Sara

I don't do mornings

I have to sign up for classes for Winter semester on Wednesday. I can start signing up at 6:00 a.m. mountain time. So...7:00 a.m. central. That means I have to get up 30 minutes earlier than normal so I can be ready for work by 7:00 a.m. so I can register at that time. And you know what I'm going to get stuck with? The 8:00 a.m. Italian class. I know it. There are only 12 spots left in the 9:00 a.m. class, but there's 22 in the 8:00 a.m. I can do 9:00 a.m. every day. But 8:00 a.m.? I don't do 8:00 a.m. when I'm at college. But I am going to have to. Unless I want to take the accelerated class at 4:00 p.m. every day, but 1) I don't like to have afternoon classes--I like being done by noon (doesn't jive well with my "no early classes" mentality) and 2) I don't remember enough of high school French to consider myself "exposed" to a romance language. My major requires French, Italian or German. Four semesters of it. I have four semesters left (unless I do spring/summer terms, and I probably will to shorten this whole thing up). I have no choice but to take whatever class I can get.

I hate mornings. For awhile I thought it would be cool to be a morning person. A girl that I like to call "Alternate Universe Sara x 5" took hold of me and made me think it would be a great idea to get up at 5:00 a.m. every day and go work out, get the exercise out of the way so that I could do whatever I wanted with my evenings. That lasted one day. And then for two weeks I would reset my alarm for 7:00 a.m. when it went off at 5:00 a.m. Finally Alternate Universe Sara x 5 left and I no longer had to set my alarm for 5:00 a.m. Working out in the evening is so much better.

The extra "Fall back" hour this weekend didn't do me any good. I never get that "I get an extra hour of sleep" feel-good, fuzzy feeling that other people get. Maybe I am an Arizonan (Arizonian?) at heart, seeing as I don't get the whole daylight savings time fuss.

Drastically switching topics: With my lunch I had a Valencia italian soda from Barnes and Noble. It tasted like a cross between liquified Fruit Loops and liquified Flintstone's vitamins. It was horrid.

I saved this as a draft and now I'm coming back to it. I've figured out my schedule. Classes overlap by a few minutes here and there, but there's nothing I can do about that. They shouldn't put all the art history classes during the same times. I have to take Art History Method, Northern Mesoamerican Art, Southern Baroque Art, Comparative Media Systems, Biology 100 (I've put it off long enough, I guess) and German 101. I can't fit Italian into my schedule with the other classes I have to take. This doesn't please me. German won't do me much good when I get to Rome. (Since writing this morning, my schedule has changed again. Romanesque/Gothic Art and Architecture, Art History Method, Studio Techniques for Art Restoration, German, Media Law, Biology.)

And every class is in the afternoon or evening. Stupid tiny art history department. All the classes only offer one section and are all in the afternoon or evening. That means I have to find a morning job and I'll have to get up early every day and I don't even benefit from it by knowing some Italian at the end of it all.

Happy Halloween!

_{(Courtesy of Jeremy again.)}

CD of the Day: Nada Surf - The Weight is a Gift
Book of the Week: The Mouse and His Child - Russell Hoban
Quote of the Day: "Just walk beside me and be my friend." "More like, 'Get behind me you idiot. You'll probably lead us the wrong way.'" - Me, in response to that cheesy poem
Random Sara Fact: When I went to McDonald's in Brazil by myself it was a fiasco. I just wanted a little hamburger and figured that if it was spelled the same way on the menu, the pronunciations would probably be somewhat close. (Go ahead, say it, "Ignorant American.") So I asked for a hamburger. They stared at me. I pointed toward "hamburger" on the menu but they obviously couldn't tell what I was pointing to. They brought the kitchen staff out. They couldn't understand me. They brought the manager out. He couldn't understand me. Meanwhile there is a line queuing up behind me, so I finally just pointed to the picture of the McChicken sandwich on the counter. Two days later I went back with my step-dad where he and the staff had a conversation in Portuguese about me, laughing their heads off. It's "ahmburger." The "h" is silent.

posted by Sara @ 9:19 AM Comments: 14

I am so naked today

I have no watch. I never wore a watch until last year on November 6. Apparently 20 is the "watch birthday" in my family. (I have no idea what the 21st birthday is.) That's when Mike (step-dad) buys you a watch and sends it to you for your birthday. I picked this beauty at the right. Mike was a little skeptical about the Bulova choice as he's always been a Seiko man, but Seiko watches are too masculine for my taste (I'm referring to the women's watches). This one is semi-thin, covered in crystals and looks great on me. I've always had problems with watches because I'm short, so naturally I have short arms. I think that watches tend to cut my hands away from my arms in a weird looking way. But not this watch. This watch is the watch that dreams are made of.

