Stay away from the peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

My parents just called from the Cafe du Monde. They stayed an extra day in New Orleans because my mother wanted to see the French Quarter during the day. On the way back, they plan to hit Memphis. They had just called to ask me where was a good place for barbecue. I told them any place on Beale Street was good, but I seemed to remember a place called Kings. Am I right?
Memphis wasn't on their agenda at first, but my mom told my dad, "hey, I wanna see Graceland." I don't think my dad was too crazy about that suggestion, but they're going. I'll bet money that my dad ends up liking it.

Laissez les bon temps rouler.

So Christmas came and went.
I flew to Orlando, Florida to spend it with my family. We chose to go to Universal Studios this year. It was quite fun. The Jaws ride is my favorite. I rode it twice. My mom and dad rode an indoor rollercoaster, Revenge of the Mummy, which I think might have a been a little much for my mother and her high blood pressure (yes, we totally ignored the sign).
Universal has a new park, the Islands of Adventure. This has a pretty cool rollercoaster, the Dueling Dragons, and they will have a Harry Potter section opening in 2010. This park also has a Dr. Seuss section, which probably seems sweet and fun during the day but strangely and nightmarishly surreal at night when I was there.
I only spent 2 days there, while the rest of my family had 4-5 days. My parents are traveling on thru the South to New Orleans where my mother and father are looking forward to eating mudbugs. I warned them about the Hurricanes (the drink, not the high/low pressure system).
I'd been to Universal Studios before. In 1996, I went with my friends Kalpana, Billie, and Elmer. We got it into our heads that we needed a vacation during school break and fun people everywhere were doing fun, spontaneous things. So if we weren't doing something fun and spontaneous, we weren't fun and spontaneous people. Something had to be done about that, so Kalp and I decide to go to Walt Disney World (she had never been). We call Billie and Elmer and away we go, literally the next day. It took all day to drive down, we slept in a motel room with no ceiling, we decided that Walt Disney World was too expensive, we spent a whole day at Universal Studios, and then we drove all the way back. We discovered that South of the Border is a total shithole. I caught the stomach flu, which kicked in full force on the way home on 95 North in Georgia where I upchucked my cookies in my stockinged feet cause I didn't have time to put my shoes back on. All in all, it was a great time. I still have pictures.
I thought about that trip a lot when I was down there this year. I really need to call them (Kalp and Billie, not Elmer - who knows where he is - he was never actually MY good friend - maybe Kalp knows where he is now - but I prolly still won't be calling him.) Coincidentally, Kalp, Billie and I have been to New Orleans together, where my parents are now. That's a story for another time.
Happy New Year - make it one to remember.

Define horror movie.

Since moving to New England, I have a whole new perspective on movies like "The Day After Tomorrow."

I think that bad grammar is always a dead giveaway.

I'd never seen this kind of email before. They are getting very creative.

From "Paul Ginsburg" (melinda2008@vp44.info)

Dear Associate, I just want to inform you that am on my way and let you know that I have just sent the payment via Western union in your name as I do not have your account details correctly.

I also want you to have the payment information below:

Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN): 256-786-0982
Amount Sent: $62,000 USD
Text Question: My car colour ?
Answer: WineSender Name : Paul Ginsburg

You can go to any Western union location right now and pick up the cash . I hope that you have a Western Union card / Promo code? You will need this to send or claim amount above $12,000 USD from any Western Union agent or location.
My company will be sending my team to Chile this week.

I am already on my way to join my team in completing the unfinished bridge construction project in Chile. We may leave town tomorrow and I couldn't go without dropping the payment information with you. We may spend 2 to 3 months there before the job would be completely finished.

Remember that if you do not claim the money before 9 days, they will call back the money to my card. And if you do not have the Western Union Promo/Card, you cannot pick up the cash.

I may not be around to reply any of your emails now,since i will always be at the construction site. but I will talk to you as soon as I return.

If you do not have a Western Union Promo Code, you may contact the western union postage department,with the agent details below so that they will provide a Western Union card/Promo Card for you immediately and also send you a copy of the voucher of the payment that I made, via email.

Contact the office below for your Western Union card:

Contact Person: Andrew Waylets
Email: westernunionpostage2008@posta.ge

Send the below details to him
Your Full Name:
MTCN number: (as above)
Telephone:
Address: (including state and zip code)

As soon as the office gets the above information, they will use the credentials to create your Western Union Promo code right away without any delay.

That is all to it. I hope to talk to you as soon as we are back on the errand or call it project. Thanks,

Paul Ginsburg.

So I thought I'd reply with this.

Dear Paul:
I am so glad that you finally got in touch with me. I have been trying to contact you for months. I have a client who recently passed away. I have been managing his accounts for years, and I know that he has over $30,000,000 USD in cash in his accounts. However, my bank and I cannot find any of his family or relatives to claim the money. If my bank can name you as the guarantor of his accounts, we can release the funds and you will be compensated $500,000 USD. All you have to do is send me your full name, address, date of birth, social security number, bank account number, and mother’s maiden name. Also you should include your place of birth, just as a security precaution. I know that you are in Chile at the moment, but please include your current location so that the police I will know where to find you to claim the money.
I know that you are good person and so deserving of this money. My bank find great person you. So please send information as possible soon.
You can reply to this email: sucker@completetool.ne.or.info.or.whatever

By the way, say hi to Ruth for me.

Do they know it's Christmas time at home?

I'm at work and I'm starving. Like starving starving. Like a lot starving. Like staaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrvvvvvvvvvvvving. A lot. Not like, "oh, I skipped breakfast starving" - more like "I haven't eaten since yesterday's lunch" starving. Which of course, isn't true. I ate last night. I ate korean food while watching Prince Caspian, the Chronic-what-cles of Narnia. So I don't know why I'm starving. Like really really starving. Like star ... wait for it ... ving. Like "I'm hypoglycemic and I'm gonna snap at everyone until I eat a blueberry muffin" starving.

But not like Ethiopia starving. Not quite that.

