Happy New Year!

I wish each and every one of you a fantastic ending to 2012 and the year of your life in 2013.

My grinch heart grew three sizes today

This is the story of how the Christmas spirit just smacked me in the face.  I just wasn't feelin' it an hour ago and then WHAM....

So a few weeks ago someone tried to steal my car. I don't "know" any of my neighbors we just kind of wave at one another & smile but I then decided to let them know that they need to lock their cars.  So I tugged on my boots and walked across the street.  I told neighbor 1 about the saga & then asked if he thought the man next door (neighbor 2) was at home.  I have always called neighbor 2 "creepy neighbor" because he sits outside a lot (even when it's snowing and raining and 6 AM) and I always just thought it was a little creepy that he was always lurking around outside staring and then waving at me.   He never leaves his house and the only person I've ever seen at his house is neighbor 1.  Then neighbor 1 says to let him talk to neighbor 2 because neighbor 2 has a severe drinking problem and he doesn't know what kind of day he's having.

This completely broke my heart.  I have never in my entire life felt like a bigger asshole. He isn't creepy at all, he has a problem that he constantly struggles with and I rushed to judgement.  I then decided to rename him "Hugsy" because I just wanted to run over and give him a hug.  (In case it isn't obvious these names are only used in my head, I would never be like "WHAT'S UP HUGSY?!" because that would be really awkward.)

So once I started thinking about all the times I just kind of looked away and didn't say hi to him and the apparent lack of any human family (he does have 2 dogs that he is always playing with) I got really really sad.  Thinking about someone who doesn't have any family to spend Christmas with makes me want to cry.  I wanted to do something nice for Hugsy.  I don't know how to cook and we don't exactly have any 'disposable income' especially during this time of year, so I decided to make him something.  I remembered seeing a comic from Kate Leth a few days before that about a really simple pretzel candy recipe so I went back to her comic page (which is awesome and you should totally read) and found it.  I made candy for neighbor 1 & his wife, Hugsy, and this little old lady neighbor who comes by now & then to talk about Alden because her grandson has developmental disabilities too.

I delivered the candy during the apocalypse just in case we didn't make it til Christmas (okay really I just knew that I was about to be too busy to remember to deliver it).  I just stuck the candy in their mailboxes with a Christmas card that just said "to our neighbors, from the family in the little yellow house"  because I don't know their real names.

I hadn't checked the mail since Friday because we had to go out of town on Saturday and I feel like a weirdo when I go get the mail from the week before on Sunday because the mail doesn't run. I feel like people are like "look at the weirdo going to the mailbox on a Sunday!"  I know that's weird but I'm a weird girl, okay?   So today I ran out in the pouring rain to get the mail and there was a Christmas card inside.  I assumed it was from the old lady neighbor because she LOVES Alden and she even put up one of those "school crossing" signs in her yard because she was worried about people flying over the hill when we are going to the bus in the morning.  But the card wasn't from her, and it wasn't from neighbor 1.  It was from Hugsy (who I now know is JR) and his dogs Gidgit and Otis.  He wrote a really sweet message and then "THANK YOU!" I got tears in my eyes.  I immediately put it up with all our holiday cards in the kitchen but I've already taken it down twice and hugged it.

Sometimes people are amazing, sometimes people are wonderful, and sometimes people surprise you.  I am not really a New Years resolution kind of person (these thighs are not going anywhere no matter HOW hard I try) but in the next year I am going to work really hard on not jumping to conclusions and assuming.  However briefly it lasts my faith in humanity has been restored at least for a little while.

And now I'm off to watch "Dark Legacy" because nothing says Christmas like a tinfoil hat!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE! 

these are a few of my favorite things

Things are about to get crazy busy over here so I'm going to go ahead and venture that my mind will not change, and also that I won't get to see any of the 'Oscar Buzz' worthy films before the years end.  So here's my list for 2012.

Book: Let's Pretend This Never Happened - Jenny Lawsom
Comic Book: The Walking Dead Issue #100
TV Show Drama: 666 Park Avenue (RIP)
TV Series Comedy: The Mindy Project
Series Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Blood and Chrome
Documentary: The Imposter
Album: Theatre is Evil - Amanda Palmer
Song: Writing a Novel - Father John Misty
Movie Drama: Cabin in the Woods
Movie Comedy: Moonrise Kingdom
Best Actor: Ezra Miller - The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Best Actress: Quvenzhané Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Website: Geek and Sundry
Videogame: I didn't buy any new games this year.
Meme: “Reasonable Fiona Who Unfortunately Happens To Be Friends With A ‘Nice Guy’”

Things that happened that I want to remember:
Meeting & seeing Amanda Palmer play live
Meeting & seeing First Aid Kit play live
Seeing TOOL play live
Making new best friends
Alden getting straight A's all year

maybe just a half a drink more...

Today was my last day of Winter Semester.  If there are any typos in this post I apologize as I am celebrating with some pumpkin beer.  I have been in a weird place lately.  Someone tried to steal my car (which doesn't run) the other night when I was at a Christmas party.  When we got home it was halfway down the driveway, there were boot prints all in the gravel, hand-prints all over the hood of the car, and a Honda key jammed in the ignition.  It really creeped me out to think that someone was on my property, touching my car, and that they knew it needed a key to try to start it because of the way the shift is.  From what I understand basically to shift it without the (real) key in the ignition you stick a key into the little shifty key thingie & then you can put it in neutral or whatever.  Basically if my yard hadn't had a small hill and gravel they probably could have stolen it fairly easily.

