MGD is for old people

Lately, I have been seeing a lot of Miller Genunine Draft commercials, with their slogan "Beer. Grown up." One I saw recently showed adults deflating inflatable furniture, throwing away beer hat thingies, and throwing plastic house party cups out the window and then grabbing an ice cold MGD. I know what they are getting at: when you are young you will drink anything, which is true. But I still thought it was funny for two reasons.

1. Among my friends, we always talk about how MGD is what our parents drink. It is honestly my parents beer.
2. If Miller is trying to go with older=more refined taste=higher quality=not cheap then I call bull. Having only recently gotten into drinking darker beers (Guinness), Miller and any of its sub-categories tastes like water to me (but I will still drink it any day over Budweiser). I think I am subtly saying my parents have weak taste in beer, heh. Miller is relatively cheap too (but it is no Blatz, Schlitz, Milwaukee's Best when it comes to price though).

In the end, I will wrap by saying I have no authority over the quality of beers, since I haven't had a wide variety of brands and am not much of a drinker (honest!). Ok, back to work.

G-d likes knock, knock jokes....

Go talk to G-d. I'm pretty sure it isn't the actual G-d. I'm just saying. Holla to CM, for finding that one.

What I find amusing is that I don't consider myself religious at all. I only attended "Sunday school" for about a month when I was 3, and it was more of a day care then anything else. So, all my life, I haven't gone to church. Yet, I know much more about biblical stories then some other people I know, *cough*CM*cough*. I have to explain to some people why people celebrate Good Friday and Easter. I also explain the story of Moses. Apparently my parents didn't raise a complete heathen. Perhaps I am one of the People Going to Heaven?

Picking me up and dipping

So, I don't really like to be physically picked up. Basically anything that involves me having no control over whether or not I fall, I don't like. Maybe its because the only people that try to pick me up are drunk, so I have bad experiences. You can never trust a drunk person. Example of me not liking drunk people touching me: This Saturday, I went out with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. We went to a more "popular" bar than I am used to. By more popular, I mean this is the type of bar you go to, in order to get some ass. I mostly went because I knew this is where my friend wanted to go, and I knew I would have fun with her either way. Was, and usually am, not into looking for ass at a bar. Maybe my friend is right...I am asexual. Anyway:

I thought that if I kept to myself that I would be left alone, but no. On my way back from the bathroom, I got stopped by two fratty guys and was asked about my philosophy on facial hair. I gave my answer. One of the guys asked me if he could have a hug, and before I could answer he wrapped his arms around me and dipped me. Luckily it didn't last long. My body stiffened up, and I grabbed on to his arms in fear of being dropped. When he brought me back up, I "laughed" and excused myself back to my friend. If I weren't so antisocial, I might have thought that was fun. Oh wait...no I still wouldn't have thought it was fun. Boys, just a suggestion for the future, wait for the answer before you go for the kill. If a person is not ready, the results could be disastrous.

V for Vendetta

It has been over a year since I first read the graphic novel by Alan Moore. The depth that I read, by myself, into a book is the equivalent of a kiddie pool. Luckily for me I was reading it for a comparative literature class that was strictly graphic novels. I wasn't a fan of this genre, but I did after the class. Anyway, as I stated, V for Vendetta was one of the books I read for this class. Through lectures and discussions, I better understood the symbolism and the storyline (although there is a blatant message there).

I heard a few months later that a movie was being made of it, I was excited to see how the story would be brought to life. Then, I heard that Moore, the creator, wanted nothing to do with it. He is this way with all of his works. From what he had seen and heard, the screenplay deviated to far from the novel. This scared me, because I didn't want to ruin one of my favorite graphic novels by seeing the movie based on it. But I went with my gut instinct and I went to go see it.

Well, it is definitely not like the novel, but I would say I still like it. In movie making, I think it is ok for the directors and screenwriters to make some artistic liberties, although I think it is helpful to get some support from the original creator. Well, I am not a HUGE Alan Moore fan, so I could care less. Now, if they would do this to Neil Gaiman, that is another story. Back to the movie: It was more action oriented (fighting with swords and blood) then I what I pictured while reading the book, storylines are missing and new ones were added. Some characters (mostly wives or other female characters) were missing or their storylines were changed. Nothing that I thought was too important. The most important part stayed intact, in my opinion. This part was the political influence. So much has changed from when that book was written (1988) to when the movie was released (hell, stuff has even changed from when I read the book a year and a half ago), but the book stays politically relevant. The book and movie makes me want to start a revolution (don't worry DHS, a peaceful one).

Nostalgic

Remember Ghostwriter? Remember how awesome it was? So wholesome yet so hip. One storyline took a month to finish to keep it fresh, you now, like WB Fresh.

I also miss the baby doll dress look. Sooooo Good.

Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name...

When I left Milwaukee to go to the pow wow in Madison, I only took my wallet, cell phone, and coat. I had no intentions of staying past 8pm. I was mostly going to see my brother drum and sing for the first time. I wasn't really anticipating many old friends to be there. As soon as I got there I was greeted with a hug from my friend Crystal. From that point on, I spent 75% of my time hugging and catching up with old friends/fellow organizational members and other people I have worked with on various projects while I was at school. I think the people at Public Allies would be very proud of me, because I had my "elevator speech," down.

Me responding to everyone asking me what I am now doing:

"Well, I am working in an Americorp program called Public Allies, which places young adults in non-profit organizations to work Monday through Thursday, and on Fridays we come together to get professional development training and work on community service projects. The non-profit organization I am working at is called..."

I basically recited it word for word to each person. While I was catching up with everybody, they were asking me if I would come to the "49" afterward. I said I would but that I couldn't stay long because I had to drive myself home that night. When I said this, I had many people offering me their couches to sleep on, which I eventually agreed to do. It is much better to sleep for a few hours as opposed to driving at 3am (not including time change for Daylights Savings Time). I just have to remember to pack an overnight bag next time just in case.

Oh, I made sure that I didn't bring more than 10 dollars cash with me. I didn't want to be tempted to buy some barrettes or jewelry. I did buy myself some white sage to burn in my apartment. It kind of smells like pot. Sage is burned to release negative energy and it is suppose to help with stress which I need help with.

So ends the most boring blog ever.

"Can you get pink eye in the mouth?"

Stupid question, I know, but sometimes I like to say things because I think they are funny and I like to amuse myself. My sister came to visit me on Friday night, but she failed to tell me that she had an eye irritation AND she thought it might be pink eye. I didn't think people got pink eye after a certain age. It just reminds me of one of those childhood things that kids like to pass on to each other, (such as chicken pox, the flu, lice or herpes--ok just kidding about that last one) in the Petri dish that is known as public school systems. Well, my sister does work in a day care facility, so it is more than likely that one of the little devils gave her the conjunctivitis.

After she left my apartment, I have been bleaching down everything she has touched. I am not even touching my own eyes in fear of getting it. I took out my contact lenses two nights ago and have been wearing my glasses ever since, just so I don't have to touch my eyes for a couple of days. I am really paranoid about it, because I am usually really susceptible to catching things this contagious. I am a wee bit of a hypochondriac, which I think I inherited from my grandmother after she passed away. Along with the pink eye, which I am convinced I will inevitably get, I am convinced I have endometriosis. Who needs to have babies anyway?

The Best (and only) April Fools Joke

Yesterday I went to Madison, for the Wunk Sheek Pow-wow. Afterwards I went to the parking ramp with a few old friends, as I was going to drop them off to the "49" afterwards ("49" is the party after the pow-wow). I drove the car to the exit and handed the ticket to the cashier. The screen popped up and it said $2. I handed over the money and the lady looked at me all crabby-like and said, "It's $2 per person." I just looked at her dumbfounded. I didn't have the money for all the people in my car. I said, "Seriously?!?" And she kept up the pissed look, and 5 seconds later, she got a huge smile on her face and said, "APRIL FOOLS." I am gullible.

One more, just because I can

Wow. I can't believe that I completely missed that button that allows you to add images into your blogs. I am really special sometimes. Has it always been there? Ok, moving on. I am not going to mull over my stupidity.

This picture is of me, the older sister and the oldest of my younger brother. I always say with this picture, it is the only time that you will be seeing me with a wedding dress on. I just don't see myself being married, and if I do, I don't see myself having a big ceremony. That open mouth "HEYYYYYY" smile, is how I was in almost every picture as a kid.

My brother looks so adorable with that big helmet on. What is even funnier is that today, he is so not an athletic person. He prefers his books, TV and online comics. He is awesome. I remember him playing t-ball as a kid, and picking at the grass instead of actually playing the outfield. That's right, he was THAT kid. Glove on head, staring into space. It's weird, because I think he was the body of a football player. Tall and wide. He doesn't exercise at all, and doesn't eat the healthiest, but yet he is no where near chubby. He is, however, getting a little bit of what I like to call, a "Daddy Belly." Others like to call it a "Beer Gut." Weird, because he doesn't drink. Hmmm. Michael, if you read this, perhaps you can expand on your belly discussions.

My sister looks creepy to me. Mostly because she looks like a little adult. Honestly, she looks exactly the same now. Well, except she doesn't go around wearing big puffy white dresses and a tinfoil princess hat.

I finally figured out how to post pictures because I am smart

This is my favorite picture I have on my computer. This is my parents, my older sister and me. I love my sister's pose. My mom taught her to do that for pictures. Why did my mom do that? I don't know. Probably because it was "cute" but more importantly because she knew that it would be embarrassing in the future.

