Sleepy (not the Dwarf, but the physical act of being tired)

Well, I made it back to MN in one piece…

(This will be a short post as I am super sleepy.)

I woke up around 7:15 and got the rest of my stuff together before I left my sister’s apartment. WHen she left around 7:45, I walked her down to her car and put a load of stuff in my own vehicle. We hugged goodbye as a huge clap of thunder sounded above us. I knew I had to get out of Kansas ASAP if I didn’t want to be caught in an epic thunderstorm.

I managed to pull out of the apartment complex’s parking lot at 8:00 on the dot. In addition to thunder, there was lightning and massive amounts of rain drops had started to fall… I hate driving in the rain, especially in a spot where I’m not familiar with driving around. I made it out of Lawrence with Daniel (my GPS) only yelling “Recalculating!” a few times. I got my ticket and went to merge onto another section of the highway and almost got demolished by a semi. It was raining and foggy and the highway had two lanes and I didn’t see any lights in either lane… so of course when I went to merge, the ginormous semi seemed to come out of nowhere and sped past me in the very lane I was trying to merge onto. Why didn’t the driver go into the left lane when there were signs everywhere that people needed to merge? Oh well… at least I didn’t get crushed by the semi.

The drive went okay… I was super tired but figured if I kept singing and snacking on gum drops and cheese-flavored Chex Mix I would be okay. And I was… but those last couple hours were making me sleepy. So I just sang louder… I made it through 6 of my Broadway mixes, 2 pop mixes and 2 Glee-mixes. And I had plenty more where that all came from 🙂

Even though Minneapolis traffic was bonkers, I made it to my house around 3:33… excellent. When I finally made it into the house, I was greeted by my mom and two dogs. My dogs are the cutest… they were sniffing all my stuff and jumping up to give me kisses (even Yukon, who is super old and doesn’t jump much anymore). After two trips, I got all my stuff from my car into my room.

Mom and I opted for pizza for dinner to go along with our last 2 episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. When I am less tired/more able to collect my thoughts, I will delve further into my overall feelings about the show. But, I will say now (write now?) that Nate Corrdry (Tom Jeter on the show) deserves to be more well-known than he is. He was really great on that show and handled his dramatic plot line very, very well.

After Studio 60, we watched the season premiere of Survivor (love Jeff Probst!), last season’s finale of Modern Family (love that whole program!!) and the “Theatricality” episode of Glee (I will expand on the gloriousness of that episode probably tomorrow… I. Love. Burt Hummel).

And now it’s time for sleep!

Have a great day 🙂

 

Kansas, Christmas and Weebs

So, I woke up this morning around 7:30 and was in my car and driving to Kansas by 8:30. I drove for three hours before I stopped to stretch my legs and call my mom to let her know where I was (outside of Ames, Iowa). I hate driving, so my plan was to only stop once more to fill up the gas tank and then keep on going. I was eating gum drops and organic rabbit-shaped crackers, so I was good to go, food-wise. I just wanted to get to my sister’s apartment as soon as possible with the least amount of stops.

In Iowa, I decided to stop for gas at this place called Kum & Go, as it seemed to be the only gas establishment in the state (or at least where I was at). I got out of my car, pressed all the right buttons until it got to the prompt that said “press for kind of gas” and it showed a picture on the screen of a button you were supposed to press. Well, that button didn’t exist anywhere on the gas pump. I was hitting all sorts of stuff that I thought was buttons (including the “help” button, to no avail). I cursed loudly at the machine, cancelled my order and drove off in a huff. Of course I had to stop at another Kum & Go a few miles down the road… and again the prompt screen showed a picture of a button you were supposed to press… but again there were no buttons. I cursed some more and finally figured out how to get the gas – you had to lift up some lever thing. Perhaps the prompt screen should have showed a picture of a lever and told you to lift it, as opposed to showing you a picture of a nonexistent button you are supposed to press. Bah!

I made it to my sister’s place in about 7 1/2 hours, which was good time. We carried my stuff up to her apartment (3rd floor) and then decided to go to dinner at a Mexican restaurant she thought was supposed to be good (it was). After that, we went to the BBW so she could get some soap, then Old Navy so I could get some black clothes for work, then Target (well, Super Target) for some socks and groceries (I need to get shoes, so I needed socks so I could try on shoes…). We’re going to some mall tomorrow, then watching the VMAs!!

My sister loves Halloween, and there is a bunch of Halloween stuff out in stores now. While in Target, we happened upon this little ghost with blue felt eyes and mouth. Sarah was enamored right away, so she bought him. While in the checkout line, he was on the conveyor belt, and the little girl behind us poked him, looked at Sarah and then asked her mom, “Why is she getting Christmas?” The mom pointed out that the ghost was for Halloween, to which the little girl asked, “Why is she getting Halloween?” My sister and I chuckled.

