there is still something about these stories

I'm taken some crap from my friends and family for being addicted to two stories the last year. Really folks, it hasn't even been a year that I've been reading and following the HP and Twi stories. I'm not proud of it and I'm not nearly as bad as people think.

But I had a moment recently where I realize there is a reason that these two stories speak to me. I can relate to the story lines in many senses. Tonight I was listening to the last HP book and there were a number of lines that I wanted to write down. I was cleaning and packing and secretly searching for a pencil to remember the quotations.

There something about a group of people (Twi, cringe) who cannot go in the sun, who are constrained by a force in their life that they did not chose (nor deserve). The fact that your choices are taken from you and you are forced to life in a way that are against your nature, I can relate.

Than there is HP, where a character is marked by death. Again, not by choice but because something happens in your life that is beyond your control. Something that unfortunately affects your friends and family, although you would give anything for it not to. A story about life and love above all other things. A cause, a cause you fight for above yourself and above things in your life. Something that means more than your everyday existence.

Shamefully, I'm that adult reader. It still means something to me, though I'm secretly wishing I could go back....

ronald retires?

Mc-what? Ronald McDonald is retiring??? My big-bird-ish red haired friend who always wears yellow, is apparently retiring from a life of selling fried food to children. As our family's good friends said at Christmas, our 4-year old daughter can spot those damn golden arches from 50 miles away on the highway! They couldn't get their daughter in the car without a Mickey-D's bribe, or drive by the restaurant without a happy meal to save their lives.

Well apparently a coalition of health advocates have held a "retirement" party in Chi-town to encourage the mythical figure to stop targeting young children. The idea is that if we don't have McDonald's then we will be less likely to have issues like childhood obesity. I think this might be the correlation equals causation defense, BUT I can see the general logic.

I don't necessarily see it as an individual child problem but more of a parenting problem. Parents shouldn't feed their children McDonalds more than 1 meal a week. But the issue is more economic than that. It is about the price of food. Parents can feed their children for alot less at fast food restaurants, than they can with real fruits and veggies. It isn't reasonable for the average or below average families to feed their families on natural or healthy foods. That is a child obesity issue and not the fact that McDonald's offers fried potatoes and chicken.

Anywho, I bet THAT retirement party wasn't very fun. Here's hoping the retirement parties I will attend in the next year will be different than that one! I'm all about good food and booze at parties and there is no wayyyy in hell that was this liberal crazy Chi-town Ronald party.

gross

gross gross gross, this will continue to horrify me for the rest of the evening:

Cow Urine Drink @ Yahoo! Video

speaking on a dance party

So I talk often about how I like to have individual dance parties at work and around my house. I love it when you are feeling a vibe and you have enough balls to just start shaking it on your own. This sometimes happens for me in public, but mostly in the privacy of my own rooms. You know when a jam comes out and your inspired to do the sprinkler....

The other week I watched Love Actually and there was this scene where the Prime Minister has an individual dance party in his new house. I forgot how much I loved that!!! So I would like to suggest that everyone takes a moment today and have a minute dance party like this:



Can we also take a moment to envision my sexy bitch of a single congressman doing this in his DC apartment??? I can soooo see it. Single, politicko, busy, and therefore let's off a little stream by dancing around your place.

LOVE IT!!!

the summer concert series

Well my summer concert series is shaping up into a real good time. I mentioned previously that I'm SUPER excited about Paramore at the end of April right here in Cville. Well turns out we are going to make a repeat appearance for Sharon Jones which didn't work out as well last december. I also found a country friend in town and we just got tickets to see Dierks Bentley (seriously who names their child dierks??? I'm just saying). Plus Brian surprised me with getting some seriously kick ass tickets for DMB in July in DC. Better seats then I would have got, thanks B!

Should also be a good summer of friends coming to Cville (I get Jilly Bean and Yvonne for about a week each), as well as traveling for a week in Alaska so that I can shoot a moose. Can't complain!!! Here's hoping we get some work done in between as well.

a little hair detail

Soooo last night a friend of mine trimmed up my hair. For those that don't know, I'm growing the shit out of those locks to make into a wig for myself or for Locks of Love. I sort of have worried that if I cut it for me then it will be like a self-fulfilling prophecy and I'll lose all my hair again. Whereas, if I cut it for Locks of Love, then it will be like paying it forward.....

Anyways, I'm at a cool 6 inches in a ponytail and I needed a little shape around my face. I still have grow back from my flare last spring that causes some minor fuzzy. So it is all shaped up and sexy now that I didn't have to go to the "chicken shit" expensive hair dresser (although I do love her and all her NY sassiness).

