Is July the new black?

Apparently July turned into the month for moving. I know so many people, myself included, that are moving right now. Last night at a dinner party for my sister (who just got a teaching job, YIPPEE) I had the fun pleasure of explaining why I had a car full of moving blankets and a few boxes (thanks Ansley) about 10 times.

The conversation often went like this:

"Why do you have all the blankets in your car?" "No, I am not sleeping in my car, but I am moving and they are moving blankets." "Where are you moving to?" "I don't know yet." "Huh?" "Well, my stuff is going into a storage unit and for the month of August my aunt and uncle are graciously letting me live in their downstairs while I try and decide where I want to live." Why are you moving out now then if you don't know where your moving to?" (This is the question I don't understand as much as sometimes I want to get a smidge sarcastic with my response) "Well, my lease expired at the end of July and to stay longer would require I sign another full year lease which I am not, nor are any of my roommates, interested in doing."

So I am using Ruthie as a bit of an inspiration and getting rid of a bunch of stuff. I realized I have accumulated a bunch of stuff because I had plenty of space and a lot of storage. This is stopping. I am tossing a bunch of stuff and it feels great!

I don't have to be out of my place until the end of this week, but I have all my furniture save the mattress and a few smaller items left. I will probably have a few more posts relating to moving, so just hang in there.

To copy Aisy, who is an original. Here is my map of the world. This is one occasion where I hope the red will spread.



create your own visited country map

Old Maids?

A friend forwarded me this link on the Newsweek article written 20 years ago on single women over 30 and their chances of ever marrying. It is interesting that as you look at something, conclusions of the facts change depending on the perspective you look at them from.


http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13007828/site/newsweek/from/ET/

Eventually I'll learn

I wish I already knew how to upload pictures to my blog page. I know, it isn't that difficult. I was driving to work this morning behind a Fulton Crane. I suddenly noticed their "motto" on the back of the crane that made me laugh out loud and definitely brought a smile to my face. (As I think the actual product does to older women as well as the Anna Nichole Smith's of the world).

"Just like Viagra... we get it up for you"

Maybe I will and maybe I won't

Given that this is my first post since my New England trip, you would think I would talk about it. Unfortunately, you would be wrong.

So I went to my favorite pizzeria in Portland tonight, Apizza Scholl's. Normally, it takes forever to get in, but since the weather has been so fantastic, they opened up their patio tonight and we got a table right away. Within a few minutes we order our Marguerite pizza (yum). I swear, the waiter goes into the kitchen and momentarily comes out with a pizza. Apparently, it just came out of the oven but didn't know who ordered it. The whole dinner, with lots of chatting afterwards, lasted just over an hour. That may not seem that cool, but if you were at my birthday dinner, you would have had the more common experience of waiting just over an hour for a table.

parlez vous francais?

I have delayed the french classes long enough. This summer term I am going to resume french classes in my attempt to become proficient enough for graduate school and other things. I have used the paltry memory of the french language (hello, I had nearly 4 years in high school and 1 year in college) as a weak excuse for not going back to obtain my graduate degree in int'l relations/business. Well, that is going to change.

What was the epiphany that provoked this decision? The Peace Corps informational meeting I went to this week. Okay, I just realized this could be a long post as there are a lot of things that have been percolating in my head that a couple of you know about but I haven't told many people. I get tired of people who always say they are going to do something, but never follow through. I too often am that person myself, which is probably why I hate that trait in other people.

Well, a prior coworker quit her job last month so that she could join the peace corps. She is going to South Africa to do micro lending. This brought up memories of talking with peace corps reps at my university center when I was in college and my desire to go then. Back then, I didn't have the skill set or academic background they were looking for so it was a no go. They have expanded their options to include business development (either that, or else my job history now makes me qualified). Do you know when you get those tingling sensations in your whole body when you hear or see something that speaks to you? Well, my whole body was tingling and I got so excited about the prospect of doing it.

