I'm searching for things that I just can not see

I regret to inform my loyal and ever-patient readers that I am a fraud - that is, not a brain. I went on a walk yesterday and got a sunburn. A really ugly, burn-y one that could have been avoided if I wasn't an idiot. I tried taking some pics with my keychain camera but they refuse to come out. Eh, it's just as well; I wouldn't want to scare any new visitors away with shots of the Mysterious Half-Pale, Half-Lobster girl.

I went for a walk with DM and MB out at Contra Loma, which was nice. We saw some cows, none of whom were at all interested in talking to us, heh. The weather was perfect, sunny but pretty cool and breezy. Still: I should have worn sunblock. I didn't even notice I was burned until after I'd been home for awhile. I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt so I'm burned from where the sleeve ended, down to my wrists, and have a big red V on my chest also (this one doesn't hurt, but looks the worst). At least I didn't burn my face, as my moisturizer has SPF whatever.

So yeah, since last night I've been hanging around with an ice pack and slathering my skin with aloe vera lotion. My mom gave me some Bactine that I'm sure would help (yay lidocaine?) but I can't stand the smell of it.

Still, getting out and hanging out was all-in-all good. After our walk we went back to Pittsburg and had lunch down by the water. Bananas, granola bars, yogurt, fruit cups, and raisins. We'd had carrots and baked potato chips* that we finished during the actual walk.

*I made, or tried to make these, Friday night. I just sliced up the potatoes and coated lightly with olive oil, and baked them. They were still mostly soft so I had to bake them twice... after which the majority of them were still too soft. Argh! They were still tasty, though. I also had some extra potatoes left to make a yum casserole out of them. I mixed the slices up with cheddar cheese, onion, green chiles, and cream of chicken soup, then baked it. Delicious!

We are going to try to get together again next weekend at my house. If we do I'm dying to try this recipe for veggies and pasta I've been hoarding in my file.

My spa & chocolate & TV night on Wednesday was fabulous. An hour and a half of pure bliss. Note to self: repeat this sometime soon. The only bummer was that I accidentally threw away my unused portion of this night-time moisturizer sample from DHC that's just brilliant. I suppose I should stop being cheap and just buy some, huh?

The daytime writer's club on Thursday was quite small; me and one dude and this other lady. So many of the people who attend (both night and day) are writing about their lives, and while I realize that while they are older, it makes me wish I could do the same. Here's to hoping that my adulthood will be interesting enough to chronicle, when the time comes.

Pepé has been barking all morning and it's driving me crazy! I could even hear him while I was in the shower. I almost didn't want to get out, just so I could keep cool water on my skin. I wouldn't even mind the burning feeling so much if I didn't look like a freak. That's pretty sad, considering how dangerous sunburn can be, and I'm worried about just looking okay.

I'm glad comments are working again, but annoyed that they still don't show up until I publish a new entry. I guess it has to do with publishing on my own site? There's probably a workaround that I'm too ignorant to know about.

I am aware this entry is mostly dumb so I will end it, and leave you to go work on something creative (my horoscope told me to do so... bossy-ass horoscope) and/or munch on the scones I made this morning. Chomp!

Don't even try to understand, just find a place to take your stand

Well, I was going to start this blog off cheerfully but I just got an e-mail from my school regarding to the front parking lots (as if) being closed starting this next Monday. Would it be that hard to wait the three weeks until the semester is over? Now all the dillholes who usually park in front are going to be in my already-hard-to-find space in the back. Argh.

Anyway, on to good things!

My trip to Arizona = awesome. I sat next to the window and seeing the desert from above and all was pretty neat, but I could also see the wing of the plane and it made me nauseous when the plane made a turn. There was a stop in Los Angeles, which was annoying, but not as much as transferring would have been. I have decided that I hate takeoff, but love landing. Whee!

My aunt was hella surprised to find us all waiting in her living room. It was funny and sweet. For dinner there was enchiladas (I don't eat them but apparently they were the best ever) and Peter Piper Pizza (stuffed crust rules). EC made me my pina coladas, whoo hoo!

