It's December 30, and tomorrow is the last day of 2009, and I can't help but reflect on the last decade of my life. There is no way to overstate that the aughts were the most significant decade of my life so far. I loved living this decade, even though a lot of really bad shit was happening in the surrounding environs. Yes, these were the Bush II years, and terrorism, war, natural disaster, incompetence, and death were in the news every single day. But they were also my 20s; they were when I moved to NYC; they were the years I lived on Park Ave. in Manhattan; the years I was truly independent for the first time; the years that I found people who think like me and are interested in similar music, movies, and books as me; the years I quit being a waitress; the years I went back to school, and on and on.
I think this last decade was also really cool for me because a lot of the people I got to see in bands or in comedy shows or whatever were finally people that were my age. It was nice to see my generation coming to the forefront and putting their own stamp on popular culture and other artistic endeavors. Like any generation, there have been both wonderful and terrible sides to that. It was also cool to see so many people of my age group rally around Barack Obama and help get him elected. Even if he ends up being just as crap of a pres. as the guy who came before him, it was very cool to be swept up in that historic election and to see the looks on people's faces and feel the energy in the streets here in NYC on election night.
Mostly, though, it's about NYC. I can't help it, it has defined the way I live my life and the type of person I currently am and also the person I am striving to be. I think that even though there have been some terribly empty and upsetting times for me this decade, NYC has managed to fill a lot of that with distractions that I otherwise wouldn't have had. Just going for a walk in this city can change my entire view of a day or a month or even my whole philosophy of life. Maybe that would be true for any place, but for me it is only true here. Hopefully one day I will find a less stressful place for that to be true, but for now NYC is what works.
The best two years out the last ten for me were 2004 and 2007. I moved from Queens to Manhattan on December 31, 2003, so 2004 was the beginning of some of the best times of my young life. There is nothing like leaving your apartment every day and having the hustle and bustle of the city right in front of your eyes. Of course, I almost went broke living there and ended up on not so great terms with one of my roommates, but overall that was a great experience, and I had a ton of good times living with Lester and Jim and Judith. We went to lots of fun parties and shows, got drunk and made fools of ourselves all over downtown NYC, always had cool people over to hang out with, stayed up half the night watching movies or tv, and had some fun dinners together. The pinnacle of 2004 was the night we had our '80s Prom. We rented a limousine to go and pick up several of our friends, everyone had on formalwear, we played awesome music all night, made out with strangers, and I could barely stand the next day. We put some hard work and lots of money and creativity into that party, and for me it really paid off. I had so much fun!
The reason 2007 was good for me is because that was the year that I finally quit waiting tables in Times Square. I really liked most of the people I worked with and I made decent money, but I knew I didn't want to be a waitress for the rest of my life, and I knew I was miserable with the routine of the job itself. I am still working in the restaurant industry, and that is fine, but I am at least learning new skills as a bookkeeper and assistant manager, and I am also back in school earning my Bachelor's ten years after dropping out. So that was the beginning of the progress that I am now on. I also moved back to Queens in 2007 and started saving money again. Finally, 2007 was the year that the final Harry Potter book came out, and not that that should be some HUGE deal, but reading those books and theorizing about what would happen with other devotees was a big part of how I spent my time this decade.
I like that for most of the years of the aughts, the '80s were trending. I have been listening to 80s music since, well, I guess I never really stopped listening to 80s music, so it was great that everyone else was finally on my wavelength and helped me to rediscover and relentlessly play some of those gems from my childhood years. It was also cool that this happened sort of simultaneously with the release of the iPod and iTunes. That device and software has made it so easy to enjoy all my music whenever I want.
I don't know how much more digital ink I can spill about this decade, but whatever anybody says about, I'll always love it. I loved a lot of the fashions, I loved the indie rock, I loved living on my own, I loved living in New York, I loved buying a cell phone for the first time, I loved having an iPod with me at all times, I loved that celebrity gossip exploded hugely on the internet, I loved that television shows started to catch up with and cater to smarter audiences, blah blah blah.
