My Twenty-Something Quasi-Soap

...is emotionally draining. My current job allows me to work with schools in such a way that I'm beginning to realize yet again that I should be a teacher. To have the ability to work with kids and inspire them to work hard and get ready for the real world...that's something that's of real merit. That's something to truly be proud of. Even only reaching one kid a year out of the 30 or more you may teach...that's one kid that you've inspired to read more or write more or become a scientist or a teacher or the next President. I don't care if you think this sounds cliched...it's the truth. Anyway, now I'm in a position where the things that I really want to do can't be accomplished with the job that I currently have. Frustrating, yes. Surprising, no. Long time readers really know how not surprising this is. But things are ok for now. I'm thinking about lots of stuff and keeping busy at work and focusing on things that will help me keep my sanity...

...you are capable of creating some of the most absurd sentences ever. I am having a scrambled-brain type of day where I really should have just stayed home, but I had too many things to attempt to do at work today. Anyway, my absurd sentence. I called a client today and had to leave a message with the secretary. This is what ended up coming out of my mouth: "I just wanted to touch base on him with a couple of things." (slight half second awkward pause as secretary is trying to figure out if I really just said what she thought I said) "I mean, touch base with him. On a couple of things. ::sigh:: It's been a day." And it's not even 2 in the afternoon. And I had my morning latte. Sadly, I am used to being stricken with stupid every now and then...it happens. Often I'm tapped by my family, friends, and co-workers as a human dictionary/thesaurus/grammar and style guide (although one might find that hard to believe from reading this blog). I've also had...

This is another reminder to you all that the deadline to register to vote is quickly approaching. If you've been following this blog for a while, this should not be an issue because you have already followed my orders to get registered. If you have not registered yet, there is still time. But not a lot of time. Get registered today. You can go to your local post office or library or city hall and pickup the form. It takes all of 5 minutes to do it. If you're allergic to libraries or post offices or city halls, you can go to your candidate's campaign office. I can guarantee you that if you're looking for an Obama office, there's one pretty close to you. Don't want to go there? Hop on the interwebs (you're already there right now) and go to Rock the Vote . You must, must, must, must get out there and get registered. And then you better get your ass out and vote. I'd prefer if you voted for Obama, but I'll still (albeit begrudgingly) somewhat respect yo...

Rutgers is 0-3. Fucking 0-3! We haven't done this badly since 1999. And that was still the Terry Shea era! OMFG. 0-3. Needless to say, I am so. effing. PISSED. OFF! I called in to the postgame show on WRSU and asked for some advice. I was thinking about going to the Rutgers @ USF game in November, since it's just over on the Left Coast. I have 3 options: 1. Go to the game bedecked in scarlet and cheer for the team anyway. 2. Go to the game with a paper bag over my head like they're doing in Syracuse now. 3. Save gas money, keep my ass home, and watch the game on tv. The guys on the show chose #3. Oh, isn't that a coincidence? Choice number 3, just like the 3 FUCKING LOSSES we have on the board! And we haven't even started conference play yet! And we can't beat Navy?!? Navy lost to Duke last week and then turn around and win against Rutgers?!? Is this the bleedin' Twilight Zone here? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I am seriously pissed off. I am typin...

...for my comments coloring South Floridians as brain damaged because they weren't at all concerned about the potential threats that we were under (thanks to Gustav, Hanna, Ike, and Josephine). The comments I made were typical of a native and neurotic Tri-Stater, especially one who was in panic mode. So, to my South Florida readers, I'm sorry. You're not brain damaged. I have finally taken my chill pills and limited my visits to the NHC website to no more than twice a day. Moving on then... ...Facebook addicts around the world hate hate hate the new Facebook and I am one of them. EPIC FAIL, Facebook. EPIC FAIL. Fortunately, I found the now-widely-known workaround so I can keep things looking the way that I have grown accustomed to over the years. Hackers and computer geeks ftw!! Out.

It only took me about half an hour or so this morning to remember that today was September 11th. Despite the fact that I had woke up late, had a last minute wardrobe crisis, and was thinking about how a meeting at work would go today, I still remembered. This morning at work, when my manager announced over the intercom that we were to observe a moment of silence, a strange thing happened. I actually prayed. As a person who has considered herself to be spiritual as opposed to religious (when someone asks about my religion, I like to say I'm undecided), I never subscribed to the notion of prayer. But something moved me at that moment...I chose to actually pray. And it was pretty legitimate too. I guess having preachers in my family helped or something. So in the spirit of this day of rememberance, I'll share the gist of my prayer with you. My apologies in advance to anyone who may be offended or weirded out. This doesn't mean I'm converting or anything, I'm just shari...

Some women spend $5,000 on a wedding dress. If I had money like that to spend on a once in a lifetime experience, I wouldn't buy a dress. I'd do this . I'm just sayin'...that would make a lot more sense, right?

