[something clever and obscure here]

I'm leaving in minutes. Destinations: Alabama, Louisiana and then Texas. I had the brillant idea of starting my trip when everyone else was going to be driving, too, and I'm already less convinced that I'm going to make it all the way to Baton Rouge by tonight. Hopefully I won't run into any major traffic problems. [knock, knock] Enjoy your day off. Read something.

I'm a big fan of CSNY. Read this interview with David Crosby about the sad state of the music industry.

Bonnaroo.

What are my plans for the upcoming weeks and months? I'll be spending some time in the Lone Star State. I'll be attending this music festival in Tennesee. I'm going to see the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park. I'm going to go to Heather and Brian's wedding. Fun stuff, and you get to hear all about it. Aren't you lucky?

Today I'm getting ready for all this traveling. Packing my car with the necessaries. I've used my car as an extra closet/toolbox lately and everything I've needed is usually found in my car. Everything. Party dresses and power strips. Batteries and bathing suits. Screwdrivers and sleeping bags. Ok, you get the picture. Anyway, it's mostly all there, I've just got to sort and organize.

The first stop on this journey is Baton Rouge. I've called Monica and warned her of my imminent arrival. I don't know yet what I'll do there, but I'm researching. I usually wing it anyway.

I looked up my name in the Urban Dictionary after reading Brent's blog for the second time this week. I was too lazy/busy to do it the first time.

worth mentioning:

snugglable

A warm sexually atractive person that makes you want to lay up next to them

Amelia is very snugglable

--UrbanDictionary.com

and Greasy Rosita.

than never to have eaten ice cream.


What are you talking about?
Do we really want to miss out on wonderful experiences, just because they may leave us wanting? Warm hands and wishes...

I love dusk. I love dawn, too, but it's dusk right now, so that's what I'm thinking about. Once the sun goes down, everything you see has a glow, almost like a blacklight shining on it.

Tonight it's the perfect temperature. I guess it's a combination of perfect humidity and perfect temperature that makes it so pleasant. It's about 80 degrees Fahrenheit and 70% humidity. It really doesn't get much better, for me.

If you've ever wondered why sunsets are noticeably more magnificent than sunrises, it's not just because you haven't gotten the sleep out of your eyes in the morning, it's because there is more dust in the atmosphere in the evening than in the morning. These particles absorb the "blue" from the sun's light and it appears more red. When the sun is dipping below the horizon, the light has a greater amount of atmosphere through which to travel, because it is coming in at an angle. [I really need to draw you a picture here]. The blue light has a shorter wavelength and doesn't travel as well as the red through the atmosphere.

While I'm on a roll, I might as well tell you why the sky is blue, because it's related to why the sunsets are red. It's not just because God is a Tarheel that the sky is Carolina Blue. It's because the blue part of the spectrum scatters more effectively than the red, which, as I mentioned, has a longer wavelength. The blue light bounces off of the gas molecules and enters your eyes from many different angles. This makes the entire sky appear light and blue during the day. The red and yellow light from the sun travels in more of a straight line and isn't scattered about the sky. If there were no atmosphere, the sky would be black, like pictures from outerspace. It's the molecules in the atmosphere that scatter the light and make it appear to come from all around us.

There, now, don't you feel smarter?

There are a lot of sites on the web that want you to register these days and I usually avoid those sites like the plague. I hate having to enter in my personal information, I'd rather surf anonymously. Sometimes you've got to give out an email address (for example, to download trial software) so you've got a hotmail account set up that is your "throw-away" account for times like these. Yeah, it will get spam, but it seems like the best solution if you ever actually need to receive mail at the address you gave (perhaps you'll get a password sent there or something).