I'll remember the aughts with love, and that is the best thing I can ever say and feel about anything in life.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
...And Now, The Guiding Light
Well, the soap opera I grew up watching with my Mom and also my best friend, and my best friend's Mom, was canceled a few months back and this week the final episodes aired. It was sad for me to watch, not just because the show was ending, but because it had seriously been destroyed over the last probably 10 years. Soaps for a lot of women are kind of like comfort food--the characters are like family members who, even though you may lose touch with them for a while, you figure will always be around. You go to them when you are home sick, or when you need to escape from your own life for whatever reason. You can turn the show on one day after not seeing it for years at a time, and still pretty quickly be able to figure out what is happening because you know its history, you know the families, the great romances, the great friendships, and the GREAT villains!
GL had one of the scariest, most complex, most watchable daytime villains on its canvas for about 25 years--Roger Thorpe! When the actor who portrayed him became sick with ALS, he was let go from the show and the role was recast. Such a betrayal. Michael Zaslow died a few months later, and a lot of people never forgave the show for his shabby treatment. The years that Roger spent torturing his enemies AND his loved ones with his manipulations and corporate takeovers and deaths, and (gulp) that time he raped Holly, those were the peak years of GL. The show really lacked a focus after he was no longer around to set people spinning.
Anyway, the show ended some things nicely for longtime, older viewers this week. Phillip and Beth reunited, Mindy (original Mindy, Krista Tesreau) and Rick got together, Billy and Vanessa married for the third time, and the show ended on a shot of Josh and Reva telling eah other "Always," while driving away from Springfield's iconic lighthouse. I liked that Alan Spaulding passed away in what was essentially him sacrificing himself for Phillip, his favorite son (sorry, Alan-Michael, but it's true). It was always so sweet to me that, even though Phillip was adopted, Alan clearly loved and cherished him--in his dastardly, manipulative Alan Spaulding way. I liked seeing Philip and Beth taking up the Spaulding mantle with Alan's passing and Alexandra departing with Fletcher (another old favorite). Beth gave Phillip a journal and told him he should write down everything that's happened, and how he felt about everything. I liked that--it kind of made me feel like Guiding Light could have been the story that Phillip wrote. The story of Springfield and his friends, the Bauers; his family, the Marlers and the Spauldings; and all of the other families who came and went throughout their lives--the Lewises, the Coopers, the Thorpes, etc. Maybe I'm just biased because Phillip was always a favorite in my house! Grant Aleksander, that cutie with the killer cheekbones.
There was some simply ridiculous stuff as well, OF COURSE. Wouldn't be Guiding Light without some Epic Bullshit. Buzz and Lillian? FAIL. Sorry, but just because you have two unattached actors who are around the same age doesn't mean there is any romantic chemistry between them. It really felt like something the writers did out of desperation to give everyone a "happy" ending. The same exact sentiment goes for Frank and Blake. I mean, as if FRANK COOPER, the most bland character in history, would hold any interest for a woman like Blake?! Roger's daughter?! Ross's wife?! A schemer who held her own for over 20 years against the best of them?! And now she is reduced to working at Company and slumming it with the Coopers? Don't get me wrong, I love the Coopers, but just No.
The production value of the show was also so bad. I know they changed the way it was shot in an effort to reduce costs and try to save the show--a real Hail Mary pass. But it just diminished it in so many ways. It was like watching a different show with some sort of familiar characters--just felt really out of place. And it also highlighted the moments when the acting wasn't so great--it made it harder for the actors to hide their weaknesses and use their typical daytime acting "tricks."
Anyway, four generations of women in my family sat down and watched that show on a daily basis at one time or another, and it is kind of sad to me that if I ever have a daughter, I won't be able to share these beloved characters and their whacked out histories with her. I suppose the world is always changing, progressing, and that is a good thing. But it doesn't make it any easier to say good-bye to the institutions you grew up with, and let's be honest, took for granted. Because I didn't watch it for the last ten years, and I didn't think they would ever cancel the longest-running story ever on radio and television. Seventy-two years is something to be proud of, a mirror of the 20th century in many ways, and I am thankful to the people for whom it was a labor of love to bring us this show every day.
Now my Personal Best and Worst!
