The parents are coming! The parents are coming!

Hey kids. Sorry I don't post very often anymore. Frankly, my life is pretty dull lately. Watching a bit of the FIFA World Cup (and liking it, actually). Doing a bit of experimental cooking. Looking at videos of an adorable kitten named BeiBei on YouTube. Talking with my on-line pals about that televised interview with Britney Spears (Throw out the gum, honey! And for the love of gawd, put some clothes on!). So, uh, I just don't have much to write about! But hopefully that will change because the 'rents will arrive on Monday. And boy oh boy, do we have plans!


We'll spend a couple of nights next week at Atlantic Beach. During our stay, I'm sure Mother will relax on the beach and acquire a lovely tan, whilst my father and I will cover ourselves in SPF 50+ and burn anyway (see photo at left from our last visit to Atlantic Beach in 1987). Just like our previous visit, I'll be wearing a red bathing suit so at least my flesh will match my attire. Then next weekend we'll come back here, grab Tim, & we'll all head west to the mountains near Asheville, where we'll tour the Biltmore Estate ... and then drive home in silence, thinking about how terribly unsuccessful we are, financially-speaking. But I hear the gardens are gorgeous! Yay!

So what am I doing this weekend in preparation for their arrival? Other than buying more toilet paper, of course? Well, you better believe I'll be listening to "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me"! I think that listening to it and imagining Chris in the audience, will make me feel that much closer to her. Which will make me very happy, indeed. Yay!

Other stuff I might do:
1. Catch up on my NPR listening. I lurves me some NPR, but I'm not really a fan of the local station. It's too polished. I miss the quirky people at KWGS! So I've been catching up a lot on the internet. I'm especially looking forward to this story about a book called "Funny, But No". The book is kinda based on an old feature on the internet that I used to read weekly (they never mention the internet connection, but I know the truth, man!). Click on the link & read a few of the examples.
2. Oogle the items at A Southern Season. Mmmm ... gourmet grocery stoooooooore. This place is huge. Take LaDonna's & multiply it by 20. Something like that, but with a bakery and patisserie and every kind of gourmet chocolate ever made and 3000 varieties of wine and ... pardon me while I wipe the drool off of my chin.
3. Drive past the Hog Day festivities, but not necessarily stopping & getting out of the car. I found out that the barbecue they serve at Hog Day is (understandably) North Carolina Style. Which means that the sauce is basically vinegar &, therefore, not the thick, sweet stuff to which I am accustomed. Screw that.

So what are you doing this weekend?

Hogs, fish babies, & monkey chow

This post is going to be super random. Just warning ya.

Last Wednesday was Corey's birthday! Yay! If you haven't done so already, call him up & wish him a happy belated. For his b-day, I gifted Corey with knowledge ... specifically, the knowledge that Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven were performing in Tulsa on Friday night. This made his week, or so he told me. So you see? There are good cheap gifts to be found!

In other friendly news, Megan is doing a temporary dancing gig in Ashville, so that means I have a friend in the same state as me! Woo hoo! We're going to get together here next weekend. And I have already noted that her visit will coincide with Hillsborough's Hog Day. Jealous, aren't ya?


Tim and I finally have some fishies in the house. Last week Tim bought 3 guppies - a male and two females. We even settled on some names. There's ...
- Lymon, a female who has a lemon-lime coloring going on. And I know quite well that Lymon is really a male name, but I don't care. Her name is Lymon. Hope my dad finds it flattering.
- And then there's a blue & orange male named Parminderjit ("Parmy" for short) whom we have named after one of Tim's old friends in Sheffield. Parmy the Fish looks kinda like the pic here, only not so fuzzy. Parmy the Person is a professional stage manager, so even though I've never met him, he's all good in my book.
- Lastly, there's a silver and orange female. I think we might name her June ... simply because we got her in June and I haven't come up with a better name. Got a better idea? Pass it on. I'm easily influenced.

Anywho, this morning we awoke to discover that one of the ladies had given birth! So we have 5 teeny tiny baby guppies swimming around near the top of the tank. I guess we got 8 fish for the price of 3! Hooray for free fish!

Lately george and I have been spending a lot of time talking about how weird it is to move away from a town you've known for a long time. I'm sure that the handfull of you who read this blog know what I'm talking about because it seems like all of our friends have suffered through a big move - be it to a new state or even a new country. One thing I realized in Tulsa was that I knew a lot of people and I was accustomed to opening up the paper and seeing familar faces - people I knew in real life. I realized that at our new home, I would open the paper and none of the people would be familiar to me. I wouldn't know any of their stories. I wouldn't get the sly political inside jokes. All of that.

So I must say that it was quite something to find a couple of our friends between the pages of People magazine this week! Kinda odd, but comforting, too. Almost made me feel like I was reading Urban Tulsa! So I think that from now on, all of our friends and aquaintances should strive to put themselves in the national news, just so that we can feel more connected - more at home. It doesn't have to be printed media; NPR or televison will do. So hop to it, peeps! Do something newsworthy! Or just call up "Wait Wait - Don't Tell Me" & inform them you have to take the quiz because ya love me!

Go on now. I'll wait.

And while we wait, here's what I've been watching on You Tube this week.

First, there's this clip I found through NPR. Star Trek Cribs. Welcome to the Spock Casa!

Then theres the Monkey Chow Guy. This Canadian guy (who looks suspiciously similar to one of my brothers) decided to eat nothing but zoo-grade monkey chow for a week. Now he understands why monkeys in the zoo throw their own feces at people. His video diaries can be found here.