On the way to the car, we were trying to figure out what to name the ghost. I suggested “Weebs,” from that SNL Boston Teens sketch where Jimmy Fallon and Ben Affleck are listing off a bunch of their friends names and they talk about “Casper” (pronounced “Caspuh”) and “Weebs”. So since there is already a ghost named Casper, I told her we should name him Weebs. And so we did…

After errands, we were both pretty wiped out (she had a football game in the morning and was super sunburned). So, we had some soda, watched Camp Rock 2 (my sister was uber kind enough to DVR it for me… CHEESETASTIC!) and played with Weebs. The best line of Camp Rock 2 went to Kevin Jonas who told some little campers that if they wanted to be lead singers, they had to get tighter pants and learn how to play the tambourine (a blatant jab at Joe Jonas… for those of you not in the JoBros know… for the record, I am not a die-hard JoBros fan, but I did like the first Camp Rock movie. So sue me…)

The movie ended and my sister (w/my permission) went to a party while I stayed at the apartment to type this up. I’ll also watch some extras on my I Love You, Man DVD and then get some sleep… I’m bonkers tired.

One of the nice things about being in Kansas is that I actually get to sleep in my bed, as my bed is the one that is in her guest room. (I also noticed that she has my hairspray and the framed photo my brother gave me for Christmas… so my sister is basically an art thief…).

So, I will link out to clips in the next couple days… too tired to search youtube for links that no one clicks on anyway 🙂

Have a good one!

 

Stand Up To Cancer

So, tonight was the Stand Up To Cancer special… I hope you got a chance to watch it and/or donate to the cause. It’s nice to see that the different scientists who are working toward cures are collaborating in the effort and not competing against each other. The show was really moving (even if a few of the music acts left something to be desired – this year’s song was definitely nowhere near as catchy or powerful as the 2008 song “Just Stand Up”).

I’m actually trying to get on the Stand Up To Cancer website right now so I can donate to the cause (cancer has affected several members of my extended family and friends families, so this cause is important to me). I’m having a bit of trouble loading the site (damn Safari), but if I can’t get on tonight, then I will use my sister’s computer tomorrow so I can log on and donate what I can 🙂

Um… today I did some laundry so I could pack for my trip to Kansas. I ran some errands and got gas for my car and a couple DVDs (I Love You, Man and Fever Pitch). Best Buy was disappointing… I wanted the 2-disc edition of The Dark Knight. Didn’t have it. The 2-disc edition of Iron Man. Nope. The 2-disc edition of Quantum of Solace. They didn’t even have the single disc version. The movie The Fall. Nope again. Pushing Daises Season One and/or Two. Nope and Nope. Come on, store!

I packed, played some Yahtzee with my mom. She kicked my ass a bunch of times in ping-pong. We watched several episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. We only have 2 more episodes until we’re done with all of them… this show got overly dramatic way fast. Too many serious/heavy/depressing plot lines going on all at once. And the one plot line that I was getting into (Matthew Albee’s anti-depressant pill problem) hasn’t been addressed for a couple episodes now… isn’t he supposed to be starting withdrawal at this point? Geez, show!

And that’s about it… we watched the Stand Up To Cancer special (but I already said that) and now I should get to bed as I am leaving earlyish tomorrow morning!

Have a great weekend… I know tomorrow is the 9th anniversary of 9/11. I have so much respect for the men and women who lost their lives that day, in addition to the men and women who were at the forefront of the rescue efforts. I know I can’t speak for anyone else but myself, but I have not forgot about you… and I’m sure the same goes for the rest of the country – Thank You for all you did and all you’ve done.

 

Wednesday, Wednesday…

A beautiful day in the neighborhood… still a bit chilly, but I dressed for the occasion. (i.e. yoga pants and my Wicked shirt… woot)

Because my mom is getting her colonoscopy tomorrow, today was an unpleasant food/beverage day for her. I felt bad as I ate my granola and nectarine in front of her as we played Yahtzee during breakfast. She had a cup of tea and said she had some Jello before I woke up. A woman cannot live on Jello alone.

Afterward, she did some house chores while I tried to work on my Literature Review… I am now on the second of five parts of my Lit Review, so that’s progress, right?

Around 11:45 I quit and went upstairs to see how my mom was doing. She was drinking tea and reading a book at the breakfast nook. We spilt a can of soup for lunch… she had all the broth and I had the chicken, noodles and vegetables. It was all a bit ridiculous 🙂

After lunch we played some ping-pong, since she only had a couple hours before she had to drink this gross mixture of Gatorade and some powder that was going to pretty much make her down for the count the rest of the day. Even though I know my mom was not at full strength, she still kicked my ass in multiple games of ping-pong. Afterward she did a few more chores and I went back to my Literature Review… I probably got another two pages done (this friggin’ thing is going to be ginormous).