I have since sat down and worked out a budget to see what could be done with finances since I would need to payoff my credit cards. I discovered that with a little, but not too much, self discipline, I can be completely out of debt in a year at most. I have even begun filling out the online application that is pretty time consuming.

So that brings me to the French thing. I went to this informational workshop on Wednesday night and found out that they prefer applicants give the process a year to get an assignment. I get another little tingle since this matches up perfectly with my financial timeline. They then say that for most posts, you do not need to know the language ahead of time, except for two regions. Latin America requires 2 years of college spanish and then West Africa requires 2 years of college french. Again, another overwhelming feeling that things were lining up. I spoke with the recruiter and she said that even though it was so long ago, if I could get a letter from a professor attesting to my grasp of the language, it would be sufficient. She also said that they have a shortage of French speakers so pretty much if you have some French, even if not the 2 years "required", you almost certainly go to West Africa.

You may be wondering why I want to go to West Africa so bad. In addition to my love of the African continent after my South African trip, I want to establish a proficiency in French. It is the most useful 2nd language for me to have for graduate school and the peace corps will help to solidify this requirement.

I now have renewed drive to get in the French class sooner than later. Starting in the summer, I will start taking night classes and hope that those of you who know how to speak French will keep encouraging me in my quest to master le francais.

Boston and the rest of New England

Earlier this week, I bought a ticket to go to Boston. I leave in less than 2 weeks and I have no idea what I to do when I get there. If anybody has ideas for Boston or any of the outlying towns in MA, NH, Maine, you name it, let me know. I normally have lots of time and I plan things out, but not this time. The opportunity was there so I took it.

How many is too many?

So I get into work today and talk to a coworker about her new jeans. She informs me she had to buy them a couple weeks ago when she was at the beach because she only had 2 pairs of jeans and was going to be there for 4 days. I thought she was joking about her "need" to go shopping before I realized she seriously felt like she had to have a separate pair of jeans for each day. (If she knew this about herself, why didn't she take more pairs?) What I found even weirder is that all the other women in the office think this was normal.

Is it really normal to wear jeans only 1 time and then wash them, even if you are on vacation? I knew that I kind of do my own thing, but wearing my jeans more than once I thought was more a standard practice. I must confess I usually only wash mine when they either stretched out too much or else I spilled something on them.

How many times do you wear your jeans before washing them?

banker goes rocker!

Well, at least with my hair. While I sat through the long process of the cut and colour that occurs every 4 months, I think my hair is a bit high maintenance. But by spending 3 days a year being high maintenance, it allows me to be low maintenance every other day of the year. Why do I feel the need to excuse any behavior that takes a bit of effort? In regards to my hair, I have owned up to it because the thing is, my hair IS my style. It's my one act of rebellion against my conservative job at the bank. If only I owned a digital camera and knew how to post photos I could show you. Needless to say, bright big red streaks frame my face as well as another streak at the crown of my head. Cut is slightly assymetrical with sweeping fringe. I absolutely LOVE my haircut.

Men in uniforms

Men in uniforms have always been a mixed back for me. I don't usually like guys in uniforms that require them to carry guns. Not because I am against guns, but I just wasn't raised around them. I work with a woman who goes crazy whenever the local firemen go to the deli next door for lunch. We get a lot of them as the Training Center for the Portland Fire Bureau is a couple blocks away. I mean she goes nuts. She has pretended to go out and get the mail in the pouring rain just so she could see them better.

Well, today I gotta say I kind of get it now. I helped a friend by being a "parent chaperone" for her constitutional law class field trip today. After observing some arraignment hearings, a civil breach of contract between a Freightliner Auto Dealer and Bank of America and a robbery trial we decided to head up to our final courtroom. One of the kids wanted to specifically hear this next case because his dad is an attorney and plays pool with the judge. Weird reason, I know, but then we all found out it was a prostitution case. Suddenly, each of the 6 kids I was watching wanted to see it.