Remember Simon and his land of chalk drawings? Well, you don't just have to rely on memories anymore. This episode in particular made me think of Derek & George.

Last, but certainly not least, there's the Teeny Little Super Guy teaching a lesson that I still need to remember when I head out into the big wide world. Enjoy!

Tuesday of the Beast

Hey, kids! It's 6/6/6! Or 6/6/06. Whatever. The good little Christian girl in me is getting a bit of a thrill from this. Note that I can't tell if this is a fun thrill or actually a bit of a scary, chilled thrill caused by the inevitable doom that is about to befall us all. It could be either. We'll see.

In addition to today being the birthday of the Anti-Christ, it is also a race day for my bro-bro. Hope the weather will be fantastic for them, because I think it was really rainy at his last race. And riding bikes in the rain ain't much fun, in my experience.

So we know how my brother is celebrating Satan's b-day. But I'm not sure what I'll do. Part of me thought it might be fun to go to the maternity ward of the local hospital and watch the new mothers freak out about the possible damnation of their precious wee widdle bundles of doom.

Then I realized that I don't know the location of our closest hospital. Goodness, there's so much to learn when you move! Just a few days ago, Tim realized that we had not yet told the Dept. of Homeland Security that we moved ... which you really need to do if you're an evil non-American like my hubby. Not to worry, though. It's all straightened out now.


Honestly, though, I'm probably just going to go shopping. Grocery shopping especially. I've been super sick lately (you sooooo do not want to hear the details), so I need to get some fud. And I think that the hell of moving is "celebration" enough for Satan. And I am married to an evil non-American. So I'm doing my part, right? Maybe I'll get to the grocery store and find an evil devil-horned tomato like Neil Gaiman here.

In good, non-devil-worship related news ... my car still works great! Woo hoo! And Tim got his drivers license renewed (Guess I better start studying for mine). And our trash service will finally start tomorrow. And we met the homeowners last weekend and they were nice. And we went to a sale & bought a new set of 600 thread-count sheets for about 40 bucks! Just 40!! And that includes tax! My excitement about this is further proof that I'm really an adult now. Which makes me a little less excited. But then I think again about those 600-thread-count, 100% cotton, deep pocket sheets & I just don't mind anymore. Mmmmm ... soft sheeeeets ... feel so good it's almost sinful. Now that's a great way to celebrate Satn's b-day!

Ottomobeeeel?

I own a car again! A car! A car with air conditioning! And power stearing! And even power windows and power locks and power mirrors! A car that doesn't have rust all over it! A car with a CD player that works! And seats that are whole and don't have chunks of foam coming off! A car that doesn't embarass me when I drive through nice neighborhoods! A CAR!!! Woo hoo!

So, the basic story is that after the Horrific Insurance Ordeal (which has still scarred me too much to discuss in great detail), we discovered that we could not afford to get Tim his beloved Saab. So we decided to just get me a little sedan instead. The Saab will come in a couple years once Tim is no longer a "new" driver and we can afford to insure his hiney as it sits in a swanky European car.

So what did I get? Nothing fancy. Just a white Corolla. I tried the Yaris, but the ride wa a bit rough. At any rate, it's mine! And it drives sooooo smoothly. So I can get out of the house whenever I please now. Hooray! I missed my independence sooooo much!

In other car news, today was the Grand Prix race in Monte Carlo. If you don't care about Formula One or don't want to know about the results, stop reading NOW.

"... Lalalalalala - I'm not listening! - lalalalalalala ..."

So. Do I think Michael screwed up Qualifying on purpose? Hmmm. There's a tiny itsy bitsy part of me that wants to think that he's a better sportsman than that. But whether it was on purpose or not, his actions screwed up the final fast lap for a lot of the drivers. If it had just affected Alonso, I could see why they might push Mike back just a few spots. But since it affected the qualifying results for multiple drivers, then he deserved something more severe. Deserved it, beyotch! And I think he started the race from pit lane because his pride wouldn't allow him to start in last. Whatevs!

By the by, YAY Alonso! I love that Spaniard and his wooly eyebrows! But why on earth is he going to McLaren next year?!? Is there a part of him that is regretting that decision? Tim and I have argued back and forth about this for a while. Tim thinks that it's a good move because (a) it'll provide a new challenge for Alonso & his competitive spirit will feed off of that and (b) it worked for Michael Schumacher when he left a winning season at Benneton for Ferrari. I still wonder why Alonso has to mess up a good thing. I think that next year the one who is going to profit from this is Kimmi. But, in many ways, that's a good thing.

Ah Kimmi. Kimmi Kimmi Kimmi. Does that kid have rotten luck or what? Poor soul. I blame the diamonds on the steering wheel. I know he had diamonds on his helmet last year and he did great and blahblahblah. But maybe even-numbered years and diamonds don't mix. We all remember the '04 Monaco race when they placed the diamonds on the nose of the Jaguars, right? And the driver crashed and half a million dollars worth of sparklies were gone forever? Same thing. Diamond curse. That and the safety car & its affect on those damn McLaren engines. Sigh.

I'm also heartbroken about Nico just because he's a cute kid & I want him to succeed. But it sure was great to see Mr. Thunderbird up in that podium, huh? David Coulthard + Superman cape + the silliest grin ever = fine entertainment.

And if you haven't already, I urge you to read the transcript of the post-race press conference. Juan Pablo's reply to the final question is priceless. Eat that, Schumie!

