Thursday, November 30, 2006

In Honor of the COLD Weather:

In ascending order, with descriptions, I present my favorite Christmas movies.

8. Its a Wonderful Life

This is the classic Christmas movie for most people. I have to admit, I've only seen it one-and-a-half times, but I enjoyed it.


7. The Santa Clause 1 & 2

I know that Tim Allen is soo '90s, but these are just silly, goofy movies. Bernard is my favorite.


6. Miracle on 34th Street (both versions)

I sometimes think of this movie more associated with Thanksgiving (because of the whole Macy's parade thing) but it is actually a Christmas movie. I love the little girl in the original version, but I also love the parents in the new version.

5. The Muppet Christmas Carol

Muppets? And singing? And Dickens? Yes please!



4. Love Actually

You would think with a girlie movie like this I would find it uplifting and happy, but so many moments in this movie break my heart. It is very Christmasy (Christmasie?), but a few scenes in here get a little too close to home.

3. Bridget Jones' Diary

I have seen this movie approximately 62,304,958,234,598 times and I could still watch it every day. I say the lines along with the characters to practice my English accent. I still suck, but I think I've gotten better. I may be completely different from Bridget (I don't keep a real diary, I don't smoke, I don't fall for unavailable men) but I am definitely that girl who says the exact wrong thing when I want so badly to say exactly the right thing.


2. Little Women (Wynona Rider/Susan Sarandon version)

Little Women, while not actually a Christmas movie at all, is everything I ever wanted Christmas to be. One of the best memories I have about my mom's parents is all of us going to see this movie when it opened on Christmas Day. Louisa May Alcott's books are part of my childhood, and watching this movie makes me safe, warm, and hopeful. And the professor with the accent? HOT!


1. White Christmas

I'm sorry for all you doubters out there, but White Christmas IS Christmas. Bing Crosby IS Christmas. Rosemary Clooney IS Christmas. I've sat watching this movie wrapping presents more times than I can count, and I want to clap for joy every time those stage doors open and the snow comes down. If you haven't seen this movie you are missing something really special, and you also probably think I'm crazy every time I sing "Sisters."

Well folks, that's it. I hope you are safe and warm at home in this weather. Me, I have class.

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Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Change of Plans

I did have a post all ready to go all about my favorite Christmas movies, but I'm not really feeling in the mood for that. I realized several things tonight, a few of which I don't really need to post for the world to see (I really need to do laundry), and a few of which I am still processing.

I am getting more comfortable with the "idea" of grad school, and all the procedures and routines that go along with it. I never really thought about what grad school would be like when I decided to continue on with school. I knew that I wasn't ready to be done with school yet, and I knew that I enjoyed my English major as an undergrad. I just jumped in, basically looking for an extension of my former English classes. I wanted to know more about literature and improve my writing.

Now that I am more than halfway done, I wonder what it is exactly I am doing. I find myself wanting to be very competitive, and have papers published, and make friends with the professors. But the whole point of getting another degree is to feel more comfortable teaching in a high school classroom; and principals in Texas could care less about whether I have a paper published. If I was really in this just to teach in the public schools I should have gotten a master's in education or something (although, yuck!). I sometimes really regret not being a teaching assistant for many reasons, and I'm not even really sure why I didn't do it. I also want to read any and every book that anyone mentions in class so I will know exactly what they are talking about.

I realized this semester that I have been holding back. To be metaphorical, I've got one foot in the program but I haven't really put my heart into it. There are aspects that I get really involved with, but there are a lot of things that I haven't really participated in (I know, what kind of English major ends their sentence with a preposition?). I haven't made a whole lot of friends in my classes, I haven't really attended any events, and my job has almost nothing to do with my any of my degrees, past, present, or future. I feel like I am missing out on a world that I would really enjoy being a part of, but I'm also scared that I won't fit in there - that I'm not "scholarly" enough to sit around and discuss things with my peers.

My friends do read some, but the only people I can really talk about books with are my parents, and their taste in books is very different from mine. I'm not saying that I'm unhappy with my life (or my friends), but I would like to expand myself a little.

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Tuesday, November 28, 2006

The easiest way to make me cry.

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Ha Ha!

Finished! SUCK IT, evil paper dragon. I have triumphed.

