when I want a little pick-me-up...

I'll watch this.

new passion: video ichat

What do you do when you are bored and want to see a friend who's far away? What do you do when your friend Chris is in Buenos Aires and you haven't seen his smiling face in weeks? What if Sweet Blond moved to Ireland in 2000 and never looked back*?

Why, call him on your iChat video! This works best if it's very late at night, chatters have had a drink or two, and everyone is giddy and strange. Note: try not to talk about anything of substance.

*slight exaggeration

intense TV moments

Sometimes watching The Wire is like this.

Sometimes it's like this.

A plan for the timid

Thank the lord once again for Found magazine. I thought I'd post this handy find of the day from last week or so to help out those out there who might want to get some action but are not sure how to go about getting it.

Happy Xmas.

This is the first year I have spent Christmas without my parents, and it'll be the second Christmas morning I'll wake up without my sister. No, nothing sinister or heartbreaking happened to her--she just spent Christmas with her former girlfriend's family one year and came home a few days after to have an after-Christmas get-together with us.

My parents didn't feel like traveling away from their adopted Florida homeland. I didn't feel like going to their Florida home for the third time in three months only to turn around three days later. Julie didn't want to book air travel from Milwaukee when the Midwest has been erupting in snowstorms every few weeks. (She thought correctly on that one--Milwaukee is all snowy and wintry mixy right now, and many people's travel plans have screeched to a halt.)

I'm here in Athens with my beau and my friends. It's chilly, and it's quiet. Mary Beth just called and offered to bring me a delicious plate of food from her family's Christmas dinner. Sounds wonderful, as I've had just a teensy bit of food since my lunch earlier today. I'm going to take my new camera and the handy-dandy portable Scrabble game down to Flicker to visit the bartender boyf til he gets off work at midnight. Maybe we'll see Santa flying through the skies!!

It's certainly a nontraditional Christmas for me. Stranger than the year Julie and I were on a cruise with our parents? P'raps. That was 9 years ago. Or 10!! I'm old.
Guess it's time to bust all out on my own, right, y'all?

Ho, ho, ho!

I'm trying to force someone I know and love to get into the Christmas spirit. First I told him that I'd be home in Athens for the holidays, a warm body for him to cuddle by his side [in this 70 degree winter chill], a loving girlfriend to keep close as the holiday doldrums attempt to hit each and every one of us swiftly below the belt.

This news was not taken as excitedly as I'd wished. Hmmff.

Next plan? Get a Christmas tree! Decorate it while Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole make us filled with dreams of sugarplum fairies!

It just so happened that I bought the tree by myself. (See earlier post.) GrinchyBoyf (TM) did seem a bit disappointed when I told him I'd done so ("I thought we were going to do that together!") but expressed zero interest in decorating it with me. You see, the lad just doesn't celebrate Christmas in that cheesy way I do. I get overly excited and overwhelmed with countdowns and lights and icicles (Chris would have me call them by their collective name, "tinsel") and the sheer anticipation. Jim doesn't go for this. Not one ounce of it.

Today I ended up half-forcing him to "want" to help me put the lights on the tree. By the time he said he would and that he "wanted" to help, I rejected his offers. Hours later, we were both in our element: he relaxed before a show by watching the classic Christmas heartwarmer, Letters from Iwo Jima, whilst I decorated the tree in jean shorts in mid-December. Guess we came to a compromise after all.

Johari window

I'd forgotten I'd done this. It's kind of neat to set one of these up for yourself, especially if you're curious to know what others think of you as compared to what you think of yourself.

Or if you're just bored.

Well, looks like it's time for another Scrabble game before bed. I think I have a steady Scrabble partner until the day he beats me. Then will he decide the game's boring? Oh, no!!!

dirty, dirty toofpaste

Last night, I told my borderline live-in boyfriend that I'd bought new toothpaste but that I'd left said toothpaste out in a Walgreen's bag in the trunk of my car. "I don't want you to get it, I want to play Scrabble," he cried (and if I misquote, I still assert that the spirit of the statement is true, however opposed he is to my writing it here).

"Okay, I'll get it tomorrow morning, then. Just use what's left of that tube, then. There's some left."

