March Book Journey

Reinventing Mona...Jennifer Coburn - great book, story jumps back and forth in time but was still easy to follow, was sorry to see it end.

Fashionably Late...Beth Kendrick

All Things Beautiful...Cathy Maxwell

creature comforts

Watching Creature Comforts. Got it at the library. Hilarious. There's this bit where the interviewer (who you can hear but can't see except for his arm) is talking to a lion - and you can see his hand that's holding the mike shaking and he's holding up a chair in the other (that's shaking also) to sort of protest himself from it. So funny. The best bit about these shorts is that they're man-on-the-street interviews.
Creature comforts is a must-see for any fans of Chicken Little or Wallace and Gromit.

Big upset on idol tonight. Big upset. The person who left, no real surprise but the other 2 people who were in the bottom three, big surprise. That's what people get for not voting right? I didn't votte either but not really upset about it.
When you pick a song that's currently popular, that's done so well by the original artist. I know I hate it when I song I love is remade by another artist, even if it's a decent version. It's a lose-lose situation.

Watching unanimous. This show is weird. I don't get why people would sign up for it in the first place.

more idol

Today our lists for our idol picks were due. Had choir tonight so I taped idol. Now watching it. Most of them were crap - did a lot of fast-forwarding tonight. They praised Katherine McPhee but there were several parts of the song that she was straining-painful. I'm going to have to give up on Ace. What was with the whole showing off his scar thing? What are they thinking with the songs they are choosing. Why pick a song that is on the radio every day now? Or completely obscure? Suds in a bucket? C'mon - done of course by the Pickler. Don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to watch. Planned to vote today when I was making my lists for the bet. But now I just can't be bothered.

TIRED

I'm so exhausted. I've been having the hand spasms again the last couple days. I was brushing my teeth at work today and my hand cramped up so bad that I had to remove my toothbrush with my left hand, put it down, then pry my right hand open. Been doing lots of reading lately. Found that many people have similar side effects. Like cramps in hands and or feet/increased anxiety/constant sore throat etc etc etc. Yeah so it's not comforting exactly but makes it a bit better. Decided to stop with the choc for a while again and got veggies/fruit to snack on instead.

Bed for me now.

alas...there is such a thing as too much chocolate

Got most of my laundry done yesterday. Didn't go to the gym but did go for a 30min walk early this morning before choir. It was good, a little cool but not too cold.

Went a little overboard today with the chocolate. Yeah, a lot of it has been eaten. I feel a little sick. Also have a major headache. Took tylenol a couple hrs ago but it hasn't helped. Going to bed soon.

Lately I've actually been able to sleep, have been felling sleepy at normal times, like 10:30-11pm instead of at 7 or 8. So i can go to bed and just sleep. Haven't been able to read much before bed like I usually do b/c I've been so tired that after getting in bed, I've been turning the light out right away. This is really good news. A couple weeks ago I did take tylenolPM which helped me sleep but I felt weird the next day. So I only took it once.

Off to take a few Tums and then to bed.

love actually

Watching "Love actually" again. I love this movie.

Some of the best moments:
The-Hugh-Grant-shimmy across several rooms to Jump for my love-Pointer Sisters

Daniel(Liam Neeson), such a great Dad. Saying, "we need Kate and Leo and we need them now" to his son Sam saying he'd fallen in love and that it was hopeless.

The kid Sam, who says, "just one tiny insignificant detail", to the fact that he doesn't play an instrument but is convinced that that's how he's gonna get the girl.

Also the look on Sam's face when 'his girl Joanna' points to him as she sings, "all I want for Christmas is you", then his face changes as she starts pointing to other people as well.

Driving Sam to the airport to say goodbye to the girl he loves and then, then he tells him to just go through security so he can see one last time.

The writer, Jamie(Colin Firth) and his housekeeper, Aurelia - he can't speak portuguese, she can't speak english, yet they are saying the same things to each other.

The whole village (practically) following Jamie as goes to find Aurelia - now he's learned Portuguese and she's learned english. Then Aurelia's sister says, "Say yes, you skinny moron" to Jamie's proposal. Then he's kissed by both her sister and her father.

So many great moments in this film. Another thing I love loved was how all these seemingly unconnected people were all connected. This movie makes me laugh, cry, believe that love will happen for me eventually. Sounds a bit silly but it's true.

Plans

Listening: If You're Gone - Matchbox 20
Reading: If You Could See Me Now - Cecelia Ahern

Went out to lunch with guys - Indian buffet. Guys are something else when they get together. I tell ya. Normally, individually, they're fine. but it must be something about all that testosterone being in such close proximity. Gems at lunch included an explanation of "shocker". No I will not write it here, if you know what is, good, if not, better off not knowing. The girl from another dept with "great body but face like a truck". Seriously, their words, not mine. I guess that's what I get for going to lunch with 4 guys. At one point, I was like, "ok guys, I'm still here". Long drive back to work. Funny? Yes. More than I ever needed to know about many things? Definitely.

Planned to go to the gym tonight. I drove there, parked my car. Then I just didn't want to go in. Was in kind of a weird mood. The kind of mood where you feel like crying for no reason. I thought that I should go in but didn't want to. Felt like I'd start crying in there. Crying in public is just not acceptable to me. After sitting in my car for 10min, I decided not to go in. Instead, I went to the drugstore, picked up my Rx and b'day card for my friend. Also went to the Lindt store which I haven't been to in ages. Bought $12 in chocolate. Not all for me - they had this ridiculous deal of buy 3, get 1 free. Do I need 4 chocolate bars at once? Does anyone? Heck no? But after deliberating, I got them anyway :) but I got 2 of them for my Mum (70% and 85% dark chocolate). I don't like those as much and I plan to mail her a couple things tomorrow anyway so I can just send those along.
For me I got an assortment of small chocs and a couple bars of regular dark chocolate.

