A Few Items

Item 1: Swen's rice knows how to reheat in the microwave. Nom nom nom...

Item 2: I've been learning a few things Japanese from a 4-year-old this week. I learned how to make an origami bow and a heart, and my little friend made some stars, but never got around to showing me how to make them. She did tell me what they're called though. Shuriken. I just did a little research to find the characters ( 手裏剣 ), and they're not just any stars.

They're ninja stars.

Like the weapons.

She's pretty bad A. Remind me to talk more about her when I have more time to procrasinate. ;)
For now, I'm going to try to include a recording I made of her singing in the car today.

[Update 1:18 AM-- Here's the link to my fb playlist. The other two are from my senior recital. Not nearly as cute.
http://music.burst-dev.com/playlist.php?id=NTg5MDE0MDAtMTI5MTE4Nzg2MQ==]

Item 3: My best friends are pretty genius.

Item 4: I have a cannolo with my name on it and an episode of Glee to watch while I make the finishing touches on grad school applications.


Hey, End of the Tunnel? I think I've found your light.

BLAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH!!

I AM A CRACKEN FROM THE SEA!

Nameless

I'm calling you out, but I'm not using your name.

You're welcome.

I'm over it. Grow up, learn to manage your own damn money because you can't have anymore of mine.

I'm perfectly capable of stressing myself out without your assistance.

Do I mean it? Yes.

Will I actually follow through?

Probably not.

Because apparently I'm a glutton for punishment.

Today's a Threefer

"Souls are what make people hug-able."

~RWH

I'm gonna publish a book of Richard quotes. He's the hipster C.S. Lewis.

"You could be an absolute bean pole and hugely hug-able."

Monday, Monday

Ba daa, ba da da da...

Monday has become my new Saturday. It's the one day a week I usually have off from work now. I get my 8+ hours of sleep, I wake up and I sit. After running around for the past 6 days, my feet appreciate the act. Or lack thereof...

And my heart and soul appreciate the Ally McBeal.

Renee (after listing a few of Ally's...er, idiosyncrasies): "You're a WACKO!"

"And I like it."


"...Now, we know the seed of all this crap...this has gone on long enough."

"Renee, even if I get past all my problems, I'm just gonna go out and get new ones.
I like being a mess.
It's who I am."

In a very unusual way...

...I'm in love with this song.



And I'm kind of in love with how she sings it.

Schroeder introduced me to this song a couple weeks ago.

Methinks I need to add it to my repertoire.

Mayhaps we should even give Nine a second (third? fourth? tenth?) try, MolPage?

See also: My homegirl

*le sigh*

Because I'm at work...

Because I'm at work, I don't really have time to be posting this, but with the 3½ minutes I have left of my lunch, I would like to share nonetheless:

https://necessaryletters.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/nelewriwe-day-6-to-the-unintentionally-ironic-book-misplacer/

If you've ever worked in retail, you'll appreciate it.

Plus Robin's pretty stinkin' funny. You should just check out the rest of her witty letters anywho.

A complaint (in 2 parts) and a joy on a rainy day

Complaint, Part I
Teenyboppers who take magazines from the front of the store and read them in the Kids' section in the back of the store and leave them there are really annoying.
Complaint, Part II
Teenyboppers who think they are old enough to read this in the Kids' Department?

You are neither being cute nor ironic. Just put the magazines away and pick up a book from the Dr. Seuss spinner close to where you were sitting. That's more age appropriate for you and the young children who frequent our store. I'm actually more distraught than annoyed when I pick up this after we've closed.

A Joy

O. My. Stars. This made my day. Kinda like when David went to the dentist.

http://www.urlesque.com/2010/11/11/baby-dances-florence-and-the-machine/

Special thanks to Florence + The Machine and the "patient mom" for making this video possible, and to MolPage for sharing it with us.

Too much TV

"You know as well as I do Morning Butt and Evening Butt are two completely different butts."
~Lorelai Gilmore

She's right, you know. And that quote is verbatim--I mean, it's perfect word for word.

Ya know how I know?

I used our new DVR to rewind and make sure.

They put it in yesterday, and while I feel like it's another unnecessary expenditure on our part, it's totally cool. I'm testing it out by recording Clueless.

Side note: The commercial for ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas (which is decidedly longer than 25 days this year... hmmm...) includes snippets from Beauty and the Beast because they're apparently airing it to kick off said more-than-25 days. Of course, they show the one where Belle throws a snowball at Beast and chuckles. Now, it's been a while *coughcoughoverfiveyearscough* since I've watched the film, but I do not believe Belle audibly chuckled.

In this commercial, she totally does, and the voice's laughter is not the melodious tinkling of bells (wa wa waaa...) that is Paige O'Hara.

I do not approve.

TGIF

All is right in the world this early Friday morning.

The UPS man brought my complete series of Ally McBeal while I was at work, and it was waiting for me on the kitchen table when I got home.