At 3:45, I went back upstairs, as the Gatorade-athon was to begin for my mom at 4. I brought my computer, phone and Snuggie upstairs (in case my mom got cold but still wanted to read her book…). I planted myself at the dining room table and starting making some Playlists for my upcoming road trip. At 4, my mom poured her first glass of Gatorade/powder solution and drank. Her face screwed up and I could tell that whatever this was that she was ingesting was not particularly tasty. For the next couple hours, she drank a glass every fifteen minutes. Gross…

As time wore on, her drinking got a bit slower. I liken it to the scene in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince where Harry has to force feed (drink?) Dumbledore that stuff to get the necklace (except that I never had to force drink my mom anything… she drank that stuff on her own accord the whole time because she is a champion).

My dad got home and we pretty much just all sat in the living room while my mom drank the stuff. She retired to their bedroom to read around 7:30, so my dad and I watched Public Enemies.

I saw Public Enemies in theaters because I am a big fan of Billy Crudup, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale (all with prime positions on my Favorite Actors list, for sure). The movie is pretty good… I am a fan of director Michael Mann and the ensemble cast is solid. Good gun battles, plus the acting is spot on. Johnny Depp can pretty much do no wrong. He’s great in everything… but I think my favorite Johnny Depp performance is in Ed Wood. I LOVE that movie!

Ed Wood

And I still love Christian Bale, even though he kinda went berserk a couple years ago. Even though he’s mostly known for the Batman franchise, I still remember him well from Newsies and Swing Kids when he just sang and/or danced right into my heart!

Newsies

Swing Kids

And let’s not forget Billy Crudup… love him in everything he’s done too. I saw him on Broadway in The Pillowman and almost all of his movies. It’s hard to pick just one clip to share, but check this one out from Big Fish:

Well, off to bed… then errands and maybe some more Lit Review tomorrow. Friday I’ll do laundry, pack and watch the Stand Up 2 Cancer special and then I’ll head to see my sister on Saturday.

Have a good one!

 

Too tired…

Word to your mother.

So, I know I owe this blog a massive post recapping my time in Ohio. That’s still not going to happen right now, as I am physically too tired to keep my eyes open for much longer (and it’s only 10:30 as I’m typing this… blah).

But, I can give you a recap of a recap…

Friday: 15 hour car ride

Saturday: Campus to check email, run into my friend Ashley (plan to go out that night to Boogie on the Bricks/drinking), run errands, not able to find Pushing Daisies DVDs anywhere, pack/clean apartment, plan to see Inception the next day w/my best guy friend (who everyone and their mom knows by now that I had feelings for him for the entire school year) meet up with the girls to have drinks at several bars, get drunk and text friend to try and get him to come hang out, go to another bar, said friend ends up coming and we talk for multiple hours as I proceed to flirt/hit on him

Sunday: Meet up with friend to see Inception, as the credits roll after the movie he turns to me and tells me he has something to tell me, which results in this (I = Ralph Wiggum in this scenario…):

Sunday (con’t): He and I talk some things out, then I have to drive home in the worst rain storm I’ve ever been in in my entire life, I call Robin later and we had a much needed epic conversation (I love you, Robin!!), too worn out to pack so I begin to write a short story as this entire day is prime material for a story/script

Monday: (Awkward) brunch with group of friends, I cancel my bank account in preparation of moving to MN, I call my mom and tell her that I can leave OH on Wednesday instead of Thursday because I cannot stand to be in town anymore because of the prior day’s events, I go see Eclipse because I needed a good laugh, then I went over to Robin’s for the rest of the evening and she made dinner and we made cupcakes and it was really great getting to spend time with one of my favorite people I’ve gotten to know this past school year :), got back to my apartment only to find I have a phone message from my mom saying that my dad had a bit of an accident and was in the hospital and had to get staples in his head. We agree to leave on Wednesday for this family emergency, which is fine by me seeing how I was embarrassed to be in town any longer than I needed to be.

Tuesday: Went over to Matt’s apartment to get my DVDs back/say goodbye before I left town for good, went to campus to check email, went home to clean/pack, my mom and sister got in at 4 and we unloaded my sister’s car, Robin came over b/c I wanted her to meet my mom and the four of us went to The Coffee Cup for dinner. I opted not to go into town to the group gathering at Casa…

Wednesday: My mom and I drive 15 hours back to MN… my dad is doing fine. The staples aren’t as bad as I thought. I meant to go to bed early, but ended up chatting online with a seemingly nice guy from the dating website Robin suggested I sign up for… 🙂

Thursday: Errands with my mom, accidental 2+ hour nap, dinner at the dining room table w/mom and dad – it’s super weird being here with both parents.

And that’s about it for the recap of the recap. And maybe this is all you’ll get… though I am pretty sure I should be working some of this weekend into some sort of story or script. Even though there were more tears than I would have hoped, I’m sure I am going to be laughing about most of this sometime soon. I’m going to take inspiration from Jason Segel (LOVE him) and use all of this humiliation (you don’t even know the half of it…) for comedic effect. 🙂 See, look at me moving forward… woot.

Anyway, sorry for the lame posts these past few times. I’m out of my routine/rhythm, but I will get that back soon.

Have a good one!

