Halloween...
I think this is one of my top favorite holidays. I had many a childhood birthday party on Halloween and have nothing but fond memories of trick or treating with my friends, dressing in less-than-comfortable costumes and watching scary movies. A Halloween highlight: The dentist on our street always gave out tooth brushes and we always acted mad, but we went back every year to get another.
I don't have a costume today. I did, however, bring a pair of bunny ears with me and have been wearing them intermittently throughout the day. The CEO has on Halloween sox and earrings and a Happy Halloween sweater and a big pumpkin is dangling from her necklace. Other than that, you wouldn't know it was Halloween around here. This is one day of the year that I'd really like to just hang out in an elementary school so I could see all the little kids in their costumes eagerly anticipating the 3:30 bell so they can go home and knock on neighbors' doors begging for candy. I do not, however, want to be an elementary school teacher, and no matter how it may seem, this desire to be around kids for the holiday does not mean I am ready to have kids of my own.
My friend Patty read my blog the other day and said she did the same thing with a Care Bear in Walgreens on a trip to Texas last weekend. She was gravitating toward Wish Bear, however. I think it is so cool that I am not the only nut who felt the pull of the Care Bears. Whewh.
It is my pre-birthday weekend. Ever since my birthday was totally destroyed two years ago, I am scared to get excited about birthday plans and birthdays in general. I was excited last week, but now that the weekend is upon us, I am afraid of what might happen to make it not fun... or maybe I feel like I don't deserve to have fun? I really need to get over this neurosis...maybe I just need more time?
I am going to be a quarter of a century old and even thought I still feel like I am really really young, I also am worried about my life being 1/3 or 1/4 over (depending on my longevity.) I have NEVER thought this way about a birthday before. I remember wondering what Andy was talking about when he was so worried about approaching his 25th birthday. Now I know... I am 25 and there is no going back to youth. I am forever beyond college age and certainly high school age. I just have to keep remembering that I may be on the back side of my 20's but that doesn't mean that I am limited as to what I can do and what I can attempt and who I can be. We are always forming and changing and becoming and in that sense, age is irrelevant. I'd just better not notice any new wrinkles and I'd better not get any gray hairs.
Time to get back to work after lunch!
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
I am cited in a book!
Andy was smart enough to use the new feature on Amazon to look up his name and my name and Becca and MB's names to see if we'd been mentioned in any books and one of my El Paso Times articles was cited in Fronteras No Mas: Toward Social Justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border . I don't even remember the article, but I think it is exceedingly cool that I was cited in a book about the border (one of my main areas of interest). Of course, I have no idea if the author used my article to support her theory or to show what a stupid newspaper the El Paso Times is so perhaps I shouldn't be cheering yet. I am supposedly supposed to be able to see the actual page my name is on in the book on Amazon, but I don't think they have that feature working properly yet.
Anyways, this news that my name is in the endnotes of a book because of an article I wrote makes me think two things: 1) There is hope for me yet and 2) I should get a job doing things like writing newspaper articles that matter again. (Did I know that what I was doing mattered at the time?) I am still enjoying my PR/Communicator job and don't think I need to work for the MAN again yet. So I need to get freelancing fast. But getting started is scary.
****
I voted in person today for the first time ever. Until now, I had always just mailed in an absentee ballot during presidential or gubernatorial elections. Today, I went to the polling place and acted clueless and got to use a touch screen voting machine. The whole process was very cool. I don't think I necessarily felt like I was making a difference when I cast my vote, but I did feel like I was doing something important, even if it was just increasing voter turnout... or exercising my right to vote so that it can't someday be taken away.
*****
Oh, I also want to complain for a minute. I think it is abhorrent that it is nearly dark when I drive to work and almost completely dark when I drive home. I can't wait until Spring and daylight savings time.
