insomnia, go to hell. ambien is dead to me, and melatonin is awesome!!! i've been taking it for the last few nights in smaller doses and it really works. the trick is to actually take less then the rcommended dose it comes in (usually 3 to 5 mg.) i cut it down to less then 1 mg and it makes a huge difference. it seems odd that a smaller dose would work better, but i guess the lower dose is closer to what your brain naturally produces.

i am at work today. it's a company holiday for e&y, but i ain't a company gal. i'm consultant all the way, and they said we could come in and work (instead of taking the day off unpaid.) i would normally have taken the unpaid day, but i called in sick wednesday and actually have lots to do. besides, a 3 day weekend is enough.

so i am the only one in the office, which is weird. i have the lights off and my shoes off. i am eating cheese, working on my blog, and actually getting some real work done. all the while barefoot! and since i knew no one would be in, i didn't just wear jeans, i wore sweats! and no charity gets $5!!!!

the airshow is this weekend, and the fighter jets are doing practice runs around my building. it makes me so jumpy! (of course, i've had a large cup of coffee and an currently chugging and enviga.) but the idea of an air show is just not appealing to me. a huge crowd in bleachers watching stunt pilots zoom around and risk their lives. and how are war planes supposed to be fun for the family? no thanks.

i heard my favorite bro-in-law went to see rush last night. they are my #2 hated behind (after the doors and before genesis.) a guy at work mentioned having tickets for the show and i, as usual, went off. i started quoting the lyrics to "tom sawyer" and asked how he could sit through that nonsense. i'll add the lyrics to this post, but in tiny font. i gotta go back to work!

A modern day warrior
Mean, mean stride
Today's Tom Sawyer
Mean, mean pride

Though his mind is not for rent
Don't put him down as arrogant
His reserve, a quiet defense
Riding out the day's events
The river

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the mist, catch the myth
Catch the mystery, catch the drift

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his skies are wide

Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the space he invades
He gets by on you

No his mind is not for rent
To any god or government
Always hopeful, yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is

What you say about his company
Is what you say about society
Catch the witness, catch the wit
Catch the spirit, catch the spit

The world is, the world is
Love and life are deep
Maybe as his eyes are wide

Exit the warrior
Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the energy you trade
He gets right on to the friction of the day

where were you when the fun died??? (more of my nostalgic thoughts on hunter s. thompson...)

hunter s. thompson's widow wrote a book, read an article about it here. it almost sounds like a self-help book, teaching people what thompson taught his wife; to not be afraid, to seek the truth, and to have fun. he loved life and when the fun stopped, he got off the bus.

i remember seeing him on letterman when i was in junior high. he scared the shit out of me. he came out smoking and talking a mile a minute and seemed pissed off, but funny. i started reading his stuff by high school and in college applied to be his intern. sadly, i was not hired. of course he ended up accidentally shooting an assistant a few years later.

i liked knowing he was around, still writing articles for sports illustrated, appearing on the news for things like accidentally shooting his assistant or setting off fire extinguishers in auditoriums before paid speeches. i feel a weird sadness now that he's gone, not that i knew him.

why am i writing this? i played hooky from work today (2nd day of a horrible headache) and don't have much to say. i read the article linked above and blogged. i think i blog about him every 6 months.

now someone buy me THIS!!!

horrible insomnia last night. and horrible hair today. i am going to be random...

about my blog post yesterday (on being pretty damn happy, and what people tend to blog about): i thought more about it last night while not sleeping, and realized that from the age of 25-35, things really sucked. i dealt with some devestating deaths. i lost a close friend (james) and family (step-dad, grandma and dad) all in a 2 year span. then crippling depression. a messy breakup and a badly broken leg. more depression. weightloss surgery, weightloss, 2 difficult relationships, wine, weight gain. it's exhausting to think about! so to my friends struggling right now: give it 10 years and see how much better it gets!


