Girly Post

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT BELOW. LOOK AT YOUR OWN RISK.


Any of you make up guru's out there want to try this new mascara for me?

I am intrigued but also confused by the shape of this brush, but it says its "revoluntionary" so thats got to be good, right? Cosmetic companies would never lie.
Anyway I am always looking for a good mascara and can never find anything that I really love. I am also cheap when it comes to cosmetics though so spending $27 on a product where there is no guarantee it will be worth it is just a bit too risky for me. This is probably also why I cant find a good mascara since I buy all my make up at Target.
So I think one of you girls should try it and get back to me. Go now.

I am sort of in love with the color purple right now, which is as girly a color I will go since I hate the color pink and I am lusting after these two dresses:



Um, these ads make me uncomfortable:

I am sure some people may think they are edgy but to me they are just tacky and uneccesarily provacative. A little class can go a long way, a concept obviously lost on Tom Ford and American Appareal.

When I Grow Up...

Several people around me are growing up and taking big steps into the adult world this weekend, and I will be enjoying watching from the sidelines with a cocktail.

Saturday my friend Brooke is getting married. She is my 4th friend to get married so far this year, congrats to her. Here is to hoping the food is good and no one tries to force me to dance. And since people are in town for the wedding this weekend I may be meeting up with some old high school friends tonight so I may not be seeing any of you this weekend. Try to hold it together.

I also just recieved a text from Annie (you remember her, she kicked our assess in the March Madness pool) and she gave birth to a 7 pound 15 ounce girl mere minutes ago. Her name is Reagan Emily Ramirez and both mother and daughter are doing well. Big congrats to her and her husband.

Even though a lot of my friends are at the point where they are moving on to new steps, I am feeling quite content where I am. I have always been a late bloomer anyway so it doesn't suprise me that I will probably be the last of my friends to do everything, dragging and kicking my feet as I go. I enjoy being able to do exactly what I want to do at all times without worrying about obligations. Don't get me wrong, getting married, having children and buying houses are all really exciting and great things, but I am not ready to give up my unobligated life quite yet.

When Funny Things Happen

Sometimes funny things happen when you are the only one around to witness it. Although I know that re-telling this will not be nearly as funny as actually being there I feel the need to share.

Yesterday I was running on the treadmill at the gym when a guy about my age walks up to use the roman chair (see picture below). Normally people use this for their back but you can also use it to work your abs as shown.

Now the way the weight room is set up the cardio equipment is in the back facing the room and right in front of the treadmills is where you do ab work, which is where the roman chair was set up. It is basically a stage for anyone doing cardio to be entertained by.

So when this guy walks up there is no one but myself on the cardio equipment and there was no one in the ab area either so I was really the only one who had a good look. The guy gets on the roman chair and does his back extensions and then he flips over to do some ab work just like the guy in the picture only there is one big difference, this guy has a massive erection. I took a second look to make sure it wasn't a shadow but no, he definitely had wood.

I looked around to see if anyone was remotely near and if they had seen this but there was no one close. I didnt want someone to catch me staring at it but it was too funny to not look. It was like a groundhog poking its head up out of a hole each time he sat up. I wondered though how he didnt feel that his junk was hard, I mean I know they have a mind of their own but it is still attached to your body so how can you not know? This led me to the even more disturbing thought that in fact he did know about his hard on. Eww.

Technically chanlleged work annoyance number 6,238

My dad cannot be bothered with checking his own email. My mom is usually who checks his account, prints out the emails (yes ALL of his emails are to be printed out) and sends out his responses. When my mom isn't here I am responsible for doing this.

My dad is a Rotary member and is on a board of some sort there and one of his Rotary buddies sends out at 5-10 emails a day, mostly those fyi emails or here-is-what-I-am-working-on-so-I-am-going-to-fill-your-inbox-with-crap-you-don't-care-about emails. Occasionally it will be an email to solicit a response. For example, today he asked that the members vote yay or nay on something and he would send out an email with the results. Every single member, except my dad (or me actually), hit reply all so I have been getting emails all day from people saying "yay".

Frick. Frick. Frick.

It's Back!

Although Heather may be the only one who cares, the new season of Project Runway starts tonight at 9 (not 10) on Bravo.

I Want Some Shaved Ice

Does anyone know where I can get some Shaved Ice? I watched "How It's Made" or some show like that and they did a segment on it and it looked so freakin good. Just don't confuse shaved ice with snow cones though because they aren't the same thing and I don't like snow cones. Just thinking about crunching on ice from a snow cone makes me cringe.

Bumper Sticker of The Day

"God protect me from your followers"

Seen on the 41, the car was driving too fast for me to take a picture but it made me chuckle.

I know how he feels, I hate Mondays too

http://view.break.com/528932 - Watch more free videos

Things That I love Right Now

1. Gingerale. Sometimes I think I have an old lady soul trapped inside of me. Maybe I just watch Golden Girls too much but I love this drink and I am becoming obsessed with it. With whiskey, without, on a plane, on ice, with a squeeze of fresh lime...love it.

2. Getting up early on Sundays. Although I do miss out on Saturday night I love getting up early and getting a long run in before I would normally even wake up. Yesterday I saw hot air balloons in the distance which are always very beautiful in the early morning haze err light. I also had a super productive day after my run and cleaned my entire apartment (it took like 4 hours, it had been awhile), did laundry and got coffee and read for a few hours. I went to bed exhausted but the good exhausted where you feel accomplished.

3. Audiobooks. I used to feel like I was cheating because I am not actually doing the reading myself, but I find that I get to experience a lot more books when I listen to them. Walking around the neighborhood, at the store, while driving, on the treadmill-all places where real reading isn't possible. I still enjoy reading the old fashioned way too, but audiobooks are fantastic.

4. Self Tanning lotions. I screw up every now and then around the feet but for the most part I look tan without having to lay in the sun for hours.

5. Grapes. The red ones (the green ones have always seemed like the red headed step child of the grape family to me).

For Mike

"Hey remember when Kobe Bryant jacked that kids nachos?"

What I Hate About My Job Most

I am extremely frustrated right now and it all comes down to my dads approach to me at work. My dad has always believed in the sink or swim aproach to life. Even when I was a kid, I learned to never ask my dad for help in school work because he would never help me and it always resulted in us getting into an argument. From his perspective I should I am smart enough to figure things out on my own and therefore asking for help is an easy way out and I am using him as a crutch. I did well in school without his help but there were times when I just wanted him to sit down with him and help me figure out a problem, going to him for help was never really an option. I really feel that we would be closer if he had.

This philosophy has carried over at work. It is never, here let me show you how to do this. Usually he plops something out on my desk, I will ask what it is and he gives me some vague direction to do something I have never done before and when I ask for more information he usually smirks and says "you can figure it out".

