I'm Back...

So, it's been months since I've posted here. At first I just got busy when school started. Then I got pregnant (I'm now 4 months along) and had severe all-day sickness. And then I just didn't feel like blogging. So now I'm making the effort. I thought I'd start small and work up to things, so I'm not going to write more. Maybe after New Year's.

When is Pregnancy Crankiness Too Much???

No, I'm not talking about myself. I work in an office with a pregnant woman, and she has been really cranky the last couple of days--really demanding of everyone, making snide comments, and making faces at things she doesn't agree with or have patience for. Now, I know she's pregnant, and hormones can affect a person's mood, but how far is too far, especially in an office setting? Are we, the lowly receivers of the crankiness, able to say something to her? Or feel justified by stewing over it when we know full well that it's the little baby inside making her into a monster?

Ugh. A pregnant woman in an office full of women doesn't make for a happy office.

Feather Hats

Today our student worker is wearing a little feather hat perched on top of her head. It's the kind that forms to your head and only covers the very top, like one of those hats from the first half of the 20th century and sometimes had a little veil on it. The funniest part is that she's also wearing normal college clothes with it--normal pants and a normal shirt. At first I thought she had colored her hair again, but then I noticed what I thought was hair was actually colored feathers.

Weird.

Europe

Hey, I forgot to post this a long time back. It's a map of all the countries in Europe I've been to. I added Poland this summer.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been sorely missing writing on my blog lately, but I've been just too darn busy. I even check my own blog once in a while to make sure it's still there! School just started again, and that means that we're overrun by students, which means no more blogging time at work until the furor dies down. I'm hoping to be able to blog at least a couple of times a week from now on (and more if possible). Don't give up hope!

Oh, and also, I'm starting my second year of German. I just wrote my first German essay--it was 2 paragraphs long.

Why Is "Politician" a Bad Word?

This morning I was watching Good Morning, America's townhall discussion about the whole Katrina fiasco. They had people (mostly refugees) from all over the country asking politicians questions. One was the governor of Louisiana and another was a congressman or something. For exact info, go to GMA's transcripts.

The first question was a no-holds-barred attack on the levee system: Why didn't the government take care of the levee so that it wouldn't break? Now, I, as a non-politician, thought of a million answers to this one: the tax payers didn't vote in a new tax to pay for it, we thought it was fine (in fact, one of the ones that broke was one of the newer ones), the federal government is cutting funds for things like that to support the war in Iraq, my dog ate the mandate...you get the idea. But the governor of Louisiana evaded the question and said this exchange occured instead:

Blanco: Betty, that has us all worried. We have to worry about these levees. We need more resources to be able to make sure this never happens again and I think that's going to happen for us this time.

Diane Sawyer: I think the question was why weren't they done before? What can you tell us about that?

Blanco: A lot of money, time and attention is given to the levee system. But there's always been a concern and in more recent years, we have had less and less resources. The Army Corps of Engineers' budget has been cut often times and warned over an over again. Our folks at the federal level need the money to maintain the levees. You know, they have more of the answers than I do. We have always been concerned, but, you know, our concerns proved to be right this time.

Now, why couldn't the governor just have bitten the bullet and told us what really happened. "Our folks at the federal level need the money to maintain the levees"? What does that mean? And they have more answers than she does? She's the governor of the state! My concern would be not that the levees broke, but that she doesn't know what's going on in her own state.

And later this exchange occured between the governor and a little girl:

Blanchard: When can I go home?

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco: Hope, we have a lot of work to do. We want you to come home. I know you are safe there, and the people in Houston are taking good care of you. Just as soon as we can make things better, we want you home.

Earlier, GMA reported that it was going to be at least 3-6 months before these people could start to return home, and it could take up to a year to get everyone back. Why didn't the governor just say that? What's all this crap about "just as soon as we can make things better"? These people want answers, not bandaids.

Anyways, all of this got me thinking about politicians (which I don't do very often), and it made me wonder, do we really want the truth from our elected officials? If the governor had said, well, yes, this sucks, we're not going home for another year, and it's my fault the levee broke (I don't know if that's the case--we're talking hypothetical here), would we have appreciated her candor or lynched her? Politicians are so scared of telling us the truth because we expect perfection and because we want to hear about the good things, whether it's the truth or not. So they lie to us, we get angry, we elect another liar, and we get nowhere. When someone actually tells us the truth, we get angry, we elect someone who lies to us, and we get nowhere.

So, the question of the day is: Do we really want politicians who tell us the truth? Have we created the modern-day "politician" ourselves?

Book Clubs

Yesterday I was invited to join a book club. And I am currently reading The Jane Austen Book Club. Just a random coincidence. I've been to one book club meeting in my life, and I wasn't overly impressed. We read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, and although it was an interesting read, it just didn't inspire much discussion in this group of women. (I've found that book clubs are much more popular with women than men. Why is that?) Anyways, maybe because I have studied literature for much of my adult life, I found it to be a little lacking in substance. Is a book club supposed to be in existance to discuss the books read, or is it just an excuse for women to get together, eat yummy cake and gossip?

I'm sure that there are some good book clubs out there. And I'm going to try this new one out. But I don't know how willing I'll be to join a group that professes that it's about reading, when it's really about discussing the local daycare possibilities.

On Monday we'll be choosing what to read for the next 6 months. So if you have any suggestions that I can take to them, feel free to suggest away!

Humble Apologies

My humble apologies to my sweet husband, who did not force me to go to the Parthenon in Nashville (see my post below). He suggested it, and I went. We both went for what he calls the "cheese factor." Apparently, exaggeration is not allowed in the blogging world...

Just Another Manic Monday...

Gosh, I'm exhausted already this week and it's only Monday! I was gone for work in Nashville on Friday. Ian and I spent the night there so we could explore on Saturday. It turns out that unless you're a big country music fan (which I'm not), there's not much to do there. It was kind of a disappointing city, really. Lots of road construction--so bad that the only place that Ian and I could compare it to was Costa Rica, and Costa Rica won the better roads contest. (And that's a country that doesn't put guard rails up on hair-pin turns in the mountains and trucks pass you in said mountains!) Also, it was just so hot that we didn't want to be outside at all. We drove around looking for a coffee shop downtown to waste some time before one of my meetings, and when we finally found a Starbucks (no indy coffee shops to be found), there wasn't any parking within 3 blocks. Also no bookstore downtown. None. I asked. What kind of city doesn't have a bookstore???

Well, anyways, at least we got to go swimming at the hotel and see the Nashville Parthenon. Ian made us go. It was kind of funny because the gift shop had all kinds of things you could buy, including a sno-globe with gold glitter as the snow and a commerative plate. I guess if you can't get to the real Parthenon, this one will have to do!

I got back to work today and had to attend a 3-hour meeting that included lunch with those people in the cafeteria. Don't bosses know that "lunch hour" doesn't just mean the hour that we eat lunch, but a break from work and those we work with???!!! And tomorrow it's off to Cincinnati for another work trip, and then it's just a short countdown till school starts again.

And I thought summers were supposed to be slow and relaxed...

Road Trip to Nashville

Tomorrow Ian and I are driving to Nashville. It's a last minute work trip--I'll be going to some intern presentations and then visiting an employer or two. I'm kind of dreading the trip because I don't really like my job, but I'm looking forward to seeing a new place. I've never been to Nashville, so I don't know what we'll do in our free time. (We're spending the night, so we'll have tomorrow evening and Saturday to play.) It's too bad I don't like country music that much...

Speaking of jobs, there's a job opening with Habitat for Humanity in a nearby town that I think I might like. The only thing holding me back from applying is that it would be an hour commute each way. Am I that desperate for a new job? Maybe...

Site Score II

So I voted for myself and gave myself a 10. Like my mom always said, "If you don't vote for yourself, who will?"

Site Score

So, I just found this site that will score your website. It's pretty cool because it will update it as people vote for it. Right now I'm a 7.5. Not bad considering no one ever comments on my blog and I'm only linked to on two other sites! If you want to see my current rating, scroll down and you'll see it in the sidebar on the right. If you'd like to score your own site, go to www.silktide.com. And I think you can vote for my site (I don't think there are any prizes or anything, just the knowledge that you've contributed to cyberspace) by clicking on the icon down on the sidebar.

Now, I know people are reading this blog because I sure haven't checked it 1200 times, but no one comments, so this is my plea for you to start talking to me. Ericka and Ian, you are the only two who ever comment any more. Am I just talking to myself here???

So today I'm whiny, so sue me. :)

I'm Who???