An even better solution is Dodgeit. It's fee-free and hassle-free. You just use "[whatever you want]@dodgeit.com" as your email address and then go to www.dodgeit.com and check your mail. You don't have to set anything up or give out anymore personal information. Don't be dumb and use this for important things like setting up your PayPal account, because anyone can check your mail, but do use it when you're taking silly quizzes...

lib·er·tar·i·an:  One who advocates maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state.
-- American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

The Libertarian Party National Convention is this weekend in Atlanta. I thought it would be a cool thing to go to, because I'm interested in learning more about the party. Unfortunately, I won't have the opportunity this year to go and report back to you about it. Until I do, here are some Libertarian links you might want to check out:

Libertarian Party
The Cato Institute
Free Liberal (I liked this Patriot Act Article)
Libertarianism.com
Libertarian Celebrities outed here!

If you're dissatisfied with our two choices for president this year, but not willing to vote for a third-party candidate for fear of taking votes away from [insert your lesser-of-two-evils candidate here], then don't. I agree it's a scary prospect. However, keep in mind that a vote for a third party isn't a wasted vote. It lets the other two parties know that you aren't satisfied, and forces them to change their platforms to better suit you and win your vote the next time.

Personally, I'm very dissatisfied with our current choices. I can't stand John "Luke Warm" Kerry, but I can't stand GW "I control the 'Free' Press" Bush and Dick "puppeting from a secluded location" Cheney and John "Fascist, need I say more" Ashcroft [and where is Colin Powell these days anyway?] even more. I'd love to be able to vote for a candidate that I really believed in.

don't make me hungry, you won't like me when I'm hungry -Amelia

I had an un-birthday lunch with Alan (a Gentleman) today in Chapel Hill. I had all of my kit in my car: laptop, wireless modem, a mic, a webcam, and a power inverter, of course. I used all of this to have a video conference while driving. Pretty cool, eh? I was being safe, to be sure. I fixed it all up while stationary, and kept my eyes on the road. (Mostly...though I must find decent voice activation software)

One of my birthday presents yesterday (from Harry, a Boy Next Door) was a colocated server [Actually it's a virtual private server, at Linode.com]. You'll be hearing more about this later, as I get it all fixed up. When it's all said and done, I'll host your website for you.

This particular paragraph deserves a post all on it's own, but I'm squishing it in here. I got an email from Mark (a Slow Dancer) telling me that he thinks that I misused "suspend belief" in my TV rant post. He's right, dammit. I should have suspended my disbelief. This book review helps explain why:

He reminds us that when you listen to stories you want to suspend disbelief to be entertained, whereas in evaluating statistics you are inclined to suspend belief so as not to be beguiled.

go off and be beguiling, why don't ya?

I'm in a greek cafe this morning. My car is getting an oil change. I walked around downtown Raleigh for a while before I found any place to get coffee. Why is there a $tarbucks on every corner when I don't want any coffee, but I would have given a fingernail this morning for a freaking place to sit down and type and there is none to be found?

I got a couple of e-cards yesterday, thank you, thank you. I thought I'd let you guys know about my latest favorite e-card site: Boils and Blinding Torment. It's a laugh.

And something else to do this morning when you're taking a break. A little exercise in compare and contrast: Christian Exodus and Free State Project. Moving soon to a state near you?

It's my birthday! hooray! It's my birthday! yay! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! yahoo! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! yeehaa! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! whoopee! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! yippee!

I watched the season finale of CSI: Miami and wasn't impressed. It seemed contrived and uninspiring. I usually don't mind suspending belief with movies and TV shows, and it doesn't always have to be completely realistic to be a good show. However, tonight it seemed as if they made one big leap after another, and I just couldn't hang with the believability. It also seemed that they were trying to make a point about the terrible porn industry, but because they'd done such a bad job of making me believe their story line and feel for their characters, I felt like their "moral lesson" was contrived as well. It could just be me, though. I'm feeling a bit uninspired myself.

There is some show on the WB that is just plain mean. WB's Superstar USA, the show that makes people think that they're going to be the next American Idol. Only they aren't really very talented and the producers are just leading them on so viewers can make fun of how bad they are and enjoy watching them having their dreams built up and then torn down. I'm hoping that the contestants aren't real...but I'm afraid that they might be. and it's just wrong.

