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All That Glitters
Friday, April 30, 2004 11:13 a.m.

The building that my office is in has these little booths that you can rent out and sell your wares. Today, this company called All That Glitters was downstairs, selling jewelry. I'm not a big jewelry fan but I went down to look. They had some very nice stuff. Belly rings, toe rings, ankelets, bracelets, hair clips, earrings, necklaces, charm bracelets, charms, etc. I was trying on a bunch of bracelets and found this really nice one but it was $150. I refrained from the purchase.

Initials Gone Wrong
Friday, April 30, 2004 06:57 a.m.

As I was driving to work this morning, I saw a Lexus with a vanity plate. Someone should really have told this person NO! when s/he decided on that plate. Ready for it?

STD ESQ

Now, I realize that this person could've meant "stud lawyer" but to abbreviate anything STD is just asking to be ridiculed.

Not As Cute As Sharky, But Close
Thursday, April 29, 2004 11:08 a.m.

For some reason, I can't link the actual picture here so go see what Oliver looks like.

Terrorist Threat To Los Angeles
Thursday, April 29, 2004 10:04 a.m.

I'm not sure how long this link will stay up so I'm going to copy and paste the story in as well.

LOS ANGELES -- Federal officials have warned the Los Angeles police department about an unspecified potential threat to a Los Angeles area mall and said an attack may have been planned for Thursday.
"As of now, the information is uncorroborated and the credibility of the source is unknown," the police department said in a statement.
No specific shopping mall was named, but the warning indicated a mall near the Federal Building in West Los Angeles could be targeted.
The LAPD will increase patrols at shopping malls in the city and asked mall operators to beef up their security while a joint terrorism task force investigates. The department said it would have no further comment beyond the statement issued late Wednesday.
"What made this a little bit unusual was that we had a specific day mentioned and a specific type of location and a general vicinity," said Mayor James Hahn. "So, we're asking the public to be on their guard to help us."
He urged residents to watch for suspicious activity, such as "a truck that seems to be parked somewhere for too long, or someone ... wearing bulky clothing on a hot day."
FBI spokesman Matt McLaughlin said the source of the information was of "undetermined reliability."
"This particular threat, just because of the nature of it, had a little more information in it, albeit unsubstantiated information. ... That doesn't necessarily make it really distinctly different from some of these other threats we've heard," he said.
He said authorities are obligated to aggressively investigate all threats they can't immediately dismiss.
"You have to make the public aware of certain dates, locations, threats that you're aware of," he said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been apprised of the warning, spokeswoman Terri Carbaugh said.
Gene Thompson, vice president of corporate security for Macerich Co., which owns Westside Pavilion and Santa Monica Place, said the malls will stay open Thursday with existing security plans in place.
"This just happens all the time. We take these things very seriously. This is no different than any anonymous bomb threat that gets called in all the time," Thompson told the Los Angeles Times.
Rick Caruso, a Los Angeles police commissioner and owner of the Grove, said his business was taking extra security precautions.
Several areas in and around Los Angeles have been said to be potential targets for terrorists, including movie studios, bridges, the ports and Los Angeles International Airport.

Teen Divorces His Dad
Thursday, April 29, 2004 07:24 a.m.

While I was searching for the story on the terrorist alert in effect for Los Angeles County today, I came upon this story.

My CD List
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 07:22 p.m.

I was sitting here at my computer, just putzing around on-line and I noticed that my CD rack was way out of order. This lead to me walking around my apartment, finding all my CDs, and alphabetizing and categorizing them. I put them all down in a spreadsheet and then decided to share them with you. :-)
Looking over some of these CDs, I realized that some of them I bought for one song, listened to that one song, and pretty much never listened to the rest of the CD (Blind Melon, I'm looking in your direction). Others, I bought, listened to the whole CD over and over again until I got tired of it and then never listened to it again (Candlebox, I'm looking at you).
The entries with an asterisk (*) next to it means that I have the case but I can't find the CD anywhere.
Keep in mind, this is just my CD list. I have cassette tapes hanging around somewhere too.

4 Non Blondes - Bigger, Better, Faster, More!
AC/DC - Ballbreaker
Ace Of Base - Sign, The
Aerosmith - Get A Grip
Air Supply - Greatest Hits
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette - Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Alanis Morissette - Under Rug Swept
Alice In Chains - Jar Of Flies
Alice In Chains - Facelift
Alice In Chains - Sap
Alicia Keys - Songs In A Minor
Anthrax - Sound Of White Noise
B-52s - Cosmic Thing
Backstreet Boys - Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys - Millenium
Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos - Chant
Billy Idol - Whiplash Smile
Blind Melon - Blind Melon
Breathe - Peace Of Mind
Cake - Prolonging The Magic
Candlebox - Candlebox
Christina Aguilera - Stripped
Cinderella - Night Songs
Danzig - Thrall-Demonsweat Live
Danzig - How The Gods Kill
Deep Blue Something - Home
Depeche Mode - Music For The Masses
Dirty Vegas - Dirty Vegas
Dixie Chicks - Home
Duran Duran - Ordinary World
Duran Duran - Greatest Hits
Evanescence - Fallen
Fatboy Slim - Best of Fatboy Slim
Fleetwood Mac - The Dance
Garbage - Garbage
Garbage - Vol. 2.0
George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1
Go-Go's - Return To The Valley Of The Go-Gos
Guns N Roses - The Spaghetti Incident
Harry Connick Jr. - We Are In Love
Harry Connick Jr. - Songs I Heard
India.Arie - Accoustic Soul
Jill Scott - Who Is Jill Scott?
Joan Jett - The Hit List
Josh Groban - Josh Groban
Justin Timberlake - Justified
Kylie Minogue - Fever
Limp Bizkit - Significant Other
Lita Ford - Lita Ford
Live - Throwing Copper
Madonna - Madonna
Madonna* - Immaculate Collection
Madonna - I'm Breathless
Madonna - Erotica
Madonna - Bedtime Stories
Madonna - Something To Remember
Madonna - Ray Of Light
Madonna - Music
Madonna - Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
Melanie C* - Northern Star
Metallica - Live Shit: Binge & Purge
Metallica - Load
Metallica - Reload
Metallica - Garage, Inc.
Metallica - S&M
Missy Elliott - Under Construction
New Kids On The Block - Greatest Hits
Nickelback - Silver Side Up
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Nine Inch Nails - Broken
Nirvana - In Utero
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
No Doubt - Return Of Saturn
No Doubt - Rock Steady
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
NSYNC - No Strings Attached
NSYNC - Celebrity
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Pink - Misunderstood
PJ Harvey - Send Him My Love
Plebians - Plebians
Poison - Native Tongue
Police - Live!
Presidents of the USA - Presidents of the USA
Primus - Pork Soda
Pseudopod - Pseudopod
Pseudopod - Rest Assured
Pseudopod* - Untitled, Vol. 2
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk
Ricky Martin - Vuelve
Sade* - Lover's Rock
Saigon Kick - The Lizard
Sixpence None The Richer - Sixpence None The Richer
Smash Mouth - Fush Yu Mang
Sophie B. Hawkins - Whaler
Soundgarden - BadMotorFinger
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot
Sting - Brand New Day
Take That - Nobody Else
Tool - Undertow
Train - Train
Train - Drops Of Jupiter
Ugly Kid Joe - America's Least Wanted
Weezer - Blue
Weezer - Pinkerton
Weezer - Green
Weezer - Maladroit
Weezer - B-Sides & Favorites
White Zombie - La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1


