My Take on Life

Leaving the Board

2005-04-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

A repost of what I put on the Board today, but you can comment on it if you want.

Dear 100 Hour Board Writers and Readers,

It’s that time. Time to go.
I’m glad that I was able to be a part of the Board at all. I often felt that I didn’t deserve to write, but didn’t want to leave because of the people. And the parties. Maybe the people at the parties. The whole experience is just so entertaining. I’ll sincerely miss everything having to do with the Board.

So, very The Keeper-esque, I’m going to will some things to my people left behind. In no particular order, of course.

To all writers of the Board: ∞Link. You can use him whenever you’re too lazy to write out an answer that is so well explained on another website.

To all the readers of the Board: My appreciation for your support, and my name: Becca.

To anyone who ever sent me a comment or email: Thanks. You made my day.

To Latro: Bocce ball and a dented picnic table.

To FCSM: King’s Quest 2: Romancing the Stones. A remake you’d like, if you don’t already have it. http://www.agdinteractive.com/KQ2.php

To Duchess: The knowledge that I like you and I think you’re really cool and funny, even though we had all that awkwardness at the beginning.

To Pa Grape: Poker night. But no gambling!

To A. A. Melyngoch: The words “callipygian,” “subdolous,” and “sesquipedalian,” because you like words, and these are some fun ones. They even describe you. At least the last two do. I’m not touching that first one.

To Ambrosia: A Pink Melt, since you already have the Mink Pelt.

To bittermale: The hope of a nice girl.

To Dinomight: Metroid Prime. We’ll drop it off later.

To Phoenix: Chocolate that stays in your braces, not on your front seat.

To the pirates that don’t do anything: Our Wymount couches. They are uncomfortable enough that maybe you’ll want to get up and do something.

To Toasteroven: The song “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” Go read the lyrics.

To Uffish Thought: Monkey Island and an orange, so as to avoid the scurvy.

To Novel Concept: The award for the cleverest pseudonym.

To Xanadu: A big welcome. I’m glad you made it onto the Board.

To Leibniz: My admiration. You seem to be able to do it all, and keep it all together at the same time.

To L’afro: Magnificent hair. Though, in my opinion, you already have it.

To CGNU Grad: A pile of electronics and a golf club.

To The Franchise: My brackets. It’ll be good for a laugh.

To Misaneroth: My respect, the East Coast, and any philosophical questions I’ll have in the future.

To The Mighty Quinn: Totally Ripped Abs cologne, found at your local drug store.

To Katya: The Peacock room and the fun conversations therein and out.

To la bamba: A scope-out of the student ward where we’re moving. We’ll give you the low-down.

To Horatio: A funny article: http://flakmag.com/misc/thatisall.html . And that’s it.

To Fractile: All my computer problems, even though you probably don’t want them. :)

To Beemer Boy: Enough money to buy one. But, ah, check back in like 30 years.

To Hephaestus: A mythology fact. Hephaestus was known as the kindest of gods. It’s an appropriate pseudonym.

To Grabthar’s Hammer: Many more haikus/Inspiration to write them/And the correct amount of syllables.

To Benvolio: I’m not leaving you behind, so you don’t get anything. Besides, you have me. I love you.

See you all on BB.

›Kassidy‹

Random Things About Me You May or May Not Know

2005-03-15T18:34:00.000-05:00

Lists are easy, so I'm doing one.

I once marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City
My hair is curly (or at least very wavy) when I don't blow dry it
If uninterrupted, I sleep 10 hours a night naturally
My favorite cartoon is Dexter's Laboratory
I've never been out of the country, except for the Bahamas, which barely count
I get heartburn when I eat too much sugar or spicy stuff, which is frequently
I read through the "Joy of Cooking" for fun sometimes
I wear size 10 in women's shoes
I sucked my thumb until I was 7 years old
I had to get braces for an underbite (which is rare for thumb-suckers)
I was born and raised in Alabama, and I still don't have an accent
I'm a girl and I like video games
I've never had an enemy
I love my family, but for real. I love hanging out with them
I like a little bit of humidity
I'm a redhead, yet I can tan
I don't like house decorations with a flower pattern
I saw Nightmare on Elm Street at the age of 5 and have been forever scarred. I can't watch horror movies
I like to read. I've read a 900 page book in a period of 24 hours
I used to wear brown shoes with my black pants
Benvolio was my first kiss, though I didn't plan it that way
I've only had two real boyfriends including Benvolio
The other guy wouldn't kiss me
I was too picky with guys, so no wonder I didn't get kissed
I've tried to read "Jesus the Christ" but I got bored
My feet are constantly cold
I have a black cousin
I hate doing the dishes
Sometimes my joints hurt unless I pop them
I have the flu this week
I usually like people, until someone tells me something bad about them, or they have bad hygiene
Once I burned the carpet playing with matches and kleenex with lotion when I was 10, but I gave the carpet a "haircut" and no one found out
I like impressionist art
I've written a couple songs
I have a scar on my arm that's 12 years old
I hate needles, i.e. getting shots
Once I levelled up my Final Fantasy 7 characters up to level 99
I hate calling people on the phone
My grandfather sealed Benvolio and I in the temple
I am the oldest in my family of four
I've only bounced one check ever
I watch Law and Order
I hardly ever take offense
I skipped the first grade
I can't think of anything else