I filed a police report and they said someone had also stolen a golf cart on the other side of the highway that evening.  I now have a baseball bat and an ax handle in case I see anyone creeping around in my yard.  I also called to have the bulb for the streetlight in our yard replaced, so now my yard is well lit.  Not that it matters if we aren't here.  Stuff & things can be replaced, people can't.  I'm not really a 'stuff' person anyway.  Don't get me wrong, if I came home and my electronics were gone I would be pissed off, I would cry, I would curse like a sailor, but things are just things.  I don't really have many "nice" things because I don't care about "nice" things.  I like electronics.  I don't give a shit about pricey bags, jewelry, or clothing, I'd rather have a new iPod, some videogames, and the new version of Photoshop (P.S. they are all on my Xmas list which can be found in my last post if anyone is feeling particularly generous or needs ideas).

So anyway that whole thing kind of put me in a weird headspace and since then I've been on edge.  I have seen a bunch of movies since then and also taken all my finals.  I believe I passed all my classes and I am very pleased.  They were difficult but I carried on and did my best.  Last semester I actually ended up dropping one of the courses I was taking because it was too much and too difficult.  This semester I gave it another go and I got an A in it.

Christmas is rapidly approaching and I am almost out of free time, so if you wanna hang out let me know ASAP.  I still have a lot of my (okay fine, ALL) Christmas shopping to do.  Just thinking about it is giving me hives so we're gonna move right along to the fact that I have no plans for New Years.  I need plans for New Years!

Okay, now back to reading A Storm of Swords and finishing off this Pumpkin beer.

here be my christmas list

Wishlists:
Think Geek
ModCloth
Amazon
BodyArtForms

Pretty much ANYTHING from
Gypsy Warrior
Clothing Size L
Shoe Size 8 (I DO NOT wear heels but wedges are fine)
I DO NOT wear animal print stuff...that crap is fugly.

Giftcards for
Victoria's Secret
Aeropostale
Ulta
Sephora
Urban Outfitters
Rugged Wearhouse
Target
Amazon
Think Geek
Visa Giftcard/Cash

The One Where I'm Chandler Bing...

I hate Thanksgiving.  Not just a little bit, a whole lot.  I hate the food, I hate football, I hate hearing people talking about Black Friday, I hate having to behave myself, and you know, that whole genocide thing was kind of a drag too.  I have never ever liked Thanksgiving.   At least on Christmas you get rewarded with presents for enduring your family for a few hours.  On Thanksgiving all you get is indigestion (that is if you eat the food, which I do not).  My Thanksgiving feasts typically consist of green beans, a roll, and mashed potatoes. Then for dessert I eat whichever cake has the most alcoholic content and pray for a slight buzz.  Turkey is gross, stuffing is disgusting, cranberry should only be in juice form, and what is up with yams? I yam serious, I don't understand them!  (See what I did there? I'm so punny!) 

The only thing worse than shopping for Christmas presents is listening to people talk about shopping for Christmas presents and that is exactly what people like to do on Thanksgiving.  Just thinking about Black Friday gives me hives.  #1 I have social anxiety, #2 I kind of hate people, especially people I don't know, #3 I am claustrophobic, #4 I have never in my entire life NEEDED something so desperately that I would trample another human being to get it, #5 THE INTERNET HAS BETTER SALES ANYWAY, WTF ARE YOU DOING?

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is FRIENDS, yes, the TV show.  They had a Thanksgiving episode each year and they are always the most hysterical episodes ever.  My favorite is "The One With All The Thanksgivings".  Go watch it, it's the best.  I always marathon all the Thanksgiving episodes of the seasons that I own the week of Thanksgiving and drink wine and stare into my Christmas lights to make myself slightly less crazed by all the upcoming hooplah.

Anyway I am about to be crazy busy the entire rest of the week so I want to wish everyone a HAPPY TURKEY SLAUGHTER DAY because even if I hate Thanksgiving, I PROBABLY don't hate you.

A brief and friendly reminder...

If you haven't voted yet then PLEASE don't forget to get out there tomorrow and VOTE!!!

Also if you live in a stupid state where you can't buy alcohol on Election Day, don't forget to buy your booze tonight so you can handle the celebration/devastation of the outcome depending on your choice of party.

Forward

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

My Warhol-esque photo collage of Evil Jacki.  I think I look pretty damn good as a demon & a vampire...which there might be a reason for...

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween.  Here's a couple of photos of me at various things in my costume.  I went to a party Friday night and then to a show Saturday night.  I won the costume contest so I get in free for six months at one of my favorite venues!  Yay!!!

I will post a tutorial about the making of my costume eventually.  I have to dig around and find all the pictures and junk but it's coming, I promise.  Tonight since we
A: have never gotten a Trick or Treater
B: live behind the woods a bit & people rarely even notice our house
I won't be going through the trouble of putting on my costume to hand out candy.  I'll probably just reprise last years "Halloween Hipster" costume in case any little goblins show up.