Usually when wearing my watch I don't pay attention to it. It's just nice to have it there. I check it when I need to. Now that I'm not wearing my watch I am compulsively checking my wrist. Every five minutes or so. I can't say for sure because I'm not wearing a watch. "What about the clock on your computer, Sara?" you ask. Well, that's about 45 minutes too fast and if I try to change it I am told that I "do not have the proper privilege level to change the System Time." I guess the incompetent IT department finally found something they could understand and control. The clock.

My mother just recently realized that I would be turning 21. While watching Gilmore Girls on Tuesday night, to be precise. Around 7:30 p.m. On the show, because Rory is me and I am Rory, it was her 21st birthday. All of the sudden my mom said, "You're turning 21." "Yes, I am." "No, Sara. You're. Turning. 21." "Yes." "You're not my kid anymore. You're like my counterpart now. You're like a colleague." "Ya know what's sad, new colleague-mom? That it takes watching Gilmore Girls for us to realize reality."

Maybe 21 is the "Congratulations! You're an orphan!" birthday. I have a mom for about another week, and then I will watch Gilmore Girls with a "colleague" every Tuesday.

Birthdays are a four week affair in my family. You celebrate for two weeks before and two weeks after the actual date of the birthday. This is why I got bling and a necklace yesterday. We are in the beginning stages of the birthday celebration. Next stage of the birthday celebration--unknown right now. But there will be dinners and dates and presents and a trip and shopping and lunches and parties. I think being an only child has something to do with the all-out birthday celebrations. Or maybe it is just that my mother, me, my friends...we all like an excuse to party or shop or eat fancy. There actually wasn't going to be a big all out celebration this year. I'm working a lot so I don't have much time for frivolities such as celebrating the aging process. But then my mother realized on Tuesday that I was turning 21. (It is now Saturday and I re-read this paragraph...I sound like one of those spoiled brats. But the four week birthday celebration isn't as elaborately expensive as some may think. My bling was $3.00. We just like an excuse to avoid mowing the lawn, so the birthdays in our family are a month long because mowing the lawn should never be done while celebrating.)

Now, to completely switch gears. I am so tired today. Exhausted, even. I wouldn't be surprised if I fell asleep sitting up and then face planted into my computer before waking up. I didn't sleep well. My dog was a complete bed hog last night. For a Dorkie (half weiner dog, half yorkie) she sure can take up a lot of space on a big bed. I'd try to move her but she'd just move back. And then I'd say, "Kati! Move somewhere else." She'd look at me with a look that said, "What? This is my bed. You're lucky I'm giving you a corner." And then she'd lick her paws. Hard. Violently. Shaking the bed. Making her tags jingle-jingle-jingle. Then Sasha started barking her head off at about 6 a.m. so that woke me up. I got up to see what was wrong. Nothing, of course. She just wanted someone to get up. So instead of going back to bed for an hour I just stayed up and spent extra extra extra time on my hair. It looks exactly as it does when I give myself 15 minutes to do it. I've got 6 hours of work under my belt today and only 8 more to go. I'm almost on the downhill slope towards bed.

Let's hope I don't fall down at the bottom of any more stairs at work tonight. It took a couple of days for that rug burn on my jaw to go away.

Happy Halloween!
_{(Courtesy of Jeremy. He sends these in e-mails to brighten my day.)}

CD of the Day: Marjorie Fair - Empty Room
Quote of the Day: "People are particularly stupid today. I can't talk to anymore of them."
Random Sara Fact: I get really excited over a new pack of highlighters. The variety pack with blue, pink, green, yellow and orange. A pack with all the same colors is just a disappointment.

posted by Sara @ 8:22 AM Comments: 5

|73-|- p33<35 (or, to us normal folk, Pet Peeves)

Does this piss anyone else off:

"_|00 gt /\/\4d sk1llz"
"PHr3Ku3N7ly H4s|{3d K0o£St330nZ"
"1 4t3 j00r r4m3n n00d135"

Translated into normal human language these read:

"You got mad skills."
"Frequently asked questions."
"I ate your ramen noodles."

I read an article about this "Leetspeak" (derived from "elite") a while back and thought, "No kid is gonna take the time to learn that just so they can talk on the net to their friends." I was wrong. It is everywhere I look. Some of my friends are starting to use it. It starts slow. They say, "d00d" instead of "dude." Then all of the sudden they're typing, "1 4t3 j00r r4m3n n00d135" and you're saying, "What?"

One of my biggest pet peeves are people who graduated from high school and still can't spell. Actually, junior high. If you made it through junior high you should be able to spell. I hate it when people tell me that they "have to run some aarons." I picture them forcing boys named Aaron to run. "Fasion" is not how you spell "fashion." "Obsesstion" is also incorrect. "Fone" is not phone. "Plain" and "plane" are two completely different things. It isn't "apericot." This stupid leetspeak is just perpetuating this grammar/spelling problem. Leetspeak obviously isn't grammar and spelling intensive. They spell "the" as "teh" but change it to "73h."

