Olympics 2008

August 10, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

Yes, this is another post about the Olympics. I can’t help it. I watched the Opening Ceremony Friday night and I was just in awe of all of the performances. Here are some pictures of the event because I couldn’t describe it well enough to give you an idea of how beautiful it was (for those that didn’t watch). I’ve seen a few events so far: archery, basketball, swimming, rowing, some cycling, and weightlifting. I’m looking forward to more swimming, diving, and gymnastics.

And it’s funny because a year ago I would never have been interested in watching events like these at all. But this year it’s different. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve actually been following some of the athletes and their profiles/medals, or if it was the amazing opening ceremony, or if maybe I just don’t have anything interesting to do other than watch games on tv. But I find it so exciting. These people are regular human beings just like you and me. They have talent, drive, and discipline. And some events don’t even need talent—hello, rowing? Weightlifting? Anyone can do this, and that’s what I like about it. It’s not the same as a superhero in a comic or in a movie because reality tells us different (e.g. I don’t know any human spiders) and our imagination plays a part. I watch these people break 20-year records and win gold medals and I enjoy the fact that it’s all possible.

I guess that’s why I’m into it this year. I’m rooting for the people who took the time to stick to a sport, work really hard for four years, and compete doing what they love. And if you watch the Olympics, that’s pretty much everybody. If you’re watching this year, what events do you enjoy watching?

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Crazy Plans

August 02, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

The next time I come up with a crazy plan for “improvement"… convince me not to? These past few days have been interesting, to say the least. I’m pretty proud of myself, I mostly stuck to my 2-hours-a-day time schedule, and the rest of the time I tried to busy myself with a couple of activities, none of which were as awesome as I imagined. This having a life business? Completely overrated in my opinion. Especially where I live, which is Nowhere. Here’s a little diary I kept inside My Brain while this entire challenge went on:

Day 1
This isn’t so bad. I can do this. Two hours a day is enough, I think. I should bake cookies today. Maybe start on a book. Nah, maybe tomorrow. (A few hours pass by). Lunch was good, I’m glad grandma liked it. Not as good as what she cooks though. I watch TV and soon get tired of it. A friend invited me to a party but I quickly decline. Nothing interesting ever goes on there, they all just get drunk and do stupid shit. I can do that shit on my couch. Gas is expensive! (Later) My friend stopped by. I gave him some cookies. He liked them a lot but then he wouldn’t go home. He stayed through dinner and then watched a spanish soap opera. What the hell. What guy watches spanish soaps with his friend’s parents for fun? I thought I had it bad. Hmm, I’m hungry.

Day 2
Started a book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. So good. Ate a good lunch, watched more TV, went out to eat. Read some more. Played with my bird, told him a story about Devil Cockatiels which I think he liked. Painted a little. I really like the stamps I got. I quickly get bored, painting is not the same when you’re by yourself, and I re-arrange the letters to spell funny things like HUDLUM, JESUZ, and COKRING. That gets old quick. Watch The Abyss with my parents. Laugh at the big pink alien spaceship at the end. Watch more soap operas, since my family feels the need to rape TV time from 6pm-10pm. Survive some family drama without wanting to hurl myself off a cliff (that is a lie). Get invited bowling, decide not to go. Why pay $12 dollars to play two games that I’ll end up losing? I pat myself on the back for being a Positive Penny and continue watching the lameness on TV. I read some more before bed, cheat a little on my timetable, contemplate selling my soul to the devil in exchange for perseverance, and drift off to sleep.

Day 3
Finished the book. Watched Giada, get a girlboner as well as some inspiration and made more cookies. They sucked. I should just stick to painting and gluing my hands together. My grandmother left for the weekend so I’ll live off of cereal for the next two days. You are pathetic. Oh hai Penny. Six hours later (or at least it felt like it), my sister leaves for work. Leo and I watch her go with miserable faces. What now? Grandma’s gone for the weekend, sister won’t be back until late night… the book is done, I’m sick of baking. Sigh. I know! I should write a letter! So I start one, but it’s mostly gibberish, things like “Why do I think of these things?”, “I would sell my soul tbh”, “WHY GRANDMA WHY” and other lame shit like that. I throw the letter away, it’s just depressing. I sit down and wait for noon to come; freedom. I leaf through a National Geographic and my imagination wanders. I picture myself trading lives with a baboon family and disgusted with myself I snap the magazine shut. That was close. When it’s finally noon, I expect to jump up, run to my computer, check my e-mail, do a happy dance. But I don’t. I don’t feel the urge to do anything but daydream about huts in Kenya and doodle on the newspapers left by my parents on the table. I’m content.

