Monday, September 29, 2008

Free Time?

So my "insane amount of free time" is gone. G-O-N-E. Apparently I should have been using that time to stay on top of my classes. However, in true Janie-style, I opted to play Wii (yes we got one and yes I'm obsessed with it), go out drinking a lot, and generally lounge around the house not doing anything productive. It was a wonderful idea at the time, but looking back I wish I had at least done a LITTLE bit of anything.

I did break down and finally go to the grocery store tonight after only having a kaiser roll with a piece of cheese on it for lunch and some really old oatmeal for breakfast. I have found frozen Stouffers meals that cook in the microwave in like 10-15 minutes. I am so excited. I just hope my microwave doesn't catch fire since the last time we used it for a prolonged period (read more than 3 minutes), it did, resulting in a new microwave. So I am testing out this microwave, and so far, so good. I do have the cabinet door open where it is plugged in, just in case...

I'm sure you are thrilled to learn about my grocery shopping and microwave status, and I don't blame you-it's quite an exciting topic.
Microwave just beeped-looks like I survived!!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Back!

Well after my summer hiatus, I've decided to return to the world of blogging. I can only assume that everyone stopped checking after months of inactivity, but that's okay. School has started full swing, but without work in my schedule, I feel like I have insane amounts of free time. Just being a student has been so much fun already. I even went up with a UM-hosted group to Gainesville for the UM-UF football game (despite the loss, it was still a lot of fun!). I am starting the job hunt- I go back and forth between thinking it's fun/exciting and terrifying/depressing. Hopefully it will end up on the fun/exciting side of the spectrum.

I am currently taking a break from doing homework on a Friday night (yes, I am that lame) but am anticipating a Wii purchase this weekend, so I am planning ahead. Matt and I will be battling it out and surely spending too much time wii-ing. We were going to get a dog but decided a Wii would be just as fun without the responsibility and mess. You don't have to take a Wii out to go to the bathroom at 6 in the morning. But Wii's don't cuddle, so it was a trade-off.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Telephone Booth


It's funny to me how movies, shows, and books about the future written awhile ago get so many things wrong. A common one I have recently noticed is the notion of the telephone booth. In watching (I fell asleep about a quarter of the way through, but maybe I'll finish it someday) 2001: A Space Odyssey and reading Player Piano (I'm not finished with this one yet either but am more actively pursuing its finale) both imagine that the public telephone booth would still be the main form of communication to the home when away. They envisioned screens and video chatting but failed to think that some kind of portable device would be more accurate. I can't think of the last time I used a pay phone. In fact, it took me awhile to even remember the phrase "pay phone." We don't even have a land-line anymore at our apartment.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

"That" Guy

So it seems like every t.v. show or movie has to have some over the top super annoying character or character with some terribly intolerable habit. A few that come to mind:
Nora from Desperate Housewives
Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars
The insane amount of slurping noises in the third season of Weeds
George from Seinfeld (mostly in the 3rd and 4th season...they seemed to calm him down after awhile so that he was tolerable)
Ross from Friends
The female lead in the second Indiana Jones movie (yes the entire movie was terrible, but that actress made it that much worse)
Dr. Zoidberg in Futurama (although sometimes he is funny-the episode where Planet Express stock goes through the roof is his best performance)
Nikki/Jessica from Heroes (although not the worst out there, enough with the whining already)

Those are just some off the top of my head-I'm sure there's more, but between the thunder/rain storms last night and the building's fire alarm going off for about thirty minutes at 4 a.m. (felt like I was living in a dorm again), I didn't get a great night sleep, so my brain doesn't feel like exerting itself. Feel free to add or defend anyone or thing on this list.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Walking Bank Statement

So there's this guy in my office who loves to talk about how much money he makes and how much things cost. It's incredibly irritating. I don't care how much your pen costs or your son's golf lessons and clubs or how much your weekend vacation to the Ritz was...seriously. He is also the type that LOVES to name drop. 99% of the time I don't even know who he's referencing, but I just assume it's supposedly someone powerful. Like how his nephew is some big shot lawyer and can call the White House direct and get their immediate attention...yada yada yada...

