Awwwwww, I want one!
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Monday, September 27, 2004
I'm happy to say that Caspian, my fish on my desk, is on the mend. (He had an infection in his dorsal fin) He's swimming around like his old self.
Friday, September 24, 2004
100 Things About Me
Random Physical Stuff.
1. I look exactly like my mother, who looks exactly like her mother, who looks …….. You get the idea. I have a picture of my great great grandmother and it looks like me in costume. We call it the Amazonian uber-gene. Doesn’t matter what father’s genetic material dilutes it, it comes out.
2. I have a great scar on my lower back. Whenever people ask about it, I make up a story like I was attacked by a shark, or that I hit a tree skydiving. The truth is horribly prosaic – when I was three years old I tripped off a curb and fell on the hot jagged muffler pipe of an old car, leaving behind a combo cut/burn. That was the same year I fell out of a wagon and broke my collarbone.
3. I have small hands.
4. I’m 5’3 in thick soled shoes. The shortest person in a short family. I can sit cross-legged in a coach airline seat.
5. I’ve had every hair length from an Audrey Hepburn pixie cut (at least that’s what I asked for, people said my hair looked cute, but no one said I looked like Audrey) to down past my butt.
6. When I take the Jr. Highers that I work with out on an excursion, people think I’m one of them. At Magic Mountain, a guy came up and asked if we should be running around without an adult. What’s really weird is that when I was in Jr. High, everyone thought I was an adult. Weird. I’m regressing.
7. After getting a really, really bad sunburn on my legs once, there are spots I still don’t have to wax because the hair follicles are dead.
8. I like to take pictures of my feet.
9. I used to be a dancer (ballet mostly) until I completely blew out my knees. I miss dancing so much, sometimes I have a dream that I’m dancing the way I used to be able to, and I wake up and cry.
10. I once dislocated a toe in the middle of a show, and finished the show. I’m tough like that.
Random Background Stuff
11. I was a huge baby, 10lbs, 12oz. I blew up my mother’s ovary when she was 41/2 months pregnant with me. We both survived (contrary to the odds the doctors gave). The shirt I came home from the hospital in, ‘Another El Cajon Valley Hospital Special Delivery’ was designed for a six month old. Since my birthday is Dec. 23rd, they sent me home in a red velvet stocking, but I barely fit. After I was born my mother had her tubes tied and the hospital was torn down. Someone was determined to close that portal, I guess.
12. Growing up, my parents gave me a horse, tennis lessons, ballet, private school, and the ultimate lego collection. But they never bothered to learn anything about what sort of person I was.
13. Whenever the circus came to town, my mother was vaguely uneasy because I wanted to run away and join. I wanted to be the ballerina on the back of the horse. She was right to be worried; I was qualified for the job and resourceful enough to pull it off.
14. But when asked what I wanted to be, I said I wanted to be a pirate. Sailing, your own island, cool pets, it sounded good to me. That, or a tour guide at the zoo.
15. My brother and I got along great. He’s been my best friend from the day I was born. He would always find a way to drag me along anywhere he went. He rigged my little wagon so that he could pull it behind his tricycle. We absolutely insisted on sharing a room until puberty hit. We would lie in our bunk beds and make shadow puppets on the wall. Eventually, once we got old enough to realize that that was weird, we took over a wing of the house so we wouldn’t be too far from each other.
16. I just realized that I’ve made my relationship to my brother sound kinda creepy.
17. I thought Mr. Rogers was God. Really.
18. I had horrible insomnia as a kid. I think that was one reason I didn’t want to be alone.
19. I was an avid reader. I read everything I could get my hands on. My babysitters loved me because I was the easiest kid to watch. I think the book that really defined my childhood was “The Caboose Who Got Loose” by Bill Pete.
20. I was molested and raped as a very young kid by a family friend. I think of myself as a ‘recovered victim’ because I’ve really dealt with it. I’ve seen it for what it was and the effect it had on my life, and moved past it. The only part I still struggle with is anger at my father for doing nothing when he found out. But I’m working on that. I refuse to let it eat away at my life.
21. I did really well in school. I taught myself algebra in the fourth grade because I was bored with the coursework I was given. I would have been valedictorian of my high school, but I graduated a year and a half early.
22. When I graduated, my father offered to pay for my tuition, an apartment, car, everything, if I would major in law, medicine or architecture. I declined. (Contrary to popular belief, I did not decline to piss him off. I simply had no inclination to major in any of those three things.) He was shocked, flabbergasted, taken aback (and in a furious rage). He’d never encountered anyone he couldn’t buy before. He informed the financial aid office that I was his dependant (not true) ruining any chance I had for financial aid. It’s been a struggle, but I’ve never once regretted it.
23. My two best friends in high school, Roger and Liz, died within a year and a half of each other. Both in car accidents. Two months after Liz died, my father told me to stop moping, that it was ruining the atmosphere at home. I moved out that night. I don’t think he noticed for a few days. I’ve never once regretted it. I was seventeen.
24. My father still thinks he was ‘father of the year’ for 23 years running.
25. My mother is on freakishly large amounts of mood stabilizers. Horses are tranquilized on less then she takes in the morning. Her list of phobias is longer than my arm. Lately, since my father filed for divorce, she’s been actually doing a bit better.
26. I’ve given myself a deadline to be completely over all the crap I was dealt as a kid. The person I was at like 18, I think is partly their fault. But the person I will be at 25, that’s going to be what God and I have made of me. I’m not going to carry their junk around forever.
27. I had a great cat as a kid. Her name was Callie and she was this absolute bitch to anyone but me. She would let me cry into her fur. I also had a duck named Priscilla. We had two horses, Snicker and Lucy. We let them roam most of the property, but Snicker would get lonely and come up to the house and look in the windows.
28. I rode Snicker through the house once. Don’t tell my mother.
29. I once lit my hair on fire, just to see what would happen. It didn’t occur to me that I could get hurt. I didn’t.
30. My favorite childhood memory was spending nights in a tent or one of the tree forts Jesse and I built in the backyard with an alarm set for the middle of the night to see a lunar eclipse or a meteor shower.
Random Stuff
31. I’m allergic to broccoli.
32. I would rather go blind than deaf.
33. I have a title. I am the Dude of the Hurricane Halls. See, my father’s parents are both from a small town in southern Utah, Hurricane. I’m related to a third of the town, mostly through my father’s mother’s family, the Hall family. It’s hard to explain the relationship of the Hall family to the town of Hurricane unless you are from a small town. The Hall family is a good 30% of the town, and the defiantly the richest and most influential family. It’s weird to go there for a visit. The guy in the coffee shop or gas station knows you don’t live there, so they drop subtle questions, “Passing through, miss?” If I say I’m a visiting relatives, the Hall family, it’s like suddenly I’m a returned princess. “Beverly’s granddaughter? Here’s your coffee, ma’am, you make sure you tell your great-uncle Roland that I, [insert name here] down here said hello”. I practically get bowed to. It really weirds me out. You drive an hour in any direction and no one gives a crap about the Hall name, but by golly, in that town, I am SOMEBODY. But about the title. My great, great….. I don’t know exactly how many greats, grandmother was named Julia. When she was a toddler, she couldn’t say Julia, so she referred to herself as ‘dude’ which the rest of the family picked up and she was called that affectionately by the family for the rest of her life. She was referred to unaffectionately by several names by a few others, because she was known as quite the little spitfire. The nickname ‘dude’ was eventually passed down generation to generation to whichever girl they felt most reminded them of Julia. My grandmother, the current reigning ‘Dude’ has recently named me as successor to the title. And the family takes this whole thing rather seriously; everyone in the family calls her ‘Dude’, including her husband and children.
34. I’m terrified of being a snob. That’s why I only visit Hurricane every couple of years. It’s like junk food, its fun every once in a while, but too much is bad for you.
35. I love climbing trees. The real selling point on the house I live in now wasn’t the roommates (although they’re fab); it was the huge, multi-level, brilliantly painted tree house.
36. I don’t really like chocolate. But if someone gave me a box of sun-ripened cherry tomatoes, they would have my heart until the day I die.
37. Secretly, every Christmas, I want power tools.
38. I still have in my possession, every stuffed animal that was ever given to me. I can’t get rid of them. My imagination is too strong for my own good; I look at their beady little eyes and hear their little voices, “But Sarah, I’m your little buddy. We played shipwrecked and house together, but now you are soooooo old, you never play with us anymore……..” The fact that I know I’m being neurotic doesn’t help at all. I’ll probably be buried with them.
39. I actually have a To Do list of things to do before I die.
40. I can’t wait to be old. I’m going to wear bright aqua and purple caftans and dye my white hair orange. I’m going to wear too many bracelets so that they ‘click, click’ when I walk and you can hear me coming before you see me. I’m going to get a big white RV with pink flamingos painted on the side.
41. When my pet hermit crab Jack died, and I was so devastated because I was convinced I’d done something wrong, JR told me that he must have been old when I bought him and that all I had done was give him a nice retirement. He pointed to my big tank (which I put a lot of work into) and said, “See, you gave him Florida.” I think it was that moment that I realized that JR was The One.
42. My mother is Jewish, so I grew up with a weird mix of holidays. My favorite is Passover, but Christmas holds a special place. When the tree lots open, I’m first in line.
43. The carol “Silent Night” makes me cry (in a good way). I always dreamed of a Christmas with no drunk relatives fighting, no spending the day with relatives that I never saw at any other time and trying to pretend I wouldn’t rather be someplace else with people I actually cared about and that cared about me. Once, when I had just moved to New Mexico, I decided not to travel anywhere to see family, no matter what guilt trips were laid on me. I went to midnight mass (I’m not catholic, but what the heck, they still let you in) at a very old adobe mission on Christmas Eve. The next day I opened a few presents that had been mailed, and then (despite the weather predictions) it began to snow. I filled an ice chest with the snow and set a couple of beers to chill in it. Then I sat and watched the snow and sipped beer and all was calm and all was bright. That experience taught me to inject a little more sanity into my holidays. I finally had the guts to stop going to my grandfather’s house on Christmas (although his groping my ass was also a factor) and told all my relatives to make a donation to charity instead of giving me a gift. I make it a point to schedule time to observe the Navajo winter tradition, ‘the time of being still’ and also to use the now freed up time to go to a nursing home or homeless shelter. Then I sleep in heavenly peace.
44. Despite the way it sounds, do have a few relatives that I dearly love. My paternal grandfather (whom my father despises because he’s too generous to ever get rich), Dude (she lives with such passion and joy), my mother’s mother, (aka ‘what I will look like when I’m old) and cousins Caleb and Jordan. And of course my brother.
45. I can eat an entire box of popsicles in one sitting.
46. I can recite the whole script of ‘The Princess Bride’ in one sitting. No prompts, no movie playing in the background, I know the whole thing, start to finish.
47. I name everything. Seriously, everything. My cell phone (Chloe), my computer printer (Boris), my fur wrap (Ginger).
48. I never give my real name at Starbucks or when making dinner reservations. This can lead to interesting complications, however. Of course there is the obvious chance you will forget what name you gave, but worse, one time I was getting a table for lunch and gave my name as Lorelei. She asked me how to spell it and I had no idea. I said ‘pardon?’ to buy time, and then said, ‘it’s just like it sounds’. She rattled something off questioningly, and I said ‘exactly’.
49. When I was a kid I thought the big handicapped access stall in the bathroom was for VIPs like movie stars and queens. I used to slip in and use it whenever it was empty, just to feel special.
50. Whenever I go on road trips I always stop at little diners. For some reason I always order chicken strips. I’m not sure why.
51. I would love to be a vegetarian, but I know I would last like two days and then you’d find me with a carne asada burrito in one hand and a fish stick in the other.
52. I’m kosher. Not for religious reasons, but because it’s a healthy way to live. I must confess, occasionally I cheat and have a sausage.
53. I love the smell of old books.
54. A mug of tea and a good book, that’s rich to me.
55. My favorite time of day is that hour after the sun sets and it’s still kind of half-lit but there are a few stars out and the breeze blows the scent of the night-blooming flowers.
