All Done

I've spent the last week recording my every movement for a research project. It was kind of weird. Apparently it takes me only 20 minutes to walk to work. If I could ever leave on time, I could be a force to be reckoned with. Also apparently I spend a minimum of 11 hours sitting a week day. (7.5 at work and then 3ish at home). That's a little depressing to think about. Of course if I think that on Saturday and Sunday I spent a minimum of 9 hours on my feet it all balances out right? But it was an interesting exercise in my day and how I get from point a to point b. It totally pointed out my tendency for busluck because at most bus stops I waited no more than 4 minutes for the bus. Plus, the nice part, I get a $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble for participating. Yay! :)

Two stories of my dumbness

So I've been looking for this book for my coworker for two days now. I was positive it was sitting on my bed just under the other books sitting on my bed so I tore my bed apart looking for it. No dice. I tore the rest of my bedroom apart looking for it. No dice. I had resigned myself to spending the weekend prowling under the bed and in the dark corners and was sitting on my sofa. Less than 2 feet away is a chair with an old printer on it and two books and my laptop carrier. You know what one of those two books is right? Yup. The book.

The 2nd story even worse... I have an almost pathelogical need to not do dishes. I loathe them so I've hit upon a brilliant idea. I'll use ziploc baggies when mixing simple mixes rather than a mixing bowl. Then I don't have a bowl to wash! Yay! So last night I was mixing up a cake mix in my big ziploc baggie. I had added everything and then I opened it just a bit to let the air out to make it easier to mix (I've done this before.). I didn't realize that the other end of the zip opened as well so I just zipped the part I opened and started to mix again and blup... chocolate cake all down the front of my pants and on the floor and on my leg. There was, however, still enough to make my cupcakes so that's all that matters, right? :)

All must be forgiven

Tess sleeps with me a lot lately. It helps that it is getting cold so she likes the warmth of my bed but this morning I noticed her sleeping on my feet. So cute! Obviously I'm forgiven for giving her poison (or medicine whichever).

Costumes

I spent the weekend at the Pacific Science Center volunteering. I love it there, I really do. Plus I get free tix when I volunteer so I can go again! Yay! It was their Halloween event and so the families were encouraged to dress up. Here's what fascinated me... the kids' costumes. I remember a time, quite a long time ago actually, where we wore those plastic pieces of crap that usually ripped and didn't offer a lot in ability to bend ones' knees or elbows. And yeah yeah, that was a long time ago and things change, but the kids' costumes have gotten so elaborate and.. I'm sure.. expensive. It just amazes me how much parents will shell out for an outfit their kid will wear maybe 4 times tops. I think I'm probably being pretty generous with that 4. There's school (if the school allows it, but not all do), trick or treating (or whatever their activity of choice is) and maybe a party or two. According to target.com they can run full price anywhere between 17 and 30 plus dollars. Kmart has about the same prices and Walmart is maybe 5 dollars cheaper. Were they that expensive when we were kids? Does it reflect on more disposable income than when I was a kid? I don't know... Maybe it is newer materials available. It just amazed me to see families of three and four little kids who shelled out at least 20 - 30 bucks per costume (not even counting accoutrements because I know those Disney costumes are the dress and you buy the shoes and tiara and whatever else separate).

The other thing that fascinated me... the parents who dressed up. There was one woman there rocking a skin tight harlequin suit and full make up. I kind of admired her, although I sure as hell couldn't wear a skin tight harlequin suit. :) Ever.

This year I volunteered both days from 9 - 6. There were also about 11 other volunteers... all from the local high school who knew each other. It was slightly weird. Me and 11 sophmores. They were nice kids and several of them did it last year so I remembered them. It was a good time as a whole.

Poor Tesster

So for the past week I've been forcing this medicine down Tess's throat twice a day. I grab her and pry open her jaws and shove the syringe part way into her mouth. It is kind of brutal. I discovered yesterday she actually likes the flavor of the medicine and if I wasn't such a freak, she'll just lick it straight out of the syringe. It has made our med giving times much easier but I do feel a teeny tiny bit badly about how I was doing it before.

Just download the whole thing

I need to just download Blue October's whole CD. I've downloaded three songs off their Foiled CD and every time I hear something I hadn't heard before by them I love it too.

Also, the other day I was in the car and heard this song and I was thinking the artist sounded familiar but (despite their promise to always announce the artist and song) when the song ended and the next one ended, the dj didn't say who the artist was. Luckily I went to the End's website and they had this little thing where I could search for the time I heard the song and when I saw the list of music during that hour I knew who it was without even hearing a sample of the song. It was the Foo Fighters. I do love them. Not more than Pearl Jam, but a lot. And, unlike Pearl Jam, I have seen them live.