Case in point, I am in charge of close out documents for all of the projects. This includes collecting warranties and other various documents to give to the owner at the end of the job. This is a very simplified explanation because I don't know what kind of work is involved in built up membrane roofing and the specifics of the electrical work and I am also not familiar with the language. I don't know anything about construction so often times I feel like I am working blind. So my dad comes in and plops a huge plastic bag on my desk that is filled with brochures and manuals and warranties and spare material.

The warranties are all general and have no specifics as to what work or materials it is for and there is no organization whatsover. I have no idea what to even do with it all and when I ask my dad for help he says "make copies". I ask what I am supposed to make copies of if I dont know what it all is in the first place and exactly how I am supposed to make copies of this stuff. His response "make copies with a copier" and walks away. I tell him as he walks away that that doesnt help me but he doesnt respond. So I ask Susan, who did all the close outs before me and is much more knowledgeable and she says she has no idea what all of it is either and is just a baffled and my dad comes over, basically throw a couple of clear plastic binder pages at me as if this was the solution and walks away.

It is beyond frustrating that I dont get any guidance or help. I don't know what to do or where to even begin but he just leaves me to figure it out on my own. I am new to this industry, I am inexperienced and I am unfamilar with a lot in construction and when this shit happens it completely deflates my self esteem and leaves me unmotivated. I have talked to him before about this and he tells me he will start training me and have everyone else train me more but it never happens. Everyone is either too busy or just doesnt take the time. He is also somehow under the impression that I am a computer whiz and expected me to make a website for him, like it was easy and I could do it. Right now I just want to walk out and leave and tell him to go fuck himself. Obviously I am not going to do this so instead I vent in my blog.
We are drinking tonight right?

On occasion, particularly when I travel, I carry a small notebook with me. I use it to write things down about people I see, things I experience, and things that I want to remember. Since I normally travel alone it can entertain me because usually what I write down are things that I find amusing. Other times I write because I have no one to talk to so I get out my thoughts on paper somewhat therapeutically. Here are a few things that I wrote down regarding my trip from Austin to Fresno:

When the pilot announced that there was another place at our gate and we would be sitting for at least 10 minutes I immediately began to squirm. Somehow I could easily sit for the 2 hour flight rather pleasantly, however sitting in the plane while it was on the ground for a miniscule 10 minutes was almost more than I can handle. The panic radiated from my chest, down my arms and legs like pumping blood and I started getting hot.

I suddenly noticed all of the people around me. Not that I hadn't realized they were there, but they were peripheral before and now it was as if they were closing in on me, snatching my personal space from me. I imagined myself flailing and pushing my way out of the cabin of the plane for some open, fresh air but didn't feel like following that up with getting arrested and having my body cavities probed. Don't get me wrong, sometimes all a girl needs is a good probing but in this situation it wasn't at all appealing.

Nine minutes have gone by. Fuck, they better get this plane moving, I really don't want to freak out in front of all of these people. The voice of the captain breaks through my convoluted and somewhat psychotic thoughts and says "Folks, looks like we have about 5 more minutes, there is still a plane at our gate". I exhaled deeply. Why is there a plane at our gate and why do captains always call passengers folks anyway? Why not "ladies and gentlemen" or "party people" or "you's guys"? Obviously the stress of sitting here is making me super bitch, but the only thing that is making me feel better is to get annoyed at everything so I continued to be annoyed.

Seven minutes later and I am almost going into Lamaze breathing, or tattoo breathing really since I have experience with the later and not the former, and the plane lurches forward. Oh thank god, I think am going to make it.

What I had been able to ignore since I had my Ipod on most of the flight was the group of older women behind me. They were apparently traveling to Hawaii since they all had lays on (either that or they just had really poor taste in jewelry) and one of them had a really thick southern Texas accent. Naturally, she was the one who talked incessantly. To be fair, at this point a puppy would have probably irritated me, but since there were no puppies on this flight my irritation was focused on this woman.

During take off and landing she verbally identified everything that she saw through her small plane window. "I think those are farms down there, those squares must be farmland" or "Oh look, there is another plane over there, I wonder where they are going" or "mountains aren't as tall from up here". These are things that people might think but don’t feel the need to say aloud, at least not me and I have a tendency to be annoyed in certain situations when people don’t think and act like I do.

As we were taxiing to the gate her voice drowned out all others,

"The other night I was watchin this hidden camera show and what a hoot that was!" I imagined she slapped her leg when she said this but I couldn’t see to know for sure. "The things people do when they don’t think anyone is watching, I'll tell you. I mean god is always watching so you should always be on your best behavior, serves them right that they got caught".

This made me visibly cringe. I thought about making eye contact with the girl next to me, she was about 17 and had her yearbook out most of the flight, but it would have been risky. If she didn't look like she to may agree that god was indeed always watching, I might have looked at her, and rolled my eyes. If she sided with the god woman though, I would have been stuck sitting next to someone who thought me to be a judgmental bitch and as true as that may be, I wasn't comfortable with this stranger thinking that. So I kept my eyes looking out the window at the airport terminal I so desperately wanted to be in.

"We need to stop by Big Lots when we get there" the woman continued running her mouth, "I need to get some underwear and some more pillas". She laughed loudly when she said this as if it were an inside joke and I wanted to turn to tell her the correct pronunciation was "pillow" not "pilla" but it would have sounded snotty. Again I kept my eyes out the winda err window and dreamed of the pilot coming back on the radio and saying "Hey you's guys, it is against FAA policy for people to talk loudly about their underwear especially if they are old and unattractive. Please report this behavior to the flight attendant and please refrain from smoking until you get to the designated smoking areas". This of course didn’t happen but as I was thinking about it I am sure it distracted me from hearing more from her.

When we finally arrived at our gate and debarked I felt relieved to have made it without making a disturbance that would land me on Foxnews. Disaster averted, next time I am taking xanax with me.

The Dangers of Auto-Replace

The American Family Association’s OneNewsNow site has a standard practice of using the word “homosexual”* instead of “gay” when referring to the gay population. They set up a filter to automatically make the change but this little faux paus got past them.

The article is about the sprinter Tyson Gay but as you can see his last name was automatically replaced with homosexual. This resulted in the rather comical headline:

Homosexual eases into 100 Final at Olympic Trials

as well as:

Asked how he felt, Homosexual said: ‘A little fatigued.’

The website corrected its error (without apology) but not quickly enough that no one noticed.

Source.

It's Baaack!

When I was in sixth grade I had a hypercolor shirt that I absolutely loved. It was purple and turned pink when you got hot or someone touched it (just like in the picture). I no longer have the shirt but it looks like it can now be replaced. Hyperdcolor is back baby!
I love the novelty but wearing that in Fresno may be problematic. It would either be pink all the time (I hate that color) or you could have pink pits all the time or in other places that get hot and I am not sure if that would be such a good look.

I Smell Rocky VII...

The Germans have found a way to combine both intelligence and athletic ability in one competition, Chess Boxing.



This shows it a little better and is subtitled:

I do believe in UFOs, I do, I do!