Halloween?  I celebrated that like 5 days ago.  You guys are like -SO- behind.

First World Halloween Problems

Everyone gives out "good" candy now, like the bite sized Snickers and Reese's cups and I'm just sittin' here like "Where the Peanut Butter Kisses at?"  Yes, these are my favorite Halloween candy. Call me a traditionalist.

Now, I, personally have never been into the "sexy" costume crazy but I do consider myself a feminist and I support your right to sexy it up!  To quote Mean Girls "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it."  I don't have a problem with sexy costumes in general at all.  Sexy princess, sexy pirate..sexy Rainbow Brite.  I just fail to understand why someone would want to be a sexy piece of gum or a sexy hamburger?  Not knocking people who do, I just can't imagine being the person behind the drawing board at a large costuming company saying "YOU KNOW WHAT WE NEED A COSTUME FOR AND I BET THERE IS A HUGE MARKET FOR?  SEXY TOOTSIE ROLL!!!"

I used to get chick-tracted around Halloween a lot when I worked at the movie theater.  It only happened once that I can remember ON Halloween and I was an angsty little shit of a teenager (and I was actually dressed as a She-Devil), but I find the entire thing ridiculous.  Aren't you technically recognizing the holiday by giving them out?  Also do you really think small children are even going to read those?  I bet they mostly throw them down on the ground because they aren't candy.  I'm not being mean, I am seriously curious if people think that this is going to stop anyone from celebrating Halloween?    It would also help if they were slightly less ridiculous.

I can't find the clip because I don't remember who it is but I remember like 10 years ago on Comedy Central I saw a comedian who said something along the lines of "Children dressing in costumes going door to door to get candy, well that sounds like Satan!!!"  Like that is the best that Satan could do.  It's always stuck with me and still makes me laugh every time I think about it.  (Also if you know who it is or where the clip is I'll love you for always & ever.)

I really doubt if I'll be blogging again before next week so everyone PLEASE have a fun, safe, and happy Halloweekend!!!!

they're all gonna laugh at you...

I've been swamped with school work, costuming, and working out.  So here's the (small) list of the horror movies I've watched since I last updated.  Clear evidence that I've been in the mood for terrible horror movies lately.

Carrie (TV Movie)
Bless the Child
Ginger Snaps
The Bad Seed
Dolls
Sorority House Massacre
The Birds

I'm still trying ALL THE PUMPKIN BEERS.  Since my last update I've tried the Sam Adams, Yuengling, O'Fallen, and the Blue Moon.  I really liked all of them except the Sam Adams.  I hate Sam Adams in general so I wasn't terribly shocked by these findings.

Despite my pumpkin beer guzzling, on the workout front I'm proud to say that I've lost 12 lbs.  I am one of those people who constantly bounces around the same 10 lbs so I doubt if anyone else will notice (even if they see me regularly) but I can FEEL a difference and SEE the numbers on the scale decreasing.  That's the important part I suppose.

I am finished with my costume making.  I just have to restyle the wig because I only have black hair elastics and I need clear or white and then I need to spray my skirt down with hairspray in hopes that the "dirt" I applied to it will stop rubbing off on absolutely everything.  Once Halloweekend is over I will post some pictures of me in the costume & how I went about making it if anyone is interested. Not to toot my own horn but it's turned out pretty rad.

Have some holiday themed music.

What I've been watching...

I was going to try to update this once a week but I've been busy with school & working out and making my costume.  I also went to see First Aid Kit last week and they were amazing live.  I was really impressed.  We also got to meet them & have them sign our merch afterward which was really cool.  They both seemed very sweet.  Anyway on to the movies....

The House of the Devil
When A Stranger Calls
The Last House on the Left
Hocus Pocus
The Ward
The Orphanage
Trick r Treat
Excision
The Haunting
House on Haunted Hill
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
The Moth Diaries
The Nameless

Out of all of these films the only one that really stands out is "Excision".  Though I didn't find it scary, just strange & bad ass.  I regretted watching "The Last House on the Left", it was so terrible that it wasn't even funny.   Skip on "The Haunting", "The Ward" and "When a Stranger Calls" they were all really lame.  "Trick r Treat" & "Hocus Pocus" are the only ones I've seen before but they are favorites so I watch them every year.

it's the most wonderful time of the year!

Now for some holiday cheer!  These are the pumpkin beers I have tried so far this holiday season.

Punk'N Harvest Pumpkin Ale, Post Road Pumpkin Ale, Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Of these three my favorite is the Dogfish Head.  I liked it's flavor the best.  I'm on the lookout for more Pumpkin ale so I will update if I find anything I like better.

I try to watch as many horror movies as possible during October.  I kicked off the movie marathon today with "The House of the Devil" which I really enjoyed.  It's definitely a slow-burn kind of movie.  If you are wanting hardcore gore or constant scares then don't bother watching it but if you don't mind an actual plot and waiting until the VERY end for payoff then I'd say give it a shot.  It's on Netflix Instant which is where I'll be finding most of the films I'll be watching this next month.  "When a Stranger Calls" (the original) is pretty boring.  I really liked the first 20 minutes or so but after that it's basically a swan dive into predictability land.

