MsBtch2U's Random Thoughts and Crap

He Deserved It

2005-02-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

Yes, Johnny Depp is my favorite, but Jamie Foxx really deserved the Oscar this time. When they read the names I actually said, "Jamie Foxx! Jamie Foxx!" and then yelled "YES!" when they announced his name. ~J~ was kinda surprised I wasn't pulling for J.D., but I don't feel I was "betraying" him or anything -- I really think one of these years we'll see him standing at the podium making his own acceptance speech. This just wasn't his year. Jamie Foxx's work in "Ray" was so far above and beyond everyone else's, he really did deserve it. I was very happy for him!

Shortest Case of The Flu, Ever

2005-02-27T01:51:00.000-05:00

How bizarre. Last night I suddenly had a horrible attack of coughing, just completely out of the blue. At one point I was coughing so hard I gagged, and I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I know, gross -- sorry. But it's part of the story. Anyway, after I tossed everything I ate in the last two weeks I went back to bed and then I was hit with a horrible bout of achiness and chills. My joints ached, my muscles ached, and even my SKIN hurt! I was freezing and shivering but I couldn't tolerate the blanket touching me. I actually started crying from the misery of it. To myself I felt hot to the touch, but I woke ~J~ up and he said I didn't feel feverish. Obviously I thought I'd caught the flu (would have been the first time in about 20 years). I seemed to have all the symptoms, except ~J~ said I didn't feel feverish to him, and no mudbutt, thank gawd. After about an hour and a half I finally fell asleep. Today I woke up and felt fine. No symptoms of anything at all. How weird is that?

This House is So Cute

2005-02-25T13:12:00.000-05:00

We plan on moving out to the lake (just outside of town) eventually and this would be perfect. It's kinda small, but I'd be more than willing to trade off on that for the gorgeous setting! http://www.visualtour.com/inventory.asp?cp=3&u=2595&rp=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Elakemohawk%2Ecom%2F (First house on the list, 335 E. Mohawk)

A Bit More Than He Bargained For

2005-02-24T09:21:00.000-05:00

One night last week when ~J~ got home from work he joked that we did not give him a suitable greeting and that ~T~ and I were to always come running and greet him enthusiastically at the door. So last night when he arrived home we ran to the door, arms flailing and yelling gleefully, "~J~'s HOME!!!", and threw ourselves on him. Even the dog was jumping around and barking happily. So he was laughing at us and saying, "That's BETTER!" and then my DAD, who had just dropped in a few minutes earlier, came running in screaming from the living room and grabbed ~J~ in a big bear hug, too! That was certainly unexpected, and the "wha-HUH??" look on ~J~'s face was hilarious!

Crap, Now I've Got Three Contenders

2005-02-24T02:19:00.000-05:00

As I posted the other day, I'm looking into getting a new car and I really like the Pontiac Vibe. Yesterday I was looking online at all other comparable vehicles and now I'm also really liking the new Kia Sportage and the Suzuki Grand Vitara. They're all in the same general price range. This is bad because I'm so pathetically indecicive! I love the exteriors of the Sportage and Vitara -- more than the Vibe. But the Vibe's interior seems to be nicer and roomier than the other two. It also has the Toyota quality and dependability behind it (it's the exact same car as Toyota's RAV4, just a different body). If all things were equal I'd get the Kia Sportage. I like the look of that one most, it's slightly cheaper, and front, side, and head airbags come standard. Big plus. Also, one of its color options is a very nice olive green -- I love the green, and the other two don't offer that color. I have to do more research, but if the Sportage and Vitara are comparable to the Vibe in driving comfort and dependability I guess it's going to have to come down to cargo space and rear seat leg room.

Hmm... Now Might be the Perfect Time

2005-02-23T12:15:00.000-05:00

Lorain, Ohio, (just north of us and east of Cleveland, on Lake Erie) is planning on building a casino in hopes of revitalizing their city. Right now they're in the idea phase of it but they're really pushing for it. ~J~ drives through Lorain pretty frequently and he says the downtown is pretty much a ghost town right now. Everything's closed, out of business, for sale. I'm thinking now would be the perfect time to grab up some cheap property near where they're planning to build the casino, then sell it for a nice profit once the money starts rolling into town and they start developing again. I am definitely going to look into it.

Dumbest, Yet Most Common Debate Stance

2005-02-22T09:15:00.000-05:00

I belong to several online debate groups and of course religion is a recurring hot topic. And of course the subject of believers forcing their opinions on non-believers always crops up within those debates. And here's what I don't get (and for the record, I'm Agnostic): EVERY SINGLE time, a bunch of people who claim to be believers will chime in and say, "I wouldn't force my beliefs on anyone. My religion is right for ME, but who am I to say what's right for someone else?" Whoa! Hold it right there! If you truly believe in your religion, how can you NOT think it's the "right" path for everyone?? How can you say another belief might be right for someone else and still claim to have total faith? Christianity, for one example, clearly states that you must accept Jesus into your heart and blah blah blah. Yet every time there are a bunch of so-called Christians piping up in these debates, saying, "My friend is Wiccan [for example] and that's right for her, so I would never push my beliefs on her." Wow, some Christian you are! If you truly had total faith in Christianity I would think you'd do everything possible to convert her and save her from eternal hellfire and damnation. Jeez, you're a pretty shitty friend, too, now that I think about it. I do NOT wish to have people forcing their beliefs on me, but pick a stance and stick to it, dammit! You can't have total faith in your religion and at the same time say that another religion is "right" for someone else! It just doesn't make any sense!

Finally, Something to Get Excited About

2005-02-13T00:37:00.000-05:00

I've been in such a funk this winter, ever since right after the holidays. I just feel so blah and unmotivated. Can't even find much to post about. But now I'm excited because I finally found the new car I want! ~J~ mentioned about six months ago that it was about time to trade in my Neon and get a new car, so I've kind of been keeping my eye out for anything that grabs my attention. I love my Neon -- it's the first brand-new car I ever bought and it was just perfect for me. I love small, kinda sporty, zippy little cars. But I won't spend a ton of money on one and it was just the right kind of car at the right price. I haven't been in a big hurry to find anything because I've been happy with it. I was just keeping my eye out, but really hadn't seen anything at all that grabbed me. Anyway, the new Pontiac G6's just came out and I like the way they look -- but I won't buy a new model because they always have glitches that have to be worked out. I won't buy a car that hasn't been out several years. But out of curiosity I visited the Ponitac website. They're pretty much what I like in a car and they're right in the price range I'm willing to pay. But I won't get one -- they're too new. So then I started looking at all the other Pontiacs and that's when I saw the new Vibes. The Vibe isn't a new model, but it's been redesigned. I hated them when they first came out. I thought they were ugly. But I LOVE the new look! As soon as I saw it I got excited. Then I saw the price and got more excited. It's even cheaper than the G6. Then I started looking for consumer reviews on them and I haven't seen a bad review yet, so I'm REALLY excited! That's the car I want! I love how it looks, it's small but really roomy inside, it's super sporty, it's got lots of cargo space (for its size) and yet it's totally different from the Neon, so it's going to be a totally new kind of ride for me. It'll be another 3 or 4 months until I can get it, but I'm really psyched!

Stupid Show!

2005-02-03T11:01:00.000-05:00

I hate daytime television, especially the women's talk shows like The View, etc. So the TV's on this morning and this stupid show Life & Style is on. God! These women are fucking RETARDED! And as if the show isn't already obnoxious and stupid enough, today they're "helping" some poor woman whose husband died in Iraq and who is left with four (I think) kids to take care of on her own -- AND she's legally blind which makes everything even more difficult. So what is this show doing for her? Giving her a makeover! Because that's what she really needs, obviously! God bless 'em for helping out a disabled widow with four kids by giving her makeup tips. Oh, wait... she's BLIND! How's she going to do her own makeup at home??

I'm Still Alive

2005-01-22T10:29:00.000-05:00

I've just been in a really bad mood for a couple of months running and I prefer not to post at all if all I'm going to do is whine and bitch and bore everyone to death. Things are okay personally here at home, but there's been some major bullshit going on with the people we're trying to buy the house from and now we have to take them to court. Why do people have to be such assholes? Seriously. Why do people go out of their way to be dickheads to other people? People suck. I already knew people suck, though, they're just proving me right.

Johnny Depp

2004-11-03T01:59:00.000-05:00

He was on Oprah today, and I normally don't watch Oprah -- can't stand her -- but I had planned to watch today. I forgot about it, though. Luckily, my sister called to tell me he was on, so I missed only the first ten minutes!

My Phone: *RING!*
Me: Hello?
Deb: He-eey!
Me: Hey!
Deb: Are you watching Johnny Depp on Oprah?Me: OMG! IT'S ON NOW!?! I GOTTA GO RECORD IT!
Deb: Ye--
My phone receiver: *SLAM!*

Heh! I'm sure she understands...