The Trilogy

At long last, the filming is done. It was a long, tedious, and often misunderstood process that inconvenienced quite a few people. But hopefully, it'll result in something pretty cool and funny. Last night was the final shoot. It started about midnight and went til about 2:30 am. Yikes. It rained and snowed on us. We can honestly say that we've suffered for it.
When it is finally put together, I shall let everyone know about it and forward them the link on YouTube. Expect that in about 3 years. Woot!

It is quite cold in New England.

So I have put "the blanket" on my bed. It's a huge feather down blanket that is very warm. On my bed, if you didn' know that it was a huge feather down blanket, you'd swear there were 2 people huddling under there. It weighs (and I'm exaggerating a little) about a hundred thousand pounds. Making the bed is my new weight loss program.

Funny things are everywhere, part 2.

Yesterday, I saw a child get so upset that his mom wouldn't buy him the shoes that he wanted that he spanked his mother. The boy was about 6 yrs old. Crying so hard, he worked his way around to her rear end and began smacking. The mother had a look of complete incredulity and also a little something that told me the boy was in for the same, maybe worse, as soon as they got home. I almost felt sorry for him.

Funny things are everywhere.

2 funny things that I heard today:

1. My brother has been watching Dexter, about which he says Season 1 is better than Season 2. But the one problem with Season 1, according to him, is (and this is the funny part) "the dialogue reads like a 15 year-old's emo diary." Oh my goodness, I laughed a lot over that one.

2. My roommate was extremely proud of himself today because he, for the first time in his life, sewed a button. He'd never done this before and had various reasonable reasons for that. He said he wasn't sure if he did it right, then I asked him how long it took him to do it. He said (and this is the funny part) "well, after I watched this YouTube video about how to do it twice ...." He himself admitted that this says a lot about our current generation. I never did find out how long it took to sew.

ZARS - zombie acute respiratory syndrome

I really am concerned now. I've had a cough for about 6 weeks now. I think it might be whooping cough. But I don't want to go back to the last doctor that I saw, because I think she might be a nitwit. I don't want to go back to the other doctor that I saw there either, because I'm SURE he's a nitwit. My regular doctor is out on maternity leave. What to do?

My roommate rocks!

I now have a working fireplace.

God Bless America

Now we're cooking.

Happy Halloween!

When you think that everything is good...
When you think that you might finally choose a direction...
When you think that you might choose a home...
When you think that the opportunities are better now...

some ex-boyfriend calls you out of the blue to tell you that he misses you and would you like to get together some time.

Oct 31 has been 5 years at my current job.

Eating my brains

I am so depressed. Today, I went to the bookstore ... and I couldn't buy anything. Financial difficulties. Can't afford any extraneous expenses. I didn't think that it would depress me so, but it did. I hardly go to the bookstore, but it's one of my favorite places. If you suggested to me that we spend some random Sunday at the bookstore, I would jump for joy. Once there, some book inevitably sucks me in. And it's always on the "Buy one, get one half off" table. So I buy ... like 4. I rarely spend less than $100 when I go. I only go about 4 times a year. I prefer Borders. Today, it was heartwrenching. I lingered over several tomes. I turned, hung my head, and left. So sad.

There was trick-or-treating at the mall while I was there. So cute. In fact, the drive over to the mall was lined with houses that have decorated for Halloween. Fake graveyards, ghosts, big bubbles of Halloween scenes in the front yard. It's kind of a big deal around here. I think more houses decorate for Halloween than for Christmas. Who knew? I don't know yet what my Halloween plans are, but I am either going to a bar/pub as a bat, or going to a dance club for an 80's Halloween bash as a Robert Palmer girl. I'll take a picture. That's if I feel well enough.

At first, I thought that I had inflammation of the zombie, or zombiosis. Then it was upgraded to Zombieson's disease. But now, I'm pretty sure that I have Whooping Cough. I know that sounds weird, but my symptoms seem to match. I am taking antibiotics for it that were originally intended for strep throat, which I don't have. So we'll see how it goes.

We should be filming part 2 of my trilogy epic on the weekend of Nov 8 and 9. I've been told that what we've got is great. I'm supposed to be writing some more. But I guess the Zombieson's got to my head.

I hope not.

Domo Arigato, Carlton Forbes.

Which one would you choose: zombie-osis, zombie-itis, or inflammation of the zombie?

I think I have Zombieson's disease. Tiny zombies are growing in my lungs, slowly replacing my lung tissues. In 10 months, I'll have zombies for lungs.

Well, that's how I feel. I have a pretty wicked cough (I'm so Bostonian).

I missed 2 days of work because of it. Not that I hate missing work, but I'm trying to save up my PTO. Got February to think of.

I haven't seen the video for the filming that we did this past weekend, but I hear it's pretty good. Now the director is trying to squeeze more filming into weekends that are not free for me. And since we are filming at my apt, that makes it a little sticky. I have said that they can't film at my apt without me. And since I don't have any weekends free, what this really means ... is that we're done filming. I hate to be the one responsible for that. But for a fun project, that is not going to see any profit, I think we need to draw the line somewhere.

I've ended up being not just the writer, but also the producer. And it hasn't been that expensive (yet - I haven't seen the electric bill yet from the lighting). I just don't want us to bend over backwards for this, pay a lot of money for it, and inconvenience my roommates, when we're not really seeing anything more than just some fun from it. I wish the director took that view.

So I've been feeling like a bad guy, with a wicked cough, with tons of work waiting for me. Then today, I remembered that we were watching a DVD copy of the Musical Matrix when we were filming this weekend and it was still in the DVD player. Some of you may not know what that is. But if you have a copy, and you've found the blue pill (Easter Egg), and you've watched that little tidbit, you know that it's exactly the kind of thing that can cheer you up when you have Zombieson's disease.

No Snoogie-Woogie

Today we are filming a comedy short in my apartment - one that I wrote. It is actually pretty exciting. I keep thinking, "I have always wanted to do this. What took so long?" To be honest, I knew far more people in Richmond who could have helped me to accomplish this. But for some reason, it just never came together there. Perhaps this is an advantage - not of moving to Boston - but of changing one's environment. We are no longer bound by preconceived limitations prescribed by others, or worse, by ourselves. My advice to you: take a look around and see if you are holding yourself back from anything ... unnecessarily.

