Great Blog

I am laughing out loud because of this blog.
Enjoy.

Favorite Summer Memories

After reading Rude Cactus a few days ago, I decided to post about my favorite memory of the summer.
Paige drove up with her family to celebrate the 4th of July with me. It was convenient to have them come up for a holiday weekend, but it was more than just hanging out during our independence weekend.
See, Paige arrived in America on July 4th - 28 years ago. She was born in Seoul, Korea and lived in a foster home for 2 years before joining our family. And since she is my nearest and dearest sibling I can't help but think of what my life would be without her. July 4th is my favorite holiday because it's the day she became my sister. Granted, I wasn't born for another 3 years, but without that day she wouldn't be my Onni.

Thank Fucking God

Finally! Science has proven what I believed all along.
Thanks Lachlan.

In a Box in my Basement

Similar to previous post only this list contains people that I would like to put in a box in my basement to prevent ever having to hear/see again.

1) obviously - Paris Hilton.
2) Lindsay Lohan.
3) Mario Lopez
4) Danny Bonaduce
5) Star Jones
6) Trishelle from the Real World Las Vegas
7) come to think of it - the entire Real World cast past and present
8) Kimberly Steward
9) Tara Reid. But I think I'll put her, Kimberly, Lindsay and Paris in one box to save on space.
10) Tori Spelling
11) Wilmer Valderama
12) Jesse Metcalfe
13) Montgomery Gentry (this was previously Toby Keith but he's grown on me. Plus I'd rather point out the idiocy of shooting a caged bear).
14) Moby
15) Hollywood Hulk Hogan
16) The Pussycat Dolls
and for Lushy (with whom I completely agree) - 17) Phil Collins

In a Box Under the Bed

I found this post to be so amusing that I had to pass it along.

It got me thinking about the men I'd like to hide under my bed.
I'll try to keep the list short since I'm sure Logic's boxes will take up some room too...

1) Dave Matthews
2) Doug Robb of Hoobastank
3) Josh Groban
4) Conan O'Brien
5) Adam Brody
6) Ryan Gosling
7) Jack White
8) Will Arnett

Body Art

On the ride home from the Wish Poosh campground I sat in the front of the truck with Logic and Jeff while Molly scrunched in the back. Due to the lack of space, I had my right arm over the seat.
Molly began counting my moles and whispered: "I wish I had a pen." Having heard that, I reached for the console and handed her a bic.

Cle Elum River Hike

This past weekend Logic and I went camping with a group of friends. Some closer than others, but it was nice to hang out with 9 other people around a campfire.
We didn't arrive until 11:30 on Friday night due to a small sign and a lack of light but because of our unexpected detour we knew a trailhead was only a few miles up the road.
So the next afternoon a group of us went to Salmon La Sac and hiked 6 miles through a mountain side and over to a river. It was a gorgeous hike that challenged me enough to thank my lucky stars for remembering to bring some water.

Brother Carries Fetus of Twin for Over 30 Years

What an interesting story.

For Those of You Who Don't Know My Mom

I guess I should talk about my monk-email and why I chose to pick on my mom.
See, my family is very "special". And I blame my dad for that. He is a very "unique" individual with a "rare" sense of humor.*
I'll give you some examples. Just don't expect them to make sense.

-He tells stories about how he wanted to name my eldest sister Paulution and that he almost convinced my mom to name me Gorbog.
-He pretends that his scars are from "the war" or some recent adventure. (ex:)
ME: "Dad what happened? You have a gash on your arm"
HIM: (as he walks in from mowing the lawn) "Oh, that old thing? Remember the time an alligator jumped over the fence and bit me? Well when I was just outside I noticed a tunnel and when I got closer I saw a man digging his way from China and it tore back open when I was helping him out."
-Anytime my 2nd sister meets someone new he asks her if they showed her their library card.
-When anyone receives a job offer, he admits to calling the employer ahead of time and explaining to them that he is a Shellback twice over.
-And the most relevant one: In college my mom passed out from malnutrition and her front teeth needed to be replaced. My dad tells the story a bit differently. See, in his eyes my mom had (and still has) a massive drinking problem and had her teeth knocked out one night at a bar. It doesn't stop there. Anytime my mom happens to be out, she is "sleeping off a hang-over" or "riding around in the cop car". He even went so far as to tell me that she saved up her aluminum cans for months and exchanged them for me on one of her benders in Tijuana.
It is because of that scenario that I just had to, let's be honest, exploit my mom.