I also found some nachos from Taco Bell that apparently Momma got after work, and then didn't eat. Since they were on the island, I figured they were fair game. If not, oh well!

After a not-so-good day Wednesday, and an okay (however productive) day yesterday, I like the looks of today.

Just think what it'll look like after I get some Zzz's!

"Freed spiriting is the bestest."

Thank you, Richard Wilson Hébert. Ü

"I wanna do it again, Jessie."

I should have told y'all about this Sunday after-the-fact, or at least yesterday, but I didn't. Can't explain it, just didn't.

Sunday after church, I had the distinct and sincere pleasure of dressing up as Jessie from Toy Story for Molly's best friend's daughter's birthday party. I met Mols at her apartment, and we rode together to Birmingham for the party. The house sits just off the road kind of at the center of an intersection, and it's situated in such a way that, normally, when you're coming from the direction we were, you can essentially drive straight through the traffic light and into the driveway; however, that particular plan was foiled by the horse trailer in the driveway.

Yes, there was a horse and a pony.

So, we did a little turn-around to get to the other entrance to the driveway, and then went inside, being sure that Birthday Girl (very important to distinguish her from your ordinary, garden-variety birthday girl) wasn't around to see me before I got into costume. Then, with Birthday Mom's permission, I head outside with Mols as my escort. She points out Birthday Girl, who is currently riding her steed, and as I'm coming down the deck steps, B-day Mom gets B-day Girl's attention, and I give a little "Yodel-ay-ee-oooooo!" a la Joan Cusack.

Thus was the beginning of a totally wonderful afternoon and evening.

I sauntered over to meet Birthday Girl and kept saying, "It's you! It's you! You're the birthday girl!" (I'd done my homework before meeting Molly) complete with appropriate Jessie hand gestures.

Birthday Girl had to take one more lap around their (frakkin' awesome!) backyard before jumping down to let me play with her. Once she did, though, she grabbed my hand and led me to her playground (yes, a full-fledged playground in the backyard!) where she proceeded to run from me ("Aren't you going to chase me, Jessie?").
The other children there took a little bit longer to warm up to me than Birthday Girl, but once they did, they got in on the chase as well.

I was eventually saved by a final pony ride before they had to go home. When I called her "cowgirl" as she was riding, she looked at me with a very serious face and said, "I not a cowgirl, I'm the Birthday Girl!"

Then it was time for cake, ice cream, and presents, and after all that, it was dark and we all headed inside. We sat at the table and chit-chatted about my beau, Buzz, Woody and the gang, and then she opened up one more present from her grandparents: a Jessie doll with pull-string. Birthday Girl's reaction?

"It's YOU, Jessie!"

Ü

The picture at the top was taken toward the end of the evening before it was time for her to take her bath (and after she'd opened the present of the night). Of course, after the first time I'd been her personal jumperoo, she looked up at me smiling and said, "I wanna do it again, Jessie."

So we did, but then it was time for her bath and bed. We said our "good-byes," and Birthday Mom whisked her away.

Once the coast was clear, I ducked into the bathroom and put on my civilian attire (my clothes, glasses, and hair down). When Molly and I were about the leave, Birthday Dad told us to stick around and see if she recognized me. We hid the cowgirl boots and such by the front door, and when Birthday Girl came out with her wet hair and 'jamas, she looked at me kinda funny, but Molly "headed her off at the pass," and said, "Birthday Girl, have you met my friend Kate?"

Birthday Girl looks at me again and says, "Hi Kate. Do you want some cake?"

So we sat and visited with the Birthday family for about an hour, acting as if I'd just arrived, and they told me allllll about Jessie coming to the party.

It was absolutely delightful.

I also met a handful of Molly's other friends, and we had a rather in depth conversation with one about quitting life and auditioning at Disney World, or maybe a cruise line.
I had SO. MUCH. FUN Sunday night.

And I wanna do it again.

P.S.

I don't have to work today.

I am staying home ALL day.

I'm staying in my pj's ALL day.

I have laundry and grad school apps in front of me, and Avatar is on HBO.

It's a good day.

I love toaster waffles

I really do. They're a fantastic way to break your fast. The prep work is minimal, but the reward of the taste and satisfaction from consuming them is great indeed. Toaster waffles ftw.

Ugly Betty reruns on TV Guide also ftw.

"When you are passionate, you can do anything." ~Papi Suarez

It's exactly what I needed today.
In this episode, Betty is applying for the Young Editors In Training Initiative (YETI, baha), and only has a few days to do it. The assignment is to create the design for a magazine that reflects who you are, and a day before her interview, she scraps her fashion magazine in the name of being true to herself and creating the kind of magazine of which she'd really like to be Editor in Chief.

I have exactly 2 weeks to get my songs for grad school auditions learned. I need to e-mail professors to write letters of recommendation about 3 weeks ago, and I need to send transcripts about 4 weeks ago.

