shameless self-promotion

i have a confession.

i've been cheating on spinlizzy. with a new blog.

after a particularly rough week at work, i was blubbering to the boyfriend about how i didn't think i'd be able to stand the hours and the demand my career gives to me. he responded by asking what job would get me excited about working, and i repeated over and over 'i don't know.'

after a long pause to think about it, i told him that i needed a job that somehow blended my life's top loves: writing, shopping, sports -- particularly football, baseball and snow-skiing -- drinking coffee, eating and relaxing.

his response: "you're the modern girl. you can talk most guys under the table about sports but you still love to shop. you know how to balance your budget and pay a mortgage. you're conflicted when sportscenter and sex in the city are on at the same time. you should start a blog for people like you. maybe you can turn it into a magazine later."

well, unsure about the magazine part, but two days later i have a new blog up and running complete with fun design and funky widgets.

it's my new baby, my new project. it's going to be focused on sharing stuff related to what a Modern Gal, like myself, might be interested in.

here's the bad news. while i'm not getting rid of spin lizzy, i do imagine it will be neglected more and more as the weeks wear on. and face it, that may not be a bad thing. the interestingness of my life ebbs and flows, so i'll blog when i've got a funny story to tell, but won't force a post when i don't.

so in the mean time, catch me at my new blog.

did i mention i have a new blog?

p.s. PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME FEEDBACK EITHER HERE OR ON MY NEW BLOG. I CAN ONLY PLEASE YOU IF I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. TO READ. WANT TO READ. AND I VERY MUCH WANT YOU TO READ.

another one bites the dust

lucydog ate my pedometer.

the village people had it all wrong

this is the mission of the YMCA in the united states, according to its website:

"To put Christian principles in to practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all"

i'm here to tell you that mission is not alive and well.

i've been searching for a place to work out in knoxville while i'm stuck here. i'm not buying any memberships so long as i have one to the williamson county recreation center in nashville. but, i figured there would be places around town, say the ymca, that might allow me in on a single-time pass.

i sought out a city-owned rec center first, recalling the time i lived in chattanooga and the city owned a weight training room that you could patronize for just 50 cents. the one i decided to try is just a hop and a half away from the boyfriend's house, and the city's website advertised it as having a weight room. false advertising. i found the gym and the bridge center, but no weight room.

so i drove over to a nearby ymca. i also recalled a few times while in chattanooga (and too poor for a gym membership) paid $5 to get into the ymca's weight room. a little over priced, but not to expensive to keep me away.

gal at the desk of the knoxville y: can i help you?
me: yes, i don't have a membership. i'm visiting from out of town and was wondering if you do single-day passes?
other gal at the desk: ha!
first gal: weeeeeeeeeell, we do, but they're $15.
me: $15? that's a lot of money. um, nevermind.
first gal: ok, see ya.

ok, when i think of Christian principles, i do not think of exclusive, overpriced and unfriendly. but those words pretty much summed up the principles at this ymca (and presumably all the ymcas within the east tennessee region). come to think of it, this is also the case in middle tennessee where the ymcas are COUNTRY CLUBS. seriously. i visited one when i was thinking about getting a membership there and it crossed my mind that i had been in country clubs not nearly as fancy as the y i was in.

from the Book of Matthew, Chapter 19: Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

something to think about, ymca.

halloween ball

alternate title: never get stuck in a sphere at the top of a tower with 275 people and two one-stall bathrooms.

i regret to inform that i have no pictures of my halloween costume. my camera's batteries died because my camera hasn't been plugged in to charge since the last time i officially occupied my home in nashville. and, i only had triple-A batteries as backups (if you know me and my profession, you will understand).

the party was held at the top of this:

that is, the sunsphere, the monument to the 1982 world's fair celebrating energy and the icon which almost singlehandedly makes knoxville cool (almost). the 'sphere closed to the public something like 15 years ago and only recently reopened. upon my first visit, i was disappointed to find that the 'sphere in fact was not full of wigs as bart simpson once told me it was.

the view from the top is breathtaking, again almost making knoxville cool. the observation deck as a party venue sucks. it's a ring with elevators and a kitchen in the middle, so when i go to find my boyfriend after he failed to return from the bar, i can't find him because we are, in fact, both circling the 'sphere in the same direction.

also, consider this: 275 people + 2 one-stall bathrooms = misery. i found myself in line in front of a drunk 21-year-old wearing a very short marie antoinette-esque getup. her boob was hanging out the top. literally. another girl better than i had the decency to approach and pull her dress up over her boob, telling her to cover up because she was embarassing herself. i did not have this decency. i had to pee, therefore could think of nothing else.

this was a party of law school students, obsessive compulsive, bombastic folks who all went over the top with their costumes. it looked like a costume party scene out of a movie or tv show. i could not believe how fantastic some of the costumes were: spinal tap; ms. pacman and blinky the ghost; the price is right showcase showdown complete with light-up showcase showdown contestant booths; and mormons (distasteful, yes; funny, yes).

see for yourself here (click chilla). you might even find me dressed in my favorite rock star video game get up.

displaced

i'm tired, but i'm home. for less than a day.

tale of two homes

i'm ridonkulously tired today, so i'll just throw it all out there for you:

i'm homesick.

i've been stuck in knoxville for a week solid so far, and i'm not 100 percent sure when i'll get to return to nashville. i know, the two cities are like less than 200 miles apart and i'm 25-years-old. shuda gotten over the whole homesick vibe, i don't know, my freshman year in college. (for the record, i only got quasi-homesick one time in college, and my home was more like 400 miles away from school). but college was fun and distracting. work is work and exhausting.

the thing is, i've still got three more weeks solid of being in knoxville. i'll probably be able to sneak home for like a night here and there, but that doesn't seem like it's going to assuage my illness, especially considering that whenever i do pop home, i still have roommates/roomdog to contend with.

i just want my own bed, my own living space, my own laundry facilities, control of the tv and a backyard flowerbed to dig around in on the crisp fall days.

i know, i'm selfish. sigh.

say what?

i'm sitting at panera bread, trying to get some projects done for work. a guy just sat down at the table next to me, talking to himself. at first i was a bit weirded out, but i eventually remembered that we're in the age of bluetooth technology -- things aren't always what they seem.

but i've since snuck a few looks at both of his ears and have realized he has no bluetooth, he really is just talking to himself. and he keeps on doing it too. it's more distracting than the loud, yapping group in the table next to him.

i know why the uncaged bird dances

i have to question this bird's taste in music, but i will never criticize any living creature that wants to groove:

oh, you're soooooooo cool

i'm not going to reveal what my halloween costume is because all will be known in due time, but i will say this: an effort to complete it this evening took me to a store at the mall to which i'd never ventured: hot topic.

i thought i was cool. i thought i was hip. what i really learned is i'm now that old bitch who only thinks she can shop in "i'm SO punk, therefore am better than you" tweenland. for some reason my presence elicited glares from the entire U-16 shopping crowd. bitches, i can drive myself to and from the mall. you have to wait on your parents.

i do love the fact that the cashier (who looked as old as i am, but was dressed much differently than my for-work khaki pants, grey turtleneck sweater and denim jacket getup) gave me a "frequent shopper" card, knowing full and well that i likely will never return to hot topic.

i just needed a t-shirt with a skull on the front. instead i got a shirt with a skull on the front AND a healthy dose of reality. sheesh.