It is everyone's job to make sure I don't go crazy this summer and chop it off prematurely. Everyone knows that I am not a hot weather fan and when I'm sweating my balls off in July it might appeal to me to shave it all off.....

music of the moment

Don't you want to do this arm movement dance to this song?? Like pop everytime they say "you, me, you". I do.

music of the moment

Love me some Lady Antebellum, I keep wanting to listen to this song:

the babies have arrived

Well it's officially, the baby/baby/baby, arrived last Thursday afternoon without any major complications. L is doing well and all three of them have been staying out of the NICU (wow that almost looks like NCIS!!! I almost typed that subconsciously). That in itself is remarkable and amazing. Healthy, happy babies all around.

Remember you can check out pictures and updates in triplet adventures on their website....

final four baby

Congrats to the amazing MSU men's basketball team for making another a-mazing Final Four appearance. I had a nice little fight with Brian about the game last night, douchball :) BUT we're headed to the final four against Butler. Here's hoping those WVAers will beat Dook and we have a well-matched final championship game.

I'm drinking (coffee) out of the MSU "tradition" mug this morning and am mentally adding 2010 Final Four appearance to the list of a decade of accomplishments. Let me run them down for you, just so you can truly appreciate the amazingness that is MSU basketball (listen the state of MI needs anything we can get):

• 2000 National championship
• 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009 Final Four
• 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 20009 Big Ten Champions
• And T to the Izzo has been 4x national coach of the year

And here's to my Ma and Terri for their outstanding basketball pools. Kicking ass and taking names in both Betty and my pools. Nice work ladies. Hopefully you can also chap on the beat when at games now too!!!!

See you all in a couple weeks!!!!!!!

hugs all around

Some brilliant Auburn college students decided to create a website to win a hug from Taylor Swift. Turns out she challenged them to do good deeds in order to earn their hug, and now it's turned into an internet sensation:



Taylor's challenge number 1: help an old lady cross the street. And now we these video responses from all over the world:



I wonder what Challenge number 2 will be.....

Let's think of more things that improve humanity.....

shakin it up a little

Well a much needed girl's night out was scheduled in the absence of a group HH this weekend. We got out, we shook it up, and came away with some good stories. The highlights:

• That same old dude was tearing it up, consequently wearing about 4 shirts. I didn't even like wearing one thin one!
• It was an odd group of east coast douches, including some drunk girls that were already dancing on the bar at like 11 PM. Really?
• One pick up line we experienced: "Hey, can I dance with you?", "yes", "where do you live in town?" Really? Really? You think I'm going to tell you where I live???? How about the state of VA, is that specific enough for you?
• This particular guy continued with "I live by Piedmont, and went to school there for 3 years but quit" OK, again, white dude, I think you need to work on your pick up lines because I'm seriously NOT impressed with the fact you went to a 2 year community college for 3 years and then quit. For christsake it is like 1 AM....I can't take this shit.
• At some point I was dancing with some dude and could smell something fruity on him. I asked "are you chewing watermelon Bubblicious gum???" Seriously, that is some potent smelling gum :) I think the guy was probably thinking, OK this girl is not drunk enough if she can smell the flavor of gum radiating from me.
• T and I both noted how polite and gentlemen-ish all the men were, asking to dance, asking to touch, asking for drinks. It was like the good guy's night out in the big Cville.
  
• T and I hit up my favorite bar (sushi and the best martinis) in town for some pre-bootie-shakin drinks, and afterwards ran into two of our HH guy friends. We both exchanged awkward glances when they asked what we were doing.....hmmmm, no judgment please.
• Needless to say it was a good time and some great people watching like normal :)

Saturday I attended UVA's Dance Marathon where two of my friends were volunteering and dancing. This event raised money for the UVA Children's Hospital and was so poorly attended during the hour I showed up, that I got to jump in the gigantic blow up truck. I sort of had a small shit fit about the fact that blow up things seem to break in my presence (case and point the two exercise balls I used to own before they popped) and how upset I would be if I broke the bouncing thing before all the sick kids arrived. But all went well after I squeeze my big body through the kid-shaped entrance. Anyways, it was still fun and I made a good donation to the kids (FTK--for the kids).

too much bootie in yo pants

So it is 4:44 PM on a Friday afternoon and I'm still in the office. I might be losing my mind because I just locked the office door and turned on Soundmaster T's "too much bootie pants." My colleague and friend G, won't dance with me. Instead she is remaining in her chair working in SAS. Lame.

My day started off in a bad way when I walked out of my place at 7:25 and it was down pouring rain. I accidentally walked through two puddles so my pants were soaked after the 2 block commute. As I got to work, it turned out that I locked all my keys (work & home) in my apartment! GREAT!!! Good work LL. You're special.

After a day of 5 meetings, I am ready to start drinking and get my dance on tonight. I'm going to have to power nap before the festivities. Good thing I got a little pork verde in the crock potter :)

OK now we are officially listening to Pussy Control in my office dance party. G still isn't having nearly the good time I am having!!!

how many can you name?