*Parenthesis are used to signify a possible mental disorder in this situation.

Monkeying Around

I had so much fun with monk-email that I decided to share it with everyone. Thanks again to the Liberal Banana.

Does It Get Any Cuter Than This?

This is Charlie. She likes long walks on the beach and dressing up like a cave woman.*

If you would like to see more Pugs Dressed As Famous People you can go here.

*I made up the part about long walks on the beach, although I'm sure it's true.

Who Knew That Some Men Slept Through the Feminist Movement?

I am getting worked up. I decided to stop reading this article and formulate a few thoughts.
I find it infuriating that some asinine writer thinks that "career girls" are less likely to have a happy marriage. In my opinion he can shove his empirical evidence up his ass! Maybe the "low quality of marriage" comes from dicks like him who expect their wives to give up their goals and "hunker down to raise the kids". Are women the only ones who experienced the last 50 years? This article gives me the strangest sensation that I have gone back in time.

I encourage everyone to read it and it's counter-point (which I found very amusing) but in cause you're a busy career girl like I am, here are some examples of why I am so irritated ...

"A word of advice. Marry pretty women or ugly ones. Short ones or tall ones. Blondes or brunettes. Just, whatever you do, don't marry a woman with a career. Why? Because if many social scientists are to be believed, you run a higher risk of having a rocky marriage. While everyone knows that marriage can be stressful, recent studies have found professional women are more likely to get divorced, more likely to cheat, less likely to have children, and, if they do have kids, they are more likely to be unhappy about it. A recent study in Social Forces, a research journal, found that women--even those with a "feminist" outlook--are happier when their husband is the primary breadwinner."..." If a host of studies are to be believed, marrying these women is asking for trouble."

"Gary S. Becker argued that when the labor specialization in a marriage decreases--if, for example, both spouses have careers--the overall value of the marriage is lower for both partners because less of the total needed work is getting done, making life harder for both partners and divorce more likely. And, indeed, empirical studies have concluded just that."

"John H. Johnson examined data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and concluded that gender has a significant influence on the relationship between work hours and increases in the probability of divorce. Women's work hours consistently increase divorce, whereas increases in men's work hours often have no statistical effect."

"The other reason a career can hurt a marriage will be obvious to anyone who has seen their mate run off with a co-worker: When your spouse works outside the home, chances increase they'll meet someone they like more than you. "The work environment provides a host of potential partners."

"According to a wide-ranging review of the published literature, highly educated people are more likely to have had extra-marital sex (those with graduate degrees are 1.75 more likely to have cheated than those with high school diplomas.)"..."And if the cheating leads to divorce, you're really in trouble. Divorce has been positively correlated with higher rates of alcoholism, clinical depression and suicide. Other studies have associated divorce with increased rates of cancer, stroke, and sexually-transmitted disease."..." In other words, a good marriage is associated with a higher income, a longer, healthier life and better-adjusted kids."

Suddenly I feel a lot of pressure! I guess I should quit my job so my husband can live a long, happy and healthy life.

New Header... ha!

After reading The Liberal Banana a few days ago I decided to change the header on my blog... and then I got a little carried away.
Things might continue to change as long as I am entertained with HTML so please bear with me.

Here I Go Again...

Thanks middle-girl:


1. How tall are you barefoot? 5' 3" and some change
2. Have you ever been cheated on? yes
3. Do you own a gun? no
4. What do you think of hot dogs? haven't had one in forever, but I'm not opposed to having one again
5. What's your favorite Christmas song? I don't really like xmas songs
6. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? caramel macchiato
7. Do you do push-ups? yes
8. Have you ever done ecstasy? yes
9. Do you like Disney World? It's okay. I prefer Epcot.
10.Do you like the rain? sometimes
11.Do you own a knife? only the kind that are used in the kitchen
12.What do you smell like? Logic says I smell like baby powder, but I think that comes from my dove body wash
13.Do you have A.D.D.? no
14.Full initials? not giving em
15.Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: should I stay and work O.T. or leave and walk around downtown in the sun? I wonder how long I'll have to wait for Step Up to come out on dvd? Sorting out weekend plans
16. Name the last 3 things you have bought today: turkey pesto sammie, coffee, bagel
17. Name five drinks you regularly drink: water, caramel macchiatto, chocolate soy milk, crystal lite & Mo'beta smoothies.
18. What time did you wake up today? 6:20
19. Can you spell? fairly well
20. Current worries? the state of my checking account, how I'm going to convince Logic to let me get an expensive purse, the impending winter
21. Current hate? not a haterator
22. Favorite place to be? at the coast
23. Least favorite place to be? In a building without windows (unless it's a movie theater)
24. Where do you want to go? home
25. Do you own slippers? yes. I've had the same ones for over 10 years. They're still in good shape too.
26. Where do you think you will be in 10 years? probably still living in Seattle, still married to Logic, maybe talking about having babies.
27. Do you burn or tan? burn like a mofo
28. Yellow or blue? blue
29. Would you give up your current life to be a pirate? no. I like my bed
30. Last time your cell rang? this morning
31. What songs do you sing in the shower? I usually make up songs to sing to my cat George, who likes to sit on the side of the tub and meow at me.
32. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? a kidnapper
33. How much cash do you have on you? nada
34. Last thing that made you laugh? co-worker commenting on pretend relationships we've made up about our office-mates.
35. Best bed sheets you had as a child? Bert & Earnie. I loved those! On one side of my pillowcases Bert & Earnie were awake and on the other side they were sleeping.
36. Worst injury you've ever had? (knock on wood) I'd hate to jinx myself and have something worse happen. Probably a gashed knee. I'm very lucky.
37. Where have you been out of the US? Canada and Mexico.
38. Who is your loudest friend? probably my sister (not Paige)
39. Who is your most silent friend? ha! I don't have any of those.
40. Does someone have a crush on you? no
41. Do you wish on stars? nah
42. What song did you last hear? I'm listening to "We Run This" right now (by Missy Elliott)
43. What song do you want played at your funeral? You know, I heard a song yesterday that I really liked and thought would be pretty at a funeral, but it's title eludes me...
*Oh, and I dont' want a funeral. Unless you count my family and friends getting together to spread my ashes and tell stories about me.
44. What were you doing at 12:00 last night? sleepin' like a baby
45. First thought upon waking up this morning? wow! this is what it's like to get a good night's rest.

One Man's Racial Slur is Another Man's Adjective

Where does freedom of speech end and politically correct begin? We have turned into a culture that requires such phrases as 'physically challenged' and 'overeater' but we also have court battles over the 1st amendment.
So in a day and age like ours, I couldn't help but be surprised to find a racial slur in a comment from a customer at my job. But even more surprising is that our policy department doesn't consider this blatant insult worthy of a formal action. It seems that freedom of speech has taken the front burner and respect in the work place is not even on the stove.
Needless to say, I was not only shocked, but also furious that we were choosing to turn our backs on such an inappropriate, immature attack of words.
After much deliberation, I decided to rally the troops and figure out if I was the only one upset by this. Turns out I wasn't. Management is looking into our policies to see how we can prevent this from happening again.

Putting My Dignity Aside

I realize my credibility is on the line here. I'm trying to establish a reputation for being a reliable movie/music critic. So if you would like to continue taking me seriously, please disregard this post.
OMG! Channing Tatum is so hot!
If you enjoy dancing and eye candy you should see "Step Up".
I've already gone twice. ;)

Down with Western Medicine*

With medicine improving daily and cures looming in the not-so-distant future it might be difficult to understand why someone would choose to forego treatment for an otherwise deadly disease but at some point you have to conclude that the patient has researched the options and chosen what is best for them.
This is unless the patient is underage. In that case, a refusal to do 'typical' treatment turns into a court case that blames the parents for neglect.
When a story comes out about a child who is rejecting western medicine for a natural alternative, instictively I assume it has to do with the family's religion. But in the case of Starchild Abraham Cherrix it was due to quality of life. He was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease at the age of 16 and began chemotherapy.
After his first round of treatment he declined to continue with the treatment. It was at that time that the state intervened. He and his family went to court to fight for his right to choose what course of action to take. And a compromise was agreed upon today which will allow Starchild to try out alternate forms of treatment so long as he visits his oncologist every three months and continues to progress.
This was a relief to me because I found myself cheering for his right to try The Hoxley Method (which includes an organic diet as well as taking herbs instead of the traditional chemo). At 16, I would hope he is mature enough to understand his choices. And, in my opinion, quality of life is so much more important than being deathly ill with chemo.

*in this particular case

Masochistic

I started reading "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris last night. I could have easily stayed up all night reading it. But I have this thing that I like to do. When I find something that I really enjoy I try to revel in it as long as possible. In an attempt to take in every morsel of something, I torture myself by stopping and waiting instead of devouring it.
I also do this with movies, ice cream, catalogues and even getting the mail when I know there's a package for me.
Does anyone else do this?