After breakfast on Sunday, we went to the San Xavier Mission which is a really beautiful place. I took a few pictures - not as many as I should have, but I felt weird having a camera in a church - that I'll post when I get them at the end of the week. EC pointed out these two lion statues to me and the legend behind them is that they were two men who slept together, and their punishment was being turned into lions. Harsh.

One fascinating thing they have there is... I guess you could call it an altar, with a wooden statue of St. Francis (there is a picture of him on the website). He's covered with a cloth that people can pin prayers, etc. onto it. The night before, my aunt was telling my mom and me about this, and there is kind of a belief or legend that if you can put your hand under his neck and lift the statue, that means you have a lot of faith. I was pretty much terrified that I wouldn't be able to do it, but I did!

We spent straight days in the gift shop, where they had both tourist-y Arizona stuff (postcards, mugs, cacti) and religious items. Along with a few bits for friends and my godmother, I got a couple of beautiful prayer cards (Our Lady of Fatima, Sacred Heart of Jesus), a magnetic hematite bracelet with pink beads, and a bottle for holy water (some of which I also procured before leaving the mission). They had probably hundreds of rosaries in all kinds of styles, from fancier ones to kind of primitive, wooden beads ones, but regretfully I didn't add any to my collection. Next time!

EC and I and our moms went to the mall so my mom could find a cactus to bring home to my grandma. We only went to a couple of the shops, all tourist-y. They had some delicious sounding bread/biscuit mixes at one (jalapeno cheese, mmm) but they seemed expensive and I didn't buy any. I did buy a necklace with a silver tomahawk.

Lunch was bought from Whataburger, which is similar to Nation's - I prefer Nation's way of doing jalapenos, though, without the seeds! It was funny, we had been feeling kinda guilty about not getting anything for my dad and brother who were out doing other stuff, and then they walked in the door with Whataburgers of their own. Ha!

After a way too big and delicious dinner (pork, chicken, steak, tortillas, beans, rice, cornbread) and texas sheetcake, EC and I went out with our moms once again to the Casino del Sol. It's a huge place, and they have one fantastic room where the ceiling has been made up to look like the sky in daylight. Even though it was Sunday night it was very busy and it took me awhile to find a machine that I liked and was open. I was only willing to spend five dollars gambling, and lost it all. It was still fairly early when we left so I convinced everyone to going to Chili's to have drinks and appetizers. I heart raspberry margaritas forever.

Monday was pretty laid-back. There was breakfast and there was packing. My bag made the trip home completely stuffed to the brim. The stuff I bought wasn't very big but I also carried some things for my mom, whose duffel bag and backpack were bursting at the seams. EC and I made a trip to Walgreen's during the morning to make a copy of a picture of the two of us from my birthday, and she gave me a cute purple frame with shoes and purses to put it in (she has a matching pink frame). I should probably scan that sometime huh.

Leaving = sad. Wah. I am hoping EC will be able to come out in the summer as she wants to. While I can completely understand her not being a big fan of Tucson (because of being away from here and us, and ugly weather in the summer) I think the city was gorgeous. I would miss the green grass if I was away for long, but the look of the desert is also appealing to me. It didn't get very hot while we were there, and the air was fresh and clean. I will have to visit again - just not when it's going to be over 100 everyday.

Traveling back home was pretty much a bummer. The flight seemed to take forever, especially with the stop (this time in San Diego). I tried sitting on the aisle to see if that helped my feelings of motion sickness, and while takeoff was a lot better, the rest of the flight in general was uncomfortable. We took BART to the airport, which was great for leaving but just annoying and tiring on coming back. Then there was the endless drive home, sigh. The puppies were very glad to have us back, though Pepe seems like he's snubbing me a bit.

Yesterday I had a work project to do from home, yay that. It sounded as if it would have been a major pain (making some contact lists), but it was easy and took me only a few hours. T says he'll have some more for me involving other cities, either late this week or possibly next. I'm down with that. I am waiting - none too patiently, I assure you - for my check from last week's work at the office to arrive. I'm waiting even more piss-offedly for my final payment from the tutoring company. Just give it up, you arses, the pay period ended on the 15th which was almost two weeks ago.