So this little quiz says I'm Brian Eno. I didn't even know who he was until Ian explained it to me. (Luckily he's a Talking Heads fan.) Does that make me "unrad"???


You're Brian Eno.You're a little reclusive maybe, a little quieter
than most people...But man, who needs outside entertainment when your
brain is like KABOOM all the time? You are
innovative, creative, and intelligent. You
dress flamboyantly, gravitating towards large
feathers and tinsel. Everyone respects you, and
looks up to you. We are not worthy, we are not
worthy...

Which rad old school 70's glam icon are you? (with pics)
brought to you by

Dirty Pretty Things

Ian and I watched "Dirty Pretty Things" the other night, and since then, immigration in the U.S. has been a lot on my mind. Well, actually, it's been on my mind all summer.

I haven't really written anything about our trip to Krakow and Berlin, but that's mostly because there was just so much to take in. Because Ian got a grant to go, we did a lot of stuff having to do with the Holocaust for a project he's working on. I've been interested in the Holocaust for a long time, and one of my favorite classes in grad school was "Literature of Atrocity." I even wrote my Masters thesis on trauma. So the trip sounds worse than it was. Most of the stuff we went to was fascinating. A trip to Auschwitz, the new Jewish Museum in Berlin, a piece of the ghetto wall in both Krakow and Warsaw, the spot where most of Warsaw's Jews were shipped off to death, the Holocaust Manmahl in Berlin, among other more touristy places. I've visited other Holocaust memorials and sites on other visits to Europe and Washington DC. I know the story.

Or I thought I did. One of the things you learn in Europe and when you're skipping over what I think of as "beginner's" history of the Holocaust is what the United States' role in the Holocaust was. We all say, "We helped as much as we could!" But it's not true. The U.S. was rampant with racism and fear directed toward the Jewish population of the world. When we knew (and we did know--we bombed military-related sites near Auschwitz knowing exactly what Auschwitz was), we did nothing to stop it. We knew where the crematoriums and gas chambers were through aerial photos and never bothered to let a bomb go.

But what does this have to do with immigration? We knew all of this and we didn't allow people to escape the murders occurring in Europe. We could have allowed so many more people to immgrate to the U.S., but we didn't. We said that we didn't have room or that we had hit the quota, but people were being killed. How can we not have room for people heading for the gas chamber??? Our racism got in the way. We were just as bad with our ideas of who the "right" and "wrong" people are. The "wrong" people were the Jews, so they weren't allowed in.

We like to think that we're not like that any more, but we are. There are people being killed in many countries in Africa, but we only allow very few to immigrate to the "land of the free." There are people living in abject poverty in Latin America who risk their lives to move to the U.S. to support their families, and we don't let them in. These aren't people who won't or don't want to work. These are people who are willing to do anything to raise their families in a safe place. For them, America is that dream. But when they come here, legally or illegally, we treat them like shit. They're the "wrong" sort of people.

We have quite a large hispanic population here in Danville for the size that we are. They're called "Mexkuns" here. No one has bothered to see if they are really from Mexico. They work in restaurants, paint houses, do yardwork. Yesterday, a woman came into my building to measure the windows for window treatments because they're renovating a large room upstairs. She asked my (white) coworker when the painters were going to be finished, even as a hispanic painter was walking by. My coworker told her that he was a painter and she should ask him. She said in a Kentucky drawl, "Y'all gonna be finished Saturday?" (Even I could barely understand her with her accent and because she was speaking so fast.) He nodded his head vaguely, but you could tell he didn't understand. Instead of asking him again, she just rolled her eyes. I've also been told that "those Mexkuns" squat in buildings by the railroad tracks.

How can we condemn what the Nazis or the Hutus and Tutsis or Pinochet have done to their own people when we won't allow them inside our borders, or once we do, we treat them like trash?

I'd just like to know.

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremonies

Today I was invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new O'Charley's that's opening up in town. My first thought was, "Will there be free food?" Sad.

I've never been to a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and it's kind of depressing to think that O'Charley's will be my first experience (since it looks like I'm going to have to go for work--you know, schmooze with the local employers). What's more depressing is that I'm actually kind of excited that there will be competition for the worst-run Applebee's in the country.** We don't have that many restaurants here in Danville, so anything that opens up is an improvement (including the most recent opening--Huddle House). It's like a contest for taste-bud mediocrity here in Danville.

Yeehaw.

**I went to Applebee's on Wednesday for lunch with some coworkers. Toward the end of the meal, our waiter asked if I wanted any more iced tea. I said no thanks. Two minutes later, he set down a fresh glass of iced tea. Now, if you weren't going to listen to me when you interrupted my lunch and conversation before, why did you even bother to ask me what I wanted??? He also forgot to charge us for any of our drinks.

From the Mouths of Babes

Ian and I babysat a friend's four year old daughter last night for a couple of hours, and I thought that I'd share some of the hilarious (and mostly true) stuff she said:

To her mom before coming over: "She tells me to tell Ian not to be so silly! I told her she likes it, she responded "I only like it, when I like it.""

At Baskin-Robbins: Me: "Does your ice cream cone taste like cotton candy?" Megan: "No, it tastes like rainbow."

About her "dog" (in quotes because we know that they don't have a real dog): "My dog doesn't poop. He doesn't have a booty."

After going "potty": "Sometimes when I go potty, it feels really good, and then I go "Ahhhhhh.""

Another funny little kid comment:

Kristi's daughter, Kailee, when told she was a baby, once said, "I'm not a baby. I'm a robot. I'm a robot. I'm a robot." (said in a robot-y voice).

Feel free to add any funny things kids have said to you...

A Christian Nation Revisited

Here is a very interesting essay about Christianity in the U.S. As a Christian, it's a little disheartening for me to read, but it really reminds me of how important it is to fight for social issues.

http://www.harpers.org/ExcerptTheChristianParadox.html

Pics from our Trip

I glanced through our 500+ digital pictures from our Berlin-Krakow trip last night and picked out a few to share with you all. Enjoy.

Some really cool buildings in Krakow, which has a beautiful old town. If you can imagine, the colors were actually brighter and deeper than what is shown here.

A beautiful entryway in the Wawel Castle.

A piece of an old Jewish gravemarker in Hebrew (Krakow). One of the only Jewish cemetaries left in Krakow had a few of its walls made from destroyed gravemarkers.

Ian and I in front of the Reichstag (Germany's federal building).

Me with a giant puppet. It was actually pretty cool because they made him do all sorts of things (like cartwheels) which required them to know where to be at all times.

Ian and I at the Castle Wawel. Not the best picture of ourselves, but hey, we took it ourselves on a really hot day!

Reason #52

Reason #52 to leave my job:

Today I was organizing a computer drive that our office shares on the school's server space. It has around 100-150 files in it, none of which were organized into folders. Add the quantity with the fact that we all have different ways to name files, and that equals chaos when it comes to finding a file that you actually want to use. So, again, I decided to use some spare time this afternoon to organize them into a very simple folder system.

I told our administrative assistant (who I get along with really well) what I was doing. She seemed appreciative and excited about actually being able to find a file when she needed it. She came back just a few minutes ago to tell me that maybe I shouldn't do it because our boss might get mad--which is actually probably true, but at this point I don't really care...I just want to make my job easier. Now, tell me, what boss do you know would get angry at you for organizing a file system???

Only mine. And I organized it anyways. So there!

Indy Radio

I found this cool radio tool for your computer. Indy Radio plays music, and then according to your ratings, hones in on music that you'll like. Besides being free, you can learn about indy artists out there.

A (Hot) Midsummer Night's Dream

Last night I was exhausted and fell asleep around 10:00. (I usually go to bed somewhere around 11 or 12.) I was so happy to finally get a good night's sleep, especially after the crappy day I had yesterday.** I woke up about 1am, really hot and sweaty. This is strange because we leave the air conditioner on at night (especially lately because the humidity has been so high). I also heard a strange noise, kind of like a gurgling wheeze, coming from the closet where part of our unit is housed. I got up and looked at the controls...it was 84 degrees in our house! The fan wasn't even running. So I turned the unit off, opened up all the windows and went back to bed. Unfortunately, it wasn't much cooler outside than it was inside. After 2 hours of very fretful and hot sleeping (or should I say dozing?), Ian finally got up and tried the air conditioner once again. The unit made a really loud noise, but started up, thankfully.

So, here's to hoping that it's still running when we get home. I need some sleep!