Dear Paige, I Love You

Within the last year I've come to realize that my family isn't as "white picket fence" as I thought. Call it growing up, call it a panic-attack induced realization, I don't care. All I know is that I can never go back to thinking my family is perfect.
I could go on forever with examples, but today I'm choosing to focus on one particular situation. That is the relationship that I have with Paige versus the relationship she has with the rest of the family.
Growing up, Paige and I didn't get along (rather she didn't like me) but I think we had to go through that to get where we are today. I understand her in a way that most others don't - and won't unless they make more of an effort. What the rest of the family might not understand though, is that Paige isn't who they think she is.
She is a very complex person. She's not just the shy, sensitive person that is portrayed during family gatherings. That is just a cover. That is who she has to be to protect herself from feeling hurt. And after a lifetime of being misunderstood, I don't blame her for hiding herself from others. It's probably feels much safer that way.
Now this is where it gets complicated. Paige wants everyone else to know who she is, but she's too scared to show it. And the rest of the family is oblivious to any of this.
What they don't realize is that Paige is a sardonic, creative, impressively thoughtful and generous person. She lives her life knowing that she has to face obstacles that others aren't even aware of.
Our family has no idea how much the adoption has affected her or how important it is for her to feel included. And no, she is not needy. Just in need of being part of our family.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

When Logic and I tore up our carpet this weekend we didn't take into account that our cats would freak out about the temporary concrete flooring. Otherwise we would have waited to remove the carpet after the maple flooring arrived.
I plan on having rugs ready to go down the same day as the maple. I just hope that I'm able to get a good night's sleep in the meantime.
Who knew that cat claws would be so loud?

Must Haves

Thanks Lach for this idea...

This is my list of must haves to be in a relationship with someone:

-has a great sense of humor
-has a gentle smile
-is honest
-is spontaneous and yet level headed
-adores their family
-is silly
-does math - since I don't ;)
-loves cheese - especially goat cheese
-enjoys the ocean
-enjoys outdoor activities
-loves animals
-open-minded
-finds ways to entertain themself while I watch girly-movies
-respects me
-is strong but gentle
-helps around the house
-enjoys cooking

My New Desk

You are going to be soo excited!
Why? You ask...
Because I am finally going to shut the hell up about the window seat. My boss followed through and helped me secure the newly available seat. I was moved this morning. So it is from my new desk that I write this blog (unless my boss is somehow reading this... in that case I am writing from home).

Love Letters

A few weeks ago, I crawled out of bed and maneuvered through a groggy morning to arrive at work around 7:30. As part of my typical routine I got to my desk, put my lunch in the fridge and proceeded to walk to the corner cafe with my friend Keith.
After a cup o' joe and a brisk walk, we returned to the office and prepared for the day.
I turned on my computer and to my surprise, found my dad had emailed me earlier that morning.
He was getting ready to leave the house for the pool but wanted to start my day off with a little love letter. The details will remain between he and I, but I wanted to share this story because it brightened my day in a way I never expected. Now we have competitions to see who can email the other more times in a day and I leave the office with the affirmation that my dad loves me.
Does it get any better than that?

Added note: he does the very same thing for my other siblings. This has re-ignited a joke among us all as to who his favorite is. "I got 3 emails from dad today! I must be the favorite."

Pleasant Surprises

Don't you just love it when you're staring aimlessly at your cubicle wall and you suddenly hear a *ding* on your headphones? Knowing that the ding means you have a new message, you decide that checking your new mail is more important than fixing the falling photo on your wall.
So you open your outlook account to see that you have a package waiting for you at the reception desk.
You run downstairs, nearly tripping on the last stair and cascade across the tile. But you make it to the reception desk safely and discover that your Loan Officer had a blueberry cake delivered to you as a way of saying thank you for the recent business.
This has never happened to you? Well, then you have the wrong Loan Officer.

What Gender is Your Brain

YOUR BRAIN IS 67% FEMALE, 33% MALE

Your brain leans female
You think with your heart, not your head
Sweet and considerate, you are a giver
But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!