I really hope that if I ever make decent money I will not become one of those people. When I first moved down to Miami, it was so easy to get caught up in the labels and who's who stuff. But I quickly realized that it's just not my thing. I was trying to explain this to Mr. I Want Everyone to Know How Much Everything I Do or Purchase Is, but it was something he couldn't understand. I said something to the extent of "I don't feel the need to buy things for their label" (don't get me wrong, I used to a whole lot and still do on occasion...) and he was like well obviously you don't "need" stuff but it's nice to reward yourself with nice things, and then I told him that camping and hiking are my idea of a pleasant vacation, and he found that kind of absurd/naive. Maybe I am being bright-eyed and overly optimistic about my future self, but I hope that I can prove my current self correct. Maybe I'll look back at this very post in ten years and think "I was so naive and silly then" as I sit in my $1,000 desk chair reading on my $3,000 computer wearing my $2,000 suit. I hope not. God I hope not.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Counting Down the Minutes

I don't really have anything to discuss, but I am trying to kill some time until I can leave for the weekend. It has been a horrendously slow week at work, and I've recently found something wonderful to make the time go by faster- online sudoku. I am apparently terrible at sudoku and 94% of people finish the puzzles faster than I do. It gives me something to improve on while passing the time rather quickly. I used to care about wasting time on company money, but I have asked everyone for something to do, and still no one has given me anything.
Most of you have already seen this, but if not, it's fun/hilarious:

http://www.myheritage.com/celebrity-face-recognition

Here are some of my results:
Hot Stuff
I always thought Paul and I looked similar.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Snobby Recipes

So I'm trying to be healthy with my eating and have been looking at recipes from Whole Foods. I found an appealing recipe but was confused by a few of the ingredients. I hate it when I have to find obscure ingredients for recipes, especially in grocery stores like the Coconut Grove Publix. Anyways, so this recipe calls for tamari and haricot verts. I don't know what either of these are. So I of course wikipedia them. Turns out tamari = soy sauce and haricot verts = green beans. What the heck? Why not call a spade a spade? It made me slightly angry, but I am making the recipe tonight, so hopefully it will still be tasty despite its elitist use of ingredients.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Children's Games


In addition to today's earlier post, I would like to share about the game I went to on Saturday night. While the game itself was exciting (I believe the 4th inning was almost an hour long?), we were standing in the picnic area (read: children everywhere). There is a distinct sign that says "No Ball Playing" by this little strip of mulched ground where I suppose children attending the games like the start their own games of baseball but could potentially harm/distract others. Needless to say, the children at Saturday's game created their own version of baseball using empty plastic bottles.

It was quite amusing. It always amazes me how children who do not know each other can start up a game and act as if they are all best friends (or enemies in some cases-there was quite the rule enforcer present). So there was this adult rule enforcer who could not stand the fact that there were children present and they were enjoying themselves. There seems to always be that kind of adult present wherever fun is to be had. So she tells them to recycle the plastic bottles they are using instead of continuing their game. I have to add at this point that we are standing in front of a recylcing bin. Suddenly we hear a wave of chants- not for the baseball game-but for "recycling!!!" and five or six little boys proceed to find every plastic bottle within a half mile radius to put into the recylcing bin. At one point Matt was like, "I don't know what more surprising, the enthusiam these kids are showing for recylcing or that so many people litter." It was quite a sight. They filled the recycling bin completely. Now if only we could get the adults to have that same enthusiam...

The U Fan

So I went to some UM baseball games this weekend. It was a lot of fun to feel like part of the community. Strangers were giving high fives, people were cheering, overpriced food and beverages were being consumed...it was rather nice in all. Anyways, on Sunday's game we actually made it in time to sit in the regular general admission seats (as compared to Saturday's game when we foolishly arrived late and got to stand under a tree out by left field for the marathon 4+ hour game which I'm actually not complaining about as there was a nice breeze and the tree offered protection from the rain). I don't know if it's just Miami as I don't have a lot to compare to, but I feel like UM fans are particularly funny/mean to opposing teams. Yesterday had two prime examples.