Howling at the moon

I am watching SNL. I think the Palin cameo would have been better if they had managed to keep it a secret. But I do appreciate that she seems to have a sense of humor about herself. Really, what can you do? I think when you enter that level of politics you probably have a thick skin. I thought Mark Wahlberg's piece was funny, though. Holy crap, is Amy Poehler like 15 months pregnant? Also Weekend Update with her was pretty funny too.

There has been a dog howling outside my apartment for the past several hours. It's so hard to tell, though where noise is coming from in the city, though, since it all echos around the buildings. Could be really far away or could be in the scary park behind my apartment. Either way I'm not going to check, but it is quite annoying.

Every year I think about going to the Nutcracker done by the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Every year I don't because I think I don't want to spend the money. Maybe this year I'll change my mind. Probably not. :)

I hate negative campaign ads. They are almost enough to make me either not vote or vote for the other candidate. Most likely not vote at all since both sides do it. The part that I think bugs me the most, I've noticed that there are a lot fewer "I approve this ad" spots so half these negative ads aren't even necessarily sanctioned by the candidate they are supporting. It kind of makes me wonder if they've been 'approved' by the candidates anyway. Or else if the candidate could ask the sponsors not to show them. I wish just one candidate would not stoop to negative ads and attacking the opponent in the debates. Maybe it could revolutionize the whole process. I couldn't care less about what your opponent has failed to do or what terrible things s/he may or may not have done (and let's be honest 9 times out of 10 of the claims the attack ads make are exaggerated). I want to know what the candidate is going to do.

I think there's an indy movie about to be released I want to see. I know that's shocking since in general I hate indy films, but this one looks like something I can get behind. It is called Happy Go Lucky. It starts next week at the Harvard Exit Theater. Yay.

To Cover or Not To Cover

That is the question. My dress for the big work fancypants gala is low enough in the back to expose my dragonfly. Last year it wasn't as big a concern because I had longer hair that did some semblence of hiding it. (Not completely but it was better than what it will be with the New! Short! Hair!) So do I a - buy a different dress (I don't want to. I LOVE my dress. And a quick perusal of Nordstroms.com shows me that even if it comes up higher in the front, the backs still plunge.) b - buy a different wrap/shrug that I can wear and cover it. c - Not worry about it. I'm leaning towards C.

TV On the Bubble

I watch a lot of TV. I admit it. I don't have a whole lot else to do in the evenings so that's what I do. This season, though, totally disappointing. I have started three or four new shows, to drop them all basically after the 2nd or 3rd episode. (90210, Sons of Anarchy and the Mentalist in case you're interested) (Well and in my defense, I only watched 90210 for the nostalgia aspect and they had Kelly and Brenda back together, but no. Just no.) There's nothing I like on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. After this week, I'm down to only one 30 minute show on Wednesdays. Mondays are still good but I'm on the fence about Heroes so that show could drop at any time. Thursdays are still sort of good but I'm on the fence about Ugly Betty too. Really I don't think there's anything I wouldn't mind not watching and catching online the next day or in reruns at some point in the future. That's a little sad to me. :)

Fuddy Duddy

I went to see Dark Side of The Rainbow with Stephen and his friend last night at the Pacific Science Center. Dark Side of the Rainbow was a laser show with Pink Floyd music set to The Wizard of Oz. Here's what I've learned after attending this show.

1 - I don't like Pink Floyd at all.
2 - I don't get this synchronizing thing. I think MAYBE there were three spots that matched up with the movie, but that seems tenuous at best.
3 - About 1/2 way through I got cold... COLD and by the "encore" I was shivering a little bit.
4 - I found the whole thing kind of boring and maybe if I was a stoner I would've found it more entertaining.
5 - It has been a REALLY long time since I saw Wizard of Oz. I didn't recognize almost any of the beginning of the movie. But it hasn't encouraged me to see the movie either. :)
6 - I think Toto was a Norwich Terrier and if I believed in owning pure bred dogs, I would totally get one because I think they are insanely cute.

New Hair!

So for perspective, here's my hair a few weeks ago.

And here's my hair today! I cut off a lot of it obviously. I went to the Gene Juarez Acadamy and I definitely think I'll go back to Charli. I like what she did. I did freak her out, though, I could tell. :)

Here's how short it is in the back. It feels so weird. I haven't had my hair this short in like 22 years.