Miscellaneous
25 Favorites - Sacred Choral
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana
Pachelbel- Lifescapes
Vivaldi - Four Seasons
Scarborough Faire


Christmas
Brian Setzer Orchestra - Boogie Woogie Christmas
Harry Connick Jr. - Harry For The Holidays
Harry Connick Jr. - When My Heart Finds Christmas
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve And Other Stories
Vince Guaraldi Trio - Charlie Brown Christmas, A
Big 80s Christmas
Christmas Gift
Christmas Treasures, Vol. 2
Christmas Treasures, Vol. 3
Christmas Treasures, Vol. 5
NBC Celebrity Christmas
Now That's What I Call Christmas, Vol. 1
Now That's What I Call Christmas, Vol. 2
Stars Come Out For Christmas
Very Special Christmas


Soundtracks
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: Goldmember
Beavis & Butthead Experience
Cable Guy
Crow
Earth Girls Are Easy
Fame
Grease
Heavy Metal
LOTR: The Fellowship of the Rings
LOTR: The Two Towers
LOTR: The Return of the King
Next Best Thing
Night At the Roxbury
Not Another Teen Movie
Romeo & Juliet
Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion
Sleepless In Seattle
South Park: Chef Aid
Wayne's World 2
Wedding Singer
Who's That Girl
X-Files Original Motion Picture Score
X-Files: Fight The Future


80s Compilations
Big 80s
More of The Big 80s
Billboard Top 10 Hits of 1983
Billboard Top 10 Hits of 1984
Don't Touch My 45's: Singles of the 80s
Gooey Loves Songs
Squeeze The Cheese
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 1
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 3
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 4
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 6
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 7
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 8
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 11
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 13
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 14
Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits, Vol. 15
Monsters of Rock, Vol. 1
Monsters of Rock, Vol. 2

What Color Is Your Car?
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 04:19 p.m.

A few days ago, I was driving on the freeway and noticed that about 85% of the cars were grey/silver. Today, while I was driving home from work, I noticed that about 60% of the cars were black and 30% were white and the other 10% were various other colors. How odd.

Songs I Like And Dislike
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 08:43 a.m.

Oh yes, it's that time again.

Like:
All Day Long I Dream About Sex by JC Chasez.
Don't Tell Me by Avril Lavinge.
The Reason by Hoobastank.

Dislike:
My Band by D12 (which I used to like until the radio station and MTV played the hell out of it).
Roses by Outkast.
I Don't Wanna Know by Mario Winans.
You're The Only One by Maria Mena.

In other music related news, have you seen the new Britney Spears video? It's the one where her and her boyfriend (played by the yummy Stephen Dorff) are fighting and then she commits suicide. Apparently, because kids these days are incapable of distinguishing reality from fantasy, they had to tack on a section to the video in which Britney emerges from the bathtub so that all the little kids know that she didn't really die. However, we all know that MTV has this nasty little habit of not showing the beginnings and endings of videos. I wonder if there's some sort of agreement where MTV has to show that part, just to cover their asses.

Can You Stand The Heat?
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 08:34 a.m.

Lucky me. The high for today will only be 95F. My poor dog is suffering in the Valley while I'm in an air conditioned office all day.

What's In A Name?
Monday, April 26, 2004 10:17 p.m.

Utah Baby Names.
John and Liz, don't even think about naming your child ANYTHING from this list!

We're Gonna Score Tonight
Sunday, April 25, 2004 04:28 p.m.

Yeah. So I had an entry in here last night/this morning about what I did on Saturday, but upon further reflection of it, I decided to delete it and churn out a whole new one. I was hasty in my blogging effort last night and I was tired so it didn't really convey all the drama and fun I went through yesterday. Now, I have more time so I'm going to re-write it and also catch you up to speed as to what I did today as well.

By the way, the comments section is being all weird. The company that I purchased it from is having issues with their servers and sent me an email saying that since I donated to the site, I'm supposed to download the upgrade but I can't login to do so because their servers are down. Blah!

