911.

Yesterday in the early morning hours, just about maybe eleven miles from my house, a well-known-around-town-couple were shot. The couple ran a funeral home out of their own home. This is where they were shot, in the comfort of their own home and business.

Not only were they shot, but their house and business was invaded by three large men, the biggest one with black, matted hair. That's the only description given, and frankly, in this town that description doesn't narrow it down any. The fact that they had on dark tshirts and camoflauge pants doesn't narrow it down much either.

The men's race is unimportant, because this could have happened anywhere, to anyone, by any man of any color. Stuff like this happens everyday.

The three intruders wanted the toxic embalming chemical formaldehyde. I suppose that soaking rolling papers in formaldehyde gives a person a rush. But instead of just breaking in and demanding the formaldehyde, they shot the man five times, and shot the woman in the back of the head. The bullet came out of her eye.

That formaldehyde must pack a damn good punch if it's worth trying to kill someone over.

How cracked out does a person have to be to do something like this?

Did they go smoke their formaldehyde soaked joints afterward?

Did they shower? Eat a meal? Watch tv?

What does a person do after doing something so ... horrid. Horrid isn't even the right word.

They are still on the loose.

What was I doing while this was happening? Was I safe in my bed? Was I dreaming of Paulie? Was I awake for a moment, looking at the clock wishing I had more time to sleep?

It's just strange how things can happen so close by .. anywhere, anytime.

Of course this does not make me live in fear, because I can't fear things that haven't happened yet .. and I won't base my life on that. And while I won't live in fear, it is still interesting to think about.

I realize people get killed over drugs everyday, and it used to be a rarity in this town but now is becoming increasingly more common. At least once a week I hear of a meth lab being found. Sometimes mobile meth labs, which I didn't even know existed until recently. I've been told that the show 60 Minutes once named this town the meth capital of the world. I have no resources to back that up, however.

The man and woman are still alive, amazingly. Even in stable, but still serious, condition.

They probably would have died if the neighbors had not heard the shots and called 911.

I'm just intrigued in a negative sense by the whole story. It makes me feel creepy to drive down that street on the way to school. I hope they catch the people involved. Maybe someone around this sometimes hellish little town knows some answers. I'm sure probably lots of people do. This town is full of "undesireables," as my Gramma always puts it. I always laughed at how stupid that term sounded when referring to people .. then I saw the light. It really IS full of undesireables.

People that you wouldn't even want to come and take out your trash for fear they would case your house in the meantime.

Not everyone. But a lot.

* * *

I was driving home from work today. It was about 3pm, broad daylight.

I am on a relatively busy road.

A clunker of a vehicle pulls up beside me at a red light. Two guys inside, maybe high school age or just out of high school. Thuggish.

One starts saying, "Hey .. HEY ... HEY!! Hey I'm talking to you!" trying to get my attention.

I quickly glance to the side, made brief eye contact, but also gave a look that let them know I wasn't playing around.

The red light turned green, and I got up ahead of them a little. They sped up beside me. Again the passenger started the "HEY!" stuff. This time I just stared straight ahead, an obvious sign that I wasn't interested. The driver started to honk his horn, and the passenger tried even harder to get my attention. I made brief eye contact again, and he winked at me.

They then cut me off at a very close range, enough for me to roughly put on my brakes, and the passenger started throwing trash out the window, piece by piece.

I grabbed my cell phone, and just as I was about to call 911 on them for reckless endangerment, they sped off the next exit.

It wasn't 911 worthy, it wasn't an emergency. As Paulie said, 911 probably wouldn't have even sent someone to respond.

Now that I work at a job where we do news releases, and with a woman who is a local radio personality, I hear a lot of things. A lot of things have happened here just in the past few weeks.

It's enough to make me program the police's number into my cell phone for those non-911 moments, and just hope it's a number I never have to dial.

They need help too.

Click Image to Play.

For those who are audio sensitive, turn down sound.

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Gandhi

Nostalgia.

I was talking to Paulie while I was at work today, and he was going back and reading our old emails we sent to each other, which .. they are "old" as in, it's been nearly a year now that we've been together.

So when I got home, I decided I really wanted to go back and read some too.