If you don't watch the video hints, how many of these TV theme songs can you name???



I got a good number of them....

They had to have the following on their list:

• Married with Children
• Cheers
• Friends
• Fresh Prince
• Charles in charge
• BIG BANG (we built a pyramid)
  

I doubt these ratios

Sooo I just caught a headline that was "states with the smallest peens" and of course that lead me to this page that was actually the US states and cities with the biggest peens. I'm way more interested in the larger rankings than the smallest :)

I wonder how this business was calculated because we would have to take into consideration the population size and junk per capita. Ya know??? Like New Hampshire (huh like I believe they have the most well-endowed men) is a small state! Whereas NY, I could see that.

Just think if you were on this research team!!!! I could think of a couple girlfriends and gayfriends that would sign up without any hesitation.

This just makes me giggle.

joe dropped the f-bomb

I LOVE that VP Joe whispered this in BO's ear when introducing the new health care bill:

"this is a big {f-bomb}ing deal"



Now Joe you are around microphones and you should know better!!! But seriously, we are talking about Biden here, he isn't known for keeping his mouth shut.

The FCC might be all OVER that business. Or better yet probably FoxNews will be :)

another bracket

Thanks G for this.....I'd probably do better with this Bracketology than I am in my own basketball pool (stupid nova):

GO Carrot Cake, GO!!!! You can do it. I do like Spice too....

Really birthday cake is number 1??? I don't think so.

HP up in flames

Ohhh NOOOOO, the set of HP part 7 caught on fire this weekend!!! Apparently, they were filming the final sequence or the battle at Hogwarts, and the set ignited. Luckily no one was hurt, and the three main characters weren't even there. It took them hours to get the damn thing out too!!!

Be careful for god's sake!!! I want those movies finished on time and in my hot little hands.

gearing up for the Walk

Now that I've finished the March Advocacy activities with LFA, I can gear up for the Walk for Lupus in April. I made my team and personal websites awhile ago but now we are officially ready to raise some big bucks via Team LL (I secretly wish that was our name).

Last year, we had a damn good time "waddling" down Pennsylvania Ave in DC. This year we are going to have more and more people joining, including a car load of some crazy Michiganders!!! Also a carload from Cville and VT too!!! We will have umbrellas and butterflies, and then there is a wicked rumor of a big phattie breakfast post walk filled with pancakes and bloody marys/mimosas.

So please consider making a small donation which is tax deductible. Feck, anyone reading this blog has probably already donated or got an email from me. But in all seriousness, I benefit from these services each year and your support is greatly appreciate small or large.

Support Lupus here.

It means alot to me!!! THANKS!!!

southwest is a-mazing

Sooo I LOVE the Southwest "bags fly free" commercials. Whoever thought of this marketing plan is GENIUS. Seriously. These commercials make me laugh and laugh and then giggle. For example this one has been playing during the March Madness tournament lately and I love it:



I want to be the person who shouts "TAKE MY BAG NOT MY MONEY" with a major attitude. You can watch the behind the scenes footage of the making of this commercial which just makes me smile. Maybe this could be one of my decade careers??? I might have to add baggage carrier to the list of possibilities, along with cake decorator and B&B owner, ohhh and bad ass old lady DJ. This looks like so much fun!!!! (well besides all the heavy lifting and sun exposure)

Check out all the SWA commercials at this YouTube channel....it's on baby!

a good JS parody

Buy gold, invest in gold. --GB

This is 13 minutes of pure goodness:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Conservative Libertarian
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

joe the peeling guy

I watched a show this morning about "Joe the Peeling Guy" from NYC. He passed away recently and therefore people are looking at his body of work. This guy was a street vendor in NYC, and sold potato peelers for years. He only recently became an American citizen, and would dazzle a crowd with his accent and technique. Supposedly, he made millions and millions of dollars. He lived on Park Ave. and drove a BMW. But everyday he would get up, put on a suit, and sit on the street corner demonstrating his peelers.

This guy was a NY staple, sort of like a much better dressed Naked Cowboy. Apparently, now his daughter has taken over the family business and continued to sell this product. Check out Joe in all his glory, doing what he loved everyday:



I really like this guy!

I lost that bball feeling

So it is official, I've lost that basketball feeling.....case and point, both of my "shit" brackets are doing better than my real brackets!!! It my pool and Betty's pool I'm higher in the standing when I was trying to come in last place. This, I'll admit, might be a symptom of the crazy March Madness play this year. Seriously, EVERYONE'S brackets are crap this year because of the sheer numbers of upsets :) First Georgetown screwed me, than Nova really pushed me right over the edge yesterday. Good work, high seeded teams, good work.