Best Love Stories:
Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines
Alan-Michael Spaulding and Lucy Cooper
Josh Lewis and Reva Shayne
Dylan Lewis and Bridget Reardon
Lujack (don't remember his last name) and Beth Raines
Frank Cooper and Eleni Andros
David and Kat (don't remember either of their last names, but loved their story)
Buzz Cooper and Jenna Brashaw
Most Effed Up Love Stories:
Josh and Clone!Reva
HB Lewis and Reva
Ross and Blake (I ended up really liking them together, but you just don't sleep with someone your Mom already slept with)
Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris
Ed Bauer and Lillian Raines
Alan Spaulding and Annie Dutton
Best Villains:
Roger Thorpe
Alan Spaulding
Annie Dutton
Brent Lawrence/Marian Crane/Brarian/BIRD (all one person)
Sonny/Solita
Worst Storylines:
Cloning Reva
San Cristobel
Rick and Ross both fathering Blake's twins
Amish Reva
Time traveling Reva
Jenna stealing Eleni's skin cream recipe
Vanessa thinking she should have custody of Peter
Santos/Mafia family
Dinah in the circus family
Storylines I Loved/Loved to Hate:
Annie frames Reva for killing her already dead baby.
Brent Lawrence rapes Lucy, becomes the world's ugliest transvestite, goes on a killing spree, dresses up like a BIRD.
Josh recovering from paralysis with Bert Bauer's help.
Any and all corporate takeovers, especially Jenna and Roger's Spaulding takeover.
People tricking/blackmailing each other into marriage--Mindy and Phillip, Blake and Phillip, Roger and Everyone Ever.
Billy gets drunk and shoots Roger.
That Infinity story where Alan kidnapped Beth for all those years.
I think there was something about a haunted house or someone was getting gaslighted? Maybe Chelsea Reardon? I remember really liking that story at the time.
Sonny/Solita split personality.
Sleeping Sickness.
Harley giving up Daisy for adoption.
Dinah shoots Hart.
The Hart/Julie/Dylan/Bridget love rectangle.
Best Friendship:
Phillip Spaulding and Rick Bauer/ The Four Musketeers
Goodbye, Springfield. And thanks again!
GL had one of the scariest, most complex, most watchable daytime villains on its canvas for about 25 years--Roger Thorpe! When the actor who portrayed him became sick with ALS, he was let go from the show and the role was recast. Such a betrayal. Michael Zaslow died a few months later, and a lot of people never forgave the show for his shabby treatment. The years that Roger spent torturing his enemies AND his loved ones with his manipulations and corporate takeovers and deaths, and (gulp) that time he raped Holly, those were the peak years of GL. The show really lacked a focus after he was no longer around to set people spinning.
Anyway, the show ended some things nicely for longtime, older viewers this week. Phillip and Beth reunited, Mindy (original Mindy, Krista Tesreau) and Rick got together, Billy and Vanessa married for the third time, and the show ended on a shot of Josh and Reva telling eah other "Always," while driving away from Springfield's iconic lighthouse. I liked that Alan Spaulding passed away in what was essentially him sacrificing himself for Phillip, his favorite son (sorry, Alan-Michael, but it's true). It was always so sweet to me that, even though Phillip was adopted, Alan clearly loved and cherished him--in his dastardly, manipulative Alan Spaulding way. I liked seeing Philip and Beth taking up the Spaulding mantle with Alan's passing and Alexandra departing with Fletcher (another old favorite). Beth gave Phillip a journal and told him he should write down everything that's happened, and how he felt about everything. I liked that--it kind of made me feel like Guiding Light could have been the story that Phillip wrote. The story of Springfield and his friends, the Bauers; his family, the Marlers and the Spauldings; and all of the other families who came and went throughout their lives--the Lewises, the Coopers, the Thorpes, etc. Maybe I'm just biased because Phillip was always a favorite in my house! Grant Aleksander, that cutie with the killer cheekbones.