Last night I was sitting on my couch, sweating and feeling generally apathetic, when I looked up and saw something strange. I had my blinds closed and the curtains drawn to prevent as much as heat as possible from coming into my apartment. One of the blinds is broken so that there was a stream of light that came in through the broken blind. The light reflected off my wall, on my "I want to believe" UFO poster:



Weird, no? The light starts at the exact spot there is a reflection on the UFO in the poster. The X-Files theme should be playing in your head right now. And speaking of the X-Files, the new movie comes out July 25th and it is called X-Files:I want to Believe. Some really creative marketing perhaps?

And I am back...

Austin was great and I had a really good time while I was there. Traveling was interesting as it always is. Part of the reason I like traveling so much,and more specifically airports, is because of all of the people you encounter. More on that later though.

I have a dentist appointment and a lot of work to catch up on today so that is all for now.

Happy hot Tuesday.

Bon Voyage

Tomorrow at 6:10 AM (ugh) I am flying to Austin to spend the 4th with my sister. The past few times I have seen her have been somehwat chaotic with wedding receptions and what not so I am looking forward to a more mellow trip with some quality time with my sissy poo.

I am sure you want to know exactly what I will be doing there so here is the rundown:

-Grilling out on Friday, there will be lots of food and jack and coke as my brother in law favors that drink as well.
-Saturday we are taking the boat to Lake Travis to do a little wakeboarding.
-Sunday we are shopping, getting pedicures and maybe going to the Alamo Draft House
-And in between all of that I will be going to Town Lake for a run or two.

I fly home Monday.

I will see ya'll (I am practicing) for a bit tonight but if I dont see you, have a great 4th!

To The Ladies

Confessional: I do not like VPL's and will avoid them at all costs (I think everyone should really but I am not a miracle worker). What this means is I wear thongs the majority of the time. Usually this isnt a problem but there are some days when I cannot be bothered by a strip of material up my ass. Somedays it is just really hot and I am sweaty or I haven't done laundry in awhile so I only have the uncomfortable ones that irritate and literally rub me the wrong way left, whatever the reason I wanted to know whats a girl to do?
Well I have found the solution in the golden child of panties, Jockey® "No Panty Line Promise" Tactel Modern Brief. Not only does it promise no VPL's in its name (and delivers) but the are super comfy. And if you dress gets blown up in a breeze, you have these cute little numbers on instead of full ass cheek exposure. Simply fantastic.

The Man in My Life

Recently Mike asked me if I had any men in my life. My answer was "no, but there is this dog named Maynard that I love". Here he is looking awfully adorable:


He comes in the office to visit me every morning, well actually he probably comes to see me because I give him treats but whatever, I still love him even if he is using me for chicken drumstick treats. The super (also Mike) who owns Maynard keeps saying he needs to breed him so he can give me a puppy but we'll see if he follows through with it.

Mike was really depressed and angry before he got Maynard and since then, he is much happier and jovial when he comes in the office. His change in mood has drastically improved. And When he first brought Maynard in, Maynard was really nervous and unenergetic and didn't want to interact with anyone. Now he is this happy little wiggly puppy dog that lights everyone up when they see him.

Dogs are the best and I really really want one.

Although her body is smokin hot, I have a really hard time feeling comfortable looking at Selma Blair in this outfit. I am convinced that one cannot wear something this form fitting without a camel toe making an appearance and that is something I just dont want to see, much like I dont want to see the 60 old lady in the gym stretching with her legs over her head in spandex. It is disgusting.

I have seen a couple of celebrities lately wearing these cat suits lately and I am not a fan. You would have to take the whole thing off to use the bathroom and if it isnt a camel toe you need to worry about, its a wedgie. And I dont think anyone with even the slightest ass could not wear this without being mistaken for a prostitute.

Thumbs down for me, save the cat suit for Halloween.

Save the Date

After repeated requests I have finally gotten on the ball and reserved the cabin for the last weekend in July, which will be the 26th and 27th. I figure that we can go up Saturday and come home Sunday. More details to follow but I wanted to make sure that date worked for most people and that no one made any other plans. So, how does that sound?

I really don't have anything interesting or amusing to say so this will be a random musings post:

-I tried the new ice cream shop in Tower on Wednesday, I believe it is called Scoops. It is very kitschy and also somewhat queer so I liked it immediately. Unfortunately the Superior Dairy ice cream was not available because that side of the freezer had gone out so I had to settle for Foster Farms. I had cookies n' cream, which is a favorite of mine because in order for ice cream to be good, you have to be able to mine for something. Just plain ice cream without a chunk of something to dig for is not acceptable to me. The ice cream was good but I have heard so much about Superior Dairy that I was dissapointed I wasn't able to try it. I will go back to try that later.
-I also was handed a flier on my way there about going vegetarian. Now I respect vegeterians for the moral stance they take. I am sure if I thought about where every piece of meat I eat has come from and the animals that die in unpleasant ways for me, I would have a hard time swallowing. As it is though I don't think about it and thus enjoy how tasty it is. Back to the flier, it was informative and wasn't one of those in your face animal murderer campaigns but it did make me chuckle. They put pictures of animal cartoons on it and the pig is saying "We love you" and the chicken is saying "we pray for you" which struck me funny for some reason. I didn't know chickens prayed for me or that pigs loved me but it was the chickens praying that tickled me. I just kept picturing a chicken walking around, doing the head bob thing and saying "brock,are you there god, brock brock, its me chicken, brock,please help people, brock brock, not to eat me, brock brock!" I know, I am twisted.
-In case you haven't noticed, I am now posting a daily quote on the upper right side of my blog. No reason really just thought I would.

That is all.

I got a new keyboard with a "g" that actually works, hot damn. It is also very quiet and also ergonomic, holla.

Go! USA! Go!

Excited about the Olympics? Learn the official cheer here (panda suit optional):



Step one: Clap twice while shouting, "Olympics!"

Step two: Extend your arms forward, make fists with your thumbs up, and shout, "go!"

Step three: Clap twice while shouting the name of your favored country.

Step four: Extend your arms upwards, fists clenched, while shouting, "go!"


I love asians.

Word of the Day: Discontent

“What makes us discontented with our condition is the absurdly exaggerated idea we have of the happiness of others.”

"Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure." --Thomas Edison

"We are never more discontented with others than when we are discontented with ourselves.” -- Henri Frederic Amiel

“To be completely woman you need a master, and in him a compass for your life. You need a man you can look up to and respect. If you dethrone him it's no wonder that you are discontented, and discontented women are not loved for long.” -- Marlene Dietrich

“Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better.” -- Florence Nightingale

Just whats on my mind lately.

R.I.P.

Last night we had to put one of the family dogs to sleep. Ginger had suffered from infrequent seizures that we thought were under control after putting her on medication but this weekend they overcame her. She had 18 in one day and was suffering when my parents took her to the emergency vet. They induced a coma to calm her down overnight and when they woke her from the coma she went right into seizing again which means that it is most likely she had a brain tumor of some kind. Not wanting her to suffer anymore the decision was made to put her to sleep.