food and beverage review: i am currently loving kashi's TLC stoneground 7 grain crackers, chex mix strawberry yogurt snacks, and enviga fizzy green tea energy drink. i would also like to recommend mcdonald's coffee, but sadly, they have sent me off with another dripping cup, so back to starbuck's.


a final announcement on how i will suck: from now until my work project goes "live" (and to the global audience) i am going to be more stressed then usual. i will be distracted, forget to answer emails, and be a generally crappy friend and relative. live date is 9/7/07. after that i'll need a few days to collapse, then will go back to be the awesome friend, super cool daughter and perfect girlfriend everyone knows me to be.

the home shopping network, QVC, etc... does anyone watch it? i am fascinated by the hosts. they are usually middle-aged ladies with a lot of makeup airbrushed on, fake tans and super bright white teeth. i watch them sell metalic jeans the other day, and the host had on so much makeup that she looked like she had no nose! it was airbrushed away!

and how do the hosts muster up enthusiasm for gold metallic jeans, then a cordless phone? they say things like, "this cordless phone will change your life, it even shows the date on the display!!!" but they say it with so much excitement, it sounds like you need it.

here's an example of something really ugly for sale, and the excitement the hosts dredge up:

here's my question for the day: does anyone blog about serious stuff these days? personal issues, problems, or life experience. i mean, i love the funny, and am all set to post about an awesome zombie movie we watch over the weekend, but what about the the less funny, more life-ish stuff?

i guess this question points to my own "reflective mood". i've been in touch with a long-lost friend recently, and maybe catching up on life (mine and his) has me looking at my own life.

also, i am at work in "hurry up & wait!" mode, so i have some downtime.

i realized this weekend that working under 45 hours a week has been wonderful. i don't know i spent the first 2 years here at mandatory 56 hour weeks (10 hour days mon-fri and saturdays 6 hours.) i will never do that again. it wasn't worth the money or the damage to my health.

my job is "high stress" for sure, but there are payoffs. i work with people i like. if i have problems with someone i am able to deal with it usually. and i've gotten "good for you" feedback on my work since the promotion. so working around 40 hours a week and occasional positive feedback works wonders, sad that it should be a newsflash.

this weekend i realized that i have been off anti-depressants for almost 2 years, and that besides the occasional "funk", i am happy. really happy! besides the work situation improving, i would guess that maybe a little bit of that has to do with the boyfriend.

so what am i saying? i'm in love, and it's all butterflies and rainbows? no. but life is good and i am happy. my job is not horrible. my family is healthy and we get along and have fun. i have great friends and cool dogs. i guess i wanted to say how good things are, since i mostly bitch, post funny pics or say snarky things.

now what kind of picture or video am i going to use for this post???? how about something sweet?

i forgot to upload the best weekend photo!

weekend!

dinner i invented:

vacation kitten!!!

vacation kitten is becoming famous. this pic is my work computer wallpaper and everyone asks about him. when they say, "oh what a cute kitten, is it yours?" i get very excited and tell the the story of vacation kitten. on friday a coworker asked about the kitten, and an officemate answered them and said, "that's vacation kitten, haven't you heard about him?"

is that kitten mine? no, vacation kitten is everyone's kitten!

popeye was screwed up

alice the goon

Alice, like all members of the Goon tribe, is approximately eight feet tall. She has huge feet, and arms that reach to her knees. Her nose overlaps her chin and is set between two blank, close-set eyes. Her head is totally bald and sits low between wide shoulders. She is completely hairless with the exception of her forearms, lower legs and midsection.
In later appearances, Alice appeared wearing a skirt and flowered hat.