It's just really cool to look back and see how far we've come, how much we've done together, and how through it all, we've just become so much closer, which is hard to believe sometimes, haha .. because we were so close to begin with.

I'll spare putting snippets of the emails here, because that's personal and just for us ..

but it makes me really happy, and really emotional too, to go back and read them.

We've been through rough times and we've made it through them while still being there for each other, and good to each other. I've just seen so many times where couples go through hard things together and it tears them apart, or they start being mean to each other. And I just could never imagine it being that way for us.

And could never imagine there being a day without Paulie in it.

There was a time very early in our relationship when we talked about and asked ourselves if this was just a phase, or puppy love, or things of that nature .. and now look what it's become .. it's just amazing.

I know I've talked about him, and us .. a lot in the past few days .. but how can I help from it? He's the greatest =) and I love him so much.

So, gag and puke if you will .. but it's how I feel.

In just a couple of days it will be our 11 month anniversary. I have to think of something BIG! And since Paulie reads this, he'll know I'm trying to think of something big so maybe it won't be a surprise .. but that's ok, I don't mind =)

O Happy Day

* Spilled ginger ale down the front of my hoodie on the way to school

* Spilled water in my car

* Couldn't get the shell off of my hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, ended up throwing the whole thing in the trash because it was just .. the yellow part. Blech.

* Spilled water again in drawing class, down the back of my drawing pad

* Forgot to put a battery in the digital camera I had to take to do my interview for a lady going from this little town down to Baton Rouge to help the hurricane victims (luckily the lady didn't want her picture made anyway, so I was lucky there)

* Had to walk a block or so to a museum visit during drawing class, got all sweaty

* Went to English class after that, got too cold because of the a/c

* Got home, worked on digital art project, saved it (or thought I did .. )

* It didn't save, so I lost about an hour or maybe two hours worth of work

BUT ...

I got to see Paulie, talk to him, laugh with him ..

and that's all that I look forward to ... makes my day worthwhile.

Not to mention how much he helped me with my project ..

and how much he helps me with *everything* under the sun!

I love you Paulie, so much! Just wanted to tell the world, yet again ;)

My colloquial Dutch lesson will come in handy!

Next week I will be interviewing and writing an article on a new social sciences professor at my school. She is Dutch.

She is not new to America, she received her Ph.D. from a school in Las Vegas. However, she IS new to this little town I live in, and I'm wondering what a trip that is for her. I can't wait to hear.

I emailed her to ask if I may be the one to interview her, and she responded very nicely saying "Yes! Ofcourse you may interview me!" .. and I was glad for that, because sometimes people I ask to interview can be real assholes about it.

So, I wonder what she'll say when I greet her with, "Goede middag, Dr. Balsam! Ik ben Stephanie. Hoe is het? Leuk om jou te ontmoeten. Welkom in *censored for anonymity* University .. "

Haha, no I wouldn't say all that, and I'm not even sure if it's all correct, I'd have to run it by Paulie first! ... but I can at least get out the good afternoon and my name is Stephanie without problem, and maybe the welcome part .. and perhaps end the interview with a "Bedankt! Dag!"

Anything else, nope .. not that far .. yet!

SmallVille

Yesterday at the gym, I biked as usual. They have a bike that you sit on and it has arms, like a chair .. much easier on the back than the bikes where you sit upright. I biked for an hour on the Random Hill level. To my surprise, it would have taken me another hour to finish the course .. must ride faster next time!

A girl on a bike beside me talked on her cell phone for 30 minutes straight about her wedding. Then her husband beeped in. And it went a little something like this:

Him: Hey babe.
Her: Hey hon.
Him: You about done?
Her: I have 3 minutes to go.
Him: Hmm, you at the gym?
Her: Yeah.
Him: Hmm, what are you wearing?
Her: Uhh, white shirt, gray shorts.
Him: Are you wearing your sports bra?
Her: Yes ...
Him: Mmmmm ..

At that point, I was gagging.

I guess people don't realize that on cell phones, normally when you are within earshot of the person holding the phone, you can still hear both parties talking .. because people on cell phones tend to talk much louder than regular phones.

Anyhow, it made me sick. Plus, who the hell talks on a cell phone while they are working out? Hello?!

On the way home from the gym, I saw two little boys who were probably not any older than 8 or 9, smoking.