Then went to the video store for a movie. Rented "In Her Shoes". Really enjoyed this movie. It was exactly the right one for my current mood. Feel better now. trying to spend less time on the computer. 15min then bed with my current book.

Tomorrow I'm going to the gym early, then do errands, then laundry. Big plans.

a little of this and that

Listening to: 100 Years - Five for Fighting
Reading: The Myth of You and Me - Leah Stewart

I'm getting a little bit bored with idol. Last night I watched the first half of the show, then chatted with my sis for a bit while I taped the rest. Only watched the judges comments and fast-forwarded through the rest of the performances. Didn't vote for anyone, just wasn't in the mood. Ace was better, kept his falsetto to just one note at the end.

Kind of sorry to see this guy go tonight(don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the show yet). Oh well. I quite like Barry Manilow. His diction is perfect when he sings. That's something a lot of the contestants on idol need to work on. Most of them eat half the words they sing and you miss parts of the song b/c of that. I guess that that must come with experience.

I'm feeling pretty positive about this whole crush-of-mine lately. Taking it one day at a time. Trying not to jump too far ahead in my mind. Just being open.

I've been so tired of late. More than usual. Went to bed at the insane time of 2am last night(this morning?). My alarm woke me up at 630am. Felt like death-warmed-over. Had breakfast and felt almost normal. Got in to work a little later than I wanted but early by my former standards. Was really tired after class tonight and he went on for another 10min as usual.
Still went to the gym though even though I didn't feel like it. I no longer go to the gym based on a feeling. When it's gym-day, I just go. I'm down 5lbs from Jan. Making good progress. I think I need to try for 4-5days a week instead of 2-3days that I've been doing. I've decided that it's time to work on the belly/back-fat :)with a little more cardio. That's the plan anyway. Did 20min on the bike tonight - my personal best. Might have overdone it on the weights tonight. Am more sore than usual.

Missed the first 10min of Bones tonight :(
Going to bed soon. Computer off in 10min. Lights out in 20min :)

Saturday Night Karaoke

Lazed around my apt all day. Didn't do anything but read and watch tv. Then around 7pm I was suddenly energized and feeling like going out. I'd mentioned singing some kareoke to S but she wan't terribly enthusiatic when I first suggested it on Fri as a possible plan for Sat night. But tonight she was kind of into it. So I met up with S and T at the karaoke bar. There weren't tons of people singing tonight which meant people had to hear me and this other girl - who sang mostly country songs I'd never heard before.

Songs I never sung before tonight and will never sing again:
Photograph: Nickelback - I love this song but apparently don't know any of the lyrics apart from the word "photograph" and "makes me laugh". There are many more words to this song.
Missionary Man: The Eurhtymics - they had the worst backup music for it that didn't match the tume at all and it was hard for me to follow - not too pretty.

Old Favs that I've tried once or twice before and had real fun with tonight:
I Hate Myself For Loving You: Joan Jett - Gotta love a little Joan Jet/Blackhearts if only for cool riffs and air-guitar opportunities that it offers :) Bad Medicine: Bon Jovi - this was a lot of fun to sing.

I'd sung my last song and even though we still had one more left in the queue for the group, they were ready to leave(just about midnight by then). So I was like, ok, we can go, sneak out. But as were putting on coats, Billy-the-Kid(my nickname for the DJ), who knows me by name(is it bad if the DJ at the karaoke bar knows you by name? Probably.) calls out to me "where are you going? you've got one more song? you haven't been here in so long. C'mon, you gotta do one more". All this he says in the mike. Yeah!

So I go up there and tell him that my friends want to leave, what can I do? then I decide to just do it, by myself, if they won't come up. Even though I only knew the words to half the song. A classic Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody. So then BtK calls my friends up, "you not going to let her do it all alone?" So they came up and it was fun. At least I thought it was fun and S thought so as well. T gave it a thumbs-sideways. Good enough. Then we called it a night. Now I'm too wired to sleep. No real surprise I guess.

I have hope again

Listening to : Can't Get enough of You Baby...Smashmouth
This song always makes me feel like dancing - Austin Powers style :)

Went to the bank at lunch and got veggie chinese take-out for lunch. I knew it was veggie cause that's what I ordered. Normally I save the meat(usu chicken) and eat most of it at the end. So I was absently thinking that the chicken pieces were cut in very big chunks. So put one in my mouth and started chewing only to realize that it wasn't chicken but fried tofu. Eewwww! Yeah, too late to do much but finish chewing and swallow. Maybe it's b/c I mostly order chicken when I get chinese food and my brain is just wired to recognize "chicken" even if I didn't order it. I don't really know. I don't do tofu. I like soy milk and have even grown to like soy cream cheese but not tofu in any way, shape or form. My fortune cookie said, "accept the next proposition you hear". I figured my day could only get better after that. Right?

