Small Town Rambles...From a Not So Small City

Long Time No Post

2006-07-12T10:55:00.000-05:00

It's been a while, and there is quite a bit to talk about...but I will try to keep it short. The most important news of all is that I am the owner of a brand new car...a Honda Fit. However, it is a manual transmission, and I had never driven a manual transmission until three days ago when I drove the car off the lot. I am slowly getting better. The first day was rough, lots of stalls and honking horns. I am just freaking out about driving up and down hills. I really don't want to roll back into someone. I've always wanted to drive a manual transmission, and there is no better time than now.

Being on my own with the new roommates is still going good. I'm not home too much though...between work and play. I've definitely spent a great deal of time playing this summer. That will all come to an end in about a month when I have to start classes again. I'm looking forward to the new semester, starting fresh with a new major...and actually doing something that I enjoy doing.

I recently took a trip to Kentucky to visit some family. It was nice, but I was glad to get back home. We didn't really do a whole lot besides visit. There isn't a whole lot to do in the Bluegrass state.

Work is going good, except for a little drama here and there. Seems like some people can't escape their high school days. I try to stay out of it as much as possible. Although lately that has been hard to do...in fact we have our district manager trying to work out some issues with a couple people at work. We just can't all get along.

In knitting news, I am almost done with my messanger bag, I knitted a pair of baby socks and I have crocheted some hats. Nothing too exciting.

Well, I think that is all for now...trying to keep it short and sweet.

22 Hullaballoo

2006-05-30T15:40:00.000-05:00

My birthday has come and past on the 27th...but the memories thereof shall linger in my foggy mind forever. I had the best weekend of my life and I couldn't have spent it with better people. I partied...a lot! Probably a little too much. I tie-dyed with my roommate, got taken out to dinner, went to a club, went to a BBQ, went shopping for "party favors," and spent a lot of time with my friends. I even fit in some time at the beach. I was off of work for three days straight, and believe me I took advantage of them. Now I just need three days to recover...whew!

In news from the needles, I have successfully completed one orange crotcheted hat for a dear friend of mine in New York. I have almost completed the messenger bag that I have been working on for a couple of months now. I never knew that I would enjoy crotcheting as much as I did. I will definitely be completing more projects soon. I will be working on another hat soon for a birthday present. I think I will be doing more partying this weekend, because there are more birthdays coming up.

I started my shift supervisor training today at work. It will be interesting and challenging...and I am really looking forward to it. I even recieved my dollar raise already...that will certainly help my wallet/bank account.

I don't really have much else to talk about without giving too many details that some people may not need to know.

Movin' Out

2006-05-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

A lot has happened since my last blog, but I am going to make long stories short. The biggest news in nowhere nick's life is that I have moved out of my aunt's house and am now sharing a house with three other people my own age. I actually feel like a college student now. All of my roommates are real cool. It's like a bunch of hippies living together. We are all artistically inclined, and creative in some way. There are 4 cats that share the house as well, and I will be moving my hamster, Rita in soon as well. The only thing that I had to get used to is the fact that they do not lock their doors. However, the neighborhood is really safe and everyone knows everyone. They have lots of friends, so I am sure I will be meeting lots of people in the future. I am really happy with the arrangment.

I finally got my tattoo finished. I don't even thing I have blogged about that. Well, I got a new tattoo and it covers a great deal of my upper left arm. It took three sessions to finish, and it looks awesome. I will have to post some pics of it soon. I have also stretched my ear lobes a great deal more, and have another hole pierced and ready to stretch as well. I have another design for a tattoo too, and it will adorn my right arm.

The love interest has dissipated, however I am still slightly tainted over the one I know I can't have...but that's another story all together.

I am still knitting, reading, and crocheting now as well. I have almost completed a messenger bag that I have to felt, and I am crocheting hats for a friend of mine.

I am growing my hair out in preparation for dreadlocks, which I will hopefully have soon. So, I will probably be knitting a lot of hats in the future to cover my messy head.

There is still talk of moving to Arizona sometime in the near future. My mom is working on selling our property, and finding jobs out there. I am going to finish the next semester coming up before we do anything. I am going to talk to Northern Arizona University soon and see what king of funding I could recieve.

I officially have been promoted to shift supervisor at work. I start my training on the 30th of this month. I'm really excited about it and it means a dollar raise. My job is great, I think without it I would lose my mind. That will be the only thing that will make moving difficult. Leaving all of my friends at work...I think it will make me cry.

I don't really have much else to talk about other than my birthday is coming up on the 27th of this month. I am going to party it up too!

A Touch of Freedom

2006-05-01T20:06:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the long delay in posting, but I have been busy wrapping up classes, working, hanging out, and enjoying life. I finished my last class for the semester last Thursday. I have not recieved my final grades yet, but I am anticipating two B's and two A's, not my best work, but that is what happens when you are doing something that you don't want to do anymore. My major officially changed to Fine Arts and I have already enrolled in my classes for Fall semester. I am taking the summer off, and am going to work to save up some money.

I will be taking Drawing, 2D design fundamentals, Art History, and Basic Computer Imaging. Unfortunately those are all pre-requisite classes...but a little refresher course neve hurt anyone. I am so excited that classes are over, I have had the worst term in my college career. It has definitely been an eye opener, and a good lesson for me. I have learned that you should follow your heart and not others interpretations of what is supposedly "best" for you. I couldn't be more excited about starting my art classes next semester. I will finally be getting back to my passion, and pouring my soul into my work like I did once before. There are a lot of things I want to express and art is the best way for me to do that.

I have realized lately the tight bonds that I am forming to my coworkers and the friends that I have met at Starbucks. I have been thinking a lot lately about how much they mean to me. Working there has been the greatest thing for me because it has opened me up to new things, and the people I have met have cracked open the tight protective shell I have kept around myself for so long. I know this is a little off topic, but it's really been on my mind lately. I have been thinking about how much I am going to miss everyone when I move out west. I do believe I just might cry when that time comes. I get a little emotional now when I think about it.

I may be moving up to shift supervisor at work soon, and that means a dollar raise. Hopefully that will also help me when it comes time to transfer to another store in Arizona. I went to a Starbucks Open Forum today out at the beach and had a pretty good time. It basically consisted of a Q&A followed by lunch and activities on the beach. We tried to play frisbee but it was way too windy. I did catch quite a bit of sun in the meantime.

There hasn't been too much drama unfolding in the love department lately...at least not any worth blogging about. All I know is that it sucks when you are head over heals over someone who is already taken, but shows signs of liking you back...How very confusing that can be.

I have been reading a lot lately, now that I can do so for pleasure. It has been great, because I do love to read, but never seem to have the time. I just finished a fantastic book by Cat Bordhi called Treasure Forest. It is the first book in a trilogy geared towards young adults, but can be easily enjoyed by adults as well. I can't begin to describe how beautifully written and emotional the book was. The best advice I can give is to check it out for yourself. You won't be able to put it down. I am working on the don Juan series by Carlos Castaneda right now.

Ahh...Freedom.

A Night Out

2006-04-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

My weekend has gone pretty good considering that I have had car trouble for a couple of days...but I will get to that in a moment. First, I must say that I am definitely coming out of my shell. Yesterday after work, I went over to an employee/friend's appartment for a little get together she put together. I had some beers and spent some time with my friend Mary. She cooked out (which of course was all meat), made potato salad (not the redneck, mayonaise kind), and fruit salad (which was freakin' awesome). After I had been there a while just chillin' they were talking about going out afterwards to The Pearl (which is a bar downtown). I am always apprehensive about going out to places where I know there will be lots of people, and I had declined the invitation at first. However, I told myself to stop being such a little wussy baby and just do it...so I did.

I had such a great time. The Pearl is fantastic, it is so much more than just some gross downtown bar. They had the place decorated really nice, with a dance floor that lights up, a nice patio, good music, and good company. I even got out on the dance floor and got my groove on, and I didn't even care what other people were thinking. It probably helped that I had a nice little buzz going on. I am definitely going to return.

I think I have been bitten by the spring love bug, because I have developed quite a crush on someone I met at work...but more on that later.

Now to the shitty news about my car. On Saturday morning at about 5:15am I was making my way to my car to drive to work. I sat down and cranked...but there was no crank left in my battery. I left my interior lights on all night for about the third time...and I guess the third time was the charm. My aunt had to drive me to work, and I was 30 minutes late! I was able to get it jumped that afternoon and it ran fine the rest of the day, so I figured the battery had recharged itself. Well there was a different story to tell this morning. I was going to take my car to have the battery tested and buy some groceries, and the damn thing wouldn't crank again. I was like WTF!!! So I had it jumped again and drove it to an auto place to buy a new battery. 80 bucks later and the guy couldn't get it in my car because it's a damn Volkswagen and everything in the engine takes some damn special tool that no one seems to have. I had to take it to a mechanic that was actually open on Sunday, and they charged me another 60 bucks to replace the freakin' thing! I was so pissed off that I had spent that much money on a damn battery. That's highway robbery...no pun intended. I have been thinking about looking for a new car lately, because mine is 5 years old, and I am afraid that once I have one problem I will start having more, and my car is so expensive to work on. I like the scions, and they are cheap and good on gas mileage...so I may look at some this weekend. We'll see how that goes.

I spent all my damn day getting my car fixed that I didn't have much time to do all the homework that I have put off all week, that is due in just a few days. I need to get my ass on the ball. I am so glad I am not going to be doing the education thing anymore. I have been so burnt out this semester, that I have just really started hating college. I hope things get better, and maybe a little more interesting when I get back into art again.

Goodnight all

A New Look

2006-04-05T12:30:00.000-05:00

I was sitting in one of the local smoothie shops using the free wireless internet (dial-up is way too slow), and I decided to give my blog a new look. Well, that came with a price. After switching to another template, everything was deleted from my old one, including links, tags, and webrings. I was able to reinsert most of them, but I am not sure if I am missing anyone in my ramblers section. I hope I didn't miss anyone.

I am not able to get the HTML code for my Men Who Knit webring either. I have forgotten my user ID and all of that stuff, so hopefully they will send me an email so that I can replace that as well. All I wanted was a new look, not work!

I actually needed something to do while I waited on something to download anyway...when I really should be doing my homework.

If I missed anyone, please let me know.

Long Time no Post

2006-04-01T22:02:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since my last post and I didn't leave you guys on such a happy not. I will start with a happy note this time.

After a long week at work, I took off Friday afternoon with my mom to St. Augustine, and of course Arizona the pooch came along too. We didn't really do much, but my mom was able to find a hotel that allowed pets, so she decided to get a room for the night. It is kind of hard to do a lot with a 4 month old puppy that has seperation anxiety. Nevertheless, it was nice to just get out of the city for a night and a day.

This morning we got up early and took Arizona to the beach. She wasn't too sure about the water, especially when a wave washed up close to her. Once she got her paws wet, I think she was in love. My mom and I got quite a kick out of her running away from the waves.

It was nice to see both my mom and my pooch this weekend. I am beginning to feel a little under the weather today. I think I may be catching a cold...which I am not too happy about.

In other news, I have not been doing any knitting lately, and I have two projects that are partially finished. I am staying busy with school, and making good grades. I need to get my butt in gear and get my major changed before it is too late. I don't want to get stuck doing something I don't want to do. I am looking forward to having this summer off from class. I hope I will get to go home more and concentrate on my job. Other than that I don't really have much else to report. I will be posting more pics now as I am back in the digital camera business.

Farewell To An Old Friend

2006-03-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a long time since my last blog and I hate for my new post to be on the somber side, but I have some sad news.

My mom had to bring my dog (not the puppy), Moe, who was 14 years old, to the clinic today to have him euthanized. It was a hard decision for her, that she had been contemplating for quite a while now. He was starting to swell, and he wasn't holding his bladder very well. He has had a lot of eye problems recently and he went deaf. He lived a long life, and that's what matters.

When Moe was much younger he was hit by a car and was hit hard. I am surprised he lived as long as he did, and he never gave up. He was a good companion and a good friend, who would never hurt a flea. It was just sad to see him suffer, and not be his usual peppy, happy self. I am glad that my mom has the new puppy to keep her occupied, and of course the spoiled kitty.

In other news, I am now on spring break from school, however I am working full time this week. I still have plenty of work to do for my classes, and I am going to talk to admissions as soon as school starts back to see about changing my major.

I haven't really done anything to interesting lately to mention, not even much knitting to talk about. I have been really busy with research papers, projects, and homework...not to mention working a lot more hours at my job. I did get to see some old friends of mine last weekend, and that was nice...we had a little "too" much fun...but I won't talk about that.

Tag Me Baby

2006-03-02T20:09:00.000-05:00

I don't really have too much to blog about as of late, so I will honor the tag that I recieved from Red Molly about a week ago.

Here is the new list: For those of you who got tagged just delete number one and then bump everyone else up adding your blog to number 5. It's as simple as that.

1. Aunt B.
2. Newscoma
3. Tennessee Jed
4. Blue Page Special
5. Nowhere Nick

Here are the five I am tagging.
1. Gaia Gal
2. Gidget
3. Goofy Whore
4. Writing Life
5. Julie (unless you've already been tagged)

What were you doing ten years ago?
I was attending middle school in the rural po-dunk town that I am from, hating the fact that I was nerd that got picked on. I was trying really hard to "fit in," and all it did was backfire on me all the time. I learned what real friends were, and how to bullshit to make good grades.

What were you doing one year ago?
As Red Molly stated in her tag, I was hating my job as well. As many of you recall I was working at Winn-Dick-Me...I mean, Winn-Dixie. I put up with a lot of shit, from a lot of shitty people. I was also finishing up my Associates degree.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Silk Blueberry Soy Yogurt
2. Toasted Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
3. Chocolate
4. Peanut Butter and Bananas
5. Dried Papaya and Mango

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:

I'm not going to list lyrics like Red Molly did, but I will try to drop a few lines.
1. Grey by Ani DiFranco. "The sky is grey, the sand is grey, and the ocean is grey. I feel right at home in this stunning monochrome, alone in my way."
2. Tiny Cities Made of Ashes by Modest Mouse. See the quote under the title of my blog for my favorite line to this song.
3. Long December by The Counting Crows. "A long December and there's reason to believe, that this year may be better than the last."
4. Octopus' Garden by The Beatles. I don't think I need to list any lyrics here.
5. The Engine Driver by The Decemberists. "I'm an Engine Driver, on a long run...And if you don't love me, let me go...I'm a county line mind, on a high line...So will be my grandson. There are powerlines, in our bloodline." There are a lot of repeats, which is why I know all the words to this song.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Start my own charity
2. Backpack in Australia
3. Backpack across Europe
4. Move my mom and I to Arizona and have an eco-friendly house built on a lot of land so that no one else could build on it.
5. Open my own business specializing in knitting, crafting, art, hippy-related stuff.

Five bad habits:

1. Getting really stressed out over nothing.
2. Not speaking up when I should.
3. Putting things off until the very last minute.
4. Starting too many things at once.
5. Playing a song to death when I love it.

Five things you like doing:

1. Knitting.
2. Enjoying friendly company.
3. Watching movies that inspire me.
4. Getting tattoos and piercings.
5. Doodling.

Five things you would never wear again:

1. Neon Pink anything...Sometimes, the things that come from the 80's should stay in the 80's
2. Speedo. Yes, I had to wear these once when I was on a swim team.
3. Big ugly plastic glasses
4. Costume contact lenses. They may look cool, but they don't feel cool.
5. Anything Leather.

Five favorite toys:

1. iPod mini
2. Knitting needles
3. The ones I have made from socks
4. A camera with a fresh roll of B&W film
5. A blank piece of paper and something to draw with

Home Sweet Home

2006-02-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the long pause between blogs. There just hasn't been that much to talk about and I have been pretty occupied with school and work...not to the point of hair pulling, just a steady drag.

I went home over the weekend, after a much needed break from the city. I was excited to see my mom and the puppy, which by the way has grown SO much. She is twice the size she was the last time I saw her and her ears are standing up on their own now...she looks like a little mini German Shephard now. She is really a mess though. She bites so much because her little baby teeth are coming in and she has an urge to chew on everything, including toes and fingers. Our poor cat stays in chairs most times out of harms way. The pooch has learned to chase her, and she doesn't like it AT ALL.

Not only is Arizona (we decided that name stuck) a mess, but she is also spoiled. We went to Gainesville on Saturday to do some shopping and eating at our favorite Asian restaurant, Chopstix, and before dinner we went to PetSmart. You can only imagine how much my mom spent on that little pooch. She needed a new crate to accomodate her rapidly increasing size. My mom found one that will fit her as an adult, but has a divider for the puppy stages. The crate is HUGE! Arizona is going to be a large dog judging by the size of her feet and ears. She also got new toys, treats, and a new harness...since she is outgrowing the one she already has.

I had a good time, and got to relax a little, without having to worry about going to work or school. I didn't even open up a book to do homework, I didn't knit or anything. I hated to leave today to come back to reality. However, I am glad that I have the city to keep me occupied, because the little town that I am from never progresses. It's as if time just stopped for everyone. That's not to say that Jacksonville is the most progressive city either...because it is not, but there just isn't anything to do where I am from.

I am off to work on some knitting now, and then off to bed a little early tonight since I have to be at work at 5AM!

A Change Will Do Me Good

2006-02-04T23:54:00.000-05:00

I have been doing a lot of "soul-searching" lately regarding my college career and my current path that I am on. I have decided that an Education Degree is really not for me. However, I am going to finish out the current semester and apply myself to keep my GPA up, but I am going to be changing fields completely after that. I'm going to pursue my original dreams of being an art major, with hopes to obtain a masters, and possibly a PhD in art as well.

It's only taken me four years and three student loans to figure this out...but hey, it takes some of us longer to figure out what we want to be when we grow up. I still want to teach, and hope to apply my degree to a professor position.

These are all long term goals, as I feel like I am going to be in college for the rest of my life. At least I will finally be doing what makes me happy and whole.

It's time for some change and transition in my life and there is no better time than now.

Art Walk

2006-02-01T22:48:00.000-05:00

After being a good boy and getting my homework done early today, I met up with some friends as we made our way downtown for the monthly Art Walk. The way it works is the city keeps some of the businesses open and turns them into galleries. Honestly, a lot of the art work is not all that great as it is mostly landscapes and portraits. Those are all good and dandy, but I need something with flavor. So I turned to the free wine!

I had a good time though, as I don't get out much. I don't like large noisy crowds, or places where I have to make uncomfortable conversation with strangers, so the art walk was perfect. We ended our tour at the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, which actually had some pretty sweet displays. I was quite impressed. Just when the city begins to really dissapoint me, it does a complete 360...however, it is short lived.

I actually ran into my cousin, errnnn at the MOMA. It was kind of funny because I had a feeling that I would run into her, or the Red Molly's. Anyhow, I had a good time, and now I must get some sleep so I won't be too much of a zombie for my 8AM class tomorrow.

Pictures of the Pooch

2006-01-27T16:29:00.000-05:00

Here is Midnight (my kitty) and the pooch taking a little nap. I don't think my cat is quite sure whether she likes her or not.

Here is the little cutie all by herself. My mom is still debating on whether she should call her Arizona or not. I think it is the perfect name.

An Evening With Jack

2006-01-27T00:17:00.000-05:00

Nicholson that is. I decided to take a break from school work and responsibilities in general tonight. I thought a nice classic film would do the trick for me, so I popped some corn and watched "The Shining." I was in a Kubric kind of mood.