Mostly I am worried about money because I've taken quite a bit out of my savings, which is to be used for my hotel weekend in June. Putting in my last tutoring check will cover what I need, and I want to have a fairly comfy cushion over that. Barring the end of the world, I am taking this damn trip. I have already collected a bunch of spa-type treatments to take with me. Depending on the whole work, payment, thing, I may even put off enrolling for school in the fall (I am wavering between either speech, Spanish or sign language) to save myself that little bit of money.

Speaking of girly spa stuff, I'm going to do some beautifying and relaxing tonight. I have so many samples and things I never use, that I'm just not going to allow myself to buy anymore until I use them. I've got everything ready for my face and hands and feet, and then I will sit down with my Lindt truffles and "Epitafios." Yay.

I went to Longs earlier to drop off my film, and picked up a couple of boxes of Pasta Roni - Fettucine Alfredo, mmm. I had wanted to try the pasta shells with cheddar (or something), but the FA was on sale for 79 cents a box. Yes, I am down to counting pennies now. There was also a sale on Ruffles, two bags for five dollars - mmm. There is nothing much to eat around here and I needed some junk food pronto. So, it's going to be pasta roni and chips for dinner, ha.

Tonight I've got to print my stuff for writer's club tomorrow... it is six pages long so I'm only going to do five copies, which is still thirty sheets. I don't even know how much ink I have left. It hasn't given me a low ink warning, but it's not letting me print in fast mode anymore.

Saturday, if the weather stays good (probably), I'm to go on a walk and picnic lunch with DM and MB and hopefully KA. I need to get out and about. I should have taken the dogs for walks today, but just couldn't seem to get it together. I don't know what it's been about the past few days, but I can't get organized in any kind of manner. It's not PMS time, so who knows what my current ditziness is caused by? What moon phase is it? What's my biorhythm? Wow, I need to end this entry before I start rambling about runes and tarots and all that.

I should probably feel cheap but I just feel free

When I blogged yesterday I thought I wouldn't have time to again before leaving... but in my usual super-efficiency I'm left with an abundance of time while waiting for something. I'm all packed except for things that must wait till tomorrow (basically, makeup). Eek! I had butterflies earlier that are gone right now but will probably reoccur once on the plane. I love flying, especially the free soda part.

You know what else I love? Writing. I actually worked on my haunted house dealy last night and again this morning. And, luckily, had the epiphany that solves all of my problems. Well, not all of them, but there was a major plot point I had no idea what to do with... and now I have it figured out. It was a very pleasant and satisfying surprise.

My nails are pretty and shimmery right now. I used a kind of purple-y color first and then Goldie's "Rapture", which is the shimmer. Together it looks like this old Wet N Wild color my mom had when I was a kid. I tell you, I loved that color, and bugged her forever until she finally let me use it when I was about junior high age. I had friends who would go to school, put on makeup, and take it off again before leaving, but you can't really do the same thing with nail polish.

I'm sorry this is such a boring entry for you guys, but you will have to deal. I am too excited to be interesting.

Awhile ago, in an effort to make the clock move forward, I re-watched all of the "Teen Girl Squad" toons on Home Star Runner. Brilliant. I'm totally going to marry Brett Bretterson when I grow up. I need a tattoo of The Ugly One (so me, even down to the glasses) saying "I have a crush on every boy!"

I'm ever so pissed; my last direct deposit from the tutoring company did not come in today. Grr. So, I had to transfer in some money from my savings (naughty naughty!) for this weekend. I put in the same amount I'll be getting paid so I can transfer that into my savings when it comes in. Which it better, like, soon.

This week I reread Bret Easton Ellis' "The Informers." I love all of his stuff, but these short stories are just flat-out perfect and inspire me to want to write something really great.

Writer's club last night went well. There were only three of us, me and two other ladies. It was so strange to be there when the parking lot was super-empty. They're both going to have to miss next time's day meeting (bummer) so I have to e-mail them what I'm going to read that day. It will be a lot easier to do now that I have actually written it! What I'm planning to take in is 2 pages longer than the 4 page limit, but I can go last. Plus with two people gone... you get the idea.