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Monday, November 27, 2006

Once upon a time, in a land far away...



There lived a young lady who greatly desired to learn more about literature. She spent her free time reading and enjoyed talking about books, so she decided to enroll in graduate school to study literature.

She had a wonderful time attending classes, meeting new people, and discussing the finer points of a wide variety of works. She learned about Chaucer and Shakespeare, the difference between modernism and post-modernism, the effects of the Industrial Revolutions on the three volume novel, and the replacements and additions to the canon of learned authors. She decided the she really loved reading, analyzing, and assessing children's literature so she found a professor sympathetic to her cause and they joined forces.

As time passed and the shine began to wear off, this young lady realized that there was something haunting her footsteps. No matter what she did or where she went, she felt a large menacing presence, ready to pounce. She gradually began to lose sleep worrying about the presence, wondering if it would ever show its face.

Then, one late and unseasonably warm November day, the evil shadow finally showed its true face. A horribly large, ugly, and fire breathing dragon was now following her closer than ever. The dragon had red, bleary eyes, pointed books for teeth, and its scales were made of paper covered in writing. The young (formerly carefree) lady knew that her time had come, and that the PAPER DRAGON was there to eat her. She piled mounds of books and papers around her, hoping to slow down or distract the dragon. She drank gallons of caffeine in an attempt to be ever vigilant, and tried to put as much distance between the creature and herself.

It was no use. The dragon knew that the young lady would not be able to run any more and that he would triumph by midnight that night.

To Be Continued...

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Sunday, November 26, 2006

I'm good at pretending.

When I was little I used to watch Sleeping Beauty over and over. I never was very interested in the prince, or the fairies, or the magic spells. I wanted to wander through the woods and be able to sing with the birds; I wanted to have squirrels and rabbits be my friends; I wanted to be able to talk to the raccoons. I would steal the afghan my mother made in 1970 (I vividly remember the lime green and orange stripes), and wander around our backyard making up songs to entice the birds. I spent hours roaming what I thought was a forest behind our house, hoping to come across a talking animal or a friendly deer. It turns out that my "forest" was simply an empty lot, and the closest I ever got to talking with nature was the afternoon I spent sitting in an empty stump that I didn't notice was covered in ants. I continue to be much better at pretending than noticing little details like a stump covered in good old Texas fire ants.

You see, all that time I spent wandering around the backyard I was really looking for friends. I wanted someone to talk to, someone (or something) to make me feel special, to find a "kindred spirit" as Lucy Maude Montgomery would say. And now that I have friends, lots of people that I love and care about, I wonder if I forgot to stop imagining things. I think I've been in a lifetime habit of pretending that everything will be different in the future, and that by thinking about something hard enough I could make the world sing back to me. This is all a really round about way to say that I need to quit dreaming about how perfect everything will be once I graduate from school, or move to a big city, or have the perfect Christmas. I want to free up that part of my brain to notice the cool stuff happening today, yesterday, and tomorrow.

For instance, I had a great time this Thanksgiving break. There were lots of good friends (old and new), lots of decorating, lots of laughing, lots of good food, lots of music, and lots of excitement. I ate Thanksgiving breakfast with my sister while we watched the parade, had a great Thanksgiving dinner, watched every Thanksgiving episode of Friends with Erin, cleaned and decorated all day on Friday, spent too much money at Target on Christmas stuff, had an awesome 3rd annual after-Thanksgiving day party, and went to a Blue October concert with Amanda. All good things.

And now I am going to stop daydreaming about daydreaming and get to work writing a paper (which I really do enjoy doing once I get started).

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Tuesday, November 21, 2006


Random Thoughts for the Day:

- Free food is always the best food. Especially when it comes with free mud pie and ice cream.

- I just bought this online for $.99, plus shipping. That's $3.58 total, to hear Madonna and Antonio Banderas sing. Together. And because I am too cool, I will admit that I actually own this already and am having to buy a replacement copy because mine is too scratched. I almost bought a replacement of this, but I refuse to spend $20+ for a used cd. I wonder why Miss Saigon has held onto its value more than Madonna?

