Kovixen

The Big Brother contestants are finally on the CBS website. Their profiles tell us almost nothing. I care about where they're from, their profession, and their age, but favorite cereal? Yawn. How about where they went to college instead? Eric is from Boston, so he's automatically my favorite. There is also an article from Variety that says the first big twist is that they all come into the house in pairs. So everyone knows one other person. However, they are told they are the only ones who have pairs, and they have to hide it. If they pair gets to the final two, they win more money. There's also a secret bedroom, which excites me greatly. I love secret rooms. I'm so used to the old house they've used for the first five seasons, it'll be hard to get used to a new one. I hope this is a good season, the past two I really got into.

Also in reality news, if you are interested in trying out for The Apprentice, you can. The casting crew is coming Saturday, July 9th to Jordan's Furniture in Natick. I definitely can't do this, but I'd love it if someone I knew did. I want more friends on reality shows!

Ok, I'm going to be totally honest with you. I've been keeping a secret for a while now, one that none of you know, except Peter. You all think that I quit my job and have been sitting at home eating bon bons while watching tennis or movies or Average Joe. Fortunately for me, that is not the case. What I've really been doing is modeling. Don't ask me how this happened, but I was lucky enough to be discovered while walking to Anna Taqueria in Davis Square. This guy came up to me and asked me who I worked for. You know me, I hate strangers, especially men, so I kept walking. He pursued though, and kept asking me. I told him he was insane and to leave me alone. He insisted on giving me his card though. When I got home, I looked him up and saw he works for Next. I thought what the hell and called him. I ended up going to NYC and got to model a few things. It was awful work, I hated it. My feet were so tired, I had no interest in looking like an idiot in front of the camara, and I kept walking too far backwards and ruining the backround sheet stuff. Everyone was so mad at me. Notice in the picture I had no idea how to pose with my tube top. I thought if I stuck out my boobs maybe they'd look bigger. Did it work? I don't think I'll do this again, the other models were mean and dumb, I can't pretend to be one of them. Instead I'll just try to find another job that'll pay more minimum wage. That way I don't have to care if I screw something up.

Sheila Callaghan wrote a funny list of warning for people who are about to blog. She links to many of my favorite blogs, and the rules are pretty accurate. However, I think I've lost #1 (and in my opinion the most important of the list), the blog-eye. Up until last week, I saw everything through my blog eye. I would constantly have great ideas, and I would write them down in a little notebook that I keep in my purse, and I think great posts came out of them. Ever since I've started working on Shirt Snob though, I've totally lost it. I'm thinking so much about that blog that my own is getting lost in the shuffle. It's like I only have room in my brain for one blog. Or maybe the time for only one. I also need to clean, think about Alpha Phi, watch movies, right now watch Wimbledon (go Roddick!), knit, and sleep. People seem to think that when you don't work, you have tons and tons of time to do whatever you want to. Not the case, the days fly by and I feel like I've got nothing done. Today I emptied the dishwasher, put away the clothes, and picked up in the living room. I didn't clean up my computer area that fell to the floor, clean off the futon, post the stuff I'm giving away on Free-Cycle, vacuum, and sweep. Maybe I'm giving myself too much to do, especially with the awful weather lately. I can't think with this humidity. I tried putting on the ac, but I got a headache immediately from it, even when I turned the air away from me.

I think I'm just pissed off because I missed Average Joe because Bush had to be a loser and go on tv even though no one cares about what he has to say because it's just pure crap all the time. And Peter isn't simpathetic enough about how I can't watch this show. This was someone I know, through one person. Just one degree of separation here people! Arg, I need a drink.

Forget me not panties, for that special Alpha Phi in your life.

I've started working. I'm doing a blog on shirts for blogpire. Mine will be Shirt Snob when it gets fully up and running. That's why I've been a little quiet on here. I'm trying to post to that twice a day, writing on here as well is hard. Plus, I feel like nothing is going on anyway, in my life and the world. At least nothing that I want to comment on. I am very nervous about this new blog, I don't know how much I'm going to talk about it on here for a while. But cross your fingers for me, if this goes well I'll never have to work outside of the house again! Yay!

It's that time of month, the time when I wonder if I'm pregnant. I don't think I am, I feel totally normal. I don't think I'm PMSing, yet my face has sort of broken out, which makes me think it's only a matter of time. I was really good this month not to count the seconds down near the end. I don't want to get my hopes up every month. Not that I get totally upset when I realize I'm not pregnant, but it is a letdown. I'm trying hard to go with the flow, if it happens, then great! But if not, then next month. It has to one of these times right?

Freshmen year of college, my roommate Jen and I watched Dolores Claiborne instead of studying for one of our finals. The movie seemed to go on forever. It was way past when we wanted to go to sleep, yet we couldn't stop watching the movie. We finally turned it off after a few hours, even though we knew there was probably five minutes or less left. I finally watched it again yesterday and got to see the end. I think I missed nothing the first time around. I really liked this movie though, Stephen King is really good when he's not being scary. I remember being really curious what happened the first time around. Did she or didn't she kill her husband? Why would she do it? I also watched a bit of It because it was on tv this weekend. I thought it was so funny, the special effects were awful, the acting not much better. Then the adult woman went into her old house and the little old lady there got freaky and super old and rotting all of a sudden. As she ran out, the old lady chased her and held onto her. I screamed. Loudly. I hate being chased, especially by other-worldly creatures. I'm shivering now just thinking about that scene. Between that and a haunted house site I went to the other day, I've become terrified of the dark. I slept with my tissue box on the bed last night because the night before I couldn't find it and thought something under the bed was going to reach out and get me while I was searching for it.

Do you want to see something weird? I call this Throwing Girl, I got it off Greek Chat. You can use your mouse to throw her, or you can just watch her bounce off the bubbles. She will eventually get stuck though, so you'll have to throw her. I like watching her fall really fast, so when she hits the bubbles so bounces off more. I think she's fast asleep, that's why she's so limp. She is not dead. I just wish she had longer hair.

So the voice of Tigger and the voice of Piglet die one day apart. Gopher also died in May. I don't think this is right, obviously there's a Friends of Pooh serial killer out there. I hope the FBI gets on this right away, or else Roo will be next.

Some guy at MIT is doing a survey of bloggers for his doctorate. If you want to help him out click on the picture. Here's what Boing Boing had to say about it, if you're curious. He also has stats, but they are down right now. I'm curious how normal my blogging is.