I'm trying to make myself watch things I haven't seen before like the previous two movies but I'm sure that I will watch all my classic horror staples of the season at some point like "Carrie", "Suspiria" and "Black Christmas".  I also watch just fun holiday themed movies this time of the year like "Hocus Pocus" and "Practical Magic" even though they aren't horror.  So that's pretty much what you can expect for the next month or so.  If you have any horror suggestions, particularly evil children or sorority slashers please let me know, those tend to be my favorites.

YOU DARN KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN

If you've been reading this blog for a while you might remember THIS post about the insane Jesus people from the beginning of the year.  Well today I had some more bible thumping visitors. The scenario played out a bit differently this time.  Let me start at the beginning of my day.

I woke up, did a couple hours of schoolwork until I literally couldn't see straight.  Then I worked out for 45 minutes while watching Battlestar Galactica.  So I finish working out and by this time I don't have time to shower before getting my son Alden off the bus.  No big deal, the bus people see me at 6 AM with my crazy hair and half asleep face, they aren't going to care that I'm in my workout clothes.  I remember it's trash day so I start collecting the trash from the bins around the house & put them outside. I go back into the kitchen to look at the clock, I have seven minutes til the bus gets here.  Cool, I can grab a water and chug it.

Then I look up and I see them.  The theme from "Jaws" immediately pops into my head.  In my brain I'm going "shit shit shit!" then I do what any rational person would do and I run to hide in the big open part of my hallway where you can't see in from anywhere outside.  They bang on the door.  I stand there thinking "okay, good they are going to think no one is here and then they'll leave".   Then they bang on the door again.

THEY STOOD THERE FOR SEVEN MINUTES UNTIL THE BUS GOT HERE.  I threw the door open in their faces and said "If you will excuse me, I have to go get my child off of the bus"  then I stormed between them, turned around and added "And while you are at it you should just go ahead and leave." One of them responded with "ARE YOU SURE?" and I said "YES, I AM VERY SURE."

Now I am sure that to some people I look like an asshole in this scenario, and I probably kind of was.  But I don't care.  In my opinion my behavior was completely called for.  Case in point:
I don't answer the front door, pretty much EVER.
I saw them coming, I saw their bible & their literature.
I didn't answer the door.
I didn't answer the door for MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES.
I was trying to do the polite thing and just ignore them until they went away.
They are the ones who wouldn't let me be polite in that situation.
I HAD to get my child off the bus or I would have let them stand their knocking until their version of Jesus came back.

Alden got off the bus and was really confused about who was leaving and parked backward in our driveway.  He said "Who is that?" and I said "Just some rude, crazy people, I told them to leave us alone.  I don't think they'll be back."  He laughed.  Then we came in and he did his homework and I ordered him this book from Amazon because I want him to be educated when people like this start spouting off their beliefs.  I want him to decide for himself what he does or doesn't believe.

I have anxiety disorder and I ALWAYS go back in my brain after any conversation and think of how I could have spoken more eloquently or handled a situation better, and honestly when it comes to door to door preaching I always think about really snarky things I wish I had said instead.

I'm thinking about making a sign for both my doors that just says "We aren't buying what you're selling, please move along."

Amanda EFFING Palmer

There is no way that this post will do the concert justice but I'll try.  First off we ended up running about 2 hours behind our original plan.  Then of course we got caught in traffic and by "traffic" I mean that they shut the interstate down to ONE lane THREE TIMES on the way down to Atlanta.  I don't do well in Atlanta traffic when it's moving along nicely, so you can imagine how much I was cringing having to stop and go and sit and wait.  I managed to keep my cool surprisingly well by just playing around with my iPhone (I forgot my e-reader at home).  I was one more idiot driver or road work from a serious panic attack though.  Josh complimented my restraint which was very nice of him because I know being the twitchy person in the car who is doing breathing exercises in between tourrettes like strings of curse words is probably really distracting and annoying.

When we finally reached the destination the plan was to grab some food close by and then walk to the venue.  When we passed the venue we could see that the line to get in already stretched all the way around & behind the building.  So we decided to take our chances that the venue had decent food and just hurry to get in line.  Neither of us had eaten anything all day long and by this point it's 7:20 or so and we are both starving.  We met some really cool people standing in line.  It was definitely the most eclectic group of people all in one place that I have ever seen.  Lots of tiny hats, and prom dresses, punk outfits, fairy wings, kilts, period costumes, preppys, vests, glow sticks, masks, pretty much anything awesome, you could find in this line of people.  It was like the Island of Misfit Toys, but when everyone is a misfit, then no one is.  Everyone was lovely, and kind.  I never heard anyone complain about being in line 30 minutes past when the doors were to open.  It was just a very awesome love filled environment.  You couldn't ask for better company.  I told Josh "These are my people, and in a few hours Amanda Palmer is going to play you the songs of my people."