I should say that up to this point, everything was pretty interesting and diverse. But the prostitution case made the whole trip extra fun for me. Not because I know that many, well any, prostitutes, nor do I ever expect to go into that profession (thankfully). The real reason is that I got my eye candy in for the day. The officers testifying in the case were both pretty attractive men, but man oh man, one of them just was beautiful to watch. Lucky for me, I had the opportunity to unabashedly watch him for 10+ minutes.

I was talking with them after their testimonies until my friend met me. I felt justified in my opinion when, as we left, she just said "oh my". Yeah, it was the icing on an already really good cake of a morning.

Now I know how a caged bird feels

I need to go on vacation. That is pretty much the beginning, middle and end of the story. It has been over a year since I have gone anywhere outside of the beautiful Pacific Northwest and my emotional and mental health is being affected! In the last couple months all plans to get out of Dodge have been thwarted the week before going. Also, a possible trip to Europe in the fall may not happen. To top it off, my trip to Boston to visit family keeps getting pushed back. Boston is currently the one that is making me sad. One of my roommates is going there for work tomorrow and her brother just got his mission call there. To get psyched for the trip, she has been listening to Augustana's Boston and watching Boston movies like Fever Pitch and Good Will Hunting, etc. Makes me homesick for a place I have never been to. Ugh. This is why I appreciate solo traveling, I don't have to coordinate with anyone's schedule but my own. So here are my for and against lists for traveling alone:

Against
1. No one to take my picture
2. Having to eat at restaurants by myself.
3. No one to talk to.
4. Depending on where I go, restricts how late I can stay out on the town safely.
5. Can be cheaper for hotels.
6. Afterwards, no one to laugh with about the trip.

For:
1. Get to be selfish and do whatever I want to do.
2. Don't have to worry I will get annoyed with my dear friend and travel companion.
3. Get to be selfish and eat whatever I want.
4. Easier to crash with friends when I am by myself.
5. Don't have to worry about whether the trip is too expensive or to cheap for my travel companion.
6. Get to be selfish and do whatever I want. (yeah, I know I already said it, but it bears saying twice).

Oh, that's amore!

As if I didn't already love my TiVo prior to this month with the Olympics and my ability to watch pretty much everything televised in the US reminded me of it. But imagine my surprise and pleasure to discover one more reason to love my TiVo...the internet.

Yep, I can access select internet sites through my TV courtesy of TiVo. Currently offered are Yahoo sites, Fandango, 1000's of streaming radio stations, a few games, podcasts and more. Plus, if I can figure out how to get the URL numbers from other favorite sites, I can add them to my list. I don't hold out much hope for the last happening as I can't figure out how to add links to this blog, but one can always dream.

I really don't know why I love this as much as I do. I mean, it isn't as though I don't have wireless internet on my laptop, have iTunes, have a stereo system, my cell phone and it's internet access. Maybe it is the fact that the tv screen is significantly larger than my little 12' laptop. Now if only I can get someone to give me back Arrested Development. I still hold out that it will reappear. I will not remove it from its #1 spot on my Season Pass list.

On this Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

On this, the supposed most romantic of days, I will be enjoying my evening doing something I love...watching the Olympics. I love the Olympics. Heck, I get excited watching curling and find it fascinating. My heart broke for the defending 2002 Norwegian cross country skier when he was involved in a spill at the very beginning of the 3000M race that had him leaving the stadium dead last out of nearly 80 skiers. I nearly cried when it became evident that his teammates and a German recognizing he wasn't up in the front where he should have been, showed amazing sportsmanship by slowing down the pack. I cheered as he was able to come into the stadium at the end and emerge a silver medalist. I love it all. I even get tense watching curling. The Olympics bring out the best of the human spirit. They bring hope and rejuvenated drive.

I think some of what makes it exciting for me is that I only watch most of these sports when the Olympics come around. So I have to soak it all in so that it can last me 4 years. Kind of like I do with Girls Scout cookies. You gotta stock up on the things.