**First, I spilled olive oil on my skirt, 5 minutes before I had to leave for work and a meeting with the city manager. Then I lost a computer file that had taken me days to create (and no hard-copy backup). I also found out that the piece of paper that Honda sent me to let the DMV know that I've paid my car off so they can release the title to me is worthless in the state of Kentucky.

Reading Harry Potter

I have to tell you that reading Harry Potter is frustrating. Don't get me wrong; I absolutely love the books. (I even own a t-shirt that I bought about 4 years ago in the boys section of JC Penny's!) I've read the first 4 books about 4 times, and I'll read the entire series again when the last book is about to come out.

Anyways, on with my point. The book came out a little over a week ago. I finished it a week to the day that I got it (and that's with a couple of days of being sick and no reading allowed). The problem is that now I have to wait another 2 years for the next one to come out! And no one I know has finished reading this one yet. So not only do I have to wait to read the last book in this amazing series, I can't even have a discussion about the current one. Too many spoilers. I can't even write my questions here because I don't want to be the source of ruining someone else's experience!

So, if any of you have read the book (and have my phone number), give me a call so we can discuss!

Niagara and Toronto Pictures

So, I've finally looked through my pics from a month ago. That means that you'll have Berlin and Krakow pictures in about a month! I'm so bad with organizing pictures...I need my old roomie, Ericka, around to whip me into shape!

Niagara falls from the Maid of the Mist launching area.

Just a picture I liked from above the falls. I didn't realize how much force there was in the river before the water hit the falls. The strange thing in the middle is an old rusted boat.

A view of the falls with the Mist peeking out.

Heather and I in our bad-ass ponchos. I was laughing so hard because we got so wet that I almost peed my pants. Fun times.

Heather and I at a concert on Toronto Island.

The Beginnings of a Trip...

There's nothing like a stressful beginning to a trip to make you enjoy that trip even more. Ian was in Chicago up until 2 days before we were supposed to leave for Berlin. He was returning on Friday night, and we were to leave on Sunday afternoon for Europe. Because we were trying to be frugal, we booked him on a flight that would give him a layover in Charlotte, NC. Not the most logical thing in the world, but hey, what can you say to cheap tickets??? (I suggest you say, "No!")

Anyways, he called me from Chicago to say that his flight was going to leave late and that he wasn't sure if he'd make his connection in Charlotte. I left for Louisville (where he was flying to), but 10 minutes into my drive, he called to say that they had just landed in Charlotte and it didn't look like he would make his connection. His plane was waiting for a gate, and he only had 10 minutes till the next one took off. It turns out that he got to his gate, and the plane was still there, but they wouldn't let any of the people from his plane onto it!

He had to stand in line for about an hour to figure out what to do next since they had booked him on the next available flight...on Monday morning! It turns out that his flight from Charlotte was the only one ontime from that airport because of some storms earlier. So now many people were trying to get out of Charlotte. When Ian got to a service agent, he told them that he had to get home that night because he was leaving the next day for Europe. (A little white lie, but we had to do his laundry on Saturday!) The best they could do was fly him to Knoxville, TN (3 hours from us). He jumped at it, and I started driving right away to get to Knoxville. It was about 10pm when I started that drive.

All throughout the drive, Ian would call me to let me know that their plane was delayed yet again. I didn't know until I had already arrived at Knoxville's airport that his plane had taken off at 1:00am! Luckily, my mom is in a different time zone, so I talked to her during the hour wait to keep me awake. He finally landed at 2:00am, but his luggage didn't come with him. After filing the report and stressing to them how important it was that we got the luggage the next day because we had to do the laundry for our Europe trip (otherwise, little Ian would have to go naked around Germany...a pasttime that is approved at beach resorts only!). We finally started driving home about 2:30 and got home safe and sound at 5:00am. Needless to say, we were exhausted, but hopeful the luggage would be on our doorstep when we woke up.

Wrong. Ian got up and called the automated number they gave us, and it said that the luggage couldn't be found. He tried talking to a real person, but the guy just kept rerouting his call to the same number. When Ian asked to speak to the man's supervisor, the guy refused, giving the excuse that all of the supervisors were in a meeting together at the moment. Finally, I decided to call the baggage claims at both Knoxville and Louisville to see if they happened to have it there. No answer at Knoxville. And no phone number for Louisville. I called a rental car agency at the airport (because conveniently, although there was no useful number listed for the airport itself, there were numbers galore for rental agencies). The woman there gave me the extension to the baggage claim. When I told the woman that I was looking for Ian's luggage, she said, "It's right here...we have it." So why didn't you scan it into the computer or send it to us already???!!! I asked her when it would be sent to us, and she said that it would be at least 3 hours. It was already almost 2pm by this point, so I asked her to hold it and we'd pick it up. So once more, we packed ourselves into the car and drove the 1 1/2 hours each way to pick up Ian's luggage.

Finally, we were able to do laundry at 6pm the night before we were to leave for Berlin!

By the time we got on that plane the next day, we were so happy to be in one place, that the flight wasn't torture! And we learned our lesson: cheaper tickets aren't always better and never, never fly US Air if you can help it!

Home and Harry Potter

Well, we made it home late Saturday night. Yesterday consisted of lounging, eating and watching TV. Today at work I've been too busy catching up to really blog, so I haven't even attempted it until now. I'm about to go home and snuggle up to the new Harry Potter, so you'll just have to wait for our tales of adventure until tomorrow!

One.org

Just one more post before I leave...

Check out www.one.org.

Hello and Goodbye (for a couple of weeks)

Well, I made it back from Boston last week only to leave on Thursday for Toronto to visit Heather. And now I leave for Berlin and Krakow on Sunday. I have so much to say about my trips, but I just don't have the time. Because I've been out of the office so much, I have lots of work to do (read: because we don't have a student worker this summer, I'm in charge of two mass mailings of 3900 letters each! My fingers have papercuts galore.)

So, I'm just checking in quickly to let you all know that I'll be back to blogging after July 16th. Maybe I'll even post a pic or two of Heather and me in our sexy blue ponchos under Niagara falls!

Today-Danville, Tomorrow-Boston

Tomorrow I leave for Boston for a business/pleasure trip. I've never been, and when the chance came up to travel there for work, I jumped on it! Ian and I will be leaving tomorrow, and although I have to work Monday-Friday next week, we'll get to enjoy ourselves this weekend and in the evenings. He'll stay until Wednesday, and I'll return next Friday. I've been looking up cool restaurants to eat in...I don't even look for attractions any more when I leave Kentucky; I always go for the restaurants first! I have to take every chance I get to eat non-Applebee's food!

Anyways, I won't be blogging for the next week or so. I'll update you on all of the great places we'll eat at and the cool places we visited when I return.

P.S.--I just got a PDA for work (my first one ever), so I'll get to use it for the first time on this trip! Woohoo! I feel like a kid with a new toy!

Too Old

While doing a little research for internships (yes, I'm actually doing a little work today!), I found out that I'm now too old to be a Real World candidate! I always had this secret fantasy of living in one of those fabulous houses somewhere and being the one and only housemate to have gotten along with everyone in the house--the most boring housemate ever!

Well, my dream has just shriveled up and died right before my eyes. You have to be 18 to 24 to be eligible. I could have sworn that some of those early casts had older people in them. (Wasn't one of them a police officer or something???)

I guess I'm just all grown up. My new dream is for Ian and I to be contestants on The Amazing Race. We'd kick everybody's butts because between us, we've lived in 3-4 countries, been to 4 continents and speak English, Spanish, French, and German. And we'd be much more loveable than Rob and Amber were!

And I guess, if I'm too old for that, maybe I can be one of those loser wives on Trading Spouses.