I also saw a Mexican driving a car, and he could barely see over the steering wheel. I *swear* to you, his face was peeking at me from just under the top of the wheel.

I couldn't believe it.

For a moment I wondered if I'd slipped into some strange twilight zone ..

then I remembered, nope .. it's just the lovely town I happen to live in at the moment. That's just how things .. and people .. are here.

Ah well. Back to my regularly scheduled cup of decaf green tea.

Good GOD.

I'm mentally exhausted.

I just finished writing a 3 page paper on why the war in Iraq has been unsuccessful.

How can you condense *so* many reasons into 3 pages?!

It's possibly the hardest paper I've ever had to write, simply because of its size limit.

Give me maybe a 5-10 page limit, I'm good to go, because there is so much info to sift through ...

.. but THREE?

It's just too broad a topic.

I did the best I could, but I think what I wrote royally sucks.

We'll see I guess.

Mmmmm .. Chai tea.

Celestial Seasonings teas are SO good. I've never met a brand of their teas that I didn't like .. who could turn down a tea like Sleepytime? Tension Tamer? Honey Peach Ginger? Mint Magic? Bengal Spice? (ok, maybe Paulie, because he's not a big fan of tea .. =)

While I wish I could have a private stock collection of each & every tea they've ever made, I can't. Nor can I afford to.

Celestial Seasonings has a good line of chai teas, which the India spice one happens to be my favorite ..

But store-bought chai is nothing compared to a homemade chai. You can doctor it up with all the milk and honey you like, but it just doesn't compare. If you've never tasted a really good long brewed chai tea, you are missing something so good.

Chai is a centuries-old recipe of black tea, usually made up with heavy milk, various spices, and a little sweetener (although I'm not fond of the sweetener .. you can ditch it or just add a little for taste)

The first time I had homemade chai tea was when I lived in Tennessee. My aunt had a party and someone brought a pitcher. I thought it looked like a strange colored milk, and I wasn't about to try it. However, I did try it, and after one cup, I was hooked. I wanted more but the pitcher was drained within minutes. Everyone else at the get-together loved it too.

It isn't the easiest tea to make and it's a little time consuming, but once finished, you'll be glad you took the time.

Moon Chai

• 10 pieces of ginger, 1-inch
• 4 cinnamon sticks, broken
• 1 tsp green cardamom pods
• 2 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cloves, whole
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp licorice root
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 5 cups water
• 3 tbs honey
• Milk, to taste

Combine everything except milk and honey in a saucepan. Cover pot and simmer 45 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let sit another 45 minutes (covered.) Strain out the spices, and add the milk and honey as desired.

My new phone.

This is my new phone, a Nokia 3120. Nothing fancy about it, but I do have the ringtone of Eminem's song "Puke" on it .. pretty proud of that.

I'm at work right now. Fridays are dead around here. I'm alone in the office until 2pm, and since there are no classes on campus, it's really hard to get in touch with professors and staff about interviews we need to do, or questions I need answered.

So I blog, work on my English paper, and wait for Paulie. =)

Fluent Sap on ... Michael Moore.

So my essay on Moore hasn't been officially graded, but I can't think of anything else to post right now.

I'm tired. I've been working and writing so much for my job, going to classes, coming home and talking to Paulie as much as possible (because he's the best boyfriend in the world), and let's not forget studying, working out, and whatever else I can fit in.

I read that Michael Moore may already be starting on a documentary concerning Katrinagate. Should be interesting.

The essay is all centered in MLA style, but I tried to make it easier to read. I am too lazy to clean it up and make it look pretty. I'll let you know what kind of grade I get on it.