It's not that I have tons of school work anyway...and I put everything off until the last minute anyway. I just wanted to relax for a change. I have been having a lot of second thoughts about my future and the role school plays in it. I'm not so sure anymore if I am doing what is right for me. I am currently an elementary education major, but I just feel like I should be doing something else. I had a little breakdown the other day that left me a little irritated...more at myself than anything. I think I have decided to just go ahead and get my degree and see where it takes me, and if it's not for me I will do something else. It's only time and money, right?

In other news, my mom recently acquired a new puppy...which I am excited to meet. It is a german shephard/wolf mix and she is only 7 weeks old. My mom hasn't decided what she is going to name her yet...but Arizona is on the top of the list. I'm not so sure how my cat feels about her. My mom told me that the little one cried and whined all night and in the early morning hours had tried to get out of her box. Apparently the cat leaned over the bed and slapped the box real hard and shut the dog up. I guess she was trying to sleep. I was also told that the puppy got slapped today. My cat was declawed, so no damage done. I am going home this weekend and I am very anxious to meet the new addition to our family. A german shephard is high on my list of favorite dogs next to great danes and huskies.

I am going to get some shut eye now as I have to work in the morning and my sleeping habits have not been so great lately.

Dinner at the Red Molly's

2006-01-19T21:36:00.000-05:00

I spent the evening at the Red Molly's which you can read about here. The rest of my day was fairly hum-drum. School this morning, skipped a class, hung out with a friend from work at the local tattoo shop before she got her side done. Got a little knitting done, and then went over to the Red Molly's. Not really much else to talk about.

One little snippet of odd and important news (at least to me): Yesterday I was feeling really restless and just generally ready to move on to the next chapter in my life...meaning to leave Jacksonville and start over in Arizona in a new place, new school, new everything. I get that way from time to time. I spoke to my mom earlier today and the first thing out of her mouth was "I'm ready to go." She said if she could she would load the dog and cat up in the car and just leave tomorrow. I said, "Let's go." Apparently she was feeling just as restless as I. Of course in reality you can't just drop everything and go...unfortunately. It's just good to know that we are both on the same page.

I don't remember if I mentioned it before but I have a new piercing now. I have a 6 gauge tunnel in my inner cartiladge. That means that I had a fairly large piece of cartiladge removed from the inner part of my ear. It hurt quite a bit after I had it done on Monday. Very little blood to my piercers surprise. He even went to the trouble of laying down enough paper towels for an army on the floor. I didn't even have that much swelling. It did leave me feeling quite faint and lightheaded and I didn't leave the shop for two hours. Luckily he was having a slow day and we just hung out for a while. I am happy with my new piercing...Unfortunately not everyone feels the same way, but you know how that goes. I think it is different and something you don't see a lot of. My favorite part about it is that when you stand behind me you can see light all the way through to the other side and that ties in well with my stretched earlobes which you can also see light through.

Hopefully I will be getting some ink soon.

Waste Trees Much?!`

2006-01-18T16:10:00.000-05:00

Last night and today I have been dilligently printing handouts that are required in one of my education classes. Apparently the professors are too cheap to print them themselves and figure that we have all the time and money in the world to do it our selves. It has been a major pain in the ass process for me because all of the handouts were sent through Adobe Acrobat and it was using up all of my CPU memory...somehow?

I finally got it done today, and I had to go over to an aunts house to use her DSL to finish. Apparently my dial-up doesn't like Adobe. It took me all of 10 minutes to finish on DSL. I'm just baffled over the fact that we have to print our own handouts. What am I paying for?

On to knitting news. I have begun a new toy project using some leftover lopi yarn that I used to felt moebius baskets with. I am making Henry the Bear and he is knitting up quite quickly. That is what I was doing in the process of printing all those damn handouts. I am patiently waiting on my Cascade 220 yarn to be delivered to me so that I can get started on my satchel. I would like to be using it before this semester is over. Once the bear is done I think that will be 6 projects completed in a two month time period. I think my speed is picking up. I have found that it is very hard for me to sit still for very long without having to pick up my needles. I guess I could be doing worse things with my time...like studying.

Money Laundering

2006-01-15T21:09:00.000-05:00

Just a little attention getter. I actually thought of the title earlier today when I accidentaly left my wallet in the back pocket of my pants before I washed them. When I found it in the bottom of the washer I quickly took everything out, including the wet money. I felt like someone who had just printed off a few bills laying out their stash to dry. That was about the most exciting moment of the day.

Moving on to other news, I had the full experience of all my new classes this week at the close of the day on Thursday. I think I am going to be okay this semester as long as I stay on top of all of my assignments and keep everything done on time. I think my most difficult class will be math...as usual. I got a little overwhelmed on Tuesday but by Thursday I was okay. If my work schedule stays the same as it has been over the last two weeks I should have plenty of time to keep my homework done. I am going to have to take the General Knowledge exam on the 21st...but I have decided that I am not going to study for it, because I have heard that it is very easy and calculator use is permitted. I hope that I pass it so that I can be through with that garbage.

I got to spend time with my mom again this weekend, and I had a chance to see one of my cousins who lives in Maryland and her daughter as well. That was nice after a real shitty day at work yesterday. There was some cheerleading convention in time and all the airheads wanted frappaccinos. I was about ready to throw the damn blenders in their face and tell them to make them theirselves. We were all in a pretty shitty mood after all of that. On top of it all we were understaffed, and other customers were getting pretty rude and impatient. It was definitely out of the ordinary for us. Usually Saturdays are fairly calm and even boring at times.

I stretched my ears again yesterday, and I am up to a 0 gauge now. I have stretched five sizes in about 5 months. I am going tomorrow to have another piercing done. You can find an exact picture of what is going to be done here. I am pretty excited about it. I am only having it done on one side for now and in a month or two I will probably get the other side done as well. The guy that pierces my ears is great. He is the type of person that you feel like you have known all of your life. I will also be getting some more tattoo work done soon. I spoke to an artist here in town at Inksmith and Rogers, which is one of the best places to get tattoo for miles. I showed him what I had in mind and he is going to work on my design for a week or so. I have to call and make an appointment, and then wait until I have some more money. Very exciting stuff. This will make the fifth time I have had tattoo work done. I am working on getting a half sleeve done on my arm, as that will take some time.

As you can see, I will be doing plenty of damage to my body...as some of family members would say...over the next little while. It's quite addicting, and once you start it is hard to stop. In my case the body modification bug bit me when I got my first tattoo at age 17. I think it bit my mom too, because she now has 16 piercings in her ears and one tattoo. We are just one crazy little family.

In knitting news, I have reached my goal of completing 3 projects this month. I just finished and felted another moebius basket. I think I am going to have to felt it again because I can still see the grain of the stitches. I used Lopi Icelandic wool and it is extremely wooly...imagine that! I was left with an incredibly hairy basket. I'm not too sure if I like Lopi or not. I don't think I will use it to felt anything else. I am patiently waiting on my Cascade 220 yarn to come in so I can get to work on a Satchel from Knitty.com. It is the second satchel that is shown on the page. I'm excited about it and ready to get started.

Well, I think I am going to go work on some more homework so that I can get into bed at a timely matter. Although I don't think it will be too early after getting twelve hours of sleep.

Back to the Books

2006-01-09T21:08:00.000-05:00

Today was officially my first day back to class. I only had one class today so that made matters better. I actually worked an eight hour shift before I went to class at three. My first class was Foundations in Literacy and it actually applies to my major. It basically covers phonetics, grammer, sentence structures...that kind of stuff. Actually I think it will be a good review, especially when you don't use those kinds of fancy words in daily life.

I think I am going to like my professor for this particular class because she was really bashing the President's No Child Left Behind Plan for literacy because it basically wipes out any form of creativity, and limits a teachers ability to teach writing as well as reading. She seemed well versed in literacy politics and I think that will make for some interesting classroom discussions. We are going to be taking some "field trips" to the Child Development Center on campus and perform some observations on how the children use their speech abilities and how their caregivers help develop their skills. The best part about the research is that we use actual class time instead of having to be thrown out on our own without a clue as to what we are doing.

My only concern is a math class that I signed up for. I'm not sure if it counts as an actual credit or not. Since advisors don't actually help students make schedules, seeing that we do it on our own online, I didn't have a clue what to pick. The advisor just told me that I needed another math credit, so I chose the first thing available that worked with my schedule. I'm not too worried about it, I need a refresher course anyway.

I took some dig. pics of my knitting projects, and now I can't get the damn camera to connect to the computer. I think I will be purchasing a new camera with my financial aid money. It can be for educational purposes. The pics turned out good too!

I am still trying to get some vacation pics organized so that I can post them too. It seems that I am having camera difficulties, so maybe I am just not meant to post them at all.

Fraggle Rock-a-thon

2006-01-08T00:36:00.000-05:00

My mom came for a visit today. She needed to do some shopping erands, and she also got some more piercings done in her ear. She got a quadruple spiral up the side of her left cartlidge. She had to have three holes pierced and one hole stretched to accomodate the jewelry. It looks pretty sweet...although pretty irritated. She said it isn't hurting her too much, just a little pressure. I am beginning to think my mom is hard core. This piercing makes 16 holes in her ears so far. I think I have decided that I am going to get another piercing myself. It is called a conch (after clicking the link it is the piercing going through the large lobe hole), and I may have it pierced at a large gauge which means that a large piece of my cartlidge will be removed. The only downside is that once the hole is made it will never grow up...I think I can live with that. I am still going to think about it for a week or two before I make my decision.

After going around town with my mom, we decided to go to Target. That is where I purchased the entire first season of Fraggle Rock. I decided that I would make a date with the TV and the couch and have a little flashback reunion with myself. I was supposed to go to one of the clubs/bar downtown to a friends going away party, but I wimped out. I decided to just meet her at Starbucks so that I could say my goodbyes and give her the necklace I made for her. I am sad to see her go, she has been a very good friend. Good friends are hard to come by these days.

It was interesting to watch Fraggle Rock again after all these years. It's too bad Jim Henson died, and Disney took over his studios. I still think Eisner had him killed...he died so suddenly. They don't make muppets like they used to....Ma na Ma na.

I was starting another knitted basket but started getting tired and screwing the thing up...so I thought I better give it a rest. The Red Molly's will be returning soon and I must get up early to prepare the house for them. I am off to bed now.

Better Than Underwater Basket Weaving

2006-01-07T00:46:00.000-05:00

It's moebius knitting...basket style! I have just completed project number five for the month, and in one night. I've just come to the end of my 6 (or 7) hour knit-a-thon. I had nothing better to do and an awesome skein of Manos del Uruguay staring at me, and I decided to go in for the kill. I wish I had my digital camera handy so I could post a pic.

There is one step left in the project and that is to felt. I guess I should start by explaining what the project is. I bought my cousin a book on Moebius knitting for X-mas and there are some awesome patterns inside, one which I fell in love with, a knitted basket that is felted before completion. I decided to make some copies of the pattern before I handed the book over, bought some Manos del Uruguay, and made a point to complete the project.

Moebius knitting, for those who are unfamiliar with the process, is the act of knitting one complete surface that turns in on itself...it's a mathematical and knitting miracle! You can make anything from scarves to bags to bowls and baskets...even cat beds. Cat Bordhi wrote the book which is called " A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting." She has the amazing ability to explain anything in a way that is extremely easy to understand. She includes lots of great visual aids, instructions, definitions, and guidlines. Everything is circular knit on extremely long needles (mine are 60 inches long!). On Addi turbos, the knitting goes be lickity split.

I still cant believe I completed an entire project (minus the felting) in around 6 hours. I didn't even realize that much time had gone by. I ate dinner around six and stopped for a break at nine, and thought maybe I had been sitting for an hour at the most. It's amazing how much time can fly by when concentration takes over.

Anyhow...I know I have been promising lots of pictures lately and I have not delivered. I am going to try my hardest to get lots of pics in and include some of my latest projects. I only have a couple more days before classes start and I will probably not be spitting out as many projects. I need to enjoy these last two days as much as possible.

Come to think of it, I think the two shots of espresso I drank after dinner, plus the french pressed coffee I had at work might have played a part in my knit-a-thon. I think I am going to attempt to go to bed now before I crash.

Project Completion

2006-01-06T09:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, after a long day of work, shopping for clothes, buying books for class, doing laundry, and making dinner, I somehow found time to finish three projects before turning into bed. It was a good thing I had projects to work on because I was a little irritated and grouchy last night from the 4 hours of sleep I recieved the night before. They gave me something to take my mind off of my mood.

I finished the knitting project I had been working on...that makes my fourth completed project in about a month. I have made a hat, a small toy, a scarf, and I can't say what the fourth project is until I give it to my cousin. I am going to be moving on to some felting projects next, which I am looking forward to.

A friend of mine that I met at work is going to be moving away to New York (Brooklyn) on Sunday, and I wanted to give her something to remember me by. She had given me some antique jewelry that she had stored away, and I didn't want to give her nothing in return. I decided to make her a nice necklace with some turquoise that I had purchased in Arizona. I also included a glazed and fired clay bead that I had made back in high school. I guess it was just waiting for the right moment to be used. The necklace did not take me long at all. I had purchased some stainless steel cording which is coated in nylon. It makes for a smoother, more pliable necklace, which is less likely to break like it's fishing line counterpart. I think she will like it. Turquoise is one of her favorite stones and is part of the reason why we became such good friends. I will give it to her at her going away party on Saturday.

The third project, albeit small, but meaningful nonetheless, was a pair of earings for my mom. While in Arizona we looked at a lot of beads and jewelry supplies, and since I have made quite a bit of jewelry in my day, my mom thought I should make her some. She purchased pearls, stones, earing starters, clasps, beads, etc...All for me to make her a plethora of jewelry. I thought I would start small and make a simple pair of dangling earings with silver beads and pieces of lapis lazuli. They turned out pretty nice and only took about 5 minutes to make. Hopefully I will see her this weekend so that I can give them to her.

I guess being in a house with only two kitties to keep one company provides plenty of quiet time to create. I need to be reading the 6 books that I have started but will probably never finish. I am off to get ready for work now. I have another short shift today of only 4.5 hours. I like those shifts because just when the day starts to get long it is time to go home...heh, I made a rhyme.

French Green Lentil Soup

2006-01-02T19:06:00.000-05:00

That was the highlight of my long day. After working from 5AM until 1:30PM, and getting maybe an hour of sleep last night...I was beat. I did, however, decide to make some Lentil soup using some French green lentils that Red Molly had purchased. She told me that I could use them to make whatever I desired as long as I told her how good it was later.

It was good! The soup I made is called Hearty Lentil Soup, and it comes from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone," by Deborah Madison. The book is quite large and contains numerous recipes. It's too bad that the Red Molly's were not here to enjoy it with me. I broiled some French bread with a little olive oil as an added bonus. I love having such a great kitchen at hand to make whatever I desire.

I am planning on doing a little knitting before I turn in tonight, and I may even upload some Arizona pics. I am lucky enough to have the same work schedule tomorrow, so I won't be staying up too late. Hopefully I can get some shut eye tonight.

House Sitting

2006-01-01T20:14:00.000-05:00

I am now a temporary resident of the Red Molly's while they are being whisked away to the Pacific Northwest. Just me and the kitties. I won't know what to do with myself...what with a gourmet kitchen, high speed internet access, good movies to watch, and good music to listen to. They might have to kick me out when they come back. I just finished making a quick curry stir fry with vegetable pasta, and chocolate chip cookies. Nothing fancy, but definitely good when all you've had for the day was grits. I got caught up with knitting and getting everything ready to bring over to the Red Molly's that I just forgot to eat. Anyhow, this is going to be a quick blog because I am going to go knit some more, and maybe watch a little TV before I turn into bed a little earlier than last night (or should I say 3AM this morning). I have to go back to work tomorrow at 5AM...Yay.

It will be nice to see all of my coworkers after being away for two weeks. Hopefully I will get started on my vacation pics and have some up in a day or two.

Goodnight All!

The Home Stretch

2005-12-29T22:45:00.000-05:00

I am home now from my trip to Arizona...which was awesome...again. My mom is now seriously considering moving out there, which makes me very excited. The weather stayed nice, unfortunately there was no snow at all the entire time we were there. Mild temperatures in the daytime and much cooler tempertures at night was the norm. I managed to find two more knitting stores before we headed home. I found one in Sedona called the Red Rock knit shop and one in Jerome called Knit 1 Bead 2. The latter was an awesome, and well organized knit/bead shop. All of the yarn was organized by color. It was sort of like looking at an aura of yarn. I ended up purchasing a nice skein of Manos del Uruguay for a future felting project.

The trip home sucked. Long layovers, annoying people, and an all night flight. I think most flights suck in general, however, this one took the cake. Luckily there were no delays to hold us back any longer than we were. I'm glad to be back for the time being, but sad that we couldn't have stayed longer. I feel so at home in Arizona.

I am dealing with some light bronchial irritation now, probably from the change in humidity, altitude, and temperature. Nothing too major, just an irritating cough.

I will probably be doing a lot more blogging over the next week, for I will be spending some time at the Red Molly's watching their house, and kitty sitting. I have one more week before classes start, and it conveniently lined up with the time I was going to be house/kitty sitting. Lots of knitting, reading, blogging, and movie watching...mixed in with a little work. I hope I haven't forgot how to make a latte...it has been two whole weeks since I have been to work.

I am going to work on posting some pics from our trip soon. I am not going to go into lengthy detail about everything...just a photo montage.

Arizona Bound

2005-12-21T17:19:00.000-05:00

I know it has been a while since my last blog and I do apologize for that. I am now in Arizona once again on our second trip out West this year. My mom and I decided to go to Flagstaff to check things out in their neck of the woods. We are still seriously considering moving here. Flagstaff is very nice and it is a college town where people actually care about the community, the environment, and politics. That's a big switch from my neck of the woods, where there are numerous campuses, yet you would never know they existed. I am happy to be back here, I feel like I am getting my batteries recharged. The energy is so good here, and we have been back to Sedona. As a matter of fact, after I leave the public library my mom and I are heading back there again tonight. I am going to a small Solstice gathering at one of the metaphysical shops. I am pretty excited about it. I was afraid that I was going to miss the Solstice again this year.

We are taking our time this go around. We haven't planned anything, and we are just playing things by ear. We saw and did so much last time, that we don't have to rush to fit everything in. There has been no sign of snow so far, which is incredibly odd for Flagstaff this time of year. As a matter of fact, when we were here last time, in July, there was snow on top of the San Fransisco peaks, and now there is hardly any. They are saying that it won't be a white christmas, and that is a bummer. Oh well, the temperatures have been nice during the day with highs in the upper 50's, lower 60's and nights in the lower 30's. I guess they are having some sort of freak heat wave.

Well, I know this post is quick and lacking detail, but I haven't got much time to write. My session is about to expire. I hope everyone has a great holiday, and a safe New Year...If I don't get to blog before then.

On a side note, I found the most awesome knitting store in downtown Flagstaff and purchased some nice Lopi Icelandic wool to do some felting projects when I get home.

Quickie

2005-12-12T09:56:00.001-05:00

This is just going to be a quick blog before I go to work.