Overall I think the fast did me some good. I slept a lot, didn’t do a lot of shopping or eating out (although I did get new shoes from my parents), and I didn’t get to take my dog to the dog park because it was so so so hot outside. And when it wasn’t hot, it was raining. So that was a no go. Still, I don’t regret that I did the fast. I did a lot of thinking, I spent more time with my family, I tried new things and I did a lot of reading (which I missed). Success.

My Self-Diagnosis

July 22, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

I know self-diagnosing on the internet is frowned upon, but for the sake of this entry I’m just going to gently push Reason aside and continue with my self-diagnosis, because I can. I suffer from Lazy Ass Syndrome (you might have heard of it), and the evidence I will present will hopefully be so strong that my self-diagnosis will be accepted even by Those Who Frown.

Evidence:

  1. Instead of getting up to close my door so that Leo doesn’t fly from the kitchen, around the corner, and onto my shoulder to annoy me, I’ll pick up a binder sitting next to me, lean over, and attempt to close the door with it. This saves me the added stress and time of getting up and walking two feet.
  2. Instead of grabbing a dinner plate from the kitchen, I grab a paper plate sitting on the counter so that later on after I finish eating I won’t have to turn on the faucet and rinse the plate. It’s better to just bend a few degrees and chuck the paper plate in the trash.
  3. Instead of walking into the kitchen and getting some ice for the lukewarm water sitting on my desk I, well, don’t.
  4. When running out really quick to do some errands, I put my hair in a bun rather than taking the time to brush it out. All five strands that are left, that is.
  5. Instead of getting up to turn on the lightswitch for the fan, I sit on my couch and melt into a nice fleshy puddle from the heat.
  6. When someone calls, I let the machine pick up rather than answer the phone, and when my Mom yells at me through the answering machine to “ANSWER THE PHONE, SARY!”, I pretend not to hear.
  7. Instead of blogging every two days like I used to, I let my blog sit for four of five days and update my About page for the upteenth time for no reason but to stall.

Those are but a few symptoms of LAS I’ve experienced in the past day. I’ve heard there’s a cure somewhere, but I’m too lazy to find out. 

College Hell

July 14, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

So I switched my major earlier today. The college counselor that met with me was very helpful but strangely nutty. You know when people laugh at something you say but you don’t really believe them because their laugh is either dry or awkward and trails off into a cough or an abrupt silence? Well that’s what she did, and nothing I said was even intended to be funny. I guess after dealing with dipshit after dipshit you start going a little batty.

There are about 45,000 students at the college I go to, and that’s 40,000 too many in my opinion. Everywhere I turn there’s a new crowd, people (usually freshmen) asking me for directions, or a group of six or seven people squeezed together on a bench made for two, all ignoring each other.

When it comes to classes, I particularly enjoy my academic courses. It’s the electives that kill me. Some of my electives are filled with straight-out-of-highschool freshmen who are constantly interrupting the class to say things like:

“EY! MISS! YO WHEN CAN I GO TO DA BATHROOM?”
“Wait, isn’t this HSC4532? OMG I’m in the wrong class!” *loudly shuffles out of the room*
“Miss can you like, explain that one more time cause the first like three times I totally wasn’t getting what you were sayin’?”
“We can just leave the class? Forreal?! You won’t write us up!?”

Geniuses, all of them. Thankfully I only have one more elective to go, the rest of my classes are major-driven and are usually filled with people who, you know, take the college thing seriously. Which reminds me! The best thing about college is the withdrawal program. Usually after a few weeks a good portion of the class has withdrawn after realizing that hey, college is no joke and if I fail this class I lose $80 dollars. Especially if it’s a math class or a science class. That’s all I look forward to in college. The withdrawals and christmas/spring breaks.

Just two more years and I can haul ass and work a little more on Being A Grown Up.

I like dead flowers

July 10, 2008 · Filed under: Personal. Photos.

I think there’s something so sad and poetic about flowers that have withered and died. Especially if there’s still some color left to remind you of what once was: a healthy, vibrant flower. I’d add in something about comparing dead withering plants to life but that would be pushing the emo factor, and it’s too early in the day for me. And also because this entry is about LIFE (sort of).

I’ve always wanted to grow a garden. Even just a little one, with a few flowers and maybe some vegetables I actually would eat, like tomatoes. The only problem with that is that I live in the Sunshine State which is the most misleading bullshit I’ve ever heard. It really should be called The Closest To Hell You’ll Ever Get state or maybe Satan’s Favorite Hang Out. Something to that extent because it’s impossible to step outside without diving for the nearest shaded spot so that your skin doesn’t melt off into a puddle of singed flesh.