Andy was smart enough to use the new feature on Amazon to look up his name and my name and Becca and MB's names to see if we'd been mentioned in any books and one of my El Paso Times articles was cited in Fronteras No Mas: Toward Social Justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border . I don't even remember the article, but I think it is exceedingly cool that I was cited in a book about the border (one of my main areas of interest). Of course, I have no idea if the author used my article to support her theory or to show what a stupid newspaper the El Paso Times is so perhaps I shouldn't be cheering yet. I am supposedly supposed to be able to see the actual page my name is on in the book on Amazon, but I don't think they have that feature working properly yet.
Anyways, this news that my name is in the endnotes of a book because of an article I wrote makes me think two things: 1) There is hope for me yet and 2) I should get a job doing things like writing newspaper articles that matter again. (Did I know that what I was doing mattered at the time?) I am still enjoying my PR/Communicator job and don't think I need to work for the MAN again yet. So I need to get freelancing fast. But getting started is scary.
****
I voted in person today for the first time ever. Until now, I had always just mailed in an absentee ballot during presidential or gubernatorial elections. Today, I went to the polling place and acted clueless and got to use a touch screen voting machine. The whole process was very cool. I don't think I necessarily felt like I was making a difference when I cast my vote, but I did feel like I was doing something important, even if it was just increasing voter turnout... or exercising my right to vote so that it can't someday be taken away.
*****
Oh, I also want to complain for a minute. I think it is abhorrent that it is nearly dark when I drive to work and almost completely dark when I drive home. I can't wait until Spring and daylight savings time.
Monday, October 27, 2003
Finally! I just figured out how to make it so that my readers...(reader, perhaps) can e-mail me from the blog. I will indeed someday master HTML.
This weekend Neil and I went to Roswell in search of Aliens. We did not find any, but it was still a fun and slightly fascinating weekend. Our hotel was old and a little funky, but we had a king suite, which meant we got two rooms, one with a big bed and one with the most uncomfortable couch we had ever sat on. Despite the fact that the couch sounded like crinkling cellophane when sat upon, we were both thrilled that our hotel room included a couch. I think it is evidence of the bizarre phenomenon wherein people are always overly excited about small features of hotel rooms despite the fact that they most likely have better features in their homes. For example, people get excited about coffee makers, when they have espresso machines at home. Or the excitement over the free toiletries supplied by hotels is another good example. Even if you have salon-quality shampoo in your suitcase, it is still somehow thrilling when the hotel provides Caswell and Masey shampoo or even Panteen.
Anyway, I digress. Roswell is basically a sleepy little oil town with an international reputation as the UFO capital of the world. For several blocks on the town's main street, the street lights are actually alien heads and there are at least three city blocks with virtually nothing but alien-related stores. There is the International UFO Museum and Research Center, a museum that opened in the late 90s and chronicles the history of the "crash" in 1947. The museum is a huge tourist draw. Then the rest of the alien stuff consists of stores selling alien junk and one cool-looking coffee shop called Out of This World. At the junk stores, you can get alien mugs, t-shirts, stuffed animals, golf balls, guitar picks, underwear, cookie jars, toys, candy, beer, wine... You name an item and you can get it with an alien on it in Roswell.
There is also an anti-alien research center set up directly across the street from the UFO museum. The sign has an alien head with a red circle around it and a line across it's face, as if aliens are something people can campaign against. The men inside the store are Christians selling coffee and a variety of super right-wing religious books. One of the founders of the anti-alien research center was abducted and wants to stop aliens through faith. We walked in, wondering what it was (we should have known when it said "Every knee shall bow" on the sign in big lettering) and walked out very quickly, but not before I got some free anti-alien stickers.
We also went to the newest Roswell attraction: Alien Encounter: Where Aliens Research Humans. I had high hopes for this, and while it was cool, it was basically a glorified haunted house with absolutely nothing to do with aliens other than the alien crap they sold in the gift shop. But we did get very scared... terrified, actually.
Perhaps the coolest place was Alien Zone, a gift shop that has an Area 51 in the back and for $2 you can go in and take photos with lots of friendly aliens. I can't wait to get the film developed so I can frame the picture of Neil drinking a beer with one alien wearing a plaid shirt.
