So......

Rumsfeld is gone. Why did this take so long? Oh yeah, our President's got blinders on.

Walking home, I ended up behind a student finishing his cigarette. The downwind was blowing the smoke in my face, and immediately I hated it. I'm not going to say that people shouldn't smoke at all, and I'm not going to try to tell smokers when and where they should smoke. I don't understand the allure, but that doesn't matter right now.

The second I'm around smoke, my head or chest tells me what it thinks. It's worse when I'm walking rather briskly, breathing a little faster and harder than usual. I don't have asthma, but my allergies frequently make it a little more difficult for me to breathe at the same level that most others do from day to day. (I realize that asthmatics have it a lot worse, so don't get angry with me) And once that smoke gets in there, you can forget it. It just doesn't feel good.

I guess I just wish I could either a) breathe much better than I can so that smoke doesn't bother me so much, or b) figure out how to navigate the wind successfully every time I'm around a cigarette.

So anyway, I should tell you how much I love the commercial on the TV right now for Senokot. "Naturally Gentle, Gentle Naturally." It's a laxative. The commercial contained: a man giving a woman flowers he picked, a deer running, a basketful of puppies, a little boy petting a kitten, etc. Does this make you want to go to the bathroom? Or at least take Senokot if you can't? Tell me someone, because all I can do is laugh.

Thoughts thought whilst walking home and sitting on my porch

If I had a cell phone that had all kinds of capabilities, I'd never use anything else to do anything else. I'd take pictures, download music, get scores (god help me if I ever have one during baseball season), play awesome games, chat, and cuddle with it at night. I'm already one of these people who can't STAND to be anywhere without my cell phone.


My iPod loves me, despite its many scratches and drops. I know this because it randomly played three (count 'em, THREE) Elliott Smith songs in a row. It knows me so well.


A mosquito is, once again, going to prevent me from staying outside on my very nice porch. The little fucker.


I'm not sure if we're supposed to keep the grass short on the other side of the fence (the area between our fence and the sidewalk). I only wonder because it's starting to look like shit.


I told my boyfriend to write down everything he loves about me before this weekend, because I might (MIGHT) take all of my PMS aggression out on him. He'll need a list to reference when I'm crying for no apparent reason and blaming it on him. ("Wait, why do I put up with this every month?") After a year and a half of dating, should he be used to this by now? I sure as hell hope so. And I hope he takes my advice, because I'm already feeling physical pain. Emotional distress shall soon follow. It's a good thing the girls are going to get me drunk this weekend.


I'm going to miss him when the girls get me drunk this weekend.


We need a pet.

Beck

I'm sure this will be taken off of You Tube by the time people try to watch it, but I thought I'd try to post it anyway. It's a video of Beck's performance on SNL two weekends ago. It's pretty good, but I'd have to argue that it sounds like Beck stole his catchy little riff from The Unicorns. That little guitar bit is contained in their song "Child Star" near the end. If you have the cd, listen. You'll hear it. It's a tiny bit different, but it's close enough for me to think "I've heard that before. That's not his."

Beck, I think you're good, but Canadians beat you to that melody.

A post full of hearts

I sometimes wonder how I ended up dating the person I'm with. He's one of those great people who I thought would never be interested in someone like me. Not that I'm a totally lame person or anything; he was an English major and I was a bored Theatre major. We had an English class together that focused on the rise of drama in America, and the English major (of course) had much more interesting comments to make than the Theatre major. So I just naturally assumed he'd think I was some kind of flake and that'd be that. Apparently he didnt.

He's a writer; much better than most of the junk that's published these days, light years better than I could ever be. I, though, am probably a better Googler than he could ever dream of being. (These are of the same caliber, of course.) He likes a room to be freezing at night. I like a room to be just cool enough to use more than one blanket. He doesn't watch any sports. I watch football, baseball, some basketball, and The Lonestar Rollergirls. (To be fair, he likes the Rollergirls too.)