Of course, there are bound to be problems. For example, one of our actors is 4 hours late to call. If you have any experience at all with performing arts, you'll know how bad that it.

Turn your head and cough

Lots has happened and I don't just mean financially. Although financially, I'm doing better these days.
No, I have been writing a comedy sketch that will be filmed this weekend and with any luck, playing on YouTube on a computer near you. I'm not sure when, cause there will be a fair amount of post-production. But I'm excited. Hopefully, it will be a trilogy. Hollywood, here I come.
In other news, my roommates and I have been hanging out a lot. They are good friends and I am glad to know them.
Speaking of friends, someone I met once in Tokyo emailed me out of the blue. He emailed cause he's going to be in Richmond. And I live in Boston. Sucks. He's very handsome - and according to his facebook page, single.
Last night, I went out downtown. Jason, one of my roommates, had a friend celebrating a birthday. We went to a pretty popular club called the Roxy. It was Gay Mafia night. I'm not sure if it was meant for mafia men who are gay or gay men who like the mafia. I'm well aware it was not meant for me. But if you have never had the experience of going to a gay club or a gay night, you are definitely missing out. At about 12:15 am, the shirts come off and good-looking, buff, oily, gay men dance uninhibitedly. The dance music is always very good. And everyone (except the lessies) is a good dancer. As a single (hetero) girl, it actually feels rather safe. And gay men have a knack for making you feel fabulous ... about yourself. So I had a good time. Despite being reminded of how old I'm getting. I can't keep doing that to myself.
I have had a really bad cough for a couple of weeks. It's a little alarming cause I have no other symptoms. When I do have a coughing fit, I can't breathe and I'll start wheezing. When it happens in bed, the coughing will actually make me throw up. So I've had some sleepless nights. I do not have any other symptoms. No fever, no fatigue, no phlegm even. It's bizarre. So I went to the doctor. His diagnosis? Maybe I have asthma. So he prescribed an inhaler. I thought it ridiculous, but I have the inhaler and I'm using it because now I'm getting desperate.
Otherwise, I'll keep you apprised.
How are you these days?

The world has ended.

Heather Locklear was arrested on a DUI charge.

Jumpcut is my new best friend.

The Perfect Day

Yesterday I went to Rockport, Mass. We ate lobsters. It was a beautiful day.
Video coming soon.

Extra Super Cool Poppy Music

Hey Mesha
last night I saw Mike Viola of the Candy Butchers. He produces a couple of the other acts that we saw. (they weren't that good.) And then he got up and sang some of his songs. He's got a new album out (I think under Mike Viola). So he sang mostly from that. But he did sing a couple of songs from Hang On Mike. I told my roommate the story about how we found his CD in that store in Tokyo (was it Tower Records or Virgin?) and she thought that it was cool. She said we should tell him that story.
Ginger

Mary Richards is my hero.

Did you know that today was the day that she first turned the world on with her smile in 1970? It was a nothing day and then suddenly it was worthwhile. American single women had a new outlook on life that day. Did you know that? Mary Richards (and her best friend Rhoda) changed America.
Now you just have to figure out if you're the Mary or you're the Rhoda.

I got a haircut.

In fact, I got them all cut.




HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




(sigh)

I made this.

And this one too. Which do you like better?



Kinda makes that Jiffy Pop jingle LAME.

Guess who's pregnant?

No, not me.

Down to the emergency seam

Yeah, my favorite pants are down to their emergency seam. I just noticed today (and I wore them Monday!) Should I sew it? I bought them in Munich when I was traveling around the world 8 years ago. It was summer when I left Japan but autumn when I got to Munich. I wasn't dressed appropriately.

Burnt 100% of the time

Well, it's been a busy couple of week. I know that I always say I'm busy but I really was. My sister came to visit last week, and then my brother last weekend. Their visits overlapped by a day.

I managed to get 3 days off from work to entertain my sister and nieces while they were here, which included taking in a Red Sox game. Much, much fun. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd do it more often. The thing to do is to get a boyfriend with season tickets. Fever Pitch, here I come.

We also visited Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women. I actually read Little Women before their visit in order to bone up for the museum. It's a good read and if you'd like something relaxing, I recommend it. I forgot how good it is. Now I'm reading a suspense thriller, also by Louisa May Alcott, and purchased at the gift shop of Orchard House, called A Long Fatal Love Chase.

We tried to take in more of the sights, but they didn't have the best shoes for walking around and Boston is a town that needs to be walked.

Nathan just hung out while he was here. He only wanted to relax and he's been here before. That was nice, because I too got to relax while he was here. We ate out a couple of times, most notably at Ken's Steak House, of the salad dressings. Enh. Other than that we rented and watched movies, most notably High School Musical. Hmm. We also filmed the quirky Jiffy Pop Jingle featured in the previous blog entry. Yeah.

At work, I finally got some people hired. I need more, but at least I'm not working 7 days a week. The best thing about it was that I made money selling. The worst is that I'm behind in other things like preparing for inventory and preparing for a sale. Without an assistant, it's all up to me. I forgot what that was like. I'm making a commitment to work on my opportunities at work. I've been behind on it, just sorta coasting through and I'm now at a point where I want to challenge myself with it. So wish me luck.

My new roommates have moved in and I like them very much. The apartment has a new look with all their stuff here and it feels like a new place. Plus Laura is super fun. Her family (and mother) are really the reason the place looks so great.

I've decided to hold up on match.com. First I'm trying to cut expenses. Second, I'm just not that into it. I met a couple of people, one in particular that I'd like to pursue. So we'll see how it goes. I'm back to exploring the idea of just making more friends.