Not to mention the other crappy reality shows. Man, they really have taken the whole reality thing too far. It's unreal. Who Wants to Marry My Dad?, For Love or Money, Bachelor(ette), Average Joe, .... Please, people. Don't we have something better to do than watch "ordinary" people pick their life-partners in a game show?
Coming up next: For Love or Kidney. Only he knows which contestant is a perfect match...will he be able to woo her and win a life-saving transplant? Or will the mole intervene and ruin his plans? You'll never believe tonight's surprise ending!*

The ultimate reality show, the news, is crap, too. I'm going to sleep now, and I'm not going to expand on how the 11 o'clock news offends my intelligence. I shouldn't have to, though, you can watch the news yourself and figure it out.

*Take life-saving seriously. Be a donor!

I've been waiting for some CDs to arrive in my mailbox for a very, very long time. Unfortunately, they aren't the kind of CDs with masses of music to keep me going through the day, but they are the kind of CDs with data on them that I needed to have in hand in order to get started on a new web project. They were originally mailed around April 20th when I was posting part of my to do list and said I had a couple of web sites to work on. They didn't arrive and they didn't arrive and then I found they'd been returned to the sender because the postmaster didn't affix the "postage paid" stamp. Then it didn't arrive and didn't arrive and then the sender (who will remain nameless for the moment) tells me that they didn't actually get mailed the second time. And now finally they have arrived and I can start on some more paid work! I'll be able to eat now.

My mom says, "My baby is going to be 26 tomorrow, and in four years she's going to be 30!"

Can we do just one year at a time please?

I don't usually take internet quizzes, but I came across www.okcupid.com tonight and took their personality quiz. I've taken a quiz in the past to determine my Myers-Briggs personality type. The Kiersey Web Site, where I found the test, now requires you to register, but there are plenty of other questionnaires, such as this one where you can type yourself. I'm an ENTP (the Inventor), or at least I was when I took the test about 5 years ago. I'm assuming that my type hasn't changed, but I'm feeling too indecisive tonight to answer any questions and figure it out.

 So it's ENTP:
 Extrovert [vs. Introvert] explained
 iNtuitive [vs. Sensing] explained
 Thinker [vs. Feeling] explained
 Percieving [vs. Judging] explained


Like the Myers-Briggs types, there are 16 personality types at the OKCupid site. [Actually there are 32, 16 for men, and 16 for women]. The dichotomies:
Deliberate vs Random
Brutal vs Gental
Sex vs Love
Master vs Dreamer

The quiz hones in on where you fall in the above categories and thus designates your personality. Are you a Loverboy or a Playboy? a Nymph or a Nurse? Which types will you get along with best? Which should you stay far, far away from? Find out.

My results? The Dirty Little Secret: Innocent, but fundamentally sexual, like the word "finger"... I like it.

I've been a programmer all morning: professional, but uncompensated work. My latest thorn was that I was having a problem opening IDLE, the Intergrated DeveLopment Environment for Python, so I checked out some message boards and got a hint of what I could do to fix it. Then I opened Notepad, edited the code for one of the modules, and recompiled. I tinkered with it some more and now it's all fixed. Hooray. I'm going to write up what I did, even if it was a slightly inelegant solution, so others can benefit.

Speaking of which, there are some changes that I'd like to make to this website, some of which are in the works. In addition to adding a search feature to the site, I'd like to add a tech corner where I collect write-ups of my latest projects and other techie stuff. There are a couple of other sections\features I'm considering adding, such as a continuously updated list of all the webpages I've visited lately. It's slow going, though. Any ideas?

Oh yeah, and if you want to buy an ameliathegreat.com coffee mug or t-shirt....

...you've got issues.
;)

I've got a Gmail account, which, while it's still under a trial period, is invitation only. If you would like a Gmail account, let me know, because I've got 1 invitation left.

In yesterday's Connect section of the News & Observer, there was an article "Gmail's features worth the trade-off." I don't have a copy of the paper here with me to compare, but I think it was this article with a different headline. It mentions this site: gmail-is-too-creepy.com. To read more about Google conspiracies, go here: google-watch.org.

