Archive for March, 2005

hooray for raises

Thursday, March 31st, 2005

so i finished my japanese paper. it was five pages instead of four, which surprised me a bit, coz i’m usually struggling by page two or three. i just hope i get a good grade on it… you can bet that the 6-8 page paper i have due on tuesday won’t be nearly so easy to write. in light of my senioritis, i really wish i could’ve done my last brit lit class with dr. white. he isn’t challenging, but he is interesting and his tests are easy as hell. gah.

and shadow finally got his raise today. he won’t be getting his bonus til the end of april, but the raise kind of makes up for it. he’ll be making around an extra $3000/year. which is a really good raise, i guess. he was excited about it anyway. i hope this means i can start going out to lunch with friends and stuff again. what it really means, probably, is that shadow and i will be going to the dentist soon. i’ve had a rotten wisdom tooth half out of my gum for a couple months now. the weird thing is, it came up dead. it’s not like i did anything to it. but it’s definitely impacted and will have to be removed, coz the gum around it is kind of open and exposed to stuff. i was hoping to avoid having my wisdom teeth out, but no such luck. maybe i can get away with just having the one out. no unnecessary surgery, thanks. especially since it can leave you with nerve damage, which scares the hell out of me. i’d rather not be left drooling for the rest of my life, or unable to taste anything. it doesn’t even hurt much anymore, so i wish i could just leave it. i bet i have some cavities, too.

well, it’s almost time for school, and i’m suddenly starving for some reason, so i’d better go find a snack.

(oh, and i totally got a b on the 10 page florida lit paper. w00t.)

quiz time

Thursday, March 31st, 2005




You Are Best Described By…







Sleep

by Salvador Dali




What Famous Work of Art Are You?




You Are A Good Friend





You’re always willing to listen

Or lend a shoulder to cry on

You’re there through thick and thin

Many people consider you their “best friend”!


What Kind of Friend Are You?




You Are 50% Normal

(Somewhat Normal)





While some of your behavior is quite normal…

Other things you do are downright strange

You’ve got a little of your freak going on

But you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself


How Normal Are You?

more hypocrisy and parenting issues

Thursday, March 31st, 2005

Toys That Get Kids Used to Ideas:

You see, it all came to a head in the toy store. This was the week that our congress and the president intervened in the Terri Schiavo case to save her life while we continued to blast away at the Iraqis. The week we sold two dozen F16s to Pakistan.
I got to thinking of Randall Terry and his followers demonstrating around Terri Schiavo and wondered how many of these right-to-lifers took to the streets to protest the war and the killing of over 1500 U.S. soldiers and over 100,000 Iraqis? Did they protest the continual use of our taxpayer money to build and sell more and newer lethal weapons which have no other use than to be anti-life? Did they protest the sale of F16s to Pakistan? How about Abu Ghraib? How about corporations that pollute our air and water and kill citizens?

i totally agree with this bit, though i have to say i didn’t agree with the entire piece. i played with my friends’ g.i. joes and transformers (wasn’t allowed to have them, myself) when i was a kid, and i’m definitely anti-war. it’s not the toys and games that kids play with, but what the child’s parents teach them about the world. a parent has to pay attention to their kids, and not leave them with video games and the tv as babysitters. you can bet that zoe will know what her mum thinks about current events, anyway.

surveys

Wednesday, March 30th, 2005

my verbatim response to a magazine survey i’m taking on how i’d rate the cover:

“Like many women’s magazines, it seems superficial and exacerbates the body image problem so many women have. ‘Does he lie about your looks?’ ‘How will your body age?’ How about a magazine that can make your average woman feel good about herself and the natural process of aging? By the way, nice job on the medical scare-tactics.”

then i’m asked: “What specifically could the editors have done with this cover that would have made you more likely to purchase this issue of blank? Please be as specific as possible.”

to which i replied: “Not airbrushed the hell out of the model, added articles with real insight into average women’s lives, etc. And stop trying to scare us with stories on unlikely health problems. The news is frightening enough, thanks.”

and then the survey asks: “In your opinion, what elements make up a “great magazine”? In other words, what are the things you look for in a magazine that you find most satisfying?”

to which i reply: “I like a magazine that keeps me informed of world events without talking down to me or insulting my intelligence. I’d also like the magazine to focus on my interests, and less on how to make my man happy. I know how to have good sex. Tell me something I don’t know. Also, a great magazine wouldn’t trigger eating disorders.”

“What does it mean to you when a magazine is said to have “substance”? What kinds of content would you expect to find in a magazine of “substance”?”

“A magazine with substance would be educational. It wouldn’t rely on stupid sex tricks and unhealthy ideas on how to get thin fast. And it would feature real women on the cover, or at least celebrities that haven’t been airbrushed like mad.”

now i’m on this part that’s asking me to select characteristics that could describe the magazine in question… but none of the selections apply at all. it’s like they’re making you say something positive about the stupid magazine coz they won’t let you go on without checking something. great survey.

but i did earn a $10 amazon gift certificate from another survey. and i got to do one on simulation video games, which was fun. w00t.

links blatantly stolen from deb

Wednesday, March 30th, 2005

Pharmacists’ Rights at Front Of New Debate (washingtonpost.com):

“There are pharmacists who will only give birth control pills to a woman if she’s married. There are pharmacists who mistakenly believe contraception is a form of abortion and refuse to prescribe it to anyone,” said Adam Sonfield of the Alan Guttmacher Institute in New York, which tracks reproductive issues.

um, if you think contraception is a form of abortion, then you need to go back to pharmacy school. or high school biology class.