I like my dad's hat. By like, I mean that it is awesomely bad, and I am glad he doesn't have it in his possession today. There is no doubt in my mind that he would bust that sucker out and wear it around. No, he wouldn't do it to embarrass his kids, he would do it because he would honestly think it was cool.

I absolutely love the face I am making. It looks like, even at one year-old, I can be embarrassed of my dad.

My mom kind of looks high and/or drunk. She's not, because she is around 5 months pregnant with my brother. I can't get over how young she looks. She is around my age there. Me having two kids that age? I couldn't handle that.

Reminding my liver why it should hate me

Last Friday I went to a neighborhood bar with a co-worker who also lives close to me. Now, normally I am a beer drinker, but since she was buying the first drink, I said I would have whatever she was having. Bad idea. She was having a vodka tonic. My first thought was, well at least it isn't a gin and tonic. I hate gin.

The bartender is good at making sure your glass isn't empty, but he doesn't bother to ask if you want a different drink, let alone another drink at all. At the same time I was drinking my vodka tonics (not sure of the number because I lost count, kids just a suggestion, if you have lost count of how many drinks you had, maybe it is time to stop), I was playing a game that involved taking shots of Southern Comfort. Again the number of shots, not sure. I can't really go by how much I spent, because I was getting drink paid for, buying other people drinks.

The whole time I have been in Milwaukee, I have never gotten really drunk. I always had to drive myself, or was just too tired to drink. But this night was not one of those nights. I was having a good time just sitting and talking. Too busy to notice my drinking. When it was time for me to use the bathroom, I noticed. I stood up for the first time since I stepped foot in the bar (twoish hours later) and it hit me. I felt like I was in high school again, the first time I ever got drunk minus the crawling across tables to go make out with Ryan/Kyle - whatever his name was. Lucky for me, after that bathroom excursion, I was done drinking and we left an hour later. Don't worry, I live right across the street, no driving involved.

Within that hour, I didn't sober up, not even a little. I wasn't acting stupid, but I was saying pretty dumb things. I drunk dialed my friend in Hawaii, asked her the same 3 questions about four times in a row.

The next morning, I wasn't hungover. A little dehydrated, but that was all. I am actually surprised by this. The amount I drank probably wasn't that much, in comparison to what I drank in college, but it still had to be a shock to my system. I definitely appreciate the nights that I drink one or two beers compared to what I did that night. My college drinking days are happily over.

Ok, here is another one

I come from a family of 6. We, for the most part, always lived in an apartment flat. 3 bedrooms, so 2 people per bedroom. I was always surrounded by people. I liked it that way. Even if I was in a room alone (which I rarely was) I could hear someone in my family in the next room. I never felt lonely. Sure, sometimes I was annoyed to high hell, but upon some reflection the "confined" spaces that we lived in, made us closer as a family. (Note: I think it should be mandatory for everyone to live his way. It seems ridiculous that a family of three have a huge house. It just seems like a waste of space. My sister, the conservationist, is rubbing off on me.)

Now that I live by myself, I have the TV on a lot. Even if I am not watching it, and instead am on the computer, or cleaning, I still usually have it on. It gives me the illusion that someone is there, like a roommate. I like the noise, I don't like silence.

Anyway, because I have the TV without really watching, I catch things without realizing what is going on. Like just a while ago, I turned to the TV and was taken back by this bloated looking person. It was Boston Legal's James Spader. Remember when your face had a chiseled like definition, and you had awesome feathered hair? Ahh, how age changes us. Sometimes it is good to us (George Clooney yum, Denzel Washington drool, Matthew Fox yay) sometimes it is not (James Spader, Bruce Jenner handsome before multiple surgeries, Marlon Brando). I am one to talk. I will probably land in the latter list. Heck, I am already in the latter list.

I would make a good, heartless, wife

So my brother stayed over at my place for two nights. He is three years younger than me. I didn't really know what to do to amuse him. If he were 21, I would have taken him to a bar to hang out with my co-workers, but alas, he is 20 and doesn't have a fake. None of my siblings nor I, had a fake ID. We were just that angelic. (I later took him to a bar that I knew he could be let in).

Anyway, the reason why I think I would be a good wife: My brother sat on the coach watching TV while playing with a rubix cube. Every once in awhile I would ask if he was hungry or thirsty. If he answered yes to either, I asked what exactly he wanted, listing off what I had in my cupboards and/or refrigerator. He would answer, and I would get it for him. Just like a nice obedient wife. Ehmm, yeah.

But really, I am glad I don't live with him. He is such a boy. Leaves the toilet seat up. Leaves empty pitchers in the refrigerator. Doesn't clean up after himself. He is smelly. I love the boy and enjoyed the company, but seriously, I am glad I live by myself.

Why I am heartless: I was watching this show called, "Miracles" on ABC. One man was getting his hips operated on so he could walk and dance without pain. Before he was about to go into the operation room, he let out this cry of gratitude to the doctors. I instinctively say out loud, to no one, "Shut up!" Perhaps it was because the cry was very staged and fake to me. Maybe I automatically see it as fake, because the guy was a stage actor, and I always see stage actors as fakely overly emotional, as if they are always "on". I don't like actors.

But I am not all that heartless. I watched the show for the first time the week before,and they had the cutest little boy, who had some kind of scoliosis. One of the first scenes they showed was him with his family at the zoo. They were looking at giraffes. The little boy noticed that one giraffe had an abnormality on his neck. He said to his dad, "Look he has a bump like me." It made me go, "Awwwww." That storyline is what made me want to watch again, hoping for some more cuteness. All I got was overacting. Bah humbug. Only children can melt my cold, cold heart.

My neighbors downstairs are currently blasting U2's Vertigo. So not cool.

"The Incredible, Edible Holland"...ewwww

Title comes from a website, a fellow Ally shared that generates slogans when you type in random words, or in my case words. I think it sounds provocative, but I have a dirty mind.

I don't really have anything to say, but I noticed it has been awhile, so I need to entertain all my reader.<=== singularization intentional. Currently I am watching American Idol, and a contestant said she had (this is the way she pronounced it) sal mon for lunch. This apparently, is something "exotic" that she never had before. I can understand how she never had salmon before, but "exotic". Well maybe they didn't say exotic, but still. Some think her naivety is "cute" I find it rather annoying. She is definitely a pretty girl and seems sweet, I just think she should shut her mouth. I say that in the nicest way. Really I do. Also, I know that American Idol is silly, but I can't help myself. I need to indulge myself in American pop culture everyonce in awhile.

I found this cool online comic called Fart Part. It is about a girl, who drinks, has a boyfriend, loves "delicious cookies" and swears. Basically she is awesome. At least, she seems awesome based off her website. Another female artist she mentions in her site is, Liz Prince. She wrote a book called "Would You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed?" She also seems awesome. I wish I knew another word besides awesome. It seems similar to a comic that was in Madison's student newspaper (Daily Cardinal) called Everybody Drunk But Me. Well, the later comic is less raunchy but similar. Although all of them are similar in that they chronicle their own life, it is different because they all have different stories to tell. That last statement is obvious, but I don't know how else to make my point, so shut up. All three girls seem like people my brother Michael would be mad crushing on.

Well, I've run out of things to talk about.

Upon some random Googling, I found this...

BadBlogs

I found it because I was trying to find my sister's old blog by typing in her username. Well, in the search results I found that her blog was in the BadBlog archives. Awesome! It is kind of cool to see that someone is looking at your blog. Granted, they are posting it to make fun of you, but still. One thing I wish that the site would do, is to make a List of Rules, stating how blogs get into BadBlogs. I was reading some of them, not understanding what was wrong with them. Then again, look at what I write...Boring. Cuteoverload, makes a list of rules of what makes certain images cute. BadBlogs should follow suit. If they make a list of rules, they can post a blog, and then ask the readers, list the rules that make this blog bad. Then, it would give the readers something fun to do.

Now, I eagerly anticipate the day that my blog will be posted.

I am nerdly even in my adult years

I didn't get invited to lunch with the co-workers. It's like high school except this time, instead of driving myself around during my lunch hour, I eat in my office with the door closed. Oh, the pain of young adulthood.
Then:
who didn't invite me: people I tried to make my friends
what i did: lunch sitting in lap as I drove down the lakeside drive
who occasionally would talk and/or hang out with me: my stoner friends
attire: jeans and a t-shirt
hair: straight, barely shoulder length, parted down middle when not always in a ponytail
car: Grey Ford Taurus Wagon late 80's, I believe
relationship status: single, not so ok with it.

Now:
who didn't invite me: co-workers
what I did: lunch on desk while looking at stuff on myspace
who occasionally would talk and/or hang out with me: maintenance guys
attire: long sleeved shirt and khakis
hair: long, straight, parted to side, not in a ponytail that often
car: '95 Red Mercury Sable...that works now! Yippee, I say with empty pockets.
relationship status: Single, and ok with it.

x5GDm14

This week has been weird

Tuesday I got my car to a mechanic because apparently a head gasket needed to be replaced. Boooo. They told me that it would be ready by Wednesday afternoon. They lied. The car is still in the shop for additional crap that is, as of right now, undiagnosed. Screw mechanics. I've never met an honest one.

Sometime last week I lost my mitten. I thought maybe I lost it at a coffee shop I was at. I didn't. As I was crossing the street to get to my apartment today, I looked down at the street at a flattened mitten. It was mine! I picked it up. Perhaps it is salvageable.