Date with destiny

Isn't that dramatic?? :) It just means I'm going to the hair cutting place tomorrow after Tess's vet appointment.

I'm a tiny bit worried about Tess's visit. I have noticed when petting her that she feels much thinner than she used to. You know how when you have an OLD pet, they start getting that weird thinness happening. I think (although could be wrong) Tess is starting to get that thinness.

My sister is coming to visit during Christmas. She wants to go to Vancouver. She has to go back on like Christmas or the day after... maybe Christmas since I think she said she has to go to work on the 26th. I might actually have to wait to open my presents until Christmas Day. That's going to be hard work for me. :)

Ideas?

I think it is time I obtain a new Halloween costume. I'm volunteering again this year at the Pacific Science Center so it has to be a G-Rated costume. I'm just at a loss. I was thinking of obtaining a simple blue dress and making a white apron, buying an Alice band (thick black headband), tossing on my brown Mary Janes and going as Alice in Wonderland. Or else making a simple blue jumper and wearing a white blouse under it and going as Dorothy. But I just don't know what I want to be. Looking at patterns and/or costumes online isn't really helping me either. If I didn't insist on chopping off all my hair all the time I could've had the braids to do Pippi Longstocking. :) (I did that once when I taught school in Fairbanks. My hair was down to my ass at that point and so the braids went out farther than my shoulders. I felt a little bad as I saw a young lady also with Pippi braids who weren't nearly as long. She looked a little crestfallen when she saw mine.) I was never really that good at this as a kid which is why I've always kind of hated Halloween.

Weigh In

I'm chopping off all my hair. I just can't take it anymore. All I do is tie it up. I have rather fine hair, but there are a ton and a half of them. So what do you think of these? Three other things to keep in mind: 1 - I hate my hair in my eyes. 2 - I don't want to look like a lesbian and 3 - I am willing to use product what not in my hair but not have a whole hair routine. One final thought... I have a round face. Please feel free to post your own links to something better. I never know. I'm such a waffler.

This one is cute. Looks simple. Hair in eyes is a downer, but may not be too bad. Or maybe can be adapted with the shorter bang.

I like this one too, but would it make me look old??

This is essentially a bob which may not work for me since it looks like it might hit on the fat part of my face.

I kind of like this, but maybe not. It may be longer than I want.

Well and there's always this option. (Kidding, I swear but it is featured on the page I got these styles from and I laugh a little bit every time I see it. Could not be more lesbionic if it tried).

Groceries

Draino
TP
Chicken
Soda
Ice Cream

So sad the shopping list of the single chick.

I can't peeve!

I have two peeves and yet I can't login to typepad to post them, hence here they are:

1 - I hate those damn videos that suck you in and then have something pop out or jump up and scream. I hate hate hate them.

2 - I forgot the other one. Sigh.

All the world's a stage

And Tess wants to perform on it. I just bought a new bookshelf at Ikea and set it up. I haven't yet put anything on the bottom shelf yet but Tess has already decided it is her home. She keeps climbing up on it and rolling around. It's pretty darn funny.

Friday Lyday and I went to see Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. I thought the movie was funny but my big issue with the movie was that all these kids are high school kids and none of them had any difficulty getting into the various bars and clubs in NYC they were going to. I know kids have fake IDs and what not, but a - these kids look pretty young (Although thanks to IMDB I now most of them actually are over 21.) so I can't believe ALL the bouncers would buy that and b - well, I forgot my b point but there was one. So that was the downer I found for the movie. Plus it just seemed like too much. I know that high school kids are different when I was in high school, but would it have made it so difficult to make them a tiny bit older...19 and 20 maybe?

Irrational Desire

So I'm going to the big fancy gala again this year. I'm wearing the same dress I wore last year because a - I love it and b - I love it and c - it isn't like I'm so rememberable that people will realize I wore it last year so whateva. I was looking online for a black wristlet so that this year I don't have to ask Stephen to hold my cell phone etc in his pocket. (Well and I discovered the word wristlet this year too.) And so I google 'black wristlet' and of course ebay comes up and I start scrolling through them. I've fallen in love with a Coach wristlet. Now, I'm rarely a brand whore, but I covet it. And yet, somehow I can't get over my innate unwillingness to spend so much money on something like a little purse. So I keep bidding in hopes I'll finally be the winner. But I've got my limit so we'll see.

Isn't it cute??

Do you want to know the worst part? The very worst part? Even if I could find something similar in non-Coach I don't think I would want it because it isn't Coach. What's wrong with me??