Ginger was our goofy dog that always greeted you with more enthusiasm than anyone ever deserved. Even when it had been a few months since I saw her, she would always bark frantically and excitidly when I came home. Her high pitched bark was literally painful to your ears but you couldnt be mad at anything that could get so excited to see you. Thats what I will miss most, her always trying to "talk" to you

Ironically I am reading the book The Art of Racing in the Rain right now, which is a book written in the perspective of a dog who is about to be put to sleep. I will need a box of kleenex to get through it I am sure.


Anyway, it is a sad day.

Turns out, I am just highly evolved. My snide remarks help me make friends. Sweet.

Things That I love /Things That I Hate Today

Love
Hot Weather
Finding a sealed plastic bag of condoms and flavored lube on my stairs this morning
Iced green tea, yum!
This story about one of Michael Vick's dogs
My co-worker giving me a handful of Peanut M&M's
This report saying that the cost of womens clothing has gone down 5% over this past year
Sore muscles from yesterdays workout
Fresh fruit
Smoothies

Hate
Getting dirt all up in my shoes at a jobsite this morning
The head of my peacock being really, really itchy
Finding a pair of shoes I looove but not having them in my size
"I just hope gods wrath wont fall down in this city while I am here" - said by a tourist in California about gays being able to marry
Needing gas and knowing it will cost $100
Black ants moving into my office
Co-worker telling me everything she got at the grocery store last night

I Am A Nerd

I have a confession. I absolutely love PowerPoint. I could put together PowerPoint presentations for hours on end and be absolutely content and happy.
The reason I bring this up is my dad asked me if I knew PowerPoint because he was thinking about using it in some of his presentations and he wasn't even aware that we already had that program on our computers err, I mean our machines. That would make work a little more interesting for me. Maybe I can also convinvce him that he needs a blog....

While I was getting my tattoo I have a very fuzzy memory of Adam talking sarcastically about getting tats of superheroes. I have no idea who Adam was talking about or why that even came up but apparantly someone has already had that incredibly brilliant idea:

All I can say is wow.

Also I didnt realize Tigger was a superhero. I guess he can bounce pretty well though so maybe thats his power?

Shesh.

"Are You Nuts?"

Here is video of my mom reacting for the first time to a picture of my tattoo. I have been wearing dresses so I havent been able to show them the actual tattoo yet. It is a classic mom reaction, note the deer in the headlights look she gives me. Unfortunately the video on my phone cuts off after 30 seconds but you get the idea.

My dad still doesnt know but I think this may be a win for me under Operation Parents Flip Their Shit.

Transcript of convo for those who dont have sound:

Me: Go look at my computer screen, see if it is something you recognize
Mom: Thats not you?
Me: That is me!
Mom: You did that?
Me: I did that.
Mom: You have that on your body?
Me: That is on me.
Mom: Are you nuts?
Me: No
Mom: Why did you do that?
Me: Its beautiful!
Mom:Yeah but are you going to want that when you are 85 years old?

This is where the video stops but she continued to say I dont understand why you would want to have that - I just dont get it - Does your sister know? etc. etc.

I cant stop playing with this.

Stuff I Found While Working Today

Kermit Shirt:)


Catapaults. Also comes in baby toss, boss toss and love gun.


Frozen Smiles - Denture Ice Cube Trays


Pick your nose party cups.

Tattoo Pics

Meet my new addition!








I am not going to lie, it hurt like hell. The last hour was excruciating. I think Adam is going to post the pictures of my pain progression which is pretty funny so check his blog out as well.

It took almost 4 hours and Monica did an amazing job. I love the placement and the colors and the detail is beautiful. We aren't quite done yet though. I am going back July 8th for about a half an hour to add more white, darken the flower, darken the yellow, touch up my sun and add some more detail. Then it will be absolutely perfect. I love, love, love, love it though, the pain was definitely worth it (thank you Mike for reminding me of that when I was squeezing the crap out of your fingers and trying to remember to breathe).

I need to go shopping now to find clothes that will show this work of art off!

Thank you everyone for being there (in person or via phone/text message), I sincerley appreciated it and it made the experience much more enjoyable!

Reading Reccomendation

I have said this before but David Sedaris is my favorite author. His stories are brilliant, hilarious, and inappropriate, pretty much everything I am looking for in both a book and now that I think about it, a man. Of course Sedaris is gay so the man search continues but the book search need not. He has several collections of short stories including Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day all of which I highly reccomend and his newest collection When You Are Engulfed in Flames is now available as well.

He writes about his life, his southern family and is almost uncomfortably honest about his experiences, whether that be his drug addiction, his family, traveling and living overseas, getting boils on his ass - whatever the subject he makes it funny and relatable. All of those thoughts or phobias that you have that you dare not say outloud for fear of being looked at strangely he not only says out loud but puts in writing.

The clip below is of a reading called "Bend Over and say Ah" which is about his experience with the health care system in Paris while not being fluent in French. He might take some getting into but once you do, he is hard to dislike.



How do you like about that now?

The Big Day is Here!

I woke up excited this morning like it was Christmas because I am getting my lovely peacock today! I am thinking I might want it bigger now too, so we will see what it looks like when I get to see the stencil on my skin.

Just a reminder I will be there at least from 4:30 to 8:00 so feel free to stop by, entertain me, watch me cringe or bring me a snack or cold beverage, just please dont make me laugh.

At least one of the dice riff raff needs to get on Fail Blog. I nominate Adam.

You Know Whats Awesome..

...when your mom is talking about a single girl who is in her 30s and has a dog and makes the comment that the dog will probably be the only child that she will have. Whats even more awesome is when I respond, "shesh, thats rude. Give me a couple more years and you can say the same thing about me" and your dad in the background goes, "she already does".

Operation Parents Flip their Shit is back on.

Ahh Change

Adam changing his blog put the thought it my head that I haven't changed mine in awhile so I copied him and changed mine up as well. The colors are obviously inspired by my tattoo that I am very very excited to be getting on Monday:) Please to enjoy.

Fresno Politics

This is how Hilary should start campaigning. And yes that is the back of Henry Pereas head. I was driving on Divisedero and ended up behind him. He was waving at people walking by including someone who was standing outside a funeral home, it was hilarious.

The Hurt Feelings Report

I went to a jobsite meeting tody and saw this posted on the wall of our superintendents office:

I was going to complain but didn't want to fill out the form. Naturally anyone who "whines" is either gay or hormonal though and it took a "real man" to explain that to me.

Run SF

For my birthday this year I am going to go to San Francisco to run a half marathon with my friends Melissa and Brenda. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to run 13.1 miles and wanted to challenge yourself, now is your chance! I have actually never trained with anyone but this will be my 5th half marathon so I can happily offer some advice and/or help with training. People walk this too so you can even do that.