All day today I kept hoping to catch a glimpse of Sam b/c I just had to know. I had to know if yesterday meant anything.
Around 3p, he came to my lab for a chemical. So being the helpful person I am ;) I asked him what he's looking for. So he tells me and asks where the storage cabinet is in our lab. So I ask what number cabinet and he tells me. So then I ask what lab cause I didn't recognize it. It was not in our lab but I told him where to find it. So off he went. Then 5min later, he's back. Asks for another chemical. Just so happens I had that one on my bench. So I told him so and that he could borrow it. Then he says that he made a mistake. That he needs a different one and he tells me the name of it. He was flustered. Flustered, I tell you. And that has to be a good sign. Reminded me of myself. The chemical he asked for originally and the one he actually needed don't even rhyme. In fact, one starts with an "h" and the other with a "p". I told him to go have a look at the hood it was listed at - 3 hoods away from mine. So he goes over there and he's looking. Meanwhile I'm trying to act normal, do my job, you know. After a couple minutes, I go over to him to ask if he was having any luck. He wasn't. Then I asked, "do you remember what size the container is" at the same time that he said, "I don't know what size container it's in". Then I saw it and it was right next to him but from where he was standing, there were a couple things blocking his view.
Then he said, “Thanks, isn’t it great the way we help each other out?” I answered, “Yeah, it is great”. At that moment, I had no idea what he was talking about but would have agreed to anything he said really. It was only later on that I remembered that he’d helped me find a chemical in his lab a while ago.
Just before I left work today, I went to see him to chat for a bit. Ok so I still don’t know for sure if he’s interested in me. But I have hope again :)

Jumpstart and jumping fish

Was watching JumpStart on VH1 this morning while having my cereal. Cool vides show in the am. Saw the video for "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. I love this song and it's played on idol everything time someone is sent home. It was nice to see it with different images. The video is pretty cool. Another cool video is for Nickelback"s "Savin' Me". Great concept. This guy is staring, staring at people as they walk by, but we don't know why at first. Then he pulls this guy who is about to be hit by a bus back and saves his life. Then the guy he saves starts looking around. And you see what he sees - he sees time-couonters on top of everyone's head. At first you wonder what is going on. Then I realized that it was a countdown of how long they had to live. And he's looking and looking for the person he has to save. Eventually he sees a woman about to open her car and you see her countdown clock with only minutes left, then seconds, then he pulls her bakc just as this huge crane drops and crushes her car. I like Nickelback but usual only like the singles they release. They do have the coolest videos though. They had a great one for "Someday" as well.

Just watching Croc Hunter. He's a nut. Getting so close to those crocs with raw meat in his hands. I can barely watch it, it slways looks like he's ablut to lose a hand...but somehow he doesn't. Now watching PetStar. There was this woman on who brought her fish Joe, she said she taught him to jump "that's more to life than just swimming in circles" and I quote. Well she stood there and talked to it but nothing. No jumping. No surprise I guess. But my eyes were glued to the screen even though I thought it unlikely that she could have trained the fish to jump. The judges were disappointed as well but she still got some points. Fine entertainment I tell you, fine entertainment.

blue monday

I just saw the video for "blue monday" by New Order. I know this song from when Orgy covered it. I really like Orgy's version which is more rock but the original is pretty cool too in a new-wavish way. The video is wacky as all videos were back then.
Fuse rocks - as does Steven's Untitled Rock Show. Watched a cool interview/show with Keith from Fall Out Boy. What I love about Fuse TV is that the only Ads they show are for shows on Fuse, new music releases and fake ads-they have fake ads for all sorts of weird stuff with outrageous prices like "only 4 easy payments of $66.99". Too funny :)

Today I was looking at a site for the Colbert Report. So funny.

I'm waiting

So I finally ans that guy - speed dating site - 5 days after he sent me that email. I figure he could wait 5 days like I did. My other thing with this guy Jack, is that even though he has my email (as well as my tel) he still only emails through the dating site. A little weird to me. In any event, I'm just going to let that go.

Got an email last night from one of the guys I had a date with at the speed dating thingy. Yeah so last time I heard from 'Ruskie' was just before Christmas last year. We both wre going out of town and said we'd try to meet up when we got back. Jan...Feb...Mar 15th, suddenly I exist again. He says he's had a crazy couple of months and sold his business and got a new job and moved. I guess that explains the no communication.

What is it with some guys? Do they think I'm stupid? I was born at night but not LAST night. If you're interested, don't wait 5 days or 2 and 1/2 months or 1 month(I can thank the QB for that one). That is too long. How can I take either of these guys seriously now.

Plus Ruskie has a kid. I realize that most people my age do have at least one if not more kids but personally, I don't want a 'package deal'. If everything else was easy, just flowed naturally. NO red flags or lame excuses. Fine, I could probably work with that. But as things stand, it just doesn't seem worth me getting dressed up to meet either of them.

Recently I've trying to get over my little crush on Sam. So I’ve not been visiting his lab just to chat or his desk either. Before I’d decided that it wasn’t going anywhere with Sam, I’d convinced myself that if he was interested, he’d seek me out in the same way that I was seeking him out. Even though my guy friends at work (the married ones or practically marrieds) come visit me from time to time, I still thought this would be a good sign. Anyhoo, I have to stop myself from inventing excuses to visit his lab(him). Today, today, he came to visit me. My cubicle is not on the way to anyone else’s so he came specifically to see me. My back was turned and I was quite surprised to say the least. I think I was able to act mostly normal.

Still, it may mean nothing. Here’s why I decided to jump off the Sam-bandwagon: a couple weeks ago, he and I were chatting outside the main cubicle area about this and that. Then I think I mentioned something about my friend E (who I carpool to class with). He then asked where she sat. So I told him - the cubicle behind mine. He said that he thought she sat someplace else and just came to visit me often(he can hear us talking I guess). You can’t see her desk from the main door like you can see mine. He sits in the cubicle opposite to hers but there’s a fake wall between them that you can’t see over unless you’re like over 6”. So that’s when I thought, is he interested in her? Why does he care where she sits? That’s when I figured that I was wasting my time thinking he was into me.