I sometimes search on technorati for Alpha Phi to see what is going on in my sorority on other campuses, what people are saying, etc. I found one the other day from some girl in CA who didn't like her new suitmate immediately because she was "blond-bimbo-giggly-trashy-alpha phi material." She then proceeds to say "And YES I'M FUCKING JUDGING HER." Wow, so that means that to her all 140,000 of us are trashy. And blond. I don't think I'm blond. I decided to comment on this, saying that we aren't trashy and that her problem was she probably didn't get a bid from Alpha Phi when she rushed, which is actually what Peter thought orignally when he read the post. I agreed, but I didn't come up with that on my own. This girl responded to my comment by saying I didn't know her and that she didn't get a bid. I'm glad Peter and I were right in that respect. Also, that her post was supposed to be a joke. Well, if she can say that as a joke, I can respond jokingly. I didn't say she was an evil bitch for what she said, or that Alpha Phis are the best ever and she was a loser for not realizing it. If one is going to allow comments on their blogs, they should expect comments, including from people they don't know. If you don't want comments, turn them off. Just another example of how most of the population lacks common sense. By the way, she ended up really liking her suitemate. Hopefully she learned a lesson not to judge, or at least not to judge publically without consequences.

Peter watched the soccer game from yesterday this afternoon with Dave, so we didn't go to Maine. Maybe the week after next we'll go up. It's too hot to shop anyway. I miss RI summers where the high is 80 or under. I'm looking forward to September.

In celebration of the hot weather, Peter and I are going to make cow flops. Yay! Diet goes totally out the window, and I couldn't be happier. If you want the recipe let me know, it's the best cookie ever, and it's no bake! I may bring a few to work if I'm feeling generous on Monday. I still have to change my address with the company, I need to get the number that I call to do that in addition to my final pay stub. I'm going out to lunch with my friend Deanne from BN, I'm so excited! We're going to do indian I think.

We got a returned item in the mail today that we never sent. It was from a James Henry, with our address. I tried to look up the person he was sending it to but couldn't find anything online. So I opened it to see if there was a phone number in there. There wasn't. I wasn't sure if that was illegal or not, but my address was listed on it. And it opened really easily, it was already mostly opened. And the envelope has lint and stuff all over the sticky part, so I'm sure it'd been opened many times before. In it was a sheet requesting someone be added or taken off some account. There was a social security number on it, and two names. The signatures on the bottom were over two years old. I'm thinking the post office misplaced this, tried to deliver it after they found it two years later, couldn't because the place had since moved or gone out of business, and so they decided to give it back to us. But the people who were living here two years ago weren't from Orlando, so why would they have a bank account there? The whole thing is very strange. It's now in the trash.

I want one of these more than life itself. There is nothing better than smores. Maybe cheese. But for desserts at least, smores are la creme de la creme. I wish I could have them every day after dinner. If I had one of these, I would. Maybe I'll just go buy it on my own, then I won't let him have any. He'll change his tune pretty quickly. Look at the picture, it even has little bowls for the chocolate and the graham crackers. I'm in love.

I just watched The Seven Year Itch and didn't really like it. I don't get old movies; they are slow and nothing happens. In this one, the main character is talking to himself for a majority of the movie. Marilyn Monroe was ok, her usual self. The scene where the air from the subway blows up her dress is much different than I thought it'd be. They only showed the very bottom of her dress being blown, not an entire body shot like the pictures I've always seen. I guess whoever was in charge thought that was too racy. What a very pretty dress though, I love halter tops. I wondered as I was watching it why her heels didn't fall through the holes on the grate though. Big plot hole there.

I should probably stop trying to watch movies I have no interest in. Right now it's Black Hawk Down on tivo, and I hate war movies. I watched a sixth of it, maybe I'll watch another sixth a little later. Movies like that are better in small doses because they aren't as stressful that way. I'm also an hour into The Man Without a Past, a foreign film that was nominated for Best Foreign Film in 2003. For some reason I thought it won, that's why I added it to Netflix. Nowhere in Africa won, and this was the same year that Hero and The Crime of Father Amaro were both nominated. This movie is also ok, but again I'm not sure why I am watching it.

After thinking about this in the shower, I've decided the problem with old movies is that the women are there to please the men. I am just not like that. I don't have a sweet, soft, whispery voice, I don't do things that will please my husband like keep the house spotless and take off his shoes after leading him to his favorite chair so he can read the paper or catch the evening news. I am totally myself around my husband, completely unguarded. He is the only person I get to do this around, so I do it in full. And he seems to like me this way for some reason. He doesn't care if the laundry isn't put away or if there are a few dishes in the sink. Or if I haven't mopped since we canceled the cleaning service 3 months ago. Me and my life are so different to the women in these old movies that I find the movies totally unbelievable. Their goals in life and their communication with the most important people in their lives are phony and pretend. Because of their fakeness, the are not entertaining. I prefer movies that are real, even if in their realness I can't stand them (ala Spanglish).

I just read this article on CNN about how dads can get post-natal depression that can last up to two years after the child is born. This can lead to behavioral problems in the child. wtf? These fathers are depressed because their carefree lives are truly over. Now they feel guilty when they cheat on their wives and get hounded even more when they stay out all night at the nudie bars. Get over it and grow up, it's responsibility, something women have had since they hit puberty. Suck it up and deal, it's not your hormones that have gone psycho. It's not your boob that the child is biting. You don't have to get up 5 times in the night and then be not able to take a nap or even pee alone because the child could fall down the stairs or try to swallow everything in site while you are at work being able to talk to other adults.

Maybe I shouldn't be up after midnight reading Ciavarro.

I heart Franz Ferdinand. They have a great sound, really standing out from the other bands like them (The Killers, Interpol, etc), and they are Scottish. Obviously I'm not alone in loving them, the band is listed on the 2nd Annual Must List for Entertainment Weekly issue #826/827 (page 48). It says they are currently mixing a new cd that should be coming out this summer, with a US tour to follow. Yay! There's also a picture, which made me realize one thing that I truly love right now about rock. All these new rockers dress up in suits! It's great, reminds me of the early Beatles with the shaggy hair and skinnny ties and slim pants. My favorite song right now is Take Me Out (the obvious choice, I know), I stop everything to listen, totally immersed. Very bad when I'm trying to work. We'll see what the future holds, but I think they will be the next big thing, the way The Killers are now, one day soon they'll just pop and everyone and their Aunt Flo will know who they are.