56. I love to go swimming in the ocean at night when there is a full moon. Words cannot describe.
57. Whenever I’m down, I go to Ciao Bella italian restaurant and the owner yells, “Bella! (kiss, kiss) You came back again! I get you a gooooooood table, you sit here, Francesca made your ravioli, I bring you wine! (kiss, kiss, slight grope)” How could anyone not feel better after that?
58. I snort a little sometimes when I laugh.
59. My brother and I have the exact same laugh. It doesn’t sound like anyone in our family.
60. I’m really handy to have around in emergencies. I’m totally calm and collected until it’s all over, then I panic. Like the time a car drove into the house, right into my roommate’s room (luckily she was gone), I went out, helped the driver and passenger from the vehicle (they were mostly unhurt, just drunk), called 911, offered them a cool glass of water. Then about an hour later, once the police when helping the tow truck driver pull the car out of the house, my knees suddenly buckled and I almost puked on a nice policeman. I was like, “Ohmygosh, a car drove into our house.” Another time I was almost trampled by a spooked horse. I’m lying on the ground, dodging hooves that could bash my skull in, and I’m calm and once I roll out from under the horse, I get up, walk over to a tree, and pass out. It’s a really helpful delayed reaction.
61. I think if I ever won the lottery, I’d take two or three years to travel the world with just a backpack, JR and a camera, then come back to San Diego, buy a decent house, get a job (or raise my kids) and live pretty much like I do now, just with better stories to tell, and a better financial cushion to fall back on if I lost my job.
62. I swore I wouldn’t get married before I’m twenty five. Even though it’s almost a given that I will marry JR (there is nothing official, he hasn’t asked and I haven’t responded, we both just kinda know that this is it), I’m sticking to that.
63. I’m a Messianic Jew, which is more or less a Protestant Jew. I go to an unaffiliated Christian church. It’s one of the few unhypocitical churches I found. I work with the Jr High group there. I absolutely love it.
64. I believe that there are no rules in life, only consequences. (It’s sort of a mix between a bible verse ‘all things are lawful, not all things are beneficial’ and a Buddhist teaching) You can hit your friend, but he will probably hit you back, or at least hate you for it.
65. I believe that people make rules to avoid making decisions.
66. I believe that people are designed to respond to love and kindness.
67. I believe that you should never give someone your opinion unless they ask for it. And sometimes not even then.
68. I’ve learned that number 67 is a lot easier if you give up your so called ‘right to have an opinion’.
69. I always give money to street performers.
70. I secretly want to be a street performer. A cello player or a latin ballroom dancer. Or someone who makes balloon animals.
71. I’ve worked as an intern in a state assemblyman’s office, an order taker at Pizza Hut, a busgirl, a cashier at a gift and engraving store, a cashier at an art store, a telemarketer for ‘adult videos’ and diet pills, a phone research interviewer, a tour guide/bearmaker at a teddybear factory, an assistant manager at a dollar store, an assistant manger at a candy store, an office assistant at a church office, an office assistant at refrigeration company, and now, this gig as the receptionist for company that manufactures high density computer servers.
72. I can’t sleep if I’m cold. I bought a heating pad for nights when I’m menstrual, but I love it so much it just stays in my bed. I’ve named him Leon, and he’s so cozy on chilly evenings.
73. I’ve never met a baby I couldn’t make smile.
74. I wish I had curly hair.
75. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is my favorite movie. You know how sometimes you hear or read something and you think, “I could have written that. Those are my words”. I feel that way about the ‘mean reds’ part and the ‘people do belong to people’ speech.
76. My favorite book is The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery. It’s about a woman in a small town in turn of the century Canada. She’s poor, ugly, has no friends, unmarried, shy, and completely dominated by an unkind family. She finds out she has a year to live, but tells no one. She’s still poor and ugly and shy, but she completely turns her life into something worth living, just by the choices she finally has the courage to make. It’s an amazing story about not sitting back and whining about what you don’t have, but carving out a niche for yourself.
77. I think you can never own too many picture frames.
78. As you can imagine, I don’t have a lot of wall space left.
79. I bought William Hung’s album. I will buy his Christmas album.
80. I think my car is too boring. I think I will give my Jr. Highers some paint and tell them to have fun.
81. I think if I actually do number 80, my boyfriend will have a heart attack.
82. I adore used book stores. For one thing, I read so fast that books cost me a fortune. But with a used book, you might get lucky and find where someone else underlined or made notes in the margin. When I find that, I feel like I’ve found King Tut’s Tomb.
83. Once I found a phone number written on a page of a library book. I called the number and got voicemail. I left them a message telling them that their phone number was written in a book in the library. In hindsight, my reaching out to my fellow man probably just creeped them out.
84. I figure a wrong number is just a chance to make a new friend.
85. Sometimes I write my phone number places to see if anyone ever calls. No one ever has.
86. Sometimes I write my mother’s number on walls with “for a good time, call………” I figure its revenge for her telling me as a kid that we should never hit a bag on the road because it was probably full of puppies. I still swerve to avoid bags to this day.
87. Yo estudio el espanol in mi escuela por tres anos.
88. Despite that, when I travel in Mexico, the natives insist on practicing they’re English on me. So I end up standing there speaking Spanish to them, while they speak English to me, until I give up and just speak English. That seems to make them happy.
89. The only person I get to speak Spanish to is the cleaning lady her at my work. And no matter whether I speak in English or Spanish to her I always get the same response. “Yes…………..yes”. Maybe my Spanish is as incomprehensible to her as my English is.
90. Sometimes I buy the cleaning lady a coke. I found out from the maintenance guy that they make less then I do, and I think that’s just not right. I don’t know if she likes the cokes, she smiles and takes them, but I’ve never seen her drink them.
91. My phone here at work is about two feet long, and has about 130 extensions. Not only do I have them all memorized, but most of the people’s cell numbers too.
92. I have too much time on my hands.
93. I like that.
94. But it’s dangerous.
95. My best friend, Bunny, is 20 years older than me.
96. I think she should have been my mother.
97. My other best friend, is the man I love. (Hi JR)
98. I’m thinking of turning my cubicle into a ball pit, like at McDonalds.
99. My boss would never notice.
100. Re-reading this, I’ve realized that I would like me if I met me.
Random Physical Stuff.
1. I look exactly like my mother, who looks exactly like her mother, who looks …….. You get the idea. I have a picture of my great great grandmother and it looks like me in costume. We call it the Amazonian uber-gene. Doesn’t matter what father’s genetic material dilutes it, it comes out.
2. I have a great scar on my lower back. Whenever people ask about it, I make up a story like I was attacked by a shark, or that I hit a tree skydiving. The truth is horribly prosaic – when I was three years old I tripped off a curb and fell on the hot jagged muffler pipe of an old car, leaving behind a combo cut/burn. That was the same year I fell out of a wagon and broke my collarbone.
3. I have small hands.
4. I’m 5’3 in thick soled shoes. The shortest person in a short family. I can sit cross-legged in a coach airline seat.
5. I’ve had every hair length from an Audrey Hepburn pixie cut (at least that’s what I asked for, people said my hair looked cute, but no one said I looked like Audrey) to down past my butt.
6. When I take the Jr. Highers that I work with out on an excursion, people think I’m one of them. At Magic Mountain, a guy came up and asked if we should be running around without an adult. What’s really weird is that when I was in Jr. High, everyone thought I was an adult. Weird. I’m regressing.
7. After getting a really, really bad sunburn on my legs once, there are spots I still don’t have to wax because the hair follicles are dead.
8. I like to take pictures of my feet.
9. I used to be a dancer (ballet mostly) until I completely blew out my knees. I miss dancing so much, sometimes I have a dream that I’m dancing the way I used to be able to, and I wake up and cry.
10. I once dislocated a toe in the middle of a show, and finished the show. I’m tough like that.
Random Background Stuff
11. I was a huge baby, 10lbs, 12oz. I blew up my mother’s ovary when she was 41/2 months pregnant with me. We both survived (contrary to the odds the doctors gave). The shirt I came home from the hospital in, ‘Another El Cajon Valley Hospital Special Delivery’ was designed for a six month old. Since my birthday is Dec. 23rd, they sent me home in a red velvet stocking, but I barely fit. After I was born my mother had her tubes tied and the hospital was torn down. Someone was determined to close that portal, I guess.
12. Growing up, my parents gave me a horse, tennis lessons, ballet, private school, and the ultimate lego collection. But they never bothered to learn anything about what sort of person I was.
13. Whenever the circus came to town, my mother was vaguely uneasy because I wanted to run away and join. I wanted to be the ballerina on the back of the horse. She was right to be worried; I was qualified for the job and resourceful enough to pull it off.
14. But when asked what I wanted to be, I said I wanted to be a pirate. Sailing, your own island, cool pets, it sounded good to me. That, or a tour guide at the zoo.
15. My brother and I got along great. He’s been my best friend from the day I was born. He would always find a way to drag me along anywhere he went. He rigged my little wagon so that he could pull it behind his tricycle. We absolutely insisted on sharing a room until puberty hit. We would lie in our bunk beds and make shadow puppets on the wall. Eventually, once we got old enough to realize that that was weird, we took over a wing of the house so we wouldn’t be too far from each other.
16. I just realized that I’ve made my relationship to my brother sound kinda creepy.
17. I thought Mr. Rogers was God. Really.
18. I had horrible insomnia as a kid. I think that was one reason I didn’t want to be alone.
19. I was an avid reader. I read everything I could get my hands on. My babysitters loved me because I was the easiest kid to watch. I think the book that really defined my childhood was “The Caboose Who Got Loose” by Bill Pete.
20. I was molested and raped as a very young kid by a family friend. I think of myself as a ‘recovered victim’ because I’ve really dealt with it. I’ve seen it for what it was and the effect it had on my life, and moved past it. The only part I still struggle with is anger at my father for doing nothing when he found out. But I’m working on that. I refuse to let it eat away at my life.
21. I did really well in school. I taught myself algebra in the fourth grade because I was bored with the coursework I was given. I would have been valedictorian of my high school, but I graduated a year and a half early.
22. When I graduated, my father offered to pay for my tuition, an apartment, car, everything, if I would major in law, medicine or architecture. I declined. (Contrary to popular belief, I did not decline to piss him off. I simply had no inclination to major in any of those three things.) He was shocked, flabbergasted, taken aback (and in a furious rage). He’d never encountered anyone he couldn’t buy before. He informed the financial aid office that I was his dependant (not true) ruining any chance I had for financial aid. It’s been a struggle, but I’ve never once regretted it.
23. My two best friends in high school, Roger and Liz, died within a year and a half of each other. Both in car accidents. Two months after Liz died, my father told me to stop moping, that it was ruining the atmosphere at home. I moved out that night. I don’t think he noticed for a few days. I’ve never once regretted it. I was seventeen.
24. My father still thinks he was ‘father of the year’ for 23 years running.
25. My mother is on freakishly large amounts of mood stabilizers. Horses are tranquilized on less then she takes in the morning. Her list of phobias is longer than my arm. Lately, since my father filed for divorce, she’s been actually doing a bit better.
26. I’ve given myself a deadline to be completely over all the crap I was dealt as a kid. The person I was at like 18, I think is partly their fault. But the person I will be at 25, that’s going to be what God and I have made of me. I’m not going to carry their junk around forever.
27. I had a great cat as a kid. Her name was Callie and she was this absolute bitch to anyone but me. She would let me cry into her fur. I also had a duck named Priscilla. We had two horses, Snicker and Lucy. We let them roam most of the property, but Snicker would get lonely and come up to the house and look in the windows.
28. I rode Snicker through the house once. Don’t tell my mother.
29. I once lit my hair on fire, just to see what would happen. It didn’t occur to me that I could get hurt. I didn’t.
30. My favorite childhood memory was spending nights in a tent or one of the tree forts Jesse and I built in the backyard with an alarm set for the middle of the night to see a lunar eclipse or a meteor shower.