There are also the lesser forms of internet lingo such as:

bk = back
dis = this
dno = don't know
ryt = write or right

Stop being lazy and write out the word(s). Other wise I will hate you and not feel bad about it. Ever.

And this:

"WuTz Up?"

It's not cute. It's annoying.

Another pet peeve: people who don't understand words. Such as grudgingly. "Grudgingly" does not mean I am holding a grudge against you. It means that a person is reluctant or unwilling to do something. Put down the comic book and read a dictionary. And "alliteration" is not another word for "onomatopoeia." They don't even have anything in common.

Another pet peeve: coughing. If there is a tickle in your throat, get a drink. Don't cough until you cry in my vicinity. I will offer to hit it out of you if I have to. Help yourself, people. Drink some water. (A whole entry may someday be devoted to the fools who can't seem to do anything for themselves and find satisfaction/redemption/happiness/whatever-you-want-to-call-it in the mere act of complaining.)

Another pet peeve: wet bathroom rugs. Before I get married a deal will have to be made that he just needs to do the yard work and wipe his feet dry before stepping on the bathroom rug and I will happily raise the children, clean the house and make dinner. There's very little that I find more disgusting than stepping on a wet bathroom rug when you're wearing socks.

Which brings me to my next pet peeve: socks. And shoes. And tight blankets. I enjoy freedom of movement, down to my toes.

Last pet peeve for today: idiots. This one is self-explanatory. To most. If you aren't quite sure what makes an idiot, you're probably one of them.

I bought some "bling" yesterday during lunch because I wasn't hungry and I didn't have any bling. It's kind of like the ring in the picture, only no obviously fake "diamonds" and a lighter shade of pink. It's fun to wear when I'm feeling playful. I also bought a 6' necklace. Yes, 6', not 6". I wrap it around my neck three times. I love it.

Also received three new sweaters in the mail. As a college student with only two sweaters and winter coming on I felt the need to stock up. Looking at them all in a line, I realize just how preppy I am.


I suppose everyone noticed the new "theme" to the blog when they got here. I got tired of the spunkiness that the dots and the green and the yellow implied. I never get tired of grey (unless it's in the sky), white and black so this motif is likely to stick around for a while. It's more calm. More me.

CD of the Day: Phantom Planet - The Guest
Quote of the Day: "Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all." - Emily Dickinson
Random Sara Fact: I hate the phone. But I spend a whole lot of time on it. There are certain people that I look forward to talking to (Brian and I have talked for about 13 hours in one day, Brandon and I could talk forever, Jeremy and I can talk forever, and I don't mind talking to Nicole or Jennie or a couple other girls) but for the most part, I avoid the phone if it's at all possible. If I've just gotten comfortable and the phone rings, I won't get up to get it. You'd think I'd stop applying for secretarial/receptionist jobs. But it beats cooking fries.

posted by Sara @ 9:52 AM Comments: 8

CDs and things

Nothing of interest happened this weekend. I went shopping with the intent to do no real shopping. No purchasing, just browsing. No money spent. I guess I hadn't met myself.

I was pleased to make my acquaintance on Friday night at the mall where I bought a new scarf, a new shirt and the new Circa Survive CD in addition to free merchandise with a V.S. card. I now know myself and I am a shopper.

My CD collection expanded by 6 this weekend. My mother belongs to a music club, so she can get CDs for $2.99 quite frequently. She sends me surprise CDs all the time (from a list that I guess she keeps of CDs that I've mentioned). This weekend I received My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Kristin Chenoweth, and Michael Buble. And then I bought the new demo CD from The Warm. (They are my favorite English band, not yet worldwide famous but they'll get there and they seem to be gettin' around in England. I absolutely love these guys. I'm partial to Boyd, probably because I talk to him the most. Actually, I'm equally partial to all of them when I think about it.) So indulge me while I talk about all these new CDs.

Circa Survive - Juturna - At first it was hard to tell whether a man, a woman or a twelve-year-old boy was singing. Looking at the picture of the band I saw that it was a man that looks like a twelve-year-old boy. First few songs are enjoyable, but then they all start to sound the same. I don't know why this band was on that "Bands to Know in 2005/2006" list. It's okay, I don't regret the purchase, but not my favorite. Well, I do kind of regret it. I should have gotten Armor for Sleep or Receiving End of Sirens or something, but even if I had opted for one of the other CDs I would probably have bought this one at some point. My computer is too slow to download music, so I buy first, regret later.

My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge - Love it. I am a rock-ish girl at heart, though, so I always knew that I'd like this band. I also like the concept of each song being part of a story. It was all connected and I loved it. I thought they were one of the few redeeming performances at this year's beyond lame and almost aggravating MTV VMA awards. Diddy or Puff or P or whatever his name is now (Am I the only one that thinks "Diddy" sounds like a sissy name? He should really just go by Sean.) is less interesting than beige paint. He's about as funny as a lightly salted rice cake. Green Day, My Chemical Romance and Kelly Clarkson (though less than stellar and often off-tune) were the only performances that didn't make me want to sit in the corner in the fetal position and eat my hair. MTV pisses me off. Focus on the music, not the rap theatrics please.

