Snooping

So, in honor of the newly re-designed blog, I have decided to do a semi-weekly, perhaps weekly, post on my favorite random blogs via the next blog function on Blogger, whereby I simply click and find something I'm really impressed with and then show it to you!

This week, I have 4 selections:

#1: http://darirantau.blogspot.com/

I was immediately taken with the family photos, the tradition, and the beauty of it all. This blogger has a pretty incredible life or so it seems, and is very generous to document it online. I would really love to sit down and just ask about all the goings-on, the generations, the weather, the language, the everything..

#2: http://bixodotrapo.blogspot.com/

What can I say? - Art, jewelry, color, buttons, SOLD! I obviously don't speak the language, but I am still trying to figure how to acquire these incredibly charming designs or how to hone the ability to make some of one's own.

#3: http://qualityinprint.blogspot.com/

This is where the nerd in me comes out. Do I know anything about printing, or paper? Other than S telling me that the Chinese invented it, along with Slim Jims, unicorns, and vacation time, absolutely not. However, this blog is a truly intriguing read, and it mixes humor into a highly critical, highly technical, and certainly professional web space. Bravo, and I will be checking in with you whenever I need a random factoid to freak out friends and family.

and finally,

#4: http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/

Being an email subscriber to Stuff White People Like, I have to say this is a great blog with a similar feel, whether one is Christian or not. The blogger being Christian, there is reverence where reverence is due. The blogger being awesome, there is a ton of wit, gentle mockery of the hypocrisies of our common human nature, and wonderful examples of how God is great, but we often as believers are just a hot mess.

As icing on the cake, blog posts include parody song lyrics like the following:...

“Just pray. Gonna be okay.
Da-doo-doo-doo
Just pray. Spin that Bible babe.
Da-doo-doo-doo
Just pray. Gonna be okay.
Duh-duh-duh-duh
Pray. Pray. Pray. Just pray.” (To the tune of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance")

...And re-interpretations of biblical encounters like the following line from the Lord:

"I'm Jesus. Don't try to play me out."

...I'm in love!

Well, kids, have a happy Father's Day weekend.* I'll be back next week with another 7 days' worth of my own brand of blogging bravado.



*Have you noticed that there aren't a lot of funny Father's day cards out there that are not also gross and/or immasculating? Most I have seen involve in the "humor" a) farting, b) letting Dad know Mom wears the pants, c) asking for money.

The best (worst) day ever

Hello!

So today I slept in a bit, got my feet wrestled by my cat, and embarked on my work life a little later than expected, meeting with the lovely data manager at my lovely downtown office and then helping a colleague, who I think views me as the recent expert on all things higher education (he's an "adult student" - whereas I am clearly still the "dumb kid trying to grow up-type student"), figure out how use Google as the demi-god of Q&As (I used the word "mangoes" as an example of how to retrieve web sites, news info, pictures, articles, and mango-related products for sale, all in a series of Googlfied seconds! Go me, and this useless anti-use of the internet).

My lethargy today is mostly to be blamed upon a really great day yesterday, or a great day for me, that is.

You see, yesterday I woke up without the need for an alarm just after 6am. THIS NEVER HAPPENS. I should have known that the fates were toying with me and all that I hold sacred then and there, but I was naive. So I got all ready, enjoyed a CNN.com search with some morning coffee, and got out the door just after 7. I got to work before 7:30 (Also UNHEARD of) and had a marginally productive day.

I got home to find S on top of the world, because his graduation gift, a beautiful, hyper-powerful new desktop had arrived, and all his videogames were that much more fantastic.

I rejoiced in the ability for us to be a multi-computer capable family now - I broke out the wireless on the laptop and chillaxed while he played on. Then S decided to max out his new system, and max out he did, inadvertently shorting the processor. Oh, boy.

Now, I was sad for him, I pitied him, I tried to console him, but S had gone down to the depths of unspeakable tradgedy over this loss. To make matters worse, the to-remain-unnamed company from which the computer was purchased is severely lacking in their customer service. S called them, only to be put on hold to the annoying 80's beats of a California radio station for far over an hour with no assistance. At this point, sorry S, I was looking out for number one, and actually number two too, by suggesting that I run to Ikea and steal away (i.e. - purchase for a muy reasonable price) one of the two remaining double mattresses in their inventory for under $150. We need a mattress, badly, for the row house, and if these cheap Ikea options weren't available, we would be using one filled with air, no joke.

