and the compy is right there when I walk in the door at home and that chair is so inviting. Except right now, I'm not at home again for like the fourth time this summer already and it's only June, nor will this be the last time either.

But as I was saying, another movie at the High. I've seen an Indian documentary, a samurai movie, and now this one. It was thoroughly interesting. It's called Stolen. I was debating on whether or not to stay for this movie today, last night after the family get together. Auntie finally just said to stay and since I had already packed everything I would need for a stay, I wasn't going to let all that effort of packing go to waste. (Except I forgot my cell phone charger...again. And I'm Jewish so you heck as ain't gonna get me to spend $30 on a charger for my phone. That money goes to the MP3 player fund [though I probably won't save long enough to get this particular one]. Cingular gets you on your accessories, but their service is great.) ANYWAYS, so this movie was about art theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It's divided into five or six parts and is mostly about how they try and retrieve the art and how they are run around in circles since organized crime is highly involved. There is a little bit of story going on with this main investigator, Harold Smith, and his interactions with other art and antique investigators and thieves. This old man is a heckuva lot stronger than I am. He tells you about how he got skin cancer in the documentary and it's horrible. He's battled skin cancer for 50 years and has a prosthetic nose and has lost an eye. It's kind of disturbing at first, but this was very entertaining for the brain...to me at least, and I'm easily occupied with things that would bore others to death and I love paintings. In the documentary, they mentioned how Isabella's mansion became the museum and since it was built as a house, it doesn't have really good modern security system making it easier to work in. Also that these security guards that they hire are insanely underpaid and are guarding a multi-million dollar collection of art. Harold mentioned after one of the former security guards that they interviewed left his office that he had come from Ohio, never had a job before, and they pay him minimum wage to watch millions of dollars worth of art. Honestly, I give people too much credit as far as having common sense goes, and this is one of those situations where you think they would at least work a little harder to treat these employees better. If you get a chance to see it on a rainy Sunday, do so. I found in very informative and some of the people involved in this business are characters and really entertaining. Don't kill yourself to see it though, since it could be considered slow moving and monotonous to most.

Afterwards, we were joined by Aunt #2 at El Nopal near where she lives. It was some of the best Mexican food I've had in MONTHS! I was dying for some spicy salsa, salty tortilla chips, and a kick butt chicken burrito. El Nopal provided all three. If you are ever with anyone that wants to go to El Nopal, do kill yourself to go, especially if you like Mexican food. Where I moved, there's just not enough Mexicans to glut the construction worker market and as a result, none of them get to start restaurants and cook me delicious food. There isn't a single Mexican restaurant in Athens. No joke. But there are like 5 Thai eateries, 6 or 7 cafe type places, 4 Italian, and don't ask me to count the bars. It's funny. We only have two Mexican chains and they both pretty much blow, though I do like On the Border, but stumble upon any Italian restaurant and you are sure to get some of the best Italian food your senses have ever come across.

Most important meal of the day, serving it up Affie's way!

2006-06-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

This is going to be another post where I need your suggestions. Scenario: Breakfast has now become the most dreaded meal of the day for me. I believe it was Wednesday and I was desperately trying to get ready and make it to the hall on time for service. I ate my normal breakfast of some soy milk and raisin bran/rice chex (I'm plain Jane all the way, and yes, rice again. If it weren't for rice, right now, I would be sorely malnourished.) Well, usually I don't do as bad with soy milk as I did that morning. It was a far more violent reaction than the usual upset stomach when I eat soy milk too many days in a row. See, I developed a sensitivity to it a few months ago, but this was a full blown allergic reaction. I tried another brand today on a smaller scale and a different flavor. The different flavor was gross, but I didn't toss my cookies. It was vanilla and it tasted more like licorice, which I hate, and it gave me a headache. So I present to you, the reader, my problem. I need suggestions for breakfast. I'm not much of a breakfast eater, so I don't have a massive breakfast, but I must eat something or else I'm useless for the day. I've tried oatmeal and I can't choke down but four or five bites because it's too heavy for a morning meal. Note: I'm allergic to corn and milk (although I occasionally indulge in a wallaby), as well as fruits like apples, mangoes, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, kiwi, etc.

What kind of smelly cheese is that?