So I imagine that plants wouldn’t do quite well over here, unless you had a sprinkler hitting them at full speed 24/7. My mom had some azaleas and they bloomed for maybe four days before giving up. Anyway I promised myself that when I move back to a cooler area I’ll go to the nearest Wally World and plant a few things, see how it goes. In the meantime, I’ll just take pictures of the flowers that have surprisingly made it down here, like this one I spotted a few days ago:

Just look at that courageous survivor. I’m almost jealous that it loves to get nutrients from the sun and happily basks in the heat rather than saying “Fuck it” and burying itself deep deep in the ground while whining about living in Hell like I wouldn’t do.

I’m a winnar

June 24, 2008 · Filed under: Personal. Photos.

Edit: Something went wrong and the comments weren’t working, but they are now! Sorry about that.

So Holdfire had a contest recently, and turns out I won second prize! I entered pretty much positive that I wouldn’t win anything and what do you know, I won a nice little package. Thank you Jordan, this was a sweet contest with great prizes. I’m glad to be a part of it.

The site was down for a day or two while everything propagated but everything is up now and my databases got uploaded and all that. All I can say is thank god for Brent who’s very patient with me and is always willing to help out. If I had tried to do all of this on my own this site would have ended up like all my other ones: dead.

The past couple of days I’ve been working hard on the new online project that I will unveil in July and editing the CSS templates Lime and Gray. They were a little outdated before, so I just spruced them up a little, nothing major. I also apparently didn’t get enough sleep one day? And I decided to make my bird Leopold a subpage. Like those mommy bloggers do? Yeah I don’t know what got into me but I made it and there it is.

I have nothing else to say really, I’ve been so preoccupied on this online project that I can’t really dedicate time to anything else, much less thinking, so I’ll leave you all with a picture of my dog:

A Delicious Day

June 21, 2008 · Filed under: Personal. Photos.

Thank you all very much for the birthday wishes. My birthday went pretty well. I got to order people around a little and blame it on my birthday. A few of my friends and family came over and I made them all watch Lost since it’s my favorite show and really, I just need more people to watch it with. My plan was successful and I got a few people hooked on it so I chalked it up to just one more birthday present. Speaking of presents, I got a few things: a birthday card from the sweetest guy ever, a tea/coffee mug, a gym membership (important!), some other stuff, and a delicious birthday cake:

Nomnom

Is that not the most delicious thing you’ve ever seen? My lovely sister made it for me, just how I wanted it. I’m planning to ration out little slices and see if it’ll last me ‘till next week because it’s just that good.

The gym membership has got to be one of my favorite gifts because I’m sure you all remember the worst day of this year. I lost a few pounds since then but I need to lose a lot more to climb out of Sluggish mode and into Lively Livin’. So I went yesterday with my sister and a friend and after two hours of pure hell (yes you read that right - TWO. HOURS.) and a whole lot of bitchin’, I finally came home very proud of myself. So proud that I rewarded myself with a sweet piece of cake. (Shh—baby steps, people. Baby steps.)

Times the word ‘birthday’ was used in this entry: 78.

Happy Birthday to Me

June 19, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

It’s my birthday today. I’m officially 21 years old and as such have full permission to begin my long descent into alcoholism! Can I get a “lol Gurl plz.”?

This week has been real super, if you haven’t already guessed. I’m hoping it ends with a bang. And I don’t mean the bad bang, where someone ends up dead. I mean the good bang, where the weekend ends up making up for the shitty week that seemed to go on forever.

Example that Things Are Looking Up #1: Early birthday presents! My lovely sister got me one of these (in Daisy Daisy) since I hate carrying purses and would much rather clip a few cards and a cellphone to my belt loop. She also got me a $50 gift card to Michael’s that I can’t wait to spend. Clearly this proves she’s better than your sister (if you don’t have a sister, play along; it’s my birthday).

Later on tonight I’ll be having dinner with my family and my friends, eat a delicious chocolate cake made by my sister (Things Are Looking Up Example #2), probably have a margarita, and then watch Lost with my family. Saturday night I’m hoping to get completely plastered, to the point where I don’t remember my name or gender and have to be carried home. I can’t wait.

Here’s to a fabulous weekend! 

Life is swell

June 16, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

An Italian man was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend from a pub, taking her home and forcing her to iron his clothes and wash the dishes, police said on Monday.