Random Stuff
31. I’m allergic to broccoli.
32. I would rather go blind than deaf.
33. I have a title. I am the Dude of the Hurricane Halls. See, my father’s parents are both from a small town in southern Utah, Hurricane. I’m related to a third of the town, mostly through my father’s mother’s family, the Hall family. It’s hard to explain the relationship of the Hall family to the town of Hurricane unless you are from a small town. The Hall family is a good 30% of the town, and the defiantly the richest and most influential family. It’s weird to go there for a visit. The guy in the coffee shop or gas station knows you don’t live there, so they drop subtle questions, “Passing through, miss?” If I say I’m a visiting relatives, the Hall family, it’s like suddenly I’m a returned princess. “Beverly’s granddaughter? Here’s your coffee, ma’am, you make sure you tell your great-uncle Roland that I, [insert name here] down here said hello”. I practically get bowed to. It really weirds me out. You drive an hour in any direction and no one gives a crap about the Hall name, but by golly, in that town, I am SOMEBODY. But about the title. My great, great….. I don’t know exactly how many greats, grandmother was named Julia. When she was a toddler, she couldn’t say Julia, so she referred to herself as ‘dude’ which the rest of the family picked up and she was called that affectionately by the family for the rest of her life. She was referred to unaffectionately by several names by a few others, because she was known as quite the little spitfire. The nickname ‘dude’ was eventually passed down generation to generation to whichever girl they felt most reminded them of Julia. My grandmother, the current reigning ‘Dude’ has recently named me as successor to the title. And the family takes this whole thing rather seriously; everyone in the family calls her ‘Dude’, including her husband and children.
34. I’m terrified of being a snob. That’s why I only visit Hurricane every couple of years. It’s like junk food, its fun every once in a while, but too much is bad for you.
35. I love climbing trees. The real selling point on the house I live in now wasn’t the roommates (although they’re fab); it was the huge, multi-level, brilliantly painted tree house.
36. I don’t really like chocolate. But if someone gave me a box of sun-ripened cherry tomatoes, they would have my heart until the day I die.
37. Secretly, every Christmas, I want power tools.
38. I still have in my possession, every stuffed animal that was ever given to me. I can’t get rid of them. My imagination is too strong for my own good; I look at their beady little eyes and hear their little voices, “But Sarah, I’m your little buddy. We played shipwrecked and house together, but now you are soooooo old, you never play with us anymore……..” The fact that I know I’m being neurotic doesn’t help at all. I’ll probably be buried with them.
39. I actually have a To Do list of things to do before I die.
40. I can’t wait to be old. I’m going to wear bright aqua and purple caftans and dye my white hair orange. I’m going to wear too many bracelets so that they ‘click, click’ when I walk and you can hear me coming before you see me. I’m going to get a big white RV with pink flamingos painted on the side.
41. When my pet hermit crab Jack died, and I was so devastated because I was convinced I’d done something wrong, JR told me that he must have been old when I bought him and that all I had done was give him a nice retirement. He pointed to my big tank (which I put a lot of work into) and said, “See, you gave him Florida.” I think it was that moment that I realized that JR was The One.
42. My mother is Jewish, so I grew up with a weird mix of holidays. My favorite is Passover, but Christmas holds a special place. When the tree lots open, I’m first in line.
43. The carol “Silent Night” makes me cry (in a good way). I always dreamed of a Christmas with no drunk relatives fighting, no spending the day with relatives that I never saw at any other time and trying to pretend I wouldn’t rather be someplace else with people I actually cared about and that cared about me. Once, when I had just moved to New Mexico, I decided not to travel anywhere to see family, no matter what guilt trips were laid on me. I went to midnight mass (I’m not catholic, but what the heck, they still let you in) at a very old adobe mission on Christmas Eve. The next day I opened a few presents that had been mailed, and then (despite the weather predictions) it began to snow. I filled an ice chest with the snow and set a couple of beers to chill in it. Then I sat and watched the snow and sipped beer and all was calm and all was bright. That experience taught me to inject a little more sanity into my holidays. I finally had the guts to stop going to my grandfather’s house on Christmas (although his groping my ass was also a factor) and told all my relatives to make a donation to charity instead of giving me a gift. I make it a point to schedule time to observe the Navajo winter tradition, ‘the time of being still’ and also to use the now freed up time to go to a nursing home or homeless shelter. Then I sleep in heavenly peace.
44. Despite the way it sounds, do have a few relatives that I dearly love. My paternal grandfather (whom my father despises because he’s too generous to ever get rich), Dude (she lives with such passion and joy), my mother’s mother, (aka ‘what I will look like when I’m old) and cousins Caleb and Jordan. And of course my brother.
45. I can eat an entire box of popsicles in one sitting.
46. I can recite the whole script of ‘The Princess Bride’ in one sitting. No prompts, no movie playing in the background, I know the whole thing, start to finish.
47. I name everything. Seriously, everything. My cell phone (Chloe), my computer printer (Boris), my fur wrap (Ginger).
48. I never give my real name at Starbucks or when making dinner reservations. This can lead to interesting complications, however. Of course there is the obvious chance you will forget what name you gave, but worse, one time I was getting a table for lunch and gave my name as Lorelei. She asked me how to spell it and I had no idea. I said ‘pardon?’ to buy time, and then said, ‘it’s just like it sounds’. She rattled something off questioningly, and I said ‘exactly’.
49. When I was a kid I thought the big handicapped access stall in the bathroom was for VIPs like movie stars and queens. I used to slip in and use it whenever it was empty, just to feel special.
50. Whenever I go on road trips I always stop at little diners. For some reason I always order chicken strips. I’m not sure why.
51. I would love to be a vegetarian, but I know I would last like two days and then you’d find me with a carne asada burrito in one hand and a fish stick in the other.
52. I’m kosher. Not for religious reasons, but because it’s a healthy way to live. I must confess, occasionally I cheat and have a sausage.
53. I love the smell of old books.
54. A mug of tea and a good book, that’s rich to me.
55. My favorite time of day is that hour after the sun sets and it’s still kind of half-lit but there are a few stars out and the breeze blows the scent of the night-blooming flowers.
56. I love to go swimming in the ocean at night when there is a full moon. Words cannot describe.
57. Whenever I’m down, I go to Ciao Bella italian restaurant and the owner yells, “Bella! (kiss, kiss) You came back again! I get you a gooooooood table, you sit here, Francesca made your ravioli, I bring you wine! (kiss, kiss, slight grope)” How could anyone not feel better after that?
58. I snort a little sometimes when I laugh.
59. My brother and I have the exact same laugh. It doesn’t sound like anyone in our family.
60. I’m really handy to have around in emergencies. I’m totally calm and collected until it’s all over, then I panic. Like the time a car drove into the house, right into my roommate’s room (luckily she was gone), I went out, helped the driver and passenger from the vehicle (they were mostly unhurt, just drunk), called 911, offered them a cool glass of water. Then about an hour later, once the police when helping the tow truck driver pull the car out of the house, my knees suddenly buckled and I almost puked on a nice policeman. I was like, “Ohmygosh, a car drove into our house.” Another time I was almost trampled by a spooked horse. I’m lying on the ground, dodging hooves that could bash my skull in, and I’m calm and once I roll out from under the horse, I get up, walk over to a tree, and pass out. It’s a really helpful delayed reaction.
61. I think if I ever won the lottery, I’d take two or three years to travel the world with just a backpack, JR and a camera, then come back to San Diego, buy a decent house, get a job (or raise my kids) and live pretty much like I do now, just with better stories to tell, and a better financial cushion to fall back on if I lost my job.
62. I swore I wouldn’t get married before I’m twenty five. Even though it’s almost a given that I will marry JR (there is nothing official, he hasn’t asked and I haven’t responded, we both just kinda know that this is it), I’m sticking to that.
63. I’m a Messianic Jew, which is more or less a Protestant Jew. I go to an unaffiliated Christian church. It’s one of the few unhypocitical churches I found. I work with the Jr High group there. I absolutely love it.
64. I believe that there are no rules in life, only consequences. (It’s sort of a mix between a bible verse ‘all things are lawful, not all things are beneficial’ and a Buddhist teaching) You can hit your friend, but he will probably hit you back, or at least hate you for it.
65. I believe that people make rules to avoid making decisions.
66. I believe that people are designed to respond to love and kindness.
67. I believe that you should never give someone your opinion unless they ask for it. And sometimes not even then.
68. I’ve learned that number 67 is a lot easier if you give up your so called ‘right to have an opinion’.
69. I always give money to street performers.
70. I secretly want to be a street performer. A cello player or a latin ballroom dancer. Or someone who makes balloon animals.
71. I’ve worked as an intern in a state assemblyman’s office, an order taker at Pizza Hut, a busgirl, a cashier at a gift and engraving store, a cashier at an art store, a telemarketer for ‘adult videos’ and diet pills, a phone research interviewer, a tour guide/bearmaker at a teddybear factory, an assistant manager at a dollar store, an assistant manger at a candy store, an office assistant at a church office, an office assistant at refrigeration company, and now, this gig as the receptionist for company that manufactures high density computer servers.
72. I can’t sleep if I’m cold. I bought a heating pad for nights when I’m menstrual, but I love it so much it just stays in my bed. I’ve named him Leon, and he’s so cozy on chilly evenings.
73. I’ve never met a baby I couldn’t make smile.
74. I wish I had curly hair.
75. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is my favorite movie. You know how sometimes you hear or read something and you think, “I could have written that. Those are my words”. I feel that way about the ‘mean reds’ part and the ‘people do belong to people’ speech.
76. My favorite book is The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery. It’s about a woman in a small town in turn of the century Canada. She’s poor, ugly, has no friends, unmarried, shy, and completely dominated by an unkind family. She finds out she has a year to live, but tells no one. She’s still poor and ugly and shy, but she completely turns her life into something worth living, just by the choices she finally has the courage to make. It’s an amazing story about not sitting back and whining about what you don’t have, but carving out a niche for yourself.
77. I think you can never own too many picture frames.
78. As you can imagine, I don’t have a lot of wall space left.
79. I bought William Hung’s album. I will buy his Christmas album.
80. I think my car is too boring. I think I will give my Jr. Highers some paint and tell them to have fun.
81. I think if I actually do number 80, my boyfriend will have a heart attack.
82. I adore used book stores. For one thing, I read so fast that books cost me a fortune. But with a used book, you might get lucky and find where someone else underlined or made notes in the margin. When I find that, I feel like I’ve found King Tut’s Tomb.
83. Once I found a phone number written on a page of a library book. I called the number and got voicemail. I left them a message telling them that their phone number was written in a book in the library. In hindsight, my reaching out to my fellow man probably just creeped them out.
84. I figure a wrong number is just a chance to make a new friend.
85. Sometimes I write my phone number places to see if anyone ever calls. No one ever has.
86. Sometimes I write my mother’s number on walls with “for a good time, call………” I figure its revenge for her telling me as a kid that we should never hit a bag on the road because it was probably full of puppies. I still swerve to avoid bags to this day.
87. Yo estudio el espanol in mi escuela por tres anos.
88. Despite that, when I travel in Mexico, the natives insist on practicing they’re English on me. So I end up standing there speaking Spanish to them, while they speak English to me, until I give up and just speak English. That seems to make them happy.
89. The only person I get to speak Spanish to is the cleaning lady her at my work. And no matter whether I speak in English or Spanish to her I always get the same response. “Yes…………..yes”. Maybe my Spanish is as incomprehensible to her as my English is.
90. Sometimes I buy the cleaning lady a coke. I found out from the maintenance guy that they make less then I do, and I think that’s just not right. I don’t know if she likes the cokes, she smiles and takes them, but I’ve never seen her drink them.
91. My phone here at work is about two feet long, and has about 130 extensions. Not only do I have them all memorized, but most of the people’s cell numbers too.