 

Back in Ohio…

I made it to my apartment in one piece last night around 9:45 pm. It took just over 15 hours to drive from our house in MN to my place in OH and a couple of times, I was pretty sure I wanted to not drive ever again.

My dad woke me up at 5 AM and I was on the road by 5:33… the first five hours actually went really quick. I didn’t stop once and I had a solid selection of mix CDs to keep me entertained. I snacked on some Chickadees (the Target version of Goldfish crackers – woot) and drank some water like a road trip champion.

Then things started pissing me off.

I planned on stopping to get food for the rest of the day and gas in my car in the same area and then pressing on some more until I needed to stretch my legs.

Turns out where I stopped to get food (Subway – each fresh, yo), all of the gas stations were either on the other side of the busy road, or miles from the highway. F-you, whatever town that was where I stopped. I drove out of there shaking my head and wondering why that place didn’t decide to construct their service stations in a more logical layout.

I finally got gas and then stopped to eat about 6 1/2 hours into my trip. I had a text from Robin (I hope all your library stuff went well!) and then called my mom.

My mom and sister were in New York. And while I was super jealous about this, I was beyond jealous and really upset when they told me they were currently at my favorite restaurant in the theater district and then seeing a Broadway show.

Not fair. Not fair at all.

I love Broadway. I would probably give up movies forever if I could just sit and watch Broadway shows all the time.

And not only were they seeing a show, but they were seeing A Little Night Music, starring the new cast – BERNADETTE PETERS AND ELAINE STRITCH!!!!

(See how this is all not fair?)

So not only did my mom and sister go traveling all around the country on a super fun road trip, but they were in my favorite city, seeing Bernadette friggin’ Peters singing “Send in the Clowns”.

I told them I had to get driving and hung up the phone, in tears. I was jealous, but I was more tired and just pissed that I don’t know the next time I’m get to go to New York to see any shows.

I got back in the car and kept driving. Still mad at the world, the tears were coming down my cheeks like it was raining inside my car. I know that driving on a highway while crying is not safe, nor very becoming, so I tried to cheer myself up with some happy thoughts. Or at least think of how lucky I am to have what I do have and try not to be petty about not being in New York… That kinda worked, but I refused to listen to my 4 Broadway mix CDs the rest of the trip.

To add some more arsenic on top of the already poisonous day I thought I was having, traffic and construction was bonkers the entire day. I was in standstill traffic probably 4 or 5 times, especially surrounding Indianapolis and Columbus. I was super bummed about the Columbus traffic because I was literally an hour away from my apartment and my car was stopped because people can’t figure out how to merge when lanes get shut down. Also, it would be awesome if people used their blinkers.

Okay, enough bitching about my trip.

I finally made it to my house and called my dad, left messages on my mom and sister’s phones, and texted some Ohio friends to let them know I made it to town in one piece.

A cold shower and multiple fans helped rid the feeling of being in a car for 15 hours. I texted with a few friends and then tried to get the Internet in our apartment re-connected.

I managed to plug in everything and make sure all the wires were where they should be. But somehow, our Internet won’t work (I am typing this from my laptop at the Student Center on campus… I needed to come to town for errands anyway. Maybe look for some Pushing Daisies DVDs at Hoffa’s…). It still didn’t work this morning. BLAH.

As I nestled in my bed to watch Glee before falling asleep, my phone rang around 11:30ish. It was my mom!

They had just gotten out of their show and Sarah was at the stage door of the theater to try and get Bernadette Peter’s autograph. My mom recounted the rest of their day since I last talked to them. They went to Macy’s, then to the NBC building to try and get tickets for Jimmy Fallon’s show. They got standby tickets, but were able to see him rehearse his monologue and the Thank You notes! They saw Jimmy, some of the writers (even Miles!), and James from The Roots. I think they even got to talk with Morgan, one of the writers. I was super jealous, of course. I love Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I have seen almost every single episode. My mom, however, hadn’t seen any episodes. Crazy times.

Anyway, my sister ended up getting a bunch of people’s autographs, including Bernadette Peters. So, my mom is giving me her Playbill, so now I will have Miss Peters’s autograph. That’s kinda cheating, though, since I didn’t see her show… but now I can add that to all the other autographs and Playbills I have.

My sister and I are already planning a trip to NYC for next year as Daniel Radcliffe will be starring in the revival of one of my favorite musicals of all time, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. I really want to see American Idiot too, but preferably with the original cast.

Anyway, I should get going… need to see if Hoffa’s is open, then off to the grocery store for fresh fruit.

I probably won’t be able to update this again while I am in Ohio unless my apartment’s Internet magically decides to start working.

(Note – I will fix italics and link out to stuff later)

 

Yes, I finished Pushing Daisies. No, I didn’t do any school work (again).

Okay, to be frank with you, I haven’t worked on any school work in maybe a week now.

There, I said (well, typed) it.