Anyways, it is official, I can no longer call myself a true sports fan. It's like I've lost a piece of my soul.....my identity. Sad.

poor MI

I just read that about a quarter of the schools in Detroit are closing due to a budget short fail. 25% of schools!!!! That is just nuts! Where are those children going to go? What are the families going to do??? Seriously, has Michiganders had enough suffering with the close to 25% unemployment rate and all the auto industry closings. Shit. That sucks.

Maybe their f-ed up Governor should not be making resolutions like the "Meat Out Day" and start focusing on the real problems in the state. What a stupid idiot she is. Seriously, I want to punch her in her junk and then rip off that ugly face mole. Why don't you do something good while you are in office???

I mean suggesting that the state stopping eating meat is wayyyy more helpful than educating children. Good work, doucheball.

getting out of my body

Sooo while on my way to Philly last week I had the joy of sitting next to sick children and then staying in a hotel room with close to no ventilation. Needless to say I caught a little head cold but started nipping that business in the butt right away. I feel OK but massive amounts of boogers and snog is trying to get out of my body. Seriously, I cough, sneeze and hack out yellow/greenish shit. I never use kleenex or blow my nose, and I've already done it like 40 times this morning.

That means I'm on the head cold mend though....phhhhh!!!

an airing mistake

Wellll someone is getting fired at Time Warner broadcasting because this week they accidentally aired porn on two of their children's channels. I would have loved to see the parent's reactions when they sat their children in front of the TV for a little Sesame Street only to see two college co-eds going at it. Sure sure the FCC has a shit fit about any wardrobe malfunctions during the superbowl, but there isn't any talk about major investigations for this!

Apparently it happened from like 6-8 AM and it took them awhile to figure out how to stop it. That is really funny.

ready to advocate!

Soooo my gigantic suitcase is re-packed, I'm showered (which in its' self in a miracle), and my suit is all ready for tomorrow. I will drive in with Betty, work from afar for awhile, then over to the hill. Right now, we have meetings starting at 11 AM including a picture with Senator Warner on the capital steps. That will be fun!

So far no Tom P. appointment yet, which is disappointing. BUT I'm signed up to attend at least two other meetings for other representatives in VA. I'm the LFA's floater and point person for random people who can't make it. Soooo here's hoping it will be a good Lupus day tomorrow.

6:30 train to Cville. Home, home sweet home.

advocate for LFA

On Tuesday, I will be heading onto Capital Hill to meet with my Senators and Congressman to advocate for Lupus education and awareness. I am doing this on behalf of the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA), and you can help too! For those who cannot be there in person, you can write a letter to your representatives in support of Lupus research and legislative actions effecting Lupus patients. The foundation offers pre-made letters that you can personalize and help give a voice (it is quick and easy). See instructions below, and I greatly appreciate your support!

For Cvillians, you can mention my name as attending meetings on the Hill on Tuesday the 16th. Also, please consider forwarding on to other friends and family to increase this effort.

1. Follow this link
2. Type in your zip code
3. Click on the Info link for each of your representatives (or click "write to all" link)
4. Click on Bills tab to see if they are supporting the bills currently affecting Lupus patients.
5. Click on Send a Message icon to edit a pre-made letter.

THANK YOU for your support!!!!!!!!! Every little bit truly helps.

in a betty heaven

So I've officially entered betty heaven...

Which includes:

• DVR of Big Bang Theory and NCIS
• Internet 24/7
• All the fruits and veggies you can eat
• Eating out to new DC restaurants...including the Italian Sub place of goodness
• Movies to rip into my computer
• Wine in a box
  

my emotional downfall

For all those that know me well, they know that my emotional downfall is sports. I'm sitting here watching the selections for march madness and getting all fing emotional. My eyes are glued on the TV, my nose is running (per my cold and basketball dreams), and I'm yelling at the TV.

I had a friend this week remind me that I have a "brash take no shit personality" meaning I would be more likely to kick your ass or punch you in the teeth than show emotion around you :) BUT seriously, make me late to a football game I want to be at so that I can't see pregame when they run on the field.....OR have me miss senior night or the Olympics or championship games with underdog teams....then I'll kick your ass.

I love march madness. GO MN, GO STATE!!!! What's wrong with a no shit personality anyways???

made it to DC

Well I have officially made it to DC, after 4 hours of delays in a train station and 30 minutes waiting for a cab on the hill, I've arrived. Telecommuting tomorrow for work than on the hill for LFA on Tuesday......trains back to Cville on Tuesday night, barring any major weather issues.

Here's hoping betty's apt doesn't turn into a petri dish of cold viruses.

Good news is I haven't run out of clothes yet!!!! Socks are getting low but otherwise we are in good shape.

minn-e-sota!!!

Sky-u-mah!!! Rah rah rah.

So UMN and those amazing gophs have made a run for the Big Ten conference title. First they bet out MSU, then killed Purdue yesterday, and now they are in the championship. This late in the season run might mean that they will tip out of the bubble into the NCAA tournament. We will know more tonight, but pretty exciting stuff!