Saturday, I woke up nice and early at 7am with a pounding headache. I'm not sure if it was the heat or the fact that I slept all night in the same position. I got up, walked Sharky, and then prepared to take him to the Vet. Now, Sharky luuuuuurves going for rides in the car and he really loves going to the Vet. He's not so fond of the shots but he overlooks the 2 seconds of pain because he got to be around other people, other animals and in the car for at least an hour (1/2 each way) with the wind in his face. At the Vet, Sharky was fine while we were in the small waiting room, waiting for the Vet to see us. He even hopped up on the scale to get weighed (55 pounds, by the way) without much of a problem. The problem came when it was time to lead him back to the "big" waiting room, where the cold metal table and the x-ray machine are. Sharky was having NONE of that room and pretty much splayed out all four legs in an effort to not budge. I ended up dragging him into the room and then putting the muzzle on him. He acts like the muzzle cuts off all life because he starts to act like he can't breathe and he seizes up his whole body. At this point, the Vet Tech grabbed him by the collar and under the hind legs and hoisted him up on to the table, where Sharky was fine until the Vet decided to touch his legs. That's when my lovely cutie pie dog started to kick. It took me and the Vet Tech to hold him down while the Vet tested out the non-hurting leg. After about the 4th or 5th kick, the Vet told me that he was going to have to sedate Sharky. He pulled out the needle, I looked away, and within 2 seconds of the shot, Sharky was a doggie Gumby. You could put him in any position and he would stay that way. It was funny and sort of sad at the same time. Because his eyes were open so it seemed like he was totally aware of what was going on but couldn't move. When I told this story to Susan, she mentioned that it must be very traumatizing for Sharky (or any dog, really) to have that happen to him. But the Vet told me that Sharky wasn't aware of his surroundings (because I was petting his head and telling him that everything was ok). After Sharky was sedated, the Vet took x-rays of his hip and checked his teeth, and clipped his nails for me (thank god! those suckers were getting long). The x-rays didn't show anything wrong with his bones so the Vet was guessing that Sharky just strained a muscle or something. So, I paid for the painkillers and everything that was associated with the office visit (which came out to $210) and was told to come back around 2pm, by which time the anesthesia would have worn off and I could collect my dog. Off I went back home. I was home by 9am, so I showered, took some Tylenol, then laid down to try to get rid of the headache. I woke up around 11am and decided now would be a perfect time to vacuum since I didn't have a dog trying to attack the vacuum cleaner. After that, I got online, did some bloggy type stuff, chatted with folks, then went back to bed and laid down for a while until it was time to go get Sharky. I showed up a little early (around 1:30pm) but they let me take him. He was still a bit woozy. The Vet told me that he gave Sharky an allergy shot because Sharky also had some rashes and told me to change Sharky's food to a sensitive skin formula and to give him a fish oil capsule everyday to help with the dry skin. When I asked the Vet where to get that, he told me that I could get it at any vitamin store and then proceeded to tell me that if I had dry skin, I could take a pill a day too. Yeah, my dog and I are already weird. I don't need to be taking the same "medication" as my dog too. I was also told to not take Shark for mile long walks for at least 5 days. Uh. Yeah. That won't be a problem (Sharky's lucky if he gets walked around the block, much less a mile).
After getting Sharky back home, I took him for a quick walk in which he proceeded to pee on EVERYTHING he could. Then, I came in, took another shower (did I mention that it was HOT?) and he and I both laid down for a bit. Then Susan called me and we talked for a bit until it was time for me to get ready to go BOWLING!!!!!!!
First, let's talk about how FREAKING HOT it was at 3:30pm yesterday afternoon! Oh. My. God. And I don't have a/c in my car so my method of cooling is my 2 windows down, hoping for a speed of anything over 20 mph to generate a breeze. Yeah. That wasn't happening, especially not on the 405 freeway. I think I was lucky to be going 10 mph. I followed the Yahoo directions to the letter to get to the bowling alley. This time, the reason for me getting lost was me, and not the faulty directions. I drove right passed the bowling alley without seeing it and couldn't make a u-turn for several miles. So I finally turn around and come back and this time, I see the bowling alley but I'm in the right lane and it's on my left and I can't get over in time to make the turn for the bowling alley, which means that I have to make a left at the next light and then come back around and go into the parking lot. I missed it the first time around because the alley is right next to a grocery store and the grocery store has a much bigger sign.
I park, I meet everyone in there, and go to get my shoes. Get this, the bowling alley provides you with socks when you get your shoes. When did that happen? And you keep the socks once your done. You just give them the shoes back. Anyways, Susan and Dave had gotten there before the rest of us (the rest of us being John & Liz and me) so they had already bowled a game before us. Which meant that they were nice and warmed up. Which meant that they kicked our asses. Which, in all honesty, isn't hard to do. I'm really no competition for either one of them. I bowled craptacularly. I bowled 2 games and never broke 100. I blame it on the ball. I had a 10 pound ball but needed an 11 and couldn't find one 11 pound ball in the whole damn alley. Seriously. I found 9's and 13's but no 11's. Plus, I haven't bowled in several years, so there's the lack of practice too. I bet if we had bowled one more game, I would've broken 100. That and a couple of more nails, as I broke 2 just in the 2 games.
After bowling, we all were hungry so we drove to Denny's. Since I have a horrible sense of direction and have no idea where anything in this town is, I followed Susan and Dave there. Whilst driving, the handle of my shifter popped off. Seriously. The little button thingy that you push to move the stick from Park to Reverse to Drive popped out, hit me in the leg and rolled under my feet. I was frantically trying to call Susan but she wasn't answering her cell phone. Once we got into the parking lot, I had Dave come over and fix it for me (at least temporarily). Then, we went in, ate dinner, chatted for a long time, then left to go to Starbucks, where we enjoyed coffee (although I think Liz had something else since she's 3 1/2 months pregnant and wasn't feeling the coffee love) and more conversation. Basically, we sat outside and talked about things that scare us. Ghosts, talking dolls that have no batteries, aliens, Bloody Mary (that is why I will never ever go into an unlit bathroom), etc. After talking about scary things and some funny stuff and whatnot, we all decided to get going back to our respective homes. I got home around 11:45pm, walked Sharky, blogged a bit, chatted online a bit, and then went to bed around 1am.
Apparently, I forgot to turn off my alarm, so I was woken up at 4:51am. I walked Sharky real quick and then went back to bed. By 9am, it was so damn hot in my apartment that I couldn't sleep anymore so I got up, ate some breakfast, then settled in to watch some tv that I had taped during the week. Around noon, I walked Sharky again, then left to go get gas. I got onto the freeway at 12:30pm to head to Long Beach to pick up Drew from the airport. I was in the freaking car FOR.EV.ER!!! Seriously, I got onto the freeway at 12:30pm, got to Long Beach Airport at 2:45pm, picked up Drew curbside, then drove back to the Valley and dropped Drew off at this house at 4:00pm, then drove back to my apartment. 3 1/2 hours in the car! And it was HOT! My little weather pixie is in a short purple dress and according to her, it was 91F at 4pm. That? Is H.O.T. I took a shower and am now blogging about my weekend.
I still have to watch Lost In Translation but that might wait until tomorrow night because I've got some Iron Chef America stuff that I taped on Friday and Saturday to watch and then it'll be time for Alias and then time for bed.