Finally, Something Good

2005-03-08T15:07:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in a while. I was waiting for something good or fun to happen, but it never did. Not that my life is a wreck, but I've had little to no positives to keep me going.
The other week I applied for a job, and I got it. It was for giving surveys over the phone. When I had the interview, I thought I could handle it for the little amount of time I have left here. I went to the orientation and realized that I am really not cut out for making people miserable and getting paid for it. Perhaps I am too picky, but I can't spend all day making calls that people don't want. I would come home very unfulfilled everyday. Maybe I'm spoiled. We need the money.
So I've been down about giving up that job, and not having a job in general, and bringing down my husband in the process. Then I get even more down for being down, becaues I really am blessed, and why am I being so hard on myself. I am my own quandary.
Something good happened, though. Kind of. I got my Sony Clie that I got on eBay. But it didn't work when I pressed the on/off button. They shipped it from Canada. Stupid Canadians. Ok, maybe not really, but I will think twice before ordering from another country. It makes things twice as hard. I figured out how to get the thing to work by soft resetting. I have to use the address book button to turn the thing on and wait for it to turn off by itself. I considered returning the thing, but I don't want to have to pay shipping, and other than that stupid button, it works fine.
I've been in a better mood (mostly) since then (Friday). Sorry to anyone that I was snotty to during this past little while. I've forgotten all the good things about myself, and it's hard to be nice to others when you can't even be nice to yourself.
So that's why I haven't been blogging lately. I needed something good.

Lack of Ideas

2005-02-12T23:38:00.000-05:00

I can't think of a topic to blog on. Give me some comments, guys. What's something you've wanted me to blog about? Or just ideas in general...

Therapy

2005-02-03T17:05:00.000-05:00

What do you do when you're stressed out or just not having a good day? Today is one of those days. I woke up because two guys were sitting outside my window talking and laughing. I guess that wasn't such a bad thing because I got to see Benvolio before he left. Then I work myself up for my task of the day. Today my goal was to go to a Temp Agency and take the office skills test and fill out all the paperwork so they can find me a job. I got all ready and prettified and went out to the car. This part is scary. I have only recently learned to drive stick shift and today was the first day I drove solo, no help. No matter that where I'm going is only 5 minutes away, it's still frightening. Yes, go ahead and laugh. I have trite fears. I still haven't figured out how to just make emotions leave, no matter how silly. So I'm in the car and driving. But you have to see how I'm driving. I have both hands on 10 and 2 on the wheel, sitting straight up, eyes wide open, not because I'm a conscientious driver, but because I'm scared out of my wits. Thankfully I got to the office safely and without incident. Incidents come later.

I walked into the office but no one was in the front. Some lady from the back walks up and asks if she can help me. I say I'm looking for a job, duh. I tell her I need part time hours, but they only have 8-5's right now. I left the office about 45 seconds after I entered. I didn't even have time to psych myself up for the drive home. Deep breaths.

Crap. When I left I had to turn left onto a busy road. I screeched out because I was scared the guy was coming too fast in the oncoming traffic. Then I came to an intersection with a hill. Ahhhh! I can't do hills yet! I don't have sufficient training. Of course the person behind me is a tailgater and pulls as close as possible. I'll bet I freaked her out when I started rolling backwards. The second time I moved forward, but only after probably waking up all the sleeping babies in the area with how much gas pedal I used and screeching I made. I shoulda taken the bus.

I made it home, thoroughly embarrassed after more success at not finding a job and scaring people on the road and making them drive at least 50 feet away from me. I cried a little, because that's what girls do when things go wrong, and sat down and played video games until I felt better, even though that's not what girls do when things go wrong. But that's my therapy when I'm stressed out and not having a good day.

From Singlehood to Double-dom

2005-02-01T19:26:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking recently about marriage and how crazy it is. How on earth do you ever trust someone enough to promise yourself to them? How can you ever find someone compatible with you? What makes you think you deserve to be loved that much anyway? What if things go horribly wrong five years down the road? And who is this guy sleeping next to me when I wake up? (Ok, that one's a lie. He's long gone by the time I wake up.)