Anyway, I hope to be a more prolific writer now that my coworker is back from his 6 week medical leave. You know you have too much to do when you can't even READ your friends' blogs. The last thing I then want to do when I get home is to look at a computer. But times they are a-changin'!

obsessions

If I had a bottomless pit of money, marketers would love me. I get easily wrapped up in the packaging and in all the gloss and superficiality of products. But since I do live on a feeble attempt of a budget, I don't often do anything about the obsession this marketing generates and when I do, years have usually gone by. However, I finally fed an obsession by getting my video iPod on Friday afternoon. Although I haven't played with it much, I LOVE IT. The biggest draw amongst my friends to it has been the "Lazy Sunday" video/rap from SNL. So much so that a certain someone, who shall remain un-named, and I watched/listened to it during the opening song of relief society at church. Bad I know. But hey, at least were in class. That in itself, is a minor miracle.

Do you feel lucky?

I went running on Saturday with my friend Aimee and as we were walking back to our houses (she lives at the corner of my short street), we were barely missed by a bird-in-flight's droppings. I mean, had we been 1 foot to the right, the bird could have nailed two people with one drop. Also, last week on Boxing Day, I was going to go with my sister and her boyfriend to see a movie. Well, unbeknownst to us, for him that meant King Kong. He got all psyched to see it, but I had since decided I wasn't going to go and my sister really can't handle a 3 hour+ movie (she can barely sit still for a 2 hour film). My sister, urged on by my mom, decided to do the good girlfriend thing and go. Both of these events got me thinking about gratitude and the need to be thankful for what isn't going on in my life.

I am thankful that I didn't get hit by the bird. I am also thankful that I don't have a husband, a current boyfriend, or event a guy on the near horizon that has even piqued my fancy (wait, as I am writing this, maybe I should be a bit upset about this). I don't have to make compromises with my time, where I go on vacation, what I buy, etc. Whenever I do end up in a long term relationship, I can then be thankful that I always have a date to my company Christmas party, have someone to eat dinner with (and split the work of cooking), and not make it pathetic when I run errands on a Friday or Saturday night.

But now, I am thankful that it is a new year. Past mistakes and failed endeavors are wiped clean and new challenges await me.

Happy New Year everyone!

Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own

I love U2. Always have and probably always will. This past Monday I got to see them live for only the 2nd time in my life (the first was in Seattle in April with my FREE tickets that I won on the radio on my birthday). The whole experience was fantastic, even the 6 hours in the cold and rainy weather since I had GA floor tickets. Just glad Mother Nature didn't continue with the freezing rain.

Just some details of the day:
- Finally being healthy enough to be able to stand outside for hours on end in the cold.
- Heat warmers for the hands. (also can be useful for the toes that numb up)
- Meeting Matt and Tara in line. They were the 332nd and 333rd people in line to my 338 spot. They are from Bainbridge Island and are cool people. It was fun to do our own thing and then chat about cool books, our love of mindless hollywood gossip (well, not so much Matt), observations about other people in line.
- Making a pact with them that if Shannon and I both got chosen to go into the Ellipse that we would take them and vice versa (alas, none of us got in).
- Discovering I was the sole Portlander of the 20 or so people around me in line.
- Pascal. Deserves props for many things including: letting me park in his extra parking space at his condo, bringing me a Starbuck's venti hot chocolate with soy to keep me warm, coming by again at 5:15pm to pick up my chair, blanket and let me change my clothes in the back of his car as he drives around the block.
- Getting a spot on the floor 3 people back from the catwalk behind other shorter individuals with a clear, unobstructed view of the stage.
- Being able to celebrate Bono being named the day before as one of Time's People of the Year award.
- Experiencing the joy and gratitude the crew had for the band and vice versa as it was the last show of the North American tour.
- Blending of several John Lennon songs into the playlist, along with Johnny Comes Marching Home, Rock the Casbah, and many other songs.
- Running to Kells after the show to hang with some other friends since the MAX was really slow and all the taxi's were taken.

Needless to say, if I needed new friends like Matt and Tara along with an old friend Pascal to help me get through the day without being bored.