Gotta love that Tubby and a little Gopher cheering!!!!

an epic vid

So Lady Gaga is making videos that are basically short movies like MJ did back in the 80s, and this one stars a little Beyonce:

hand me a pretzel and some steak'n cheese

Well I made it to Philly, and in the cab ride from the airport I had to bust out a little Fresh Prince....in west Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days....

Yesterday was the first day of the conference and I attended a number of presentations that totally set my kinkers on fire! Seriously, this is my mecca, where LL belongs. Violence, youth development, at risk kids, school climate, ahhhhhh. None of that preschool business :) Only kidding.

I'm a little McKanky because despite all my careful planning I've got a little start of a head cold. Sick children sitting next to me on a plane, and a hotel room with absolutely no circulation. I'm eating right, drinking tea, and doping myself up so here's hoping that will help. I still got another 5 days of this trip!!! Right now it feels like my sinuses are going to explode, and I truly love that feeling.

My presentation is today and my poster arrived successfully (thanks A). Likely no more internet until I arrive in DC on Sunday, as it costs the price of my right arm at the hotel. But in the meantime, hand me one of those phattie Philly steak'n cheese sandwiches....

a little lisztomania

I freakin love this song, it makes me bounce in my seat or dance around the room. This is like that OAR song about poker to me. First it has a wicked name and second it gets me moving. In a continued tribute to Mr. Hughes (did you see that during the Oscars?--favorite quote "yeah ferris, is it your day off?), here is a brat pack mash up to the Lisztomania song:

farewell RI

So my adventure in RI is coming to an end tomorrow morning, I'm checked into my flight and my rental car is filled up with gas....and as I prepare to embark on the next leg of this extravaganza, I have a couple final thoughts for the grrrreat state of RI:

• Driving across this state only takes like 1 hour, because I've traveled twice to the very south to the Univ. of RI child development center.
  
• I still love cities with water in them, case in point, Minney, chi-town, seattle, portland, DC and maybe Providence now :)
• I need to live more on a coast for the sheer amount and variety of seafood.
  
• I've visited a variety of preschools this week, including some that have pseudo police office guarding their entrance and parking lot to rich academics children preschools.
• I need to try more new yoga classes and expand my yogi moves...
• I'd like to adapt a NE-ern accent, then I want to blend it with a British accent, then pray no one tries to kick my ass.
• I've generally accomplished my goal of eating in as much as possible, since the next 4 days will be all eating out. Points for me.
• I'm running out of socks, but all the rest of my clothing appears to be going OK. I haven't had to go commando yet...well at least not by choice :)
  

Philly next, then DC via trains....

i heart conan

I freakin love Conan in all of his unemployness.....I mentioned previously that he opened a Twitter account (my new addiction) and immediately has a billion followers. Since then he has made some great posts about eating french fries and tracing all the freckles on his arm (I should totally do this). And recently, he pulled an amazing move.

Conan decided to randomly follow one person. She is a 19 year old in Folverville, MI. GO MI people!!! He says:

• "I've decided to follow someone at random. She likes peanut butter and gummy dinosaurs. Sarah Killen, your life is about to change."

Now the girl is famous and on all kinds of TV shows. She is getting married (of course she is getting married at 19, she lives in MI still!!!!) and all these people have come out to sponsor her wedding. People are giving her dresses, and food, and some winery is sending bottles of booze. And her hubbies wants to make Conan his best man.....

See another reason why Twitter is better than Facebook, mostly because I can communicate in 180 character statements. This shit is going to happen as soon as I update to the iPhone.....but in the mean time I heart conan.

a little alice

So I walked my sorry ass to the movies yesterday and was all sneaky getting into sold out Alice in Wonderland in all of it's IMAX, 3-D glory. It was a typically creepy Tim Burton film with all of his favorite actors, including many of mine too (you can just check out the HP or Sweeney Todd cast for an example). I love me some Anne H, Helena BC, John D (argggh), Alan R. and Michael S.

Turns out I wasn't the only one watching Alice fall in 3D, because the movie grossed more than Avatar did it's opening weekend (appearing J. Cameron isn't just getting spanked at the Oscars). It was odd because there were old, young and middle aged people that were going to see the movie. I think it might be a little scary for young kids, BUT who knows. AND I loved John D's makeup, freaky but fabulous.

I forgot about emma

Well damnit, I forgot that I could have been stalking one of my favorite actresses this last week in the great state of RI!!!! Classy Emma Watson is attending Brown University, site of my ghetto pedi the other day, right here in Providence. Crap, I forgot to pack my stalked nylon hat.