So, along those lines, I joined a sketch comedy group. I'm writing sketch comedy ideas and will probably get to act and direct them. Cool beans. I already wrote one sketch, which was largely Nathan's idea. But I'm sure he won't mind. And after all, I sang back up for his Jiffy Pop jingle. I may also get back to improv. I found a drop-in class that's $10/class. Gotta save up for it (and have Sunday off). I also found a Taiko drumming class. That's $25/class, drop-in rate. Prolly won't do that as much. I should find another sports league, but I'm not much into soccer and I don't think I wanna do basketball. Maybe I'll find an easy volleyball league.

I'm much less stressed than I was. I really was tearing my hair out for a while. My friends are awesome, and they've helped a lot. So thank you. We really don't talk enough. I know you guys are busy too. So drop me a line when you get the chance. I hope things are clearing up for you as well.

I was there when genius was born.

I provided back-up vocals.
http://blog.mockingdale.com/

Ni hao

After searching for some time, I finally found video of the Olympic opening ceremonies online. I had heard that they were spectacular. They were. And quite touching. And although I couldn't find a taping of it in its entirety (you suck, NBC), I did feel that I got a sense of its enormity and grandeur. And also how proud they are of their country and to host the Olympics.

You may think that they have far to go to be proud. But you have no idea how far they have come. Further than any other country in the world.

It reminded me that the last time I was in Beijing, I saw the Mongolian Olympic team on their way to Sydney.

If we had a shurpa, he could bring us a popsicle.

Nathan is highly obsessed with shurpas and yetis.
check it - http://blog.mockingdale.com

Maybe if you showed him your boobs ...

Dandrea and his pictures are gone. Soon A.S.S. will be too.

Good times ... good times.

Yeah.

She looks exactly the same.

I had dinner with Christina Falci last night.

Who signed me up for this?

Ok, so why did I get the Guild Newsletter from the Jewish Guild for the Blind from New York City? It was mailed to me in Boston.

No. seriously, I don't know any blind Jewish people.

I love pressure, I eat it for breakfast!

I don't think that I've had so much stress in my life ever. I mean, if I tell myself any lie at all about why I have the job that I do, I would say, "Ginger, you wanted a low pressure job." Because selling shoes should be, right? But it's not.
I am making more money now than I every have and I'm in the greatest debt of my life. How did I get increasingly irresponsible with a greater and greater income? It's almost as if they are indirectly proportionate to each other.
It's more than just work and money though. I thought everything was straightened out with the roommates, but it's not. Someone backed out on us. I don't need this.
I am so stressed that my neck and shoulder are so tense that I can't fully turn my head to the right. AND I have to do it slowly so that I don't get this shooting pain thru my head, neck and back.
I'm not eating. CAN YOU F-ING BELIEVE THAT?!? I'm not eating!
Do you know that song by Abba, Money, Money, Money? It's my new theme song.
The worst of it is that I know that I will never have a blow-up or breakdown. I am not that person. I will keep taking it. And I don't wonder how much more I can take because I know that I will always take it. Something deep inside won't allow me to put up with someone taking advantage, but if it's just bad luck or bad situations, I will keep taking it. There is no straw that can break this camel's back. So I will never know release. I will never feel like I can be free from it. It will never end.
Stress rage much?

Stop with the metaphors.

Ugh, getting on facebook was a bad idea. Do you have any idea how embarassing it is when you see that someone from high school that you didn't have a very high opinion of is now a lawyer? And then! They might find out that you haven't accomplished ANYTHING? If you can't imagine how that feels, let me help you out - it sucks.
Meanwhile, Mr. AC is slow about responding and I'm thinking that I don't really ... crank his heat up. So back to match.

3 day waiting period crap

Whew, he emailed. But I'm not so sure that it's such a good thing because he took so long.

Back to Match

Uh oh ... Mr. AC didn't call back. Darn.

No AC

So one guy has stopped calling me, which is a good thing. Another has not called me in a week, so that may be tapering off ... which is ok. He's nice, but no romantic feeling.
A third guy called me on Tues night and we talked for 2 hours. Very fun. And he has just now sent me a funny email. I like him and I may call him myself today. Wish me luck.

I really do have thick, luxurious hair.

So the other day, I'm in the shower washing my hair. Per usual, as I rinse the shampoo out, I'm shedding terribly and have a handful of hair. As I open my hand, I spot something that is different, something so different that in a sea of near-black hairs with the occassional coppery streak, it cannot help but be noticed. I will not say what color it was, but it was not a color that I want on my head.

The little traitor.

Still I'm only 29 years old.

7 dates so far ...

2nd date with another guy.

Coconut Encrusted Halibut

Yet another date. Thank you.

Update!

Oh wait, right, I forgot.

I've been on 3 dates with one guy and 1 date each with 2 other guys. So we're racking them again pretty quick.

I'll let you know how it's going.

That's my joke! (after I stole it from Nathan)

Do you know that my mother called me un-American because I've never seen Gunga Din?

Things

I don't think that the audition went very well. I just didn't jump out there enough.

Tomorrow I go home to surprise my dad for an early Father's Day gift. Hope he likes it!

I almost called Casey. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?!

Up Up and Away

On our 3rd date, we saw a life-size Superman for sale for $3000 at our going-out-of-business Sharper Image. I really wanted it. I LOVE Superman!

What does a yellow light mean?

There was a 2nd date. Jen would be so disappointed in me.

Scruffy-looking Nerfherder

I had a date last night. It went very well. I have another on Friday.

Happy Memorial Day

I won a camera! It's super cool. It's got like a YouTube compatibility thingie. Neat! Maybe I'll try posting something to YouTube. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the old digital camera.

In other news, a local improv troupe is having auditions. It's as if Mesha is psychic. I signed up to audition. I have a 30 minute slot on June 9. If I do well then, I'll be invited back for a 2nd round of auditions on June 14. So wish me a broken leg. I feel very out of practice though. Can one exercise their funny bone?

I also signed up for match.com. I am back on the dating scene. Casey called a couple of times. In fact, we tried to make plans to see each other when I went down to recuperate. But it never happened. Mostly cause he didn't return my phone calls. Only this time around, I wasn't so bothered by it.