92. I have too much time on my hands.
93. I like that.
94. But it’s dangerous.
95. My best friend, Bunny, is 20 years older than me.
96. I think she should have been my mother.
97. My other best friend, is the man I love. (Hi JR)
98. I’m thinking of turning my cubicle into a ball pit, like at McDonalds.
99. My boss would never notice.
100. Re-reading this, I’ve realized that I would like me if I met me.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
So today I had to order pizza for a meeting upstairs (I love how trusting those upper management are, they just hand me their credit cards while I'm sitting at my computer muttering, .........'dubya, dot ebay, slash shoes') and Papa Johns is running a special right now where with the purchase of any large pizza you get some overstocked 80's movie on DVD for free. I was so excited to get 'Drop Dead Fred' (so the greatest movie) but they were sold out. I had to settle for 'Corrina, Corrina'. I confided my disappointment to my boyfriend via MSN Messanger (again, I love how trusting upper managment is as they walk past my desk going, "Look at Sarah, typing away. Must be working hard." In my defense, they don't give me crap to do, except order stuff for them occasionally.) and my lovely boyfriend IM-ed back that he had just ordered it for me. Isn't that the sweetest?
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Monday, September 20, 2004
So I just saw a great news clip of a truck of chickens that overturned on a bridge in New Jersey. Now officials are running around trying to round up all the chickens. (Have you ever tried to catch a chicken? They run in evasive patterns, changing directions every few seconds. It's a great workout.) It reminded me of a couple of weeks ago when I got caught and a haystorm on the way to work because two (not sure how they both managed to do it at the same time) flatbed big rigs lost their loads of hay bales. So I'm stopped dead in traffic, calling all my friends with horses to come down and pick up some hay, to 'help with the cleanup', and I was soooo tempted to fill my car with hay and have my own hayride to work. But I figured it would end up being like the time I foolishly decided to transport my christmas tree inside my car. (I found needles for months.)
Some sad news, my fish Caspian is sick. I have medicinal drops, lets hope they work, 'cause he's my little buddy.
Some good news, over the weekend I bought a new fish, Uji. He's a white and blue beta and he now lives in the pagoda in my crab habitat, recently vacated by Ra, my poor deseased little zen fish, now buried under the budda statue in my ivy. While I was at Petco buying Uji, I almost bought a parakeet. And a mouse. And I almost adopted a cat from the shelter rescue lady out front. I might go back for the cat. Her name was Rosa and we sorta bonded. I'm just not sure how much she would like my other cat, Maximus. Max is really playful, and so he needs a buddy who wants to play with him, not a cat that will think he's a pest and get stressed out. I might ask if I could take Rosa for a few days to see how they bond, but I'm not sure I want to take her and get all attached and possibly have to give her back. She was such a sweet cat, the story on her was that a family owned her and didn't take very good care of her or all their other pets. The family got evicted from their house and Rosa hid because she was pregnant. So the neighbors found her a few days after the family left and she ended up at a shelter, then in foster care. She had her kittens and they've all been adopted. She looks a bit like my cat when I was a kid, and she really seemed to warm to me. I just don't want to take her if she isn't going to be happy with Max. Besides, there's the 'cat ratio rule' to consider. A single woman should only be allowed to own up to two cats. Once she gets that third cat, it's a slippery slope to 8 cats, 26 cats, 101 cats....... She will never have people in her life, just cats. Once a woman is married and has a family, she can have as many cats as there are people in her family, plus one (allowing for her to keep her two cats and for each member of the family to have their own cat if desired). So this means I have to pace myself, and Rosa would be the last cat I could get until I get married or one of them dies. Choices, choices.
Some sad news, my fish Caspian is sick. I have medicinal drops, lets hope they work, 'cause he's my little buddy.
Some good news, over the weekend I bought a new fish, Uji. He's a white and blue beta and he now lives in the pagoda in my crab habitat, recently vacated by Ra, my poor deseased little zen fish, now buried under the budda statue in my ivy. While I was at Petco buying Uji, I almost bought a parakeet. And a mouse. And I almost adopted a cat from the shelter rescue lady out front. I might go back for the cat. Her name was Rosa and we sorta bonded. I'm just not sure how much she would like my other cat, Maximus. Max is really playful, and so he needs a buddy who wants to play with him, not a cat that will think he's a pest and get stressed out. I might ask if I could take Rosa for a few days to see how they bond, but I'm not sure I want to take her and get all attached and possibly have to give her back. She was such a sweet cat, the story on her was that a family owned her and didn't take very good care of her or all their other pets. The family got evicted from their house and Rosa hid because she was pregnant. So the neighbors found her a few days after the family left and she ended up at a shelter, then in foster care. She had her kittens and they've all been adopted. She looks a bit like my cat when I was a kid, and she really seemed to warm to me. I just don't want to take her if she isn't going to be happy with Max. Besides, there's the 'cat ratio rule' to consider. A single woman should only be allowed to own up to two cats. Once she gets that third cat, it's a slippery slope to 8 cats, 26 cats, 101 cats....... She will never have people in her life, just cats. Once a woman is married and has a family, she can have as many cats as there are people in her family, plus one (allowing for her to keep her two cats and for each member of the family to have their own cat if desired). So this means I have to pace myself, and Rosa would be the last cat I could get until I get married or one of them dies. Choices, choices.
Friday, September 17, 2004
I guess Christy really had a slow day, cause she sent me another one of these. (No worries, girl, it's always good to hear from you)
HAVE YOU EVER:1. Been kissed: Yes (yummmmmmmm)
2. Eaten sushi: Yeah, but if that guy from engineering calls Caspian, the fish on my desk 'sushi' one more time...................
3. Gotten hyper: Uhmmmmm, hi, have we met?
4. Been dumped: I've had one or two guys pull the 'I'll act like a jerk so she'll break up with me' routine, which I suppose is intiating the breakup, but I can't recall being dumped in the traditional sense. Oh, wait, I take that back. Josh Cantor. Freshman year. He was a junior. He told me God was calling him to be single for the rest of his life. I laughed. I hear he got married right out of high school.
5. Eaten an entire pizza by yourself: Just those little personal ones.
6. Been a rebel: Oh yes, and no regrets.
Does someone have something against #7??
8. Gotten in a car accident: None that were my fault. Plenty that weren't my fault.
9. Ever liked someone older: Age is usually the last thing I consider (unless they are like 8 or something)
10. Seen the white house: Yeah, great vacation with Jesse and Josh.
11. Hiked a mountain: On horseback, the greatest thing, on foot, I have to admit I prefer flatter terrain. But I'll do it from time to time.
13 Been in love: Every day of my life from as far back as I can remember.
14. Made home made cookies (from scratch): Yeah, but I can't pretend cookies are my speciality. If pressed to make them I just buy a pack, scratch off the keebler elf and throw them in the oven to burn the edges. Voila, homemade.
15. Cold or hot?: Hot. I hate being cold.
16. lace or satin: Hmmmmm. I think satin. I'm into fabrics that feel good as well as look good. Velvet is the best.
17. New or old: Old.
18. Roses or daisies: That depends, in a bunch or in a chain around your head?
19. Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream: Vanilla
20. Winter or fall: In San Diego, both of those seasons are blended into one 70 degree month where everyone puts up christmas lights.
21. Science or history: Science is really cool, but I love history.
22. Do you like some one right now: Yeppers. I have a massive crush on my boyfriend. (don't tell him, I'd be so embarrassed!)
23. Do you have a secret crush: Gee, what's the point of that? Maybe they like you back. Spit it out, for pete's sake. The worst that can happen is they aren't interested. And if that's the end of the world, you need a bigger world.
GIRLS:
24. What do you like in boys: A brain, I'm totally into smart guys.
25. In shape &muscular or not: Don't care (but it is sooooo sexy when a guy can pick you up).
26. Do you want a guy to ask your dad before he asks you out(or marrys you): I wouldn't trust him with a houseplant, much less my future. He made horrible choices regarding my wellfare as a child, and by the grace of God I survived and if I need a blessing on a relationship, I will go to same source, thankyouverymuch.
27. Do you want your b/f to get you chocolate or jewelry: I don't really like chocolate. JR has better taste in jewelry than I do, so if he sees something that would look good on me, great, I'd love it, but I never really seek out jewelry.
GUYS:
28. What do you like in girls:
29. Athletic or not:
30. Hard to get or easy:
31. Who do you want to kiss right now:
NORMAL QUESTIONS:
32. who is your funniest friend? Well, thats tough. Most of my friends are really, really funny. Even my cat Maximus seems to have a sense of humor.
33. Who do you email the most: Mmmmm. My boyfriend, I quess. Coco, one of my jv-ers. I instant message Jacob, Nickole and JR a lot.
there has got to be something sacred about these missing numbers
IN THE LAST 48 HOURS
37. Had a serious talk: Yeah, Bunny and I had a pretty deep conversation last night.
38. Hugged someone: Wow, I don't think I could go 12 hours without a hug.
39. Got along with your parents: In the last 48 hours, sure. Neither has called.
40. Got along with your siblings: Always. Love Jesse to death.
41. Fought with a friend: Not in the last 48 hours, no. That's extremely rare for me.
42. Been depressed: I've had my days.
RANDOM QUESTIONS
43. Do You Like to Walk in the Rain: Walk, hop, skip, splash.
44. Do You Like to Give hugs: Oh yeah. I started 'Hug Day' at my high school.
45. Ever had that falling dream: Yeah, that one is fun!
46. What turns you on? Just a bit of stubble on a guys chin. Lazy saturdays. Laughter.
47. What turns you off: Manipulation, bad breath.
48. What do you dream about?: I'm usually exploring or running outside. Flying dreams are the best.
49. Who is your favorite cartoon character? Pink Panther.
50. Do your parents ever make you mad: More sad and frustrated.
51. What is your favorite saying?: This too shall pass.
HAVE YOU EVER:1. Been kissed: Yes (yummmmmmmm)
2. Eaten sushi: Yeah, but if that guy from engineering calls Caspian, the fish on my desk 'sushi' one more time...................
3. Gotten hyper: Uhmmmmm, hi, have we met?
4. Been dumped: I've had one or two guys pull the 'I'll act like a jerk so she'll break up with me' routine, which I suppose is intiating the breakup, but I can't recall being dumped in the traditional sense. Oh, wait, I take that back. Josh Cantor. Freshman year. He was a junior. He told me God was calling him to be single for the rest of his life. I laughed. I hear he got married right out of high school.
5. Eaten an entire pizza by yourself: Just those little personal ones.
6. Been a rebel: Oh yes, and no regrets.
Does someone have something against #7??
8. Gotten in a car accident: None that were my fault. Plenty that weren't my fault.
9. Ever liked someone older: Age is usually the last thing I consider (unless they are like 8 or something)
10. Seen the white house: Yeah, great vacation with Jesse and Josh.
11. Hiked a mountain: On horseback, the greatest thing, on foot, I have to admit I prefer flatter terrain. But I'll do it from time to time.
13 Been in love: Every day of my life from as far back as I can remember.
14. Made home made cookies (from scratch): Yeah, but I can't pretend cookies are my speciality. If pressed to make them I just buy a pack, scratch off the keebler elf and throw them in the oven to burn the edges. Voila, homemade.
15. Cold or hot?: Hot. I hate being cold.
16. lace or satin: Hmmmmm. I think satin. I'm into fabrics that feel good as well as look good. Velvet is the best.
17. New or old: Old.
18. Roses or daisies: That depends, in a bunch or in a chain around your head?
19. Chocolate or Vanilla ice cream: Vanilla
20. Winter or fall: In San Diego, both of those seasons are blended into one 70 degree month where everyone puts up christmas lights.
21. Science or history: Science is really cool, but I love history.
22. Do you like some one right now: Yeppers. I have a massive crush on my boyfriend. (don't tell him, I'd be so embarrassed!)
23. Do you have a secret crush: Gee, what's the point of that? Maybe they like you back. Spit it out, for pete's sake. The worst that can happen is they aren't interested. And if that's the end of the world, you need a bigger world.
GIRLS:
24. What do you like in boys: A brain, I'm totally into smart guys.
25. In shape &muscular or not: Don't care (but it is sooooo sexy when a guy can pick you up).
26. Do you want a guy to ask your dad before he asks you out(or marrys you): I wouldn't trust him with a houseplant, much less my future. He made horrible choices regarding my wellfare as a child, and by the grace of God I survived and if I need a blessing on a relationship, I will go to same source, thankyouverymuch.