I remember thinking all those things when I was single. Sometimes I still catch myself thinking those things out of habit, even though I have the answers, or at least the faith to believe the answers. When I was single I didn't think much of myself. I thought I was average, ok to look at (hey, at least I'm not horribly deformed), and smart enough to get by. Now I have this guy telling me I am above and beyond any pinnacle of beauty, intelligence, and everything else. I'm thinking this guy must be out of his mind. Or in love. So is that what love is? Being totally devoted? I think there is at least some truth to that. How on earth did I end up being devoted to someone?

I can remember not being in love, and I remember now, but what happened in between? How did this unlikely miracle occur, this miracle that phenomenally touches most of the human population? All I can say is that God must be with us. It's gotta be love, because sex isn't strong enough to hold something like marriage together.

I met Benvolio in August of 2002. Nothing earth-shaking there. I had known Fractile from the year before, and Benvolio was his new roommate. Fractile thought it would be a great idea to set up Benvolio and my roommate of one year. We'll call her "Missy" because she's cute like that. So our two apartments plan a group date. No pressure. My date was rather flamboyant and tried to sell me to some people playing "Bigger or Better" for a bag of apples. No wonder Benvolio looked better. After the night was over I was sure I didn't ever want to go out with Mr. Apple and I thought Benvolio had a great sense of humor. Not much more than that. Then the crush started.

Who knows where crushes come from? They just appear. At this point in my life, I needed someone to like so I could get over my ex-boyfriend, who happened to not tell me he was dating a girl over the summer, a girl who's kitchen window I could see from my bedroom, and which I could see them cuddling and sitting on each other's laps at any given moment. Ouch. Benvolio was very convenient. Cute, funny, nice, smart, and a 50 foot walk from my backdoor. We went to homecoming together, another fun group date. We were the only ones in our group that weren't dating, or involved somehow. We got along surprisingly well. Talking was easy. We had a lot of the same interests, blah, blah, blah, I know you don't care.

Anyway, life went on, and it was very apparent to everyone around us that we both liked each other and yet we weren't dating. After some awkwardness and some issues, we finally started dating, and then dating exclusively. The more I got to know him, the more normal things became. Nothing was amazing. Nothing was absolutely wonderful. Being around him was more like hanging out with your family (but only if you like your family like I do.) I suppose we had some key components to a good relationship like mutual respect and stuff. I guess the only things you really need for a good relationship is some hot attraction and a great friend. I used to hate the "You should only marry your best friend" crap, but ahhhhh it's true!

So since nothing was going wrong in our relationship, we kept dating. And then came the time when things still didn't go wrong, and there was no where else to go except... marriage. At that time, I didn't think things not going wrong was a good enough reason to get married. I wanted magic and miracles. I didn't get any answers in prayer. In fact, there was a distinct lack of answers. I couldn't tell if that was a stupor of thought or if it was a go ahead and do what you want. I wanted some sort of confirmation that I wasn't ruining my life. So I just did it. And nothing went wrong. And up to this point nothing has gone wrong. And I think that's probably enough of an answer for me.

I was lucky to find someone who thinks the world of me, and even though I'm still pretty sure I don't deserve it, I'll keep it. It's still weird to think about though. If I stop and think about it enough, it's pure craziness. I guess that's my thesis statement of this blog. Marriage and everything leading up to it, it's all craziness. It's a miracle it works. Seriously. But somehow it does, and it's great. Everyone doesn't deserve it, but they need it all the same. So don't be bitter about it if you don't have it yet. It'll be a miracle if you ever do. And if you do have it, think how lucky you are, because it's craziness that it ever happened to you.

The Truth about Air Mattresses

2005-01-26T14:49:00.000-05:00

I should be doing laundry (all of my favorite socks are dirty) but I'm putting it off to blog. A worthy deed, I think. This past week Benvolio and I were privileged to sleep on a real mattress. That's right. Our rental bed from management finally came in. It was a momentous occasion. Where were we sleeping before? Thanks to Mynamyn and Dinomight not on the floor. We were sleeping on a double-decker air mattress. A show of hands of how many have slept on an air mattress with someone else. Well, let me tell you what it's like.

Let's say you're getting ready for bed. You sit down on the edge of the bed to take off your shoes and socks. The bed moves 5 inches, and you might not be on it anymore. Bouncy! Then after you're all ready, you climb into bed, but there's no pillow there to lay your head on. Wherever has it gone? Oh, it's fallen off between the wall and the top of the bed when you were trying to take off your shoes and socks. So then you have to get up, get your pillow, rearrange the bed, get back in bed, and sink in. Just about that time your other person gets into bed with you. Something magical happens. You two are so in love that you both slide right towards the middle for some major cuddling. Oh, wait, that's not love, it's the air mattress. Involuntarily cuddling! It's unjust. So you turn down the air so at least you won't get too hot with all this induced body contact and you finally get to sleep... Only to wake up at 5 in the morning because the air has somehow leaked out and your bum is touching the ground!