Flights on Southwest from Raleigh-Durham to Philadelphia start July 6th, and if you buy a ticket with Southwest Airlines before Thursday, May 20th, you can get them for $24 bucks each way. See their latest specials. It was a great deal, so I had to share.

On other fronts, I would have been posting pictures of lighthouses and stuff this morning (and even road trip pictures from 2 months ago, about which David D. complained in an IM to me yesterday, that they still weren't up), but instead I was checking out porn [and other such nonsense] on the internet. It was more of a investigative journey, rather than a recreational one, but holy cow! I've decided that I need to be saved, and that the religious right was right.

Some of the fully-clothed nonsense was a video of a guy lighting a firecracker in his mouth. He had obviously thought ahead, because he was wearing safety goggles. Will I ever cease to be amazed at how foolish people can be? No, probably not.

As part of my campaign to become a cewebrity, I had to post about how I'd coined a really horrible word that no one should ever use. But, I've just googled "cewebrity" and found that it's already been used more than was ever necessary (and by loads of people who think they invented it). The use of "webinar" should be banned as well.

I'm incapable of staying on task today, an absolute failure of the highest order...

Heather's dinner party was great last night, and I got to catch up with people that I don't see so often. Most were staying the night, but I knew I had a big day of driving down the outer banks today, so I wanted to leave and start heading south, and I figured I'd be staying at some motel which would be preferable to sleeping on the floor at Heather's Aunt Linda's.

Harry and I left the party at 11pm and drove into North Carolina. I started looking for lodging around Kitty Hawk, and then drove into Kill Devil Hills. I didn't want to go any farther south, because I was driving away from the first lighthouse on the tour. Several hotels had No Vacancy signs out, and I soon realized that it was a distinct possibility that I might not be finding a comfortable place to sleep. Long story short, I made sure that Harry wasn't averse to sleeping in the car, and drove north to Currituck Beach Lighthouse. I found one Hampton Inn on the way that didn't have a No Vacancy sign out, but when I asked at the front desk, they, too, were full. Oh well, another adventure in vehicular slumber.

It wasn't too bad, and I'm up now, and have visited the beach, seen a wild horse (maybe wild), and taken pictures of Currituck Beach Lighthouse. One down, three to go.

Today I'm leaving for Chesapeake, VA. A college roommate of mine, Heather, is getting married soon, and her aunt is throwing her a party. I'm bringing Harry (English chap) along, because he's in the US for another couple of days. I've been planning out our return route this morning. We're going to be driving down the Outer Banks, stopping by a few lighthouses, and meeting up with Nikie for dinner on the way home. That's the plan, anyway. I've called the Ferry Service this morning to find out the schedule and make reservations. It was fortunate that I called, because I was relying on the schedule I found at this Outer Banks Site and I now I've found out that the information was wrong. Also, when I called to reserve a spot for my car, I found out that the ferry I wanted to take was broken and not running, and there were no reservation spots left tomorrow on the other ferry I could have taken. So, what to do? I'm going to rely on my dumb luck and try to get on that ferry anyway. They don't book the whole boat up, and sometimes people who've made reservations don't show up, so there's a chance I'll be able to leave. And what's the worst that could happen? I can't get off of Ocracoke Island? I have to stay at the beach an extra night? Most likely, I'll just have to backtrack and drive a little more. I don't like back-tracking, I like to forge into new territory, but I can deal with it if I have to.
This is the rough plan.

bookstore + caffeine = mini mental explosion

momentary fix: if these links don't seem to work, click refresh after following them
Dangerous combination. Let me explain. It's a documented fact that the information held in bookstores tends to overwhelm me at times, and another documented fact that I am strangely affected by caffeine, especially in the form of a frappucino. Alas, despite my history with the two, I hung out with a frapp (yes, I, too, think it's obscene that I paid three dollars for ice, coffee, and sugar at $tarbucks, but sometimes I indulge) and a building full of books yesterday. I love a little brain blast every so often.