Brauer, of Pharmacists for Life, defends the right of pharmacists not only to decline to fill prescriptions themselves but also to refuse to refer customers elsewhere or transfer prescriptions.

i’ve already told shadow that if some asshole takes my bcp prescription, and refuses to fill it or give it back, that i’m calling the cops and reporting them for theft. that’s my bit of paper, and if you take it from me without providing a service and refuse to give it back, you’re stealing from me and i will see to it that what you’ve done is treated as a crime. i will also be glad to see you prosecuted, if at all possible.

Gay News From 365Gay.com:

Opponents of the bills said they’re worried they would allow providers to refuse service for any reason. For example, they said an emergency medical technicians could refuse to answer a call from the residence of gay couple because they don’t approve of homosexuality.

does this not seem to go against the hippocratic oath? i don’t know whether paramedics are even subject to the oath, but refusing to save someone’s life when it’s your job is irresponsible and sick, and something that you should be fucking fired for.

Paul A. Long, vice president for public policy for the Michigan Catholic Conference, said the bills promote the constitutional right to religious freedom. “Individual and institutional health care providers can and should maintain their mission and their services without compromising faith-based teaching,” he said in a written statement.

well what about the patient’s constitutional rights? oh, wait, being gay makes you a non-entity in this country. i forgot. and you can forget that “love your neighbor” bullshit while you’re at it, too, right?

Chaos upsets families

i heard about this, and that’s the sort of reason i didn’t want to be there that night. we were just adding to the noise and conflict. and while we were there, some poor soul was stretchered past the crowd and into the hospice so that they could presumably spend the last of their time in peace. so much for being allowed to die with dignity… it was after seeing that, that i insisted we leave.

leave

Wednesday, March 30th, 2005

i signed up for yahoo!s new 360 beta thingy email notification. i’m such a geek about this stuff. i have an account with just about every blogging service there is (even french ones), but it’s never enough. they all have different features and pros and cons, and i just like trying them out. of course, i’ll probably not actually blog there, but i want to play around with the different features and waste a lot of time. and i want it now!! i was like this with gmail, too, until deb was kind enough to send me one of her invites. probably so i’d shut up about it. (wow, i just realized the total extent of her generosity. i think all i’ve sent her is a cookie recipe. i can see why i don’t have a lot of friends.)

so… i have a paper due tomorrow. which i haven’t really started on. it seems like i can only write a paper when i really have to. like the day it’s due. though i think i’ll try to write tuesday’s paper over the weekend. we’ll see how that goes.

i’m sick of writing papers. i think i picked the wrong major. thankfully, it’ll all be over soon. i hope. i wish this was my last semester. i have senioritis i think.

i also think i’ll try to do my new layout sometime next week. it was going to be similar to the one over at lj, but it seems like a lot of people are using a flower motif. i’ll just do it anyway, probably. i want something pink for the spring.

also, i have to admit that i keep singing jojo’s leave. i can’t help it.

get out right now
it’s the end of you and me
it’s too late and I can’t wait
for you to be gone

spring is making me ditzy and evil again. and 6 underground just came on, which i love. i’m so bipolar this time of year. i was thinking that yesterday, too.

don’t think coz i understand
i care
don’t think coz i’m talking
we’re friends

i’m sure i’ve quoted that before, but it bears repeating.

i hope juchan can visit on the 8th… last time she wasn’t able.

and i’m just rambling. maybe someday i’ll make sense or write something slightly more deep.

arbitrary

Wednesday, March 30th, 2005

well, it looks like blogger has finally decided to start working… in future, check here sometimes, coz apparently this isn’t the most reliable blogging software ever.

there were all these things i wanted to talk about today, but i’m just not up to it now. i actually wrote something out on paper last night, with the intention of trying to take a picture of it and posting it that way, but it didn’t really work out. i tried to take the pic during break, but i couldn’t get everything i’d written in a legible way.

anyway…

well i guess i’m not in the mood to post after all. it seemed like there was a lot to talk about, but i don’t want to now…

audio post

Tuesday, March 29th, 2005
this is an audio post - click to play

response to juchan

Sunday, March 27th, 2005

terri

since juchan’s comments don’t work coz i’ve been too lazy to switch her to blogger, i’ll just comment here.

i totally agree with what she’s said. which, in some ways, probably makes me a hypocrite. i’ve brought politics into this because all the hypocrisy surrounding this issue has made me so angry that i’ve had to blog about it. it pisses me off that some people think it’s okay to kill certain people, and spend a lot of time trying to save others, when it’s uncertain what they really even want. i’m also a hypocrite because i went to the protest. (it doesn’t matter which side i was protesting for, i shouldn’t have been there at all.)

since this whole mess started, i’ve discussed the events at length with shadow. i, too, have said how awful it is to parade her around on tv. i can tell you that i wouldn’t want to be seen by millions in that state, and neither would she. (her parents have set up a website with video clips of her on it, which i think is kind of weird.)

i also think that something should be done to prevent eating disorders, which is what is presumed to have caused her heart attack. there are four year old girls out there working out because their “tummy is too big.” i can only hope that if i have a daughter, i’ll be able to raise her to have a healthy relationship with food. i’m trying to get there myself, so it’s not a do as i say not as i do kind of thing.