Jherek Bischoff was the first act of the evening.  He played various string instruments and he was very adorable and funny and humble and I just wanted to give him a big hug.  The second act was The Simple Pleasure who were absolutely fantastic.  The lead singer and guitar player is exactly how I envision Peter Pan, his look, his energy, everything.  The final opening act was Ronald Reagan - Boston's Premier 80's Pop Saxophone Duo which is exactly what it sounds like, two gentlemen playing saxophones to 80's music amazingly well.  When they played "Eye of the Tiger" there was some stripping into workout clothing and a push-up contest involved.  They were absolutely hysterical and I really hope that I get to see them perform again sometime.

Before the next set we started talking to this really lovely group of ladies.  They had driven all the way from Orlando and it was one of their birthdays.  We had so much fun talking with them that we agreed to meet up for drinks after the show.  Then Amanda and The Grand Theft Orchestra (which consists of all the musician listed above) came out and played "Intro" and them immediately went into "Smile" and the photos that everyone had submitted to her site after getting their tickets flashed on the screen while she played.  It was really cool and interactive and you would see your face and then start going "OMG THAT WAS MY FACE!  DID YOU GUYS SEE MY FACE!" to everyone around you.  Or maybe that was just me?  Somewhere in this part of the story Josh finds a setlist laying on the ground.  The filmographer was right behind us running various things like the graphics and stuff on her computer.  She asked if she could have it back once she noticed where it had gone.  We of course said "yes".  She let Josh have it again after the show was over because she is absolutely wonderful.  Then there was lots more music and Amanda read small one line stories of "Sad things that happened in your room" that people had submitted outside in the lobby.  They were all absolutely haunting.  Then she started playing "Bottomfeeder" and in the middle of the song she began crowd surfing and she had on a huge blue train on her dress which spread out over the entire moshpit and she's just floating along & singing. You can watch someone's video of it here.  I think everyone got a little bit misty eyed when she played "Bed Song" because DAMN that song just guts you.  During the encore she played "Leeds United" and let people come up on stage and dance and the horn players (who were volunteers) were brought back out.  Just watch the videos there are a bunch of them on YouTube, I can't do any of this justice at all but the entire experience was just magical and lovely and I want to relive it.  They did a signing after the show but they didn't have time for individual posed photos so it was just a quick meet & greet and thank you type thing but it was still fantastic and awesome.  I got my set list signed.

After the show we went outside and hung out with some really cool buskers who were from Jacksonville.  They played all sorts of really cute songs on their pink (signed) ukuleles.  I was sad I didn't think to get my own ukulele but so it goes...

We kept looking around the line for the friends we had made during the show and we finally decided that they must have already left.  We were bummed out but again, these things happen.  So after about 15 or 20 minutes of hanging out around the venue to see if they popped up we decided we'd better head out.  We were driving by and I saw one of our new friends going into OMG Taco and I started screaming "PULL THE CAR OVER THERE THEY ARE!!!"  So I hopped out of the car and Josh dropped me off to go park somewhere.  We were all so excited to see one another again because we had all accepted defeat thinking we'd never get to see one another again and get each other's contact information.  So from there we just sat at the bar and had some birthday drinks and talked about all sorts of music and nerd things like Disney and Harry Potter until it was time to head out.  We exchanged contact info and then Josh & I walked the trek to the car and went back to our hotel.  It was an awesome evening and it couldn't have gone better if I'd dreamed it.

There was shirt purchasing and a flamingo and a peace twig and other things that I can't even put in order but rest assured that they happened and it was fantastic.  P.S. all my photos from the show are in my "concerts" album on Facebook so check it out if you haven't already. 

You guys can keep your pumpkin spice lattes, just give me all the pumpkin ale

The air has had a crisp bite to it in the morning for the past few days.  The afternoons are no longer blazing hot and I can run barefoot without my feet catching on fire.  The bugs aren't eating me alive.  This is my favorite time of year.  When the winds start swirling around you and you start thinking about what fall will bring.

My favorite holiday has been Halloween for my entire life.  According to my mother I became enchanted with it at a really young age and it's never let me go.  I could take or leave Christmas, and I LOATHE Thanksgiving, but HALLOWEEN, Halloween is magical.  I can't wait to wear my big black boots and a hoodie and curl up on my couch watching horror movies.  Of course I can do those things any time of the year, but the authenticity of it all during fall makes it a million times better.

I can't wait for bonfires, and candy corn, and pumpkin carving.  This time of the year is always when I start feeling my creativity firing up.  I always start painting, crafting, playing dressup, and making 'fall' playlists.  Songs are weather dependent and take on different colors to me, if you don't understand then you are probably never going to, it's just one of my 'things'.

P.S. I am going to see Amanda Palmer on Saturday.  I hope to have many photos & exciting things to tell you afterward.  This is from her new CD with Grand Theft Orchestra "Theatre is Evil".  If you have a problem with gore don't watch the video.  (I am looking at you mom).

and I don't belong to anyone

School has started back up again and I'm in two classes that are incredibly difficult and one that looks like it shouldn't be all that bad.  So basically if I'm not around much, that's why.  The amount of work isn't as daunting this time around, just the content.  I am going to attempt to keep up my straight A streak but if I am unable to I have to just be able to let go of it.

