spin lizzy

shameless self-promotion

2007-11-10T19:53:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-07T22:44:00.000-06:00

lucydog ate my pedometer.

the village people had it all wrong

2007-11-05T14:11:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-05T09:30:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-02T00:19:00.000-05:00

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

tale of two homes

2007-10-28T21:29:00.000-05:00

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?

2007-10-26T15:57:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-26T13:37:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-24T22:10:00.000-05:00

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.

other observations

2007-10-21T22:38:00.000-05:00

- as i was traveling to mass last night, i got stuck behind a honda civic going half the speed limit. unfortunately, i was on a two-lane road. i followed said civic all the way to church and made mental note of the driver's face so that i could pray for her to learn to put the pedal to the metal.
then she left after communion.
if she was in such a hurry to get somewhere after church, she could learn to drive a little faster. then everyone would be happy --> she'd get somewhere on time, i'd not be stuck driving at snail's pace behind her and God would be glad that she stayed until the end of mass.
- gave the dog a bath. dog is now mad at me.
- my fantasy football team sucks. they're running stairs tomorrow at 8 a.m.

the grass is always greener

2007-10-21T22:25:00.000-05:00

i have to stop visiting my friends homes. really.

i'm not trying to be antisocial. i just have this problem when i visit the homes of my more artistically inclined, design-oriented friends, i find that i become discontent with the contents/decor of my own home. i find they have such fabulous furniture and such stylish paint colors and such trendy knick-knacks and such up-to-date electronics that it's just impossible for me to be satisfied.

and i am so not the keep-up-with-the-joneses type. plenty of people have complimented my decor choices, and for the most part i'm comfortable with my home (except for a few pieces of furniture that i could benefit from owning but don't yet have.)

but now, i look around and everything seems so college-esque. those old photos in those ratty frames. that old music poster (but at least it's in a poster frame). that ill-fitting slip cover on that dog-chewed couch. that chair and ottoman which i acquired for free.

the problem is, i can't afford to make my home look like pottery barn central. i make decent money, but after the mortgage, car payment, grocery bill, gas bill, pet treats, new clothes and other incidentals are all paid for, well, there's just not much left. and what's left either goes toward my six-months' salary reserve or vacation. plus i really, really, really need to get those scratches and dents on my car fixed. sigh.

the thing is, these people with the uber-trendy homes really can't afford them either. their jobs pay worse than mine (which at times is hard to believe). i don't know if it's mom and dad paying or the credit side of credit cards, but for me, neither is an option.

i need to win the lottery. i need to play the lottery.

what happened to the spin lizzy i used to know?

2007-10-21T01:23:00.000-05:00

a: i'm right here. i've worked a ridiculous week and all free time is dedicated to sleep. hang tight.

take some action today!

2007-10-15T10:19:00.000-05:00

i only just discovered it, but today is blog action day:
and in honor of the day that is, i share with you some of my favorite causes. i encourage you to check out at least one and consider adding it to your own list of faves. also, i'd love to hear about your favorite causes, cause i might just find i want to participate too!

1. the hunger site (in cahoots with the breast cancer/child health/literacy/rainforest/animal rescue sites): if you look at no other cause today, check out one of these sites. they make it amazingly easy to help out. all you have to do is click a button. that's it. in clicking you help provide food/mammograms/healthcare/books/protection/care. make it a part of your morning check e-mail, facebook, myspace routine. it takes 30 seconds.

2. the hands on network: ever feel like you should volunteer more? here's another organization that's all about making it easy, and it's got LOTS of local affiliates (atlanta, milwaukee, d.c., etc.). organizations that need volunteer manpower go to these networks, which in turn publicize the volunteer opportunities. you can volunteer as much or as little as you want, plus you can find opportunities that suit your causes or your schedule. i first got involved with hands on memphis as a high school student, but it was hands on nashville i turned to when i didn't know many people after moving to my current hometown. as a result, i've become a regular volunteer with the salvation army's soup truck, providing food at area homeless camps. it's been a real eye opener to in regards to poverty, hunger and homelessness (not to mention shattering a few stereotypes). i've also had the chance to continue my longtime volunteer work at the ronald mcdonald house.

3. the one campaign: one is all about fighting the issues that contribute to poverty, including hunger, disease and accessability to clean water and good education.

4. and for those of you who haven't figured it out, i'm an environmental nut. i'm all about going green. thinking about changing some light bulbs, carrying reusable grocery bags, putting an end to the buying prebottled water trend and parking the car to walk. for more tips, check out: environmental defense.

5. and a few that probably don't need explaining:
_ habitat for humanity
_ the red cross
_ united way
_ unicef

i challenge you to do one thing today, be it volunteer, make a donation or learn about a cause. and don't forget to share your causes here!

hell on wheels

2007-10-14T22:43:00.000-05:00

picture this: i'm about to turn left onto the interstate on ramp. there's a minivan in the right lane slightly in front of me, hovering. i see the driver's eyes in the rearview mirror. i can tell by the look in them that she wants to get over so she can get on the interstate too.

question 1: do you think the driver has her turn signal on to signal she would like to get over in front of me?

question 2: do you think i let her over?

(i'll give you a hint, the answers directly correlate.)

i know, i'm a bitch, but seriously people, using a blinker is like the easiest principle of driving.

target therapy

2007-10-12T23:05:00.000-05:00

it's been an ass-long week. i've worked something like seven hours of overtime, so when i got off work at 6:30 tonight, i decided i needed to cleanse my brain and visit the promise land for a while.

the front of my house is now decked out with orange lights, plastic jack-o-lanterns and bones mcghee:

and i have cute sweaters to wear now that it's getting nippy:
(green, of course)

(that sweater actually looks a whole lot better on me. i should be a target model! )

and a list of stuff to find when i visit the other target tomorrow.

woe is my target credit card.

off the gravy train

2007-10-11T20:05:00.000-05:00

i have officially fallen off the dieting bandwagon yet again. i did so well, for about a week and a half. but then i got sent yet again across the state and all bets were off. the three pounds i had lost have mysteriously and ever so quickly returned. my energy has returned to nil and i don't believe i've made an entry into my food diary in about five days.

so tomorrow again starts the diet. my sandwich is already made. a salad is in the works. i'm exploring options for cold-weather fruits and veggies.

but first, i'm going to bed really, really early and sleeping for a long time.

standing in the shadows of love

2007-10-08T12:13:00.001-05:00

this post will be necessarily vague to protect all those involved, including myself. read it if you like, though i'm more using this as an outlet for my emotions, as a way to think things through in the medium through which i do my best thinking: writing.

i'm reading a book right now about a writer whose parents never told him any of the important things he should have known about them ... like the fact that his mother was a nun before she married and birthed him. rather, they passively let him discover these things on his own, as previewed by the inside flap of the book cover: "that, too, is the nature of families: parents keep secrets from their children, and children are happy to acquiesce, not wanting to disturb their universe."

my universe has been greatly disturbed several times in my life by bits of knowledge about family, friends and lovers that i've obtained unwittingly. today is one of those times.

granted, the things i learned today did not come as a complete surprise to me. they were things that deep inside i knew but also found easy to disbelieve. i'd done such a good job of building a bubble of happiness around me that i'd managed to forget about that which i knew to be true and that which re-revealed itself to me today.

and granted, what i found dates back to an earlier time, an earlier stage of a relationship that has since, i think, changed dramatically. but now, how can i be sure that it has? are you who i thought you were? am i who you think i am?

now i don't know where to go from here. i have questions. lots of questions that must be asked. but how will i know if you're being honest? will i be able to trust?

delurk, damnit!