Then today when he came to visit me at my desk, he stayed for almost 10min. That’s a long time to stand and chat. We were talking about stuff and he was looking at the pics at my desk/on my wall: mostly x-files pics and Jeter calendar. Then I could hear E snickering at my saying that I started watching baseball b/c of Derek Jeter. She’s an anti-Yankee but I try not to hold it against her. Even though she holds my liking the Yankees against me but that’s another blog :) Back to the point, that’s when Sam says, “oh, is that where E sits, back there?” Yes. Yes. I told you this the last time we spoke. Why do you care Sam? I’m single. And interested. At least I was. She’s taken, living with her bf. Anymore taken than that and she’d be married.

What is wrong with the world? I think all the planets that relate to me are out of sync. Maybe my chi is out of whack? I don't know what it is but I've had enough of it. It can stop anyday now. Fix itself, realign, whatever. I'm waiting...

To Ace Young

When I told the guys at work that I'd voted for Ace a few times, one of them said, "its people like you who ruining american idol, voting for people like that who can't sing". He was only half-serious, but I couldn't care less. I'm really glad I voted for him cause I might have helped him last night. He was in the bottom 3 i.e. the 3 people who got the least number of votes. Whew!
I want to send an open letter to Ace

Dear Ace

You got by last night by the skin of your teeth. My advice to you: stop choosing songs which would inspire you to sing in falsetto. Even if it's just one word/note, forget it. Choose something else. The whole falsetto thing, so not working for you, regardless what Randy and Paula say. Simon is mean and tactless but spot on most of the time.

I'm beginning to wonder if you really can't sing and "Father Figure" is the only song that you can do well. This is what the guys at work say. I hope this isn't so. You gotta come big next week or you're probably out next. Even though Bucky and Kevin and the Pickler are probably in the same or worse vocally, you're on thin ice man. Fix it. I freely admit that I could watch you do your thing with the tv on mute. That said, I still wanna see you make it to at least the top 5.

Still voting for you,
Petra

Idol Wrap

So I taped idol and here's my review. I think I've got my top ten picks.

Ace Young - I could just look at him all day/night/whatever :),he can just move and look at the camera. That'd be enough for me. Really. His singing was ok, gets my vote? Yes.

Kellie Pickler - her singing/speaking = nails on chalkboard for me. She said she'd never heard a Stevie Wonder song before or even knew who he was, yet when Stevie came into the room, she had these tears(had to be fake). First fast-forward of the night. Gets my vote - no freakin way.

Mandisa - liked her song. She did it barefooted - yeah, Seacrest took off her shoes for her when she said they were killing her feet. Gets my vote? Yes.

Bucky Covington - not one of my fav but I thought he did an good job except that several words were lost. Bucky's word of the day should be = e-n-u-n-c-i-a-t-e. Gets my vote - not tonight.

Melissa McGheee - why is she still here? tonight's the first time she wore something that didn't expose her navel, absolutely shocking. My pal at work will be disappointed if she goes next - he's nicknamed her "belly-button girl". Fast-forwarded to judges comments. Gets me vote - no way, was ready for her to go last week.

Lisa Tucker - thought she did a pretty good job-more involved than before. Gets my vote - Yes.

Kevin Covais - ok so he probably has the worst voice of all the contestants left but...I just like this kid. Gets my vote - Yes.

Katherine McPhee - she did a great job tonight, for some reason, I don't like her or dislike her, if she were a movie I've give her a sideways thumb as opposed to a thumbs-up or down. Gets my vote - no.

Taylor Hicks - great job tonight even with the weird 'dance' moves. I figure he'll get enough votes so no vote from me tonight.

Paris Bennett - again really great vocalist, another I've not really warmed to. She'll definitely get enough votes I think so no vote from me.

Chris Daughtry - I'd go see him perform live, now or on tour.

I think I want Chris to win it all and Ace to come 2nd. That way I could watch Ace do his thing for as long as possible and still see Chris on tour someday :) Am I a wee bit shallow? Yes, but I'm ok with that. Definitely gets my vote.

Just finished my calls :) Yes I called more than once for a couple people.

Distraction

Distraction is the most crap game-show. Fun to watch but crap for the contestants. To buzz in tonight, they had to smash themselves with eggs(some raw,some hard-boiled). One guys smashed 9 raw eggs into his face. Then they had to grapple greased pigs. And for the guy who had the most points at the end a final quick round. Four prizes which he'd only get if he could answer questions within 20sec., if not, anvils, yes, I kid you not, anvils would fall on the prizes and destroy them. The other 3 contestants had to sit and watch from behind a sign "Losers". And of course, he could guess in time and he had to watch the freaking anvils fall on the sony notebook, digicam, large-screen tv.

Carlos Mencia - so funny. There's this clip with his brother selling this DVD and the brother says, "if they don't need subtitles to understand you, I give you your money back. Very politically incorrect but so funny.

On the Colbert report a couple night ago, he had a really funny interview with Lorraine Bracco "Dr. Melfi".

I better go to bed now. I'm up like it's Fri night and not Wed 12:40am.

Had first set of allergy shots today. I had 3 of them, the grass/ragweed/tree in one, mold in one and dust-mites in the last. No big deal really.

Ok I must say that Keillie Picklyer is really really really annoying. Makes me shudder just to listen to the words coming out of her mouth. Don't get me started on the singing. First fast-forward of the night.

Christmas in March

Tried to do another audiopost last night but it just didn't go through. Maybe I'll try again sometime.

