Saturday, September 25, 2004

fo' shizzle

i came across The Shizzolater while leafing through my daily blogs. it converts any webpage into, uh, Snoop Dogg Speech. hi-larious. of course, being the vain thing i am, i stuck my page in. enjoyed it thoroughly. be warned, though- snoopy doesn't have the cleanest mouth.

Friday, September 24, 2004

overheard at the restaurant

While my sister and i sat at my new favorite place to eat, we heard the following:

" but yeah, abstinance is really coming back nowadays..."

People around OUR table may have heard this;

"my shoe is giving me a toe wedgie"

whee for mealtime conversation!

Thursday, September 23, 2004

hey hey, my cheese!

i just changed my preferences (didn't know i had it set funny), so now anybody can post a comment. so i plead to you again, drop me a note and watch me dance with glee!

suburbia bites

i'm so tired of living in the land of skinny moms with 2.5 kids who all play soccer, and an suv that's too precious to park in a regular parking space- i know, let's park it across THREE HANDICAPPED SPACES! those jerks in the wheelchairs don't deserve their own space, not when my rav4 could get dinged and my children could be 3 seconds late to soccer practice! grrrrr.

i went to the park today. can you tell?

oh yeah- and this one guy videotaped (digitally recorded, rather) his child's soccer practice while he sat and read a book all evening.

and what gives? why soccer? i know, i know, it gives them a place to burn of energy, and they get socialized. i don't think i would want my children socialized to be competitive little witches who never have time to make friends or do homework. and as for the exercise, they'd do it on their own if you just brought them to the park. EXCEPT that there's no swingset. WHAT KIND OF A PARK DOESN'T HAVE A SWINGSET??? not even a crappy little stupid one that's built into the jungle gym... if we had a swingset, there wouldn't be enough room for the THREE soccer fields and TWO basball diamonds and the track that goes around the edge so the suburbian moms don't get too fat. and there's like 4 basketball courts and 3 tennis courts. it's a sick sick world where the neighborhood park doesn't even have a swing. guess they'll just have to play soccer.

Monday, September 20, 2004

after these messages, we'll be riiiiiiiiight back

remember watching saturday morning cartoons in the eighties? remember those little jingles? they had these three cartoon singers with giant beehive hairdos saying that and turning around. and sometimes there was a dog instead of the singers. with a fire hydrant. but my favorites were when the calfornia raisins said it. those guys were the coolest.

Sunday, September 19, 2004

nature says "ahhhh"

this weekend has been wonderful. apart from work on saturday, and even that was pretty nice. there's just something absolutely thrilling about a good weather weekend. i was reading the Bleat today and he mentioned how nice it was to have a warm weekend; here, the beautifully overcast, rainy saturday and cool, fairly cloudy sunday blew our minds. i came out of church today, and stood in the parking lot for almost half an hour. and this at four in the afternoon! in september! i swear it's been less than 85 degrees all day. we stood outside just to enjoy being outside. we didn't get sweaty or even feel like going inside. a cool breeze made our skirts press against our legs in a pleasant manner. right now, i'm sitting outside again, in the backyard, enjoying the chilliness of it all. whne you can be outside and comfortable, you notice things that you usually don't have time to observe. for instance: the stars really do twinkle. especially cassiopea. that's always been my favorite constellation; so sweet and nice. again, there is a cool breeze blowing, with the sound of windchimes coming from across the wash in someone else's backyard. the rustling of the trees and bushes is so soothing. i wonder if anyone else is enjoying this moment, taking a break from being inside, relaxing and thrilling in the starry night. this feeling is something i wish i could share with the whole world, but it isn't something that can be shared. part of the serenity comes from the solitude and darkness and silence. ahhhh.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

ow, my back

yesterday's frisbeeing left me a tad sore, from a particular lunge at a low throw. compound that with working from 9-5 today on not much sleep, and you get... um, discomfort.

