I'm heading to the beach this weekend for a much overdue and deserved break from work. I am also pretty sure that this will be the last time that I am able to get away from work for a long while. This has not been the best week and I am feeling a little sad. I described it earlier as feeling like Eeyore. blah.
I just wish I could take some people's pain away. I know I'm not the only one, I also know that I have often felt much worse than I feel right now and prayed for relief. I wish I could tell someone that it's okay. That it's just not worth it. To hang in there. It really will get better. I wish I had a magic spell that could make all the problems go away and turn back time.
i wish.
That the anniversary of Elvis' death was last Thursday, I have immersed myself in the cult of Presley for the last week or so - to be more accurate, I would have to admit for the last 10 years or so- but who's counting? Most of you think I'm crazy and obsessed (or maybe you think this is just a joke?), but I would like to clarify my interest...
Yes, I believe that he was one of the most gifted musical talents of the 20th Century - hands down - but I also think his life and story are an excellent example of modern tragedy. Perhaps a cautionary tale. For those of you who would dismiss him as a drug addict that got what he deserved...I just don't have enough space to refute this claim. He was a good man who got caught up in his own myth. Did he believe his own hype? Definitely. Was he someone that abused his body and shunned help? Yes. Was he a good person that tried to help those that were in need? Absolutely.
So, lets recap. I'm not a crazy fan that thinks he could do no wrong. I just think the good outweighs the bad.
New to Elvis? Here are the top five songs you should commit to your music library:
1. Suspicious Minds (all-time favorite)
2. It's Now or Never (I believe it fully displays his vocal range)
3. That's All Right [Mama] (The song he was first famous for)
4. If I Can Dream (although not one of my favorites, it was one of Elvis' and it is a powerful song)
5. Can't Help Falling in Love (don't get me started on why this song is just too much)
I believe everyone should make their own decisions about politics. That is why I hate to hear celebrities talking about what is right or wrong and spreading their general self-righteousness to the masses...
with that said (and as I am not a celebrity)...
I would like to note that possible and probable presidential candidate Fred Thompson (from my home state Tennessee) has declared that he would support a constitutional ban on gay marriage and actively try to overturn Roe v. Wade if elected president. Do with this information what you will, but I would like people to be informed.
On another note,
I love reading stories about old people kicking ass and taking names. You know what I mean, those blurbs on cnn.com about 105 yr. old woman who took out a burglar or the latest about an 82 yr. old who stabbed a would-be attacker with an ice-pick. Serves the scumbag right.
I love getting friend requests from half-dressed females. On the few occasions that the initial pictures don't look to ho-raneous I click on the their profile and inevitably featured on the page is something like this:
"Here's my other site since Myspace won't let me post my hot nude pictures. Enjoy!"
Oh. Well then, sign me up.
Are these actual women? If so, this just ridiculous.
P.S. I just got a friend request from Jesus. I guess everyone's online now.
I just - just - earned $.01 in interest on my somewhat new savings account.
Swimming pools, movie stars...what's next?
I don't know if this is an actual medical condition, but it should be. Despite what the time stamp at the bottom of this post may say, it is 5:00 am and I am still up. I have been reading a new series of books and I can't sleep because of them. This is certainly not the first time this has happened. Even if I do quit reading at a decent time, I tend to analyze what I have read and turn it over in my head incessently.
The general reason I can't sleep?
I can't quiet the mind. I think about work, friends, random things, my lack of sleep (which only makes it worse) and so on. I have had this problem since I was a teenager. I hate sleeping in the same room with someone because I feel like I have to be super quiet once they're asleep and then I am trapped...awake...thinking about how I have to be really quiet...because I'm awake and trapped. Torture.
I will go for several weeks and be okay and sleep decently. I define decently by getting to bed before two and making it to work generally on time (10). Then I will have days that turn into weeks where I can't get to sleep before 3 or 4 and then I am just toast for the following day. I get bored laying in the bed waiting for sleep to come and then I start reading and then I have to keep reading until I finish the book or decide that I have found a stopping point (rarely does this happen). Sometimes I will read two books before bed, maybe a magazine and then toss and turn after all that. I love to read so I can't give that up, but I guess I need to start reading really boring stuff. In graduate school I used to read peer-reviewed journal articles before bed and that was like taking a really powerful tranqulizer. Unfortunately, the idea of reading something like that now (when I don't have the threat of looking like a dumbass in class) has no appeal despite its promise of somnulent paradise. Alas, I believe I will read the third book in the series and bid you good morning.
