I'm feeling like it's time to write but I don't have anything I particularly want to write about. So instead I will let others do the writing for me. I may or may not add commentary.
When I set out to start this here documentation of my existence, I knew the first thing I'd have to do was choose something to fill in the space between http:// and .blogspot. I'm sorry to break the news to my current url that he was not in fact my first choice--but don't take it too hard little guy. You were up against some stiff competition. I will now present the audience with excerpts from five of the sites I tried to claim as my own. I will not, however, provide the addresses for said websites. If you were to find them on your own simply through guessing what I might have wanted for my site, well then you know me quite well friend, and I'll contemplate rewarding you in some way.
Blog the first!
the naked chef is the coolest guy on tv. he just cooks out of his own (extremely cool) apartment somewhere in england. and they film him going to all these little groceries and independent farm stands. and then he goes home and just breaks down everything you'd want to know about everything he uses in his recipes.
I can totally get behind somebody who talks about what they watch on TV, and who enjoys the Food Network. Glad to see she and I think alike on website names.
Number two.
Strange how the days moved and flowed, change in temperament coming only with rest and reflection, or lack thereof. The more thought she put into how things were or were not working for her, the more she became depressed and cried. How did the regular people stand it, she wondered? Is disconnection and avoidance how the world survives? These questions had no clear answer, obviously.
This girl's entire blog is written in third person, with the singular exception of the sentence "I don't know why I did this" in an early post. She's also very sad. Somehow I'm feeling some responsibility for her sadness now. I hope she's doing better.
3
hmm, happy new year! it's a perfect day to start a blog. =) new yr always comes with resolutions... i just wanna be happy. sounds rather cliche, i know... but it's what i really want. havent felt sheer happiness in a long time. funny...
She apparently is not given to capital letter usage. She does, however, have an appreciation for the ellipsis. Which is a terrible name for a band. I'm glad her New Year's resolution was not to faithfully update her blog, because this is her only entry.
Fourth
i wake up and begin to turn to look at the bright red numbers on my alarm clock, but before i can move close enough to see the time i hear the click and the radio begins to play a familiar song. it is six am. i hate when this type of thing happens(waking up just before the alarm goes off). i listened to the rest of the song and when it was over i felt around for my glasses, (they are never where i leave them).
Very detail-oriented. And that hatred of waking up right before the alarm clock, well that's something we all can relate to isn't it.
And, finally, five
I was talking to a friend about past relationships, specifically mine, and she provided a really interesting perspective on happiness...If you're banging your head against the wall, once it stops, you deceive yourself into thinking that you are happy. It's not happiness - it's an absence of pain. What we sometimes fail to recognize is that there is a whole other level of happiness on the other side of that wall.
Hmm, all of the blogs-that-could-have-been were written by females. There's got to be something interesting about gender roles to be discovered in that. I guess I am decidedly girly, if all the urls I wanted are owned by girls. I appreciate that this one wrote "a whole other" rather than "a whole nother," even though it is awesome that English does have that one infix that doesn't get nearly enough attention as a linguistic phenomenon.
^^ That one's going out to my big brother Brad. He gets it.
I realized that the custodian in question yesterday is in need of a serious attitude adjustment. With one simple change in lifestyle, he would quickly find that his woes can become his joys. In my days of early morning custodial work, I would find a little morsel here or there of spilled/unwanted/discarded food. That is NO cause for complaint. That was breakfast! If our IAA custodian had been truly diligent he would have seen that there was even a half-full bottle of Sprite in the trash can that he could have used to wash down the daily popcorn fix. I really think he could benefit from this new diet plan. Maybe I'll leave him a note.
Segue.
I've been tagged! I've read those three words on many a blog in recent months, usually followed by some type of questionnaire the author was requested to fill out by one of their blog friends. I feel like in my being tagged, I've now officially been inducted into the blog world. I'm a card-carrying blog member. This paragraph also goes out to my big brother Brad, who loves nothing more than he loves the word blog. Blog blog blog. Hi buddy!
On with the hopefully self-revealing survey. This one came in the form of eights.