I can't breathe

So I don't really handle being sick very well. I say I act like a baby. My mom says it is more like a stereotypical guy. Luckily I am usually very healthy and getting sick is a rare event. Unfortunately, the 4 year bug caught up with me this week. I could feel the cold hit at 1:10pm on Sunday shortly after church and I just felt it get worse as the day wore on. Days like this make we question why church is 3 hours long. Needless to say, I tried to be good and I took Monday and Tuesday off and slept. I felt great so I went into work today, but alas, by 2pm I was feeling terrible and by 3pm my 12 hour decongestant taken at 8am had completely failed me. I literally cannot breathe unless my mouth is open. I can barely see through the watering of the eyes. The worst thing about being sick? I can't see the Dandy's tonight. Life sucks right now.

This Isn't the Real America

A friend of mine sent me this article written by Jimmy Carter that appeared in the LA Times on 11/14/05. I find the tone of this compared to the letter in my last post is startling.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-carter14nov14,0,7164514.story

While I confess I don't know much about when he was president, I am impressed with his ability to do so much since his "forced retirement"as he called it last night on the Daily Show. His position on all of the issues addressed in his article are rooted in his belief as a follower of Christ and shows that the fundamentalist christian base does not own the sole right to speak for Him. They may be the loudest but are they the most in tune with His wishes? Am I doing all I can to lend my voice to this fight? Probably not, but passing this on is a start.

Well, I Do Care

Okay, so I am not fully savvy of sending a link to an email, so you will get the majority of the emial below. I get into work the other day to this in my inbox answering a question that a friend had asked. Well, for some reason I didn't get the original question but figured it had something to do with America and the war in Iraq. All I can say is this: I have never felt so sick in my life and could feel the blood drain from my face as I read this. Why then do I post it here? Well so that people who do love this great country that I call home will realize that there is another war going on that I believe has a greater impact on what our country will be in 100 years than the war in Iraq.

"Unless you're an American-hating fool, you have to love this lady..............

The lady who wrote this letter is Pam Foster of Pamela Foster and Associates in Atlanta. She's been in business since 1980 doing Interior design and home planning. She recently wrote this letter to a Family member serving in Iraq.

Subject: I don't care! WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?

"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic terrorists who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, Burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" When an overworked American soldier is accused of kicking it or getting it wet? Well, I don't. I don't care at all. What I hate more is the so Called 'news' reporters, the pompous liberal liars, were trying to make a Big stink out of nothing, just to make President Bush look bad.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and just Before they drop the noose around his scrawny neck, repents for Incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11. I'll care about the Koran when the fanatic bastards in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia. I'll start to care when the stinking better than Thou Muslims in this country really condemn the radicals of their Pathetic dark
age 'religion' for all the terror and death that they've caused in the world. I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques. I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law Instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave Marine roughing Up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I hope he beats His ass to a pulp because he really deserves it and I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi terrorists who Have been 'tortured' in what amounts to a college hazing incident, by having To wear panties on their heads, rest assured that I don't care. When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told Not to
move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank That I don't care.
When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart that I don't care, and I wish they'd quietly make the illegitimate son of a camel turd disappear for good.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you guessed it -- I don't care!"

I'm with this lady Well Jimmy Crack corn and I don't care either. Pass it
on......... if you don't care either."

Well I DO CARE. If muslims did the things we as Americans have done to them to a Christian, she would probably not take the Jimmy Crack Corn position. The determination of when human rights are to be respected aren't ours to choose. To be the last remaining superpower on this planet requires much responsibility. And at this moment in time, we are failing in our responsibility.

Like a lamb to the slaughter

That is how I feel about finally starting a blog. I have compulsive tendencies and so I am a bit afraid that I will either become addicted to the whole experience of writing a blog or else will just become too consumed with my feelings of my verbal and written inadequacy and not write at all. Let the bets begin to guess which it is. As for me, I don't know. I hope it will be somewhere in between. If I can master the blog, maybe I can save some money on my therapy bills.