When I go to choir/church I usually take the back streets, that way I only have to go through 1 traffic light/4 stop signs as opposed to 10 lights/2 stop signs (yeah I counted :). Anyhoo, I was driving to choir practice tonight and while stopped at a stop sign, I noticed a lighted Christmas tree through someone's window. On March 14th. Why? I guess if it makes them happy, I shouldn't be bothered by it. Still, I think it's a little ridiculous. Would you wear St. Patrick Day T-Shirt or hat in September? No, same idea here. As bad as the stores that bring out halloween decor in May.

Going to watch american idol now, I taped it. Caught the last 3 performers, now I just have to watch the rest. Might actually vote tonight. More on that tomorrow (don't want to spoil it for those of you who are not on EST).

Wallace and Gromit

Just watched Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Hilarious. My fav part, there's so many to choose from - is when the Victor's dog Philip and Gromit are fighting in the flying plane and it runs out of coins and stops moving. Then they stop fighting for a moment and Gromit looks for change and can't find any. Philip gives this exasperated groan and then he takes out the girliest change purse ever and pulls out a coin for the plane. Then they start fighting again. Too, too funny.
What I loved about this movie is that even though the animals never actually say words, they still seem human-like with the expressions they had. My other fav bit is when Totty comes into the tent with the 2 bandages on her hair(after Victor stuck the pitchfork through her hair to keep her from helping Wallace), so funny.

There's this other Brit claymation show called Creature Comforts and it's so funny. They feature real man-on-the-street interviews but they replace all the people with claymation animals. There's a Christmas special of it which I saw around Christmas time. I have to get it on DVD. They've shown it here, at least I've seen it advertized but I haven't actually seen it.

Tonight I got another message on my ans machine (3rd one so far). Here's what it says, "Hello, can I speak to...". Helllooo...Answering machine...not a person...can't answer you. Who is doing this? I don't know. But you'd think that in this day and age that everyone would understand the concept of an answering machine, espcially when the message on it says, "leave a message after the tone". How is that in any way unclear? Do people answer their phone with "leave a message after the tone" or with "hello?"
So tonight I changed my message to say, "this is not me, this is my answering machine, leave a message and I'll get back to you". Figured I might as well have some fun with whoever this is. I change my ans machine greeting frequently, for fun. At one time, I had one that was very funny for me, not so funny for people calling me. It went, "Hello, hello, hellloo, just kidding, I'm not at home, this is my ans machine, leave a message." I did change it after my Mom called, she was not amused. At least not as much as I was :)

cold or allergies

I seem to getting another cold. Or maybe it's just my allergies reacting to the spring-like temp we've been having. I don't know. Had a major coughing fit at choir today. Just before Mass started. Almost choked on a cough drop. Let me just say that it was very unpleasant. My throat felt very raw after that. I could barely get notes out so I mimed for several pieces. After Mass I made a quick stop at the grocery, came home. Should have vacuumed today but was not feeling up to it. Didn't get to sleep till after 1am last night. This morning my sis called just before 8am for our chat - she's traveling now and our current time-difference is 12hrs. So I barely got any sleep. Anyhoo, was a bit tired when I got back home today. So I tried calling my Mum late on around 2pm but no ans. This happens, sometimes she hasn't turned her phone on or it's not charged or is in a different room. Possibilities are endless. Usually though after a couple tries I'd get through. So I thought I'd give her a few min then try calling her again. Next thing I know, my phone rings and it's my Mum. It's also 630pm. Yup, I napped(passed out?) for 4hrs. Yeah. I was also up late Fr night. My body does this whole shutting down thing after I go a while without getting enough sleep. Been up since then, going to try to get to bed soon, by midnight for the latest.

Songs played on repeat

Crawling Back to You – Backstreet Boys
Bad Day – Daniel Powter
Slow Motion – Third Eye Blind
Bring Me to Life – Evanescence
Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations
Doesn't Remind Me - Audioslave
God of Wine – Third Eye Blind
Away From the Sun – 3 Doors Down
100 Years – Five for Fighting
Can’t Get You Out of My Head – Kylie Minogue

Audio post

I made a couple of these tonight and erased the other one. I sounded like a dork. Oh well.

Just put in the February installment of my book journeys (Feb 28). The list is shorter due to my reading other things...like chemistry journal articles - suprisingly good gym reading as the time flies by much faster than you'd think :)

What am I trying to do?

a) Doing some weird toothpick experiment or
b) Trying to make a cuppa at midnight?

Was reaching in my cupboard for some tea when the toothpicks all came tumbling down on me and everything. As you may have guessed, I needed a new cup.

Went out for a quick drink at local bar with C and L and the friend who's visiting C. Didn't stay long but we did have time to chat a bit. Then was off for dinner and movie with my fellow singletons, S and T. Was trying to find a spot to park at the restaurant and then realized they had a guy valet parking the cars so I was like, ok. So I gave him keys and went in. Turns out that they were at the place across the street b/c there was no wait for a table there. Luckily the valet guy didn't realize this and didn't give me any trouble to get my car. Went to see "Cache". Not my usual kind of movie - French with subtitles. Like all the French movies I've seen, I found it interesting but weird and of course, the ending made me go, "is that it?".

Had a good time. Still full from dinner - Italian, something called Pollo Salimbocca - I can spell it but had trouble saying it :)

Saturday stuff

american idol
None of us chose all the top 12 correctly but K came the closest so gets the money from our first mini bet. On to the top ten. This is going to be a tough choice to decide who the next 2 are.

I don't drink soda often and when I do drink it I usually have sprite or if desperate sierra mist. I usu have some coke in cans on hand for company cause I figured that they'd last better. Today I found out that soda cans have expiration dates. I also learned that if left in your kitchen they can start leaking spontaneously. Did major kitchen cleaning - the dishes were about to revolt.

Had an invigorating 30min walk around my neighborhood - sun was out, sky was blue, temp was just cool enough so I didn't break much of a sweat even though I was walking quite briskly.