I have to e-mail my Creative Writing teacher to say there's a possibility I won't be there on Monday... I'm not even sure what time my flight comes in that afternoon, but I don't think it will be a big deal even if I'm late. There is one lady who is late like every time, and another who always leaves early. That's life I guess.

Earlier I tried the new Dr. Pepper Berries and Cream soda... it tastes like you poured Dr. Pepper and cream soda together. Surprisingly, this is actually not as good as it sounds. I wouldn't recommend it... I am a Dr. Pepper purist though. But! I am planning to quit drinking it after the case in the garage is gone. It had 36 cans total, and is about half gone, leaving 18; and my mom and I both drink them, so you figure that's 9 left for me. So sometime around the very end of April, I'll be done. Cold turkey, baby.

I'm annoyed hearing about Danica Patrick, and all that Nascar, driving fast stuff in general. What's impressive about it? Nothing! I hate sports, and driving isn't even a sport, which makes it even more stupid. Eh... end pointless rant.

Tonight would have been a good night to kill watching TV but there is actually nothing on. No shows On Demand that I could catch up with, either. Damn.

The last couple days I have been listening non-stop to Nina Gordon's "Tonight and the Rest of My Life." It's a great album with a good mix of songs (love songs, ex-best friend songs, depressing songs, etc.) and I wish she'd come out with another album. Wait, I just checked her web site - there's supposed to be a new one released on July 18. Bitchin! I only have to wait... er... 3 months minus three days. I'm down.

I got a call yesterday from TH (at my old boss' office where I worked this week) and he has some stuff for me that I can do from home. Awesome. I am lucky to have these people thinking of me when it comes to work.

I swear I can smell quesadillas from the kitchen. I must go investigate this.

I feel sick and I feel bad, I feel lonely, I feel sad

I worked Monday through Wednesday (yesterday) this week. The main project was this database of names and addresses that was semi-annoying but not hard, so yay that. It was nice to feel like a semi-responsible citizen, ha ha.

I haven't written in a week but there hasn't been a lot going on. You can't squeeze blood out of... you know, a thing that doesn't have blood in it.

It felt weird not going to class on Monday (good old spring break). Though I wish my trip this weekend was going to last longer, I also hope I'll get back in time Monday to get to class. I've already missed two - not as many as some other people (whose names I'd mention, only I don't know them, because they are never in class) - but I don't like missing school. Unless the class sucks, of course, which this one does not.

I did go out to dinner with LS and JH, which was both fun and tasty. I kept saying idiotic things to the waiter, though. Such as my confusion over whether I was ordering a pomegranate margarita or martini (I ended up with a martini, which was really quite good), and then asking for a burger with "cheddar and cheese" when I meant to say "cheddar and bacon." Those giant cookies they have at Uno's rule.

For the past week or so I have been keeping a tarot journal. This is something I've done probably twice before, and it lasts like two weeks and then stops completely. I would like to keep it on a bit longer this time, ha. Since meditation and prayer are both out for me (I can't concentrate enough to do the first, and feel too much like a hypocrite when I do the second) I figured tarot cards would at least make me take a peaceful, thoughtful minute out in the day.

My mom and I went to Mervyn's on Saturday and I actually found a few tops. Two of them are the fake-layered kind with fake diamond-y buttons (I got one pink and one black), and another (also pink) has a cute monster-y character from "Where the Wild Things Are." I never actually read that, but whatever.

I guess I have been losing weight - on Easter I discovered that I fit into this size smaller jeans I bought last year, and promptly grew out of at the time. I am so glad, not just becuase of the obvious less-fat thing, but because these jeans are so comfy: soft and kind of thin-feeling. So, they are perfect for my trip this weekend. They are just right so I won't have to wear a belt, which means (hopefully) no annoying scene at airport security. On my senior trip in 2000, I for some stupid reason wore steel toe boots. Yeah. Dumbass equals me.

I got my stuff from Avon - the pink plaid tote is even cuter than I'd thought it would be. Girly squeal! What else did I get? Some soy soap rose petals for my mom, strawberry sparkly lip gloss, a facial scrub, some acne scrub*, and some liquid deodorant. It sounded neat, and was cheap. I used it this morning and it is holding up well despite my taking the puppies on separate walks in a sun that actually had heat in it, hmm. Oh! And something I've been wanting for hella days: A keychain that looks like a huge diamond ring. If you told me at fourteen that I'd be buying such things I would so not believe you.