The course goes over the Golden Gate Bridge, through the Marina, past Fishermans Wharf and ends at Golden Gate Park. The views and the weather should be spectacular and it starts at 5:15AM so you will be done early and have the whole day ahead of you to hang out in SF!

Or if running isnt your thing you can always just come for the weekend to hang out, shop, visit museums and have fun. I will be staying from Saturday to Monday so Sunday night will be the celebratory finishing/birthday dinner and drinks.

C'mon, challenge yourself to do something outside of your comfort zone, you just might enjoy it:)

*Shudder*

This story creeped me out: Homeless woman lived in man's closet for year

Ink Influences Viewership?

An article from the Kansas City Star titled In NBA playoffs, less ink means more viewers claims that more people would watch the NBA if players were not inked up and/or they covered up their tattoos with long sleeves. My first reaction was that is riduclous but I wanted to read the article to see how he justifies his claim. Turns out my intital response is correct.

Whitlock speculates that "Less Ink Means More Viewers" without any evidentiary support except a misleading poll and a couple of comparisons to fat people having sex and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models, both of which are extremely poor comparisons to make.

The poll he has up asks "What do you think of tattoos on players?" which does not address his claim that less tattoos would equate to an increased viewer audience. Currently the majority of people answered that they didnt like tattoos on players which is misleading because at first glance you might think it supports the claims in the article but it doesnt because he isnt asking if tattoos influence if they will watch.

I know many of you probably think the number of tattoos doesn't influence viewing habits. You're wrong. Like everything else televised, appearances matter. There's a reason you don't see nude scenes in movies with fat people. Trust me, fat people have sex. It's just no one wants to see it. Not even fat people.

Nude scenes with fat people an accurate analogy to players with tattoos, really? That is hardly the same thing. You watch basketball for the action, for the game itself and tattoos are not the main focus, they are a minor physical attribute of some of the players. If you are watching the game for its intended purpose you may not even really notice them. If you are watching fat people in nude scenes though, you have no where else to look or to focus on, that’s your focus. It is a poor comparison at best.

Do you think Sports Illustrated would let its swimsuit models cover themselves in tattoos? Models are paid to look good. Athletes are no different from models. Everyone accepts that female basketball players — when possible — are pushed to showcase their feminine beauty.

And Sports Illustrated not having swimsuit models covered in tattoos is an even weaker argument. First of all there is a different set of standards of what is physically appealing in men versus women. If you are a swimsuit model there is a very narrow definition of what is beautiful and acceptable. In this society tattoos are more acceptable on men than women so it isn’t an equal comparison. Also the only focus of a swimsuit model is her body and physical appearance. “Models are paid to look good. Athletes are no different” claims Whitlock. Actually athletes are paid to play well, not look good otherwise there would be a lot of players out of a job. Once again in basketball the actual game is the focus not the body art. And I dont even know what he is getting at with his "Everyone accepts that female basketball players — when possible — are pushed to showcase their feminine beauty" comment.

Whitlock make claims that are poorly supported. Not everyone wants to see only clean cut basketball players. Diversity in appearance is a reflection of society and we aren’t all clean cut. We don’t all look the same and we shouldn’t. If you are closed minded to automatically assume that inked players are “menacing, tattooed brutes” that “have so little genuine self confidence that they find it necessary to cover themselves in tattoos as a way to mask their insecurities” then you are out of touch with reality. Having tattoos does not equal insecurity, that’s an asinine assertion. Just because it is something that doesn’t appeal to you, doesn’t mean other people should be judged for it.

Meet Maynard

This little guy belongs to one of our roughest superintendents Mike. He is a sweetheart though and loves dogs and he found this one wandering around all matted and shaky so he picked him up and took him home. HE has a Mohawk and his name is Maynard, how awesome is that? I thought he would make a good Friday smile:)

Hey Mariah....

...you really suck. Not only was the outfit bad but this is how you throw out a pitch? Georgia could do better and she would dress better while doing it too!.

Quick Poll

Alright you shoe people out there and boys who have opinions about fashion, mama needs a new pair of shoes, but not just any shoes I want a pair with some sass. I narrowed it down to the following that I like and are in my price range. Let me know your thoughts!
This one is called "Pounce". It definitely has a unique pattern to it and an interesting toe. However it is brown and I dont wear a great deal of brown.

I love me a leopard shoe. I have a pair of wedges that are leopard print but they are brown and not as delicate as these. These are more dressy and fun.

These will definitely turn some heads, they sort of beg to be looked at. I love red shoes though and these are less expensive than the others. Too domiatrix? I kinda like em.

I confess, I really dig these shoes. You arent going to find too many peopole with shoes like this in Fresno and I like that quality about them, however I am not sure if I could pull them off.

I am starting to fall in love with yellow shoes. They are actually much more of a neutral than you would think, yellow goes with just about any color and adds a noticable punch to an outfit. I am not sure about the style though.


Alright now spill it and dont hold back (not that any of you ever do).

Hey Mariah...

...a hooker called, she wants her outfit back.

It's such a shame to have all that money and still look like you got your outfit from the dollar store.

Office Humor

Things at my office that no one else but me thinks is funny:

-Tennesse: "He told me he would send me a link to get the standard specifications. Whats a link?"

-My dad asks me to "bird dog" things for him when he wants me to find something online or an old email.

-The removable hard drive is referred to as "the guts" and a computer is a "machine".

-My mom will not type over things but will erase them and then type. So if she wants to go to a different website than the one displayed she puts her cursor on the address bar, backspaces and then types. I have told her repeatidly that she can just double click it and it will highlight and then you can just type over it but she thinks the other way is easier. (My mom does not like change)

-Susan does not know she can silence her cell phone when it is ringing and she cant answer it. If she is on the other phone and it starts ringing she lets it keep ringing until voicemail picks up. This drives me crazy but not as crazy as the next one...

-Susan always answers her cell phone "hello?" as if she has no idea who is calling. Her husband calls her at least 3 times a day, it is always him yet she cant seem to figure that out and it is this big mystery to her of who could be calling. And yes she has caller ID like everyone else.


*Sigh*

It's Tuesday

Eh.

And On A More Serious Note...

I had NPR on at work today when I started listening to a story about teen pregnancy in California. After hearing that the California Department of Finance conservatively projects a 23% increase in annual teen births in California within 5 years which will result in approximately 12,500 more California teen births in 2008 than there were in 2001. More dusturbing is that the San Joaquin Valley has the highest teen birth rates (69 per 1000 females ages 15-19 of any region in California - over twice the rate of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Historically there has always been teen pregnancies both intentional and unintentional, however there seems to be less of a stigma attached to it these days. In the 50s you would have been shipped off to a "special school" where you secretly gave birth, the child was adopted and it was off you go like nothing ever happened. Today teen mothers are not as shunned by society which is both positive and negative. Positive because mothers are not treated as if they have some contagious illness and sent away in order to uphold reputations and keep the family secret. It can also be negative if young women start to see becoming pregnant as more normalized. Getting pregnant at a young age is not as big of a deal as it once was. However if you look at the individual and societal consequences of teen pregnancy, it is a huge deal.