I'm Considering a Small-Business Venture

2004-10-27T01:08:00.001-04:00

I want to make and sell a line of "gourmet" chocolate candies. I hate regular "grocery store" chocolate like Hershey's and Nestle's, and all of the superior-quality chocolates that are available in this area are ridiculously expensive. There are NO specialty-chocolate makers in the immediate area, so I'd have the market all to myself. I can get excellent-quality chocolate in bulk at a very good price, and all of the accessories are actually very inexpensive. I can mark it up enough to make a good profit and still keep my prices significantly lower than any of the other "gourmet" chocolates available around here. I would make molded chocolates (seasonal, special interest, special occasion) and sell them in decorative coordinating-print cellophane bags, choco-covered mini pretzels and molded-chocolate-tipped pretzel rods (also decoratively packaged), "gourmet" candy gift apples (caramel-dipped then rolled in hickory-smoked almonds is the one I've come up with so far, and I'll offer two or three other concoctions), "gourmet-flavored" chocolate-dipped coffee swizzle spoons in packages of five, acorn and maple-leaf combo of maple-flavored chocolates (that was ~T~'s idea -- YUM!), chocolate bars of milk chocolate and dark chocolate loosely swirled together, and little Easter and Valentine gift baskets that feature a solid-chocolate bunny or heart and a small stuffed animal. I also want to have a side line of "adult" molded chocolates that would be good for bachelorette parties, adult birthdays, gag gifts, etc. I'm getting really excited about it -- I can't wait to get started on it! I have to talk to my dad this weekend (he knows business, I don't) and find out what I need to do to get the ball rolling.

You'd Think Even Fictional Criminals Would Learn

2004-10-27T01:08:00.000-04:00

Surely there are lots of crime-solving TV shows like CSI and L&O in Fictionland, just as there are in real life. But ~J~ and I were just watching Law & Order: SVU, and one of the pieces of evidence was a roll of duct tape. The "end tear" on the roll exactly matched the end tear on a section of tape that was used to bind the victim, connecting the suspect to the crime. I rolled my eyes and said to ~J~, "Why don't they ever learn?? If you're going to use duct tape or rope or anything that has to be torn or cut, rip off all the piece(s) you need to use on your victim, then simply tear or cut off one more small piece and discard it somewhere the police will never find it, and voila! -- NO MATCH! I mean DUH! It's so obvious!" ~J~ just looked at me like for a few seconds and then asked, "Umm... do I need to hide the duct tape?" Bwahahaha!

Score!

2004-10-16T22:09:00.000-04:00

I went to JC Penney's tonight to get Tyler some jeans for school and I found the coolest outfit! All the stuff I got him is cool, but I found him a totally awesome pair of black jeans with a skull-and-flame design on the pocket and a skull chain that's attached along the side. Then I found a majorly cool button-down shirt with a huge skull print on both the front and back. They were both on sale, and the shirt was only $2.77! We both have a thing for skulls/skeletons. We don't collect them or anything, but whenever we see something with a skull or skeleton on it we're like, "Cooool!" He's gonna LOVE this outfit, and he's gonna think he's totally hot stuff when he wears it to school this week -- which, of course, he SO is thanks to me! LOL

See? Awesome, huh? That shirt will cover the pocket design but the skull chain will still show, but he also has a gray t-shirt he can wear tucked in if he wants the pocket to show. So that'll give him two slightly different looks with the same pair of jeans.

Oh My!

2004-10-14T22:33:00.000-04:00

I will never look at Betty White in quite the same way again!

Yeah, I know she broke her "sweet senior citizen" typecast in recent years, in movies such as "Lake Placid" and I thought that totally rocked. But Naked Betty White I could've done without seeing! LOL

Speaking of Naked Bettys -- was there ever anyone cooler than Bettie Page? Now HER I don't mind seeing naked. She was the ultimate mix of girl-next-door and sexy-vixen, and a real pioneer because before she came along those two qualities were mutually exclusive. She proved to the world that good girls could also be sexy and sexually playful and that they didn't have to be ashamed of their sexuality. I love her. I watched a documentary about her recently and it said that she later married and divorced several times and then found religion and left her pinup days completely behind her to focus on her new, entirely different life. In fact, she was shocked to learn that her pinup pics had resurfaced in the 1980's and that she had since become a cultural icon. She had no idea until the documentary makers tracked her down, and while she wasn't displeased about her pics being so popular once again, she has no desire to be in the limelight now in person. Even if she's now religious and her views have changed, there's no denying her pinup days had a huge and (I think) positive influence on American women's sexual mindset. Cheers to Bettie Page!

Cool Story About My Parents

2004-10-12T01:55:00.000-04:00

My parents met at Kent State University in Ohio. Not a very interesting meeting story. Dad's proposal, however, was great. He proposed to her on national television, on The Tonight Show, way back when Steve Allen was the host. Dad was in California with his family for a couple of months and Mom was back here in Ohio still going to school. So one day my dad and his parents and younger sister decided to go to The Tonight Show. They would have the studio audience write down questions for Steve, and he would do a whole segment of just bantering with audience members. My dad wrote on his card, "Call Valerie D-------- and ask her to marry me". So Steve brought him up to sit in the guest seat while he called (it was a live broadcast at that time). Before Steve made the call, when he was interviewing my dad up on the set, he said to my dad, "You seem nervous. Would you like a drink? Some orange juice or something?" and my dad, who was indeed totally nervous said, "I'm gonna need somethin' a LOT stronger than orange juice!" and chuckled this skittish, utterly dorky chuckle. It was absolutely hilarious the way he said it, Steve and the whole audience totally cracked up. Then Steve made the call and talked to my grandma, who was a RIOT! I've watched the tape, it's hilarious -- she matched Steve zinger for zinger, and had the audience in stitches! She didn't believe it was really Steve Allen calling her, at first, and kept sarcastically challenging him and wouldn't believe it until he finally put my dad on the phone. I remember her asking my dad where he was and what he was doing, and my dad saying, "I'm on The Tonight Show and I'm sitting here next to Steve Allen... and I think I'm about to faint!" *audience laughs at his cuteness* Then Steve got back on the phone and went back to bantering with my grandma. I remember him asking her where she lived and she said, "Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio", and Steve said, "Cuyahoga Falls? Well, I hope it doesn't land on anyone!" *rimshot* My mom wasn't home at the time of the call, but everyone else and their brother saw it and the whole strory was in the newspaper the next day, along with a photo of her and her YES to the proposal.

I'm a Lazyass

2004-10-10T19:37:00.000-04:00

TOTAL lazyass and not ashamed to admit it. I love to eat, sleep, watch TV, and play online. That's about it! I mean, there are other things I do enjoy, but if I have only those four things, I'm a happy camper. Which, ironically, is pretty much why I detest camping -- can't get cable TV or play online, and I much prefer to eat and sleep in the comfort of my own home. Or a restaurant. (Eating, I mean -- restaurant tables are generally much too hard and uncomfortable for sleeping on, and the booth benches are usually way too short.) I basically hate doing anything outside unless it's sitting around eating, and only if it's not too cold or wet or hot out (I HATE to sweat!). But today was a perfect day and I actually rode my bike all over town all afternoon today with ~T~. It was a perfect fall afternoon, very sunny, cool and crisp enough that I never got hot (did I mention that I HATE TO SWEAT!) but it wasn't cold out, and the trees are all changing colors so it's really pretty here. If every day was like today, I'd get a hell of a lot more exercise!

What a Shitty Week

2004-10-09T01:37:00.000-04:00

God, I don't remember ever being so broke. Jim was off work for about a month and just started driving (OTR) again two weeks ago. He's going to be making really good money but right now we're trying to catch up and I had NO money this week other than the few dollars that was in our change bowl. That went for Tyler's lunches, and today I had no money left for his lunch and nothing to make him a sandwich with. Luckily we had a yogurt, an apple, a Hi-C, and a pineapple fruit cup, so who really cares if he doesn't have a sandwich for one day, right? But it just totally sucks that I can't even buy a loaf of bread. I try to stay positive about it -- I know it's only temporary -- VERY temporary, since we'll be back to normal in just a couple more weeks -- and lots of people have it a LOT worse than we do. We have a nice house and we're in no danger of losing it or anything, and we're clothed and fed (even if this week we're living on spaghetti and mac & cheese, that never killed anyone). But it's still stressful.

Weird Hair Day

2004-10-05T23:51:00.000-04:00

That's what today was at ~T~'s school, so I totally spiked him up. We even got up early to do it. I couldn't find the blow-dryer, so I actually stood there holding up each spike, one at a time, and blowing on it until it was dried and set! All the other kids just basically had uncombed, messed-up hair and they were all commenting on ~T~'s when I dropped him off this morning. He said everyone asked him how he did it and he told them, "My mom did it" and they were all, "No way!" He says they were jealous because their moms didn't do theirs for them. LOL

He told me tonight at bedtime that even the 7th and 8th graders were complimenting him today, which he thought was totally cool since they of course usually look down on the lowly 6th graders.

And here's a candid pic I snuck of him air-drumming after school...

~T~ Shook President Bush's Hand Today!