I was finished with school last Friday, after my last final exam. Grades are not in yet, but I know I have A's in two of my classes. I am so glad this semester is over, and it feels like an enormous weight has been lifted from my shoulders. All of my tuition is taken care of for next semester, and I will have more money coming to me. I did not have to fight with financial aid this time to get everything done. I guess they finally got the memo.

In knitting news. I finished my hat that I was working on last week, and I started a new project last night. The new project is a little creature that has a rice and lavender filled bag inside that can be heated up. After heating the bag it gets inserted back into the monster and it will stay warm for about 30 minutes to be used as a handwarmer. They were cute and I thought they would be fun and easy to make. I am actually almost done with one. I had some trouble here and there, but it is because they are so small. The pattern can be viewed here. I am kind of into making toys and hats right now. They are pretty quick and enjoyable.

Hopefully I can get some pics posted soon. I need to charge the digi. camera and get on the ball.

This concludes my short and quick blog...Have a great day!

Winding Down

2005-12-06T20:14:00.000-05:00

I am nearing the end of the semester and I am delighted! I have been working on some last minute things for school...I had a presentation last friday, a test last thursday, a final today. I have a final on thursday and one on friday. After my finals, I am completely finished for the semester, than it is off to Flagstaff.

My weekend was nice. I went home again to spend some more time with my mom. I think she is pretty down that I am not there to spend the holidays with her. I'm sure it is hard for her simply because I am not there. I think I have transitioned fairly well being away from home. I still get homesick from time to time...especially when times get rough. Anyhow...I spent Saturday at my hometown's 21st annual Christmas on the Square. It is basically a bunch of vendors who collaborate downtown (the whole city is pretty much downtown) to sell their crafts, perform music, dance, and sell food. Basically, it is a lot of crafty junk, mixed in with a plethora of religious paraphernalia, and cheesy christmas music. However, it has been a tradition to go for a long time. There is also a parade at night, that I actually marched in for 5 or 6 years in the Middle and High School Band. There is also a plethora of religious, shove-it-down-your-throat, stuff involved in that as well. However, once again, it has been a tradition for a long time. My aunt, and a group of people that she works with joined us as well. I did get a chance to see a lot of people that I haven't seen in a while including, but not limited to, old friends, old friend's parents, school board employees, teachers, and old co-workers. It can be overwhelming to go back home after one has been away for a while, and I got a nice dose of that last weekend. Other than christmas on the square, I did a whole lot of nothing while I was at home.

It was nice to see my mom again, and my dog and cat. I may not get to see my dog too much longer, as he has been down for a while. He was ran over by a truck when he was younger and developed a number of problems, but luckily has survived and thrived seven years later. I think his problems and his age has begun to take a toll on his body as he has not been the lively pup he once was. My mom may decided to have him euthanized later this week, or next week, depending on how much worse he gets. I will miss him dearly, but I don't like to see an animal suffer.

That's about all I have to report at this time. I am currently at Red Molly's house using her computer facilities. I think I am going to go enjoy the wine I have been drinking and spend some more quality time with her before I head to my abode. We have been trying to decide where we are going to go eat tomorrow.

Weddings, Mom, and R&R

2005-11-30T20:51:00.000-05:00

I know it's a little late but I thought I would summarize my weekend. I was able to get off work early in the afternoon last Friday so that I could make it home in time to go to my good friend's wedding rehearsal. I was elected to be one of the groomsmen of her future husband which I didn't know very well...nevertheless, I would do anything for my friends. What's strange is that I dated her in middle and high school and everyone thought that we would be the ones to get married. However, we found that we got along a lot better as friends. So, that being said, she was the first in my immediate friend group to get married. We are growing up so fast!

The wedding was on Saturday, and it was fairly quick. It was in a very Christian community, which was weird for me, since I am not christian, and I haven't been to church in years. It was a nice ceremony which included most of the traditional wedding stuff. There were three preachers: two were advent Christian and one was Presbyterian. I, along with another good friend of mine, was in charge of: lighting the candles, pulling out the runner (which ended up being slightly disasterous because it kept getting knotted up and stuck), ushering friends and family, and being groomsmen. I guess that's what friends are for.

The reception was pretty basic. Dance with father, Dance with mother (for the groom), making toasts, and eating. Nothing more, nothing less. I did get a chance to see a few people I went to high school with, which was nice. One person didn't even recognize me. That is probably due to the fact that I have been working on growing a beard in preparation for my trip back to Arizona coming up in December.

I was happy to be a part of her celebration, and happy that she has found someone she wants to spend the rest of her life with and have many children (which is her dream, and why we would have never made it together).

The rest of the weekend I spent with my mom. She made me a little dinner for a post-Thanksgiving get together. I had a lentil loaf with steamed veggies, succotash, and vegan apple pie (yum!!). We also went out to eat one night at our favorite Asian restaurant in Gainseville. I helped her pick out a tree on Sunday, which ended up being very nice and full. It was so perfect it looked fake. I talked to her the other day and she said she started crying when she put the decorations on the tree because I wasn't there to help her. That made me sad...I wish I could spend more time with my mom, but unfortunately it is time to grow up and make sacrafices.

I am nearing the end of the semester and I have been busy writing papers, studying, doing classroom observations, and working on projects. I am glad that I am almost done. I think I have one more week and I can't wait. It's off to Arizona after that, and I am very happy about that! My mom and I are going to scope things out in Flagstaff and hopefully play in the snow!

I guess that's about it for now. I am off to study for a test tomorrow. I will hopefully have some pics soon from the wedding. I know I have been real behind in my picture taking.

Thanksgiving with the Red Molly's and friends

2005-11-24T22:28:00.000-05:00

After a very boring morning and early afternoon at work today (Starbucks was open from 7AM until 2PM), I headed over to the Red Molly's house for a Thanksgiving feast. Of course, we started the evening off with some nice red wine. I helped a little with the salad, and getting rid of the wine. Mr. Red Molly's mother was there, also, Mr. and Mrs. Red Molly's daughter came over with her friend and two more of her friends showed up bearing a king's feast. They brought over lots of vegetarian goodies, since they are vegetarians, of course. They brought brazil nut roast, acorn squash pie, green bean casserole, tempeh cakes, cranberry sauce (which was very alcoholic...you had to have an i.d. to eat it), and more wine.

Mrs. Red Molly was busy working on her salads, a turkey, corn relish, green beans, etc...The bird took a little while longer to cook, than was originally expected (us vegetarian folks were good and ready to go). Nonetheless, the bird was finally done, and we all sat down and stuffed our faces full. The vegetarian food was great...especially the brazil nut roast. There is nothing like a belly full of good wine and good food, and a table full of great people.

After dinner we all helped clean up, and then proceeded to "shoot the shit," as people are prone to say. Basically just after dinner conversation, good music, and decent weather. All in all, I was glad I got to spend my Thanksgiving with the Red Molly's, especially since I was unable to go home today. However, I will be going home this weekend to see my mom and to be in one of my best friend's wedding. My mom is going to cook me an after Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner. Man, two great dinners in one week...doesn't get much better than that.

The Sounds of Silence

2005-11-21T01:34:00.000-05:00

It's 1:30 in the AM and my readers will be happy to know that I have been diligently knitting away at a new hat. A description and picture can be found here. The pattern is fairly easy and that is a must since I haven't really knitted anything in months. I was hesitant to start a new project, especially after having to rip out my brioche hat that I had been working so hard on. Oh well, at least I can say I know how to brioche knit now. I realized that I really miss knitting, and I need to incorporate a little down time into my schedule on a regular basis. There are so many extra-curricular things that I should be doing such as reading, knitting, writing, watching movies, etc...

After writing a 7 page paper today, going to Target and the grocery store, I went over to my cousin's house tonight to make dinner for her. I made a Thai peanut noodle salad. Her friend also joined us for dinner. The salad was good and we washed it down with some red wine. For desert, we played a few rounds of Ms. Pacman. I also practiced my crotchet skills, quite unsuccessfully I might add. I really can't stand crotchet...Too many stitches to fool around with. Give me a knitting project anyday!

Anyhow, I am going to be bogged down with homework for the next week or so. I'm working on a 10-20 page paper at the moment. So far I am on page 3. I believe I have quite a ways to go. It is due in a week on Tuesday. I have projects to work on, presentations to make, and tests to study for. I just love the end of the semester (insert foul remark here).

I am off to bed, only to start the process all over again tomorrow. Goodnight.

Oh...I forgot to mention that I have the house entirely to myself for the next week. My aunt and cousin are away on a trip to Kentucky. Oh the sounds of silence, how blissful they are.

The Mother Load

2005-11-18T20:58:00.000-05:00

After quite a long day of field study and class, I decided I would treat myself to a trip to some thrift stores around town. After depositing my check, I decided my first stop would be the Humane Society thrift store to look at their collection of vintage vinyl. Boy was I in for a treat. I have been looking for some Peter, Paul, and Mary albums and lo and behold, their's was one of the first ones I found. It was sitting right on the shelf waiting for me. After searching through a plethora of records I came out with the following:

Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat
David Bowie - Young Americans
Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary - Album 1700
Jackson Browne - Saturate Before Using
Jackson Browne - Late For the Sky
Jackson Browne - Running on Empty

I thought I was quite successful in my findings. I was so excited that I didn't even bother going through the clothing. I then decided to go to the Salvation Army to actually look for clothes. I was unsuccessful, and noticed that they had raised their prices quite drastically. I decided I would look at their collection of vinyl and CDs. I made out with the following:

Rush - Archives (vinyl)
Yonder Mountain String Band - Mountain Tracks: Volume 2 (CD)

I had heard of Yonder Mountain String Band through a friend at work. They are kind of like a mix between the Grateful Dead and Phish...sort of. They have this one song on the album called "Took Two Hits and the Joint Turned Brown." I was immediately hooked. No further explanations necessary.

Anyway, that was a great end to my day. Now I am off to listen to my new acquired collections and read some Tom Robbins.

Against The Grain

2005-11-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

That seems to be the way I feel I am going these days.

Quite a bit has gone on since my last blog. I am still very busy with work and school, of course. I think that professors get a thrill out of giving us as much homework as possible right before the semester ends. I'll start with a brief summary of the last few days or so.

I have been dealing with the idiots at UNF, that are bound and determined to piss me off each and every time I set foot on the campus. I needed to change my major from secondary to elementary education and supposedly I missed the deadline by five days. Well, I never saw anything about a deadline on the calender of events (which accessing it is an event all in itself). It's one thing that I missed the deadline, but everyone seems to get nasty about it. When I turned in the form the guy behind the desk barely acknowledged me as he was discussing other topics with a coworker (something about a computer program). He just ripped off my copy and handed it to me. Didn't even ask me if I had any questions. Well, I did, and I stood there until he acknowledged me. I wonder sometimes if I am invisible. I just took my paper and walked off. I managed to work out some sort of schedule so that I can somewhat stay on track with my program of study. I have to take another exam to replace the one I did not pass. I will do that in January.

I'm very proud of myself because I started to get really pissed off, but I just stopped and told myself that it didn't really matter...life will go on. I am trying to form a new outlook on things. Maybe it's all a sign that I need to move to Arizona sooner than later. I feel so compelled to drop everything, go, and start all over. I yearn for it each and everyday.

On a brighter note. I actually stood in front of my sociology class and presented a letter to my future children about the status of the society we live in today. It was an extra credit assignment that our Prof. gave us in class. He started picking random people and I decided to volunteer. I was very nervous, but glad that I had the opportunity to get my two cents in. I have been very quiet the whole term, and I figured I would go out with a bang. I hope he gives us the letters back, because I would like to post it for my readers to take a look at.

On Tuesday (which is the same day that all of the above stuff took place), our Teaching Diverse Populations Prof. gave us a treat by bringing in a singer/songwriter/union activist named Anne Feeney. She was so amazing. She had been in town doing demonstrations for the Wal-Mart documentary that is going to premier here in Jax called "The high cost of low prices." She was on to Georgia to do some more demonstrating and singing. This woman had so much information to give us, and her energy was awesome. I read about her on her website and supposedly she is in with Utah Philips, Peter, Paul and Mary, among other Folk activist. It was an exciting class for me anyway. We have been having some wonderful guest speakers in that class over the last few weeks. We had the Pride group for the campus come in and speak about Homosexuality in society. We had a panal of women speak about special education, and so on and so forth.

I have been busy getting all of my homework caught up in between work, volunteering, observing at schools, and life (which I seem to have less and less of). I decided that I would take a break from all of that for a moment and give my faithful readers an update. Maybe I just wanted to take a break :)

Oh...I have also stretched my ear lobes again. I am up to a 6 gauge now, 3 gauges bigger than I started. How exciting and exhilerating.

Baby Steps

2005-11-08T11:31:00.000-05:00

There hasn't been too much going on since my last post. I am still going balls to the wall for the most part, between work (which I love) and school (which I hate). I have some good news about work and some bad news about school. I'll start with the good news.

At Starbucks we have evaluations called snapshots. This is where a mystery shopper comes in and analyzes the environment within the store, how well we are performing, and takes measurments of the latte drinks to make sure that they are the correct temperature and weight...We are serious about our coffee. Anyway, we just recently recieved a snapshot and we rocked! I guess I could say that I rocked because it was mostly about my performance. We got 100%...and out of the 5 points possible for the Starbucks experience we got a 4. That is pretty damn good. We would have recieved a 5 if it wouldn't have been for the other two employees (one was a manager) engaging in their own personal conversation (which is something we are all guilty of from time to time). Our new manager was very happy about it as well as the shift managers. I got a little boost in my self-esteem.

Just to make a little segway here...I have been having some interesting conversations with an employee at Keva Juice (a smoothie and juice bar behind Starbucks, of which I am a frequent visitor). She (the employee) is in the beginning stages of her own personal spiritual quest and we seem to have much to talk about since I am coming to the end of mine...or maybe just the beginning, it's hard to say. We talk about religion, philosophy, spirituality, concepts, prophecies, and ideals. It has been intersting and energizing to speak with someone I can relate to about issues that I am concerned with. It seems as though I have a lot to say to her. I wonder sometimes if we are meant to meet people at certain times in our lives to either share or recieve information and encouragment. It's nice to know that there are people out there that are thinking outside of the proverbial box. It gets a little lonely out there sometimes.

On to the bad news. I recieved my CLAST scores in the mail yesterday. I wasn't pleased with what I saw when I opened the envelope. The CLAST test is the College Level Achievement Skills Test. It is a test I have to pass to get into the college of Education. I passed the essay, english and reading skills with flying scores. However, I failed the math portion by 5 freaking points! I was quite irritated by that. I am not so good at math, and I guess I should consider my score pretty good since I did not study for the test at all. I need to work on my statistics skills. I have never taken a statistics class except for the small amount that was in my math for liberal arts class that I took over a year and a half ago. What was really strange is that I did better in geometry than in algebra (one of my stronger subjects). I don't know what happened. Now I can't take the test again until February. I just hope that I can continue working on my degree until then.

I think this may be a sign that I need to move to Arizona sooner than later. I am being drawn there more and more everyday. I hate Jacksonville, and I really don't like the school that I am in. I have had nothing but issues with school since I started. Maybe it's just a lesson in patience...I don't know. Either way I am ready to get out of here and move on.

My readers should feel special because I actually skipped my first class this morning to come into the computer lab and finish my website that I have been working on for another class. I figured I would take the opportunity to write a little blog while I was here. You can view my website here or on my profile page. I hope everyone is having a good week!

Fear Factor

2005-10-31T21:42:00.000-05:00

Tonight was one of the nights where I perform my civiv duty of volunteering at one of the local YMCAs here in Jax. Keep in mind that this is Halloween(in case you've been under a rock for the last century or so). I had a pretty rowdy bunch for the first hour, I'm guessing that was from the consumption of sugar-filled goodies. The conversation that was on the lips of the children tonight was that this night of nights is the devil's birthday and that people are going to get murdered among a long list of other gory things.

The YMCA that I am volunteering at has a strong christian foundation and support system. I am respectful of that as long as I am not required to pray or say the pledge every time I walk in. I just couldn't believe that these kids were so terrified of Halloween. When I was growing up it was all about candy and fun...apparently the Christian society is preaching about the supposed evils of this sacred night.

I have acquired many beliefs over the years and paganism is among them. I feel deeply connected and energized this time of the year. It is a time to honor our departed, and the darkness of the waning sun. I don't see Halloween as an evil time...I see it as a deeply spiritual time. It saddens me to hear that children are scared of Halloween, or that the devil is going to come back. This is the kind of crazy propaganda that the Christians are using to make people think that they need the church to survive.

I don't consider living in fear surviving...I call it being brainwashed. I feel that it is the right of the individual to believe in whatever they want to...but I think there is a problem when such a powerful group of "believers" have to use fear factors to gain membership into their organization.

I truly felt sorry for those kids and it was difficult for me not to say anything. I actually had one little boy ask me what I was going to do on the devil's birthday. I just told him that I was going to sit with him and then go home and do homework. I think he was expecting me to tell him that I was going to go to church and pray for my depraved soul!

I was actually planning on attending a pagan ritual tonight out at the beach but I decided that I didn't want to drive all the way out there, plus one of my dear friends wasn't going to be able to make it out there with me. Oh well, there's always next year.

May all the spirits walking the earthly plane tonight find peace in their souls. May they find the light they are searching for, and the love to guide them home.

Friday Night Out

2005-10-28T23:45:00.000-05:00

This would definitely be one of the first for me in a while. I have become quite good friends with a classmate of mine and I was invited to go over to his apartment and hang out with him and his wife. The original plan was to drink wine and watch Sideways but we ended up drinking different things and watching Fight Club (which I had never seen). I had sake (and apparently it is pronounced sock-ay and not sock-y) for the first time (yeah I know, I'm way behind), and enjoyed quite immensely.

I guess I should be polite and disclose the names of my new friend and his wife. His name is Shane and his wife's name is Yuki. He just separated from the military like two months ago and just moved to Jacksonville at that very time. He had been living in Japan for, I think 5 years prior, and that is where he met his wife. He is quite an interesting guy and we seem to have much in common. Highly intelligent, and that makes me happy because I can be challenged in a conversation. Anyway, it is nice that I have made an official friend that I can hang out with...I was beginning to wonder if that was going to happen.

So, the movie was interesting as well as our conversations, which revolved around politics, drugs, Japan, and Literature. I was given two books on loan which apparently I just have to read. One is titled "Villa Incognito" by Tom Robbins, and the other is titled "Lullaby" by Chuck Palahniuk (he is the author of "Fight Club"). I am working on reading "Angela's Ashes," and "1984" at the moment and I am not getting very far with either one. I am a slow reader and on top of that I don't really have time to read. Just to clarify, I read quite well, I am just slow because I don't want to miss any minute detail that may be floating around on the page.

All in all I had a nice Friday night. No work...just play.

Busy, Yet Productive

2005-10-24T20:28:00.000-05:00

Today was exactly one of those days. First of all I had a long weekend...which included partying (I won't go into the details), and little sleep. Given that fact I spent my entire day doing observations and volunteering.