anyway, i just wanted to say that i pretty much agree with what juchan has said. even if some of it makes me a hypocrite.

correction:

Sunday, March 27th, 2005

i guess i shouldn’t have been so selfish, there. i was just ranting. so i missed church. no one i know is sick or dying. (well, i guess my grandpa is dying of alzheimers, but he has been for a long time now, so it’s not like he was suddenly stricken with anything.) i’m healthy. my country isn’t being bombed. i’m just upset that i missed out on something i really wanted to take part in, and that my feelings matter so little to my husband.

yet another ruined holiday in the worst year of my life

Sunday, March 27th, 2005

i should be at church right now. let’s just say that easter isn’t going well for me at all. in a last-ditch effort to get my easter candy on friday when we went grocery shopping, i begged chris to just let me go myself, but he probably knew what i was up to, and refused.

then, this morning, i overslept. the alarm went off, and i remember that vaguely, then chris turned it off. i kept right on sleeping. i woke up around 10:30 and looked past chris sitting up reading, and saw the clock. i didn’t ask why he didn’t wake me or anything. i just turned over and said, “i really wanted to go to the easter service.” to which he replied that he didn’t know i’d wanted to go so badly. i wasn’t crying because i missed church, really. it was because i felt that i’d made it quite clear how important it was i go, but it was more important for him to just stay home. i realize that it was my fault i overslept. but he was awake, and didn’t try to get me up at all after the alarm went off. it’s things like this that make me truly believe that he never listens to a damn thing i say, or if he does, he just doesn’t give a fuck. i think it’s a little from column a and a little from column b.

as i’ve mentioned before, i’m not a christian, so easter doesn’t mean anything to me in that way. it’s just a celebration of a season i love. and i wanted to see how the church i want to become a member of celebrates it. i’ve already seen the equivalent of a baptism and really liked what i saw. these are things i want to know about before i commit myself to a church. now that i’m an adult, i understand how important things like that are. (my parents tried to explain it to me when i was a kid, but i didn’t see why you couldn’t just join right away.) so it was very important to me that i go today. i said as much multiple times, explaining all the reasons, and he must not have heard me once. either that, or he just doesn’t care about my feelings at all. i guess he’s made that clear on many an occasion, so i don’t know why i expect anything different.

and i’ve just remembered that i’m cursed or something this year, so it all makes sense. everything has pretty much been shite since my birthday. everyone forgot my birthday, mum got sick and died, christmas was awful between dad’s nasty mood and having to spend all my money on school books (and my gift card on a wedding gift), and now easter is going in about the same direction. (obviously, some of these events far outweigh others, but i’m pointing to a general trend of having the suckiest year ever.) all that’s left, anyway, is to have a craptastic 10th anniversary, maybe a boring 4th of july, then i think i’m out of holidays until my birthday. which had better be fucking awesome this year, because i don’t think i could stand to have another year like this one. and if you think i’m crazy for basing a year on one day, this happens almost every year: how awful a year is, is directly proportional to how shitty my birthday is. if i have a decent birthday, the rest of my year is pretty decent, too. on the other hand, i’ve never had such an awful birthday, and this is about the worst year i’ve ever experienced.

oh yeah, and i forgot hurricane season. well, bring it on, coz judging by all the cracks in certain places around the house, we’re probably sitting on a sinkhole.

are you feeling zombified?

Friday, March 25th, 2005

i just spent the last hour and a half or so at the hospice down the street at the terri schiavo protest. to be honest, i didn’t want to become involved, because the whole point is that it’s no one’s business but her family’s. but shadow wanted to see what the fuss was about, so we parked at a grocery store and walked down to check it all out.

it was really weird.

people were praying in circles, there were men in long robes walking around, tons of police, even more media, and some of the most zombified people i’ve ever seen. i just wanted to get the hell out of there, but shadow heard a lone voice toward the front of the crowd: a liberal! there were two others with him, so we joined them. five, in a crowd of i don’t know how many. the people around us got pissed and started singing, so i joined the guy chanting. after a while, i felt really bad for the poor people trying to die quietly in the building behind me, so i shut up. it was seriously creepy, though. i could feel so many angry eyes. i could feel their hatred of us and what we stood for, so palpably. it was a very strange feeling.

i’m having mixed feelings about the whole thing. i think my reason for not wanting to go in the first place was valid. it isn’t our business. it isn’t their business. and we just added to the crowd keeping people from getting any rest. on the other hand, out of all of those people, there were only five of us. people from all over the world were there, and no one was speaking on terri’s behalf. on the behalf of anyone who wants the government to stay out of their damn business. so i’m torn as to whether even being there was the right thing to do.

but it was still an interesting experience. i’ve never been in a real protest, and i’ve never been surrounded by so many people that disagree with me so strongly. i thought i knew what that felt like just by virtue of ever leaving the house, but now i really know. i can’t say i felt i’ve done something noble, however. after she dies, no one will remember this. no amount of chanting on either side will change anything.

i guess i should also explain, in case anyone has been wondering about it due to all my posting lately, that i’m not happy that someone’s dying. i think it’s terrible that this ever even had to happen. i could rant about society and how it drove her to want to be thin so badly she would die for it. how the quest to fit an unattainable ideal was what ultimately killed her. i think it’s terrible that she has to die of starvation/dehydration. this is exactly why i think euthanasia should be legal, so you can go to sleep forever after a simple shot.