I have been taking the bus to get to and from work. It is a lot easier than I thought it would be. Granted, it takes an hour to travel to or from, but still easy. I am used to small town buses, which there is one bus transfer point. Not this transfer where you may stuff. Even writing it now I hate how much I sound like a hick. Anyway, Wednesday after work I was standing there waiting with everyone else for the bus. This one man was standing there with his daughter who looks about 2 years-old. She was spinning around and running in circles around he dad. She stopped in front of me, and said something I couldn't quite understand, ran up to me and wrapped her arms around my legs. I just smiled and bent over and patted her on her back. Her dad apologized and called her back to him.

The only thing I hate about busing it, is running across busy streets and climbing over snow banks because there are no sidewalks by the building I work at.

The sound on my computer was off for five days, and then I downloaded a new version of win-amp. As I pressed play, the music blared out of the speakers. Weird how this stuff works out. I didn't even try to fix it, and it fixed itself, I guess.

Even though I signed a sheet declaring my self a new costumer of the electrical company months ago, I JUST got a notice stating that I am a new costumer and being billed effective mid February. Whatever, as long as I had those few months free.

I handed out flyers to each unit at the development I work at. There is 358 units. I put the flyers under the doors of the units. 358 times bending over and standing up. Afterward, I felt like I spent the day at the amusement park You must know what I mean. Like your body is still experiencing that up and down movement. It isn't as pleasant as the rides themselves. I kind of felt nauseous.

All this walking and moving around is making me realize that: I am out of shape, I am lazy and I miss walking everywhere, like in Madison.

Dancing is not my specialty

Friday

Free Beer! It was some kind of special a bar was having for Lakefront Brewery. Of course, I only had one cup at which I drank at a leisurely pace. Watched everyone else drink it up. Once again, not annoying and extremely funny. I always feel much more relaxed when everyone else is drunk and having fun. I feel like, when I am drunk myself, I need to show how NOT drunk I am, but when I am sober and around drunk people that are having fun, it allows me to loosen up a bit. Besides the free beer, I also partook in the Guinness Toast. I have never heard of this before, but apparently it is a worldwide thing. I am starting to warm up to the Guinness, it isn't that bad.

I did my usual dancing while sitting in my chair. I was working it out, robot style. I rarely dance but I love to bop to the music. Then one of my co-workers tried to teach me the rock-with-it-lean-with-it dance. That was a disaster. Basically, I should not be allowed to dance at all. Not even slow dance. I remember a slow dance I had at one of my high school proms (yes, I actually went to some). A guy friend of one of my friends was nice enough to ask me to dance. It was awkward and very typical of an awkward high school slow dance. Arm width apart, dancing in a circle really fast. I was just praying for it to be over, because the guy was kind of creepy.

Unfortunately, my dancing is not even funny/goofy. It is just sad.

Phat-Ass! vs. Flat-Ass! - Big Booty Hoes! Hop Wit-it!

Saturday

Bowling with Team Spare-it (say it out loud and fast and yes we are making t-shirts). Scores: 68-86-145. A lot of high-fiving. Good times.

Danielle's Birthday party. A bunch of dental students. My friend Carrie sat at the dining room table watching everyone else play drinking games around the living room coffee table. We talked about how we felt inferior because we weren't in dental school. Then Danielle was facing away from me and I noticed her butt. I said to Carrie, "Danielle's got an ass on her. I never really noticed before." Carrie proceeded to tell Danielle, I said she had a big butt. So in retaliation she slapped me on my butt (ow!) and said, "Yeah, that went right to the bone, flat-ass." Ah, good times.

When I finally did start talking to some dental students, I found that they were funny and nice. It was brought up again that I supposedly told Danielle that she had a "fat-ass," and one of the guys said, "She mean p-h phat-ass." I sure did. Another girl said that she once called Danielle a slut, because she was wearing a knee-length skirt. Hee, my type of people. When you make fun of people, it means you like them.

Look at us, we're so PRETTY!!!! *Girly Squeal*

Sunday:

I got up at 8:30, thinking that it would only take me 30 minutes to shower, dress and leave for my hometown to meet with my sister, mom and the rest of the bridesmaids to go dress shopping. I was wrong. I turned the shower on to warm up while I got undressed and put my contacts in (I know you aren't suppose to but I like to be able to SEE while I shower). As I was about to get in the shower, I noticed that the bathroom floor was wet, soaking wet. I forgot to tuck in the shower curtain. Frustrated I quickly took my shower, and then mopped up the floor and squeezed the excess water out of my shower mat. The cleaning of my floor took an extra 15 minutes, so I didn't leave Milwaukee until 9:15. As I was on the highway, I noticed that I needed gas, so I pulled off the next exit, only to find that the nearest gas station was, what felt like, 2 miles off the exit. There is an extra 15 minutes. Luckily, I planned on getting to my mom's an hour earlier so I was only 30 minutes early. See, planning for crap to go down is a good thing.

Anyway, we went to a bridal store that was a little over an hour away. I had a lot of driving to do yesterday. When we got to the store, we were sent of immediately to pick out what dresses we liked and hang them on the designated clothes rack. I felt completely lost. I didn't know if there was a specific color or style, plus I am just not a girly girl. I don't know what looks good. It must of been funny to look at me because I was barely even touching the clothes. I just kept on walking back and forth through the aisles. By the time I picked out 2 dresses the rack was filled with dresses all the other girls had picked out. My sister made me try on one that I knew would look bad, and I quickly picked out one more, just to see how the halter style would look. Next was the dressing rooms.

The lady in charge of helping us out, asked our bra sizes so we could wear a strapless corset while trying the dresses on. Holy Constriction! I was laughing at myself while I was putting it on. You had to hook it on backwards and then twist it around. I was jumping so that it could twist around but it made my boobs look fantastic. Here is a summary of the dresses and how they looked:

Dress 1: calf-length, pink, with sheer, triangles shaped straps and a ribbon belt. Looked awkward.
Dress 2: looked like a maroon version of a prom dress I had. No!
Dress 3: body hugging chocolate brown, silky fabric. Two words: spare tire!
Dress 4: calf-length, lavender halter with a flower/belt. A very poor man's version of Marilyn Monroe.

My cousin, who is seven, came out with this full length champagne colored dressed, that had little straps and looked gathered/cinched on one side. Everyone "awwwed" and wanted a big girl version of the dress. They found one that was similar, except strapless and with a brooch on the ruched part. I dreaded even looking at it, because of the strapless part. I have an odd shaped body. My appendages are skinny, but I have a rounder midsection. I was afraid of some fat hanging over the edges. There were no mirrors in the dressing room so I had no idea coming out of the room.

I have to admit though, once I saw my reflection, I was really hoping that this would be the dress, because it was very pleasing to all figures. The size ranges of the bridesmaids range from a 4 to 18 and everyone looked pretty in there dresses, and everyone felt pretty. You could tell. My sister had to try her dress on too, so her friend said, "Do you want us to keep our dresses on so we can stand next to you." Heh. My other cousin, who is 15, wanted to take her dress home right away, which of course none of us did because we wanted to have clean new dresses, so we ordered them. There was a lot of girliness going on, which is funny because none of the bridesmaids, is really a" girly girl."

When we first had the dresses on, I was standing with my seven year old cousin looking into the mirror with her, when all of the sudden I said, "FLEX!" At the same time, we showed off our guns, making tough grrl! faces. That's how my family rolls.

I know what I want to be when I grow up

I want to be a forever student. I miss school. Lately, I have noticed that I miss school a lot. There are a lot of times, I wonder if my major (Sociology) was a wrong choice. It's too broad, and it didn't train me to do really anything. But at the same time, I loved what I was studying. To me it was fascinating. Studying human behavior and theorizing why people are so stupid. It's just awesome. Still to this day, I talk a lot about what I studied while in school. Particularly, I always seem to bring up my Human Sexuality course I took sophomore year. Who wouldn't want to know about masturbatory practices and nicknames for it?

The reason I bring this up, is because some fellow co-workers and I are in charge of leading a segment of Friday training. The topic we decided to present was Body Image and Media. I took a Woman's Studies course and always found the work of Jean Kilbourne to be fascinating so I was super pumped about doing this.

While doing some initial research on the internet, I found nothing. So I decided to look at the UW-Madison library website for some inspiration. I was looking at all the listing of journal entries on Body Image and Media, Gender and Sex Image in the Media etc., and found myself jealous of all the students who were able to check out that material and read it. I actually found myself desiring to check out the material to read FOR FUN! Such a nerd, I am. Luckily I found some awesome websites that showcase some examples of offensive body image usage.

I am also planning on using a book, I read for my Comics Literature class called Ways of Seeing by John Berger. Part of the book comments on art and advertisement and how women are "surveyed." According to this book, both men and women are taught to look at women as objects (the surveyed or the object of the "gaze") and not actors (the surveyor or the "gazer"). Also, a woman's presence, or how she is portrayed, is how she WANTS to be treated. A man's presence is a outward expression of his emotions, and is not indicative of how he wants to be treated. A kind of modern way to look at this is if a woman is dressed "slutty", she wants people to treat her as a "slut." Summed up: Traditionally men are not concerned, or don't have to be concerned with what others think. Woman need or should be concerned with what others think. I could go on and on about this book, but you should read it if you have the chance. It's only 154 pages (with A LOT of pictures).

If you want to do your own little investigation, first take a look at the links I connected to and read about the ways women, and men, are objectified (ex. focusing on body parts and not faces, the positioning of the bodies in sexual positions, the use of the mouth, as dolls/not humans at all, violence, etc.) pick up a magazine: whether it be Cosmo, Maxim, Essence or whatever, and take a look at the ads. Particularly, the liqueur, tobacco, perfume and clothing ads. This is fascinating stuff here people!