And although I told myself I would work on thesis stuff while I’m in Ohio for the next week, I highly doubt that I’m going to get a whole lot done. I still need to pack up some stuff in my apartment and clean a bit. But more importantly, I need to hang out with friends and see Inception. (yes, *need*)

Today I got a lot of stuff done around the house, except for working on thesis stuff…

I brushed the dogs, watered all of the plants (back deck, both sides of the house, in the pretend forrest out back, and all of the ones on/near the garage, those in the front yard and on the front porch…), did laundry, washed dishes, gathered all of my sister’s mail, packed my own stuff (I still have some left to do), played outside with the dogs, accidentally took an hour-long nap with Moose, and watched my last two episodes of Pushing Daisies.

Oh, Pushing Daisies, how I loved thee. And how I plan on watching thee again with my mom once she gets back home 🙂

I cannot stress this enough – that show was magical. Not only because of its magical elements, but the stories were entertaining, the characters were relatable, and there was a pie shop called The Pie Hole! This show just cemented my wish to open up a baked goods shop at some point in my life.

Aaaaaaaand, that’s about it.

I’m super tired and my day was super uneventful in the grand scheme of things.

I have a 15+ hour road trip ahead of me which I am dreading whole-heartedly. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to see my friends in Ohio… I just hate driving, especially for 15 hours all by my lonesome. Blah. But, I have my mix CDs and the promise of seeing friends who I haven’t seen in over a month, so that’ll keep me going. Plus, I get to sleep in my bed tomorrow, right next to my baseball bat. That’ll be nice.

Enjoy your day/night (whenever you are reading this)

 

Unofficial Lee Pace Day

I had my dad wake me up before he left work work this morning so I can get used to waking up freakishly early for when I head back to Ohio on Friday. Ergo, I was stirred from my sleep (and a pleasant dream about a boy from undergrad – we were walking to a movie theater to see Inception… awww) and reluctantly crawling out of bed at 5:45.

I immediately carried both of my pillows to another bed in the house and laid down. Moose jumped up on the bed and snuggled up next to me like a living body pillow. After five minutes, I knew I had to get up and go on with my day with no sleeping breaks of any kind – this is my version of conditioning for a 15 hour car trip. I’ve been yawning since I woke up – this is likely to be how Friday goes. But I have so much caffeinated soda and gummy candy to help keep me awake. Plus a bunch of mix CDs. How I love my mix CDs.

At 6:00 am, I put on my first episode of Pushing Daisies for the day. I must have had my eyes shut when I yawned during the opening credits because I didn’t catch any of the guest stars names until I shouted them out at the television screen as each person appeared. I scared the dogs when I yelled “ERIC STONESTREET!“. (I wanted to text my sister right away, but it was only 7:00 am where she is, and I knew she wouldn’t be awake yet.) The bake-off episode might have been one of my favorites thus far simply based off of the ridonkulously adorable outfits that Ned and Olive were wearing 🙂

When my episode was over, I fed the dogs and let them outside for awhile. Since the street construction wasn’t going to start until later in the day, I figured I’d let them enjoy the quiet of the morning (Yukon is super scared of loud noises and machinery, among many other things… poor girl).

We came inside, I fed the fish et al. in the tank then poured some granola and yogurt (I was out of bananas – sadness). Moose sat with me on the couch as we watched another episode of my show. I laughed out loud multiple times. This was mostly because the show is funny, but partially because I’m super tired. I’ll laugh at pretty much anything when I’m tired… it’s something I get from my mother.

Though I could have watched my remaining episodes right then and there, I opted to throw in a load of laundry and clean both of the bathrooms in our house. I grabbed my iPod, put on my “Washing Dishes” mix (I should rename it “Any sort of house chore mix”), started singing and scrubbing the sinks, counters, etc… Listening to music and singing like I’m starring in whatever show where the present song would be appropriate pretty much gets me through all house chores or other crummy tasks like packing. Even as I type this up, “Don’t Rain on my Parade” (Glee version) is playing and I am Rachel Berry/Fanny Brice. That’s just the way it is… (Now, I’m not dillusional to think that I sing half as good as Lea Michele and Barbra Streisand, but I think I can hold my own among us commoners. Especially with show tunes…)

After cleaning, I went online to check emails and read the (entertainment) news of the day.

Due to feeling epically tired, I opted to plant myself in the recliner and call my mom. By this time it was after 9:00 (so 10:00 where she was) and I knew she and my sister would be up and likely on the road. I was right on both counts – they were en route to Colonial Williamsburg. I had been there the summer after 7th grade, but neither of them had experiences this little blast from the past.

My mom answered the phone the way that my sister usually answers the phone when I call (which I will not type, as it is a derogatory word against a certain sect of white people), so I thought for a moment it was my sister. I was wrong and got laughed at – I blamed my tiredness and my mom laughed at me some more. I’m glad I can bring so much joy to my family 🙂 I chatted with my mom for awhile and told her what I had accomplished thus far and what I was going to be up to the rest of my day. I told her some of my woes – she listened and told me she loved me. Awwwwwwwww, moms 🙂

After I got off the phone with her, I went outside to put the trash bin back in its spot and clean up a bit, as we were expecting rain and storms. About 10 minutes after I got in, it rained for awhile. Luckily we didn’t get any of the bad storms they were expecting for here (we had a tornado watch until 4 – blah). Yukon (who is even more fearful of storms than I am) followed me around for most of the day, but when she calmed down, I figured that we were in the clear, weather-wise.