2007-10-04T20:47:00.000-05:00

ahem, i draw your attention to a button that's been located on my blog for a week:

i know it's dated for yesterday, but i was on the road yesterday and unable to remind you mofos to delurk.

so, i beseech you, do your delurking duty and start commenting. i know you're reading my blog. i see your presence on my hit counter. y'all used to be more chatty before i started posting more regularly. what gives?

am i boring you? is that it?

the merits of top chef

2007-10-04T19:23:00.000-05:00

or: how i lost interest in top chef, a story
(review of season finale to follow)

in the beginning, bravo created top chef, and it was very good.

it had a delicious cast of characters, not the least being a dreamy creature by the name of harold dieterle. it had an expert chef by the name of tom colicchio, and while colicchio was no tim gunn (but really, who is?), he was still good for a smart comment or an encouraging word.

the drama was so perfectly seasoned -- not too spicy but not too bland --that the fans forgave the fact that they could not judge the contestants dishes themselves, instead agreeing to resort to trusting the sharp-tongued critiques of queen bitch magazine editor and mrs. roboto aka mrs. billy joel.

bravo realized the tasty morsel it had in the drama-filled top chef. so it decided to kick the drama levels up a notch by hiring an even spicer cast of characters for the second season. fortunately for bravo, the powers that be booted mrs. roboto (domo arigato) and hired the especially scrumptious padma lakshmi.

all of a sudden, the drama on the show took center stage and the chef's cooking went totally unnoticed by the fans. 'they're going to kick cliff off for trying to teach the annoying marcel a lesson? disgrace!,' the fans cried.

when time came for season three, bravo realized their show was called top chef and not top drama queen. so, they decided to turn down the heat on the drama and focus a little more on finding the top chef.

'this is the most talented group we've had yet!' colicchio proclaimed. 'this is such a hard decision,' padma cooed.

and the fans did not know what to do. they could not tasted what the judges table could. all they knew is that everyone was kumbaya and hugs and it was incredibly boring to watch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
on that note.

i have to say i absolutely loved the fact that they brought in celebrity chefs for the sous chefs rather than the former contestants. i want to meet chef rocco and i want to hug michelle bernstein (and i want her hair.)

and bravo, don't think no one noticed the project runway season three-esque "fourth course" curve ball. and did you make the judges wear the same outfits to the live show that they wore during the final meal?

as you may have guessed from my story, i really could have cared less who won the season three top chef title. i know i said i was supporting casey, but i was doing so half-heartedly (way to crash and burn). when they showed the recap of brian's fall from grace, i kinda wished he was back. when dale got all excited about his menu, i kinda wanted him to win. when hung perfectly executed his duck, i kinda thought he should win.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
so four season four, which is allegedly taking place in chicago, i propose this: a two-week mall tour during which the cheftestants must cook for the adoring fans, who then cast their own judgement in the form of a vote on who should win.

i know it may be expensive and demanding, but damnit bravo, you owe it to your top chef fans who have put up with this crap for three seasons blindly depending on a cast of snooty judges to make the right call. at least with project runway we can see the outfits. how many times have each one of us said "i'd so totally wear that." or "what the hell is that?"

when you want something done

2007-10-04T18:59:00.000-05:00

as i was attempting to do my laundry on monday, i noticed it was snowing purple fuzz into my back yard from a vent above my kitchen window. crap. how does one get their dryer vent clogged with lint EVEN THOUGH one cleans out their lint trap after every use of their dryer.

because i do not have the 10-foot ladder needed to reach the vent, i called the homeowners association's "help line" as soon as i discovered the problem, and the dude at the other end agreed to send a maintenance man out to help me.

i drive to knoxville. wednesday, i drive home. dryer vent still clogged.

i call "help line" again. this time lady at the other end says she'll get right on it. a few hours later, i get call back from original "help line" dude who says, "i'm sorry, we can't help you. keeping the vent clean is not the homeowner association's responsibility."

(i'll spare you the profanity that followed ... i made the mistake the other day of saying my homeowners association was much better than most.).

so, when i got home today, i put on my macgyver thinking cap, grabbed the stepladder, a broom, a yard stick and some duct tape. let's just say that while the vent may now be broken, the clog is no longer a problem.

cleanse your palate

2007-10-03T22:59:00.000-05:00

ok, here's the deal.
i'm freakin' tired after working a full day and then driving 200 miles home only to find myself at a semi-large (for me and my mood, anyhow) gathering of friends. in other words, i'm too tired to dwell on top chef right now, and my dog keeps impatiently telling me she's ready to go to bed.

so you can find all the wonderful things i have to say about top chef (and there's plenty) sometime tomorrow night. wocka wocka wocka.

an observation, if you will

2007-09-30T23:04:00.000-05:00

i've had a lovely day today, but only one thing is sticking with me that seems to warrant its own blog post and that's this:

middle-aged women should not wear clothes from hollister. i don't care how hot of a bod you have, any shopping that's to be done at hollister, abercrombie or american eagle is to be done for your tween. that's the only reason those stores exist. go to the gap or something.

you want to do what?

2007-09-29T18:53:00.000-05:00

boyfriend says yes when girlfriend asks if he wants to go out to dinner + boyfriend decides to have a cookout with his guy friends
= very unhappy girlfriend

goals, goals, goals

2007-09-29T10:57:00.000-05:00

i've decided i need rewards for when i hit benchmarks in my weight loss. my health magazine says you should have rewards for every five pounds that you lose ... otherwise, if you set your goals to be like 10 or 20 lbs, you'll get frustrated before you ever reach a goal.

i've done pretty well this week in sticking to my plan. i've eaten almost all healthy food, have exercised several times and have reached beyond my goal number of steps each day on the pedometer. the benefits have been great: i've had a lot more energy, i've lost about two pounds (which is within my margin of daily fluctation, but i'm still happy) and feel like i look a little slimmer when i look in the mirror.

so, my goody bag of rewards that i can choose from when i lose a solid three more pounds is as follows:
- something from jcrew because i love their stuff but am usually too cheap to buy it. you have to have a good excuse to spend the money on jcrew, and this seems as good as any
- a new pair of shoes. i'm about to need some new new balances, but i'm also interested in some sporty outdoorsy shoes, boat shoes and a pair of nice brown flats that i could wear to work but still walk in on my break
- a facial. i've never had one of these (again, too cheap), but i know i could seriously use one. the skin on my face could rival a 15 year old's.
- a few sessions with a personal trainer. this sounds more like a step to losing weight than a reward, but the thing is, i want someone who knows what they're doing to set up a plan that will help me tone my body. i can exercise to lose weight, but i still struggle with getting my muscles to look hot.
- pilates class or two. see previous explanation.

most of these items, ok all of these items are basically stuff i've avoided buying or paying for because i'm otherwise too cheap. i don't want to replace one problem with another by starting to spend a lot of money, but i know i won't be hitting my goals weekly, so i think it will be ok. plus, i can't reward myself with a big fancy dinner out, cause that would just defeat the purpose.

to-do list

2007-09-28T14:28:00.000-05:00

i worked the early, early shift at work today, which meant i was good and done with work by 1 p.m. YAHOO!!! early weekend!

the other good news is i'm in my very own home this weekend and not in knoxville, which means it's time for me to author another of my vital, all-encompassing to-do lists. my to-do lists are hard-core, and i do not rest until i have scratched off every last item.

1. clean entire house minus the occupied guest room/bathroom. i've already accomplished the kitchen, which will probably last all of two hours. but we're talking spring-cleaning style scrubbing.
2. get oil in car changed. that's happening very soon.
3. workout. also happening soon.
4. get lucy some antibiotics for her allergies. poor thing has a runny nose and gunked-up eyes.
5. sushi with kg
6. put away all the crap that i haven't unpacked from my last trip to knoxville which ended four days ago.
7. replant my backyard flower bed with fall flowers. get rid of dead stuff.
8. take lucydog to the park. assuming her allergies are in check, that is.
9. workout
10. do something fun and active, like go for a hike. could be combined with no. 8.
11. watch football.
12. hang out with some friends.

it's going to be a full weekend, so i better get on it asap.

they call him mr. unpersonality

2007-09-27T22:03:00.000-05:00

i attended my first homeowners' association meeting tonight and i realized one thing about homeowners' association/cities/life:

there's always the neighborhood antagonist.

i don't mean the neighborhood bully who's just plain mean to everyone and does whatever he/she wants with careless disregard to the people around them. i mean the person who is the first one to get up during the question-and-answer session of the meeting and has a laundry list of complaints to air. they also are very, very, very sure that the person in charge of said homeowners' association/city/life is trying to cheat them out of their money. i've sat through enough council sessions and similar meetings. i've seen them all.

our neighborhood's very own mr. antagonist jumped up at the beginning of the q-&-a session tonight asking very pointed questions about the annual budget accounting form that he had of course raced to the back of the meeting room to get when they were set out on a table in the middle of the meeting while someone was giving a presentation. where's this account? why doesn't this line and that line measure up? he pretty much accused the accountant of lying when he didn't understand the answers provided to him.

he also felt the urge to interrupt everyone else's questions with his own comment about how he'd try to get such and such fixed but they told him it couldn't be done and how he saw such and such going on at a certain time and no, mr. president you're wrong cause i SAW IT with my own eyes.