i also think all the hypocricy surrounding this whole circus is stupid and sickening. all these people who were out there for terri, protesting her murder, are the same people that probably cheer when so many iraqis die. it’s okay for iraqis and criminals to die. it’s okay for destitute people all over the world to die of starvation. this one woman had a sign that said something like, “court sanctioned murder is not okay.” and shadow was like, “unless it’s the death penalty, right?” and she just smirked at him like the smug cow she was. a whole group of them were all excited coz a tv camera had trained on them for a bit. bloody hell. that’s why a lot of them are probably there to begin with.

anyway, it’s midnight and i have to eat. i just thought i’d share this experience. i’d have pictures, but shadow was the only one with a mobile and he forgot to save them after taking them. :annoyed:

wishlist furor

Friday, March 25th, 2005

i broke down and made a wishlist, but i’m not going to tell where it is. so it’s like a compromise. really, i’ve just been window shopping, as it were. i’m really wanting to shop, but i just can’t afford it right now.

and this wishlist, unlike amazon’s, gives the reader no way of shipping the gift to the person in question. so you couldn’t get me anything off of it if you wanted to. so there.

hooray for launchcast

Friday, March 25th, 2005

ooh. gorillaz has a new single. holy crap. and i heard nin’s new single yesterday, but it was a little poppy for me. i think he used to have a harder edge, and i kind of miss that.

if it weren’t for launchcast, i’d never hear anything good.

socially inept

Friday, March 25th, 2005

i called jessica today to ask for the address of the party tomorrow. she was so glad to hear that i’m going to be there, which totally flattered me. she said it’s going to be mostly family, so she’s glad that some friend-friends are going to be there. i don’t know why i always feel surprised when someone seems happy to see me. i guess it’s a self esteem issue. which i’m supposed to be doing better with, but obviously i’m far from there. but i’m glad i’m going. :happy:

i have to call my mother in law tonight to ask her some stuff, since i’ve never been to a bridal shower before. today i sent the wedding rsvp back, and there was a line on it that i couldn’t figure out what i was supposed to write on it. and i’m really mad that i can’t just pick up the phone and call mum and ask what the hell the line was for. i just put shadow’s name on it, coz i’m pretty sure that’s what it was for. gah. and it won’t be long before juchan has to do all this stuff, too, what with friends getting married, and getting married herself. and she’s probably going to be calling me and asking what to do. (i hope she does, anyway, since her mil is – well, i’m not going to go there.) so i guess i’d better learn all the etiquette stuff i’ve somehow missed up til this point. my wedding was far from traditional, so that doesn’t help at all…

anyway… i guess i am a little mad at mum for dying. since she really didn’t have to. all she had to do was not smoke. shadow and i quit. dad has finally quit. why couldn’t she? i was chatting with juchan the other day, and i mentioned how unhappy that i am that my kid is going to know mum like i knew her dad. in other words, not at all. and because family is so important to me, it’s always bothered me that i never knew him. i’ve heard stories about him, and i met him, but i was too young to remember now. i think he died before i was two. zoe will never know her grandma, and she was such a wonderful person to know. she would’ve enjoyed her grandkids so much. this whole thing has made me even more eager to start our family. one of her grandpas still smokes, one just quit, and her surviving grandma is a breast cancer survivor. i want her to know her other grandparents.

besides, i’ve been thinking about it, and i want to have her before i start a career. on the other hand, if i don’t work first, we won’t be able to afford her. meh. it’s moot for now, anyway.

so, yeah, i went off on a tangent again. what was supposed to be a happy post of excitement turned into another rant. i don’t know what my problem is, and why i can’t just ever be happy and positive. maybe finishing off the margarita fixins will help.

rambling

Thursday, March 24th, 2005

there are so many things i could or should be doing right now, and i just won’t. i feel too weak to do anything. i haven’t worked out in a couple of days, coz i feel so blech. i keep getting sick. maybe i’ll try to go work out… i have to do something.

i think i’m kind of depressed today. i keep seeing things that make me think of my mum.

i hate this feeling, though. it seems like i can barely lift my arms to type. while i was eating my ramen, my hands kept shaking. i just feel really tired. i probably didn’t sleep enough last night.

i don’t even know why i’m blogging this…

hoping to get something out, i guess.

like that everything’s so boring now. shadow has been put on the same diet i’m on because of reflux or something, so i’ve been cheating like mad whenever he’s not around. because i am so through dieting for now. (thanks to working out, i drank a 20 oz fanta and ate starburst and m&ms; tuesday with no weight gain at all. but maybe that’s why i feel like crap.)

and i keep eating stuff like ramen, but now i’m not working out, so i guess i’d better start doing that. my metabolism is up, though, i can tell.

it looks like no one will be smuggling me my much desired cadbury easter candy, either. i’ve tried just about everything to get some mini eggs and creme eggs, but to no avail. last year, i had my parents buy some, then bring it to me during a visit. well, that’s out this time. so i went to julie for help, but shadow thwarted that. and there’s no way i’m asking my friends for a ride somewhere just to buy candy. gar. if only i could go grocery shopping alone again. maybe i can talk him into just dropping me off this week… probably not. he hates shopping, but he goes anyway just to make sure things like this don’t happen. and makes me miserable the whole time, bitching about everything i put into the cart and taking half of it out as we go through the store. (ever wonder why you see a bag of apples in the cereal aisle? my thoughtless husband probably left it there.) the end result is typically that i’m short about a half-week of lunches and have no snacks. and i certainly don’t have easter candy. i can’t buy it online, either, coz he’s been watching the bank balance like a freaking hawk. which is probably why i would’ve been in trouble with the julie plan anyway, but at least i’d already have the goods. bloody hell. i never thought i’d be in a situation where i couldn’t just buy some candy when i wanted it.