The dogs and I watched another episode of Pushing Daises. Upon its conclusion, I let the dogs back outside. Of course right then, a huge piece of machinery was rolling its way down the street and Yukon bolted to the porch as fast as her spindly legs would carry her. Moose froze where she was and just fixated on this massive white thing that was making lots of noise. I finally asked her if she wanted a biscuit and that got her attention. She also ran to the porch and I let them inside and gave them treats.

I made lunch and settled down to another episode of Pushing Daisies (I only have 2 left!). I am going to be so sad when I am out of episodes… I need to buy these DVDs. Soon, if possible. (They weren’t at Target the other day, or else I would have bought them then.)

After my show, I got the stuff out of the dryer from this morning and out the blankets back on their respective piece of living room furniture. I also tried to re-anchor on of the fake plants in the fish tank that had come loose. However, as soon as I stuck my arm in there, the bigger of the two catfish tried to attack my hand. Needless to say, I yanked my arm out of there and the fake plant is now in the kitchen.

Sticking with my streak of chores, I opted to vacuum the entire top floor of our house. Everything was fine and dandy until the tablecloth in my parents room got caught in the vacuum and pulled down the entire table it was on. The only casualty was a really nice lampshade that I knew my mom liked a lot. Whoops. (I am really not a klutz, but I tend to accidentally destroy stuff sometimes. Like the time I pulled the legs off my mom’s Francie Barbie doll when I was little. And I think I broke the lens on one of her cameras. Etc…)

I did manage to do the dishes without breaking anything in the kitchen – woot. By this time, it was only 1:45. As I was impatiently waiting for my Netflix movie to come in the mail, and I knew the mail didn’t come until around 3, I opted to take a cold shower (it’s ridiculously hot and muggy here today – blah). Yukon must have sensed some more bad weather or something (sometimes she just likes to keep tabs on who ever is still in the house), because she opted to stand guard for me outside of the shower and even tried to jump in once. (She used to hop into the tub, whether it was empty or full of water, when she was a puppy – it was kinda adorable)

So fresh and so clean, clean, I checked my email again and when the clock hit 3:00, I asked the dogs if they wanted to go outside. (Yes.) We went outside into the humid disgustingness. They ran around the yard while I gathered the recycling bin and grabbed the mail. My movie was here!!

We went inside and I gave them treats then grabbed a soda for myself. Yukon opted to nap on her dog bed while Moose joined me on the couch to start watching The Fall (2006). Now, I got this movie based on it starring Lee Pace, watching the trailer and reading some user comments.

The Fall was gorgeous – and I ain’t just talking about Lee Pace. The visuals were amazing – the opening black and white sequence was beautiful, the muted green hospital scenes were beautiful, and the vibrant sequences for the epic story being told by Pace’s character were beyond beautiful. The plot was way depressing, but the relationship between Pace’s paraplegic protagonist and that little girl with choppy English was handled really well. Pairing a late 20s man with a maybe 6 or 7 year old girl could have been a bit of a mess, but they were so good together. I don’t cry at movies often, but the end of this one almost had me going… so good. So sad. But so good.

Lee Pace is a very capable actor. He’s not just good looks, nice arms, super thick eyebrows and beautiful eyes – the man has the ability to evoke all sorts of emotions without saying anything. But when he does talk, the timber of his voice wraps you up like a thick blanket. And while I love him as The Pie Maker on Pushing Daisies, it was nice to see a full range of emotions (joy, anger, sadness, desperation, hopelessness, etc…) in The Fall. I know I have seen a few more of his movies (Infamous, The White Countess), but only really remember him from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Side note – he should play John Cusack’s brother in a movie.

I made it through the movie and might watch it again with commentary…

(Cue me saving a draft of this post and shutting off my computer)

Okay, so I just got done watching it again with commentary from Lee Pace and two of the writers (there was a director’s commentary as well, but since I have already expressed my extreme interest in Pace’s voice, this was the obvious commentary choice for me). Not only was the commentary really great and informative, but I caught so many more details of the movie and appreciated it even more. I definitely need to own this film at some point soon!

I also just got a text from my friend Ashley wondering when I would be back in town and able to grab drinks with her and Amanda. 3 cheers for grad school peers 🙂 Looks like Saturday night is going to be spent at Boogie on the Bricks… I can’t wait to see friends!

Well, I need to get to sleep, as I plan on getting up early again tomorrow. Plus, I have both of the dogs sleeping next to me, so I’m assuming this will be a bumpy night’s sleep anyhow. They are super heavy breathers, especially with this horrific weather. The AC is on, but they have fur coats on, so I understand the panting…

Have a good one!

 

“Bring the noise!”