Sharky
Saturday, April 24, 2004 11:14 a.m.

He's doing fine. It wasn't his hip after all. The Vet took some x-rays and his bones are all strong and puppy-like still. The Vet seems to think that he just sprained a muscle. So, I just have to give him painkillers for a couple of days until it heals itself. But, Sharky does have a skin allergy and a rash and dry skin. The cure for that? Change his dog food to a "sensitive skin" formula and give him a fish oil capsule every day.

Nice Guys
Friday, April 23, 2004 01:22 p.m.

What's with all the articles on Nice Guys?
Today, I've run across this in some guy's LiveJournal (thanks to Alex for the link).
Then, there's this Q&A on MSN.
And finally, a whole gaggle of articles about nice guys.
I totally wouldn't mind a nice guy. Where do they hang out?

Lost In Translation
Thursday, April 22, 2004 07:43 a.m.

Oh my god. According to my Netflix queue page, LIT is available now and might be on its way to me soon.
About frickin' time.

Edited to add: Netflix just sent me an email reminder, letting me know that I'll be getting LIT either tomorrow or Saturday!

Happy Earth Day
Thursday, April 22, 2004 07:42 a.m.

Celebrate!
Be kind to the environment today!

Got A Little Change In My Pocket, Going Jing-A-Ling-A-Ling
Thursday, April 22, 2004 06:54 a.m.

I've paid all my bills for the month (cable, car insurance, cell phone, gas bill). I've paid my taxes. And I still have money left over. And by money left over, I mean money in my bank account where I don't have to ration how much I spend until the end of the month, when I get paid again. My next paycheck (in 8 days) will pay my rent, my DWP bill, and Netflix and that's it. I'm starting to get antsy with all this money. I keep thinking that I want to buy a digital camera, but I don't really need one. I keep thinking that I want to buy a new DVD player but I don't really need one (except that I sort of do because my current dvd player is breaking down). I also keep thinking that I should buy the lateral thigh trainer but I don't feel like going to the As Seen On TV store in the mall. I also keep thinking that I could buy some new clothes but I don't want to buy any new clothes until I shed more pounds. Luckily, I've been able to talk myself out of buying all kinds of stuff I don't really need by reminding myself that if I do spend the money, something will happen in which I would've needed the money. I'm taking Sharky to the Vet this weekend so I'm betting that will set me back a chunk, which makes me glad I've got the extra cash. We'll see how long my good fortune lasts.

The Price Of Cereal
Wednesday, April 21, 2004 09:42 a.m.

This? Way too funny. Reminds me of conversations I have with Alyson.

Administrative Professional
Wednesday, April 21, 2004 09:15 a.m.

Happy Administrative Professional Day.
I hope that those of you in an administrative professional capacity get something nice today.

I'm Henry the 8th, I Am
Wednesday, April 21, 2004 06:42 a.m.


Congratulations! You are Catarina of Aragon. Catarina was Henry's first wife and was probably the only one of his six wives to truly love him. He tired of her, and she spent the last decade of her life in lonely exile. Yet when she was dying, alone and unloved, she wrote: "Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire thee above all things. Farewell."
Which of Henry VIII's wives are you?
this quiz was made by the groovtastic ghouls at Spookbot

El Niño
Tuesday, April 20, 2004 02:03 p.m.

I don't know how old this Jeremy kid is, but I know a certain individual who write essays like this because she hasn't passed 1st grade yet.

But wait! There's more. Jeremy apparently decided to write about lightning too.
He sure does like to write about the weather. Hmmm....sounds like my friend. She likes to talk about the weather. A LOT.

Bad Feeling
Tuesday, April 20, 2004 08:37 a.m.

I've got this feeling in the pit of my stomach, like something bad is going to happen. I hate having that feeling. Especially when it doesn't pan out. Not that I want something bad to happen. But I hate being anxious for no reason.

Sharky
Monday, April 19, 2004 12:29 p.m.

I think my dog is getting old. I've had him since he was 4 weeks old and that was 1998. Which means that this July, he'll be 6 years old. It's hard for me to believe it because he still acts like a puppy. But I realized it yesterday when he had trouble jumping up onto my bed to lay down. I've also been noticing that when I come home, he's not waiting for me at the door, he's lying on the futon mattress that's still in my living room.
All of this makes me incredibly sad.