Ok, enough with my dorkiness. Later.

Last Minute Bombardment of Valentine's Day...

Valentine's Day for me, is like Christmas for many naysayers: extremely over commercialized. Every year it is torturous for me. How could there be one day out of the year (two for people who celebrate Sweetest Day, or Sweatiest Day as my dad so famously wrote on a card for my mom when they first started dating) that you are expected to show your love one that you love them with candy, cards and lingerie. Don't forget the never ending advertising that goes on a month, sometimes earlier, beforehand. Apparently, they are even commercializing on anti-valentine's sentiments. Hey, step off my sub-culture, man.

Last year, living with two females that were either in an established relationship or starting a new one, I felt like I was in hell. The cutesy-ness of it all is enough to make my skin crawl even now.

I thought this year was going well. I do not have any roommates to make me gag at all the stories about the "cute" things their boyfriends did for them (Rianna if you are reading this, I am only half-kidding, heh). The advertising for Valentine's didn't seem so aggressive. Then the day came and all bets were off. I am seeing so many ads for gift ideas for your loved ones. I am getting a "Happy Valentine's" here, and e-mail there and of course the dreaded question, "So what are your plans?" ARGH! I don't mind the well wishings for the day (there should be more "Happy Day"s going on, instead of the few days we get to say it, based off what the US calendar tells us), I don't mind the e-mails (these in fact are more amusing than anything else). What I hate is that question. My reply is always snarky, "I am spending the night with my TV," or something equally sad and embittered. Ads, I can do without also. Perhaps if they didn't make everyone looks so materialistic.

In reality, I don't want to feel bitter. Single people are expected to feel this way on a day to celebrate couples and love. And for those who know me, I am such a rebel to expectations.

For those of you who are equally as nerdy as me, here is the History of Valentine's Day. I don't think the idea about putting names into an urn is that bad. At least then someone would be forced to get to know me and I would get a few dates out of the situation, muhahaha. But knowing my luck I would be stuck with someone I didn't find attractive, intelligent or interesting.

I am not bitter, superficial or picky so you all can shut it.

Because I am bored

Here is my new pet. His name is puppy and he is black. If I were to get a real cat, I probably would not name him/her puppy, but i would hope that he/she would be black. I would most likely get a boy, because as I understand it, boy cats are friendlier and more affectionate. I need all the attention I can get.

Another quiz result so very fitting to me...

How is this possible when I am wearing old fashion undies?

Your Stripper Song Is

Closer by Nine Inch Nails "You let me violate you, you let me desecrate you You let me penetrate you, you let me complicate you Help me I broke apart my insides, help me I�ve got no Soul to tell" When you dance, it's a little scary - and a lot sexy.

What Song Should You Strip To?

Trent Reznor is a sexy little man.

That's morbid, and kind of funny

I have the workshops I hold for my job at this senior housing pavilion/recreation center deal. As I was waiting for the most recent workshop to start, and for no one to come, I was reading the newspaper that was on the table next to me. It was called 50 plus. On the front cover, they had a picture of the oldest and youngest graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The youngest 19 (started college at 16. This angers me. Not only is she able to start school at 16, but she manages to finish in less than 4 years. I hope she dies a firey death. Ok, not really but she still sucks.) and the oldest was 67. Holla! I love education, and I love to see people finish off their schooling. And that last statement was not sarcatic, Finger Up! (For those of you not knowing the inside joke, go here and watch the performance of the one and only Girls Guitar Club, now defunct. I wish they were still together. You can also go here to find a short they made staring E (Mark Evertt) of the Eels).

Anyway, to the morbid part. I was flipping through the pages, when I noticed something funny. They had an ad for those who were interested in selling their homes, right next to senior living facilities. Then, right next to that, a FUNERAL HOME ad. The ad had some happy faces of senior citizens on it. How fitting. It's like the cycle of life: you sell your house, you live in some crappy nursing home, you go to the funeral home. I wish I would have taken the newspaper and scanned the ad, because the pictures were the funniest part.

Although I found it humorous I was still disturbed by it. I will always be disturbed by death and the marketing of the products surrounding it. Yet that ad was not as disturbing as the commercial I saw for a funeral home staring the funeral home owner's children basically saying, "My parents work at a funeral home. Look at how cool they are. I am cool because I am their offspring. We are cool together." Ew. Just gross.

I always thought I was, but now I know for sure

BECAUSE BLOGTHINGS QUIZ TOLD ME SO!!!

You are Agnostic

You're not sure if God exists, and you don't care. For you, there's no true way to figure out the divine. You rather focus on what you can control - your own life. And you tend to resent when others "sell" religion to you.

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

Job offer...maybe, kind of

So the placement that I am at now is only temporary. I am basically an intern. After my Public Allies stint at my placement, I am free to roam off on my own. As far as I know, my placement could offer me the job full-time. I went into this thinking that may be a possibility. However, the more I got into my job, the more unrealistic it became. Not necessarily because I didn't want it, but because I thought I was sucking some major ass in position I was in. Then I got a call today...

It was from an intern at the national offices. She works below the woman who initially hired me. Anyway, the intern was talking to me, critiquing the way I filled out my monthly report, and she mentioned how she was going to be sad to see me go after my 10 months were up. I wish I could transcribe the entire conversation so that you, the reader, could help in giving me your opinion in what was really being said but I don't remember what she said word for word. Since I don't remember I am just going to have to tell you what I took from the conversation.

What I got was that they were interested in having me stay after my Public Allies time, but they didn't think that it was possible, based off policies that PA and/or they have. I told her that I thought I remembered other Allies in the past being hired on to their placements. This information seemed to both surprise and intrigue her. She did tell me at the end of our conversation, to keep them in mind when the 10 months are up. Hmm. Maybe I am reading too much into it. It would be nice to have a solid job offer after this is all done.

Is it just me or are my blogs boring, horrible written, and/or stupid? Wait a minute...Don't answer that.

A bizarre Dream and a Barrel of Fun

I had a very weird dream last night. Of course I don't remember the whole thing, but there is a certain segment that I do remember. It involved me being with a group of friends (these were made up friends because no one looked familiar) at what seemed to be ski resort. Some of us decided to go on the ski lift, just for fun. Well it ended up going really high. Once it hit the peak of the mountain, the ski lift accelerated even faster and continued to climb into the sky. The altitude was so high that I couldn't breathe. But the weirdest thing of all was that I was enjoying it. It was like an amusement park ride. Then without explanation, the ski lift dropped really fast, sort of like the Raging Bull from Six Flags. You think that people would be scared of a ski lift suddenly dropping, but no I was still screaming with glee. The sensations of dropping and the snow hitting my face, felt so real. I don't remember the rest of the dream from this point on.

Recently I was having this conversation with a Public Allies friend about Peter, the blow up doll that I inherited from Dawn. We decided that it would be a funny idea to bring it over to a get together that another Public Allies friend was having. A sort of house warming gift if you will. Well, it went over extremely well. I think Peter will have some good times with his new family. (The funniest thing about bringing Peter over was that I had my friend Carrie blow him up while we were driving over there. It must have been a sight for people who were standing in the streets and saw us at stop sights. We also stopped to get some fries at this restaurant, so we left Peter sitting in the backseat. When we finished eating and started to drive again Peter scared me when I would look in the rearview mirror It is so creepy).

My scores for Saturday nights bowling league...83, 98 and 137. Yes, I realize that I kick some major ass.

Starting to hate politics in general

President Bush's State of the Union was on last night. It was suppose to be a speech of optimism, instead I felt even worse about the future of my country. I literally felt sick to my stomach hearing the future plans. Since I don't remember exactly what got to me, here is a run down of what I found amusing/disturbing:

-At the beginning Bush gave a quick tribute to Coretta Scott King. It is very sad to see such a prominent figure of Civil Rights leave us. When he was speaking, the camera scanned the audience, and who else did they show but... Yes you guessed it, Black people. Oh look how diverse the audience is...First Lady Bush even had, what appeared to be a Muslim woman and a Black man, sitting next to her. Yes, I don't know much about politics, so these people could be related to the subject matter, or some big political figure, but still...To me it was such a publicity ploy. And later when Bush was talking about education and children, the cameraman found...Yes, a child. Way to keep our attention. (Back to the Coretta Scott King thing. I don't know where I heard it, I think it was Good Morning America or something, but when they were talking about her, they said something to the effect as, "Behind every Great Man there is a Great Woman." God, as a feminist, this saying irks me like no other. How about, "Beside every Great Man there is a even Greater Woman." Yeah, that is much better.) Ok, back to the State of the Union.

-Whenever the Republican half would go into ruckus applause, Bush would give this very self-pleasing smirk. Yes, your speech writers did an ok job. But here's a thought, perhaps they weren't applauding in approval, but just to piss off the Democrats.

-Bush started the section talking about Social Security, and he talked about how his two of his fathers favorite people were approaching retirement age, himself and President Clinton. They flashed to Hillary Clinton you had this pursed lips/furrowed brow look going on. Don't worry Hill, I had the same look on my face. The Bush administration is really playing up this Bush Sr./Clinton friendship.

-Hey look. It's Senator Kohl.

-I was so embarrassed with the Dem vs. Rep applauding/booing. Yes this is our government. You could easily mistake this audience for an audience at a rival high schools basketball game.

-Ahhhhhhh. I hate the Patriot Act. But hey, it doesn't affect me because I'm American, I look white bread. Wooo hooo America.