2004-10-02T23:08:00.000-04:00

HOW COOL IS THAT! I don't care if you're for or against him in the upcoming election (I'm undecided, myself), it's pretty fucking cool to be able to say you actually shook the POTUS's hand! Damn, I thought I was lucky getting to meet the President of Argentina, Raul Alfonsin, in 1987 when I was an exchange student there. A group of about 10 of us exchange students got to meet with him privately, in his office in the Casa Rosada (the "Pink House"). Well, okay, that's still totally cool, too. But honestly, I'd trade meeting him for getting to shake the hand of the President of the U.S. of A.

The way it happened was, ~T~ is spending the weekend at his dad's, and ~T~'s aunt took him to a Bush rally in Cuyahoga Falls today. Because she's a campaign volunteer, she got the special "blue tickets" which allowed them to stand right next to where Bush was going to be making his entrance. ~T~ reached out as Bush entered, and Bush shook his hand. Awesome! And ~T~ is only 11, but he's a huge Bush admirer, so that just makes it even more exciting for him. I know it was probably just a quick, fleeting handshake as Bush passed by, but I know that when he's an old man ~T~ will still enjoy telling people, "I once shook the hand of the President of the United States!"

More Name Generators

2004-09-30T01:35:00.000-04:00

Your Girl Parts Are Named: Clamburger

Get your own Girl Parts Name

Your Boobies' Names Are: Mork and Mindy

Get your own Boobie Names

Your Stripper Name is: Cookie
(EWW! That's my mom's nickname! *retch*)

Get your own Stripper Name

Your Star Wars Masturbation Method Is:
Tinkering With the R2 Unit

Get your own Star Wars Masturbation Method

Website of the Day -- Penis Name Generator

2004-09-30T01:22:00.000-04:00

I've had a headache for two days and haven't felt like posting, so here's a WOTD:

PENIS NAME GENERATOR
(Using your own name, if you're a man, or your significant other's, if you're a woman.)

The name of ~J~'s penis is: Curious George
I did ~T~'s, too, and his is: Meat 'n' Potatoes! Bwaha! He'll love that!

Wonderful News!

2004-09-27T09:36:00.000-04:00

My friend in Pensacola is okay! I'm so relieved! She managed to get online yesterday and post to my MSN group...

I'm here! I'm here! (Albeit briefly)

I am SO sorry you have all worried... life her has been... well.. in a word - UGH!
We are NOWHERE close back to normal... but with each new day we are that much closer to some sense of normalcy. We just got our power back on last night... still no official phone (Dh has done some rigging of the phone lines for now.. some I'm on via a hijacked dial-up... blech)... lol. No cable (TV or internet). We just got home last night after the power came back on. Cell signals have been few and far between... and precious as gold when they could be found. I haven't been able to make ANY of the calls I promised since Ivan hit... I was able to get some text messages out via my cell phone.. not many I know have texting capabilities (it seems).

But anyway... when things do get back to more normal (or I have my cable back... lol) I'll get back in here and post more about the devastation and what all we've been through these past eleven or so days... and of course I've got LOTS of pictures, which only represent a mere fraction of the destruction and devastion.

I will say that I was scared shitless... and will NEVER been riding out another Cat3 or higher again! *lmao*

Oh.. and I must let you know... my animal babies are perfectly fine too. Jiyu (cat) is ECSTATIC to have us home (Dh had been coming by daily giving him fresh food and water) and Ed (dog) has been staying with a friend/neighbor of my mom's.

Let Go of My Pie, Goddammit!

2004-09-25T21:11:00.000-04:00

~J~ has been off work for over a month. He had his ear surgery, then the trucking company he worked for -- and who paid for the operation so he could come back to work for them -- ran into some financial trouble, so they had no work for him. He finally took another job with a company based in Missouri and left today to do his orientation.

So anyway, he's been here with me basically 24/7 for over a month (I think more like six weeks?) and it was driving me INSANE! I require time alone occasionally or I go nuts. Just once a week or so, even. I'm not even with ~T~ 24/7 because even when he's not in school, he stays at his dad's often. So the other night I kinda blew up at ~J~, about it driving me crazy and how it's not good for most couples to be together ALL THE TIME. He said, "But husbands who aren't truck drivers are home every day!" I said, "But not 24/7! They work 8 hours a day, duh!" The whole reason I blew up was because he just wasn't GETTING that it's NOT good -- for me, hence for both of us as a couple -- to be together SO much. Like, I love you, honey, but please get the fuck out of here and give me some time alone.

Last night I had a dream that was really funny (after I woke up). I had this chocolate mousse pie. This PERFECT, delicious pie that I wanted to savor and make last. I wanted to enjoy it one piece at a time and not devour the whole thing in one sitting. That part is not symbolic -- that's how I really am with good treats. But ~J~ will eat it all in one sitting. So I walk into the kitchen to get it out of the fridge and cut my first piece, and ~J~ is holding my pie and 3/4 of it is gone! ARGH! I was yelling, "That's MY PIE!! Give me my pie!! Give it to me!!" And he wouldn't give it to me -- he wanted to cut himself another piece, and I was SO mad at him! I was trying to pull it out of his hands and he wouldn't give it up. So I did the obvious, most reasonable thing and grabbed a pair of scissors and started poking him in the face! LOL! I was crying out of frustration and jabbing his cheek with the scissors, giving him bleeding puncture wounds, and he still wouldn't let go. Then I woke up. And laughed. Because it was so obvious once I was awake that the pie was my "space" that I so desperately need, and ~J~ wasn't giving me any so I was going nuts on him. GIVE ME MY DAMN PIE! LOL!
I'm so relieved he's gone...

How cool! I just watched Intolerable Cruelty...

2004-09-25T03:02:00.000-04:00

... and when George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones are in Las Vegas and decide on the spur of the moment to get married, Clooney says, "I'll have [so-and-so] meet us at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather"... that's the chapel ~J~ and I got married in! For the past five years, every time there's a movie or TV show set in Vegas (especially when someone's getting married, but I always watch the background in street scenes, too) I've watched closely for our chapel, and this is the first time I've seen it! They NEVER show ours, they always show the famous Chapel of the Bells, the Little White Chapel, the Candlelight Chapel, or any of the chapels along the strip. The Wee Kirk is closer to Freemont Street (downtown). Not only did they show it, he actually mentioned the name! When he said it, ~J~ and I looked at each other and shouted, "NO WAY!!" They showed the actual exterior, but they didn't use the real interior. In the movie it was all wood paneling and decorated with an Irish theme, and the guy running it had an Irish accent. In reality it's all white inside and there's nothing Irish about it at all other than the name (which means "little chapel of the lucky flowers", btw).

Ivan: The Sequel

2004-09-24T02:17:00.000-04:00

"After hitting Florida on Sept. 16 as a hurricane, Ivan weakened and broke apart as it traveled north, drenching southern and mid-Atlantic states before returning to sea. A slice of the storm turned southward, however, growing slightly as it traveled over warmer waters.
"It found itself in the northern Bahamas and off the southeast coast of Florida as a low-pressure area and has been moving over the Gulf of Mexico," said Richard Knabb, a meteorologist with the Hurricane Center in Miami. "It has regained some circulation and regenerated."

What the fuck?? Ivan came back! That is just freaky, isn't it? It's only a tropical storm this time, but still! I understand the mechanics of how a storm can regenerate, but really, what are the chances of one travelling over a humongous chunk of the U.S., not only without completely dissipating but actually regenerating once it reaches the Atlantic again, and then circling back down around the enormous obstacle of Florida and hitting the exact same area it hit the first time around? That storm is posessed or something -- Ivan is EVIL, I tell ya!

On a related note, it's been a week since Ivan's first hit and still no word at all from my good friend in Pensacola. I'm extremely worried. I realize there's MAJOR cleaning up to do and I'm not sure if they even have electricity or phone service yet, but she promised she would call our other friend and let us know how she and her family are ASAP, and the fact that there's been not one peep from her has me extremely anxious because she would call if at all possible. And last I knew she had a cell phone, so I'm hoping it's only because the cellular towers are damaged or something and there's no service with those, either, or she no longer owns a cell phone.

Dennis Farina on Law & Order

2004-09-24T01:53:00.000-04:00

What'd you think? I liked him a LOT. His character is so completely different from Lenny. I like that they didn't try to introduce a similar "replacement", but went a whole new way with it. I found myself becoming surprisingly engrossed in the new character instead of just missing Lenny through the whole show. He had some huge shoes to fill, but I think he succeeded beautifully.

Something Stupid That Cracked Me Up

2004-09-23T09:55:00.000-04:00

In one of my MSN groups this morning (it's a women-only group I created, for women like me who want something more than just the sappy "mommy" groups), someone started a thread entitled "Apples Make Me Fart" and asked what foods give the rest of us terrible gas. Yeah, we talk about retarded stuff sometimes (we talk about anything that comes to mind!). So I posted: "Eggs give me the stinkiest gas. It actually smells like eggs, but rotten ones. (That was maybe an overshare...)" A short time later, my friend Treesap came along and posted: "Sheesh, I read this right as I was taking a big bite of scrambled eggs. lol" For some dumb reason I found that delightfully funny!

