"the times, they are a-changin'"

Wow, America, wow. 52% of Americans want Barack Obama as president and now it has come true. I could not be more grateful. This does wonders to break down race barriers and culture barriers. Wow.

Things at work were interesting this morning. My direct boss is super conservative and so is another guy who hangs around our department. They started going on and on about how people are going to be sorry, taxes are going to go up (uhh... they were going to go up anyway, dudes), this is not the magical cure for America. Then the guy (not by boss) go up in my co-workers grill and said "it's because of motherfuckers like you that this happened!" Holy crap. Yes, I'm happy. But I'm not shouting at the top of my lungs about it. Yes, I would have been crushed if Obama lost. But I wouldn't go around cursing conservative co-workers. That is not the solution, my friends. That is just perpetuating the same hate and ignorance this country does not need. It's time for us Americans to be seen as more than slack-jawed yokels with extreme power. I want to know that if I ever live abroad, I can be proud of my country for being progressive and correcting its racial prejudice. That's all.

This also means that a vow I took last week must come to pass. I told myself that if Obama wins I would get my ears pierced. So here goes. After 26 years of never having my ear lobes messed with, I'm doing it. Wish me luck!

Election Night 2008

This is an official badge. So I'm really doing this.


So voting didn't take that long at all. Well, about a half an hour. Then we went to get a free coffee at Starbucks to commemorate the event. And then I bought a lot of vegetables. Awesome. Today also marked my day of being officially ten pounds lighter. Hurray! This "lifestyle change" is really working. I'm going to keep it up the best I can when I'm done with the actual process. It's really helped me to realize what kind of crap I put into my body and how it affects me.

At the library tonight, someone brought back a juvenile book called "Women of the WWE". I had no idea this book existed. Or that kids would want to read about the women wrestlers. But there it was. Another woman checked out a book by Sylvia Browne and I wanted SOOO badly to to tell her that Sylvia Browne is a total scam and her books are awful but I'm supposed to be non-partisan (or whatever the librarian equivalent would be) so I said nothing. But man, Sylvia Browne totally sucks.

I'm off to watch the news coverage obsessively all night. I swear, if Obama doesn't win I'm calling into work tomorrow.

aw, snap!

Ok, so I totally didn't post yesterday. I'll tell you what I was doing though.

For those who don't know this, I'm attending Wayne State University and I'm in the Masters for Library and Information Science program. I'm just finishing up my first semester and I am excited about this program but frustrated at the beginner classes. So far, one of my favorite things I've learned is how to hand code HTML and CSS. This week I plan on working on that a littler more because it's a giant puzzle. I type in these weird commands and scripts and then it turns into a beautiful website. It's pretty cool.

I had this huge assignment due yesterday for one of my classes. It involved looking up a couple of topics in ten different sources each. All of the paper indexes are in the basement of the library that my classes are in. That's all that's in the basement. I would have been a little more creeped out but there were a couple of other girls from a different class working on the same assignment. So I worked really hard, for four hours today and two hours yesterday, trying to finish this assignment. It totaled 35 pages and then I had to print out page from the on-line sources and make copies of the print sources. I got to class early, giant assignment in hand, and my friend Lindsay said, "Oh, I don't think that's due in another couple of weeks. We had this other assignment [that is way easier and NOT 35 pages long] due." Great. The upside is that I talked to the professor and she was very impressed that I got this done in one week (I just hope it doesn't turn out to be crap) and used it to illustrate to the rest of the class how you would go about starting this assignment. And I can turn the other assignment in whenever I get a chance.

I'll probably post again tonight seeing as how it's Election Day and I'm going to the polls soon but also working at a library that is a polling place later. Oh, the stories!

decisions, decisions

I called my parents to ask them to vote for Barack Obama yesterday. It turns out that they already planned on it. Hurray! That makes me feel a lot better about the state of things. I know that the whole world wants Barack Obama to win and so do I. I get so sick of listening to the one-issue voters and closet (or, not closeted in some cases sadly) racists. The fact is that he is ready to lead our country. This country shouldn't worry about whether or not gays can marry but that we make sure America isn't going to go down the crapper.

There are some big decisions being made over here. I won't say too much but I'm really excited for this next year to get under way. I think it will change things for the better. Part of me can't believe it's so close. But I can almost get a grasp on my whole life for the first time. Which takes a lot of pressure off these shoulders. I'm also down almost ten pounds due to my lifestyle nutrition changes. I have a lot to go but it's getting easier as the days go by.

Here's to this next week!

Let the games begin!

Ok, so this is my first post of the month. It's officially November and I'm participating in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month in case your mind was in the gutter). I have to make one post a day for a whole month. I'm hoping that this will force me to blog more often. On to panda pictures!


This is my face makeup. The regular receptionist said that I looked "scary". Some other people didn't know what I was. I tried to make my hair into two little buns to appear as ears but I didn't get them up high enough. And I usually wear glasses but I had to wear contacts which made my eyes tired. I think next year I will go as Babraham Lincoln, a sexy version of Abe Lincoln.

I wanted to upload a full picture of my costume but for some reason, it wouldn't show up as vertical, only horizontal. Does anyone know some HTML code or something to rotate a picture? It's rotated in my iPhoto but not when I go to the "upload picture" button. I would appreciate the help.

Here's to a month of blogging!

funny story...

ok, so this girl is driving home from class around 8:30 in detroit when she realizes that she's out of gas. the nearest gas station is a couple blocks south of campus, closer to the center of detroit. she pulls in and starts pumping gas.

it's kind of windy so the long purple flower skirt she's wearing is blowing around slightly. she's very careful to look around her to see what's happening and accidentally makes eye contact with a white male only a few years older than her. there aren't that many other people around at the pumps. a woman in a security uniform gets into her red car and starts to drive off.

the girl has locked the car and is only holding onto keys while she waits for the gas to finish pumping when the young white male approaches. "hey," he says,"my van just ran out of gas and i have no cash and no card, can you help me out at all?" the girl replies, "oh, i'm sorry, i don't have any cash on me." the guy moves a little closer and says, "i just need some change or a couple bucks." she says firmly, "no, i really don't have cash. sorry." he mumbles, "thanks anyway" and walks back to his van.

as she's pumping gas, she glances back and sees the guy talking to customers walking in and out of the store. well, i *do* have a couple bucks i could spare, she thinks. she's been trying to figure out who she is lately, since moving to this big city, and wants to be a good person so she figures that if she gives the guy two bucks, it'll be just a little under a gallon so he could at least get home maybe. she finishes pumping gas and locks her car after getting two bucks out of her wallet. she walks toward the guy, skirt billowing behind her, and says, "hey, i found a couple of bucks you can have." his eyes get big and he starts to smile, "hey, thanks a lot! that's awesome... are you a hippy?" the girl thinks, where the hell is this going?! before replying "well, i wouldn't describe myself as that..." as he's putting the money in his pocket, the guy says "because my fiance and i just moved to town and if you're interested in psychedelics, we have a bunch of acid and mushrooms i could hook you up with." the girl looks around to see if this is some elaborate joke or skit or something. "no," she says, "that's ok."

second coming?

ok, if this is the second coming of the messiah, this is totally something i can get behind. how cool would this be? although, the fact that this is the second time this has happened in captivity means it might not be. and maybe people would be afraid of a messiah that could eat people. but! maybe this would make more people aware of sharks and then they would love them. wow...

haircut?

ok, so i think i'm going to cut my hair. not short or anything. maybe just a little shorter. and i think i want bangs! i'll post a picture of how i look before and after.

i just want to mention that i think, for the first time in my life, i'm happy. i still have tiny moments of sadness but i really like where i am in my life. i have a best friend who is my boyfriend. i have great friends i can turn to and i don't have anyone poisoning my thinking. so... i feel pretty good!

hey... remember when i said i'd update more... oops!

there's been something on my mind to write about. basically how i've been feeling about a certain situation that happened before i moved out of kalamazoo. the reason i haven't updated this is because i've been wrestling with myself "should i, shouldn't i" and all that bullshit. i think that it will be cathartic and it will help me finally move on. this is not that post. but i have been meaning to update and i still will keep up with it. so... keep watching. also, there's an adorable cat picture up there for those of you who have been wondering where i've been. you're welcome. i'm also going to try to figure out how to add my twitter feed into this blog. anyway, that's what i came to say. enjoy the cat pic!

my wrist hurts...

Created by OnePlusYou

And there you have it. I'm really good a being caffeineated. Today after work I'm going to my first ever chiropractic appointment. I've been having problems with my right shoulder all week and my lower back has been hurting. Along with the jaw pain that it brough on by stress and the immense work out I got with softball this week, I'd say it's pretty deserved. I might try to get a massage next week as a birthday present to myself. What I really need is a very extended vacation. Like, for the rest of my life maybe? Although in certain ways, grad school will be like that. I'll be getting away from the things that are causing me the most pain. And heading straight for something that might cause me an equal amount of anguish. Awesome.

this makes too much sense.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

technology and me

so i took this MASH quiz (you know, the quiz where you pick some dudes you want to marry and kids and cars and stuff and see who you end up with randomly?) and wanted to post it to my blog. the formatting was all off so i tried to fix it and then i ruined it. so i deleted it. but i will tell you what the game told me.

i will marry eric arnsman.
we will have one kid.
we will live in a mansion in australia.
we will drive a purple VW.
i will work as a truck driver and we will live happily ever after.

not a bad life, eh?

all hail the killer of plants!

There's a plant that sits behind me at work and it's dying. I like to think that it was dying before I worked here. Truthfully, it's probably my fault. Because it sits behind me, I never see it. I feel a little bit guilty that I don't take care of it, but mostly I'm waiting for it to die so I can find a replacement plant. At this point, I'm more interested to see if I can find an exact replica and replace it in the same pot without anyone finding out. I tried to complete Operation Plant Replacement while my boss was out of town, as she is the only one that mentions the state of the plant to me. Unfortunately, my local Meijer store didn't have these plants in stock then. This weekend is a holiday weekend so perhaps I can get one then.

I tried to save the plant before. It was wilting and getting brown around the edges and stems so I thought, "hey, I should water this sucker every day!" Did you know that plants can have too much water? And when they get too much water, they start turning brown at the bottom of the leaves? Combined with the lack of water for so long, the once green plant is green, then brown, then green, then brown again. I like to think of it as a zebra plant. The weird thing is that so far, NO ONE HAS REALLY NOTICED. I consider this a minor victory.

kangaroo dream

i know this probably isn't the most interesting of posts, but i had the strangest dream about a kangaroo last night. there was a kangaroo loose in downtown kalamazoo and the police were considering shooting it. eric and i found the kangaroo and tried to capture it so we could hide it. at first, the kangaroo was resisting and bounded away. eventually, we caught up with him by car where he hopped into the car and tried to bite me. somehow, i was able to calm him down and we all sat by the side of the road talking and laughing. i remember i was telling the kangaroo about a movie i saw and that i thought he would like. then the kangaroo wanted to play peek-a-boo so we did that for a while. for some reason, eric had a radio that was tuned into the police channel. we heard the police talking about how they had located the kangaroo on davis street and needed back up because it looked dangerous. i started screaming "we have to hide you!" and trying to push the kangaroo into the car. i saw the laser sights of one of the SWAT team members' rifle and told eric and the kangaroo to duck. i kept yelling "can't you just use a tranquilizer?!" and the SWAT team said that the kangaroo was too dangerous. i remember making eric and i both hug the kangaroo so they couldn't shoot it without shooting us. eventually, i think they killed the kangaroo or maybe i took it home. i can't remember the end of it. man, it was weird, though.

Way to go Michigan, way to go.

Yesterday it was raining a lot. Then, on my way to the gym, it started to look like snow. "Surely it's not snow," I said. "That would be ridiculous." Then it really starts to snow. Great. Awesome. My friend Christy and I are driving to Wayne State University tomorrow and hopefully it won't keep snowing. She's driving though, so it shouldn't be that bad.

About the gym: my legs are weaker than I thought. Everytime I have gone to the gym, I usually use the elliptical machine or the bike for at least 15 minutes. The leg exercises on the weight circuit have always been easier for me. So when I started this personal training stuff, I said I just wanted to work upper body. Then she asked me the other day if I wanted to add legs. I said, "sure," thinking it wouldn't be a problem. Whoa was I wrong! Those weights are H-E-A-V-Y. It didn't help that I had the foot strap on wrong. I'll have to keep doing the exercises a few times before it stops making my legs quiver. I felt like such a baby. Plus, I was wearing these ridiculously tight pants because I was sick of doing leg lifts and having my pants unravel to show everyone my white, white legs. Needless to say, I felt ridiculous. But there are other people there that wear more ridiculous things. So I'm ok.

bad girl... baaad girl

Today has been a good day. I had a freak out moment earlier in the work day because people kept coming up to me and saying "Here's this thing to do... I need it now." Normally, this would be fine but when there are three or four people asking this question it kind of makes me nervous.

I will post pictures later. I promise. My oldest cat, Merlin, has to go to the vet on Monday to get some tests done because he has been throwing up and I think he's lost a lot of weight. But he seems to be eating well and drinking. I'm really nervous about that. Especially because he will apparently become a "Senior cat" when he turns seven in August. Seven! I've had him for so long. I don't know what I'd do if something bad happened to him. Here's hoping it will go well.

oh, the things i can do!

This writing every day isn't working out like I had hoped. Mostly, I blame the sadness. And the sleeping. I should learn how to write while asleep. It would maximize my potential.

Over the weekend, I gave a waiter $3. Because he was complaining to the bartender about how another table, with a bill of $45, tipped him only four bucks. I felt bad and gave him the cash in my wallet. I was also drunk.

I should post pictures of cats and things. But I'm also thinking that my audience (this is you, boyfriend) sees enough of the cats that maybe I won't post that many pictures. But I think my blog looks boring so I'll add some kind of pictures.

I've been accepted to library science school but REALLY REALLY want to know about poetry school. Right now. This minute. My parents are going to Africa next week and I hope they don't get eaten by lions. Or African buffaloes.

weird habits i apparently have

Something I noticed last week about myself: when there's a pile of out-going mail here at the office, I have to arrange it by shape or it bugs the crap out of me. What I mean is that the biggest envelopes are on the bottom continuing until the smallest on top. I try to do this secretly and casually so no one thinks I'm going through their mail. Because the mail slot is right on my desk, I can't help but see it.

I also have a morning web-surfing routine that is really hard to get out of. I've tried. I always check my e-mail, LiveJournal, and Gaiaonline. In that order. If I have time, I'll check out Facebook. I've tried to change the order, or go to another site entirely and I can't do it. What a weird form of OCD.

The sizing thing also happens when I organize my books in a pile or papers or anything that are similar but different shapes. I can't help it. Piles get so awkward if you just mash things together.

wednesday bloody wednesday

I almost got into an accident on my way to work today because a stupid car decided it would be fun to spped up and try to merge in front of me instead of getting behind me. I was too busy playing with my iPod (whose battery is dead) to be as defensive as I usually am at this particular intersection, so I didn't hurry fast enough. So he got in. And I honked my horn and gave him the finger. I hate driving sometimes.

THE MAIL STILL HAS NOT BROUGHT ANY SCHOOL NEWS YET! I'm getting really, really, anxious about it. I just want to KNOW! Maybe I'm whining too much. There's also this stupid stuff going on with the Kalamazoo Film Society that is frustrating me a lot. I just wish they would leave us alone and not treat the Western Film Society like babies. I'm getting more and more disheartened with how the WFS is being treated in the community. I know it's out of my hands what happens next year but I still care.

I also added a link to Neil Gaiman's journal. He's talking about a new book of his that I must get. I'm trying not to buy too many books now. I really am getting rid of more this weekend so I shouldn't just replace the ones I get rid of. If I can whittle my collection down to fitting all in the one tall bookcase with some room left over, I'll be happy. Let's see how that goes.

anybody want my crap?

So I joined this website, freecycle.org, because you can create posts about things you have that you want to get rid of and people will hopefully respond and want to take your stuff. Holy cow, does this work. I was skeptical at first because I just thought "How many people will truly respond and take stuff?" The answer is "A lot." I packed up a box of books I no longer needed (read: I have too many and don't want to pack them all up and move them ever, ever again) and posted it on the site. Within a half an hour, someone responded and said that they wanted them. A couple of hours later, the books were gone. The same thing happened to a lamp, too. I'm waiting to see if someone will respond to the printer I left there but so far the woman hasn't written me back. The good news is, there are tons of others who want this printer. I should mention that I do not have the installation disk for the printer or a USB cord to hook the printer up. This doesn't seem to be a problem at all. How strange. I do have to resist responding to the messages people post on there about pets that need homes. Otherwise, I'd have five dogs and three more cats right now.

I listened to the newest "Learn German" podcast this morning. The guy talked about Guatemala! Apparently, he's taking a trip there and thought it would be a good idea to rattle off information about the country in German. It was... educational? Kind of interesting. It just reminded me of a text book I used in a class a while ago. I guess I learned something, though. And it's letting me hear German more often. That's good.

I was having problems with this iTrip thing for my iPod. I figured it out though. I found the manual as I was cleaning and read it for a minute. Apparently, you're only supposed to have the volume at a maximum of 70% on the iPod. I'd been turning it up all the way, so I wouldn't have to monkey around with the volume on my car stereo too much. Now that I've done the opposite, it works way better.

Later tonight, possibly tomorrow, I'll post pictures of funny things I found in thrift stores this weekend.