I am currently looking for roommates. I have to find some soon. I'm not too worried; these things have a way of working out, with the exception of the girl who stole my Ipod. But someone needs to pay rent in July.

Work is going well, but I'm keeping my eyes open for a promotion and any other opportunities that present themselves. Many of the other managers are leaving, now that their contract is up. Boston doesn't agree with everyone. Or maybe moving isn't for everyone. Or maybe something back home is just better. Who knows? Good luck to all of them.

The scar is healing nicely. It's just a red line now, with a little piece of stitching hanging out of the end. It's yucky. It's supposed to dissolve, but for now, I look like I have a little loop hanging out of my belly. I think people have mentally translated my surgery to me losing weight. Technically, I did but it shouldn't have been noticeable.

I have actually lost weight, but I should be concerned about that. I haven't been exercising a great deal (especially since the surgery). I have had a loss of appetite. In my case, that doesn't mean what you think. More like it means I eat normal portions now. I'm noticeably less hungry. What an odd sensation. Maybe I should ask my dr. about that.

Well, summer is here now. Let's hope it's a good one.

A real friend would tell me.

Ugh, I've been embroiled in some mudslinging on myspace with an ex-roommate. I don't know why I did it. I should have known better. I mean, I'm an adult, right? Anyhoo, the most insulting thing that got said about me was that I chew with my mouth open.

omg, is this true? If you are my friend, you will tell me if this is true or not. Why would you let me continue a bad habit like that? Oh god, what you must think of me? I'm so ... ill mannered! I'm so ashamed.

Gooses and Geeses

Today I went for a walk. It'd been a while since I'd gotten some proper exercise. Unfortunately, I had to cut my walk short because it began to rain. But not before I got to see the goslings out with the geese I had never seen them so close before - so close that I walked right through them. They were adorable.

Then it's time to eat!

My tummy is awful rumbly. I don't know if it's an after-effect of the surgery or if it's something I ate. hmmm ...

At least the coffee is good.

Back to work today. Hated it. Shoulder bothering me again. Boo.

My brother will have to open his opium den without me.

So I'm doing better now. The surgery was about a 5-6 inch cut along my bikini line (ala C-section). It's healing nicely, altho there is a pukey yellow bruise starting to form just above it. And it's a little swollen, so I have even more of a pot belly right now. The pain was ok altho it confused me terribly. It started out that I couldn't tell if I had to pee or it was just the pain. The two felt so similar. But I know I'm getting better now because I can tell the difference. It still hurts a lot if I sneeze or laugh, but at least now I know when I have to pee.
I have also discovered a couple of thing about myself. Firstly, morphine makes me panicky. When I woke up from the surgery, I felt fine. Only momentary disorientation, and then my head cleared. Then the nurse asked how was the pain. At the time, it felt fine because they had given me something when I was under that was NOT morphine. So when the pain did act up, I told the nurse and they gave me morphine. Soon, my chest felt tight, my breathing became fast, and I felt vaguely feverish and nauseated, but I didn't feel any pain. Everyone tried to tell me that it was an aftereffect of the anesthesia. So I bore it out. Finally it calmed down and the pain came back. They gave me the morphine again. It happened all over again. I KNEW it was the morphine and I didn't let them give it to me a third time. They gave me something else, using a BIG needle in my leg, which worked much better. I did not like that morphine at all.
They also gave me a prescription for Percocet-lite, Endocet. It says to take 1-2 tablets every 4 hours as needed. My doctor also recommended taking ibuprofen. So I started out taking the ibuprofen regularly and took one tablet of Endocet if the pain came back before the next round of ibuprofen. Yesterday, I took 2 (by mistake). Wow, did that feel awful. I felt light-headed and warm, vaguely feverish, and nauseated. I don't know if I was acting loopy, but my sister says that I didn't look good. It took me the rest of the day to recover.
So the overall conclusion is that narcotics and I can never be good friends. Oh well. At least I don't have a grapefruit of a cyst inside me anymore.

I feel like I just ran the Kentucky Derby.

Success! doing fine and recuperating.

right on the bikini line

Friday at 9:20 am.

The Right Stuff

The move to Boston has fundamentally altered me in some ways. And not in the ways that you think; for example, I have not picked up a Boston accent. I do however pay attention to when the Red Sox are playing (free coffee at the Dunk). I have not started liking Boston Creme Pie; I am however much more patriotic. Finally, and I will admit that I do have some past history with this, which highly influences my behavior, so it is not Boston alone that is responsible for this, but if I were anywhere else, I am sure that I would not be as excited as I am about the reunion of New Kids on the Block. Yes, I am. Very excited.

Hey Macarena!

You listened to this song too much if you knew that the guys featured in the video didn't actually sing the song.

MmmBop

Remember Hanson? Don't deny it; you listened to Hanson.

Flashback 1997

Remember Beanie Babies? Seriously, what were we thinking?

All things just keep getting better

well ... what a weekend! It was the most fun that I've had in the city of Boston. Let me tell you that truly great friends, truly good friends bring something into your life that you don't just need but want. It might be different for each person, what it is that our friends give us, which is why we all have different friends. But it is the gift of any friend to give of yourself that thing, that inimitable thing, that your friend needs and wants. And it is worthy of you to know and appreciate what it is that your friends bring into your life.
Thank you, Mesha, for bringing humor and confidence into my life this weekend. You must bring adventure too, because we always seem to have a little of that going on as well.
Folks, we drank since noon; we went to Cheers (both of them!); we ate Boston baked beans (with hot dogs); we paid for the college education of street dancers; we were totally uninterested in the Declaration of Independence. We walked down Newbury Street and considered booking the band for Mesha's wedding; we parked in a spot even a Porsche couldn't get into; we crossed the finish line for the Boston Marathon; we harassed the Boston fire department. We saw Paul Revere's house; we avoided gaining weight by simply smelling the amazing food in the North End; we hated Duck Tours. Mesha ate Boston Creme Pie. We paid appropriate homage to the Dunk; we stuffed ourselves with lobster and clams (OH GOD!) We did not enjoy improv. We called people "quee-ah" and "chowdahead." I drank Sam Adams.
One night we went out to South Boston. We ran into a gaggle of cops at Woody's, the bar from Good Will Hunting. We had almost left before they (very easily) talked us into staying. Mesha got at least 4 men to say, "How do you like them apples?" Unfortunately, she could not sway Boston's sexiest bartender.
We also saw Carson Kressley. Mesha and he are now best buds. Carson invited her to stay at his vacation home in the Cod. He loved her shirt. She loved his tan. Later, Mesha decided not to get the $10,o00 gold necklace. It just wouldn't have gone with the shirt.
Mesha, we're gonna have to pass on Tokyo next time around. Let's think of a place with good bars.
Folks, you should be so lucky to have friends like mine. How do you like them apples?