today was a good day, though. it rained! it was so pleasant and cool. this evening, i was reminded of a certain drawing created by the guy that sat next to my best friend in one of her classes in like freshman or sophomore year of high school. my friend and i had classes in the same room, but at different times, and since we didn't see each other that often, we would leave notes in the room, and read them during class in order to pass the time. anyway, one day she left a little drawing glued to a piece of card stock so that it stood up like a paper doll. an odd little drawing that cody had made and given to her. she gave it to me, and i kept it. at the end of the school year, i took it home and put it in the little box of stuff that i wanted to keep always and forever. the box was full of items chosen not for their amazing worth, but for a record of my life. some have deep sentimental value, some have gained it by being in the box for long enough, and some are just little things i don't really want to throw out. here are the contents:
1 baby t-shirt from my first family reunion
2 girl scout thingies (brownie vest w/ patches, junior across-the-chest-over-the-shoulder thing w/ patches)
1 shirt that a family friend made (he worked at a silk-screening company) that i wore as a child
1 length of rope that i twisted at girls' camp
1 blankie. nuff said
picture i already talked about, plus one more that has the same story, but isn't as fun as the primary one
1 tiara. crappy plastic thing worth maybe 30 cents. during my freshman year of hs, our orchestra gave out titles and awards for each section, the king and queen of each section. there were 3 girls and one boy in my section, so when it came time to hand out the awards, it seemed obvious. however, about a week before, the guy was expelled. he was a senior, too. couldn't walk at graduation or anything. anyway. so we were sitting there during the awards ceremony, and our section leader (whom i looked up to very much, and whom was a very cool person) named me the Viola King. i was so honored. i kept the crown that said Viola King as well, but that isn't in the box. the tiara is.
1 set of mint condition coins from the year i was baptized
1 medal for being the Most Improved Player in the orchestra, 2001
1 pink eraser (normal, "back to school" type) that i secretly drew a picture of the guy i had a crush on during chemistry :P
1 tiny purple mitten. i think i wore it as a baby
my first swiss army knife
1 white poker chip. the marching band used them as markers to show how they did their routines, i think. i found one on the floor and stole it. my secret ambition was one day to join the band
various notes passed in classes
various movie ticket stubs
hotel key cards (they have to change them all the time anyway. why not steal them?)
tickets to museums and the like
4 pokemon cards (i have no idea why)
1 dollar bill that has a speech bubble coming from George that says "I grew HEMP"
a wizened balloon that we stole from a Wendy's on an orchestra trip (it wasn't wizened when we stole it)
yellow floppy disk that i put my math projects on sophomore year of hs
ID card from junior year of hs
rattlesnake rattle. i found a dead snake during a clean-up for a widow in the area, and hacked off its rattle with my spade.
paper bugs i made with my best friend. one year, we couldn't have girls' camp on the mountain like usual, because of wildfires, so we had to "camp out" in the church building. in order to make it seem more like camp, we two made a bunch of paper bugs and taped them up all over the bathrooms. it was great.
a medal from the 1994 brownielympics. i didn't win anything, but they gave everyone that came a medal so we wouldn't cry and have low self esteem. because low self esteem is a disease. why let your little twerpy kid get this disease when it could be avoided by giving them a medal they didn't earn?
my ID card from 7th grade. MAN i was ugly
ok so pretty much all of my ID cards ever
1 tiny little rubber sword i found in the hs library. like an inch long
1 horse carved out of some kind of stone. white. smaller than the sword
2 tiny clothes pin dolls i bought at colonial williamsburg many years ago (George and Martha Washington)
the clippies my viola mentor took out of HER OWN HAIR in order to make my halo stay up. oh yeah... that's the origin of my handle. we each picked a title: she was the Viola Goddess, the other girl was the Duchess of Violi, and i was the Patron Saint of all that is Viola. Violasaint. and she made me a halo for the last day of class. we had viola spirit day, as well. in october, she bought mini pumpkins and decorated them with our name and title, and Viola Star Power. we were so cool.
1 note i wrote to myself: "Open only after graduation!" v. odd. written in early 1999, when i was still dorky. wait, i'm still dorky now... ok. when i was dorky in a way that i took seriously, and didn't realize i was dorky.
another note, "to be opened on my 18th birthday." whoops. why didn't i immediately think of these notes when the specified events happened?
1 glow in the dark sheep (you know, like the stars you stick to your ceiling, only it's a sheep)
1 giant sewing needle

so that's pretty much it for the box. those are my personal treasures. obviously some are more important and worthy of the box than others. but my general rule is that i don't take things out, only put them in. because at some point in my life, each of those things seemed like something i wanted to keep forever, even if i don't remember why now.

huh.

of all the people in the world, the person i was least expecting to see at my church's young adult dance at the university was the guy i tried to introduce to the church during our freshman year of high school, who later told me he thought i should know that he didn't believe in god. odd how these things happen.

another interesting note from tonight: while it is fun to play frisbee on the top level of a parking structure at 10pm, be cautious in your throwing, because it sucks to have to climb up and down all those stairs when you overshoot and throw the frisbee into the bushes below.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