So apparently on Friday (I wasn't there) one of the Arizona players hit a home run and I'm guessing the crowd started booing and so the AZ guy turns to the crowd and shooshes them. I guess he didn't know what kind of fans he was dealing with because for the rest of the tournament (Saturday and Sunday) whenever this guy went up to bat the crowd started making shooshing noises. They also shooshed him whenever he made a bad play on the field. It's all about the U.

The second one, which I found a bit mean but that's because I always feel sorry for people who get picked on without deserving it, involved AZ's catcher. He was very tall and very skinny. And his name was Dwight. So on Sunday, at this guy's first at bat, a fan runs down to the walk way at the stadium and holds up a sign that says "muscle milk" and the crowd starts chanting "muscle milk." This went on for the entire game, every time this kid was at bat. It was funny. But I also felt kind of bad for the kid. I mean his name is Dwight and he's tall and skinny. I doubt he needs a full stadium pointing that out.

So is this normal fan behavior? Maybe, but that is one of the fun things about experiencing the U.

And now the Canes are advancing to the College World Series, so C-A-N-E-S CANES!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Road to Adulthood

So I think I'm becoming an adult. Matt is out of the house on Thursday nights, and during my alone time I choose to clean. Yes. We're talking sanitizing, mopping, vacuuming, dish doing, etc. I am CHOOSING to do this, and the worst part is, I kind of enjoy it. I turn up the ipod, get in the groove, and the next thing I know I have a lavender scented clean apartment (Ms. Myers cleaning supplies are AWESOME in case you were wondering. I get them at Wholefoods). It's kind of nice. I also enjoy baking pies and meatloaves. When did this happen? Next thing you know I will being hosting dinner parties.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

9-5ish

I am having a really hard time sitting at a computer for eight hours a day. This is not the job for me. I want to be up and moving and interacting with people, not destroying my already weak eyes and losing muscle mass. Save me. Even now, when I have projects to be working on, I have no motivation to do them and would rather keep staring at the clock in the right hand corner of my computer screen. I also pass time by drinking lots of water, which means I am constantly getting up to use the restroom. People must think I have some kind of problem. Maybe I do. But all I know is that right now I want to run out of the office and be anywhere but here.

In other news/observations, I suppose it is my lack of real employment thus far, but since I am working full time (for the most part) this summer, I always assumed an eight hour working day also included lunch. Apparently it does not. This saddens me greatly, realizing that if I choose to eat lunch, I will be forced to sit at my lonely work station for at least another 30 minutes. LAME.

Another thing to add-I have no phone by my desk. And no cell phone reception either. So if someone calls me or I have to make a phone call, I have to wander around the office looking for a vacant desk to use their phone. The lamp shipment guy with the Lion King cell phone ring has his own phone. What the heck? Where does that place me in the office food chain? There are also no windows in my section of the office. No windows, no phone calls, off-white walls everywhere...seriously I'm going crazy. Get me out of here.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Happiest Place on Earth

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Disney World with Matt and his family. Although not the most relaxing trip, we had such a fun time just being kids and running from ride to ride and show to show.

There are a lot of dumb people out there, and Disney World was a showcase of a lot of them. I'm guessing most of you have been to Disney World at some point in your life, but in case you need a refresher on how a fast pass works, let me explain. You take your park entry ticket to rides and shows that have the fast pass option and stick it in these machines that give you a ticket for the ride you want with a return time (usually about 30-60 minutes from the time you get the fast pass). Once you can use your fast pass, you get in the fast pass lane and are typically on the ride within 10 minutes, regardless of the normal wait. Wonderful. Amazing. So we would get fast passes to the big rides and then go watch a show or do a smaller ride while waiting for our return time. Also note that these are available for anyone. No extra fees, special tickets or anything.