The 43-year-old man dragged the woman out of a pub in the port city of Genoa, shoved her into a car and took her to his home where he made her iron and wash dishes after threatening her, they said. Police arrived at his house after being tipped off by a friend of the woman who watched the scene at the pub. Source.

Apparently it’s too much work to drive to the nearest dry cleaning service and have your clothes steamed. It’s much better to kidnap a woman in public and force her to do it for you. Free, too. As a bonus you get to spend the night in jail thinking of your pressed slacks. Nothing better, really.

In other news, my air conditioning decided to die right along with my microwave. Currently it’s 88F in my house, my ceiling fans are circulating hot fumes, and I’m busy peeling myself off the floor and collecting the sweat beads trickling down my face.

Life is swell.

Terrible, terrible news

June 12, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

I am very sad to inform you all that at approximately 2:25 pm in the afternoon yesterday, a tragedy occurred that shook the foundation of what is essentially my life (not counting this e-life I work so hard for).

My microwave died.

And really, it’s not the fact that my microwave died that’s the issue. After all, I could just get a new one, right? That’s what people do when things break, they buy new things to replace the broken things, right? Righ--NO. No, because my parents will not be getting a new one (not in the near future, anyway). You see, they’re working on a little house project that’s about uh, $4000 and counting? So I’m basically fucked. And sad.

I depend on this microwave, people. I need it. I don’t know how to cook, and I’m not just trying to be cute about that. Every time I try to cook a meal I burn things or put my family at risk (I am not kidding). My parents rarely cook dinner around here (and are gone the rest of the day) so I’m left to fend for myself. I don’t have money for fast food or take out and my little friend Nuke just decided to jump ship on me. So these coming weeks I’ll be living off of Corn Pops and Marshmallow Mateys. Fantastic. I give myself three weeks before I leap off the nearest bridge.

BTW: New CSS template.

My Ideal Vacation Spots

June 09, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

In random order. Image Heavy/Pregnant/Overload/Fat/Whatever. Click on the pictures to see the source and (maybe) see more photos.


Santorini, Greece

I fell in love with this place after seeing Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (shh). It’s beautiful, surrounded by the most amazing view, and alright, I’d like to find a sexy Kostas of my own. At least I admit it.


Tuscany, Italy

Ever seen Under the Tuscan Sun? That movie made me fall in love with this place and not just because she found a hot male to keep her company. That’s only part of it.


Hawaii

I want to explore the entire island of Hawaii, for obvious reasons. Plenty of beautiful sunsets, waterfalls, oceans, culture… what’s not to love? Except for volcanoes, sharks, and Death by Surfing, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.



Oaxaca, Mexico

I’ve been to Mexico before, but never to the beautiful city of Oaxaca. I especially want to visit the ruins and The Blue House. Oaxaca offers some amazing folk art, yummy food, and a gorgeous beach. Plus you can live on really little, so I’m planning to move here and just live off of selling mangoes. Or ceramic plates, either one, I’m not too sure on the specifics.


Salt Lake City, Utah

This one’s easy. I love me some Mormons and snow.



Spain

For a couple of reasons. 1) I really want to see a flamenco dance. 2) Amazing culture. 3) I want a Spanish papi to take home.

What are your picks?

Letters and a layout

June 05, 2008 · Filed under: Personal. Photos.

I haven’t written an entry in a couple of days, and this is why. Cute as that last layout was, I needed a change. Something simpler, light, and with a little owl (who for some reason always needs to make an appearance).

The past couple of days have been swell. I’ve been napping with my bird, eating cereal for lunch (and sometimes dinner too), watching reruns of Sex and the City, and writing letters by hand. There’s just something about writing letters by hand and sending them through the post that I absolutely love. I love the excited feeling I get whenever I go to my mailbox and find an envelope addressed to my name. As convenient as e-mail is, I just think handwritten letters are so much more personal. Not to mention tangible. I’ll be able to store these letters in a little keepsake for later reading and I love that.

Speaking of my mailbox, remember the tragic death of my old mailbox? Well since then I’ve gotten a new one, and it is very snazzy:

Talk about an upgrade. The downside? The mailbox is not in my front yard anymore. Now it’s next to my backyard, which is twice the trip I used to make, but the handwritten gems I get make it all worth it.

Fuck you Lost

June 01, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

I was watching some episodes of season two of Lost today and can I just say this show is in.sane. There are so many theories, deaths, conflicts, sad flashbacks, romance, weird findings, a creepy priest, and yes, a few hotties, but the entire time I’m thinking: jesusgod, I am so glad to be on dry, safe, land with (mostly) sane people. I don’t know what I’d do if a plane crashed and I was stranded with strangers.