Thanks Syd for this post

Unwanted Attention

Do I have "come talk to me, I have low standards" written on my forehead?
Or am I just that lucky?
Before I continue, I should say that I realize it has to be hard for a guy these days. But after being turned down multiple times, you'd think they might take the time to evaluate the situation and either take a new approach or no approach at all.
So, back to the story. I'm waiting for my husband to pick me up from work yesterday and I decide to head down a little early to bask in the sunlight. I'm waiting near a bank for about 10 minutes when a short, chubby, middle-aged man approaches me. Only I don't know he's there - because he is standing behind me. Then out of nowhere I hear, "who would have such a pretty lady as you waiting outside for so long?"
I turn around in surprise to find said man with a sleezy smirk on his face.
I politely smile and inform him that I chose to come downstairs early for the sun. He takes this as an indication that I am accepting his advances. He moves closer. "You know, there are coffee shops over there..."
(internal remark: I know, we're in Fucking Seattle!)
me: (insert awkward laugh) "yes, I know. I work here." (bad idea)
him: "oh? you work for ____?"
me: yes
him: "which department?"
Trying to control my growing irritation, I respond in as few words as possible.
He then goes on to tell me that he works in a similar department and would love to talk to me about it.
So here's where I tell him that I am not qualified to answer specific questions about our tool process and thatI could give him the email of a person willing to help.
The rest of the story consists of him taking down the email address of said co-worker and then me taking every opportunity to turn my back to him or ignore his questions.
Part of me feels bad for being so rude, but then I remind myself that I did not welcome his attention.
Now, I'm not saying that a little attention is always a bad thing, but this type of thing happens to me more often than I'd prefer. And between you and me, they're RARELY good looking or even self-confident. It is because of their obviously tender egos that I find myself being polite but I really just want to tell them to fuck off.
Any suggestions on how to handle these situations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance. :D

Technology is Great

I just figured out how to download audio cds from the public library!
I love technology! How did we survive before audio downloads?
Before computers? Before headphones? Before books? (oh wait.. those have been around for quite a while.)


* In response to the recent comment - I'm sure most city libraries have a similar program, but with the Seattle library you can click here and browse. It should allow you to download from there.

Amelie

I am one of those Netflix users who has a slight obsession with my queue. I recently skimmed down my selection to 202 rentals and am seriously considering re-listing most of the movies that I just deleted. Going into a video store, I have a hard time finding ANYTHING to watch, but that crazy netflix website makes it impossible to go on the site without finding at least five movies to watch.
Even in the middle of summer I make time to watch movies. As a Seattlite, I feel a great need to be outside when the sun is out but come sun-down, I am sitting on the couch watching a movie. So these last few weeks have been very unusual for me.
I still found time to be outside, but due to trips and home renovations I haven't had the time for my movies. I had Amelie sitting on top of my tv for nearly 3 weeks and even though I'd heard such great things about it, I just couldn't find the time to watch it.
Then came Friday night. Logic and I finally had some free-time and decided to put the movie in.
Now, I usually pride myself on being able to explain a movie down to the most microscopic detail but with Amelie I'm finding it hard to explain the movie at all.
It's one of those rare gems that is so unique and lovely that there is nothing to compare it to.
It is a great story of a girl who finds a toy from a previous renter and decides to "pay it forward" to a certain extent. But even as I explain that, I find that it doesn't do the movie justice. So I guess I'll just have to trust that you will watch the movie and be able to form your own opinion/description.

The Reality of My Life

So you can skim through most of my posts and find that 99% of the time I'm complaining that I didn't get my fucking window seat. If you haven't heard the story - I'm not going to repeat it for fear of losing the 3 people who read my blog on a regular basis. So if you don't know what I'm talking about, hurry up and look through the rest of my blog and then come back to this post.
Cut to today: a co-worker just sent out a general email to the team saying he was leaving for a different business opportunity. This caught all of us off guard, but we were even more surprised when he proceeded to walk around and say goodbye. Today was his last day!
It wasn't more than 10 minutes later when my boss emailed me and asked if I wanted ex-coworkers old desk ... which just so happens to be a window cube.
Hold on! Don't get so excited. After all, this is the reality of my life. Yes, it is a window cube, but it a window cube with a huge pillar in it. So big that it blocks most of the view. And I'm not even sure if I can see sky from there (which is why I needed the window seat in the first place). And to top it off - it's right next to a teammate whom I can hardly stand. Why god? Why?

Update: sorry for being such a whiney bitch. I should just be grateful to be getting a window seat at all.