There was some simply ridiculous stuff as well, OF COURSE. Wouldn't be Guiding Light without some Epic Bullshit. Buzz and Lillian? FAIL. Sorry, but just because you have two unattached actors who are around the same age doesn't mean there is any romantic chemistry between them. It really felt like something the writers did out of desperation to give everyone a "happy" ending. The same exact sentiment goes for Frank and Blake. I mean, as if FRANK COOPER, the most bland character in history, would hold any interest for a woman like Blake?! Roger's daughter?! Ross's wife?! A schemer who held her own for over 20 years against the best of them?! And now she is reduced to working at Company and slumming it with the Coopers? Don't get me wrong, I love the Coopers, but just No.
The production value of the show was also so bad. I know they changed the way it was shot in an effort to reduce costs and try to save the show--a real Hail Mary pass. But it just diminished it in so many ways. It was like watching a different show with some sort of familiar characters--just felt really out of place. And it also highlighted the moments when the acting wasn't so great--it made it harder for the actors to hide their weaknesses and use their typical daytime acting "tricks."
Anyway, four generations of women in my family sat down and watched that show on a daily basis at one time or another, and it is kind of sad to me that if I ever have a daughter, I won't be able to share these beloved characters and their whacked out histories with her. I suppose the world is always changing, progressing, and that is a good thing. But it doesn't make it any easier to say good-bye to the institutions you grew up with, and let's be honest, took for granted. Because I didn't watch it for the last ten years, and I didn't think they would ever cancel the longest-running story ever on radio and television. Seventy-two years is something to be proud of, a mirror of the 20th century in many ways, and I am thankful to the people for whom it was a labor of love to bring us this show every day.
Now my Personal Best and Worst!
Best Love Stories:
Phillip Spaulding and Beth Raines
Alan-Michael Spaulding and Lucy Cooper
Josh Lewis and Reva Shayne
Dylan Lewis and Bridget Reardon
Lujack (don't remember his last name) and Beth Raines
Frank Cooper and Eleni Andros
David and Kat (don't remember either of their last names, but loved their story)
Buzz Cooper and Jenna Brashaw
Most Effed Up Love Stories:
Josh and Clone!Reva
HB Lewis and Reva
Ross and Blake (I ended up really liking them together, but you just don't sleep with someone your Mom already slept with)
Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris
Ed Bauer and Lillian Raines
Alan Spaulding and Annie Dutton
Best Villains:
Roger Thorpe
Alan Spaulding
Annie Dutton
Brent Lawrence/Marian Crane/Brarian/BIRD (all one person)
Sonny/Solita
Worst Storylines:
Cloning Reva
San Cristobel
Rick and Ross both fathering Blake's twins
Amish Reva
Time traveling Reva
Jenna stealing Eleni's skin cream recipe
Vanessa thinking she should have custody of Peter
Santos/Mafia family
Dinah in the circus family
Storylines I Loved/Loved to Hate:
Annie frames Reva for killing her already dead baby.
Brent Lawrence rapes Lucy, becomes the world's ugliest transvestite, goes on a killing spree, dresses up like a BIRD.
Josh recovering from paralysis with Bert Bauer's help.
Any and all corporate takeovers, especially Jenna and Roger's Spaulding takeover.
People tricking/blackmailing each other into marriage--Mindy and Phillip, Blake and Phillip, Roger and Everyone Ever.
Billy gets drunk and shoots Roger.
That Infinity story where Alan kidnapped Beth for all those years.
I think there was something about a haunted house or someone was getting gaslighted? Maybe Chelsea Reardon? I remember really liking that story at the time.
Sonny/Solita split personality.
Sleeping Sickness.
Harley giving up Daisy for adoption.
Dinah shoots Hart.
The Hart/Julie/Dylan/Bridget love rectangle.
Best Friendship:
Phillip Spaulding and Rick Bauer/ The Four Musketeers
Goodbye, Springfield. And thanks again!
Monday, June 1, 2009
The Happiest Moment of My Life!!
This morning I was reading some gossip about the MTV Movie Awards, and someone who is a big Twilight fan wrote that when they won Best Movie, it was the happiest moment of her life. Nooooow, I don't know about anyone else, but that seemed a little bit sad to me! I started to try and think of the happiest moment of my life so far, but couldn't come up with anything too specific, mainly because I think the happiest moments in life are usually small moments, things you don't really realize at the time, but that stay with you. Maybe it's different for people who have gotten married or had children, or some great love story, I don't know.
