Vote Please!

1. The Essential Feminist Reader edited with intro by Estelle B. Freedman - It must say a lot about me how insanely excited I am to read this book. It’s an anthology of writings that represent feminist history and the first essay was written in 1405. The year. The year 1405! That is amazing. I mean, I think it is interesting to read anything from a long time ago, but something about feminism that old. It’s awesome. There are 64 essays in the book from then until 2004. I seriously can’t wait to read it.

2. Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women & Feminism by Bell Hooks - I have only been in college for two semesters and I have already written two papers in which the article I was writing on referenced Bell Hooks and this book. The day after I got this book I noticed that we are going to be assigned one of her essays in my Psychology of Women class next week. I think it will be great to read about the subject right from the expert herself. It also doesn’t hurt that Hooks is such a wonderful writer. She has many other books so if I enjoy this one I will have a lot more to read.

3. The Good Body by Eve Ensler - I have long been a part of The Vagina Monologues and I am excited to continue with them this coming year, but I have to say I think this play is much more fitting for where the country is at right now. I am working on getting a performance of this done at my university next year.

4. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti - Noticing a trend? I got this one because I thought it would be good for my continuing education in the woman’s studies program. It was published in 2007 so it is really current and I think it will be a useful resource. I don’t know if I will learn anything new, but you never know.

5. Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy - This is another one I thought would be helpful for my future career choice. Also? I just find it facinating the way some young women today are behaving and I thought this book would be enlightening.

That is my first batch of career related books I am soon to embark on. I figured it reading time is rare anyway then for now I should try and focus on reading books that will help keep me driven and focused on what I want to do.

The problem is once I type these into Amazon to get links for you guys it recommends new books that also look interesting. My wish list is suffering.

I also have to write a paper on an important problem/disturbing situation. The paper needs to be pretty short 3-5 pages, but it is due on Thursday and I still haven’t chosen a solid topic. I really need to get on with that.

Thanks for the input on yesterday’s rash situation. I have a doctor’s appointment set up for next Thursday (that is the soonest they could fit me in) so I’ll update again then.

I am always very interested in what people are reading. Perhaps you are one of those people. My books tend to be more based on things that have recently interested me or just books I was browsing in the book store that for one reason or another I couldn’t put back on the shelf. Here are the 4 books on my nightstand right now.

1. The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci - This one just sounded really interesting. I don’t know how it will be, but I think everyone could benefit from being more kind in their everyday lives and it is really something that doesn’t come naturally to me.

2. It’s Easy Being Green by Crissy Trask - Yeah…after watching the movie I figured it couldn’t hurt to read more on the subject and maybe do a few things differently.

3. Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style by Christie Matheson - I know the title sounds dorky, but it also seems to be very basically written with practical tips on being greener while still doing things normally.

4. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann - I really enjoy books like these that take everything you think and believe and shake them up. I think it is really important (in everything) to not let your opinions about something keep you from letting new information in. I’m never afraid to go back and say I was wrong about something as I learn more and become more educated. It’s also just really interesting to read about and this book is actually a fascinating read.

I’m back from my weekend trip to Philadelphia! I was actually back yesterday, but you guys should know I rarely get things done in an orderly fashion. I will say that I didn’t eat a single hoagie or cheesesteak and I think my parents upon hearing this wanted to disown me. My dad grew up in the projects of West Chester so to him those foods are sacred.

Anyway am going to recap my wonderful trip and I will add links when I can.

SUNDAY -

We woke up early because neither of us felt tired. (I think we were excited). She had spent the night at my house so we drove to Dunkin’ Donuts and had breakfast. Then we stopped by Wal*Mart to pick up some last minute items we needed. We got back and packed the car, checked our directions and headed on our way. I didn’t realize how close we live to Philadelphia and in what felt like moments we were arriving in the city. Maybe it was just the excitement of the trip, but the two hour drive didn’t feel like two hours at all.

(Oh! We also stopped at a rest stop on the way and there was a little Farmer’s Market going on and it was soooo cute. Seriously. They had all sorts of fresh fruit, vegetables and pies and it was just really sweet looking. I would love to go back to it another time.)

Once we got into the city I could see the Philadelphia Museum of Art right away. I had my camera out and I was trying to take plenty of pictures. We found parking easily and went inside. The museum was huge. On Sunday they have Pay What You Wish as long as you pay something so we paid $5 each.

The first exhibit we went to was some guy from Wyoming in the 1800s. Not my style at all, but it was really neat to get up close the the painting and see the brush strokes. I would love to be able to paint like that. They were also really well done. But where did a guy in Wyoming get money for all the canvas and paints and how were they so readily available?