I'm a Damn Lucky Mom

2004-09-23T02:14:00.000-04:00

I'm incredibly lucky in that I have such a fantastic relationship with my son, ~T~. He's eleven and in the 6th grade. We have the exact same taste in music and movies and we have the same sense of humor. The kid cracks me up a hundred times a day (and vice-versa). He's always been such a good kid, too. Even as an infant, he was so easy. He was happy and easygoing and I honestly can remember him really crying only once, and that was when he was a year old and fell off the bed and bumped his head. Is it, like, a rule of childhood that every kid must fall off the bed at least once? Anyway, he never cried about normal stuff that babies cry about, like having a dirty diaper or being hungry. At most, he would just whimper a bit. He's just always been a happy, good-natured kid. He truly is the best friend I've ever had. And I don't mean that in a clingy-mommy-whose-entire-life-revolves-around-her-child(ren) kind of way -- I mean he truly is a fantastic person, and we have so much in common personality-wise that if he wasn't my son and we somehow met, we would instantly be great friends.

Last night ~T~ asked me why I never had another baby (after him -- I did have a baby girl before him who died at 2 days old) and I told him the truth. I said, "Why on Earth would I need to when I've already got you? You're the best -- no other kid could measure up to you. I tell people all the time, "I don't need any more kids because I hit the jackpot with ~T~!" You should have seen the grin on his face! It's the absolute truth, though. One night not too long ago, when ~T~ was getting into bed and I was telling him goodnight, I paused for a minute, just looking at him. He said, "What??" I said, "Oh -- I was just thinking how incredibly lucky I am and wondering what I ever did to deserve such an amazing kid!" the huge smile was still on his face as I left his room after kissing and hugging him goodnight.

Tonight he gave me a compliment. Well, not a direct compliment, but a roundabout one. He made sure to tell me about what his friend said today that had to do with me and my uber-cool-momness. He said to me, "You know how sometimes you tackle me on the stairs and then drag me down the steps and into the living room and wrestle with me?" I said, "Yeah..." He said, "I was telling Jessie about that today and you know what he said?" I said, "What?" With a proud grin on his face he told me, "Jessie said, 'Awwww, MAN! I would KILL to have a mom who would roughhouse with me!'" He thinks I'm a cool mom, and he's proud that his friends think I'm a cool mom, and to me that's a big compliment!

Back Off, Ladies! He's All Mine!

2004-09-23T01:54:00.000-04:00

Last night, ~J~ asked me if I wanted to have sex and INSTANTANEOUSLY upon asking that question, ripped a huge fart. He then had the audacity to act pouty when I told him, "Umm... you know what? I think I'll pass, tonight!" and actually tried to argue that it was unfair of me to be turned off by it because it "just slipped out". Somehow, that made it even worse! I envisioned us doing the deed and him farting to the rhythm as they "just slipped out". LOL!

The following is a conversation ~J~ and I had Saturday night in our room at the lake resort:

~J~: "Do you hear a buzzing sound?"

Me: "No, why? What kind of buzzing?"

~J~: "I don't know, I just keep hearing this buzzing noise. I've been hearing it for a couple of days now."

Me: "Umm... hon? Has it occurred to you that if you were hearing this buzzing at home, and now you're hearing the same buzzing here, it just might be in your own head and probably isn't following you around everywhere you go?"

~J~: [embarrassed] "Err. Well... um, I didn't really think about it..."

Me: [laughing and pointing and generally making fun of him for the rest of the evening]

He might be dopey sometimes, but he's MY dope! So back off, ladies!

The Hazards of Cryogenics

2004-09-22T01:37:00.000-04:00

So today I was discussing cryogenics with some online friends. About how people can have their heads cryogenically frozen as soon as they die and then eventually, when the technology is found, their head can be brought back to life. Someone asked what the hell you'd do, being nothing more than a head and all. I speculated that perhaps in the future we'll be able to "grow" human replacement bodies in the laboratory and the heads would be attached to the new bodies. Then I started really thinking more on it...

What if you're really old when you die and your head is frozen? It would really suck to have a brand-spankin'-new kickass bod, but an Angela Lansbury head. Facelifts can do only so much, so let's hope they come up with some kind of age-reversing technology!

Also...What if there is a heaven, and you die and suddenly find yourself in glorious paradise -- only they freeze your head, and then after enjoying Heaven for a couple of centuries, all of a sudden you're YANKED back down to earth because they find a way to bring you back to life? You'd be like, "Aww, CRAAAAAP!!!" Hey, what if you were in Hell and got yanked back? Would God give you another chance to earn your way into Heaven?? Or would he say, "No way, that's totally unfair to all the people who didn't freeze themselves!" That would really suck! You'd have to live your "second life" KNOWING there is a Hell and that you're going right back there when you die again. But hey, on the bright side, at least you got a vacation from eternity, right? Or maybe since God (I'm Agnostic, but play along for the sake of discussion) knows you had your head frozen, he doesn't allow your soul to go on to either destination, because he knows someday you'll be brought back to life. Is there a waiting room of some kind for all the frozen-head souls to wait around in? Wouldn't that get boring after a while? You can listen to Muzak only so long and read those past copies of Martha Stewart's Living and O Magazine only so many times before wanting to run screaming from the room. But you can't leave God's waiting room until they bring your head back to life. Maybe it's more like a Green Room, with a big spread of food and all that.

Goddamn Page-Screwing Pics!

2004-09-20T03:25:00.000-04:00

Well, my pictures of the lake have totally fucked up my page. Sorry, it's just going to have to be that way until that post gets bumped off the main page and archived.

Chillin' at the Lake

2004-09-20T02:52:00.000-04:00

The weather yesterday and today was absolutely gorgeous. We couldn't have picked a nicer weekend to do it. We asked for and got a lake-view room. I just wanted to sit and enjoy the scenery and then have a nice dinner. Dinner was excellent, but because there was a large group having dinner there at the same time we got overlooked and sat there for 20 minutes before we even got a drink. And then only because I told ~J~ to complain at the front desk (right outside the restaurant -- the hostess had disappeared so we couldn't complain to her). The restaurant manager was very apologetic and took 50% off of our bill. Well, we had a gift certificate, so we figured we should just pay for the half-price meal and use the certificate at another time. So now we actually got a free meal and one meal half off in the deal. If we didn't ever eat there, there wouldn't have been any point, but since we do eat there occasionally we actually saved some money. After dinner we went back to our room and lazed around. ~J~ wanted to have a couple of beers, but I didn't, so he went up to the lounge for about half an hour and I watched TV. After he came back we ordered and watched "I, Robot" on PPV. That movie rocked. After the movie ~J~ fell asleep and I watched TV for a while then went to bed, too. We woke up at 11:00 this morning to another beautiful day and enjoyed the scenery for a little bit before checking out at noon. It was a very relaxing little getaway!

Our room (I took a pic from the other side, too, but for some reason that one didn't turn out.

The view from the patio outside our room, when we arrived last night around 5 PM.

~J~ taking in the view.

The sunset was beautiful!

The view this morning, from inside our room.

More views taken this morning. This is where I spent my childhood -- we lived just about 1/4 mile past the right edge of this pic, right down there next to the lake. Awesome place to grow up!

Taking a Mini-Vacation Tonight

2004-09-18T11:45:00.000-04:00

We're using my gift certificate for a free night's stay and dinner for two at Atwood Lake Resort tonight (my "payment" for judging an art contest that was held there last month). We booked a lake-view room and dinner reservations for 8:00. It's a BEAUTIFUL sunny day today, too -- the remnants of Hurricane Ivan have completely passed over and it should be a lovely evening to sit out on the balcony and enjoy the view!

I see my Unkymood indicator is back, which is good, because it looked pretty stupid with just the words "I'm Today" up there.

I'm still very worried about my friend in Pensacola. No word from her yet.

"I'm Today"

2004-09-18T01:22:00.000-04:00

Err, I'm not retarded. Really. There's supposed to be a mood icon showing up in-between those words at the top of my page -- a little cartoon emoticon-type thingy from Unkymoods.com, but it's not showing up at the moment because (according to their website): NOTE TO USERS: OUR MEMBER DATABASE IS TEMPORARILY DOWN. WE'LL BE BACK UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH US.

Website of the Day -- Senior Photos

2004-09-18T01:20:00.000-04:00

http://www.planetdan.net/junk/seniors/1.htm

I about peed my pants laughing at the flaming football helmet pic! "Sweeeet!"

Damn You, Ivan!

2004-09-16T02:13:00.000-04:00

One of my closest and oldest online friends is sitting almost directly in the path of Hurricane Ivan. She's in Pensacola, Florida. I've been so stressed out and worried about her all day. It's on the verge of hitting land now (the eye) and although the eye is heading towards Mobile, Alabama, she's just to the east of there and in the worst possible place to be after those in the direct path of the eye. The eastern side of the storm is the most vicious and that's what's hitting her. She's also right in the middle of the tornado warning area and already several tornados have occurred and two people were killed by one of them. She did leave her house and go to her in-laws' sturdier home, but she had to leave her pets behind and according to her, her home is built basically like a trailer or modular home so I'm seriously worried about her pets, too. I actually cried this morning when she told me she had to leave them at home. She can't take them to her in-laws' because they have big dogs who would love to make snacks out of them, and there's no garage or anywhere to separate them, and she called everyplace she could think of and couldn't find any shelters to take them to. I've never had to worry like this about a hurricane before because I never had a friend or loved one in the path of one. But now I do, and she's in the path of the worst storm I can recall. I hate this!