Flashmob: The Opera

Let's keep the musical theme going this week, shall we? Because I saw the COOLEST thing on TV this morning.

Flashmob: The Opera

The first flashmob opera (the one I saw on TV today) took place on October 6, 2004 ... so I'm jumping on the train rather late here, but lordy it looked SOOOOO frickin' awesome! Basically, the BBC 3 staged a short contemporary opera in Paddington Station in London. Actually in the station. There was no stage. The actors walked around the station amongst all the commuters, wearing subtle headsets to pick up their voices. There was a live orchestra for the music and the occassional camera operator running around, capturing the action and ... well, it's just so difficult to describe, but it kicked major ass! Some of the audience members who were standing around were there because they were members of the flash mob, so they'd had an inkling of what to expect. But, of course, most of the people there were taken totally by surprise. Towards the end, everyone was urged to join in as the tenor sang "Nessun Dorma". See, people, this is the kind of stuff that makes the UK so great. This and Bakewell tarts.


The original flashmob opera was so successful that they did another one ... in Sheffield! My dear hubby's ol' stomping grounds! It was performed at the Meadowhall shopping center ... more commonly known as MeadowHell by the locals. How appropriate, then, that they performed a modern take on Faustus? Brilliant!

You can watch out-takes of the Sheffield opera by going here and clicking on "Launch the console". Sorry the quality isn't so great, but it's still worth a look-see.

Eurovision continues

M'kay. So. About all those extra countries. After I made that last post, I remembered that I'd seen Isreal compete at Eurovision. Israel isn't in Europe. So I did some research. Here's a quote from Wikipedia:

"Running since 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest is an annual televised song contest with participants from numerous countries whose national television broadcasters are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)".

As you can guess, your country doesn't have to be in Europe in order to have an EBU station. So why don't they braodcast the EBU in the states, yo? Whuddup wit dat? I'lll tell you why. Because then the US o' A could compete at Eurovision and everybody knows that we'd win every year.

Do you doubt it? Do you? Then watch the Austrian entrant from 2003.



The man's name is Alf Poier. He and his cardboard band got 6th place.

The girls at Go Fug Yourself have a lovely commentary on this year's Eurovision. They even mention that great group from Belgium in 2003 who SOOOOOO should have won! Belgium was ROBBED, man!

It's a small world afterall

Tim chose to give up a lot of things to be with me. He sold his house. Left the country that had always been his home. Moved thousands of miles away from his friends and family. All to be with me. For this I am grateful. But sometimes I feel guilty. Sometimes I think about the things that he could enjoy in England that we just don't have here. Mushy peas. Decent Formula One coverage. And, of course, the Eurovision song contest.

But thanks to You Tube and the internet, all is not lost.

For those who don't know, the Eurovision Song Contest is the finest wedge o' cheese on television. Once a year, one musical act is selected from each European country. And at Eurovision, these musical acts compete. I read that 35 countries participated this year, so that's a hell of a lot of live music goin' on! People from all over Europe are invited to call in their votes and the winner is announced at the end of the program. Traditionally the musical genre of choice is pop. Imagine happy people bouncing around in white spandex & sparkles. There's also the occasional ballad. I think Celine Dion won Eurovision once. That's the sort of thing you see on there. It's horrificly painful ... in a good way if you're lucky

But this year was different. This year Finland took the prize. For the first time ever in the 51 year history of Eurovision. Should they be proud? You tell me.




[Warning: This song has an odd way of worming its way into your brain. Watch the first 20 or 30 seconds, but anything that happens to you beyond that is not my fault]

The band Lordi is composed of "Amen the unstoppable mummy, Enary the manipulative Valkyrie, Kalma the biker-zombie from hell, and Kita the alien manbeast with the combined strengths of all the beasts known to man". And lest we forget the main man himself, Lordi "the hulk of hell".

I think I found Derek's favorite new band.
Hard!
Rock!
Hallelujah!

One month down

I arrived in North Carolina exactly one month ago today. Somehow I don't feel like singing the Happy Month-iversary song.

One month. Feels like a hell of a lot longer than that. George agrees. She says it feels more like 4 months. That sounds about right. I've certainly had about 4 months worth of tummy nastiness in the last month. Ugh. I keep wondering if I feel sick because I'm stressed or if I feel sick because I'm bored and can't distract myself with work. Maybe it's both. Probably both.

But good things continue to happen. Next week Tim starts working on the video game that is connected to a certain movie that's coming out next autumn (I won't mention it here in order to maintain some additional annonymnymnymnity). I wonder if he'll be able to e-mail any screen shots to me. Probably not, seeing as Dreamworks is connected to this project. Don't wanna piss off Stevie Spielberg or anything.

Somebody please remind me to sign up for trash service. And someone please remind me to send out a new postie list to my postcard group. And someone please remind me to bathe occasionally & perhaps speak to the occasional stranger.





take the WHAT BAD BOOK ARE YOU test.

Mother's Day and other bits o' happiness

Happy Mother's Day to my beloved mommy! Thanks for being warm and caring and trying to be up-beat even when I'm swearing about the unfairness of life and blahblahblah. Thanks also for saving people's lives for a living .. and somehow maintaining most of your sanity through all of that.

And happy day-after-George-&-Derek's-pseudo-anniversary day! Those crazy kids have been together for 14 years now. Yowza. If their love was an actual human being, it would be sneaking out at night and experimenting with drugs. Aaaawww!