* * *
Michael Moore’s Battle

When asking any voting American how they feel about the controversial author and filmmaker Michael Moore, it comes as no surprise to receive a barrage of multi-faceted answers. The general American public either loves him or hates him, with little or no grey area in between. However, for a man to ethically and powerfully expose his views of America, while concurrently searching for truth and solutions to better the country, deserves a special kudos for his efforts.
Moore has been referred to by some as a hater of America due to his politically charged documentaries “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “Bowling for Columbine.” Upon visiting Moore’s official website, michaelmoore.com, it is evident that he does care for America greatly, while simultaneously expressing his outrage at the costly failings of American leadership. The website shows that Moore’s interests include subjects such as helping the soldiers in Iraq and making donations to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A hater of America would not go to such lengths to assist the less fortunate and try to make the country a better place to live.
Moore is also considered controversial because of his stance against President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. From this he has been labeled as a liberal extremist. On the other hand, when a country has only two political parties to choose from, one will always be against the other in many ways. The method Moore takes to express his stance is his right, according to the first amendment of our nation’s Declaration of Independence: that all Americans have the right to free speech.
In an article in Rolling Stone magazine, Peter Travers states, “There’s no discounting the power of Moore’s ferocious, cathartically funny film. It’s the highest grossing documentary in movie history, and oddsmakers claim it may become the first documentary ever to be Oscar Nominated for Best Picture. What makes it great is the way Moore indicts hypocrisy across all party lines. The film’s theme? Political expediency and who gets to die for it. Watch the scene in which Moore rallies members of Congress to get their own children to enlist in the Iraq war …” (Travers 114-144.)
Moore was named one Essence magazine’s Men of the Year in 2004. Writer Pamela K. Johnson states that Moore is, “one smart, courageous, filmmaking White guy, who we know has our back” (Johnson 175).
Moore, a man who likes to rile people up socially and politically, should not be discredited at first glance. He is an excellent researcher, author, and filmmaker who simply searches for the truth in a world where honesty is not the easiest attribute to find. The way he expresses himself harms no one, but only serves to open the eyes of those that may be searching for those same truths.

Jill of All Trades.

Ok, I figure it's time to have a laugh and marvel at all the jobs I've held in my lifetime.

I've put together this comprehensive list so we can all have a giggle and wonder how and why I packed so many jobs into such a short amount of time. Well, I guess it wasn't *that* short. I started working at age 19, and that was about 10 years ago now.

That's another story .. I had good reasons for leaving some of them. Very good reasons, as you'll see from the types of businesses they were (fast food and convenience store jobs SUCK .. not to mention cleaning up after hotel guests ) .. Anyway, here goes.

Laugh it up.

1) Mark Pi's Express - chinese fast food restaurant, cashier
2) B.P. Oil - Assistant manager
3) Tommy's Pizza - morning prep cook
4) United Dairy Farmers - convenience store, assistant manager
5) Subway - sanwich artist, assistant manager
6) Lil Champs - convenience store, shift manager
7) Knights Inn - housekeeper
8) Atlantis Motel - housekeeper
9) World of Science - seasonal (only open during Xmas), salesperson
10) Rack Room Shoes - salesperson
11) Disc Jockey - music & entertainment store, seasonal, salesperson
12) Captain D's - shift manager
13) Taco Bell - assitant manager
14) GC Services - collections representative
15) Hyatt Regency hotel - housekeeper
16) Cendant corportation - hotel reservations/account representative for insurance policies
17) 2 housekeeping jobs while in Holland, but not hotels, actuall houses
18) and currently, communications specialist (I write news articles), and also notetaker for my math class (share math notes with other students)

As you can see, 16-18 showed quite an improvement in the kind of work I was doing.

I only hope the one(s) to follow get better & better.

So, I'll just be over in MathLand.

I'm taking basic college algebra & geometry this quarter, combined into one class.

The first day I was so lost .. before Paul helped me with some homework.

Anyway, I told my aunt how hard the class was and that I was already lost in just the 2nd week ..

and she said, "Well, just imagine that you are going to MathLand, and you have to learn the language ... so you go and learn the numbers and formulas so you'll be able to speak fluently when you arrive in MathLand .. "

haha ..

Paulie said it was a real pothead way of looking at it.

As far as I know, my aunt doens't smoke pot though, haha.

My first math quiz is Thursday ..

wish me luck!

Recent sketches.

These are just a few of the 20 sketches I did over the weekend for my drawing class.

I've definitely evolved a little in my drawing skills, but not much. I just hope to keep improving.

The one of my foot really does look a lot like my foot, haha .. I was surprised!

For now we're just doing line drawing .. no shading yet. I've never done shading before (except when working with color) .. so it will be different for me.

I made some rough-draft logos for PurePixel-Designs.com this evening so Paul and I can start giving our site a makeover and show what we can really do as designers. It's going to take a lot of work though, and right now .. we don't have a lot of time between us to work on it.