Fall Out Boy - From Under the Cork Tree - I was skeptical. When I saw them in the pre-show for the VMAs I couldn't understand a word they said. (I thought they were singing about a pickle, turns out it was "We're going down, down in an earlier round/Sugar we're going down swinging/I'll be your number one with a bullet/A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it." I'm not sure where I thought they were saying "pickle.") I've been hearing about what a great band Fall Out Boy is for quite some time now, but when I saw them perform I was less than impressed. They sounded like any other punk band. New Found Glory with a you-can't-understand-what-I'm-saying twist. But I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because their melody was extremely catchy. So, after a couple of listens, I can officially say that I am cool with Fall Out Boy. They probably won't be around for very long, but while they're around I'll enjoy them. And they have song titles like Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name of This Song so we Wouldn't get Sued and I Slept with a Member of Fall Out Boy and All I Got was This Stupid Song Written About Me.

Michael Buble - It's Time - Mainly old Frank, Dean, and Sammy type music. I had a problem with this guy for quite some time because he's basically just another cliche. "I can sing well, my voice is smooth, so hey, I may as well do what's alread been done by people like me." He has a good voice. I just wish he would use it to do some new music, some of his own music. But the CD is still enjoyable. Great to study to. They play it at the Barnes and Noble that I frequent and I've always liked it, even if he does sound like Harry Connick, Jr. who sounds like Frank Sinatra, though neither can really measure up to the Frank, whom I love.

Kristin Chenoweth - Let Yourself Go - Also older music. None of her own. She played Galinda/Glinda in Wicked: The Musical and I love her voice, so I thought, "Hey, why not?" It's good, but once again, not the best. I wish she'd do her own music. This CD has songs such as Let Yourself Go, My Funny Valentine, and How Long Has This Been Going On? It's an old fashioned sort of CD with a full orchestra accompaniment. If you ever find yourself in a big band mood, this is definitely a good CD for your collection.

The Warm - Haven't yet heard the CD because I just ordered it from Southampton on Saturday night, but seeing as I like the burned CD Boyd sent and this one probably has many of the same songs on it, I'm sure I'll like it. I've heard one of the songs that I think is on it (Back to Me) and it has become one of my new favorite songs. I love it. Nick has such a unique voice (and when you see him holding a guitar...woah). The melodies are great. The lyrics are great. The beat is great. These guys are just really talented. Obviously they are destined for greatness. I strongly urge y'all to check them out. Click the link above for their official site. To hear their music, go here, to their MySpace site. (I sound like a suck-up, but I really really think they deserve a chance to get out there, so I'm hyping them as much as possible. I do the same for Ashbury, my friend Brian's band. But Ashbury will be saved for a later entry because this one is long enough.)

CD of the Day: All of the above
Book of the Week: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling - I'm reading it yet again, I love it.
Quote of the Day: "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Lois, this isn't my Batman glass." - Peter Griffen, Family Guy
Random Sara Fact: When I was younger no one liked me because I was really shy. I was very unattractive and chubby and I didn't know how to dress or do my hair. I had short boy-ish hair that I didn't know what to do with. So I desperately (read: stupidly) got my mom to mail away for some of that shampoo that is supposed to make your hair grow faster. My mom and I couldn't get it out of my hair for about a week or so. So all I accomplished was looking like a greasy dirtball for a week. We laugh about it now.

posted by Sara @ 9:56 AM Comments: 7

There's no particular point to this post

- I frequent the bar and grill downstairs for lunch because it is convenient and doesn't involve walking outside in the cold to my car. Every time I go down there is a guy from my high school juggling bowling pins (or bowling pin shaped objects) in the atrium of the mall, most likely because of the high ceiling height. He drops the pins every time someone walks by. I've watched him from a distance because I don't want to throw off his rhythm as an audience seems to do. I hear that he's trying to get into the "juggling circuit" here in town. He wants to put on shows. But he really can't juggle all that well, and I don't know that there is a juggling circuit in town; we're pretty small. Anyway, he was gone today.

- I think the first snow of the season is coming within the next week or two. The air smells and feels different. When the first snow hits I usually get a cup of hot chocolate and a donut from the local donut shop, but the owner skipped town in the middle of the night recently along with the owner of the donut shop in the next town over, so there are no more donut shops nearby. Subway took over. I'm going to have to fork over a few more dollars for a hot chocolate and danish at the bakery and sandwich shop.