27. Do you want your b/f to get you chocolate or jewelry: I don't really like chocolate. JR has better taste in jewelry than I do, so if he sees something that would look good on me, great, I'd love it, but I never really seek out jewelry.
GUYS:
28. What do you like in girls:
29. Athletic or not:
30. Hard to get or easy:
31. Who do you want to kiss right now:
NORMAL QUESTIONS:
32. who is your funniest friend? Well, thats tough. Most of my friends are really, really funny. Even my cat Maximus seems to have a sense of humor.
33. Who do you email the most: Mmmmm. My boyfriend, I quess. Coco, one of my jv-ers. I instant message Jacob, Nickole and JR a lot.
there has got to be something sacred about these missing numbers
IN THE LAST 48 HOURS
37. Had a serious talk: Yeah, Bunny and I had a pretty deep conversation last night.
38. Hugged someone: Wow, I don't think I could go 12 hours without a hug.
39. Got along with your parents: In the last 48 hours, sure. Neither has called.
40. Got along with your siblings: Always. Love Jesse to death.
41. Fought with a friend: Not in the last 48 hours, no. That's extremely rare for me.
42. Been depressed: I've had my days.
RANDOM QUESTIONS
43. Do You Like to Walk in the Rain: Walk, hop, skip, splash.
44. Do You Like to Give hugs: Oh yeah. I started 'Hug Day' at my high school.
45. Ever had that falling dream: Yeah, that one is fun!
46. What turns you on? Just a bit of stubble on a guys chin. Lazy saturdays. Laughter.
47. What turns you off: Manipulation, bad breath.
48. What do you dream about?: I'm usually exploring or running outside. Flying dreams are the best.
49. Who is your favorite cartoon character? Pink Panther.
50. Do your parents ever make you mad: More sad and frustrated.
51. What is your favorite saying?: This too shall pass.
Christy sent this to me and rather that forward it on, here it is.
1. What is your Full Name: Quess.
2. What color pants are you wearing right now? Blue Jeans, with a cute antique brooch on the rim of the front pocket.
3. What are you listening to right now? This awesome local guy’s CD, Elijah Clark.
4. What are the last 2 digits of your phone number? 59
5. What was the last thing you ate? Fruit salad for lunch, with one of those little bottles of apple juice shaped like an apple.
6. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Sage Green
7. How is the weather right now? Bright, sunny, 90 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. What else, it’s San Diego.
8. Last person you talked to on the phone? On my cell phone, Bunny. On my work line, someone from an air conditioning repair company looking for accounts payable.
9. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex: It’s funny, but I don’t really have any one feature that I notice. I tend to notice more what they are doing. Reading, talking, staring into space.
10. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Naw, hate that bitch. I mean, uhm, hi Christy.
11. How are you feeling today? I feel stupid for being in such a funk earlier, but great now.
12. Favorite Drink: Cranberry juice.
13. Favorite Alcoholic drink: Mmmmmm, tough to say, because it really depends on my mood. But one thing that never misses is a double shot gin martini, straight up, three olives.
14. Favorite Sports: Crocket, lawn bowling, archery (awww, fond memories of high school PE), love horseback riding, or hiking, anything that gets me out of civilization.
15. Hair Color: Mostly brown
16. Eye Color: Green
17. Do you wear contacts: Nope
18. Siblings: Jesse Ryan Barrick, age 25.
19. Favorite Month: Oh, gosh, just one?
20. Favorite Food: Just south of Ensenada, Mexico, is a small fishing harbor, La Bufadora. They have a little restaurant overlooking the harbor with rooftop seating. You can order a fish taco, where the fish was swimming an hour ago. Pair that with an ice cold Pacifico beer, all for about $3. Eat slowly. Tip your chin up while you eat, you get a better view of the coast and sky, it’s better for your tan, and it keeps the sauce from running down your chin. Pay a wandering mariachi singer a dollar a song to sing while you eat. When you are done, tip him five more dollars, for karma. This place has taken the significance of a healing religious shrine to me. Believe me, it’s the cure for whatever ails you.
21. Last Movie you watched: Suspect Zero. (creepy!)
22. Favorite Day of the Year: August 8th.
23. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Never. Once I was sitting at Denny’s with some friends and I saw a guy reading a book. He looked like someone I wanted to know, so I threw fries at him until he came over. We dated for a while. Any of my friends will tell you, I’m not afraid to let someone know I like them.
24. Summer or winter: See, I just can’t pick. So many questions about months and seasons. That’s not how I keep track of time. I like that two weeks in spring when everything flushes out in green with a hint of yellow from the mustard plants, I like that smell of the first time the neighbors cut their grass in spring. I like the feel of an ocean breeze on hot, slightly sun-burned skin, hot summer nights in September where you can’t sleep and you sit outside on the porch and drink iced suntea, that first time you step outside and realize it smells cold, and the first set of Christmas lights you see and the first two weeks of Jan when if someone asks you pointblank what year it is and you couldn’t tell them to save your life.
25. Hugs or Kisses? Why not both? At the same time?
26. Chocolate or Vanilla: Boring vanilla chick here.
27. Do you want your friends to write back? Sure, if they have the time
28. Who is most likely to respond? I never know
29: Who is least likely to respond? Harrison Ford. He never answers me.
30. What book are you reading? Good night, Willie Lee, I’ll see you in the morning by Alice Walker. Amazing poetry. Here’s a taste:
I thought love would adapt itself to my needs.
But needs grow too fast;
They come up like weeds.
Through cracks in the conversation.
Through silences in the dark.
Through everything you thought was concrete.
Such needful love has to be chopped out or forced to wilt back,
Poisoned by disapproval from it’s own soil.
This is bad news, for the conservationist.
My hand shakes before this killing.
My stomach sits jumpy in my chest.
My chest is the Grand Canyon
Sprawled empty
Over the world.
Whoever he is, he is not worth all this.
And I will never unclench my teeth long enough to tell him so.
31. What's on your mouse pad? Don’t have one.
32. Favorite Board Game: Is Taboo a board game?
33. What Did You Do Last Night? Last night I bought a swimsuit. Then I went to my boyfriend’s house and watched tv. Then I talked to Bunny on the phone while I bought candy for work and put gas in my car.
34. Favorite Smell: Scotch tape.
35. Can you touch your nose with your tongue? I’d never tried before now, and I can now tell you, no, no I cannot.
36. What inspires you? People
37. Favorite Flower: Sweet peas, honeysuckle, someday I would like to plant a small corner of a garden in all white flowers.
38. What's the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Ohmygod, I’m dying. I can only see black, my eyes itch, I can’t breathe, and my mouth is dry. Oh, wait. My cat is sleeping on my face again.
1. What is your Full Name: Quess.
2. What color pants are you wearing right now? Blue Jeans, with a cute antique brooch on the rim of the front pocket.
3. What are you listening to right now? This awesome local guy’s CD, Elijah Clark.
4. What are the last 2 digits of your phone number? 59
5. What was the last thing you ate? Fruit salad for lunch, with one of those little bottles of apple juice shaped like an apple.
6. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Sage Green
7. How is the weather right now? Bright, sunny, 90 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. What else, it’s San Diego.
8. Last person you talked to on the phone? On my cell phone, Bunny. On my work line, someone from an air conditioning repair company looking for accounts payable.
9. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex: It’s funny, but I don’t really have any one feature that I notice. I tend to notice more what they are doing. Reading, talking, staring into space.
10. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Naw, hate that bitch. I mean, uhm, hi Christy.
11. How are you feeling today? I feel stupid for being in such a funk earlier, but great now.
12. Favorite Drink: Cranberry juice.
13. Favorite Alcoholic drink: Mmmmmm, tough to say, because it really depends on my mood. But one thing that never misses is a double shot gin martini, straight up, three olives.
14. Favorite Sports: Crocket, lawn bowling, archery (awww, fond memories of high school PE), love horseback riding, or hiking, anything that gets me out of civilization.
15. Hair Color: Mostly brown
16. Eye Color: Green
17. Do you wear contacts: Nope
18. Siblings: Jesse Ryan Barrick, age 25.
19. Favorite Month: Oh, gosh, just one?
20. Favorite Food: Just south of Ensenada, Mexico, is a small fishing harbor, La Bufadora. They have a little restaurant overlooking the harbor with rooftop seating. You can order a fish taco, where the fish was swimming an hour ago. Pair that with an ice cold Pacifico beer, all for about $3. Eat slowly. Tip your chin up while you eat, you get a better view of the coast and sky, it’s better for your tan, and it keeps the sauce from running down your chin. Pay a wandering mariachi singer a dollar a song to sing while you eat. When you are done, tip him five more dollars, for karma. This place has taken the significance of a healing religious shrine to me. Believe me, it’s the cure for whatever ails you.
21. Last Movie you watched: Suspect Zero. (creepy!)
22. Favorite Day of the Year: August 8th.
23. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Never. Once I was sitting at Denny’s with some friends and I saw a guy reading a book. He looked like someone I wanted to know, so I threw fries at him until he came over. We dated for a while. Any of my friends will tell you, I’m not afraid to let someone know I like them.
24. Summer or winter: See, I just can’t pick. So many questions about months and seasons. That’s not how I keep track of time. I like that two weeks in spring when everything flushes out in green with a hint of yellow from the mustard plants, I like that smell of the first time the neighbors cut their grass in spring. I like the feel of an ocean breeze on hot, slightly sun-burned skin, hot summer nights in September where you can’t sleep and you sit outside on the porch and drink iced suntea, that first time you step outside and realize it smells cold, and the first set of Christmas lights you see and the first two weeks of Jan when if someone asks you pointblank what year it is and you couldn’t tell them to save your life.
25. Hugs or Kisses? Why not both? At the same time?
26. Chocolate or Vanilla: Boring vanilla chick here.
27. Do you want your friends to write back? Sure, if they have the time
28. Who is most likely to respond? I never know
29: Who is least likely to respond? Harrison Ford. He never answers me.
30. What book are you reading? Good night, Willie Lee, I’ll see you in the morning by Alice Walker. Amazing poetry. Here’s a taste:
I thought love would adapt itself to my needs.
But needs grow too fast;
They come up like weeds.
Through cracks in the conversation.
Through silences in the dark.
Through everything you thought was concrete.
Such needful love has to be chopped out or forced to wilt back,
Poisoned by disapproval from it’s own soil.
This is bad news, for the conservationist.
My hand shakes before this killing.
My stomach sits jumpy in my chest.
My chest is the Grand Canyon
Sprawled empty
Over the world.
Whoever he is, he is not worth all this.
And I will never unclench my teeth long enough to tell him so.
31. What's on your mouse pad? Don’t have one.
32. Favorite Board Game: Is Taboo a board game?
33. What Did You Do Last Night? Last night I bought a swimsuit. Then I went to my boyfriend’s house and watched tv. Then I talked to Bunny on the phone while I bought candy for work and put gas in my car.
34. Favorite Smell: Scotch tape.
35. Can you touch your nose with your tongue? I’d never tried before now, and I can now tell you, no, no I cannot.
36. What inspires you? People
37. Favorite Flower: Sweet peas, honeysuckle, someday I would like to plant a small corner of a garden in all white flowers.
38. What's the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Ohmygod, I’m dying. I can only see black, my eyes itch, I can’t breathe, and my mouth is dry. Oh, wait. My cat is sleeping on my face again.
So, last night I decided to defy negativity and went shopping for a swimsuit anyway. After 4 different stores with a combined total of maybe twelve swimsuits between them (come on people, I can't be the only person who needs a swimsuit in September, it's frickin' San Diego, it's 90 degrees outside) I end up at Target. At this point, I'm officially not having fun. I tried one a couple of suits, each more depressing and matronly than the last. Finally I try on the last on in the pile, a black 'slimming' suit with an 'eye-diverting stomach detailing' and built in bra. The swimwear equivilant of an orthopedic shoe. I looked in the mirror and considered using the buckle on the 'eye-diverting stomach detail' to hack through my wrists. I said, "That's it." And I charged out of the dressing room and picked up the most unsensible suit on the rack. White tankini, with bright pink hibiscus flowers and green stems. I said, "I don't care if white makes my ass look like the size of the state of New Jersey, I don't care if the print brings the eye right to my hips, and I don't care if the neckline doesn't best enhance my 'assets'. I may not look like a supermodel, but damn it, I look damn good enough! And I want a pretty swimsuit, so a pretty swimsuit I shall have!" I think this tirade startled my boyfriend a bit, but he had the presense of mind to give me a hug and not say anything.