They had St, Patrick's Day parades today but I was not in the mood for that today. Did look up several apts to look at - planning to drive by and check out the neighborhoods they're in before I make appt to see them. Some places look great on the map until they see the actual location. So that's the plan for tomorrow.

TGIF

Tonight I was trying to decide on antivirus software b/c my current mcaffee subscription (that kicked in when I bought my pc) was up today. Was hoping to decide on one that would give me basically the same features but would use less disk space and cost less. I just couldn't decide. Some didn't have a firewall included or weren't as well-rated. Some that got a great rating on one site didn't get such a good rating on another. So I took the path of least resistance - as usual. I just renewed with the darn mcaffee again. It uses so much memory to run, that's one of the reasons I wanted to change to something else. Oh well, it's done now.

I figured out why I didn't like the american idols guys doing falsetto. I realized that I don't mind guys singing falsetto if it comes out 'natural-like'. For example, I love Third Eye Blind and Stephan Jenkins does falsettos fairly often in his songs and I like it. I also like Five for Fighting - and he goes pretty high at times as well. Not to mention Daniel Powter. Maybe, I just don't like the current idols' versions of falsetto b/c it doesn't sound natural when they do it, it sounds more like an animal in pain, not like great music to me.

We got our yearly evaluations back a couple weeks ago and this yr was better than it's been. Not that I got promoted, I didn't expect to this yr but last year I did(a slight sore point for another time) but at least it was positive overall. There were a few areas for improvement (naturally) but not major ones. Plus (a big plus) no bull from my supervisor about my personality. Had real problems last year with my previous supervisors about that. Don't want to get into that now cause it never fails to depress and anger me when I think about it too much. Today, we got our letters with pay incr and bonus (this yr everyone's is much less than last year or so they told us). I'm ok with that. It's money I didn't have before. Plus my pay incr is a little more than it usu is. I usu do a little calculating and my pay incr every year usu goes up by the exact same dollar amt except for this year. And I can do with the extra.

Looking at all my finances, I've made up my mind that I have to move. It's decided. Now I just have to find a place to move to. Bottomline - I need to pay less rent so I can begin to break even and be able to make real dents in my CC debt. So tomorrow I'm going apt hunting. My lease isn't up until July but I know myself and if I don't start thinking about it(looking) now, it just won't happen. I like to have lots of choices - major comparison shopper - before I can come to a final decision. Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice out, upper 50s and no precipitation, so it'll be a good day to do it.

Was planning to go to the gym tonight but changed my mind. Went to the library and browsed for a while instead, then came home. Went for a curry with the guys in my group today and was still kinda full from that...indian buffet will do that to you...especially when you have 2 plates of food. Usu I'm able to have 1 plate and be good but was feeling like 2 so I had 2. Didn't feel like cooking anything when I got in tonight which would be fine except that I've been grazing...I've had chocolate, chocolate covered cadbury cookies, popcorn, more chocolate and cereal. I need to go to bed soon, that way, I'll stop eating :). Tomorrow I either take a walk early or if motivated enough maybe even go to the gym.

Tomorrow I might also meet with C(from alumni night) for dinner. He has a friend in town for the weekend but he said he'd let me know if she was ok with us all going to dinner. If not, he and I are going to have coffee Sun. Should be fun to catch up.

Went to choir thurs night - we usu have additional rehearsals depending on time of church year. Now we're doing extra pieces for the easter tridium so we have practice once a week in addition to early sun rehearsals. We sound very 'interesting' when we're first learning a piece. One particular piece switches back and forth every couple measures between soprano/alto(S/A) then everyone then tenor/base(T/B) then everyone. It can get confusing when you barely know the tune.
Also got to call L tomorrow to see how serious she was about joining choir. 940am on Sun is something of a committment so we'll see :) She winced a bit when I told her the time.

Going to bed, got an interesting book - reinventing mona. My recreational reading is much reduced since I started class. More tired and less time I guess.

no freakin way

I wish just once that when they ask the idol people to sing one more time for them (after they tell them that they're losers who got the lowest number of votes and are going home), that they say, "no freakin way". Just for the mere entertainment value. I know. I have a mean streak. Still I think that would be funner.
But I guess they can't if they do want to do more in the industry. Cause most of them have gotten a lot of exposure just by making it to the top 24.

Hit the road Jack

Guess who emailed me last night? The speed dating guy, Jack, who said he'd call last week. He said that he got offered a new job and was sorting out all the details so that he could start soon. Well, I don't really buy it. In my experience, if a guy is interested, really interested, he will contact when he says he will and if he can't, he'll let you know sooner than 5 days after the fact. but what do I know. It would take 2min tops to send an email the night you said you'd call or the next day. The logistics just don't add up for me. I mean, you get offered a job during the day on Fri and are too busy getting organized for it (on the weekend?). You don't have a spare min in the last 5 days. I think it's a load of bull. Not sure if I'm going to answer said email now. Maybe I'm making more of this than I should. I do not like to be fooled. And that's what this feels like - this early in the game - I'm out.

Idol

I thought most of the guys were crap tonight on idol with the exception of Elliot. Even Ace - why are these guys singing freakin falsetto. Not a sound I enjoy at all. If I want to hear a sound that high, I'd listen to a soprano. Or a young boys choir. It's just not natural and I don't like it. I'm not even going to bother to vote tonight. Screw the bet. I had to mute the tv several times tonight during the show. It was that bad.
The girls last night were mediocre and in some cases just plain boring with the exception of Mandisa. Didn't vote last night either.