really?

let me say it again ... really?

by design we live in one of the friendliest, cleanest, nicest, best-kept neighborhoods in nashville. it's one of those fancy-schmancy new-fangled new-urbanism communities where everything is carefully planned out and where there are sidewalks and fancy streetlights and flowers everywhere.

i'm pretty sure they're not taking my money and spending it on their new yacht. i'm pretty sure they're taking my money and spending it on flowers and a big crazy halloween party complete with hayride. and you know what? that's ok because that's exactly what i wanted/expected when i decided to move here.

i'm curious to know what makes these people tick, but i'm going to go ahead and guess that they themselves were bullied as a child and never had the floor to speak without getting laughed at but have managed to build their confidence. and the level of confidence they have is directly proportional to the amount of time they now spend hogging the floor and is inversely proportional to the number of people who care what they have to say. (i'm pretty sure everyone wanted to vote this dude off the playground today).

and as the nutty dude sitting behind me pointed out, it just feels like 3rd grade all over again.

top cowboy

2007-09-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

i'm sorry, i'm too distracted by the fact that the top cheftestants were in the motherland tonight to think about the episode itself.

well, maybe that's not true, but i totally missed what happened in the quickfire because i was too wrapped up in thoughts of me needing to be in colorado where i belong. instead of watching them make their trouts a la crap by the creekside, i had to close my eyes and pretend i was standing right there on ajax mountain or at the maroon bells.

and what do they do upon arriving in God's country? they bitch and complain about how they don't do trout and they don't do elk and what do cowboys eat? beans, beans and beans? no hung, some cowboys are just as pretentious as you about the food that they eat.

ungrateful brats. do. not. deserve. to. be. there.

anyway.

brian goes. fine, peace out. i'll miss your chatty clucking about the show. i pretty much don't care anymore who wins. i'm not really excited about any of you. why aren't there twenty rereuns of antm? i totally missed it tonight.

here are some on-topic bitches (or beefs, if you will): three contestants in the finals? THREE? if there had been three finalists in season one, lee anne would have been there and she totally deserved to be there. because there's so much talent? whatever. youz need tuh mahn uhp and get ridz ov tooo ahf dem.

and what were the sob speeches at the end? i've become a chef again ... i'm constantly being reborn ... I LOVE EVERYBODY! Wah wah wah.

p.s. doesn't valerie bertinelli look like she could be mandy moore's older sister now that she's lost all that weight? go val, you rock.
p.p.s. i'm really just cranky about having to be downtown for work tomorrow at butt-crack early tomorrow morning.

in the air tonight

2007-09-25T20:15:00.000-05:00

this was the topic of discussion at work today:

watching that just doesn't get old.

it's a british ad campaign for cadbury (maker of the like-named egg) and apparently it's so popular that "in the air tonight" is back on the charts.

a watching of the video sparked a debate between two co-workers as to whether or not "in the air tonight" was the music playing during the subway sex scene in risky business.

the two put a million dollars on it, they were so certain of their positions: yes, it was or no, it was the tangerine dream crap.

the attempt to settle the score resulted in these two things:
1. me e-mailing an explicit video clip of said sex scene courtesy of you tube to my bosses' e-mail, something he later said he fully encourages.
2. one of the factions in the bet _ the one insisting "in the air tonight" indeed plays during the scene _ arriving back from his lunchbreak with blockbuster's copy of risky business.

turns out they were both right as the scene included both "in the air tonight" and tangerine dream, and they had to call it even at $500,000 each.

whole grains/fresh fruit/soup/workout plan

2007-09-25T20:03:00.001-05:00

i stepped on the scale last night after i got home from knoxville and discovered that i've gained three pounds in my month of travels, which is contrary to the nature of my get-un-overweight plan. gah.

naturally i haven't been as good at keeping up with my food journal as i should have been, so that's changing right now. (it's sitting right next to me right now so that i can finish filling it out as soon as i'm done bloggeraging.

my new plan for the week is to moderate: bring simple sandwiches and fruit cups and whole grain wheat thins and kashi cookies to work for lunch. veggie soups at night possibly with a salad. i'm also taking advantage of the fact that i'm at home this week and have roommates who work completely different hours than me and can therefore let the lucydog out before i could ever be home from work by going to workout directly after workin.' i may also have to take up jogging again, even though it's still pretty damn hot for late september.

i'm going to stick to my whole grains/fresh fruit/soup/workout plan for a week and then evaluate. i am allowing myself two splurges in the weekly wednesday night dinner outing with my friends (though whereever we go, i'm ordering as healthy as possible) and sushi with kg (but we're walking from the house to sushi o sushi, kg).

i expect you, my loyal readers, to hold me accountable here. i'll report back on sunday.

a very humble observation

2007-09-24T19:51:00.000-05:00

note to the williamson county driver* who felt the need to stop in the middle of the road tonight so that she could talk on her cell phone.

please learn how to pull over or turn into a parking lot before the next time you want to try to cause an accident or disrupt traffic. i know it's challenging, but i promise it's doable, even when you're lost (as you obviously were considering what part of nashville you were in).

*for those of you who are unfamiliar with williamson county drivers, they typically drive yukons and expeditions with w, the president and the local private school's stickers on the back, are blonde, always have a cell phone to their ear and love to park in the spots marked 'compact.'

saaaaaaara, saaaaaaaara

2007-09-20T17:43:00.000-05:00

i regret that i only caught the quickfire challenge and the judges table of last night's top chef episode thanks to a brief intersection of "dude night" and "chick night," but i feel like it was enough to pass judgement.

i hate to see sara go as i enjoyed her 'tude, but she apparently made two serious execution errors between the quickfire and the elimination. and as much as i don't want to cut her, that's just not acceptable of a top chef. it's something howie would do.

and then there were casey, brian, dale and hung.

(side note: i didn't watch much of last season's top chef for reasons unbeknownst to me ((probably because HAROLD! wasn't involved)) so i may have missed such a change last season, but why are they sending four people to the finale?)

i'm a wee bit underwhelmed by my options here. i have nothing against the four finalists, but none of them really just make me want to scream their name the way dreamy Harold did and still does.

even though i don't usually play the chick card, i am pulling for casey to win because it's time for a woman to win. i still wanna grab her shoulders and shake her like a polaroid picture (and not in the outkast kind of way) every time she speaks, but i completely understand when she says she often finds herself the only woman in a kitchen full of men -- my job makes me the only gal in an all-boys club often and it's ANNOYING.

i thought i was going to absolutely hate hung after the first episode, but i have to say he's disappointed me in the anatagonist role. he holds no candle to stephen from season one (who incidently i came to love after the reunion/season finale). he has enough flashes of goodness that he's just not the asshole that i think he wants to be deep down inside.

dale was my initial fave heading out of the starting gate, but again he failed to hold my interest. i still very much like him, but he just didn't kick ass and take names like a certain top chef whom i've already named did.

and brian. brian, you could be so cute (like dreamy Harold). but as soon as i start to think you're cute, you get this weird bug-eyed look on your face and you do something weird that just makes me long for the face of tre (and Harold).

oh well, project runway will be back soon.

antm!