When I first started using Netflix, I rented a movie from Japan that I can't remember the name of right now. It was about a group of people who worked in this sort of limbo between life and death that the recently deceased would have to stop in, and they would have a few days to choose their happiest moments from their lives. The employees would then re-create the moment for the person, and film it. Then they would all go watch the moments together on a screen in a theater and the person whose moment they watched would disappear into his or her happiest moment for the rest of eternity. I liked that idea very much, although I don't know if I would want to pick just one.
But if I had to, I would probably choose a moment that happened when I was about 11 or 12. It was late afternoon / early evening. I was riding my bike down the street on which I lived, and it was either a Saturday or a Sunday in spring, because I know I had had a really fun day playing with all my friends in the neighborhood. And as I was riding my bike, with the wind in my hair, the familiar homes and trees and cars passing by me, I felt perfectly content and happy and at one with everything around me. I promised myself I would always remember that moment, and I do--I even remember what the sky looked like.
There have certainly been other moments, "big" moments, when I felt very happy or content or peaceful, but most of them have been ruined by things that resulted from them in one way or another. Not that that should diminish the impact they had on me at the time, but I suppose I feel that only oneself can truly be relied on to make one happy, and so that moment of solitude and contemplation in a place I loved has to stand above the rest.
Anyway, I wonder if you died tomorrow and had to choose a moment, would you choose something big, like holding your child for the first time, or something a little smaller?
When I first started using Netflix, I rented a movie from Japan that I can't remember the name of right now. It was about a group of people who worked in this sort of limbo between life and death that the recently deceased would have to stop in, and they would have a few days to choose their happiest moments from their lives. The employees would then re-create the moment for the person, and film it. Then they would all go watch the moments together on a screen in a theater and the person whose moment they watched would disappear into his or her happiest moment for the rest of eternity. I liked that idea very much, although I don't know if I would want to pick just one.
But if I had to, I would probably choose a moment that happened when I was about 11 or 12. It was late afternoon / early evening. I was riding my bike down the street on which I lived, and it was either a Saturday or a Sunday in spring, because I know I had had a really fun day playing with all my friends in the neighborhood. And as I was riding my bike, with the wind in my hair, the familiar homes and trees and cars passing by me, I felt perfectly content and happy and at one with everything around me. I promised myself I would always remember that moment, and I do--I even remember what the sky looked like.
There have certainly been other moments, "big" moments, when I felt very happy or content or peaceful, but most of them have been ruined by things that resulted from them in one way or another. Not that that should diminish the impact they had on me at the time, but I suppose I feel that only oneself can truly be relied on to make one happy, and so that moment of solitude and contemplation in a place I loved has to stand above the rest.
Anyway, I wonder if you died tomorrow and had to choose a moment, would you choose something big, like holding your child for the first time, or something a little smaller?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
What A Wonderful World?
In these almost entirely shitty times, I would like to take up some of the space on my little blog to mention the things that (for me) transcend the economy, the war, the GOP, the violence that people inflict on each other daily, and on and on...
In no particular order:
1. Eating a torta from Paquito's on 1st Ave.
2. The afternoon sun streaming in through the windows.
3. Reading Dlisted.
4. Having a three hour online chat about nothing particularly important with a friend.
5. Doing a jigsaw puzzle with my Dad while forcing him to listen to '80s music.
6. FailBlog.org.
7. The times when my Grandpa is having a good day, cracking jokes, telling old stories, not dwelling on all the people he has lost.
8. A nice bottle of sauvignon blanc.
9. Playing plastic lawnmower chase with my nephew.
10. Getting a way-too-long voicemail from my Mom.
11. Listening to the music I love.
12. Getting to see good live comedy any night of the week.
13. Those times when someone is acting really strange on the subway, and you meet eyes with a stranger because you are both having a similar WTF reaction, and then you both sort of quietly crack up.
14. Spending a lot of time taking walks in downtown Manhattan when the weather is nice.
15. That feeling when you are almost done reading a book you are really enjoying, but you still have some left, so you read really slowly, to make it last as long as possible, even though you might be dying in anticipation to find out what happens to everyone.