- Minnesota is the least technologically advanced state in the union. It's going to take 5 to 6 weeks to get my new license in the mail. It took 5 minutes to apply, but will take 5 to 6 weeks to get it. In Utah they take the picture and tell you to wait a minute, then hand you your new license. Turning 21 in Minnesota is aggravating. They say to go no more than 3 weeks before your 21st birthday to renew. So I went two weeks in advance. I'll be 21 for an entire month before my license arrives. Hopefully they were giving me a worst case scenario and it will be here in a couple of weeks.

- I've decided that I don't like bbq sauce.

- I fell down at the bottom of the stairs last night at work. I wasn't paying attention while walking down them so I reached the bottom before I realized it. Thinking there should be another stair I took a "stair step" (more exaggerated than a regular step), my foot reached the floor before I thought it would because of the lack of a stair, took myself by surprise and tumbled down in a heap, rolled a couple of times, skinned my knee through my jeans, skinned the palms of my hands and got a rug burn on my jaw. I laughed so hard. I just stayed on the floor and laughed. Thankfully I work alone at the gym and there was only one person working out upstairs so no one saw it. I don't think I would have been that embarrassed had someone seen it, though. I've told too many people the story to have truly been embarrassed by it. I told my mother, I told Brian, I told Jeremy, Jeremy told his family, and now I'm telling all of you. I'm still laughing.

CD of the Day: The Spill Canvas - One Fell Swoop
Book of the Week: Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Quote of the Day: "The person who seeks all their applause from outside has their happiness in another's keeping." - Anonymous
Random Sara Fact: I am a neat freak. I hang my clothes in my closet according to color, my books on my bookshelves according to author (but not in alphabetical order, just grouped together), and when living on my own I never leave my room until my bed is made and my clothes are all put away.

posted by Sara @ 12:45 PM Comments: 9

The Demeaning Light Switch Hunt

Last night was my first solo night at the gym. I trained in on Monday night and everything seemed pretty straight forward. But when we closed up for the night there was a stray towel that Ashlee had to throw in the washer (If you leave ONE hand towel out, Tami, the morning person apparently "rips you a new one." She sounds pleasant, doesn't she? But my boss said he was thinking he needed to let her go because she has a bad attitude so hopefully I never even have to meet this Tami woman.) so she told me to go ahead and she'd turn off the last few lights.

Big mistake.

When I went in yesterday and my boss said, "Any last questions?" I said no because I truly didn't have any. No one thinks to ask, "Where's the reception area light switch?"

Big mistake.

I get off at 9:30. That's when the gym closes. So I go through and I turn off all the lights, all the stereos, all the fans, lock up the windows, throw all the towels in the washer. Everything is going well. Then I come back to grab my purse and go. But I can't find the reception area light switch. I looked everywhere. I flipped every switch in sight and still no lights went out. I called Ashlee. She didn't answer. I called Lance. He didn't answer. I didn't call my boss because he goes to bed at about 8:00 p.m. Twenty-five minutes later (I clocked out so that it wouldn't charge them overtime, I'm not about to charge them for my stupidity) I'm still looking. So I had to call the doctor that lives upstairs and ask where the switch was.

Behind the copier. At hip level. Behind the desk. Who on earth would think to look there? And why would you put a copier in front of it? The copier is pretty close to being flush with the wall, so I had to wriggle my hand back there and brush the light off with my fingertips. Horrible place for a light switch! Or a copier! Take your pick. So I switched it off and breathed a sigh of relief. Then I realized that the light over the stairs wasn't going off! And there WERE no more switches! I checked behind the drink cases, behind the nutrition cases, under the desk, down the stairs, in the studios, everywhere! No more switches. I finally had to decide that it was one of the battery operated lights (there are a couple more throughout the gym) that doesn't turn off and I left.

Then I woke up at 6:45 a.m. this morning and my first thought was, "I didn't count the cash drawer! Damnit!" It's not a big deal, it takes about 10 seconds to count because we make about $50 a day from tanning, nutrition and drinks and the only thing we do is count the money and put it in an envelope in a drawer but you know what this means?

I'm on Tami's bad side.

CD of the Day: David Gray - Life in Slow Motion
Quote of the Day: "I love to shop after a bad relationship . . . I buy a new outfit and it makes me feel better. It just does. Sometimes if I see a really great outfit, I'll break up with someone on purpose." - Rita Rudner
Random Sara Fact: I'm usually not this stupid.

posted by Sara @ 9:01 AM Comments: 2

Photos?

I'm thinking of starting a separate photo blog. Or maybe I'll just start a separate photo journal, on paper, in a book. Or maybe I'll do both. I was just sitting around last night and I thought, "It would be kind of fun to document myself and my life one photo at a time and explain the significance of that photo to my day or week." It's a nice idea, but I don't know how well I would follow through. Inevitably I would forget to take pictures. And when I go back to college I won't have a digital camera or my dark room. It would cost a lot of money to get photos developed on a regular basis. I need to look into getting a cheap digital camera. Christmas is coming . . .