I remain undecided as to whether or not I believe in the little green men, but my alien adventure was very entertaining. Even the Wal Mart in Roswell is in on the Alien craze. Instead of the traditional blue stripe on top of the building, Roswell's Wal Mart is green and has a big alien head painted on the side of the building. I wish I were kidding, but I'm not.
I was hoping to be abducted, or to feel an alien presence, or see a piece of the UFO (apparently the Military has every last piece.) But instead, Neil and I went to dinner and a movie and then drove home the next morning.
This weekend Neil and I went to Roswell in search of Aliens. We did not find any, but it was still a fun and slightly fascinating weekend. Our hotel was old and a little funky, but we had a king suite, which meant we got two rooms, one with a big bed and one with the most uncomfortable couch we had ever sat on. Despite the fact that the couch sounded like crinkling cellophane when sat upon, we were both thrilled that our hotel room included a couch. I think it is evidence of the bizarre phenomenon wherein people are always overly excited about small features of hotel rooms despite the fact that they most likely have better features in their homes. For example, people get excited about coffee makers, when they have espresso machines at home. Or the excitement over the free toiletries supplied by hotels is another good example. Even if you have salon-quality shampoo in your suitcase, it is still somehow thrilling when the hotel provides Caswell and Masey shampoo or even Panteen.
Anyway, I digress. Roswell is basically a sleepy little oil town with an international reputation as the UFO capital of the world. For several blocks on the town's main street, the street lights are actually alien heads and there are at least three city blocks with virtually nothing but alien-related stores. There is the International UFO Museum and Research Center, a museum that opened in the late 90s and chronicles the history of the "crash" in 1947. The museum is a huge tourist draw. Then the rest of the alien stuff consists of stores selling alien junk and one cool-looking coffee shop called Out of This World. At the junk stores, you can get alien mugs, t-shirts, stuffed animals, golf balls, guitar picks, underwear, cookie jars, toys, candy, beer, wine... You name an item and you can get it with an alien on it in Roswell.
There is also an anti-alien research center set up directly across the street from the UFO museum. The sign has an alien head with a red circle around it and a line across it's face, as if aliens are something people can campaign against. The men inside the store are Christians selling coffee and a variety of super right-wing religious books. One of the founders of the anti-alien research center was abducted and wants to stop aliens through faith. We walked in, wondering what it was (we should have known when it said "Every knee shall bow" on the sign in big lettering) and walked out very quickly, but not before I got some free anti-alien stickers.
We also went to the newest Roswell attraction: Alien Encounter: Where Aliens Research Humans. I had high hopes for this, and while it was cool, it was basically a glorified haunted house with absolutely nothing to do with aliens other than the alien crap they sold in the gift shop. But we did get very scared... terrified, actually.
Perhaps the coolest place was Alien Zone, a gift shop that has an Area 51 in the back and for $2 you can go in and take photos with lots of friendly aliens. I can't wait to get the film developed so I can frame the picture of Neil drinking a beer with one alien wearing a plaid shirt.
I remain undecided as to whether or not I believe in the little green men, but my alien adventure was very entertaining. Even the Wal Mart in Roswell is in on the Alien craze. Instead of the traditional blue stripe on top of the building, Roswell's Wal Mart is green and has a big alien head painted on the side of the building. I wish I were kidding, but I'm not.
I was hoping to be abducted, or to feel an alien presence, or see a piece of the UFO (apparently the Military has every last piece.) But instead, Neil and I went to dinner and a movie and then drove home the next morning.
Friday, October 24, 2003
Friday...
Last night Neil came home from the Elk ranch he stayed at Wednesday night for the story he's working on. He had great stories about seeing some amazing wild animals, but he was also cranky and exhausted. I am the type of person who always wants everyone to be happy, or who wants to fix people when they're not happy. I couldn't fix him. We watched a funny movie -- Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? -- and we both laughed...But that was the extent of it. It didn't help matters that the two Papa Johns locations nearest our house seem to be having turf wars and neither one wants to deliver pizza to us.