I'm glad because I got so much done this weekend. My math homework (thanks to Paulie), some of my digital arts project, all of my sketches, and my paper on Michael Moore (which I'll post after it's been graded.) All that and had time to work out on Saturday morning and walk this evening, and still talk to Paulie (! That's the greatest!)

It doesn't feel like tomorrow should be Monday though. And my long day at that. Blah.

This one's for Paulie.

He'll understand why.

"Love is friendship set on fire" - Jeremy Taylor

Saint Paul

It's not just a city in Minnesota anymore!

My saint of a boyfriend helped me understand my math homework today.

He spent about an hour or more making sure that I understood what I was doing.

He has this patience with me that I'll never understand .. but I appreciate more than I could ever put into words. Even when I'm at my worst, he's there .. being his patient, amazing self.

Me ..

math illiterate me.

He helps me understand math. From across an ocean.

Forgive me ..

but I'm just always amazed by the things he does.

Wonders never cease .. I always hated that stupid cliche but with him, it's true.

Oh, and .. he updated his blog, and it's so very sweet as usual .. so go read it now.

I love you Paulie!

Adobe Illustrator

For the next 3 weeks, I'll be joined at the hip, er .. maybe the reshape tool ... with this program.

We'll be spending time together, tracing a Garfield comic.

It's the first program that I'll be using for my first project in the digital arts class I'm taking. After that will come a still life painting project using Photoshop, and after that (gulp!) comes building a 3-D object in Maya.

Fun fun.

More Blog Fodder

1. Where did you get these questions?

from MarryMeChopin.

2. What is the URL of the blog you got this from?

Click above. I made it easy for you.

3. What was the last song or piece of music you heard?

I don't recall, but something from a nearby hiphop station when I was on my way home today.

4. What was the last book you opened and read?

Life of Pi

5. What was the last movie you saw?

hmm, probably something with Paulie, and I'm thinking like Supersize Me, or I Heart Huckabees. Paul probably knows the answer for sure.

6. What was the last TV show you watched?

I don't watch tv shows much, but it was probably something on Fox News because that's the only channel people watch in this house.

7. What was the last thing you swallowed?

a sip of Diet Pepsi.

8. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?

my stepdad, I think.

9. Who was the last person to see you alive?

my stepdad, I think. I don't know though .. does my dog count?

10. What was the last bill you paid and how much?

I gassed up the car today. Fucking $20.90.

11. What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

Today I laughed so hard with Paul over a lady's last name. Her last name is "Herpy." We had tons of fun with that. If anyone walked past my office and saw me in there cracking up alone, they probably thought I was crazy, but I couldn't control myself. The more I thought about it, the more I laughed. I needed that.

12. What was the last website you visited before this one?

This one

13. What was the last thing you pushed, pulled, or moved? Buttons on your keyboard, your mouse, or anything that is attached to your computer don't count.

The door to this room from the bathroom.

14. What was the last activity you did that you would consider a waste of time?

Going to the bank today. I should have saved it for any day other than Friday. It was a very unpleasant experience which I don't care to talk about. It's too painful.

15. What was the last productive thing you did?

Wrote a few articles today at work, at least rough drafts, got a jump start on my art project(s), and finished my math homework thanks to Paulie.

16. What/who was the last thing you considered was really cool?

Other than Paul? The conversation I had with my aunt on the phone last night.

17. What/who was the last thing that you considered stupid, aside from these questions?

Hmm, probably the way I was treated at the bank today.

18. What was the last thing that pissed you off?

See 17.

19. Who was the last person you had skin contact?

Paulie.

20. When was the last time you ever went, 'Awwww...'?

Earlier today.

Blog

In 2004, Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster named "blog" the word of the year.

"Blog" now appears in the 2005 print and online editions of the collegiate dictionary.

Just a little blog history this morning.

They stole a country.

One of the big things I learned when I spent a year in Holland was how sometimes people in America do not view other countries as .. well, countries. Instead of being viewed as places with real people, real feelings, and real lives .. I see a lot of people viewing places as just imaginary and far off, almost cartoonish even. Just like with the hurricane here .. how is it different than the tsunami? One is not less or more important than the other based upon where we are from.