Ok, so maybe it really wasn't that bad. I guess this is the culmination of all my air mattress experiences. But I'm thankful to Dinomight and Mynamyn. At least my bum wasn't touching the ground all night long because I was sleeping on the floor.

Visiting Awkwardness

2005-01-20T14:24:00.000-05:00

I'm sure many of us have felt this way. You dread going visiting teaching not because you are delinquent or hate your girls. You dread it because of the awkward silences.

We are taught that visiting teaching is inspired, and it is. It's to help engender sisterhood in each ward. I just think it's hard to do when, in this fast-paced environment, people are moving every 4 months. There's no time to start life-long friendships. Thus, I dread going visiting teaching. I hate having to think of small talk on the spot. Maybe I've just had bad luck and my partners and teachees are bad conversationalists.
I went last night, and it was probably about the most awkward time I've ever had. I tried to keep a fun conversation going, but every three sentences there was...

Silence.

Quick! Think of something witty to say! Too late. Awkward silence ensues.
I guess last night was worse than most because I gave a most awful message. It wasn't falling together so I sounded very disjointed. That probably set a great mood.
I'm going visiting teaching again in an hour or so. Hopefully it will go better than last night. Probably not, since English is not her first language. Sigh.

Could someone find a job for me?

2005-01-11T13:18:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am finally updating my blog. It's been, let's see, a month. I apologize for my slothfulness.
Moving on, could someone find a job for me? I'm sick of finding jobs after moving every 4 months or so. Job hunting sucks. You'd think I'd be good at it by now, but apparently not. I'm just too picky, I suppose.
If you do happen to find a job for me, please only tell me about it if it's in the afternoon M-F.
Thanks. :)

Addiction and Capricious Pirates

2004-12-10T22:01:00.000-05:00

When I first joined the Board, I didn't understand the whole addiction thing. I mean, hey, it's fun, but my life didn't revolve around it. Only at work when I didn't have anything to do anyway. But now, I'm going to come clean. My name is [Kassidy] and I'm addicted to the Board. It's especially apparent these past couple weeks as I shot up from 400 to 500 questions answered. That's about... , um, I can't do math well. We'll just say that my question answering has been inordinate as of late. What will I do next week at Benvolio's house when there's only a *gasp* 28.8 kbps modem. I'm going to go cry for a little bit now.

Ok, I'm back. And feeling worse. So I'll change the subject.

I'm sure a few of you are wondering who that pirate lady is on my profile. I'll tell you. It's a famous redhead named Elaine Marley from the funniest computer game of all time, Monkey Island. I was bored last Friday evening, so I spent the whole time playing the whole Curse of Monkey Island in one fell swoop. It didn't take very long because it's about my, um, I don't do math well. Let's just say I've played it quite a few times. It's like watching a movie, but getting to pick what the actors will say. And you always get to pick funny phrases.

"We'll surely avoid scurvy if we all eat an orange."
"Holy infestation! You've been struck with the hair demons!"
"Aren't you a little short for a pirate?"
"LALALALALAAA! I'm not listening! LALALALALA!"
"You're so pale, you make snow look tan."
Well, I searched the whole island, and I couldna find a single rock for a paperweight."
"It's like you're not one of LeChuck's evil minions!"
"You fool! You've given cheese to a lactose intolerant volcano god! Do you know what that means? You've brought about the Coming of the Divine Dysentry! Run for your lives!"
"But... at... what... cost?" (in a William Shatner style)
" You know, you'd look great with a melting candle on your forehead."
"Wonton Goodsoup."
"The Siren be callin' us, and she be wantin' us to do her hair."
"Let's face it, LeChuck! You're an evil, foul-smelling, vile, co-dependent villain, and that's just not what I'm looking for in a romantic relationship right now."

Not all of those you get to pick ,they give them to you free! And the music is great, the art is fun, it has great gameplay. Doesn't it make you want to play? All in favor of playing at the next Board party say "Aye." "Aye, you cadaverous scallywags."

Animals from A to Z

2004-12-01T21:36:00.000-05:00

Benvolio and I went to the zoo more than a month ago and we wanted to blog about it. Unfortunately, we wanted to include pictures we took on our digital camera, but we weren't web-savvy enough. So now months after the fact, we finally got around to finding out how to put pictures in a blog. Benvolio and I are writing this together, so if it seems to have a strong Benvolio flavor, that's why.
Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for a spectacle of graphics and sound. Or just graphics.
Presenting... Our day at the National Zoo, from A to Z. (But we're missing a lot of letters in between. And there may be some repeated letters. And they aren't in any particular order. Except A and Z.)