A Meme About Me

For fun, and because I'm completely bored at work, here is a meme for you.
Stolen from Kim Procrastinates

1. Were you named after anyone? I think I was named after a friend of my mom's. I got my nickname (Mindy) because she thought it would look cute on the back of a cheerleading uniform...I ended up being the basketball player who threw the ball at the cheerleaders!
2. Do you wish on stars? Yes.
3. When did you last cry? About a month ago--I completely freaked out on Ian!
4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Prociutto (or no meat...I like vegetarian sandwiches)
5. What is your birth date? March 24th
6. What is your most embarrassing CD? Ace of Base
7. Do you have a journal? Yes, but I don't write in it often. That's what my blog's for!
8. What do you like best about yourself? That I'm easy-going.
9. Would you bungee jump? No. I'm scared of falling.
10. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? I usually don't untie the first one (just slip it off with my other foot), but that doesn't work without a shoe, so I untie the second one.
11. Do you think that you are strong? Physically or mentally? I think I'm both physically and mentally strong.
12. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Mint chocolate chip
13. Red or pink? Red...do you know how bad pink looks like on a redhead???
14. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? That I'm not in a job I love.
15. Last person you ate with? Ian
16. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Red skirt and black sandals
17. What are you listening to right now? Nothing...Everyone's out of the office, and I can't hear the phones ring if I have music on. Borrriiinnnggg!
18. What was the last thing you ate? Taco sald leftovers.
19. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Bright yellow
20. What is the weather like right now? 91 degrees, 42% humidity (Thanks to my little weatherbug!)
21. Last person you talked to on the phone? My brother
22. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Their nose.
23. Favorite drink? Non-alcoholic: Fresh lemonade, alcoholic: good red wine and flavored martinis
24. Favorite sport? Basketball--Go Carolina!
25. Hair color? Red
26. Eye color? Sometimes blue, sometimes grey, sometimes greenish
27. Do you wear contacts? Nope
28. Favorite food? Good, authentic Mexican...really hard to find here in Kentucky.
29. Last new movie you watched? Crash
30. Favorite day of the year? My birthday
31. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings, of course!
32. Summer or winter? If I have to choose between these two, then summer because I'm a wimp when it comes to the cold. But really my favorite season is spring.
33. Hugs or kisses? Depends on who's doing the hugging and/or kissing!
34. What is your favorite dessert? I'm easy to please...anything sweet! I like ice cream, and anything creamy (creme brulee, flan, etc.)
35. Last concert you saw? Lou Ford in Charlotte, NC
36. What book are you reading? Retrato en sepia by Isabel Allende (Portrait in Sepia)
37. What's on your mouse pad? At home, it's red with Hawaiian flowers, at work it's Dave Matthews
38. What did you watch last night on TV? Season 5 Friends and an old Law and Order: Criminal Intent
39. Favorite smells? Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland, the beach, and Ian
40. Favorite sounds? The beach
41. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Beatles
42. Furthest you've been from home? Australia, Europe
43. Do you have a special talent? I'm a pretty good cook. And I think I make people feel comfortable around me.
44. What is your ringtone? I have lots...depends on who's calling.

Disappointment

I got myself all worked up about a job possibility that I knew that I'd be great at and would love, and it turns out that they didn't even open it up to the public to apply. Damn!

I need a job that won't bore me to tears and that will keep me on my toes. My current job just doesn't do that for me. I'd also like something where I know that I'm helping someone truly in need. Helping privileged students find internships and/or jobs doesn't fall into that category for me...I thought it would, but it doesn't.

Well, enough for today...maybe tomorrow I'll have something less whiny to talk about.

Friday Fun

For those of you wasting time at work until the weekend begins, I present to you some Friday Fun! The Organic Trade Association has made this little movie for our viewing pleasure.

And, if you're looking for an interesting game, check out this twist to a puzzle game.

Pictures of You...and Me

I stole this idea from Ian's blog. Go to the Google homepage and search for your name under the images search. Here's who and what I am (not) according to Google:



Why is a cat directing Tom Hanks' "Lady Killers"???

I have a picture of my bridesmaids in a very similar pose...


How did I get linked to this???!!!

Ian, you're so jealous that I'm related to a David Bowie picture!




Rowrrr!


Double Rowrr!


This is a Caribou hoof, in case you couldn't guess!

Being Me

Why do we always think that we aren't good enough? We always wonder if we're good enough for our significant other, our jobs, our lives. Why can't we just say to ourselves and to the world, "I'm good at this, damn it, and I don't care what others think!"? I'm not throwing humility out the window. I just think that we should pride ourselves in what we do well.

I've been revamping my resume and writing a cover letter for a job opportunity that's come up. Before looking over my resume, I thought that I wasn't qualified enough--I'd never get the job because, although I know I'd be good at it, those little pieces of paper that people judge you on (resume and cover letter) won't be able to say all the great things about me. After changing some things and adding others, I realize that I'm a very marketable person. I have a Masters degree, I write well, I've held jobs with significant responsibility, and I've always proven myself in those jobs.

I know that I'm more than just my resume, but looking it over really opened my eyes. I am worth feeling good about myself...

Now it's time to get a Stuart Smiley book: "I am good enough. I am smart enough, and doggone it, people like me."

I've Got the Whole World in my Hands

I'm trying really hard to fill in this entire map...



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Jane Eyre and Robots

Ian has been slowly buying me the Friends DVDs, and we are now on Season 5. We often watch an episode or two while eating dinner, and I almost spit my food out the other night when I heard the following lines from "The One With Ross's Sandwich" when Phoebe brings Rachel to her literature class with her:

Rachel: What struck me most when reading Jane Eyre was the book was so ahead of its time.

Teacher: If you're talking about feminism, I think you're right.

Rachel: Well, feminism, yes, but also the robots.

I know I'm nerdy for thinking this is funny, but I just can't get the idea of a movie version of Jane Eyre with robots...these days it would make for a box-office hit!

Wacky Websites

Today I give you a couple of strange websites. I hope that they are as procrastinatingly fulfilling for you as they are for me. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry, and some will leave you scratching your head.

Longmire Does Romance - This man has "revised" some romance novel covers...you know the ones: half naked woman in the arms of a man with hair that every woman envies.

20 Questions, Web Style - Think of something and let the computer guess what it is. My first "thing" was the golem (not from Lord of the Rings, but the Jewish golem). It got close by guessing "vampire" which in the scheme of things is really similar in conception.

Gnomz - Create your own comic strip! All kinds of characters--I made one with V aliens as the stars. You're supposed to be able to post them online, but I couldn't get it to work. Even so, it's still a fun way to kill a few minutes at work.

McSweeney's Reviews of New Food - Not as interactive as the last two, but just as entertaining. One of my favorite lines: "Kellogg's Disney Princess Fruit Snacks do not actually taste like princesses."

Found Magazine - Pictures of found items.

Well, that's all for now. Now that it's summer, work is less demanding than it usually is, so I'll have plenty of time to dig up more of these. And please let me know if you have any favorites of your own!

Crash

Ian and I went to go see Crash this weekend. I was pretty disappointed. It's basically a Magnolia rip-off that revolves around racial tensions. It even ends with something falling from the sky with a male version of an Aimee Mann song playing in the background. Instead of frogs falling, though, it's the just-as-unlikely snow falling in L.A.

Initially, I liked the commentary about race relations--really in-your-face. But the ending just ruined it for me. WARNING: spoilers ahead. Anyways, everything turns out well for most of the cast (except for Don Cheadle's character and his family**). The hispanic family survives a shooting. The Persian father actually shoots blanks at the little girl, so she doesn't die. The Persian daughter bought the blanks (intentionally or unintentionally, we never find out). The black woman who is brutalized and raped by the racist policeman in a cheesy and unrealistic turn of events has her life saved by said policeman. Her husband starts working out his ideas of being black. The white rich woman, who has verbally harassassed and abused her hispanic maid, ends up hugging said maid and telling her that she's the best friend that she has at the end. Her husband, who we assume is having an affair, forgoes his tryst to go home to his wife. The black teenage hood, who carjacks only white people, ends up with a van full of non-descript Asians who were headed for American slavery--he frees them and gives them the $40 in his pocket. Did I forget anyone?

For a movie that started out so realistically and so brutally honest about race relations and human relations, it really fell apart at the end. Maybe it was supposed to be uplifting. But if that's so, why was 3/4 of the movie so damn depressing? I didn't dislike the whole movie. In fact, I really liked most of it...it's just that the ending totally ruined it for me. Maybe my expectations that continuity is important in a movie, book, etc. are too high.

So, see it for yourself, but see Magnolia first. I think you'll be surpised at the similarities.

**Don Cheadle's character and family also irritated me. The movie really tried to address stereotypes and how those stereotypes are just people-constructed ideas. But Don Cheadle's brother is the only one to die in the movie (he was the other young, black carjacker)--and very violently, at that. And his mom is a crack addict. They are the only ones to not break the "stereotypes" that the movie sets up for each character. I find it rather disturbing that all of the other characters were able to break stereotypes in one way or another, but this poor black family was not.