(*note* once again I’m too tired to link out to stuff I mention… I will do that at a later date. Thanks and have a swell evening)

So, I got bed late again last night and woke up at 5:30. I could hear my dad upstairs (he had to get to work early today), but I was determined to fall back asleep. Usually once I’m up, I’m up. To get myself to fall back asleep, I need to clear my mind of all the stuff I’m worrying about and concentrate on an alphabetized list. Usually I do movie titles or actor’s names, but this morning I opted for all things Broadway. I started from the end of the alphabet. It was hard thinking of “Z” stuff, so I finally just thought of shows, actors, characters or songs that had a “Z” in their name. I think I went with “Wizard of Oz,” “Liza Minnelli” and “Crazier Than You” (I always try and name at least 3 things per letter…). I had to do the same schtick when I got to “X,” as the only show I could think of was “Xanadu“. I got up to “R” and then must have fallen back asleep because the next think I knew I was being woken up by the sound of barking dogs. I looked at my clock – 8:42. Awesome 🙂

I crawled out of bed and went upstairs. Cue massive amounts of kisses from the two best dogs on the planet. I let them out and gave them breakfast while I started chopping bananas for my own food needs. I took the dogs outside again, fed the fish/leeches/snails in the tank, poured some granola and watched the rest of the episode of Pushing Daisies I had started last night.

I cannot stress how much I friggin’ LOVE this show. I like it more and more with each episode I watch. I’m sad I only have 9 more episodes left of the whole series. I want the DVDs sooooo bad 🙂 I love Lee Pace and the way he delivers all his dialogue. Brilliant. In fact, I love Lee Pace so much, that he dictated which movie I decided to get in the mail from our Netflix queue while my dad is away this week. I was wrestling between Taking Woodstock (which would have fulfilled my love for all things Jonathan Groff) and The Fall (Lee Pace movie from 2006 where he plays a stunt man who is now a paraplegic, and he tells stories to a little girl where he is a Bandit.) I watched the trailers to both movies and the comments… The Fall is supposedly one of the most gorgeous movies made in the past few years, cinematographically speaking. So, The Fall will be here soon… I can’t wait!

This morning I heard from my mom and sister who were on their way to Charleston, SC. I multitasked and painted my nails. I also made my sister laugh so hard that my mom had to take the phone away from her because she was choking too hard from laughing. Yeah, I’m that funny 🙂

I called two of the apartment places my dad and I looked at yesterday and will be touring at least one of them tomorrow. The second one might now happen, as the guy never called me back to set up the time. I will call again tomorrow morning before I head out to the first place.

I spent the rest of my morning waiting for that phone call that never came. During that time, I attempted to update/re-format my resume. Holy hell, that was an arduous process. I got it down to one page, but I think it still looks like a hot mess. Blah!

I managed to make lunch, watch another episode of Pushing Daisies (!) and let out the dogs again before my dad and I had to leave for the shooting range place.

On the way up there, we met up with my dad’s fellow gun enthusiast, Matt.

To preface this afternoon – both my dad and Matt are serious about firearms. Like kids in a candy shop, if you will. I, on the other hand, do not know a whole lot about guns, nor have I shot anything in well over a decade. Guns are fine for recreation and for cops and all, and I do respect their power and ability to physically/mortally harm people and such. I don’t mind shooting guns for fun with my dad, but I’m not about to join the NRA or anything.

So, the three of us got to the range and it was almost comical the amount of guns and ammunition that was unloaded from our van and Matt’s truck. We took up all four tables at the 200 meter shelter.

My dad brought a .22 for me, but I told him I didn’t just want to shoot this pussy gun the whole time. I did end up sticking with the .22 for a majority of the day – it was super easy to reload and I could shoot 10-25ish shots at a time if I wanted too. This gun also had a lot less of a kick-back that everything else I fired today. I have huge hands (for a woman) and am pretty strong, but some of those guns were too powerful for me. I will totally have bruise on my shoulder tomorrow… a badge of honor, if you will.

Matt had this .308 sniper rifle and some other super impressive gun (i’ll add pictures later). I actually was pretty good with the sniper rifle. I only took four shots at the torso target, but two were to the chest and one was right where someone’s eyes would be.

My dad had these two World War II rifles from Poland the former Czech Republic that were pretty sweet. One of them had a bayonet attached to it – awesome. They were really heavy and had a huge kick-back. And after you fired each bullet, you had to pull the lever thing to get the next bullet in the chamber, and the brass from the prior bullet would go flying… also awesome.

We shot rifles for probably three hours. Then we moved on to handguns. Talk about flying brass… I was sitting probably 5 or 6 feet away from my dad and Matt when they were shooting and I totally was getting hit with the shells! They let me try a bunch of handguns. My first few tries were not all that great. I definitely hit the wooden frame of the target way more than the actual target. Wood was splintering and flying everywhere. The .45 magnum handgun was my worst of the day… it was physically too big for my hands. My right wrist was going everywhere and I did some bad shooting.