2007-09-19T19:47:00.001-05:00

since boyfriend is having "dude night" tonight, i'm happily and shamelessly indulging in all that the world of reality shows has to offer tonight, namely the debut of the new cycle of america's next top model and top chef.

because it's impossible to know who anyone is in the first episode of any reality show, all i offer on antm is this comment from one of the gals (i can't be sure which):

"i, like, know things. i read books."

mount clothesmore

2007-09-19T18:58:00.000-05:00

because i've only spent one night in my own bed in the past week, i had to bring my laundry with me to knoxville to be tackled while at the boyfriend's house. because i'm such a loving, dedicated girlfriend, i offered to include my busy boy's laundry with my own.

ha. i'm on day three of laundrypalooza with no end in sight.

let me just say this: the boyfriend can never tell me i have enough clothes because there are three times as many shirts in his laundry pile (and there are plenty still in his closet) than there are items in my entire wardrobe.

also: why do men's socks never match?

take your pet to work day

2007-09-18T22:59:00.000-05:00

i'm sure this blog entry will offend someone in the animal activist community, but it's a risk i'm willing to take for the sake of my commitment to this blog.

i was headed from nashville to knoxville yesterday for another work assignment when my boss requested that i stop in kingston, tenn., about 45 minutes outside of knoxville, for an assignment on the way. being the dedicated employee that i am, i said yes, thinking that if i put the pedal to the metal i would have plenty of time to drop the dog off at blog boyfriend's house and return to kingston. it was certainly extra gas i would be using, but a sacrifice i was willing to make for sweet lucydog nonetheless.

boy was i wrong.

as the minutes crept by and i got tangled in one I-40 traffic snarl after another, i began to realize that there would be no going to knoxville if i planned to make my kingston assignment by 2 p.m. i desperately called the boyfriend, who of course, did not answer because it was his afternoon to work at the law firm.

i knew what my clutch decision was going to have to be: lucydog would be hanging out in the car while i was on assignment -- an assignment which i didn't expect to last for long, but of course did not know for sure how long would last. i started making mental plans: i can spread her blanky out across the front seat (backseat was blocked by my laundry basket and clothes rack that was coming with me) ... i can set her bowl full of water in the driver seat and put food in her traveling food bowl ... i can crack the windows ... i can put the sunshade in the front window ... i can park in a super-shady spot.

before anyone goes all peta on me, it was an especially cool day in hilly east tennessee and i did, in fact find a shady spot to park. all went to according to plan, and i ran outside to check on her and run the air conditioning every thirty minutes or so until the guard at the front desk who had to search my purse started to get annoyed with me.

lucydog was no worse for the wear. i think she just took a lazy catnap the whole time. and, as is the case for parents, the whole event hurt me than it hurt her.

and really, a co-worker of mine has brought his kids to really important assignments before, so why shouldn't my lucydog get to hang out with me while i'm out and about for work?

karmaflu

2007-09-16T21:45:00.000-05:00

i complained all august about how unnecessarily and impossibly hot it was. now, in my typical bad-karma fashion, i am paying for it. it's been unseasonably beautiful with highs in the mid-80s, sunny skies and low humidity. i've been celebrating it with a weeklong sinus headache and stuffy nose to go with.

the good news is, after about a month, i'm back on my meds :-)

c.(ya) j.

2007-09-14T09:38:00.001-05:00

to jody, who so graciously sought me out to gab about top chef:

indeed i am the Jennsylvania fan/Top Chefaholic you speak of. the way C.J. was fawning over Padma at the beginning of the episode and Padma's tears in dismissing him make me wonder what's up between those two ...

i've tried to avoid offering my own personal reviews of top chef on here, thinking i'm one of five people who watch the show, but i probably should considering half of my life is spent watching whatever the bravotv execs want me to watch (they are SO SMART!)

as far as C.J., i loved his boyish, awkward charm, but it was pretty clear he wasn't top chef. i mean, usually i have to let the judges tell me whose dish rocked and whose stank, but that broccoli-whatever-you-want-to-call-it side dish looked terrifying. not a good way to get kids to eat their veggies. though i do have a hard time believing colicchio when he said it was the worst dish they'd had in three years.

i'm still extremely pissed about Tre's dismissal, but since he's gone i've decided to cheer for the ladies, for none other reason than the past two top chefs have been men (sigh, dreamy Harold, how i miss you so). casey annoys the vegetable stew out of me, but she seems to all of a sudden know what she's doing, so i'd be ok if she wins. i've pretty much loved sara the whole time for her no-nonsense attitude and her awesome accent.

so C.J., i love you so, but it's get-down-to-bidness time, so we're gonna have to let you go.

observations du jour

2007-09-12T21:52:00.000-05:00

because i've been on the road so much lately, all my astute observations are driving-related:

- i parked in a garage this afternoon in knoxville, and before returning to my car, i made sure to get some cash money out of the atm because i had none -- not even a dollar. when i got to the pay booth, there was a sign in the window that said "no 20$ bills." now who doesn't accept an andrew jackson? that's un-american and certainly anti-tennessee. because my standard atm withdrawal is $40 all i could do was look at the lady in the booth and say "sorry, all i've got is a $20." she gave me my change in ones and pocket change. whatever. more change for the wii fund.
- question: what do you get when you add an airhead sorority girl with oversized sunglasses, a cell phone and a sports car? answer: a right hand turn into not one but two lanes of traffic including one lane which was already occupied by a driver -- me.
- it took me an extra 30 minutes to make the drive between knoxville and nashville today because of one of my biggest pet peeves: slow-ass drivers in the left lane. THERE ARE SIGNS EVERYWHERE: "Slower traffic keep right." ABIDE, PEOPLE! in the time i spent in england, i learned one thing about driving. vehicles are only to use the fast lanes (which in this case are the right lanes) when attempting to overtake another vehicle. as soon as you've completed that action, you get back into the slow lane.

something to think about.

diary .... uhhhhh

2007-09-10T16:00:00.000-05:00

i'm about to head to knoxville for the third time in a week, and i can feel the calories and fat content of my past few meals going straight for my waist. sigh. i'm trying to motivate myself to go workout before i leave, but i'm so tired (and have such a big headache) that it's not going well.

this is how my fall will be. trip after trip after trip to knoxville + exhaustion - physical activity = pounds adding up. i've been through this before in the spring and last fall with my long-term out-of-town assignments. i know i have to do something now or risk yet again gaining the unwanted pounds.

so here goes. i've got a food diary. i hoped to not have to resort to obsessing over every single thing that i eat, but i have few options. and, when i have to start weight watchers in a few months (i know it's coming), it won't be such a challenge to track my points.

lets see, first entry

weight: more than anyone would guess

food eaten today: (so far) some milk and cereal, a handful of honey-wheat pretzels, a ham sandwich and an apple

physical activity: walked dogs, sat on couch, about to sit in a car for three hours.

i've got some work to do.

on the road again and again and again

2007-09-09T22:24:00.000-05:00

in the past week i've driven nearly a thousand miles and spent almost 15 hours in my car.

i'm exhausted.

and, i think i'm about to head to knoxville again, less than a day after i returned to nashville from knoxville.

i hope my company values me as an employee.

drinko

2007-09-07T13:17:00.001-05:00

ok, so i lied. i said i was going to update like three days ago and i haven't. i can't help it. i'm being run ragged across the state and back thanks to my job. i'm exhausted and i'm about to leave for knoxville again in like two hours.

but i would like to share with you this photo which sums up my trip to the lake:

yes, it's plinko for alcohol. top that, bitches!

labor day laking

2007-09-02T23:55:00.000-05:00

i should have mentioned i was going to the lake this weekend, but during the 25 hours preceeding my departure for the lake, i was working or sleeping. mostly working.

i apologize for the lack of blogging and information. i've only just now reduced my e-mail inbox to a managable size.

i shall fill you in tomorrow on everything that's going on, after i work and before i leave for my work travel o' the week.

until then, i'm getting a good night's snooze while lucydog is staying at the doggie hotel.

and for shades of blog posts to come, check out this fabulous not-so diety food website.

skool is kool

2007-08-29T21:35:00.000-05:00

so whenever this time of the year rolls around, i get nostalgic for the start of school, and when i get notstalgic for school, i start to wonder if i should go back to school.

but this year has been a little different in that i've been nostalgic for the actual beginning of college, as in going for the first time as a freshman. oh, i loved going to college then. everything was so new, so fresh. and even though i was going to school six hours away from home, i never really felt homesick. i loved meeting new people, and my classes were really frickin' easy (though never again).

i've been torturing myself by looking at all the freshmen's facebook photos of their cutely decorated dorm rooms, which is somehow making nostalgic for the dorm life. before you judge me for how much of a sad little person i've become, who can argue with having a meal plan and cleaning lady?

thinking about all of this makes me even sadder because i know i can never recapture that excitement. it was exciting because it WAS so different than anything i'd ever experienced. with four year of school under my belt, nothing about college would ever be new again.

i'd feel stupid going back to undergrad again with all those perky annoying 18-year-olds. plus the "non-traditional" older undergrads always weirded me out a little bit. that leaves grad school, and there's nothing exciting about grad school.

i guess i don't really know what i'd study anyway (which makes me the perfect candidate to be an undergrad again). i might as well keep working and, i don't know, pay my mortgage rather than school bills.

borat in 30 seconds (and re-enacted by bunnies)

2007-08-27T23:21:00.000-05:00

SWEET! the angry alien bunnies, my favorite comedy troupe, have done borat. enjoy.

