Random Musings...
Friday, October 29, 2004
- 5:00 can't come soon enough.
The one nice thing about working at a receptionist desk is that I get to go through all the goodies the vendors bring and separate out the things I like. I stash those in the drawer, and the rest are for the rest of the office!! Mmm...smarties...
Posted at 2:37 PM
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discover your jack-o-lantern face @ quiz me
Ha ha!! Yeah, no kidding!! My PMS is so bad even the internet knows it! I didn't think I gave any grumpy answers! LOL
Posted at 9:45 AM
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- Holy crap I can not wait until this stupid election is over. I can't even answer my own phone without being harrassed. I come home every afternoon to find four messages on my machine from some political thing and receive three or four more throughout the night. Absolutely ridiculous. I am fed up. Completely fed up. I'm sick of hearing recordings of crying widows of 9/11, disappointed soliders, simple folk with heavy accents wanting to keep their money, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I guess it's because I'm older now that I see what a circus this is. What I find incredible is the complete lack of logic and accountability.
Sen. Kerry's "I voted against it after I voted for it," or whatever it was. How about a, "Yeah, that was a dumb thing to say."
Pres. Bush being shown footage of explosives that have disappeared clearly being examined by US soliders after claiming they disappeared before they got there...how about "Yeah, ok, I guess I was wrong then." What's this "no mistakes" crap?
Sen. Kerry won't raise taxes, yet he'll cut the deficit in half. How about, "Hmm, that might be a shallow promise. One or the other might have to be tossed out."
Pres. Bush's "You shouldn't be president if you jump to conclusions before you have all the facts." How about holding himself to those standards??
And people buy this crap? All over this country, people buy it. No wonder they say these stupid things. Because someone somewhere will be like, "Yeah, it makes sense not to raise taxes, increase spending, and reduce the deficit," or "Yeah, it makes perfect sense to say our mission is to spread freedom while we pass laws, bills, and amendments that limit the personal freedoms of our own citizens." "No, it's not important that Bush didn't show up to duty while in the National Guard; it's important that Kerry might not have been as heroic as previously reported!" "No, it's not important that Kerry actually voted for the war; it's important that Bush actually took advantage of the free pass." ENOUGH!! ENOUGH ENOUGH ENOUGH!!
Why can't everyone just admit it, "Look, we know these guys aren't the ideal candidates, but I'm just going to go and vote for the guy who is going to screw me over the least." I would just love to hear that from Guiliani: "Yeah, I'm sorry. Georgie isn't the sharpest tool in the Republican shed, but it seems he's our best shot at getting elected and getting a couple issues I believe in passed, so I guess I'll back him." Or hear from Jesse Jackson, "Kerry doesn't really care about African Americans, but he's kind of the default guy since the other guy won't even talk to us, so Kerry it is, I guess." So refreshing it would be.
ARGH!!!!! Ok, I'm done. This is my last political post before Election Day. I'll be a much happier person when this is all over.
PS...I'm just talking out my ass and mean no offense to anyone voting one way or another. There are legitimate reasons to endorse either candidate, I'm just saying that there is SOOOOOOO much one needs to ignore to say either one is "ideal." Plus, I'm a hormonal mess and have reached my limit!
Posted at 8:41 AM
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Thursday, October 28, 2004
- For some reason, the phrase "Life Resume" popped into my head. So, just because I have nothing else I'd rather be doing, here is my life resume...
ROSALIE'S LIFE RESUME
Birthday: May 31, 1979
Married: July 7, 2001
Places of Residence:
Born in Saturce, PR (1979)
Aguadilla, PR (1979-1984)
Sarasota, FL (1984-1985)
Bayamon, PR (1985-1987)
Tucker, GA (1987-1989)
Casselberry, FL (1989-1990)
Winter Springs, FL (1990-2001)*
Gainesville, FL (2001-Present)
*Attended college for nine months out of the year in Davidson, NC (1997-2001)
Education:
Sandra's Pre-Kinder (Pre-K)--Aguadilla, PR
Gulf Gate Elementary (Kindergarten)--Sarasota, FL
Colegio Puertorriqueno de Ninas (1st-2nd)--San Juan, PR
Smokerise Elementary (3rd-4th)--Stone Mountain, GA
Sterling Park Elementary (5th)--Casselberry, FL
Trinity Preparatory School (6th-12th)--Winter Park, FL
Davidson College (B.A. Degree)--Davidson, NC
Awards/Honors Received:
Straight A's (1985-1992)
Honor Roll (1993, 1995-1997)
1st Place, Smokerise Elementary Art Fair, 1987
2nd Place, Seminole County Rotary Club Essay Contest, 1989
State Semi-Finalist, National Geographic Georgraphy Bee, 1992
Geography Award, Trinity Prep, 1992
1st Place for Dramatic Interpretation, Orange County Latin Forum, 1993
Best Newcomer to Theatre, Trinity Prep, 1994
French Award, Trinity Prep, 1994
Best Supporting Actress, Trinity Prep, 1995
1st Place in Vocabulary, Florida State French Congres, 1995
1st Place in Dramatic Interpretation, Florida State French Congres, 1995
Best Actress, Trinity Prep, 1996
National Honor Society, 1997
Davidson Scholar, 1997
Alpha Psi Omega Theater Honor Society, 1999
Travel:
Domestic--Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachussetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, Wisconsin
International--Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Italy, Lichtenstein, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Vatican City, Venezuela
Languages Spoken:
Native--English, Spanish
Conversational--French
Theatre:
2nd Grade Play (Flower), 1987
The Gypsy (Gypsy), 1988
Holiday Express (Engineer), 1989
Holiday Shows (Wanda Weather, Elf, Girl), 1990-1992
The Taming of the Shrew (Bianca), 1993
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mustardseed), 1993
Hamlet (Player Queen), 1994
Li'l Abner (Romeo Scragg), 1994
The House of Bernarda Alba (Adela), 1995
The Tower (Fatima), 1995
Our Town (Emily), 1996
Another RJV play I barely remember, 1996
The Visit (Reporter), 1997
Twelve Angry Jurors (Juror #4), 1997
Our Town (Emily), 1998
Six Degrees of Separation (Elizabeth), 1999
Life is a Dream (Estella), 2000
Jewish Wife (Wife), 2000
Good Night Desdemona (Desdemona), 2001
Moon Over Buffalo (Rosalind), 2002
Meanwhile Back on the Couch (Gaby), 2002
Shadow Box (Agnes), 2004
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (Kevin), 2004
TV/Film:
Get the Picture, Nickelodeon, 1992
Travelodge Promotional Video (Guest), 2000
99 Years (Kelly Sky), 2003
A Second Chance (Ellie), PBS, 2004
DMB Concerts Attended:
Victory Stadium, Roanoke, VA (4/18/98)
Walnut Creek Amphitheatre, Raleigh, NC (8/30/98)
North Charleston Coliseum, N. Charleston, SC (5/7/99)
Alltel Pavilion, Walnut Creek, NC (4/29/01)
Verzion Wireless Amphitheater, Charlotte, NC (5/1/01)
Tampa Ice Palace, Tampa, FL (7/23/01)
St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL (12/10/02)
HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GA (9/20/03)
Blue Cross Arena. Rochester, NY (12/20/03)
Tampa Bay Amphitheatre, Tampa, FL (7/29/04)
Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI (8/7/04)
Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI (8/8/04)
University of Florida - Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, FL (10/8/04)
Boys Dated:
Mason B. (2 weeks, 1991; 1 week, 1992)
Phil L. (4 weeks, 1996)
Rob L.(2 weeks, 1997)
Jonathan L. (unofficially, 1997-99)
Will W. (8 months, 1998)
Andrew P. (five and a half years and counting, 1999-present)
Boys Crushed Over:
Todd (1985)
Mr. Ramsey (1987)
Mickey Dolenz (1987-88)
Hubert J. (1992-93)
Kevin W. (1994)
Matt P. (1994-96)
Dave Matthews (1997-Present)
Greg M. (1997-99)
Jonathan L. (1997-99)
Cars Driven:
1982 Volvo (1995-97)
1996 Pontiac Grand Prix (2000-Present)
1998 Chevy Lumina (2001-Present)
Brief or occassional drives--1 Volvo, 3 Mercedes, 1 BMW, 1 Ford Explorer, 1 Chevy Impala
Interstates Driven:
I-4 (Florida)
I-95 (Florida-South Carolina)
I-75 (Florida-Georgia)
I-85 (North Carolina)
1-40 (North Carolina)
I-26 (South Carolina)
I-77 (North Carolina)
I-39 (Wisconsin)
I-94 (Wisconsin)
I-43 (Wisconsin)
Weddings Attended:
Titi and Tio Sandy
Marisa and Mark
Sandy and Mike
Jennifer and Michal
Jackie and Andy
Maggie and Craig
Laura and Jason
Hilary and Jeff
Jessianne and Chris
Funerals/Memorials Attended:
Papi
Nick
Ito
Baga
Laura
Pets Owned:
Sam, Dog (Samoyed), 1979-82
Firefly, Bird (Parakeet), 1985-87
Melody, Bird (Parakeet), 1985-87
Aladdin, Bird (Finch), 1991-96
Jasmine, Bird (Finch), 1991-96
Caruso, Bird (Canary), 1991-96
Charlie Chaplin, Mouse, 1992-94
Paco, Bird (Parrot), 1991-96
Honk, Bird (Finch), 1991-96
Bonk, Bird (Finch), 1991-96
A whole bunch of other finches that never got names that lived in an aviary after Honk and Bonk fell in love
Skippy, Dog (Yorkshire Terrier), 1992-93
Frosty, Dog (Bichon Frise), 1993-96
Duke, Dog (Shetland Sheepdog), 1994-Present
Toby, Dog (Shih Tzu), 1996-Present
Lucky, Dog (Mutt), 2001-Present
Sports Teams that I Have Rooted for at Least One Full Season
Miami Hurricanes (Infancy-Present)
Miami Dolphins (Infancy-Present)
Atlanta Braves (1987-89)
Orlando Magic (1992-97)
Davidson Wildcats (1997-01)
Carolina Panthers (2000-Present)
Buffalo Bills (2000-Present)
Florida Gators (2001-Present)
Ok, that's it for now. I've been doing this entirely too long!!
Posted at 3:06 PM
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- Oh yeah, and the Red Sox won the World Series last night, I guess. Am I the only one who found the series very...boring?? I love a good underdog, but I was expecting something a little more enticing than this. I'm sure hardcore Boston fans feel differently, but it all seems so anti-climactic. I got so bored watching last night's game. Weird. I have been watching most nights since the playoffs started, and this series was by far the most boring of them all. Don't know why. Maybe I expected a little more pizzazz, a little more drama, more of a nailbiter. Eh, what do I know? Good for Boston.
I've been downing painkillers since last night (maybe that's why I couldn't get into the game). I hate "this time." I can't even see straight right now.
Posted at 9:21 AM
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- Arrived at work this morning to find that all of the windows and doors of our lobby were full of graffiti. You know, we have already spent $2500 on repairing vandalism since moving to this building less than two months ago. Now, here's some more. I don't get it. We finally move into a nice new building, and all of a sudden, we're a magnet for the pathetic attempts at expressions of relevance for idiots. We should have stayed in our old building. I'll never get a pay raise at this rate. Everytime this crap happens, I see money flying out the window. I just really, really, really don't understand why some people put so much effort into ruining things for the rest of the world. I'm pissed as hell.
On to more fun topics, Andrew and I went shopping last night and bought most of the stuff for the party. Our planned food and refreshment assortment: vegetable platter, cheese fondue with bread, bean dip and chips, meatballs, chocolate cupcakes, candy, beer, wine, Jello shots, and margaritas. Pretty exciting! All of the food items I'll be making from scratch too! Can't wait! So far, 20 people have RSVPed that they are coming. Actually...make that 21! One more just RSVPed while I was typing! :) We're going to have a nice crowd indeed. The record so far for our place is this past year's Super Bowl party when we had 27, but we didn't have the patio then. I hope to be able to have people hanging out outside too. It has been so nice out lately, that I'm sure it won't be hard to do. I'm going to be so busy preparing for this, but I so enjoy it! Must remember to take pictures!
Posted at 8:33 AM
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Wednesday, October 27, 2004
- Finally able to get on Blogger! It's been acting up!
So Andrew called me with some "bad news" this morning. Apparently, the jack-o-lanterns we were so proud of on Sunday have rotted. I had my suspicions yesterday when I walked in to find a rather strong odor from the pumpkins, but decided to ignore it in the hopes that it would go away. Alas, Andrew decided to pick up the "lid" this morning to see what was going on inside, and the thing fell apart and was all fuzzy on the inside. Umm...eww. So, I guess that means we need to get new pumpkins. How did this happen? Is there really only a window of two days on jack-o-lanterns?? Oh well. We'll make our new ones for the party on Friday.
I was super cranky last night, and continue to be today. I hate PMS.
I'm almost manic with my "idea." I vacillate by the minute. I have to give this a fair shot, though. I don't know why I'm always so indecisive and pessmistic. I'm always so reluctant to take a step because I think of all the millions of reasons something won't work out. I get up the guts to take that step, and then I repeat the process with the next one. Well, I have $50 of glasses that are coming my way this week that I need to do something about, so it might as well be constructive with it. Worst case scenario, they are my Christmas presents this year.
I felt like I had more to say, but I guess I don't. I always say the same things over and over again anyway.
Posted at 1:52 PM
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Tuesday, October 26, 2004
- I feel like I am stupider today than I was years ago. I used to be intellectual, philosophical, curious. I used to wonder and research. I was much more interesting than I am now. Now, I sit mindlessly at this computer for nine hours a day, searching for any sort of stimulation I can get. I come home, cook, and stare at the television for a while until I go to bed. I can't believe it, but I think I actually miss school because it forced me into the discipline of thinking. When I was in school, I was expected to learn and explore. Really, I was quite nerdy in many areas. I loved research projects and papers. I mean, I was a kid who used to read encylopedias for fun on weekends! I could care less about science, math, or literature. But theatre, history, sociology, culture, philosophy, geography, language, art, these were all things that I would just dive into. I remember the feeling of nerdy glee I would get learning more about these subjects. I didn't enjoy the pressure of school or the forcing of those "other" subjects, but I would love to continue with the classes I did love. It's amazing how the mind can go numb when not used. I can't remember the last time I sat back and just wondered about something larger than myself. I can't remember my last philosophical epiphany. It's been months since I've just opened a book and flipped through to find something interesting in it. These were things that we part of my daily routine.
I wish I could say that because of this, I've decided I'm going to start taking night classes or I'm going back to school. Truth is, I don't want to give up my leisure time, and there is nothing I'd be interested in going to school for that could be passed off as any sort of investment financially speaking.
I think the thing I hate most about this job isn't the job itself, but what it's impact on my life is. The implication of me being stuck in this secretarial position for years after a lifetime of unlimited potential is that I have failed, or am failing, or continue to not reach that potential. The consequences of this job are that I have over half of my waking hours robbed from me so that I can't achieve what I'd like to achieve without taking time away from other things that I enjoy. But what would I consider a more successful outcome for myself right now? Truth is, I can't come up with anything realistic. Really, what I would want is to not need a paycheck. What I keep hoping for in the back of my mind is that money will appear in my bank account, and I can do whatever the hell I want to do. That's just not going to happen, and it's this desire that prevents me from satisfaction. I could work harder to find a more demanding job, but I don't want a job that is going to take away too much energy away from me so that I can continue to do "other things," whatever those other things may be. I want a job that inspires me, but I think I'm too hard to inspire. I want to act, paint, learn new languages, travel, work with dogs, engage in dialogue with a philosopher, research an ancient culture, but none of these are my answer to money appearing in my bank account. The question is, should I work towards forcing some way for those to be my income source or should I work toward becoming more realistic and open-minded? Head-in-the-clouds or 500 lb weights on each of my feet to keep them pressed in the dirt? I am a hapless underachiever, naively lazy.
I'm done ranting now...gotta watch them pull out the fallen trees from the hurricanes from the pond outside my window. Must get my excitement from where I can.
Posted at 11:27 AM
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- Ughhhhhhhh. I feel like I'm dying. My stomach is absolutely killing me. I guess that's what onion rings, chicken wings, pizza, and a derby pie will do to you. Never again!! At first, I thought it was kind of funny how friggin' full I was. But then it turned to pain. By the time I was leaving the restaurant, I was not happy. By the time i got home, I was miserable. It took me forever to fall asleep from the pain. Then, I woke up at 3am from the pain getting even worse. I ran and chugged some Maalox and tried to get back to sleep again. It took well over an hour, but I finally was able to. It still hurts now. I have no idea what I'm going to be eating today. This is rough!!
I need to start thinking again about my Halloween Party. Most of my grand ideas had to be tossed out due to budget constraints. I wish things didn't cost money. I still think we're going to go for the Jello shot idea. I haven't been to a party with those since college, but I think it matches the Halloween idea of sweets. Plus, it'll get people drunker than they realize, hence they'll think they're having more fun at my party than they actually are. ;) I'm trying to think what else to make. I think most people will be bringing some sort of food, but I feel like I should still make some more things, just in case. I've been considering baking cupcakes from scratch from the same recipe I made my dad's birthday cake. SOOO good, but maybe too much work to go through? Don't know. Maybe my bean dip.
Andrew and I made jack-o-lanterns on Sunday afternoon. They're pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. We have wanted to make one each year, but have you seen the prices on them at those pumpkin patches??? The nice, clean, big ones are $20 each!! Obscene! Then, just last week, we found a whole bin at Albertsons where any pumpkin was $5. That's more like it. Sorry to not be supporting our local farmers, but I don't feel like being price gouged either.
Posted at 8:42 AM
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Monday, October 25, 2004
- Well, it's official. Zook is no more! Of course, I wish I could get fired and then proceed to get paid $450K every year for four years. Saturday's game was so pathetic that it actually left me bitter and upset for several hours. Usually, I can shake things off pretty well, but this loss pissed me off because Mississippi State is SOOOO bad. Literally, they're the worst in our division. And we lost to them. I could shake off the loss to Tennessee because it was close and the refs ultimately screwed up and admitted to it, so I don't take that one so badly. The LSU loss was rough, but I was expecting them to rally against us because a team that good was not going to put up with three losses in a row. We nearly pulled it off. But this?? Completely unexcusable. We have now dropped out of the rankings officially. This was the first time Florida has lost to a team with a losing record in over 16 years! Ridiculous! No excuse when you look at the talent we have on the team. So, so long Zook. Unfortunately he's still in charge until the end of the season, so I can assume we can expect more of the same...especially considering we still have to face Georgia and FSU. *Shudder*
Posted at 11:58 AM
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- Had a lovely weekend. We drove down to Orlando Friday night to spend the weekend with Bobby. My parents are still out of town, but they get back today. We had a nice time. For the first time in a long while, I actually got the shopping bug. I'm actually wearing this and this right now. Saturday, we met up with Lane on Park Avenue and just walked around and ate. The highlight: the ice cream! Mmmm! We went to the ice cream store Lane used to work at years ago and I finally got my beloved flavor: Chocolate Chip Cookie. Amazing! Unparalleled! Mmm!
We had to come back early on Sunday because Andrew had to see a patient as part of a research project at 10am on Monday, so we had to get up at the crack of dawn to get back here in time. I spent the rest of the morning at home reorganizing all of our CDs since I have a horrible habit of putting a CD in the case of the CD I'm changing to. So, for the most part, I'm all straightened out, although I now realize that I'm missing several key CDs: Disc 1 of DMB Live @ Red Rocks, REM's Monster, and the first Generals' CD with John Watson. I don't know how to go about replacing that last one!
I also decided to go through all of our CDs and make up one mega party mix out of all of our stuff. We have a 51 disc CD changer that you can program, so I wrote down every party-like song off of 51 CDs. Actually, I was surprised to learn that we did have to narrow it down to pick only 51 CDs. I had no idea we had that many! Andrew came home to help me pick out good songs too, and by the end, we looked over our list. Out of probably 150 songs, there were maybe two or three that were made after 2000. Weird. We realized that we are old. It's not like we haven't bought music lately. It's that everything we've bought lately has either been old or too mellow. We just bought a Guns N Roses CD this weekend, for example. So anyway, we have some of that, DMB (of course), P-Funk, Red Hot Chili Peppers, REM, Led Zepplin, Rolling Stones, Green Day, Cream, Blues Traveler, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Beastie Boys, Pink Floyd, etc, etc, etc. Pretty eclectic mix besides the age thing. The most recent songs I can think of came from a mixed CD we got at one of the weddings we went to this year, so we put Usher's "Yeah." and Outkast's "Hey Ya." That's our representation of modern pop culture!! I'm glad the people we've invited are in their mid-20's or older, or else we'd seem very lame!
Posted at 8:56 AM
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Friday, October 22, 2004
- What do I want out of life?
1. I want to continue loving Andrew until my last breath.
2. I want to raise our children to be decent, happy people in this crazy world.
3. I want to travel.
4. I want a bright, airy house, full of windows with a view.
5. I want to act.
6. I want to create art.
7. I want to contribute to my community.
8. I want to be surrounded by people who make me laugh so hard my sides hurt.
If I achieve these things, I will die happy. In fact, I have experienced most of these things already, but I feel it is just a taste. These are things I want to dedicate my life to. Anything that gets in the way of these goals are things I need to work on pushing out of my life. I need to create a way of living that is actually compatible with all of these wishes. Eight simple things I want.
I'm on track with #1. As long as I don't let things outside of us come between us, I have no doubt this will happen.
#2, I want to stay home and raise our children until they are old enough to go to school. Both Andrew and I have terrific role models in our parents. Things seem to be getting worse among America's youth, and I want to make sure our children have the same loving upbringing we had.
#3, I love travelling and have travelled a lot. I always think that having grown up seeing so much of the world has given me a greater understanding of different cultures, ideas, history, etc. I want to continue growing that way. I think of how much fun I've had in Europe with my family, in Wisconsin with Lane and Anika, my crazy college road trips, our honeymoon, etc. Those are times I've had the most fun of my entire life.
Besides maybe the travelling, #4 is the only materialistic thing I want. This has always been a dream of mine. Perhaps it comes from having grown up eating breakfast on my grandparent's terrace at the top of a mountain overlooking the Caribbean Sea, but I dream of having a place where I can relax by just taking everything in around me. A house on a lake, on a mountain, on the coast, along a river, in the woods, just anywhere were I can be inspired by what I see. I picture huge windows surrounding plush couches, lounging chairs on a wood deck.
#5, duh. I talk about this all of the time. I want to have the time to do this as often as I want.
#6 is what I'm trying to work on right now. I love the idea of making money from something that is mine. As much as I love acting, it is so ephemeral on the stage. The idea of also having something to hold in my hand that was in my head is so exciting, and I hope I can make it work.
For #7, I wish I could be a millionaire and give money to every worthy cause that came along. I do donate a larger percentage of my paycheck than I think most people do, but I'd love to go further than that someday when I am able. I used to do tons of community service in high school. I'd love to get back to it. I plan on it. I could see myself really dedicating myself to a single cause, too, like dog rescue, helping abused women and children, or creating a more vibrant arts scene in a community.
And #8 is already pretty good! I just wish I had more time. I hate when I'm too tired or have to many other things to take care of to make time for friends and family. I hope I can keep a good circle of people around me for as long as I live.
My oh my. All of the daydreaming I get done at this crappy job!
Posted at 11:27 AM
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- I go through ups and downs with this little idea of mine. Yesterday afternoon, I was thinking there was no way in hell it could work, but I woke up like half an hour before my alarm went off this morning and could do nothing more than come up with possible designs in my head and possible marketing strategies. I wish I had gotten started sooner so I could take advantage of the Christmas season, but at this point I don't think I could develop enough by then. I bought a cheap little vase along with two colors of paint, so I've been practicing a little before the big shipment arrives. I've mostly learned what NOT to do! :) So random that I'm thinking of making a business on something I've never even done before, but I'm confident I'll be able to pick it up and do well. Let's see how good I get after these 36 glasses I ordered. I don't know, sometimes I think I'm an idiot, but I also think I'd be an idiot for not trying anything. It'll be three years this spring that I'll have been stuck in this job. It has become clear that no one is going to get me out of here, so I need to do something myself.
My dad has always told me that if I develop a clear business plan, that he'd be willing to give me a loan to get started. Of course, for a while he was pushing me to open a Curves. What the hell?? I've never even set foot in a non-school gym, and he wants me to run one of those places? My dad and I have very different ideas of business. He'll do a business because he sees its business potential, I'll only do it if it's something I love. He's been talking lately of buying one of those self-storage places. How boring is that? He also used to send me job postings for all sorts of things. My favorite was a marketing position for a waste management company. How the hell am I supposed to go out there and sell my passion for the waste management industry?? We have different mindsets, I guess. I don't think he'll be too thrilled with this idea of mine, but I think it's cheap enough that we could afford it ourselves anyway. Andrew is definitely behind me, although he keeps wanting to push me toward focusing on dogs, just like his friend does. I don't know if I want to limit myself.
I don't know, this whole thing is just so uncertain. I wish I could quit my job so I could invest all of the time it needs to really develop, but I have no way of knowing for sure if it'll work, so that would be a crazy risk. I'm going to be having to work extra outside of work to see if it can get going, but what if that means I'm not giving it a fair shot? I won't have enough time to produce high enough numbers, to go around selling them, etc. How will I ever know if this is possible? As much as I hate this job, it's secure, and if I quit only to find four months later that I can't make this work, it's back to looking for a real job. We all know how successful I've been with that for the past nearly two years.
ARGH! I want to rip my hair out!! Why couldn't I have been interested in more pragmatic things? Why can't I dream of owning a self-storage place or a Kinko's franchise? I would be so much happier.
Posted at 8:39 AM
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Thursday, October 21, 2004
- Every now and then, I get the feeling of doom and think to myself, "I'm not going to amount to anything."
In other news, Andrew and I went to Lowe's last night to get a new stopper thing for our toilet since it keeps running. I can't remember the name of the stopper thing, but I will always remember the name of the pieces found next to the stopper things which made Andrew and I turn instantly to middle school children, "Ballcock Nut Washers."
Posted at 2:34 PM
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- Just a few days ago, I was sitting by myself in the living room watcing baseball, jumping and yelling at the TV. Last night? I fell asleep a little after 9pm. Did I miss the biggest comeback in sports history? The answer: pretty much. It's not that I didn't WANT to watch it! I just could not do anything to stay awake for the life of me. I got up and walked around, I ate candy, but I just couldn't. Andrew kept updating me, "Sox just scored again, Rosalie," "Mmhmmm..." "Yanks got a hit." "Mmhmm..." How lame am I?? Even when in the end, he told me, "That's it! Boston just made history!" All I could muster is, "Mmhmm..." I was even thinking to myself, "My God, Rosalie! At least just open your eyes so you can see what this looks like!!" I just couldn't, though. So weird. What was in my pizza last night?? I feel like the lamest person on the face of the planet. Even this morning, though, it was nearly impossible to wake up. I feel that if I laid down on the floor of my office right now, I could fall asleep in less than 10 seconds. So weird. I swear someone slipped me some Ambien or something last night. Oh well, I suck.
Posted at 8:24 AM
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Wednesday, October 20, 2004
- Take this quiz to find out how old you will live to be! I'm going to be 91.9! Not that I believe that they could actually calculate this, course, but thought I'd do it anyway. Andrew's grandfather on his mom's side died of a stroke very suddenly in his early 50's, despite being very fit and active and had no known health conditions. His great-aunt was extremely overweight her entire life and lived to be 94. You just never know!
Posted at 2:19 PM
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- What I want for Christmas so far...
Where the Red Fern Grows DVD
David Gray DVD
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals' Live from Mars CD
REM's Around the Sun CD
Work clothes that don't need to be dry cleaned
Cool earrings
A new iron
A way out of my job
Posted at 1:19 PM
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- I swear, I should just give up on everything and become an auto mechanic. I'd be rich. It seems every other friggin' time I drop my car off for something routine, something pops up that needs to be maintenanced or changed. Every other time I drop the car off for an oil change, I get a phone call about this kind of thing and that kind of thing that they found wrong or is overdue to get changed. The stupid thing is I don't know enough about cars to know whether it is legitimate or not. I don't know how often brakes need to be replaced or how often filters need to be changed, etc. I can't tell if they're ripping me off or if they are being good and conscientious with my car. Truth is, it's a 96 Pontiac, and I haven't had any major problems with it since we moved here and started using that place. The worst thing has been the finicky power window on the driver door. Everything else has been fine, so maybe I should give them the benefit of the doubt? Ugh. I don't know. I'm just sick of getting all of these "Surprise! You'll be shelling out 20 times what you thought you'd be paying today!"
Posted at 10:38 AM
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- Ok, so my mini-crush on the Yankees didn't quite carry over to last night. Jeter was the only hottie, but he wasn't enough to entice me too much. Maybe it's because before I had been watching it by myself and last night I was watching it with Andrew! Anyway, when I think about it, I realize it would be awesome to see the Red Sox be the first team ever to come back from 0-3. They have a real chance of doing it since the Yankee pitchers are wiped out. Who knows. I do worry, though, about the identity crisis the Red Sox would face, however. Who would they be if they weren't the team with the curse?? :)
My car is in the shop right now for stupid things, one is oil change, which, whatever, but the other things are that my rearview mirror decided to just fall off the windsheild last week and two out of the three knobs to control the climate fell off. For the past several weeks, I have not been able to change it from all the way cold or change it from blowing in my face and on my feet. I also haven't been able to look behind me without turning around since mid-last week. What stupid things to happen. At least it's still reliable in getting me places with no hassle!
I'm having some 80's flashbacks this morning, thanks to Jennifer singing her Huey Lewis songs. Reminded me of the Pocket Rockers I had. Man, I LOVED them! Anyone else have them?? What a stupid invention, but wow did I love it! Takes me back to my days in Atlanta when I had just moved from Puerto Rico. Interesting time for me. Everything was so different!
Posted at 9:12 AM
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Tuesday, October 19, 2004
- My family in Venezuela is apparently super excited about our upcoming visit. Usually when I've gone, we've just stuck pretty much to the area around Valencia, which is where my family lives. I've been to Caracas a couple of times, and I've been to the Andes mountains once or twice. Well, this time, they are planning a whole big itinerary with a lot of sightseeing. I have a feeling it has mostly to do with this being Andrew's first visit. I think they want to show off what a cool country it is to an American! :) They're planning on taking us to the mountains and to the beaches. I actually have never even been to the Venezuelan beaches! Venezuela is seriously one of the most beautiful places on Earth. So, I just thought I'd post a few pictures of what we'll be seeing.
For the mountains, we're planning on going to Colonia Tovar, which is a village established by German immigrants. It's so beautiful! I remember going there many, many years ago and loved it.
For the beach, we're going to Morrocoy.
And then there's Valencia, which is where we always stay.
Posted at 1:02 PM
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- OK, Blogger decided to delete my last post. Grrrrr. Anyway, it was just me gushing about my upcoming vacation time for the holidays. My boss is pretty much letting me take anything I want as long as I am back ASAP after New Years. So, I have Christmas in Venezuela from Wednesday Dec 22 through Tuesday Dec 28, New Years in North Carolina from Wednesday Dec 29 through Sunday Jan 2, and the baptism in Puerto Rico either Saturday Dec 18 through Tuesday Dec 21 or Friday Jan 7 through Monday Jan 10, whichever works best with Jennifer's schedule. I'll be calling her to iron it out. Add that to Thanksgiving coming up next month, and I'm happy as a clam. Vacation time is the best part of my job! ;)
Posted at 11:32 AM
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- I'm so sleepy today. I turned on the Yankees Red Sox game as soon as I got home last night...my first time closely watching a baseball game while by myself! Andrew hurried home from his late patient thinking he would miss the end...ummm...that didn't happen. Man, what a long ass game. Such a weird game too. I've found myself actually really liking the Yankees just because I know the players a little better. I found myself having a mini-crush on Jeter and Mussina and even Posada for some very odd reason. I'm weird. How's that for a legitimate reason to get excited about baseball?? Whatever! I'm still a true avid sports fan, so I don't feel threatened by admitting my recent love of the Yankees. I usually root for the underdog in any series, but in this case, I'm just going to go ahead and be girlie about it since who I root for does not affect the outcome at all. ;) So anyway, the game finally ended, but I didn't even care that the Yankees lost because it makes the series more exciting. Tonight's game should be good too, but I look forward to getting to bed earlier!
I talked to my brother for a while last night. He's having a pretty rough time with his physics class. Apparently his professor is very nitpicky about showing all your work, so he still only gives partial credit even if you come up with the right answer if you don't use the precise steps he wants you to make. Bobby is doing very well in all of his other classes, including an A in chemistry and everything. He even has a physics tutor who can't seem to figure out why the professor wants things a certain way when there are less complicated ways of solving the problem. He's been very stressed about this because if he doesn't get a B, he won't be able to go to the school down in South Florida to pursue his specialized degree. Right now, he is very, very far from a B. I gave him some advice on what to do. Schedule an appointment with the professor, talk to his advisor to mayb drop the class, etc. We'll see what happens. I'm now glad we're going to visit him this weekend, because he is having a rough time. He is not one to have very much bother him, but this is really getting to him. With all of the problems he has been dealt, he really does work hard and keeps such a positive attitude that with the help of tutors and other learning tools, he does pretty well. Hopefully something can be done about this class.
Posted at 9:22 AM
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Monday, October 18, 2004
- OK, that's it. I decided to stop just thinking about this. I went ahead and ordered a case of plain glasses. I'm going to stop on the way home and buy the paint. I will be experimenting this week. If I can create something that looks decent, I will be setting aside a permanent space in our office where I can work on these more seriously. My goal is to know whether or not I'm going to go for this by the end of the year. If the answer is yes, I have set a deadline of Feb. 1 to have the business all set up and ready to operate. I can't continue to be wishy washy anymore.
Posted at 3:16 PM
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- How did the weekend fly by so quickly? Wow. I hate Mondays. Four and a half days doesn't SOUND like a terribly long time to wait for the next one, but it FEELS like it. Why must I need money? I would be so very, very happy just quitting now and being able to live my life. I was going to try to experiment with some designs I had in mind this weekend for my potential future project/business, but time ran away so quickly. Why can't time escape like that while I'm at work and drag on when I'm not?
I wish I could know if this idea of mine has a chance of being profitable enough to live off of. I try to think how much I would need to make roughly in my head. For example, if I were to paint wine glasses...glasses themselves are about $2.67 a piece from the website my friend tipped me off to. The paint to use on it is a little harder to guess. Maybe ten cents? I'd have to find out from experience how much paint goes for how many pieces. Ok, so it's approximately $2.77 in raw materials. Let's say once I get good and master the designs, it'll take me between 5 and 10 minutes to paint each one start to finish. Let's think about a simple design that would take me five minutes. This means I could complete a dozen per hour. Raw materials would be $33.24.
Now, taxes for self-employed people is very, very high, close to 50%. I would have work expenses, however, that I could deduct. Let's say it would balance out being that my taxes are 10% higher than I pay now if I were to make the same amount. I have no idea if that is accurate, but I'll try and use that for now. So that would mean, that in order to continue making what I make now, I would have to be making approximately $13.62 per hour.
Let's say that the actual making of these items is only half of the time I spend on the business. The rest of the time I'm working on ways to sell it and keeping track of regular business stuff. This would mean that in order to make my current paycheck, I could charge no less than $60.48 for a dozen wine glasses with a simple 5 minute design, or $5.04 per glass. For a design that takes 10 minutes per glass, which may be more realistic in the beginning, I would have to charge $7.31 per glass.
This also means, however, that I'd have to sell every single thing I make. I'm also not taking into account all of the paid time off I get, including vacation, sick, and holiday. Time I take off is time I don't make money. Also, I imagine I'd have to invest in a few extra things to keep running the business, like shelving, brushes, and other materials. I'm also going to have some start up costs with getting a license, etc. So, to compensate, I'd charge a slight amount more. Maybe $6-7 for a simple design, $8-$10 for more elaborate designs. Those prices seem so high to me, but then again, I'm poor, so what do I know. :) With just a quick internet search, I found hand painted wine glasses anywhere from $8 to $16 a piece, so I guess my prices aren't completely crazy, but would they sell at the rate I need for them to sell?
Obviously, I would want to do more than just wine glasses. I imagine having all sorts of things, like a whole line of different items to have a nice spread of things. I imagine that doing custom work would increase my clientele as well. I could make event specific items, or items for different organizations. For custom work, I could have a small set up fee to come up with the spacing of the lettering or whatnot to compensate for the extra time on those projects.
I don't know, I'm brainstorming this whole thing. I may not be taking any concrete steps toward it right now, but I'm thinking about it constantly. I wonder if I could make this really work.
Posted at 1:06 PM
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- Jennifer called me on Saturday asking me if I'd like to be Robert's godmother! Oh I was so happy I could cry! She said she didn't want anyone else and that she knows my schedule is complicated over the holidays, but that she's willing to schedule the baptism according to my calendar because she wants me! Awww!!!! Little Robert is going to be my godson! How wonderful is that? :)
Now I'm really hoping work can give me some more time off. Originally, Jennifer had wanted the baptism in between Christmas and New Years since all the family would be together, but since we're doing Venezuela for Christmas and North Carolina for New Years, there's no way I can do it. My only options, then, would be to do it just before or just after the two trips. I told her I could definitely do the weekend before or the weekend after, but I'm going to try to make a weekday because it would be a lot to ask all the family from out of town visiting to stick around a whole extra week so that I can make it there. I wouldn't want to have other important people not be able to make it because I can't. So, we'll see. Hopefully it'll work out.
The rest of my weekend was full of food and football. Lovely. We had a couple over on Friday for a cookout, originally to watch the Yankees-Red Sox game, but it got rained out, so we ended up going to get ice cream and then played Taboo. (Andrew and I kicked ass, supposedly the first time they had been beat!)
Saturday we went to the game. It was a blow out! For the first time ever, I left early from the game. We left at the end of the 3rd quarter when we were winning 52 to 16. That ended up being the final score anyway, so I didn't miss much. Andrew and I went shopping for decorations and other miscellaneous items for our Halloween party. It was fun. We then met up with another couple at a new Indian restaurant that just opened up in town. We were slightly disappointed with the place because we are used to having to drive all the way to Ocala (more than half an hour away) to get good Indian food. We were expecting this to be a good substitution, but it was actually "Indian Fusion," so it wasn't very authentic, despite being owned by an Indian family and the cook having been brought from India. Oh well. It was still good food, but it looks like more trips to Ocala for some of the real stuff. We came back and watched the baseball blow out and kept flipping channels hoping that FSU would get beat by Virginia, but that didn't happen.
Sunday, football and housecleaning as usual. Andrew and I watched the highly anticipated Bills-Dolphins game. I have found it in my heart to root for the Bills, but the Dolphins are still my number one team, so we had a rivalry going on. It was the most pathetic rivalry, though, because both of our teams are the worst teams in the NFL. Well, the game made it more official that Miami is slightly worse since Buffalo edged them out to have them be 0-6. *shudder* Sucks. Not even the Panthers are good this year. Even the 49ers, the other team I like to root for when none of my other games are on, suck this year. I have four teams that I root for consistently, and the four are in the very bottom of the league. So sad. I don't know which team I could possibly adopt for the season to prevent me from getting completely depressed.
PS...blogger has been horrible lately. It is so hard to publish anything. It's been three hours since I wrote this message and I still can't get it up!
Posted at 9:27 AM
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Friday, October 15, 2004
- Could it really be in the low 60's and sunny outside at one o'clock in the afternoon???? I want to go outside!!! Yay! Summer is over at last! This is my favorite time of year. From now until May is when it's great to be a Floridian.
Posted at 1:58 PM
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- I'm feeling a little better today, thankfully. Still tired and achy, but better. Thank goodness!
Woke up to a torrential downpour this morning. Thought for a second maybe no one bothered to tell us about a fifth hurricane. Now it's just gray and cloudy, which is too bad because it had been sunny and beautiful all week. Supposedly this is going to bring in some cooler temperatures, which should be nice. Actually, for the past several weeks (when it's not raining cats and dogs), I have been driving with my windows down and no AC. It's been very nice. I was never one to do that before, but I kind of like it now, especially in the morning. I like hearing the transition from the bustling six lane street to the quiet winding road that winds along the lake. I love hearing the loud motors fade into bird songs. Then, to the main part of campus, it turns to scooters and students running around. I don't know why I've been enjoying it lately. Maybe it's just the fresh air getting to me. That is unless, of course, I get behind one of the busses that spews it's black exhaust right onto me. Then, it's QUICK QUICK QUICK to get the window open. Bleh.
Posted at 10:19 AM
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Thursday, October 14, 2004
- Sick sick sick. I called in this morning, and believe it or not they called me back and told me they're going to need me to come in this afternoon because the other office bitches had doctor appointments. Wow. So, umm, I'm here. Whoopee.
I finally got a symptom besides just the fever and general achiness. That pain in my neck that I've had, turns out those are swollen glands. They got big enough last night for me to feel. So lovely. I don't know if that means I need to get myself to a doctor or if it's one of those things that just go away. My fever has never been terribly high. I've just felt knocked off my feet. Bleh.
Posted at 1:59 PM
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Wednesday, October 13, 2004
- Bleh. I'm sick at home. I've had a fever since yesterday. My only symptom so far is just achiness from the fever, but I think I'm feeling my sinuses starting to build up. Also, the back of my head and neck still hurt from yesterday. Bleh. So I'm staying home. *Moan*
Posted at 10:53 AM
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Tuesday, October 12, 2004
- I had a horrible dream last night that I had the worst headache and I could barely walk around or talk to anyone. Then, the alarm went off. "Oh thank God!" I thought to myself. "It was only a dream!" Then, a few seconds later, the pain came to me like a wave. It was not pretty. A migraine. My first migraine in well over a year. I've never had one come in my sleep before. So weird. All I knew was that there was no way I could get myself to work. I called in and proceeded to lay in bed and try to get myself to fall asleep again. I kept playing mind games with myself. Imagining a cool wave coming over my head to wash away the pain...rubbing my foot back and forth along the sheets and concentrating on that...loosening the muscles in my face that kept tightening seemingly on their own. Ugh. It was agony. Finally, I guess I dozed off at some point.
I woke up two hours later with a strange buzzing sensation in the back left side of my head, but at least it wasn't the blinding pain of before. My neck is stiff as hell, presumably from being tense from the pain for who knows how long. I feel a litle dizzy still, and still have the weird buzzing feeling, but I guess I'm fine. Ugh. I keep popping Advil every now and then to keep the last of the lingering pain at bay. Like an idiot, I decided to come back to work since the worst was over. It took me 40 minutes to find a parking spot. It was almost enough to bring the headache back!!
Last night Andrew and I had a difficult conversation about our future. His career is so frustrating because it takes so long to get started and there are so many hoops to jump through. At this point, he has one and a half years left of school. from there, he'll have to go wherever takes him for a one year internship. It's only been hitting me recently what a huge pain in the ass that is. Wherever that intership may be, it is likely not where we would like to settle permanently. So I was wondering if we were going to have to pack up all of our stuff, move it wherever and pack it up again and move it somewhere else. At first, we were talking about what is the most economical thing to do, if moving it each time is fine, or whether we should put it all in storage for a year or even just keep our place with all of our stuff still in it and find a furnished place for the year.
However, that one year internship is the bare minimum of his training. Turns out that there is also an additional hoop he needs to go through if he wants to be Board Certified which means we'd have to go somewhere else for two years before we can finally begin our lives. It's all so much. At this point, with a year and a half left here, my hopes are fading of finding that break through job that is going to get my career on track. From here, I go somewhere else for one single year to find that breakthrough job. Then, once again somewhere else for two years, to THEN finally establish myself in the place where we want to start our family. I'll be 30 before we actually have any control over our lives. So when exactly do we fit in starting a family? We had originally thought that we'd start trying sometimes during the internship year so that I could have the baby wherever it is that we ended up. That is, until this thing about the two years post-doc stuff popped up.
God, I could go on and on about all the additional complications all of this brings and we talked about it all for about two hours. We got so frustrated that Andrew ended up throwing his arms in the air and saying, "I'm sorry I ever picked this stupid career!" Ugh. I felt bad. But truth is, when we got married, I only thought it'd be four years of school and one additional year after that. That has grown to five years of school and three years after that before I have any say in my own life. I was supposed to have one and half years left TOTAL, but now that is one and a half years before all these other things we need to go through. It's so overwhelming to try to plan my life and be at the mercy of others the entire time. We have very little say where we end up a year and a half from now and then very little say again after that. It's all so frustrating. What am I supposed to get going for myself? When are we supposed to start our family? Then, on top of it all, he's telling me that if it's not Gainesville, that we have very little chance of ever living in Florida again because of the limited places where he could work. What the hell?? Do I never have a say in my life then??
I got overly frustrated and I realized I was making him feel guilty. I didn't intend to do that. After all, he loves what he does and he is GREAT at it. So much of what I admire about him is what he has chosen to dedicate his life to. I don't resent him at all for putting me through all this. I resent whoever are the jerks who came up with this system. What is someone in our situation supposed to do with these obstacles?? I asked Andrew if he knew of any interns at his program who were married and what they were doing. He knew of two. One of them ended up getting a divorce. The other was living here while the spouse lived in Atlanta and they commuted every weekend to see each other. What the hell??? That's not the life I want!! What a horrible fucking career that does this so that you can't get your personal life in order. I always wanted to have babies before I was 30 and live close to my parents while I was raising them. I can't even do that. Not only can I not have the career I wanted, but I can't even do what I wanted to do with my own children. God it sucks so bad. We were so upset last night. I held back the tears, though, as much as I wanted to cry. God, even now I want to cry.
Posted at 11:06 AM
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Monday, October 11, 2004
- I just found out I get the day after Veteran's Day off in addition to actual Veteran's Day. Four day weekend!! Now I'm wishing that Andrew's parents hadn't already been talking about coming down that weekend because I could have planned a little trip or something. Last year I did Boston for Veteran's Day, the year before was NYC. Oh well.
Wow. And I realized that trip to Boston was almost a year ago. It doesn't seem like that long ago. It is scary sometimes how quickly time flies.
Posted at 4:22 PM
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- Oh, and my parents just got back from London last night from seeing my uncle's musical. They said it was bittersweet to go. First of all, they said that the show was tons of fun and that the audience loved it. Everyone agrees that the music is by far the best part of the show, which is the part my uncle wrote. Unfortunately, though, the show has been plagued with problems. There was a major disaster about two weeks before opening that involved the producer firing the director. The leading actress then went on to criticize the show very publicly to all the press. Due to having to pay off the director in order to keep the right's to the show and a series of other problems, etc. etc. etc., the show needs $2 million to keep going. The producer, who is a bit of a loose cannon apparently, is very near bankruptcy. In addition, three major reviews came out the day after opening night. One of them was absolutely glowing, and two of them were disastrous. So, my uncle has been very upset by all these problems that he has no control over. He was talking about throwing all of his own money into keeping the show afloat, but my dad talked him out of it since that is money that he would likely never see again and it doesn't come close to covering the full $2 million needed to continue the run. With the 2/3 bad reviews, audience ticket sales are unlikely to come up with the needed money. So sad. My parents said that the show was really good, but it seems to be dead in the water. My poor uncle poured so much into this and did his part. Even the bad reviews all cite the music as the saving grace of the show. He did his absolute best, but it seems like it would take a miracle to keep it going. Oh well. It's still not bad for his first attempt at a full blown musical to open at the Savoy Theatre in London. Hopefully the music will get enough buzz for him to get commissioned for other works that will be better organized than this project.
Posted at 9:09 AM
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- RIP Christopher Reeve. So very, very sad. I hope the push continues for research, despite having lost the cause's biggest voice. He was a hero.
Posted at 8:50 AM
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- A rainy, dreary morning is not what I need to wake me up after a weekend filled with so much excitement. The concert Friday, the cookout at our place on Saturday, the game that night, watching football and baseball all day yesterday...I'm just exhausted. I could fall asleep at any minute. Why can't my whole life be like my weekends? I swear it'd be fulfilling. I swear!
Oh, and before I go on, I might add that not a single football game went my way this weekend. Not a one. Sucks ass.
I had a revival of the entreprenurial spirit yesterday. Andrew was talking with one of his college friends who just quit her regular day job to focus on some side art projects she had been doing that seem to be taking off. She was doing some freelance art for different non-profit groups' brochures, etc. She then added some more projects to sell that combine her two loves, art and dog rescue. (Sound like me or what??) She is now making different items like cups, glasses, cookie jars, etc. with different dog themes and donating a portion of her profits to dog rescue organizations that she works with. Her website is www.lazuliphotos.com/gallery It's not the best website, but apparently she is doing relatively well selling the stuff on her own. I'm going to have to call her to get some advice from her. If she can make it work, I think I can make it work too.
Posted at 8:19 AM
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Sunday, October 10, 2004
- What a disappointing game last night!! Such a heartbreaker. We were in the lead the entire time, but with five minutes or so left in the 4th quarter, I knew we weren't going to last very long. I mean, really, all night I was realizing that we were too lucky to be winning because they were literally doubling our yardage. I even turned to Andrew at the beginning of the fourth quarter and told him, "If we beat them, it's not because we outplayed them." Our luck ran out with 26 seconds left on the clock. Damn. Oh well. It was still an incredibly exciting game. The crowd was so loud and crazy that I think I did permanent ear damage. I could feel my ear drums vibrating. Amazing.
Also, we finally tried out our great idea of sneaking mini bottles of Jack Daniels in my bra. Awesome idea!
We had a cookout at our place before the game with two other couples. It was so nice. We made burgers and chicken and a bunch of other things and ate outside on our patio. Great way to spend the afternoon. I love having people over!
What's that? Huh? The show? OH YEAH!!! THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND CONCERT!!!
;)
Holy, holy crap. Where to begin??
I walked to the restaurant and bar area across from campus straight from work. Andrew dropped Bobby off and then we eventually met up with Ian and Lane. The place was PACKED. I mean, you could barely walk! Our original plan was to go to Swamp, but when I got there, there was an hour wait just for a table and you could barely hear anything. So, Bobby and I went across for some Puerto Rican food at a cafeteria which was virtually empty. Lane and Ian grabbed a pizza from the beloved random window. Then, it was off to the show.
We walked to the section where I thought our seats were. "No, you need to go further that way," the usher told us, pointing in the direction of the stage. That made me smile. Then, it kept happening until we were all the way next to the stage. Ok, so we were there and looked for Row 4. Row 4...Row 4. The rows seemed to be running out quicker than the bleacher section. Finally, we were at Row 4. Which was really Row 2, and our seats were right in line with the second row of the floor section. The very corner of our section literally was touching the very corner of the stage. If we wanted to jump on stage, we could have done it so easily. The four of us started squealing and jumping up and down like middle school girls and everyone around us laughed because they felt the exact same way. None of us could believe that these seats were THIS good. Honestly, they were better than floor seats because you could see over everyone's head. Our row was the exact height of the stage. We only had to look straight ahead!! We just could not get over it all night!! THANK YOU CHRISTINA AND LAURA!! I was thanking you two in my head all night long!!
We missed Jurassic 5, but we made it in time just before Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals hit the stage. WOW! Am I ever glad we did! They were AMAZING!! Freakin' amazing!! If I hadn't shown up knowing that Dave was going to be there, I would have left completely satisfied after that set. Seriously, just an amazing, amazing, amazing show that they put on. I mean, I couldn't keep still. They really had the crowd going too. At the beginning, people were still walking around and all that in typical opening act fashion, but mjidway through the set, everyone in the entire place was completely into it and screaming their heads off. I am going to grab their CDs as soon as I can, but I have a feeling the places in town will be wiped out by others like me! So amazing. If they do any more shows within two hours of me, it's definitely, definitely worth going. I was mesmerized.
And then...DMB! I was screaming my head off to see those friggin guys right in front of me. I mean, Stefan was RIGHT there. MAYBE 20 feet from me. MAYBE. Dave was only slightly farther. We were so friggin' close there was not a single blink of their eyes that we could miss! I was in awe, complete awe. I have always judged how good seats are by how much of their faces I could see with my own eyes. Well, these were PERFECT! Not only that, but the guys could see US perfectly too! Stefan was looking at our section the entire night AND looked directly at me several times. Directly at me. And smiled and laughed by my jumping and dancing and screaming. Dave looked over at us a few times. His eyes landed on me once for a second or two, and it sent chills down my spine to have the man himself looking directly at me. I mean, he wasn't really looking at me. More like his eyes landed on me for a few seconds while looking into our section, but still! I took a little picture in my mind of what it looked like! AWESOME!!
So, onto the show!
The opening song... Don’t Drink the Water!!! My brother, who has been sick for weeks now with some mystery illness was still able to jump and and down and scream! It was awesome to see him so happy!! Great way to kick off the night since he drove all the way up here for the show, even with how bad he was feeling.
Then...Pig!!! AHHHH!! I haven't heard this live since my very first show back in '98. It was so great. I LOVE this song. Love it. So nice. "What point could there be troubling? Head down wondering what will become of me?"
Hello Again. The best of the new songs. I find it amazing how into it the crowd gets, even though the vast majority have never heard it. Most people take songs they don't recognize as a time to pee or talk. Not with this song! The place was hopping!!
Grey Street was next. I've heard this song so much live, but I still love it. Plus, this is one of Ian's favorite songs, and he went nuts when they started it. So nice to see him so happy after all he's been through.
The Stone! Oh yeah. The crowd sang along with the whole, "I was just wondering if you come along, hold up my head when my head won't hold on..."
So Much To Say. This was the song Ian had been hoping for the most. He went nuts when they started it. I asked him if he had ever heard a live version of it. He said no. So I tipped him off that he was going to be in for a real treat, knowing about the ASTB that segues. And sure enough, the place felt like it was going to collapse. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the bassline and I was jumping up and down right along with Stefan. He looked at my and smiled, jumping up and down along with me. AWESOME! My adrenaline was through the roof. ASTB's bassline groove was all about me!!! YEAH!!! I can't wait to get a recording of this show and hear it and know that was a moment between Stefan and I. Oh yeah!! Highlight of the entire show for me.
Too Much was next of course. So much energy. Dave did the whole Dave Chapelle/Li'l John thing at the end again. "WHAT??" "YEEEEAH!" "OK!!" "WHAT??" Loved it!
One Sweet World. Heard it a million times, but it's a sweet song. "So let us sleep outside tonight and lay down in our mother's arms..."
Cry Freedom. I adore this song. So beautiful I teared up. Then, a little bit into it, I realized something. The place was dead quiet. And not even in a disinterested quiet. People weren't chatting with each other since it was a quiet song. People weren't talking their bathroom breaks. Everyone was there and LISTENING. No random drunk "WOOOOOOO YEAH!!!" or "I LOVE YOU DAVE!!" Only cheers of appreciation in the small breaks in the song. It hit me that it was probably due to this being a dry venue. Man, you know I love partaking in the festivities of a show, but it makes SUCH a difference not to have everyone around you chugging beers and being obnoxious. It was a crowd that was actually in tune with what was going on onstage. Awesome! Loved it. It's going to be crystal clear in the live recording.
Lie In Our Graves!!! YEAH!!! I haven't heard this song live in AGES!!! I was happy they played it because Boyd had seemed nearly absent all night. He just kind of stood in the back and played. Not sure what that was about. He's usually such a ham onstage. I barely noticed he was there all night. Whenever I looked at him, he was just kind of standing there. So, this song was the perfect occassion for him to break out and take the stage. The audience went nuts, and he took it in center stage. It still wasn't quite the energy I had seen in previous solos, though. I wonder what the story was with him that night. Still, great performance. I love this song.
Warehouse! WOO! One of my favorite Dave songs of all time. Stefan directed one of the WOOs toward me! WOO! They did the salsa ending, which was fun! The place was going nuts!
Where Are You Going was played. ;)
Stay! This song is so much fun live. "Make you wanna make you wanna...STAY!" It was like a party!
Then, the band left the stage. The place was BEGGING for an encore. It was so loud! Then, the crowd randomly broke into Gator chants!! First "LET'S GO GATORS!" then, the back and forth "ORANGE!!!!!!!!!! BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!" It was hilarious!! I was so into it. How perfect was that??? It was like a Gator game! Everyone was so pumped up for the game. The band came back out, and Dave even wished us luck! The place went nuts.
Everyday, predictably enough. "Honey honey, come and dance with me..."
All Along The Watchtower. This song gets played a lot as an encore, but actually, it's been a while since I had heard it. Brought the place down.
So the show was just amazing. Such a great experience!! The setlist was great and our seats were even better!! Incredible. One of the best parts: I popped in a CD as soon as I started my car and I was home halfway into Song #4! Amazing. Great parking spot and only 4 miles from my front door. It made me so happy to know that all of this happened right in my very own town. It was almost surreal to hear Dave say, "Gainesville." My dream come true! Dave in my town! :)
Posted at 10:40 AM
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Friday, October 08, 2004
- Ouch. I just hurried excitedly to the restroom to change into my concert clothes. As I unzipped the side zipper to my pants, an unfortunate thing happened. You know how sometimes the fabric will get caught in a zipper? Umm...this time it was skin. I stood there frozen for a minute, looking at the skin on my hip stuck inside the zipper. I had to zip back down to get myself uncaught. Predictably enough, some skin went along with it. OWWW! Must ignore the pain.
After all, I'M SEEING DMB IN A FEW HOURS! I'm heading out right now. Next post, expect a full review! ;)
Posted at 4:50 PM
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- A VP from ClearChannel gave a seminar today, which I attended, and is receiving a tour of the building now. He's an alum of our program. My boss asked him if he had any strings to pull to get me backstage at tonight's concert! I couldn't believe he actually asked like that in front of me! Unfortunately, got shot down. This concert is a political event, so they are not involved. From his answer, though, it sounds like if it was a normal concert it might have been a real possibility! Damn politics screwed me over again!! :)
Posted at 3:57 PM
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- I'm looking at a website with a list of babies so that you can vote for the cutest baby or whatever. There are so many of those trendy names it makes me nauseous. Out of a list of a few dozen babies, there are are 7 Madisons, 2 Mackenzies, a McKenzee, a Mackenzi, a Kenzie, 5 Aidans, an Aiden, 3 Haydens, 2 Kadens, 3 Kaydens, a Caden, a Jayden, a Jaiken, 4 Haileys, a Haley, 2 Kaylees, 2 Kaleighs, a Kiley, a Kylie, a Kylee, a Rylee, a Rylie, a Rileigh, a Rilee, a Rylin, 3 Kaitlyns, a Katelyn, a Kaeyln, and a Kaelen.
Now, let me just say that I know babies with those names, and they are awesome babies. Let me also say that yes, some of those names really do sound cute. But give me a friggin' break! I know that people are picking them because they are sick of the common names that we have now and want something more original. But do they not realize how boring these names are going to be in a few years?? Woe to the kindergarten teachers who are just now beginning to be beseiged by the wave of Madisons and Aidens and Haydens and Kadens and Haileys and Kaylees. So many cute, "unique" names...
Posted at 11:25 AM
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- Oh, and here's a picture of my dad, Andrew, and I decked out for the Gators game last weekend. Another one this weekend! Gotta love it!
Posted at 8:26 AM
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- I just wanted to announce that I'm already parked at the concert venue. WOOHOO!!! There is no way in hell that I'll be able to concentrate on anything today!!
Posted at 8:15 AM
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Thursday, October 07, 2004
- I just sent out my Evite to my Halloween Party. It's official! Woohoo!
Now I'm wondering how big to go. Wouldn't it be awesome if I got a fog machine or something?? How much do those cost? I need to make some mixed CDs. Should I get a keg? All these things swimming around my head. I just don't want to be the one with the lame Halloween Party!!
I also just found out one of my friends was planning one of her own. Ooops! I forgot to consult with my friends. I just didn't get invited to any last year and wanted to make sure I got invited to one this year...even if it meant inviting myself! ;) Hopefully, she won't be too mad. I only invited a couple people out of our mutual circles, so it's not like we're competing for all of our guests...though it puts those few friends in a sticky situation of deciding, I suppose. Hmmm. I'll have to send an email to her apologizing. I didn't really do anything wrong. Just one of those annoying things!!
Posted at 2:54 PM
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- TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!
Posted at 9:28 AM
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Wednesday, October 06, 2004
- Yet another example of how people suck: Someone decided over the weekend to throw a rock at a large window in our brand new facility that is less than a month old. We just got the quote...$2700. Yep. People just don't care. I'm sure picking up the rock and throwing it to watch it shatter made them think they were mighty cool, so our $2700 is worth it.
People don't think what this kind of thing does. I have been denied promotions and raises because we had been saving up for this new building. Now, with the new building, the costs aren't getting better. Within the first few weeks we have been robbed and vandalized.
Where do these people come from?? It's sickening to know they walk among us and talk like they feel like we do about these things..."such a shame."
Posted at 4:35 PM
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- I was very unfairly frustrated with Andrew earlier this week. I forgot that I had to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy before it closed at 7pm, but I had already started cooking dinner. He was on the phone with a patient that had paged him and said it would only be a minute. The rice had about 10 minutes left to sit cooking on the burner, so I decided that I would leave and call him in about five minutes to take it off. Well, I called and called and called, and he wouldn't answer. I was getting so mad picturing the rice burning and not being able to do anything about it because some stupid patient was having problems.
When I got home, I burst in and immediately took the rice off the burner. Fortunately, it was fine since the pharmacy was much quicker than expected, but the point remained that I was frustrated about having Andrew ignore my calls. By the time I got home, he was done. He asked why I seemed so upset. I told him that I was trying to get some help and not ruin dinner, etc. "Well, I'm sorry," he said, "but my patient is talking about suicide, and I couldn't put her on hold." So my babyish response was, "Gee, I'm sorry that I'm not as important as you and can't understand life and death issues because all my mind is capable of is cooking your stupid food." I don't even know what I meant by it. Well, I guess I do. I don't know. It's one of those things where I was so mad and I realized it was over nothing, but I couldn't help it. As soon as I said it, I realized how stupid I was being. So, in usual Rosalie fashion after flying off the handle, I sat down and pouted and cried and apologized for being a bitch.
I mean, I guess I resent that this person out there who I don't know felt more deserving of my husband's attention than me. But it's not her fault. She's having some real issues. And truth is, my husband is a hero. He helps people live better lives every day. I guess some of me resents that too. I mean, I'm so proud of Andrew. So very, very proud. I love knowing that he is saving people and helping people. That's such a big part of why I am so in love with him. I know that he is top of his class and the best at what he does. I'm so proud of him and feel so special that someone that amazing is in love with me. However, the petty/bitch part of me resents that I am less important than he is. The most heroic thing I can do in my nine hour workdays is maybe find a file that other people thought went missing. He's out there talking people down from the ledge. Just seeing how intelligent and important he is in action sometimes has a way of making me feel small. I feel so small sometimes when we talk about our days and I complain about a stupid coworker messing up a fax and he tells me of a girl whose uncle impregnanted her at the age of 12. I felt tiny when he was dealing with suicide and I was dealing with burning rice. And I got mad about it. Like a stupid, insecure child, I threw a temper tantrum.
And I'm sorry to say that even removed from the situation, I still feel this way about it. How's that for unflattering honesty? I've talked to him some about these feelings, but not fully because it's embarrassing that I feel this way and I don't want him keeping things from me for fear of offending me. Truth is, the vast majority of the time, I celebrate all of his accomplishments. I buy him little surprises, cook him something special, or take him out whenever he has anything published, when he wins a new grant, etc. I love bragging about how incredibly smart and accomplished he is. I look in his eyes and I love him so deeply and everything he does because it comes straight from his heart. It's only when I'm in these stupid, self-absorbed moods that I get like this. When I spend a day at work wanting to scream because of how little respect I receive, it's hard to swallow more things that make me feel insignificant.
But Andrew puts up with my like a champ. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. He complimented my dinner. And we talked.
Posted at 1:26 PM
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- The VP debate last night made me want to scream. They were like children tattling on each other.
"They did this and this"
"Nuh uh! You're lying! We did this. You did this, that and the other thing."
"Nuh uh!"
So on and so on. Back and forth. The questions were stupid, but not like it mattered because neither of them actually bothered to answer them.
The most interesting thing was when Cheney tried to plug FactCheck.Org and called it FactCheck.Com. Then, the very thing he was referencing for people to check there to prove he was telling the truth was the very issue where they had already determined he is not being truthful. Way to go. Basically, though, FactCheck.Org's article on the debate proves that both men were telling the truth when they called each other liars.
I was disappointed in Edwards because I pictured him as a better candidate and didn't understand why stupid Kerry was chosen as the nominee over someone more charismatic and with less liability of a past track record. Seeing him last night proved to me he doesn't quite have what it takes either. Not that Cheney necessarily beat him. I was just expecting Edwards to excel. After all, an immensley successful trial lawyer should know a thing or two about debates.
Whatever. It is November 3 yet?? I can't wait for all of this crap to be over. It all just seems so petty and futile to me.
In brighter news, Andrew seems to be happy about the Halloween Party idea now, so it looks like it's a go. I'll try to send out some sort of invitation today or tomorrow so people can start planning on it.
Also, DMB day after tomorrow! Football after that. Woohoo!!
Posted at 10:04 AM
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Tuesday, October 05, 2004
- YAY! A trailer for Where the Red Fern Grows. I can not wait!!
Posted at 3:19 PM
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- Ok, Andrew says he is more receptive to the idea of having a Halloween party if we nix the idea of games. I think I may have sold him on the idea of replacing the Halloween games with lots of drinking! ;)
So, I'm here, getting excited and hopefully Andrew can get on board fully with the idea. I've been searching the web for some good ideas. I get so excited whenever I have a party at my place! I'm picturing jack-o-lanterns, cobwebs, colored and/or black lightblubs, music, jello shots, food, tiki torches outside, people in costumes, margaritas, food, candy, maybe even a keg. I think now with our patio we can easily have as many, if not more people as we had for our Superbowl party this year (which was almost 30). We already have tons of regular Halloween decorations. I hope this works!
Posted at 11:04 AM
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- As an example of how ineffective spam is, I'm actually in the market for new windows, and I just received an email for new windows and deleted it without opening it. Now, how many people who receive this really need new windows? I must be one of the few, and yet, I still deleted it. They must be working on SOMEONE, though, or else, they wouldn't keep doing it, right? Who sits there and reads all of their spam? I even hang up on telemarketers selling new phone plans, even as I am shopping around for new phone plans.
I proposed to Andrew this morning the idea of hosting a Halloween party. He says he's not sure he wants to. I want to simply because I want to have a cool Halloween party to go to with all my friends. We have tons of decorations already that we always do to get our house into Halloween spirit. Andrew says he hates Halloween parties, though. Weird. Don't know what to do now!
Posted at 9:35 AM
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- Last night I dreamt that I was on a cross-country roadtrip, but somehow ended up in South Dakota. I didn't know where exactly I was and didn't remember how I got there. I had a map, so I kept going up to people and asking them what town we were in so I could find it and know what direction to go. The people would just give very cryptic, roundabout answers. No one would tell me what town we were in. I went to phone booths to look at phone books, hotels to find their addresses on the brochures, street signs, everything. Anywhere that a town name would have been written was scratched out! I couldn't figure out where the heck I was, only that I was in South Dakota. I wanted to wring everyone's necks! At least the town was picturesque. It looked like the town we had to drive through between Bong and Alpine in Wisconsin.
So, DMB will be here on Friday. Woohoo! Can't wait. The setlists have been looking great. They've even had some surprise guest artists come play with them, like NEIL YOUNG!! Wow! I hope we get someone cool!
Posted at 9:18 AM
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Monday, October 04, 2004
- I'm in a strangely good mood today. Work is going by quickly. I finally feel like I'm getting to a point of organization on my new desk. I'm wearing a cute skirt. Had Chinese food for lunch. My hair looks nice. Life is good! :)
Yesterday afternoon I felt so hyper that I took advantage and kicked butt in a really hard arms and abs workout. If I had had time for more, I would have done more. I have the same hyperness right now that I wish I could do some Pilates right now or something. I hope this energy carries over to when I leave work so I can actually take advantage of this. I really need to get on a more consistent workout routine. Maybe a lot of my mood right now is due to the kick ass workout yesterday. Unfortunately, I did fall asleep at 8:30pm too. Hopefully that is not what is making me happy today, because if it is, that is just lame.
Posted at 1:30 PM
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- My voice is so nasally! I just recorded the general greeting for our main office number, and I'm amazed at how nasally my normal voice sounds. Maybe I should rerecord it using a deeper voice. Ick. I guess all of you already know what I sound like, but every time I hear myself, it's a new surprise. I sound just fine in my own head. The main office number is 352-273-0500. If you call outside of business hours, you'll get the recording.
Posted at 10:57 AM
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- Had a lovely weekend with my family in town. We went to see the play here on Friday night, which was pretty weird. I didn't really care for it myself. I kept wondering why that play was chosen, because all of the actors were decent. Oh well. It was at least short, only an hour and 15 minutes, and entertaining enough. Saturday was the Gators game!! Woohoo!!!!! It was SO much fun. It was my dad, Andrew, and I and about 80,000 other screaming fans. Great game. It was hot as hell, though. I applied sun screen on myself TWICE and still got a tan. Andrew applied several times, and of course, ended up red anyway! Poor guy! We went out to this great Italian restaurant that night that I had heard was good and was it ever!! Mmm! So good! Now we know a great place to go back. Yesterday, brunch at IHOP. Overall, it was a very nice weekend.
My parents are leaving for London this Thursday for something extremely exciting...my uncle composed the score to a major musical that is premiering this weekend in London and will be opening on Broadway sometime next year. SO exciting. It's called Murderous Instincts, and it's the first "salsa musical." My uncle (Alberto Carrion) is a relatively well-known musician/composer in Puerto Rico, but he hasn't done much outside the island. He played with Janis Joplin for a few gigs way back when, but that's about it. He has stuck mainly to composing as long as I've known him. He's extremely talented. This is his first musical, and it has been so successful so far! It was huge when it showed here in Puerto Rico. It was picked up by a production company in London and is premiering at the historic Savoy Theatre. Amazing! If it does well in London, I predict it will be HUGE on Broadway. I can't wait for the word to get out on this musical. I've only heard one song from it which he played and sang for us on piano on Thanksgiving two years ago. So beautiful it brought tears to my eyes. He's so talented, and I hope that this will reach the success he deserves. I did an internet search of his name, and there are several glowing references to him on the few members of the press who have seen previews of the show.
"This show is returning to the old tradition of the great Broadway musicals of the past. It's an uplifting story of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity, with plenty of escapism, plenty of laughs and plenty of the kind of wonderful music that made the truly great shows of the past such an important art form."
"With an irresistible Latin score by Alberto Carrion, this explosive, passionate and hilariously screwball tale of family rivalry bursts on to the stage with a tantalising cocktail of red-hot salsa, soaring voices, infectious beats, and glamorous couture."
My parents are bringing me back the CD, and I can't wait to hear it! Hope the opening goes well.
Posted at 9:42 AM
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Friday, October 01, 2004
- This is the area where my grandparents' apartment is in San Juan. You can actually see their building in this picture near the top along the beach.
Posted at 2:08 PM
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- I can't believe how huge differences can be from person to person. You think we are all born into this world with a sense of right and wrong. It's amazing to me to see how disgusting some people can be. We have to keep our computer lab permanently locked now unless there is a faculty member there because someone walked off with $4000 worth of computer equipment. This isn't some big break-in opertion. There are $100K worth of stuff in that room, but only one set of things was missing. This is probably some student or some random person who walked by and thought, "Hey, I could use that," and just took it. The room was meant to be for our students to use, but they can't, because we can't afford to staff it with a babysitter. So now, the room can only be used for classes. No more student lab. I mean, sometimes it's even the stupid little things. Like our students are required to attend certain performances for their classes. We give them a "coupon" that lets them get in for a $1 service fee, rather than the admission price of $8. Someone actually decided to print these coupons out on their own computer. They typed in everything and attempted to match the font, etc. They apparently couldn't find our little logo for the corner, so that's what tipped us off. But wow. I mean, how crazy is that? For seven dollars. I'm sick of having to make so many friggin' changes in my life because of these idiots. Things disappear off my desk all of the time. We keep all of our office supplies under lock and key so that I have to get up out of my chair and walk to the other side of the building to unlock the storage closet each and every time a professor needs a pencil. It's ridiculous. I just don't get who these people are. I feel embarrassed if I realize I accidentally took someone's pen while writing something in their office. Do these people really not have problems with themselves doing these things? I mean, am I the idiot for NOT taking things that look cool??
I don't know how many people are guilty of these things. Supposedly, everyone thinks, "Oh how terrible." when they hear all these stories about people taking things and being bastards, yet these people are around. I have a feeling a lot of people just don't think the rules apply to them and only others have something wrong with them. I'm sure everyone laments that we all have to lock ourselves in our homes and be skeptical of strangers, and all that, but some of these same people are the ones responsible for it all. I don't get it. What does it take for someone to just take a computer and then hear all about how terrible it is for us? What does it take for someone to take my stapler and then watch me cope without one for a few days while I get a different one? What does it take for someone to break into someone's house to check out if they have anything they want? What does it take for someone to walk up to another human being and take things from them while they were minding their own business? I just don't understand this world sometimes. I can't even understand these people's thoughts. Do they realize that when we talk about the way of the world that we're talking about them?
Posted at 10:41 AM
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- Watched the debates last night. I felt a little bit better about Kerry as a legitimate candidate, I suppose. Or maybe it wasn't so much that he did a good job as the fact that Bush looked like a moron trying to string his phrases together into a coherent sentence.
My parents and Bobby are getting in this afternoon. I bought tickets to see tonight's play here. I've heard it's pretty funny, so hopefully my family will enjoy. I'm also planning on cooking my grilled shrimp for them tonight. I tried it out about a week and a half ago, and WOW was it good!!
This morning I remembered that DMB is going to be in town a week from today, and I started daydreaming about meeting Dave. You now, if he is staying in town, he would definitely be staying at the Hilton on 34th, which is less than 2 miles from my house. However, never in the 12 shows that I have been to have I ever attempted to hang out somewhere to see him or find out where he is or stalk him or anything. I don't think I want to start either. I mean, I don't want to be the desperate crazed fan, as crazy as I actually am. I don't know. Sometimes I find myself thinking that I should hang out at the hotel bar because I've hung out there before on regular nights anyway, but then I think I don't want to be "one of those." I should just let the band be, I suppose, though I would love to meet them. I don't think I could maintain my composure if I ever did meet them, so it's probably for the best that I don't. I'd be hysterical, and I hate that.
Posted at 8:29 AM
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