I started freaking out again, (like ya do) but then it occurred to me that A) this is not the end of the world, B) even my professor said "everyone struggles with this course", and C) this is legitimately the first thing I have had to LEARN since I started college.  I need to cut myself some slack and stop being so hard on myself.  That isn't an excuse to be lazy or not do the work, but I don't have to stress out.  I am LEARNING and that's just something new that I'm not really used to.  (I mean learning in a "have to" context. I love learning about things that I am personally interested in).

I'm sure that I felt the same way about HTML and CSS when I first started learning them but those were self taught, at my own pace, and over the past however many years since I made my first seizure inducing AOL page full of flame text and dancing Hello Kitties.  So it's a process.  I know people who have been doing this for years who still sometimes pull up reference materials.  It's fine.  I can do this, it just might take me a bit and that's okay.

Other than freaking out about school I have been attempting to get Alden ready to go back to school. He's got a new bag, new clothes, new shoes, & a new lunchbox (tupperware because I'm a bit of a hippie & refuse to waste plastic baggies like that).  Stuff-wise he's prepared but he isn't having it.  He told me he was "not going to school this year".  At which point I just started laughing hysterically.  I haven't been getting him back on track with his bedtime because, well honestly at first it just doesn't do any good.  Plus, we're going out of town this weekend and coming back the day before school starts...so basically there is absolutely no point in trying until school actually starts.  Luckily (?), he still gets up obscenely early even when he doesn't go to bed until "SERIOUSLY, LAY DOWN RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BED NOW" o'clock.

Anywho that's all that has been going on.  Boring as hell I know.  I promise that I will not post another post until I have something clever.  I am even boring myself with these.

I do not relate to this song at all but it is CATCHY AS FUQ & I can't stop listening to it.

& I know you're dissatisfied with your position & your place, don't you understand it's not my problem?

You'll have to excuse my absence lately. I've been busy and sick. I'm feeling a bit better now though so it's back to business.  School starts Monday (BOO!) and I have my schedule.  I am dreading this semester SO much.  It's going to be really tough.  I have been getting all A's so far and I would REALLY like to keep my scores high so I might be in absent from both social circles and the internets more than I'd like.

We leave to go rafting for Labor Day weekend so that will be a nice little break.  Then Alden goes back to school the day after we get back...that's going to be interesting. We've totally disregarded his sleep schedule for most of the summer.  It's going to take a bit to get back into the swing of getting up at 5:45 AM but we'll manage somehow.

Since I was sick a lot of this week I've been watching movie & reading. I FINALLY finished the book I've been reading since the dawn of time.  (Updated 2012 list here).  I can't decide what to read next, I could just jump right back into the ASoIaF series,  I could get in a couple of quick reads before I start back to school and save A Storm of Swords for when I'm back in school as something to look forward to after doing my work, or I could put it off til season 3 rolls around so that I am shocked and appalled at the horrible things on my TV screen instead of knowing what's going to happen (for the most part).  I don't know, I'll have to see.

love is tough, time is rough on me

• I have two opinion pieces I've been working on but they've basically ended up being rage comics in the end so neither of them will probably ever see the light of day.

• My birthday was awesome.  I had the best party ever with a bunch of my friends and it was great.  I got lots of cool stuff but the party was definitely my favorite part.

• We went to Six Flags and LegoLand.  It was great.  Alden rode his first big kid rollercoaster and he had an absolute blast.  

• I am SO.CLOSE to finishing the book I've been reading since FOREVER. I think I'm going to read one or two short books before starting the next book in the series.  I am SUPER behind on my reading this year.

• I think I'm going to start actively writing the book that I want to write but I'm not in a hurry because a bunch of people are going to have to die before it can be published anyway.

• My school starts back the 20th.  I don't want to go to there.  :(

• Alden's school is out until the 4th.  We'll come back from our rafting trip and he'll have to go back to school that week.  I guess at least we'll get another teensy vacation before he has to go back.

That's all I have right now.  I'll be back with a proper update soon.  I'm just in kind of an icky headspace at the moment and everything I type ends up being rubbish.

GIF SPAM BECAUSE BIRTHDAY

Jesus & I would rather you reblogged that on Tumblr

Sometimes people on Facebook "share" cute, funny, or thoughtful images they have seen on other Facebook pages, but most of the time it's just crap.

• Jesus doesn't care about your Facebook, if you are under the impression that he does I just don't even know what to say to you. 

• "Like This Photo in 3 Seconds" and absolutely nothing cool will happen...except that you just gave some megalomaniac another click on his photo.  

• A nice chunk of the political images I see floating around are either ignorant, misquoted, or just plain false statistics.  

• No one is going to donate money to a dying baby if you "like" or "share" a photo.

I don't even mind  if they are occasional, I just scroll past them & roll my eyes.  If this is you then I'm not talking about you. I am talking to the people who "share" every single image they come across and fill up everyone's feed.  I think those people need to get a Tumblr, it basically exists specifically to spam things that 99% of other people don't give a crap about.  It will save all of our Facebook feeds and all of our ocular muscles.  Trust me, your friend's eyes will thank you.

Before you go ape on me you can feel free to follow me on Tumblr, where I post crap that absolutely no one but me cares about.

some things never change (a hilarious photo blog of my youth)

I promised to post something funny soon but I'm just not on a roll with funny commentary these days.  So I hope that my childhood photos will hold you over until I'm feeling more clever.  