The consequences these teens face when becoming pregnant at such an early age can be detrimental. 70% of teen mothers drop out of high school, making pregnancy the primary reason young women drop out early. Only 30% of teen mothers complete high school by age 30, compared to 76% of women who delay parenthood until age 21 or older. (Berglas, N., Brindis, C., and Cohen, J., p. 24).

Teen moms drop out of school for various reasons related to having a child but thats not so much the case for the fathers of these children since fathers of children born to teens are on average almost four years older than the mothers, and a majority is over the age of 21. (Public Policy Institute of California, p. 5). So the older men knock up the girls and their lives aren't nearly as effected, nice. 78% of all teen mothers in California had never been married but even if they were, teen mothers also have higher divorce rates. Only one out of five teen mothers receive any financial support from their child's father.

Although I basically knew all this to be true, the numbers are much more staggering then I expected. At 27 years old, if I became pregnant unexpectedly I don't know how I would be able to handle it so I cant imagine a 16 year old having a clue of what to do. It is deflating to think about all of the possibility and promise that can dissapear from a girls life when she becomes pregnant at an early age. Additionally children of parents with low educational attainment, occupation, and income are more likely to have sex at an early age, not use contraception consistently, and become pregnant or cause a pregnancy. (Berglas, N., Brindis, C., and Cohen, J., p. 17). And so the cycle continues.

Yet even with all of these startling statistics, sex education is still not taught frankly and openly as it should be because some parents and educators find it inapropriate. I can't even remember being taught sex ed in school or by my parents. I learned about sex through the media and from talking to friends which is terribly inaccurate. It's a good thing that I didnt have sex at an early age because I am sure I would have missed a thing or two. It is asinine to believe that merely educating students on the hard facts when it comes to sex and its consequences can lead to increased sexual behavior when the consequences of not doing so are clear. Leaving them in the dark about the consequences of sex does not make them less likely to engage in sexual activities. And while you attempt to hide your sons and daughters from the truth about sex keep in mind that you as a tax payer are also paying into the 1.5 billion dollars that Californians have to pay annually for teen moms.

I know this isn't as big as a hot issue that it has been in the past but this is also the first year that the teen pregnancy rate has gone up in many years so it should go back on the table in educational debates.

All the info and stats I referenced are from the California Department of Education.

Yesterday someone parked an RV across the street from the office in hopes of selling it. It is old, a bit run down but I absolutely love RV's. When I was a kid I was always jealous of the families that took road trips in RV's. I imagined the space, and the freedom of that kind of travel must be as close to shangri La as you could get.

My family road trips consisted of cramming in the backseat of a car with my sister next to me, crap strewn around me to keep me entertained but mostly I liked looking out the window and day dreaming. Don't get me wrong, our vacations were always great. We always had AC and my sister and I didn't fight very much but there was always something about the idea of being able to walk around while in route and not being confined to one spot for 5 hours that sounded very cool.

Even now I think it would be fun to get an RV and take a road trip with friends. Driving around the country, exploring, meeting new people, visiting our friends that are strewn about, fanfuckingtastic if you ask me. We could blog about our misadventures and start a cult following in the nerdom that is the blogging community. Who knows, maybe even write a book about the empiphanies of RV travel.

They are selling it for $9,500 or best offer...who wants to quit their jobs and travel with me?

A Day In The Life

I took a few pictures yesterday of my work life, but had some problems with my camera phone so they didn't all go through. I don't have a fancy phone and I dropped it in the toilet previously so these things happen. Here is what I do have though:


This was taken at the Kermit Koontz Educational Center project. I had a job meeting there yesterday afternoon and they are currently installing modular classrooms, hence the crane. I think cranes are fascinating, especially the really big ones they use on tall buildings. This crane was only a junior but I still think its cool to watch them lift the building from the truck and onto its concrete slab. This project isn't too far from Tower either, just across the street and one block east of San Joaquin Memorial.




This is my office. I hate close out documents! Usually my office is nice and tidy but I know have 4 projects that have close out documents coming in and it has taken over. Hopefully 2 of the projects will be done by the end of this week so I can have my office back.



This is my fumanchu kitty. A year ago I faxed a picture of this really adorable kitty to one of our superintendents to test his fax machine and he faxed it back fumanchu style. I didnt have any decoration in my office at that point so I put him up and now I heart him.

I also had pictures of the exterior of the office and a huge dust storm outside of my window but alas they didnt make it.

And as a side note, I wore my running skirt in public for the first time yesterday and it was a big mistake because I didnt quite realize how windy it was. Yes they have shorts underneath but you look pretty ridiculous with a skirt flying up around you. I still think they are really comfortable but I will make sure only to wear it when the wind is calm.

Wah, Work Sucks

Work really sucks right now. Everyone is in a bad mood and stressed out so no one is talking to each other and when they do its short and/or you get snapped at.

My dad is stressed because he has an important bid coming up.

Tennesse is stressed because his wife got a job offer down south so they have to decide soon to take the job and move or to turn it down and stay.

Susan is overloaded with work because the City of Fresno is ridiculously anal with the paperwork they want to the point where they wont take paperwork that isnt filled out in blue ink. If you have ever worked with subcontractors you know that getting them to follow directions is nearly impossible and they usually take a few tries before they get it right.

I am working on Close Out documents for (3) projects so I am also dealing with getting subs to turn in the proper paperwork in the proper form. The State is just as bad as the City and they rejected the first set of close outs because the cover letter was not in the proper format and font, even though all the information is there.

And my mom just doesnt want to work and is still concerned that I am gay and/or bipolar for reacting the way I did to the gay marriage discussion.

Everyone is walking on pins and needles and someone is going to snap. So if Corin starts sending out texts about a workplace shooting rampage, chances are...

Save The Date

I went over to Tower Tattoos yesterday to talk to Monica about my peacock, discuss some loose ends and set a date to get it done. I was thinking that I might want it a little larger but when she placed it on my back it ended up fitting really well. It will start just where my bra strap hits my back and will go down past my waist and onto the upper part of my butt. She is also going to free hand some of the feathers around the sun so the two tattoos are incorporated, which I really like. Color wise I brought her several pictures of peacocks and peacock feathers so it will as realistic as possible so she will be using lots of greens, blues, purples and golds.

She couldn't give me an estimate of the price which scares me a little but I understand why she isnt able to do so. I figure it wont be going anywhere though so I am getting my moneys worth and I would rather pay more to make it really beautiful. She also told me it will take between 3-4 hours so unless I wimp out in the middle of it, it will be done in one sitting.