Blogs
Monday, April 19, 2004 12:01 p.m.

So, here's what I've decided to do.

I'm keeping two blogs/journals. One at LiveJournal and one here. They'll be the exact same thing (for the most part) but one will be so that the LJ people don't have to go to my pitas site and the pitas one will be my main one. Plus, Pitas keeps breaking so I'd like to have a back up, just in case. :-)

Netflix
Monday, April 19, 2004 10:28 a.m.

So, I got an email from Netflix that says that my fee is going up starting in June. So instead of paying $21.60/month, I'll pay $23.80/month.

A guy at work has been bothering me about wanting to use me and my Netflix. He wants me to rent all these movies so that he can then burn them. First of all, that would be illegal but not unlike what people do with CDs. I have several CDs that are burned copies of friend's CDs and vice versa. The only difference is that the DVDs aren't mine to keep. I told him I might consider it if he would burn DVDs for me of movies that I want. And that's a pretty big IF on my part because I don't really feel comfortable letting a rented DVD out of my sight. But I didn't need to even worry about that. Get this. He told me that he would but that I'd have to pay for them. Ummm....excuse me? I'm already paying for them. I pay to rent them. If I were going to do something like let you borrow the rental DVDs to burn, then you better damn well burn the occasional DVD for me for free. What.Ever. Needless to say, I turned him down. He's peeved at me too. Again. What.Ev.Er.

Zzz...
Monday, April 19, 2004 09:40 a.m.

I am so tired this morning.
My upstairs neighbor informed me yesterday that she has to be into work at 2:30am now which means that she's getting up at 1:00am. And she sure did. Oddly enough, her waking up didn't wake me up. What woke me up was The Jerk turning on the tv at 3:00am with the volume too loud. I fell back asleep half an hour later, only to wake up at 5:00am to go to work. Stupid Jerk!

The Plan
Sunday, April 18, 2004 08:06 p.m.

So, the plan for today was to go see Kill Bill, Vol. 2. Yeah. That didn't happen. I showered, got dressed, walked Sharky, got into the car, drove to the ATM, got some cash, and started on my way to the theatre. Then I got hit with some HUGE cramps. So bad I actually had to pull into a parking lot and wait until they subsided enough for me to drive. At that point, I turned around, and started back home. I did stop at a Rite Aid on the way back to get some Midol though. Got home, talked with Drew for a bit, showered, took the Midol and then took a nap. Unfortunately, this means that I am now wide awake and probably won't be able to sleep tonight. Stupid female problems.

Geeky
Sunday, April 18, 2004 07:55 a.m.

Per this website quiz, I am:
a CASUAL USER.
I am fairly new to this whole geek thing. I have geek potential though. Just give me some time.

Warm Spot
Sunday, April 18, 2004 07:41 a.m.

This is what Sharky does when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Except that he doesn't move out of the way when I yell at him.

Fan Girl
Saturday, April 17, 2004 11:52 p.m.

I was having a conversation with Drew (yesterday?) and I was telling him about my experience with the cashier guy at Borders while buying the book on the golden ratio. As I was trying to express the terms of what I liked about the golden ratio, Drew hit upon the perfect description of what I was: a math and science fan girl. That's true. I like interesting facts about math, but in general, I suck at math. I get the ideas and concepts, but the actual execution of it is beyond me somehow. The same with science. I love watching those educational tv shows that explain things like how stars are formed or how Newtonian physcis differed from Copernicun or whatever. Hell, I was even in the science club in high school and participated in a science fair (the egg drop). Now, I'm not a fan girl in the sense that I know the names of scientisits and know everything about their lives but I do get excited about the Fibonacci Sequence (seriously, click on the link. it explains the Fibonacci Sequence and the golden section) and geeky things like that.
That's not weird.
Right?

Step By Step
Saturday, April 17, 2004 11:42 p.m.

Earlier this evening, as I was lying in bed, heating pad on my stomach and Sharky curled up beside me, I happened upon VH-1 playing "classics." What 3 videos did I happen to watch? "Hourglass" by Squeeze (I have that tape and used to know all the songs on it), "Forever Your Girl" by Paula Abdul (cute little Elijah Wood), and "Step By Step" by New Kids on the Block. Seeing the NKOTB video prompted me to pull out my NKOTB Hanging Tough video and watch it. Oh yes. I spent an hour, rocking out (well, Pop-ping out really) to a boy band. Donnie Wahlberg was, is and always will be my favorite. Jordan Knight needs to get slapped around and told that he is not the be all and end all of this world. He is, in my humble opinion, a very egotistical person. That's just me though. I'm sure others really liked/like him.

Movies
Saturday, April 17, 2004 04:22 p.m.

I'm still waiting for Lost In Translation! Those of you who have rented this movie from Netflix and are still holding on to it, RETURN IT! I want to see it! I think I stand a better chance of renting it at Blockbuster in order to see it. However, I don't feel like going to Blockbuster and then having to return it to Blockbuster. Yeah, Netflix has made me even more lazy.
I watched Beyond Borders the other night. It was sad and made me cry but it was a bad movie. Very preachy.
I also watched Kill Bill, Vol. 1. That was quite a fun little movie to watch. Gory and some big plot holes, but still fun. I think I might actually see Vol. 2 in the theatres.

The Damn Roof
Saturday, April 17, 2004 04:07 p.m.

My goal for today was to go bowling. I don't know why, but I have had this overwhelming desire to go bowling as of late. However, fate has thwarted me two times so far in my attempts to bowl. Last week, it was because people were out of town. Today, it was girlie problems and rain.
So instead of bowling, I laid in bed for a while with a heating pad on my stomach and finished reading The Blind Assassin. After which, I got up, showered, got dressed, walked Sharky, then headed to the library to drop off some books. I guess someone up there was feeling sorry for me because I got a parking space right in front of the library. After the library, I went to the grocery store for some provisions and then came back home, where I've since been sitting in front of the computer. I'm about to get offline and go take a nap.