When Alice spoke, her words would appear as a series of meaningless squiggles.

the sea hag

for renny.....

remember we saw this on the news about 5 years ago???? i looked for the story on snopes by searching for dog & monkey, but no luck.

i did find this story, which is so terrible i can't finish reading it, but i'm gonna post it!

scanner madness........

i stole a stack of these on vacation

ginny got me glittergirl stickers. see how famous i am?

ginny's boarding pass from a recent trip, hahahaha

DINO!!!!!!!!!!!!

i totally remember this from my childhood, and it explain quite a lot. i think i tried to eat it, like i did the food that came with 'baby alive'.

blah, blah, blah, my job is stressful.......blah, blah, blah, my job is high stress. yeah, i know i've been saying it forever. but from now until september 7th (when my project goes online and to the globe) it's gonna be a bad scene. i am remaining as calm as possible. but if i seem stressed, crabby, forgetful, etc....i apologize.

i did take the time to make my first youtube video!

work photos

dumb stuff on my stuff

i found a secret bathroom, and it's pink!

and there's a shitload of fancy soap in there.

these are the big ass flowers we see around town. super-smart groundcat already figured out what they are. click here to find out, although i bet glittermom already knew...

(btw- all my recent photos make it appear that i am stalking deer and flowers.)

my new friends....... we're professionals!!!

ok, i've got a big announcement. y'all know about my job in IT and my promotion this spring. i'm a kind of big deal and pretty fancy. well, today i got some exciting news:

"You were recently appointed as a biographical candidate to represent your industry in the Madison Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals, and for inclusion into the upcoming 2007-2008 "Honors Edition" of the registry.

We are pleased to inform you that on August 13th, your candidacy was approved!

The Office of the Managing Director appoints individuals based on a candidate's current position, and usually with information obtained from researched executive and professional listings. The director thinks you may make an interesting biographical subject, as individual achievement is what Madison Who's Who is all about. Upon final confirmation you will be listed among thousands of accomplished individuals in the Madison Who's Who Registry."

so it's official now. i mean, it's the honors edition! i'm a professional, dammit!

like HST used to say, "when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro..."

this week my job = CRAZY

next week my job = MORE CRAZY

these pics are from yahoo news and both remind me of my little sis.

ciao!

i know he's my boyfriend and i am biased, but go check out groundcat's youtube videos!

i recommend:

this video is an early shaye st. john experiment

this video made me want to go out on a 2nd date with a shy boy

this video is popular and almost 10,000 people have watched it.

and these two train songs from yesterday. train video one, train video two.

ok, all done bragging.....

the little boy who hated cinnamon (a true story)

mike: they make pierogis at this place with sour cream, apples, and cinnamon

david: no way, that's not true!

yes, it's true..............

i am currently addicted to the reruns of the andy griffith show. i am especially fascinated with goober's hat:

who actually wore such a hat and why? wikipedia mentions that it's a turned up beanie. and i seem to remember some old time cartoon character who wore one... maybe i should start wearing one of these and start a fashion trend!

YUM!!!!

in other news, i tried making strombolli for the first time in about 10 years, from memory. it turned out great! maybe i'll try it again for the next sunday dinner at our place.

and now it's time for a favorite family story..........................

my sister: the butter baby

did i ever tell ya the story about my little sister and her love of butter? when she was a baby, she'd try and steal it from the supper table. my mom had to hide it from her! i did a google search to find an image, and apprently they make a product now called "baby butter".... let's hope the folks against stem cell research don't find out about this! he he he....

(click on photos to enlarge!!!)

madison part 2 (the historical society)

groundcat's mom volunteers at the madison historical society, and took us on a little tour recently. i was able to bring my camera and get shots of my favorite things, (antques, oddities and creepy dolls!)

this guy really creeped me out... and i love the old pharmancy display

a room was devoted to an old dentist office, YUK!!!!!

an antique wheelchair (almost as cool as ours) and portrait of an old lady from the dentist office

the dress on the left was my favorite

they have all kinds of vintage clothes (including a suit that belonged to dan's dad!)

once again the barn makes an appearance, although this painting included a windmill. do we have a windmill i haven't noticed?

and finally, i snuck a peek into a closet and look what i found.... vintage roller blades! i think there were brought over on the mayflower!