So if anyone is around on June 9th @ 4:30 and want to stop by, feel free, I could use the distraction. Yay, I am excited!

I Am So Angry I Am Shaking

One thing we don't discuss very often in my family is politics and in particular gay marriage. Once or twice this has come up and it ends with my parents and I being very upset with each other. With California overturning its ban on gay marriage today my dad decided to bring up the issue which was a big mistake. I work with four very conservative people (including my parents) and the way they view some things has really bothered me in the past. I knew that this wouldn't go well when I started in on it but this is an issue I feel very strongly about because I frankly cannot understand how people justify being against gay marriage.

Naturally I praised the decision and everyone else rolled their eyes, sighed or otherwise displayed discontent with the decision. I don't even know at what point it got heated but it didnt take long. My dads long standing "argument" about why gay marriage shouldn't be allowed is that marriage has always been between a man and a woman and its tradition. Obviously I do not accept that as any type of argument whatsover. "Thats the way it has always been done" does not hold water because if thats the way we make decisions I would be at home cooking and cleaning while I take care of 3 kids and wait for my husband to come home so I could serve him after his long day. Things evolve and change and laws, rules and traditions change with it. That reason aloneis never good enough. What I suspect my dad wont say but wants to is that he thinks being gay is wrong.

I cant even discuss what else was said because I am incredibly embrassed and dissapointed to know my parents feel this way. It breaks my heart to think that if I were gay, my own parents wouldnt accept that part of me and thus not accept me. It is also so incredibly hypocritical of my parents to raise my sister and I to accept everyone and to not judge people, which is obviously our viewpoint now, and then not do the same thing themselves.

It is fucking tradition? Well fuck your tradition, it isn't right.

My Top 5 List

2008 is almost half over but instead of going through a schpeel about where the time goes I am looking ahead to things I want to make sure I get done by the end of the year. You all are subjected to read this because writing it down publicly makes me more accountable so feel free to harrass me if I don't follow through.



1. Get my Peacock tattoo. I have an appointment with Monica tonight to talk to her about price, location, color and size. I am thinking I want it bigger then the drawing she had, if I am going to do it I might as well go big! I am really excited about talking color with her though, the blues and greens and purples, oh my! I have been thinking about what color to make the flower and havent made any decisions on that yet though. Maybe an orange or a reddish for contrast. Any thoughts?

2. Run the Trail of Two Cities Marathon and improve my time. Obviously I have planned this for awhile and I am already signed up, but I will need to start official training in July so I have until then to discontinue my bad habits. I have been slowly cutting back in certain unhealthy habits but I will need to go out less and drink less too. Sleep is incredibly important when you are training and I cant neglect my diet like I did last time either. If you are going to make the committment to run, no sense in doing it half assed.

3. Get my personal trainer certification. I have been thinking about doing this for awhile and have just started studying for the exam, which I won't take until the fall. Seeing as exercise is a passion of mine I thought training could be something I could do on the side or possibly find a way to do this full time. The main thing I am lacking in my life and in my job right now is passion and feeling like I am making a difference in someones life. That is something that is important to me and it is the direction I want my life to go in.



4. While I am on the subject I want to be able to do Scorpian pose by the end of the year only because it would just be bad ass to be able to do that (see above). I have never been a fan of yoga but I have been doing a new circuit training program that uses some elements of yoga and I finally realized how challenging it is. It is also a good way to relieve stress and stretch my muscles, especially when I am marathon training. Do you know how effing hard that is?? I love me a challenge.

5. Finally, get my fiances in order. Lord I hate this stuff but it needs to be addressed. Basically I need to pay off my credit card which I can easily do by the end of the year and start saving, which I have already started to do but thats for my tattoo and/or travel, not important things like oh retirement or something.


So thats my top 5 list. I have 7 more months. Ready, go.

American Gladiators: Awesomely Bad or just Bad?

Last night was the new season premiere of American Gladiators and it was a two hour event of, well, over the top cheesy competition. Now I know that the show is never going to be a quality show. I would compare it to a reality show like "Rock of Love", where you know what to expect, you sometimes wonder why you are watching such crap, but you cant look away. The only difference is that after watching "Rock of Love" you feel an urgent need to take a shower, but I digress.They advertised that they had new events, new Gladiators and a new Eliminator. I wasn't very impressed with any of the new events, but they did make the rock wall enormous.

The two winners from last season also debuted. "Jet" is the female winner and damn she got really cut over the break, her abs are amazing. The male winner "Rocket" also debuted but he is such a small guy compared to the other Gladiators that they will probably only use him for the rock wall. By far the most uneccesarily dramatic debut of a Gladiator was "Phoenix". She appeared in shilloeute and she was wearing these big angel-like wings. Then these two explosions occured and produced big balls of fire and Phoenix flew through the air and landed in front of the flames, ready to kick some ass. I died laughing, it was so ridiculous.

Also funny was one of the contestants was doing Assault, which is the game where you try to shoot the Gladiator while being shot at, and the girl picked up the shoulder rocket and shot it backwards. She had a hard time at the eliminator too, falling on her head twice.

One thing that really annoys me about the show is it appears being physically fit is not nearly as important as having a good story. Every contestants has had some sort of obstacle they had to overcome to be there. Thats nice and all but they dont neccesarily put the best athletes in which makes it less competitive. For example they had on a guy last night that had one leg amputated from above the knee. He did well in some events but watching him try to finish the eliminator was just painful. He was obviously struggling and started falling and staggering a lot and at the end they had to stop the treadmill ramp for him to get up it. He finished and everyone was cheering for him but I felt bad for his competition. That guy won but he beat a guy with one leg, not much to brag about and they cheered more for the one legged guy then they did him.

Also either every contestant on the show failed speech class or the writers are horrible, but they should eliminate all talking and interviews from the show. The hosts are bad and the contestants say the most idiotic and lame things that I feel embarassed for them.

Nick and I discussed this via text message last night but it appears you have to be stoned and or drunk to be able to watch this show. I would add that it is also better if you are stoned or drunk with other people so you have someone to make fun of it with. Having said that I will still watch it and I still think it would be kinda cool to be on the show, I just need to put on 30 pounds of muscle and experience some sort of tragedy before I would have a chance to be on it.

Moms and Bachelorettes

Just a reminder to not forget that Sunday is Mother's Day. (My Mom rarely takes pictures but I got her drunk enough to take this one so I decided to post this rare event) I will be taking my mom shopping and then lunch and a movie tomorrow which will be nice since at work we don't get much quality time and I did hang up on her this week, which I feel kind of bad about. So make sure you give some accolades to your mama and if you are a baby mama yourself (sara and soon to be Annie) Happy Mother's Day to you as well.