So we dodged another few bullets. TS Hanna turned enough to miss us and then rip up the East Coast and ruin part of everyone's weekend up there. You're welcome. :) Also, thanks to the high pressure system that gave all you Yankees beautiful weather for most of the week, Hurricane Ike did not get sucked toward us. Great for us, sucks for Cuba and the Gulf Coast. So today is a windy day, but the sun has been shining for most of it and we've only gotten a little bit of rain here and there. Ike is passing south and west, and Josephine has fizzled out, so we're back to a bit of quiet again. I like the quiet. Now we just get to sit and wait for the next one. Yay.

Yesterday I had posited that people down here might be brain damaged as a result of too much near-equatorial sunlight, therefore rendering them unable to be concerned about incoming tropical storms. Methinks my theory is correct. Overheard at work today: "Hey, have you been keeping up on the storms?" "You mean Gustav? Isn't that one over now?" "Yeah, but there's another one in the Bahamas right now. My sister says that it might hit us if the low pressure system moves enough for the storm to move west." "Oh wow." "Yeah, and there's two others behind it." "Two more?!? Since when?" Since yesterday!!! But nobody watches the weather reports down here anyway. Seriously - have you ever looked at a South Florida weather forecast for the summer? It's the same thing everyday: infernally hot with a chance of thunderstorms. Brain damage! Speaking of things cereberally crippling (like my tendency to make up words like cereb...

So we're now all back from Labor Day weekend, which means summer is more or less officially over for all of you who don't live here in South Florida. Lucky bastards. I know I'm only saying this now because it's still hot as balls outside and we're under constant threat of hurricane activity. Once December rolls around I'll be happier. BTDubs, Hurricane Gustav passed well to the west of us, but we did get a buttload of rain and wind from him on Saturday. Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone up in Louisiana and Mississippi who are dealing with the storm...fortunately it looks like the levees have held and lots of people got out before the storm hit, so the damage was nowhere near as catastrophic as Katrina was. Meanwhile, we should also take a second to remember that our neighbors in the Caribbean (ok, maybe not neighbors to you , but neighbors to South Florida) have really been getting bitch-slapped so far this season, so any happy thoughts or prayers you can ...

Ok, so my plan today was to apologize for bitching and moaning about my whole weather situation when we were merely hours away from yet another Event of Epic Proportions (aka Barack Obama's nomination acceptance speech). I was going to apologize for being short sighted and I was going to admit that I might have even been projecting my anxiety about the evening's approaching event onto the weather because I didn't want to admit that I was secretly peeing my pants a little at the thought of any security breach and disaster following said breach. (Translation: There was a tiny part of me that was - and still is - holding on to the fear that someone might try to shoot Obama.) Then I was going to talk about how awesome the speech was and how everyone at the convention had pulled together and made it clear that we have to vote for Obama and Biden in November. And I was going to applaud Bill and Hilary Clinton for aiding to close the rift in the party. And I was going to marvel at...

Am I the only one who's developing serious agita over the situations brewing out in the Atlantic Ocean right now? Because seriously, this shit is getting ridiculous. Check out the NHC website . As of the 11am update we have Gustav royally effing up Jamaica and threatening to make a beeline for New Orleans, and Hannah revving up northeast of the Leewards and planning to turn for Palm Beach County (unless she decides to do something crazy and hit South Florida more directly). Oh, and if you're up in West Virginia right now, you're enjoying rain courtesy of Fay. Yeah, she's still around...barely. And I haven't even gotten to the cute little yellow and orange spots that we have to watch out for. Those ones are fun. They turn into bad red spots which then turn into storms with names that we have to watch out for. This is insane. I don't understand how people can live like this. I don't like having to check the weather three times a day (which is necessary because...

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I would tell you all the story of my voyage to the U-Pull-It with my sister. Being as that today's a slow day at work (read: I don't feel like working), I'll take a little bit of time to tell you all the tale. It's a good one (I think). This past winter I had taken my car to the local Pep Boys for some routine service (ah, my little money pit of an old car...I almost miss you) and I was chilling in the grimy waiting area when I got a phone call from my sister. She had just left the Honda dealership after taking her early 90's Accord in for an unusual situation: the temperature control knob for the air condititioner had broken off and she needed a new one. Since her car is nearly 15 years old, the dealer obviously did not have such a replacement lying around. The guy in the shop suggested that she go to the U-Pull-It and search for one. My sister asked me to tag along with her, and considering that I had nothing else better to do othe...

...am I the only one who's pissed off at the new JC Penney commercial that's a badly attempted homage to "The Breakfast Club," aka One Of The Greatest Eighties Movies EVER? I just saw it again and my eye was twitching. The first time I saw it, I almost threw the remote at the television, which is a serious reaction. Previously, only Kristy Lee Cook from American Idol was the only thing that almost caused me to destroy a thousand dollar television set. I digress. The commercial pisses me off because it failed to capture the awesome angsty-ness that made TBC what it was. The movie was awesome. The commercial tried to use it to market cheap crappy clothing to a bunch of kids who have no true respect for what the movie was all about. The kids in the commercial weren't even alive when the movie was released, for crying out loud!!!! Sorry, I just had to get that off of my chest. JC Penney, you are on notice. Oh wait..I can't even remember the last time I shopped at ...