My point is that he and are probably quite different if you were to write us down on paper. But we've got the essentials: we like the same music, the same movies (mostly), the same politics, the same jokes. We grew up with similar parents, beliefs, and activities. It's just amazing to me that someone I initially thought would be so different than me is the one person I feel is most like me. Just thought I'd share that.

In other news, has anyone else seen the 5 Hour Energy commercial? It first shows people falling asleep at work (one's even a doctor--how secure I feel!). Then, after they drink the 5 Hour Energy drink, they're BAM! Back in action. It even shows this one man walking down a cubicle hallway mysteriously upper cutting the air with his fist. I mean really, have you ever felt so energized you've just HAD to throw a punch? This is excluding the boxers out there. We know how you roll.

If you don't watch the Colbert Report, allow me to tell you what he did tonight, the bastard. He has a balloon drop planned for tomorrow night after the midterms. Of course, all of the balloons are red. So if people want to see a fabulous balloon drop, they have to vote Republican. To drive the point home, he had two very cute children come out and say to the camera, to America, "Vote Republican!" Yeah, it was cute.

I'm about to post this at 11:20 PM by my computer clock. Hopefully Blogger won't screw me over and show it as a 12:01 entry again.

I swear

that my computer clock said 11:59 when I hit "Publish Post." Damn you Blogger clock. Damn you.

I have failed

I gotta say, I'm not surprised. I knew it would be hard to post when I was in Huntsville, since there are not very many opportunities to get a good internet connection there.

Does anybody else hate that Rascal Flatts cover of "Life is a Highway"? I know I do.

Does anybody else LOVE the LeBron James commercial on ESPN where he's trying to fix the copy machine? I know I do.

I've got 3 minutes until the end of Sunday, so I'd better make this quick.

My Cowboys lost, my Bearkats won, and I got to take my boyfriend out to see Borat this weekend. All in all, not a bad few days. I hope you had a good one too. See you tomorrow.

Since I said it...

Since I said the cat video wouldn't be my only post today, I have to write another one. But this one will again be short and sweet, as I have 10 minutes until the end of this VERY long work week.

It's the boyfriend's birthday today, and tomorrow I'm taking him to see Borat. I'm rather excited, and I think I'll like Sacha Baron Cohen a lot more after this. In fact, I already do. I appreciated Da Ali G Show, but I never really hooked on to it. I'll have to post a short review...although I wonder if everyone else who sees the movie will post a short review.

Now for the sweet part: I send you my cuddles. Have a good Friday evening!




Seriously, look at the Karate Cat again.

AGH!!

I've fallen in love with this video! You will too! I've watched it a dozen times already!



This will not be my only post today. But probably my best.

By the way...

This is what I'm doing.

Return to Sender

I got this flyer in the mail today that has a silhouetted picture on the front of an adult holding a child's hand, while the child is holding an American flag. It also says "On Nov 7th Your Vote Will..."

On the back it says at the top "Decide Whose Values Guide Texas." It then has a checklist of issues and says yes or no for whether the Democrats and Republicans support these issues.

"Parental Notification for a minor daughter's abortion"
"The Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage between a man and a woman"
"Laci Peterson Law, which protects pregnant women from violence"
"A ban on burning the American flag"
"Judges who will strictly interpret the Constitution"

Of course, the Democrats say "NO" to all of these issues while the Republicans say "YES."

I have a lot to say about this, but I feel like I should just wait until tomorrow, when I'll vote early.

At the bottom of the back, it says "The Choice is Clear."
I promptly turned the flyer back over, crossed my name and address out, and wrote, "Return to Sender. I'm a Democrat."*

*To be honest, I'm not sure what I am...I just know I'm not a Republican, and I'd rather see a monkey as governor than Rick Perry. And I'd rather see a Band-Aid as President rather than George.

Oh No!

I've already failed! I didn't post yesterday!