Top 3

I read an interview with Ted Casablanca from E! and thought I'd post his answers and then give my own (you should know by now that I can't pass up an opportunity to fill out a questionaire). So here are his:

• Top Three Best Things About Blogging: bad hair. revenge. nudity.
• Top Three Favorite Cheese Types: romano. cheddar, extra sharp. gouda
• Top Three Favorite Movies: Aliens. The Devil Wears Prada. All About Eve.
• Top Three Favorite Albums: Jeff Buckley, Grace. Dire Straights, Brothers in Arms. Madonna, Confessions on the Dance Floor.
• Top Three Favorite Foods: Fried anything.
• Top Three Favorite Websites: my own, of course, Defamer, gofugyourself
• Top Three Cities That Make Your Soul Happy: New York. New York. New York.
• Top Three Guilty Pleasures: Sour cream and onion potato chips. A nice ass. Movies, any kind, any time.
• Top Three Favorite Dream Jobs: I have it.

and here are mine:

• Top Three Best Things About Blogging: "save as draft", tagging, virtually reading other people's diaries
  
• Top Three Favorite Cheese Types: goat, cream & fresh mozzarella
  
• Top Three Favorite Movies: The Notebook, So I Married an Axe Murderer & Bridget Jones' Diary
  
• Top Three Favorite Albums: Before These Crowded Streets - DMB, X&Y - Coldplay, Ok Computer - Radiohead
  
• Top Three Favorite Foods: pasta, almost any salad & french dip sammie
  
• Top Three Favorite Websites: eonline, dailykitten & comedy central.
• Top Three Cities That Make Your Soul Happy: San Diego, Roseburg OR & Seattle (when it's not overcast)
  
• Top Three Guilty Pleasures: gossip, coffee & shopping
  
• Top Three Favorite Dream Jobs: journalist, United Nations Ambassador, personal trainer
  

You Are An ENFP

The Inspirer

You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends.
You are also unconventional, irreverant, and unimpressed by authority and rules.
Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives.
You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller!

You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist.

Thanks for the blog idea Jos! I saw yours and had to do it myself. :)
I agree with almost everything except my use of fucking colorful language. Hee! But seriously, I
tried the entrepreneurial route a few years ago and I was not excellent at it.

SIGG

I recently read an article about the possible dangers of certain types of plastic. Typically I take these studies with a grain of salt (if you take every scientific publication seriously, you would be too scared to do anything) but the more I read the more I concluded that it wouldn't hurt to trade out my Lexan water bottle with an aluminum one.
So for anyone who's interested, here's a link to the SIGG website. They are a Swiss manufacturer and make each bottle out of one piece of aluminum to prevent leaks. Oh, and did I mention that they're really cute? (I'm such a girl!)

Money Maker

I just streamed the new Luda single called Money Maker and I really like his new style. The song is more mellow than I'm used to and it has a maturity about it (pretty ironic considering the theme).
In a recent article on msnbc.com Ludacris says “I felt like people knew who Ludacris was, but people never knew who Chris Bridges was.” He went on to talk about how he chose to include more personal issues into his lyrics this time around, such as his daughter and politics.
I look forward to seeing/hearing his progress and admire his fearlessness.

9 Layers

This list provided by Lushy.

LAYER ONE: --
Name: Amaya
Birth date: October 9, 1979
Birthplace: Lewiston, Idaho
Current Location: Seattle, Washington
Eye Color: blue
Hair Color: dark blonde
Height: 5' 4"
Righty or Lefty: righty
Zodiac Sign: Libra

LAYER TWO:
Your heritage: Slovenian/German/Irish
The shoes you wore today: pink flip-flops
Your weakness: sugar
Your fears: clostrophobic
Your perfect pizza: something with goat cheese
Goal(s) you'd like to achieve: finishing college, traveling to Europe, buying a house

LAYER THREE:
Your most overused phrase on AIM: word
Your first waking thoughts: what time is it?
Your best physical feature: my eyes
Your most missed memory: kissing Aaron over a bridge in 9th grade. he died 2 years later.

LAYER FOUR:
Pepsi or Coke: pepsi
McDonald's or Burger King: neither
Single or group dates: single
Adidas or Nike: nike
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: nestea
Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: cappuccino

LAYER FIVE:
Smoke: nope
Cuss: often
Sing: even though I probably shouldn't
Take a shower everyday: yes
Do you think you've been in love: I know it
Want to go to college: yes
Liked high school: yes
Want to get married: am married
Believe in yourself: most of the time
Get motion sickness: sometimes
Think you're attractive: for the most part
Think you're a health freak: probably
Get along with your parent(s): now I do
Like thunderstorms: LOVE them
Play an instrument: played the piano for 8 years

LAYER SIX:

Drank alcohol: yes
Smoked: yes
Done a drug: not recently - oh, unless you count prescribed ones ;)
Made Out: yes
Gone on a date: yes
Gone to the mall?: not recently, thank god
Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: no
Eaten sushi: love it
Been on stage: yes
Been dumped: yes
Gone skating: yes
Made homemade cookies: yes
Gone skinny dipping: yes
Dyed your hair: yes
Stolen Anything: yes

LAYER SEVEN: Ever...
Played a game that required removal of clothing: yes
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: yes
Been caught "doing something": yes
Been called a tease: not to my face
Gotten beaten up: no
Shoplifted: yes, but the stupid people at Victoria's Secret were too busy talking to come to the counter so I just walked out with the bra.
Changed who you were to fit in: sadly, yes

LAYER EIGHT: --
Age you hope to be married: am married
Numbers and Names of Children: not sure yet
Describe your Dream Wedding: I'll answer this since my wedding would be different today - I wish we'd been married on the beach, and NOT in Florida.
How do you want to die: hmm. this might sound morbid - but I'd like to have time to reflect on my life. Not a lot of time - just a few minutes so I can have my life flash before me.
Where you want to go to college: UW
What do you want to be when you grow up: good question
What country would you most like to visit: Italy

LAYER NINE:
Number of drugs taken illegally: 3, I think
Number of people I could trust with my life: too many to count. guess that makes me fortunate
Number of CDs that I own: oh god - hundreds
Number of piercings: none now. I've had 7 total
Number of tattoos: 1 so far
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: when I was born
Number of scars on my body: 1 from a bike accident in 3rd grade. I'm very proud of it.
Number of things in my past that I regret: none.

I Have a Confession

I like the new songs by Nick Lachey.
I can't help it! Try as I might, those damn songs are catchy!

Movie Reel

For as long as I can remember, I've been a cinema fan. So much so that I used to drive my family crazy by coming home from a 2 hour movie and spending 4 hours explaining it to everyone.
I have far too much trivia in my head and an imagination that often hinders my concentration. But in the past few years my obsession with the entertainment industry has waned. Not because I don't enjoy it anymore, but because the machine that is behind the industry has exposed itself in a very unpleasant way.
Five years ago I was awe struck by every aspect - concepts, set designs, camera angles, costumes, makeup, production and story lines of most any movie I saw. But in recent years I've become disillusioned. (Come to think of it, this was around the same time that reality television and Paris Hilton emerged - but that's a whole other blog.)
I still appreciate the art of the cinema, but am rarely inspired by film anymore. So I have decided to add commentaries on movies into my blog and explain why I enjoyed/loathed it. Look for future "movie reel" blogs.

The Pro's of Lewistown

Recently I mentioned that I couldn't think of any positive thing that came out of my time in Montana. Well, after visiting the town I lived in, I've decided to try my hardest to be the optimist you know and love and come up with a list of pro's for having lived there. So here goes:
1) I learned a lot about myself - including how strong I am
2) I got to see another "culture" because believe-you-me it's like living in a different country there
3) I was in a safe place that allowed experimentation without too many consequences
4) It was another adventure that I can learn from and laugh about
5) If I had stayed in Roseburg, I may never have married Logic.

Hmm... only 5 things. Oh well, I'm sure there are more.
And if not, 5 is good, right?

July 29th - The Wedding Finale

July 29th came and went and I'm still alive to talk about it! As many predicted, I even managed to have a good time while I was there.
We drove into town around 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning and tried to get into our hotel room early. I was suprised to find my first closeted lesbian within the first 5 minutes of arrival. She was working the hotel desk and had no qualms about checking me out. So I decided to work it to the best of my ability in the hopes that she'd let us in our room 5 hours early. Turns out I'm not seductive.
After failing to secure a room, we drove to Pandora's place in the hopes of finding a bed to nap on. But after the hugs and the tour we found ourselves wide awake. So we all drove up to Pandora's parent's house and found a beautiful breakfast spread. We sat out on the back deck and ate specialty muffins and sipped on orange juice. Then we decided to stop by the Bed & Breakfast Pandora's in-laws own to see if we could help set up for the wedding.


Here's a photo of the front yard. The house was built in the early 1900's and restored by the groom's family in the 1980's. They didn't turn it into a B&B until quite a few years later but when they did, they came up with some very creative ways to put bathrooms in every room including turning a closet into a shower!
We met the groom's family upon arrival and took a quick tour of the house. Then we spent the next 3 hours helping set up the tents and chairs in the backyard.