Curious
Saturday, April 17, 2004 03:31 p.m.

Hmm...the pitas home page says the site is down but I was able to login and make this entry.

Which Major Poet Are You?
Thursday, April 15, 2004 04:54 p.m.


You are Samuel Taylor Coleridge!
The infamous "archangel a little damaged!" You took drugs and talked for hours, it's true, but you also made a conscious choice to cultivate the image of the deranged poet in a frenzy of genius. You claimed you wrote "Kubla Khan" in an afternoon after a laudanum, when you pretty manifestly did no such thing. You and your flashing eyes and floating hair. And your brilliant scholarship and obvious genius.

Which Major Romantic Poet Would You Be (if You Were a Major Romantic Poet)?
brought to you by Quizilla

Mojo
Thursday, April 15, 2004 11:23 a.m.

Everyone send Alex some good mojo to help him with his widsom teeth issues that he's having.

Helicopters
Thursday, April 15, 2004 06:45 a.m.

Big FUCKING hate this morning to whatever the hell was happening in my neighborhood that had the police helicopters hovering over the area for an HOUR at 4 o'clock in the morning.

Raise
Wednesday, April 14, 2004 01:23 p.m.

Guess who got a raise?
Ok, well, everyone at the company got a raise but some people got more than others. Supposedly, it's based on how you were graded on your evalution but I know for a fact that the Sales Team got low evals and got a higher raise percentage than me. And the fact that some of the Sales Team Reps are cheaters and are still getting higher raises than me sucks. But I'm not bitter about it or anything.
Anyway, I got a whole 50 cents (American). Woo. Hoo. I know I shouldn't complain because I could be unemployed. And really, for what I do, I make a whole heck of a lot of money. However, I have worked here for 9 years so I definitely deserve it.

Fun Stuff
Wednesday, April 14, 2004 08:49 a.m.

Grids
Windows Music
Songs To Wear Pants To. This guy makes songs out of requests. You have to click on the titles to hear them. I highly recommend the "Applesauce" song.
If Metallica and the Beatles had a love child

Woo hoo!
Wednesday, April 14, 2004 07:23 a.m.

I now have corrected my comments section and it's all good!

testing again
Wednesday, April 14, 2004 07:20 a.m.

let's see if this works.

Testing
Tuesday, April 13, 2004 04:37 p.m.

So, I now have a comments section, but it's not quite working correctly.

Alex, if you're reading this, email me and explain to me how you fixed this on your blog!

Sightseeing
Monday, April 12, 2004 12:05 p.m.

I talked with my parents last night and it turns out that my Aunt Bev has been in Huntsville for the past week and a half, visiting. And, according to my mother, they all have been going sightseeing and going all over the place. Guntersville, Decatur, downtown Huntsville (yes, Huntsville's big enough to have a downtown! shut up!), and various other surrounding cities. Plus, they went up to Nashville and did all kinds of touristy things there. Folks, I think the world is about to end. Because my father did all of this with them. The last touristy thing my father did was go with me and my friends Rachel and Kathleen to Opryland Amusement Park back when I was 16. And before that, the last touristy thing my dad did was when I was 11 and me, my parents, and my sister all took a bus tour of NYC. So for my dad to do anything touristy is a sign of the apocalypse!

I took out my mood indicator. I never really updated it and the Imood website is down anyways so it wasn't working.

MapQuest Sucks
Sunday, April 11, 2004 07:56 a.m.

Saturday, I had planned on having lunch with John and Liz at SoupPlantation and the one that was half way between them and me was in Pasadena. So armed with my MapQuest directions, I set out at 11am to meet them at 12pm. I was doing fine until it came time to get off the freeway. That's where it all went horribly wrong! I ended up in freaking Monrovia and driving all over parts of Pasadena looking for the stupid street for 20 minutes. Finally, John called me to find out where I was and with the help of him and his Thomas Guide, I was able to find the damn place. Now, the whole point of us meeting was for me to give them back a book that Susan had borrowed from them and for me to get a videotape that I had lent them with Kingdom Hospital on it. They forgot the tape so after lunch, I headed out to their place and hung out with them for a while. I got to see Liz's ultrasound and see the little bean that is their baby so far. After a session of chatting and putting together a kid's jigsaw puzzle, I headed home and then was a bum all day. I watched a little tv, hung out online, walked Sharky about a bazillion times because I was so bored, and finised one of the books I'm currently reading (Kavalier & Clay). That now leaves me with 4 books to read now.
Yeah, Friday night, Susan was in Simi Valley, and wanted to wait until after traffic died down before she headed home. Our original plan was to meet for dinner, but she wanted to hit a bookstore so that she could re-buy John and Liz's book for them (long story short: she borrowed a book from them but it sorta got ruined so she bought them a replacement). We ended up at Northridge Fashion Center because the Barnes & Noble website said there was a store there and because it was the only place between the 2 of us geographically. Yeah, B&N lied. There was no store there. There was, however, a Borders, which I don't really like, but I had no choice. I met Susan inside and we browsed for a while. I ended up buying 3 books, which I really shouldn't have. They're over in my "What I'm Reading" section. When I was paying for the books, the clerk ringing me up started talking about a science magazine that had an article about brain chemistry and he couldn't wait to read it. Well, I wasn't really paying attention to him so I couldn't figure out what the hell he was talking about and Susan was finished being rung up so she walked over and asked the guy if he was seriously asking me about brain chemistry. At that point, the guy asked me if I was reading the book for a class (hee!) or for fun, and I thought he was referring to Sarum. I explained that it was recommended to me by someone in a book club. I happened to have my hand on the book and he said, "Oh no. Not that one." and pulled the book on the golden ratio out from underneath it. Ahhh. That made so much more sense. That's why he was talking to me about brain chemistry. I explained that I was just geeky enough to read about mathematic principles but not geeky enough to be able to do math. He laughed and by that point the transaction was over so out Susan and I went. That gave us a good chuckle for a few minutes. Then she and I went to go get food in the food court. We found this place that served cheesesteaks with our without the bun (yeah for me and the no carbs!) but for what we paid for it, it really wasn't worth it. Even Susan's sandwich was paltry. Definitely won't be frequenting the Steak Escape anymore. After the food, we went outside so Susan could smoke and we just sat and talked. Then we decided to head back out to where our cars were parked and hang out over there and talk. Eventually, I decided to go home so I left and Susan decided to make a quick pit stop inside Borders again to use their restroom. She called me on my way home to tell me that she shouldn't have done that, as she bought another book. Hee! Once I got home, I walked Sharky, then settled in to read some more.
Today, it's all about watching movies. I have 2 movies that I need to watch and send back to Netflix so I'll do that and perhaps finish The Blind Assassin. I've decided to give up on The Devil in the White City because I'm not a big fan of non-fiction and because I'm bored just reading the description of what it's about. I'm going to return 2 books back to the library today so at least I'll have 2 less books cluttering up my apartment.

