because you really want to know about my alphabet.

You've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with the ABC's of YOU.

A - Age: 29

B - Bed size: queenie

C - Chore you hate: scrubbing nasty, old, wet, formerly crusty crap off pots and pans

D - Dogs or cats: small baby kittens only

E - Essential start your day item: coffee & smoothie breakfast combo

F - Favorite color: rojo

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5'11.72"

I - Instruments you play: I used to be able to play clarinet and took piano in college. Plus my singing voice is AMAZING.

J - Job title: scientific & English document editor; future bookstore owner

K - Kids - I sure do love them, but I don't want any of my own.

L - Loud or quiet: this is silly. But I'll choose quiet.

M - Mom's name: Mary Carol

N - Nicknames: Jan, Janny, J-bird, Regretta Person, Janevie, Jan-Jan, Janey, Janny, Handicapped Twin (or "HT"), ROSE, Neighb, Bonzi, Jon, Jonny, Jenny, Jynni, Word, Geddeeeeeeezzzz....The list goes on and on, really.

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: no thank you.

P - Pet Peeve: pen-tappers in otherwise quiet spaces

Q - Quote from a movie: "Ted, where's that fancy corkscrew? You know that fancy corkscrew for the wine bottle? Uh-Ted?" (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter)

R - Right or left handed: Right

S - Siblings: Rosaurio Dawson Rose Rosacea Rosalita Rosalia

T - Time you wake up: rarely before 9:30, dahling

U- Underwear: under WHERE?

V - Vegetable you dislike: eggplant, and I had way too much that soggy stuff served to me in Argentina a couple months ago. Yech!

W - Ways you run late: I tend to forget VERY IMPORTANT THINGS inside and have to run back and forth to grab all the goods pre-departure. Once I was on the way to the Atlanta airport for a trip to Europe and realized I had left my suitcase in the parking lot. Neat.

X - X-rays you've had: Teefs, neck, foot

Y - Yummy food you make: breaded chicken breast! Pasta with sauce! artichoke & spinach dip! Guacamole! Hummus! Stirfry! I am a CHEF!

Z - Zoo favorite: In Melbourne, FL, it's the crazy birds who have been known to peck at my father's head A. Hitchcock-style

problems of the famous

If I got super-famous and super-stalked by the media, I wonder which of my "friends" would turn his/her/their back(s) on me and spill my secrets to the press.

I wonder this each time I read stories on celebrities, stories in which the following phrasing is used: "an unnamed source, a close friend of the family's, says..."

Is it you?!

Or...you?

Which one of you would sell me out for money from Star?

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

I'll watch this.

why do I keep watching Brothers and Sisters?

I mean, the show drives me crazy. There are lots of good actors, that's true. Maybe I'm wishing Brenda--ahem, Rachel Griffiths--will be as frustratingly terrible and lovable and hate-able as she is on Six Feet Under. Maybe now that I've started involving myself in the Walker family story I can't just bow out.

Here's an email I just wrote to my mom. The show is making me mad! Not as mad as The L Word does, but still.

This new half-brother is annoying the crap out of me! The whole show is, as usual, but of course I keep watching.
1. All the Walkers are happy.
2. Oh wait. Each person suddenly has a personal crisis.
3. Nora decides everyone should come over for dinner.
4. All the kids realize what each other's crisis is. They decide not to tell their mom.
5. During the group dinner, everyone acts crazy and, one by one, the secrets start to spill.
6. Nora gets upset.
7. The kids yell at each other.
8. Nora yells at all of them to be quiet.
9. People storm off.
10. Later, Nora explains that she is strong enough to hear whatever they have to dish out.
11. Everyone apologizes and says "I love you."
12. Start at beginning again.

Love,
me

P.S. I have entertained myself. Time for a blog entry. But first I must kill Ryan the obnoxious half-brother!

ways in which technology makes my life easier

I have a pretty sweet deal with work, especially considering that I am often ill with migraine and have not yet worked myself up to the reality (and necessity) of working full-time. I work far fewer hours than my contract outlines, but I get paid a salary regardless of how many hours I've worked. So when The Company fails to bombard me (or even slightly burden me) with projects, I am still raking in the cash. (If by "raking in the cash" I mean "getting paid well and then finding out that huge percentages are taken out in The Company's country as well as mine. But that's another spoiled brat gripe for another time.)

Tomorrow we have the first of four weekly Webconferences. I can't make the second and third, but I'll be calling in for the first and fourth. Apparently, it goes a little something like this: we editors will dial in to the main terminal (for lack of a better word) at an appointed time using our personal phones while simultaneously logging into The Uber-Company's Webconference page. So I'll be holding my phone to my ear talking to 5-8 other people while we all scroll through documents together on a shared site.

Um, hasn't anyone heard of Skype? The technology is out there. We could go hands-free, phones-free and do the entire Webconference (a word I loathe even more in written than verbal form) online, I know. Yet we won't. I will be using my daytime minutes and getting a crick in my neck as we argue about whether or not that comma goes there or not. Lord help me.

We have a homework assignment before the Webconference (gross, I said it again), and I was actually going to look into completing it even though it's not required! BUT I then received a manuscript to edit on a short timeline and will be doing that work instead.

"This'll be a breeze," I tried to force myself to think. "I'll just print that baby up, pour a coup of coffee, and start editing."

Cue printer problems. Cue outdated-and-crappy-work-PC-laptop problems. I spent the last 48 minutes trying to get the durned computer to let me print even though INK LEVELS ARE LOW!!! Once I replaced every single outlandishly overpriced ink cartridge, the computer warned me, "CANNOT HAVE MORE THAN ONE INK TANK INSTALLED. PLEASE REMOVE INK TANK(S)." So I did. Then I got, "ONE OR MORE INK TANK(S) MISSING. PLEASE INSTALL ALL INK TANKS AND THEN PRINT."

This went on and on. Eventually (as I like to see it), I was so swift that I deftly switched printers and then tricked the computer into thinking we had enough ink for the job.

I'm so happy I have multiple computers and printers to get in my way of holding a piece of paper and a pen in order to do my work.

something an ol lady said once

I just remembered one of my favorite quotes of all time.

Here's my dad a couple summers ago in Geneva, OH with two cousins.

Once my dad and I were visiting my grandma in Pittsburgh. We were near the elevator bank when we came upon a woman in a wheelchair. She stopped dead in her tracks, looked at my dad in happy surprise, and said, "And who is this tall, shiny building of a man?!"

I hope he was flattered. I know I thought it was a pretty awesome compliment.

midwifery + Kim is awesome

My friend Kim Dau was featured in a snippet on an NPR station (WUNC) last week. She's a very happy, very talented midwife in Durham who coordinates a local program called Centering Pregnancy.

Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to post it on here. Fortunately, I was able to put it on my Tumblr.com page. Scan through my page and find it on 2/24: http://www.tumblr.com/tumblelog/jannygirljr

I'm applying for the best job ever!

It's my birthday, by the way.

I finally finished my video application for the Best Job in the World. Video applications are due 2/22, so of course I finished mine 2/21. You'd be amazed--simply amazed!--at the amount of crap I got done today, crap I've had to do for weeks. Funny what a month-long trip away from home will inspire a girl to do. I mailed a ton of letters, sent off boring paperwork, took care of my taxes (read: mailed all forms to an accountant), did Addieville duties, picked up some Argentine pesos, tidied the house, and more, more, more!

Plus I went out for an hour this evening to celebrate Baby Neighb's birthday. And I watched a movie and did this video! Life is good. Hope I'm not too sleepy when I wake up all too early tomorrow.

Watch the video, but don't write evil comments or give me less than 5 stars. 'Cause then, you know, I'd be sad--and a girl shouldn't be sad on her birthday.

let's race with destiny

I started watching this as a joke and then ended up with tears streaming down my cheeks. Thanks, Whitney.

I hear that she's doing well these days, that she's kicked the drugs and is coming out with a new album. That's wonderful news--as much fun as it was to marvel over her non sequiturs and generally dazed, giggly nature on interviews and that awful reality show she Bobby had, I was always sad to see how badly she was doing. This is the woman whose poster I had on my wall after my mom and aunt went to a late 80s WH concert. (I wonder now where that poster is. I seem to recall there was a crooked rectangle situated inside another, pink and/or teal confetti sprinkled all around Whit's face. God, that was a good poster--it was on the back of my bedroom door for quite awhile there.) I did a Google image search for it and came up dry. Luckily I found a couple other gems that made me feel better. Look how adorable she was!


I'm hopeful that she really is doing well and that it lasts awhile. At least creepy Bobby is out of the picture.

I want onnneeee moment in tiiiiimmmmeee!

Looks like it's time to pop in that Greatest Hits album!

could she be any cooler?

I've told you before about some hilarious kids in Georgia I have the great fortune of knowing. I could have sworn I've mentioned Rio before, but perhaps not. She is the wonderchild of my NYU friends Eliza and Eric Obenauf (of $2 Radio fame).

Check out how awesome she is!

(photos courtesy of Eric & Eliza Obenauf)

I heart drugged up kids

noncommittal blogging alert

I decided to get a Tumblr.com account. My username is jannygirljr. Thanks, Lawson, for the inspiration.

There are often moments when I see things I want to share with people, but it's getting to the point where Facebook is rife (or overstuffed) with users' posts on TONS of stuff, so I'm discouraged from posting mine. I don't know why I resist--maybe I don't want people to see how much I am on Facebook wasting my life away.

The articles, photos, and slice o' life stories are often not substantial enough for a blog entry (in my strange rule system), so I usually end up not sharing. Tumblr has granted my wish to be able to have a thought occur to me and post it immediately. Today I remembered a funny photo of my dad and decided to post it along with a story. I guess I could've written about it in my blog, but it seemed more fun to post on my mini-blog. Ew. Mini-blog.

Adieu.