*I've never had a serious problem with my skin, but I've had random breakouts lately. Screw those.

Heh, I was reading my last entry and realized I made two notes with stars * like I do, only I never followed up with the requisite footnotes. Dumbass equals blah blah blah.

Last night I stayed up late to work on "Accomplices" for writer's club tonight. These meetings have been the highlights of my week, lately. Oh man, I really need to get cracking on my haunted house story for next week. I'll go do that now (yeah, I don't believe me either).

Take your silver spoon and dig your grave

Ever since I've been using the new template the NavBar has disappeared... I don't know if there's something in the code that has made it invisible or what. The next time I update the template I'll have to mess around with it (Famous Last Words).

Class Monday night was very good. Apparently the stuff I wrote is better than I thought, or at least not as sucky. It was funny, one of the other women and I wrote a nearly identical scene at least in terms of what was going on (wordless argument of a couple and the husband had a hangover). Over spring break we are supposed to read through this poetry book... god I hope we don't have to write too much of it when we go back. I haven't written poetry since like high school, and with good reason.

The woman whose poetry we're reading has actually worked at the school for some time - I remember her being there back when I first started. She was also featured in the Word Fest thing the English department did a few years ago. She's so sweet. And she's coming to talk to the Creative Writing class in a few weeks, which is one of the reasons we've got to bone up on her stuff. Heh, I said bone.

Damn, I don't know what else I did this week. I was out of action until yesterday because my car was in the shop. Yay Betsy's back! And she has brakes. Being able to stop is always good.

Writer's club yesterday was fun, there were actually six of us so I had just the right amount of copies (instead of too many) for once. In the daytime group I'm reading this haunted-house dealy I'm working on. I am always surprised when people like my stuff. Or think it's well-written, whatever. I am the kind of person who can only see my mistakes... but yeah, I've got to work on that story super much. There's a lot I want to go on and I have no idea about how to go on doing it. I'm going to have to break out with one of those brainstorm diagrams. I did one of those for Accomplices, after all, and that turned out okay. But I think I also want to work more on that for next week's evening meeting.

I'd love to be always available for day and night meetings, but of course if - or should I say when - I get a job, the daytime ones will probably be unavailable to me. Damn this 9 to 5 world! Or something.

A while back my mom got me another corn husk doll at a yard sale. This one is really cute because the husks have kind of been made to look like a fancy gown, and there's lace at the bottom. She has brown hair made out of I'm-not-sure-what, styled into ringlets. So cute! I did some work rearranging all of my collections earlier this week, now I will have to do some more to fit this one on the shelf...

After the meeting yesterday I took my big-ass tutoring supplies box back to my boss. My room feels so much bigger without it sitting in the corner. Seriously, it was like 3 feet wide, 3 feet long and 1 foot tall. There wasn't much of value left in it so I'm not sure why the company wants them back, but whatever. All I know is they better have paid me my last check by the end of this coming week so I have money for my trip.

Oh man, earlier I was searching for people on MySpace (I should stop doing that) and found this girl I used to talk to online hella days ago. As in, "I was still in high school and using AOL" days ago. It's been probably six or seven years since we stopped talking for whatever reason. But yeah, not going to get in touch with her.

Speaking of work (I know, that was over a paragraph ago) my old boss had his secretary call me this week regarding some project he has for me. Bitchin. She said that he said (I hate it when he talks through other people, which is part of my I originally left) that it's about 3 to 5 days work. I can dig it. So I'm going in on... Monday? Yeah, Monday. Wow, I just realized that at this very same time last year was when I was interviewing there the first time. A year ago yesterday I had an interview with TH and I went in on Easter morning to observe a radio show (one that is no longer on, alas). It's wacky timing.