Happy Easter
Friday, April 9, 2004 11:45 a.m.

Rapping Easter Bunny

Le Cinema
Friday, April 9, 2004 11:05 a.m.

Crying
Hole In The Ground
Falling Sticky Things
Cowboys & Indians

Bike Ride
Friday, April 9, 2004 08:42 a.m.

Chronicles of a Ukraine woman who cycles through Chernobyl.

Just In Time For Easter
Thursday, April 8, 2004 01:46 p.m.

Peep Research
Exorcist in 30 Seconds

Food
Thursday, April 8, 2004 12:16 p.m.

After having made some food/diet decisions in the past, I have now decided to change everything.
When I started Atkins, I quit going out to eat because it was hard to find stuff to be able to eat that wasn't carb loaded. Around Thanksgiving/Christmas, I figured that I wouldn't deprive myself of stuff that I wanted and that if I was out with friends, I wouln't force them to eat around my diet.

Well, that's all changing.

Especially since thinking that way has lead me to gain back about 10 of the 20 pounds I had initially shed. I'm really tired of going to places where I have absolutely no selection of what I can eat. I have no issues with everyone eating carbs in front of me. Eat all the bread, rice, pasta you want. I could care less. But I want the option of being able to order something other than a salad. Basically, I'm cutting out all Asian, Italian, and Latin/Hispanic eatiers. No noodles, no pasta, no rice, no tortillas, no beans, no sugary sauces, no bread! I realize that this limits where and what I can eat but that isn't a bad thing. It will force me to stick to the Atkins and hopefully, I will lose those gained back pounds and more.

Now I just need to buy my exercise apparatus and I'll be all set.

I don't want any of my friends to think that this is in any way a diss on them. I could've fought harder to eat other places and I could've stopped myself from eating some of the things I did. It's just that I'm not going to sacrifice my weight and health anymore for the sake of staying with the group. It may seem incredibly selfish, but I realized that I have spent too much time making sure that everyone else was happy in terms of food choices and no one really did the same for me. Granted, the whole "I'll try to stick to the diet but if we go somewhere where I can't, then I won't" certainly allowed others to disregard my dietary concerns, so I am partially to blame but now I'm going to make it All. About. Me.

Useless Quiz
Thursday, April 8, 2004 07:48 a.m.



I should let everyone know that if you keep retaking the test, even with the same answers, you'll get different results.
I'm still chuckling over the Macaroni Protest Movement!

Chicken
Thursday, April 8, 2004 07:47 a.m.

Command the Chicken!

Men In Uniform
Wednesday, April 7, 2004 08:26 a.m.

For anyone who's interested in what John and I are referring to, here's a link to Combat Missions. It was a show that aired on USA a couple of years ago. If you look under "Delta Squad," you'll see a picture of the guy that John's talking about. The guy was a complete asshole during the show and he could dish out the snark but he couldn't take it. I am sorry to hear that he lost his life in such a horrible way. Here's a story about Scott Helvenston.

You Catch More Flies With Honey Than With Vinegar
Tuesday, April 6, 2004 04:46 p.m.

Try to catch the flies with chopsticks!
(Legend, this one's for you!) =)

Weekend Update
Tuesday, April 6, 2004 04:15 p.m.

Yeah, I know it's Tuesday and I know that I put stuff in over the weekend, but I'm updating y'all on my weekend today. So there.