So I rushed away in S's time of need, was successful in finding and buying the ideally-priced bed (!!!), and even had an hour of store time left to grab 3 wonderful pieces for the new place - a footstool to match our tired out Ikea couch, a throw on sale and ready to dress up said couch, and a beautiful vase for the beautiful fresh flowers I vow to keep in our living room at all times in the new place.

When I got back home, on a budget-friendly, well-furnished high, S was in major need of a Chipotle dinner (aren't we all?) and I was just so happy with life. I tried to commiserate, but when we got back from dinner, the poor guy staring at his poor broken machine was too much for me yet again.

So I rushed off to rowhouse land, where to my great joy, the electricity had been turned on (did I mention that I have assembled multiple furniture pieces there in the dark, just too excited to move to conceive only a lunactic would do this? - no, I probably haven't shared this with you yet). But yes, the lights were on, so though it was night, I could see the beautiful new place all lit up and enjoy putting the mattress on the bed frame and decking out the living room without running into the walls. Bliss.

Sadly, S's computer has yet to be fixed. Happily, we will be dropping it off at some sketchy computer geek's house tomorrow afternoon, and for a bargain rate, it should soon be restored.

What turned out to be a great day for me - awake, productive, lucky, frugal, and even stuffed full of Chipotle, was quite a sad day for S, which made it all the more bittersweet. That's the way life is, I guess.
Now back to work, I have lots to catch up on.

Just an overdue thought

In summary of what I'm grateful for:


Life
Babies
Chubby Cheeks
Chocolate
Smiles
Denim

Simple Moments of Happiness

Hum diddy hum hum - You're my blue skies, you're my sunny day

It's another Monday, and yet I don't have a "case of the Mondays" - oh, Office Space, you epitomize what's great in life - because yesterday I got the honor of taking part in such a beautiful wedding!!!

M&K had the perfect day to be married, complete with gorgeous skies, an idyllic woodland setting, sun, cool breezes, and a remote location to which all the guests miraculously found their way! Speaking of which, S and I got fairly lost, thanks to me not using the bride and groom's reccommended directions and googlemapsing lat minutes instead, and also, if I can be picky here, partially due to a navigator napping on the job when we started off past the freeway. But all went well - we arrived 90 minutes early, almost as planned, and the place looked perfect, with M&K super excited and looking dazzling!

Even the potential disasters ended up picture perfect, when the location's wedding coordinator for instance was unable to get in touch with the tech guy onsite and thought we wouldn't have music - yes, the music S and I specifically playlisted for the happy couple, and yes, the only music available for the whole event. But then lo and behold!, lovely Miss Coordinator ended up riding up on the site's golf cart within minutes of the reception's start with a useable iPod dock, and no one noticed any instrumental absences!

There were so many things to be thankful for - that so many family members were there, that such good friends met other good friends and got along together so well, that the photographer was simply priceless and such a pleasure to work with, and that S's haircut was such a big hit with the bride that she recommended he use me as his stylist from now on (I heartily agree - hee). Oh, and the vegetarian dish deliciousness, the sweet toast by an old highschool friend, and the best end to a wedding dinner imaginable in my esteem - an amazingly smooth cup of coffee for the addict, and leftovers for the wedding party to take home (the caterers must have gotten a sense of our penchant for food by the end of the evening!).

To the bride and groom, I couldn't be happier for you, and I couldn't think of anyone else better for either of you than each other. To the rest of the guests - woo hoo! I hope you had as much fun as I did, and it meant so much that you came out to celebrate.

Ah, love, true love, and marriage. They have convinced me to search high and low in the old apartment tonight to find that camera USB cord and fully document a wonderful yesterday...

The Wedding Countdown!!

So it's almost 3am, and in 5 hours I will be on the road to a really early dress rehearsal, well, actually, a regularly dressed-rehearsal of the wedding tomorrow. I am really excited to see the beautiful location, and to celebrate the upcoming big day for M&K!

Yesterday I had my final interview (2nd interview) for a job I have been interested in for a while, and I hope I get an offer. The thing with the prospects I have had is that they are all really different - international work versus virtually no commute, lots of writing versus lots of speaking/presentations, different public health focuses, everything. It's hard to know what to think of as a "pro" or a "con" to a particular position when they are really not able to be compared to one or another at the end of the day. I just wish for the best and think that if I get to move forward with any one opportunity that is very fortunate.