I started off this morning at Don Brewer Elementary School here in Jacksonville doing my classroom observation. I am required to do 18 hours total this semester (which is mind numbingly almost over); 9 hours in elementary and 9 hours in a secondary school. I got 4 and a half hours out of the way today...so that is a good start. It mainly consisted of me sitting quietly in class observing classroom environment and production. What made it interesting is that the class that I observed was part of the alternative education program mainly focusing on dropout prevention. Most of the kids couldn't stay still or focus for five seconds. A lot of them are bussed from downtown (somehow that didn't go away with integration here in the deep south...imagine that!). Jacksonville has this thing for bussing the dissadvantaged (mainly african american) kids from downtown to suburban schools, and the "smart" white kids to schools downtown. Cultural enrichment? I'll let you guys be the judge of that. Sounds more like politics to me. Anyway...back to the point.

So I basically just sat around and took notes. I asked the teacher questions when I could and did a little mini-interview with her. All in all it was pretty interesting to see where I might end up one day. I would actually love to do something like that. I am much more patient when it comes to kids.

I was able to come home for a couple of hours, eat and crash. I went by work to pick up a coffee traveler to take with me to the YMCA on the north side of town. That is where I am going to get in my volunteer hours (which I just so happen to need 18 hours of as well). My manager at work is so awesome...she gave me the coffee traveler at no charge. She said that she would just mark it out as a donation since I was going to do volunteer work. I was so totally prepared to pay for it (it's about 13 bucks...of course I get a 30% discount). We just got a new manager and she is turning out to be really great...Starbucks generally hires great people.

To conclude my small rambling, the volunteering went fairly quickly. I basically was working with another woman who is in charge of the "kidzone." Basically kidzone is a daycare for the parents who are working out or attending meetings and the like at the YMCA. There wasn't a very large group tonight and most of the kids were pretty quiet.

All in all I had a busy, yet fairly easy day. Now I am off to upload some new music to my iPod (The Decemberists), and write a 3 page paper that is due tomorrow afternoon.

Goodnight all!

Snmnmnm

2005-10-20T21:38:00.000-05:00

No, I didn't fall asleep on my keyboard. That is actually the name of a great band I have discovered today thanks to one of the few cool classmates I come in contact with at school. He calls it "Nerd Rock." They sound a lot like They Might Be Giants in that they are kind of silly but catchy at the same time. They have tubas, accordians and trumpets...how cool is that? Shane, the classmate who burned the CD for me, gave me quite a decent sampling of their stuff. He actually informed me that Snmnmnm is going to be in Gainesville soon. I might just have to invite myself along.

Unfortunately, my iTunes would not pick up the names of the songs from the burned CD (it usually does). It informed me that it could not find the CD in the database. I am unable to list any songs because I have no clue what their titles are. Oh well, who needs titles when you have such great music to listen to.

I am off now to finish some last minute homework. I want a good bit of it done because I am going home again this weekend and I probably will not get anything done there...especially since I am going to party it up Saturday night with some of my old friends. I am looking forward to that. I need some silly release.

A Week in Weekend Update

2005-10-18T23:57:00.000-05:00

After a week of dealing with my stupid computer that had a desire to shut off whenever it felt like it, it is working well enough now that I can get online and do the things that I need to do...like blog. I have had quite an eventful week and a half since my last post. Most of which has included busy work and school schedules. I won't go into lots of unimportant details about all of that. I will, however, talk about the shitty time I had at Busch Gardens last weekend.

After working long hours and doing lots of homework, I was excited that I was going to Hallowscream at Busch Gardens in Tampa. My mom and I had been planning this for a while and I was looking forward to it. What was meant to be a release from the many tensions and stresses of my daily life, quickly turned out to be a disaster.

Along for the ride was my mom's friend, who also happens to be my former high school band teacher. Her three kids and mother went with her as well. My mom's friend had just lost her grandmother the day that we were leaving and her mom was distraught and emotional over that. They ended up going anyway, and her mother had begun to get slightly dramatic. After arriving at the park, we saw a massive amount of people waiting in line to get in. I immediately had a bad feeling that the park was going to be overcrowded. Not only was it overcrowded, but it was so unbelievably unorganized that I had the burning desire to ask for our money back. In all the years that I have gone to Busch Gardens, I had never seen the park the way it was Saturday night.

We had intended to go into all of the haunted houses and ride a few rides. After walking around in circles for hours trying to find the damn haunted houses, we ended up only going into one house and riding only one ride. The signs they had posted led us in all different directions, but not in the direction of where the haunted houses actually were. I had to ask for directions (which didn't help) many times. I don't know if it was the crowd, my mom's friend's mom's desire to pop xanax and drink beer (she slept a good part of the night), or the kid's complainng, but I was having a miserable time. I felt dissapointed that I was unable to go into the haunted houses.

We did see one show while we were there. It was so mysoginistic and racist that I just wanted to leave. It featured larger than life women in skimpy nurse uniforms, and a man trying to create the perfect woman...all roled up into tons of halloween fun! I will leave the rest to the imagination. Let's just say I wrote a commentary on it for my sociology class.

All that being said...My weekend at Busch Gardens sucked! I did try to purchase an Apple laptop at the Apple store in Tampa. I was unsuccessful. I am having issues trying to get a high enough credit limit with apple to cover the cost of the really expensive computer that I want. I think I am going to hold off for a little while longer, since apparently the piece of shit I am using now has decided to work for the time being. I am going to contact one of my Credit Card companies to see if they will give me a higher limit with less interest than what apple was offering me...I need to give a shout out to my mom for her assistance with the credit applications. I would also like to give a shout out to all of my family members who have offered their computers and time for my internet needs. You know who you are. All of that being said, I will continue to have a busy week, which seems to be the trend in my life right now.

On a positive note I have finally recieved placement for my teacher/school observations and my volunteer times. I will be starting this Saturday volunteering at one of the local YMCAs. I will be observing at one of the elementary schools here in Jax. on Monday. It is nice to finally have everything in place. I was getting worried for a while that this wasn't going to happen until the last minute...which is drawing nearer with every tick of the clock. I'm not sure why I felt like that was an imporatant element for this blog, but I wrote it anyway.

Goodnight all!

Riding the Wave

2005-10-10T08:34:00.000-05:00

Great news! I finally have my own personal internet. I no longer have to mooch off of my family members for access. I got one of those promotional earth link CD's from my mom that entitles me to 6 months of dial-up for 10 bucks a month. I don't care for dial-up but it is better than nothing. It's hard not having the internet available when I need it, especially when it comes to school assignments. Now I won't have to hang around school any longer than I have to. Of course easy access to the internet means more blogs! Isn't that just the most exciting news you have heard all day. Now I can get on the ball and post some pics, and get caught up on all of the great things everyone has been missing out on. The bad news is that I am going to have to discipline myself not to stay on the internet all night, or when I really should be doing homework (like right now).

Just thought I would share the good news with everyone.

Misogyny Prevails

2005-10-06T13:32:00.000-05:00

What better excuse to write a new post than on the topic of feminism and gender roles in America. This has been the focus of my sociology class as of late. I have found it quite interesting to just sit back and listen to all of the crap that comes out of so many students' mouths. I have honestly decided that this university has an alarming amount of closed-minded individuals. It's obvious where they are coming from. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the University of North Florida is about 90% white. I think that is the answer to the dilemma. Anyway, in class today we were discussing gender roles, specifically those of females. We got on the topic of marriage, and how the woman always takes the husband's name. My professor could not get a decent answer out of anyway as to why that is. There was, of course, the typical "It's tradition" responses floating around. There were even references to the bible itself! The Prof. then asked the males in the class how they would view the roles of man and wife in a marriage. Many responded to the prompt that the women should have jobs AND take care of the house and the babies. I personally think that there should be an equal amount of responsibility on both the husband's and the wife's part...however, I do not believe in the institution of marriage in and of itself because I think it harbors domination and role playing. I am more of a civil union kind of guy.

Anyhow, the prof. then asked the females in the class how they wanted to play their role as wife. There were a few that wanted to be housewives (imagine that) and some that thought they should be solely responsible for their children and home. Most, however, thought that a husband and a wife should share roles equally. Here comes the twist...The prof. then asked how many of the females who wanted equality considered themselves feminists. All but one lowered their hands. How disturbing is that? If Feminism had never existed they would not even be sitting in that classroom. When the Prof. asked them why, it was mostly because of the assumption that all feminists are men hating, hairy legged, manly creatures. This is a spoof off of a homosexual activity we did last week, where we had to list stereotypes that homosexuals have to endure. The lesbian side of the board was very masculine, and the gay side was feminine. Therefore, apparently all feminsts are lesbians. I thought that I could not be any more surprised with the classroom responses, but I think today took the cake. I am a feminist and an anti-racist, so I guess that makes me a black lesbian!

Just when you think that people are beginning to open up and tear down age-old institutions, it seems as though they are being reinforced. Thanks to the predominately republican government, which is destroying our nation, it is only going to get worse. Those who fought and died for equality, feminism, anti-racism have done so in vain, if we continue to supress the need for these concepts in our society. I, for one, do not want to see that happen.

A Hole in the Head...Or Make That Two

2005-09-27T11:31:00.000-05:00

The damage has been done. I sauntered on down to a local piercing studio on the southside of town to get my ears pierced on Sunday. The place was called Planet Earth and it was a great place. There was a lot of grateful dead memorabilia, as well as some gothic type stuff. It smelled so great when I walked in because they had been burning Nag Champa incense, one of my personal favorites. The guy that did the piercing was really nice and made me think of the local village shaman who performs the ritualistic piercing and body mutilations for the local tribe. I think modern primitivism is absolutely great and it gets my full support. I let him know that I had plans to stretch my piercings and he made sure that the holes were in the appropriate place and made sure that I was comfortable. I chose to have my piercings done at a 10 gauge instead of the traditional 18 gauge. The larger the gauge, the smaller the number. The needle that he pierced my ears with was huge, and hollow! That was a little scary, but he assured that there would be minimum pain. He took his time getting the placement right, which I appreciated greatly. I wouldn't want crooked piercings. He told me to take three deep breaths and on the third I was pierced. The first hole was no problem. My adrenaline took care of the pain and the endorphins gave me the boost I needed. The second ear was a little sketchy. I guess by then the adrenaline was beginning to wane and before he could get the bead screwed on to the end of the ring I started to feel faint. I told him that I would definitely need to lay down. I relaxed for a while and he gave me a cold cloth for my head and some gum to bring me down. Supposedly sugar helps with that.

I forgot to mention that my mom went with me as well, and wouldn't you know it, she got pierced too! She decided to get another cartilage piercing. She now has 12 piercings total in both ears. That includes three cartilage and one tragus. She wanted to get her nose done too, but didn't have enough cash. Planet Earth is a family ran business, and everyone has multiple piercings as well stretched ones. Even the 11 year old has 1/2 inch piercings! The were extremely nice people and the guy even gave me his card and told me that if I needed to talk with him, or had problems to call him anytime and if he wasn't at the shop he would meet me somewhere. I think I will go back in a week or two to have him look at the piercings and make sure that everything is healing well. I'm hoping the healing process is speedy so that I can begin the stretching procedures. I think it was a bit of a surprise to some people that I would get piercings done, but by now I think everyone knows that I am a little strange. Okay, a lot strange.

Other news from the weekend: My cousin, Erin, who is the daughter of the Red Mollys had a little house warming get together on Sunday evening. My mom made her a really nice quilt to commemorate her first house. She include house blocks in the quilt and the whole thing was made with vintage fabric that was at least 30 years old. Erin is quite the vintage connoisseur. I think she really liked it. She has been inquiring about quilting from my mom and wants to get some pointers from her some day. I enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine and the company of some of Erin's interesting friends. All in all, I had a nice weekend. My week has started off pretty painless as well. I finally received my loan check in the mail, so my finances can breathe a little better now. There is a little drama going on at work, but I am hoping to resolve all of that tonight. More on that later.

The Word

2005-09-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I have posted, so I thought I would give a quick update. I had a great time at home last weekend. I got caught up on some much needed sleep that I have been lacking lately. However, I did not get caught up much on homework. I am dwindling down to the bare bones finally. It seems that as soon as I get caught up I just get a brand new little pile to work on again. Last week was a little stressful. It seems that I will have maybe a week and a half or so of everything going great, and then the next will just be totally hectic. I feel like I am just going with the flow lately. It seems as though there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done. Maybe I am just not organized enough...that's probably it.

I have missed cooking a meal at the Red Molly's this week. Once again, time has not allowed for that in my schedule. I have been having a great time at work lately though...as usual. I only have some issues with one of my shift managers. She is quite the grumpy one. I like her as an individual, just not so much to work with. She gets frustrated super easily, and that in turn makes me very frustrated. Kind of makes for a long day. My main manager is crazy! She acts just like a kid half the time and she is very fun to work with. I find that a bit odd, and sometimes I forget that she is my manager. She is just so easy to get along with. I know that I tend to go on and on about work...maybe I will have to give that a rest for a while.

On another note unrelated to the current topics, I am considering extremely seriously to get my ears pierced so that I can stretch the piercings. I'm sure that is going to cause some reactions in and around my little society I live in...but I am just at that point where I am not worrying about that kind of stuff anymore. I'm not planning on stretching the holes too big...just about to the size of a bic pen. I may do this soon, as it takes a while to get the stretching to the desired size.

Hopefully I will be volunteering at one of the local YMCAs here on the North side of town soon. I am waiting on the background check to clear (which should not be a problem at all). This will be part of the 36 hours of outside of class time that I am required to complete before being able to pass two of my classes. It's a little daunting and conflicting, but I think it will be a good experience for me. I will do 18 hours of community service at the YMCA and 18 hours of observation time in the school system. 9 hours in an elementary school and 9 hours in a secondary school. That should be interesting. The process to get to that point is aggrivating and quite frankly a pain in the ass. We had to go through fingerprinting and waiting and not knowing what the hell is going on. Finally the professor informed us that he will recieve our placements soon so that we may start the actual observations. I don't think anyone has actually started yet and we are already over a month into the course. I may start biting my nails soon.

Rude

2005-09-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

I had to come onto campus early today to get some things straightened out with some classroom observations I have to do for my Education degree. I found the appropriate office and waited patiently for the person in front of me to finish talking and getting things squared away. I already had noticed that the woman in the Field Experience office was in need of a major attitude adjustment, but I just ignored it. It was my turn. I walked in and told her that I needed to sign up for a classroom so that I can begin my 18 hours of observation time. She just looked at me like I was crazy and said, "And?" She said that I wasn't supposed to sign up in her office, that the teacher was supposed to let us know of our placement. I told her that we hadn't had a lot of detail on the subject and I wasn't exactly sure what to do. She let me know that yes, I should have had plenty of detail. Well, she apparently knows my professor better than I do.

To make a short story long, I am supposed to wait for clearance from my background check and then my professor will notify us of our placement. She was just so nasty about the whole thing. Everytime I would explain something she would just say, "And?" What a bitch! Here I am walking around without a clue and I just can't seem to get any assistance around here. This is not the best University to come to and expect a lot of help. It is very unorganized and not staffed very well. It has it's positive points as well, it just seems like they are few and far between.

I am going home this weekend and I am quite excited. I have the entire weekend off from work and I need some R&R. After this past week it is a definite must. It's only going to get more serious from here. I am going to attempt to find my way to the YMCA on the north side of town today so that I can sign up to be a volunteer. That is for the other 18 hours of Field Experience required for my degree. What sucks about the whole situation is that I am not even officially in the College of Education yet. I am basically doing all of this just to get in. It will all be over with in due time. I am trying my best to remain positive, but it is becoming quite difficult.

Another Fantastic Dinner

2005-09-12T18:37:00.000-05:00

After work today I headed over to the Red Molly's house to make another dinner for them. The menu tonight consisted of A Tofu stir-fry with coconut rice. It had a spicy, Indian aroma that one could not resist. Mrs. Red Molly made a scrumptious cabbage salad, with a homemade dressing, roasted, garam masala peanuts and cucumbers. The dressing had habanero peppers in it and that gave it a nice kick. The dinner as a whole was very good and feeling. It left a nice, spicy feeling on my tongue. I think I ate my weight in rice. The coconut milk made it nice and sweet.

On a more disturbing note, Mrs. Red Molly informed me of an article on the status of the many folks from New Orleans and Biloxi that are without shelter. This is one of those things that you have to read to believe. Read about it here. This is just another example of the shady doings that are going on to assess the situation at hand. I think that many people, including FEMA and President Bush, need to be evaluated. I don't think that the correct routes are being taken to provide relief for so many of these people.

A Rare Moment With My Needles

2005-09-10T19:53:00.000-05:00

I finally got a moment today where I was able to do a little knitting. I'm just as surprised as everyone else. I am still working on the brioche hat that I started over a month or more ago. It was nice to feel the fibers of the yarn again and the warmth of my wooden needles. Unfortunately I do not get enough moments like these. I definitely have a full plate this year and I am getting full. I am slowly developing a system for homework and projects. I have three classes that are only one day a week, so it gives me a week between each one to get all of my assignments done. Most of these teachers take advantage of the fact that we have a week. I have never had so much homework in my life. It isn't necessarily hard homework, it's just time consuming.

I am becoming more comfortable with making coffee drinks at work. I had a bad run in with one of the shift managers one day. We both were having a bad day and we just clashed. All is okay though and our differences were settled. I'm still lovin' my job! I'm hoping that someday soon I will have my own internet on my laptop so that I will be able to post pics. of my "adventures" in the so-called big city. On a brighter note, I will be preparing another dinner for the Red Molly's next Monday and I am very excited about that. It's nice to be able to share vegetarian meals with someone and they actually enjoy it. More on that soon.

I am going to go back to regular sized font for a while...Sorry Red Molly (at least I am still forming some sort of paragraph).

Something Fun

2005-09-05T20:44:00.000-05:00

Instead of writing about the anger, sadness and confusion I feel over Hurricane Katrina and the disaster relief, I decided I would do something fun to take my mind off of it for a couple of minutes. I have recently been tagged by JuliePatchouli in a game of blog tag. Without further ado I will complete the tag and choose five people of my liking.

5 years ago: I was a sophomore in High School ( I think), trying to find myself in a very hectic and sporatic world. I mourned the loss of a classmate. I became a vegetarian with the help of some very special friends. I lost over 69 pounds after becoming a vegetarian after previously weighing 205 pounds. I gained 10 pounds because I lost too much. I felt healthy and refreshed with my "new body."
1 Year ago: I was completing my associates degree at a little community college near my home town. I was very much into philosophies, yoga, inner visions and life goals...I still am as a matter of fact. I was beginning to come home from my path to myself.
5 songs I know all the words to: Fire and Rain by James Taylor, Grey by Ani DiFranco, Long December by the Counting Crows, Fast Car by Tracy Chapman, Free Fallin' by Tom Petty.
5 Snacks I enjoy: Apples, Celery and Peanut Butter, Blue Corn Chips, Macadamia Nuts, A Bowl of Cereal
5 Things I'd do w/ $100 million dollars: Start my own charity foundation so that I would know where the money is going, move my mom and myself to Arizona and build an eco-friendly house, Pay off my mom's debts, Purchase Hybrid cars for my family, Invest.
5 places I would run away to: Australia, Arizona, Canada, Nepal, India
5 things I would never wear: Any expensive name brand clothes that have to be purchased new (second hand is okay), a leisure suit, a speedo, cowboy boots, a giant sombrero
5 favorite tv shows: Golden Girls, Sesame Street, Will and Grace, Cosby Show, Any home design show
5 greatest joys: Breathing, Walking, Seeing, Hearing, Loving
5 favorite toys: Lincoln Logs, Legos, Pound Puppies, Micro Machines, Monopoly ( okay that's a game)
5 people I'm tagging: Red Molly , The Socknitter, Gidget, Jawahara, Carolyn Balm (Loopy)

The Wrong Impression

2005-09-02T20:39:00.000-05:00

The funniest thing occured today at work. Kind of shocking...but funny nonetheless. When I got there today I was talking and joking around with one of my coworkers...a really funny gal named Meridith. Right before she left I noticed that she had a button on her apron and I wanted to get a closer look at what it said. I'm sure most people are familiar with the "I am Loved" buttons. Well it was one of those but in French. After I read it and she explained, she yells out "You just wanted to look at my boobs!" I laughed and said no, not really. She then said "well I just like messing around with gay guys." Then, a moment of ackward silence. I said, "but I'm not gay." She had a look of terror in her eyes. She felt so bad for saying that. I just laughed and said, "well, you aren't the first person to think that." She felt like sticking her birkenstock in her mouth. I felt bad that she felt so bad. So, apparently there is this big rumor going around work that I am gay. I'm not upset about it, in fact I think it is hysterical. We now have this amazingly funny inside joke now and I think it's great.