I could go on and on about this but I won't since I need to get going. If you want to comment about how little I know about politics go ahead, but be aware, I already know.

The Evil Puppy is after your immortal soul.

Is it stealing when someone leaves a particular item behind, and you keep it without telling that said person that they forgot it? What if that person is far away, and it is hard to give it back? What if that person kind of obviously purposely left it behind? What if it was insignificant, like say a big blue coffee mug? Should a person just keep it? It doesn't matter what you say or believe, because that person is going to keep it, because she thinks it is super cool and doesn't want to part with it.

Speaking of stealing. I am a sinner because I have "stolen" and I have lusted after someone of the opposite sex. Guess who has an awesome Christian, Bible-thumping website? Yes it is our dear Mike Seaver, Kirk Cameron. Apparently, he used to be an devote Atheist, just like you and me (because aren't we all). But then he found the way of the Bible, which told him that if he didn't become a Christian, he would be damned for life. Uhhh, shouldn't we think of better reasons to be a Christian than a selfish reason, like I don't want to go to hell. How about the belief that Jesus was the son of God, and like good and stuff. I don't get religion (so starts the hate comments). Note: when it asks you if you are a Christian or not, just for fun, click no. It will explain everything: WHY YOU ARE GOING TO HELL and not good enough to go to heaven. Nothing like a little fear tactic to convert someone.

Here is an awesome website where you can see how your face compares to celebrities. My face recognition correlates to Lucille Ball and River Phoenix. Hmmm.

And if the title doesn't make sense you must watch Conan O'Brien to see the best new character.

Poor guy...I don't think they pay you enough to do that

For my work, I go to meet with different agencies in the city. I do this to see what they can do for me, my company and the clients of my company. Plus, when I go around to meet with these people, I can add them to my "community linkages" for Public Allies. So the more I meet, the better I look, or something like that.

Anyway. As I was driving, I was noticed that some bank/credit/loan place had some advertisement going on. They had a guy, standing on that island thingy in the middle of the busy city street, dressed up like the Statue of Liberty holding a sign that said something I didn't quite see, but I think it said "Income Tax". Maybe it was a friendly reminder that tax season is coming soon. Seeing that guy standing there had me thinking many different things. Here is the list of things running through my head as I saw him:

1. That guy is lucky it is a mild winter. (It has been in the 30 degrees Fahrenheit for more than a week. This is incredible, considering winter in Wisconsin can get bitterly cold. Negatives anyone?)
2. Is that guy a permanent employee? Or is it someone that they paid that day to do that stuff?
3. Look at the title of this blog.
4. I don't think Milwaukee is big enough for that type of shoot.
5. Doesn't that stuff work better with foot traffic? I think my point of not exactly knowing what that sign said speaks to this idea.
6. Once again, look at the title of this blog.... I mean...It's January!!!

To those who plan on commenting from this point on...

You stupid, stupid spammers. I have now blocked you. I block thee. So to those Real People, who would like to comment on my happenings, feel free. You will be asked to do a word verification, just to make sure there is no automatic commenting by spammers like Juicyfruit or whatever. You didn't trick me...I didn't click on your blog, so there.

There is nothing I hate more in the world than looking like a stupid girly girl

Yesterday was weird. Really weird. I started the day by getting up to go to work. For those of you not in the know, yesterday was Martin Luther King JR. day. Public Allies had a service day at 10:30am, so I figured that I could get two hours at my placement before it. I asked my supervisor if we would be working that day and she said yes. I told her I would come in two hours that day. When I showed up that morning, only one lady was there to tell me to go home, because we had the day off. Geez Louise.

Anyway, as I was walking back to my car, I noticed the rear passenger tire was flat. Gawl Darn it all!!! I never was taught how to change a tire, and of course, never had to do it. So I drove on what little air I had left (because I didn't have the equipment to attempt to change it and I did not have my AAA card) to an autoshop, where I proceeded to pay 80 bucks to get a new tire changed. Luckily for me, this was all able to be done in the two hours I had before the community service day started.

---Quickly I want to describe how I interacted with the guy at the autoshop. ME: "Ahhhh, I have a flat." Guy: "Ok." silence. ME: "I don't know how to get my spare on." silence. "I would like a new tire." Guy: "Well, why don't I find out what is wrong first." ME: "Ahhh, ok." guy comes back later, tells me I had a screw in the tire and asks if I want to patch it or get a new tire. ME: "ahhh, I don't know. What is best?" (note: of course he is going to say the most expensive thing" Guy: "Long run...new tire." ME: "Ok." later on guy shows me tires, talking about the features while I stare blankly at him. Me: "I guess I will go with that one." I point to the cheapest. Later guy tells me all the other things I need to fix in my car as he gives me silence so I can say I want it fixed right away instead I say, "Ok, I will get that fixed sometime in the near future." I pay and run away from the scary, scary mechanic men.---

Service day was ok. We got to spend the day at the YMCA for a special MLK celebration thingy. We were suppose to have special jobs to do during the day. My job was to man the sign-in table. Everybody else's was to watch teens do a dance/drum routine and play basketball with kids. LUCKY!!!

Afterwards some of the Allies and I went to a bar for a drink. It is 2pm. Oh, yippie skippy, power outage. Drinking in the dark is fun. The bartender put out tealights for us. It really set the mood. Since the bar is one block away, my apartment also had a power outage. Stupid hit and run driver hitting power lines. I went to get something to eat, since I didn't feel like cooking something in the dark. I then had a romantic candlelight dinner by myself. So sad. (Note: At one point my apartment manager had to walk me down the hall with a flashlight, because it was too dark because it was too dark to walk down myself. Once again, I felt like a silly little girl.)

I was sick of sitting in the dark, so I called my friend to see if I could hang out with her. We watched the Golden Globes, while we chatted and I knitted. Brokeback Mountain won Best Picture. I watched that this weekend. I thought it was good, but didn't really get the hype. I think people give it too much credit for being controversial. It was nice to see so much prettiness going on. Jake and Heath on screen together, its like staring into the sun. heh. I think my only criticism about it, which made me think it was too hyped, was that it was too jammed packed. To sum 20 years in two hours seem like a bit much, considering it is summing up not only their relationship, but their relationship with their wives as well. I guess you are suppose to get the point that Jake and Heath's characters see each other soo rarely. If I had to rate it, 3/4 stars. Michelle Williams was excellent.

Funny thing about the movie watching experience...There was a lot of older women going to the movie in groups. My assumptions were that only young people would go to see the film, but I was proven wrong, me and CM were some of the youngest "kids" there. The group of men who were sitting in front of us were gigglin (like little girls as CM said) like crazy whenever the two lead actors kissed. CM and I (I know that this is bad, but hey, no one is perfect) assumed that they were gay. You would think they would be more mature about it. Come on, lets be grown ups about it. Lets at least giggle on the inside like I do.

Milwaukee Bucks are not so good

I got me some free Bucks tickets tonight. I was given them 1 hour and 30 minutes before the game started. I managed to get two friends to come with me. I still had three extra tickets that the woman gave me that I couldn't find anyone to take (not that I tried really hard). And no, I didn't scalp them, because I do have a sense of propriety.

The seats were up in the nose bleed section and we were surrounded by little kids. They must have been from the YMCA or some other type of recreation program, because it was clear that they were together. The game was good but the Bucks lost...to the Chicago Bulls? Aren't they not good? I don't really know. I don't follow much NBA.

The adult people sitting around us were annoying as all hell. I just wanted to yell at them..."Do you realize how far up we are? I don't think that those Bulls fans sitting in the section next to us can hear us let alone the players." Stupid frat boys.

But in general I love being at professional games. There is something so great about people watching and also watching those silly little games they play. I was hoping that the Bucks would make it over 100 points so I could get my free Quarter Pounder from McDonald's. Oh wait. I don't eat red meat. But still. Also the half time show was cool. They had this gymnastic/tumbling group who did all these crazy jumping tricks and flying jumps from trampolines over their fellow gymnasts forming a pyramid.

Today for Friday training, we had to be in the shoes of a LGBT person. In my case, I had to play the role of some girl that had slept with a man who had intimacy with another man (the guy (straight) who was along with me had to check the box that he had slept with a man in the past). The exercise was to see what it is like donating blood (or attempting to) and checking the box indicating or sexual histories. I was freaking out while filling out the survey. Not because of the particular question, but because of the fact that I was lying. I am such a goody two-shoe that it is not even funny. When the woman took me to the room to take my temp/blood pressure/go over the survey. The question about the sex was the first thing she noticed. She asked the question out loud again. I said yes. She asked how long ago...oh no cornered. I didn't know what a good time period would be. "Two years," I said. Ooops. That, aparently is acceptable.

As they were setting me up to give the blood, I look over at my partners in crime. The guy, of course, was denied because men who had sex with men are automatically denied the opportunity. I started breathing heavier, covering my face with my hands, moving around in my lounge chair, nervously giggling. The woman asked if I was ok. I started to ramble on incoherently. Then I said in an almost panicked manner, "Oh my, I am sorry. I am really nervous. Hmmm heh," Covering face again, "Oh my God, I don't think I can do this, my heart is racing." She let me go. The girl who was with me was asking if I was ok as we left the building. Then I turned around and smiled, "See, I told you I would do that if my questionnaire was accepted." She was mighty surprised by my acting abilities. Now I feel like crap. I shall be donating blood to ease the guilt sometime in the near future.