16. Flower boxes in windows.
17. Fresh produce.
18. Watching Netflix movies online.
19. LiveJournal icons with random people wearing Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Hat.
20. Days getting longer and nights getting shorter.
21. The view of the skyline from the 7 train.
22. When it's foggy at night and the lights of the city look like ghosts high up in the sky.
23. My friend Kane stopping in and hanging out with me at work when I am feeling lonely.
24. Pasta.
25. Flowers for sale at every deli on almost every corner.
26. Seeing what new stuff the hipsters have decided to embrace ironically every few months.
27. A bar with an exceptional jukebox.
28. Pears with cheese.
29. Going to a movie by myself in the middle of a weekday.
30. That small feeling of accomplishment when I've cooked and eaten something really tasty, and gotten everything cleaned up right away.
31. Sleeping in on the weekends, stretching and lazing about in bed like a cat.
32. Chocolate.
33. People who say "please" and "thank you."
34. When you discover a new song you really love or re-discover and old song you haven't listened to in ages, and you play it over and over and over...and then it starts to turn up on commercials or in tv shows. Makes the zeitgeist feel real.
35. New outfit combinations with pre-existing clothing.
36. Going out for dinner with friends.
37. A comfortable silence.
38. How, even though I own the DVD and almost never watch it, if I catch Breakfast At Tiffany's on tv I will always sit and watch the whole thing.
39. Drunk dancing.
40. The first few days of a new crush.
41. CelebReality shows.
42. Swimming in a pool.
43. My soft Swedish headboard from IKEA.
44. Getting a manicure.
45. Shipping couples on tv shows.
46. Quiet days at work when my boss is out of town.
47. The cat at work jumping into my lap and curling up.
48. A fried egg sandwich on wheat bread with mayonnaise.
49. Remembering that morning Carrie and I spent watching a bunch of hilarious '80s stuff on YouTube.
50. Being able to correctly identify different regional accents when I watch BBC-America.
Okay, so that's 50 things. It's not everything I love, of course, but it's enough to remind me what's good about the world, and how much of it there is to outweigh the bad.
In no particular order:
1. Eating a torta from Paquito's on 1st Ave.
2. The afternoon sun streaming in through the windows.
3. Reading Dlisted.
4. Having a three hour online chat about nothing particularly important with a friend.
5. Doing a jigsaw puzzle with my Dad while forcing him to listen to '80s music.
6. FailBlog.org.
7. The times when my Grandpa is having a good day, cracking jokes, telling old stories, not dwelling on all the people he has lost.
8. A nice bottle of sauvignon blanc.
9. Playing plastic lawnmower chase with my nephew.
10. Getting a way-too-long voicemail from my Mom.
11. Listening to the music I love.
12. Getting to see good live comedy any night of the week.
13. Those times when someone is acting really strange on the subway, and you meet eyes with a stranger because you are both having a similar WTF reaction, and then you both sort of quietly crack up.
14. Spending a lot of time taking walks in downtown Manhattan when the weather is nice.
15. That feeling when you are almost done reading a book you are really enjoying, but you still have some left, so you read really slowly, to make it last as long as possible, even though you might be dying in anticipation to find out what happens to everyone.
16. Flower boxes in windows.
17. Fresh produce.
18. Watching Netflix movies online.
19. LiveJournal icons with random people wearing Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Hat.
20. Days getting longer and nights getting shorter.
21. The view of the skyline from the 7 train.
22. When it's foggy at night and the lights of the city look like ghosts high up in the sky.
23. My friend Kane stopping in and hanging out with me at work when I am feeling lonely.
24. Pasta.
25. Flowers for sale at every deli on almost every corner.
26. Seeing what new stuff the hipsters have decided to embrace ironically every few months.
27. A bar with an exceptional jukebox.
28. Pears with cheese.
29. Going to a movie by myself in the middle of a weekday.
30. That small feeling of accomplishment when I've cooked and eaten something really tasty, and gotten everything cleaned up right away.