And happy Spanish Grand Prix day to you F1 fans! Sadly, it will be aired on CBS today. The only good part of that is that Tim and I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn to see it, but it's still CBS coverage. We miss the guys on ITV. Those kids on the Speed channel have their charm, but still. I wonder if I can find the English televsion coverage on the internet somewhere ... hmmmmm ... Anywho, go Alonso!!!

And happy me because I did not have to go to the car dealership on Friday. Or Saturday. Although I'm NOT so happy because of some bad news about insurance, but I'll talk about that later. This post is about happiness.

So yesterday evening Tim and I were hanging out in the living room here at the house. I had the front door open so that the light could come in through the glass storm door. Tim glanced out it and noticed a cute little kitty cat on our front porch! So he stepped outside to say hello. Unfortunately, the kitty scampered away before I could see it. But it was such a lovely evening - the light was filtering through the pines and the air smelled of honeysuckle - that we took it upon ourselves to sit on the porch steps. We noticed a little bunny rabbit hiding in the grass in the front yard. We talked about the gorgeous posies that are growing by the front step. And we wondered about the new bird calls that were coming from the trees.
Then we noticed a new sound.
Woooooooooosh!
Woooooooooosh!
We didn't say anything at first. Just listened.
Woooooooooosh! Woosh wooooooooooosh!
Me: "Do you hear that?"
Tim: "Yeah. It sounds just like-"
In unison: "- a hot air balloon."
And as if on cue, we saw a rainbow-striped hot air balloon begin to rise behind one of the houses across the street. It was probably about 100 yards away. The balloon drifted to the north ... very low so that we could barely see it through the trees & behind the houses. It startled some Canadian geese, sending their flight path right over my head. Before long it was gone (concealed by all of the 50-foot pines we have around here). I wish we could have seen more, but I'm still very glad that we went out on the front porch last night.

Speaking of giant bags of hot air, want to hear something weird? Richard Branson - oh, pardon me. Sir Richard Branson - owner of Virgin Airlines, Virgin Megastores, Virgin cola, Virgin cellular, Virgin perfume, Virgin wedding dresses (no, I'm not making any of this up), Virgin Everything - also owns Virgin Balloon Flights. He is also the author of an autobiography titled "Losing My Virginity" which you can check out at the above link. Tee hee!

And speaking of England, I found out that the film of Neil Gaiman's Stardust is being filmed in a little town called Castle Combe. This town reminds me so soooo much of the adorable village where Tim's dad lives. It makes me feel homesick. But in a good way.

Speaking of good things, if you find yourself in New Orleans, please visit my friend Amy, her friends, and her cats at the Farrington Smith Gallery . Or you can just go outside, dig up a clod of dirt, and mail it to them for their Dirt Drive. Seriously! They need your dirt!

Last, but certainly not least, allow me to share this little gem with you. If you've got 30 minutes on your hands, I strongly urge you to watch the pilot episode of Heat Vision and Jack . It's got Jack Black. A talking motorcycle. And a splash of Ben Stiller. The theme song alone is worth it. Enjoy the happiness.

Tomorrow's gonna suh-uck

Blahblahblah.

It's Thursday. Haven't posted anything since Sunday and felt bad about that, so I guess I should write something, right? Maybe? But I don't know what to say. Blah.

I've been sick a bit this week. Tummy stuff. It's better now, which is good. Which is why I was able to unpack the rest of our stuff today! I put all of the empty boxes in the garage just so I wouldn't have to look at them. I dusted & vacuumed everything & put candles on the dining table. The place looks uber swanky and everything. I was looking forward to a lovely evening.

But when my beloved husband came home, he wanted to talk about cars.
Ugh.
And now I am in a terrible mood.

May I just say that I hate car shopping? No, not just "hate" in lower case letters. HATE. HATEHATEHATE. This is a very strong thing for me to say because I'm not a "HATE" kind of gal. I can usually find some kernal of good in everything. For instance, it is very common for me to hear people talking smack about somebody & for my response to be, "Well, he's always been nice to me." Or I make up some sort of explanation for why this other person may not have given the best impression ("I'm sure there was just a bit of confusion"). I have even said this about Ken Spence, people. Ken Spence! It seems like everyone once had a bad run-in with that man. Everyone but me, of course, because Ken was always nice to me.
Blahblahblah.

So what I'm saying is it's a big deal for me to say that I HATE something. And I HATE car shopping. And this means that I'm going to HATE tomorrow. The beloved husband has been doing marvelously well at work and was given Friday off. And he wants to spend this lovely, beautiful, paid-with-leave day at a frickin' car dealership. Color me unhappy. In fact, color me either red with rage or pale green with nausea, depending upon the moment. Too bad it's almost physically impossible for me to vomit.

So why do I hate car shopping? Well, I don't like spending money. I like saving money. The more I have reserved away in case of emergencies, the happier I am. And I am very careful about buying things. It is not unheard of for me to see a pair of shoes/pants/whatever at a store and wait many days or even weeks before purchasing it. I'll just mull it over in my mind. Because if I don't still want those shoes after a few days or a week or whatever, then they weren't worth the cost. And I just saved myself a good bunch of cash. Hooray!

But car dealers do not seem to understand this. They want you to purchase something immediately. And they like to put a lot of pressure on you to decide. And they tend to be FLAMING ASSHOLES. They are red, raw, ulcered, puss-leaking, wart-covered, flaming assholes. And I hating working with them. I mean, if I'm going to spend a few days considering whether I should spend 30 bucks on a pair of frickin' shoes, then I certainly deserve to take my time when it comes to spending 30 thousand bucks on a damn car! Ugh.