With that said, people would wait over an hour for a ride that they could get a fast pass for. Who are these people?? In some cases we would walk by over 100 people in the normal line and get right on the ride. I simply cannot rationalize waiting in line for an hour for something when I could come back in about an hour with a fast pass and get on the ride immediately. There are even descriptions of how to use the fast pass on every copy of the park maps. We never waited more than 15 minutes for any ride or show. Not only are you bored standing in line for an hour, but that is also time you could be spending doing other fun things. I don't get it. But as I walk by these people, I think to myself, I am smarter than you. And it feels good.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Capitalization

Whenever I read self-help/spiritual type books, I find it incredibly distracting/annoying when certain words are capitalized. Such examples include Oneness and Being and Essence. Bleh. It just makes the book seem so hokey. I mean I guess I get what the author is trying to do, but to me it's just distracting. I like to save capitalization for the beginning of sentences and proper nouns.

ASIDE: I'm not huge into the self-help type of literature, but every once in awhile it makes me stop being so stressed about silly little things, so I find that's good.

In a somewhat related note, I am that person on the current Stuff White People Like entry-the grammar freak. Grammatical errors are the first thing I notice when reading something. I think it's the engineer in me. To continue this stream of thought, I find I can relate all too well to many of the SWPL (sorry got lazy) blog entries. I just realized I also like to capitalize abbrievations/acronyms. I feel that that is acceptable. Also, once I throw myself out there as a grammar nut, I am now more aware/worried about people being more judgemental of my errors. Then I realize that the only people who would do that were probably already judging me anyways, so it's no big deal after all. See what the self-help books have taught me? Don't sweat the small stuff. ;) Easy in theory; hard in practice. I'm working on it though. Now I should get back to work.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Homeless

So I was reading in Reader's Digest (stop judging me-I mainly read it for the jokes) about cities that are taking old parking meters and using them to donate change to the homeless. This is supposed to reduce panhandling while still giving people the opportunity to make a difference. For an example, read this:
http://cbs4denver.com/local/Colorado.news.Denver.2.557029.html

I, as usual, have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, seeing homeless people with their ratty clothing, missing teeth, frazzled hair and cardboard signs proclaiming their love for the Lord makes me incredibly uncomfortable, so getting rid of pan handling is a definite plus in my book. However, seeing these people every day when I drive to work does make me aware that they are real people. Simply dropping some loose change into what looks like a parking meter makes me feel like I'm doing something "good" without having that uncomfortable interaction with the homeless. However, because actually seeing a homeless person is undesirable for the average American, the homeless might get more benefits because people would actually drop money in a meter but not into a used McDonald's cup. This also removes some question as to what the homeless person will purchase...alcohol/drugs... (you know you've thought that at least once in your life and if you haven't, well, I'm impressed), so I guess after listing the pros and cons, I'd say it's at least a nice effort.

On a some what related note, whenever I see a homeless person, I wonder how they got to that point in their life. Did they attend school until they were 16? What were their families like? Did they ever try to find a job? They most likely weren't born homeless, so what happened to their old home? Did they get kicked out of the house when they were teenagers? These are just a few examples.

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone, and the next time you see a homeless person (if you are in Miami that will probably be on your drive home) maybe he/she will make you stop and think a little. With that said, I would like to note that I do not give out money to panhandlers, but it does make me wonder what is happening to our society.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Unhappy Drivers

I think one of my least favorite things about Miami is the driving experience. I would seriously consider using public transportation if it was not so terribly inefficient/a straight line following US1, or I would even ride a bike if I wouldn't have to fear being run over/constantly honked at. However, since I cannot utilize either alternate mode of transportation, I'm stuck driving. People here are so mean when they get behind the wheel, and I'm starting to become one of them. I don't honk at people, but I definitely find myself mumbling (or yelling) about the stupid asshole going 10 miles an hour in the left hand lane or the shithead who cut me off without using a turn signal. I am going to start a "honked at" count since I get honked at at least three times a day for doing nothing out of the ordinary. It just starts to get old and annoying after awhile. Sometimes I'm afraid my body will take over in an outrage and just throw the car in reverse and slam into the person that is honking at me for not going 0-60 in 1/2 a second when the light turns green.

Seriously what is wrong with these people? But more importantly, what is wrong with me, and why am I still living in a place that only stresses me out? I've been thinking a lot lately, and I think I just need to get out of this town. I guess I'm just not cut out for the city life. I'd rather take my hiking boots and camelbak and just go tromping through the woods than go shopping or clubbing. It's interesting how something as silly as terrible drivers could make me realize how much Miami just isn't the place for me.