2006-06-23T15:16:00.000-05:00

Mom: "You got a solicitation from Rice University today. I think you should go. It really fits."

Affable Olive: "I know the Polyglot would eat that up. If they served rice, you know that would be my first pick."

CHEESE!? Gorgonzola!

"John and Jane" Flashback

2006-06-23T12:50:00.000-05:00

This is going to be short, since I'm so very tired. I've been babysitting at least once a week for Contessa. Although she is about 8 years old and isn't hard to deal with, she's very active. There are no problems with that, except she likes to ride bikes for like 3 hours and, being an asthmatic, I can usually only go for about two until I need a break. I think she would ride all day if I would let her. Her dad isn't as watchful as I am. The whole thing is, I would let her ride for forever if I didn't know how much it would break her dad's heart if she wasn't there when he got home. See, it would break any parent's heart, but his especially because Contessa's mom, his wife of almost 15 years, passed away in November and I don't think he's over it yet, although he likes to talk about it like he can handle it. So she tires me out plus, I went out in service on Wednesday and today (for my school friends that's when I go from door to door and place magazines...basically. Y'all know it's more complicated than that but back to what I was saying...) And I physically can't go to sleep before 11 PM for some weird reason, and if I do, then I wake up around 2:30 AM and will not fall asleep again until around 5 AM. My friend Easel Weasel Beezit, whom I'll just call Eas, got back from a trip to Baltimore Monday and talked to me (I didn't get to say much) until after 12 PM on Tuesday, after I was already exhausted.

Now for the point of this post. It was definitely Wednesday when I picked up the phone. It was from MBNA and I know mom was having some issues with them lately so I picked it up when I normally would not have. Immediately, I was greeted with a warm hello with a thick Hindi accent. Most of my readers remember John and Jane. How could you forget Naomi, with her "totally natural" blonde look? And the guy who pleged his life to Amway? Not going into that. H'n'B did a great job of describing the premise of the movie way back when we went...when was that...May? Whenever it was, it resurfaced in my mind when I heard this girl's voice. I told her my mom wasn't available and she said she was glad she had caught me. Lord, I've been caught. How do I say no to this poor soul in the call center? I let her give her spheil about how I could lower my intrest rates and such and all she needed to do was check my address. I verified that what she had was correct and then she asked for my name. Well, then I told her the honest truth that I was too young for a credit card. (I'm not, but that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.) She then says, "Oh well, I'll try back for (my mom) later then." And she was so nice. I hated to turn her down, but what can I do with a credit card except get into debt? I don't have a regular income, so it's more than pointless. After I got off the phone, all I could do was think about how they're pushed to fufill a certain quota and all that. The worst part about it is I know I won't answer the phone again when MBNA shows up on the caller ID.

Librarians: Sweet and Sour

2006-06-15T17:23:00.000-05:00

Well, on a very excited note, I've finished some classes for homeschool. Now, tons more to go. Stinks, and I'm moving so slow with French anyways. I'm not as dedicated to it as I would like to be. It is sticking though, so whatever I'm doing, I best keep at it. I decided to take...Journalism. It is what I want to do after all, deep down, but probably not what I end up doing realistically. If somehow I can get into the field without four years of college and a whole bunch of competition for jobs, I'll do it, but that's just my hopes and dreams.