I'd have really missed out

Work was a little rough today. Especially since I had my therspist appt today at lunch so my day was broken up. Neither of the compounds I made were clean enough to go out today. But I went to my session and it was good. She thinks I'm making good progress. She said, "now if only we could find you a boyfriend?" I was like, "can you?" I'll take all the help I can get at this point.

Got home right at 510pm tonight, all good. Lots of time to get ready and get to the alumni dinner. Right? Well I didn't leave until 550pm which didn't leave much time to get lost. Which I did. After 20min of driving around, I pulled over, called 411, got the number of the place. Called them and got directions from where I was. The guy I spoke to made it sound very easy. It'd have been easier if he'd also told me that the library was almost exactly opposite the place. Anyhoo, I almost gave up and drove home, but decided to take one more go at it.

I'm so glad that I did, cause I found it and it was a really good night. Met new people, also reconnected with a few people I knew at college and had lost touch with. Lots of familiar faces. Exchanged numbers and business cards with several people tonight.

One of the highlights of tonight - "I thought I'd never see you again" - he sounded so sad when he said it. This guy C, we spent a really cool summer together. Him and a couple other guys and I were doing interships at school, summer 2001. Very few students were on-campus and so as a result you hung with people who normally you might say hi to but not necessarily spend much time with. Anyhoo, we had great fun that summer, I have pics of us playing silly games. I had a mini-crush on this guy (of course :) This happened just after Ozzy and before Lit. But we didn't really hang out much after that. We were also in a church youth group together. I have several pics of us from that summer. One of the pics of us, I remember my granma was looking at it and said, "is he your boyfriend?" I was like, "umm, no, we're just friends". Then she said, "he likes you". Granmas, gotta love them.

I also reconnected tonight with another girl who was also part of that youth group. We exchanged numbers. We live 5min from each other. We were chatting tonight about how sometimes you get someone's number but they don't really want you to call them. So funny cause I wrote about that here recently. Well, I'm calling her Sat cause she's interested in maybe joining choir at the church I go to. She hasn't found a church she likes to go to regularly yet, so it should be good.

When I go to alumni things, it brings back lots of great memories. You talk about the places you frequented (ok the bars) and reminisce. I had a great time at college. I did a lot of studying, sure, but I also had tons of fun and met great people. I'm so glad I had those experiences and met the people I met. Tonight was great b/c there were many people at tonight's event and many of them were around my age. Most of the other events I've been to have people who graduated 15/20/30yrs ago. Not a lot in common with me. So glad I didn't bail tonight when I first got lost. I'd have really missed out.

Crap day

Today was a blur. I was really tired. Didn't sleep enough last night.
Didn't finish homework due today. Had 2 compounds to get ready for shipment but neither were pure enough. Plus with class today, I had to leave at 4pm so no time to clean them up. Compounds we ship have to be dried overnight and to ship this week, I'd have to have them dry tonight, then do analysis tomorrow, hand in to shipping office by 3pm.

I went back to work tonight after class - normally I don't - but I did a qucik purification of one of the compounds before I left, and I wanted to get it in the oven tonight. Didn't have time to test its purity so I'm hoping it'll be good enough. NO point worrying about it anymore. It'll either be pure enough and go out or not.

I was in a shitty mood before class and was really sleepy during class and as usual he wnet on for an additional 10 min. This may not seem like a lot except that after an hr, my brain has taken in as much chemistry as it can and I'm looking at my watch every couple min waiting for the next 30min to go by. Add the extra 10-15 min he goes on for and I've had more than enough.

Maybe tomorrow will be better but I doubt it. Tues are usu worse than Mon for me. Have another appt with my therapist tomorrow at lunch. I've started claiming her as 'my' therapist as opposed to "the" therapist. Progress? Maybe.

Also have an alumni dinner tomorrow night at 6pm. No idea what I'm going to wear yet. Probably need to decide tonight cause I'll only have time to come home from work, have a quick shower and change.

Planning to get in early tomorrow since I have the doc appt and can't stay past 5pm as I have the dinner thingy. really need to get to bed at decent time tonight.

Listening to: Bad Day - Daniel Powter

Radio silence and epiphanies

Went bowling last night. Had my best game ever. 3 strikes and 3 spares in one game. Oh and I won 2 of the games we played. There was a cute guy in the lane next to us bowling with a couple friends of his. He and I were usu up to bowl at the same time. We chatted a little between frames. What I don't know is how to tell a guy I just met that I'm interested? If I knew how to do that, he'd prob have my number now. But I don't so that's that.

Been talking to this guy online - from the speed-dating site. Not one of the guys I actually saw but just another from the site. Anyhoo, we've been emailing back and forth for over a month now and this past week, we planned to put voices to the emails. So I sent him my number. He said he'd call if he got home early enough(this was thurs) and hasn't. Also no email from him either. I emailed last so I'm not going to email again until I hear from him(email or phone). This is weird to me b/c we've been emailing each other quite frequently (~2-3 times/week) so I don't know what this means. It could mean that
1)he's been emailing other girls as well and decided on someone else after he said he'd call, or
2)he chickened out, or
3)he's an asshole
At this point I don't have tons invested, we haven't met, so it's been casual, cool. So I don't get the whole 'radio-silence'.Oh well.