And to top it all, I find out that she is doing some local productions at the University this weekend!!!! Well shit. I TOTALLY would have gone (especially since it is is free) and tried to get her autograph. She is an amazing actress, smrt, beautiful and turning into a fashion icon (seriously, you heard it hear first). AND she is british, so she already has a special place in my heart. HP fans are going to be all over this business!

I wonder if she'll regret doing small productions without proper security......not like she needs to do it. I'm secretly pissed to have missed the opportunity.

IM2

So the second release for Iron Man 2 was shown during the Oscars last night, and it is official, Mickey R. scares the hell out of me:

best dress thus far

Lovin SJP's dress thus far tonight:

Charlize Theron is channeling Helen M in the "bigger buns" scene from Calendar Girls with her dress.

the (slight) return of my weekends

So for the last 2+ months I've been working on a revise and resubmit for a manuscript from my 3 year old thesis from WSU. This is the second article out of that project, and it has been rejected once. Luckily, we had an opportunity to buff it up and resubmit for further consideration. My colleagues and I had an initial goal of submission in January, but that was laughable as I just got the damn thing in 4 days before the deadline. Academics...always just putting out fires!

But this damn paper is on top of my normal work load so that, coupled with my spring grant writing class, has been slightly pushing me over the edge. I am going to relish the (slight) return of my weekend life that doesn't involve as much personal "work." I am going to pop open another bottle of Leine's and eat the rest of my carrot cake to celebrate the revised submission :) And I'm officially switching my playlist to "british gods" which makes me bounce in my seat a little.

A note to the reviewers: I'll do other things for an acceptance as well.....just name your game.....use your imagination.....

RI goals: check and check

So I've accomplished all my RI goals already!!!! And it is only Saturday afternoon.

1) I got my ghetto pedi yesterday. Pretty toes.

2) This morning I got up and went to a Hatha yoga class downtown. This wellness center was voted #1 place for yoga in Providence, and it was well worth the money for 90 minutes of my personal heaven. I even learned some new moves! They had a studio with these ropes on one of the walls, which I've never seen, but we used them in the practice. We rigged our bodies to the wall with the ropes (ooooohhhh that sounded dirttty) and used it for resistance in certain poses. It was wicked awesome. I loved it.

3) I had done some searches for Providence's best Clam Chowder and decided to adventure into another side of town to try and find this place. After getting lost once, I found the little ma and pa place which was radiating a delightful fried food smell. I had CLEAR clam chowder, which apparently is a RI specialty. I also was able to try Clamcakes, which I wrongly thought would be like traditional crabcakes. Instead they were like doughy, baked puffs with fresh clams in the sides. Weird huh? They were delicious. I also got a pint of the traditional white clam chowder to go, so that I can keep living the fresh seafood dream the next 3 days.

4) At this mecca of seafood restaurant, I saw they had something called a "carrot cake bomb" on their menu. Well that shit intrigued the hell out of me, so I ordered one of those to go too. I think if you put the word "bomb" in any title, I might just try it. Case and point, Jager BOMB. Well it wasn't anything too special, but carrot cake none the less. I could still find another place to completely satisfy this goal.

I sat and visited with the owner of this fried food shack and thoroughly enjoyed their NE accents. I also walked through my Italian neighborhood this afternoon, saying HI to all grandparents sitting outside their shops or apartments smoking cigars. I might, MIGHT be falling in love with Providence.....these are my kind of people.

So now I'm back at my killer hotel, with my windows wide open because it is beautiful outside. And to further witness what a great day I'm having, I got a little James Taylor mix on which makes me truly happy. The cherry on top...I just cracked open a Leine's. Ahhhh, heaven.

those damn snuggies

Well the Snuggie is still out there trying to take over my world. I've vented my frustration with this now popular backwards polar fleece coat, partly because I didn't come up with the idea and partly because of their marketing scheme. They are marketed towards teens, towards dogs, and towards stupid people who don't buy scarfs. And now, NOW we have Snuggie owners breaking world records.

Yep that's right, Cleveland Cavs fans loaded into a sold out arena this week and EVERYONE brought with them their team Snuggie. Crap, the entire city of Cleveland owns Cav Snuggies??? FML. And during one point in the game everyone put these one to have one big RED Snuggie blob, thus making a world record for the largest number of Snuggies in one place. Even the cheerleaders put on modified slutty Snuggies. It just warms my heart......makes me all warm and fuzzy instead. Everyone should have turned to embrace each other and start weeping.....

Damn Snuggies. Taking. Over. My. World.

If I was in Cleveland, I would have been the lone fan without a Snuggie, or maybe I would have just worn my birthday suit....

OMG this going to be me!!!