Anemones! These are the only animals we found that started with A. They look groovy under a black light.

Capybaras! Otherwise known as Rodents of Unusual Size. These largest of rodents have made a few appearances on the Board lately, so we had to include them in our tour. Benvolio says they are tasty.

Cheetahs! Fastest animal on earth my fanny. All it did was sit there and look at the zebras in the cage next door. The Washington Post recently reported that one of these cheetahs just gave birth to 4 cubs. Congratulations to the lucky couple. It's apparently the first time in the Zoo's history that they have had cheetah cubs born. Hard to believe, since female cheetahs can mate more than 100 times a day. You'd think they'd have gotten lucky one of those times. . .

Elephants! This little fella was really cute, even though he was 5 times as big as we were. And I do mean fella; his gender became apparent after he peed all over the floor. Holy cow, it was like a fire hose hanging out and turned on full blast. He and momma did tricks for the crowd in exchange for yams. The Elephant Union has apparently successfully lobbied for raises since the peanut days.

Flamingos! Have you ever seen a flamingo take a drink? They do it upside down! Like when I get the hiccups and try to get rid of them and end up spilling water everywhere. They do it much more gracefully, despite being really funny looking birds.

Giraffes! Quite honestly, these guys weren't very exciting. They didn't even pee.

Golden-headed lion Tamarin! That's a gallon-size name for a pint-sized animal. These little guys were cute. The National Zoo doesn't have a monkey house, so we couldn't see monkeys doing obscene things and throwing poo at the visitors. So the tamarins filled that playful niche. They were more well-behaved, actually. They apparently set them up with radio collars and have them run free in the woods in the Zoo during the summer.

Gorillas! Sometimes Benvolio tries to groom me in this manner, making all sorts of unpleasant smacking mouth noises while pretending to eat my body lice. He doesn't understand why it gets on my nerves. First, because I resent even the notion that I have body lice. Second, because why would he want to pretend to eat it? Gross.

Arapaima! Big Fish! This thing was huge! It was more than six feet long. See that little fin on the side? Your hand is smaller than that. I tried to get Benvolio to jump in the tank for perspective, but he didn't like the idea for some reason. It could have had something to do with the piranhas. Eh, he needs to lose some weight anyway.

Dead Kangaroo! We were quite appalled to come across this deceased marsupial. We attempted to resuscitate it by yelling and throwing sticks, but to no avail. There were quite a lot of dead animals at the Zoo that day, actually. You imagine kangaroos bounding across the endless outback, so it's a little disappointing to see it unconscious behind a chain link fence.

Dead Lion! These big cats are my idols. I could only hope to be able to sleep 20 out of the 24 hours a day and get away with it. I guess our chances for seeing a lion actually conscious was slim considering those odds.

Octopus! We showed up at feeding time so we could see the giant octopus devour a crawdad on a stick. Benvolio was a little disappointed when the "giant octopus" turned out to only be a few feet in diameter, but the keepers assured us that it would double in size within a few months. It turned brilliant colors during its feeding, and even inflated like a balloon, as you can see in this picture. At this point it has already trapped the crawdad against the wall and it used the webbing between its tentacles to keep it from escaping.

Onyx! I mean, Oryx! While we were writing this blog Benvolio decided that this was an Onyx. That didn't seem right to me, so we looked it up, and I was right because he was wrong. (Even though I didn't know what it was.) A quick Google image search on "onyx" produced no long horned animals, so we found the correct name on the National Zoo Web site. Benvolio thought their long horns were funny, and he surmised that a great oryx gag would be to get your friend to suddenly look up at something and thus poke himself in the rump. Great fun for adolescent oryxes.

Pandas! This was the highlight of our trip! They were so fun to watch. In this picture you can see the two of them, but the second one is harder to see. The panda keepers were nice enough to throw the bamboo out near where the observation deck was so everyone could get a good view. We were surprised how big they were--they are the size of a real bear--and how human-like their movements were.

Pygmy hippopotamus! We thought he was rather unremarkable, but A. A. Melyngoch was so impressed, she wants one for Christmas. "I wanna hippopotamus for Christmas . . ."

Seal! We were impressed at how well he was trained. He went around in circles, never varying his course for the whole five minutes we watched him. And you think your life is boring.

Bear! Actually, it's a sloth bear. Whatever that is. Maybe it's just an especially lazy variety of bear. And he was lazy; we could barely see him most of the time we were looking at him, because he was curled up in the far back of the habitat. (Why don't those animals in zoos come out and parade around for the people to gawk at? They're very inconsiderate.)

Tiger! Tigers are bigger than you think. Watching their massive muscular bulk ripple as they pace is reminiscent of the Mighty Quinn's abs.