My Holiday summed up

First and most important news:

My sister and her boyfriend got engaged on Christmas Day. They came to my parents home that morning. My sister was hiding her hand in her sleeve, which I didn't notice. I started asking them what they got each other. She seemed flustered and said something about a necklace, with a face that looked pissed. A little more prodding led to her getting up and going to my mom. She held out her left hand and said, "So mom, what do you think about that watch Perry's sister got me?" My mom didn't even pay attention to her ring finger, and said the watch was nice. Hee. Finally my mom noticed and everyone was happy. My dad squealed like a little girl, with "a little dress. Little saddle shoes. Little pigtails."

Later that night when we went to our bigger family gathering, my sister told my family she had an announcement to make. In a fashion that can only be my family's, my 15-year old cousin with a baby says, "Your Pregnant!" You see, in my family, baby in a baby carriage comes before marriage. That is how we roll.

Note: The first and so far only thing that my sister is worrying about...who will be the flower girl and ring bearer. She wants it to be equal between her and her fiance's sides, but she really wants our cousin to be flower girl and her fiance does not really have anyone to be the ring bearer. Does anyone really worry much about this aspect of the wedding?

The morning after Christmas I awoke and found seven extra people sleeping on my mom's living room floor. Apparently there was an argument at my aunts house which lead everyone but two people to come spend the night. It was weird. One of the seven was a two month old baby. I was happy to see her there. I even got to help give her a bath that morning in our kitchen sink...hey there was no baby bath thingy at my mom's place. I held the baby while my cousin washed her. My cousin told me she usually cries a lot during her bath but she didn't when I help. That is because I have the magic touch.

I had that whole week between Christmas and New Years off, in which I did nothing but lay around my mom's house. I gained about five pounds while my mom baked a cake, brownies and cookies and made meals late at night to feed me. My mom loves to feed me. You can tell she misses me and my siblings. She said that she wasn't in the Christmas mood until we were back. She made Christmas cookies and gave me a Christmas stocking full of candy and snacks before I went back to Milwaukee. Having us around brings the Holiday spirit I guess.

Eye doctor appointment. Prescription is a little worse. I said no to "family history of cancer" and "heart problems" both which I only realized minutes later were wrong. Oops. Oddly enough, I almost said yes to the "family history of cataracts" until I realized that my grandpa is not my blood grandpa. I must have smoked something before I went because I was very absent minded. She also dilated my eyes, which only went away way late into the night. I started to get freaked out but I am okay now.

New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful. I was designated driver and spent some time at the apartment where I felt uncomfortable because it was fancy. Well, fancier than me and what I am used to. My friends and I left the bar at 12:30. We are too young to be acting like we are 80 people.

Resolution for the New Year: Be more talkative in social settings. I blame CM for making me such a wallflower. Ok, my mom could probably take some of the blame too.

A nostalgic blog for the new year

Music of my years

Ages 0-10: I lump this together because I didn't listen to much of anything. There was the NKOTB stint (I still have a Hangin' Tough Concert VHS which is awesome). I also remember playing my mom's Captain and Tenille and Olivia Newton John records a lot. I was influenced a lot by my Mom and Dad so at a young age I knew Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Patsy Cline, any New Wave band, the Who and that type of 70's rock bands.

Late elementary-early Middle school: Any radio friendly rap/hip-hop/r&B artist. It was all about En Vogue, Toni Braxton, Coolio, Salt n' Pepa, TLC anything on Jock Jams cds. I was huge into top 40 radio.

Late middle school-early high school: The start of the woe is me phase. I was into the "Lillith Fair" esque music. Girls with guitars/pianos/voices. Alanis Morrissette, Alana Davis, Joan Osbourne, Sarah Mclaughlin or however you spell it. I also loved Bush and The Wallflowers. Still a radio girl.

Late high school-early college: My love of 90's alternative. Weezer, Nirvana, splashes of TOadies, NIN etc. etc. And thanks to Napster and the like: Mustard Plug, Mates of State, The Rentals, Get UP Kids, Ozma, early Jimmy Eat World, Tsunami Bomb (Insert music you could not hear, find or buy in Sheboygan) and any band seen at the early Warped Tour. I liked emo, pop-punk and anything with a moog/organesque sound.

Late college-now: I like to think I am blending everything together. Refining my tastes. I still like En Vogue. There is a warm spot in my heart for Girly rock and Jock Jams. Recently I am mostly listening to rock music you can dance to: ala Ok Go, and rock music that has bizzare lyrics: ala Pixies and Modest Mouse.

I Love Music.

23, that is almost 25 which is almost half way to thirty

Yep, as of yesterday, I am officially the big 2-3. I know it is still really young. But I can't help feel like the past 5 years have gone by really quickly. At least today I was told I looked like a baby by one of the tenants of the building I work at.

My Godson, "sent" me a birthday card and I got it today. It is cute. There is a bunch of scribbles and my friend wrote next to it, "A Victor Francis original." Awww, so cute.

For those interested, for my birthday, I sat and watched my Arrested Development and am wallowing in the fact that it is being cancelled.

I wish it would stop snowing

It is not stopping. It feels like it has been snowing for days in a row. I always feel like it is too early in the winter season for it to be snowing, but it is December 8th. I guess that is late enough.

When I moved to Milwaukee, I was secretly hoping that it was going to be a mild winter. I have a long way to drive from my apartment to work, and I hate driving in rain and/or snow.

I think someone stole my hubcaps off my car. I am not mad, I just think it is funny. I have a standard 4-door 95 ford Taurus. I didn't put any special hubcaps on there. What is the use of them anyway. The only thing I don't like, is it looks ugly without it.

Packers are good at sucking and I am one sensitive baby

The Green Bay Packers are now 2-10. Meaning 2 wins and 10 loses. Holy crap. What a bunch of losers, literally. I can't even watch the games anymore because it is so depressing. Whenever they do post-game interviews with Brett Favre, I want to cry. He looks like he is always on the verge of tears. At least he can be a big boy about it and not blame others and admit that everyone is at fault.

I was watching Extreme Makeover: Household edition, and I was brought to tears. I mean, sobbing like a little baby tears. This was within the first 10 minutes of the show. It featured a young father (28ish) who had 3 young girls (6ish, 2ish and a baby). The girls' mother had just passed away a few months before. When the "crew" came to build a new house, they met the family to talk about their situation. When talking about the mother the 6 year-old's eyes started to water and then one of the host pointed it out and that sent the little girl to cry out loud. That's when I started. I can't imagine losing my mother now, as a 22 year-old let alone at the age of 6. That little girl is so cute, but you know that there is a lot of hurt in her. She had to grow up fast. A good thing about the show, is that they provided resources on where to go if you need grief counseling for not only adults, but kids as well.

Oprah...you just earned some coolness points

Oprah on David Letterman, asking about the basket of books she sent David's son, asked him what his favorite book was. She said her favorite is Love You Forever. Holla! I love that book. My whole family loves that book. Whenever someone has a baby shower, I buy that book. People, if you don't know this book, buy it! I am not even telling you to check it out or borrow it from the library, I am telling you that you must own it. If you have a heart, you will love this book.

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, My baby you'll be."

Turkey Madness Weekend

Hey there people. Thanksgiving weekend has just passed, so I figure that it is time to update all my loyal readers on my going-ons. I got off work a little early (wooooo) so this meant I didn't have to speed to the UPS store to pick up my replacement phone. Thanksgiving itself was uneventful. My relatives did make me cry, because they like to remind me every year that I am single, but not worry because, "I will find the right man soon." Ugh. I wish my sister wasn't practically engaged to her boyfriend, because I would have no problem with my relatives wondering about my love life, because there would be no comparison. I am a sad lonely single person, get used to it, Aunt Carol.

Later on in the weekend, I went to see Rent, the movie. It was good but not outstanding. Rosario Dawson surprised me with her voice. My favorite scene is what they did with the Tango Maureen. I just love to watch people dance the tango. I wish I could dance.

I also went to this really skeezy bar back in my hometown. It was filled with 30-40 something year-olds who were wearing clothes that a teenager would wear to try to look older, but only they come off looking slutty. Everyone looked like meth-heads. I wanted out immediately. It just reminded me why I don't like my hometown.

Funniest thing said this weekend: Having a conversation with my family about an on-line quiz I took about selling out. My brother said, "I would sleep with someone for $20.........ANYONE." Just the way he said it, Hilarious. My sister's boyfriend then said, "I bet you would pay $20 for sex." Ah, mocking others? Welcome to the family.

FREAKIN' A

I believe that my cellphone is missing. I have been searching for a day now and still can't find it. My apartment, my car, my office. No where to be found. I think it might have been stolen, but I have no idea when or how or who. I am seriously drawing a blank. Off to Sprint I go to find out what can be done.

To all you spam blog responders

It is very mean to make me think that people are actually reading my blog. You start off your comment saying: "Nice Blog!" and then you go into whatever site you are promoting. It makes me sad. I cannot stand the false hope, when I put my mouse clicker of the "1 comment" and get nothing but disappointment.

This one is good too

You Are Old Fashioned Undies! You're conservative and a bit unsure of your sexy-ness. Unleash that tigress a little more - she's dying to get out. Men think you're a nice girl, a little too nice to date. Go wild with a sexy g-string... and totally up your confidence! What Kind of Panties Are You? Take This Quiz :-) Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

Ok, I am done with the quizzes now.

say what?

I know CM would like this one.

Doesn't Really sound like me...