crank it up

2007-08-27T23:13:00.000-05:00

working 'til 9 p.m. on monday + working at 9 a.m. on tuesday = cranky gal

three's company

2007-08-27T00:41:00.000-05:00

my mom is gone and my longish weekend is (almost) over. it was a very good, restorative weekend. i've been getting caught up in and frustrated with work lately, and while i don't think i'm quite past the blip in the road, i am glad i at least got to relax a little bit.

so the big turn in my life right now is as of tomorrow i will have a roommate for the first time in the three + years since i graduated from college. a friend of mine is having her own house built, but the apartment complex she was living in ... the same one that screwed me over ... was going to charge her and her husband like twice as much as they was paying to stay there until their new place was ready. so she and her hubby (once he's back in the country) are going to live with me instead for a fraction of the price for the next few months in my teeny tiny guest room.

i feel very much like i'm returning to college, with a roommate squeezing all her stuff into a teeny tiny bedroom. i've spent the past two days condensing my own junk into one less room, which is harder than it seems despite the fact i didn't have much in my guest room to begin with.

oh yeah, and she's bringing her minature beagle, which i'm not sure lucydog is ok with yet.

but when it comes down to it, i know it will be a good thing. i'm going to be traveling a lot this fall for work, so it will be good to have someone who can keep an eye on the place and lucydog. plus, the extra cashflow is a huge relief to my normally strapped budget.

but most importantly, i think having a roommate will keep me from the reclusive tendencies i at times lean towards. roomie is one of the most outgoing, friendliest people i know, and certainly that can have a positive effect on me.

if i don't go crazy first!

heeeeeeeeey jude

2007-08-25T22:39:00.000-05:00

at my mom's request, i watched the holiday with her for the first time tonight. i'm usually pretty immune to chick flicks, but let me say this -- jude law -- SWOOOOOOOOOOON. i've seen movies starring jude law before, but i guess i just never paid close enough attention.

>pause< oh my gosh, tonight's snl theme is the best of the last season and 'dick in a box' is on. LOVE IT. justin is my homeboy.

anyway, screw cameron diaz, come sweep me offa my feet jude. (i'm sure boyfriend blog will not appreciate this.) sooooo hot. sooooo adorable.

oh, and jack black. i've always been enamored with him. (i know i'm weird.) and i love him even more now too. who knew he could act all adorable-like?

ok. enough swooning. that is all.

5K death race

2007-08-24T22:30:00.000-05:00

i don't know what part of me thought running a 5K in 94 degree weather would be a good idea. it probably had something to do with the fact that the race didn't start until 8 p.m. and therefore without the sun. plus jogging is an integral part of my lose-weight campaign.

1.5 miles into my race, those reasons didn't seem nearly as good as they had a week ago. i thought i was going to die.

i can say this. i ran for some of the route. and i didn't finish last, though i was close. but ... i did finish.

in 41 minutes.

oh well, i can only get better. and i got this awesome long-sleeved t-shirt for doing the race.

Stop, pedi time

2007-08-24T17:35:00.000-05:00

Pedicure this afternoon + Running 5k tonight = duh

the family that facebook stalks together ...

2007-08-23T22:43:00.001-05:00

my mom is here this weekend for a girls weekend, so my blogging may be brief for the next few days. but, i will share with you our post-dinner activity tonight:

facebook stalking.

it's a great bonding activity. my mom just loved seeing the facebook pages of all the kids she knew as my elementary school classmates and the college friends who she'd met before.

granted my profile was probably the worst one for her eyes, what with my profile photo shot of me from this past weekend, adult beverage in hand, sunglasses on (i wear them at night), serious facial expression. oh well, she'll get over it.

observations, oh yeah

2007-08-22T23:39:00.000-05:00

_ i saw an advertisement from philip morris on tv hawking their hotline to call if you're seeking help quitting smoking. i know they're more or less required to do these sort of public services thanks to all the lawsuits, but how effective do you think a quit-smoking hotline sponsored by a cigarette maker is really going to be?
_ cardinals are one win away from .500 ball, which is the goal i set for them when i realized early in the season how bad they were sucking. they're like two wins away from finally wrenching the lead of the nl central away from the brewers/cubs. miracles happen -- see 2006 world series results.
_ in other baseball news, the texas rangers set the record for most runs scored in a game with 30 today. wtf? mlb game scores = outta hand
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND
_ hi to any myspace friends of mine who are checking this out for the first time. please leave some love, lemme know what you think.

spokesdog reacts to vick plea

2007-08-22T19:43:00.000-05:00

the reaction of lucy, spokesdog for the Formerly Abused/Now Loved Coalition of Cuddly Pit Bull Terriers to hearing that mean mr thug quarterback will plead guilty:

spokesdog lucy also urges you to consider adopting a sweet, lovable bulldog like herself. if you do she'll give you a big ol' lick on your cheek.

also, we love this story: At Atlanta shelter, Vick jerseys are going to the dogs

odds, ends

2007-08-21T22:11:00.000-05:00

_ as i was paying bills and logging my expenditures into my budget, i noticed at the bottom of yesterday's kroger receipt that i've saved $120 with my kroger plus card this year. go me!
_ the blog redesign appears to be done, with the exception of a few compulsive tweaks here and there, maybe a change in the color. lemme know if you like it.

bad business, bad

2007-08-21T15:29:00.000-05:00

these two companies are hereto and forevermore on my sh** list. if you choose to do business with them, don't say you weren't warned.

1. forest city residential, owners, possibly former, of the landings of brentwood apartments in brentwood, no wait, franklin, tn. (minor detail they'll lie to you about, but i tell you the people at the brentwood library care a great deal about that little lie).

upon moving out of my apartment, forest city decided to charge me for my slightly spotted carpet. this irritates me for two reasons ... they put crappy, therefore impossible to keep clean, carpet in to begin with AND they charge you an exorbinant deposit and pet deposit. and they keep all that money, by the way AND then charge you even more for the (slightly) damaged carpet.

rather than acting on my desire to bitch them out, i complied by sending them my credit card number SIX MONTHS AGO. last week i get a letter in the mail from them telling me my card has been declined. NO CRAP. i lost it last month and the credit card company, being the responsible financiers they are sent me a new one with a new number.

why the hell did it take them SIX MONTHS to try to charge me for my "damages?" they're obviously not the money grubbers i took them for that one month when they tried to charge me for rent twice.

2. at&t, which is the new (old) bellsouth. you can put your phone number on as many do not call lists as you like, there is one business exempt -- the phone company. they call me like five times a day. because i stayed home from work today and was in a particularly grumpy mood, i chose to answer it.

we want to offer you internet service. no. the last time i had bellsouth internet service it went out like once a week. i'm happy with my current service. but you've been a customer for so long now. i told you, i already have service that i plan to keep and you lie, i've only been a customer for like three months, i just finished paying the installation charges. goodbye. click.

don't it make my blue bags green

2007-08-21T10:09:00.000-05:00

i called in sick to work today, so i'm blogging in hopes of distracting myself from the ills of being cooped up in a house filled with the sounds of the jackhammering going on across the street. you'd think i live in the middle of new york city rather than in the nashville 'burbs.

anyway, i want to brag about a particular purchase of mine yesterday: reusable kroger bags.

yes, i know i look so nerdy carrying them, but i feel so responsible. they were super cheap -- 99 cents for the regular ones and like $2.99 for the special insulated ones.

i've always, always, always hated the plastic bags. environmental unfriendliness aside, it takes like five times as many plastic bags than paper bags to carry your groceries. after two trips to the grocery store, you find your kitchen is drowning in a sea of plastic bags. (although i have to give some of the stores credit for placing recycling bins for the bags at their doors, though i think i'm one of five people who uses the bins for recycling rather than trash.) and they break. they always break. they break because 12-year-old bagger boy has not figured out the laws of physics yet.

i do like the paper bags because you can fit so much stuff into them. and the ones from the organic stores that come with handles rock my face off. i always reuse the paper bags to stuff my used newspapers into for transport to the recycling station. but, i still somehow end up with more paper bags than i need for my newspapers. plus it annoys me that i have to ask the bagger to use them. i always forget to do this until he/she has bagged half of my purchase in the plastic bags.* what happened to the days of "paper or plastic?"