Zebra! Ok, this isn't a good picture, but we had to go from A to Z. These guys spent most of the day huddled in the back. They seemed a little nervous, as if a cheetah was watching from a few meters away. Which was in fact true.

We hope you find this blog half as funny as we do. If you ever have the opportunity to go to the National Zoo, you, too, can have as much fun as we did. Maybe some of the animals will be living when you go.

Not only am I perfect, I'm a redhead, too

2004-12-01T11:58:00.000-05:00

As a redheaded female, I thought it was high time I should extol the virtues of some other redheads. We are a precocious bunch, and who could resist our aluring locks? I brainstormed a few of these on my own, did some searching and found quite a few more. Who knew there were so many influential and famous people with titian hair?

Clara Barton. This one surprised me. I had no idea she had red hair. She must have taken extra risks being out on the battlefield. Having red hair makes you a target because it's so easy to pick out.

Pippi Longstocking. Often redheads are portrayed as funky, free-spirited, fun-loving people. It's because we are, but we don't have to put wires in our hair to prove it.

Blossom from the Power Puff Girls. Yeah, this one is more pop culture, but admit it, she's awesome. Little do you know that all redheads have these same powers. It's just natural, but we hide them from others because we don't want to make anyone feel bad.

Shirley Temple. Dang, this girl had moves at the age of 3. Do you think she would have become such an icon if she had flat, conventional brown hair? I think not. Even with those moves...

Lucille Ball. The wackiest of all redheads. Did you know how fun it is to watch an I Love Lucy episode and narrate it yourself? Go ahead, mute the volume and try it. It'll be hilarious.

Daphne on Scooby Doo. When is she going to hook up with Fred? Is Fred blind? Does he not see how hot she is with her red hair and clashing purple mini-dress? How could he resist her???

Katharine Hepburn. I didn't know she was a redhead either. It's not very apparent on the black and white screen, and I think she was more of an auburn anyway. I like her even more though now that I know how much we have in common.

Nicole Kidman. I'm skeptical about this one. Especially since she rarely chooses to use her red hair. Why on earth would you want to dye your hair another color when it's already perfect as is?

The little red headed girl from "Peanuts". All incoherent babbling crushes should be on these types of girls. They deserve it because they are very sweet and cute and have red hair. Way to pick 'em, Charlie Brown.

Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Ok, guys, be honest. How many of you did not have a crush on this girl when the movie came out? (And how many of you girls did not have a crush on Eric when the movie came out? Mmm, dreamy.) Every little girl wanted to be Ariel when we played when I was little. I always thought I deserved to be her because, well duh, I have red hair. Can you not see the logic in this? I should ALWAYS be Ariel!

Anne of Green Gables. This girl gave us some stereotypes on red heads. Like being smart-alecky yet sincere. Conceited yet caring. Overconfident yet apprehensive. Stupid yet so intelligent. Don't pay attention to those stereotypes. We're just all the good ones.

If any of you think of any more awesome female redheads, please comment. Add to this great list!*

*If you dare disagree with me on any points on the superiority of redheads, I'll use my redhead power of temper on you.

When I leave DC

2004-11-30T17:33:00.000-05:00

Next week is my last week in DC. We're packing all Friday and having Benvolio's dad pick us up on Saturday. Since I haven't been inspired to write anything else in my blog, I'll make my list of things I'll miss when we leave DC.

The Smithsonians
Lots of different people
GQ dressers (there really just aren't that many in Provo)
A flexible job
The weather--I love a little bit of humidity
My aunt and uncle who live close-by
Having a DC address... It's just cool looking
The friends I've made here
Georgetown
Not having the excuse to walk everywhere because I know it's keeping me in shape
The monuments
Immediate cultural opportunities
Being near so many important world events
Living on the same street the President does. Basically
The Washington DC temple and sitting next to Benvolio there
A good transportation system
The beautiful architecture on almost every street
Excessively cheap rent (BYU subsidized)
Free laundry so I don't have to save quarters
Having my preconceived notions challenged frequently
Restaurants
Teaching in YW's
Jumping state lines three times in a half-hour drive
New appliances

I think that there's less in the missing list than the won't be missing list. I suppose that means I shouldn't live here. It's a nice place to visit, but I certainly wouldn't want to live here forever. I'm glad we've been able to be here. It was a great opportunity, and I sound like I'm bearing my testimony or something so I'm going to stop.