But we need a car. So shop we must. I'll let you know how it goes ... supposing my head doesn't explode first.

In other news, Veronica's having a hard time. But we've had some good conversations on the phone. Last night she apologized for unleashing a lot of emotions on me. So I told her about the time I apologized to my therapist for "vomiting my emotions" all over her. A short time later, V came to the realization that she is an emotional bulemic .... gorging herself on drama, & then purging all of her emotions out on her loved ones. Absolutely hilarious! At least it was at the time. George needs to put that in her stand-up act ... if she ever decides to do her stand-up act again, of course.

Other than that? Ummm ... my parents are on vacation in San Antonio, which is nice. And Janine and Jason will be leaving for their honeymoon this weekend. And last night george and I were discussing the idea of going to Vegas together. Or maybe on a cruise. With lots of friends in tow. Oh, how I would love to go on a fun vacation! We shall see ...

The New Digs

As of today, we're officially in the house. And what a warm welcome we recieved from the townsfolk! So sweet of those kids to come out in the rain today. I know how hard damp weather can be on woodwind instruments, so it really means a lot.

Seriously, though, it's been a week. And what a week it's been. We got the keys to the house Monday, the POD arrived with all of our stuff on Tuesday, the cable guy came & connected things - albeit incorrectly - on Thursday. And after far too much hassle, the water was turned on Friday afternoon.

So. The Water Nightmare. Here's what happened. I called various places to get hooked up with the basic services. Power? No problem. Did that over the phone. Cable & internet? We settled it all over the phone & made an appointment. Water?
Hmmm. Water.
Well, the water is handled by the city 'round these parts. So I called the city. And they told me that I needed to come to their office in-person and provide them with the following items.
#1 Driver's license
#2 Social Security number
#3 $100 Deposit
These three don't sound bad. Having to do it in person is annoying, but these requirements sound fairly reasonable. That's what brings us to the last item on the list.
#4 The signed rental agreement
Remember that the person from whom we've rented the property does not live in this state. Last week we had yet to receive a copy of the agreement that also had her signature on it. She had mailed it, but the post office was taking its time. Meanwhile, my bladder was under severe stress during the afternoons that I spent unpacking boxes at the house. Luckily, the whole mess got fixed on Friday. Come to find out that the city was suspicious because the name I gave to them as the owner of the house is not the name they had on file. And that's because she got married and changed her name, but never corrected it on her water bill. So! A silly mix-up.

But.

I feel like my world has turned into a series of silly mix-ups. The cable guy hooked up our TV to the cable, but he didn't give us a cable box or remote. And the internet could plug into my lap top, but it can't connect to Tim's computer for reasons I will never understand. So he doesn't have an internet connection. And our wifi connector that worked great in Tulsa? We can't get it to function properly, either (and again, I'm clueless as to the reason why). And the car situation .... uuuuuuuuggggggghhhhh. Tim and I spent so many hours talking about that mess that I hate rehashing it here. Just makes me angry again. The short version: Walter the HoboCat-Feeding Salesman? He no longer works for that car dealership. They still have a framed newspaper article on the wall about him and the cats and the fact that he's been with the company for a decade and blahblahblah. But he no longer works there. And after experiencing the other salesperson they had on hand, we've decided to try a whole new dealership. It was that bad.

But there's good stuff! For instance, I went to the Handmade Market ( http://www.thehandmademarket.com/ ) and bought a few little things. And I can now flush the toilet whenever I want to. And my mother and my brother got A's in all of their college classes! And I drove around quite a bit this week and did NOT get lost. And I'm in a lovely relationship with a good guy. I mean, if we can have a miserable experience at the car dealership and follow that up with moving large pieces of furniture into the house and STILL be able to stand the sight of one another, then things cannot be all that bad.

Mom says that, despite the hassle and extra steps, things are getting better. And she's right. She also says that whenever I'm having a bad day, I just need to go flush my toilet & remember that it could be much worse. I think I might just do that.

Sunday Boring Sunday

Watched the re-run of the San Marino F1 race today. Yawn. I know it didn't help much that I already knew who won. But it was reeeeeally dull just seeing Michael Schumacher and Alonso running around for the last 20-odd laps, knowing that noth.ing. was going to hap.pen. And with no word on how Kimmi was doing. Or Jenson. Or Rubens. Or tons of other people. Yaaaaaaawn. At least I finished the last row on my latest crochet project.

Which brings me to names. Spefically, the names of curves & chicanes on these circuits. I have no problem with naming them after famous people in Formula 1 (like the Villeneuve curve at San Marino). But I have some issues with the Nurburgring. I can accept the Castrol-S and the Michelin Kurve. But the Coca-Cola Kurve just feels wrong. Is F1 really this desperate for sponsorship? Is it not enough that the cars and the drivers are covered in sponsor logos?

And while I'm whining about advertising, take a look at what's coming to a parking lot near you: parking stripe advertising. I thought the one for Botox was the best, but the one for Hotel Monaco is pretty hard to beat.

Anywho.

While waiting for the race to begin, I was playing about on the internet and found a little something that brings me joy. Cubees! So cute! The Quicktime film on that site gave me the giggles ... which, in turn, brought Tim out to the living room with a raised eyebrow. Sooooo bizarre. But in such a good way!