That Maroon 5 Twit

2004-09-14T09:43:00.000-04:00

God, I hate that group, and especially that twerpy little faux-angsty lead singer. "My music sucks and I sing like a girl, but it doesn't matter because I'm so incredibly moody and deep and that makes us UBER cool. Look at me, I'm all sullen and pouty! That TOTALLY makes up for our complete lack of talent. We must be good -- all the middle-aged yuppies think we're awesome!" Or maybe they're just idiots who are easily fooled into thinking that moody twerp = great music...

9/11: An 8-Year-Old Speaks

2004-09-11T21:29:00.000-04:00

On September 18, 2001, I asked my son ~T~ (age 8 and in 3rd grade at the time) if he would mind if I interviewed him about the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01 so I could share his thoughts with everyone. He readily agreed. I told him to answer with his own ideas and opinions, and that there were no right or wrong answers. I typed my questions as I asked them, and his answers as he gave them, exactly as spoken and reacted to. I had no specific questions when we started -- the whole "interview" thing was a spur-of-the-moment idea, and we just went with it. I have posted it every anniversary, as my little tribute.

9/11: An 8-Year-Old Speaks

Q: What do you think about last Tuesday?
A: [frowning and shaking his head] I think it was really bad.
Q: What does this mean for America?
A: It means, I guess, they want to have war.
Q: Who is "they"?
A: People who crash the planes. I think in my mind I can see what happened on the plane. I can see it in my own mind.
Q: What do you see in your mind?
A: I see the person walking in, trapping the pilot - like, wrapping his mouth with rope. They're not worried about killing him because they're going to die anyway. So now they got to the building. One person looked out the window - I think that's when the girl started saying on the news, "It's going to crash!". The pilot - the bad guy - is closing his eyes and the plane just crashed.
Q: That's pretty awful, isn't it?
A: Yeah. To me, America is like, a person, and they got a big, bleeding cut on their knee. That's how I feel about it.
[pause]
I like these questions - they make me feel better! I like sharing my feelings.
Q: That's good! So you feel better right now just talking about it?
A: [nods]
Q: What should we do to the people who planned the terrorist attacks?
A: I think we should bomb them. Not the country, just the war people. We should bomb them. Or maybe it's just those people who crashed the planes who created a plan to hurt America. But I don't know.
Q: What did your friends say about it?
A: Evan had a plan in case those bad guys, those war people, came in our school. We'll get mops and soapy water and pour the soapy water in their faces and whap 'em with our mops! [laughs] I like that plan!
Q: Sounds like a good plan to me!
A: Me too.
Q: What did your teacher say about it?
A: She said that, um, "America has never been attacked like this before. I'm very worried!" She went like this: [puts hands up to face with worried expression] "Oh, I'm very worried!"
Q: When your teacher said she was very worried, were you scared?
A: Kinda. I didn't know if we're going to have a war.
Q: Have you seen pictures of the attack on tv?
A: Oh, yes, two of them. They attacked a building that's right beside another one that's been attacked.
Q: Those were the World Trade Center towers. Did you see the plane hit the second tower on tv?
A: Mm-hmm.
Q: What were you thinking when you saw that plane crash into the building?
A: I was doing this: [makes worried/shocked expression on face]
In my mind I was saying something - I was saying, Oh no! This is the baddest attack on the United States, ever! Maybe the baddest in Ohio history!
Q: One more question...
A: Okay, just spit it out and I'll answer! Is it a hard one?
Q: Maybe, I don't know.
A: I like hard questions.
Q: Okay. What would you do if you were President?
A: I'd bomb their country. But first I'd pray for the people who got killed. I'd say when I pray, "Take good care of those murdered people, God."
Q: [brief pause first, because I'm getting a bit too choked up to speak...] That gives me another question: What would you like to say to the families of the victims, if you could?
A: Oh! God, I would say a lot. I would love to talk to them. I would say that I would wish that those people would come back to life and make the families feel better. Because if they were back alive, they wouldn't have to worry.
Q: [longer pause - this time I'm too choked up to go on]
A: [after waiting a moment] Any more questions?
Q: No, I think that's it. You did a good job answering -- thank you! [I give him a big hug]
A: [hugging me back] You're welcome.

I Brought a Note

2004-09-08T15:42:00.000-04:00

Dear Readers,

Please excuse ~A~'s absence from blogging yesterday and today. She has been sick with a miserable head cold and although she promised to post something -- anything -- on her blog every day, she did not consider times of illness when making that promise. She is very sorry for neglecting her blogging duties and will get back to posting as soon as she's feeling somewhat better.

Signed,
~A~'s Subconscious... ness?...

Goddabbid!

2004-09-07T01:32:00.000-04:00

I'b gettig a cold. I'b sneezig, by doze is runny, wud ov by nosdrils is todally sduffed ub, by eyes are idchy, and by throad hurds. Dis todally sugs!

Website of the Day -- Freecycle

2004-09-06T01:34:00.000-04:00

This idea is totally cool! If you have something you want to get rid of or are looking for an item you need yourself, join one or more of the Freecycle groups near you and post an ad or answer one. The best part is, it's all FREE. People just GIVE you what you want. Today, a friend's television broke, so she posted a wanted ad and got another one already. How cool is that!

http://www.freecycle.org/

"The worldwide (!) Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is run by a local volunteer moderator (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your city by clicking on the region on the right. It will generate a automatic e-mail which, when sent, will sign you up for your local group and send you an response with instructions on how it works. Or, go directly to the webpage for your city's group by clicking on your city's link on the left. Can't find your city? It takes about ten minutes to start your own (click on "Start your own" for instructions). Have fun and keep on Freecyclin'!"

I Was Attacked at Dollar General

2004-09-04T22:09:00.000-04:00

By a bottle of Suave conditioner. I was smelling the different ones and I picked up a bottle of the Ocean Breeze, and when I tried to sniff it a HUGE glob of it shot straight up my right nostril. I mean, entirely plugged it! At first I just stood there, kinda stunned, like What the fuck just happened?? Then I was looking around to make sure nobody saw... then I was checking for security cameras to make sure my nostril attack wasn't caught on tape (there weren't any cameras around). Finally, I started laughing so hard I was doubled over! I had to, like, squeeze it out of my nose by smooshing my nostril from top to bottom. I looked at the bottle and said, "Well, fuck YOU, Ocean Breeze! I'm getting COCONUT, now!!" Hmph! That'll teach it!

On a good note, my nose hairs in my right nostril are incredibly silky and smooth - no tangles at all when I combed them tonight!

Ding-Dong Deeriere

2004-09-04T02:21:00.000-04:00

I know this pic is nothing new. It's been floating around the internet for quite a while. But I was just thinking: An elephant butt would be better. The front of the elephant could stick out of the other side of the wall, and when you pushed its butt-button it would trumpet loudly to announce your arrival to the occupants. Yeah, that'd be kewl!

Time Capsule -- When I Was Born...

2004-09-02T21:28:00.000-04:00

...this is what was going on. (Got this from http://dmarie.com/timecap/step1.asp)

Top News Headlines This Week:
Mar 8 - 6 year old Tommy Moore scores hole-in-one in golf (Hagerstown MD)
Mar 8 - Fillmore East opens
Mar 8 - Students demonstrate in Warsaw

Top Songs for 1968
I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye
Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel
People Got to Be Free by Rascals
Hey Jude by Beatles
The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding

US President
Lyndon B. Johnson

US Vice President
Hubert H. Humphrey

1968 Prices
Bread:
$0.22/loaf
Milk:
$1.21/gal
Eggs:
$1.12/doz
Car:
$2,450
Gas:
$0.34/gal
House:
$26,600
Stamp:
$0.06/ea
Avg Income:
$9,670/yr
Min Wage:
$1.60/hr
DOW Avg:
944

Academy Award Winners
Best Picture:
Oliver! Produced By John Wolf
Best Actor:
Cliff Robertson in Charly
Best Actress:
Katherine Hepburn/barb Streisand in Lion In Winter/funny Girl

People born on March 8
1953 - Kathleen Ann Shower Brookville OH, Playmate of the Year (May 1985)
1918 - Alan Hale [MacKahan] Jr Los Angeles CA, actor (Skipper Jonas Grumby-Gilligan's Island)
1977 - James Van Der Beek actor (Dawson's Creek)
1921 - Cyd Charisse [Tula Ellice Finklea] Amarillo TX, dancer/actress (East Side West Side, Brigadoon)
1940 - Leslie Isben Rogge one of FBI's most wanted
1945 - Mickey Dolenz Los Angeles CA, actor (Circus Boy) singer (Monkees)
1959 - Aidan Quinn Chicago IL, actor (Legends of the Fall, Michael Collins, Benny & Joon, Reackless)
1963 - Kathy Ireland model/actress (Alien From LA, Side Out)
1976 - Freddie Prinze Jr actor (I Know What You Did Last Summer)
1964 - Cheryl "Salt" James singer (Salt-N-Pepa)
1973 - Nanette Pearson Pleasant Grove UT, Miss America-Utah (1996)