- I need to save my $$$ for the upcoming weekend of debauchery, which may include getting hammered with a mom and my sister, getting stupidly (but annually) drunk in an empty bar, pulling a Martha Stewart on my apartment's ass, repeatedly hitting my forehead on a keyboard until it starts to bleed so that my papers will write themselves, wishing that I was Lorelai Gilmore so that I could have great hair and Luke would pour me coffee, and listening to my favorite band.

- I hope that this weekend I do not a) get arrested, b) throw up on the side of road, or c) forget that I have two papers due next week. All of which are very possible.

- Watching How I Met Your Mother, The Class, and Studio 60 makes a GREAT Monday evening.

- Watching Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, and two episodes of Dead Like Me makes a FANTASTIC Tuesday evening (which I am looking forward to).

- Taking stuff off of my To-Do list, even at work, feels like a monumental accomplishment.

- I am really excited about decorating my office for Christmas tomorrow. Is that sad?

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Sunday, November 19, 2006

Um, I ate lunch with Erin today at the new Red Robin. I had a Ceasar's Chicken Wrap, a cup of French Onion soup, and a Diet Coke.

That is all.

And I Shall Write a Book Entitled: What I Have Done Instead of Writing Papers

- Made coffee

- Watched approximately seven hours of Gilmore Girls

- Cleaned the litter box

- Went to buy coffee

- Slept

- Saw Stranger Than Fiction

- Looked out the window

- Vacuumed

- Washed my hair

- Watch The E! True Hollywood Story of Friends

- Made pancakes with cinnamon and vanilla

- Dusted

- Daydreamed about Christmas decorations

- Blogged

- Looked up people on IMDB

- Played with the cats

- Made a list of the things I've done to avoid actually writing a paper

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Saturday, November 18, 2006

Because today is opposite day (haha third grade!)...

5 Things That Everyone Knows About Me:

1. I love girlie movies. Anyone that walks into my apartment can tell that I really like chick flicks. I have other types of movies, but I think the majority of them are romantic comedies. Or, just check out my favorite movies.

2. I like to be clean and organized. My boss tells me this everyday, and although I try not to advertise my freakish longing to organize the world, everyone seems to notice. I could tell you that everything I own in is alphabetical order, or that my clothes are organized by type and color, or that it really really bothers me to have dishes in the sink, but I don't think that you would finish reading this post. Although, come to think of it, if you know me you really don't have to.

3. I love Friends. I don't care who you are, I can KICK YOUR ASS at Friend's trivia. Well, you might put up a challenge if you are Matthew Perry, but otherwise...(and if you are Matthew Perry, call me. Seriously, anytime.) Friends quotes pop into my head at the most random times, and 90% of the time I'm not with anyone that would understand why I'm suddenly screaming "MERGE!" or "WE WERE ON A BREAK!" or "I'M STANDING RIGHT HERE!" But, if you love Friends it is almost guaranteed that we will be friends. (You see what I did there? Come on, admit it, I'm a comedic genius. Chandler, you know you love me.)

4. I like to read. This one's a gimmie. I'm an ENGLISH major. Who didn't see this one coming?

5. And the most obvious thing that everyone knows about me is...I love Blue October. Complete strangers on the freeway know this about me (my bumper sticker, not the high volume of the radio), and every time a Blue song comes on the radio everyone turns to look at me. Speaking of which, yeah for going to their concert in one week!



On a side note, my cat just totally DUNKED HIS ENTIRE HEAD into my cup of coffee to eat the whip cream on top. Then he knocked the cup over. His face and neck are completed covered in coffee and whip cream. Good thing I drink my coffee warm, not hot...why did I want another cat again?

Oh right, the cuteness.

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Friday, November 17, 2006

While watching Scrubs on a chilly November evening...

You know when you drive home from work on a Friday at 5pm and you get in the lane that misses all the traffic and even though you are stopped by a train you just turn up The Killers even louder and look at the sky through the open sun roof?

Yeah. That's a good feeling.

And also? The Killers rock.

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Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Dear Weather God(s),

Please make up your mind whether to be warm and humid, warm and dry, cold and humid, or cold and dry. My sinuses are very confused and angry, so they are taking it out on my poor head.

Thank you.

P.S. Just as a thought, since it is near the holidays and everything, if you could settle on the cold and dry that would be wonderful. I'm not asking for snow or anything, just "winter-ish" type weather.