Well I guess I should get back to "work." Speaking of, I am debating whether or not I want to stay at the company I work for. The money potential is pretty substantial, but I think I'd be happier doing something different. The problem is, I haven't really tried anything else in the engineering field, but I think I'd like to. I get stuck feeling like it's kind of too late to start switching things up, but then again, this also seems like a good opportunity to do so before I get myself in too deep. I'd probably have to have some sort of potentially non-paying internship with a firm before I could get a real job, and this makes me nervous. Any thoughts?

Monday, May 5, 2008

Back to Blogging

I took a brief blogging hiatus; life just gets so crazy sometimes. However, things have calmed down, and I'm bored at work again. Unfortunately I don't really have much to say today.
I recently bought some gum. (Hear me out.) I'm at the check out line at Target, looking for my normal pack of Extra peppermint gum but couldn't seem to find it. Finally, I realized that the strange looking Extra box that I thought was mints was actually the gum. Instead of the tear off the top packages, Extra has jumped on the cardboard box bandwagon. The pieces are still in the same foil paper and the same size, but now they are in this weird little box. I'm having mixed feelings about this marketing ploy. I liked my old packs of gum just the way they were, even if towards the end they got a little smashed and some of the sticks would fall deep into the depths of my disorganized purse. I also thought that maybe they were trying to compete with Orbit until I found out that they are owned by the same company. The gum was already popular. Why did they change it? I mean, the box is kind of neat. If I decide to only have half a stick of gum, the chances that the other half will still be usable (in other words not fall out and get lost/covered in purse crap) are much higher b/c the box allows easy accessibility to the half stick. As with most new products, I'm sure I'll love the box eventually and forget I ever had to rip off the top of my chewing gum packs. Now that I have discussed the pros and cons of chewing gum packaging, I should probably try to find some work to do. Happy Monday.

Friday, April 18, 2008

The T-Shirt Reader

Perhaps I should be willing to accept this when putting on a t-shirt with writing and/or pictures on it, but nonetheless the following bothers me; I do not like it when people make dorky/stupid remarks about the t-shirts I wear or really acknowledge the shirt in general. This also applies to sweatshirts. For example, I have a sweatshirt that says "Mary Jane" down the sleeve because that is the name of one of the ski resorts in Winter Park, CO (where my family currently resides) and was also the location of my wedding. However, whenever I wear this sweatshirt to work, someone (usually the same person) makes some dorky remark about wanting to "hang out with Mary Jane." Other comments (all by the same person on different occasions) include: "You should give Mary Jane her sweatshirt back," or similarly, "Your name isn't Mary Jane. Why do you have someone else's name on your sleeve?" Seriously, where do these people come up with these things?

T-shirts can be the catalyst to conversation; that is fine with me. It's specific references to the shirt itself that I find irritating and weird. Like if someone saw me wearing the sweatshirt and said "I love skiing/boarding in Winter Park," I would be okay with that. If however, they said "who's Mary Jane and why are you wearing her sweatshirt?" I would secretly loathe them for the rest of my life for saying such stupid things.

So if I'm ever wearing a t-shirt or other article of clothing and you feel inclined to make some comment about it, think twice. I may secretly hate you forever because of it.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The Nap

One of Matt's favorite Seinfeld quotes is this:
"I love a good nap. Sometimes it's the only thing getting me out of bed in the morning." - George

This is how I feel today. I am really looking forward to coming home tonight and taking a snoozer on the couch (futon). School is getting down to the wire, and so of course all my professors are trying to get as many assignments/tests/projects in as possible. The light at the end of my tunnel is Disney World.

Offices should have nap stations. Smokers get 15 minute cigarette breaks, so nappers should be allowed a place to sleep for 15 minutes. I feel like this might already be happening in some offices. Those offices are awesome (if they exist). I am running on coffee today, so my thoughts are a little disheveled.