Please please please GOD let this be me when I'm old and my tits are in my shoes.....this is going to be my career when I'm over 70 years old (provided I'm still alive)...well this career after B&B owner, and cake decorator. LOVE her, her spiky hair (I already have this part down) and her glittery headphones (I'll gladly bring back my glitter era):

in preparation for the oscars

Soooo it is my favorite time of year, March Madness and Awards Season. Let's combine my three favorite things: sports, fashion and celebrities. This Sunday is the Oscars and luckily I have cable and can watch all the red carpet. In honor for my Sunday activities, here is an Oscar speech mash-up:

Chatroulette

Another thing I will NOT be participating in on the internets:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Tech-Talch - Chatroulette
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

PS, Brian williams is secretly a very very funny man. I love him!!!

poor organization is a symptom of adhd

Now that I've been hanging out in strange places that are not my home, I have an opportunity to browse the internets as much as I want and watch as much bad TV as possible. At 6 AM this morning, I was watching the crazy number of infomercials and was learning alot.

I saw this commercial about adult ADHD and they kept asking "can you not get everything done?" and "can you not find things?" And I was sitting there going, do these adults have adhd or are they just unorganized??? We work with kids all the time who have adhd and a large part of helping them is how the environment is structured. Isn't it likely that these are adults who don't know how to successfully structure their environment?

This sounds like a less educated/informed D blog posting, but I can't help but wonder.....I've had this conversation a number of times with people the last couple weeks, about personal limitations and finding strategies to cope. I can speak from experience, that much of my life success (and that is dependable) is a product of me being proactive to set up my environment differently and structure my life, my work life, etc. in ways that help me function better.

I'm not denying that there such a thing of adult adhd and I do believe I have a couple friends who may have symptoms (cough, cough). But they are also active enough to try different things and find coping strategies.

I will admit though I'm overly organized...

thoughts from RI

• I discovered that my body armor car has satellite radio but no electronic windows or locks.
• I slept sooo well last night but I woke up at my normal time panicked because it was light outside, only to remember I am more north than the big VA so it get lighter here quicker, right? Is that logical?
  
• My kick ass hotel cleaned the crap out of my room today which means everything is now at right angles....I had to throw my shirt on the floor as soon as I walked in so it wasn't sooo neat. They did all my dishes (I had dirty pots and coffee cups all over the place), scrubbed out the jacuzzi which I could only get to turn off last night by putting a knife in the switch (that's a whole another story), and they picked up all my clothes off the floor and folded them. Freaky!
• I only got lost one time today which resulted in me ending up in another state. This RI area is sort of like DC where buses up and vanished like a fart in the wind, and before you know it you are in another state.
• I had 2 hours to kill between observations today so I decided to get that ghetto pedi out of the way. I found myself a nice little asian shop, relaxed, and my toes buffed. It was great....can you guess what color they are????
  
• Today I ate some shrimp which is seafood but doesn't accurate satisfy my seafood craving. I also had german chocolate cake today which doesn't remotely qualify as part of my carrot cake goal.
• I'm officially ready for the weekend.....
  

my hotel rocks

Highlights of my arrival in the great state of RI:

• my hotel kicks ass!!! it is nicer than my apartment. it has a full kitchen and tonight I had a spinach salad and turkey spaghetti whilest drinking a Leines. bitchin.
  
• I'm headed to take a jacuzzi bath soon.
• Memory foam mattress pads make me happy and wish that someone was in bed with me.
  
• my old paster, PFF, is the hotel bell boy. I swear, it is his twin, frair tuck without the robe.
  
• I'm in a great little area with cute shops and small restaurants with christmas lights everywhere and fountains. it is striaght up my alley and all italian.
  
• goals for this week: ghetto pedi (mani, botox?), a random yoga class, sometype of seafood everyday, and to get some carrot cake (there is a cafe just a block away that says "fine desserts" which I will try).
  
• my rental car corners like it is on rail (can you name the movie quote?)....only kidding it was skidding all over the place in the snow today and I'm seriously afraid that if I fart it will blow the doors open. Body armor, that car.
  
• I bought 3 bags of groceries and spend less money at the ghetto grocery story than I did at the "discount" liquor store. No judgment please.
  
• My luggage arrived and my Fedex boxes also were successfully delivered. TSA did dry hump my suitcase though.
  
• My poster tube was indeed in A's car and she is Fedex-ing my poster to Philly. Insert big sigh.
• I observed for 4 hours today and convinced a rough teacher to give me demographics and her consent for next year. Points for me. I still have this sneaky feeling I'm turning into a ECE researcher....
  

new ok go

OK GO has done it again, this vid rocks:



There is a little bit of that board game we used to plan as small children...what is it called, Mouse Trap. I loved that game!!!

a start to a long couple weeks?

So as I've mentioned, the big LL train was taking a 2 week mission away from Cville, living the life of Up in the Air. During times like this you can only plan so much and than you just gotta go with the flow. So here hoping the rest of the 2 week trip doesn't continue like the last 12 hours:

• W dropped me off at the airport after I convinced her I need a foot long Subway sub, and then I had to teach her about the hidden message of Subway's foot long song and hand languages.
  