Then we went to see these Japanese paintings on cloth from the 1700s done by a man and his wife which I thought was cool. Most were painted using his fingernails which I thought was a little gross. There were some with orchids that I really liked. I enjoy a lot more color, but they were neat to see and there were a lot of them. We were there on the last day the collection would be there so it isn’t on their website anymore.

Then we moved through and saw many of the other exhibits. I enjoyed seeing some of the china and furnature and they also had some really lovely abstracts. I was excited to see some works by Georgia O’Keeffe! There was a section with Pop-Art that Kasey really liked. She also liked some abstracts that we took pictures of. We got in trouble with the guards twice. Once for using flash (oops!) and once for taking a picture in a certain room. They didn’t make me delete the picture though! Ha-HA! I win!! Seriously though I think that guard just wanted to yell at someone because I asked another guard if we could take pictures and she said it was fine.

After looking around for a bit we had lunch in the little cafe. They didn’t have much offered, but we each got salads and they were good. The we went to one of my favorite sections the museum gift shop!!! I love the gift shops in museums. They always have the most interesting things. I saw these little Japanese figurines and I really wanted one, but I figured they were expensive so I was looking at other things to get as a souvenir. Then I figured it wouldn’t hurt to go look at them and they had a whole table with them sitting in little packages. They were only $10.95 each! For a museum that is not only not expensive, it’s cheap! I sort of wish I had purchased two because I like them so much, but perhaps I can start collecting them. They are called Momiji Dolls. I ended up getting Cha Cha Cha and she is so cute! I’m really glad I got her.

By then we were getting a little tired so we decided to go to the hotel and get checked in. We got the car set up in the parking garage and went to the desk. We got our room rather quickly. It was room 716 at the Windsor Hotel. The room was surprisingly large with a long hallway leading to the main bedroom portion. It had lots of storage, I guess because a lot of business people stay there for months at a time. It also had a full kitchen, but we didn’t really bring any food to cook. We had a pretty good view for the 7th floor it faced lots of other buildings so it was neat.

We rested for a bit and then decided to go check out the Reading Terminal Market. It was getting ready to close, but we got to look around and get an idea of where everything was. I really enjoyed it. I think if I lived in Philadelphia I would shop there quite frequently.

After we left the market we walked around the city a bit more and started to walk back to the hotel. We stopped at a Wawa and Kasey picked up some things to eat. Then we walked a little ways to the Swann Memorial Fountain which is surrounded by park benches. We sat there for a while and the sun was setting around us. The sky was pinks and purples and really beautiful. That was also where Kasey started her musical about Philadelphia and that had me cracking up and which continued throughout the trip. It was hilarious.

After a while I let on that I was hungry and just didn’t want anything at Wawa so we stopped at Subway and I picked up a sandwich. We went back to the room and watched some TV, went on the computer and read before going to sleep.

MONDAY -

Monday was going to be our busy day. We woke up at 7:30 am and threw on some regular clothing to go downstairs for the free continental breakfast. It’s nice to get free food whenever you can on vacation. We also stole 2 muffins which should not have left the area, but we so took those back to the room. (Ironically we never ate those muffins and ended up bringing them home with us.) We rested a little more and then started to get ready to go out because we had a big day planned. We didn’t end up leaving the room until around noon and then we were walking for a while and we went to Delilah’s in the Reading Terminal Market.They served Southern cuisine and it was fun eating there though it was very crowded. I tried collard greens for the first time and they were pretty good.

After we ate lunch we went and walked around the market for a while and tried to see everything. We saw a man dressed as Benjamin Franklin buying fish and I really wanted to talk to him as if he was Benjamin Franklin, but I settled for standing near him.

After that it was time for us to head down to Penn’s Landing to get on the Ferry Boat! It would have been hard for me to be more excited about the ferry boats. I was chatting away about Grey’s Anatomy and the ferry boats and how McDreamy has a thing for ferry boats. Kasey was very sweet and looked interested even though I’m sure she could have cared less. (She doesn’t watch Grey’s Anatomy. (I know! I was surprised too! I can’t believe there are still people who don’t watch Grey’s. Shame!)) She said she was really glad that I was so excited about that little part because she didn’t know about me loving ferry boats so it was an added bonus. It was awesome.

The ferry took us across to Camden, NJ where we went to the Adventure Aquarium!! That was awesome. They had really cute hippos, which are what we saw first. Then we went to see the sharks and the hall way is like a shark tunnel where the aquarium goes right over your head! Then they had jellyfish displays, we saw seals and penguins outside. They had all these strange sea animals in one part and that was really interesting, like jellyfish that lay at the bottom of the sea floor upside down and fish that change their sex as need be. There was also a touch section and I touched a Jellyfish, lobster and a shark!! That was really interesting. The jellyfish was the coolest thing to touch though it freaked me out quite a lot. We saw a guy holding a really cute turtle and in one of the tanks there were people swimming with the sharks and there were HUGE sea turtles and stingrays in that tank. We also saw starfish and I took a bunch of pictures of them. They were closed when we were there though to give the starfish a break from being touched. We went to the gift shop, but they didn’t have any starfish stuff to buy, which is usually the case. I always hope to find a really cute stuffed starfish.

After the aquarium we took the ferry boat back to Philadelphia and then we got on the Phlash to go back to the hotel. It was really neat! It was done up like an old-school trolley and it would take you basically anywhere you wanted to go for $1 which was amazing and that dropped us right in front of the hotel.

We went back in and rested for a little while and then it was time to get ready for dinner. I brought 3 dresses to choose from, but I decided on the purple one with my fancy shoes. We went to Buddakan for dinner, which was very fancy. I liked it there a lot. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was really neat. The waitress was very friendly to us, which you always have to be wary of when it’s two women dining out together, but we had no problems at all. A nice couple next to us took our picture and the food was served family style so we could share, but I’m not very bright and forgot that Kasey didn’t like steak even though we had discussed it the day before. So while I could try hers she wasn’t able to try mine. I’ll have to think more next time. We shared this dessert called the Chocolate Bento Box and it was amazing. I had such a good time.

When we left we decided to walk around a bit. We found out where Sisters was and we decided to check it out. They said that Monday nights were low-key and they were not kidding. There were only a few other people there and they were all completely engrossed in the TV. Kasey and I both thought that was really funny. They had 8-10 happy hour and our drinks were SO CHEAP. The first round was a Grey Goose Martini and a vodka and cranberry both for $6 and then the second round was two HUGE SoCo and lime shots for $4!!! Each shot was really the size of two shots and we usually pay $4.50 each around here. So I thought that was amazing and it made the stop there totally worth it. I would be very interested in going there another night when it’s a little more crowded and the dance floor is open.

We walked around more until both our feet couldn’t do it anymore. (I was in heels and her one foot was bothering her.) Then we grabbed a taxi and took it back to the hotel room where we collapsed onto the bed. We both read for a little while, but I must have been so tired because I kept falling asleep while I was trying to read and then at one point I guess I laid my head down because when I opened my eyes Kasey was looking at me and she said I had been out. It was a busy day though. So we both went to bed and I fell asleep again right away.

TUESDAY -

I was sad to be leaving our lovely little room on Tuesday, but I was thrilled that our mini-vacation didn’t feel like it went by too fast. That was what I was most afraid of. We stayed in the room until we absolutely had to leave. Then we got the car and parked it in another lot and went out to see more of the city. We stopped at some more cute little stores and I enjoyed looking around.

We went to the most amazing soap store duross & langel. I wanted to buy some fancy soaps, but I didn’t want to use all of my money on that stuff so I settled on a business card and the nice man working there gave us some soap samples. After looking the shop up online too I found out that they have soap making workshops and the store is owned by a gay couple. That thrills me! I love The Body Shop, but I have been weary of them ever since they sold to L’orreal. So I am really interested in eventually switching brands and it seems like it would be such a cool idea to start buying all my body products from an independent company. So I am pretty excited about it. The next workshop I would want to go to is in September so I’ll keep you posted about that.

We walked around for a while more and then we started to get hungry so we stopped at the Metropolitan Cafe (I think that was the name) and had some lunch. Then I wanted to go to this chain sex-toy store (The Pleasure Chest) which was supposed to be like Babeland. So we walked forever to get there and it ended up being very small and dumpy with a lot of crazy S&M stuff. So that was a bust, but we walked through the shopping district to get there so that was neat. Then we walked back another way and I saw a Gap Outlet so we stopped and I got a really cute red polo with adorable sleeves. I wish I had gotten it in other colors. After that we stopped to get some ice cream and mainly rest our feet.

After that we stopped at Borders and they were sold out of Harry Potter except for one copy. We picked it up and Kalani had been trying to read it on vacation so I thought it would be nice to stay there for a while and read in the cafe. We ended up staying for about 2 hours! Kasey finished Harry Potter (which she deemed amazing and non-stop action) and I nearly finished my Anita Blake novel. By that point it was starting to get later and we didn’t want to get home too late so we decided to head back to where the car was parked. We left the city around 6:30 and we had barely any traffic at all. We got home early and Kasey came over to my house for a bit we ate dinner and then she went home. I was a little sad to see her go, but it was one of the most amazing weekends I have ever had and it was an insane 23rd birthday present.

After she left I stayed up a little while and finished my novel. I went to sleep and then woke up at 7:00am Wednesday morning to have breakfast with my parents. Then Wednesday night my cousin and I drove to Barnes & Noble so I could return a book I bought the wrong version of and I bought four more books in the Anita Blake series. I have a ton of reading to do. I finished book #3 and book #1 and now I am reading book #2. After this I will be reading books 4 through 14 in order. We’ll see how long it takes me.

This summer has been such a roller coaster for me. I wonder what August will bring.

Title: “Off To See The World” by The Chipmunks

So I did use that hair-dryer and I have things to say about it, but I took pictures to document the whole thing and I can’t find the cable to connect my camera to my computer so I’m holding out until I find it. I think it’s just in my room so it should not be long. Hopefully I will get it up by Monday at the latest.

Last night I actually went out and it was pretty fun. I had never met two of the girls before so that always makes me a little nervous, but I had an enjoyable time. We went to three different bars, but it was Wednesday so they were all pretty low-key. I only had one Cosmo to drink and ½ of both a Smirnoff Pomegranate and a Smirnoff Raw Tea Green Tea. In case you were curious both the Smirnoff’s were delicious, but the Cosmo was made pretty strong. It was also neat being out right when it turned midnight and it was officially my birthday. That was kind of cool. All four of us stayed over at Kasey’s house and I got up early this morning to make the trip to work.

When I got to work this morning my aunt had left a tiara on my desk that says “Birthday Princess” with a note that said, “Happy Birthday to you! Love, Aunt Kim”. She also called to sing to me so I was happy about that.

I’m having a little party at my parent’s house tonight complete with one of these amazing birthday cakes. Then I might be going to see Harry Potter later on tonight, but I’m not sure if that will happen.

I also recently started reading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. I started with book #3 and now I am reading book #1. Hopefully I will read the rest of them in order. There are 14 books in the series so I should be busy reading these for a while.

Now I ask you some questions! What kind of music do you guys listen to? What is a song you are in love with? What is your favorite band/artist at the moment? I’m just curious as I am always looking for new music to love.

UPDATE @ 2:28 pm - It looks like Dooce is having a better birthday than me.

I know, I know. You don’t care about what kind of razor and deodorant I use. I thought it was interesting okay? I just wanted to warn you all not to buy the Venus Breeze and I am going through a divorce and I needed something light and fluffy to write about. Are we cool again? I hope so.

Guess what everyone? I am going on vacation tomorrow! I am going to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and I will not be back until July 2. I have no idea if I get wifi where we are staying and while I am addicted to the internet part of me does not care. I am tired of thinking about things and feeling the way I have been when I am in town and at work. I’m tired of feeling bad.

I am working on moving back into my parent’s house and it has not been as bad as I thought it would be. My brother even bought me ice cream the other day. I have been listening to music while I shower (one of my favorite things to do ever) and also before I go to sleep (another thing I love). I have been generally enjoying doing everything (besides work) spur of the moment and not having to tell anyone what I am doing or where I am going. I mean…I guess you could say I should tell my parents, but they generally don’t want to know unless I’m hurt/dying.

I went out to breakfast with my Mom this morning and we had a nice talk. We wanted to sit down together because I won’t see her again until I get back from vacation.

It’s hard for me to articulate my feelings and get these entries out. I feel like I have to be so very careful with what I say and I would give anything to go back in time and ensure that my blog was anonymous.

I am bringing The Da Vinci Code and the first Harry Potter book with me on vacation. I look forward to reading them both. I want to read all the Harry Potter books before the seventh one comes out. I still have yet to read five and six. So I will be Harry Pottering it up much of the Summer.

I have also been attempting to watch High School Musical though I have so far only seen it in two twenty minute increments.

Last night I went to our local little independent movie house to see Paris, Je T’Aime. Okay. I pretty much hate going to the movies. The only thing I like about going is getting to see a movie because watching movies is about my favorite thing ever. (I realize this is confusing) Everything else I really hate: the bathrooms, the pre-teens/teenagers, the expensive snacks and drinks, etc…I could go on and on. How-freaking-ever, I had such a good time at this place! It was adorable and the girls that worked there were so nice. The drinks were not too expensive and they sold little cups of jelly beans for $1.50 and I could not have been happier about that. We also saw the 9:20 pm showing and there were only 4 other people in the theater. It was so nice and laid back. I loved it there. Seriously, I loved it. Plus the movie had subtitles and I love watching movies that I have to read.

The movie itself was interesting and cute. You got to see a lot of Paris and there were so many stories in it. Some of them I didn’t care for, but they were so short that it didn’t matter. My favorite one was the mimes. I just may have to buy it when it comes out. Plus they played previews for some upcoming movies that I would love to see so I will definitely be going there again.

I bought a new bathing suit the other day because I bought the old one many many years ago and I have no idea where the strap got put and when I lift my arms the girls fall out and I don’t think The South is ready for all that. So I searched the internet and found that the internet is loaded with ugly bathing suits and also seems to think that we larger women want to wear huge swimdresses (mind you I love swimdresses) with ugly floral print. The internet also wants me to wear a two piece (umm?) and it is stocked with unflattering cuts. I found a few that I liked that were way out of my price range.

I did find one that I sort of loved and it was on sale! So I bought it and had it express shipped. It arrived today and I was hesitant because the print wasn’t as cute as it looked online. Not ugly just not sparkly like I pictured it. I was nervous about the fit because my breasts are about two cups to small for a person of my size. That is the main reason I avoid plus size tops. My chest drowns in them. I took the suit home to my parents house to try it on and I really actually loved it. The chest area could use some work because the girls don’t fill out the cups, but at least it lies flat on them and it isn’t baggy. I’m pretty thrilled about it and I’m actually excited to wear it. The little skirt part in the front is also pretty cute. So the bathing suit search turned out to be a success.

I think that is everything I wanted to tell you about for now. I will be attempting to update more. Thanks for sticking with me. Oh listen to more Butterfly Boucher (where the title for this post comes from). They are fantastic.

I’ll be talking to you from South Carolina if there is wifi. I hear The South has the internet so perhaps.

Title: “Drift On” by Butterfly Boucher

Yeah, so nothing new to report with the whole dandruff situation though I have stopped scratching my head*. I bought the T-Gel stuff as suggested and Ariana is right it does smell kind of bad, but if Jill is right then I don’t mind the smell one bit. I noticed that the T-Gel is only for twice a week so I also got Head & Shoulders Restoring Shine that I can use every day. I’m sure you’re all very interested in how this turns out so I will keep you posted.

Did anyone watch Grey’s Anatomy last night? I was really disappointed. I am not excited about the new show at all. I love Addison, I do. I, however, do not want to watch a whole show about her. I am very abrasive to the idea of new characters and new shows. The whole episode I kept thinking, “I don’t care about these people. What is going on with George & Izzie?”. It’s also set in LA and no offense to people who love California and LA, but it is not my thing. I have always wanted to visit there, but the whole sunny; surfer thing is not my cup of tea. When they first launched the idea I was kind of okay because I thought she might go back to New York and that might be interesting, but this I am just not into. I was also annoyed at how much the LA storyline took away from the Grey’s story. Unless they put it on right after Grey’s I won’t be watching it and even then I am not so sure. Oh! Also, joking about moving George to Mercy West PISSED me off. I swear to God I will stop watching if they keep pulling apart the characters. I get way too emotionally attached to the shows I watch.

I am still trying to get into The Poisonwood Bible. Ugg. Why do I always end up picking novels with Southern main characters? Damn Oprah and her book club sucking me in. Have any of you read this book? Is it just slow in the beginning? I’ll have to attempt to read more of it tonight.

I know some of you might be wondering how things are going relationship wise with The Mrs. & I. I touched on it briefly, but a lot of you who know me outside the website know that things got pretty rough for a bit. For the most part I try to not talk about relationship issues on my website because I don’t think it would be fair. You would all be reading my feeling and making decisions based on only one side. Now that we have been working through everything together I am so glad that I didn’t lash out via my website. There were so many misunderstandings made between us.

We have been not seeing eye to eye for the last couple of weeks and when you don’t understand the other person’s point of view I think it makes it impossible to come to an understanding together. Finally everything came to a head on Thursday night and it was a real turning point in the relationship. It was the point where we were both going to brake up or come clean to each other and move forward. We decided to move forward together.

Now we are working on rebuilding our relationship and keeping trust and communication open. It’s actually kind of fun. I like getting into the deeper part of relationships where we talk and are able to learn new things about each other. I think that is so important when you have been with someone for a while. The whole thing is after are talk I felt like such a weight had been lifted and while I know everything isn’t magically all better I feel happier than I have in a while. Flakes and all.

I can’t believe I have gone over a week without posting when I have so much going on. Perhaps I just haven’t really been able to clear my head about it all. I should also mention that I am terrible at recounting events when it has been a bit since they happened. So if I don’t update about something right away it may very well be lost in the tombs of my mind; a frightening place indeed.

The most exciting thing to happen last week was a trip to New York City on Friday to see the new Tarzan show on Broadway! I was so excited to go. We got last minute tickets through the college for less than half price. It was only $100 for both The Mrs. and I to sit in the Orchestra section. I really loved it. Going to see plays on Broadway is one of my most favorite things to do and something that The Mrs. and I haven’t been able to do together yet. I bought the CD and the booklet because I am a buyer like that. The boy who played young Tarzan was really good and it turns out that he played Chip in Beauty and the Beast in 2003 when I saw it on Broadway. I thought that was really neat.

I was surprised that there weren’t as much acrobatics as is usual with Tarzan productions. There was no swinging out over the audience or any of that. If you have ever seen the Tarzan show at Walt Disney World you know what I mean. It was still excellent and I am so glad that The Mrs. took me. I was thrilled.

We had four hours of free time before the show and we were really hungry so we went looking for somewhere to eat. Well, Broadway is only like 2 blocks up from the Hell’s Kitchen district of Manhattan so there was no shortage in places to eat. I could not believe it when people were talking about all the chain restaurants they went to eat at near Time’s Square. You are in New York City and you ate a Sbarro’s like they have in the mall? It’s mall food! Does not compute. We found a cute pizza place and each ordered a slice. My slice was $4.50, but it was amazing. I don’t like pizza and I almost finished the whole slice. Yum. We were considering having a piece of cheesecake, but then we decided that since we were in the city we should walk around and find somewhere else to go.

Hell’s Kitchen was a little overwhelming because there are so many different places to choose from. Then The Mrs. noticed a place with a rainbow sticker on it so we checked out their menu. It was a Thai resteraunt and their desserts looked really yummy. I got Jasmine tea that was so amazing. I don’t put cream or sugar in my tea anymore so flavor is really important. This was so good. I drank the whole little pot. For dessert I got sweet sticky rice with green tea ice cream and The Mrs. got a fried banana with honey sauce and vanilla ice cream. Mine was just about the best dessert I have ever had. I love green tea ice cream. Hopefully we will be able to go back there for a meal someday. It was really good. We also visited a very creepy porn store where we bought nothing and we went to Toys R’ Us which is just a really fun place to look around.

The ride home took forever because we had the slowest craziest bus driver in the history of bus rides. Seriously. Then when we finally got back to the school he seriously asked if we wanted to sit on the bus after we got there to finish the movie. “Hmm…you know sir, that is compelling. After the 2 and a half hour car ride with you and the fact that it is nearly 1:00 a.m. I think it is safe to say I do not want to finish watching RV with you. I haven’t been enjoying the movie anyway and if I spend anymore time here with you I may just go insane. So I will have to pass on that. Thanks anyway!”

The rest of the weekend was nice also. I spent some time of Saturday with my friend, Kalani. I brought her to my town to show her some things, we went to my brothers music store, had lunch and all around had a really great time. It was only for 3 hours so afterwards I visited The Mrs. at her job and then I went home to do some or The Laundry. She came home and we had a nice low key evening. On Sunday she went to work and I did a bit more of The Laundry and I cleaned our room. That put me in an excellent mood and I was thrilled to see The Mrs. when she got home and we went out for dinner to Taco Bell. We came home and I was going to watch Desperate Housewives, but The Mrs. had a paper to complete so I played The Sims. It’s kind of good that I didn’t watch it. I didn’t finish last weeks episode either because I am trying not to get into it due to my two show limit. I already make late night exceptions for CSI, Little People, Big World and Jon & Kate Plus 8. There is no room for more shows.

Last night I went to the BK Lounge with my friends Jamie and Jayleen. We had a good time just sitting and talking and then we went to the college to see Alix Olson perform. She was excellent if you are into that sort of thing and we all really enjoyed it. I also put her sticker on my car. Hopefully no one in town asks me about it. Then I went home and curled up in bed with my lady.

Today should be even lower key. I have no plans at all other than working today and going home. That sounds perfectly fine to me. I have been so tired lately. I may also try to read more of The Poisonwood Bible. Why I am having trouble getting into it is beyond me. It got fabulous reviews so I think I just need to give it a chance and read it when I am not so damn tired.
I guess that is enough of an update for now. I have new pictures I need to upload to Flickr at some point. I’ll let you know when that happens. Okay. Now that I am all caught up I have no excuse not to continue updating.

So in my putting things off (which I mentioned last post) I only today heard from my downline and she let me know that my kit is with another one of my downline. Crap. So I got a hold of her and now after work I am halling ass to pick that up in Stroudsburg then I am picking up Ariana and then we are heading over to the party. Ehh. I’m tired just thinking about it.

My car is still about 1,000 miles over the point when it should have gotten an oil change and I need to put gas in it and buy new tires and I am just not in the mood. I hate spending money on cars.

Besides the actual jewelry I am all set for the party tonight. I have a gift for the hostess and two gifts for games. I am playing a right/left game and Ringo which is like bingo only with our rings. So that part will be good. I am also really looking forward to the party in general. I have a lot more fun doing Lia Sophia parties than Body Shop parties. I don’t feel as stressed out and unsure of myself.

After the party I am going out with Ariana for sushi. Yum! It’s also kind of funny because I went for sushi last night with The Mrs. Is there a limit on how much raw fish you can eat? I am going to get the same thing tonight as last night. It is called a Fantastic Roll and it really is fantastic. The only sushi I have ever had that we better was at a four star restaurant and it costs a whole lot more. This place is in a strip mall and it is a combo chinese/japanese restaurant. Anyway the Fantastic Roll is shrimp tempura with spicy yellowtail, salmon and tuna on the top. I tried to take a picture of it, but my camera has been utterly sucktastic. I wanted this camera because it’s the updated version of my older camera and I like things simple, but it’s bumming me out. I think it might have been the batteries dying so we’ll see how it does tonight.

Have you guys heard of Paperbackswap.com? It’s awesome! The whole thing is you post books you have that you no longer want, people choose your books, you mail the book at your cost ($1.59) and when they receive it you get a credit for a book of your choice. So really you can get any book you want for $1.59. You also get 3 credits when you join and list 9 books. I used my credits right away and got The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Hmm…I just realised I bought one bible based fiction, one with bible in the title and one with prayer in the title without me realizing it. I am giving myself subliminal messages!

Speaking of subliminal messages from the lord I had sex. again. last night! Madness. No really! It is crazy! I think with sex the more you do it the more that you want to do it. That has to be the case because we have gone about 2 months without sex in the past and I’m all whatever about it. We have sex 5 times in one week and I can’t stop wondering when we will be able to do it again. We also even discussed getting a local hotel room for the night. What are we 16 again? Don’t think I am complaining either because I’m not. I am more confused at what brought all this on. I would go into more details, but I think I will spare you because I tend to just rehash everything and that will only embarass me later.

The Mrs. gets the 500 points from yesterdays post. She didn’t guess it right, but she researched it for over a half an hour to try and figure out how racism fit into my post. Hint: Don’t think too much into it. The lyric was part of a song in the CD she burned me from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Perhaps I will make this some sort of real competition where the point mean something and you could win Lia Sophia or something. What do you guys think?

I forgot to tell you guys my sad story from Wednesday! Okay. So Kalani and I are driving to New Jersey. We are talking and it’s all good. I am randomly bringing up the cuteness of puppies** and she is wondering how the hell we go from talking sculpture and art to the adorable factor of certain animals. The we see a huge truck in front of us and there seems to be movement in the back and some feathers flying out. It’s ducks! Adorable big white ducks all stuffed on top of each other in this horrible truck. So we get bummed and we go to pass it so we don’t have to look at the ducks all caged anymore. We are passing the truck and it looks like there is a chunk of material blowing in the wind and when we are passing it we realise that it is a dead duck. Guys! It was the head and neck of a dead duck flapping in the wind as this truck of horrors plowed down the highway. Kalani drove really fast so we could pass it and I almost started crying because it made me feel so sad. Luckily Kalani was able to calm me down, but it still makes me feel all shaken up. Poor ducks.

Since I told you a sad story I will leave you with a kind of funny picture of me at the laundry mat that makes me laugh everytime.

*Are you tired of my starring things? I hope not since it is one of my favorite things to do. This lyric is from my favorite song of all time. Can you guess which version I like best?

**See I was already in a cute state of mind too with the puppies and I think we were also discussing what would happen if a bunny and a guinea pig feel asleep next to each other because it would be too cute to handle. Then I had to see the duck situation and it was awful.

- Lately when I blow my nose there is some sort of blackish greyish matter* mixed in with the mucus. (I swear I don’t really examine it.) It looks like I was in a fire or around a lot of smoke, but I wasn’t!

- I really wanted to order sushi for lunch today (Fluke and Tuna, if you were interested), but it turns out that the place I wanted to order it from is closed on Tuesdays.

- Instead I ordered buffalo chicken fingers and fries. They forgot the fries so I went to the gas station** to get some. The woman there took an order that had been sitting under the heatlamp and put them back in the fryer for another minute then sold them to me. They cost $1.49 and were completely inedible which I guess works out for the best.