Those who died in the tsunami had people in their lives that they loved, and who loved them. They had jobs. They had things they wanted to do that day. Their lives were no less important than our busy, American ones .. and just because we may not have ever visited that part of the world doesn't mean it should be treated as unimportant.

That's just the basic idea of what I want to say.

I learned something today that really disturbed me.

When slavery started in America, slave traders did not go to Africa and just round up slaves by the boatload. That is how I had always imagined it.

No .. it did not happen that way.

These people went to Africa and picked the so-called cream of the crop .. the best of the best. For instance, if you were an African who was good at knowing the crops .. then you were taken away to slave in Jamestown.

If you knew how to grow cotton and could do it well, then you'd be bringing with you something to the United States that the white Americans themselves could not and did not know how to do.

Slavery was terrible, and this sheds a whole new light and makes it even more terrible.

They stole a country. They took people away from their homes, loved ones, and lives to benefit our resources.

Imagine it in this day and age. You're sitting, watching a movie with your significant other. You're making weekend plans. You're happy. Your life is good. And then someone from another country comes and collects you .. takes you far away, to be abused, neglected, worked to the bone, and never seen again by your loved ones. You have no idea why or where you are going. You don't speak the language where you are going. You don't know anyone. All you would have is yourself, and the people they rounded up to come with you. All because you have a certain area in which you are gifted? Skilled? All for their benefit?

Beyond frightening.

And a great incentive to take a Black History class.

These are the things you don't hear in your high school, and even college, history classes.

These are the things people don't talk about.

Newsflash

I miss Paulie.

That is all.

ZzzzZ.

Get up.

Go to school.

Go to work.

Rinse.

Repeat.

I'm too tired to blog.

And I don't want to read about the history of drawing anymore. I don't care that drawing is a matter of training the eye as well as the hand. It doesn't matter to me that the work of most mature artists reveals periods of intensive concentration within narrow frameworks of special problems alternating with periods of experimentation.

Yes, that was an actual except from this wordy as hell book I'm reading!

I just want to draw, get an A, and move along.

p.s. The disaster relief drive was a disaster as well. More on that later.

Give me falafel, or give me death! .. or, yogurt would be fine too.

I woke up this morning wanting falafel.

But not just any old falafel, and certainly not homemade.

I wanted the luscious, mouth-watering, fluffy-centered fried chick peas smothered in lettuce, tomato, hot peppers and couscous, drowned in garlic sauce and all it's middle-easterny goodness tucked into a fresh pita bread.

The only place I know that makes falafel that delicious is a little stand right outside Centraal Station in Amsterdam.

So, I was safe. My South Beach diet was safe. I stuck with my eggs, yogurt and cheese.

But having Paul FedEx one overnight to me did cross my mind!

haha .. kidding. Then it would be a mess of moldy-squishy-what-was-middle-easterny-goodness.

* * *

Tomorrow evening I am covering a story at school for a student club's hurricane relief drive. They'll be accepting donations of clothing, toilet paper, facial tissue, etc., and gently used teddy bears for the kids. It will be my first story I will cover and write by myself.

Me, with a little tape recorder and digital camera. Might be fun.

Wish me luck.

Burn baby Burn

I went to the gym for the first time today. It was a workout, but more than that it was me seeing what machines I felt the most comfortable using. I didn't use the weight room yet, maybe next time. They seem to have good equipment except for these scary, rusty stair climbers in a back corner. They look like a tetanus shot waiting to happen, so I avoided them.

I also walked tonight. I just feel a lot better after I do that .. I seem to sleep better lately too. For the past two nights, I've slept the whole night through. That's unheard of for me .. and I like it. I haven't even been wearing my creepy sleep mask.

It's been since Monday since I did the belly-burning Pilates, and I'm a bit worried because my stomach muscles are still on fire. I don't think that's normal, or that walking or going to the gym today added anything to that pain. Paul said maybe I pulled a muscle. Blah, I hope not though .. that's a bad place to have a strain.

Heating pad, here I come.

Blog Fodder.

Because I'm bored, that's why.