The Wookie Has No Pants

i am not a pale, geeky 30 year old guy who has a room in his house devoted to jedi memorabilia. i didn't wait in line to see the first midnight showing of the Phantom Menace. i do not reference (or even know the difference between) boba fett, jango fett, and any other fetts there are.

i DO believe that in one way, Star Wars has been the defining movie of my young life, if not the greatest movie i've seen. it's the movie i watch when i'm bored/alone/exhausted/lazy/done with homework/avoiding homework/etc. i've probably watched it more times than any other movie in my life, and i use it as a rubric for all other movies i see, whether conciously or subconciously. does it have a way cool story? check. character development? check. a way cute major character? check (harrison ford, not mark hamill. though when i was eight, it was all about Luke). were the actors cast to fit the movie, instead of the movie being cast for the actors? check.

all the movies that i like fit those criteria that were set in my mind be repeated viewings of Star Wars from the time i first watching movies. Breaking Away, A Room With a View, Much Ado About Nothing, The Princess Bride, and disney's Robing Hood (mmm mmm gotta love that sexy fox! really. i do.) all have each of those elements. ooh! i just thought of two more elements that stem from Star Wars: great soundtrack, and comedy! and each of those movies have those as well.

so of course when i was flipping around the channels tonight and ran across a documentary, i stopped there and didn't get off the couch for two hours. it was interesting, going through the story of production, etc. i particularly enjoyed seeing shots of stuff like yoda disappearing into the ground as the puppeteer lowered his arm, or artoo rolling down an incline that ends up being too inclined so he just falls on his face (funny to see, but prolly wasn't too fun for the guy in the suit). and it was great fun to hear about the stuff the argued about; whether it should be Return of the Jedi or Revenge of the Jedi, whether or not it was obscene that Chewbacca was completely naked, etc.

the thing that REALLY made me scream (i literally yelled out loud when i saw this) was a commercial. for the original trilogy. on dvd.

let me repeat: ON DVD.

i don't know if this is just newly announced, or if everybody already knows about it. but it was the first i'd heard it advertised, and i'm just ecstatic. i've been waiting for this ever since dvd's came into fashion, and especially since we got one. i went out shopping one day about a year ago, thinking, it'd be nice to have star wars on dvd, cause our tapes aren't quite cutting it anymore. and i was dumbfounded, shocked, and deeply disturbed that there was no such thing. i had just taken it for granted that they would be sitting there on the shelf, waiting to be purchased. i mean, they have some of the crappiest, not-even-worth-watching-on-tv movies totally stocked up in dvd form at walmart. i just bought Labyrinth on dvd a few weeks ago (i know, either you're thinking "she BOUGHT that piece of crap movie?!" or you're thinking "how DARE she call that movie not even worth watching on tv?!" for me, it's neither, and it's both. it draws me.).

so yes. i will totally purchase the dvd's. probably not on the 21st, when they come out, but perhaps within a week or two. because i watch the trilogy several times each year, and why watch vhs when you can watch dvd? with bonus features!

The Wookie Has No Pants

i am not a pale, geeky 30 year old guy who has a room in his house devoted to jedi memorabilia. i didn't wait in line to see the first midnight showing of the Phantom Menace. i do not reference (or even know the difference between) boba fett, jango fett, and any other fetts there are.

i DO believe that in one way, Star Wars has been the defining movie of my young life, if not the greatest movie i've seen. it's the movie i watch when i'm bored/alone/exhausted/lazy/done with homework/avoiding homework/etc. i've probably watched it more times than any other movie in my life, and i use it as a rubric for all other movies i see, whether conciously or subconciously. does it have a way cool story? check. character development? check. a way cute major character? check (harrison ford, not mark hamill. though when i was eight, it was all about Luke). were the actors cast to fit the movie, instead of the movie being cast for the actors? check.

all the movies that i like fit those criteria that were set in my mind be repeated viewings of Star Wars from the time i first watching movies. Breaking Away, A Room With a View, Much Ado About Nothing, The Princess Bride, and disney's Robing Hood (mmm mmm gotta love that sexy fox! really. i do.) all have each of those elements. ooh! i just thought of two more elements that stem from Star Wars: great soundtrack, and comedy! and each of those movies have those as well.

so of course when i was flipping around the channels tonight and ran across a documentary, i stopped there and didn't get off the couch for two hours. it was interesting, going through the story of production, etc. i particularly enjoyed seeing shots of stuff like yoda disappearing into the ground as the puppeteer lowered his arm, or artoo rolling down an incline that ends up being too inclined so he just falls on his face (funny to see, but prolly wasn't too fun for the guy in the suit). and it was great fun to hear about the stuff the argued about; whether it should be Return of the Jedi or Revenge of the Jedi, whether or not it was obscene that Chewbacca was completely naked, etc.