My deadline: December 1st
The task: Daunting
My ambition: Hanging by a thread
My supporters: Loud and numerous
# of Toaster Waffles left: 6 (Which translates into 3 more days of the breakfast that gives back)

I got this.

But I better get to the grocery store!

Kate, why don'tcha enjoy a few more bites of crème brûlée ice cream before closing your eyes to the world for a minute or 60...

Which translates into "finish the half-a-pint of Ben & Jerry's that was left before collapsing into a sugar-induced coma."

i love you, best friend
more than you can imagine
now and for always

And I'm not talking about the ice cream (this time).


There were so many MMDAs handed out in my mind today. Two handsome little boys from my past who aren't so little anymore, an adorable couple that remind me of characters from The Boys Next Door, and the lady whose heart I reportedly blessed received theirs in the music department at B&N today. Richard got his at approximately 19:41 fb time when he sent a keenly discerning chat message.

My Toms have saved my life at work this week, I incurred an injury to my right middle finger while catering to my OCD tendencies by centering the CD openers on the access fix--it's got a cut with a lovely greenish-blue bruise around it--and I'm really, really tired.

I need to reclaim my life at some point. It's run away from me again.

Next time it does, I'd much prefer it take me with it.

"Take care o' me roses..."

Before I get sentimental, lemme play "ketchup."

In honor of the Halloween weekend, I wanted to share a couple things.

1) Saturday's MMDA went to the two little girls who came into B&N with the greatest names and costumes ever.
Big sister, Lily, was Darth Vader.
Little sister, Lucy, was the Chesire Cat. And she was the fuzziest, pinkest, and purplest stripey Godluvit I've EVER seen.

If I hadn't been "on duty," and it wouldn't have been seriously creepy, I would have taken pictures of them.

2) http://www.cockeyed.com/incredible/fandango/fandango1.php
This was on the Page-a-Day Calendar at work on Thursday.

On the site, he goes into detail and gives step-by-step instructions and pictures on how he made the costume, but here's the finished, prize-winning product.





I thought that was pretty stinkin' groovy, especially since I was sans Halloween costume this year. Well, with the exception of my Secret Garden costume, which I did wear on Halloween, since we closed yesterday.

It was probably my favorite "last show" experience thus far. It was probably my best overall performance for the whole run, so I was glad to end on a high note (Wah wah waaaah...).

It was probably filled with some of the most beautiful people I'll ever have the pleasure of collaborating with in my life.

Our director, as those of you who've been following a while know, is a member of the church I attend, and he's also a brilliant artist. The sermon series for the past couple of months has been a study of the Lord's Prayer text, and each week there has been an offering from several of the artists in our congregation that corresponds with the portion of the text we're studying that day. Yesterday the altar was decorated with his painting of a single rose to go along with the text "...on Earth as it is in Heaven." There's an insert in the church bulletin with descriptions of the artwork from each of the contributing artists, and his said this:

The Rose: A pure and simple expression of God's love to the world. Mysterious and beautiful, it has become a powerful symbol of love one for another.

I painted this solitary, unadorned rose a few years ago in the springtime. At the time, it was intended as a personal prayer for peace and understanding and was inspired by the beauty in bloom right there in my back yard.

As an artist, I had long wondered about the nature of beauty; beauty's meaning and beauty's true value to the world. Why was beauty so important to us all? Considering God's work on display in the view from my studio, I came to the conclusion that, for me, a flower's "true" reason d'ȇtre must be His promise of forgiveness and rebirth. This unadorned rose could be my only statement.

—Paul Looney

It's a painting of light pinkish-peach rose, which, aside from being my very favorite color rose, is also the color of the roses I planned on getting to pass out before the last show to those who helped to make the show as lovely as it was. For those of you who don't know, I have a particular interest in flower meanings. Pink roses say "thank you," and those with a peach hue express "sincere gratitude." When I saw that painting at church, and read Paul's words, I had one of those "where I'm supposed to be" moments. At that moment, it was all so wonderful and perfect.
I'd be lying if I said that every moment of this rehearsal process was wonderful and perfect; they were not. The 8 weeks leading up to yesterday's performance were fraught with frustration and anxiety and summoning forth all the patience we could muster to make this show as gorgeous as we all thought it deserved to be. And through the toil, we did; amidst the strife, we were able to cull the beautiful moments and bring them to life.

"You clear away the dead parts so the tender buds can form, loosen up the earth, and let the roots get warm..."

The show is all about finding the beauty within the pain and the hurt, and the show is all about that rose; it's all about rebirth and forgiveness.

Life is all about that rose, too.

We can't cut ourselves off from the pain and the suffering, and we especially can't cut ourselves off from the relationships that sometimes prove to be the sources of that pain and suffering.

I have always tried to keep the relationships I have at the forefront in my life; sometimes I succeed, and sometimes I fail, but it must be said that they are the roses of my life; the people whom God has graciously presented to me and my story are the beauty, and I ask God to take care of them, and to help me to do the same.

♥