*it doesn't take them long because they don't put a whole lot of thought into it. i always find my flank steak cut in the same bag as my toilet bowl cleaner. yummy.

anyway, so i've got the reusable bags now, which i plan to also use to transport my newspapers for recycling. i'll spare you the preaching about how i'm being so good to the environment by saving it the energy/pollution it takes to produce and recycle grocery bags and just leave you with one thought that so pleases my thrifty-minded self: they (are supposed to) give you 4 cents back on your grocery bill for each reusable bag you bring use with your grocery order. So, by my calculations, I just have to use them on 50 shopping trips to get my money's worth ... hmmm.

Oh, and the reusable bags don't make the baggers any smarter. The bagger yesterday asked me if the insulated bag was for the refridgerated and frozen items. No, there for me to smack you over the head with. And this time I found my flank steak smushed between two boxes of cereal. Thanks, guys.

to-do list

2007-08-20T21:17:00.000-05:00

because i'm still freakin' tired, i'm forgoing a lengthy post for a nice short one that aptly sums up how i feel right now.

to do:

1. replace pedometer that mysteriously went missing this weekend

2. stop eating things that are bad for me

3. exercise, exercise, exercise

4. lose lots o' weight

observations, oo la la

2007-08-19T23:30:00.000-05:00

_ any establishment whose soul business purpose is to sell bagels should not be allowed to exist if it chooses not to be open on sunday mornings.
_ 1/2 normal amount of sleep = 2x annoyance by bratty teenyboppers.
_ IT'S RAINING!!!!!!! (halelujah, rejoice)
_ this is spin lizzy's 200th posting

triple crowned

2007-08-19T20:54:00.000-05:00

exhausted. pheeeewww. i didn't have to work til noon today and yet i was still up at 8 a.m. after a very late night thanks to my dogsitting charge, bailey, who was howling at the early birds and dogs out for an early trot down my block.

the good news is i was not hungover when i awoke, which is very contrary to my sunday morning track record of late. this brings me to my latest accomplishment: the triple crown of drinking, or managing to imbibe beer, wine and liquor in one night without illness or hangover the next day. i attribute this to either my supper of the greasiest cheeseburger in town (a la rotiers) which begun the night or the mcdonalds chocolate shake i had to end the night.

the occasion was the visit of some fabulous friends from the d.c. who wanted to partake in the nashville nightlife. it was one of those classic girls' nights out on the town ... dancing, loud screaming, drunken stumbling. we almost had a random hookup, but fell short.

as far as my beverage intake, i didn't set out with the decision to cross beverage barriers, it just happened and i hit a point where i made a conscious decision to be ok with being hungover before work today. i just didn't have any other alcoholic choice but beer at dinner and wanted to have wine during pre-going out drinking games. by the time we hit the bars, i decided i needed to prevent any more intake of empty calories and switched to liquor (my faculties had turned in for the night when i started squealing "milkshake, milkshake!" on the ride home.

when he realized he was unable to sleep in after two hard nights of going out, the boyfriend acknowledged "we're not 22 anymore." true, thank God, but i am proud of my drinking prowess nonetheless.

ok. i need to go to bed like now.

raining on my parade

2007-08-18T15:18:00.000-05:00

cardinals are in a rain delay! drat. send that damn rain here instead.

wedding singer on abc family instead, i suppose. (i really am doing chores. i just know how to multitask.)

lazy saturday (minus the cupcakes)

2007-08-18T12:22:00.000-05:00

ahhh, lazy morning bliss. reading in bed, newspaper and coffee on the couch, facebook stalking. c'est la bonne vie (babelfish translation - have never taken french). boyfriend called a little while ago, and i think he's probably upset i sorta blew him off.

him: "do you want to have lunch with me and my parents?"
me: "well, depends on what time. i'm still in my pajamas*"
*and very happy for that fact
him: "fine, you just rest or whatever and i'll call you later."

i don't know what that means, but whatever, i've enjoyed my morning of laziness. and now that it's noonish, i have THINGS i have to do. you know, like the laundry i've put off all week, dishes that need to be put away, personal bathing and grooming. monica geller-bing's got nothing on me, i LOVE all chores (except doing dishes). this day is going to be great! i'd make a great housewife if it weren't for the fact that i enjoy earning a salary and saying that i'm a careerwoman.

observations du jour

2007-08-18T02:07:00.000-05:00

_ so during my recent fixation with redoing my blog (still work in progress) and finishing harry potter off, i totally missed the fact that slave to target is back. woo hoo, welcome back!
_ missed calls from drunken boyfriend who is out with his friends tonight: 7:08 p.m., 8:33 p.m., 12:06 a.m., 12:50 a.m., 1:39 a.m.. i answered at 1:41 a.m. yep. definitely drunk.
_ quote o' the day from the book i'm currently reading, bitter is the new black, on pitbulls: "they aren't evil; they're just misunderstood." so true, so lucydog.

(she's yawning, not about to bite someone's head off)

ok, bedtime, really.

snooze button

2007-08-18T01:46:00.000-05:00

for the first time in weeks i'm sleeping in my own bed with only lucydog and i have no reason whatsoever to wake up at any particular time tomorrow.

and no one can or will take that away from me.

the heat is on

2007-08-17T15:39:00.000-05:00

it's sooooooooooooooooooooooooo hot.

i mean seriously, i never remember a heat wave like this. it's so debilitating. i feel like i can't do anything. i can't eat, i can't sleep, i can't even move. i'm just sitting on my couch like a lump, listening to the cardinals /cubs game on my computer. (yay for the cardinals winning eight of their last ten games.) my head hurts, which i'm pretty sure is related to the heat. i feel fat, which i'm also blaming on the heat. i think the bad suburban drivers have gotten worse during this week of triple-digit temperatures. blaaaaaaaaah.

i think the heat makes people meaner. i've never seen so much road rage in my life, not to mention wrecks during rush hour.

give me the cool mild temperatures of november. snow and ice. a walk-in freezer, i don't care. just get me the hell out of this miserable hell-hole.

be home by 10

2007-08-16T19:33:00.001-05:00

i'm writing early and short tonight because i'm actually going out on a date ... with my own boyfriend.

mr. blog is taking a long weekend from his job some three hours away from nashville to come here and see some old friends. and me. and we're actually going to go out to eat tonight, if he ever gets here and i don't eat my hand before then.

i love feeling like we're a normal couple with a normal life because we so aren't that. we both worry that if and when we ever manage to live in the same town that we're going to hate each other. but we do so well when we are together, and we do pretty well when our relationship is reduced to a daily phone call and gmail chat at work, so i'm not worried.

i'm not sure where we're going and what we're going to do tonight, but i definitely don't work tomorrow, bonus, and he's also promised to do what he can to sweep me off my feet, though he claims i make such action impossible. probably true.

oh, he's here! peace out.

daily observations

2007-08-15T22:22:00.000-05:00

some random thoughts of the day all rolled into one:

_ school started this week = crazy soccermoms back on the roads in droves = wrecks and other unpleasant traffic issues = me late for work after spending twice as long on the road as usual
_ while stuck in traffic this a.m., i observed this car tag on the back of a lexus: LCNZPL8. hilarious ... so obvious and generic and therefore hilarious! mad props
_ (temperatures >100) + standing outside Graceland in hopes of seeing the King's tomb = very, very, very bad idea. people, i love elvis too, but seriously, get a brain.
_ and my last ob du jour is a bit more serious, so take heed: remember you are your brother's keeper. i'm watching the relationship of two friends go on the rocks because one isn't reaching out to the other in her time of need. it's not fun to watch and it's an unnecessary place to be.

in this day and age of facebook and bloggers and ims, i think we sometimes forget to take that extra step -- make the phone call, swing by the house to say hi in person. you might not know your friend is needing an ear to talk to or a face to smile at them, so just make sure you check in on everyone from time to time. you never know when you'll need them to check in on you.

and ... scene

i want a new drug

2007-08-15T22:07:00.001-05:00

ok, so i think i may have figured out what made me decide late last night to completely makeover my blog's focus and look (which in retrospect may not have been the best idea, but i'm committed now), and here it is:

i'm off my meds

literally

in my everlasting efforts at saving money, i heeded the advice in my 401K financial planning newsletter which was, among other tidbits of advice, to take advantage of my company drug plan's mail-order prescription service to provide the prescriptions i take on a regular basis. i'm not exactly sure how using mail-order service saves me money, but if vanguard tells me it does, then it must be so.

i take two such regular prescriptions: one to stave off the migraines and tension headaches that otherwise would be a regular occurance and another to keep the lady horomones in check. i recently passed the annual inspection by my doctor, my reward being another year's worth of prescriptions.