Who forgot to put on sunscreen? Yeah, that was me. So after 3 hours in the sun I put on some aloe vera and rushed back to the hotel for check-in so I could shower. Once I was showered, we all decided to nap before the rehearsal dinner. We set the alarm for 4:40 assuming that would give us plenty of time to get ready before the 6:00 rehearsal time.
Now, I don't even remember the alarm going off, but apparently our friend turned it off in mid-sleep and none of us noticed until 5:20 when Logic woke up. We all lept out of bed and were at the front steps of the B&B as the church bells were chiming 6:00.
The rehearsal went quickly and the next thing I knew we were sitting down to a home-cooked bbq. Justin picked the steak and I chose the chicken but we ended up sharing. It was probably the best steak I've ever had! And then the dessert came out - chocolate mousse cheesecake and a poundcake with fresh berrries on top. SO good!
After the rehearsal dinner we drove out to the fair and I was greeted with screams from an old friend and her husband. (this was one of the more disappointing moments on the trip. Turns out she and her husband didn't reach the potential I thought they would. Don't get me wrong, they're both successful in their professions and living in a large, beautiful home. But I remember them being polite and they showed no signs of that last weekend.) I could be wrong, but I didn't realize it was acceptable to invite your own friends to someone's wedding. Friends who don't know the bride or the groom. Is it just me or is that really rude? They also seemed rather immature for their age. Their sense of humor wasn't what I remember it being and they were not nearly as open minded as they used to be.
I also ran into an ex-boyfriend. He came over and hung out with Logic and I for a while. It was nice to see him, but it reaffirmed the fact that he was NOT right for me.
I think we stayed out at the beer gardens until midnight and then headed back to the hotel.
The next morning came too soon and before I knew it we were driving up to Pandora's parent's house to help prepare for the day. By the end of Saturday I was relieved. I made it through the wedding, was spared from seeing people I didn't care to see and even ran into a few old friends.
We woke up on Sunday and rushed up to the parent's house for a quick goodbye before we headed out of town. As we left, a pang of sadness hit me right in the gut. I guess I did miss this place after all.

Meth: Not Even Once

On our way into Fergus County we started seeing signs on the side of the road trying to deter people from trying Meth. The paintings were obviously done by school children and took a lot of time and effort. But having said that, we laughed our asses off.

Budweiser Girls

On our way to Lewistown, we stopped off in Spokane for dinner and were excited to see Jack & Dan's Tavern because it was owned by John Stockton's dad. (Logic being the biggest John Stockton fan in the known universe.)
We were sadly disappointed when we got there and learned the tavern was directly across the street from GU. Can you say 'meat market'? We decided to eat there anyway and have never made a worse decision. Our server seemed to be proud of her lack of initiative. Not only did she neglect tables while flirting with others, she actually left a father and son during their order to find the right table for food that she'd ordered incorrectly. (Coming off of 5 years working in restaurants I am typically very understanding. But not when you don't CARE that you suck.)
But the service was amazing in comparison to the atmosphere. Toward the end of our meal, we were welcomed by 2 Budweiser Girls. They made Hooter's waitstaff look like wholesome Quakers. White stilettos, red daisy-dukes, white wife-beaters and bleached-so-much-that-the-slightest-breeze-would-break-their-follicles blonde hair. They nearly gave one man a lapdance and spent the majority of their stay in "pout position".
But always the optimist, I chose to consider this an example of how absurdly wrong citysearch.com can be when rating restaurants.

Soap Lake

I'll get to my Montana trip in a while, but I wanted to start out by plugging Soap Lake.
Logic and I arrived there on Sunday night with some friends and spent the next 24 hours playing with 3 kitties and a puppy and taking mud baths in the mineral lake. It was a great way to end the trip.

5 Pockets In My Overalls

I'm borrowing the title and concept of this post from Paige.

Before I start this post, I want to acknowledge where the title originates from.
The song "I've Got 5 Pockets In My Overalls" is from a casette Paige and I grew up listening to. Joe Wise sings that among many other fun songs and I just found a cd of his this morning.

Five Items in my Freezer
Pulled Pork from Pandora's wedding
frozen mugs
ground turkey
bread
grapes

Five Items in my Closet
lots of shoes
vacuum
framed Degas dancers
books
photo albums

Five Items in my Car
face to my stereo
kleenex
cds
sunglasses
sleepmask

Five Items in my Purse
zyrtec
tinted lipgloss
spare key to Lach's house
business cards
birth control

Five People I Tag
Paige
Logic
Lach
Bayou
Uppity Rib