Tomorrow the owner of the house should receive our initial payment. Which means we should be getting the keys. Which means I'm going to be busy moving our stuff over the next week. Here's hoping I don't wreck myself like poor Holly and george!

It ain't no Rooster Days

Tim and I are staying in tonight, so I thought I'd post something.

Hmmm ... what to say, what to say ...

Today was Janine's wedding day! Hope that all worked out well for her. Hope the ceremony was lovely. Hope they had a good time at the reception. Hope she doesn't suffer too badly from post-wedding let-down. After our wedding, I had a lot of feelings like, "What? That's it? That's really it? Shouldn't I, you know, feel different or something?" I was stressin'. Of course, I say this as if "stressin'" isn't a normal state of existence for me, but you know what I mean. Anywho, it was much nicer when I relaxed & started to settle into Happily Married Mode. It took a couple of months, but I got there. Since then I've gotten a bit smug about our wedding. I see those shows on TV about weddings & crap and every single time I think, "Our wedding was SOOOO much nicer than that." Hell, we actually impressed my sister-in-law with our choice of venue. And that is saying a LOT, my friends.

So, what was I saying? Oh yeah. Congrats to Janine and Jason!

I read that george and Derek will be going to a street fair thingy today. Last weekend there were a lot of various festivals and fairs in our area, but we didn't go to any of them. We were going to do something, but then we got terribly busy with the whole house thing. And it rained a ton. We thought about going to Apple Chill ( http://applechill.com/ ) but it was crazy-busy! No place to park. And cops ev.er.y.where. Plus it was hot and steamy from the previous rainstorms. So we went home. Probably a good thing, too, because there were shootings at Apple Chill ... which, what do you know, is just one of the many traditions of the annual festival! Which is why the place was crawling with cops! And which is why there will not be another Apple Chill festival. Ever. It's all over, kids. The town council voted unanimously to cancel it. Here's an article about it for those who have too much time on their hands: http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/432485.html

But you know what? Who needs Apple Chill! As long as we have pastries, we're all good, right? That's right! Which brings us around to Guglhupf ( http://www.guglhupf.com/ - click the "Cafe" link for piccies). Guglhupf is a bakery/patiserie/cafe in Durham. Tim and I went there for snacks last Saturday. Unfortunately, Saturday afternoon is a very popular time to go to such places. But I liked it. I had the best chai latte EVER. So delicious. And I tested a croissant. I thought it'd be good to see how well they could tackle the basics, you know. Buttery goodness. Yum. Tim did not seem terribly impressed, but that's probably because it was so busy. I'd really like to go back when it's quieter. Maybe get something fancier. Bring home a loaf of bread. That kind of thing. And you know, if Tanya got a job there, I bet she could bring me discounted day-old baked goods. That would kick SO much ass!!!

But back to this week. I am currently reading Girlbomb by Janice Earlbomb. Janice is one of my faaaavorite people at the on-line community where I hang. She also has a blog (check out the link on the right). She kicks much ass. Enormous quantities of ass. In fact, even when she's just relaxing at home, she'll grab a handful of ass & kick it around like a hackysack. You get what I'm saying. Oddly enough, she rather likes me, too (as she proclaimed publicly just this week! Without any prompting from me!). Which absolutely astounds me because she's so massively talented. Anyway, her book has TOTALLY sucked me in. Loving it to bits. I can't remember the last time a book took over my life & my thought processes as much as this baby. I wish it were longer. It has also proven to me once and for all that my adolescence was massively safe and uneventful. On the weekends, my friends and I would eat ice cream while watching Ren & Stimpy until the wee hours. Janice, on the other hand, was partaking in every vice known to man. My parents got off sooooo easy. But then again, there was no abuse going on in my parents' house.

Reap what you sow, people.

Okay. I'll bite

Here are my results for the same quizzes george took.

You Aren't Scary, You're Scared

Probably even scared to see how this quiz came out!

How Scary Are You?

Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC

"Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long, I'm glad to be back" Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos. But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

What's Your Theme Song?

I may be scared of everything, but I still have a dark side.

Your 1920's Name is:

Clarabelle Freda

What's Your 1920's Name?

Your Quirk Factor: 43%

You're a pretty quirky person, but you're just normal enough to hide it. Congratulations - you've fooled other people into thinking you're just like them!

How Quirky Are You?

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Charming Warrior. Where You Lived: Texas. How You Died: Buried alive.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

Hey! I was charming! That's nice to know.

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

But ... but I like apple filling!

And here's one george didn't do that I simply couldn't resist.

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind. You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Orange. My least favorite color. Interesting.

Hey baby ... let's get lost

The most difficult thing about the move so far has been getting accustomed to the road system. The streets in Tulsa are laid out in a basic grid system. There are some exceptions to the rule, of course, but fairly few. So it's pretty easy to find your way around.

This is not the case in the Triangle. Note the above artistic interpretation of the road system.

The roads here are swirly! There is not a single straight road in the whole area. And it gets tricky because sometimes you feel certain that you've finally found a straight road, but before long it begins to curve. Also, the labeling of the roads can be confusing. Are we on the 70 by-pass? the 70 business road? The other version of the 70? All of this and more has lead us to get lost a few times. Which leads to many tense moments with your car companion. And the occasional argument about who was supposed to double check the directions. [clears throat] Luckily, Tim has managed to sort out the confusion & find our destination each time. Each and every time! Astounding. This has lead me to believe that he has magical powers. There is no other explanation. How else can he determine magnetic north in the dark without a compass?! Astounding. Maybe our children will be born with similar magical powers & we can send them off to the American version of Hogwarts. Or maybe even Hogwarts itself so that they can have cute accents like their poppa.