But, today is Friday and usually Fridays have some sort of cleansing power...Time for renewal of sorts. Tonight, Neil and I head off on our Alien Adventure....(that's a fancy way of saying we are taking a trip to Roswell) We're bringing board games in case of boredom. I hope it's fun.
On my way home from work on Wednesday I stopped to pick up a prescription from Walgreens and ended up purchasing a Care Bear stuffed animal. It's Cheer Bear... The pink bear with the rainbow on her stomach. I couldn't help myself... There was a deal where you could get three bears for $11.99. I almost got three, Sunshine Bear and Sleepy Bear were my other choices. So I got the one bear (It looks very similar to the Cheer Bear stuffed animal I have in a box somewhere -- a relic from childhood) and I brought it to work and now it is sitting on my desk and it makes me very very happy to look at it. Is this bizarre? I suppose not entirely. It is a symbol from childhood that I clearly must associate with lots of happy memories. Plus, it's pink and named Cheer Bear... But am I regressing? Am I regressing too much?
In other news, there is a baby cockroach belly up by the toilet here at work. I am trying to avoid the bathroom for the rest of the day and I cannot wait to move to the new office in December. My fear of disgusting bugs is one "issue" that I am happy to have.
With that, I'm out of here.
Last night Neil came home from the Elk ranch he stayed at Wednesday night for the story he's working on. He had great stories about seeing some amazing wild animals, but he was also cranky and exhausted. I am the type of person who always wants everyone to be happy, or who wants to fix people when they're not happy. I couldn't fix him. We watched a funny movie -- Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? -- and we both laughed...But that was the extent of it. It didn't help matters that the two Papa Johns locations nearest our house seem to be having turf wars and neither one wants to deliver pizza to us.
But, today is Friday and usually Fridays have some sort of cleansing power...Time for renewal of sorts. Tonight, Neil and I head off on our Alien Adventure....(that's a fancy way of saying we are taking a trip to Roswell) We're bringing board games in case of boredom. I hope it's fun.
On my way home from work on Wednesday I stopped to pick up a prescription from Walgreens and ended up purchasing a Care Bear stuffed animal. It's Cheer Bear... The pink bear with the rainbow on her stomach. I couldn't help myself... There was a deal where you could get three bears for $11.99. I almost got three, Sunshine Bear and Sleepy Bear were my other choices. So I got the one bear (It looks very similar to the Cheer Bear stuffed animal I have in a box somewhere -- a relic from childhood) and I brought it to work and now it is sitting on my desk and it makes me very very happy to look at it. Is this bizarre? I suppose not entirely. It is a symbol from childhood that I clearly must associate with lots of happy memories. Plus, it's pink and named Cheer Bear... But am I regressing? Am I regressing too much?
In other news, there is a baby cockroach belly up by the toilet here at work. I am trying to avoid the bathroom for the rest of the day and I cannot wait to move to the new office in December. My fear of disgusting bugs is one "issue" that I am happy to have.
With that, I'm out of here.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
A friend informed me that it has been one month since I updated my blog. Only two people even know about this blog and I didn't know anyone was reading it... but here I am. Updating.
Today, I found Bubble Tea in Albuquerque. I have had it twice before in Seattle and while the experience was cool, the tea was not particularly good. But this morning, I read about a new cafe that has Bubble Tea, or Boba Tea and makes spring rolls (not fried, but wrapped in rice-paper-type dough). So, I went for lunch and it was awesome. The tea was delicious because it's not overly sweetened and the cups have the super-cool melted on lids with different cartoon animals on them.