The week is half-way over! Enjoy it. Time to study for a class I don't really care about.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Walgreens


If you are too lazy/afraid to make left turns, Walgreens is there for you. On my way to work this morning, I noticed a sign that said, coming soon-Walgreens, on the corner of US1 and Bird Rd (for those not familiar with the Miami area, I have beautifully used my paint with print screen skills to construct a map of proposed new Walgreens-it's the purple blob without a number) from which you can look across the street diagonally and see guess what-a Walgreens. Not to mention the one that exists about a quarter mile down the road on the same side of the street. What is happening to our society? Do we really need three Walgreens within a half mile radius?
If you answer, "yes!" then I say Orlando is the city for you. I have never seen so many strip malls filled with chains in my entire life. INSANE! I would be constantly lost/confused in Orlando, as everything looks the same and I would constantly be wondering, "wait, didn't I just pass a Walgreens, Chili's, Gap, and Chipolte strip mall? Oh wait, I didn't? What's going on? Where am I?" As that is how I felt when I was last in Orlando. Orlando's saving grace-obviously Disney. I would post more Disney sing-alongs, but as I already have one up, I don't want to go overboard.
Happy Monday. It's a new week. Make the most of it!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Keep on the Sunny Side

My family recently received some disheartening news. However, instead of asking why me? and drowning in a sea of sorrow and despair, everyone has been very positive. And it got me thinking, why does it take something life changing for us to realize that we need to be more positive about the outlook of life? We are never guaranteed tomorrow, so why should we spend today worrying about it? (I feel like that is most likely some paraphrase of something I've read before...) I feel like we live in a society that focuses on downfalls and negativity. We focus on our shortcomings instead of our accomplishments. Do we enjoy being stressed out? Do we like the rush of panic and then the brief calm after the storm? If not, why do we put ourselves through it? Is it because we think we are supposed to follow certain paths because that is what society tells us to do? I feel like I waste a lot of my thoughts and words on complaining. I'd like to change that. There's a lot of shit in this world, so why should I try and add to it unnecessarily? Perhaps I'm being unrealistically optimistic, but is it wrong to want to have a happy life? I'm not saying I want to live in some weird little bubble and pretend that life is all wonderful and everything is perfect, but I just don't want to spend anymore time thinking about the negative things in life. Is that bad? I don't know. I am not longing for naivete; I just like getting the most out of things. So today I leave you with a small challenge-the next time you start to freak out over something, ask yourself how much of a difference it's going to make in your big picture and if it's really worth spending so much precious time dwelling on it and then either do something to change/fix it or stop complaining-it only brings you and others down.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Big Cars + No Parking = Shitty

My office is pretty terrible for parking. There are ten spaces for about twenty people, not including customers and reps who come to visit. My office also happens to be in a pretty shady area -it is surrounded by tow lots (as in where they take your car when it gets towed) and body work (for cars, not people) shops. Recently a GINORMOUS new office building has gone under construction directly behind our small, one story building, creating even further parking dilemmas since the alley way behind our building was a favorite place to cram a lot of cars but is now no longer available b/c concrete chunks could fall on you or your vehicle. My office's solution to this incredibly irritating problem? Double park. However, that only works for the "front spots" which are reserved for those who own either a Lexus, BMW, or Mercedes, but sometimes lesser cars (Chrysler 300's for example) can go there too (...technically the spots are reserved for the outside sales people, but I think it's just because they have nice cars). So obviously I park in the back, which only has five spots and risks destruction from the office being built behind us daily (they actually put these stupid cloth covers on our cars each day to protect them although honestly they are more of a hassle to remove than getting another scratch/dent to add the collection on the Lancer).

So now that I have bored you with the background of my company's parking problems, I want to discuss my opinions of them. Recently a couple (as in husband and wife) have started working here. The wife has worked here for over ten years, but in the last few months, her husband has jumped on the lighting bandwagon, mainly doing the same job I did when I started working here. For those that don't remember/never knew, I packaged light bulbs. Yes. A 30 something year old man is packaging light bulbs. Despite this and his overwhelming use of cheap aftershave/cologne, they both drive to work. And they both drive Nissan trucks, possibly some of the biggest vehicles out there besides those heavy duty trucks. This pisses me off. Environmental issues aside, they are taking up too much space. If small cars (like mine, good ole Lancer) parked in the back, double parking would be possible without blocking the remnants of the alley or risk of concrete destruction. However, this is not possible because of their monstrosities which they also don't park next to one another, making impossible for even two small cars to park next to each other. That is stupid and inefficient. That's the Miami way.