On TV in 1968
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Mission: Impossible
Green Acres
Dragnet
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
I Dream of Jeannie
Family Affair
Bewitched
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
The Mod Squad

Hot New Toys in 1968
Johnny Apollo Doll
Hoppity Hop
Land Of The Giants Signal-Ray Space Gun
The Outer Space Men Colorforms
Star Trek Astro-Walkie Talkies
Zeroids
Spirograph
Battling Tops
Big Sneeze
Jane Apollo Doll
Billy Blastoff
Zillion Bubble Blower
Pop Yer Top

Top Books in 1968
The Double Helix by James D. Watson
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

Crappy Couple of Days

2004-09-02T20:44:00.000-04:00

~T~ came down with something Tuesday night -- fever with aches/pains/chills, and stuffy nose -- and I'm having a real bitch of a period with worse cramps than usual. Blech. He started feeling better Wednesday night but I didn't think he should go back to school so soon after he was feeling so terrible, just in case it came back. Today he just had a sore throat, but no other symptoms. He's acting like his normal self and there is no sign of strep when I look at his throat. So he's going tomorrow. There was a big science test today and unless he relapses, he should go and take it before the long holiday weekend. He goes to his dad's every other weekend during the school year, from Thursday after school until Monday morning, so his dad picked him up here at home at the regular time school lets out. I'm scheduled to have him for Labor Day, but since we have no plans whatsoever, I said he could stay an extra day at his dad's and he can take him to school Tuesday morning. It's actually two extra nights, because the schedule says I can pick him up Sunday night for my Labor Day. I always let ~T~ just stay at his dad's if we have no plans. Makes ~T~ happy to have the extra time with his dad, and he thinks I'm pretty cool for that. We studied for hours last night, and all afternoon today for his science test. I'm really good at science, so we actually have fun with studying it together. The reason we end up studying for HOURS is because we get into all these side-discussions about things mentioned in the chapter. We really do have fun with our sidetracked discussions, and before we know it, it's been several hours. But it's great, because he's really learning a lot more than he would by simply reading the textbook. Like, we were studying Newton's laws of motion and using toy cars to demonstrate the different laws. I would read the text to him, but then when I would act it out with the cars his eyes would light up and he'd say, "OHHHH!" because then he really GOT it. So then it sticks in his mind and he can remember it all a lot easier because he's not just memorizing, he's understanding. I just called him to tell him good luck on his test, and that I'm sure he'll do well but no matter how he does, I'm proud of him because I know he made a real effort at studying for it. I thought a little pep talk would give him a boost, and it seemed to -- I said, "Well, good luck again, and I love you." He said, "I love you, too! Thanks for the support!" LOL!

Website of the Day -- "Cereal and Milk" Video

2004-08-31T02:11:00.000-04:00

I love these guys. They are exactly what I imagine ~T~ and his best friend ~T.F.~ will be like in college. I can totally imagine them doing something goofy like this. ~T~ is SO much like the guy on the right. CEREAL AND MILK

Truly Bizarre News Story

2004-08-30T22:39:00.000-04:00

I'm a pretty big cynic and also a realist, so it takes a lot to shock or surprise me, but this one has me saying WTF??

POLICE: DRUNKEN MAN DRIVES HOME WITH DECAPITATED FRIEND

MARIETTA, Georgia (AP) -- A drunken driver hit a telephone pole support wire that decapitated his passenger, police said. He then drove 12 miles home and slept in his bloody clothes, police said, leaving the headless body in his truck. A neighbor walking with his young daughter Sunday morning discovered Daniel Brohm's headless corpse in the truck in John Kemper Hutcherson's driveway and called authorities, said Cpl. Dana Pierce, county police spokesman. (Continued...)

GEORGIA MAN CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR HOMICIDE, DUI AFTER PASSENGER DECAPITATED BY WIRE

(Marietta, Georgia-AP) Aug. 30, 2004 - A Marietta man accused of decapitating a passenger in his truck made a first court appearance on Monday in court in Cobb County.
Police say 21-year-old John Kemper Hutcherson was drunk when he drove off the road and hit the support wire of a telephone pole, decapitating his friend, Francis Daniel Brohm. (Continued...)

What the Hell is Wrong With Me??

2004-08-29T14:41:00.000-04:00

I dreamed last night that Johnny Depp was my ex-boyfriend. We both had our real-life families but there was all this sexual tension between us. He was with Vanessa and I was with ~J~, and we couldn't cheat on them but there was all this electricity. How damn dumb is that? It's a fucking DREAM! WHY DIDN'T I JUST DREAM WE WERE LOVERS?? *cries* I'm so pathetic. I can't even dream right.

~J~ knows of my lust for JD and has no problem with it. He'll alert me when JD's on TV so I can come watch him. One day he told me, "If Johnny Depp ever comes knocking on our door, I give you permission to sleep with him." LOL! Okay! I said, "Aw, he wouldn't want to sleep with me. I'd definitely invite him in and talk, though." ~J~ said, "You SHOULD sleep with him! Hell, I'd be proud! I'd brag to everyone, 'My wife slept with Johnny Depp!'" Ha! He has my permission to sleep with Beyonce, should she ever come knocking. Hell, I'd probably join them. She's totally hot.

Oh, SNAP!

2004-08-28T22:14:00.000-04:00

~T~ has two friends spending the night tonight. Earlier they wanted to know if they could slide down the stairs in their sleeping bags. I was hesitant, debating to myself whether I should let them. Friend ~J.A.~ said, "Aw, come on! We're not going to kill ourselves!" I said, "Oh, I don't care about you -- I'm just worried about my banister..." Which elicited a mock-offended "Oh, SNAP!" from the three of them. Bwaha!

Then later they were getting too wild so I told them they had to get ready for bed and watch tv or play a board game up in ~T~'s room. They wanted to know if they could wrestle upstairs and I said, "No. Tomorrow you can wrestle outside and destroy the whole yard if you want." ~T.F.~ said, "But there's dog poop out there!" I said, "Yeah, so, good -- you'll smell better!" Another round of "Oh, SNAPS!"

Another thing that happened tonight was, ~T~ was wisecracking on me and said (again), "Oh, SNAP!" and I said, "I'm gonna SNAP YOU in half!" So he sauntered over to me saying, "Oh, yeah? You want a piece of me??" I said, "No, your friends can gather up your pieces after I'm done with you!" Then I picked him up, freakin' body slammed him to the floor, and proceeded to sit on him and spank his butt while he screamed, "AHHHHHHH! HOW DARE YOU SPANK MY BUTT IN FRONT OF MY FRIENDS!" and they all three were cracking up! Hahaha!

Waah! Somebody Was RUDE to Me!

2004-08-27T23:26:00.000-04:00

I'm so sick of hearing (reading) that at one of the MSN Groups I belong to. It's a parents' group and there is a whole gaggle of dimwitted mommies who constantly whine and complain and act all indignant because someone said something "RUDE!!!!" to them, either in the group or in real life. And most of the time they're either blowing it totally out of proportion and the person actually wasn't trying to be rude at all, or they're just pissy because they didn't get sunshine blown up their butt like they wanted. But even when someone really is rude to them, they act so stupid about it. "OMG! I can't believe they said that to you! HOW RUDE!!!!" Jesus Christ, get over it! Who cares?? Did your entire world come crashing down around you because some other dipshit was a mean ol' poopoohead to you?? God. Deal with it. No, don't even deal with it, just ignore it and chalk it up to the other person's stupidity. Don't sit around dwelling on it all day and getting yourself worked up into an indignant frenzy! I'll go find a few examples... ah, here's a good one:

Subject: The checker at WalMart was soooo unprofessional

........IMO anyway. I checked out. While she was checking out, she was telling me about all the groceries she needed to get. That wasn't what bothered me. I bought a Glade candle for the bathroom. She proceeded to pull the top back so she could put it up to her nose and get a good whiff. Then I bought some plug in refills for the car and she had to scratch & sniff those. Thennnnnnnnn I bought some seasoned tortilla chips. She then printed out my receipt to see how much they cost to see if she wanted to get some when she got off work, because they "looked good"

oh. my. GAWD! SHE SNIFFED YOUR CANDLE!?!? And she had the audacity to SCRATCH AND SNIFF the scratch and sniff sample on your air freshener!?!? The one that everyone in the world has already scratched and sniffed!?!? And... she LOOKED AT YOUR RECEIPT!?!? WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO??? *crying*

And this reply, on the same thread:

You think that is bad...here is what happened to me & dh a couple years ago we went to Meijer to buy some groceries etc...well I bought diapers for my oldest who was 1 1/2 at the time and a pregnancy test cause I was TTC the youngest, anywho the cashier that is ringing us up says "uh oh diapers & a pregnancy test that isn't good"...I thought THAT was uncalled for..she needed to mind her own business.

Yes, I can see how you would be so upset over an awkward attempt at some lighthearted banter...