1. What is your occupation?
Full-time student & part-time communications specialist.

2. What are you listening to right now?
I can only hear myself typing, and occassionally the dog snoring.

3. What was the last thing you ate?
a small handful of cashews & walnuts.

4. Do you wish on stars?
It depends, but usually not. I'm more of a "throw a coin in water, make a wish" person.

5. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Salmon.

6. How is the weather right now?
weather.com says it's 68 degrees with 1mph winds, but supposed to be 90 and sunny tomorrow.

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
my Gramma

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
No one sent it to me, I took it off some other blog (can't remember who or I'd link)

9. Favorite drink?
water with lemon

10. Favorite sport(s) to watch?
baseball

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Plenty of times.

12. Do you wear contacts or glasses?
Both. Not at the same time of course.

13. What do you have for pets?
4 dogs, a cat, some fish.

14. Favorite Month?
October.

15. Favorite Food(s)?
I love Chinese but on South Beach I'm letting it go for a while.

16. What is the last movie you watched?
the ending of Grumpy Old Men.

17. Favorite day of the year?
October 31st, it's my favorite holiday, and even better - mine & Paul's anniversary.

18. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Yahtzee, pick-up stix, clay, Rubik's cube, stuff like that.

19. Fall or Spring?
I love them both, but I really like fall a lot because of the colors and the smells in the air.

20. Hugs or kisses?
Both.

21. Cherry or blueberry?
cherry.

22. Do you want your friends to email you back?
Strange question.

23. Who is most likely to respond?
Not sending this out through email.

24. Who is least likely to respond?
See #23

25. When was the last time you cried?
The day Paulie left to go back to Holland (I think .. I might have cried once since then.)

26. What is on the floor of your closet?
All kinds of crap, which reminds me, I need to organize it. Thanks.

27. Who is the friend you've had the longest?
Millie, although we don't talk much anymore.

28. What did you do last night?
Walked, surfed online, emailed Paulie, read the first chapter of The Green Mile, slept.

29. What are your Favorite Smells?
Paul, hazelnut, vanilla, Gucci Rush 2, Rice & Shea flower products from Bath & body works

30. What inspires you?
Paul, good movies, good music.

31. What are you afraid of?
Frogs.

32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburger?
The spicier the better.

33. Favorite car?
As long as it runs, I'm good.

34. Favorite dog breed?
I love labradors, american bulldogs, australian shepherds, and rottweilers.

35. Number of keys on your key rings?
maybe 5 or 6?

36. How many years at your current job?
Years? Thursday was my first day.

37. How many states have you lived in?
KY, OH, FL, TN .. so, 4 .. plus a foreign country for a year.

38. How many cities have you lived in?
Hmm, 5 I think.

Today in a nutshell ..

I didn't have any classes today, just work.

In six hours, I wrote 80 news releases. Eighty. Original. News. Releases.

I was tired when I finished, but proud that I had finished them all.

When I walked in at 8am, there was a huge stack and I narrowed it down to nothing!

I'm also learning AP style writing. It's different, but it's interesting.

I've had my fair share of jobs titles, but never did I imagine 'journalist' would be among that long list .. (and when I say long, I mean it .. someday I'll list all the jobs I've had .. you'll be in shock!)

All I wanted to do was to hurry home so I could talk to Paulie and chill,

but it seems everytime I try to hurry home, I get stuck behind the stupidest, slowest vehicles in town.

On Thursday, I only had drawing and English.

My English teacher is old, my drawing teacher is ... I'm not sure what. I've seen his artwork exhibited and it was dirty, so I guess he's a perv. And he's an asshole because he has this list of art supplies for us to buy that's a mile long. Grrr.

After dinner I went walking, and actually organized some of the stacks of books sitting around my room. Paulie and I have a great collection of books so far. Maybe I will catalog them on here sometime (fun! haha)

Tomorrow, I plan to go to the gym and then to buy the art supplies. I'm afraid of the total bill, but we shall see. Maybe some of the little stuff I can get at WalMart.

Last night I finished the stupidest book I've ever read called As Simple As Snow. It's so stupid I'm not even going to link to it. I do have Life of Pi waiting for me at the library, in hopes of redemption.

I'm tired, and it's only been the first week of fall quarter. And it wasn't even a full week.

*Yawn*

For a good scare ..

Halloween is just around the corner, so we had best be getting in the mood. Horror-lovers alike, you MUST see these movies .. preferably make it a double feature and watch them back to back. And preferably, at night.