As I mentioned in my last blog my birthday is coming up.  I had planned to do a post on my birthday about a specific event but I can't find the picture that it requires.  I went through a TON of photos today looking for that ONE but I can't find it.  I know it exists, but obviously someone besides my mother has it.  However today whilst going though huge stacks of my childhood I noticed that 

some things NEVER ever change.

I still fight with my sister a lot.

But I also love the stuffings out of her so much that she makes this face of terror.

Pippi Longstocking is still one of my heroes.

I still have Peter Pan Syndrome (Never Grow Up)

I have always been a gamer girl.  Here's me with the original Gameboy playing black & white Tetris!

I am still a fabulous artist.

I'm still a computer nerd...though my computer and my glasses are both slightly smaller these days.

and I still make this "OH SHIT WHAT AM I DOING" face every time I attempt cooking or baking things.

However, some things do change...for the better.

such as, I would never ever do this to my hair or makeup anymore.

 (Yes it was Halloween, but the horns & fake tattoos were pretty much the only things "costumey" going on here...this is my teen angst phase)

I don't have to carry around a huge boombox anymore...I also don't wear ankle weights for fun. 

Yeah, I don't know either...

I wouldn't stand anywhere near that sign anymore.

shameless begging but it's for my birthday so it's cool.

My birthday is in 9 days, which means if you want to buy me things you should go ahead and do that! Here are some things that I really really want.

Here are my wishlists:
ThinkGeek Wishlist
Amazon Wishlist
Body Art Forms Wishlist

The following gifts would also be lovely:
Jon Hamm
cash
anything Hello Kitty/zombies/Alice/Joss Whedon related*
a unicorn
acrylic paints (preferably Delta Ceramcoat), canvas, glitter, fine tipped & regular black sharpie pens
fencing lessons
a swimming pool
water from the fountain of youth

giftcards for:
Barnes & Noble
Sephora
Ulta
Red Lobster
Rugged Wearhouse

That's all folks!

*Please nothing Toy Story, that ish freaks me right the hell out.

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

Do you ever get legitimately depressed because you know you will never have enough time to do all the things you want to do before you die?  I do.  Maybe I'm weird (okay, it is a fact that I'm weird), maybe it isn't something other people really think about constantly.

For me, it's books.  I get seriously depressed when I realize that I will never be able to read every single book in the world before I die.  Wouldn't that be amazing to have read everything?  Thinking about it gives me chills.

Anyway the point I'm trying to make here is that I have had to do some major cut backs.  I no longer subject myself to terrible books (like I did with the Twilight series) just "for the lulz".  I don't have time for that anymore.  Not that I'm getting super old, or dying (I hope), I just feel like there is something better out there. If I start a book now and it sucks, I just stop reading it.  Before this revelation I had only put down one book  in my life because it 'sucked and I couldn't get through it', it was one of the Sex and the City books...pure effing garbage.

When Maurice Sendak died I wanted to write a blog about "books everyone should read".  Then I started compiling a list and I realized that most people that I know would have no interest in most of the things I consider "must reads".  Childhood books are a horse of a different color though, I feel like those are easier to pinpoint.  Children's books are something that helps shape us whether it's something that we think about or not.  I can't think of a single person who wouldn't recommend getting a child a book that they, themselves loved in their childhood.

And so instead of telling you what books you should read I'm going to tell you the children's books that shaped me, because I am only an authority on myself and I have no place telling anyone what to do (except my kid*).

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Where the Wild Things Are
Pippi Longstocking
Peter Pan
Matilda
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Little Prince
Ramona Quimby (series)
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

All of those books were staples of my childhood.  I can't imagine life without each of the characters.  I actually have plans for a tattoo of several of them.  Let me know if you can think of any that I'm missing or that you think all kids should read.

* sometimes I am hilarious.

red, white, blue's in the sky, summer's in the air & baby, heaven's in your eyes

Yesterday I decided that I was going to sit down and just finish the last two weeks of my school course work.  It took me 11 and a half hours but I am FINISHED with summer semester.  It felt so good to be free!  Then today I signed on because I knew I had to do the "Rate this course survey" thingie that they always send out so I did that and then I decided to check my mail & run my grades.  Everything was already graded & I MADE ALL As!!!  I am so proud of myself.  At the beginning of this semester I thought I was going to die because it was so much work and it was hard but I DID IT and I DID IT WELL!  I never once made all As until I got into college so this is always like a huge deal for me.  So YAY ME!

On to more interesting things...we are going on vacation next weekend!  Alden wants to go to LegoLand Discovery Center so that's what we'll be doing.  We haven't made plans beyond that but Six Flags has been mentioned in passing.  I'm just excited to be away from my computer and the house for a few days and of course spend time with my boys.

Then the week after that is my birthday!  Yes, I said "the week after that" because I'm awesome and I celebrate like a maniac during my birthday.  At some point there will be a dinner, and then there will be a party, and I will still be going strong at my lovely best friend's Ryan's CD release party on Saturday. It's going to be awesome. Yay party!

