worth a thousand words

first things first: i love photography. i'm not one for paintings at all, but i LOVE photography. that being said, click this lovely built-in link
to see nbc's year in pictures 2005. there's some very moving stuff in there.

secondly. i am such a grown up. wanna know why? cause i planted a tree in my backyard this weekend. that's right. planted my very own tree. went to the store, picked one out, asked questions about caring for it, took it home. dug a hole. planted it.

(side note: by "dug a hole" i mean "attempted to dig a hole. gave up after about 10 minutes, begged husband to finish said "hole" and not laugh too hard at me for making a big fuss over how i could dig the hole myself")

and, know what else? we built a fountain. yep. a fountain. in our backyard. see, the lady that owned the house first, she loved gardening. apparently she knew the secret of how to keep stuff alive. so she had these big wine barrel planters all filled with stuff that lived. until we moved in. then it died. so for a year we've had these big boring dirt filled wine barrels in the backyard, just being all ugly and doing nothing.

well, remember that part about going to the tree store? they had our VERY SAME wine barrels, only all lovely with water flowing and stuff living. so we did it. we built a fountain. and bought LIVING things to put inside. the guy promised me that the things would keep living...because i don't have to remember to water them...cause they're IN water ALL THE TIME. it's basically the awesomest thing that ever did happen. i even woke up EARLY this morning to make my husband breakfast to thank him for all the hard work, then had coffee out by the fountain, just staring at it being all impressed with my grown-upedness.

it kinda looks something like this:


only with three, and to be so honest, mine looks like a gazillion times better.

$2 to the cool kid who comes to take a digital photo so i can brag even more about it on my blog. make that $3. it's worth it. and i'll let you have some lemonade and look at the fountain for awhile. that's practically priceless.

admit it, you basically all want to be me. cause i'm such a grown up.

fun friday facts and finds

i can't compare with bsc or ghost dog as far as great links go...but here's my measley attempt:

look who learned how to link like a cool kid

and then did it more than once

here's a rude awakening

see what you think of those.

fun facts:

cat urine glows under a black light

Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.

In every episode of Seinfeld there was a Superman somewhere in the picture.

There is no synonym for “thesaurus.”

There are 336 dimples in a regulation golf ball.(that one's for my mister)

Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different.

Favorite picture of friday:

friday night tidbits

i'm watching 20/20 right now. it's all about crazy hoaxes in america. i love this kind of stuff.

the story at the moment is about this woman who saw an add for a psychic in her local newspaper. she went to see the psychic for a reading, who started by lighting candles around the room. at the end of the reading, the psychic announced that there was a terrible curse on the lady and her family, but that she (the psychic) would be able to remove it. the psychic then handed over the bill for the reading, which included a 25 dollar charge for EACH candle that had been lit. over the next several months, the lady reports that she paid the psychic over 220,000 dollars. i'm sorry...what? TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. including the purchase of a 20,000 dollar watch that the psychic claimed would "reset the time in life" for the lady and her family.

here's what kills me most of all. this lady who paid 220,000 dollars is on television, wanting me to feel SORRY for her. hm? what? seriously? you willingly handed over hundreds of thousands of dollars to a woman who claimed there was a curse on your family, and you want me to feel bad for you?! not bloody likely. at the end of the interview, when asked what she hoped would happed to the psychic who is now being sued, the lady replied "i hope to get my money back. and i hope she spends a looooong time in jail."

well i hope you don't see a dime. stories like this make communism appealing (only kidding, please don't pulverize me). this idiot lady has all that money just waiting to be swindled, meanwhile i'm using the internet at work to find out what's going on with all my favorite cable tv shows since we cancelled ours three months ago.

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i've always been a reader. i was the nerd who read the thesaurus during the summer between my 2nd and 3rd grade year...just for fun. feel free to hate me. most kids my age did.

but as an adult, i've only just begun to find myself as a reader. i've read loads of books from all sorts of genres, generally based on recommendations from friends. but all on my own i discoverd augusten burroughs. i've read all of his books and loved every word. he's the one that wrote "running with scissors" which is definately my favorite book at this point in my life (aside from "are you there god? it's me, margaret") i just found out a few days ago that the movie of "running" will come out in october and that gwenneth paltrow is in it. i can't wait.

anyways. i love augusten burroughs' work. LOVE IT. i'm constantly begging people to read any of his books so that i have someone to talk with about it. so tonight, bored and home alone, i decided to visit his website. i spent hours reading through everything. then i looked him up on myspace. and found him.

here's the thing. this is my OPPORTUNITY. i mean, it's myspace, you can send a message to anyone, and basically know they'll read it. this thrills me. at first. but then i started reading through all the comments on his page. it's all these people trying to be....literary. or, at least, smarter and wittier than they probably are. so i'm TOTALLY stuck...i don't want to send a lame "i love every book you've ever written" message. but i also don't want to be obviously trying to impres him. i mean...he's this BRILLIANT and HILLARIOUS author...what could i possibly say? i literally stared at the empty "send augusten a message" box for almost an HOUR, just begging my brain to come up with something acceptable. to no avail.

what do you say to your favorite author? or musician?