Everyone is real open-minded and even if I was gay it wouldn't be an issue. It's probably just because I am so soft-spoken, well groomed and effeminate that people thought that. Unfortunately, it just shows how easily stereotypes get started. I like to consider myself a very open-minded person and fully support gay rights, gay marriages, unions, etc... The bad thing is that once you support causes and issues such as those you get labeled immediately. I hate labels. I don't think people should have to call themselves gay, straight, lesbian, bi-sexual, etc... We are just simply humans...as a matter of fact we are just animals that have the ability to speak and reason (and we don't do that very well).

However, it is still hillarious and the rumor was actually started by the person that hired me. One of the shift managers actually called her on the phone today and broke the news to her that I was not gay. It actually made my day, and gave me a smile on my face. I think that they thought I was going to have a really bad reaction to it, but it was quite the opposite. One girl was surprised that I handled it the way that I did. It takes a lot more than that to upset me. If they would have called me somethine like a "conservative, republican Bush supporter," I would have been devistated.

Asparagus Soup

2005-08-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

After having a brainstorm idea last week that I would cook dinner for my aunt, whom some of you know as Red Molly, tonight was the big night. I decided on asparagus soup and cornbread for the menu. Red Molly made a great spinach salad to go along with it that contained avacado, onion, oranges and a homemade vinegrette dressing. It turned out pretty nice.

The asparagus soup is really simple...the basic requirements are asparagus, red potatoes, green onions and some stock. After all of that is simmered down and soft, you put it in a blender and puree it up and add it back to the stock. It makes a nice pea green soup that is quite fulfilling. The cornbread also turned out super good. I think it had a lot to do with the great oven that my aunt has. It's a gas oven with convection that makes baking nice and even.

It has been brought to my attention that my posts are difficult to read and that I need to utilize some sort of paragraph form so that my thoughts get broken up in some sort of readable fashion. I think that my text is a little small as well so I am going to try sizing up my text to accomidate the difference in moniters. I have noticed that my blog looks really tiny on some computers and larger on others. Maybe this will make it a little easier on the eyes.

There's One in Every Crowd

2005-08-30T11:30:00.000-05:00

I'm just getting out of my Sociology class (Sex, Race and Class), and boy was that interesting. I have begun to realize that there is always one of two (or sometimes both) type of people in every class. A smart ass and a "classroom representative..."this being someone who always has the answer to everything and wants everyone to know. I pretty much have one of these types of people in all of my classes and it is so difficult for me to keep my mouth shut. For instance, today in my class we were discussing the roles of stereotypes among "whites" and "blacks." I knew it would get interesting. This jackass that sits behind me that thinks his shit does not stink kept making cocky comments about everything people said. Specifically when we were listing the stereotypes for the white folk. Although he had no problem agreeing with some of the stereotypes for the "black" list. He specifically agreed with the fact that African Americans are loud. I'm thinking to myself "WHAT!" He's sitting behind me with a remark for everything and it's the "black" people that are loud. It was really funny when we were all through because the professor told us that he did that excercise just to show us how much ignorance and stupidity is in the world. I think that settled everyone down. I just kept my mouth shut because I knew that I would say something to get everyone in a tizzy. He started the class by asking us what it meant to be American. I decided that I would leave that one alone as well. There are a lot of Conservative types in the class. To the contrary of that topic, the Prof. wanted to know what it meant to not be an American. One guy said "burning the flag!" What an idiot! I think somehow I figured that since I was in a University setting now that there wouldn't be so much ignorant, conservative views of our culture. Apparently I was wrong. The good thing is that we are allowed to have our own opinions and to express them. I need to work up some courage and start a nice class debate.

Lovin' my Job

2005-08-29T18:53:00.000-05:00

I have now been in Jacksonville a week and two days now. I can safely say that I am beginning to settle down. After going through my classes for a full week and somewhat organizing my caseload...I am a little less stressed. I began to scan the syllibi and figure out when and how to do everything. I realized that I have plenty of time to get everything done as long as I pace myself. That being said...I love my job!!! Even though I am so new and screwing everything up all the time it is so fun. It is a positive place to be for the most part and everyone is so supportive of each other. I do not feel intimidated by any of the management, in fact it is quite the opposite. The manager at my store treats us all like normal people...she is super laid back. Everyone likes to play and joke around, so there is no real seriousness to anything. The job keeps us busy though, and there is always something to do. I like that because I don't get idle and the day passes by quicker. Even though we all joke around and act silly sometimes we manage to get everything done. There were a few asshole customers today though. There were a bunch of "suits" that came in for coffee. They got really impatient with me and wanted to know why it took two people to make coffee. I basically just ignored them and took my time. I find that I do not get stressed over stuff like that anymore. Maybe it's the job or maybe I just don't give a shit anymore. My mom came over and visited me on Saturday. It was nice to see her and weird when she left because I am usually in the passenger seat with her going back home. I got a little homesick after that...but I quickly got over it. I am hoping to go home this weekend for a short stay. Enough time to see my mom, my dog and my cat...and especially to sleep in my own bed...in the quiet country. I'm hoping to see some of my friends as well. I am going to try to get a bunch of clothes together and jackets and stuff to donate to the Goodwill. I figure it's the least I can do since I collect so many articles of clothing over the year. Of course most of them come from thrift stores in the first place. I just don't like to have clothes laying around that I know someone could get good use out of. Another week of classes comin' up...I've gotta get psyched up for it!

The First Day Jitters

2005-08-24T19:25:00.000-05:00

So I have recovered from my first day of classes...How interesting that was! There were 200 people in my first class, which is a sociology class covering Sex, Race and Class. I found out that this is a University recquired class. I did not know that and in fact signed up for it because I wanted to take it. Almost everyone was there because they had to be. The teacher is awesome though. He is only about 26-28, with very young and fresh ideals. He is laid back in his teaching style but very strict about participation. In fact, he told us all that it would be perfectly fine not to come to class...as long as we read the material and took the tests. However, for those of us who actually care about our education, he expects us to engage in intellectual conversation about the current topic. We will also be coverin Sexual Orientation, and I heard some folks complaining about that...Dumb rednecks! They don't want to play the "gay marriage" card. Let them bring it on because I will wear them down! That is one of many topics that I am very passionate about. My other class that I have been to so far was Teaching Diverse Populations...another sociology based course recquired for future teachers and educators. It sounded all hunky-dory at first until the professor started going over the course load...and load is the opperative word here. In total I will have to write 40-50 pages worth of material along with completing 18 hours of community service (which I want to do anyway). That got me a little stressed because I started wondering how I was going to juggle two more classes and work. I guess it is definitely time to grow up! I knew that already anyway. I am going to have to develop a routine which I can follow...I get distracted easily. In fact I went to two different public libraries today in town to work on said homework and they were both closed! I was a little irritated with that...but I soon got over it. I still have two more classes to discover tomorrow and Friday. I really hope the course load won't be as harsh as the former class. I went to a Starbucks seminar type class today to learn about the company and some employee "need-to-knows." I was told that it was going to be painfully boring and long. To my surprise it actually wasn't! Our facilitator was really awesome. She was the type of person that once around them you feel totally comfortable and safe with them. It was easy to talk to her without feeling inferior. In fact I have felt that way every since my first day about everyone. I have yet to meet one mean or rude person at my job. Anyway, the day went by fairly quickly. I got a chance to meet some interesting people (that is the only type of people they hire), I got to taste a lot of coffee ( and I am still coming off my buzz), I learned about the company and their missions. The benefits package is awesome as well as the stock options and retirement plan...and it is also for people who work part time! That is almost unheard of. I am really excited about my future with this company. I will get a chance to meet some great people and hopefully become more of a people person in the meantime. I get to experience the 5am shift on Saturday...so that will be interesting. I got my files all straightened out with school and my scholarship and loan covers everything and I will be getting a hefty refund! That is probably the best news so far. The university has been really behind and slow in the process of transitioning to a new term. It has been hectic and stressful, but I am glad that part is over with. Of course I am still adjusting to my new location and getting used to the lights at nights and the strange noises that I am not used to. Unfortunately I don't here the crickets outside of my window anymore, nor are there as many birds singing to me in the morning. I guess that's life in the city. At least I know that all of those things are just a little under 2 hours away. I haven't decided if I will be going home this weekend or not. My mom is supposed to come over, so it's still up in the air. Well, thanks for reading and I hope to update everyone on more knitting and craft projects soon. I guess I will have to take some knitting with me to class and work on them during my break. More on that later.

Settlin' in and Screwin' Up

2005-08-22T21:37:00.000-05:00

I'm finally settled into my aunts house and some arrangements are being made to have a little more room in the room I am using. I am dealing with having no internet, which is hard. There are a few options on the table, but I haven't made up my mind yet. The university finally got my residency information corrected but they still don't have my scholarship information added in. My tuition is still way too high...but I will deal with that later. My first day at Starbucks was today...and I really enjoyed it! It was fast paced and energetic. I definitely did not stand in one place for a very long time. I was in charge of making frappuccinos, and that was quite the experience. I got to do some taste testing and I worked on my mulit-tasking ablilities (which aren't so good). I made a horrible mistake in my scheduling though...I told the manager that I could work on fridays all day. To my horror, I remembered after I left work that I had a class. At the time I remembered that it was over at 1:00. I called her and we changed it and all was well. Not quite so...Later this evening after checking my schedule and getting things together for class tomorrow I realized that my Friday class wasn't over until 2:50! I tried getting in touch with the manager again and of course she had gone home. I felt so stupid and incompetent. I am not use to having a Friday class and it slipped my mind and then I told her the wrong thing. She's going to think I am a total imbecile. Oh well, they seemed to be impressed by the fact that I didn't need to be told everything and I picked things up fairly quickly. I'm hoping I made a good impression and they won't think I am a total fool. Over the last couple of days I have had some time to spend with family that I don't get to see more often and of course now that I will be here full time I get to spend even more time with them. I went out with my cousin last night and had some champagne and met one of her friends. I've visited with aunts and uncles which makes this transition much easier. It's nice to know there is close family near by. I will be heading off to class tomorrow. I have two on Tuesdays, two on Thursdays and one on Fridays. I've got this huge chunk of time between classes on Tues. and Thurs. which is kind of nice because it will give me time to chill out and check out the campus. Hopefully all the kinks will work themselves out soon and I will be sailing on smooth waters.

Wish me Lots of Luck!
N.N.

Packin' up and Shippin' Out!

2005-08-20T11:28:00.000-05:00

Today and yesterday I have been busy getting all of my stuff together in preparation for my "big" move to the city. My classes start on Tuesday and I start work on Monday so I figured I would go ahead and head to my aunt's house in Jacksonville so I could have a little time to settle in. I am a little anxious and nervous...seeing as how I am going out of my comfort zone and all. I am still having issues with the school that I hope will be straightened out by Monday. Money is becoming scarce in my bank account, so I have to really be careful what I spend over the next week until I can get a paycheck. In spite of all of that I think this will be a good opportunity for me. I know that things will get better once I get into the swing of things. I am hoping to get a decent internet service once I get there...hopefully something fast and wireless, so I can be like all the other computer geeks at the coffee shops...LOL! I bought the dreaded text books online today and even though they are all used it still cost me over 300 bucks! Thank you Visa!! I can't believe that I have to have 9 books for four classes. I really miss Community College! Things were so much easier then. Oh well, I guess it's time to grow up. I may not be able to blog for a few days so bear with me. In the meantime check out my "100 things" about me list. You can do so here. Wish me lots of luck...as I will need it over the next few days (possibly weeks) of my transition.

Here goes nothin'
N.N.

Read All About It

2005-08-18T12:29:00.000-05:00

I've jumped on the "100 Things About Me" bandwagon. You can check it out here. Enjoy!

One Frustration Conquered

2005-08-15T21:04:00.000-05:00

Today Mercury returned to it's normal position in the cosmos and I feel as if life is in balance once again. I recieved wonderful news this morning around 10 am. I am no longer unemployed! The manager from Starbucks called and informed me that the position I applied for was available. I responded with an "awesome." She seemed just as excited about me accepting as I was for the offer. The managers there are so nice and down to earth (at least so far). I think I will really enjoy working there and the benefits are definitely going to be a perk (no pun intended...man I am full of those things). So I start next monday with paper work and a 5 hour course about the company. Then I guess I will be setting up a schedule. School will start for me on the 22nd...My next item on the agenda is getting my ass in gear filling out scholarship forms and writing essays. I really could use the free money. I'm not even going to concern myself with that. I feel like everything is shifting into place. I was reminded today by a dear friend of mine that "you have to shed some skin" in the process of a transition. Sage words that should be taken seriously. I could feel the blues fading into non-existance today...I am happy!

A New Addition to the Family

2005-08-14T12:33:00.000-05:00

I've created a monster...literally! A sock monster that is. I found this great book at a nearby craft store called "Stupid Sock Creatures" by, John Murphy (who happens to be an art major from North Carolina and the sole...no pun intended...creator of these creatures). This book is a basis for creating said sock creatures. He gives insightful directions in a laid back, by the seat of your pants, kind of fashion. All of the creatures are created entirely out of socks (some have a couple of accesories), they all have names and personalities. It has given me a chance to try my hand at sewing and following patterns. I started this one this morning around 12 a.m. (yeah, I'm a night-owl), and I finished it around 12 p.m. (I had an eight hour lapse for sleep of course). The pattern was fairly easy...although there were a few places where it got a little hairy. I was actually able to use the sewing machine for a good portion. My creatures name is Syd and his arms are a little swollen...but we won't tell him that. Enjoy!

As Mercury Turns

2005-08-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

It has been brought to my attention by a fellow blogger that the planet Mercury is coming to the end of it's retrograde period. This is a period of time, I think around two or three weeks (don't quote me on that), when the planet actually appears to be going backwards in the sky. This is not a good thing because it supposedly (and I believe it does) causes communications to go awry, files to get lost, electronics to go on the fritz and a whole mess of other problems. For people who are sensitive (or not) to planetary phenomena, this can cause emotional upheaval. I know it affects me in a big way, partly because being a gemini I have the honor of having Mercury as a ruling planet. I truly believe this is the culprit of all of the issues I have been facing over the last couple of weeks; i.e. Problems with the university, files getting lost, the phone lines at our house not working for a week as well as the internet in dire need of an upgrade. All of that combined with the stress I have been dealing with in anticipation of all the transitions I am about to endure. I feel like I am at the top of a roller coaster waiting for the big plunge. I guess all I can do is throw my hands up in the air and scream. Here's to the 15th (the day when Mercury regains it's balance in the solar system and straightens itself up)!

Offline Madness!

2005-08-10T15:50:00.000-05:00

This last week has been quite hectic for me because our extremely slow and stupid internet connection has been on the fritz. That's what happens when you live in a really small town and the only type of internet available is dial-up. Our home phone line was also quite sick as well. We blamed it on the large amounts of rain we have been getting lately. The telephone repair man finally came out today and spent all of 5 minutes to get it fixed. What a test in patience. I know that the internet is not a necessity and that it is a privilage...but when it doesn't work I miss it. So, on to the updates. I finally got everything straightened out with the University...all except the Pell Grant which I will not be recieving. It turns out that they are updating their systems and they have not updated all of their files yet making it appear that they still had me listed as an out of state student, with out of state fees. Their files were showing that I owe over 6,000 dollars! That is definitely not happening! I turned in my application to Starbucks and have already had my first interview. It actually went really well. The assistant manager in charge of hiring conducted the interview and it mainly consisted of questions pertaining to my work and personal ethic, why I wanted to work at Starbucks and basically describing myself. It was actually kind of amusing because the manager just kept replying with "cool," "awesome," "oh, cool." That helped me relax, plus the interview was conducted right inside the cafe...not in a cramped office. She told me she wanted to see me back and has set up another interview for me on Thursday to meet the main manager...if she is anything like the assistant I think I will be a shoo-in. The only thing that will take some getting used to is the fact that they open at 5am! I've got a lot of anticipation welling up inside of me concerning my transition to the big city and a much bigger school. I just hope I get a chance to make the best of my college career and meet some interesting people. Here's to hoping!

N.N.

Sewing with Midnight

2005-08-06T21:57:00.000-05:00

Here you see my cat Midnight trying to help my mom sew. Actually she is just making a mess...but we just keep that to ourselves.

Poetry Night

2005-08-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

Temple

Consciousness directed into space,
swirling through nebulas into
another plane of existance.
Energies rushing through an
ethereal body of time and
place, dualing with the cause
of the effect. A thought fires
in some distant cortex, striking
a fire in the mind's eye.
Visions and dreams float
through an active sky.
Memories, like claps of
thunder, with bolts of desire
leaving scars upon the abandoned
landscape. Electrical impulses
distort reasoning, while whirlwinds
of rationalism spin past.
Somewhere on the distant
horizon there is a break from
the storm. A sea of love and compassion
floating below a ceiling of blue. This is
destiny, attainable only through a dense,
dismal maze of struggle and
strife. Attainable and necessary for
existance to come into fruition.
Love is the molecule which life
springs forth from, creating a
pool of balance and ease. The
proverbial Eden which each living
organism obtained nourishment.
Creation is love. Love is the almighty
which is found not in heaven, but in
the hearts of each individual, waiting
for worship.

A Little Poetry

2005-08-04T19:40:00.000-05:00

Last night I watched a really interesting movie called "What the Bleep do we Know." It was a documentary type movie which discussed the basis of quantum phyisics in a way that the average person could understand. I actually found my self realizing that a lot of the stuff they talked about were things I already had floating around in my brain. I would go into detail but that would take a while. I recommend checking the movie out. I was really impressed with this movie and it inspired me to write some poetry. It's nice when a movie actually makes you think. Anyhow here is the poem:

The Path

As illusion becomes reality,

allow manifestation. Become

hope, become desire. Let love

and compassion be the guide which

sheds light on existance. Fantasy

becomes truth and deception no

longer exists. Utopia of the mind

is tangible and absolute. The key

to the universe lies just within

reach, beyond the veil which

alters perception. Space and time

become one and the same, shifting

ever so gently to the metronomical

pulse of reason. Becoming is

being. Believing is ultimitaly

an evolutionary process encompassing

the spiraling path of righteousness

which so often becomes an obscure

version of the spiritual self. Believe

in intuition, believe in the nature

of thought and allow the creative

process to become the guide to the

light. A light not at the end of

a tunnel, but the light of the mind

and of higher self. Only there

can truth be found.