So I have a new swimsuit. Halfway home I remembered that white tends to go sheer when wet, so I may have a problem on my hands. But screw it, I've done worrying.
So I have a new swimsuit. Halfway home I remembered that white tends to go sheer when wet, so I may have a problem on my hands. But screw it, I've done worrying.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
The most distressing thing has happened to me. I ran my fingers thru my hair and found a GRAY HAIR! And it came off in my hand, which means I'm graying and balding, all at once. Suddenly I feel like going home, watching Matlock and going to bed early. Lest you should think I'm overreacting, keep in mind that all the women in my family either go completely gray by the time they're thirty five, or they never get any at all. It's either extreme. Now my fate is sealed. Plus, and this is far more distressing, I always thought I'd be one of those awesome women who age really gracefully, who accept the ravages of time with grace and calm. But I feel like crying. Suddenly I see my fate as a bitter, gray-headed 30 year old.
Plus, who knew I was so vain about my looks? I sure didn't think I was.
But really, I'm sure I'll be fine, I'll get okay with it, I'll start stocking-piling hairdye, and probably even laugh about this. But I'm probably canceling tonight's planned excursion to buy a bathing suit. I can only handle so much trama in one day.
Plus, who knew I was so vain about my looks? I sure didn't think I was.
But really, I'm sure I'll be fine, I'll get okay with it, I'll start stocking-piling hairdye, and probably even laugh about this. But I'm probably canceling tonight's planned excursion to buy a bathing suit. I can only handle so much trama in one day.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Ok, so you wouldn't think this would work, but it does.
Chadwick is offering two specials right now. One is that you get a make-up bag and vanity case for $1.49 with the purchase of any three items.
The other is that you get a free rolling luggage with any purchase.
Here's the great part. Those three items, count as your three items for the first special offer. And the fact that you are making a purchase of $1.49 (for the first offer) makes you eligible for the second offer.
It shouldn't work, but it does. I have ordered 10, JR ordered 1, and several people here at work have ordered them.
Here are the directions-
Ok. So first got to www.chadwicks.com
Register, by clicking on the 'register/login' icon on the top middle part of your screen. Then in the space 'Order from Catalog' on the left of your screen type this product number 2154-15358-343 This will take you to a weird instructional page, scroll halfway down the page to wear it says 'continue'. Click that.
Then you will be at a page with the first special offer. Disregard what it says about needing to buy three items. You don't. Go to 'size'. Click '$1.49', the only option. Then click 'Add to basket'. In the top right hand part of the screen you will see that you have one item in your basket. You can order more than one if you would like. In fact I would recommend it, because you will be paying $4.99 S&H if you order one, but you will still only be paying $4.99 S&H if you order ten.
Now go back to 'Order from Catalog'. This time type in product number 2154-15357-0343 Click on size, choose $0, the only option.
'Add to Basket'.
Once you have as many as you would like (keep in mind that you must order as many of the second item as you have of the first item, i.e. three sets of the make-up and vanity cases and three of the wheeled luggage) go to 'Checkout' in the top right part of the screen, under the number of items in your basket.
The instructions are pretty self-explanatory form there. I would recommend printing your confirmation page.
Chadwick is offering two specials right now. One is that you get a make-up bag and vanity case for $1.49 with the purchase of any three items.
The other is that you get a free rolling luggage with any purchase.
Here's the great part. Those three items, count as your three items for the first special offer. And the fact that you are making a purchase of $1.49 (for the first offer) makes you eligible for the second offer.
It shouldn't work, but it does. I have ordered 10, JR ordered 1, and several people here at work have ordered them.
Here are the directions-
Ok. So first got to www.chadwicks.com
Register, by clicking on the 'register/login' icon on the top middle part of your screen. Then in the space 'Order from Catalog' on the left of your screen type this product number 2154-15358-343 This will take you to a weird instructional page, scroll halfway down the page to wear it says 'continue'. Click that.
Then you will be at a page with the first special offer. Disregard what it says about needing to buy three items. You don't. Go to 'size'. Click '$1.49', the only option. Then click 'Add to basket'. In the top right hand part of the screen you will see that you have one item in your basket. You can order more than one if you would like. In fact I would recommend it, because you will be paying $4.99 S&H if you order one, but you will still only be paying $4.99 S&H if you order ten.
Now go back to 'Order from Catalog'. This time type in product number 2154-15357-0343 Click on size, choose $0, the only option.
'Add to Basket'.
Once you have as many as you would like (keep in mind that you must order as many of the second item as you have of the first item, i.e. three sets of the make-up and vanity cases and three of the wheeled luggage) go to 'Checkout' in the top right part of the screen, under the number of items in your basket.
The instructions are pretty self-explanatory form there. I would recommend printing your confirmation page.
Friday, September 10, 2004
Last night I was talking to an old buddy of mine, (actually an ex-boyfriend to be technically precise) John, whom I hadn't seen in like two years. We were talking about the difference between our lives then and now, and I thought it was interesting that we both came to the same conclusion about life. A few years back, we were both in a place where we were trying to strip life down to it's bare essentials and really find it's inherent meaning. In the time since then we both came to see that life has no intrinsic value other than it's potenial. A meaningful life is one in which you do meaningful things. In short, life has no meaning except what we invest into it.
Man Gets 6 Months for Swinging Alligator
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A man who swung an alligator at his girlfriend during an argument was sentenced to six months in jail.
David Havenner, 41, of Port Orange, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery and possession of an alligator, said Linda Pruitt, spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office. He changed his earlier plea of not guilty, she said Wednesday. He was sentenced to six month in jail with 48 days credit for time served during the Sept. 1 hearing, according to court records.
Sheriff's officials said Havenner was keeping the 3-foot gator in his bathtub and swung it at his girlfriend, Nancy Monico, 39, during an argument on July 16.
Monico told investigators that Havenner beat her with his fists, then grabbed the gator and swung it at her as she tried to escape. The gator struck Monico at least once, after which time Havenner threw empty beer bottles at her and then kicked her out of their mobile home, she told investigators.
Havenner told investigators that Monico bit his hand because she was upset that they had run out of alcohol.
The alligator was later released into the St. Johns River, wildlife commission officials said.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A man who swung an alligator at his girlfriend during an argument was sentenced to six months in jail.
David Havenner, 41, of Port Orange, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery and possession of an alligator, said Linda Pruitt, spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office. He changed his earlier plea of not guilty, she said Wednesday. He was sentenced to six month in jail with 48 days credit for time served during the Sept. 1 hearing, according to court records.
Sheriff's officials said Havenner was keeping the 3-foot gator in his bathtub and swung it at his girlfriend, Nancy Monico, 39, during an argument on July 16.
Monico told investigators that Havenner beat her with his fists, then grabbed the gator and swung it at her as she tried to escape. The gator struck Monico at least once, after which time Havenner threw empty beer bottles at her and then kicked her out of their mobile home, she told investigators.
Havenner told investigators that Monico bit his hand because she was upset that they had run out of alcohol.
The alligator was later released into the St. Johns River, wildlife commission officials said.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
So, for all of my dear friends who took the time to take my little quiz, here are the answers.
1. What is my real hair color?
Blondish
Red with Highlights
Brown with Highlights
I don't remember
Kinda Green, oddly enough
Correct answer - Brown with highlights, I think. I don't really remember. I was just hoping some of you remembered.
2. "Geneva" is the name of my -
Coffee Maker
Stapler
Car
Stuffed Bear
Favorite Saucepan
Correct answer - Coffee Maker. For the record, my stapler is Jorge, my Car is Gwennie, my bear is Walt, and my favorite saucepan is Belle.
3. Mine and JR's first kiss was -
Mutual, we both leaned in
A complete surprise to me
A complete surprise to him
Something I had to ask him for
Hasn't happen yet
Correct answer - something I had to ask him for. Stop laughing. I was worried he'd never get around to it.
4. Right now I'm in the middle of reading how many books?
One. I'm very single minded
Two, both poetry
Two, one novel, one historical
Sixteen
Three, two poetry, one Robert Fulghum
Correct answer - Three. At the time.
5. Next sumer I intend to go to -
Thailand
Russia
Egypt
Brazil
Italy
Correct answer - Italy. But I intend to go to all of those places in following summers.
6. My toothpaste is
Licorice flavored
Extra Whitening
I don't know, I never look, it might not be toothpast for all I know
I use a twig
Spearmint
Correct answer - Licorice, believe it or not. It's tasty. Stop laughing.
7. "Dude" is the name of my
Cat
Grandmother
Therapist
Roomate
First Novel
Correct answer - Grandmother. It's a long story, but that's her name. For the record, my cat is Maximus, I have no therapist, my roommates are Patty, Martin and Camila, and I haven't written a novel. Yet.
8. Today at lunch I uttered the words -
"....and biggie size it, please."
"Put it on my tab."
"And how long has the pizza been sitting out?"
"Warm Tomato!"
"Leave me alone, I'm on my lunch!"
Correct answer - "Warm Tomato". JR always takes the tomato and the pickle out of his burgers and I love to eat them. But I've actually said all these things on various lunches.
9. Which of the following is not in my hermit crabs dry tank?
A plastic tree
A beta in a pagoda
A sailboat
A castle
An elephant
Correct answer - Sailboat. My hermit crabs have no sailboat. Poor crabs.
10. I would most like to -
Climb Mt Everest
Write a novel
Get my Ph.D
Build a house
Run a marathon
Correct answer - Build a house. I would like to write novel, but that's after the house. I wouldn't mind getting my Ph.D either. Climbing Everest would be fun, I actually didn't really think about it. I wonder if I could.............
1. What is my real hair color?
Blondish
Red with Highlights
Brown with Highlights
I don't remember
Kinda Green, oddly enough
Correct answer - Brown with highlights, I think. I don't really remember. I was just hoping some of you remembered.
2. "Geneva" is the name of my -
Coffee Maker
Stapler
Car
Stuffed Bear
Favorite Saucepan
Correct answer - Coffee Maker. For the record, my stapler is Jorge, my Car is Gwennie, my bear is Walt, and my favorite saucepan is Belle.
3. Mine and JR's first kiss was -
Mutual, we both leaned in
A complete surprise to me
A complete surprise to him
Something I had to ask him for
Hasn't happen yet
Correct answer - something I had to ask him for. Stop laughing. I was worried he'd never get around to it.
4. Right now I'm in the middle of reading how many books?
One. I'm very single minded
Two, both poetry
Two, one novel, one historical
Sixteen
Three, two poetry, one Robert Fulghum
Correct answer - Three. At the time.
5. Next sumer I intend to go to -
Thailand
Russia
Egypt
Brazil
Italy
Correct answer - Italy. But I intend to go to all of those places in following summers.
6. My toothpaste is
Licorice flavored
Extra Whitening
I don't know, I never look, it might not be toothpast for all I know
I use a twig
Spearmint
Correct answer - Licorice, believe it or not. It's tasty. Stop laughing.
7. "Dude" is the name of my
Cat
Grandmother
Therapist
Roomate
First Novel
Correct answer - Grandmother. It's a long story, but that's her name. For the record, my cat is Maximus, I have no therapist, my roommates are Patty, Martin and Camila, and I haven't written a novel. Yet.
8. Today at lunch I uttered the words -
"....and biggie size it, please."
"Put it on my tab."
"And how long has the pizza been sitting out?"
"Warm Tomato!"
"Leave me alone, I'm on my lunch!"
Correct answer - "Warm Tomato". JR always takes the tomato and the pickle out of his burgers and I love to eat them. But I've actually said all these things on various lunches.