I'm so glad I survived school so that I can relax and have fun.  YAY SUMMER!

I promise a fun/funny post soon now that I don't have to think about coding 24/7.

I saw you caught between all the people out making a scene

He treats me like a unicorn!!!

I get so tired of hearing people say "He treats me like a princess!"  Have you read a book?  Do you even know what that really means?  Are you calling your boyfriend/fiance/husband a servant?  Sure princesses are raised in luxury but I'd say it comes at a pretty steep price.  Call me crazy but I personally have no interest in being treated like a princess.   I don't want to have to smile & wave and pretend that I love this person my parents are selling me to for land or wealth or some title.

(Sidebar: 99% of you who think you are being 'treated like a princess' are actually just being treated like a human/equal, you just don't realize it because all your other boyfriends REALLY REALLY sucked).

 Princesses lives kind of sucked if you think about it and I find it disturbing that this is the terminology that we used to say "I want to be treated like I'm special."   So I am here to propose a better way of saying "My boyfriend is better than yours" , I think we should all start saying "he treats me like a unicorn!"  Because, well if I'm being honest there is NOTHING cooler than a unicorn.  If you saw a unicorn you would be in awe of it,  you would be absolutely enchanted with it and try to make the most of your time together because you know that it might not be there tomorrow.

So the next time you hear someone say they get treated like a princess laugh to yourself and pity the fool.

Stop being an asshat on Facebook (also probably in real life too)

Part I

Hey you! The idiot on Facebook complaining about how you are "SOOOO BORED!",  you are THE WORST.  Let me break this down for you...you are sitting on the internet. If you don't know, the internet contains a MASSIVE amount of information, about damn near everything.  This is like sitting in the middle of the biggest, best, restaurant in the world that literally serves everything and whining about being hungry.   WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  Google something, anything that you are interested in.  Read.  Research.  Watch Hulu or YouTube tutorials or porn!  Look for new local places to eat or drink.  Or here is another idea....just find something to do away from the computer/iPhone.  Don't get online to tell people you are bored, you are wasting time you could use to go to the library or go outside or go to the gym or just sit mindlessly in front of your TV.  Maybe I'm just very easily entertained (I totally am), but I don't see the point of complaining about being bored and it makes me rage like a crazy person when I see people bitching about it online. Put down the device.  No one gives a crap that you are bored.  You are just making yourself look stupid and BORING.

Part II

It's so sad when someone's relationship status on Facebook changes to "single", not because of the person's new-found freedom but because of all the comments that people leave.  I typically see things like "I'm sorry!" or "DISLIKE!" when someone is newly single and it makes me irrationally angry.  Being single isn't a bad thing.  Clearly something SHITTY happened in their relationship and you should be glad they got out.

I don't comment on people's relationship status changes because I know that Facebook will for some reason not let you totally "hide" it when you make a change to it.  99% of the time people are going to get asked "What happened?" or something equally stupid.  Here is a tip: if you don't know what happened there is a good chance that they don't want you to know.  Their good friends, you know, the real friends they actually like and hang out with outside of Facebook?  They know what happened.  They will help them get through it if they are having a hard time.  Stop being nosy, stop trying to find new gossip information.  Trust me, if they want to put their relationship problems on blast on Facebook they will do so without any prompting.  (I have a few of those idiots blocked from my Newsfeed).

So basically just shut your mouth.  If they want you to know what happened they will tell you.  If they are sad about being single they will tell you. If they don't tell you then you aren't close enough to them to matter. So leave them the hell alone about it and go back to posting about how "bored" you are.

P.S.

The sad thing is that the people who NEED to read this never will because they are too lazy to read anything longer than a Facebook status.

summer time and the livin's easy

You know that you are bogged down by school work when you feel like you deserve some sort of medal when you finish it.  And by "it" I mean one class' assignments for the week. I'm currently in three classes..so I should be pretty decked out in bling by the end of micro-semester.  So that's my excuse, school is kicking my ass and taking up most of my time. Thus I have fallen behind in "things I actually want to do for a living" like blogging, painting, and being a professional rollerskate-dancer.

I am about to go help Alden with his summer school work which involves reading 30 books and learning several spelling words.  He also signed up for the Summer Reading Club at the library and if he reads 35 books he will get some sort of surprise.  I have to say I'm pretty jealous, he has read 10 books in the past 2 days and I have only read 8 this entire year.  I wish I had time to sit down and really read "A Clash of Kings" (I'm only on page 300 or so)  but real life boring adult stuff beckons.

So for now I am just going to leave you with some music I've been jamming to lately.  Some of them are old but they are still my summer jams. They are also really random because that's just how I roll.  Maybe you'll find something you like.

This song makes me want to go on a roadtrip.

This song makes me want to read "Lolita" in my yard.

This song makes me wish I had time to play my ukulele.

This song makes me dance my ass off.

This song makes me want so swing on a swingset barefoot. 

(P.S. I'm going to see them in October & I am SO EXCITED!)

I love hooping to this song.

Another dancey song.

Riding with the windows down screaming.

Good summer fun.

Why won't he be my boyfriend? :(

Old school.

They are still my favorite band ever. They will be on every playlist I ever make.

IDGAF.