Cruelty

This morning while walking to work, I spotted a clear plastic container (you know, the kind that you can put a couple of pairs of shoes in and then put under your bed) with a lid on it on the little patch of grass between the street and the sidewalk. It was on its side and looked like it had a t-shirt or a pair of socks in it. As I got closer, it looked fuzzier than a piece of clothing, but I passed it up. I don't know what made me do it, but a couple of steps later, I turned around and went back. It was covered in dew (so had been out all night) so I could see what was really in it. I nudged it with my toe, and the dark mass moved inside, but I couldn't tell if it was something alive or if the t-shirt had just shifted when the container moved. I asked Ian if he could see what it was from where he was at, and he could.

It was a baby racoon!

I moved over so I could see, and sure enough, a little masked face was staring lethargically at us. It had moved a little, so wasn't dead, but it definitely had been there for a while since it wasn't scrabbling to get out of the container. We didn't want to open the container because we didn't know if it was rabid or why it was in the container to begin with. I ended up calling Animal Control and asking them to come and pick it up. The woman there didn't seem to understand that the poor little guy would either suffocate or die of heat stroke by lunchtime...I had to explain to her that it had to be picked up in the morning.

What's wrong with people??? To put a little baby racoon in a plastic tub and leave it by the road??? And then for the animal control people to be so uncaring...I just couldn't believe it!

I'm about to walk back home in a few minutes, and I'm a little worried as to what I'm going to find...

***UPDATE: Well, when we walked home, the little critter had been picked up. I hope he's alright...

My Smart Sweetie

I am so proud of Ian today...yesterday he won a very prestigious teaching award at the college. He was honored with 5 other professors (none of which are visiting, as he is) for their excellence in teaching. He's so good at what he does, and every time I think I might want to teach, I look at him and think that I should just leave it to him because he is so good at it. He got a little plaque to hang on his wall and a hefty check as a reward...Berlin, here we come! He so deserves this award because he's worked so very hard the last two years--to the point that his own research has suffered so that he could make the program and students excel. It will be nice for him to have this summer for his own work and a little travel.

On another note, I might have a job lead. It's under wraps at the moment, but it would be something that I would love to do, and I think I'd be good at. And I'd be the boss. Keep your fingers crossed that this pans out because I'm getting really burnt out at the job I'm at.

The Beautiful U.S. of A.

Wow, I've been to a lot of states! I always wanted one of those maps that people put on the sides of their motorhomes--you know, the ones where you can buy stickers of the states that you've been to and then you add them to an empty map of the U.S.? Sometimes I'm just that cheesy. This will just have to do...



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Damn Cold!

So it turns out that my allergies weren't really allergies...it was a cold in disguise, and a really nasty one at that! I took Friday and Monday off from work, which is really unusual for me (at least when I'm really sick!). I'm back now, but still getting over it. Maybe I'll be up for some blogging by the end of the week.

Damn Allergies!

Although I absolutely love spring, I hate the pollens and allergens it brings with it. I take prescription medicine for my allergies, but this week it doesn't seem to be working. At all. It all started with a scratchy and sore throat. Now I have a cough to go with it. And to top it all off, I turned on my air conditioner in my office today, and my eyeballs almost popped out from the mold and dust that it was spewing! Ugh!

Happy, happy spring!

Being (or Not) Irish

Well, after complaining that people always think I'm Irish (see "Happy St. Paddy's Day!"), I found this computerized quiz that also thinks I'm Irish! And it didn't even know I have red hair!

Your Inner European is Irish!

Sprited and boisterous! You drink everyone under the table.

Who's Your Inner European?

Cool Charity Site

I came across this great site called CharityGiftCertificates.com a while back, and I thought I'd share. You can buy a gift certificate for someone and then they get to choose a charity to give the money to. It's such a great idea, especially because, although I love getting someone the perfect gift, gift giving just gets so, well, materialistic sometimes. When I find a really great gift for someone that I know they'll love, I get really excited. But sometimes, I think we buy gifts for people because we feel like we have to give them something, even when nothing jumps out at you.

That's how I came across this site. I was trying desperately to find something for Heather for her birthday, but I wasn't having any flashes of brilliance. And then I thought, she really likes to give to charities and ministries. I didn't know which charity she'd want, though, so I googled charity gift certificates. This place turned out to give the most to the actual charity. This year I gave them as Mother's Day gifts, too.

Soooo...check them out next time you need to buy a gift!

A Cause

I'm a firm believer in getting involved in a cause--it connects us to something we love or care about and gets us to see outside of ourselves. A recent cause that I've gotten involved in is CASA. For those of you who don't know, CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. According to CASA's website,

"The National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association mission is to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children who are involved in the juvenile courts."

Now, I used to work with foster care teens in San Diego, and I would run into CASA workers every once in a while. I didn't really know what they did, but I did know that the kids always loved them and trusted them (and for a kid in foster care, that's a big step). When I moved to Kentucky, I wanted to get involved with something and I came across the local CASA chapter. I had originally wanted to be a CASA volunteer, which all people who work with the children are, but I found out that the local chapter wasn't up and running yet. I was asked to join the Board, and I did.

We're getting really close to starting to train volunteers, which is very exciting. These kids in the system really need someone who want to be there working with them and who will speak to their best interests. You can physically see the difference a steady and trusting adult makes in the lives of these children.

Part of the problem with the small local chapters is that they don't have enough money to train volunteers and run the program. If you'd like to learn more about CASA in your area, go to their website. If you don't have the time to volunteer, please consider donating to your local CASA chapter--all of them run on donations and grants. To support CASA at Woodlawn (the Boyle/Mercer counties chapter in which I'm involved), go here for contact information or let me know and I'd be happy to give you more information.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

From Harper's Weekly**:

"The Clovis, New Mexico, police locked down a middle school, closed off several streets, and placed officers on rooftops before discovering that what they thought was a weapon carried by a student was actually a thirty-inch burrito."

What was this kid doing with a gigantic burrito? Was he planning on using it as a weapon against bullies? Did his mom send it along with him instead of cupcakes for a birthday party? Or was he just one hungry kid?

All this talk about ridiculously giant burritos is making me hongry...

**You can get Harper's Weekly as a weekly e-mail. Just go here.

The Perfect Quiz

I thought I found the perfect quiz for me: "What Book Are You?" I thought that I'd be some cool book, which I was both times. (I took it twice because I didn't really have a yes or no answer for one of the questions and wasn't really satisfied with the first result.) The problem is that the descriptions of me as those books suck! It's actually quite disturbing to be told by an online quiz to stay away from children... (Not that I think that online quizzes tell the Truth about me, but they're usually fun and at least a little complimentary.)

Here they are (in order of my quiz taking). You decide.

You're One Hundred Years of Solitude!

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Lonely and struggling, you've been around for a very long time. Conflict has filled most of your life and torn apart nearly everyone you know. Yet there is something majestic and even epic about your presence in the world. You love life all the more for having seen its decimation. After all, it takes a village.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

AND

You're Lolita!

by Vladimir Nabokov

Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real.
Please stay away from children.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Summer Travels

I was going to write about how rainy and cold it is here and how irritated I am at a student's father, but I won't (at least not in any detail).

So I'll write about my plans for summer travels instead. So far, Ian and I have several trips planned:

1) Boston in June--I get to go to Boston for a conference and a little bit of work, but since they're paying for my trip and I'm going anyways, Ian will come with me! We'll get to spend an entire weekend and then a couple of evenings exploring a city that I've never been to, but considered moving to after college.

2) Chicago in June (maybe)--Ian is going to a Holocaust Educator's class/conference/thing at Northwestern for 2 weeks, and if I can swing it, I'm going to try to go up for the weekend in the middle. (So Sara, if you read this, let's try to have lunch!)

3) Berlin/Poland in July--Ian got a grant from the school to go to Berlin and Poland to plan for a class he'd like to teach and to study Holocaust memorials. Which means that all we have to do is pay for my flight, some lodging, and food. I've never been to either place, so I'm very excited. The perks of being married to a foreign language/literature professor...

I think maybe another short trip or two may be in the works...I'd like to get back to NC to visit old friends. Now I just need to find a job that will pay me to travel at my leisure...

Sad News...

It turns out that Carolina's basketball team is going to be pretty thin next year. On Friday, Sean May, Raymond Felton, and Marvin Williams all announced their decisions to have their names put in the draft. This is in addition to Rashad McCants leaving too. And we've lost Jawad Williams, Jackie Manuel, and Melvin Scott to graduation. We're going to be lucky to have enough players to even make a team! Although I'm glad that the younger ones will have the chance to fulfill their dreams, what about us??? The fans are surely going to miss all of them playing together, especially after so many bad seasons and then winning the National Championship this year! I guess I was under the illusion that they'd be around forever and they'd just get better and better every year.

I guess we'll see who the real fans are next year...