9. Which of the following is not in my hermit crabs dry tank?
A plastic tree
A beta in a pagoda
A sailboat
A castle
An elephant
Correct answer - Sailboat. My hermit crabs have no sailboat. Poor crabs.
10. I would most like to -
Climb Mt Everest
Write a novel
Get my Ph.D
Build a house
Run a marathon
Correct answer - Build a house. I would like to write novel, but that's after the house. I wouldn't mind getting my Ph.D either. Climbing Everest would be fun, I actually didn't really think about it. I wonder if I could.............
So it gets kinda boring here in the lobby, and quite lonely. So, a couple of months ago, I bought Caspian, a aquamarine beta. He is the most emotionally needy fish I have ever owned. If he feels he isn't getting enough attention, he resorts to many devices. Such as blowing bubbles, splashing at the surface, and my favorite, the stare-down. As soon as you lean over, run your finger across the side of the tank or talk to him, he calms right down. He's like this little diva in a tank. But when he yawns, he's the cutest thing you've ever seen.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
So I've been housesitting for Stacey all Labor Day weekend. Which I like. I like her cats, I like her big screen, and I like her 20 bucks a night. But boy was it good to be home last night. To curl up in my own bed, with a mosaic of leaf shadows coming through the window, draping the wall, me, the bed and the floor. My own cat curling up on my stomach, begging for a head scratch. The rasping sounds of my hermit crabs climbing the castle in their dry tank. My own white owl swooping noiselessly past my window and my own weird cricket with the little machine-gun blast of chirping, followed by silence. I wonder how long crickets live. I'm going to miss that one.
Friday, September 03, 2004
Borrowing heavily from a collection by Ronald B. Shwartz, here is my personal collection of quotes about God.
The God I believe in is not so fragile that you hurt Him by being angry at Him, or so petty that He will hold it against you from being upset with Him.
-Rabbi Harold S. Kushner
Although I can't reccomend staying in that state for long. It does something to your soul.
It's an interesting view of atheism, as a sort of crutch for those who can't stand the reality of God.
-Tom Stoppard
I wonder if an atheist would take as much offense to this statement as a believer does when it's directed at him? I wouldn't go around saying such things; I don't think it befits my faith to offend so deliberately. But it's an interesting perspective, none the less.
A God who let us prove his existence would be an idol.
-Dietrich Bonhoffer, No Rusty Swords, 1965
That God has managed to survive the inanities of the religions that do Him honor is truly miraculous proof of His existence.
-Ben Hecht
Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is quite staggering.
-R. Buckminster Fuller, quoted in Omni, April 1980
Experience has repeatedly confirmed that well-known maxim of [Francis] Bacon's that "a little philosophy inclineth a man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion." At the same time, when Bacon penned that sage epigram ...... he forgot to add that the God to whom depth in philosophy brings back men's minds is far from being the same from whom a little philosophy estranges them.
-George Santayana
The believer in God must explain one thing, the existence of suffering; the non-believer, however, must explain the existence of everything else.
-Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin, The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaim, 1981
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't take notice.
-Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982
A baby is God's opinion that world should go on.
-Carl Sandburg, quoted in the Kansas City Star, Feb. 20, 1977
Similarly.....
Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.
-Rabindranath Tagore
If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.
-Woody Allen
God loves you and I'm trying.
-Bumper Sticker
We use religion like a trolley-car -we ride on it only when it is going our way.
-Source Unknown
Religion isn't yours firsthand until you doubt it right down to the ground.
-Francis B. Sayre, Dean, National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., quoted in Life, April 2, 1965
The church is a whore, but she's our mother.
-Daniel and Philip Berrigan
God knew from all eternity that I was going to be Pope. You thing he would have made me more photogenic.
-Pope John XXIII
A priest friend of mine has cautioned me away from the standard God of our childhoods, who loves you and guides you and then, if you are bad, roasts you: God as high school principal in a gray suit who never remembered your name but is always leafing unhappily through your files. If this is your God, maybe you need to blend in the influence of someone who is ever so slightly more amused by you, someone less anal. Mr. Rogers will work.
-Anne Lamott
I find this quote very ironic, since when I was little, I thought Mr. Rogers was God. I thought the 23-1/2 hours he wasn't on TV, he was running the universe. I would never watch anytime but him, and I watched him religiously. And the priest is right, it is a rather healthy view of God, that he would take out a half an hour a day to explain how the postal system works or play with puppets or feed the fish or sing to a little kid (who sang right back at the TV).
I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended for us to forgo their use.
-Galileo Galilei
How important the concept of God is, and how instead of valuing what it has given us, we with light hearts spurn it because of absurdities that have been attached to it.
Leo Tolstoy, Last Diaries, 1960
I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest esistence, is attributed to God's will, but as humans beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God desends the scale of responsibility at a commensurate speed.
-Maya Angelou, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, 1969
Preah it, Maya.
When you knock, ask to see God - none of the servants.
-Henry David Thoreau
I have always believed in God, though I have my quarrels with Him. In the Jewish tradition, one may say no to God if it is on behalf of other people.
-Elie Wiesel
But before we take on the privileges of the prophets, lets think twice about the responsibilities they had.
Those who never rebelled against God or at some point in their lives shaken their fists in the face of heaven, have never encountered God at all.
-Catherine Marshall, Christy, 1967
He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.
-Saint Augustine
It is good enough to talk of God while we are sitting here after a nice breakfast and looking forward to a nicer luncheon, but how am I to talk of God to the millions who have to go without two meals a day? To them God can only appear as bread and butter.
-Mahatma Gandhi
His understanding of some things absolutely blows my mind.
If Jesus were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of him.
-Thomas Carlyle
I don't know how God managed it. I'm having a terrible time.
-John Huston, film producer, while making The Bible
And in the catagory of people that, in my humble opinion, God shivers when they affiliate themselves with Him..............
I can't understand how all this can happen. It's enough to make one lose one's faith in God!
-Eva Braun, writing to a friend from Hitler's bunker during the seige and bombing of Berlin in April 1945.
Herein we see God's great mercy.... for the slaughter was in all 5,517, but ten of the enemy's side were slain to one of ours.
-Nehemiah Wallington
The God I believe in is not so fragile that you hurt Him by being angry at Him, or so petty that He will hold it against you from being upset with Him.
-Rabbi Harold S. Kushner
Although I can't reccomend staying in that state for long. It does something to your soul.
It's an interesting view of atheism, as a sort of crutch for those who can't stand the reality of God.
-Tom Stoppard
I wonder if an atheist would take as much offense to this statement as a believer does when it's directed at him? I wouldn't go around saying such things; I don't think it befits my faith to offend so deliberately. But it's an interesting perspective, none the less.
A God who let us prove his existence would be an idol.
-Dietrich Bonhoffer, No Rusty Swords, 1965
That God has managed to survive the inanities of the religions that do Him honor is truly miraculous proof of His existence.
-Ben Hecht
Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is quite staggering.
-R. Buckminster Fuller, quoted in Omni, April 1980
Experience has repeatedly confirmed that well-known maxim of [Francis] Bacon's that "a little philosophy inclineth a man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion." At the same time, when Bacon penned that sage epigram ...... he forgot to add that the God to whom depth in philosophy brings back men's minds is far from being the same from whom a little philosophy estranges them.
-George Santayana
The believer in God must explain one thing, the existence of suffering; the non-believer, however, must explain the existence of everything else.
-Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin, The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaim, 1981
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't take notice.
-Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982
A baby is God's opinion that world should go on.
-Carl Sandburg, quoted in the Kansas City Star, Feb. 20, 1977
Similarly.....
Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.
-Rabindranath Tagore
If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.
-Woody Allen
God loves you and I'm trying.
-Bumper Sticker
We use religion like a trolley-car -we ride on it only when it is going our way.
-Source Unknown
Religion isn't yours firsthand until you doubt it right down to the ground.
-Francis B. Sayre, Dean, National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., quoted in Life, April 2, 1965
The church is a whore, but she's our mother.
-Daniel and Philip Berrigan
God knew from all eternity that I was going to be Pope. You thing he would have made me more photogenic.
-Pope John XXIII
A priest friend of mine has cautioned me away from the standard God of our childhoods, who loves you and guides you and then, if you are bad, roasts you: God as high school principal in a gray suit who never remembered your name but is always leafing unhappily through your files. If this is your God, maybe you need to blend in the influence of someone who is ever so slightly more amused by you, someone less anal. Mr. Rogers will work.
-Anne Lamott
I find this quote very ironic, since when I was little, I thought Mr. Rogers was God. I thought the 23-1/2 hours he wasn't on TV, he was running the universe. I would never watch anytime but him, and I watched him religiously. And the priest is right, it is a rather healthy view of God, that he would take out a half an hour a day to explain how the postal system works or play with puppets or feed the fish or sing to a little kid (who sang right back at the TV).
I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended for us to forgo their use.
-Galileo Galilei
How important the concept of God is, and how instead of valuing what it has given us, we with light hearts spurn it because of absurdities that have been attached to it.
Leo Tolstoy, Last Diaries, 1960
I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest esistence, is attributed to God's will, but as humans beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God desends the scale of responsibility at a commensurate speed.
-Maya Angelou, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, 1969
Preah it, Maya.
When you knock, ask to see God - none of the servants.
-Henry David Thoreau
I have always believed in God, though I have my quarrels with Him. In the Jewish tradition, one may say no to God if it is on behalf of other people.
-Elie Wiesel
But before we take on the privileges of the prophets, lets think twice about the responsibilities they had.
Those who never rebelled against God or at some point in their lives shaken their fists in the face of heaven, have never encountered God at all.
-Catherine Marshall, Christy, 1967
He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.
-Saint Augustine
It is good enough to talk of God while we are sitting here after a nice breakfast and looking forward to a nicer luncheon, but how am I to talk of God to the millions who have to go without two meals a day? To them God can only appear as bread and butter.
-Mahatma Gandhi
His understanding of some things absolutely blows my mind.
If Jesus were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of him.
-Thomas Carlyle
I don't know how God managed it. I'm having a terrible time.
-John Huston, film producer, while making The Bible
And in the catagory of people that, in my humble opinion, God shivers when they affiliate themselves with Him..............
I can't understand how all this can happen. It's enough to make one lose one's faith in God!
-Eva Braun, writing to a friend from Hitler's bunker during the seige and bombing of Berlin in April 1945.
Herein we see God's great mercy.... for the slaughter was in all 5,517, but ten of the enemy's side were slain to one of ours.
-Nehemiah Wallington
Thursday, September 02, 2004
How evil are you?
My life is rated NC-17.
What is your life rated?
Hmmmmmm, I'm not really sure how both of these can be acurate. I guess I'm the defender of all that is good and true, in a slasher pic. Actually, if you knew my family growing up, that's not to far off.
The questions on the Rating test, well, they ask about things that I have to cop to having done at some point in my life, but in truth, my life now is soooooooo PG. I work, I volunteer with kids at my church, I hang out with my boyfriend. Ok, case in point, I threw a bachlorette party for Christy we had a great time and I had a TON of booze left over. We just sat around and giggled like schoolgirls.
But at times in my life, especially when I was younger, there were definatly some NC-17 scences. Ironically, my life until I was 17 was the most 'NC-17'. I really wish there had been some pimplely usher in a tacky bow tie to say, "I'm sorry, but you are too young to see or live in this crap." But hey, I survived, and now I thrive.
I'm so much happier now.
http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=560000
Check out this movie trailer.
I love the line in it
"If you believe in love at first sight,
you never stop looking".
That sort of love is like a drug and can't sustain itself.
Check out this movie trailer.
I love the line in it
"If you believe in love at first sight,
you never stop looking".
That sort of love is like a drug and can't sustain itself.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
I have decided, for no good reason other than I think it's vaguely interesting, to repost from an old blog, my postings during the firestorm of Sept. '03. I have, for your reading pleasure, put them in order to be read top to bottom.