There is this one woman in the group who does nothing but complain about her husband, and for the most ridiculous reasons. Recently he surprised her with jewelry, only it wasn't the piece of jewelry she really wanted, and all she did was bitch about how horribly insensitive it was of him to surprise her like that with a nice gift because it wasn't what she would have chosen has he ASKED her. That bastard! The NOIVE of him, deciding to surprise her like that! I don't know how he can put up with her. She bitches at him when he doesn't help with the kids or the housework, but she bitches at him when he does help because he doesn't do it her way. The poor guy can't win for losing.

That reminds me of a funny incident. When I was a kid, my parents were friends with this one couple. The wife was a complete nagging bitch and the husband was totally whipped. All she ever did was berate him and he would just take it. She also was a bitch to her kids. When they would come over, she would yell at her two boys to go outside and play -- they were never allowed in the damn house! Anyway, my mom and dad finally got so sick of her bitchiness they decided to break off the friendship. My mom tried to be nice about it but the bitchy woman demanded to know why and my mom finally told her it was because her behavior made everyone else so uncomfortable. Did she stop and think about what my mom was telling her, and think, Wow, I never realized people saw me that way. Maybe I should try to change.? No. She turned to her husband and screamed at him, "WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER TELL ME I WAS A BITCH!?!?" Ummm... HELLO! LMAO!

Website of the Day

2004-08-27T02:45:00.000-04:00

How to insult, swear, cuss, and curse in 156 languages!

"Swearsaurus is the world's largest resource of multilingual swearing. It will teach you a vast array of swearing, profanity, obscenity, blasphemy, cursing, cussing, and insulting in a massive 156 languages - because it's good to experience cultural diversity!"

Great First Day of School

2004-08-26T08:38:00.000-04:00

~T~ loves all three of his teachers (said they were "all really nice!") and he seemed very enthusiastic about the way they're going to do things in middle school. He wasn't even upset about not having recess anymore because he likes the fact that he has study hall and can get most of his work done IN school. He said the teachers are going to give them more time during classes to do their work, too. The big news is, he brought a letter home and it turns out he's been identified as gifted in "creative thinking" (I always knew he was, but now they know it, too!) and gets to participate in the gifted program during the second semester. Every Wednesday he'll get to leave his regular class and do special activities and projects. He's really excited about it.

Feelin' Fatigued

2004-08-25T14:48:00.000-04:00

It's the first day of school for ~T~ and of course we had to get up earlier than we have all summer, so did I take advantage of the alone time and take a good nap? No, instead I played around with my Blog template all day. (Note my nifty new "Currents" display on the status bar... *puffs chest out proudly*) Now I can barely keep my eyes open. Why do I always do this to myself?? And I'll probably stay up way too late again tonight messing around with it some more. I'll never learn.

Whoops! Gotta go! 3:00 already -- time to go pick up ~T~ and find out how his day went!

And Off He Goes

2004-08-25T08:31:00.000-04:00

Got ~T~ off to his first day of Middle School this morning (6th grade). How is it he keeps getting older and I don't?? (What? Denial? What's that?) He was in a good mood and lookin' good in his new clothes. I gelled his hair up for him -- he wanted the Ross Gellar look, kinda spiked up in front. It looked good! I'm excited for him. I hope he likes Mr. B. and has a great first day and a great year. *fingers crossed*

Website of the Day -- Steve Oedekerk!

2004-08-24T23:33:00.000-04:00

http://www.theochannel.com/

Around this house, Steve Oedekerk is a comedy GOD! We love EVERY movie he's involved with, whether by acting in, writing for, directing, or producing. We know if Steve-O's involved, it's gonna be FUNNY! He's directly or indirectly been involved in such gut-busting comedies as "Bruce Almighty" (screenplay, exec. producer), "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" (project consultant), "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" (writer and director), "Kung Pow: Enter the Fist" (writer, producer, director, lead actor), "Nothing to Lose" (writer and director), "The Nutty Professor" (screenplay), among others, and he is the producer of the Jimmy Neutron cartoon and movies. He also is the comic genius behind the riotous "Thumb" parodies, which include "Thumbtanic", "Bat Thumb", and "The Blair Thumb". If you've never seen or heard of the Thumb parodies, drop what you're doing and RUN -- do not walk! -- to your nearest Blockbuster video store and rent them! NOW! Better yet, just go to Best Buy and buy the boxed set because you'll want to own them. GO, I said! That's an order, not a suggestion!

I Hate School Shopping!

2004-08-24T20:51:00.000-04:00

I wouldn't mind it that much, but we ALWAYS have to wait until the very last minute and I can't stand that. My nerves are so frazzled, because I never know if we'll be able to find everything we need. We got nearly everything, just no jeans. Those can wait, though, because it's still hot out. He'll be wearing shorts for at least the first few weeks, probably. He got shirts, shorts, sports pants, shoes, etc. So he's ready for tomorrow. I need a stiff drink, though.

Suck My Proverbial Dick, MSN!

2004-08-23T23:39:00.000-04:00

I can't get into any of my Groups tonight and the damn blank white screen is really pissing me off! Why must they always be fucking around with stuff? Guaranteed, if everything's working great they find a reason to fiddle with it. GRRRR! This is what I've been looking at all night:

Last Day of Freedom Tomorrow

2004-08-23T23:10:00.000-04:00

~T~ and Dad got home from Florida today. They had a great time at the beach and drove down to the Everglades for an airboat excursion. They saw lots of alligators, and a family of raccoons and even some wild boar. ~T~ brought ~A.C.~ (his girlfriend) a t-shirt and some seashells he picked up on the beach. He rode his bike to her house and gave them to her when he got home. He said she was very excited. I said, "You just scored some major brownie points, bud! Girls LOVE to know you're thinking about them when you're apart!" He's really a thoughtful boy. She's a lucky girl! He's lucky, too, though -- she's a very sweet girl.

School starts Wednesday. He's starting 6th grade, and we went over to the school to check the class lists. All of his best friends are in his class this year, so he's really happy about that. ~A.C.~ isn't in his class, but she lives really close and I said, "Well, that's okay -- you can see her after school every day, right?" He said, "Yeah. It's not like we can talk a lot during class anyway." So he's a little disappointed but he's okay with it. Apparently tonight was "Meet the Teacher" night, only we didn't know it. The school was still open when we got there but most people had already left. We did get to go find his classroom. 6th grade is considered Middle School. Our town is so small that K through 12 is all in the same building! Yeah, that small! LOL The elementary is in one newer wing, the middle school is in the middle part -- the original older part of the building, and the high school is in the newest wing on the other side. So he's in a new part of the school this year. He has a male teacher for the first time. Mr. B. ~T~ doesn't know who he is for sure, but he thinks he kind of remembers him from "around" the school. I hope he gets ~T~ motivated. ~T~'s a VERY intelligent kid, but NOT motivated much about school. Academically, anyway. Well, neither was I, so I do understand. But I'm much more positive than my parents were with me, so he's doing better than I did. It's just a constant thing, trying to keep him motivated at all. He does great in sports and music and band. It's just the academic stuff he finds so boring. I sympathize. But you gotta do what you gotta do, and I do lay down some laws and consequences.

Browsing Blogs

2004-08-22T04:43:00.000-04:00

I'm just browsing through random blogs and man, a lot of people have REALLY annoying ones. First of all, the popup dialogue boxes -- not cute. Annoying. The microscopic text -- hard to read, very annoying. Blinding color schemes -- painful! Having burning retinas is annoying. Music -- annoying. I'll turn on my own if I want to hear music. Chances are, I don't have the same taste as you. Text overlapping borders -- FIX IT! Cutesie cursors -- overused and no longer cute. Now simply annoying. WriTiNg LiKe tHiS aND uSiNG reTArDeD LiNGo LIkE "ur" -- not only annoying, it also makes you look illiterate and stupid. Don't even get me started on frames. And blinkies. Jesus. Isn't that bandwagon just a little overloaded by now? I beg of you, keep it simple, folks. Please. I just want to read what you have to say, and I don't want to have to work at it or be bombarded with popup shit and "cutsieness".

Well, that sucked!

2004-08-21T23:11:00.000-04:00

My modem was screwed up yesterday and I had no internet. I didn't know what to do with myself. I actually cleaned out and arranged my pantry. Do people without computers actually do stuff like that, like, on a daily basis?? I can't even imagine! *shudders*

Website of the Day

2004-08-19T01:42:00.000-04:00

Wacky World of Wally World

Literally HOURS of gut-busting hijinks as related by Scott, a *devoted* Wal-Mart employee.

singing "I'm leaving on a jet plane..."