I found this site Face Analyzer somehow and decided to put in a picture that Jeff took a while back. My analysis is totally wrong. First off, I'm 100% Korean/Japanese, which I better tell my mom because I don't think she's aware of this lineage. Secondly, I'm blue collar, low intelligence, and low sociability (which is sometimes true I will admit). However, it did say I have very low gay factor, low promiscuity, low income (it actually thinks it's higher than it may be this year), low ambition and low risk. Also, it got the gender correct, so I guess it's not an awful job, just mostly awful.

Peter just did it and he is 100% Chinese. Haha. We're both Asian and we never knew it. Peter is otherwise correct, so I need to take a better picture and resubmit. Cancel all my meetings tomorrow, this is important!

This picture is very appropriate, the Chinese 6 legged 2 penis'd dog. Our Asian pet. All men are envious.

Yesterday while walking to my knitting class, I saw a squirrel in my peripheal vision that seemed weird. Upon closer inspection, I realized that a tail was near it's head, a second tail. Turns out this squirrel had the head of another (presumed dead) in it's mouth, with the body hanging out and the tail arked onto the back of the alive one. It was gross. I immediately thought "I have to tell Jackie," my knitting instructor, but I forgot until now. Anything that eats it's own kind is shiveringly evil.

AFI came out with their list of the 100 best quotes. I think they're really reaching now. They've already done the top 100 movies, actors, actresses, dramas, comedies, dramadies, horror movies, mysteries, children's religious videos, and remakes. Let's just stop with the lists already.

I love old dead people.

Gap is starting a new store Forth and Towne aimed at 35 and older women. I am so envious. When is the 25+ demographic going to be recognized? I had heard on Greek Chat a while back that American Eagle would open a store aimed at us, but I haven't seen it yet. I'm having a hard time finding clothes. Express still works great for jeans because they have short sizes, and Old Navy works for the random cheap stuff. But besides that I go to Banana Republic and spend $200 on an outfit. I can't spend that much very often. I hope this new store does well, I know I'll be shopping there in another 9 years, maybe earlier if I start looking like a mom.

You can now look at the 2000 census with google maps, called gCensus, so you can see how many people live in your county, city, even block in some areas. Arlington is broken into little areas, I'm not sure which one I fit into. Either way, there's a bunch of houses around, too many if you ask me. Washington County in RI has about a 10th the population of Middlesex County. The area where my grandparents live has 79 units with a population of only 199. Wow. There are a lot of big plots of land, it's like a totally different world. Why can't there be big yards and lower housing prices near a big city?

Also interesting is the girl in NY who didn't like her school picture in the yearbook, so her mother complained and is insisting the school reprint all 200 copies. What a good idea, instead of keeping it quiet so only the kids in the school can laugh at the picture, why not tell the entire world? I think we all have had bad yearbook pictures, but the last thing I'd do was allow the rest of the country to see it. Doesn't that just defeat the purpose, or make it 100 times worse? For some reason I thought she was Australia at first, I guess this isn't so bad since it's only gone cross-country, not around the world.

I am finally reading my new Entertainment Weekly, and there are *so* many things I want to comment on. But Peter is coming home soon and we're going to try out El Guapo, the new bar/restaurant in Ball Square. Why couldn't this place have been there when we lived there? I do more things in Ball Sq now than I did when I lived there.

For those of you that missed it, here is the video of Tom Cruise getting squirted by a fake microphone on the red carpet. hahaha

One of the best things about not working right now is that I can watch Wimbledon, one of my favorite events. My game works well on grass because I slice everything except my serve. I've missed all the major touraments for a few years now, and I can't even tell you who just won the French Open. I haven't played in years, and watching has gotten me interested again. But first I need to get into shape. If I'm going to play, I'd like to do it correctly, moving my feet all the time, never standing still. But I'm like a stick in the mud; I went to the gym today and it was the first time in a long time that I didn't feel like throwing up afterwards. I do the eliptical machine, and a half hour is way too much for me, which is embarrassing to admit but true. Today I did 20 minutes and survived. I'm also finally finding the lifting machines that I like. WOW moved everything around about eight months ago, and now I've finally decided to accept looking like an idiot and walk around searching through the machines for the few I know how to use. There aren't too many people around at 11am (best time to go because Ellen is on tv and she rocks!) in the gym, that's the only reason I feel I can get by doing it. Everyone who watches me do this must think I'm either new or slow. I walk up and down the aisles each time I want to find a new machine. There are too many of them, it's confusing, why do we need 15 just for legs? Are there really that many muscles in the legs? So far I've found one for triceps, one for biceps, and one for my lower back. Those are the most important ones, I don't want to lose the muscles that I gained in receiving.

Yesterday Peter made homemade butter. I did this when I was in Brownies in 2nd or 3rd grade, and I've wanted to do it again ever since. We've tried a few times throughout the years, but it never came out. Maybe we weren't using the right stuff, you can't use homogenized creams or something like that, and you need a minimum fat content. But now that we have a stand mixer and someone was nice enough to tell us how to make it, we finally tried. It came out so good, we put it on the cranberry orange ginger muffins that Peter also made yesterday. Let me tell you, I'm one lucky lady. Who else gets homemade muffins with homemade butter from their husband who also does the kitty litter and makes all the money? Peter is a wonderful man.

Howard Lederer finally made it past day 1 in a wsop event! It's the Limit 7 card stud hi/lo event, #18 I think. There are 31 people left, he's 14th in chips. Yay!

As you can see, Peter's changed Kovixen as well as his own blog. I'm glad because I was really hating my colors. I think I may change these ones to something a little more girly, but for now it's a nice change. I went back through the beginning of April to fix all the little things, like broken links, adding the indent to quotes (I had no idea I quoted so much), etc. I'll do March and previous later when it's not so tedious. We also opened all the comments, which I've wanted all along. I guess I now approve them all, so they won't be showing up right away. However, I'm only deleting spam at this point. Not that I get many anyway, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Since we aren't moving this year (still waiting for the new lease...), we're going to start going through our stuff, reorganizing, getting rid of what we don't want, that type of thing. We have a closet in the computer room that is full of Peter's computer stuff that he hasn't looked at since we moved in. I'm hoping to at least move it to the basement if not throw some of it out. I want to start putting clothes in there, maybe extra bedding too. Why not use it while we can? I'm sure I'll be filling it up with baby stuff soon enough, but for now I want to take advantage of the extra space.

CNN/Money has a list of what tv dads make, taking inflation into account for the older shows. I am surprised at how little most of them make. A lawyer only makes $113,000 on the OC (a show I've never watched). Homer Simpson makes $65,000, much more than I would have expected. Overall, after reading this list I feel pretty good about our financial situation. If we didn't live in such an expensive area, maybe we'd be rich!

Brian was goofy at poker. He had a lot of caffeine in his system, then he drank a bunch of Coronas; the combo was peculiar yet amusing. At one point, as you can see above, he decided to take these two horns that are used for drinking and pretend he was a bull. Add the cheap clip ons to the hat (yes, I am a sunglasses snob), and we were all laughing at him. He also tried to blow through one of the horns, until he remembered that they are for holding liquids and therefore do not have a hole in the bottom on which to blow.

Google maps goes to the England and Ireland now! Still no closeup satellite, but they don't even have that for RI. They have added one way roads (for the US too) and show the Underground. I looked around at Bath and London and now want to go back so bad it hurts. I've asked Peter to look into jobs there, but I don't think he's listening to me.

Sometimes I want to tell the world that they are all idiots. Now at least I can tell Ohio.

I read the most interesting article today, sitting in a barber shop while Peter was getting his hair cut. The article is Breaking the silence about miscarriage by Lynn Snowden Pickett from the April 2005 issue of Self. When Lynn realized she was pregnant, she decided to tell her family and friends so they could celebrate this wonderful occasion with her. Unfortunately she experienced a miscarriage, and what she experienced is probably very similar to what other women have gone through. Most people ignored what happened to her, didn't acknowledge her loss at all. She went to a family party and only one person pulled her aside to say they were sorry for her loss. She was hurt by these family members and others who ignored the situation and appreciated the few who did say something. In the past when this happened to her friends, Lynn wouldn't say anything herself. However, she realized after it happened to her that being silent was the easy way out. It was better to show that she cared and felt for her friends. She was also surprised at the number of women she knew who had also had a miscarriage. They had stayed silent, keeping the loss to themselves until Lynn opened up, and this made her feel less alone in her grief. Lynn felt she had learned a lot from her experience, and when she became pregnant for a second time decided to again share her good news with everyone. It was better to share her joy and potentially face the consequences of also sharing her loss than to keep it all to herself.

I found this article so interesting because I may be facing the same thing. I am trying to get pregnant, and I plan on sharing this with everyone I am close to as soon as I find out. One out of every five pregnancies ends in a miscarriage (according to this article), so I know this is a distinct possibility for me. However, I have decided to take the chance of potentially facing everyone I know and telling them that I've lost my child, the worst thing that will have happened to me so far in my lifetime. This is a very scary thought and a hard decision for me to make. What if I lose my child, go to my next poker game or my next Alpha Phi event, and no one says a word? How would I take it? I know I would be deeply hurt, feeling like no one cares. But now after reading this article I see that this may not be the case. Lynn didn't know what to say to her friends when this happened to them, and in the past I wouldn't know what to say to someone when they experienced a loss. I would usually feel bad bringing it up. Say the person forgot their sadness for that moment, say they were experiencing a few seconds of joy, as if the awful thing had never taken place. Do I want to remind them, to bring them back to the real world? No way, so I've kept silent. Now I realize that they aren't forgetting. Even if they seem happy, in the back of their minds they don't forget. It's better for me to be supportive and say something, to let them know that I love them and am there for them, that I am their friend. And I hope if I do have a miscarriage everyone does the same for me.

I have a new favorite blog I wanted to tell you all about. Two different people linked to this blog in the past week, and each time I went there I laughed at what was written. Tina writes what I think all the time but would never occur to me to write about. She posts often too, which I love.

I got an email on my yahoo account today from Jesus. Being that I'm not the most religious person, I was a bit confused. Wouldn't Jesus rather talk to someone who prayed to him and worshipped him, or instead someone who was definitely going to hell unless they saw the light like Michael Jackson or Lil Kim. But no, I was the special one to get an email. Maybe this would save me, maybe by reading what Jesus wrote I'd discover faith and allow Jesus into my heart. Boy was I disappointed when I opened the email to discover that Jesus wanted me to cheat on my husband. I thought polygamy was looked down upon in the Bible, but since I haven't read it maybe I'm wrong. Either way, I deleted the email, disappointed in my savior.

Hold onto your seats everyone. America's favorite talking bear is back! Teddy Ruxpin, the lovable stuffed animal who spoke using a tape deck in his back will be back in stores this September according to CNN. This time, however, he'll be enhanced with digital technology. Very exciting, I wish I had a child so I could spend the $69.99 to buy her one. For more information on Teddy, check out The Unofficial Teddy Ruxpin site.

Today marks one year since Tony Pierce wrote his how to blog rules. It is the best thing I've ever read in a blog because not only does it have sound advice, but this post is one the reasons I really got into blogging. Yes, I'd started my blog beforehand, but I fell in love with blogging and reading other people's blogs after I read Tony's post. I credit him for waking me up to this whole new world. I know I've said it before, but I highly recommend his blog to everyone. If you are going to read one blog (after mine of course) read his. And follow his rules. I try to, although I do break them more than I should. Tony's been getting a lot of shit lately from some trolls, he might appreciate a nice comment or two if yo do stop by.
(edited to add, his most recent entry is the best blog post I've ever read, you must read it)

Found two new poker blogs, Josh Arieh who just won his second World Series of Poker (wsop) bracelet this week, and David Williams, who was second in the final event of the wsop last year. Neither has an RSS feed, but they seem to be rather interesting, at least while the wsop is going on. I don't think a lot of the top poker players enter most of the events, so it's nice to read about people I've watched on tv and have at least heard of. I love the idea of anyone being able to enter a major poker tournament, especially for a smaller amount of money through satelites, but at the same time I'd much rather watch someone on tv that I know. The more random people allowed into these tournaments, the less likely we are to see our favorite players at the final tables. And I think one of the most important ways to keep poker popular on tv once this obsession calms down (if it ever does) is for the viewers to root for their favorites, and they can't really do that well if they are never on tv. Let's take my favorite for example, Howard Lederer. I like to watch him play, he's so smart and that shows through everything he does. Besides the first Poker Superstars, I haven't seen him at any final tables in a long time. He got to two for the wsop that were televised last year, but besides that there's only his 2 first season WPT wins. If there were fewer people entering these touraments, I think he'd be much more likely to make a final table. Maybe it's because he isn't as good at playing against bad players that make awful calls and get lucky on the river, or maybe it's just because with so many entries, it's harder to get to the end for everyone. Probably it's some reason I haven't considered. But if poker on tv continues as it is, I think it'll have a hard time staying around longer than the poker boom lasts, at least at its current popularity.

David Sedaris wrote something for The New Yorker, and as usual it's great.

The new Newport Creamery opened in Narragansett yesterday in the Salt Pond Plaza. However, it's new name is Cafe Newport, and according to the Providence Journal, it's "drastically different from the traditional Newport Creamery." They've gotten rid of the bar stools and counter service and now have marble countertops and hardwood floors. Yuck. Is there anyone else who wants the Creamery they grew up with? I loved the stools, I'd sit on those all the time. If you had a big group of people it was the best place to sit, and since the counters were all curved you could sit there with three or more people and everyone could see each other. It was a great part of the restaurant. I also liked the food. It was simple but with an RI touch. Vinegar with your fries, seafood options, cheap prices. The perfect place for a high school couple to go every week. I don't want to eat "Gorgonzola penne pasta, shrimp scampi, baby back ribs, sweet Cajun salmon" with prices for entries at $6-$13. At least they are keeping the Awful Awfuls, if they got rid of them, I'd start picketing.

On a happier note, today is June 16, one month exactly before Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince comes out. Of course, technically it's coming out at midnight, so this time next month I'll be either sleeping after reading much of the night or reading in my leather lazy boy gasping all the time (I'm a very vocal reader) while Peter patiently waits for me to finish so he can start.

Triumph the insult comic dog decided to talk to the Michael Jackson fans that were surrounding the court house every day. This is pre-verdict and hysterical. I highly recommend taking the time to watch if you can. Thanks to Galvin for the link (btw, this is so Galvin week, and I'm not sure if I've even met him).

I had an exec meeting for Bentley College. I really miss it all, I can't wait for school to start. Of course, by November I'll probably be so sick of it, wanting the semester to end. But for now, I'm really enjoying being a Chapter Advisor and can't wait to get my training.

Shocking, isn't it? I had no idea I was this nerdy. I thought I answered every question with I don't know, or maybe. I'm pretty impressed. One of my biggest wishes was that I was a nerd, but unfortunately, I am not a huge one. But at least I'm over half, which is all that really matters to me. I'd love to see how much of a nerd Peter is. He has done many more things that I have, like made his own computer. And I'm sure he could name most of the elements on the periodic table. My guess is he's at least 80%. If anyone does this, let me know in the comments what your nerd score is.

From imdb:

Many people are willing to rent films online that they may be too embarrassed to rent in a video store, according to Amazon's U.K. website. According to Amazon.co.uk DVD Manager Matt Henderson, an examination of the website's Top 100 rental list reveals a number of films that one would not expect to find there. Topping the list was The Spice Girls' 1997 film Spice World. Henderson said in a statement, "We have found that DVD rental-by-post has created a new demand for toe-curling movies [that] have been on the shelves untouched for a long time, with potential customers too ashamed to rent them out." Amazon.co.uk released this Top 10 list of "unfashionable" movies: 1. Spice World (1997); 2. The Sound of Music (1965); 3. Annie (1982); 4. Bambi (1942); 5. Super Mario Bros (1993); 6. Barb Wire (1996); 7. Thunderbirds (2004); 8. Titanic (1997); 9. Hellboy (2004); 10. Gigli (2003).

It's so funny, I want to see a lot of these movies. Especially Spice Girls. I really wanted to when it came out but I was too embarrassed. The Spice Girls were totally out of style by the time the movie was out on dvd. So I skipped it. I had a spice girls poster that I kept for a long time though, until we needed it for a scavenger hunt in my dorm sophomore year. I still love the spice girls, I wish there were more girl bands out there, at least ones that I liked. I can't get into the rock girl band thing, they don't do anything for me at all.

Curious to see what you favorite site looked like 5 years ago? You can see a bunch of old sites, and all the times they have been changed. I really liked Alphaphi.org, I got to see them call my chapter a colony! That was so long ago.

Because blogging is all about linking to other sites you like, today's link will be to Kind of Crap, a capsule of Galvin Chow's time in Japan. Especially funny is the engrish part of the site whose links are now down, the first time I went there I laughed really hard. I guess check out engrish.com for those types of laughs. Galvin is a friend of my brother's through Haverford College, and he seems pretty bright. My brother seems to think so anyway, he only hangs out with smart people. His blog's name is also one of my favorites. Anyway, Galvin is using our server for his blog, and he doesn't know it yet but we plan on making lots of money off of this in the near future. Hahahahahahaha!

I just had a mini-marathon of America's Next Top Model, cycle 1 (really season 1). I knew Adrienne won, I'd watched the Surreal Life and paid enough attention to reality tv to know that. I really enjoyed watching knowing what would happen at the end. You get to really take a close look at what it took for her to win. I have always wished I could do the same for American Idol. If I knew at the beginning of season 2 that Clay would go so far, I'd have paid more attention, taken it to a level higher than pure entertainment. I find the personal strength and business like way of looking at the situations reality stars are in and using them to their advantage to be fascinating.
If I was to ever try out for reality tv, it would probably be Big Brother. None of the challenges are particularly scary or stressful or super hard endurance tests, and besides that you just hang out and make friends and strategize. I would definitely freak out over all the pettiness and totally stress if there was someone who really didn't like me. Living with someone you can't get along with is one of the worst things I could go through, I wouldn't be able to think or function or sleep at all. The producers would probably love me however, I can be really honest, I'm blunt, I have tons of emotions that vary all the time, and I forget what I was thinking the week before and therefore totally contradict myself all the time. It's all great tv. Maybe I will try out next year, as long as I'm not pregnant, nursing, etc.

Back to ANTM, I was really surprised how much work it really is to be a model. I already knew things like they'd be modeling swimsuits in the winter, they'd have to learn how to walk correctly, etc. But all the facial expressions and movement, it's like acting. I couldn't make my face sexy one minute, sultry the next, afraid right after that, over and over. I think all those faces are probably pretty similar for me, I have no control over what I express in my face. The people hiring models really pay close attention to how you look in your pictures, really scrutinize everything you do. Why is your leg where it is? Why are you hooking your fingers into your bathing suit? And then to have anyone actually critique my looks would be the killer. I don't want to hear how people complaining about things that I couldn't control. You are stuck with the body you were born with, and only some women can be models. But out of those women, to be freaking out so much over silly little things is just so over the top to me. I'm glad Adrianne won, she was good and trying really hard to win, and I appreciated that she had a troubled past and truly knew what she wanted.

I don't know what I ate this evening, but damn it was awful. I think there may have been a helium balloon in my caprese wrap or something. My stomach kept growing and growing and it hurt like hell and I thought that an alien was going to pop out of it. I was really wishing an alien would pop out, anything to make the pain go away. I almost called my mom, but then I realized that her dogs usually throw up on Sunday nights and I didn't want to wake her up again. So I decided to wait and hope it went away and it has mostly. I am never eating again. This is something I say at least 3 times a week, but I mean it more now. Tomorrow starts the diet. And I think it'll stick because I no longer work and therefore won't be celebrating peoples birthdays, weddings, departures, etc and I won't be surrounded with women who like to cook and bring something in at least once a week that is so good that I can't pass it up. And I won't be working 15 feet from a Starbucks where I get 50% off, and with Frappucino season upon us feeling the need to buy one just to help out the store numbers. I care a lot about Barnes and Noble. Oh, and I also have time to go to the gym every day. I like going to the gym after that first week of hell, and it's a lot more fun when I go at 11am to watch Ellen. I love her, that is the best show on tv, except for Lost, and that's not by much.

Now that I'm not working, I'm under the illusion that I'll have more time to do things. Yes, some things I'll have more time for like Peter and chores and organizing my life, and worrying about how I'm a loser for not having a job and not trying to find a new one. But I had been thinking about calling someone to try to get together with her. Someone who is supposed to be a really good friend of mine that I haven't spoken to or emailed for 2 months now. That is a really long time. It goes by fast, but it's still a sixth of a year. If you are really good friends with someone, shouldn't you communicate more often? Maybe, maybe not. I have a few high school friends that I don't speak to often, email almost never, yet I still feel like we are good friends. I don't seem to feel this way about this person, let's call her Monica because I know no one named Monica and she needs a name. Monica may not need my friendship anymore, I have sort of wondered if she needed it for a few years now. I think since I moved to Boston. Did she take that personally, me leaving while she's left in RI feeling stuck? I wonder if her marriage has gone sour and that's why she doesn't have time for me. Many tell me that raising a family can be hard, that maybe that's why Monica doesn't have time for me anymore. She isn't me. I know that I wouldn't let a great friendship go even if I had sextuplets. But not everyone is me, not everyone has had the hard time making and keeping friends that I have. Not everyone is so insecure about their friendships. Not everyone values their friendships the same way I do. But I have been the one keeping this friendship up since we were 20, and I got sick of it and ignored it for 2 months, and now I'm wondering if that was a mistake. So what if I have to initiate everything, is that always such a bad thing? In other relationships others are always the ones to do that. I never call the Miners for instance, I always just assume that they'll call me because they do (sorry Christina). I do the same thing to my father, although I expect him not to call. I take Monica's role all the time, maybe I shouldn't get on her case for it and should just call her.

Check out Lost Links, it's amazing. They list all the clues that have been found regarding lost. Look at the first one under Clues and Details, from craigslist, I guess it may have been edited, but it's still pretty cool and really interesting if it's real. This site has all the visual clues from the Oceanic 815 website plus more. If you are interested in spoilers to last you the summer like I am, definitely check this site out.

More information on Lost, more about the numbers, even more numbers, a Relationship chart, and a timeline.

I would like to respond to Stephen King, who wrote about how he doesn't like the extras added to dvds in an article entitled "Extras Bite" in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, #825. Overall, I agree that the extras are pointless most of the time. Who cares how a scene was shot in Men in Black 2, or some bloopers in Bad Santa. They don't add anything to the movie, and no one really cares about that stuff because it isn't interesting and it isn't funny. But sometimes what is put on the dvd is relevent to the movie. Often times the studio will cut a movie that shouldn't be cut, and we need to see what was supposed to be there, what the director wanted in the movie. Sometimes what is deleted is because of time and it's important to see those relevent sub plots. Think Lord of the Rings for instance. Can you really say that those 40 extra minutes of each dvd wasn't good, that you werne't interested in seeing them? I just wish they'd do the same to Harry Potter, although those movies aren't very good, even this last one, when compared to the book. Anyway, I'm sure that there are other reasons that I don't know about because I don't work with movies and can't contemplate them.

There are two movie extras that really stand out for me, that make it worthwhile having the crappy extras attached to all the other movies. The first is Contact, one of my favorite movies ever. I can't remember another time that I watched a movie and was so excited, on the edge of my seat, loving every moment, barely being able to contain myself. This movie had it all, action and adventure, excitement, passion, love, good acting, aliens, what more could you want? When listening to the commentary, I had no idea all the extra little details that they threw in there, like the popcorn on the floor looking like ursa major when Ellie's father dies. And it described what it took to make some of the special effects, which were pretty good at the time. Same scene as I just mentioned, when Ellie goes to get her father's medicine, and we watch her run up the stairs and through the house, only to realize when she gets to the medicine cabinet that the whole long continuous camara scene was shot as if looked at through the cabinet mirror. That was so amazing, I just soaked up that info and everything else they gave us because it was relevent and informative and interesting (although it's been a while since I watched it all, I don't remember the details, time to watch it again).

The other was from the movie Singles. I first watched it back when it was on VHS, and after the credits at the end of the movie they had a deleted scene that I loved, it fit in so well and I was so upset that it was deleted. Granted, this was my first time seeing a deleted scene, and director's cuts weren't out there in the early 90s, but I loved what I saw and was so grateful that the studio put it on the tape. It made the movie so much fuller, just added to what I had just seen, and it was what made me want a dvd player in the first place, so I could see more extras like that one.

I think that when a movie is good, has some substance, more than the occasional laugh or bit of good acting, the extras can be a quality addition to the dvd. The whole idea of them is brought down when they are added to movies that are bad to begin with, that don't make you want to watch them again or talk about them to others anyway. Then they are pointless and not worth the effort of adding them to the disc or producing them to begin with. Then Stephen King's theory stands ground. But for those few solid movies, they can only make the experience better.

There's a new magazine coming out called domino, it's like Lucky except for the home. I am so excited I can barely stand it. I'm sure it'll be full of items that I can't afford and plenty that I don't like, but hopefully I'll start to get an idea of what I want my dream home to look like when we move there. I was looking at Open Houses in Apex today, we are going to have such a kickass house when we move down there.

We've seen a bunch of movies lately. The Stepford Wives was as bad as you heard, there were a ton of plot holes and it tied up way too nicely. I haven't seen the original movie, but from what I hear it was much darker and less hollywood ending, therefore much better. The Day After Tomorrow however was a pretty good movie. Sure, there were some silly parts, especially in the second half, but I really liked the special effects and it wasn't as cheesy as I thought it'd be. I expected a Van Helsing type movie, where I cannot even get through the first half hour. Then we watched In Good Company, an awful title for a pretty damn good movie. Everyone sings the praises of Scarlett Johanson, but Topher Grace is a damn good young actor too. He's funny and endearing and I love to watch him. I'm glad that he's leaving That 70s Show, hopefully he'll pop up in a lot more movies. As for the actual movie, it had a lot of great lines and was much more funny that I thought it'd be. The love angle was also much less important that the previews led one to believe, and that makes the movie stand out against all the other romantic comedies out there.

I tried looking up some people I used to be friends with or have connections with because I thought it'd be neat to see where they are. I can't find a single person. So I tried to find myself and can't even do that. I had to put the post where I say my last name back into google because it didn't have that post indexed anymore. So no one could find me either. I thought that was rather sad. I sort of left my old self behind when I changed my name. Not for a second am I regretting that decision, I am happy to have my husband's last name and thrilled to leave the old Laura behind. But it would be hard for people like Erin to find me now. There were a few good people that I've lost touch with. Sure, there are tons that I'd hate to have contact me, but I would like to think that those people wouldn't even try, wouldn't even think of trying. So I will go on searching for people who don't exist on the internet, hoping that I hear from someone else out of the blue.

My friend Liz wrote a comment recently that made me really happy to have her as a friend. I feel there are few people out there that are supportive of me outside of my family. Most are neutral or have negative things to say about what goes on in my life, but Liz said something very different:

On the job front, I'm glad you are not sticking to a job you don't like. I don't think people gave you a hard time just for not having a job, but for not creating a life of your own. Taking care of the house and everything is certainly a fulltime job (ugh!) but I think you are a bright and interesting individual with a lot of offer the world. Whether you decide to do volunteer work, start your own business, go back to school or get another job -- do it for you. The things you experience will inform your personality and strengthen your relationship. I always have to remind myself that one person cannot fulfill me in everyway -- that is why we have friends and family and jobs and school and whatever else. All these things help us to realize our own potentials.

Unfortunately, Liz is wrong that the negative people aren't being negative because I'm not working up to my full potential and doing something that works for me and my life, they are negative because they are jealous of me staying home and don't think about what they say and how it comes across. Luckily this is only a small group of people anyway. But isn't what she says great, it makes me feel like I can go out and do whatever I want to, and I will do a good job and it's ok if not everyone understands me and my motives. She wrote such an understanding comment, one that I really needed to hear from someone besides Peter and my mom. And I'm glad that she is agreeing with me that taking care of a house is full time work, Liz strikes me as a feminist (sorry if I'm wrong there) who actually thinks about her reasons for being one instead of just announcing it to whomever will listen or when it suits her like most do. And to hear a feminist agree that being a housewife isn't an awful thing to be is great. So thank you Liz, you really made my day, and good luck with everything going on in your life. Keep writing on your blog, I'm really interested to hear what is going on with you. (PS-I still can't comment on your blog)

Yesterday I got an email from an old friend that I met at ECC camp the summer before I started high school. She lived in Portsmouth, later moving to MN, and we wrote letters to each other for years. Unfortunately we lost touch somehow (this was before we had email), and I'm just so excited to hear from her. Erin is one of those people who totally accept you for who you are. I always felt comfortable around her and able to totally be myself around her, something that I'm appreciating more and more lately. Unfortunately she is still in MN, but it's nice to hear from someone that I like so much. And it makes me happy I wrote that post giving my maiden name even though that's not the way she found me, I like hearing from people from my past, at least the good ones.

My last day of work was today. It feels so nice to know that I don't have to go back. I am officially "seasonal" which means I have to tell them by the end of September whether or not I want to. I can actually take the entire summer off. I have had mixed emotions about going back. Some days I think it'd be a lot of fun, while others I think I never want to. Ever. Ever ever. I probably will for Harry Potter though. Oh, and since I'm seasonal, I can help plan for HP. I don't know if I will though, Charles the manager in charge of the party was sort of weird about the whole thing. I had to give my email address to my friend Connie because he wouldn't call me. "Don't you think Kelly or Connie will call you about the meeting?" I'm thinking "Thanks for reminding me that I don't have contact with them ouside work, I'm a big loser, thanks a lot." In reality, I was totally lazy and forgot that no one works in the latter part of the week, so I didn't get to say goodbye to a lot of people and get their info. I'm sure I'll see them though, so it isn't really a big deal. And I will definitely see Deanne again, and she is the most important person to see. She will be my new female best friend I've decided. She has so many great qualities that I wish I had. She's happy and calm and laughs a lot and doesn't take everything so seriously and doesn't have life expectations that are overwhelming and unrealistic and she sees the good in people. I think if I hang out with her those things will rub off on me. We are going to get indian food together soon, I can't wait. Lil wants to come too, and since she got me a nice card that a bunch of people signed (even a few I haven't met) and is super nice to me always, I think I'll have to let her.

Last night Peter and I went to Dali, as I'm sure you saw if you read his blog. The food was good as always. I think the waiters are so funny. They love women. I had my napkin put on my lap for me for the first time ever, they filled my sangria glass up way more than Peter's (btw, Peter's sangria is better), and I got tons and tons of smiles all night long. And it's all waiters, no waitresses. The women are in the front, that's it. The waiters also wear all black with weird designs on their shirts, and the top unbuttoned so you can see their chest hair and how masculine they all are. I don't really think they were good looking though, a little too greasy for me. Reminds me of italians. But the attention was nice as always.

As for the food, I tried some different items than I normally get. I had the vegetable crepe, which wasn't filo dough like I was hoping. It was full of spinach and onions and was actually much better than it sounds. The spanish cheese with honey was to die for. It was warm and fried and was in some sort of jelly and I could have eaten it all night long. My dessert was tasty as well, the biggest strawberries I've ever seen battered and sitting in a ton of sauce. Peter's dessert was sitting in a whole lotta dark chocolate, I would have licked his plate if we'd been home. Damn manners! There were also a ton of birthdays while we were there. The waiters would surround the birthday girl and sing Happy Birthday in spanish while spraying her with bubbles from a bubble gun. They'd also place an ivy wreath on her head and make her blow out a candle on a huge candleabra. All the women loved it, laughing the entire time.

Peter is reworking the way our blogs look, which is good because I can't stand mine. It's too colorful. Sure, I loved it when I first got it, but now it just gets on my nerves. So look for new and exciting changes here at Kovixen!

Pietasters are playing tonight at Middle East in Cambridge. I can't go, but if anyone can, say hi to Toby for me.

This is weird and rather disturbing, a story about a headless chicken that lived for 18 months after losing it's head.

Peter and I are thinking about getting another tivo as our anniversary present to each other. We like the joint present, neither of us has to think or actually go shopping by ourselves. Peter found a list that says what you give on certain anniversaries. Tivo fits into the modern list (it's an appliance right?), but traditionally you are supposed to give fruit and flowers. Hmmm...maybe he'd like some mangoes, let me drive over to Wild Oats and get some right now. Really, how boring. Appliances are much more interesting, especially when they are something cool like tivo. We also just got a stand mixer, so we covered the useful aspect too.

Two 18 girls figured out that people will judge you on how you dress. Good for them, this is definitely news worthy. I wish I had come up with such an original idea. Obviously we just weren't educated enough at South Kingstown HS.

WSOP updates so you can watch Howard not make a final table.

Can you find the crumb?

Today is my anniversary, four wonderful years with my wonderful husband who is a saint for putting up with all my whining, indecision, lack of energy, weight issues, and spending without complaint, but with a smile on his face, usually while he's offering to give me a back rub. I am the luckiest girl in the world, and my number one goal in life is to never forget it and to try to treat him as well as he treats me. There is no other man on this lovely earth who could be more perfect for me, and I am devoted to him forever. I pity the rest of humanity for never knowing true happiness and love like I do, although you are all ignorant of your lack of bliss so I guess it's ok. I love you Peter!!!!!

See what I wrote last year.

Ok, so I'm not officially quitting work, I'm now going seasonal so that I can go back easily in the future. Also, I can work on Harry Potter and our huge kickass party this way. I was offered a good opportunity at work, but I'm not sure I want to take it yet. I think I need some time off to organize the other things in my life and to work on the house a bit. I haven't decided for sure though.

I would like to ask those who know me to reread this post, the second paragraph. I wrote some very important things there, and I ask that you respect them. I can't put up with being put down forever by people who should be nice to me. It's getting really old. What I do with my life is my decision. If you think I'm doing something wrong tell me nicely, don't give me shit. I know this is probably a moot point since I think only two friends read my blog (and thank you btw!), but I feel better saying it anyway.

I just watched City Slickers. It sucked. I was going through the movies on tivo since soon I'll have nothing to do besides clean and watch movies (oh yeah, and knit), and there was City Slickers. I thought what the hell and added it to the list. It was the first one tivoed, so I watched it right away. A big waste of my time. I cannot believe that Jack Palance was an Oscar for his role. Disgusting. So I decided to look up what else was nominated that year. I am appalled-JKF? Cape Fear? Thelma and Louise? I cannot believe that such bad movies used to be nominated for Oscars. Thank the lord for independent movies that are now so commonplace in Hollywood. Now things like good acting and interesting scripts are at least nominated some instead of horror movies and bad sappy crap.

The World Series of Poker started a few days ago. Crossing our fingers here at Kovixen hoping that someone we like wins a few bracelets *cough*HowardLederer*/cough*

Harry Potter is printed!

If only they'd move up the SOS (strict on sale) date, I don't know if I can wait another 38 days. I've asked my receiving manager to call me when the boxes come in so I can visit and take a picture with them. I'll probably hug the boxes too, thinking about all the Potter info in them. Some stuff that the article tells us (that we already know):

"There's a new minister of magic, someone dies but it's not Harry or Voldemort, and the half blood prince is not Harry or Voldemort," she said.

Unfortunately, the official Boston HP line party group may not come to Burlington. BN is being dumb about letting them pass out info on The Witching Hour because it's for profit technically. Ignoring that it's also educational. What dummies, you'd think they'd want that group there. I've been asked to help get this straightened out, but I don't know how much I can accomplish in my last two days of work. I may not go to Burlington's party anyway, it may be too weird for me after just leaving. I'm going to go to a party somewhere though, if anyone wants to come with me let me know. It's really exciting and fun, and I found a great summer drink from it last time-butterbeer! Yum.

There are been some interesting searches lately for my blog, ones that make me question whether I should have written something in the past. Everyone who knows me knows that I don't like a lot of people, I'm probably too judgemental, too outspoken about my hatred, and this doesn't bother me as much as I should. Therefore, I've decided to keep what I wrote about a certain someone who I really don't like. I will leave that be now, but I would like to add that I also really don't like Sonya Helshe, Sarah Hartenstein, and the bitch at work who yelled at me last week, I can't remember her name. If anyone has a problem with these opinions or any others, feel free to write a comment or email me. But stop passing this damn information around to each other and get a life. Maybe move out of RI, there's a whole friggin world out there you know.

I felt totally lost and confused this afternoon because I quit my job. I know I made the right decision, but it's still hard on me. I like the people, it's a comfortable (therefore safe) place, and I totally hate change. I talked to my mom about this, cried some, and now I feel better. My brother (smart as he is) coincidently posted something similar to what is going on with me. Taken from him, which was taken from Today David Brooks. My brother works in politics, that explains the beginning of the quote.

The most interesting part of this Deep Throat business is Bob Woodward's description, in Thursday's Washington Post, of the state he was in when he met Mark Felt. He had graduated from Yale and was finishing a tour in the Navy, but he had no idea of what he wanted to do with his life. He was plagued by "angst and a sense of drift," and stricken by "considerable anxiety." ... Places like Washington and New York attract large numbers of ambitious young people who have spent their short lives engaged in highly structured striving: getting good grades, getting into college. Suddenly they are spit out into the vast, anarchic world of adulthood, surrounded by a teeming horde of scrambling peers, and a chaos of possibilities and pitfalls. They discover that though they are really good at manipulating the world of classrooms, they have no clue about how actual careers develop, how people move from post to post.

And all they have to do to find their way amid this confusion is to answer one little question: What is the meaning and purpose of my life?

After all this I went to the knitting shop to have them fix a problem I had (messed up a stitch and didn't realize it until I was at that area again, 70 stitches later), and the other woman who works there besides my teacher Jackie (also named Laura) was telling another customer that they are may be selling the store, although it wouldn't happen until next spring. I thought "Hey, I want to buy this place." So I'm going to ask about it on Thursday at my class. I know, this is crazy talk, especially since I really don't know how to knit yet. But after my first class I came home and told Peter that I was envious of Jackie because I wanted to own a place like this. Now I have the option.

Peter made sangria, it's wonderful. Thank the lord for Alton Brown.

Also, check out Post Secret (also suggested by my brother), it's really interesting, sometimes sad. But totally a great idea. Weird how there are other people who feel the same way that I do. This should be common sense, but I usually feel like the only insecure person in the world. The picture