also, i can’t buy a replacement compact, which i’m going to need pretty soon, as the powder is almost completely gone. i can’t fault him that too much, though, as it’s $25 a pop. though i do make it last about a year. what i really want, though, is a new dress to wear to the jessica/ryan wedding, and to church this sunday. i don’t celebrate easter, and i don’t think the church really does either, but if i’m going to be going to church on easter sunday, it’s ingrained in me that i need a new dress for it. it’s not like i was going to buy it at macy’s or anything, either. i asked to go to burlington coat factory. i found this awesome faux snakeskin dress there once for like $10, but couldn’t buy it at the time. not that that’s what i’d buy this time. oh well. and i need new shoes, too, from payless, of course. but fuck that, too. i think he needs some new clothes as well, but we typically spend about $50/year on clothes, each. (meaning that i only have three pairs of pants, one of which was given to me by his dad since i got seven-layer dip all over the ones i was wearing.)

i didn’t really mean to turn this into some kind of rant, but that seems to be about all i’m capable of now.

i was thinking i’d start reflecting on sunday’s sermons, though, and maybe share my reflections here. since shadow either doesn’t care or disagrees with just about anything i say anymore. you would think that two people that pretty much agree on everything wouldn’t have that much to argue about, ne? ha!

oh, and there’s a buddhist fellowship at church on wednesdays that i can’t freaking go to coz of school. since all i have to take next semester is electives, i’m totally going to take everything online, so i don’t have to miss any of the neat stuff the church has been doing for the evenings.

well, i was going to start talking about something else, but i think i should try to get a nap in before school. i don’t think i could get through a workout right now…

dear menace to society abby

Thursday, March 24th, 2005

Yahoo! News – EAVESDROPPERS GET AN EARFUL FROM THEIR IRRITATED VICTIMS:

As a police officer who has had to waste significant time and resources following up on such reports of “suspicious behavior,” I’m surprised you would encourage such an irresponsible action. Our nation’s homeland security is of paramount importance these days, and our governing leaders have requested help from the public in “remaining vigilant” and reporting suspicious behavior to the proper authorities.

oh, i’m sorry. i didn’t know it was 1984.

grasping at straws

Thursday, March 24th, 2005

Yahoo! News – Gov. Bush Is Rebuffed in Schiavo Case:

The judges ruling against the Schindlers have been the objects of great derision here in Pinellas Park, where demonstrators have carried signs that say “God’s law” should supersede “man’s law.” As the adults argued about the court rulings, a 16-year-old girl named Katrina Munchmore stood balancing a 14-foot cross she had built Wednesday morning with her dad. A sign attached to the cross was inspired by the words Christians believe Jesus spoke before he died: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

i swear, the residents of pinellas park are not all insane yahoos. only some of us.

tv

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005

I sit alone contemplating

What is missing inside me

I desperately try to remember

A life that’s not meant to be

I meditate

And try to recapture

Some sense of reality

In my life

When I look around

I see numb empty faces

The world is waiting to die

And this apathy

Is so suffocating

The slow decay of my mind

I’ve searched the world

For someone with answers

To questions that are plaguing me

I scream in vain

To anyone who’ll listen

But everbody’s watchin’ TV

Is anyone alive?

Am I lost in a world

Where nothing matters?

Am I lost in a world

Where no one cares?

Is anyone alive?

Are we lost in a world

Where nothing matters?

Are we lost in a world

Where no one cares?

Is anyone alive?

Stabbing Westward – Television

i think this pretty well sums up how i feel when i wonder why no one will do anything about the world anymore…

wish list issues

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005

via my boyfriend is a twat:

When I first saw that people put up “wish lists” I found it rather odd and wondered what sort of presumptuous person would go ahead and put up a link to their “Amazon Wish List”, something that is not far off from a Wedding List.

i admit, i had a wish list when i began blogging. mostly because everyone else had one, and it seemed to be the “done thing.” i’ve even considered putting it back up just to share my taste in various things with my readers. (like zoe points out, however, this can only end badly.) still, i can’t bring myself to. it feels too much like i’m asking for something. and if i were to make a wish list to share with my family, i’d just send it to my dad and sister and be done with it. my dad doesn’t visit my blog anyway, thank god. of course, i was completely surprised and grateful for deb’s donation to the american lung association in mum’s name. but the thing is that i’d never expect something like that, and i wouldn’t feel right asking people for stuff. i dunno. i’m only blogging about this, really, because i was thinking about making a new wish list recently, and then zoe ended up blogging about it. so.

by the way, i’ve learned that the way to get rewards from those free whatever sites (ipod, laptop, etc.) is to join a “conga line” website. so i shan’t be shilling for that here anymore, either.

it’s funny, but i’ve just remembered why it might be that asking for stuff makes me feel uncomfortable. when i was about six, my best friend’s mum called to ask what i wanted for my birthday. my mum must’ve been indisposed, because i wasn’t allowed to answer the phone til i was seven or eight. so i began rattling off a list of things i wanted. mum walked into the kitchen and saw me on the phone, and demanded to know who i was talking to. “john’s mom,” i replied, then continued on with my list. mum grabbed the phone out of my hand, apologized to john’s mum and chatted a while, then lectured me about how rude what i’d just done was, when she got off the phone. i felt so bad, and though the memory makes me laugh now, it’s still a bit embarrassing.