I've been thinking this week about passing up opportunities. As a kid, I remember crying and pitching a fit when my dad wouldn't let me watch the Thundercats movie on TV, because we were going to eat dinner. It was the end of the world. Similarly, if I couldn't go out to some party during high school, I felt like I was missing out on everything important in life, and that my existence would be shrouded in a dark cloud forevermore.

Maturity changes that, and I've realized that I can pass up opportunities and still be OK. However, this week, I've had doubts that this change is really a good one. Certainly, it makes my life less stressful when I believe that I don't have to be doing everything all the time, and that there will be more chances in the future if I miss out on something today, but there aren't always more chances. We aren't promised tomorrow, and we definitely aren't promised a fat 100 years to live (despite what Five for Fighting sings). I guess the point I'm trying to make is "DO MORE." [or insert your own motivational meme here: "just do it", "Do, or do not. There is no try."...]

a vacation, you say? I was in front of a computer for at least 10 hours today (when I wasn't chasing turkeys), which certainly wasn't vacation-like, but I understand how you made the mistake, because I'm always having so much fun.

After that teaser post that I left last night(or this morning), I never really gave any more details. I haven't edited the video footage that I made, because I'm short a firewire cable, but I've got some photos from yesterday's activities.
Van Helsing was fun action, kind of corny in parts, but it's a good flick if you want to like it.

It's just another day for me, Amelia the Great, animal rescuer extraordinare.


Usually it's turtles that I help cross the road, but today was special. It's so tough being a superhero.

This morning I'm installing Mozilla's mail client, Thunderbird, one that I hope I can use to check all of my email accounts with minimal effort. While I'm busy with that, why don't you download and install Mozilla's Firefox browser. Why? because it's a good browser, and you're thirsting to support the open source community, I can see it in your eyes.

sushi, Radio Shack, fancy dresses, guns, film footage, four wheelers, Van Helsing....I'll write more when I wake up...

I was going to write more about how I'm switching my web host, and how best to avoid website downtime, but I don't really want to think about that anymore. I'm going to shoot guns and make movies instead.

Today was pretty cool. My website move is giving me some trouble, but I'm trying to be patient. There are loads of changes that I would like to make, but I'm going to try to do things one at a time.

I was a tech support girl today. It was just your standard fixing desktops, but I quickly got bored of taking apart dusty computers and installing anti-virus software. I took a break to play with some puppies and go four-wheeling with my niece and nephew. I didn't have my camera with me today, but next time, I'll take some pictures. It was great. I was flying all over the place, making sharp turns and kicking up lots of dust. Later, I went swimming with all of my clothes on, unintentionally, at first. I guess it's all or nothing with me.

The dogs were barking at 6 this morning, and I woke up worrying that my website was going to be down. Get up, get up, my brain said, you've got work to do.

While I'm awake, let me tell you about the latest coolest thing to happen to me. I mentioned last week that I was going to be trying out Nextel's new wireless broadband service. I did, and it rocks.

I picked up my modem on Friday, but couldn't play around with it much because it was my sister's birthday and we were all getting together for dinner. So Saturday, while I drove to Matt's wedding, Harry (who's visiting this week) turned my car into a roving wireless access point. My Honda was a geekgirl's dream. It had a 60W power inverter (I'll probably need a more powerful one soon, but this one has worked for now), a clip-on power strip, a Netgear 802.11b wireless router, my Nextel modem, and a couple of laptops. I, unfortunately, was driving, so I couldn't concentrate on how cool it was to be surfing the internet in the car. We didn't solve the world's problems with all that technology, but it was handy nonetheless. We ran into traffic on I-40, and checked out the traffic cams to see how to get around it. And with my FM transmitter, we could listen to streaming internet radio through my car stereo. If you happen to be within a quarter mile of my car, you could use my broadband, too.

More about this later...

It's Sunday, and I expect to have a few new readers soon. I saw some old friends this weekend and told them that the best way to find out what I've been up to lately is to come here. So, take a look around and send me an email. I'm switching to a new server tonight, so the site might be down some for a day or so. I'll have space for all my pictures, though, and I might even put them up.