Librarians though. So I have to go to the library to take my exams because I have to have a librarian, vice Principal, or counselor proctor my exams. Indiana is tough on that kind of thing. Yesterday, as everyone that read yesterday's post knows, I took Brit Lit. Today, I took US Hist., which is boring all on its own so just think of how boring this exam is. Two hours of sitting in the library, half way day dreaming through the short answer part and slaping together the last two essays because I fell asleep during the multiple choice. It's a very painful final, but atleast it was Thursday. Every Thursday is far busier than any other day I'm in there, and there are plenty of people to watch. The past three exams I've taken, no one was in the area with me. During yesterday's, a weird mechanic-type guy came in and was laboriously taking notes on something that he had brought into the area with him. Today, first was an elderly woman looking at census reports, then an OCD guy that was making a rucous with his papers. There are other desks to sit at in the library, why do you have to come into my area and distrub me while I'm trying to make an A on this test? Honestly, do I look like someone who wouldn't mind? Just come in, sit at my table, distract me with all of your rustle. There's an obvious reason why I sit in that area. No one usually bothers me. What's wrong with these people. The old woman was fine; those two guys- not fine. There are three young blonde girls that are always there. One I think works there, the other two act more like volunteers. But the one that works there was dealing with this lady from Bogart. She was complaining that they didn't have any of the books on the list that her daughter needed. This woman was very upset and the way she was treating this young librarian, who was being nothing but sweet to her, just let me tell ya, if I hadn't been taking that exam, I would've been walking over there and decking this woman in the face. She had already been hit with the ugly stick. A fist to the face wouldn't have made any difference. She was mad that they didn't have any books and that the books the school was making her daughter read were too easy. OK, lady, the librarian can't do anything about that. I'm gonna call the librarian Anna. She looks like an Anna. So, yeah Anna can't do anything about what your school does. The lady, I'm gonna call her Butthead, was ranting about how she hates the library and that she only comes once and year and how she can't belive that they never have any of the books. When Anna started working with Butthead, Butthead found out that she wasn't looking in the right place for a lot of her books and also Butthead had no idea about holds. She didn't understand either that she could've saved Anna 20 minutes and not get her temper up by conducting all of this at home by using the library's website. Oh Butthead made me so angry, and Anna was so sweet. After Butthead left, she started talking to the other librarians, the one with the British accent and the one that looks (and acts) like a thin Paula Deen, and was saying how she just wanted to slap the lady and tell her to go to Borders and she can pay for her books, and it was a test of her paitence. She's better than I am. Anna continued to help her and everything. It didn't help that was in a bad mood there since I didn't want to be taking that exam and Butthead just made it worse.

So...I can also use a blog for venting. C'est super!

"Hook," line, and exams

2006-06-14T08:37:00.000-05:00

It wasn't until this past week that I realized that there were people out there reading my blog. Nice people. People I like. And then there's this other one that screamed in ALL CAPS at me this morning to update. She's not in the nice category...I'm kidding horse n.buggy, and I hope this INSANELY boring and banal post will appease your want for updates.

So this I would have to call my first official post back in the other O.C. because the last one is going to be a monthly thing and the other two were at my Greenparent's house, since I was evicted for that week. Last week, Marry Me went camping with far off family at the lake. I babysat for 24 hours. Had a demonstration on the meeting. Nothing has been going on worth posting about. Drama with Jammies is over. (But I feel it appropriate to give him a nickname since he'll probably be making frequent appearances.) We can be civilized friends now that he has a "girlfriend," which hasn't been confirmed but he's going down to West Palm next week and then she's coming back the week after that. The "she" is also brining another girl with her that Jammies would like for me to set up with one of my friends. Still don't know if I feel comfortable doing that. I wanted to be friends with him from the beginning, and now I can since I don't have to worry about the creepiness of a guy 9 years my senior wanting to get to know me for other reasons. And I wasn't dreaming this up. Everyone was saying something about it. Now, after 6 months, it's all over...thank goodness. Convention hopped on Sunday, which was a milestone in its own right. See, I haven't had my license for long. June 21st makes two months and I have an insanely over protective mother, but I understand her plea since there are some horrible drivers out there (i.e.- my aunts). Mom got flustered and told dad to make the decision and my dad, who doesn't give a flying flip what I do, just tells me to gas up the Jeep, leave by 7:30, and make a few phone calls home to mom. The trip is an a little less than an hour each way and mom hasn't even let me go much further than 20 minutes, much less drive on a highway type road without her. My sister, Marry Me, and I left on time and had a smashing day and visited with awesome people. When we got home, we found out we could have gone to dinner with our brothers, but it was too late and all I did was come home and sleep for 14/15 hours, since I hadn't had but 3 hours of sleep since Friday night. It was best that we didn't go to dinner because if I had hit the couch at their house, I would have been there for 14/15 hours... asleep. This week has been full of studying for exams. I take some today and some tomorrow. There's nothing I would rather NOT being doing more right now. Procrastination is what I do best, so I'm watching Hook (best Peter Pan movie in my opinion) with Marry Me and Contessa, listening to Johnathan Rice (who is in close running to making it to next month's Affie's Music Wednesday), and updating bloggie. Today's exam is Brit Lit, so it's not like I need to study. Plus the exam is open book, but I might as well go look over it just to be sure.