so i guess i have wish list issues.

audio post

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005
this is an audio post - click to play

…unless you’re on death row in texas…

Monday, March 21st, 2005

MSNBC – Both Sides In Schiavo Dispute Await Judge’s Hearing:

“In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life,” President Bush said in a statement after signing the bill.

um, does anyone else see the utter hypocrisy of this statement?? i guess it only applies to poor vegetables that want to die, and not to death row inmates.

decisions, decisions

Monday, March 21st, 2005

i still have no idea how to make a separate page to my archive list. i mean, there is such a page, but it looks like crap. in the meantime, since i only archive by month, i’m just putting it in by hand. what would be really great is if i could just move all my old posts over here and delete mt entirely, not that it’d help with my archiving problem that much. there is no easy way to import entries to blogger, however, though it sounds like there may be in future. i’m considering just saving all of my old entries to disk or something and deleting my archives. i doubt anyone but me ever looks at them, and they just take up space. i’m not quite half out of space with my host anyway, so that can wait, i guess.

actually, i really need to be finishing my homework, so i’d better go do that.

oh, and sure, deb, blame me. :wink:

shadow = bored = annoying me

Saturday, March 19th, 2005

i got up a bit earlier than i’d have liked, so i’m kind of tired.

i’ve been reading various random lj’s this afternoon, just for the hell of it. there is no better place for blogging drama, i tell you. and, like a good episode of the jerry springer show, it made me feel sooo much better about my life and myself. ohhahaha…

really, it’s interesting to read some people, because then when you find yourself hearing about something utterly bizarre, or thinking that your country couldn’t possibly be populated by that many idiots, you remember what you read on lj. then nod, because it all makes sense, and move on with your day, a little sadder and a little wiser.

seriously, if i had to listen to these people in real life, for any length of time, i’d commit seppuku. also, reading blogs in general has taught me that people can’t seem to figure out why they keep having the same problems again and again. (i admitted to doing this myself, you know.) some people actually learn something, and it’s so satisfying to see them go on to lead relatively good lives. others, however, seem to be stuck in some kind of quagmire from which they will never escape… a lot of it has to do with my usual pet peeve: whining every other post because you can’t afford one of life’s necessities, like rent, then spending all the other posts talking about all the clubbing you’ve been doing or the restaurants you’ve been eating at. one of my more newish annoyances has to do with people trying to have these weird, convoluted relationships, then complaining because they can’t handle it. like they’re just stuck in the situation. here’s an idea: if you don’t want to share your s.o. with someone else, don’t. tell them it’s either/or, and then live with whatever happens next. i can tell you that if shadow ever asked me to go find us a girlfriend, i’d probably kick his ass. hey, if you want to be in a relationship with three other people and can make that work, good on you. if you or anyone else in the relationship is struggling to make it work, then you’re probably not cut out for it, and you need to admit that to yourself instead of trying to look cool and progressive, or trying to please some asshole that’s just looking to get it wherever he can, and have your blessing for doing so.

i’m bi, but when i got married, i decided that the part of me that likes girls is fine and good, but would pretty much have to live a life of celibacy. (does that make that half a lesbian nun?) anyway, it sucks and it’s difficult at first, but you kind of get over it. i mean, you’re human and you find other people attractive, but that doesn’t mean that sleeping with whoever you want is a good idea. especially if you’re already in a relationship. despite the argument that humans (men) are naturally inclined to spread their seed everywhere, i think that for most people, polyamory is pretty stupid. most of the time, it’s the women in these relationships that seem to get the shit end of the stick, anyway. which makes some sense, i guess, because it’s usually men that want to sleep with anything with a pulse. you can say i don’t understand this movement all you like, but i think i understand it pretty well, and it’s just plain stupid. i’d feel a bit better about it if it weren’t the women that always end up disenfranchised. like i said, if you can make it work, great. most people can’t, because the idea behind it is inherently flawed. patriarchy isn’t cool, ladies, and this is just a thinly veiled representative of that ideal.

by the way, my comments system works now, so if you want to bitch about what i’ve said, go right ahead.

anyway, i’ve been listening to beck’s sea change on launch lately, and it’s a beautiful album. i love almost everything he’s ever done, even though a lot of it was far out. he’s proven that he can break the rules and make it work. on this album, it’s just him and his voice and music are just so wonderful. i heard him sing and play the guitar on tv a couple years ago, and was just blown away at how awesome he was. i mean, i’ve been listening to stuff like mellow gold since i was 14, but this just seemed so new for him. also, whenever i see him anywhere, i remember the time i was visiting uncle steve and his family, and my cousin laura and i were watching the “loser” video, and steve came in and said, “who gave a 12-year-old a band?” you probably had to have been there, but it’s still funny to me.

i’m still drinking strawberry margaritas, and probably will all weekend. or until the mix runs out. whichever comes first. we bought some orange juice, though, so at least there are screwdriver fixins. (you can yell at me when i do this every weekend.)

oh, and, like you care, but when i stripped for my weigh-in this morning, i noticed that much of my back fat is gone. i used to have these bulges just above my waist (you know the ones – if a woman wears an ill-fitting bra, this area just looks terrible). well, mine are nearly gone. :yay: i can’t believe the difference that exercise has made. i’ve avoided it for so long, but now that i’m actually doing it, i can pretty much eat what i like, and my body is toning up really quickly. there’s always been some muscle there, but it’s been in hiding for the past couple of years. it hasn’t taken too long to reappear, thankfully. if only i could bring myself to exercise for two hours a day like my dad does, i could eat whole bags of chocolate, like he does. >_< seriously, i don't know how he can lift weights and do cardio that long.

okay, shadow is staring at my back, so i’d better go.