Switzerland, Norway, and Greenland

I understand that protesters feel that China needs to step up its civil and human rights stance, if it wants to be a world power and serve as host of the Olympics. But if we're going to make that demand every time, there are only about 3 countries that will be able to host, and the US ain't one of them.
People! the point is that the Olympics are a time to share in true sportsmanship and honest, good-natured competition, despite differences, or more truthfully, BECAUSE of them. Real communication and exchange are supposed to start from this event, and therefore precipitate change and/or bring enemies together afterword. Expecting 1st world principles of equality and welfare from them, as well as political acquiescence, before they've even had a chance to mow the grass on the field, is a bit like putting the cart before the horse.
Boycotting the Olympics and/or disrupting the ceremonies and games is akin to saying, "if you don't do what I tell you to do, I'm taking my ball and I'm going home!"

I want THAT girl!

I got a new haircut today and I have received several compliments on it. It's a fabulous day.

One of these days, I'm gonna get in real trouble.

So a collection agency/lawyer's office sent me a letter saying that I still owe Comcast in MD. Argh! I'll never be rid of that albatross. I was so aggravated that I wrote and sent the following letter.


Dear Sirs:

Enclosed is your payment for the Comcast Cablevision bill. Please disregard the rest of this letter, as it is a rambling complaint about Comcast and I have included it simply to make myself feel better. I know that it is not your fault, but Comcast sucks.

Your letter claims that they contacted me numerous times about my balance due, but I only received one notice in January 2008. My service had switched from my name to the person who took over my apartment in July and he paid the bill then. After receiving that one notice in January, I called both him and Comcast and they both verified it. Comcast at that time told me that I did not owe anything. I did take names, dates, and times to verify this information. But after not hearing anything for a couple of months, I figured it was resolved and I threw the information away.

Now, without that information, I feel unfortified and unable to make a suitable argument, even for the sake of argument. But I firmly believe that they are double-billing me and they know it. I am paying the bill now because it is a small price to pay for peace of mind and to be rid of Comcast Maryland forever! Not to mention, I do not want to ruin my credit history.

Thanks for listening. Boycott Comcast.


Do you think that might have been crossing the line?

Grown women are prepared for life's little emergencies.

Yeah, so now my Mom wants to come up for the surgery. She has to be there for me. It's not possible for me to go thru any traumatic event in my life without her there at my side. My mother's model for behavior when her children or grandchildren are in a hospital is Terms of Endearment. "Give my daughter the shot!"
While she does this out of love (and I should consider myself lucky for that), she's going to be sleeping on my couch in an apt with a free-roaming cat and 2 male roommates. Lovely. I already know how much she's going to hate my apt. It won't be clean enough for her. She'll think my roommates are too messy. The garbage doesn't get taken out often enough (and imagine how she'll feel when she realizes that it can only be taken out on Tuesdays and we have no place to store it). Cat hair on everything. She doesn't trust dishwashers.
My sister Kim is coming too. Mom was perfectly content to come by herself, fly up, but without any thought at all to the fact that she can't drive and doesn't know where anything is around here. Hence, Kim needs to come. But, as Kim pointed out, having that pointed out to Mom just aggravates her prior feeling of helplessness about the whole situation. Which I empathize with but really don't have the time to worry about my Mom feeling helpless right now. Have my own problems, thank you. And Mom doesn't want me to worry about it. What she really wants is for me to come to Virginia where she can properly take care of me after the surgery.
Yeah, that's what she really wanted. I kiboshed that. On the phone, her reasoning that I should come home to Virginia was because I'll be too weak to get up my own backstairs after I come home from the hospital. But not at all too weak to hop on a plane and then endure a drive from Dulles to Stafford, and then stay at her house for two weeks, which, by the way, has stairs.
KIBOSH!
Seriously, I don't know what to worry about more, a surgery gone horribly wrong or two weeks with my mom in my apartment.

Resurrection

So things are a little crazy. As you know, he called and I couldn't have been happier. We have since talked a couple more times and emailed once. It really feels like we could have a chance. There's a hope in me that is undeniable and that makes me think that this is the real thing. But ... there are still some things that make me hesitate. For example, he did just stop talking to me, no explanations, nothing, for 10 months. And we have not talked about that. The other thing is that he's in a rough place. Do I have a choice in taking in part in that?

The other difficulty is that date # 14/15 has indicated a small interest. I'm unsure how to proceed. If he had never called, I'd know exactly what I would do. But now that he has, I know that my feelings for #14/15 are not serious. And, to be honest, I don't feel that they are serious on his behalf. I get the feeling that he's looking for more than me. Except, sometimes, I feel that might be wrong. It might just be difficult for him to express his feelings. And I know exactly what that's like. He could be feeling more, but not showing it for fear of rejection.

What a quandary.

123 Nathan's walk into a bar ...

Ok, so I'm on Facebook now, and I thought I'd search for my brother on there. I typed in his name, and 123 of him showed up. Yikes! So then I thought, I wonder how many of me are on here. Not as many, and the good news is ... I'm the best looking one. Yippee!

My God, it's full of stars.

That's just what I imagined Arthur C. Clarke to say when he went to the great beyond.