Music to my Ears

2006-06-06T23:30:00.000-05:00

Let me start off by thanking those that put their input in for my class choices. I'm much obliged and will let y'all know which one I decide on. In part of starting this blog, I was determined that I wasn’t going to make this thing completely hackneyed (though there was plenty of drama to expound on this past weekend if I wanted to put that here). Part of my scheme to follow this through will be posts such as these where I actually put some effort into finding something I believe is meaningful to talk about. Music is always high up on the list of things to talk about, so here’s the deal- at least once a month, I’ll get a post up here about music and one about books. Seeing as how I’m doing the music early on in the month, I’ll do the book later on in the month. Ah, I can already see a pattern. First Wednesday of the month will be Affie’s Music Wednesday (forget Mondays, though it would be alliteration, my favorite element of poetic writing—I’m sad to admit that I have a favorite poetic element...especially since it’s sad in itself). The last Wednesday of the month will be Affie’s Book Recommendation (or non-recommendation).

So…Music Wednesday…I’ve got a solo artist and a band. All links will be to the artist’s websites…probably, maybe not. You’ll have to click on them to see. Let’s start with Mr. Solo Artist. *drum roll* Sufjan Stevens. Don’t you just love his name? It’s so not your typical Matthew or John. Like his name, he is a unique person, especially since he can play oboe, recorder, banjo, guitar, vibraphone, bass, drums, and the piano, just to name a few. I was in love with him from the first mention that he plays the piano. Guys that play piano, although often nerdy-ish, are the handsomest in my eyes, no matter how coke bottle the glasses are on his face. There’s one older fellow that plays piano at the Nordstrom at Perimeter Mall. He’s my idol since he can carry on a conversation with someone, play from memory, and do some insane improvisation with common songs so that you know what it is and wish that the original composer had gotten this guy’s input. Back to Sufjan: I bought his latest album, entitled Illinois(e). I’m impressed. The first song, Concerning the UFO Sighting near Highland, Illinois begins with piano, meaning the whole album begins with piano, giving it an overall appealing manner and smoothness that always appeals to me. Though it exudes a mellow feeling, there are upbeat moments in many of the songs, and some even have a good beat, like Come on! Feel the Illinoise! (which actually has a longer name since both parts 1 and 2 have separate names) that almost sounds like the Charlie Brown theme, only better and folksier, which the whole album has a slight indie-folk-rock feel. There are also tracks without words, the first being THE BLACK HAWK WAR, or How to Demolish an entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We apologize for the Inconvenience but You’re Going to Have to Leave Now, or, “I have fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them until they are off our lands!” (gasps for air after reading title longer than those of Panic! At the Disco), and without words and listening to the meshing of the instruments together gives it an almost classical feel, but more jazz. If you want someone better known that Sufjan reminds me of, I would have to say Damien Rice. This album I would suggest to everyone, but find a place to listen to it first (you can get 30 second clips of all but the last two songs at amazon.com) since it’s not mainstream in any sense of the classification and wouldn’t fit everyone’s tastes. The last cool thing about Sufjan, his record label is called Asthmatic Kitty Records. Simone is so sweet, so never make fun of kitties with asthma!

Now for the band: The New Pornographers. I’ve been bordering on getting really into these Canadians for about two years now and I found out that my Aunt had their second album Electric Version, I ripped two tracks off that I had heard about a year ago now. Being at my grandparent’s house this weekend (where my aunt still lives), I had plenty of time to go through my aunt’s totally awesome CD collection, scattered throughout the house. Remembering this album, I searched for it and have been hooked for…maybe five days? About five, yes, and I’m now “into” this band of six very cool Canadians from Vancouver. The gal that sings vocals for the band is Neko Case, who has a successful solo career of her own, and sounds very folk-bluegrass-old-school-country. When added to a group of five other guys, the band is given a folk feel, but still reminds me of a cross between The Features and The Dandy Warhols— neither of which are very well known so lemme think for a minute…ah maybe The Shins? They are still kinda not as well known as some bands, but I can’t think of anyone else who they sound like. Anyways, so it’s some good alternative rock and perfect for head banging and turning up the stereo, one of my favorite past times. Everything is catchy and upbeat that they play, and I believe three of the five guys play keyboard, which leads me to believe if they wanted to, they could play some mean piano because the keyboards are super. Just for note, this is their second of three albums that I’m describing, that sounds a lot like their first one, but I’m not sure about their third one. I’m doing the second one and not the latest one because I don’t have my hands on the most recent one. Two of my favorite songs are at the beginning of the album, The Electric Version and From Blown Speakers. Both are stuck in my head right now. This album I would recommend to anyone and everyone. Who doesn’t like something that they can blow their speakers to? Though I’m not wowed like I was with Sufjan (since their sound is common) they still have a good feel for their instruments and have confusing but meaningful lyrics, which isn’t what you would think when you hear the immediately moving beat, like as in dancing, not emotionally. This is fun music, and good for short car rides and playing so loud that you feel the beat and your ears ring when you turn off the stereo.