Hey y'all! Just letting everyone know that TS Fay blew through north of where I am, so all I had to deal with was a lot of wind and rain. And the anxiety that comes from dealing with my first brush with a tropical storm. If you know me, you know that I was probably a hott mess. And I was for most of the day yesterday, considering that I had to go to work. And work in an empty store during a tropical storm. You have to love capitalism. Schools were closed, the county government shut down, everyone was encouraged to stay off the roads...but my store was open. Hooray. I also made sure that our hurricane survival kit was well stocked...which meant dealing with back-to-school shoppers and apocalypse preparers all converging at the local Super Target at the same time. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!!! But all in all, we're well prepared for any other storms headed our way, and Fay is almost outta here with her wind and rain and crap. So you can all stop worrying now and go back to enjoying ...

So I'm double posting today, but I just had to share this. I finally understand why it's important to have a top of the line computer with the fast processors and the cable internet access (that's bleeding us dry as part of the cable bill but soooo worth it). I was just watching the Chinese women's gymnastics team in their first official practice online. Live. From China. In nearly perfect resolution. I shit thee not. Yo, NBC has the illest hookup going on with this whole internet thing! You can actually watch up to 4 different events at the same time with their viewer. And it's all Mac friendly!!!! Omfg the Olympics are so totally kick-ass right now. And now I'm trying to calculate how many hours of sleep I really need tonight...the US team starts their practice at 1:30am. Which is 1:30pm in Bejing. Fortunately they're exactly 12 hours ahead of the East Coast, so that makes it easier to figure out exactly what time it is here and there and all that good cr...

Ok, first big countdown. 90 days (yup, only 3 months) till Election Day. I know I've taken a bit of a break from the political blogging, but I'm reminding you all now that this upcoming election is massive. Huge. An election of epic proportions that no one can afford to just stand by and watch. You. Must. Vote. And although I've already endorsed Barack Obama, I don't care who you vote for, as long as you vote. Granted, I'd request that you get your head checked it you voted McCain, but I'd give you your props for going to the polls. Additionally, I will do my best to keep from calling you all sorts of nasty names 2 years from now when everything really has gone to shit because McCain became president (provided that he doesn't croak on Inaguration Day, which is what I'd bet good money on). Political party affiliations aside, it's really really really of the utmost and paramountly extreme importance that you get out there and vote on Election Day. 90 d...

Maybe I'll just roll the dice and try a cruise in late October instead. A three day cruise to the Bahamas. $200 bucks on Norwegian...not bad, provided I bank some spending cash beforehand and pray for no hurricanes. Although, I know as well as anyone how stupid it is to book a cruise between June 1st and November 30th. But if I got lucky, the $200 would be worth it, right? And I'd just have to work on a Saturday to make up the missed hours on Monday (or even do a half day on Monday after getting off the ship and then making the rest of the hours up during the week). I'm an idiot. And I need a vacation. That is all.

Just felt like posting about the general malaise that accompanies this wretched time of year. Well, for mostly everyone, summer is awesome because the weather's nice. Down here, it's just wretchedly hot. I'm adjusting, but it's still flippin' hot. Anyway, I'm pissed off about airline tickets. And airlines and air travel in general. What used to be fun and exciting and glamorous has now turned into a necessary evil or something to be endured. My most recent travel experience had me sitting on filthy planes and dealing with some of the worst customer service ever (this means you, Airtran. Worst. Airline. Ever.). All while paying (well, Mom paid) close to $400 dollars for a connecting flight to the middle of nowhere that resulted in a 17 hour journey home. Ok, I'll knock off the 3 hour drive to the airport and the 45 minute detour to grandma's house. So it was a 13 hour and 15 minute journey home. Do you know how many awesome places you can get to in 13 hou...

So working for a major book retailer has its perks. Like the discount. And planning an vampire/human engagement party that may or may not be crashed by a werewolf. If that last sentence made no sense to you, don't worry. It wouldn't have made sense to me about 2 months ago, either. For those of you who are not teenage girls, parents of teenage girls, or "hip to what the kids are reading these days," I'll provide a quick catch-up. ***Obligatory spoiler alert begins here for anyone that might actually try to read the damn books. You probably won't want to read the rest of the post. But trust me: you're not missing anything by not reading the books, hence proceed without fear. Like I said, the spoiler alert is now standard blog protocol and therefore obligatory.*** There's this series of books by an author named Stephenie Meyer called the "Twilight Saga." The three books are about a 17 year old girl who moves to a town in Washington where it rai...