2:30 am quiz goodness

Saturday, March 19th, 2005

open
solitary
solid
Your World (Part One): What is your world made of? [girls]
brought to you by Quizilla

the irony…

Friday, March 18th, 2005

MSNBC – Schindlers’ Legislative Hope Fades:

The Schindlers will now petition the U.S. District Court in Tampa for a review of the state court rulings to ensure Terri Schiavo’s federal due process rights have not been violated, Gibbs said.
The request will be almost identical to what death row inmates file after exhausting all state court appeals, he said.
“We believe we have a civil court death penalty here,” Gibbs said.

the real difference here being, of course, that if this were a victim of the death penalty, people (members of the bush family, etc. especially) would not be scrambling to stop the killing.

is this goodbye?

Friday, March 18th, 2005

Yahoo! News – Brain-Damaged Woman’s Feeding Tube Removed

i hope this actually goes through this time… this has been in the local news for ages – i live in pinellas park – and i keep wishing, for terri’s sake, that it would just end. i can’t imagine being stuck in my body like that for 15 years. i also think it’s sad that she had to even be in that situation in the first place. she’s a vegetable because of an eating disorder. and i also think the measures taken to “save” her are bullshit. first, governor jeb (george’s brother, in case you didn’t know) decides to go around making laws regarding her case, that have no basis in any kind of law or any precedence. now it’s become a mission for congress. nice try, guys, but it looks like she and her husband finally beat the lot of you. i witnessed my mum in this state for an afternoon. i can’t imagine leaving her in this state for 15 years, and her parents are just sick for allowing this to go on. i hope poor terri will finally find some peace.

(by the way, the people protesting her feeding tube removal are a bunch of fundamentalist whackos. you’d think, if they really believed in heaven, that they would be glad to see her safely to god. i sense a little doubt, however.)

.50 Caliber Terror

Friday, March 18th, 2005

.50 Caliber Terror

what i want to know is, why the hell would anyone need a weapon like this? why are these even being sold to your average loser? i could go on, but i’d probably have a coronary.

hypocrites

Friday, March 18th, 2005

WSMV- Nashville Channel 4 News Local radio host arrested for child porn

what is it with these guys? there was this traveling evangelist guy that i think used to come to gainesville when we lived there, and he tried to lure a 14-year-old boy into his van. the kid told on him, and i guess he ended up in jail. i mean, it’s not like it’s only christians who do these things, but it seems a bit more hypocritical when they do it, ne?

i can say whatever i’d like when i’m tipsy…

Friday, March 18th, 2005

BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week: Karen Hughes

…so does anyone else think she looks like a she-male? anyone? c’mon…

driving everywhere

Friday, March 18th, 2005

yeah, so i totally ran my car into the garage today. but despite what shadow would have you believe, the impact wasn’t that bad. it was just a tap. sure, the garage door is a bit dimpled, but dimples are cute, ne? anyway, it didn’t hurt the car at all. the whole reason it happened was coz shadow startled me anyway. and i hit the gas instead of the brake. it happens to everyone, right? besides, he ran the pt into the side of the garage, and he damaged the car and the wall. hum.

so i’m drinking strawberry margaritas now.

i drove to publix today, then cvs, then home. where i ran into the garage. then i drove to the liquor store and back to publix then back home. because i’m awesome and i can drive now. except for up driveways, apparently.

and, juchan, i feel your pain regarding honking idiots. i was at a light, waiting to go, and when it turned green, i went to go, and this idiot just went right through and cut me off. so i didn’t go right away. so the asshole behind me just starts honking. like i’m supposed to go when there’s someone right there? gah. i think i will put up a sign in the back window that says, “i hate you all” just like we talked about.

because i do.

also, my email appears to be broken. i think. it only lets me log in half the time, and i don’t think people are getting the emails i send them.

shadow asked today if we have to go to church every week, and i wanted to kick him. he’d better not be backing out already. well i’m driving this week, so if he doesn’t want me to get arrested, he damn well better come along.

can you believe i’m driving everywhere? coz i sure as hell can’t.

not productive

Tuesday, March 15th, 2005

to be honest, i’m not getting a lot done this break.

on my to-do list was to complete my education homework, clean the bedroom, clean out the closets in the bedroom, clean the laundry room, design a new site layout, and put sealant on the bamboo table thingy. so far, i’ve managed to do all of the laundry, minus jeans (about six or seven loads). which has made the bedroom look a little better, but it is by no means clean. and i took all four quizzes for education today. i decided to break down the assignments and do a segment a day. today was quizzes, and tomorrow i’ll probably tackle the internet assignments.

i’ve done a few surveys, but none seem to be of the paying variety.

and i’ve played some animal crossing, but not nearly enough.

and i want to finally finish pink samurai. coz it was due back yesterday.