Maybe it is just starting the entire thing that is holding me back. I have grand ideas, but I frequently run out of time to do them. I'm gonna do this, though. It wouldn't even take that much work. And I need to get back into my photography. I've been neglecting my favorite hobbies because I don't have time. I need to make time. When I'm out of digital camera access and my dark room is 1300 miles away then I'll figure out something new to do.

CD of the Day: Tristan Prettyman - Twentythree
Quote of the Day: "It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help." - Epicurus
Random Sara Fact: I hate pie. Any kind of pie. I can't stand pie crust and I can't stand pie filling. I love cheesecake, but that's in a different category in my opinion. And I don't eat pork, lamb, or veal. I think those animals are too cute to eat.

posted by Sara @ 11:41 AM Comments: 11

Fun with Google

I was searching around the other day when I finally got tired of taking quizzes (boy, does that get old fast) for more stuff to do. My boss was MIA on Friday so I sat around, drank my Evian, and searched for things to do. (The various Quidditch games on harrypotter.com are fun, as is finding the secret clues to unlock "secret" material on jkrowling.com. If you like words, the word games on yahoo.com such as BookWorm or WordRacer really rock my world and hopefully yours as well.)

Moving on to my "Fun with Google" title, I found Montage-a-Google and Guess-the-Google. At the Montage-a-Google, you enter a keyword and it searches for up to 20 images that best fit that keyword and montages them, like so:


Cool, huh? Yeah, I thought so. You can screen grab it (hit the "print screen" button on the keyboard) and copy and paste it into paint or a similar program to print it out or save for later use. I'm going to do a bunch of related ones based on some central theme and somehow incorporate my own photography into it and make a collage. I'm feeling like making new things for my walls but I don't want to do anything really big right now. By big I mean "large amounts of work." I'm not referring to size because this collage thing could end up being pretty large by the time I'm done. Or I might do two medium sized ones. We'll see.

The second one, Guess-the-Google, is similar. But it gives you an image like that one above and then you have to guess the keyword! I suck at it. You get 10 tries of 20 seconds each game (you can guess as many words as possible during that time), and I have yet to even come close after playing 3 times (that's 30 tries, 600 seconds, I'm pathetic). Hint: It never seems to be anything obvious. One had a bunch of water pictures, so naturally I guessed "water." Completely wrong. (Amendment: Today I'm really good at the game. I don't know what happened.)

Speaking of my photography (mentioned earlier), I'm going to put it on eBay. My friend, a completely amateur black and white photographer, took a picture he thought was cool so he put it on eBay expecting to get maybe $30. $800! He got $800 for an 8x10 black and white picture of a person on a street. Then he put a 16x20 picture of a flower on there and got $695! He started taking pictures 6 months ago. I've been working in a dark room since I was 16. I'd never thought to do anything with my photos except give them away, hang them up myself, or enter them in the yearly City calendar competition. I now have a goal to open up an eBay store with my photos, framed and probably matted, in various sizes. It's so cheap to do the photography, so even $30-40 a picture would be a nice profit. I could even do photo sets. I could take three similar pictures, frame them the same way, make them either all the same size or complementary sizes and sell them in sets. People love black and white photo sets. And people will apparently pay out the nose for originals just on the off chance that someday they may be worth something. I've got to get a piece of that action.

CD of the Day: Jump Little Children - Can't remember the CD title, but the song "Cathedrals" is a favorite of mine
Book of the Week: The Eyes of the Dragon - Stephen King (A good read no matter how often I read it--it's my favorite King novel.)
Quote of the Day: "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." - Charles Schultz, Peanuts Creator
Random Sara Fact: I'm still a sucker for Saturday morning cartoons and Cheerios, sans sugar. I personally like Cartoon Network's "Boom" channel with shows like The Smurfs and The Snorks and all those old-school cartoons.

posted by Sara @ 8:35 AM Comments: 4

The Ikea Crowd (cue scary music)

I am a walking Pantene commercial today and I love it! I washed my hair last night and apparently I slept on it VERY well (quite the talent if I do say so myself--when you can "sleep style" there's really no stoppin' ya in any endeavor undertaken). I got up, looked at it, realized it didn't even need brushing and so I did my makeup. Today is a good day. Any day that you don't have to deal with your hair and you have new makeup, a new dress and new heels to wear is automatically a good day.


Let's talk about Ikea. Has anyone ever been there? Those who have, do you agree that it is hell in a warehouse? It encourages a herd mentality. You have to follow the arrows on the floor through the showroom, usually while being jostled and having your progress hampered by idiotic mothers who thought it smart to take their 2-year-old toddler with them and people who have been so lazy for years that they are now so overweight that they use electric carts to get around because they are wider than they are tall. If they would walk so many problems would be solved. They would lose weight, the electric cart wouldn't get wedged in the showroom causing a human cattle traffic jam, and I wouldn't have a panic attack because of all the screaming toddlers and the lazy people. (I say this in a somewhat harsh manner because they can walk, they aren't disabled. Were they disabled I wouldn't have a problem with the electric carts. My grandfather has Multiple Sclerosis. I am happy to go with him wherever he wants to go in his electric cart or I am happy to push him in his wheelchair. But these people are obviously not disabled. There is a lady in my church like this. She's not disabled, she's generally healthy except she is wider than she is tall. So she has a defeatist attitude and a "woe is me" conversation style because of it, but she won't do anything about it. So she bought an electric cart. I have little patience for things like that.)