Your Birthdate: December 12

You're a dynamic, charismatic person who's possibly headed for fame. You tend to charm strangers easily. And you usually can get what you want from them. Verbally talented, you tend to persuade people with your speaking and writing. You are affectionate and loving, but it's hard for you to commit to any one relationship. Your strength: Your charm Your weakness: Your extreme manipulation tactics Your power color: Indigo Your power symbol: Four leaf clover Your power month: December

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Manipulative? Charming? Affectionate? And I know I cannot get whatever I want. The thing about commitment seems about right.

My first ever...

Speeding ticket.

That's right. For the first time in my life I was not only pulled over, but I got my self a speeding ticket. When the police officer pulled me over, he did not even do the normal, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" thing. No, instead he said something like, "You were clocked at 85 mph. A citation will be given today. Please stay in your car, with the headlights on for safety purposes." I was sitting in my car dumbfounded, for three reasons. First, he didn't let me utter one word. Second, I could not believe I was going 85 mph. When I saw the lights, I looked down and I was going 75mph. Third, I was never even pulled over before, and the ticket was $260 and 6 points!

Now let me tell you why I was going 75mph (in a 65mph zone). Going at about 70mph, I was passing a car that was in the right lane, when a car came zooming up behind me. I picked up the speed a bit because he was riding me. All of a sudden the car to my right sped up so I couldn't pass her/him. I tried to remain the same speed. That's when all three of us passed the police car. The other two cars drastically changed their speeds, whereas I did not (I was always under the assumption that it was unsafe to change speeds that quickly).

So, I am going to try and contest the ticket. What do you think? I am already sure I cannot get it taken away completely, but do I have a shot at least of it being reduced? I mean come on....$260!!! And now I am on the Wisconsin Circuit Court Appeals website. I have a record, hehe.

I was headed home to Sheboygan while I was pulled over. My teenage cousin had her baby. I pretty much predicted it. I called my mom last Thursday asking if anyone had seen her in a while and that someone should call/see her. Later that day my mom called to let me know that my cousin was in labor. The baby was three weeks early, so I wasn't subconsciously guesstimating. I am totally psychic. The baby is soooooo tiny. It is definitely the tiniest baby I saw, but then again mostly the babies I see are relatives and my family has big-ass babies. The baby's name is Alana, but pronounced A-lay-na (not A-lah-na like one would think). Blame it on teenage stupidity.

Old Lady

I went home to switch cars with my mom. I brought my newest hobby with me, which is knitting. I was sitting there in my green sweater, knitting telling her how I joined a bowling league. She said I was turning into an old woman and I was doing "Wisconsin" things. Holla.

So let me tell you why I had to switch cars. The car I borrowed from my mom (because the other car needed to get fixed because it was making loud noises as I drove) has problems starting. On special occasions, specifically the occasions I want to go somewhere special, the car would decide not to start. I have a special connection with cars. The connection is not a positive one, it is more negative, in the sense that cars hate me. Lets hope the car problems seize and desist for awhile.

It's official, for about the fourth time.

My wiscmail account has finally closed. I am no longer considered a student at UW. What am I to do? Oh, maybe I can use those four other email accounts I have.

RIP hmlafave@wisc.edu

"Saying 'I'm Sorry' is the same as saying 'I apologize.' Except at a funeral." -Demetri Martin

It's a tad nippy

I finally turned my thermostat up to about 65 degrees. Before today, I didn't even turn it on. Living in an apartment complex, you are almost blanketed with the other's heat. Maybe I am just cold because I am starting to feel sick. I am usually a true Wisconsinite in that I can handle extreme weather changes, because weather can change at a drop of a hat here.

I have been eating grilled cheese sandwiches like a maniac. I actually went through a loaf of bread on my own, with making them. Maybe because they are cheap and easy to make, or maybe because I am going through a nostalgic part of my life, but I seriously cannot get enough of them.

So, I started a profile with myspace. I don't really know why I did, maybe because I was bored and had nothing else to do. (Really not having cable has increased my internet time by 2000, this was a completely random number by the way). Anywho, in my people search I came across the profile of Jason Hammel, who is the drummer for Mates of State. In it, he put down his religious affiliation as Scientology. I literally groaned when I read it. As bad as it may sound, "my opinion of someone goes down once I find out they are a Scientologist." I quote this, because I highly believe that this phrase is taken word for word from a conversation I have had with CM, who was the one originated it. (I want to give credit where credit is due.) I almost hate myself for saying that, because I believe that people should practice whatever religion they want without criticism, but then I remember how crazy Scientology is. Oh crap...are they going to come after me and sue now?

Speaking of crazy, those wacky Jacksons are up to it again. Janet Jackson, supposedly has a secret 18 year-old daughter from her first marriage. Now if this is true, I have to give mad props to Janet for keeping yet another major thing a secret for so long (the first being her second marriage). What I find weird, is the alleged daughter's name is the same as Janet's second husband. Hmmm......

These posts are actually about things that happened awhile ago but I was too busy, or tired to write about them at the time...

Alright...So two Mondays ago, I woke up in the morning. Performed my normal routine, a little slowly, unfortunately. I tried making myself some coffee with my own coffee-maker, but realize that I have lost my lid for the pot. This means that I have to press the little knob (that releases the coffee) thing manually since the lid would have done it for me, if I had it. I get my coffee into my travel mug successfully, but I can't find the lid to that. In my frantic search to find it, I knock over my mug....Coffee everywhere. Because I didn't want stains and the stench of coffee everywhere, I cleaned it up. So I grabbed my potato salad I had made for the office potluck (heh, I have office potlucks) and vanilla flavored liquid coffee creamer I bought especially for myself to use for my morning coffee, which I get from work. As I get to the car, IT WON'T START. I almost cry, but instead call AAA instead. The come 45 minutes later, which makes me about 45 minutes late for work. As I get to work I realize that I spilled the coffee creamer, all over my front seat. Oh wait, it's not done yet...I try to get the ignition to off, it won't go all the way. So I attempt to start the car again, nope...it's dead again. Lucky for me, this was the end of a pretty bad day. (For those who are wondering, I got the car to turn off all the way, and a co-worker drove me to an auto parts store to buy a new battery and now everything is swell).

Last week, I forget which day, I actually looked into the mirror and thought "Dang, I look good!" This is significant because rarely do I feel that I look good. I think it was my outfit which black and fitted from head to toe. It actually did slim me down. Whoever says that black is not slimming is crazy. My hair looked good too, because it was really sleek that day, length-wise it is getting long too (the ends are to my chesticles). I can't remember when it was this long I do know that it has been shorter than shoulder length since I was a senior in high school.

One of these guys I know once said that girls are only attracted to guys that are unattainable: AKA gay or has a girlfriend/fiancee/wife. I really disagree with this. However it is true it is unfortunate for me because the only guys that tell me I am beautiful/pretty/attractive/awesome fall in this category.

Saturday (which is October 22nd NATIONAL MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY), Public Allies is having an Options Fair for high school students. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this doesn't go down as the worst Service Day project in all Public Allies history.

Just some random thoughts

I saw Clinton this morning on Today this morning and he was speaking about the people in New Orleans. I noticed that he was wearing Mardi Gras beads. I immediately thought in my head, with a childish giggle...oooOOOooo I wonder how he got those beads.

While I was on the phone at work (with a potential resource I could use to run a presentation) I asked her "So what exactly is it that you do do?" Once again childish giggle, but only inside my head...because I am mature.

I hate it this time of year. I am rarely outside, due in great part to school, or this year, work. So the result is, what little tan I did have, is slowly fading away. I usually end up getting this weird grayish color. Yeah, it's now slowly getting to that familiar grey color. I try to become very friendly with lotion around this time.

In the past two days it has been ungodly warm. In the 80's to be exact. Ummmm, it's October....in WISCONSIN! Not that I am sad about it, it just makes me mad because it's like a big old tease. I will be snapped back to reality when, according to what I believe I heard on the news this morning, it will be lightly snowing by the end of the week. Ah, only in Wisconsin.

Last night's episode of Law and Order SVU was pretty awesome. It was all about a phone call they can't trace coming from a little girl claiming to be sexually assaulted. The whole storyline (if I went into more detail and told all of it) was a little bit highly unlikely. But it still "had me on the edge of my seat." EW, I hate cliches like that but it is true. One major complaint: Where was Stabler? Did I miss this explanation? I miss the prettiness. SVU without Stabler is like a kiss without tongue. Acceptable but not great.

Did you ever notice that what you thought was funny two minutes ago, actually wasn't that funny? Along those lines, I realized that I am not as clever as I thought I was.

I am doing some hella promoting for Public Allies. Every non-profit that I meet through my placements, I mention that I am a Public Ally, and tell the non-profit that they too could have an Ally. I most say, I have been getting positive reactions.

Less than a year ago I was saying how I thought Neighborhood Watches don't work...and now I am trying to set one up for my placement. Hehe, lets see how it goes.

I am listing to them right now so it reminded me of this story. This band, in which I kind of knew the lead singer while in college, Big Big Furnace had this song called "All My Friends" or something like that. It is basically a list of names, song to music. I remember him (meaning the lead singer) telling me that some names were just people he met, but they happened to fit into the song. Heh, that would make people thinking the song was sweet think again.

I almost had a heart attack when I read this one for two reasons: it truly shocked/disgusted me, and I was shocked that I cared. Ok here it goes....Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise are having a child together. That's right a little baby "TomKat." I thought Tom Cruise was allegedly sterile. It makes me sick. In the news they should just title it, "HEY! Look at us! Remember...we are seeing each other. Please let us be in the news again." Ah, I am a sucker for celebrity news.