Last night I drove my brother to school and I was going to go to improv club* but had an inkling he wouldn't have class**, so instead I went to Target and did a bit of shopping. It was all stuff for my mom (recipe cards and box, pig candle) except for this gross sour cherry Bubblicious gum with a Gushers-esque liquid center. Yugh. But yeah, my brother called when I'd been there for maybe ten minutes so finished up, went back, got him, went home. "CSI" had a bunch of rappers on it, but not Ice T, sob. Wait, does Ice T need a hyphen? Ice-T? No, that doesn't look right either.

When I was returning my box yesterday I was very tempted to do some shopping around downtown Antioch. I restrained myself, but now I've got a serious shopping jones (part of why I went to Target last night). I've ordered stuff from Avon that's supposed to be delivered today, and I'm afraid of what I might do if it doesn't get here soon... I need Shopaholics Anonymous or whatever.

I also got all my religious dealies from eBay - a few rosaries, a few crosses, a bunch of medals. They are all fantastic and I will have to put up a list/photos of my collection sometime. I've always found making lists to be a good distraction, from both things you should be doing (in my case, job hunting, writing or cleaning) and from things you shouldn't be doing (IMC again: shopping, eating, watching TV).

Maybe I'll go do up a nice list about stuff I need to do for Sunday: the cleaning (ugh), the cooking (yay), the... I don't know, what I'm going to wear (no idea). It's been a long time since this was a dress-worthy holiday for me, I'll tell you that. We never went to church, but I always had a fluffy, girly dress (usually pink, often with lace) on Easter. I still try to wear something new but I don't know if I have anything that qualifies right now. Who am I kidding, I haven't worn tons of the stuff in my closet (ah, something else I can do to distract myself: gather things for whatever donation truck is coming on Monday). I have a leopard print skirt I haven't worn yet, but that is not exactly proper Easter dress, I think. Hee.

For the first time in my life, I'm sure

Okay, I was going to wait to blog until after I'd typed up and submitted my Creative Writing homework... but I just read an article that Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin have named their new son Moses. Yes, you heard me: Moses. It's not as if I'm not down with biblical names, but somehow Moses Martin just doesn't fly off the tongue. And they've already got Apple. I can't wait to find out what the third kid would be... they should get into the whole "Children of the Corn" style and start naming them Jebediah or Malachai or something. Hee hee...

In other news I have set up a separate blog for TV stuff - haven't really posted there yet but I'll do that if I get the time today (after homework - I must be good). Don't worry, I'll still pimp HBO like mad, but you will have to look over there for my usual blah-blah snippets about shows.

I will give you one last TV bit: This weekend I was enjoying the last few episodes from season three of "Oz" On Demand and was pouting afterwards that I'd have to wait hella weeks to see season four. And then I snapped out of my idiocy and realized that I have season four on DVD, thanks to Claire and the generosity of a Swedish "Oz" fan. Guess what I'm watching this weekend!

Hard to believe that this Sunday is Easter... meaning April is nearly over... meaning 2006 is nearly one-third over. Ugh. Time flies when you're blogging about the things you should be doing, I guess.

I always used to love Easter just for the candy. I still require one Cadbury's creme egg each year - but only one, because more sugar than that makes me die. You know what else I love are those yellow mini-egg cartons that come with the egg-shaped gum. Those are delicious and I always finish them that day. But other than those I'm pretty much over stuffing myself with holiday candy. I still have a container full of chocolate coins and other randomness from Christmas.

My car is in the shop this morning because I've apparently been driving around without brakes, or brake pads, or brake shoes, or whatever-the-hell things wear out. Oops. I did notice this kind of grinding noise last week but didn't think about it much because I could still drive and stop OK, and didn't smell anything burning. My dad heard it and realized what it was, luckily for me.

Really, for someone so determined to be a smarty I have remained willfully ignorant about cars. I'm like that with all machines, though: As long as they're working, I don't bother to think about them. This will undoubtedly get me in trouble someday. I have no idea how to change a tire, or even my oil. My excuse for that is: Why put the lovely boys at Oil Changers out of business?

In my continuing overspending problem, I'm awaiting a few packages this week. One is Avon... I so shouldn't have bought anything, but with a $45 purchase I got free shipping and a free tote bag and cosmetic case - both pink plaid. I am strong enough to resist anything but that apparently. I also won a couple of auctions on eBay; two smallish lots of religious medals, rosaries, etc. It seems like the more I doubt my faith, the more icons I surround myself with.