2005-08-04T13:51:00.000-05:00

Here is what I have done so far on my brioche knit hat so far. I would have already been done if I would not have had to frog the whole thing and start over. I was about to the point I am now when I realized that it was going to be too tight...this happened because I wasn't doing the yarn overs right in the beginning which made a tighter stitch. Brioche knitting consists of a lot of yarn overs, slipped stitches and knitting and pearling two stitches together. This creates the deep ribs and the two toned pattern. I have enjoyed learning this method of knitting and especially the fact that I am able to knit with two colors and creat vertical striping. This hat is actually reversable, of course the colors are opposite on the other side of the hat. It will be knit extra long so that I can flip up the bottom part of the cap...kinda like a fishermans hat. All in all this has been a fun project and unfortunately my socks have been pushed aside for the time being. They are just taking too long to get done. Using a size two needle slows me down. I need to learn how to knit socks on two circular needles so that I can go faster. I'll save that for later.

Fighting the Blues

2005-08-01T20:13:00.000-05:00

Today I have worked very hard at overcoming a case of the blues. After breakfast I cleaned up my room in preparation for some much needed yoga. Yesterday I was in the dumps in a big way. I think the incoming cold front had a lot to do with it which brought with it a change in pressure (which affects my sinuses) and some gloomy weather. All of that mixed with the fact that I have been declined for a Pell Grant (free college money from Uncle Sam, leaving me with a 75% scholarship...meaning I have to come up with 15% of my tuition plus the cost of books), the stress of having to start a whole new school along with the fact that I will be leaving home (which I am ready to do...at least for the most part). I couldn't even knit yesterday without screwing up or getting frustrated. All I wanted to do was sleep and mope. I did force myself to go for a walk, but I was so wound up that I had to turn around halfway through. I don't know what came over me. I was determined not to go through that again today. The yoga really helped, given the fact that it has been a long while since I have paid my mat a visit. I was also able to get through my issues with the brioche knit hat that I am working on (although I have made a few mistakes which I am not even going to worry with). Actually I quite like brioche knitting now that I've got the technique down. Anyway, I went for a long walk this evening and it was very relaxing...taking in all the scents of nature and enjoying some great music with my iPod. There are some very interesting plants growing on the side of our road and they smell a lot like patchouli (my favorite scent by the way). I saw some ducks, and a wide assortment of insects. I like having those moments to myself when I can really think and sort things out in my mind...which I did. I am feeling better now, so I guess my day of therapy worked. Now I am faced with the stress of getting new tires for my car because they are quite bald and that is not good when it rains almost everyday. That's another day's issue. I am going to post some pics of the brioche hat and the progress on my sock soon...maybe even tonight.

Bloomin' Starfish

2005-07-28T23:02:00.000-05:00

I thought I would take the opportunity today to take a picture of a really odd bloom on a plant that I have had for a number of years. I believe it is called a starfish plant because of the appearance of the bloom, which is about 6 inches or more across. Another odd fact is that when it flowers it emits the smell of rotted meat because the only insect that pollinates it is a fly. I realize that is fairly disgusting and that is why it only comes in the house in the winter time. I got the plant as a cutting from a local orchid dealer and he did not know what it was and had no information on it. I stuck it in some dirt and it took off from there. Another great thing about it is that I don't have to water it from November until March...it apparently hybernates. Anyhow, it is one of few plants that hasn't been eaten by the pest you see here.

Great Goodwill Finds

2005-07-25T23:23:00.000-05:00

Here you see me in a couple of photos with some great new Coats from the local Goodwill. One is an awesome vintage curdoroy sport coat made by Levis and the other is a fairly new jean jacket by Lees. I had to tweak the jean jacket up a little because it looked too new and too blue. I just took some fine sandpaper and scruffed it up a bit and lightened up the dark blue denim. I am probably going to do it again with sandpaper that is a little more rough. I like things that are worn in with a nice vintage look to them. I am quite pleased with this purchase (both for just ten bucks to boot), and I even got them tax free since Florida has started a week long tax break in July/Aug for back to school purchases...It's the one reasonable thing ole Jeb has done since he took office as Governor...Of course, once a Bush always a Bush.

oops!! Sorry, I forgot to flip the images...But ya know what? Having dial-up makes things way to slow to go back and fix it. I will reimburse anyone that had to see a massage therapist to get the kink out of there neck (okay...so I won't...but it's the thought that counts).

Funky Hat...Tight Fit

2005-07-25T21:53:00.000-05:00

Here is my latest knitted creation. A Hat! If it wasn't so obvious. I actually finished this last Thursday on the ride home from Orlando...I've been so busy with the pictures from our trip I didn't have time to take any of the hat. It actually doesn't fit all that well...It's a little on the small side. I just really wanted to make a hat with earflaps. The pattern came out of the Stitch n' Bitch book and it is supposed to have devil horns on the top...I think I will pass on that. I used a really odd yarn that I got onsale at my LYS...It was about 75cents a ball. It has a cotton base with bunches of color that is made from polyester. It is really odd because the bunches of color are much bulkier than the actual base yarn. Interesting but difficult to knit with and it actually became a pain in the ass a few times. I tried my hand at making an i-cord on this project as well...How Easy that is! I used a size 7 needle by the way...cable. I like making hats because they are so quick. I am still putt-putting away at my socks at a snails pace. I haven't quite made it to the heel yet...that is sad. Anyhow...that's that and hopefully I can get at least one sock done soon.

Arizona Photo Montage Number Three (Whew!)

2005-07-24T11:45:00.000-05:00

This should be my last photo posting of my trip to Arizona that I am sure everyone is tired of hearing about. These pics include some taken at Palatki State Park where there were ancient dwellings as well as cave paintings (not pictured...they were too small too see in the photo). There are also pics from our trip to the bottom as well as to the top of the Grand Canyon. Thanks for viewing all these photos...There were so many more to choose from and I really tried to cover a broad range of photos to sum up our trip. I skipped over a lot of stuff...but it takes so long to load all of these photos that I would go crazy by the time I finished.

Inside of an old dwelling at Palatki State Park near Sedona. This is actually where the former owner of this land lived before he had a house built...Imagine that!

Cactus Bloom at Palatki State Park.

More Ancient Ruins at Palatki.

Sunset at Airport Mesa...An overlook and also a vortex sight in Sedona...This place always crowds up during Sunsets.

Enjoying the Cool Colorado River at the Bottom of the Grand Canyon.

My aunt taking a playful dip...in the Colorado River.

This is Red Thunder...He was our Native guide to the bottom of the Canyon. Here you see him playing a "It's time to get out of the water and get a move on" tune on his flute...I think it was mostly for the kids.

A view of the Grand Canyon.

Arizona Photo Montage Two

2005-07-23T22:52:00.000-05:00

Here's some more photos for everyone to enjoy. These are mostly of our Journey to Sedona (these would be the photos from Montezuma's Castle, Well and the Sunflower in Jerome) and pics in Sedona itself. I will be posting one more montage of another state park or two and of the Grand Canyon. Patience is a virtue.

Montezuma's Castle...No Relation.

A rest on the Rocks at Montezuma's Well.

Beautiful in Jerome.

Beautiful Cathedral Rock at Crescent Moon Recreation Area.

Bridge into Oak Creek Canyon...Quite a Climb by the Way...From 4000 feet in Sedona to over 7000 feet in Flagstaff.

Chapel of the Holy Cross...A great view of the surrounding red rocks including Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte in Sedona.

An Eerie Statue of St.Michael (Or the Archangel...whichever you prefer) inside the Chapel of the Holy Cros.

Arizona Photo Montage

2005-07-21T23:44:00.000-05:00

Here are some of my favorite pics from our first week in Arizona in Scottsdale. They include The Apache Trail Trip and our journey to Kartchner Caverns and Mexico. I would post more but it takes a lot of time uploading these photographs and we took almost 300 pictures...When you have dial-up internet that could take a lifetime. I hope you enjoy. I will be posting more pictures from Sedona and the Grand Canyon soon.

A large Louise Nevellson sculpture at a local park in Scottsdale.
Mucho Dinero! A stop along the Apache Trail.
At the Tonto National Monument.
A Baby Desert Bunny Hiding in the Prickly Pears outside of our resort in Scottsdale.

A Great Goodwill Find.

A Desert Lizard Outside of Kartchner Caverns.

Goin' to Mexico.

Pit Stop After Leaving Mexico...At Your Own Risk!

I'm Back...Again

2005-07-21T16:40:00.000-05:00

I'm back from my little mini-trip to Orlando/Kissimee. It was an okay trip...I personally do not care for that area...It's overladen with tourists and run-of-the-mill type things to do. It's basically only good for theme park lovers. I did go to Disney World one day, using up my last free ticket which we have had for about two years now. My cousin, went with us and of course enjoyed her time at Disney...she's the Disney-holic if anyone remembers. Other than that we really didn't do much else...Just hung around town searching for things to do and hanging around the resort...Which wasn't a bed of roses. It was very small and ill-equipped as far as resorts go. I wasn't in the best of moods during this trip because I have been really bummed after coming home from Arizona...I feel like I have left my heart there or something. I will definitely be returning. I did, however, get my hat done that I had started knitting before I left for Arizona. It isn't exactly perfect, but the yarn that I used made it somewhat difficult and moody...like me! Haven't taken a picture of it yet...but I will be posting it along with our vacation pictures which I am about to work on. Now I have to focus on getting to Jacksonville, getting a job, registering for classes and settling in. I think once I get all of that done I won't be as stressed.

Home is Not Always Where the Heart Is

2005-07-16T23:57:00.000-05:00

I made it back from Arizona Friday night around 10:30...at least that was the time our plane landed in Jacksonville. My mom and I had another 2 hour drive home from there...needless to say it was sometime in the a.m. before I made it to bed. They always say that home is where the heart is but I have to disagree. I actually feel more homesick now that I am home. I've been pretty bummed all day because I really miss Arizona. The biggest thing that hit me when I got out of the airport was how much I could appreciate their dry weather...the humidity was like a wall of stone when we walked through the doors to the outside world. I really hope I make it back someday. Anyhow...we are actually going to be leaving again for Orlando Sometime Sunday morning to take another little mini-trip. We are mostly going to lounge around the resort and relax after the long plane trips and the time differences. I thought I would post a few pics at a time so that I wouldn't overload anyones computer. I will start with some from Sedona, which we were in during our second week in Arizona. Enjoy!...Nix that...my internet is acting really stupid and it won't let me open my photo files. It is almost 1am and I don't feel like dealing with tech. problems right now. Sorry for the delay...I will try to get these pics up as soon as possible. I will also be posting some knitting pics soon as well since I have been on a knitting hiatus for a little while. Maybe I will catch up on that while I am in Orlando as well.

Two for One...Arizona Update 6

2005-07-14T11:47:00.000-05:00

I haven't had much of a chance to blog these last couple of days so I guess I will have to make one large post...sit back relax and pretend you are here. I will start with Tuesday. This was the day of our tour to the bottom of the grand canyon with our Native American guide named Johnny Red Thunder. We actually showed up a little late for the van but that was good because we got to sit in the front row seat right behind the guide and in front of the hokies from Oklahoma...literally hokies. All the mom did was complain of the heat in the van (meanwhile we were all shivering) and the dad wore overalls! The youngest of her bunch complained a lot too and slept most of the way there. Needless to say I was glad they were in the back. The ride there was cool because Red Thunder talked about Native ways and traditions along with myths and legends. He pretty much talked all the way to our destination...which was about a 2 and a half hour ride. We saw the prairies and mountains of Arizona. We even saw a few prairie dogs run across the road and even some tumbleweed...A true western adventure. Driving to the bottom of the canyon was pretty treacherous. The road was not very developed and very bumpy. VERY! The van sounded like it was going to implode a few times. It was fun though...we even drove through some streams that ran across the road. Our stop was at the banks of the Colorado River and there were some rafters just completing a journey down the River and others going through the rapids. The water was very refreshing because it is very hot at the bottom of the canyon...not to mention the whole area was quite beautiful. Red Thunder said that the water stays at a constant temperature of 46 degrees and I would definitely agree with him. I only went up to my knees because any further and you get swept away in the 30 mph current that sweeps the river through the canyon. My mom, my aunt and I walked a little trail to get a better view of the canyon walls. After leaving there we headed towards the grand canyon caverns...Take my advice...I would not bother going here. It is a route 66 tourist trap and there are a lot of people there...Unless you like crowds and I don't! It was kind of cool just to be able to say that I had been on route 66. Anyhow...our tour guide in the caverns sucked...He talked really fast and we hardly had a chance to stop and look at anything. It was a 45 minute tour and I think it only took about 20! One cool thing about it is that you take an elevator about 200 feet straight down into a limestone cavern that is always 56 degrees. A definite relief from the heat. Alas, I was glad when it was over. The ride home was also nice because most of the hokies slept and I got a chance to talk with Red Thunder. We talked about native plants and their nutritional and medicinal values and I even tasted some Osha or bear root which he carries with him everywhere because it is so nutritional and gives you a natural boost. It tasted kind of bad at first but then I could really appreciate it afterwards. He told me of some books I could read on the subject and even suggested a little shop to go to here in Sedona where many native Americans go to get supplies for pow-wows, herbs, craft needs, etc...I definitely enjoyed my trip with him. We even got to stop and fill our water bottles with fresh spring water from the canyon that runs through Sedona. I did go to the shop he was telling me about and I picked up some of the bear root, a great herb book and some cedar to burn with my sage. The people there were very friendly and they had EVERYTHING! It was a shop with seven rooms full of Native American items. Now for Wednesday...our second trip to the Grand Canyon...this time to see the top. When we made it there there were so many people in line to get in and we had already been warned about the crowds...those folks weren't kidding. I hate crowds! After getting into the park we stopped at some of the overlooks and did the picture thing. There was a lot of smoke in the area due to a fire that was started from a lightning storm. It was hard to get a real good look at the canyon which was a little dissapointing. After that we decided to make our way to Hermits Rest on the East Rim...big mistake! It was so difficult riding there little tram system...which by the way is VERY unorganized. It was like squeezing people into a sardine can. People were rude and pushy and when people want to get on everyone tries to get off and even that is not so easy because there are 50 people standing up in the aisle. I was getting very angry and I lost my cool a couple of times and made a little scene. Then I almost got into an argument with a man who said I was cutting line...when I was not! It was a very unpleasant time. I was so ready to leave. We finally made it to Hermits rest took more pictures and then headed for the exit gate. I would recommend to people to drive into the South Rim stop at the overlooks take pictures and then leave. I would not recommend anyone to go into the actual park. I was very dissapointed with the way the park officials handle the large crowds. They should not let that many people in at the same time. I did enjoy the beauty and vastness of the canyon nonetheless and I am glad I got a chance to see it. On the way back we drove the opposite way we drove in so that we could go to sunset crater. This was a pretty cool little park...mostly b/c there was hardly anyone there. You could see all the lava flow from a volcano that erupted in the 1100's. Sunset crater itself is basically a large extinct volcano covered in black ash. Very pretty views could be seen from a nice overlook at the peak of the park. There were some trails which we did not have a chance to walk on because we got there close to sunset. They actually do not lock this park so you can stay as long as you want to. I did walk up a 1/2 mile trail that overlooked a smaller crater. This was a treacherous climb straight up and straight down. I was very tired by the time I got to the top. The view from here was impressive as well. I could see the sun going down besides the San Fransisco Peaks...another very large inactive volcano with snow covered peaks...Yes, snow, in the middle of July...in the desert! The climb was worth it and it was a fast trip down...I had to run a couple of times because of the steep incline. All in all it was a nice couple of days...except for the aggrivation of the large crowd at the Grand Canyon. We are just going to stay around town today and we have to get up early in the morning to make our way back to Phoenix to get on our flight home...I really do not want to leave...but I know I have to. It is definitely sad. I will miss Arizona...I have had wonderful experiences here and I will definitely be coming back.

Thanks for the Memories,
N.N.

Vortex Experience...Arizona Update Number 5

2005-07-11T22:41:00.000-05:00

Most of today was spent just staying close to the resort because I had a Vortex tour planned for this evening at 5. We did, in fact, go to another ruins site today called Tuzigoot national monument. Basically just another site were the Sinagua people called home about 1500 years ago. The highlight was definiely the tour tonight. I met up at a little metaphysical center here in Sedona with Heather, our guide...who is also a Shaman and spiritual advisor/reader. There were three others in the group...Mary and Kerry from Colorado and Jamie from Australia. We were all very spiritually minded people and open to the experience. We stopped at three sites in various places in Sedona. The first was Indian Gardens...A spot with feminine energy...contemplative, creative, meditative, etc...We all offered prayers to the earth with tobacco and our guide sang us a native melody to put us in the right frame of mind. She allowed us our own time to meditate by the creek releasing ourselves of our "inner dust." She informed us that we should allow everything we want to change about ourselves to come up and send it into the tobacco as a prayer of change and then send it down the creek's rushing waters. Then we would face the northern part of the creek and invision everything that we want for ourselves, positive things that we want to materialze. This was a beautiful experience...but it doesn't end there. From there we went to Bell Rock...a place with masculine energy. This is also where many UFO sightings have taken place. The energy there is amazing...it is actually the second time I have been there since I have been in Sedona. We climbed about a quarter of the way up and there we were sent off with more tobacco to meditate with and to see if we could recieve any messages from our higher selves or spirits. We also enjoyed the beautiful sunset casting deep colors on the surrounding rocks. Heather also pointed out that there was a rock formation that looked just like the Hindu Deity Ganesha...and it really did! That sent chills up my spine. I really felt comforted and safe on this journey and I felt spirtually and physically connected with the Earth. Our last stop was at the Airport Vortex which is supposed to be one of the more noticeable vortexes in Sedona. It was at an overlook just before you get to the small local airport. There I could feel a spinning energy and in fact got a little bit of a headache...but Oh! the colors in the sky from the sunset was just amazing. Our guide was so informative and gentle in spirit and I enjoyed the company of like minded people. I could go on and on forever about the incredible amount of spirituality and great energy here but that is something that I feel needs to be experience personally. This is truly a major area for spiritual growth and development and one only comes here when they are called...I feel I was called and in fact the guide told us that this is a place of initiation...you come here when you are ready to move on to the next level spiritually...and My own personal evolution has definitely prepared me for the next saga of my life.

A wonderful Experience that I will always cherish,
N.N.

A little Culture...Arizona Update 4

2005-07-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

Today we mostly rode around and saw what the town of Sedona had to offer. First off was a New Age shop called Center for the New Age...I will just start off by saying "what a bunch of fakes and I don't recommend it to any spiritual minded person." We walked in and I immediately noticed the huge amount of crystals they had to offer. Then I noticed that they had signs on every single shelf reminding everyone that they charge for breakage and not to touch anything. That instantly turned me off to the place. I need to handle crystals to see if they are right for me. I consider myself pretty sensitive to crystals...meaning I can feel their vibrations and such. So I walked around some more and a girl in the back noticed me and asked if I would be interested in the Vortex tours that they have to offer...I was already planning on taking another that leaves right out of our resort by a woman that has been doing this since the Harmonic Convergence in 1988. I think she knows what she is doing. I told her that I already had plans and she was like..."Oh, that should be good" and went on to talk to a "regular." I wouldn't dare take a tour with those fakes anyway ( I also consider myself a good judge of character...I pick up BS pretty well ). They wanted 100$ an hour...I was like..."Well, it's time to go." I hesitantly decided to go to the Metaphysical shop next door (note...New Age and Metaphysical are two totally seperate things...like Astrology and Astronomy). This place felt great...I regained all the energy that was sucked out of me at the other place. I bought some Boji Stones (look this up...very interesting), some patchouli oil, a book on the vortexes and a lucky pig for my mom (she collects pigs). I think my aunt has finally realized how "weird" I am...I just consider it a little culture for her. After all that we were hungry...We had 50 dollars worth of food certificates at a restaurant called Heartline from going to an annoying sales pitch at our resort this morning. This place was great! A little on the fancy side...but laid back and relaxed at the same time. I had Thai vegeatables, a house salad and lemon sorbet for desert...My mom and aunt had large salads and pasta. All in all it used all of our certificates and then a little cash on the side. A VERY expensive but well worth it lunch. After resting a while we decided to drive up to Oak Creek Canyon to go to see the Native American (I believe they were Navajo) vendors located on the very top of this canyon (6000 feet up!). The drive up was beautiful with lots of ponderosa pines and red rocks. It is sooo beautiful here...I don't think I can stress that enough. After buying our weight in Native jewelry we drove all the way to the other side of town to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This is an actual Roman Catholic Church designed in Frank Lloyd Wright style built right into a mountain side. A very pretty and serene place (even for people like me who wouldn't normally step foot into a church) with great architecture...and great views to boot! We finished our drive to Bell Rock (the location of a very strong vortex and many UFO sightings). My mom and I climbed about half-way up on precarious rock faces. The energy there was so great. Even the Juniper trees are twisted and gnarled from the force of energy there. I really got a touch of the amazing energy that is here today. We are going to a breakfast in the morning that gives everyone at the resort a chance to meet with some of the tour guides and I am hoping to meet the woman who organizes the vortex tours. They are pricy but I think it will be worth it. I think there will be many more amazing experiences to come...at least for me. We are still taking a load of pics...I am really going to have my work cut out for me when I get home loading all of the pics on my blog.

Goodnight,
N.N.

Ruins...Entering Spiritual Zone...Arizona Update 3

2005-07-08T22:28:00.000-05:00

Today we left Scottsdale (sniffel...:(..) and made our way towards Sedona. We made a diversion on the way and ended up riding through some historical towns and decided to stop at some of the Ancient Ruins. First up was Montezuma Castle (no affiliation with actual Montezuma...just an ingorant mistake our early settlers made). This was a really old cave dwelling still almost completely intact. This place kind of sucked because there were so many people there and it felt a little Disney-esque. Many of the people were rude and pushy and ruined(no pun intended) the whole experience for me. There were some weird vibes going on in the car as well but that's another topic all together. Let me backtrack a moment. We stopped at a local Ranger station after getting lost looking for the castle (ruins) and the lady at the front desk was really helpful and knowledgable of the area and gave us great tips on where to go, what to see and where to eat. I thought that was luck! Anyhow...after leaving the castle we went to Montezuma's Well. This was another ancienct Native American dwelling site...only there was a natural spring being fed into this huge well of water that was previously a large sinkhole (something us Floridians are quite familiar with). All around the interior walls of this well were ancient dwellings (pueblo style like much of the others). Most were pretty dillapidated but I could still sense the ancientness around this place...It was much quieter and more serene than the other tourist hole. There was this awesome pathway that led down to the water...A pretty steep descend...but not extrenuous. The rocks were beautiful and there were shade trees (Walnuts to be exact...mixed with other vegetation). Down at the bottom of the trail were more ancient ruins but this time much more upclose and personal. You could still see the smoke stains on the walls from where the Natives cooked. The dwellings were built in a cave and they extended way into the darkness of said cave. It was so cool. I wanted so badly to walk into the cave...knowing that I have much more respect for these sites than others but I hesitantly obeyed the rules...After all I didn't want to spend the rest of my trip in jail. After walking back up the trail I discovered that there were other pathways (mind you this whole area was free of charge...and there was actually no vandalism). Now for some comedy. My mom and I were walking along and we saw a squirrel (no big thrill here) which was quite cute and very close. He ran from his spot and got right behind my mom and ran behind here for 100 feet or so. I was laughing so hard I could not get a pic (we now own a new Dig. Camera that takes video and this would have been nice at the moment if I would have remembered). She was getting a little freaked and it seemed as though the squirrel had a little smirk on his face. She went to the car and left me behind so I explored more trails. The next one led down to a canal that was hand made by the natives and it extended for a mile. The water was beautiful and peaceful. It was surrounded by sycamores and rocks...very meditative. After all of this we drove to a little town called Jerome. I didn't know what to expect but once we got there I was glad we went. It was built on the side of a 5000 foot high mountain range. The rodes were winding and the views breathtaking. You could see the red rocks of Sedona in the distance. This little town is an old Ghost/mining town which has now been converted into an artsy/progressive/alternative atmosphere kind of town...MY KIND OF PLACE! It seems that a lot of places in Arizona are my kind of place. We were looking for a restaurant called the Haunted Hamburger. We drove and drove amidst old building which now house cafes, art galleries, new age stores, etc...and we could not find it. Mind you I did not really want to eat here but I was being fair to my mom and aunt who are not veggies. After heading towards another town and making a U-turn (one of many) we found it. It was literally on the side of the mountain with an incredible view of the mountains in front of it. I actually had a wonderful salad that could have fed two with great vinagrette dressing. I think the place really was haunted because the lights would flicker and I felt a chill in a certain spot. So after lunch it was on to Sedona. When we entered the city limits I could feel the spiritual energy which abounds here. The scenery is so beautiful. Our resort is right in the center of town with good access to all the state parks and rock formations. I am planning on taking a tour later in the week to explore the vortexes that are present here...more on that later. I think I am really going to like it here. This town is even more progressive and alternative than the last one we were in. I will have plenty to write over the next few days so be prepared for long posts...Right now my hands are tired and I am sure that there are others waiting to use the computer here at the resort.

Goodnight all,
N.N.

A Spiritual Experience...Another AZ Update

2005-07-07T14:56:00.000-05:00

New Update!: Yesterday, my mom and my aunt decided to drive south of Tucson to visit Kartchner caverns. So far the only caverns we have visited were the Florida Caverns...so I only had that to refer to. When we got there and paid to get into the park they gave us this long list of things that we were not allowed to posses or do. They are really big into the conservation of this park and cavern. I could really respect that because I have seen numerous state parks in Florida with Grafiti and vandalism...to quote the late Rodney Dangerfield "There's just no respect!" We took a tour into the caverns and this place was breathtaking. So big, unscathed and beautiful. This was just the first room. They were very strict about not touching any of the formations because it only takes one fingerprint to destroy the entire ecosystem. We saw so many different formations that were just awe-inspiring. I could even see little gnomes and spirit folk carved naturally right into the formations. The big attraction was a 58 foot tall column/stalgmite called Kubla Khan by the founders of the cavern (I can't remember their names...an internet search should let people know). The guide took us into this small amphitheatre and we all sat down as he slowly turned the lights onto this gigantic and breathtaking formation. Oh my god! that's all I could think. Then some ethereal music came on and a light show started in this giant cavern room showing all of the magnificent things it had to offer. Kubla Khan was so large it was hard to imagine that one tiny drop of water that perpetuated over millions of years could do something like that. It was an emotional and spiritual experience. I know this is going to sound crazy but I could sense a presence in this room which was large and comforting. I could see little child-like spirits in the rocks. I could also see more gnomes, faces, trees, mountains and earth like inhabitants in this stalagmite. It's amazing how differnt things are deep below the earth. I really felt a reverence for our precarious planet. I felt a connection with myself and my surroundings...an amazing experience. The rest of our trip consisted of driving to Douglas, Az...this is right on the border of Mexico. We decided since we were that close it would be crazy not to walk over the border. Honestly it wasn't the grimy, poverty stricken place that so many people have described it as. Just a small town living by it's means. I could sense the tension though as I crossed through the border gates. It's sad that we live so near to so many different cultures but they are not respected and Americans go on in ignorance and hate against so many people. I took a few pictures...one which I think will be really cool...An old man in a wheelchair in the middle of the street handing out homemade goods. There were a few beggars...but nothing major. We also drove through some old mining towns that looked like a scene right out of eastern Europe. All in all it was a very interesting...and long trip. We had about a 500 mile round trip from Phoenix. We are heading out of Scottsdale tomorrow and going to Sedona...which I think will be the highlite of our trip. I am hoping that there are some places there where I can use the internet and give everyone updates...This saves me from having to write so much when I get home. I will have lots of pics to share with everyone.

Thanks for reading,
N.N.

Arizona Update

2005-07-05T16:58:00.000-05:00

Okay...so I was lucky enough to find a library that didn't require you to have a library card to get on the internet. However I only have 15 minutes. So far the most major thing we have done is drive on the Apache trail. The Apache trail (you can also just google it) is a long winding scenic highway through the desert mountains of central Arizona. When I say winding...I mean WINDING! Most of the drive was a one lane gravel road nestled precariously on the side of a mountain. It was very interesting and beautiful. The main reason for taking this driving tour was to visit the Tonto National Monument (google it). This is a very ancient Native American cave dwelling. The tricky part was walking up the 350 feet incline to get to it. We made it...even in the 110 degree heat...and I am not exagerrating. It is very very hot here...and it takes some getting used to. However, there is no humidity. I am ready to pull up my roots and move here. The west is certainly much different from the east and it fits my style quite well. It is rare to see any Bush/Cheney stickers here...and Scottsdale ( a suburb of Phoenix) is quite progressive. The change of scenery is nice seeing as how there is no grass...and no grass makes me very happy. The alitude is taking some getting used to...about 3500 feet above sea level. I have been having a lot of headaches because of it. It's cool to drive down the road and see giant saguaro cacti instead of 1000's of acres of pine trees. I will try to write some more updates soon...Right now I only have 10 minutes left and I want to check my email.

Happy Trails,
N.N.

I Am Here (Temporary Absence)

2005-06-29T23:02:00.000-05:00

Just a brief message to all of my readers. I will be on vacation for the next two weeks in Arizona. The First week I will be in the Desert (Phoenix area...if it hasn't completely burned down) and the second week I will be seeing beautiful views such as the ones pictured here in Sedona. I am very excited and feel this will be a life-affirming and life-changing trip. I can't wait to experience the spiritual energy of the Desert and of Sedona (which is known worldwide for it's energy vortexes). I am hoping to stop at some public libraries and cyber cafes to post updates on my trip. Wish me luck and a safe return.

The Birthday Lady

2005-06-28T23:13:00.000-05:00

Today was my mom's birthday and you see a picture of her here acting as young as she feels. I found an old harmonica and a music book today and I was playing around with that explaining to her how hard it seemed to play a harmonica (this is after 7 years of clarinet training). She thought she would show me up and play a song from the book I had found...That didn't go too well. Needless to say she was doing a worse job than me. We were actually just bored b/c we had been waiting around all morning and afternoon for the refrigerator repair man from Sears to show up...He never did...nor did he the past three times we tried to get him out here. There has been numerous excuses each time and my mom was very fed up. She got quite angry and that in turn made me angry as well and we kind of took that anger out on each other (we do this a lot...no need to get alarmed). She was mad b/c the Sears people were pissing her off and I was mad b/c I needed to be somewhere before six and it was pushing 5 already. I also had plans to take my mother out to eat for her birthday. All went well and we made it to where we needed to be. It wasn't a big birthday to-do...but it was nice nonetheless. I started a new knitting project today...on top of the socks I am working on. I have had the urge to make another hat and that is what I started. I will post pics soon...I know it will have ear-flaps. That should be exciting. I will try to get a picture up before I go on my trip. Until then...just imagine a flappy hat.

Let the Transition Begin

2005-06-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

It is official...I am now totally free of Winn-Dixie. I am no longer an employee of that company. I was offered the chance to take a temporary leave of absence and transfer to another store in Jacksonville (where I will be moving soon). I politely declined stating that I wanted to try something new. Honestly...I just need a change. I am so drained from that place...all the negative customers, the wasted food, the rip-offs, the bad management and annoying employees. I'm sure that I am going to find those elements in any job I am employed at...but I just have to get away. This is a major year for me...or so I have been told. Supposedly every 7 years we go through transitions and changes in our lives. I am 21 now, which means I am in my third set of 7's. I am excited for the opporunities that await me. I am excited about my trip to Arizona, where I feel there is something waiting for me. I feel I have finally identified with myself...I feel complete and renewed...ready to conquer and accomplish. I feel I am reaching spiritual and psychological maturity...I am settling into myself. I am me and I am pleased with what I see.

Mary

2005-06-27T01:55:00.000-05:00

Tonight was great. A friend of mine from work (who also happens to be one of my managers), brought our good friend Mary over to my house and we burned a couple of candles out on the porch while we discussed philosophy. A mind-expanding experience.

**note to some readers...this is a cryptic message.

A Trip to Red Molly's

2005-06-26T11:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I decided to drive to Jacksonville (which is about an hour and 45 minutes away from my house) and vist my aunt, who is also known as Red Molly in blog land. It was a nice day away from home. We chatted about this and about that. Then it started to rain elephants. We were going to ride around Jacksonville while she took pictures of all of the ugly places in town...there are quite a bit. This was to be a new blog photo project. Needless to say the rain put quite a damper (no pun intended) on those plans. So we chatted some more until we decided to go to a local thrift store, appropriately named, The Thrift Store. I ended up with a retro 80's polo shirt and a Jackson Browne record recommended by Red Molly. All of that for about 2 bucks...not bad. When we got back to the home front Red decided to make dinner...Spaghetti (with a red sauce for me and a clam sauce for her and her husband), with peas and carrots. It was a nice filling dinner and she told me that I wouldn't have to go home hungry. After that it finally stopped raining so I thought it would be a good time to head home...I thought wrong. When I got out on the interstate the rain started coming down again. The highways in Florida are not the best and they hold a lot of extra water when wet. My aunt pointed out before I left that the tread on my tires was looking pretty slim...an omen. There were a couple of occasions where I thought I was going to lose control of my car. I think that when it rains some people automatically go into idiot mode. There were people speeding and some going too slow...and I was stuck right in the middle. It was a nerve wracking experience and it just proved to me how much I hate driving in the rain. I finally made it home safe and sound and had a good nights sleep.

iTunes Top 25 (for lack of a better post)

2005-06-23T13:39:00.000-05:00

I thought I would throw out some of my musical tastes so fellow bloggers could get a glimpse at the type of artists and genres I prefer. I am getting this idea from Red Molly, who has listed her iTunes selections from time to time. Plus, I really don't have anything important to blog about. Here it is:

1. Love Shack 5:22 The B-52's
2. Army 3:23 Ben Folds Five
3. Wagon Wheel 3:52 Old Crow Medicine Show O.C.M.S.
4. Please Pass 0:08 They Might Be Giants
The Milk
5. Private Idaho 3:34 The B-52's
6. Quiche Lorraine 3:57 The B-52's
7. Mammal 2:14 They Might Be Giants
8. Dinner Bell 2:11 They Might Be Giants
9. Rock Lobster 4:54 The B-52's
10. Family Picture 3:43 Donna The Buffalo
11. Echo 3:34 Incubus Morning View
12. Big Time In 2:50 Old Crow Medicine Show
The Jungle
13. William, It Was 2:09 The Smiths
Really Nothing
14. I'll Fly Away 3:57 Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch
15. If I Didn't 3:48 Alison Krauss & Union Station
Know Any Better
16. Manhole 3:45 Ani DiFranco
17. Perfect Blue
Buildings 5:00 Counting Crows
18. A Long December 4:57 Counting Crows
19. The Wagoner's 3:32 The Duhks
Lad
20. The Future 4:24 Foundation Stone
21. This Charming 2:42 The Smiths
Man
22. I Palindrome I 2:22 They Might Be Giants
23. Restless 2:51 Alison Krauss & Union Station
24. Paradigm 4:33 Ani DiFranco
25. I'm A Cuckoo 5:26 Belle & Sebastian

Retro Fix

2005-06-20T09:07:00.000-05:00

Some more great vintage finds. Yesterday I thought I would entertain myself with some Bob Dylan while cleaning the floors. I just set up this small, personal record player (purchased from the Goodwill for $1.99), and put Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (Purchased at an antique store for $7.00) on. Made for a nice little retro fix. By the way, the record is over 30 years old! I don't think the record player is too old. I'm thinking early 80's...I think it might have been a childs record player.

The New Sock on the Block

2005-06-19T10:20:00.000-05:00

The picture is not so great (the battery was about to go dead and I did not have time to retake), but this is the new sock I am working on. As you can see it is being knitted with a self-patterning yarn, which makes a cool spiral as I knit with it. It is a cotton/nylon blend...Thanks to the socknitter for suggesting that. The pattern I am using is called Keith's Socks and it utilizes a knit three, pearl one/knit a round structure. I am using fingering weight yarn (can't remember the name of the yarn...something german), with size 2 dps. I am nowhere near being finished as you can see. I plan on taking these socks with me when I go on my two week vacation in July. Maybe I can at least get one done. I would like to thank my cousin Erin for providing me with the 25 dollar gift certificate which allowed me to purchase my supplies for this project.

Quittin' time!

2005-06-17T22:39:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but I will be quitting my job soon...turns out even sooner than I had thought. For any new visitors, read any of my previous posts about the environment I work in and you will see why I am so happy. I set the date for the 29th of this month...which is only about a week and a half away. Since I do not work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays that means that I only have 6 more working days. I was going to work one more week after our two week vacation in Arizona, but now I am going away that week too and they probably would have fired me anyway if I was gone that long. Thank goodness I have 42 hours worth of vacation time coming to me, and the tax return check which I haven't cashed yet. Money is going to be real tight after the long vacation. I will be moving to Jacksonville the last week of July to search for a job there...which I am sure won't be too difficult...I hope. It's funny because my cousin will have a finalized divorce the day before and she is equally happy about that. I guess we are just going to have to party it up.

All The Small Things

2005-06-17T01:12:00.000-05:00

I have recently installed an invisible stat counter to my site to let me know how many people have visited my blog. This particular counter, which can be found here, also allows me to see where people are from, how long they visited, among various other things which I find totally useless. However, tonight (or I guess I should say this morning), I clicked on the button that allows me to see what path a person took to get to my website. After clicking on it I got a number of various web pages and search engine entries. This is one that came up. Notice the first entry on this search (after copying and pasting it changed the appearance of the font). Someone was in search of the small things and somehow landed in my blog. Hmm...

1. small tit
LAST UPDATED: April 21, 2005. 2,017,531 INDEXED WEBLOGS. WEBLOGS LISTED BY LETTERwww.bloglisting.com/search/small_tit.html?page=5 - 38k - Cached - More from this site - Save - Block
2. small business trends
LAST UPDATED: April 21, 2005. 2,017,531 INDEXED WEBLOGS. WEBLOGS LISTED BY LETTERwww.bloglisting.com/search/small_business_trends.html?page=8 - 38k - Cached - More from this site - Save - Block
3. Small town rambles
Small town rambles. -I just got a message that said "Yeah hell is freezin over" I got a phone call from the Lord sayin "Hey boy git a sweater. Right now"- ~Isaac Brock * Modest Mouse~ Tuesday, May 24, 2005. Ethereal Knittingnowherenick.blogspot.com - 41k - Cached - More from this site - Save - Block

Trip to Tampa Number 2 - A Success!