2004-08-19T01:12:00.000-04:00

~T~ and my dad are leaving tomorrow morning for four fun-filled days in Naples, Florida. ~T~'s been to Florida before, when we all (me, ~J~, ~T~, Dad, my sis, and her husband) took a trip to Disney World and Universal in Orlando a few years ago, but we drove that time. This'll be ~T~'s first airplane ride. Shortly after our Orlando vacation dad bought a condo in Naples, so FREE LODGING from now on! I'm jealous, though -- ~T~ gets to go and I haven't even been down to see it yet! Nah, that's not really true. I'm excited for him. Dad's been telling us to go ever since he bought it, but we just haven't had the extra money for a trip. Dad keeps saying we don't need to take much money, but what fun is a vacation without it?? I don't want to go and just sit around the condo. Yeah, there's the beach, but I want to do other stuff, too. So maybe in a year or two. Anyway, I told ~T~ he's gonna be taking a perfect flight for his first time -- it's about two hours, just enough time to really enjoy it, but not long enough to get bored. ~T~ had had a fantastic summer this year. This'll be his third vacation this summer! He spent a week at a cabin at Salt Fork lake with my mom and stepdad, then he took a two-week cross-country road trip with his dad and aunt (they went to Mt. Rushmore, another mountain carving of Crazy Horse, Bryce Canyon, The Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and St. Louis). Now he's going to Florida. Pretty lucky 11-yr-old, huh?

Going Places

2004-08-18T02:02:00.000-04:00

I was just trying to remember all the places I've traveled to in my lifetime.

U.S. States:
Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona.

Outside the U.S.:
Ontario Canada, France, lived in Argentina for a year (both in Cordoba and Buenos Aires), while in Argentina I traveled across the border to Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil.

The only place I haven't been, that I REALLY want to see sometime, is the Caribbean. No one particular island -- I'd like to visit any and all of them. The one thing I desperately want to do before I die is go scuba diving in the Caribbean. I'd like to see the Grand Canyon, too, but the Caribbean is my true goal. I've seen the Grand Canyon from the air when flying to Las Vegas, at least.

Website of the Day

2004-08-18T01:19:00.000-04:00

Theme Caskets!

I want this one:
Return to Sender

~T~'s Girlfriend Was Here For The 2nd Time Tonight

2004-08-17T00:46:00.000-04:00

They're so cute together. They're 11, going into 6th grade. She came over for the first time about a week ago, and tonight she was here again for about an hour and a half. They talked the whole time, first out on the porch and then he showed her his card collection. They were up in his room but with the door wide open and I made my presence known, pretending I was cleaning and dusting my room next door and the hallway, and popping in and out of his room several times for his dirty laundry and other little excuses. I was like, "Carry on, I'm just getting the laundry" or whatever. I wanted to eavesdrop, but I didn't. I asked her if she had to be home at a certain time and she said 9:00. I told her it was starting to get dark and that I'd be happy to drive her. She declined at first and I didn't push it, but I figured I'd talk her into it when it came time. They came down at 8:45 and she said, "I hate to ask you to, but would you drive me home?" I told her, "Of course! That's why I offered, it's no problem." She just lives about 1/4 mile away, but I wouldn't have let her scooter home when it's getting dark. So I drove and ~T~ sat with her in the back seat. When ~T~ went to bed tonight and I was in there to say goodnight I asked him if he LIKES her likes her, or just likes her (LOL!). He pulled the covers over his head, and I said, "Ohhh, you LIKE her like her!" He goes, "I don't know!" I said, "Well, when you see her, do you get butterflies in your stomach and it starts to do little flip-flops?" He goes, "How did YOU know about my stomach!?" I laughed and said, "Because that's the great thing about liking someone -- getting those flip-flops in your stomach when you see them! See? I DO understand these things -- you can talk to me about anything and I'll never make fun of you. I might joke around a little, but I'd never make fun. I just asked because if you really LIKE her, I wanted to tell you I think you have great taste -- she's very pretty and smart and very nice. And she has great taste, too. The best! She couldn't get any better than you. That's my opinion." Then I kissed him and said goodnight and left him smiling. LOL

Website of the Day

2004-08-15T21:58:00.000-04:00

I don't even use condoms, I just thought it was a kinda cool site.

Dad's Latest Accomplishment

2004-08-15T04:48:00.000-04:00

He designed the new Mt. Zion Tabernacle, which is the national headquarters for The Supreme Council of the House of Jacob. The sanctuary takes up 99.5% of the building. There are two offices hidden behind the pulpit area but nothing else. It seats 2,500 plus the 150-person choir and full band (including baby grand piano, organ, and full drums set in addition to the guitars, saxes, etc.) plus the section behind the pulpit for the church elders (seats about 30). Dad's really proud of it, and he deserves to be. It's beautiful.

Dad's Newest Building

2004-08-15T04:26:00.000-04:00

Here it is -- Dad's pride and joy:

Nice Evening. And a Fun Day Tomorrow.

2004-08-13T23:25:00.000-04:00

Went to the Atwood Lake Lodge for dinner tonight. They used to have a seafood buffet on Fridays, now it's Italian buffet. Still, excellent food! It was overcast and cold this evening but we got some nice pictures of the lake view.

Tomorrow I'll be back at the Lodge again because I'll be judging the Atwood Lake Art Show, which is held there every year. Then at 6:00 we're going to the grand opening of a new church Dad designed -- a multi-million-dollar deal that seats something like 1,200 people plus a 150-person choir behind the pulpit. Holy shit!

It was overcast and CHILLY tonight! I look cold.

~J~

Awesome Price for Concert Tickets!

2004-08-13T05:55:00.000-04:00

Q92 Radio FM Radio Station Ohio, Canton, Stark County

And an awesome lineup! I'm so going to that! And I can take ~T~, he'll LOVE it. ~J~ is all excited about Hulk Hogan being the special guest. *rolls eyes*

ACK!

2004-08-13T05:01:00.000-04:00

I just realized it's Friday the 13th! I'm saying in bed and hiding under the covers all day...

I don't know why but green seemed like a good color for Friday the 13th. Hey, you know what's weird? I have to go renew my driver's license today. Not weird in itself, BUT... when I took my driving test at 16 I had to take it on a Friday the 13th. WOOoooh! Amazing coinkydink, huh? (Note to self: Call Ripley's!)

Insomnia Bites!

2004-08-13T04:54:00.000-04:00

Seriously.

Website of the Day

2004-08-13T02:49:00.000-04:00

Tenacious D!

Check out the A/V link for full-length videos for "Tribute", "Fuck Her Gently", "Wonderboy", and more. Rock on, JB and KG!

Old Pics

2004-08-13T01:37:00.000-04:00

I just found a box full of old photos. Wish I was still this skinny!

Argentina 1987, age 18. My "badass" pose. MULLET ALERT!

Argentina 1987, lounging in the backyard by the pool.

Back home in Ohio, 1988, age 20.

1988, age 20, with my cat Heidi.

Remind Me...

2004-08-12T20:14:00.000-04:00

NEVER to make tacos again. How do I always forget how fucking messy they are??

So Here We Go

2004-08-12T06:09:00.000-04:00

Mkay, this is it, I made a blog. Just a place for me to ramble and store some personal junk for the whole world to see, as if they care.

MsBtch2U's Random Thoughts and Crap

He Deserved It

Shortest Case of The Flu, Ever

This House is So Cute

A Bit More Than He Bargained For

Crap, Now I've Got Three Contenders

Hmm... Now Might be the Perfect Time

Dumbest, Yet Most Common Debate Stance

Finally, Something to Get Excited About

Stupid Show!

I'm Still Alive

Johnny Depp

I'm Considering a Small-Business Venture

You'd Think Even Fictional Criminals Would Learn

Score!

Oh My!

Cool Story About My Parents

I'm a Lazyass

What a Shitty Week

Weird Hair Day

~T~ Shook President Bush's Hand Today!

More Name Generators

Website of the Day -- Penis Name Generator

Wonderful News!

Let Go of My Pie, Goddammit!

How cool! I just watched Intolerable Cruelty...

Ivan: The Sequel

Dennis Farina on Law & Order

Something Stupid That Cracked Me Up

I'm a Damn Lucky Mom

Back Off, Ladies! He's All Mine!

The Hazards of Cryogenics

Goddamn Page-Screwing Pics!

Chillin' at the Lake

Taking a Mini-Vacation Tonight

"I'm Today"

Website of the Day -- Senior Photos

Damn You, Ivan!

That Maroon 5 Twit

9/11: An 8-Year-Old Speaks

I Brought a Note

Goddabbid!

Website of the Day -- Freecycle

I Was Attacked at Dollar General

Ding-Dong Deeriere

Time Capsule -- When I Was Born...

Crappy Couple of Days

Website of the Day -- "Cereal and Milk" Video

Truly Bizarre News Story

What the Hell is Wrong With Me??

Oh, SNAP!

Waah! Somebody Was RUDE to Me!

Website of the Day

Great First Day of School

Feelin' Fatigued

And Off He Goes

Website of the Day -- Steve Oedekerk!

I Hate School Shopping!

Suck My Proverbial Dick, MSN!

Last Day of Freedom Tomorrow

Browsing Blogs

Well, that sucked!

Website of the Day

*singing* "I'm leaving on a jet plane..."

Going Places

Website of the Day

~T~'s Girlfriend Was Here For The 2nd Time Tonight

Website of the Day

Dad's Latest Accomplishment

Dad's Newest Building

Nice Evening. And a Fun Day Tomorrow.

Awesome Price for Concert Tickets!

ACK!

Insomnia Bites!

Website of the Day

Old Pics

Remind Me...

So Here We Go

singing "I'm leaving on a jet plane..."