Speaking of children and psychic powers, I had my cards read this week. Cards as in tarot cards. It was just an internet thing at the on-line community I frequent - no big deal - and I swear that I don't put faith in such things. Just decided to do it on a whim. But my reading was rather interesting. check this out, kids.

"Usually I PM information like this - and usually I don't like to speak in certainties because often when cards like this come up it can be either literal or it can be figurative. HOWEVER I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that this is literal - simply because of the sheer number of the cards that come up that refer to it. You are in a very good relationship. There is true equality and balance here - you compliment eachother perfectly. I believe that you are going to have a baby. If you are not now pregnant, you soon may be. The reason I haven't PMed you about this, is that I believe this will not shock you, as the cards show that you may have gone off birth control. As I've said, and just to cover my ass if I'm totally off base, it could be that I'm taking the cards too literally and that they refer instead to some other creative enterprise undertaken with your husband - this after a period of leaving things up to chance and fate."

The eeriest part of all this? I'm not on the pill right now. Long story, but I ran out. Good thing I don't put any faith in such things, right? Right?!? [laughs nervously]

Speaking of Scooby Doo, I need to learn how to get the photos off of my phone and onto my computer. I've got some excellent pics saved on there that I want to use. Mainly I want to share the pic that I have as my phone wallpaper. It's a fantastic picture of george in a woolly yeti costume. The thing that hit me today is that, in this photo, george looks suspiciously like Robert Smith of The Cure in the video for "Why Can't I Be You". It's uncanny.



Two of my favorite things - george and The Cure - in one perfect image! It must be shared! But how?! Guess it's time for a bit o' research.

Linky-dinky

Just some stuff I've found lately that I like.

13 minutes of super cool machines
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6176491654107670145&q=rube%2Bgoldberg&pl=true

Instructables (I think Derek would love this)
http://www.instructables.com/

Shelterrific (from the people who brought you Budget Living - before they lost their jobs)
http://www.shelterrific.com/

And because I'm a feminist, I suggest you listen to a bitch. Because a bitch has something to say.
http://angryblackbitch.blogspot.com/

31

Happy belated birthday to me! Monday was my birthday & I turned 31. I am officially in my 30s! So maybe that means that it's okay that I'll soon be living in an ultra cute house & that we'll be buying another car. It's good to act like an adult and do adult-y things when you're in your 30s. So rather than feeling freaked out by that number, I'm actually kinda comforted by it. So it's all good.

An up-date on the housing situation.
Saturday night, the owner of the house (Tricia) called us while we were at Target. She said she'd like us to meet her daughter. I was a bit stressed that there was an additional step to this whole process, but happy that we'd made the finals. On Sunday afternoon we met the daughter & her husband at the house at 1pm (which caused us to miss the F1 race, but it was worth it). The daughter, Andrea, is super cool. We really liked her and her husband, Jeff. We also met some of the neighbors and they all seemed great; very friendly, yet non-Stepford-y. Interestingly, Andrea said that she didn't know that anyone else had shown interest in the house over the past week. Hmmmm! Anyway, Tricia called on Monday morning. Tricia said her husband had called our references & it was all good. She said our old landlord had given us a positively glowing report & she was happy to let us have the house! We chatted about the flowers in the garden & such & I thanked her for trusting us with her home. Such a great birthday present!

As you can see, my birthday started out very well. I also got to talk with all of my immediate family members. And my family sent me flowers, too, which was very sweet. And I should mention that while I was chatting with Corey, I ventured up to the grocery store and did not get lost! After Tim got off of work, we went to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University( http://www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens/ ). Very pretty! Can't wait to take my parents there. We also went to Caffe Driade ( http://www.caffedriade.com/ ). Tim is a bit sniffy about their spelling, but the guy working there was super cool & wished me a happy birthday & made us some lovely cappucinos. After that we had dinner at a little Italian restaurant on Franklin Street.
And I drank wine.
Again.
This is the point where I tell you that I've been drinking wine almost nightly since I arrived in North Carolina. And before I got here, I went out drinking with people far more often than usual. I think that, on the night of my birthday, my body finally said, "Enough! You're not French, you know!" because I was sick most of the night. Either that or I'm stressed out (as Tim believes) or I may've caught a flu bug that's going around (as Mom suspects). Would you like to make your own diagnosis? Feel free. I'm open to suggestion.

Before retiring to the bathroom, however, I had a great phone call with george. We compared our neighborhoods by listing the cars parked outside. And she up-dated me on the cats. And we discussed the job sitch. The woman actually thinks she's being lazy because she hasn't started job hunting yet. Umm. She's only been in LA a week! But the more I see what's available on television, the more I sympathize with her desire to get out of the house. Just check out what's airing on TLC tonight.
8pm: I Am My Own Twin
9pm: 101 More Things Removed from the Human Body
10pm: The Man Whose Arms Exploded

101 more things?! Eep!

Flail, whimper, fret, flail

Tim and I are stressing out. We just toured the house this morning. We love it. The problem? There's competition! Another couple was there to view the house at the same time. Eep! So now we're worried that we won't get it. So feel free to imagine me sprawled across a couch, the back of my hand upon my forehead in a dramatic pose, as I cry out in agony over the situation. What are we going to do if we don't get this place?!? We have to be out of the temp place in just two weeks! Oh ... somebody bring me my smelling salts ... [faints]

The more resilient part of my personality is thinking positive thoughts. For instance, Tim and I have both spoken to the owner of the property, which seems to have set her mind at ease & she's told us both that we sound exactly like what she's looking for. Also, we can well afford the place. Thirdly, we saw The Competition and the wife is pregnant which is a problem for them because the owner of the house doesn't really want children living there. So! These things are all good. Let's hold on to the good, m'kay?