Yesterday I drove to Greensboro to attend Matt Foster's wedding. Matt and I dated in high school. First love and all that. I've been reminiscing some since I got my invitation [which surprised me a bit]. If I was going to talk about him, I wouldn't even know where to start. I've only seen him a handful of times in the last 8 years, and I know that he has grown up a lot in that time. We both have. Had we met later in life, we might have had a much smoother time together. As it were, a relationship like ours demanded a lot more maturity than our teenage selves could muster. We were both a little scarred from it, I'm sure, but they're the kind of war wounds that you're proud to have.

We had a few minutes to chat last night, but for once, Matt didn't have much to say. We have an understanding, though, one that doesn't need verbalizing. I know that if I ever needed anything, he'd be there for me, and he knows I'd do the same for him. I don't know Emily that well, but I'm thrilled that he has met his match. She must be one in a million.

It was great to see his family again, and see a few other people that I haven't seen much in the last 8 years. It's cool how all that time can just disappear. It seems like yesterday that I was seeing them all on a daily basis. I know it makes me sound old when I greet his youngest brother with "I remember when you were this high [hand gestures at waist]." Ethan will be a heartbreaker, and I'm sure Liz already is.

I've got some work to do now, but I thought I'd catch you up on my weekend. Hopefully, switching this site to a new server will be seamless and easy, and you won't even know I was gone.

I can't get broadband here, but I can lay in the sun in my yard and not get any tan lines.

I don't feel very hilarious today. I'd love to write something funny here. Yesterday, I started to write about my best friend and confidant, Nikie, and how great she was, but I had too many things to do and I never finished the post. We were randomly placed as roommates our freshmen year at Carolina, and we chose to live together again the next year. I know I've mentioned her before, because she was my first visit on my road trip, but I thought I'd say something again. We probably never would have met if we didn't have to suffer through living with each other, and she is my indispensable phone pal now, so I think I'm very lucky that we did. Actually I think we're lucky. She never reads my website, so I can speak for her, too.

Hmm. Did you read the joke of the day on the home page? Pretty funny for a bad joke.

I had lunch with Luke yesterday at the Burrito Bunker in Chapel Hill. I love being back there, it's like coming home. We sat outside and talked about the merits and detriments of being a stripper and of running an all cash business. Well, those were two different topics, but I can see now that they could be related.

I'm going to a wedding this weekend. My very first love is getting married. I'm mildly surprised that I was invited, but I wouldn't miss it. Not only is it a momentous occasion (the most important in their lives so far), but it's a fantastic reason to party with people that I haven't seen in 8 years. I spent a couple of hours yesterday trying on dresses that I had, trying to decide if the wedding was going to be an ultra-formal affair (it's at 4:30pm) or not. I've got loads of great dresses, but nowhere to wear them. I chose the least formal of my fancy dresses, and if I'm overdressed, then I don't care. It's not everyday that I get to play dress-up.

My sister's birthday is today. She's a superstar. Happy Birthday, Diana.

Friday! 90 degrees today! Enough rambling on, I'm going to go play outside...

I've got a lot of little things to mention, all of which I could write more about, but I'm mentally all over the place today, so I'm just going to blurb a little about each of them. I do love how my brain jumps so quickly from one thing to another. It makes it exciting to live inside my head, but kind of diminishes my productivity, and sometimes makes me a difficult communicator. Keep up.

dough running low
Designing websites for a "living" isn't going to make me any money, and being a cancer geneticist for the government, however noble, didn't make me any money either...well, a little, but that's quickly disappearing, mostly due to the fact that I've travelled 15,000 miles in the last 3 months. Travelling is a bit expensive, though I've done it as cheaply as I could have. Other large expenses: my phone [I spend hours talking, even when I'm uncaffeinated] and broadband [a soon-to-be expense, see below]. I didn't get any responses out of my last plea for work.
We've heard this story before, Amelia, get off your ass. Get a real J-O-B like the rest of us. What makes you think you can have so much fun and freedom?