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have you seen the video of the chick on maury povich who's terrified of pickles? i can't remember where i saw the link to the video, so if it was from one of your blogs, i'm sorry for not giving credit.

i think it's completely bogus. i think most people's phobias are lies. a local radio station was talking about phobias today, and a lady called in who was terrified of goats. GOATS. the radio personalities would play a recording of a goat noise, and the woman would freak out. i just don't buy it.

i get being afraid of the dark. or of knives. or clowns even (shudder). but being terrified of pickles? impossible. when pickle-sissy was on maury, he showed a picture of pickles on the screen behind her. she screamed and jumped out of her chair and ran away. she's not afaid of cucumbers. just pickles. maury made her go to a pickle factory. that was good television. and don't try to call me out saying that it's a mental health or brain disorder thing. don't forget that my entire job is about mental health and developmental disorders. i get that people have abnormal phobias. but i refuse to accept that picle-sissy was telling the truth. i'm pretty sure she just wasn't strong enough to endure being a guest on jerry springer. i'd like to slap her.

with a vlassic dill spear.

coming soon to dvd

my new favorite thing is buying tv shows on dvd by the season

it started harmlessly enough...a friend got me the first three seasons of family guy for christmas. it was fun to watch show after show after show... then i started to branch out... i purchased all the seasons of the Newlyweds (no kidding), then i found the simple life in the cheap dvd bin at walmart. then it kinda started to spiral.

big brother season 3 (the only one on dvd, otherwise i'd have them all)
american idol seasons 1-4, the best and worst of
gilmore girls seasons 1-5 (thanks to r.lew who got me hooked)
veronica mars season 1
grey's anatomy, season 1

and you wouldn't believe my wish list at amazon...or the fact that i've got the release dates of all the upcoming releases written in BOLD into my day planner.

it doesn't help that we've cancelled the cable for the summer (oh miserable death...i'm missing SO MUCH...)
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i saw the new "pirates" movie on saturday. in general, i'm terrible at being a critical viewer...i basically take things as they come, never try to guess the endings. i'm never the one to see when things don't match up. it would take quite a lot for me to dislike a movie for any real reason.

anyways. i saw pirates 2. and here's the thing. i didn't really like it. i know it's supposed to be the big movie blockbuster...and everyone's supposed to love it, and ooh jonny dep (to which i say eww)...but i thought it was gross. and too loud. and lacking in something, although i can't pinpoint what.

please don't harass me. i don't want this to be ostracized like i was when i announced that i hate "amazing grace." maybe i should take some sort of class about how to view movies more analytically. or critically. or whatever it is that makes me sound smarter about movies than i currently do. any tips?

random monday picture:

i'm having a private party

in honor of my quarter of a century birthday, i share with you the lyrics of the song i've been listening to on repeat all day. it's by india arie.

I’m having a private party
Ain’t no body here but me, my angels, and my guitar
singin’ baby look how far we’ve come here
I’m havin’ a private party
Learning how to love me
Celebrating the woman I’ve become

yeah I tried to call my mother, but She didn’t get where I was going
I called my boyfriend and he said Call me back a little later baby
I hung up the phone, I felt so alone Started to feel a little pity
That’s when I realized that I Gotta find the joy inside of me

I’m gonna take off all my clothes Look at myself in the mirror
We’re gonna have a conversation We’re gonna heal the disconnection
I don’t remember when it started But this is where it’s gonna end
My body is beautiful and sacred And I’m gonna celebrate it

I’m having a private party
Ain’t no body here but me, my angels, and my guitar
singin’ baby look how far we’ve come here
I’m havin’ a private party
Learning how to love me
Celebrating the woman I’ve become

All my life I’ve been looking for somebody else to make me whole
But I had to learn the hard way true love began with me
This is not ego or vanity I’m just celebrating me
Sometimes I’m alone but never lonely
That’s what I’ve come to realize
I’ve learned to love the quiet moments, the Sunday mornings of life
Where I can reach deep down inside or out into the universe
I can laugh until I cry or I can cry away the hurt
Happy birthday to me Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me Happy birthday

I’m having a private party
Ain’t no body here but me, my angels, and my guitar
singin’ baby look how far we’ve come here
I’m havin’ a private party
Learning how to love me
Celebrating the woman I’ve become

i'm not original

at least not today

i saw this on my FAVORITE guilty pleasure website. and i laughed so hard. and i like laughing. so i figured you probably like laughing too. and considering the fun chat going on at rebecca marie's blog, i figured this was right on time. and that's why i bring you the following video:



can anyone translate the song? i'm dying to sing it during my next WC soiree. also...what's the yellow handle thing at the end???

happy monday to one and all!!

did i tell you i took up running? no kidding. i completely suck at it, but i love it like bsc loves being cynical.

i've always kinda craved running, which makes no sense at all. everytime i see someone running down the street, i want to pull over and clap and scream "HOORAY! good for you! keep running!" i want to buy them things and be their friend.

now let's be clear. i'm not athletic. at all. i guess i'm not NOT athletic, in that i'm not opposed to it in any way, i just haven't ever BEEN it. but randomly i decided to just try. i've always secretly (because it sounds severely schizophrenic to say outloud) that i'm a runner deep down. very deep down, but a runner nonetheless.

also, there are few things i love more than the word nonetheless

so i've been trying to run. i never thought i'd have to LEARN how to run...because everyone can just run, right? but it really is learning. and let me tell you, it's harder than i imagined. my first time out i ran a total of like one minute, and i was DONE. i just whimped right out and walked the rest of the twopointfive miles.

i've gradually been able to increase it though. for example, two days ago i ran one half of a mile. and that's not a big deal to any of you, but BOY OH BOY!!! i was stoked. okay, i ran half a mile, that's true. i did it in two quarter mile segments, with one quarter mile walk in bettween. details details. it was still a big huge deal for me.

so, i'm supposed to be training (which seems ridiculous in and of itself for ME to say...) for a 5k run this fall. i can't imagine myself making it that far...running a 5k? me? seems impossible.

but so did a half mile...even divided.

all of a sudden i feel like there should be a moral to my story, or some sort of charge to my readers...well here it is.

if i can run two quarter miles, you can certainly do that thing you've always wanted to do but thought you couldn't. here's a quote that i like. it's famous i'm sure. i first saw it in that cute movie "akeelah and the bee"

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous. Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us -- it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. -Marianne Williamson