Oh well, I'll post two entries today. This one will be short and sweet, as I am at work and actually have (*shock*) work to do.

Now for the sweet part: You look gorgeous in that top.

All you need is Willie Nelson

Do you like Willie Nelson? Do you like Ryan Adams and the Cardinals? If so, we can be friends and listen to Songbird together. And we will enjoy ourselves.

I was Agnetha Faltskog for Halloween, and my cousin was Anni-Frid Lyngstad. In short, we were the wonderful women from ABBA. I had fun with this on Saturday night, but I think I had even more fun at work today. My boss fashioned a microphone for me using a screwdriver, a stress ball, and cardstock. I painted it black and sprinkled gold glitter on it. It just sat there for most of the Halloween party we had in our office; that is, until one of the professors came in. He was attempting to vote on best costume, and when my boss told him who I was, his face lit up and he declared that he loved ABBA. And he wasn't kidding. Apparently he saw Mamma Mia!, the ABBA musical, three times. And he knew all the words. AND, we ended up singing some of Ferdinand together, which ended up being filmed with the office camera. If I can, I'll try to share that with my dear readers.

I don't think I need to tell you how awesome it was to sing ABBA with a professor who tends to keep to himself and who can be a tad intimidating. No longer. He loves ABBA.

I tried to sign up to write a blog every day in November, but I have a feeling I might fail at this. I don't know if it will bother me much when it happens (the failure, that is), but right now I really, really want to make sure I write a blog entry every day. Wish me luck.

What I Do At Work

Here's a spooky picture (taken with nightvision):




And it's sort of blurry, but here's my Dragonsauraus:



I can't help but feel lucky to have this job sometimes.

Friday morning cartoon!

You can find more of Bill Sargent's cartoons here.

Early voting is still happening, and will be until Nov. 3. If for no other reason, get Perry out of office so the poor kids of Texas don't have to take a TAKS test as if their life depended on it.

I should really write more, since interesting things happen throughout the week but I forget them all by the time I decide to blog. Oh well.

If you're in Austin and you know where I live, come by tomorrow night. There will be ABBA. That's all you need to know.

Flossing

I usually use Oral-B Satin Floss, because it really does slide through my teeth like satin. And that's important, as I don't have very big gaps between my teeth. They are instead rather close together. Last night I realized that I hadn't flossed in a while, since the boyfriend (who flosses every night no matter where he is) had used the last of my Satin wonderfulness. So I borrowed, nay, stole some regular Mint Waxed floss from my cousin/roommate. I think it was Johnson's, but I can't be sure.

I hadn't realized how spoiled I'd gotten with my Satin. While using Oral-B's floss, I could vaguely remember my dentist always telling me that if floss got stuck between your teeth, don't yank--slide it out. That's mad!, I thought. My floss doesn't get stuck between my teeth!, I thought.

The regular waxed floss reacts badly when it touches water and teeth. It does not slide between my teeth; rather, it jerks up to my gums, moves a millimeter back and forth, then gets stuck on the way out. And I mean STUCK. It got so bad a couple of times that I had to freak out, calm down, remember what the dentist said, then find creative ways to manuever it out from between my teeth. Because there was no sliding. The wax acted like a glue rather than a lubricant. My teeth are still a little sensitive today, especially the ones that I got close to pulling out while trying to dislodge the demon floss.

Listen to me people. Buy the Satin floss. Your life will change. But you'll never be able to use another floss again.

Back at home

I'm sitting at home in my dad's reclining chair watching news anchors talk about the Navy's 231st birthday. My plans for this weekend changed a few days ago, and I thought I'd just be sitting around alone at home tonight. But I'm at home home now, the house I grew up in, due mainly to a slideshow emailed to me by my mother that contained pictures of my youngest niece and nephew. How can one not come home after seeing adorable family like that?

My mom and I played a stirring game of jacks tonight, which she won of course. Last weekend we had a quick challenge, and she beat me pretty handily. Tonight I gave her a run for her money, but of course she remains "the champ" (her term).