Monday, November 13, 2006

On taking days off and the wonders of Target.

I have a hard time telling time. I do okay with the minutes, but I'm not so proficient at telling the hours. I usually get it one more or one less than the actual time; this is why I completely freeze up when a stranger asks me the time. I usually try to pass it off by saying, "It's fifteen after," or "It's a quarter 'till."

I think my faulty concept of time extends to my feel for how many hours are in the day. The days of the work week pass pretty much how I expect them to - slowly. But then, by Friday I suddenly have visions of 56 hour days, complete with plenty of time to do everything I want/need to do. My weekend To Do list has recently included reading 5 books, writing two papers, cleaning my entire apartment, laundry, church, watching everything saved on my DVR, and hanging out with family and friends. And I'm always annoyed on Sunday evening when I haven't accomplished 1/10th of the things I had planned. Why is it that I think the weekend days are so much longer than a regular weekday?

Yesterday I got overwhelmed by everything I needed/had planned to do, so I just got fed up and decided to play around. And by play around I mean "I got my Christmas bonus and decided to go to a bunch of different stores (including Target twice) and then talk about coffee and computers with various members of my family." I found out that my back up hard drive is broken, I bought a pair of shoes for $6.50, I finally got a real coffee maker (for free!), we made a girls trip to buy coffee and crafts, I got fancy light up snow flakes for my patio, and I got the first three seasons of Gilmore Girls (on sale at Target for $15 each). I did actually read for awhile in the evening, but beyond that...I'm still overwhelmed.

But at least I can look at the box of snowflakes while wearing my new shoes, sipping on coffee, watching Gilmore Girls. And not try to think about the two papers following me around like an ominous cloud, waiting to be written.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

"Take a deep breath/take in all that you could want."

I am hard core crushing on Snow Patrol right now. Eyes Open is an excellent cd, well worth the money. Musical recommendation for the day over. Well, except for every Blue October cd in existence. But you knew that.

The breathing thing is all about the weather outside. It is a GORGEOUS day. If today were a man, I would marry him in an outside ceremony with my hair blowing in the wind. Part of my love for today is the temperature (it FINALLY dropped out of the 80s!), part of it is the approaching holiday season (see my love for Christmas), but I think the biggest part is the wind. There is a lovely strong wind today that is blowing through all the leaves, down the hall outside my apartment, and in the open windows, cleaning, cooling, and refreshing everything. I have a special place in my heart for the wind and it is days like today that made me want to run through fields of wheat in a gingham dress and apron. Well, maybe not, but certainly throw open all the windows and clean or cook like crazy. Or drive around with the windows rolled down, turning the music all the way up, and ignoring the tears from the cold wind rushing past my face. Or sitting in my camp chair on my patio with a blanket tucked around me, reading a book.

I also got a lot of stuff done this morning, including buy the cutest cat food dishes that say "Meowry Christmas," and this new scarf in pink with matching gloves/hat. At the moment I need to get back to work - I can hear the laundry and dish washing machines calling my name!

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

If this page doesn't look different, you should refresh your brain.

I just spent about an hour messing with the format of this page, so it should look quite different. I really don't know much about HTML (or CSS? What is the difference?), but I managed to add a profile picture, change the template of the entire blog, and widen the columns so that everything wasn't all squished. Yeah me!

In other news, I have class tonight and I keep forgetting! It is coming up on paper season, during which I sever all connections with the outside world and tie myself, sweating and bleeding, to the computer. However, this semester I only have two papers to write which makes me want to do a really good job on both of them. I also do not have a laptop, and that means that I can't take off and go wherever I want to - mostly the library. I pretty much need to be where there are no televisions and I have no internet connection, because I am REALLY good at distracting myself. Some may call it procrastination, but I call it my hobby. The hobby I should receive a medal for...or least a Nobel prize or something. I am really good at wasting time, people. During this time of year I usually a) post A LOT about everything and nothing in an attempt to avoid actually writing a paper, or b) don't post anything. So now you know.

In honor of my old, recently deceased laptop:


RIP, laptop. RIP.


Oh, and also, that is Ghost. Helping me write by batting at my hands as I type. You see why I get distracted? Don't you just want to bury your face in his tummy?