Mom
My mom just said, "I think you and my daddy are related."
"Why?" I ask.
"Because you always have odd socks."

I think we're related, too, but that wasn't why. I should tell you more about my mom, sometime.

File Sharing
I don't know if I've mentioned how much I like the Wednesday News & Observer (Raleigh paper). The Connect section found in Wednesday's paper usually mentions something pro-Linux or anti-Microshaft, and there are gadget reviews and all sorts of tech-friendly articles. One that I wanted to share with you was Music Industry in Uproar Over UNC Research.

Wireless Broadband
The Triangle area (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) is lucky enough to be part of a trial run for Nextel's Wireless Broadband. They're having cheap introductory offers, if you're interested. I'm going to sign up for it and I'll let you know what I think. I'm still residing in the land of tobacco fields, and I don't have access to broadband (no DSL, no cable). I've been heard saying "who needs heat [or a/c] when you've got broadband." so obviously I consider it a necessity. Not only would I have access at home, but anywhere else that I happened to be in the Triangle. Wireless. Love it.

Cinco de Mayo
Eat some Mexican food today. or, better yet, have a margarita.

where to sleep
I may be subletting an apartment this summer in Chapel Hill. I'm still planning on travelling even more this summer, but I need a homebase, even if only for a few months. It's cheap...and I wouldn't have to share!

Crazy Democratic Junkmail
I'm not a bleeding heart liberal. Really. Somehow, despite this, I've managed to make it onto a list entitled, "Send me 3 pieces of mail a day about how my money could help you vanquish guns and Republicans---and fur is murder, too"
I confess, my heart does bleed occasionally. Dr. Joe thought I was a hippie. I prefer to eat vegetables (but love barbecue). I'm a feminist. I'll most likely support the Democrats in the upcoming elections, but leave my guns alone.

ovulating
Dude, I'm ovulating 15% more frequently than a couple of years ago. I think it's only happened in the last 6 months, but I haven't been really keeping track. What's that you say? Too much information? Well, then, don't bother reading. Just imagine if you were talking to me in person, this is the filtered version...

birthday
My birthday is in 20 days. yay!

comedy
Here is a Bizarro comic that I liked from a few weeks ago.


Alright, that's quite enough blabbing for now. Enjoy your day.

About three weeks ago I ordered the sheet music for Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and I've been by to pick it up three times to no avail. It was good for the guys at Walt's Music Shop that they had it today, because I was liable to be on the warpath, and through not much fault of their own, they would have at the very least fallen prey to a death stare. I don't feel like sharing the details of why I'm less than thrilled with life today, but suffice it to say that I always have loved playing with fire. As a kid, I tried to set things alight as often as I could get away with it. Lots of kids are fascinated by fire, though, and they grow out of it. I, on the otherhand, just morphed my masochistic desire. I wasn't satisfied by the danger of burning tangible things, so now I set fires of the heart. Somehow, that hurts more, satisfies less, and I still haven't learned.

I won't be your winter, I won't be anyone's excuse to cry... -Your Winter, Sister Hazel

I'm sitting in the car, borrowing some broadband, listening to the radio, air-conditioned, catching up with various emails and friends....It's a good Monday. It's been a good couple of days. I got away to the beach for a bit. It wasn't the greatest weather, but I can have fun in any environment. Too much fun. Vice city.

So what have I been up to? Mostly enjoying the hell out of life. and doing it within a budget. Thursday night, I ate well. Crab legs, chocolate martini, filet mignon, port, etc. It was a company dinner, so it was free (for me). After that, I went to a bar with no name and a shady reputation and learned that some people are even more exhibitionist than I am. Free dinner and free entertainment, I could get used to this.

I also met a casting associate for the Bachelor (tv show), who was looking to make people famous. Fortunately, I'm already famous, so I don't need to worry about that, but if you think you'd be good for TV, then let me know and I'll forward you her digits. She was pretty cool, and stunning.

Hope you are having fun today. Life's short.