Having said that, I have to tell you that my weekend was pretty boring. Friday night, I met Susan in Northridge for dinner. The plan was to go to Soup Plantation but the line was out the door. So we walked over to TGIFriday's and the wait for a table for 2 was an hour and the bar was packed so then we walked over towards Starbucks and the little eateries in that area. We finally decided on a little pizza place, where Susan had a 1 person pepperoni pizza and I had a chicken caeser salad. We sat around and talked, especially about books, since I'm on a reading kick right now. Then we decided to call Alyson and mess with her so we talked with her for a while (3 way telephone is so much fun). Around 11pm, I drove back home and then walked Sharky, and went to bed.
Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early and went into work. Cicely and I convinced Samuel to let us come in on Saturday so we could at least try to get caught up on our work. We made a dent so that was a good thing. We're still behind by 2 days but at least we're not a week behind. Which means I'm having less stress and tension headaches. After work, I came home, walked Sharky, then laid down to take a nap. I woke up when Alyson called me and even then, for the 1st 5 minutes, I was kind of in a daze and I wasn't sure if I was dreaming. I chatted with Alyson for a bit and then watched some stuff I had taped during the week. After that, I decided to turn some stuff into the library that I was done with and go pick up the book that I had put on hold. After the library (which still has the suckiest parking ever!), I came home and started reading. I got about 1/4 of the way through The Blind Assassin before my eyes started getting tired and I started getting sore from lying in one place for too long, so I got up, played on the computer a bit, walked Sharky and went to bed, remember to set my clock ahead an hour.
Sunday morning, I got up, walked the dog, set all the clocks in my apartment ahead an hour (bathroom, kitchen, microwave, etc.), and then decided that I was hungry. As I had no food in my apartment, it was time to make a trip to the grocery store. So, I did that, came back, fixed myself lunch, and then decided to watch my Netflix movies. Cold Creek Manor SUCKED and sucked big! Holy cow was that a bad movie. Then I popped in House of the Dead. God help me, I liked it. I mean, I didn't have high expectations for it because it is, after all, a movie based on a video game. But I liked the campiness and somewhat unbelievableness (is that a word?) of it. Plus, I like the fact that these teenagers (college kids?) just became virtuosos with weapons once they got them in their hands. Hee!
By the time the movies were over, it was evening and time to get ready for work the next day so I went about my business and there you go.
Yeah, I think it's safe to say that I don't lead a very exciting life.

Buy Me!
Sunday, April 4, 2004 05:42 p.m.

This? Is ingenious. I would totally buy it. If I did a lot of entertaining. Totally one of the better items advertised in infomercials.

Linktastic
Sunday, April 4, 2004 09:54 a.m.

Go search for yourself under Googlism and see what comes up! Unfortunately, nothing comes up for me (naturally).

Bunny and Cat Love

Life is Boring

Doorsteps

It Comes In Pints?
Friday, April 2, 2004 10:45 a.m.

I'm not a beer drinker but this was a fun little snippet.
To drink my weight, I would have to chug 216 pints of beer!
How big is your beer belly?
Powered by the mighty Rum and Monkey.

Rum and Monkey have a bunch of fun tests.

I Knew It
Thursday, April 1, 2004 09:04 p.m.


You are a GRAMMAR GOD!

If your mission in life is not already to preserve the English tongue, it should be.
Congratulations and thank you!

How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

April Fools Day
Thursday, April 1, 2004 07:20 p.m.

Today, the Sales Team (TST) played a trick on The Sales Manager (TSM), with the help of The Office Manager (TOM) and The A/R Manager (TARM). Every night, TARM runs a report for TSM to total the amount of money TST made for that day. That way, TSM can keep on top of the people who aren't making their quota and also keep on top of month-to-date totals. Yesterday was the end of the month and TST made their quota as a group so TSM was pleased and bought them all breakfast (danish, orange and apple juices, bagels and cream cheese). Well, this morning, TOM (who is my boss) sent an email to TSM and our 2 Senior VPs (who were sent an email before the fake email went out to explain that it was part of the joke) to let them know that the report glitched somewhere and it actually doubled the amount of money actually made by TST. Needless to say, this freaked out TSM because he had already done all of the reporting based on that number and he had already calculated the new month's quotas for TST. He went around to all the Sales Reps and asked them all to show him their sales reports for yesterday. TARM had worked the reports to show only half of what they actually made so TSM is seriously freaking out at this point. This went on for about an hour and then TSM went back to his desk to recalculate quotas. After about 5 minutes, TST crowded around his cubicle and screamed APRIL FOOLS DAY! The look on his face was a cross between "I'm going to murder each and everyone of you slowly and painfully¡" and "Ha ha! You got me good!" I have to say, that was the funniest April Fools Day joke I've seen in a while. Needless to say, TSM is now plotting his revenge. I made sure to let him know that I wasn't involved in the deception in any way, shape or form.

Halcyon Days
Thursday, April 1, 2004 07:18 p.m.

Last night, as I was walking Sharky, amidst the smell of the smog and the smoke from a barbeque and the Jasmine that grows in huge bushes over by some townhouses, I hit a patch of air that smelled like bug spray. As I stood there, inhaling the scent, I was transported back in time to summers of my youth spent in Panama.
I remembered spending summer days with my friends, swimming all day at the Olympic sized pool on base, with the occasional rain/lightning breaks. We’d spend all our time in the water, challenging each other to see who could swim underwater from one side of the pool to the other (side to side not lengthwise) without coming up for air. We’d do underwater handstands. We’d do front flips and back flips (in the water though, never from the side or else the lifeguards would blow their whistles at you and you’d have to sit out in shame for 10 minutes). We’d lay out in the sun during adult swim, eating snacks that our mom’s had packed for us and drinking soda or water or iced tea.
Once we were all dry, we’d head back into the water to play different games, like Marco Polo. Or that game where one person treads water in the deep end with his/her eyes closed and then everyone tried to get from one side to the other without getting tagged. If you got tagged, you stayed in the middle with the original person. Basically the winner was the person who was left. Eventually, the sky would darken and the pool lights would come on. Big spheres of light under the water, casting shadows on the opposite pool walls and making the faces of me and my friends take on new characteristics.
About an hour after dark, the pool would close and then we’d all head to our respective houses for dinner with our families. For me, that meant eating dinner with my dad and mom, talking about what happened at the pool, what happened at my dad’s job, what my mom did at home. After dinner, I’d shower, get dressed, and meet my friends at the playground that was in the cul-de-sac of my street. We’d sit on the swings or the merry-go-round (or whatever that little spinning thing was called) and just talk about boys, clothes, school, etc. Around 10pm, we’d have to say goodbye to each other and head home because that’s when the big bug sprayer would drive around spraying the chemicals into the air to kill mosquitoes, roaches, and various assorted other bugs. And the smell of that insecticide would linger in the air until the next morning, when I would get up, eat breakfast, and head down to the pool to start my day all over again.

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