Things I miss in DC

2004-11-16T18:34:00.000-05:00

Watching TV. We don't have one.
Playing Super Smash Brothers
Having more than one room in my apartment
Driving a car
Air free of cigarette smoke
Friends
Cheap groceries
Being able to walk 3 blocks without being harangued (or at least given dirty looks) by homeless people
A dishwasher
Decent lighting in my apartment
Walmart
My cordless phone
Church in English
Playing online games with Benvolio
Short commutes
Paying for gas. It's better than Metro cards
A close grocery store
Tomatoes without fruit flies for sale
Conservatives. Come on, 90% are liberal. I'd take 50/50.
Beds that are meant to stay on the ground
A working toilet
A freezer
Mall's that have reasonably priced stores instead of only Ralph Lauren's
Having something rather than a Starbucks at every corner
Using keys to get into my abode
Most of my dishes
A place free of high levels of political heat
My 5 minute drive to church
A close-by library
Dollar movies as opposed to $10 matinees
Having a car
The mountains
And Walmart again, because I really do miss it

Maybe I'll keep adding on to this list as I think of more things. And I'll also have to make a "Things I'll miss when I leave DC" list to keep things even.

The White House

2004-11-13T18:07:00.000-05:00

Benvolio and I went to the White House on Saturday. Since we live on the same street as Mr. President, we took a pleasant stroll down to his house. I expected for he and his wife to greet and and give us a personal tour, but that didn't happen. My hopes were dashed. It was very disappointing.
We arrived and were schooled in with some group of college aged students. I was pleasantly surprised to know some of them. Some men with earbuds then showed us to the metal detectors. The audacity! I thought we were guests! Then the tour began, but I was confused as to where our tour guide was. It turns out the tour was meant to be self-guided. Disappointment again. So we walked through the 5 rooms on the top floor which all just looked old with old furniture and old draperies and old carpets. Ok, I guess they were classic historical decorations and priceless, but it sure wasn't very exciting. All the while these guys who look like library security guards, and just about as bored, were eyeing us to make sure we didn't cross the velvet ropes. As if it was cool enough to even want to.
The best thing, which wasn't that amazing, was the portraits of the presidents and first ladies. Those were somewhat entertaining to look at. Especially good ol' Bill's. Heh. So the "tour" lasted about 20 minutes and then they school you out. The Bush's weren't even there to bid us farewell. What a crock.
But... if you do get a chance to go, do it. I'm so full of it. It's totally worth it. Only a little disappointing. Just don't expect to see the West Wing. :)

Cookie dough

2004-11-08T22:08:00.000-05:00

I have several favorite foods in that forbidden sugar part of the pyramid. Snickers bars, brownies, oreos, M&M's, ice cream... Oh, I could keep going for a while. But sometimes those things just don't feel that empty 'something is missing' part of my stomach. The only thing that will quench my thirst is cookie dough. Just thinking about it causes a sigh of bliss in my soul.
But those things are bad for you. There are probably about 150 calories in each spoonful that I eat. I could easily get my daily recommended amount of calories from fifteen minutes spent alone with cookie dough. I could not resist the temptation. In Heaven, cookie dough will abound and it will be calorie free and still taste just as good.
Here's my favorite cookie recipe. You can cook them if you want, but I suggest just eating the dough.

2 sticks of butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. white sugar
Mix all this together. Then add
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Scramble that all up. Next add
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Kind of mix the baking soda and salt in with the flour first so there aren't any weird clumps of it in the mix. Then add 1 more cup of flour and stir.
Then there's just
1 bag of chocolate chips
And you're in heaven.

If, for some strange reason, you want to bake them, just stick spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for around 9-11 minutes. You weirdo.

Benvolio's birthday

2004-11-02T10:34:00.000-05:00

Saturday was a good day. It was Benvolio's birthday! I'm sure everyone is dying to know how we celebrated it. And you want to make sure I'm taking good care of him.
Saturday morning I sent him off to Costco because we needed stuff and our friends were going. We don't have a membership card, so we must take advantage of our better prepared friends. Once he left, I set myself in motion. First, must shower, do hair, and put on makeup so he doesn't become frightened when looking at me. That's a good birthday present. Next, make the cake and stick it in the oven. Mmm, devil's food cake. Good choice, P. Ok, enough present tense. Then I cleaned up our apartment because, good heavens, it needed it. We really should clean up all our clutter more often because it makes our studio apartment look smaller than it really is. I also pulled up all the blinds so it wouldn't look like it was nighttime. Our apartment also lacks proper lighting. At nighttime for real we can hardly see each other. Anyway, then I set out all his presents and wrapped them (i.e. put them in a festive bag) and blew up some balloons. I tried to frost the cake, but it was still too hot. He came home right about then and I had a veritable eye-festival waiting for him. It's so fun when you know you've pleased your husband. Not that he was surprised. What did he think I was going to while he was gone on his birthday?
He got some fun presents. My mom got him a nice preppy khaki jacket from the Gap. It looks very good on him. His dad (randomly) gave him four Christmas music CD's. Didn't see that one coming, but, hey, Christmas music is fun. When's your birthday, Duchess? Maybe we could pass them onto you. He also opened his many cards, including a fun one from some tastes like butt company. That one was amusing :) I think my family must like him because even my grandparents sent him a card. Oh, and they called. Wow! The best present of all was of course the one I gave him. The DVD Widescreen Star Wars trilogy. He's loved those movies since childhood and I got a good deal on amazon.com. It felt good surprising him and making him happy.
Also, in honor of his birthday, we took a walk to see the monuments of DC that we hadn't seen yet. Lincoln (second time for that one actually), Jefferson, Iwo Jima in the distance, FDR memorial. It was a lovely day and he had been wanting to see them for a while. I was glad the weather was so nice. I was afraid we had missed our chance because it had been getting cold.
I hope you had a good birthday, Benvolio.