Grrr...

Maybe I'd actually be able to make things look right if I hadn't taught myself my meager HTML coding. Now the table below looks like crap, but at least you can read the content! So, in the spirit of relaxing on this Friday evening, I'll leave it with its multi-colored look for now. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Update: Well, I got the blue text to go away, but now the pretty blue background is gone. It's not as pretty as it was to begin with, but at least it's not ugly.

New Name II

Okay, so you can't read many of my alternative names below. I'm leaving it up because I'm hoping that some day I'll learn enough HTML coding to fix it. Another new thing for me to do today...

New Names

Since I was complaining that I wanted change and something new, I've decided to do something about it. You're welcome to call me any one of my new names, although my favorites are my fly girl name, my barfly name, and my star wars name (and I absolutely love my band name!):

Mindy's Aliases

Your movie star name: Chips Larry

Your fashion designer name is Melinda Paris

Your socialite name is Mindy Valencia

Your fly girl name is M Wil

Your detective name is Frog Apple Valley

Your barfly name is Cheese Cider

Your soap opera name is Anne Marmoset

Your rock star name is Chewy Sweettarts Train

Your star wars name is Meljas Wilian

Your punk rock band name is The Calm Paperclip

The Amazing Meganame Generator

A New Day

Every spring I am ready to quit my job, move to a new place or town, buy new clothes--just do something new at all. I'm feeling that this week. I know this desire for change is coming when I start prowling the house looking for things to do (and sometimes end up cleaning!). I just feel like I need to get out, experience the new day. I've been trying to do things around the house to help ease this since there's nowhere to go at the moment. Yesterday I babysat for a friend, planted my new flowers, and tried a new recipe (which turned out really bad--I tried to cook kale for the first time).

During the winter, I'm content to sit my butt in front of the TV and veg, but with the beautiful spring weather, I want to be outside, do something new. I went hiking with some friends last weekend, and that eased some of it, but what I really want this time of year is to be hiking all of the time. If only retirement came first in life! :-)

Stealing

I have to admit it--last year I accidently stole a wrought iron plant hanger from Lowe's hardware store. I wanted one, and there were several display boxes on the shelf, many with only one hanger in each one. So, figuring that the box was attached to the hanger, I grabbed the entire box. I paid for the one I grabbed, but when I got home, there were actually two hangers in the box! It turns out that the box was really a display case with several inside each one! It wasn't apparent to me and it obviously wasn't apparent to the cashier who only charged me for one.

I never got around to returning the second one. (I know, I'm bad.) So I decided to use it this year. Yesterday I went to Lowe's again (because now I feel like I need to spend more money there because of my guilt-ridden conscience), and I bought a new hanging planter box and lots of flowers! Woohoo! I love spring! Last year I tried to grow flowers from seeds, but our stairway is in the shade much of the day, so no flowers bloomed. I'm hoping that by buying plants this year, I'll get more flowers. I bought some pansies, some dahlias, some marguerite daisies and some other plants that had no name on them, but are a pretty bright red and yellow. I think I may have bought too many for the planter, but I don't mind...I'll just find another spot for them.

I never really thought much of flowers as a kid (but that could be due to the fact that I grew up in the desert). But they add so much color and happiness to a yard and to a room. So today I'll plant my new little friends. **

**When I was in middle school, my best friend, Julia, and I did an experiment for our science classes to see if plants have feelings. Julia got to be nice to her plants, and I yelled at my plants. Hers turned into almost full-grown radishes. Mine were wilty and puny. Our conclusion was that there was some kind of reaction to our emotional treatment of them. And I just read the other day (I think in Real Simple) that talking to plants really does help them to grow because you emit carbon dioxide when speaking to them. In any case, I like to think of them as my little friends (especially pansies, with their wise little faces).

Blogging Doldrums

Since I've returned from California, I haven't been in the mood to blog. It makes me sad, but I just haven't had anything to say. It worries me...maybe my stint as a blogger is over. My creative (or not-so-creative) juices may have dried up. Nothing seems worth writing about any more...

Or it could just be that I've been insanely busy since I've returned to good ol' Kantuck. In fact, as I write, I'm toggling between this screen and another that's loading (for my job). Maybe when things slow down, my mind will wander again...

Oops! The other window is open...

Ode to Ericka

"Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick." --Gwyneth Paltrow

California, Here I Come

I will be leaving for California for 10 days today--a work trip combined with a little bit o' fun. I get to go to a conference being held in Anaheim and I'll do a little scouting for work in the L.A. area for the rest of next week, but I'll get to hang out with family and friends on the two weekends I'll be there. Woohoo! I'm very excited to be able to go to Danique's bridal shower since I probably won't be able to make her wedding. And I'll get to celebrate my birthday again next week with my parents.

So, who knows how long it will be before I get to blog again. Hopefully, I'll return inspired to write!

I'm Back and It's Sunny!

It's taken me a few days to get back to blogging. I usually do it during free time at work (since Ian's often on the computer at home, and when he's not, I'd rather spend time with him than stare at the computer). But on Friday morning they took my work computer away. It's been to the doctor, had a check up, was found to have a virus, and had to spend a few days in the hospital. It was released yesterday, but I found that when it came back it didn't remember me! I've been reprogramming all of my settings for the last day, and it's almost to where I left it. I can't believe how much we depend on computers to remember things for us! But the important thing here is that it's back and healthy...

Today is the first completely sunny day in a couple of weeks. It's supposed to hit 67 degrees, so I can't wait to get outside! I've already seen the daffodils nodding their heads and the green-tipped trees have been beckoning to me, asking me to sit under them and read a good book. If I won the lottery, I think I'd buy a house with two big trees in the backyard. Then I'd hitch up my hammock (we bought one in Costa Rica in hopes that some day we'd be able to hang it) and read all day long.

Of course, I'd have to live somewhere where the sun actually came out more than once a week...

Happy Birthday to Me...

Well, my birthday is finally here--only one more year till the big 3-0! It's been a fun day, even though I had to work. Ian has been stringing out my presents. So far he's given me Labyrinth (you know, that old David Bowie/Jennifer Connelly movie).** And then he and my coworkers tricked me at lunch. I thought I was having lunch with Ian and a couple of friends at Freddie's, and all the way to lunch I complained that no one in my office had wished me a happy birthday. A couple of minutes after we got there, my office showed up to "take me out to lunch." Then my mom and my brother, Kyle, called. And I've gotten a couple of birthday e-mails from friends. Soon we'll be going out to dinner with some other friends (one of which shares my birthday--so strange!).

I haven't received my Le Creuset pot yet, but I don't really expect to since it costs almost as much as my beloved iPod Mini did. I'll just save up my birthday money for it... :-)

I love birthdays!

**How can you not love Labyrinth??? One of my favorite lines in a song is in this movie--"Slap that baby, make him pee!"

David Hasselhoff

I found this link in The Chronicle of Higher Education while reading it at work, and I just couldn't help myself. I had been thinking that I'd try to put less pictures on my blog, but this one is just too irresistible!



I mean, why did we ever cancel Knight Rider???!!! David Hasselhoff is just so sexy! If you'd like to see another of my favorites, go here. And for all the information you can handle about this sexy, sexy man, go to



You can thank me later.

Monday Morning Blahs

Well, it's Monday morning, and I'm already bored with the week. Everyone is on spring break around here (except for staff), and the office is deadly silent. Why are we even here??? I got most of the work I need to do for the week done in the first hour I was here this morning. Oh well, it just leaves more time for blogging! Maybe I'll whip me up a new banner...

This weekend treated Carolina well. We're looking like the team we can be, not like how we played in the ACC tournament. The only disappointment is that UK and Louisville take up all the air time here in Kentucky, and we barely get to see UNC play. I thought that once we got to the Sweet 16, they'd play each game in its entirety, but it looks like we'll be playing at almost the same time as UK on Friday...I wonder which game they'll show???

Anyways, I'm happy to see that NC State has made it this far (contrary to popular belief, we Carolina fans can cheer on the Wolfpack as long as they aren't playing us). I was really hoping that Mississippi State was going to pull off an upset and beat the Dookies, though. Maybe Michigan State can do it...we can always hope!

Enough basketball talk for now...

Happy Hour...

My toast to Friday evenings...it looks like I've turned into a true Kentuckian!

Bourbon

Congratulations! You're 127 proof, with specific scores in beer (40) , wine (133), and liquor (95).