the caremark mail-order form clearly told me that it would take approximately two weeks to fill my order. the problem was by the time i got to the doctor, got my prescription and got everything in the mail, i was only four days away from needing a refill on the latter of the two drugs. i'm now on my fourth day of not having that drug, therefore the horomones are out of check and i am, indeed, moody.

i've done good not to snap at anyone, but i have had the personality of a wet mop lately ... granted that may not be different than most days.

i just checked my online credit card statement and they definitely still have not charged me for my prescriptions, so i'm sure that means i'm still at least a week away from getting back onto the road toward normalcy. and all i can think about is, "did i fill out that order form right? it said write in all caps ... did i do that? did i put the wrong address down? the wrong credit card number? i did just get a new credit card number, maybe that's it?!?"

the only moral of this story i can think of is this:

don't do drugs.

reinvention

2007-08-14T21:36:00.000-05:00

realization #1 of the day:
it's f'ing hot

realization #2 of the day:
everyone is especially testy

correlation #1 of the day:
it's f'ing hot, therefore everyone is especially testy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

after spending the day of listening to my boss snap at the slightest disturbance and getting an earful out by the secretary of a mayor of one of the more pretentious towns in the state for merely suggesting that an elderly woman died from heat-related causes while gardening NEAR (not in) NEAR her precious town, i've spent the evening languishing on the couch in avoidance of the heat and reading a book about a girl who bitches all day about the idiots around her.

and, i've thought of these additional things:
3. i've been working out and running religiously for the past couple of weeks and i have not lost weight, but rather gained weight. and before you point out that muscle weighs more than fat, i shall point out that i don't feel any skinnier either.

4. my dog is crazy and needs her ears cleaned out

5. corn puffs probably aren't the best thing to have dinner. i should have tried to actually cook dinner, but it's too f'ing hot.

6. it's too f'ing hot to go out and exercise. this above-100-degrees thing has got to go.

7. i need to do something different with my blog.

don't ask me how i got from No. 3 to No. 7, but the point is i'm there and i'm (slightly) reinventing my blog. i think it first popped into my head as a tool for helping me to once and for all lose the 20 pounds i've been struggling to lose for the past year and a half. if i vent and/or brag on my blog i have a stronger method of accountability by including anyone who reads it in my weight loss efforts. sweet. but don't worry, this is not a weight loss-focused blog.

plus, lets face it, my blog in its former state was fairly boring. i got better feedback on my myspace rants likely because they were more intimate and more like me.

so, the result of my lame evening is hopefully a more interesting blog with more intimate ramblings about the insignificant-to-the-world (yet fucking important to me) struggles of a 20-something working gal living in the kinda big city. i'm sure there's not a single blog out there like it. ha. i'll still post some of the things i would have posted before, but i'll try to use more discretion in doing so.

i'd love to make you laugh a little bit, but i certainly won't gurantee it because i'm not so vain to believe i'm actually funny. but even more important to that, i hope to give you something to relate to.

feedback and suggestions much appreciated

oh, and P.S. i'm trying to find a blog design that reflects my blog's new personality, so forgive its current state of ugliness. it's going to have to do until i have some time to sit down and relearn me some html code. by the way, the template system on blogger is wieldy, annoying and f'ing sucks.

elvi

2007-08-13T19:18:00.000-05:00

it's elvis death week, and i totally want these elvi pez dispensers:

swat

2007-08-13T19:14:00.000-05:00

fly swatter:

something you often need, but never think about buying

drive

2007-08-13T19:12:00.000-05:00

to the guy in the convertable today pointing at those of us sitting in traffic and sticking his tongue out at us:

GROW UP AND GET AN F'ING LIFE.

oh, and maybe keep your eyes on the road. just a thought.

H2No

2007-08-07T18:03:00.000-05:00

i've been preaching this forever:

Pour the bottled-water trend down the drain

the watter bottles you will find in my fridge are like two years old with fresh tap water in them.

pb

2007-08-06T13:42:00.001-05:00

right now i'm eating forkfuls of jif creamy peanut butter - the crap i had to buy because of the pb recall a few months ago - and i'm lamenting over how much better my beloved peter pan pb is.

it may also be the fact that i accidentally bought the reduced fat version. so not worth the reduction in fat.

marriage

2007-08-01T15:37:00.000-05:00

this is a page out of leno's wedding announcements feature. some of them are a bit of a stretch, but some of them are hil-ar-i-ous.

(thanks to angie for sending it to me!)

p.s. i can't stop watching the 'walk it out' video below. if you haven't watched it DO IT NOW. if you have, watch it again.

jazz hands

2007-07-24T20:12:00.001-05:00

this totally makes me wanna dance:

i take it the lady in the middle is bob fosse's wife. seriously.

el fin

2007-07-24T19:38:00.000-05:00

what? it's already the end of this season of kathy griffin's my life on the D-List? i swear it just started. and it's been the best season yet, so i'm having a hard time letting go of kathy and her gays.

p.s. the reporter from star mag was an idiot! i'm way better than she, i should f'ing be working for star mag.

think

2007-07-23T22:28:00.000-05:00

time for a photo. how about two? from chicago:

blogging

2007-07-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

with the slave to target gone awol, i had to search for some new blogs to fill my void of time wasters. these two include delightfuly snarky commentary on society, high and low:

--jezebel, which was responsible for revealing faith hill isn't so perfect after all. (since when did elbow pits become so uncool?)
--indexer, it's as if dogbert started his own blog

old

2007-07-12T22:36:00.000-05:00

on the eve of my birthday eve, i'd like to share with you two scenes from my favorite episode of sex in the city -- "the agony and the 'ex'stacy" -- an episode that features carrie's birthday.

carrie on phone, speaking to big's answering machine:
"hey, uh, i think you're still in england, but, uh, it's midnight here in new york and it's my birthday. i am officially old. so, uh, i felt the need to call someone ... older."

random girl at restaurant on carrie's birthday:
"twenty-five?? fuck, i'm old! ha ha!"

yup. that 'bout sums this birthday up.

(none of you older people are allowed to tell me i'm not old. it's all about how old you feel, and i feel 140)

yes way

2007-07-10T19:20:00.000-05:00

it's not every day you get news related to the fourth or fifth greatest movie ever made. rejoice, for today is one of the luckier days:

'Wayne's World' landmark to be dismantled
BERWYN, Ill. (AP) — A kitschy landmark that made a cameo in the movie "Wayne's World" will be dismantled to make way for a pharmacy.

Officially named the Spindle, the towering sculpture of eight cars impaled by a massive steel pipe became famous for its appearance in the 1992 comedy starring Mike Myers as Wayne and Dana Carvey as his buddy Garth.

Despite years of rust and layers of bird droppings, the Spindle — also known as the "Car Kabob" and the "Eight Car Pileup" — continues to draw movie fans to a shopping center parking lot in this suburb west of Chicago.

"From a marketing standpoint, I like the Spindle," said Berwyn Mayor Michael O'Connor. "It has definitely been a plus for the community."

Still, he said, the quirky sculpture will be removed this summer to make way for a Walgreens pharmacy. It could be moved elsewhere, though the cost of doing so would likely be high.

California artist Dustin Shuler, who built the piece in 1989, calls the dismantling "painful" and "a loss for Chicago."

"Personally, I would have moved the Walgreens and left the Spindle where it is," he said.

(credit to my dear friend Ashley, party on)

cheers

2007-07-05T17:10:00.000-05:00

yaaaaaaaay! more sex and the city (though i liked the ending enough to leave it at that)

vote springfield, tenn.!