I came back from lunch feeling so excited that I had discovered this place. I wanted to go in and tell people about it... But there was noone to tell. More than half the office is out this week for various conferences. One coworker was here but he's been in and out all day working on purchasing a new truck and I would have felt silly telling him of my excitement for bubble tea for two reasons 1) he was excited about something much more exciting -- new truck 2) he is not much of a gourmet eater. Today he had McDonald's for lunch and he doesn't eat salad... So a cafe with bizarre tea with big chewy bubbles in the bottom and vegetable-filled spring rolls probably wouldn't be too exciting to him.
I'm so happy to be home right now. Lately, I can't get enough of being home. Have I turned into a homebody? I don't really think so. I think it's really just that I never have time to myself. All time is scheduled.. Sometimes double scheduled. I want to do too much and end up not doing nearly enough. Last night I came home right after work (and after running a couple errands. I rented myself a movie and was looking forward to watching it and then writing a little.) BUT, I somehow managed to forget that I told my grandma she could call last night because I thought I would be home. So, she called in the middle of the movie and we talked for an hour about poetry and aging and by the time I got off the phone with her and watched the rest of the movie, I barely had time to clean up the house, get ready for the morning and get to bed before 11:30. I tossed and turned all night because Neil wasn't there. I woke up a little before 7 and was smack in the middle of the bed...bizarre. Then I raced to get ready, fed the bunny, forgot to put her back in her cage, ran out the door without breakfast and was still 30 minutes late to work.
Tonight I was supposed to go see Radio at one of those over-ticketed sneak previews that are free but you have to show up two hours early to ensure that you get a seat. I won the pass on the radio... (the first time I've ever been the tenth caller) but what a thing to win, a movie pass like the ones I used to always get for free when I worked at the newspaper. Anyway, I decided to stay home, eat dinner, go for a walk, play with the bunny, relax and get to sleep on time.
Today, I found Bubble Tea in Albuquerque. I have had it twice before in Seattle and while the experience was cool, the tea was not particularly good. But this morning, I read about a new cafe that has Bubble Tea, or Boba Tea and makes spring rolls (not fried, but wrapped in rice-paper-type dough). So, I went for lunch and it was awesome. The tea was delicious because it's not overly sweetened and the cups have the super-cool melted on lids with different cartoon animals on them.
I came back from lunch feeling so excited that I had discovered this place. I wanted to go in and tell people about it... But there was noone to tell. More than half the office is out this week for various conferences. One coworker was here but he's been in and out all day working on purchasing a new truck and I would have felt silly telling him of my excitement for bubble tea for two reasons 1) he was excited about something much more exciting -- new truck 2) he is not much of a gourmet eater. Today he had McDonald's for lunch and he doesn't eat salad... So a cafe with bizarre tea with big chewy bubbles in the bottom and vegetable-filled spring rolls probably wouldn't be too exciting to him.
I'm so happy to be home right now. Lately, I can't get enough of being home. Have I turned into a homebody? I don't really think so. I think it's really just that I never have time to myself. All time is scheduled.. Sometimes double scheduled. I want to do too much and end up not doing nearly enough. Last night I came home right after work (and after running a couple errands. I rented myself a movie and was looking forward to watching it and then writing a little.) BUT, I somehow managed to forget that I told my grandma she could call last night because I thought I would be home. So, she called in the middle of the movie and we talked for an hour about poetry and aging and by the time I got off the phone with her and watched the rest of the movie, I barely had time to clean up the house, get ready for the morning and get to bed before 11:30. I tossed and turned all night because Neil wasn't there. I woke up a little before 7 and was smack in the middle of the bed...bizarre. Then I raced to get ready, fed the bunny, forgot to put her back in her cage, ran out the door without breakfast and was still 30 minutes late to work.
Tonight I was supposed to go see Radio at one of those over-ticketed sneak previews that are free but you have to show up two hours early to ensure that you get a seat. I won the pass on the radio... (the first time I've ever been the tenth caller) but what a thing to win, a movie pass like the ones I used to always get for free when I worked at the newspaper. Anyway, I decided to stay home, eat dinner, go for a walk, play with the bunny, relax and get to sleep on time.
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