- I may or may not have seen a fruit fly flying out of my blue cheese half way through. I wasn’t sure and I staired for about a minute to see if I could detect any movement and even though I couldn’t I threw away the rest of my lunch.

- I started reading the new Oprah’s Book Club book because I am a dork, but I am bummed because I left it at home. So now I may start reading the other book I have had in my purse (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See) and been waiting to start. It really bugs me that I love to read so much and yet I rarely make an effort to include reading in my day. I really need to change that. At least since last years resolutions I have been keeping it a priority in my life.

- That yeast infection I had last month really sucked.

- Last night I went to an awesome independent book store near the bar. (It’s called Carroll & Carroll Booksellers. I would link them, but they don’t have a website.) It’s pretty small, but they have 45,000 books in store. It’s awesome because they sell new & used books. Everything is all mixed together and sorted by genre. I like that the used books and new books are right next to each other. I walked out with three books on my To Buy list for only $15! They were only $5!! I got Gap Creek by Robert Morgan, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I also bought some books on Amazon.com on Sunday. There I bought The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (which I have been dying to read so much that I bought it in hardcover which I hate) and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I can’t wait to start reading them. I will also have to go back to the bookstore when I have time to really search through all the books. I may also donate some of the books I don’t read anymore to them. It’s better than our local library. The woman who runs the place is a real bitch.

- My sister has been complaining lately about almost everything and it is really getting on my nerves***.

- You know what else get’s on my nerves? Dooney & Burke purses. First of all I see those shits for sale everywhere so don’t even try to tell me they are designer. They are over priced garbage. The only people who look cute carrying a D&B purse are 13 year old girls and they shouldn’t have a $150+ handbag anyway so I don’t see who is buying these things. They also have this strange coating like they have been shellacked to hell by some crazed art student who is laughing manically about the killing they will make on their acid induced cut+paste purse creations. I’m not buying it. They look like they were made for trashy girls who go out to the bar everynight, get drunk and throw up all over their purse. Only, hey it doesn’t matter because they have been super shellacked and you can just wipe that shit off and they are fine. Some of the bags aren’t so bad, like this one in red, but for the price you can do a lot better. I can’t wait until I stop seeing these things everytime I go into the fucking department stores.

- Uhh…What is up with this. I’m really not one to judge, but are you serious?

*When I was 16 the gas station I worked in burned down and they had to tear it down and build a new one. However the people who owned the gas station were so cheap that they made us work there anyway. We even worked in there the day after the fire when everything was covered in thick black dust from the smoke. We couldn’t clean anything because the insurance company had to come access everything. It was horrible. Whenever I blew my nose after a shift there everything that came out was completely black. I can still remember exactly how it used to smell. It used to make me feel sick. All we could sell was cigarettes (because does it really matter if they had smoke poison?), newspapers and gasoline and people used to come buy stuff anyway. It was about a month in between the fire and the opening of the new store.

**The same gas station I used to work at in the above mentionings.

***My sister (who may or may not be saying “Hello!” to all of you) was saddened by me saying that she has been complaining a lot lately. So that made me feel bad. So I complained to her for a while and now we are even. Woo hoo!

In the midst of my near hysteria and mental breakdown due to Sunday I decided to chill and pass on this meme I found on Jen’s site.

Instructions: In the list of books below, bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of. In the comments, let me know if you’re up for it. I left some books in just regular old font, these are the ones I am not sure I want to read or not. Feel free to tell me I am totally wrong and should read something on this list or YES, JEN, you RULE!

1. +The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) This is actually the next book on the pile since it is borrowed.
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) Watching this movie with my mom and older sister was a childhood staple so I would really like to read the book.
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) One of my favorite books when I was growing up.
9. *Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. +Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. +Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving) This is on my To Purchase list.
15. +Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. +Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. *The Stand (Stephen King)
19. +Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) Another childhood favorite.
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) Yet another childhood favorite.
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. *Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) I’m with Jen about seeing the movie. His books are usually straightforward enough.
33. +Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. *The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. *The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay) On my To Purchase list.
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb) Excellent book.
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. *The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) I have actually heard wonderful things about this book, but it just doesn’t seem like my cup of tea.
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible Many times.
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. +She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. *Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. *The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger) One of the best books I’ve ever read.
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares) I have to be honest I really loved that movie. It was so sweet.
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo) Many Times.
70. *The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) Another childhood favorite!
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) Another one of the best books I have ever read.
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. *Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. *Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. +The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch) Quite possibly my favorite book.
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. *The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I left the ones that I am unsure about plain. Enjoy!