i am managing to work out, anyway. and shadow had a bad day at work, so i helped do his chores yesterday before he got home. i guess i’ve been more productive than i thought…

lately, i’ve been having two recurring dreams: one is the one i always have about mum not dying, and the other is that i have a baby, but for some reason i’m not ready and don’t have any clothes or furniture or anything for it when we get home. i don’t even know what the latter is about…

…meh. i guess it’s time to hit the showers then play some more animal crossing. coz i’m too tired to do anything else right this minute.

a newer, better gish

Sunday, March 13th, 2005

i know i’m just jinxing myself here, but i’ve been pretty happy with blogger so far. i may work on a new layout for my blog in my spare time this week (hooray for spring break!), but i’ll be keeping mum’s pictures on the splash page for the rest of the month, in honor of her birthday. (yeah, i already said that, but the entry i said it in was up for all of a day. so.)

anyway, i totally went to church again this morning. the regular guy wasn’t there, so it wasn’t as good, but it was still interesting. and i drove to the library today, and turned corners like a normal human being for once. i tend to not be good at that for some reason. shadow says i overthink it.

and we didn’t fight much this weekend except for when i was driving to the grocery store and he kept yelling at me like a jerk. so i hope things’ll be okay for a while.

i hope i can stay up for the good parts of adult swim tonight.

i can’t drive 45

Saturday, March 12th, 2005

i reached a new driving milestone today: i drove to the grocery store and back. it’s only a couple of miles away, but i had to drive on regular, large road. like three lanes on each side large. which is big for me. and the speed limit was only 45, but that’s okay coz i was too afraid to go past 40. well, i guess i did get up to 45 once, but i have to admit it was kind of frightening.

i still don’t want to drive. but i know i have to. it just scares the hell out of me is all. and the local road rage incidents have been going up steadily lately. thankfully, everyone just passes me.

and it didn’t help that the sun was shining right in my eyes on the way there. it being sunset and all.

did you know i can’t drive after 7? i don’t mind, though, coz it means i won’t have designated driver duty for a while yet…

anyway, i might be driving to church tomorrow. we’ll see.

counting the tiles

Friday, March 11th, 2005

i. am. done.

phew.

and i tried to work out today, and only got through about 20 minutes. i guess i’m just to tired. that, and my stomach has been making those “you’re going to be very sick soon” noises. i was sick last night, so i guess i’ll be sick today, too.

of course, none of this is stopping me from eating the chocolate pudding i made last night at 3 am and proceeded to binge on. it’s weird, but since i’ve been on south beach diet, i look forward to sweets, and get some enjoyment out of them. but not as much as i used to. i mean, this pudding just tastes okay. which is good, coz i’m not supposed to eat this stuff anyway, but it also sucks coz so few things taste awesome to me anymore. i used to really enjoy eating, but now i’m always a little disappointed. of course, being the dummy that i am, it doesn’t stop me from cheating anyway. does regular pudding taste better than sugar free? yes and no. i can’t explain. anyway, i’m going to try to behave a bit better next week. i should probably just go back on phase 1 since last time obviously had no effect on my cravings. meh. i can’t while we’re broke, anyway, so i’ll have to wait.

aside from a few chores, i am doing absolutely nothing this weekend. well, i guess that isn’t true. on saturday, i’m driving to the library and maybe the grocery store. we have to go shopping on saturday, anyway. and we’re supposed to go get our hair cut, but i can’t drive that far yet. so i guess saturday will actually be pretty busy. and sunday is church, but i don’t really look at that as a chore.

well, it looks like i’m going to be sick now. laters.

who elected this guy?

Thursday, March 10th, 2005

Media covered controversial comments by Democrats more extensively than those by Republicans:

Graham said at a Lincoln Day dinner for Republicans in Tennessee on March 5: “We don’t do Lincoln Day dinners in South Carolina. It’s nothing personal, but it takes awhile to get over things.”

:shocked:

um, okay. i won’t even touch that one.

our media never ceases to disappoint me. they seldom cover anything worthwhile, and despite a lot of bullshitting to the contrary, our media is far from liberal… i was listening to an interview with ari fleischer the other day, i think it was on “fresh air,” and i about died when he kept going on about how unfairly republicans are labeled all the time in the news. hello, pot. meet kettle.

another feature

Thursday, March 10th, 2005

in addition to all the other stuff i can do on here, i can also “blog this” from my toolbar, which is what i was using the msn blog for. as long as it keeps working (which has been somewhat of a problem in the past), i think using blogger will be pretty fun. it pretty much includes about everything i could want. but how well does it filter spam? i guess we’ll see…

by the way, i think you have to have a blogger account to comment. which isn’t a big deal coz most people have one anyway, i think. and if not, they’re free.

i hope this works out, coz i don’t feel like looking into new blog software options anymore.

w00t

Thursday, March 10th, 2005

i am a happy gish tonight. :happy: i finally set up blogger for use on my website. which means i can do phone posts, upload photos to my blog, and text message my blog as well. and now you can comment! there’s a lot of other stuff i can do, too, but i have to read up on it. which i don’t really have time for because i’m supposed to be doing school work.

i’ll be leaving my archives up for now, and fixing it so maybe my blogger ones will display, too. i just don’t have time right this minute.

of course, i say that, but i have a feeling i’ll be easily sidetracked…

oh, and i’m probably going to start cross-posting to livejournal again coz my new layout there is pretty cute.