Luck of the Irish or Ides of March

I am falling apart at the seams. Today, I went to see why my tooth was still bothering me after the onlay, and do you know? I ended up getting a root canal. yeah, a root canal. Like I don't have enough health issues to worry about.

I finally did my taxes (don't get too excited, I only did the federal ones). That was tedious and I only get a $67 return. Boo. But the good news is that doing my taxes took my mind off the throbbing pain in my jaw.

I still have to do Mass taxes and MD taxes, for being part-year in both. I had to do a MD tax return for two years ago because I filed under a MD address, even though I only lived in MD for 16 days. It actually wouldn't be a problem, except that my work didn't take taxes out of my paycheck for those 16 days for MD. Or, at least I couldn't find any record that they did. So I have to do some research on that. Boo!

And all of this serves only to remind me of how little money I have and how much I'm going to need. Yeah, health issues suck.

On the other hand, I went out for St. Patty's day. You know, it's kind of a big deal around here.

There are so many freaking tolls.

He called again, and he was all "how long a drive is it?" "How many tolls are there?" Still kinda non-committal ... you know, like ... "well maybe one weekend." Oh, I hope he does.

See my smiling face.

Mesha, you are a bad, bad woman. You are very bad. I should not have joined Facebook.

I wonder if I can access it from the work computer.

He called!

He called! He called, he called, he called. He called! I don't care what you say, I'm calling him back this week.

It's this big.

But I don't really know. It could be 7.5 cm wide and like 1 cm flat, meaning it's really this big.

Which doesn't seem so scary.

I was going to post an image of a dermoid cyst. But it's pretty freakin' nasty. I'll save you the gross-out. But if I did post the image, you'd know; it's not a pancake at all.

Estrogen

There are two dermoid cysts; one is about 7.5 cm and the other is about 2 cm. They have to operate.

Careful, they are in no particular order.

check it out, yo!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31652522@N00/

You're bringing out the Elvis in me.

Hey, y'all! If y'all don't check my myspace page, y'all prolly don't know how much better my friends are than yours OR how awesome my trip was. That's right - it was awesome!

Firstly, it was great to see my family. My aunt and cousin from Korea were visiting and it was great to see them. If they'd come any other time, I might not have gotten to see them. So that was awesome.

Then I celebrated my ... 29th birthday. Yeah, it was my 29th. I'm positive it was my 29th. Yet another reason it was awesome. Because it was my 7th consecutive 29th birthday. How awesome is that! It's so awesome, not everybody can do it.

Next, I met up with some awesome friends in Richmond. I saw Mesha, no longer of the Mustang. Because she can no longer be called Mustang Mesha, she shall henceforth be named Glamazon. This is her new superhero name. I have ordained it so. And ... true story ... her braces made her taller. I don't know how; it must be one of her new superpowers.

I also met with the Val Gals. This is a small group of us that used to work at the museum and have since left and gone on to saner and higher paying jobs. They told me a story about an amateur collector who blew himself up with a Civil War mine. And you thought that history wasn't exciting.

Finally, in Richmond, I saw MaryAnn. Yes, I, Ginger, have a friend named MaryAnn. But instead of referring to that obvious joke, we call ourselves Kermit and Fozzie, because someone once mistook us for the same person. Here is a picture of us together.

If you ever saw the Great Muppet Caper, and you have the fanatic devotion to trivia that MaryAnn and I have, you understand this. If you don't, then you are not awesome.

But wait! It gets even more awesome. On my vacation, I went on another vacation to Memphis and Nashville! I went with my friends from college, Jen and Leanne. Let me just say that fate threw us together by having our birthdays within a week of each other. We took it as a holy sign and find some way to celebrate our birthdays together. Although there is talk that next year we may start celebrating at a warmer time of year, say May.

In Memphis, we did many things. We ate barbecue, danced Zydeco, learned to hate "Rocky Top," saw a live tiger escorted by the police. We saw Elvis, we found the Jungle Room, we ate peanut butter and banana sandwiches. We were the stars of a karaoke act, we saw ducks do a little number, and we sang gospel, rock, and the blues on a bus through Memphis. I bought a new purse. It was good times. In Nashville, it was just as good. For your information, the Country Music Hall of Fame is a damn good museum. It is a place that agrees that Hee Haw should be a national treasure. No, seriously, it's a damn good museum. And til my dying day, I will be proud to say that I ... sang at the Grand Ole Opry. I may have a t-shirt made.

But the best part of all was the car ride betwixt the two. Three hours each way with my bestest friends in the whole wide world. Yessirree, good times.

So I'm back in Bawstin. Out of rebellion, I got a little twang goin on. And for the life of me, I can't stop saying y'all. AND, I said "Thank you. Thank you very much," at least twice today. But I guess that's just to be expected, when your vacation was ...

AWESOME!

Except for Brad Womack, the Bachelor

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

P.S. Thanks to Mean Rachel for the link.

the hardest word in the world

Another good thing that the challenge taught me was to trust my instincts about people. If I get a bad feeling about a date, it usually ends ups being right. For example, someone that I had emailed a couople of times when I first moved here, called me to kinda re-connect. But when I remembered the reason that we never met in the first place (he said it wasn't a good time for him to meet new people), I decided that this was not a good prospect. Everything about him just made me think it was a bad idea. And for the first time, I felt like I had the luxury of saying no.

They won more games than I had dates.

I have a confession: I didn't watch the game.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Done, people ... done.