31. Sleeping in on the weekends, stretching and lazing about in bed like a cat.
32. Chocolate.
33. People who say "please" and "thank you."
34. When you discover a new song you really love or re-discover and old song you haven't listened to in ages, and you play it over and over and over...and then it starts to turn up on commercials or in tv shows. Makes the zeitgeist feel real.
35. New outfit combinations with pre-existing clothing.
36. Going out for dinner with friends.
37. A comfortable silence.
38. How, even though I own the DVD and almost never watch it, if I catch Breakfast At Tiffany's on tv I will always sit and watch the whole thing.
39. Drunk dancing.
40. The first few days of a new crush.
41. CelebReality shows.
42. Swimming in a pool.
43. My soft Swedish headboard from IKEA.
44. Getting a manicure.
45. Shipping couples on tv shows.
46. Quiet days at work when my boss is out of town.
47. The cat at work jumping into my lap and curling up.
48. A fried egg sandwich on wheat bread with mayonnaise.
49. Remembering that morning Carrie and I spent watching a bunch of hilarious '80s stuff on YouTube.
50. Being able to correctly identify different regional accents when I watch BBC-America.
Okay, so that's 50 things. It's not everything I love, of course, but it's enough to remind me what's good about the world, and how much of it there is to outweigh the bad.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Pleasant Surprises--Good Omens?
So, I called my Mom this evening because today was such a weird, tense day for me and I wanted to vent some of my election stress. And just out of curiosity, I asked if my Grandpa had voted. She told me, yes, they filled out an absentee ballot for him and mailed it in to Georgia. I figured he would vote for McCain, because he usually votes Republican, being an older Southern Baptist conservative WWII vet. He and I even had an argument about gay marriage last year when he asked me whether I thought homosexuals should be allowed to marry, and all I said was, "I don't really care if gays and lesbians get married to each other, if they are in love." I didn't even state my entirely true feelings on the subject because I didn't want to make him too mad, but he got mad at even me saying I didn't care. So, imagine my surprise when my Mom told me he asked her to fill in the bubble for Obama. (He's blind, so she had to do the bubbling for him.) She didn't ask him his reasons, which I assume are largely finance-related. But, if my almost lifelong Republican Grandpa is voting for Obama, I feel very reassured about the world and about people's willingness to be open-minded. I love my Grandpa very much, and I've always been proud of his service to the country and the amount of love he has showered on me and my Mom, and this just makes me prouder. It's nice to know that, when pretty much everyone else on his side of the family is a vocal McCain supporter, he decided he isn't too old or indoctrinated to make his own decision. I don't feel so isolated anymore when it comes to that side of my family. Maybe it even helps me understand a little better why my Mom and I turned out to be so liberal.
The other thing I found out today is that Obama is a Leo. So is Bill Clinton. Not that I really think it matters, of course, but, being a Leo myself, it does make me feel a little more kinship with the guy.
Anyway, I hope these are good signs, and I hope there aren't too many shenanigans on this Election Day.
The other thing I found out today is that Obama is a Leo. So is Bill Clinton. Not that I really think it matters, of course, but, being a Leo myself, it does make me feel a little more kinship with the guy.
Anyway, I hope these are good signs, and I hope there aren't too many shenanigans on this Election Day.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Can It Just Be Election Day All Ready?
I think I've OD-ed on this election. I've been checking like, 8 different websites every hour of the day for the last 2 months. I'm surprised I don't fall asleep with my fingers poised over an imaginary laptop keyboard! Election fatigue--it's real, and it. is. brutal.
Also, I have a sore throat, so that might be making me a little testier than normal.
I mean, if I had my druthers it would just be January already right now--skip right over the next week, the whole president-elect phase, and the tense family gatherings for the holidays--and just make it be the day when Bush is no longer the President. To quote General Hospital's Jack Wagner, that is "All I Need." Don't judge, you know you have that song on your 80s playlist in your iTunes.
Also, I have a sore throat, so that might be making me a little testier than normal.
I mean, if I had my druthers it would just be January already right now--skip right over the next week, the whole president-elect phase, and the tense family gatherings for the holidays--and just make it be the day when Bush is no longer the President. To quote General Hospital's Jack Wagner, that is "All I Need." Don't judge, you know you have that song on your 80s playlist in your iTunes.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
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