Screw all that namby-pamby chick stuff, you're going straight for the bottle and a shot glass! It'll take more than a few shots of Wild Turkey or 99 Bananas before you start seeing pink elephants. You know how to handle your alcohol, and yourself at parties.



My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 56% on proof

You scored higher than 84% on beer index

You scored higher than 97% on wine index

You scored higher than 95% on liquor index

Link: The Alcohol Knowledge Test written by hoppersplit on Ok Cupid

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I like St. Patrick's Day for a couple of reasons. First, I get a lot of attention because I'm fair-skinned and have red hair. But I'm not Irish. And since I'm just plain ornery (as my grandma used to say), I like to be able to argue with people about it.** You'd be amazed at how many people don't believe me when I tell them I'm not Irish. The Irish do not have a corner on the world's population of redheads--in fact, a lot of Irish are dark haired. Anyways, I'm part German, and we have our own drinking day!

I also like St. Patrick's Day because I look good in green. That's all there is to it. It's probably my best color because of my hair and skin, so I always think I look really good at least one day a year.

Finally, I like the day because it reminds me of my trip to Ireland. Heather and I spent some time there, and in a small town near the Cliffs of Mohr (I think it was Doolin, but I can't remember), Paddy the Farmer proposed to me. It was so romantic. We had met him the day before (with his friend, Paddy), and we all went to one of the two pubs in town. We listened to an older local we had also met play the spoons over some Guinness. Paddy the Farmer started telling us about his farm and how he needed a wife to take care of him and bear his children. Then he suggested that I might be a good fit. Ahhhh...love! Whenever I think about this story, I laugh first, then appreciate that Ian's not a farmer!

**The only time I didn't argue about my heritage was when I used to get free drinks at the Irish pub we used to go to in San Diego (What was the name of that place???!!!). The bartender was Irish and since he thought I was too, he gave me free drinks sometimes. I can't argue with a free pint of cider!


I like this guy because he looks like a German leprechaun!

My Birthday...

Just in case you've forgotten, my birthday is next week. If you really want to buy me something, you can get me this (I know it's strange, but I'm addicted to the cooking channel!):



If you can't afford that, then a simple "Happy Birthday" will do. :-)

Niagara Falls

Here's an impressive picture of Niagara Falls from space, and yes, those are tiny cars on a highway along side of it! I've never been there, but seeing this picture makes me wonder why anyone would ever want to try to go over these falls in a barrel (in their right mind or not--even crazy people have their limits!)

Cool Site

One of Ian's students suggested this site for indie music the other night. It has reviews, information, and free downloads of new indie music. Check it out:

www.pitchforkmedia.com

And let me know if you find any cool music worth checking out!

Old Navy Is Normal Again!

This weekend I did a little pre-spring shopping. I'm getting tired of wearing dark colors during the winter, and since it's still just hitting 40 degrees each day (if we're lucky), I needed a little spring pick-me-up. I got some great stuff at Ann Taylor Loft, but that's always a given. Their stuff always fits me well. But Ian talked me into going by Old Navy, which I've come to abhor because they ditched styles and sizes for the normal woman a couple of years back. Someone in charge there thought that women don't have breasts or hips, that women are just larger replicas of the 6-year-old body. Unfortunately for them, they lost my business when they did that because I most definitely have curves. And I like them (most of the time). So I stopped shopping at places that forgot that the normal body is just that...normal. Not super thin and not straight. Old Navy and The Gap are two places that I've stopped shopping because by trying on their clothes I started feeling bad about a body that I had liked for so long.

And then I was forced into Old Navy this weekend...and lo and behold, they've changed their styles back to what they used to be: fun, cheap, and normally sized! I actually bought some things there, including a pair of jeans (I had definitely given up on their jeans sizing)! So, if you're like me and gave up on Old Navy...try them again. It looks like they're starting to appreciate a real body again!

Crazy Cat Lady

Okay, so now that I'm going to post a picture of my cat, I've become the crazy cat lady, I guess! But there is a really funny story behind this. Jasper (our orange and white kitty) is very cute and cuddly, and when he wants attention, he makes it clear. In the mornings when we wake up, he'll come up to our faces and reach out a little paw to our lips to say good morning. Well, Ian has taken this a step beyond cute...he wants to make our cat "cool." He is teaching Jasper to give him five! He's been working on it for about a week, and I think Jasper's getting it.

Now the funniest part about this is that Jasper is very likely the stupidest cat in the world (or at least in Danville). He's very scared of people he doesn't know and often runs into large objects while running away from them. He also likes to lick things, like the floor or a piece of plastic or our bedpost or a table or anything that's smooth. (He especially likes to lick photos, so if we have any laying around we have to lay them upside down so he doesn't lick the chemicals off.) So, of all the cats in the world, you'd think this one would be the one you could never train to give you five. Go figure!

Maybe some day I'll get a picture of this amazing cat feat, but in the meantime, here's a picture of him lounging around.

These are a few of my favorite things...

You know, from the Sound of Music! I've been tired and crabby and a little depressed all day, so I'm taking Maria Von Trapp's advice (or at least Julie Andrews'). When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad. So, since I think you can learn everything about life from this single movie, I'll try to apply it to myself today.

Here are some good things about this week:
1) Ian sent his last chapter to his advisor today.
2) Carolina beat the Dookies.
3) In beating the Dookies, Carolina clinched the ACC title.
4) Although we clinched the title, no Carolina player had earned ACC Player of the Week...Sean May did that this week.
5) I'll be getting a fat travel reimbursement check next week from the school.
6) I found out some friends of mine from the good ol' TIP days had a baby. (He's been in the hospital for a week, but should be going home in the next couple of days.)
7) There are daffodils in my neighbors backyard (at least there were until it snowed today).
8) I was in the mall today, and there are some very cute shoes on sale...maybe I'll make a trip back there this weekend and buy a few. ;-)

Well, as the TV show said it...I think that eight is enough. As my evening wears on, I'll keep running this list through my head like a mantra. Maybe the sun will come out tomorrow, tomorrow...

A Loooong Week

This has been one of the longest weeks in history for me. I had my first evaluation at work (for the entire last year's work), and I was very disappointed with the outcome. I know myself, and for any of you who know me, I am not just an average employee. But that's what my eval says, and I can't change it (although I did add a 3 1/2 page summary, typed and single-spaced, to it describing all of the wonderful things I've done in the past year since my eval didn't reflect any of this.) So the week ended on a higher note because I was able to have a conversation about many things that have been frustrating me about my job, but it's still a little disappointing that my hard work has not been recognized. I think that, unfortunately, the American workplace has become one of expected mediocrity, and that I'll just have to perform to those standards if that's what they want. What use is it to put extra time and effort into making things better if no one cares if it gets better? I hate the fact that I've come to this point, to such a defeatist attitude, but really, they don't pay me enough to put up with this crap.

Liquor Barn

After the last post, I thought that some of you might be a little confused about the Liquor Barn allusion. For those of you who don't know, Ian and I live in a "moist" town. Now, I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Just what is a moist town???" Well, I'll tell you...

It's not quite dry, but it's not quite wet--it's moist. We can't buy any type of alcohol in a store or by the bottle in a restaurant here in Danville, but we can buy drinks by the glass in restaurants that serve over 100 people and that make 75% of its revenue from food sales (or they're numbers close to that, at least). Now, don't confuse Boyle County with Danville. Only restaurants within the city limits can do this. In a county of almost 28,000 people and in a town of only 15,000, you can imagine that there aren't many restaurants that fall into these categories (4, to be exact--one of which is Applebee's). And we're surrounded completely by other dry counties. I think Kentucky forgot that Prohibition ended. And I think Boyle County has forgotten that some of the best Bourbon in Kentucky is made just two counties over! (Check out Woodford Reserve--if you visit them in person, they'll make you a member of the "Society of Bourbon Spokespersons" and send you a little certificate, which is now proudly displayed in my office.)

So in order for us Danvillians to buy beer, wine, or hard liquor, we have to make a 45 minute trek to Lexington to shop in a place called Liquor Barn* (where we all look like we're a bunch of alcoholics because we're stocking up for the next two months). And it's not even shaped like a barn.

*I have to give props to Liquor Barn, though, because it is a fun place to shop...not only do they have a HUGE amount of alcohol, they sell good deli stuff (like prosciutto and jamon serrano) and cheeses and the frou frou foods that I miss buying from Weaver Street in Carrboro, NC.