No. 15

I hope I have a date this weekend. I should have a date. Then the challenge would be complete. And the nice thing is that the last 2 dates were very nice. I hope, cuz you know, I still haven't gone on the last date.
What's been up with me? Well ... I have been shopping for a date shirt. It was very difficult. You couldn't believe the number of truly bad shirts there are out there. Everything right now is a tank or a sleeveless or a halter top. Which I'm totally ok with. If I didn't live someplace where the snow never freaking melts.
How hard is it to find a sexy LONG sleeve shirt? Well, let me tell you, my friend, if hard were stupidity, that shirt would be Britney Spears.
IT'S HARD!
Salespeople look at you like you're crazy if you ask for anything like it. Then they show you a freaking sleeveless shirt! And they say something like "You can wear a long sleeve shirt under it." Hello! That is the opposite of sexy! That's like saying to your date, "Yeah, I'm gonna be sexy and hot and maybe we'll make out, and then underneath you'll find my granny panties."
OPPOSITE OF SEXY!
I spent 4 hours in a mall on Wednesday, looking for such a shirt (which seems like a long time, but considering I work in a mall, is just half a work day.) Do you wanna know where I finally found a suitable shirt? At work. Only it was way more than I wanted to spend. Thank God, I get a discount. It's a great color and a great cut on me, but it has this snake-skin patterning on it, that I'm not too crazy about it. But I walked around the entire store, asking co-workers what they thought of this shirt and after 5 people told me that they liked it, I decided to buy it. Because nothing motivates me more than other people's envy.
ENVY ME!
I'm going to wear that shirt every possible chance that I get, including on my birthday trip! Other than that, I haven't been doing much.

I'm melting! Oh my beautiful wickedness!

I am truly weirded out by the weirdest thing, which really honestly seriously weirds me out even more.
It's so weird to me that the snow never melts. I didn't think that it would be the kind of thing that would bother me, but I hate when I'm driving down the road and I see all the snow still piled on the side of the street from snow that we had two weeks ago. Why doesn't it melt? I mean, I know why, but ... it needs to melt! It bothers me. Or when I go the the grocery store and there's a big pile of snow taking up several good parking spaces. Melt, dammit, melt! Why ... I mean ... it's still here! MELT!!!
It doesn't matter anyway, because it's snowing again today.

All day.

It was really nice.

14 down, 1 to go!

P.S. It was very nice. I hope we do another.

same old, same old

#14 should be happening soon. will keep you apprised.
had dinner with some Boston Linkup people. very nice, very social, very normal.
went to karaoke. random guy/singer flirted with me. much needed ego boost.
birthday trip is coming along. very excited.

Just pick an emotion and escalate, dammit!

Yeah, I thought I could do it, but no ... I can't stand beginners.

What made Seinfeld so good was the ensemble.

I hate Larry David. All of his comedy is predicated on someone being an asshole. What I hate worse, is that we live in a society that applauds it. People are idiots.

Chinese New Year is Feb 7 - Year of the RAT

He didn't email back.



I'm back on CL.



I've signed up for another social activity.



There's a robotic kind of motion to everything.



I hear Nashville is pretty awesome.

"What exactly does 'woot' mean?"

Ok, so the improv class is pretty good. We're playing all familiar games and it's stunning how many I've forgotten. I'm enjoying the class ... although ... I can't really say more than that, because ... it ... would be bad. I mean, let's face it. Haven't we all learned the lesson of blogging about one's improv experiences? One thing that I can safely say is ... my new improv teacher reminds me so much of Jonathan Hardison that it's scary.

One guy in my class went to UNC and took a class with DSI. His teacher was Zach Ward. He knew Ross White. On that basis alone, I have deemed him a good guy. That and he doesn't stink at improv. He told me that DSI is now one of the biggest improv festivals in the country. Kudos! That's actually pretty f-ing awesome.

In other news, I got one of the other things on my Xmas wish list. No ... not Brad Womack.

Out of the blue

O.




M.




G.




This has been one heck of a week.

I got crabs at Dick's.

What is going on in my life? Well, a lot. Let me tell you, AY-LOT! Yessirree, bob, a lot.

First of all, I had a date. That's 13 down, 2 to go. Yeah, I'm at the point now where I'm just trying to get these done. It's like the night before your term paper is due and you're just banging that thing out and you don't care if it's good or bad, just done. I'm intently researching dating options now. I'm putting myself out there boldly, in fact, callously, just to get this thing overwith. I'm being aggressive about it. I'm sure it's not attractive.

As for the date: it was bland. Insipid. While he was a nice guy and as much into television as I am (you thought that didn't exist, didn't you, Jen?) there was just no spark. I was talking to someone about it later and she agreed entirely that you have to have spark and you WILL feel it immediately. If it hadn't happened to me before, I wouldn't believe it. But now, I have no interest in someone who doesn't create spark. Yeah, so back to the internet.

The internet is turning into a pretty good place to meet people. Craigslist is nice because it's free and there ARE normal people on there. You just have to play the odds with it. You pick an ad, you meet the person, you see if it's a match. It's a bit like playing Old Maid. Ha ha, get it, Old Maid ... like me ... oh god.

I happened to meet a girl, who placed an ad on CL just for some single gals who wanted to be friends. I met up with her and had dinner. She was nice and we might hang out again sometime. We went to Dick's Last Resort downtown and the waitress made me a hat that said, "Lookin' for a 1 night stand." So, yeah, that's one way to meet people. I saved the hat.

I've been toying with the idea of match.com again. Some friends of mine have had luck with it. But I'd rather not waste money. I think I'm going to try Single Volunteers again, and I'll try something new, like the Young Professionals group. One good group that I've done a couple of times is called Boston Link Up. That's actually really cool. I haven't met too many people with it, but I like the idea of it, so I'm gonna stick with it.

Finally, I'm back into improv. I wanted to sign up for the Level 2 class at my nearest improv training ground, but after much back-and-forthing, it turned out that there wasn't any room for me in the class of my choice. So I could wait til the next session or take the Level 1 class. I went to the Level 1 class. To be honest, I was dreading it. I was so afraid that I was going to spend the next 4 weeks with someone who couldn't understand that "yes, but" was actually a denial. Or someone who thinks that he/she is funny and isn't. Or worse, thinks that being funny is far better than learning what improv is all about. As it turns out, my class was smart and funny. They actually knew what they were doing. So I'm going to stick with it. Once I got into the classs, I found that I missed it so much that I couldn't NOT do it. So ... maybe this will be another venue to find dates.

Because that's really what it's all about. Our purpose in life. To find dates. 2 more to go.

Developments

Oh, yeah, right, I forgot. I have a date on Sat.