As far as Sam is concerned, I had a mini-epiphany about him last week. Although I do think he's interested, he does not appear to have any plans to do anything about it. I considered doing the asking but I don't think I can. I can't take the rejection or inevitable gossip that would result from me asking him out and having him refuse. The cubicles are too small and people are always around. So I'm just going to leave that there.

midol and blueberry tea

That TOTM again, I feel kind of sick and there's the ever-present cramps. Been up since 530am. Just had a coupla Midol and now haveing some blueberry tea. Hopefully I feel better in half-hr or so and get ready for work. Back to bed for a little lie-in.

discovery health

"the most amazing species on the planet...is human". Indeed. The stories on Medical Incredible tonight, makes me cringe. It's amazing the things people can go through and survive.
Been watching DH since american idol ended. Kids with progeria, butterfly skin, internal decapitation and a teen impaled by a post. the last one was the hardest to watch. As usual I'm at once fascinated and grossed out.

another american idol post: mini-bet 1

my pick 12

Girls:
Lisa Tucker (I like her though not sure why)
Paris Bennett (she can sing, is very comfortable on-stage, does she really need AI? for some reason I just can't warm to her)
Mandisa (she's really good)
Katherine McPhee (another one I don't like much but I think she will get many votes)
Kellie Pickler (another one people will vote for, the cute naive factor)
Ayla Brown (I like her too)

Guys:
Ace Young (of course, not a great song choice last night, the beany thing is weird but who cares)
Chris Daughtry (brilliant - I'd go see him in concert)
Gedeon McKinney (didn't like him much before but he was really good last night)
Eliot Yamin (great voice, didn't really enjoy his song, thank goodness he shaved the weird beard off)
Taylor Hicks (I'd listen to him on the radio, but wouldn't go see him in concert, too twitchy)
Kevin Covais - This was a tough choice for me, I was trying to decide between Kevin Covais and Bucky Covington. I went with Kevin, cause I was talking to one of the guys at work today about how the 11yr-old girls need someone to vote for. He chose Will Makar. I was also thinking of Bucky b/c he's the guy who'll get the country votes. This may make or break my list/bet.

Oh well. One guy and I have identical lists so if we're right, they're going do a coin toss to decide who gets the pot (quite small this early in the game).

damn, I'm good ;)

Damn, I'm good. Totally predicted who was going home tonight on american idol. Am kind of sad to see Brenna go. I knew she was going though. She had a chance to redeem herself, one last chance to show a little humility - Seacrest asked her if she had any flaws. I think that if she'd answered differently, she might not have been going home tonight. She was all - I'm the shizit, everyone knows it and will vote for me (my version of course). I knew it was the end of the road for her. And Heather was horrible. Next week's pick will be a little more challenging.

Went to allergy center to get my first set of allergy shots today. Guess what, apparently, they can't give you the shots if you've taken your emergency inhaler within the last 24hrs - the shot might push you over into anaphylactic shock (fun fact?). Also you can't get the shot if you are sick. I'm still cooughing a little and last night had a little trouble breathing, so I took my inhaler-totally didn't think that it'd affect the shots. Well, now I know.

I think he now has my cold

C came up to me today and said, "I think you gave me your cold". Ooops, I might have done. Whenever I go over to C & T's house, they usual have a variety of beverages - many I haven't had before. And C usu offers sips of his drink to me if it's something I haven't had before - so I can tell if it's something I want or not. This is kind of a tradition with us even before he and T got married. I only mention this b/c a couple years ago at one of their parties, we did the whole tasted the drinks thing and one of T's friends was all up in arms about it. Like I was making moves on C. I was kind of bothered by her reaction. T was cool with it. At least I always thought so. She and I just clicked from the first time we met and I think she would have said something if it bothered her. She's very frank, kind of like I am. I would stop if she had a problem with it even though I have no designs on him.

Anyhoo, I decided to have this cool hard cider - woodchuck. And he and the others were having this cool new dessert wine. So I had a sip of that as per usual. Yeah, so I may have given him my cold.

Gotta go be a geek and vote for the AI guys :)

Tonight I'm going to vote for:
Ace (of course ;), Gedeon , Chris (phenomenal version of Fuel), Taylor and maybe Kevin Covais(thought he did a good job tonight) though I don't think he's going to be in my top 12 pick.

more american idol

The new pizzahut ad for popable pizza with that annoying Jessica Simpson really annoys me. But tonight it had a new twist - Miss Piggy singing and swaying instead of JS. SO funny, much more likeable. The best part is at the end when JS says "I thought I was the 'pop' star?" and Miss P responds, "you wish". Just Perfect.

I'm determined to get to sleep early tonight, so only 30min internet time tonight, then american idol, then reading in bed for little bit. Supposed to have snow tomorrow, anything from 1"-8". The weather guys have no idea really. Just have to wait and see. I'm scheduled to get my first series of allergy shots tomorrow. Was tempted to call and re-schedule today. But I'm tired of being a baby and cancelling stuff on the chance of snow. So until we have whiteout conditions I'm just going to go. I hate driving in snow though - but I live in upstate NY so it's inevitable really.

I was telling my sis about the american idol pool we've having at work and all the rules of it. She was like, "uhh, you chemists, have to make everything complicated" :)
Anyhoo, they added one more quick bet - pick the 6 guys/6 girls that will make it to the finals. Another bet - pick the top 10(in any order). The big bet($5)is to rank the top 10 (winner all the way down)- this we have to hand in before results night for the top 10. The person who comes closest in people and order wins that pot. Then there are mini bets as we go along, where we rank the remiaining people every week. Points are tallied at the end of the show. That's the gist of it as far as I understand. How the points are scored is complicated but I don't care. I don't need to know know that. But the way it's done, everyone has a chance to win something and everything doesn't just go to one person. If 2 people have identical picks, the pot's split. So it should be fun.

One bonus of watching american idol is that now I know what people are talking about. Plus my sis watches as well from the UK, but they're lucky in a way - they see it on the Fri but altogether(girls/guys/results).

Oooh, got to go, Ace is about to go on. :)