Well I don't want to end on a bitter, whining note, so I will try and leave you with something uplifting. Okay this isn't uplifting but hilarious as it just happened as I was trying to find pictures of puppies to post or something. Said husband's cell phone ring? THE CIRCLE OF LIFE FROM THE LION KING. And not just any part...it's the very beginning...the part where it's just African (?) words being yelled. I am not making this up. These are the people I work with. So I'll end with the Circle of Life. I suppose that can be either uplifting or depressing, depending on your outlook.


Sunday, April 6, 2008

Should Be Sleeping...

...or finishing some school project that I left until the night before it's due to work on.  However, blogging seems like a much better use of my time.  At least I'm not stalking people on facebook (that was the alternative to blogging).  I never really understand why I put stuff off till the last minute.  I seriously cannot start something until it's almost due.  It's like I cannot function without the pressure of knowing I HAVE to get it done.  And every time I say to myself, "next time I'll do better and be on top of things."  But of course that doesn't happen.  It's like after a terrible night of drinking and you swear off alcohol.  Never really happens, but it feels good to say it at the time.  I guess I don't change because I really don't have a problem with staying up all night once a month.  Otherwise I really would change.  Also kind of like how I'll complain about wanting to lose weight but never really take any measures to do so.  When it comes down to it, if I REALLY wanted to change, I would.  But the fact is, the effort to change is not worth it to me,  so like so many other lame people, I merely complain about my current situation and pretend to want to do something about it.  ASIDE: For those grammar freaks reading, I apologize for the choppy and incomplete sentences and most likely incorrect punctuation usage, but it's late, and I don't care right now (although I'm sure that if I read this over tomorrow I will want to shoot myself).  
Completely unrelated but something I feel the need to discuss: gchat etiquette.  Particularly the use of the "busy" sign.  Some people have it up almost all the time, and yet, sometimes, (lots of unnecessary commas there but not changing them) that person will start chatting with me.  WTF?  It says you are busy.  Stop confusing me.  Can I chat with you or not?  Because if I can chat with you even though your status says you are busy, then what happens when you actually ARE busy and I start trying to shoot the shit with you?  It totally defeats the purpose of the system.  
Wow.  Feels good to get that off my chest.  Well I suppose I should get back to pretending to care about school.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Here I Go

I've decided to jump on the blog bandwagon.  A little late in the game, yes, but I have been enjoying reading others' thoughts, so I thought I should share some of mine too.  

Everyone I know is having children.  Sometimes it scares me because it makes me realize that I'm getting older.  Granted I am on the younger end of my friend circle but not by very much.  I am so happy for them and the additions to their families, and whenever I look at pictures or hold one of their children, a part of me wants to experience that soon.  But then I realize I'm still in school and have so much I want to do before I reach that stage in my life.  

I find it hard at times to balance all the things I want.  I'm starting to realize how short life is and that I'm probably over 25% done with it.  The other day I couldn't remember my own age!  Is that supposed to happen at 23?  On so many levels 23 seems so young, but on the other hand, I'm still in college and now sometimes five years older than some of my classmates!  It's all relative I suppose.  In some situations I'm the old person and in others the baby.

I guess all you can do in life is remember to stop and smell the roses.  Lame phrase, but it's got a good point.  If this life is all I've got, then I should make the most of it and just enjoy living.  It's so easy in theory but so hard to execute.  I get so caught up in deadlines and what I think I "should" be doing that I forget that in the end, I really should just be doing the things that make me happy.  A little narcissistic perhaps...but I won't go there.  Don't get me wrong, I still have this desire to leave some kind of mark behind, something that can help others in the future, but I haven't figured out what that is yet.  Maybe I'll buy some reusable grocery bags to help the environment today as a start:)

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