When I get trapped in an Ikea Crowd I begin to talk faster and faster and higher and higher. I become twitchy. I get nervous. I develop a want/need to yell "Fire!" just to clear everyone out. But I fight it and I follow the herd through the showroom. Occassionally I get the urge to say, "Mooooo" but I also fight that in case someone around me may misconstrue my true meaning and think that I am insulting them when in reality it is I who suddenly feels like a cow. All I needed was a new bookshelf. I have bags of books sitting on my floor looking for a shelf-like home. I took half a day off of work so that I could go to Ikea on a Thursday afternoon and purchase a cheap $20 (but still okay looking) bookshelf in black (not the birch that is shown). I made it through the showroom. Relatively uncrowded. My progress toward the shelving was not slowed in any way, shape or form. I got there, I wrote the aisle and bin number down, and I hightailed it to the self-service furniture area. I found my bookshelf, loaded it onto a cart and then realized something crucial: my car wasn't big enough.

I put the bookshelf back and vowed to come back on Saturday when I will bypass the showroom and head straight to the self-service furniture area to avoid the Ikea Crowd (capitalized because it is an entity--a scary, sanity-threatening entity). After putting the bookshelf back I stopped by the Swedish market and bought some Cloudberry jam and left.

CD of the Day: Augustana - Stars & Boulevards
Quote of the Day: "Common sense is seeing things as they are; and doing things as they out to be." - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Random Sara Fact: I have claustrophobic feet, so I wear flip flops pretty much all year long. This dictates that I wash my feet thoroughly and keep my feed pedicured to keep my feet pretty despite all the sandal wearing. I am okay with Converse or Converse-like sneakers because they are lightweight and the fabric of the shoe isn't thick. Jeremy (my Jeremy, not our AchenJeremy that comments here) gave me a good excuse to use so that people would stop looking at me like I was crazy: the nerve endings in my feet are especially sensitive, so when they are enclosed it sends extra messages about enclosure to my brain and causes a claustrophobic feeling. It sounds kind of smart, so I'm going to use it. In closing, judging solely from my hatred of the Ikea Crowd and my claustrophobic feet, you can probably tell that I like my space.

posted by Sara @ 2:37 PM Comments: 8

I'm giving in . . .

. . . to my quiz-taking side. Work is dead today. I haven't even seen my boss today, I don't know if he's here. So here we go. I got this idea from yellowjkt's blog.


Raw evil score: 28.89%


Congratulations! You are Gabrielle Solis, the
ex-model with everything she's ever wanted: a
rich husband, a big house and John, the
17-year-old gardener.

Which Desperate Housewife are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
It's better than Edie at least. Though it doesn't fit the the "You're not really evil" results above.

I am 12% Idiot.

I am not annoying at all. In fact most people come to me for advice. Of course they annoy the hell out of me. But what can I do? I am smarter than most people.

Take the
Idiot Test
@ FualiDotCom

Ha! Yup.

Nihilist Bear

Which Dysfunctional Care Bear Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
I tend to like fluffy kitties, so I don't know how accurate this is. Adult cats I'm not a fan of, though.

You're a Passionate Kisser

For you, kissing is about all about following your urges If someone's hot, you'll go in for the kiss - end of story You can keep any relationship hot with your steamy kisses A total spark plug - your kisses are bound to get you in trouble

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead... But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place. You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

Your Blog Should Be Orange

Your writing has a star quality - it's charming, bold, and flamboyant. You write what's on your mind, without fear of embarrassment later. You are one of the most honest bloggers around, and people appreciate your daring persona.

Hmm...but it's not...it's mostly green...

posted by Sara @ 1:43 PM Comments: 2

Legumes can be horrifying

I have very little to say today, so I'll leave you with this. I hate circus peanuts.

CD of the Day: Aerosmith - Greatest Hits
Quote of the Day: "Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'
Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios." - Family Guy
Random Sara Fact: I am absolutely terrified of bicycles.

posted by Sara @ 1:27 PM Comments: 9

Let's talk about the "Retro Lunch"

Do only retro/flashback/legend-loving people go to lunch? Is there some reason that all radio stations have "Retro Lunches," "Flashback Fridays," and "Lunch Legends?" No decent music is to be found from noon to 1 p.m. in my town. There is a lot of Milli Vanilli, Johnny Cash, and Prince. That "Party Like it's 1999" song should have been retired in 1998. Who wants to flashback party? Who wants to abandon the parties of today to party like it's 1999? It's like leg warmers. Does anyone really miss them? No! Just like no one misses Milli Vanilli! There should be a station designated for the flashback music. You can only hear K.D. Lang's one hit song so many times.