In case anyone has a hard time recalling what jacks look like,



Now we're watching If Looks Could Kill. Richard Grieco. Enough said. Well, not enough. This movie also stars the Sheriff of Rottingham.

What I Did At Work Today

Stole this picture from Party City's website:





Scanned this picture of my Driver's License:




And put the two together. Because of copyright reasons (and also because it's already on the door to our office) I can't show you the end product. But trust me, it's good.

Kinky, ACL, & Baseball (American traditions)

Kinky Friedman is a candidate I'm supporting. I know the people who take the time to read this aren't all Kinky fans. So if you're not, the next paragraph might just be scanning material.

First off, Kinky will be at UT this Wednesday. He will be in the Texas Union Ballroom beginning at 11. I'm going to take an early lunch, but I doubt I'll make it in time to be able to see the man. Hopefully they'll have their sound system blaring so those of us who are short and in the back will be able to hear him. It's officially 11-1, so if you have the time, please make it out there to hear him.

Second, I got an email from the boyfriend tonight that stated this:

"We are less than a week away from the only televised debates of this gubernatorial election. That's right: the only chance you are going to get to see the people vying to lead Texas for the next four years going head-to-head will be this Friday night, before the UT-OU football game.

Democracy! The debate's going to be an hour long, without commercials, and will run from 7pm-8pm (central time). In addition to the statewide cable channel TXCN, the following stations will run the debate:

In Dallas WFAA
In Houston KHOU
In San Antonio KENS-TV
In Austin KVUE-TV"

Even if you're not a Kinky believer, I think this debate is worth your time. Come on guys, this state just isn't getting it done anymore (the country's not doing so hot lately either). Please do something...vote.

I've finally uploaded my very lame collection of ACL pictures to Flickr. I forget that I have my camera when I'm having a good time. My Cowboys pictures are still coming...

My 'Stros aren't in the running anymore. So I'm giving my allegiance to (gasp, sigh, hanging of head) the St. Louis Cardinals. If anyone SHOULD win, it should be them. I'm not taking into account the recent slip and slide they had, mind you. But this is a good, solid team. They only thing that could hurt them (and probably will) is their lack of good pitchers. Let's hope Pujols, Edmonds, Carpenter, and the boys can pull them through. Good luck guys. This is the one time I'll be rooting for you.

Picture Essay

This is how I feel when people talk about how bad SHSU is going to lose this weekend.


On a completely unrelated note, I saw a shirt today that said on the back, "Mom. Dad. I'm Gaelic."

A hippopotumus is just a really cool opotumus.

I've come to the conclusion that I probably shouldn't read my blog. Every time I do, I wonder why I write it. I used to do that with my diaries too. Like I need to impress myself with my diary.

Last night I watched some YouTube of Mitch Hedberg. I'd never really seen him or heard his stuff, but a lot of my friends love him and I now see why. Maybe you recognized his joke in the title line.

I've grown to have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. Here's why:

The weather is beautiful. I still break a sweat walking to and from work, but it's not the kind that soaks through my shirt and makes me feel like I've just been to the sauna. The wind is blowing cool air for a change, and even the squirrels and birds seem to be more chipper. Plus, it's just a matter of time until I get to dress up in my Fall/Winter wardrobe. I probably shouldn't call it a wardrobe so much as "the few sweaters and long sleeved shirts I own," but it also includes my awesome collection of coats and jackets. Which I won't need until...well, I probably won't need any extra layers in Austin. Bummer.

But this time of year also means that almost all of the people around me are in school. Which means they have homework and exams. Which means they can't just up and go to a Shostakovich recital with me. I'm not really complaining--I have something taking up my evenings these next few months as well. But it is sad to not have those carefree nights anymore.

I think a friend of mine is angry with me, but as she's not returning my phone calls, I can't be sure. Stinks.