Please note, this is a year-old reprint, not currently happening.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
# posted by Sarah @ 7:32 AM
So, greetings from smoke central. For those of you who don't live in the San Diego area, a brush fire, aided and abeted by strong winds, is ripping through east county. Last night JR and I came out of the homecoming afterparty at our alma mater to find a thin layer of ash falling. But since we couldn't smell smoke yet, no panic. This morning at about 6 AM, I woke up hacking on smoke blowing in my window. The road is closed off about two blocks from my apartment. The Rodeo, about a block away is full of horses belonging to the people forced to evacuate. The sky is orange and gray. The ash is still falling like innocent snow. The winds are the worst part, dragging the ash across the town. The area affected is a mostly rural area, and the hardest part is getting out all the livestock. Everyone is pitching in, bringing horse trailers and halters to help. Two people are confirmed dead. The santa ana winds (to the non-locals, santa ana winds are a local weather type. They are a dry wind that comes ripping out of the desert. The are gusty and unpredictable and they are a fireman's nightmare) are giving the fire wings. It is completely out of control and heading our way. We have all packed bags in case of evacuation, but I don't think we will need them. At least I hope not. But to be prepared, we have figured out who is carrying each cat and where we will meet if separated.
# posted by Sarah @ 7:00 PM
Well gang, this morning I gave the first update on the raging wildfires tearing through San Diego. It's gotton worse. I couldn't handle the rolling smoke at my apartment so I left. Last I heard, they evacuated the area but my apartment building is still standing last time I heard. I left with JR for my friend Bunny's house, but during dinner we were called to help JR's family evacuate. The firewall is creeping toward the side of their house. The ash and smoke have driven people to wear masks. Today driving across town was eerie. I was looking at houses backdropped by smoke and flame, but the windows were reflecting the last patch of blue sky. I saw a man wearing a face mask and smoking a cigarette. And everywhere ash, beautiful, stifling ash is falling. It feels like we are living in an ashtray. With the clouds of smoke, it seems it should be cold, but it's oppressively hot and dry. My nose feels like it is on fire. At least I know that my cat is being safetly watched by a friend and I took all the important stuff from my apartment this morning. My great grandmother's jewelry box, a picture of my little sister, a letter my brother wrote me in high school. My car registration (lets hope my wretched ugly car burns) and all six of my beloved stuffed animals. My roommates left to help my friend/coworkers evacuate this morning. They will spend the night at my wharehouse we work at, as long as that remains out of the path of the fire. Our other friends are with my roommates, who are hoping to get the all clear to return to our apartment. Otherwise they will spend the night at church. I was planning on staying at Bunnys tonight, but for the time being I need to stay with JR and his family. I'm on his computer now, and he is packing up his stuff. I'm happy (in the midst of all this) to note that he packed the pictures of us and the blankets I gave him on his birthday. In a time like this, you can surprise yourself with whats important. We don't know where we will be in the morning, but God was with the men (who's names I can't begin to know how to spell) in the fiery furnace and I feel His presence very strongly. Last I heard, we've lost hunderds of building and 11 people. Unfortuantly that was several hours ago and the numbers are all going up. We are going up to the roof now to wet it down and see how much more time we have. The firewall is about twenty feet but thats coming downhill and will climb when it hits the valley here and the trees. We might have hours or minutes. Sorry to leave you all like this, but this won't be my last entry, I know.
JR's house lit by the approaching fire.
Please note, this is a year-old reprint, not currently happening.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
# posted by Sarah @ 7:32 AM
So, greetings from smoke central. For those of you who don't live in the San Diego area, a brush fire, aided and abeted by strong winds, is ripping through east county. Last night JR and I came out of the homecoming afterparty at our alma mater to find a thin layer of ash falling. But since we couldn't smell smoke yet, no panic. This morning at about 6 AM, I woke up hacking on smoke blowing in my window. The road is closed off about two blocks from my apartment. The Rodeo, about a block away is full of horses belonging to the people forced to evacuate. The sky is orange and gray. The ash is still falling like innocent snow. The winds are the worst part, dragging the ash across the town. The area affected is a mostly rural area, and the hardest part is getting out all the livestock. Everyone is pitching in, bringing horse trailers and halters to help. Two people are confirmed dead. The santa ana winds (to the non-locals, santa ana winds are a local weather type. They are a dry wind that comes ripping out of the desert. The are gusty and unpredictable and they are a fireman's nightmare) are giving the fire wings. It is completely out of control and heading our way. We have all packed bags in case of evacuation, but I don't think we will need them. At least I hope not. But to be prepared, we have figured out who is carrying each cat and where we will meet if separated.
# posted by Sarah @ 7:00 PM
Well gang, this morning I gave the first update on the raging wildfires tearing through San Diego. It's gotton worse. I couldn't handle the rolling smoke at my apartment so I left. Last I heard, they evacuated the area but my apartment building is still standing last time I heard. I left with JR for my friend Bunny's house, but during dinner we were called to help JR's family evacuate. The firewall is creeping toward the side of their house. The ash and smoke have driven people to wear masks. Today driving across town was eerie. I was looking at houses backdropped by smoke and flame, but the windows were reflecting the last patch of blue sky. I saw a man wearing a face mask and smoking a cigarette. And everywhere ash, beautiful, stifling ash is falling. It feels like we are living in an ashtray. With the clouds of smoke, it seems it should be cold, but it's oppressively hot and dry. My nose feels like it is on fire. At least I know that my cat is being safetly watched by a friend and I took all the important stuff from my apartment this morning. My great grandmother's jewelry box, a picture of my little sister, a letter my brother wrote me in high school. My car registration (lets hope my wretched ugly car burns) and all six of my beloved stuffed animals. My roommates left to help my friend/coworkers evacuate this morning. They will spend the night at my wharehouse we work at, as long as that remains out of the path of the fire. Our other friends are with my roommates, who are hoping to get the all clear to return to our apartment. Otherwise they will spend the night at church. I was planning on staying at Bunnys tonight, but for the time being I need to stay with JR and his family. I'm on his computer now, and he is packing up his stuff. I'm happy (in the midst of all this) to note that he packed the pictures of us and the blankets I gave him on his birthday. In a time like this, you can surprise yourself with whats important. We don't know where we will be in the morning, but God was with the men (who's names I can't begin to know how to spell) in the fiery furnace and I feel His presence very strongly. Last I heard, we've lost hunderds of building and 11 people. Unfortuantly that was several hours ago and the numbers are all going up. We are going up to the roof now to wet it down and see how much more time we have. The firewall is about twenty feet but thats coming downhill and will climb when it hits the valley here and the trees. We might have hours or minutes. Sorry to leave you all like this, but this won't be my last entry, I know.
JR's house lit by the approaching fire.
Monday, October 27, 2003
# posted by Sarah @ 11:29 AM
Out of the frying pan and into the fire............... The good news is that JR's family didn't have to evacuate as of yet. The fire went south and the winds died down over the night. But they have begun again and the fire to the south is threating to merge with the one to the east of us and the winds are blowing southwest. This puts JR's, and now Bunnys house, where I have returned, at serious risk. The sky is soooooooooo orange and the ash is piling up. If the fires merge and shift west, it will be heading into the most densely populated area yet. So please pray that the winds stay calm, because if they do, the fires might burn themselves out more quickly. JR and I just ran to the store for Bunny and the shelves were bare of bread and bottled water. Even if they can contain the fires, it will be days before they can't put them out, and as long as they are burning, there remains the danger of the wind whipping them up and out of control again. This morning we heard that firefighters from Colorado are on their way here, which is great news because we already have every available fireman and forestry ranger on the lines and they need help desparately. So pray that they come quickly. Everyone, firemen and civilains alike, are exhausted, and this is looking like it could go on for days.
The fire reaches El Cajon Valley.
# posted by Sarah @ 7:13 PM
Good news! The winds, thank God, have stilled. The fire that came down from the north and that was starting to come west, has headed east, into a very sparsely populated area. The one to the south, no long fueled by the winds, is slowing down and also heading east. This is truely a miracle, because Santa Ana winds always last for several days, and these started just Sat night. My friends evacuated, but the men, and my roomie Bob, snuck back and spent the night saving their houses. Sean and Carol lost part of their fence, but they and the Carlsons still have their homes, thanks to the guys. And God. JR's house and Bunny's house are safe for the time being, as long as the winds are still. Please pray. The fires are no longer completely out of control, but it will take days to put them out, and the danger of the winds pulling them out of control again will continue until they are out.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
# posted by Sarah @ 11:04 AM
I got to spend the night in my own bed! What a feeling! Yesterday morning that wasn't looking likely because the fire sprang up a block away, but was quickly pushed back again. Mostly it is moving away from us. The winds are going the opposite way that they usually would this time of year, which is truely a miracle. I am at my work, with the power back up and a lot of the smoke dissapating. I tried to come in yesterday, but I could only handle it for a couple of hours because the smoke was to thick for me to breathe. Onlya few of my friends lost their homes, and as of yet no one I know is dead. Unfortunately, the authorities fully expect to find many, many more than the already confirmed 13 dead. And the fire is not stopping, it's just moving away. Please pray it continues moving away until it can be contained. The last report has 455,000 acres burned, 1,071 homes burned, 32,000 still without power (think no air conditioning or air purifiers for people with breathing conditions, no news to know where the fire is, etc.) and the fire is still moving.
# posted by Sarah @ 11:50 AM
I can see a patch of almost blue sky! It feels like it's been weeks since I've seen that.
# posted by Sarah @ 11:29 AM
Out of the frying pan and into the fire............... The good news is that JR's family didn't have to evacuate as of yet. The fire went south and the winds died down over the night. But they have begun again and the fire to the south is threating to merge with the one to the east of us and the winds are blowing southwest. This puts JR's, and now Bunnys house, where I have returned, at serious risk. The sky is soooooooooo orange and the ash is piling up. If the fires merge and shift west, it will be heading into the most densely populated area yet. So please pray that the winds stay calm, because if they do, the fires might burn themselves out more quickly. JR and I just ran to the store for Bunny and the shelves were bare of bread and bottled water. Even if they can contain the fires, it will be days before they can't put them out, and as long as they are burning, there remains the danger of the wind whipping them up and out of control again. This morning we heard that firefighters from Colorado are on their way here, which is great news because we already have every available fireman and forestry ranger on the lines and they need help desparately. So pray that they come quickly. Everyone, firemen and civilains alike, are exhausted, and this is looking like it could go on for days.
The fire reaches El Cajon Valley.
# posted by Sarah @ 7:13 PM
Good news! The winds, thank God, have stilled. The fire that came down from the north and that was starting to come west, has headed east, into a very sparsely populated area. The one to the south, no long fueled by the winds, is slowing down and also heading east. This is truely a miracle, because Santa Ana winds always last for several days, and these started just Sat night. My friends evacuated, but the men, and my roomie Bob, snuck back and spent the night saving their houses. Sean and Carol lost part of their fence, but they and the Carlsons still have their homes, thanks to the guys. And God. JR's house and Bunny's house are safe for the time being, as long as the winds are still. Please pray. The fires are no longer completely out of control, but it will take days to put them out, and the danger of the winds pulling them out of control again will continue until they are out.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
# posted by Sarah @ 11:04 AM
I got to spend the night in my own bed! What a feeling! Yesterday morning that wasn't looking likely because the fire sprang up a block away, but was quickly pushed back again. Mostly it is moving away from us. The winds are going the opposite way that they usually would this time of year, which is truely a miracle. I am at my work, with the power back up and a lot of the smoke dissapating. I tried to come in yesterday, but I could only handle it for a couple of hours because the smoke was to thick for me to breathe. Onlya few of my friends lost their homes, and as of yet no one I know is dead. Unfortunately, the authorities fully expect to find many, many more than the already confirmed 13 dead. And the fire is not stopping, it's just moving away. Please pray it continues moving away until it can be contained. The last report has 455,000 acres burned, 1,071 homes burned, 32,000 still without power (think no air conditioning or air purifiers for people with breathing conditions, no news to know where the fire is, etc.) and the fire is still moving.
# posted by Sarah @ 11:50 AM
I can see a patch of almost blue sky! It feels like it's been weeks since I've seen that.
I learned how to post pictures on my blog today (Thanks Nick and Jack!) so now my profile has a picture. I feel cool. I know how to do something that I didn't know yesterday.