2005-06-17T00:55:00.000-05:00

We Finally made it to Busch Gardens on Tuesday without the car breaking down. It only took two tries! My mom and I went in my car this time since it is newer and has less wear and tear on it. Plus, my mom's engine light came on just a couple of days ago. It was funny passing by the point where the car had broken down on the last trip to Tampa. My mom says, "Well, at least we made it past that point." It was very hot and humid, and I wasn't feeling so great since my sinuses and allergies decided to take a turn for the worst. I don't think I will be mowing the yard anymore. I guess that's a good thing. I was doing just fine until I mowed it on Monday. Nevertheless, It was nice to get away, even if I wasn't feeling like riding any rollercoasters. I was already dizzy enough. The picture I have included (one of only 3 that we took), is of me standing in front of the elephants. The elephant behind me was in the middle of spraying itself down with water. I wonder what it must be like to have your own personal water hose attached to your face? I don't think I would like drinking out of my nose though...that's kind of gross. The only thing that sucks is that I still haven't got to ride the new roller coaster yet. I did watch it in action and it doesn't really seem as spiffy as they said it was. It isn't even very long. The cool thing about it is that there is a water feature at the end. Only, the riders don't get wet but the people standing below do. Maybe I will get to ride it next time.

The Lonely Sock

2005-06-13T22:59:00.000-05:00

The finished product...well okay, half of it anyway. I've decided that I am not going to make the mate to this sock...It will forever be a bachelor. I basically used this as a model and for practice anyway. I had no real intentions of actually using these socks. The yarn was not the right weight for the needles (fingering weight yarn with size 6 needles...not a good match), and I didn't make the leg long enough. I am still happy with the fact that I can actually make a sock now...and I also learned how to do the kitchener stitch. That is quite tedious by the way. The sock did fit well though, so I guess that is a good thing. I am now working on another pair, this time using the right weight yarn with the right size needles. I will post pics of that at a later date when more progress has been made.

Thrift Salvation

2005-06-12T21:59:00.000-05:00

Here you see me wearing my latest thrift store find. I actually had been searching for one of these hats every since I saw one in a little celtic shop in the mountains of Tennessee. It was handmade in Ireland and very expensive (50 dollars!). I decided that I would not purchase it and go on a search from thrift store to thrift store. I found one while in Asheville, NC at a quirky vintage shop and the price was right...it was just way too big. More dissapointment. I searched online and the prices were not right and I wanted to actually see it and feel it in my hands before purchasing one. After a while I just gave up and every once in a while I would look at the hats in various thrift stores with no luck. The other day I stopped in the Salvation Army looking for clothes and was having, again, no luck in that department either. Something told me to check out the hats and lo and behold there was the great newsboy hat just waiting for me to buy it. The fit is good and it is in fairly mint condition. The price at 2.99 was VERY good. Good things do come to those who wait.

More Than Just a Willy Warmer

2005-06-09T23:01:00.000-05:00

Here you see a photo of a side project I am working on while I am giving the cabled sweater a rest for a while. I wanted to knit something that I could actually finish in a reasonable amount of time. The funny thing is for some reason I thought socks were so hard and suddenly the instructions just clicked in my head after reading through them a thousand times. I guess I have more experience now with knitting instructions and techniques. When I got through the heel and the gusset I said to myself, "well now you can do anything." I still have a little ways to go but shortly I will have one sock completed. It is 100% mercerized cotton in a taupe color. I think it is going to be a little big, but I am mostly using this as practice. The next pair I make are going to be for other people so I want to get it right.

Waste Not, Want Not

2005-06-09T22:42:00.000-05:00

We've all heard this phrase at some point in our lives. Most likely it was said to us by an older adult in our childhood. Today I had to work in the produce department instead of my usual job as cashier. I was reluctant at first but it turns out that it was extremely easy and somewhat boring. One thing I was not prepared for was the amount of food that I had to pull off the shelf because it was reaching, or had exceeded it's expiration date. In fact when I walked back into the produce "headquarters" the other guy that was about to finish his shift was on his way to throw away about 3 or 4 boxes of bananas, with very little age apparent. They mostly had brown spots as well as some bruising. Nothing a few cuts from a knife couldn't heal. I told him that I would buy some because I like to keep frozen bananas on hand to make smoothies. I ended up buying 6 bunches at 15 cents a pound. Not a bad deal. For some reason we had an overabundance of overripe bananas that no one would buy. It is such a shame that he had to throw all of those away when they could have given them away to homeless shelters, food distributors, to farmers for compost/animal food, etc... There are endless possibilities with all of this wasted food. It is saddening in a way. With all of the hungry people in this world and even just in our small town, they have to throw away tons of food. It's not just produce, it's meat, bread, milk, perishables, you name it, we throw it away. I discussed this with some other employees today and they said that a long time ago many of the grocery stores would allow different organizations to come in and take the out of date food to various places of need. Then all of a sudden they just stopped. They suspected that people were taking the food and reselling it for a higher price. Food Piracy? Sounds completely assinine. Just because of a few people who had to take advantage of a good thing, many people have to suffer and starve. I thought really hard about taking all of the out of date food home and at least feeding it to the wild animals. I just hate to waste food, when something or someone could benefit from it. Nevertheless, I must do my job...I guess.

Hair Be Gone

2005-06-09T22:32:00.000-05:00

Now You See It.

Now You Don't.

Another Long Day At Winn-Dixie: The Gestapo, Ignorance, Ethics and Race

2005-06-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

I'll start right from the beginning. I knew it was going to be a rough and long day at work today when I was told that I had to be a bagger...I am normally a cashier and I didn't think that I should have to do this so naturally I am a little preturbed. I was reminded by the Gestapo to make sure that I carry everyones groceries out (I didn't)...I will get to the Gestapo in a moment. So I am standing there bagging this lady's groceries...she only had four items. I was talking to the cashier about how silly it is for them to tell me to bag and how it is not my fault that no one can come in to work, and that I was NOT going to round up carts from the parking lot...that they DO NOT pay me for that. I wasn't being loud or rude or anything...just carrying on conversation with the cashier. Apparently this stupid lady thought that I was being offensive because when I handed her her groceries (after she strictly specified that she wanted her cold stuff seperate...mind you she only had four things...trying not to waste plastic) she said "Here's a tip...some customers don't like complainers." This was said in a smart-ass way so I gave her a smart-ass look and sent her on her merry fucking way. That just did me in right there. Now to explain the Gestapo...We have this new manager that took over someone else's position...well he is a real asshole. He is constantly down our throats about making sure everything is so fucking perfect for the customers. God forbid if we look like we are relaxed or having fun b/c he will assume that we have nothing to do and will find things for us. Today he called one of the baggers up to have a discussion (he is always on their back). The bagger walked up and had his hands in his pockets...big mistake! The manager said he wished he could cut off his hands so that he would keep them out of his pocket. He said he needed to be bagging more groceries and taking out peoples stuff...WTF!!! We can only do so much...and when is putting our hands in our pockets a crime? It is being in prison working there. It sucks! If I haven't stressed that enough before. Now for the real issue of the night. I, once again, had to get in a discussion/debate over people making racial/ethnic slurs about mexicans. I really do not understand why people have such a big problem with them. The reason this came up was because one of the baggers noticed that some mexicans were counting the money back after their change was given to them and that they did not speak any English. He didn't understand why they did that. I told him it was b/c so many people rip them off that they don't trust anyone. I asked him how he would like working for people that ripped them off everytime they got a paycheck...like people do to the Mexicans. I explained that many Mexicans are working for two bucks an hour. Then I got really mad when he called them "those Damn Mexicans." I told him that they were just people like the rest of us trying to make a better living so that they can support their families and themselves. They don't come to our Country for the kicks...In Mexico they make next to nothing...so Why not come here for a better opportunity. I don't think that people realize that we are all humans...none of us are any better or different than the next person. That's not even the half of it! Next up came the topic of homosexuals. I don't know why this was brought up but it was and I had to put my two cents in...of course! This one customer overheard us talking about it and she had the audacity to say that (she is a smoker) "those Gays have more rights than us smoker's do" I was like What the HELL! She also said that they were putting people in just as much danger as smoker's were. She complained that she is forced to smoke outside away from people...Well yeah...You stink and it's gross and nobody wants to smell that shit while they are eating! I really wish that I could have interjected here...but my desire to keep my job kicked in. She went on to explain that what if she thought she was gay and another gay person came along and convinced her to be gay too...Like this was putting her life in danger. I'm sorry folks but being gay is not a disease...It's not terminal! The bagger went on to say that they were going to hell anyway. I said how can someone go to hell if it doesn't exist? This pisses him off everytime I say that. He doesn't understand why I don't believe in hell. I just couldn't get over the fact that this woman really believed that Homosexuals actually have more rights than she did. I didn't know they had any rights...Isn't that what they are fighting for right now. Many of them have to live their lives as a secret to protect their jobs and themselves. I don't know what is wrong with society today. Just when you think things are getting better, shit like that comes along to knock you on your ass and show you reality. I just have a big problem with ignorant, closed minded people who are the reason our country is going to "hell" in a handbasket. In order for our society to make things better, people need to learn acceptance and tolerance. They need to learn that there is no "perfect," there is no right or wrong way to be. Just live your life and mind your own damn business! What other people do with their lives is none of anyones concern. If people could just walk in someone elses shoes for a day they would learn that we don't all have it made in the shade. There are a lot of hardships that people have to endure everyday. Unfortunately many of these hardships are due to race, sexual preference, religion and politics. Being different is what makes us all unique. Ignorant people need to understand this...and in the meantime pull out a mirror and look at themselves. I am sure that they will not find an image of perfect staring them in the face. I really lost a little more faith in American Society today.

A Short Knitting Update

2005-06-01T10:24:00.000-05:00

I realized today that I have not kept up with my knitting in about a week or so...so I figured I would give a short update. I am still working on the cable-rib sweater that I had pictured earlier. It is coming along very slowly but surely. With my work schedule lately I have not had much time to knit and when I do have time I want to do other things. I counted it up yesterday and I had knitted 52 rows so far. I have 13 cables crossed and there are four rows for every cable...simple math. I'm not in a big hurry to get it done...it's a long time until winter. I am just happy to knit something. I think I have decided that I am going to force myself to knit a pair of socks...no matter how hard I think it is. I want to be able to take something small and compact with me when I go to Arizona...and I figured socks were the perfect thing. There is no way I can go two weeks without knitting something. I actually recieved a 25 dollar gift certificate to a yarn store that I frequent in Jacksonville called A Stitch in Time. This was my birthday present from my knitting cousin...the one pictured in one of my earlier blogs. I will probably purchase my supplies with this. I just haven't decided on a pattern yet. I am okay with socks until I get to the heel. Then it's all down-heel from there.

Birthday Weekend Part Two

2005-05-30T18:02:00.000-05:00

Now I bring you part two of my birthday weekend. Saturday Morning we get up early to go to Busch Gardens in Tampa. I had a little bit of a headache from the night before but nothing major...Nothing a hot shower and some breakfast couldn't cure. I am all excited about getting to Busch Gardens b/c they have a new roller coaster that I wanted to ride. 200 feet drop at a 90 degree angle going 70 miles per hour...Oh YEAH!! But oh no! The cosmos were not working in our favor that day. We got about 1/2 mile before the Busch Gardens exit and guess what? The car died! Literally just died! So we waited in the extremely hot sun for about 30 or more minutes on the tow truck to come pick us up. That finally arrived but he could only hold two passengers...My cousin and I opted to walk to a nearby flea market that was right on the other side of the overpass that we had just coasted down. This meant that we had to walk down a steep hill beside the merge lane. It wasn't a long walk...yet! The tow truck took my mom's car to a nearby PepBoys just a few miles from Busch Gardens...talk about a tease! Meanwhile my cousin and I are walking around this shady flea market in the middle of Tampa hoping that we get a call soon telling us that they are picking us up. The tow truck guy said that it looked like a radiator hose had busted and if that was the problem it shouldn't take long to fix...HA! I got the call and my mom said it would be at least two hours before they even got to the car. We had to either take a cab or walk to the PepBoys...which the guy at the PepBoys said it was no more than half a mile. We decided to walk the supposed half a mile which turned into what seemed like two! To make a really long story short we arrived at the PepBoys around 12:40pm or so and they said that the water pump was gone and the timing belt would have to be reset and they were going to try their best to finish it in a decent amount of time. They were very busy and a timing belt fix is no easy matter. The guy at the desk was very helpful and sympathetic when a few hours turned into an entire day at this place. The shop closed at 8pm and they did not get through with our car until 9:40pm. He agreed to stay open until the car was fixed. We really did not want to stay the night. 500 bucks, no Busch Gardens, and much misery later we were on our way. All in all not the way I imagined my birthday weekend. I do have to give props to the people of PepBoys for coming through and helping us out. They didn't have to do that...but I guess there are still kind and considerate people left in the world. Busch Gardens will always be there and it's better that that happened when it did and not on our way home at 10:00 at night. Here's some pics that slightly document the day.

Getting the Details...Preparing for PepBoys

Looking up at What is About to be a Long Day.

My Thoughts Exactly.

My Pouty Cousin.

Getting the Hell out of Tampa.

Birthday Weekend (First in a Two Part Series)

2005-05-29T13:57:00.000-05:00

I am breaking up my birthday weekend in review up into two sections because there is just so much to talk about. I will start the first by giving a recap of my actual birthday party that I didn't think was going to happen. First of all I had a really crappy day at work that day (Friday the 27th), and all I wanted to do was buy some beer (I turned 21) and head home to get ready for my little get together that I had planned. I got home cleaned up a little and iced my cake before my aunt and cousin arrived (My aunt is the one on the bicycle and my cousin is the one sporting the red hair). At least they made it on time! My party was set to start at 7pm. I had one of my friends show up at around 10 after 7...we'll consider that on time. I hadn't planned on getting my drink on until they got there but I got tired of waiting so I went ahead and had a couple of beers thinking that they (there were supposed to be three more coming) would arrive at any time. I waited and waited and around 10 o'clock another one called and I knew that he was going to be late because he worked late. He decided not to come because of some issues/drama that was going on that I won't really get into right now...it had nothing to do with me. I told him I understood and not to worry about it. I finally got ahold of another of my friends and she had had diarrhea all day and I told her that if she felt bad not to worry about it (She was also set to be late because she had to be at a rehearsal dinner for a wedding). The other friend who was supposed to be bringing his friend "Mary," was unreachable. So I just gave up...I decided that I would just go to bed and forget it. We were going to be getting up early to go to Busch Gardens (that will be in part two...and boy is there a lot to talk about there) anyway and I thought that would be in my best interest. Long story short my friend Matt finally showed about around 10:40 or so...with "Mary" and I called my other friend Lisa...with the sore anus and she said she would come out...and we ended up having a great time...believe me. It's too bad I didn't have any pictures to include of the "after party."

The balloons say it all.

Making my wish.

Pondering my future.

My aunt having some birthday fun (sober).

Not really getting it.

Crash landing (once again...sober).

Showing her how it's done (with alcohol in my system).

The Batter Was Flyin'

2005-05-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

I spent a good portion of my morning baking two cakes for my birthday tomorrow. I will be turning the magical age of 21. I am having a small get together and I wanted everyone to have something nice...so I made a peanut butter/carob cake and a rich chocolate cake...all from scratch thank you very much. The peanut butter cake is from a recipe in a Yoga cook book. Everything in this book is from various yoga studios around the world and they are all pretty healthy recipes. The Chocolate cake is from the New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook...a book I am sure that most vegetarians have on there bookshelves. This cake on the other hand is probably not so healthy...it is very rich and chocolaty. I haven't made the icing for the chocolate cake yet, I am going to wait until tomorrow. It will be a rich fudge icing (also from scratch), with lots of powdered sugar...yum, yum...cavity time. It's not like it's something that I would eat all the time so I think it is okay. I'm sure the cakes will go great with the beer and the chips and dip. If our friend "Mary" shows up the cakes will not only taste great, they will also come in handy when we are REALLY hungry. Here's to hopin'

Ethereal Knitting

2005-05-24T20:34:00.000-05:00

Tonight was my first night taking a yoga class in what seems weeks. Yoga is such an important aspect of my life but here lately it has been put on the back burner and it hasn't even been on simmer. Getting caught up in work is stressing and annoying. I am trying to save up money for our summer vacation to Arizona as well as for when I am in Jacksonville looking for a job. There is no way in hell that I am going to continue working for Winn-Dixie...They have got to be the WORST company to work for. The pay is terrible and the management sucks...plus the fact that we are supposed to go by that old saying "the customer is always right..." Guess what? they aren't. Enough about that. I was actually reluctant to go to Yoga tonight because I had been cleaning the house all day and my sinuses were on the verge of exploding through my face in the form of a headache. I just made myself get in the car and get there. I ended up being the only one there, which made me glad that I had went because I would have hated for my yoga teacher to sit in there all by herself. She is a really sweet lady and I can only say that I am sorry that I haven't been around much lately. I am just taking everyday as it may come...I am trying to not beat myself up over the fact that I can't be perfect in everything...which Is what yoga is supposed to be all about...Accepting. She made me feel better about it by pointing out the fact that she has known many people through yoga who have struggled with the same thing. We both agreed that screwing up and slacking off is a necessary part of a yogic lifestyle. The practice went well. We took it slow because I did not want my headache to get worse. I always look forward to the relaxation part at the end...which I am sure everyone does. It gives me a sense of completion and it is like a gift to ourselves for accomplishing something. What was so special about tonights relaxation was that my teacher used guided imagery (quite slyly b/c I did not even realize that that was what she was doing until she asked me how it went at the end). When the imagery started she had me imagine that my yoga mat was a flying carpet sending me to a place where I felt safe and comfortable...I immediately went into the middle of a sunny field with lots of trees and green grass (I must not have allergies in my mind) that had a gizebo right in the middle of a clearing. I was sitting in the shade relaxing and feeling quite happy and content. All of a sudden I had knitting needles and yarn in my hands and I was knitting away before being brought back to myself. I thought this was pretty cool. I guess the reason I knit is because I subconsciously see it as something safe and comforting...which it is! I felt a warm feeling of euphoria that I often feel after a nice relaxation session. I need to experience some more of this healing guided imagery. What a way to end the day.

Strawberry Fields

2005-05-21T22:05:00.000-05:00

Here you see the fruits of labor. During an outing to Valdosta, Ga to go to the flea market and various other places, we (my mom and I) got lost on our way downtown. This was not such a bad thing because we stumbled upon a strawberry farm that allowed people to go into the field and pick their own strawberries. Being the strawberry lovers that we are we thought it would be fun. We were afraid that it was going to cost too much but it was only 6 dollars for a gallons worth. It was a quiet day so we got to pick on whatever rows we wanted to choose from. This actually was fun and it kind of took us back in time and slowed things down for a moment. Definitely something I would do again, despite the heat. The great thing about picking your own is that you don't have to worry about rotten or bug-ridden berries because you actually choose what goes into the basket. A great way to get lost.