2007-07-02T19:36:00.000-05:00

which state's springfield is the simpson's home town? you can vote here. i've always thought springfield, ill., but that's not stopping me from voting for the one in tennessee. you better vote for the one in tennessee too. (it's definitely NOT the one in vermont and colorado already has south park.)

winner gets to host the premier of the simpsons movie.

ooo, i definitely feel like a doughnut right now.

greenier

2007-06-29T18:54:00.000-05:00

while perusing borders over my lunch break today, i fell in love with the green book, a book filled with tips on how to make minor changes toward becoming more green.

normally i don't cotton to the 'how to be more green' manuals because they give you duh tips like 'turn off the tap as you're brushing your teeth.'

this book does include that tip, but it's balanced out by so many other wonderful 'i didn't think of that' tips, such as getting a fountain coke in a paper cup is more green than getting a plastic bottled coke, even if you recycle the bottle. who knew?

it also gives you reasons, i.e. stats, on how such changes could make a difference. and funny little blurbs from especially green celebs that aren't especially preachy.

spicy

2007-06-28T16:54:00.000-05:00

this just in (well, a cupla hours ago): spice girls reuniting!

girl power!

birthday

2007-06-26T18:18:00.000-05:00

my blog and its 173 posts turns one year old today

presents accepted.

exception

2007-06-26T18:08:00.000-05:00

my green keds tennies are going to be held up a bit ... because ups can't find my house. surprise surprise.

the tracking info says this: EXCEPTION: DIRECTIONS TO THE RECEIVER'S LOCATION ARE NEEDED FOR DELIVERY. UPS IS ATTEMPTING TO OBTAIN THIS INFORMATION.;A POSTCARD HAS BEEN SENT TO THE RECIPIENT REQUESTING THAT THEY CONTACT UPS.

unfortunately, until i receive that postcard, i have no idea what number to call to contact ups and instruct them as to my whereabouts.

wii fund

2007-06-25T20:43:00.000-05:00

i had a long weekend for a change so i visited the boyfriend in knoxville. we wasted a couple of hours away playing guitar hero II. i generally don't condone the playing of playstation 2, but this game rocks so hard i almost want to buy a ps2 for myself just so i can play it at home. (put that thought aside for a moment.)

the boyfriend and i too are obsessed with getting a wii. i suggested recently purchasing a joint-custody wii that would split its time between his knoxville home and my nashville home. he pointed out that the wii (and we) may not be able to handle the long-distance relationship. but we keep joking about our future joint-custody wii and the wii fund that we will deposit our spare change in in order to raise money for said wii -- retail price about $250.

now, speaking of wii and guitar hero, it turns out that guitar hero III, which allegedly is to be released oct. 28 and feature such fabulous songs as "Paint it Black" by the Stones, "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss and "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys, will be available for the wii. s-wii-t.

the wii fund begins now with the opening balance of: 16 cents

canvassing

2007-06-21T11:52:00.000-05:00

i'm reverting back to my childhood when i wore keds and only keds on my feet. by the time i was allowed to think for myself when it came to my own wardrobe, i absolutely hated those boring all-white canvas shoes so much that i swore i'd never wear another pair.

well, i suppose as long as i wear this delicious style and print that i've just found online for $31.99 rather than the all-white lace-up versions, i won't be breaking my code of style.

now here's to hoping the ups man can find my house unlike the postal service.

commanding

2007-06-21T01:55:00.000-05:00

a big deal has been made all around about the fact that the Vatican issued a set of ten commandments for drivers. a co-worker of mine said he couldn't believe the Vatican was taking time to issue commandments for driving when there were so many horrible problems in the world that need the church's attention.

i say to thee, naysayers, before you judge why don't you actually take the time to read the ten commandments for drivers. you might find that not only are they good advice for drivers, they're also good advice for life. consider them an updated ten commandments for the hummer-driving crowd:

the drivers' ten commandments
1. you shall not kill.
2. the road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. support the families of accident victims.
8. bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. on the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. feel responsible toward others.
Consider it an updated Ten Commandments for the Hummer crowd.

preliminary evacuation

2007-06-21T00:45:00.000-05:00

my office had way too much fun with this story (may the subjects of the story rest in peace and rest together) :

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Police on Wednesday were investigating how a naked couple fell 50 feet from the roof of a downtown office building to their deaths.

The bodies were found on the road by a passing cabdriver around 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Clothing was discovered on the roof, leading authorities to suspect the man and woman, in their early 20s, may have been having sex. Their identities were not released.

"It's too early to rule out anything," Columbia police Sgt. Florence McCants said, but McCants said a preliminary investigation didn't show any sign of foul play.

(thanks to my co-worker Mark for the awful title to this blog entry)

iScrew

2007-06-13T13:02:00.000-05:00

a group of 12 friends and myself have a CD swapping group where each one of us creates a mixed album reflecting our taste in music and shares a copy of that album with each member of the group. it's a great way to learn about different kinds of music and about your friends' taste.

well, here's my chance to bitch about iTunes and apple in general, cause i hate them even though i use their products (which makes me hate them even more). iTunes will only let you make seven copies off one playlist. and no, you can't create a new playlist with the exact same content to get around that.

then there's also the issue of it not letting you make more than 10 (i think that's right) copies of the same track. i haven't had the chance to explore if uploading the track from an already burned CD will get me around that, but something tells me that won't work either.

i get why they do it, but for steve jobs' sake, i'm not selling these for a profit. i'm just trying to share with my friends. and why seven and 10 times? those seem like arbitrary numbers. why not 12 or 15?

i hate iTunes and apple because they do shit like this, and i hate them because they do such a good job at creating the 'i need that' feeling about their products.

swear jar

2007-06-10T01:06:00.000-05:00

this would totally be my office as we're extremely profane:

wasteland

2007-06-09T14:01:00.000-05:00

this is a pretty intense way to look at how wasteful we are as a society. i regret i don't know much about the artist or the exhibit, but i gather exploring the effects of a mass consumption through the lens of his camera is chris jordan's life's work.

(thanks to cool people care)

squeak

2007-06-06T22:45:00.000-05:00

sometimes, i look at my dog while she's squeaking incessantly on a squeaky toy, and i think, 'i know how you feel, yo.'

road trip

2007-05-28T19:02:00.000-05:00

if i had the summer to do anything, i'd do this:

The Frugal Traveler Hits the Road

really?

2007-05-24T22:26:00.000-05:00

if i had a 'no shit, sherlock' category on this blog, this would instantly become a member:

Heavy-drinking college kids make worse decisions

by the way, bad headline (i'm allowed to criticize, this is from one of my company's main competitors). i believe they intended to say 'heavily drinking,' cause otherwise, they studied a bunch of 'heavy' college kids who like to drink.

SOS

2007-05-16T21:18:00.000-05:00

the (recently reunited) police are going to be only 175 miles away from nashville at churchill downs on my 25th birthday.

synchronicity, indeed.

mail

2007-05-14T15:46:00.000-05:00

as i've said before, a lot of crap has gone wrong with my relocation to a new home. i'm trying to avoid bitching about it all, but i would like to share with you the most unique problem i've had to date.

when i moved in, i was told that the box where my lockable mailslot was located was only a temporary box, and that a fancy-schmancy mail center would be built nearby. basically that mail center is just a little hut with a whole lotta mailslots and some actual lighting in the middle of the expansive un-streetlight-lit construction zone.

well, the new mail hut is done, and i noticed the other day that i was no longer getting any mail in my original mailslot. the problem is, no one has provided me with a key to the new mailslot. and now, the old box is completely gone. without a trace.

mind you, before i moved, i'd never ever been late on a bill. i have now been late on about five bills thanks to my postal service, well, going postal.

lunch

2007-05-14T13:13:00.000-05:00

i have gotten so lazy. instead of fixing myself a lunch on my day off, or even putting together a sandwich or going out to lunch, i instead opted for an odd combination of lazy today:

1. chips and salsa
2. microwaved butter beans
3. a kashi cookie

i know, mmmmmmm, right?

pinch me

2007-05-09T20:48:00.000-05:00

ok, so i know it's really impossible to tell from the photos, which were taken on my cell phone as real cameras were prohibited, but i was this close to the barenaked ladies:

and to the counting crows:

if you ever have the chance to get that close to the barenaked ladies, i totally recommend it. as far as the counting crows, they're good, but i wouldn't pay a lot of money to get that close to them (and i didn't).

idoling

2007-05-09T20:21:00.000-05:00

ok, so with the two-month absence of cable in my life, i had to relegate to watching network reality shows, which of course means american idol.

and for the record, my prediction for the past three weeks has been this:

jordin sparks

i don't think she's the most talented one. that distinction obviously belongs to melinda doolittle (who by the way, is the hometown favorite here in the nashville area)

but jordin totally fits the american idol profile.

but, as a consolation to melinda and lakisha, the two ladies who are probably more talented than jordin, i think melinda and lakisha should join together and create the best r&b female duo this world has ever seen.

right turn right ahead

2007-04-16T22:28:00.000-05:00

do this:

1. go to google maps
2. select 'get directions'
3. enter 'new york city' in the first box and 'paris' in the second box
4. check out step #23.

my mom said i obviously had too much time on my hands. i have to instead give credit to al's morning meeting.