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

5 Things You Do Not Know About Me:

  1. I am addicted to chapstick. Well, technically Burt's Bees Wax, but same thing. Only Burt's doesn't have petroleum so it is not supposed to be addicting but it is. I have little tubes stashed all over the place - in my purse, next to my bed, in the living room, in my office. If you ever catch me without my little yellow Burt's, then I guarantee I will be looking for one and my lips will hurt. In fact, just thinking about that made my lips hurt, so I had to put on some "lip balm," which I just noticed is what it is technically called.
  1. I don't use cups. Seriously, I have two sets of glasses and lots of mugs and stuff, but at home I only use Nalgene bottles. I have four or five, and I always have a few in the refrigerator full of water. This may actually be a separate thing, but I also cannot stand the taste of filtered or bottled water. Plain old tap water for me, preferably chilled in the refrigerator. I am not a fan of ice.
  2. A few people know this one, but not many so I will share it. It's my list, I can do what I want. I am kind of obsessed with musicals. I mean, I don't dream in vivid colors, dancing with a gay leading man singing about our love, but I do listen to certain shows over and over and over...In fact, I think if anyone in my family hears my road trip musical one more time they may actually disown me. But the truth is, I have lots of musicals on cd. And by lots, I mean the ratios of musicals to other cds is a little ridiculous. I do have dreams that someone will fly me to NYC every year so that I can see every show on Broadway. True fact.
  3. I am not a very good speller. In fact, I'm really not too sure about the whole grammar thing all together. This is something I work very hard to hide because I'm kind of in grad school. For English. And my BA? Kind of in English. So shhh, don't tell anyone but I have NO IDEA what the hell a comma splice is, or a dangling modifier, or a split infinitive...You get the picture. (Thank God for spell check, because writing that sentence I totally misspelled "modifier" and early I had no idea how to spell "truly." I know, right?)
  4. And for the big finish, something really, truly, and deeply secret. You know how most people complain about going to sleep alone at night? Well, I love coming home alone. I love having the place to myself to do whatever I want, whenever I want. I can wait to eat dinner until 8:30pm, I can watch tv all night without feeling guilty, I can leave all the dishes out on the counter and not have anyone be upset at me. I go to bed whenever I want, and I usually sleep pretty well - you know, unless I either a) have a paper to write or b) someone I know is sick. I know you're asking yourself where the hell the secret part is, but I'm getting there. So, I like being by myself at night, and I really do like doing my own thing most of the time. But, the part I don't like? The really, really sucky part about living alone? There is no one there when I wake up. No one to snuggle with, no one to rehash the drunken events of the night before, no one to go out and get me breakfast, no one to talk about the upcoming day with, no one to convince me to go ahead and buy a coffee maker already so that I learn to drink real coffee and not the sugary-milk-flavored coffee that costs $4.

I may do another edition of this, especially if I get brave, but until then this is what you get to learn about me internet. Hope you like it!

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Sunday, November 05, 2006

Oh alcohol, why are you so cruel to me?



I sprained my ankle Halloween night. I was wearing my beautiful shoes (which did not FEEL beautiful) and I think we were walking somewhere and the curb moved underneath my foot. Flash forward to me sitting on the ground wondering what the hell happened. I decided to kill the pain with alcohol which led to me not only missing work the next day, but also unable to move off of the couch.

Now that Halloween is over, all the stores are putting out their Christmas stuff. I love Christmas. Let me say that again...I LOVE CHRISTMAS. I love the feelings, the smells, the buying stuff, the twinkly lights, the decorations, the cold weather, the gifts, the music, the smiles, the hot chocolate, the food, and did I mention the decorations? For the past three or four years I have taken the day after Thanksgiving as my day to decorate. I have a routine now: I clean every square inch of wherever I am living, then I decorate with all of the Christmas decorations I possess. Then I go out and buy more, and decorate some more. I crank up the Christmas music, or put on a Christmas movie (my favorite is White Christmas), bake something that smells good, and have a blast. It is one of the best days in the entire year. Then that night Erin and I go out and have our annual "Day After Thanksgiving" party. This year will be our third annual, and it is way fun mostly because we usually have the bar to ourselves. Anyway, the Friday after Thanksgiving usually holds some good times, and I hope this year will be no exception.