Last night I was up to no good. Several of my friends and I went to a bar and then the roomie and I went to a late night dive after the bars closed. This is one of those places that you would never consider entering if you were sober and it was the glaring light of day. It also tends to attract an older crowd (mid-forties) and you can almost smell the desperation in the air. Last night I witnessed a sad scene. A woman in her late 30s or 40s who was dressed in a rather unbecoming top (very low back and she couldn't wear a bra with it and this was not someone who should let the twins out to play without lashing them down) and enough make-up to give a tranny a run for their money. She was getting her groove on and kind of stumbling around - I'm sure it was a lot sexier in her head than it actually was to witness. She also had black hearts all down her back. At first, I thought they were tattoos, but then I realized that they were drawn on with a sharpie. Upon closer inspection, someone had drawn all over her arms and back in ball point pen as well. I'm not sure if she knew it was there, but it was just sad. She let someone write on her like she was a bathroom wall. She also kept dancing on this one guy who was skeazy and it was clear that she just wanted male attention. Any male attention. After coming to this realization, I have decided that I am never going to act like that and if I have acted like that in the past I will never do it again (although I always wear a bra out on the town and I don't let people draw on me). I think women need to value themselves more and quit acting so desperate and they will attract the kind of person they really want and not some guy they met in a seedy bar.
That is the number of times I have blogged here. My "blogiversary" was the 8th. I forgot it last year as well. It's not exactly a number I have committed to memory. I guess I'll keep this up until I don't feel like doing it anymore...lucky for you.
Really, this post should be titled: apartment complex musings....I would like to discuss two oddities today.
First, there is a man that always has his door open and windows open. Sometimes in the winter he will close them, but in the summer they are always open. I just don't understand this. For those of you not in the South, we are experiencing quite the heat wave with temps topping out at above 100 degrees. He comes in and out of his apartment (sans shirt, of course) and surveys the complex. He's kind of like our version of the Ugly Naked Guy from Friends. At least he wears pants...Oh, I'm sorry, I meant jean shorts. Creepy? Why, yes.
Also, someone has taken up one of the parking places outside of my apartment with their scooter. I jokingly call it "the vespa," but it is soooo not a Vespa. It is generous to call the damn thing a scooter. My point is that it is taking up an entire parking place. I have to fight the urge to run over it every time I come home. Part of my ire is that it is taking up one of the two places that gets any sort of shade during the day. I think I will just kick it over tomorrow.
That's really all I've got to say.
Terrible, terrible day.
Endless day.
Burned out.
Ready to lose my sh*t.
Personally and professionally.
Wish I could crawl in a dark hole.
Or under my covers.
Not come out for a while.
Decided to blog about it now.
Hopefully will relieve the pressure.
Want to take back my evening.
I will try to enjoy what's left of August 6th, 2007.
For the last several months I have heard a bizarre car commercial on the radio. This is not all that unusual as most of these commercials tend to be a bit theatrical, but I digress. This particular commercial advertises that they will "meet or beat" any other dealership's offer. Beyond this, if they fail to "meet or beat" a competitor's price they will give you the car.
Well, this just doesn't make any sense. Why would they not meet or beat someone else's price and then just give a car away? It is an inherently flawed offer. I want a real deal, like buy one get one or 50% off. Now that's a deal.
Teddy runs around the apartment with a leash in his mouth. This is an old leash from when he was a puppy and it is pretty short - probably 5 ft. or less. I have attached the part that would attach to the collar into the handhold (basically it is a big circle). I have spent a lot of money on toys for Teddy, but this leash is probably the one thing he likes playing with the most. He grabs it in his mouth and runs around and eventually catches one of his back legs which hobbles him, but makes the game even more fun. He growls at it (even as he holds it in his mouth) and acts quite ferociously towards it. He looks ridiculous tripping around almost falling on the damn thing, but I have rarely seen him happier. So, everyone - get your dog a leash to play with.
Do you hover over the toilet in a public restroom? Do you make it absolutely unpleasant for the next person to visit the same stall? Then you create the very thing you fear. Trust me, if something is going to take you out in life, it ain't gonna be from (gasp!) sitting on the potty.
I need to use my vacation soon. I have a certain number of days saved up and I will be taking an actual "vacation." It makes me feel very adult to have this kind of time available. I think I will probably divide it up and take a couple of smaller trips. This is quite different from the vacations my parents took my brother and I on when we were kids. I used to love those long trips to all sorts of places in the middle of the summer. I loved the night before leaving our house because everyone was trying to pack their bags and my mom was always in a bad mood because she hated getting everything together and then inevitably forgetting something. We would get up super early in the morning and then set out for our 3 week+ trip. A dependable destination was a week or two in Louisiana visiting family and old friends. After this we would drive the interminable distance to any number of states below the Mason-Dixon line. One year we went to Disney World, other times we went to Savannah, Charleston, Charlotte, and any other cities generally located below the Mason-Dixon line. Don't worry, we also went to New York, London, Wales, and other more exotic locals. Sorry to digress, but the thought of a vacation gets me a little nostalgic.