Also, Tim took me to see the car he wants to get. And I have to admit ...
I like it.
After all my poo-pooing, I actually like the blasted car. And I really like the salesman, too. I never thought I'd say that about a guy who sells cars, but it's true. He's not at all pushy. And he feeds the neighborhood cats who live by the dealership. That's right ... the man takes care of the hobo kitties. That's a good sign, yo. Anywho, the car is very nice. Hmmm. We'll see.

Cute houses. Cute cars. I'm turning into a yuppie. Eep.

In other news, I have spent more time on the phone this week than I have in years. I feel like I'm back in 10th grade or something! Just yesterday I spoke to Veronica, Corey, Janine a couple of times, Dr. White (dad's old friend who lives here), Dad himself, and Mom (who called 4 times and promised she won't stalk me quite so much in the future). I've also spoken to a few other friends and, of course, I've called a couple of people about finding a new home for us & our stuff. And I had a lovely long chat with Peter and Susan (the bro & sis in law back in England). Take note that these are 75% in-coming calls. It's cray-cray, I tells ya. I've only managed to call george once amongst all the madness. But I must say that I'm loving all of these in-coming calls. Makes me feel appreciated and needed and such. And I need a little validation when I'm so far from everything I know. It also keeps me from worrying about some of them so much.

Take note: george has been in LA for nearly a week and hasn't gotten a nose bleed yet! Woo hoo! Take that, Hollywood smog!

Where do I live again?

So I suppose I should tell people I know about the blog, right? So far I sent a link to george. And I mentioned it to Mom & V. And I might have mentioned it to Corey, but I can't remember.
And.
Umm ....
Well, that's it. Because the words, "Hey, check out my blog!" feel wrong in my mouth. Maybe george can plug my blog on her own site & we'll have crossover traffic [elbow nudge].

Anywho, life is looking good around here. Last night over dinner Tim told me a bit more about his current project at work and some up-coming projects. Hole-lee crap! It sounds so cool! I am beyond excited for him. I can't talk about any of it, of course. At least, not until they're officially announced at E3 in a couple of weeks. Just trust me when I say that this is exciting stuff.

I've been looking for a place to rent (since Tim and I are in temporary accommodations at the moment). And I found the CUTEST house on the planet. It's for rent. It's in our price range. I called the owner & we chatted for a while & she said that we sound like the exact kind of tenants she's looking for. The best part? It's cheaper than most of the apartments we've been considering. And bigger (Guest room!). Fingers crossed!

The bad thing about this house is that Tim won't be able to come home for lunch. His commute should be "only 30 minutes" (tee hee). But it'll be worth it. I tell ya, the more I look around, the less I want to live in these carefully constructed apartment communities. Too confusing. Yesterday Corey was laughing at the fact that I don't know the address to this place we're currently in ... and then I realized the hard way what a mistake that was on my part. I took some trash out to be recycled & when I turned back, I couldn't tell which building was ours! And the numbers were no help because I didn't know our apartment number! And I didn't have my cell phone, so I couldn't call Tim & ask him! Talk about panic. Luckily, I found my way back, but I have yet to leave again without an escort.

So. Back to happy thoughts.

Last night Tim drove me around town a bit. We looked at some apartment complexes (they all look so similar that they're starting to blend together in my mind). Then we drove around the UNC campus & Franklin Street. Too precious for description - although that's not quite the right word. I may have to break out the thesaurus on this one because, although the place is cute, it isn't nauseatingly so. Tim thinks that george and Derek might actually like it here. And our goal is to suck all of our loved ones to this corner of the globe, anyway. So I'll consult various thesauri and the tourist board to find better descriptive terms.

The first official post (because the test doesn't count)

So! This is the post in which I say "Welcome to my blog!" and all of that. I feel as though I'm supposed to mention the purpose/goal of this thing, but that makes me feel as though I'm writing a term paper & I need to come up with a thesis statement. Which makes me nervous. So I won't be doing that. Instead, I'll just jump in and try to pretend I've been doing this for a while.

I have now been in North Carolina for [checks watch] 40 hours! Fancy that. It looks very nice around here. Trees! Tall pine trees! All over the place! After living on the plains, all of these trees are making me feel slightly claustrophobic. I'm accustomed to seeing buildings and landmarks from miles away. No more. Too many trees. But they're pretty trees! Very nice. Not knocking the trees. Honest.

But today I'm not thinking a lot about what is here. Instead, I'm thinking about what I'm missing back at home in Tulsa. Today is my Mom's birthday and I'm missing it. I don't get to go out to dinner with the family. I don't get to watch Mom get misty-eyed as she reads the perfect card my brother selected for her (my brother always picks the sweetest cards ever). And later this week I don't get to take her to Kokoa (http://www.kokoachocolatier.com/) for a special girls-only chocolate outing. It's difficult. The only thing that helps is knowing how supportive my mom has been through the move. Instead of making me feel guilty about moving so far away, she has only been warm and encouraging. She only mentions the positive aspects of the move & has really helped lift my spirits when they've drifted downward.

Speaking of which, my phone just rang. And it's Mom.