What a peculiar night...

So Friday after our training day, or whatever you want to call it, some of my co-workers and I decided to go to a happy hour at some bar call Texture. One of the guys that comes in my car has a big pot of leftover eggs that he cooked as a snack for everyone. He sticks it in the trunk, thinking he will take it out before he leave each other. Once we get to the bar, we find out that not only do they have $3 martinis (our reason for going) but they have OPEN BAR for tap and rails. Holy crap. Now, I was DD, so it sucked for me but everyone else took full advantage of the deal. It was fun watching everyone getting tipsy. Anyway, everyone that came to the bar in my car started to leave with friends that they had called to join us. The guy with the eggs did not take them with him, because he was so drunk he failed to mention to me he was leaving. I spent the rest of the night talking with a boyfriend of one of my co-workers (who was awesome by the way and invited me to his going away party).

The next afternoon I took the eggs out of my trunk, because I didn't want them to fester. I was dumping them into my garbage, as I was throwing up from the smell. I was even nice enough to clean out the pot. I then called him to see if he wanted me to drop it off. He said yes and told me to meet him at a bar (it is 3ish). I met him and his friend there and had what was called a bloody beer (bloody mary mix with Blatz, I believe). While I was there I kept on looking at the bartender, swearing to God that he looked like the lead singer from The Promise Ring (now that I think about it, I don't know if there needs to be a "THE"). My co-worker invites me to a party that night and I leave.

We meet up again at the same bar later that night. I have CM with me. The party is above this cool antique shop and it is an awesome New York looking loft. The band (still don't know their name) was a surf rock band which I enjoyed a lot. The attendees were all rockabilly-esque and slightly older than me. CM and I stood out like sore-thumbs. For the first part of the party we mostly spoke to each other or to the guy that invited us.

(NOTE HERE: In one of my conversations with him, I ask him if he knew the name of the bartender at that bar. He said that he and his friend call him Cal, because of his hat. I tell him who I think he is. He makes a slight face, not a Promise Ring fan, but he knew the guy used to be in a band. Knowing the PR is from Milwaukee, I am convinced it is him).

As it got later into the night more people started to talk with us. There was the one guy that we swear was faking an Irish accent. There was one guy in the band that said something about us sitting in one spot by ourselves a lot OUCH! But the most awesome part of the night was when we met this guitar teacher who called us angels. This is the second time in a three weeks that someone called me an angel or angelic. My family and close friends would laugh at that. But what really won this guy over was when CM said she wanted to go to Vet School. Seriously...this guy fell in love. Luckily, we got CM out of the situation by leaving to a new destination.

Same guy that invited me there said that he and his friends were going to a new bar. He asked if it was ok if it was a lesbian bar. I said I didn't care. He said I would like it because everyone is really friendly there and it is really laid back. The second I step in there and ask the bartender, "Could I please get a water?", her immediate response is, "I don't know can you?" Without looking at me and walking by without stopping. I gave her an evil eye. I was in a bad mood from that point on and left soon after.

Overall good night. Good times. More stories for CM and Holland to tell everyone else to prove that we are not antisocial.

I'm Back!!!

Hey everybody. It's me...in Milwaukee. I started my "job" part of Public Allies last week Wednesday. Everything is going good. I am getting to know my fellow Allies better and they are all cool. I know there is more to talk about but I can't really think of anything of interest. I will be keeping more updates know that I finally have internet connection. Well, I am off to find something constructive to do. Until later.

Last night in Madison...

I am spending my last night in my apartment. Right now I am in the middle of packing and cleaning. I am just hoping that I can get it all done by tomorrow. This will probably be my last night of blogging for awhile, that is unless I can get online time whenever I am back in Sheboygan. I will be moving to Milwaukee by early September. Hopefully I will have enough money saved by then.

For the first time in my life (or however long I have had my own checking account) I have overdrawn. When I told my mom and sister, they asked what I spent my money on. I had to really sit back and think about that one. I did not and still do not know how I spent that much money. Perhaps it is rent, gas money (driving back and forth from Milwaukee and Madison isn't that cheap) and not to mention that 100 dollar parking ticket. Actually now that I think about it, there was more than one 100 dollar parking ticket (god damn those pesky HIDDEN disabled parking signs).

Do you ever notice that with a new transition in your life, you tend to think about loved ones that have past away. Is it just me? I have been thinking about my grandmother a lot lately. In the middle of the day, as I am researching apartments in Milwaukee, I am thinking about what my grandmother would think about my new job. Would she be nervous about me living in a "big" city by myself? I try not to tell my mom about my preoccupation with memories of my grandmother. She is superstitious and probably would see it as a bad sign.

Well, I am tired and there is still work to be done. Until next time...

Smart move Holland

So it was raining for about an hour, and an hour after it had stopped I decide it is good enough for me to walk to the mini-mart to pick up some much needed toilet paper. I am too lazy to find an umbrella but figure I won't need it anyway since the store is just around the (short) block. I make my purchase and as soon as I step outside it is down-pouring. It is a soak-you-in-a-second downpour. As soon as I get home, I am soaked through my jeans and t-shirt. I don't know what I was thinking.

One of the bad kids in my group told me that he told his dad about me. Apparently, his dad, who is "REALLY mad," wants to talk to me. Obviously this is suppose to scare me but I simply reply, "Good, I look forward to meeting him."

This weekend I went home to visit my family. The first night I am there my mom points to my always-sunblocked-layered-FRECKLED-shoulder and says, "I don't like that." (She is scared that I will get skin cancer because I have a lot of freckles but I protect my skin). As we were making frybread my mom semi-shouted at me (in that kind of "HOT!! HOT!!" way a mom yells to a one year old heading towards the oven) to get away from the hot oil because she was afraid I was going to burn myself (She just touched the oil with her finger minutes before). It is funny how moms will still treat you like your five even when you are an adult.

I must make a confession...I am the Phantom Dooker

ABC's Brat Camp, is probably the best programming on television right now. Nothing is better than watching a bunch of horrible kids spend 40 days in the wilderness, having to bury their poop in the ground. Makes me proud to be an American.

I got told today that I will be working with National church Residences. I am happy, because it was my second choice (of course I would have been happier with my first choice, but second is good). I just hope that I don't screw up like I am supposedly screwing up with my current job. I got my mid-term evaluation for my camp job and I got two checks for "needs improvement" for communicating with staff and being a team worker. This is all because of one instance in which I let my feelings get vented up about this one woman I work with. It's had to describe in words what exactly she does to me, but it can be summed up in saying that she makes me feel like an elementary-aged kid in front of my own group of kids. So I finally told her my feelings (in front of the site director) and I was told I was being "over emotional" and I was only acting out because I was letting my frustration towards my group of kids come out. Ah yah, that is exactly it...Only I know of a few other counselors who feel the exact same way towards that witch. I swear, the older I get, the worse I am getting at my jobs.

Funny story about one of the kids I work with: We were making poems about trees outside. One of the boys comes up and shows me his poems. It goes something like this: Trees are green, Trees are brown, It makes me sad, when they're cut down. Clever. I congratulate him on a good poem. I turn my back to help another student. Five minutes later I hear all the students encourage the boy with the poem to go (where at this point I don't know). I quickly turn around to stop him. He tells me he wants to read his poem to the people across the street. I look up at the direction he is pointing at and see people cutting down a tree. Ah, the innocence and passion of childhood.

Sinners are welcome

I went camping this weekend. I am a little red and a little bruised from the "white-water" rafting. I don't think it should be called rafting when you are pushing your boat off of rocks more than half of the time because the river is so low. I swear to god, next year I am not going rafting...Too much bad luck.

I have two interviews in the next two days for my Public Ally position. One is with Our Next Generation, a kind of youth mentorship program, and the other is with YWCA, setting up housing for low-income single mothers. I already had three interviews with Prevent Blindness Wisconsin, which sets up vision screening and follow-ups for children in school, Non-profit Management Fund, which helps fund and train for management in nonprofit organizations, and National church Residences, which also helps find housing for single low-income mothers. I am still not quite sure who I want to work with...They all seem like good choices. Going to go to bed now, I am super tired from this past weekend. Until later.

Happy Non-smoking bar day!!!

I didn't realize it, but I just so happened to go out on the same night as Madison's enactment of the non-smoking bar act. Personally, as a non-smoker, I am thrilled about it. However, I spent the entire night, in the outside area with all the smokers. Oh well, at least I didn't smell like smoke at the end of the night.

This weekend was independence Day weekend. I went back to my hometown of Sheboygan. It was nice to spend time with them, especially since I rarely get to see them, and probably will be seeing a lot less of them with my new job and its rigorous hours. At the fireworks my little 19 month old cousin sat behind me in her stroller. It was her very first fireworks. She was so cute sitting there with her big brown eyes entranced with the colors and saying, "Uh-oh," every time a big firework went off.

Fare warning if you and your children are ever in the presence of my aunt...She will encourage them to run. At the fireworks we positioned ourselves in a perfect position to watch the fireworks, or so we thought. Turns out they were being launch about 100 yards to the left of where we were sitting. Right when they went off we noticed that we had a big tree, which was on top of a big hill, in our way. My aunt decides to yell out, "KIDS RUN!!!." So all of my little cousins and friends' kids go bolting to a new position. All the kids' parents go running after them and our whole group of 30 split up into three different groups. I was left behind with my mom and a few other people. I said that I didn't mind not seeing the fireworks and stayed behind the tree for a minute or two, but then moved to another position where I could see better. I mean, come on...You got to love fireworks.