That's a hazard

2004-10-29T13:43:00.000-04:00

I have decided that offices are very dangerous places to be. I'm looking around, and I see hazards. Packing tape with a scary picture of pieces of your finger missing. That's a hazard. Tape dispenser that cut my pinkie yesterday and made it bleed. That's a hazard. The office room down the hall that we had to move out of because it was condemned for poisonous mold. That's a hazard. We have laser guns that I could point in someone's eyes and cause blindness and/or death. That's a hazard. And the most dangerous thing of all: paper. I have been wounded more by paper than probably anything else in my life. Thinking of all those papercuts makes me cringe.
I'm glad I get to leave early today. We're meeting with my uncle who works in the city and he'll take us to their house and feed us. Then we get to go to the temple. But mostly I'm just glad to get away from this hazardous place.

The closest you'll get to flying

2004-10-28T16:08:00.001-04:00

I found the coolest website ever while looking for apartments in Nashville. I just wanted a map of Nashville and instead I found this: http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/default.aspx. It's an aerial view of America and you can zoom way in. I found my house and my red car in Huntsville. Yes, it's where I grew up and the car I drove as a teenager. If you go up the map about a mile there's my high school, aerial style. I found the Y on Y Mountain. And also the Washington Monument which is a hop, skip and a jump from where I live now. Admit it, it's awesome. You feel like you're flying!
I don't know why I find this so cool. Whenever I fly on an airplane I always want the window seat so I can stare out and try to identify landmarks. And sometimes I do. I guess it's how I entertain myself on those long trips. Now if I'm bored I don't even have to get on an airplane to identify landmarks from 27,000 feet. I have the this website. I'll never be bored again.
Some other fun places I found... Maybe you can identify them
Mynamyn should know this one
Rocketship to the moooooon
Close Encounters...

Ok, I actually had a whole bunch of links to see these awesome things I'm describing, but after they posted they didn't work. So there's only like 6. Oh, well.

How to effectively waste time and money

2004-10-20T16:05:00.000-04:00

Okay, mine will probably be crappy, but I'm getting on the band wagon and starting a blog.
So I'm working at a law school library with the interlibrary loan department. I'm learning tons of stuff about our judicial system without even trying. At this rate, I'll know more about law school than Benvolio ever will. Ok, probably not, but I wish he was getting this jumpstart. Anyway, I wish there wasn't even a need for the courts. People abuse them so badly. My supervisor is a student right now and she discusses the cases with me. I've learned that tons of money could be saved and people would be a lot happier if they would just all join the church and serve each other. Amazing concept, service. If someone needs something, instead of suing someone for what they think they deserve, someone would just come and give it to them out of love and kindness.
I learned about this case where a handicapped boy's parents were suing a public school because they wouldn't provide transportation for him. The school was supposed to provide transportation, but the boy became too large to carry down their front steps without endangering the transporter person. So the school left it up to the parents to get him to and from school. The family was very poor and the dad worked late, so the mom would pick him up and leave him in the car until the dad got home, because she couldn't do it. This became a problem when it was either hot or cold, so they gave up on their son going to school. Later, they sued the school for missing 2 years of school. They were awarded the money that would have been spent on him. It also said that the other school kids were wrongfully using the money that would have gone to the boy. It was so complicated. That was just backstory, but I can't help but think of a couple simple answers to solve the whole problem. Maybe the Elder's Quorom could have built a ramp on a Saturday and the whole thing would have been averted. Or maybe some people from the community could have volunteered to show up and help carry the kid. Why turn it into a lawsuit?
Sidenote: McDonald's has been sued several times by different people for hot coffee scalding them. They refused to settle for damages caused. (Which in all honesty were pretty bad. One lady had to get skin grafts in the genitalia area. Ouch. ) So they went through this whole process called a lawsuit to prove that the burnees should be recompensed by the burners. Maybe I'm just crazy, but if I caused major damage to someone because it was my fault, I'd be all for helping them out any way possible.
After all this complaining about our law system, I'm wondering why am I letting my husband go to law school...