Exciting Day

Well, although I don't want to jinx it, it looks like Ian will be finishing his last chapter of his diss. tonight! Woohoo! He still has his conclusion to write, but after four long chapters, the conclusion should be pretty easy. I think we might actually go see two movies tomorrow night in celebration--we haven't seen a movie in the theatre in a couple of months, I think. I might get my husband back (and he might be able to sleep more than 4 hours a night!)

I'm getting ready to pop open that bottle of champagne (or rather, the bottle of white zin that we have left over from a party a few months ago...maybe it's time to make a trip to Liquor Barn).

A Ray of Sunshine

All I ask is for a simple ray of sunshine. Just a peek of blue sky. Maybe a temperature that encourages a little plant to grow. Man, I miss California on days like today. The sky is gray and it's cold enough outside for small snowflakes to come down. But they're not the pretty flakes that we all made out of construction paper in 3rd grade, just little balls of ice that get stuck in your hair. It doesn't stick on the ground, so it just makes for a muddy walk home.

I was reading another blog (written by a woman in Texas) and she wrote about how beautiful it was outside (75 degrees) and that spring had come. Not in Kentucky! It still hasn't made up its mind to welcome spring, to welcome flowers, to welcome sun. Instead it just depresses the whole population with its neverending cloud-cover. Ugh!

I never believed in Seasonal Affective Disorder until I moved here...now I'm just obsessed by a sunshine that doesn't appear.

Don't my Boobs Count for Something?

So yesterday we put on this career fair with 18 other colleges and universities in Kentucky. It was great (and a great way for me to get to know recruiters for our students). Toward the end I went around and introduced myself to several employers. My schtick was this:

"Hi, I'm Mindy from my college. I'm the Intern Coordinator, and I think our students would be very interested in working with you. Do you have any information about your programs and how students apply? Blah, blah, blah." (Of course I have to be vague online so that students won't know it's me if they stumble across this blog...but I'm sure it's obvious by now!)

But I never got past the first sentence. They always interrupted me to ask me what year I was or to see if I was interested in internships or jobs! Do I look that young??? I mean, shoot, my bra size has grown a size bigger in the last three years and I'm not a stick...don't I look like a full-grown woman??? So then, in a way so as not to embarrass them (I didn't use the bra line) I'd have to tell them that I actually worked with the students and that I wasn't interested in their jobs. I finally started saying,

"Hi, I'm the Internship Coordinator for my college. My name is Mindy...."

And then I found out that this confused them because my name tag (which was etched into metal the first week I started my job) says "Melinda." For some reason they just couldn't get over that one either! Wow...I have a nickname! I must be the only person in the world who has one! And since I'm such a talker, I ended up telling a couple of employers about how my mom thought that "Mindy" would look cute on the back of a cheerleader's uniform (Don't deny it, mom!) and that I really didn't like cheerleaders and I used to throw basketballs at them in high school.

I eventually went back to the first line.

Am I Really a Nerd???

I guess I've never really gotten over being a little nerdy...I was a little disappointed that I didn't come out to be something cool like a My Little Pony or a Transformer or something! I guess I just need to come to grips with the fact that I'm just a Speak & Spell...although I used to love making this thing say bad words!


You're a Speak & Spell!! You nerd, you. Just
because you were disguised as a toy doesn't
mean you weren't educational, you sneaky
bastard.


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

"Amazing Grace..."

So yesterday I was watching my daily 20 minutes of Good Morning, America while I ate breakfast, and Charlie Gibson introduced a segment called "Amazing Grace." His description about it was this: "Finding grace and making it work for you." I didn't get to see the actual segment because this was just a teaser, but I would have watched it if I could have because I didn't realize that grace was like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...once you found it, you could invest it in the stock market! Isn't the point of grace that it's unexpected and that you're just showered with it? And how do you make it work for you? (I keep picturing grace coming by to clean my kitchen or do yard work or maybe give me a little massage.)

Merriam-Webster says that one definition of grace is "unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification." Somehow I don't think God had making his divine assistance "work for you" in mind when he decided to shed that assistance upon you. And how does making it work for you help you towards sanctification??? I don't want my moments of grace to look like a lottery ticket or some commercialized retirement fund. I want my moments of grace to be a communion with God, a moment of revelation, a moment of regeneration and sanctification.

It just seems a little "me, me, me" in a world that needs a little less of that.

I am Buffy--Hear Me Roar!

I'll bet this is why Ian really married me... ;-)


You are Buffy Summers
Positively gorgeous but oddly sad.
Sometimes you get a little pissy, but all in all
you do a great job of saving the world.
Not to mention all the hot guys you get!

GO YOU!


*~*Whats Your Buffy Alias?*~*
brought to you by Quizilla

Irony at its Best

How ironic is it that I work in an office dedicated to helping people figure out what they want to do with their lives, and I don't know what I want to do with my life?! I just can't imagine what I'd like to do. Sure, I'd be good at almost anything I put my mind to, but that's not the point. The point is that I'm almost 29 years old and I still don't know what I like to do! What I'd really like is to read for a living (but in a social setting) or work outside in the spring only or sit in a coffee shop with friends over tea. What I don't want to do is be stuck in an office all of the time or talk people into things or cold call people or have meetings where the old white men dominate the conversation (and in doing so argue that there are no gender issues in our workplace)! Like the old white man knows what it's like to be shooed to the side because you're a woman or young or not an old white man...I'm getting off topic...this is an issue for another post. Anyways, feel free to make suggestions about what I should do with my life...because I'm definitely not going to spend my life doing what I'm doing now.

Writing Comments

For those of you out there who have wanted to comment, but thought that you had to create a blogger account to do so, the system has changed. You should be able to comment as "Anonymous" without having an account. My blog is set up this way, but some are not. So Little Heather, comment away!

A Valentine's Apology

Well, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, I am making an apology to my Sweetie. I'm sorry for my ironic use of "my lovely husband" for the whole, wide world to see. I really do love you and I know that you love everything about me, even my tendency towards passionate talking. Do you forgive me??? :-)

Mindy Really Does Spew...

Well, I was talking to my husband in more detail about my blog the other day, and about how I wanted to call it "Mindy Spews." My lovely husband--after telling him the story about David Shellhammer--said, "I can understand why he'd say that." Am I that harsh? I know I can really get behind what I think sometimes, but really, is calling me a spewer really called for??? Perhaps "passionate" or "talkative" or even a "passionate talker," but a spewer???

Well, at least he made up for it by saying that he liked the quality in me. Maybe I do too...but I'd still prefer to be called a passionate talker.

An Addiction

I think I'm becoming addicted to blogging. It's not necessarily the writing part that I love...it's all of the fun things I can add to my page or change. I love my little mood monitor in the right column, and I'm actually mad that the site that I get it from has been down for a couple of days! I'm not "frustrated" anymore...it's misrepresenting how I feel today! Those people should get their acts together and get their site up and running so that the two people who read this actually know how I feel! Oh, wait, I talk to the two people that read this often enough that they know how I feel. Well, maybe you hit the "Next Blog" button and ended up here. And maybe you're dying to know how I am today. Who knows???

Blogging is a strange world. I love reading strangers' blogs. I really want to know how Kim's pregnancy is going or how her dissertation is going, although I've never met the woman and never will. Maybe some day someone will read my blog so religiously that they'll be upset when I don't post one day and wonder if I've given it up forever.

I highly doubt it.

An Encounter with God

Today I've been in the worst mood I've been in in a long time. It all started when I could barely get myself out of bed, moved to one of the cats puking all over the floor (and putting Ian in a bad mood), and ended with a day at work. Work's been just plain irritating. By lunch I was ready to either break down in tears or hit someone.

Then I left for the Ash Wednesday service that our church was holding during lunch hour. I left for it really upset, wishing I wasn't alone and feeling sorry for myself. About two minutes into my walk, near the Presbyterian Church (I was on my way to the Episcopal Church), I ran into two young women who asked me if I knew where the Ash Wednesday service was. I told them I didn't know anything about the Pres. Church, but my church was having one, and they asked if they could go along. I said, "Sure," and off we went. It turned out that they were two freshmen at the local college. We chatted all the way to church, and then they asked me if they could sit with me. And I had been expecting to visit God all on my own today! I helped them through the service, and taught them how to take communion. Just the fellowship felt nice. And although I'm still a little cranky and tired, they helped me get out of my funk.

Now, I'm not the type that thinks that God will give us the best parking space if we're good Christians...he's not necessarily the convenient God that many think he is (or would like him to be). But those two girls reminded me that he remembers us even when (or especially when) we think no one cares. So, besides a lesson on repentance for my Ash Wednesday, I also received a little lesson in gratefulness.