I don't know what's up with me. Though I have never been a fan of organized religion I have always believed in god. I was cheerfully irreverent and blasphemous about it, but I always believed. And now I'm not so sure, and that's a big worry to me. Now I'm questioning not just what my beliefs are but whether I have any at all, and why or why not. Damn, this is way too deep for Monday morning...

Writing is going so-so right now. Since abandoning Accomplices part 2 I haven't worked on much other than whatever assignments we get in class. I'm set with material for writer's club for this week and next week, but after that I will need something new. The one I'm reading in the day meetings - the haunted house story - I need to get cracking on that. I'm kind of wavering about doing it because of its length, which seems to me novel-sized (or at least novella-sized). For me, that means outline, and I haven't outlined anything since doing "Good Girls" back in NaNoWriMo 2004. FYI, that was hella days ago!

I always used to be offended when people forgot my name, but in the last couple of weeks I've just found it funny. At last week's writer's club, one woman called me Karen, because there was another recent-but-absent joinee with that name. And my kids in tutoring could not remember my name for anything. Don't get me started on this guy I crushed on a few years back who was convinced that I was Yvette (at least he was close).

I guess Yvonne is not a common enough name for people to remember. I think in elementary there was another girl with the name but she was only there for awhile (or, I'm imagining the whole damn thing). And one of the cashiers at Raley's is an Yvonne. According to Name Statistics mine is the 174th most common female name, but considering I've only met two others, that just doesn't sound right...

I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the right words to say

Whoa.

I actually fixed comments.

Heh, I went through all the trouble of designing new things and getting a new template (which I love), but in ensuring that they'd work, I actually got them to work on the old template. Who would've thought?

I suppose that as long as I'm here I should write a proper entry. When's the last time I wrote, Sunday?

Monday: Tutoring. The kids told us whacked out stories about their Pinocchio puppets. Class: good, though the number of students seems to shrink each week. Everyone agreed that my story is on the way to goodness but needs more work, and I am tearing out my hair trying to figure out what to do and how. Or something. We did get neat assignments this week on two different scenes to write: One using only dialogue and one about two people having an argument, without using any dialogue. Eek. I should probably do that huh...

Thursday (yesterday): Tutoring again! It was supposed to be a pizza party/competition but only three kids out of eight showed up due to the minimum day. Harsh. All the kids that showed up are my favorites, though (aren't I bad?).

Um, apparently the new season of "Degrassi TNG" started... so you will have to excuse this entry being cut short. But now that everything works again and I have a bright new template to look at, I promise to do a good entry tomorrow. I won't be going anywhere as apparently my car has no brakes. Eek.

I got society's blood running down my face

Work Thursday went pretty well... I could actually talk which is always good right? Some of the kids were being "argh." With all of the stuff the other tutor and I have to deal with only having eight kids, it really makes me appreciate the teachers I had who could successfully deal with thirty (or more) students at a time.

On Friday I went to the other school site to help out with their last day, which was a combo party and competition. I'd predicted an easy time as I'd be an extra person, but one of the tutors couldn't make it so I was truly needed. HQ is proving to be an assache to the very end, so we had to be creative as far as decorations went. Also the big prizes the kids are getting* hadn't arrived yet so they were bummed out about that.

*They get some pretty neat prize choices - scooters, CD players, and such. It's not based on performance but attendance. If they miss four or more sessions they get some lame runner-up prize. I think there's only one little girl in my group who gets one of those (I have no idea what it is) because she missed about five sessions. Ah, well.

As far as being sick I'm about 90% well... I've taken no medicine at all today and I only have an occasional dry cough.

Yesterday I cleaned my bathroom in between watching episodes of Showtime's "Weeds", and attempting to find edibles in the house. Nada. (And believe me, if a fat girl can't fat anything to eat, there ain't nothing to eat.) I think I had, like, a quesadilla and a peach. I went to the mall to avoid my dad's poker game and, stupidly, ate at Sbarro. It was supposedly lasagna, but I think the cheese and noodles and meat were all fake. My breadstick was pretty good though. I knew I should've stopped at Jack in the Box...