the thing that REALLY made me scream (i literally yelled out loud when i saw this) was a commercial. for the original trilogy. on dvd.

let me repeat: ON DVD.

i don't know if this is just newly announced, or if everybody already knows about it. but it was the first i'd heard it advertised, and i'm just ecstatic. i've been waiting for this ever since dvd's came into fashion, and especially since we got one. i went out shopping one day about a year ago, thinking, it'd be nice to have star wars on dvd, cause our tapes aren't quite cutting it anymore. and i was dumbfounded, shocked, and deeply disturbed that there was no such thing. i had just taken it for granted that they would be sitting there on the shelf, waiting to be purchased. i mean, they have some of the crappiest, not-even-worth-watching-on-tv movies totally stocked up in dvd form at walmart. i just bought Labyrinth on dvd a few weeks ago (i know, either you're thinking "she BOUGHT that piece of crap movie?!" or you're thinking "how DARE she call that movie not even worth watching on tv?!" for me, it's neither, and it's both. it draws me.).

so yes. i will totally purchase the dvd's. probably not on the 21st, when they come out, but perhaps within a week or two. because i watch the trilogy several times each year, and why watch vhs when you can watch dvd? with bonus features!

Friday, September 10, 2004

define ironic

my sister's kittens are afraid of her rat. ha.

Tuesday, September 7, 2004

ps

reminiscing is fun. *see also: favorite ex-coworker came in to talk

not the best. day. ever., but pretty good

labor day. the day when supposedly everyone drinks and parties and people say "don't drive at night! you'll get killed!"

i've never noticed any partying or weird driving or anything. even the guy at work who always knows where the parties are said that he called everyone in his cell phone, and they were all at home tonight. and i drove home just now round midnight, nary a car on the road. well, maybe three or four, but not drunken freak-driving. just driving.

so my day went as follows: wake up circa 10am, feverishly read plays in order to find the perfect scene to do with my partner in acting class. find one that *might* be okay, but the person i'd be playing has the same name as me, and is a whore. not sure if my little psyche would handle that well. too like me while too different from me. anyway, round 3pm i realize that i wasn't supposed to go to work at four, but five. yay! an hour has been added to my life! so i continued reading plays.

work started out terrible. they put me on register, the ONE job i had been hoping i didn't have to do tonight. the first customers i got was this family who ordered a ton of food, chose the tiniest table to sit at so they had to drag chairs from other tables to fit themselves in, spilled a huge amount of soda all over said table and chairs and floor underneath. so they moved to another table and told me to clean it up. while i was mopping and wiping off the table and chairs, they came up to me and said "you're out of dr pepper. could you go and change it?" this WHILE I WAS STILL CLEANING UP THEIR HUGE SODA-MESS. so i dropped my mop, ran to the back of the store where the bag-in-a-boxes are kept. the dr pepper is fine. i go back up and tell them this, and they're like, oh sorry. so i finished cleaning their mess. they leave: the store, the mother's purse, and an entire taco's contents on their second table. i clean up their second mess, and don't see the purse. about half an hour later, another party sits at that table, and brings me the purse just as the mother walks in frantically. so that family made it look like my day was going to be crap, but a couple of things happened that made it great.

one of my male coworkers who's all the time picking on me was actually nice to me like all night. we're really friends, and he's a good guy and likes me and everything, but he also likes to talk crap and generally put up a big, swearing, mean front. he's like those strawberry candies: hard on the outside, but soft and gooey on the inside. anyway, he was nice on the outside today, and that made me happy.

our favorite ex-coworker came in. he sang for us and we all talked and had a generally good time. while we were talking, my parents came in, and he and i went over and talked with them and ate the ice cream they'd brought me. his ten minute break from where he now works turned into more like an hour. it was great. so he made the evening great as well.

previously mentioned male coworker ordered pizza, and i went to the store and bought candy. we got to eat food without making it ourselves! yay!

and i finished cleaning the lobby pretty quickly, and would have gotten out only a few minutes after when i was scheduled, except my manager and another coworker and i sat in the office for like 45 minutes and talked. so while i didn't go home when i had planned, i pretty much got paid for sitting around, gossiping and eating candy for nearly an hour. we didn't even have drive thru orders in between! we had like an hour when no one came in at all! it was great. so my day was grood. how was yours?