For one, I have an issue with privacy and having my own personal space, and something tells me a couple of leaves and trees won’t do, much less four sticks and a bed sheet. Oh and the fact there are about 40 other people living mere inches from me.

Two, I’d need a few things that I’m sure the island wouldn’t give me (all the island seems to give is hallucinations, headaches, and tears, so no thank you): my best friend, sunflower seeds, pizza rolls, and my sweet sweet internets. You take those away and I ask you: What is the point in living?

Then there’s also the issue of well, I don’t know anything about these people (the personal stories Lost loves to give us via flashbacks is a perfect example). That person next to me on the plane could very likely have be a sociopath, wife beater, religious fantatic, or drug dealer. How would I know for sure these people wouldn’t gut me and feast on my flesh if the need arose? I’d want to know everything about everyone I was staying with and then I’d watch my back just in case one of them wanted to get freaky and you can sit there and shake your head wondering what the hell I’m smoking but goddammit you can’t blame me!

After each episode (but especially during the entire climax of the season two finale) I debated whether I wanted them to be found or whether I just wanted them all to finally explode in one big nuclear blast so the show would just finish already. Because really, I can’t take much more of this torture, not knowing anything about The Others (psychos), getting a girlboner every time I think about a Sawyer/Jack sandwich, and worrying about who’s going to die next in a shocking turn of events.  And don’t tell me there won’t be another surprising death because hello, this is Lost, and as such they have to keep giving us a few mindfucks per episode to keep us guessing.

I hate you.

The 100 Things Challenge

May 25, 2008 · Filed under: Personal.

“Could you cut your personal possessions down to 100 things?” That’s the basic concept behind The 100 Things Challenge. Ever since I read this a few months ago, I decided I would challenge myself once I got my own place and just have 100 things to take with me. I made a list and 100 things doesn’t look like much, but!:

Things not included:

Still challenging, but definitely doable for me. Especially since books aren’t included. I have about 60 or so that I was taking with me, so that would have screwed me over right then. Why do this in the first place? Well the author gives the following reasons:

1. To help you declutter your home.
2. To make you realize what’s necessary, and what you love, and what you don’t need.
3. To free yourself of the burden of possessions.
4. For fun.
5. To force you to stick to the limit, even if you get new things.

And I have mine: I’m always up for a challenge, especially one that forces me to declutter (<3) and have fun at the same time. Believe it or not, the thought about declutter and living simply gives me a huge boner. But mostly, I just want to see if I can do it.

I've already started making my list and it looks something like this:

  1. Ring
  2. Pearl necklace
  3. Pearl Earrings
  4. Diamond studs
  5. Keys
  6. Cellphone
  7. Shirt
  8. Shirt
  9. Shirt
  10. Shirt
  11. Shirt
  12. Shirt
  13. Jeans
  14. Jeans
  15. Jeans
  16. Jeans
  17. Belt
  18. Sneakers
  19. Flip flops
  20. Moleskine
  21. Camera
  22. Paint supplies
  23. Toothbrush
  24. Hairbrush
  25. Perfume

75 more things to go. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Etsy Love

May 19, 2008 · Filed under: Online. Personal.

I’ve known about Etsy for a while. I subscribe to a lot of design blogs and they mention tons of Etsy artists. I don’t know what happened but yesterday something within me snapped? And I went on an Etsy rampage. It got so bad that I created an account just to favorite my favorite finds. Clearly I’m not hard to please.

Anyway I thought I’d share about 2% of those finds.


Tree silhouette silk-lined clutch bag
I think the size is perfect. I’d only worry about getting it dirty. But it’s so cute.



Owl Field Bag
I’d totally look like a legit college student toting around one of these.



Living Steel Jewelry Display
How amazing would this look in someone’s bedroom (ie. my room)? That’s a rhetorical question, but if you’re curious the answer is “Totally freakin’ awesome.” It’s perfect for necklaces and bracelets. I only wish it was a little smaller.



Filbert the Owl
Say hello to Filbert! I guess you can tell by now that I have a thing for owls. Especially soft, squishy, ones.



Sweet Silver Leaves
I love these earrings. I think they’d look great with practically any outfit, really.



Black Bird on Tree Branch Set
I see this and immediately think of curling up with sweet hot chocolate while reading a book. Sigh.


There’s a lot more where that came from. If you’re an Etsy Addict like me, suggest some items so that I can see them please. Feed my growing obsession, go on. 

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