But yeah, I spent a fair bundle at the mall. Bath and Body Works (of course!) was first and I got some of the new Couvent des Minimes orange blossom lotion and floral water. It smells kind of like a creamsicle but spicy. Also some Goldie nail polish. I want them to come out with some new Tutti Dolci flavors hella bad. I could suggest some. They don't have a cherry or strawberry yet... mmm.

I bought hella stickers at American Greetings for my tutoring kids. I bought just different ones - stars, Powerpuff girls, sports, frogs, etc. - and stuck a few sheets into each of the greeting cards I made for the kids. They'll like it, I think... and if not I wouldn't see them again to hear about it, anyway.

This blog entry seems strange to me... I can't seem to be able to say anything just right. It's all awkard or something. NyQuil withdrawal perhaps?

Speaking of writing I am supposed to be doing my homework but it's really all just about doing a final draft of our story, which I already did weeks ago. So I'm going to go through again to make sure it's as good as possible and send teach the final draft.

Back to last night... I went to Target after the mall and bought randomness and went ahead to the movies to see "Inside Man." It was pretty good. I'd expected more shootings and explosions** but the plot was more interesting than just "Hey we're robbing a bank!" Denzel was dreamy and excellent as always. Jodie Foster was pleasantly bad (character, not actor... she is one of the best). Heh, the goth looking chick from "Blair Witch 2" was also in the movie.

**I've been much more receptive lately to action movies than I ever would have thought. There is probably something to this, but I am having a hard enough time writing this entry without going into psychological... you know, things.

Enough awkward-ity and we'll get onto TV talk.

As I think I mentioned I've been watching Showtime's "Weeds." I have been a longtime HBO snob and will continue to do so, but Showtime does have some pretty good stuff. This one with Mary Louise Parker as a pot-dealing single mother in the suburbs is funny though not hilarious, and slightly annoying because so many of the characters are recognizable as my suburbanite friends and neighbors. The black family she gets her weed from cracks me up, and as in Lifetime movies, they're the only ones who are smart and who no one ever listens to. I don't know if this is a miniseries or if it will continue; I have just three episodes left, though. And for your short-attention span pleasure, the episodes are only half an hour long.

More Showtime: the second season of "Huff" starts tonight. Last season ended with Huff (Hank Azaria) kicking the crap out of his troubled lawyer friend Russell (Oliver Platt) because Russell slept with Huff's mom (Blythe Danner), and Huff's schizophrenic brother taking off. I'll have to DVR this because it conflicts with "Big Love" but I'm eager to see what happens. I like Hank Azaria, he's great... well, we all know about my thing with dark haired guys.

"The Sopranos" played it smart and brought Tony out of his coma last Sunday, so tonight I guess we get a look at his recovery prognosis... and the disappointments of those who were all too ready to step up and take his place.

I finally got caught up with "The OC" this week. Ryan could do way better than Marissa (who I actually like better when she gets into the drinking and all), but Sadie bugs me... she's got to be hiding some baby daddy drama or something. We'll see. I'm not sure when or how it happened, but the relationship we all once wanted to work (Ryan and Marissa) has become the relationship that we're all tired of hearing about. Watching the show is almost like having to sit on the phone, bored, and say "Uh huh" to a friend who is rambling about a relationship they're in that will never, ever work. Summer's calling Julie "Mrs. Cooper Nichol Cooper Roberts" cracked me up because I said it ten minutes before she did. Seriously.

"Epitafios" season one re-starts tomorrow night on HBO Latino. I don't know if there will be the English subtitles, but I damn sure hope so because I'm setting my VCR to tape it. I'm looking forward to getting scared all over again. I can't say enough good things about this show, but you're all tired of hearing it so I will.

The blog/site is bugging me right now. It needs a major overhaul and a transfusion of new content. It needs a template that will work with comments. It needs a more creative, interesting webmaster. Good luck on that one.

I have to go do my lesson plan for tomorrow, the final class! I don't know if I'll follow it - I was thinking of just putting together some games for the kids to play. I made up a math puzzle once they loved but they need a lot of work on reading/spelling. Time to make up my own rules.