Five minutes ago I got a second job at my gym. It's only 8 hours a week (8 to 5 on Saturdays) to start, but it's only to supplement income and the gym owner said that there will most likely be more opportunity for evening shifts once I get started. I've never worked on Saturdays before. It shouldn't be so bad, though. The gym is a tiny local gym so whenever I go in the desk people are just sitting around reading or talking. This will give me a chance to catch up on my reading. I've wanted to work at this gym as a second source of income for quite some time now, so my break has finally come! It helps that I'm friendly with the gym owner, too. Not that kind of friendly. Just friendly. I'm excited about the job because I know that I'll enjoy it, but I have mixed feelings because I like my free Saturdays. Not that I ever do much, but it's just nice to have a free day. Now if I want to go shopping up in the Twin Cities at Anthropologie or something, I have to take time off of work (during the normal work week, working only one day a week at the gym means I most likely won't ever take time off of that).

Speaking of Anthropologie, I must have this dress. It is quite possibly my dream dress. I am a slave to Anthropologie fashion. The dresses, the fabrics, the details, the colors, the fit, the cuts, the embellishments! The perfumes, the bedding, the dishes, the flowers, the lamps, the table cloths, even the shower curtains. The shoes, oh my gosh the shoes. That dress with those shoes. Unfortunately the shoes cost 2.6 times more than the dress. I will never own those shoes. But a girl can dream.











CD of the Day: The Receiving End of Sirens - Between the Heart and the Synapse
Quote of the Day: "The beginning is the chiefest part of any work." - Plato
Random Sara Fact: My biggest pet peeves are 1) people who cough and do nothing to stop it and 2) people who graduated from high school and still can't spell or make use of punctuation.

Tags: Music, Entertainment, Fashion, Work, Random Thoughts

posted by Sara @ 12:37 PM Comments: 6

Donkeys Not More Dangerous than Planes

I always get those hokey e-mails about loving your neighbor and if you don't send this on in 5 minutes and wish something good for your neighbor you both will be kicked to death by a donkey in 6 minutes. Today I also got an e-mail with a subject of "You think you know everything..." And I thought, 'Well, yes, but I'll read on anyway.' It had little useless tidbits like:

"No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven times."

I can attest to this. I have tried it. It doesn't matter how big the paper is, either. After seven your paper folding days are over.

"Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning."

Well, luckily someone brought in apples this morning and put them out for whoever wanted some. So I put it to the test. I slept roughly 4 hours and 27 minutes last night give or take a few seconds so I'm a little sleepy this morning. I haven't yet had my morning Coca-Cola. I can now also attest that the apple did wake me up more than the Coke usually does. This makes sense. Apples provide healthier and more natural energy and common sense dictates that it will have better benefits than Coke will. (Sidenote: The Grapple people lie. The apples don't taste like grapes. They taste like bitter apples.)

"Walt Disney was afraid of mice."

Who cares? I didn't bother to verify. Here's the one that caused me to do some serious research though:

"Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes."

Really? Hmmm...I have yet to come across a rampaging murderous donkey, but maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones. I found this:

Yes, but is this donkey-to-airplane comparison true? No one could possibly say, because while data about airplane crashes is readily available, we have yet to find so much as a single source for donkey-induced death statistics. (This fanciful comparison certainly vexes donkey lovers though, as evidenced by the vehement denial of it in the FAQ on the American Donkey and Mule Society's web site.)

Well, if it can't be proved, is it at least plausible?

We might be willing to believe that more people are injured (i.e., kicked, bitten, trampled, or thrown) in donkey-related accidents than in airline-related accidents. Or, given a worldwide growth of air travel and a declining use of donkeys, we might be willing to believe that the rate of donkey-related accidents exceeds the rate of airline-related accidents. We might even be willing to believe that there are as many donkey-related fatalities (such as people getting hit by cars while leading or riding donkeys) as airline fatalities. But the claim that donkeys directly kill (by kicking) more people every year than airplane crashes do is a bit much to swallow without something to back it up. (The number of airline-related fatalities varies from year to year, but a figure of 1,200 deaths per year is a reasonable average.)

There you have it. This just proves that you shouldn't base your intelligence too heavily on the "Think You Know Everything?" e-mails. But I can see why some people would be completely freaked out by donkeys. Their scheming ways are obvious.


CD of the Day: The Warm
Book of the Week: Caesar: A Biography by Christian Meier
Quote of the day: "Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present." - Roger Babson
Random Sara Fact: I eat my M&Ms in twos, in complimentary colors. Blue/Orange, Red/Green, and Yellow/Brown because they don't make purple in the regular batch.

posted by Sara @ 9:24 AM Comments: 5