Silence. I turned back around and he pointed at the trash can. Through words and actions I couldn't make sense of, Jim was indicating that I'd already thrown the sticky, crushed Colgate tube away. It now sat in the bathroom garbage can, surrounded by tissues, trying to camouflage itself behind a nest of hair I'd recently disentangled from my hairbrush.

"I'll get it out. It'll be fine."

He didn't like that option, but I went for it anyway. "I'll just unscrew the top here. There's no hair on it." (GROSS!) In the midst of unscrewing the top, plop! went the entire tube into the toilet. (GROSSER!)

Actual evidence:


Of course we ended up out at the car to fetch the new tubes. For some reason, Jim didn't want to use the Colgate even though there was still some left in the hairy, toilety tube.

9/3/07 - the most important thing you'll ever read

September 3, 2007 - Monday

(This may not be the most thrilling blog for people who aren't wanting to know a lot about me, but I wanted to have a place to preserve it. And this seemed a suitable venue!)

8:17 PM - the most important thing you’ll ever read Current mood: bouncy (Yes, I've finally broken down to do one of these!) 10 years ago... 1.) How old were you?: 17 2.) Where did you go to school?: I had just begun my senior year at Milton High School in Alpharetta. This wasn't the quarter of two independent studies, I don't think. That was the best. First period doing an "independent study" in lit mag with Mrs. Davis and last period hanging out on the front lawn with Meggan Harris, Andrea Erlich, and Chris Reardon during our respective TAG independent studies. (I was doing women's lit.) That was the best quarter ever. 3) Where did you work? I had eschewed what I'd considered the dorkiness of babysitting, favoring instead to hit up my bottomlessly-pocketed father so I could hang out at Starbucks with my friends. Truly, though, I had a hectic school and play schedule much of the time. I was a little social butterfly kitty when not doing school or clubs or theatre. 4) Where did you live?: The perfectly cultivated, beautiful but beastly monstrosity we call Windward. The older part. On the lake in the "weathered New England fishing village" called "The Spinnakers." If you don't know what I mean, I'm sorry. I'll break it down briefly: Mobil (yes, the gas company) owns several huge developments across the country, developments spanning several highway exits that encompass large geographical features around which the subdivisions develop. We had manmade Lake Windward, created in/from/on/around Alpharetta's wetlands. When I moved in in 1993, The Spinnakers was the second or third of 17 subdivisions within Windward. When I left it was one of 32. And counting. The place is HUGE. 5.) Where did you hang out?: Village Playhouses of Roswell (even if i wasn't doing a play, I'd hang out there a lot), Starbucks on Alpharetta Highway & Mansell Rd. (best/easiest place for me to meet up with Lieeish, Dallas, and Peyton since we didn't all go to the same h.s. or live nearby--plus we had an affection for long, aimless, hilarious conversation and had nowhere else to go), Dallas's house, Kate's house, Kim's, etc. 6.) Did you wear glasses?: I did once in awhile. I'd just gotten them in summer of '97 for driving. I wore them in that one senior picture where I have the baby blue tank top on and my hair is freshly dyed blond and I have pudgy not-quite-grown-up-face. It's cute but cheesy. 7.) Who was your best friend?: I had lots, as usual. Kate, Kim, Dallas, Lieeish, Peyton, Apy, Sarah C., Tapey, Proph, and many others I'm neglecting to even mention. 8.) How many tattoos did you have?: zero 9.) How many piercings did you have? I think by then I had two in each ear. Maybe three in one, two in the other. Maybe just two and two. Yes, as I recall, it was at least two and two. I'd begged my mom for years for that second hole and she'd said no, not a chance in hell. But suddenly one of her younger sisters up and got the second set o' holes poked and that made it okay!! 10) What car did you drive? Um, I think by then I was driving hte '96 black Nissan 200SX-SER that I drove on and off until a couple years ago when I sold it to a friend. 11.) Had you been to a real party? No. I was angelic. -----------5 years ago----------- 1.) How old were you?: 22. 2.) Where did you go to school? I had finished my undergrad at NYU in May of that year (2002) and was living in Lake Worth, FL (Palm Beach County) doing Literacy*AmeriCorps. 3.) Where did you work? Toussaint L'Ouverture High School for Arts & Social Justice. I was a tutor & literacy advocate there for L*AC (see above). 4.) Where did you live?: Lake Worth, FL 5.) Where did you hang out? At my apartment (Count de Hoernle Student Village..ew. In the ghettooooo...), at South Shore or Dave's, at the beach, in Delray, or at my parents' two hours north. I didn't really go out much. I was pooped a lot. I did enjoy driving on A1A. 6.) Did you wear glasses?: Occasionally. 7.) Who was your best friend?: Um, lots of people far and near. 8.) How many tattoos did you have?: Zero. 9.) How many piercings did you have?: Ears (3 in one, 2 in the other), belly (oh why?) and the never-placed tongue piercing (why part II?). 10.) What car did you drive? Same ol' black 1996 Nissan 200 SX-SER 11.) Had your heart broken?: yes, you could say that. 12.) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorce?: Single Sally, with no local prospects in sight and only an occasional faraway crush to keep me entertained once in awhile. ----------------2 years ago------------------- 1.) How old were you?: 25 2.) Where did you go to school?: I was beginning my second year of my M.Ed. in gifted & creative education at UGA. 3.) Where did you work?: I was the editorial assistant at the _Journal for Secondary Gifted Education_ and also a research assistant on a bibliotherapy project. And a babysitter. And a Ropes course facilitator. 4.) Where did you live? The Purple Pagoda!! 5.where did you hang out?: The Dub-P, the Manhattan, ERC, Hot Corner, 283, Caledonia, 40 Watt, anywhere with Siobhan or Tamara or Nancy or Bethany or Daniel or Denise or _______* (insert fun favorite Athens friends here...I'm tired of listing.) 6.) Did you wear glasses?: Yes, frequently. 7.) Who was your best friend? This feels like a silly question. All the former people combined plus the new Athens folks I'd acquired. 8.) How many tattoos did you have? Stop asking me this. The answer will always be no. 9.) How many piercings did you have? Same as at age 22. 10.) What car did you drive? I think this was the last time period during which I drove the black Nissan deluxe. 11.) Had your heart broken?: Not since the last time I'd mentioned. 12.) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorce?: Single Sally McGee. --------------------Today-------------------- 1.) How old are you?: 27 3.) Where do you work? Athens Regional Library (storyteller) Clarke County Dept of Ed (tutor) Babysitter 4.) Where do you live? Purple Pagoda (in Addieville!) 5.) Do you wear glasses?: I wish! Mine are missing a lens. Need new ones but need money first. 6.) Where do you hang out?: Flicker. Home. Parties if I can take it. Flicker some more. My room some more. Liz's before she up and LEFT ME. With Jim. Downtown. The usual. 7.) Do you talk to your old friends? Yes, but I've been beating myself up about how infrequent it's become. I guess others could call me more frequently, too, bu t still. I feel bad. 8.) Who is your best friend?: Don't make me choose just one! I've never liked that, even from a very early age. 9.) How many piercings do you have: why reverse the order of tattoos & piercings questions now? 10.) How many tattoos?: zero, fools! 11.) What kind of car do you have? Perma-borrowing my dad's 2003 Acura 2003 RSX. 12.) Has your heart been broken? Not since you last checked in on me. 13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorce?: Taken like a bandit in the night. Currently listening : Alligator By The National Release date: By 03 April, 2006 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Jerry

http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e278/jannygirljr/?action=view&current=jerryjanetprom.jpg

1/13/07 - googly oogly

January 13, 2007 - Saturday

12:05 AM - googly oogly I find it gloriously ridiculous how tingly and heartpounding it is to be around a certain boy I know, even months later, even when we see each other every day for hours a day. J.E.G. would say she feels very, very lucky if she thought "luck" was the right word. She would say fate had brought her to this if she thought it was fate. Instead, she's not sure it's either and just thinks she'll leave it at that. Grateful to be writing a sappy little something after months of wanting to and glad you've indulged her, Lovable Lulu Currently reading : This Book Will Save Your Life By A. M. Homes Release date: By 20 April, 2006 5 Comments - 4 Kudos

	Sarah Beth	awwwwwwwww there is nothing cheesy about this, it's making me as happy as a gooey dessert. Posted by Sarah Beth on January 13, 2007 - Saturday at 12:37 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Nina	what a wonderful feeling. i'm glad you were able to find that googly oogly. Posted by Nina on January 13, 2007 - Saturday at 1:36 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Joe	Excellent. Posted by Joe on January 14, 2007 - Sunday at 10:41 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Chris Hassiotis	I feel a little uncomfortable with you talking about Jesus this way. And it makes me wonder what Jim would think! Posted by Chris Hassiotis on January 15, 2007 - Monday at 1:18 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Christa

It's not "luck", Janet, it's Cancer rising and Jupiter in your 5th house aligned with Pluto. Obvs! Posted by Christa on January 15, 2007 - Monday at 5:27 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

9/26/06 -where is my mind?

September 26, 2006 - Tuesday

2:24 PM - where is my mind? No one here would argue with me when I say that I can be moderately spacey from time to time, but two events in the past four days have made me ask myself where the hell my mind is--hence the musical subject line. On Saturday, I went to the grocery store after working a half day at the Ropes course. Thrilled to be feeling energetic, I zipped around Kroger, filling my cart with yummy sustenance (la nourriture, as Kelli M. is wont to say) and ending up at the pharmacy to pick up some meds. I reached into my bag to fetch the much-needed, overly used American Express charge card when I had an unpleasant revelation: my credit card, as well as my credit card and my license, was not in my bag. I felt like a senile old lady as I asked the kind sir stocking (stalking?!) yogurt if he could assist me; he offered to put the entire cart in the gigantic behind-the-scenes dairy cooler while I drove home to retrieve my funds. Thirty minutes later, I got back. The embarrassment flushed my face pink for just a few seconds, to be honest--what really got me was how flighty I'd been. As I said, I can be absent-minded from time to time, but come on! And then today I went to transfer my cards from my purse to my pocket when I noticed that my debit card wasn't among them. "Well," thought I, "I'm sure that after I deposited my meager babysitting check last night I just put the card in my pocket instead of back into my purse." A couple hours later, I put my laptop on my lap (fancy that) and logged into my facebook account. Some stranger by the name of M. Duckworth (ha!) had messaged me to say that he had found an ATM card in the Bank of America machine downtown--was it mine? What is wrong with me? Someone needs a nap. Or a vacation. Or no more naps. Or no more vacations. Or something. A slap in the face? The job I went to apply for today was filled yesterday. My breakfast date was canceled but ended up being rescheduled for later. Tomorrow I have lunch with my former adviser/prof, Bonnie. Excitement. Then the Darfur meeting. Thursday and Friday mornings = babysitting cute children. Thursday daytime I'll be driving on I-85. Yessssss. This means I'll see a boy I like soon. Smiles all around. Friday Carly & Robbie will be in town to visit!! It's no big AmeriCorps reunion, but it's still really pleasing to this here lassie. Currently listening : Magnolia Electric Co. By Songs: Ohia Release date: By 04 March, 2003 5 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

	Crystal	I know how you feel. Somehow I managed to leave the house without my cell phone today! Fortunately, we have been reunited. Posted by Crystal on September 26, 2006 - Tuesday at 3:22 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Katie	Don't feel bad Bummy... I consider myself completely non-spacey but I do things like this ALL THE TIME! I blame it on being a teacher and being required to think of too many things at a time. Posted by Katie on September 26, 2006 - Tuesday at 7:40 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Joe	The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn't hard to master. Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster. I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three loved houses went. The art of losing isn't hard to master. I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster. --Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster. -Lizzy Bishop Posted by Joe on September 27, 2006 - Wednesday at 6:05 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Pete	Today I looked out my front door ... and my bike was gone! "How... it was locked ... what the hell?" Then I remembered: I'd ridden it to work yesterday, then forgot, and walked home. You think YOU'RE spacy? Posted by Pete on September 28, 2006 - Thursday at 8:37 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

jh

yesterday i put an 8 ft. ladder on my boss's truck rack. we drove about three miles until we reached a speed that forced the 30 lb. ladder into flight right into the path of an oncoming truckasaurus. you see, i forgot to tie the damn thing down. luckily only the ladder was demolished as it landed flatly in the truck's path and it ran over. i narrowly escaped a disaster as only seconds before the truck my boss's wife passed by us in her volvo. the volvo would have been fucked! lucky i only had to fork over $90 and by my boss a new ladder. (no, i wasn't stoned....i had NO excuse). Posted by jh on October 4, 2006 - Wednesday at 1:56 PM

9/21/06 - a response to Amy's chipper blog: how to tell you're NOT in the best mood

September 21, 2006 - Thursday

6:52 PM - a response to Amy's chipper blog: how to tell you're NOT in the best mood I shouldn't say I'm in a bad mood. I should say I'm "in a bad place," to use language that's been made somewhat dry and trite by the likes of Dr. Phil & Oprah. And the bad place is only in my head, and it's mainly just physical. And by that I mean: Ow. I can't think straight and my memory seems suddenly shot; and words are failing me left and right. It's really quite obnoxious. (Some of you may be breathing a sigh of relief.) So life is pretty good, it's just that I want it to pause for a bit so I can rest. But it keeps on going, dammit! 1. When your neighbor starts howling so that his dog will howl in unison. Usually, this is a charming trick performed by owner and dog, man and beast, that will make me laugh--granted, the process cannot last too long before it becomes stale. Today it began and immediately made me want to yell, "SHUT UP!" 2. Your BFF cousin Margie calls and you actually hit ignore. You've not talked to her in MONTHS! You have so much to say! Margie brightens your day and makes you smile and you love her and miss her and love her and miss her...and you are forced to hit "ignore incoming call" because you would just be no good on the phone right now. 3. Your boy-person calls from New York--from the NYU/Village neighborhood, in fact--and wants to know if you have any recommendations for a place for him to get a quick bite to eat, maybe one of your favorite places when you lived there. And you can't think of anywhere. You were there for four years of your life and ate hundreds of meals at restaurants on those very streets, and not one restaurant's name comes to mind. (Finally, Sammy's Noodle Shop occurs to you--whew. He hits up El Cantonero anyway, which is fine.) And as he passes the Strand, which you've told him about, he mentions it to you and you tear up with NYC homesickness. And when he asks if he can run in and buy you something you want, you instantly forget the name of every book you've ever wanted. (You probably wouldn't have asked for it anyway. But the memory's the issue here.) 4. You just spelled homesickness "homesickniss" and couldn't figure out what was wrong with it and got mad at the computer and not yourself for spelling it wrong. Time to try to fall asleep again. Let's hope the howling ritual has stopped for good. One hour until the night o' TV. Two hours 'til Grey's premiers!!! 3 Comments

		This Profile No Longer Exists [Remove]

	anna	I had a day like that on monday. I woke up at 7 am, sat straight up and said, "my car!" So I ran out front, and it wasn't there. -not stolen, although that happened to me too on the first week I moved to LA, but towed from the spot I am so cautious every freaking day for at least a year to move it from. I cursed and threw my keys around for a few minutes, then a loooong trip through rush hour with mike to an impound lot where I paid $177 to spring my baby. Then as I can feel the tears welling up and am physically shaking from anger, I see there is another ticket on my windshield for $65. Oh well, s'just money, right! Oh yeah, and the memory thing... I totally get that too. Hope you are feeling much better as soon as possible! Posted by anna on September 22, 2006 - Friday at 1:32 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Siobhan

Sweet baby! Don't put pressure on yourself to remember everything right this second while your head hurts. Rest assured in the fact that when your memory of all these places comes back to me, you can call me and rejoice in the fact that I will benefit! Doesn't that make you feel better? Plus, I can buy you books from Strand anytime you want. I know that's not as romantic as the guy friend doing it, but it's all I've got. Here's a wild idea: next time you're up here, we could buy them together!!!! Feel better, lovely. Posted by Siobhan on September 22, 2006 - Friday at 2:37 PM