• I spent 3 hours in the Cville airport only to have my flight be canceled. Damn eastern seaboard snowstorms!
• I have verbal confirmation from my hotel in RI that they will not charge me for last night, stating my defense of "Hello, I'm still staying 7 nights!"
• I got the airlines to reimburse my $50 heavy luggage charge because I was 1 pound over. The lady said "well don't you want to apply that to your luggage for tomorrow," and I quickly replied "HELLS NO...I'm pretty sure I can pull a pound out of it."
  
• Turns out I only pulled 1/2 pound out of my suitcase but I still convinced this morning to round down from 50.5.
• The big A picked my ass up last night and drove me home. And this morning I couldn't find my poster for SRA, which hopefully means it is still in A's car. That means: a) I will have to convince her to ship it to me or b) I'll have to order another gigantic print before next week.
  
• That damn poster tube, I should I have just paid the extra shipping and have to sent to my hotel in Philly. But I like to have my work in my hands though, and now I'll pay extra either way as it was sucked into the Cville travel vortex.
  
• If I get into RI ontime today, I will have exactly 90 minutes to get my rental car and haul ass across the city to get to my first preschool by 1:30 PM.
  
• Checking bags makes me super crabby, I hate waiting.
• I hate wearing real shoes and coats. Now that I don't live in the frozen tundra, I don't wear winter coats or shoes that fully enclose my feet. I don't get that luxury when traveling north and that too makes me slightly crabby.
  
• Hoping for a good morning poo before I get on another airplane this morning. My little floor hole at CHO is amazing. I might have to write my name on the wall stating my claim from the last two days.
• It's 6 AM and I'm listening to Poison in the airport without headphone. Everyone can suck it, I don't care.
  

I too would date betty white

Well I too would date Betty White, in all of her amazingness, you know, if I batted for the other team or played on the other side. Who doesn't want to date Betty White? If only for her story telling abilities....if we're hanging out at the bar I would want her to start every sentence with "This one time, back in..."

Anywho, PRatz was on that chattyfest known as the View today and those menopausal hens asked him about the age of women he dates. Smartly, he said he wants to date Betty White, the older the better. LOVE IT!!

quote of the day

This is a great quote of the day, which I may or may not agree with:

"You can drink alone, and you can drink before noon, but you can't drink alone before noon."

don't mothers ever mother anymore?

OK so I don't have kids (insert gigantic sigh) so I cannot say too much on this topic, but doesn't any mothers ever "mother" anymore??? This is such a dynamic shift in perspective for me, because only a few years ago I could never understand the stay at home mother. I mean, I still don't like the idea of the stereotypical stay at home mom, but at least they were "good" mothers. At least they worked hard at raising their children instead of shoving them in front of a television or hiring a handful of nannies/mannies.

Case and point, Kate Gosselin. Besides whoring out her children for TLC's reality television, she now has signed up to be a contender on the next season of Dancing with the "Stars." She is taking her spiked asymmetrical hair cut (although she now has a weave) and putting on that spray tan and glitter. You know, she is going to perform live on television on monday and tuesday nights, practice a billion hours inbetween and also raise her 8 children at home. Well good. I bet that ex-husband of her's can fill in when he is not guest hosting on Extra, or partying in the Hamptons with Mr. Lohan.

Seriously, who needs a mother anymore? Not like our children these days aren't screwed up enough already.

more bothered with special guest

let the traveling begin

Well I had mentioned previously that my month of March just got exponentially more busy, and starting tomorrow I'm on my worldwind trip up and down the eastern seaboard. Prepare yourself to get updates from RI, Philly and alittle DC hill action. Look out, I'm a'comin.

My suitcase is packed with 12 dressy outfit (no jeans or skirts which is a freaky miracle) and it is guaranteed to be over the maximum weight for the airlines. My SRA poster is printed, and I'm dreading dragging that damn tube all over RI and PA. And I think I've got my entire research team all lined up for the next two weeks to survive without the big LL. So here's hoping I make it on planes, trains and rental cars without any major problems.....keep your damn fingers crossed.

in a lonely place

OK I mentioned a couple days ago that I am officially an art owner now, and the masterpiece is hanging on my wall. Now granted this picture does not do the colors justice because it is a little washed out. BUT the reds look amazing against my yellow/cream PPT presentation gradient styled wall. It works really well with my dining room light and such. A-mazing. An original Cash masterpiece which will travel with me for the rest of my life. Thanks again M, my favorite.

the lady's fashion

You have to love how Lady Gaga has taken the music industry by storm and is completely original in her fashion choices. For example, check out this creation that she was tooling around London in. I love the lobster, pasties, and plastic, but please bring back the hairbows: