Platform Promises

10 Things I'll make illegal if you vote me President:

1. Leaving the restroom without proper hand washing.

2. Talking on the cell phone while in said restroom.

3. Gigantic SUVs.

4. Allowing your dog to bark all night.

5. Open mouthed chewing.

6. Smoking around me (extended to my friends and campaign supporters). Anywhere. Ever.

7. Spam e-mail.

8. Rip off movie theatre prices.

9. The 80s fashions that have reemerged in recent years.

10. People talking/texting while driving with no regard to traffic.

What would you make illegal?

(unashamedly stolen from sliceofpink)

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Linky Goodness

Oprah has a new book. I had it on my library reserve list already, so I am 43 instead of 530 billionth.

Cassie linked to these powerful pictures of Hurricane Ike. Seems like the media has forgotten about the Houston area far too soon.

Speaking of Cassie, she has a new blog where she plans to write about her crafty endeavors and more. Go and say hi. She is the best.

I don't like to get too political on el blogo, but this disturbs me. Seriously, is it November yet? I'm pretty sure this election season has been going on since I was five.

Some useful advice on how to get tickets to your favorite daytime shows.

I'm sure just about everyone in the world knows about it by now, but just in case you've been living in a cave, SparkPeople is the best for tracking all things health/fitness related and it's FREE.

I want this car someday.

Happy Friday!

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Random 5

- I have sold off the majority of my textbooks. I was thinking I might keep a couple, but let's be honest, am I really ever going to even crack the covers again? Not unless my degree is rescinded and I have to take business writing and English grammar all over again. *shudders*

- I am toward the middle of a book I am not enjoying too much. I'm considering letting it go, but my perfectionist self starts chiding me for not completing a task. This is something I need to work on.

- My mom has found a full-time job she seems to enjoy with decent pay. That is empowering and just lovely and I am very happy for her.

- After having a Twitter account for nine months or more, I am finally getting the hang of it and updating regularly. It is actually kind of fun.

- Between Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, GoodReads, e-mail, and all the blogs I read, I feel like I have crossed into the realm of social networking overload. It is a little out of control. My order of importance: e-mail, GoodReads, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Whew. Also, after becoming a social networking connoisseur of sorts, I am pretty sure I hate MySpace.

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Old Men Off the Block

I must admit something that I haven't made known before, other than to JP. I am completely bewildered by all of the New Kids on the Block hullabaloo. I think my love affair with them lasted for about a year until I moved onto bigger and better musical acts, like Mariah Carey and Ace of Base (come on, I was ten, and who doesn't like a little Ace of Base?). I just have a hard time witnessing the uproar that their comeback has created among grown women my age and older, women who are buying tickets to see them in concert.

There is just something wrong when 36+ year old has-beens can electronicize their voices and come out with an album with a song called Sexify My Love. Are you kidding? Just typing that makes me feel like I am going to break out in hives caused by massive creep factor. I guess they are trying to reclaim their former fans and pick up the next generation of young'uns. At 40. Ick. I'm just sayin'.

You have probably seen them somewhere recently because they are like a bad case of head lice that just won't go away. But just in case you haven't, here is a video of their embarrassing, awful-sounding initial comeback performance on the Today Show this summer (it is in three parts, if you want to go that far).

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Meaningful Lyrics

I had to take a break from my studying to share this. Honestly, as someone who can never identify lyrics completely right, I think these are right on.

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Snippets

* I went for a haircut today. It has been months since the last cut, and my hair was longer than it's been since I was about five years old. I could easily grab it from behind without bending my head back. I got about two inches taken off and some layers added. I have never before felt like I lost five pounds of hair. Next up: Feria brush-in highlights.

* I am very ready to stop having dreams about my dad -- dreams in which I am sobbing and trying to reason with my dad. I know it's my brain trying to solve a problem, but really, brain, could you let it go already?

* I am looking forward to going back to Maryland on Monday even though I know part of the time will be dealing with previously mentioned parental unit. I am ready to see some rain and go up to Swallow Falls for a picnic.

* I am also looking forward to Arizona for a day trip this weekend. I can't wait to take some pictures with the DSLR. I haven't been in AZ since January 2007. That doesn't seem possible. This didn't happen.

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Ready to Escape

So here I am in all my stressed-out end of the semester cesspool goodness. I have four pretty major things to finish before I take my five exams. There is just not too much to say because my life is very uninteresting.

JP's family was out here visiting this past week. It was a good week but I got pretty much NO work finished. So I am going to be working twice as hard this weekend. I am oh so ready to be through with this semester, and I will be in two weeks. After that we are going to San Diego for the weekend. We've been really good about money and haven't gone anywhere for four months. I am ready to get out of Nevada for a little while and escape this school prison I feel like I've been in for the last three months.

And then... AND THEN... two more classes this summer and I will finally be finished with school. Hallelujah.

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B is for Books

These are books I want to start/finish/dabble in at some point this year. I am bad about starting books and then not finishing them till months later. I know I'm not supposed to get suckered into nice-looking book covers, but what can I say? I get drawn to them in the store. I look beyond the outside to the content, but a yummy cover definitely draws me in.



Unfortunately, less interesting (and less photogenic) textbooks have been taking up my time recently.

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A is for Alcohol

This is about 75% of the alcohol we have. Neither of us are big drinkers. The tall clear Eiffel Tower is from Paris (the hotel and casino). The entire base plus some was filled with a very tasty strawberry daquari. The wine glasses have fun squiggly stems. The shot glasses more often gets used to measure a vitamin drink I take than to down any shots of alcohol -- as you can see, it measures one ounce perfectly.

Fat Bastard is a good red wine. The tall skinny bottle is from La Cereza, a winery in Temecula, CA. It is a dessert wine that we will have one of these days. Frutezia is just an indulgent fruity wine I picked up at the market. I am a sucker for girly drinks and JP doesn't mind.

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Back at it

I had such a glorious week free of school. This is the first spring break I've ever had where I allowed myself to relax completely. Usually I am still consumed with thoughts about what is coming up next and what I should be working on, but my week off I actually let go. I disengaged from school completely and it was perfect! Obviously I should have done this before. My batteries are recharged and I am ready to get through the next seven weeks.

I have signed up for the April NaBloPoMo. I am not sure I will get to posting everyday, but the letters theme intrigues me. So, yes, I'll be blogging again with at least some regularity. It may be a combination of actual letters and pictures -- we shall see. They missed part of my code on the blogroll and it makes me stick out among all the other perfect links. I'll go with it, though -- maybe it's a good thing.

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Random February Funk

*I am completely swamped with school. Taking five classes really is a full-time job and things are not slowing down any time soon. This week is shaping up to be a very busy one because I have four writing assignments due.

*I have realized that when I am consumed with school, I become pretty uninteresting. I do not intend for this to happen, but it inevitably does. I keep thinking that I will be able to do all of these crafty projects in my spare time, but my spare time always gets spent on something else, my ever present nemesis.

*Also, my new camera has malfunctioned. I flipped it on and got a bright white LCD screen. It was working so beautifully up until now, and still seems to be able to take pictures. I am just unable to see them or the menu. So, I'm going to have to ship it back to get fixed and be camera-less for a while. Thank the universe for this happening while it is still covered under the year-long warranty.

*In addition, I do not think I will be participating in the new NaBlo format unless they come up with a theme that really inspires me. I am just not so sure I can do the list thing for a month -- and who really wants to read that many lists about me anyway? Hmmm? That would get old, people, TRUST ME.

*I really am going to endeavor to get some kind of craftiness going in my life, but I am being realistic about it and realizing that it might take me some time to get anywhere. I am feeling the February funk right now. How is your February shaping up?

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Snip

Today I cut JP's hair. The man has HAIR. He seems to have his dad's hair gene and his dad is 73 with a full shock of salt-and-pepper colored hair. There is no chance of JP going bald unless he starts shaving his head.

He had usually gone to one of those quickie hair butcher cutter places like Great Clips or SuperCuts and spent about $12 about every two months. The quality of the cuts were pretty inconsistent. The last time he went was September and the random hair dresser didn't listen to him and did what she wanted, cutting his hair to about a quarter of an inch -- too short for my taste. Fortunately his hair grows back faster than anything, so by the time Christmas rolled around his hair was getting somewhat unruly. I told my mom, who always cuts my dad's hair, that she should give JP a haircut for Christmas.

That got her started on a Christmas gift idea: an easy-to-use color coded hair clipper. It really is a phenomenal invention. She helped me cut his hair after Christmas and then showed me how to scissor cut the front top part of it and I felt that I could really do the job.



This morning I finally got around to doing it all on my own. First, I used the light blue one-inch taper control around the back of his head and up to his crown. Then I trimmed around his ears, tapering the cut down to his lower hair line. Next, I cut the top and front of his hair. I stood to the side and lifted horizontal sections of his hair, trimming straight across to make the hair even. I cut just about a fourth of an inch at a time, checking my progress as I went and comparing it with the rest of his hair. Lastly, I shaved his neck and gave a final trim to the lower hairline.



For a long time I had wanted to give him a haircut, but I didn't feel I had the skills/tools necessary to do the job. It was really quite easy, especially with the clipper, and I am happy to be able to do this and not have to shell out $12 for nothing. Plus, I think I did a better job than 90% of them do anyway. Now only one of us has to shell out money for hair cuts. If only JP were a hair stylist we could really save some money ...

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Getting ahead

It's time for another semester, kids, and you know what? I think I'm actually going to get O-R-G-A-N-I-Z-E-D this time around. I am someone who kind of flies by the seat of my pants, checking a project description here, a class schedule there. I am not one to be ahead of the eight ball. In fact, very often I am chasing behind it, handing in my papers at the last possible moment and collapsing as the stress leaves my body.

That not having it together at all? I've decided it's behind me. I am going to try my hardest to ge things done ahead of time this semester. Maybe I'll even enjoy my last full-time semester ever. Ok, maybe "enjoy" isn't the right word to describe my pending feelings, but at least there should be lots of color-coded/marker writing goodness to inspire me to get it together.

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Goodbye NaBloPoMo

Dear NaBloPoMo,

Let's be honest here: we have had a rocky relationship. Initially, you seemed like a great way to get a new blog going. Posting everyday? How could it get any better than that? Talk about a lofty goal, and you were holding me over the fire with your threat of running away without me. Well, I performed and you no longer hold any sway over me.

Unfortunately, our relationship sparked and just as quickly began to fizzle. What was a fun novelty in the beginning soon turned into resentment on my part. I began to hate the idea of posting everyday, and I was soon choosing quantity over quality thanks to you, NaB.

Thank goodness our relationship has come to its inevitable and predetermined end. I could not go another week -- nay, another day! -- knowing that I am in this demanding and wholly one-sided relationship. I can now stop being a blogging harlot and start committing myself to value.

The sting from my commitment to you may last for a while as only time can heal these wounds. If that time ends up being less than a year, I may find myself in your shoddy embrace once again. You will probably not notice either way.

Adieu,
Allison

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TiVo

Today I was able to delete about twenty shows off the TiVo, making the deleted items folder contain about 54 shows. What would really make me happy is to have at least twice that many deleted shows like I did at the end of the summer. Assuming the writer's strike goes on for a while, I may have a chance to catch up, at least a little bit.

Yes, deleting shows from the TiVo makes me feel good, and yes, I am a little bit of an obsessive freak. I must say, though, TiVo is an amazing product and I love being able to watch any show whenever I want with NO COMMERCIALS. The no commercial watching saves a lot of unnecessarily wasted time.

(Just four more days of posting and NaBloPoMo is history!)

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Goodbye weekend

This has been the best weekend I have had in a long time. I am kind of sad to see it go. It is nice to have a four-day weekend. I could get used to it, but I am glad that the semester is coming to a close. It has been a rocky one.

I am thinking that next semester I won't take a full class load and will instead do some things that I want to do. I want to take a photography class. I also want to do other fun things like learn a craft and volunteer somewhere. I think that if I just go part time, I will be able to do what I like and, consequently, perform better in school. I think it will help to deflate this ball of hatred for school that has been growing slowly inside of me and has made my life completely miserable this semester.

My goal for next year is not to have a mediocre to miserable year. Instead, my goal is to have a good to wonderful year. This is a lofty goal, but I am ready to take it on.

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Randomness

Today JP and I played Dance Dance Revolution for over two hours straight. By the end I thought my ankles were going to give out and only then did I stop. I have to say, I am wildly impressed with my skills -- we have only had the game for a month or two and I can play the basic level in pretty much every song. I think that to play on a harder level would require something my brain and body just aren't designed to do.

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The weather has turned cooler here. We have had the heat set at night for a couple of weeks. But with the cooler weather that blew into town Wednesday, we finally have it on during the day as well. I think the temperature actually got down to 39 the other night. Brrr!

But I enjoy this time of year. I like having the comforter on the bed. I like wearing slippers. I like to hear the wind gusting against the windows while I am protected in the nice warm house. I like being able to wear long sleeves. I like being able to drink hot tea without it making me feel too warm. These are welcome changes after about seven months of warm-to-very-hot weather.

What do you do to stay toasty in the winter months? How warm do you keep the temperature set at night and throughout the day? We keep the thermostat around 65 through the night and around 70 during the day, especially downstairs where the floor is tile. And lucky us -- we actually have a thermostat upstairs and another downstairs so we aren't heating both floors simultaneously! It is definitely one of the best things about this house.

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Kindle

I am picturing a time in 3-5 years where the price point of the Amazon Kindle (and other things like it) has lowered and it has been improved even further. I think this would be so handy to have. I love books, but the thought of not having to hold the thing open in different positions is just amazing. It looks so neat. I really think it is the future. The thought of being able to download any book I want for $10 anywhere is just so yummy.

So many people are giving it 1-star because of its price -- they haven't actually used it. I think they are just jealous of early-adopters and generally whiney -- especially the ones who say they are waiting for Apple to come out with one! God knows Apple will not lower their prices for anything.

Let the whiners whine. I want one! :)

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Soaps

Today was spent writing and writing. Actually, typing and typing would be more accurate. I wrote a nine page paper and an eight page paper and posted lots of interesting things to my (online) classes. I actually spent all weekend doing school work, not venturing out of the house till nine o'clock tonight.

Part of the time was spent watching soap operas for the paper I have yet to write. I watched General Hospital and then Days of Our Lives. Now, I am not a soap opera connoisseur, but I do enjoy two soap operas from time to time -- The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful. The comparison between these soap operas and really any other soap operas out there is like night and day. Y&R and B&B are so polished, well lit, and based on, at worst, semi-watchable storylines -- storylines that MOVE, might I add.

General Hospital was the first one that I watched for my paper, and I thought that the storyline was fairly terrible. There was a lot of depressing Soprano-wannabe action going on and there was no humor whatsoever. The only saving grace was the crazy character Zacchara who babbles on about gardening, yells a lot and throws huge glass vases at people's heads. There was much bad lighting and scenery to be had in GH. The lighting was so poor that it made Jax (remember when he was the GH hottie back in the 90s? you don't? oh.) look like a walking deadman with gray skin.

That said, from my soap opera watching I have discerned that Days of Our Lives is possibly the worst soap opera on television. Nothing happens in it, the storylines require a complete suspension of reality, and the film quality and lighting is so poor that I often found myself squinting to discern what they were wearing. If I had to watch this soap opera regularly, I think I might go insane. Also, nothing actually happens -- they just talk in pretty much the same location for the entire episode. They must not have much of a budget for sets, or writers for that matter.

Anyway, I am glad my soap watching is over and I really don't think I could watch a soap if it wasn't for Y&R or B&B.

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Random Observations

1. Today I got a Thanksgiving card from my mom. It makes me a little sad that I am not going to be home for Thanksgiving this year. Actually, that is a lie. It doesn't make me sad. I am in the middle of stressful assignments for school. Plus, flying sucks and flying during holidays is even worse than just regular flying.

2. Speaking of school assignments, I get to watch a total of 20 soap opera episodes and write a paper about gender power roles. Odd, eh? I can think of worse papers. I also have other assignments to do, but I am not going to detail them because that won't make me feel good at all. I will go on wading in my sea of denial for another day till I get my soap opera paper mostly written.

3. Speaking of cards, I am not the best about sending them out. I usually wait too long or just don't think about it till the holiday itself. This is something I need to work on.

4. I had a dream last night in which this omniscient Yoda-esque creature with a twitchy tail showed me a mirror that reflected a whole room of people applauding me. He told me this was how I should feel about myself and that I should be working to make others feel appreciated in life. It sounds weird, but the dream left me feeling very warm and content.

5. I really like how the SUPERMODEL (yes, annoyingly spelled in caps) by Victoria's Secret smells. I do not believe this is how an actual supermodel would smell at all. I think a supermodel's perfume would be obnoxiously overpowering.

6. I am thrilled about having Michaels, Best Buy, Marshalls, AND Ulta within a five minutes drive very soon. We used to have nothing nearby. Now we can be at the market in five minutes instead of 15-20 and soon we will have all these other stores.

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