We set up another torso target and stood about 7 meters away and let loose several magazines. I did way better doing this – I aimed first for the shoulder and then the stomach area and afterward the target actually reflected that 🙂

No, that's not the Smoke Monster from Lost...

We left the range after 4 1/2 hours… it was a nice day for being outside. The weather was ideal 🙂 I am going to be warn out tomorrow, though, I can tell.

By time my dad and I got home, Ali was on her second home date on The Bachelorette – it was Chris L! He’s too adorable. I’m so glad he didn’t get sent home tonight… I still am questioning Frank, though, especially with all those “Next time on The Bachelorette” commercials they keep showing.

My eyes are closing! I’m sure I could write more… maybe I’ll expand on this post at a later date. I’ll definitely link out to stuff so people (like me) who have no idea about gun stuff will be able to see what I was talking about 🙂

Have a great evening!

P.S. The All Star game is on tomorrow night!!!!! Let’s go American League 🙂

(*Note* – all links out were put in on Tuesday July 13th)

 

Community Marathon *and* Glee Thursday … woot

Totally watching television for the next couple hours. I don’t care if you judge – the “Vitamin D” episode of Glee is on, and NBC is showing 6 episodes of Community (including my favorite two episodes thus far, Modern Warfare and Physical Education)!

Too bad Community didn’t get any Emmy nominations this morning… I felt so bad for Joel McHale. He had to read the noms this morning and his show didn’t get nominated for anything, whereas his co-presenter, Sofia Vegara of Modern Family, was able to publicly celebrate as her show, herself and four of her co-stars were nominated.

(btw – On Glee, the guys just did the “It’s My Life/Confessions Part II” mashup… my favorite part of the episode! Every time I’m listening to Glee in the car and I hear this mashup, I can totally do all of the dance/hand moves… I friggin’ love it!)

So, yes, Emmy nominations… I was soooo happy that Glee got 19 nominations – the most of any comedy or drama series. The Pacific miniseries got 24 nods, but I didn’t get through all 10 episodes, so I kinda don’t care. (Sorry!) With regards to Glee, I was super happy that Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, Neil Patrick Harris, Mike O’Malley and Kristin Chenoweth all got nominated! I was especially happy about Chris Colfer and Mike O’Malley, though I was surprised O’Malley’s nomination wasn’t for “Theatricality,” but for “Wheels”. Although, he’s awesome in every episode he’s in, so I’m just pumped he got nominated! 30 Rock also got a lot of nominations… I was glad to see once again Jon Hamm got nominated for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Jon Hamm as Dr. Drew Baird = pure gloriousness. I was also super happy for all the nominations for Modern Family. Yay for Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowan, Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson!!!!!! Everyone on that show is so great, I’m glad most of the cast was recognized 🙂 (Poor Ed O’Neill…)

Okay, enough spouting on about my love of television (though, side note, I finished Season 5 of Weeds… way to go Shane!). I did do some school work today. I read 4 1/2 articles and took over 2 pages of notes. I read a really great article today that was saying how it’s important to understand American history and culture when learning about film history and that films don’t just reflect American history, but they are their own history. Nice!

Besides working on school work, I managed to watch probably an hour and a half of videos on youtube… I didn’t mean to get sucked into viral goodness for that long, but I couldn’t help it. I am pretty much obsessed with watching bootleg videos of (Off) Broadway productions, as well as Tony Awards performances from years past, as well as Cabaret acts of my favorite stage performers. So, I pretty much watched almost an hour of various Jonathan Groff performances… I can’t help it – I love him. I want him to be on more episodes of Glee… Jesse St. James needs to come back! Jonathan Groff might be one of the most adorable people on the face of the planet. He’s just so friggin’ cute and talented. And I love that he and Lea Michele are BFFs. And I saw both of them on Broadway in Spring Awakening a few years ago!!! And guess who else was on Broadway in Spring Awakening awhile after they left? Hunter Parrish! (i.e. Silas on Weeds) Not only is he friggin’ cute as well, but he can sing all right too.

My dad is out of town for the weekend, so I will have plenty of time to work on more school work, watch whatever movies/television I want, and go about business as per usual. Maybe I’ll venture out to the movie theater, though more than likely I won’t. Our street is under construction right now and it’s rough road even getting out of the driveway – yikes. Plus, I should really try and get as much school stuff done as I can since I will be headed out of town myself next weekend – (solo) road trip! I can’t believe that a week from tomorrow, I will by myself in my car for 15 hours again. It feels like I just did that… alas. At the end of the drive, I’ll get to sleep in my bed and next to my baseball bat.

(Now it’s time for the girl’s mashup on Glee! “Walking on Sunshine/Halo” – woot!)

And that’s all the news that’s fit to print, I think…

For those of you keeping track of my whacky health over the past few days – still drinking a lot more liquids than I normally do, but the amount has decreased since yesterday. My tongue, besides feeling super dry when I woke up, did not feel swollen at all today. (Thank goodness…) I still have to check my blood sugar. But I will live 🙂

Have a great evening!