Passionate about: 1. language 2. killer whales 3. music 4. cheese 5. F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing 6. race relations 7. autumn 8. comfort
Want to: 1. go back to Korea 2. make music of my own 3. jump out of an airplane with my dad 4. regularly use my KitchenAid and Magic Bullet 5. learn how to parallel park 6. get a graduate degree 7. see a killer whale in the wild 8. Color Me Mine
Have recently read 1. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce 2. I Am America and So Can You - Stephen Colbert 3. various short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald 4. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 5. Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl 6. Details magazine 7. The Little Black Book of Style - Nina Garcia 8. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
Say: 1. oh, really? 2. heeeey 3. Institutional Assessment, this is Tracy 4. I don't care 5. see if Scrubs is on 6. sweet 7. I'm going home now 8. but I mean,
Attracted to friends by: 1. making me laugh 2. not taking themselves seriously 3. intelligence 4. an appreciation of good food 5. interest in various forms of media 6. downloose (this is the opposite of uptight that I just made up) 7. the right balance of logical and emotional 8. tolerance of me
Could listen to over and over: 1. Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope 2. M.I.A. - Paper Planes 3. Once soundtrack 4. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah 5. Most any Bright Eyes 6. Bloc Party - This Modern Love 7. Something Corporate - Konstantine 8. Queen/David Bowie - Under Pressure
Learned last year: 1. America's health care system is broken 2. one room can be better than four 3. bodies can handle more than you might think 4. hamburgers aren't so bad 5. fresh flowers and live plants do wonders for a home 6. moms always take care of their babies no matter how old 7. Oreos can in fact get any better, through a brilliant change in packaging 8. people are the same in a lot of important ways and different in a lot of important ways
And I: 1. like that I'm not fashionable 2. could say the alphabet backwards when I was 2 3. have a really comfortable bed 4. don't much care for drivings cars 5. love my nephew 6. take more baths than showers 7. feel like something big is going to happen 8. will be really disappointed if it doesn't
Oh, I forgot the part where you tag eight more people. Oops.
Wow. When the employees of Institutional Assessment & Analysis arrived at our office this morning, there was a little surprise waiting for us. In the form of a note, left on the keyboard of one of our student desks, that read as follows:
Please don't eat popcorn here. You always drop 2-3 kernals.
The obvious author is the custodian assigned to cleaning our little office suite. I have to say I am amazed by this note. I mean, it takes a lot of gumption to write a request that basically could be paraphrased, "Please don't make me do any work for my job." Is this guy kidding? I'm assuming it's a guy based on the hand-writing. Yay gender stereotypes. But how do you have a job where the entire premise is based upon cleaning up messes, and then complain about the existence of a mess?? Doesn't he know those popcorn kernels are paying his BILLS? We start being clean freaks and you're out of a job pal. I know there are currently at least three custodians assigned to this building; without a rogue kernel or two making its way to the floor I'm sure they could downsize. And who would be the first to get the axe? Well, the guy begging for less work, obviously. Furthermore, I'm intrigued by his specificity--2-3 kernels a day? Has he been keeping a tally, finding means and standard deviations? I'd love to see his Popcorn Droppage Bell Curve. I think one thing is quite telling, though: "kernals." Note the A. I guess maybe he shouldn't set his sights too high above that career in custodial work.
Today I am more excited about a Relief Society activity than I've ever been before. Not that that's really indicative of much, I mean an excitement level of 12% would probably be higher than I've ever previously been about a Relief Society activity. But I am really legitimately looking forward to this. We're going to the BYU Museum of Art and having a tour guided by Martha Peacock, Ph.D./member of the Sharon 5th Ward. I had her as a professor my freshman year of college for a General Ed class (art history, as you may have guessed) and still consider her to be the best teacher I ever had. As in, so so good at the act of teaching. Not that she was the one I was closest with, or loved most, or was most inspired by, but just plain best at teaching. And tonight I get an hour or more of her talking about art! Lucky me.
If you're not Mormon, and don't know what Relief Society is, why it's only the oldest women's organization in the world. It's been doing all kinds of good since St. Patty's Day 1842. Charity never faileth.
I can't wait to make so many messes in my office today.