That was the first Affie’s Music Wednesday and I hope my readers take the time to go off and listen to some not so main-stream music and hopefully pick up a copy of one or the other, and I’m always happy to burn copies if you are really interested and it doesn’t take too many stamps to send a CD.

Pick and choose

2006-06-01T23:45:00.000-05:00

I meant to include this in my first post, but forgot to. Scenario: With Indiania University High School, I was required to get four more credits in English/Language Arts. Problem: I want to take more than that. I've already taken English Literature (First Semester), thus meaning I have to take the second semester of that course, and decided that I wanted to take the Five Novels of Change Course. That one I'm really looking forward to. They have you reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, The Old Man and the Sea, Slaughterhouse-Five, and A Lesson Before Dying. That makes three. I need some help in choosing the last one. Ultimately, it will, of course, be my decision, but I would like some imput. It's between: Journalism, Creative Writing: Fiction, and Advanced Composition. Please cast your vote for one of the three. It would be much appreciated.

Firstpost and The Office

2006-06-01T22:12:00.000-05:00

Well...first post ever. How epic. I used to (it's still there, but remains un-updated) have a xanga, but this seems like it would suit me better than that site did. I wanted to be a blogger so badly and put this account to use, especially now that I know more than one person that participates in this. As of this moment, I'm very elated to have my first blog. I might as well go ahead and explain the blog name, which will probably change (since I found out that you can) as I pursue blogging as a summer hobby. Shmear as an alluding to my Jewish heritage, which isn't because I'm only 1/4 Jewish and don't practice at all, but that is the way "smear" should be pronounced. "The other O.C." is what my sister (who will get a nickname later since her current one isn't the best, but it may stick) and I have begun to call our home county. When abbreviated, our county is "The O.C." Affable Olive is a different story, explained here.

Since this is my first post, I suppose I better make it about something great, or better than great. Right now, at 11:15 (I have a little less than an hour if I want this to make it before June 2nd), the greatest thing is "The Office" on NBC. I'll link it forever later, but here's one for now. I've never had a job, but this is what I want my job to be like...or at least have this much fun at work. This show reminds me not only of Arrested Development (as well as Seinfeld), but bears a striking resemblance to my former AP classes. Jim Halpert, who is already my favorite and is going to be the main reason for staying home from my prior engagement that happens every Thursday night, is absolutely the best. He's the kind of person I would see as being my own best friend and selfishly hogging him. From the four episodes I watched tonight ("The Fire," "Halloween," "The Client," and "performance Review"), I could tell Jim would be a person that I would get along with splendidly. Dwight Schrute strikes me as a better adjusted Napoleon Dynamite. He is always asking for it, in my opinion. Poor thing, and it's so hilarious. Then there's Pam Beesly. Although Jim is my favorite, Pam is wonderful as well. She would be my best friend too. That would be a definitely since Pam and Jim have something between the two of them (though I've found that's not acknowledged til later) and I'm going to be best friends with both of them. Ryan ("The Temp.") is great, but the boss, Michael Scott, makes the work place everything it needs to be to make it one of my favorite places to be on Thursday nights now. I highly suggest this show to all of my friends (yes, the one or two of you that bother to traipse over here) and those that stumble upon the blog.

Ah...first post and I just realized I could have written this whole thing in Webdings and then no one would ever come back, despite the amusement it would give me to publish it.