Also this weekend I have a second bachelorette party of Heathers to go to (and we arent even close friends!). I will probably be checking out of that early because I went to the first one when I didnt want to go which was in Shaver and it was very lame with everyone asleep and in bed at 10 pm (at a bachelorette party, shesh!). I have only myself to blame for this though. The reason she is having another one was because she went to the one Kendall and I threw for Melissa and had a lot of fun and told me thats what she had wanted her bachelorette party to be like. So this is attempt #2 at fun. Honestly I dont blame her though because her first one did really kind of suck, which wasn't her fault, and to follow that up with the awesome and amazing party Kendall and I threw was just like salt in the wound. She actually told me that exact thing, she was drunk at the time though so she might have been being dramatic.

So those are my plans for the weekend, throw in some yoga and lifting and it will be Monday before I know it. And speaking of Monday, American Gladiators starts up again on Monday, woo hoo. There are new events and everything!

Happy Friday!

Postcards From Yo Mama

Hilarious website, especially after the phone call I had with my mom the other day that led me to hanging up on her because she couldn't find "gmail" on the google website. I needed her to give me the tracking number in an email while I was driving so I told her to go to Google and click on gmail. She couldn't figure it out. I was so frustrated after several minutes of me saying "Mom it is right there it says gmail, it's on the top left you just need to click it" at increasingly frustrated tone I told her "forget it I will just come back and do it myself" and hung up. How can you not figure that out??

So this website aside from having a great title has posts from people who submit a correspondence that they have had with their moms where their are technologically challenged or have some ridiculous if not well meaning advice. You know the embarassing, eye rolling stuff that moms do.

Take a look-see, I promise you'll chuckle.

Music

I have been listening to a lot of The Black Keys lately. I really like the raw blusey rock sound that they have. When I was a kid I listened to a lot of classic rock like Creedence and the Stones and I am always drawn to that sound of music. So here is a video for you to take a look and a listen to in your free time.



Also Fraud is going to be playing at Toykyo on Saturday May 17th with Docabilly. You all know my feelings about Toykyo but I am planning on going to that show with my big pregnant friend Annie (her husband is the lead singer for Fraud). As long as we get there early enough to get a seat I should be good.

Oh and the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is in SF on August 22nd through the 24th and is boasting a pretty solid line up this year featuring the likes of: Radiohead, Beck, Tom Petty, Jack Johnson, Manu Chao, Ben Harper, Widespread Panic, Andrew Bird and a ton more. I would like to go to this as well.

That is all.

Cinco de Drinko Lived Up To Its Name

A quick recap of Saturdays fiesta was requested so here it goes:

Highlights: The mustaches (they were a much bigger hit than I expected!), Heather dancing on a table, Dennis decapitating Paco the Pinata, Ed telling a story about getting hit "harre" at a counter in "bay ers feel" (you really had to be there but it was hilarious-ask Woody), yummy salsa, I think there was a little Mario Kart but it is a vague memory for me, there were only 3 beers left.

Lowlights: Food was a bit of a problem - my kitchen is just too damn small and I didnt have enough room for everything, someone enjoying the food and alcohol so much that they decided they wanted to taste it again coming back up, Ed getting pink chunky fluid on my bathrobe.

Overall I know I had a pretty good time and hopefully everyone else did as well. To be honest it didnt go exactly as I was thinking it would, but I still had a lot of fun. My thoughts on Sunday morning at about 3 AM was "I will never do this again" but after getting some sleep I think this will become an annual event, with some minor changes:

-Less food, sorry that you all brought stuff but there ended up being too much food and people seemed like they would rather drink anyway so it wasn't worth the effort or expense. Next time it wil be limited to frozen things that can be put in the oven.

-I think there needs to be a requirement to go out later in the night. I understood that people didnt want to because they would be spending money and at my place they werent, but I think this just encourages people to drink a bit too excessively. Also I like to be able to go home and go to sleep when I want to (selfish but true).

Everything else will be the same except I will buy more mustaches. I am anxiously waiting for the Art Hop exhibit of Adam with the mustache placed on various locations on his face. I also look forward to Katie getting a patent for texturized tattoos. What a creative group we are, especially when there is tequila!

If anyone has pictures please post or send. I know Kendall had her camera but we may not see them for a few months so if anyone else was taking pics, please let me know.

A Thursday Night in Tower

Last night I met up with Adam and Mike at Ed's Art Hop Show. The building the show was in Severence which is a beautifully restored old building where they have dance/music classess in. I have been walking by it for quite sometime and it was nice to go in and see it from the inside.

Eds work was up in the hallway and I would imagine a lot of people will have a chance to see it since his work will stay up for a little while and there is a lot of traffic in that building. Maybe something will come of it, but at the very least people who might not otherwise get a chance to see it will have that opportunity which is very cool. One piece that was new to me was the large one at the end of the hall and I can't remember the title but it had something to do with the war. I really liked that one because the wood was imperfect and the reds were really beautiful.

After the show the boys and I went to Mings for some dinner. I had some chow mien and a crap load of celery but I was starving so it hit the spot. While we were there Ed asked me if I had heard from Monica about the tattoo. I told him that I hadn't and don't really know whats going on but I haven't been proactive about finding out what the deal was since she told me she would call me when it was done. Maybe a minute and a half after that conversation my phone ran and I got a voicemail from Monica saying that my drawing was finally done and I could come in and see it whenever I was able to. Since Sara is getting her ink done with Monica on Sunday, I will stop by and see it then while I watch sara get a needle stuck in her. So I am happy now, although I am a little low on the cash flow at the moment so I may have to put it off for a little bit. I really just want to see what she came up so I can see what it will look like.

With that and the Cinco de Mayo party, I think I am going to have a good weekend:)

A Pain in My Freakin Neck

For the past couple of months every few weeks I get what a kink in my neck. More specifically the pain is in my lower neck near my shoulder blade. Movement of the neck however is when I feel the pain so I refer to it as a pain in the neck. It feels like a kink you get in your neck when you sleep on it wrong, so that is just what I thought it was.

This morning I woke up feeling fine but while I was walking into the office all of the sudden it sort of seized up and I felt a sharp pain when I even slightly moved my neck. It loosened up a bit but if I try to put my head all of the way back or all of the way down, I can feel the pain shooting down my shoulder blade and and lower neck. Since I had been awake for about an hour at that point I am suspicious if it had anything to do with the way that I slept.

Also it is in the same exact spot every time it happens and if it was from sleeping wrong I would think it wouldnt be in the same exact location. The pain will gradually decrease but it will hurt for a good 5-7 days if not more which makes me think maybe I strained a ligament or something and if thats the case what am I doing to cause this? I have had my mom rub the area and she can feel knots and says it is really tight so I have her really dig into it as hard as she can and it hurts so good but only while she is doing it. Afterwards it gets really sore like a bruise and continues to hurt like a strain at the same time.

Basically I dont know what the cause is and I dont know how to treat it. Any thoughts and or suggestions would be appreciated. I have thought of going to get a massage or even a chiropractor (I know people have some opinons about this) but so far I have just been putting up with it until it goes away and I need to be more proactive.