I'm not joking when I say they scared the living daylights out of me. Paul and I saw The Devil's Rejects at a theater when we visited Cincinnati. I was literally speechless during it. The audience was obviously in shock. Nobody talked, nobody moved. Well, except one guy who got up and left.

It has major Tobe Hooper influence, but I found it to be much scarier than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre could ever dream of being.

Rob Zombie truly knows how to scare.

Next up for Zombie is an animated film based on the theme of his comic, El Superbeasto. I was hoping for something similar two his last two movies .. I'm not a big fan of animation .. and I wonder how scary it will be. Or perhaps just weird. Anyway, if it's by Rob Zombie, I'll give it a shot.

Tomorrow & Today

Back to school tomorrow. Today was my last day of vacation.

Back to hitting the books.

I did luck out and get a position where I'll be paid to take notes and share them with another person in my math class. An extra four hours a week of pay. Not too bad =)

For the past week, I've been walking. I don't know how far exactly, but I'm guessing close to a mile each night. I didn't do it this evening, because I did Pilates earlier in the day.

Over the summer, I read about The South Beach Diet (again), and also the book French Women don't Get Fat. I tried to do the Magical Leek Weekend thing but it was just too bad. I love leeks, but not leek juice, and not for a whole weekend.

French Women don't get Fat is definitely worth reading, however. But perhaps it should be called, "French Women don't gorge like pigs, and neither should you! .. oh yeah, and exercise."

So anyway, I've thought about things, read about things, and I've settled on South Beach.

I'm not going the Atkins route again. I don't feel like bread, potatoes, and fruit should forever be banished and replaced with supplements. I don't think it's ok to sit down to bacon, cheese, butter, eggs, and pork rinds. That's where the difference between Atkins and South Beach comes in.

Today was my first carb-less day. One down, 13 to go. It's not been bad though. Actually I feel pretty good.

I am armed with Jell-O and string cheese. I have an arsenal of Carb-Control yogurt. For the next two weeks, bread is my enemy. I've drank enough water & herbal tea to float away.

Fear Me.

About this summer ...

Paulie pointed out that before we left on our vacation this summer .. there was a whole lot of building up to his visit here in my blog, as well as his own. We counted down the days, we talked about it, we planned, we dreamed .. and now it's September and I haven't even mentioned anything about it yet.

To say it was a blast is a total understatement.

I've never had such fun in all my life!

It's hard to put into words, and I guess that's why I haven't .. not to mention that I've decided that blogs about personal lives can be really humdrum sometimes (not all, but some).

I don't know where to start. We saw and did so much. We have tons of pictures. Maybe I'll post a few sometime.

We hiked, we swam, we saw Eminem (and Ludacris, AND Lil Jon and the EastSide Boyz), we shopped, we saw movies, we painted quilt squares (more about that later), we took road trips, we rode roller coasters, we saw a rattlesnake up close and personal as well as a black bear and a coyote, we saw baseball games, we went to the family reunion of my Dad's side of the family, we visited an aquarium .. I know there's more that I'm probably forgetting .. and so many funny things and stories to tell about all that happened while he was here ..

We did so much, and had such a great time.

We packed as much stuff into 2 months as humanly possible.

I wished he didn't have to leave .. but to cheesily quote the Green Day song that's playing through my head right now,

"This is the dawning of the rest of our lives!! .. "

(you gotta scream it, because Green Day sure does in the song appropriately titled 'Holiday')

Many more fun times to come for Paulie and me. =)

Books you should read, movies you should see ..

I'm working on web designs, promoting mine & Paul's design site (which is soon to be finished but not complete as of yet .. however we are taking orders), and getting ready to go back to school. Summer was fabulous. New layout for this blog coming soon.

I read some great books and saw some intriguing movies over my break. Everyone should read these books and watch these movies ... I highly recommend them.

Those were my favorites of the summer.

I'm looking forward to going back to school and starting my new job at the newspaper. Not only will it keep me busy but I'm sure I'll have some interesting stories to tell.

Stay tuned.

It's really big!

Click here to view just how big it is ..

(I promise it's work friendly .. boring, huh?) ..

p.s.

I love you Paulie!