In a side note, since all things are the wedding this weekend, I am finishing up a playlist for the big day, I have noticed that a lot of songs I thought were lovely and appropriate are actually a bit sad/creepy when it comes to this type of music. I didn't realize for instance, that the beautiful song "Feels like home" (see those awkward moments in between 2:20-2:36) by Chantal Kreviazuk has lyrics in it like "a window breaks down a long, dark street/And a siren wails in the night." Not as sentimental as I remembered it from my adolescent days listening to the Dawson's Creek soundtrack - Ha. Also not as pleasant as they first appear - classical songs, that often get depressed or aggressive 3/4 of the way in.

Well, S's back from an insane middle of the night walk now, so it's time to get to snoozin.

Sweet dreams!

(By the way, best wedding song - EVER.)

Hopes, dreams, and sheep doggies

With life so up in the air and summer approaching, it's fun to think about some of the exciting times I'll be plunking into my wish list for the future, and by future, I don't mean this Friday, which still seems like an eternity all on its own. I mean events in life and accomplishments of the light-hearted kind that are a good 5-45 years away, but that tantalize me none-the-less.

The first of these is raising a puppy. Sure, I could convince a breeder or the SPCA that I am currently capable for caring for a young dog, as I starting out in work life hoping to travel, overtime it, and commute as much as is necessary. I am sure that in some kind of reality show set up, I might even win a challenge or two given the task of training a puppy to sit, stay, and refraining from chewing/barking/shedding/emitting puppiness, but it is not yet time. Also, there is the great puppy debate - S likes huskies, malamutes, and wolf-like creature's Ala Grimm's Fairy tales, and I like 100lb. plus floppy-eared beasts like English mastiffs and Bernese mountain dogs. Lately, though, I have been falling in love with the Old English Sheep Dog. Do you think this guy qualifies as a possible big, bad wolf for S?

I am hoping that within a few years, I will work out a career schedule that includes either the necessary flexible time or close proximity from home, not to mention a home with a yard (though the alley behind the row house does have trees to lift a leg to), in order to find an appropriate buddy for Oliver (like the shep!).

Next is travel! My gifted friend and his bros from Brown started a travel organization that plans to head to North Korea late summer, and I am beyond frustrated that I promised myself pre-trip announcement that I wanted to 1) save emergency fund money (seriously???!?) and 2) pay off one of my grad school loans straight up. I dream of doing a communist country circuit one of these days, including Cuba, China, and North Korea, but I don't honestly know when I will get another opportunity. Hopefully, and prayerfully, a thrifty lifestyle from now until August and getting one of those job-thingies might convince me to jump on a plane this time around (given that I've saved at least the loan money by then and can save the emergency money by December), but I doubt it. So here's to my tour in 2050, in addition to my necessary ventures to the Greek isles, to India a few more times, and as a victorious participant in the Amazing Race one of these days (a new promise I made to an old friend).

These I suppose are the 5-10 year dreams, spattered with some travel that may occur a little later than that, or in the case of the Amazing Race, only in the imagination.

The 10-45 year goals include:

Owning 1 home and never selling it
Children - conceiving, adopting, fostering, loving
Old white woman sports like boating, hiking, kayaking, and maybe golf
Public Health Mission trips to Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the US (it should stand for "us"!)
Art installations
Lots of gardening (File under 'Old white woman' section??)
Eating and sleeping well

And once I hit 70, all bets are off!

The house that Landlord VanDyke's son built

So if you ask family or friends of mine, they would probably agree that I am fairly consumed by a desire to get the rowhouse apartment all set up for move in, which will happen sometime, somewhere between July and August. Evidence of this is also written all over the blog (Note any previous post that occurred after I signed the lease, and I bet you will see 'row' and 'house' used in close promixity to one another).

Last weekend we put together the new bed, which left me triumphant with only a few scratches, and so far this week, despite work, torrential rain, and the multiple job interviews (one which which perhaps went a little wobbly today, but I am hoping I get a call back second chance at a second interview), I have still managed to complete a DIY project framing one of my mom's 1914 Vogue posters for a bathroom art piece, and, randomly acquired a hornbeam tree sapling for the back deck (City Parks and Rec was giving them away outside the downtown office building when I exited my interview mid-morning).

I expect that once I find my USB camera cord, and after the wedding of the century - aka my mom's! - I will start showing off what I have done to the place.