You see this? Well I know what you're thinking--"that looks like buckets of fun!" First of all, you're accidentally confusing the Busy Ball Popper® by Playskool with Mr. Bucket®, by Milton Bradley. It's an easy mistake; balls do pop out of his mouth. Secondly, the Busy Ball Popper is not nearly as fun when in place of that pink ball, it has a Samsung A930. Imagine it looking something like this: And imagine that phone is yours, and wedged quite tightly in above location, and is ringing. Thanks a lot, Kyle the baby.
Actually it wasn't that big of a problem, after a little disassembly and various forms of shaking, hitting, pounding, jiggling, etc. it came out no worse for the wear. And the good thing is it gave me a chance to flex my Photoshop muscle.
Speaking of my phone, though, I accidentally left it at home when I came to work today. And you know how it is when you are away from your phone for a long time: there is no disappointment like coming back to it and seeing you missed not even one call or text. So this is call to action! If you know me, and know my phone number, send me a text or call and leave me a voicemail so I can be so so happy when I get home. I realize this is an entirely selfish plea...I'm okay with that. It would be so kind of you though!
I realized today that vanilla is the lime of the dessert world. There is not a dish that a hint (or more) of lime does not improve--at least that I have encountered--;such is the case with vanilla and all things sweet. Holy punctuation! That's how I meant it though. I'm so glad that I have a giant bottle of McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract in the cabinet over the sink, not imitation mind you, and that I have an even gianter bottle of Private Selection* Vanilla Syrup. Invest in these two items and you'll never be left missing that certain something for your sweet tooth again.
Speaking of lime, for claiming to be the expert on all-things-pie, Marie Callendar's Key Lime Pie is severely lacking in both texture and flavor. And is way overdone on whip cream. Whipped cream? Anyway, Rumbi's where it's at.
In case you've been wondering whether I managed to acquire a pair of jeans from Urban Outfitters for $9.99 this weekend, the answer is an enthusiastic yes!
*I had to go over to my pantry and look at the bottle to see who made this stuff. Private Selection? Take themselves a little seriously, do they?
And here it is: my very first totally public, all-access blog. One that will not be solely devoted to physical maladies. I'm excited, you're excited. On with it.
The first thing I need to talk about here is mold. Or mould, if you're a limey. This morning found me wanting to drink some juice, as mornings often do. Unfortunately this craving came immediately after I brushed my teeth, and I knew that combination of Crest + cranberry was not going to be the delicious delight I so hoped for. No problem, thought I, I'll simply bring it into work with me and wait until the minty freshness has worn off so that I can enjoy my juice properly. I filled my hospital thermos (shout-out to scoliolioliosis) with 500 mL of Ocean Spray and went on my way. Approximately 17 minutes later I'm in my office and ready for refreshment. I go to take a big gulp of juice, only to discover that nothing comes through the straw. My first thought was that the straw was too tight against the bottom of the thermos, and the juice couldn't squeeze through. I yanked it up a little bit and went for another drink, only to find the straw dysfunctional again. Now I don't claim to know anything about Science, and that should be obvious by my next theory--that the lid was sealed on so tightly to the thermos, and my mouth sealed around the straw, and somehow the lack of air flow made the straw un-workable. I was operating under the poke-a-second-hole-in-the-can-to-make-substanceX-pour-nicely principle. So I twisted off the lid and had another go at it--still nothing. Only then did it occur to me to check the straw itself for any impediment, and there, to my horror, was a solid inch of multi-colored mold lodged in the bottom section of the straw. Siiiick. I threw it in the garbage immediately, and considered doing the same with the juice, but I just couldn't let that much cranberry go to waste. It still tasted fine. I think I'll be okay, health-wise. I mean don't they make medicine out of that stuff sometimes? It's very likely I completely made that up. Anyway my point is mold is gross, cranberry juice is not.
In other news, I had my first sewing lesson last night. A few weeks ago I bought this beauty at Target: for the low low price of $24.98. Since then it's just sat cutely on various surfaces in my apartment, but last night it became fully operational. My lesson was supposed to be only an hour but I was way too into it to let my teacher leave at that point. We were just getting to the good stuff. Now I can tell you all about seam allowance and reverse stitching and I even know what bobbin means. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Soon I am going to be a sewing MACHINE! Get it? Hilarious I know. Sorry if I already made that joke to you earlier today.
Ummm my url and blog name come from a Huey Lewis and the News song. What the?
