Thursday, January 26, 2006
Hearing the good news
Thanks to everyone who posted about my crappy birthday. Things got better in the evening, but the flood of terrible news that I got in the morning was just a little too much to handle.
This week has been bad news on top of bad news on top of a giant pile of bad news, so a little good news was in order. And I finally got it this afternoon, when the urologist told me that the CT scans they took showed absolutely nothing wrong with my kidneys. Hooray! I'll gladly drive to the other side of Plano and pay my $30 copay to hear that kind of stuff!
We're going to Arkansas this weekend. My dad is home alone because my mom is dealing with family crises in St. Louis, and he needs our help. So we're going to take one for the family this weekend.
Thanks to everyone who posted about my crappy birthday. Things got better in the evening, but the flood of terrible news that I got in the morning was just a little too much to handle.
This week has been bad news on top of bad news on top of a giant pile of bad news, so a little good news was in order. And I finally got it this afternoon, when the urologist told me that the CT scans they took showed absolutely nothing wrong with my kidneys. Hooray! I'll gladly drive to the other side of Plano and pay my $30 copay to hear that kind of stuff!
We're going to Arkansas this weekend. My dad is home alone because my mom is dealing with family crises in St. Louis, and he needs our help. So we're going to take one for the family this weekend.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Unhappy birthday
Today sucks. Can someone please make it go away? I wish I hadn't gotten up this morning.
Today sucks. Can someone please make it go away? I wish I hadn't gotten up this morning.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Comedic freaking genius
I've been working on a post about our San Francisco adventures, but that's gonna have to wait for a bit, because I am on a mission.
My mission is to tell y'all to get your butts down to the video store and watch R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 1-12. You must do this right away. We've tried renting it several times from our local video store, but it's always out. We've had it on our Netflix queue for a long time... it's never available. So I finally just bought it, because I was dying of curiosity.
It was totally worth $15.99.
Mark, Victor, and I watched it Friday night, and we nearly cried from laughing so hard. The story itself is ridiculous, the filmmaking atrociously bad, and the narration hilarious. We then decided to watch the infamous commentary, which was fantastic. Remember, the entire song is narrated, and then it's acted out in the video. No question as to what is going on. In the commentary, R. Kelly decides to explain it again, just in case you didn't get it. It's as if he thinks his audience is a bunch of 9 year olds (insert joke here). He's sitting in an armchair watching the video on a screen, and he turns back toward the camera as if the viewer is sitting behind him. The best part is that he's clearly watching it raptly, and he laughs at it in some points and acts surprised by it in others. And he calles everything that happens a "cliffhanger." Mark, Victor, and I spent the rest of the weekend calling everything that was happening to us cliffhangers.
So yes, get thee to a video store, and rent, borrow, buy, or steal this mofo. Or borrow mine. But you can't keep it too long, because this is something I'm going to have to watch again and again and again.
I've been working on a post about our San Francisco adventures, but that's gonna have to wait for a bit, because I am on a mission.
My mission is to tell y'all to get your butts down to the video store and watch R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 1-12. You must do this right away. We've tried renting it several times from our local video store, but it's always out. We've had it on our Netflix queue for a long time... it's never available. So I finally just bought it, because I was dying of curiosity.
It was totally worth $15.99.
Mark, Victor, and I watched it Friday night, and we nearly cried from laughing so hard. The story itself is ridiculous, the filmmaking atrociously bad, and the narration hilarious. We then decided to watch the infamous commentary, which was fantastic. Remember, the entire song is narrated, and then it's acted out in the video. No question as to what is going on. In the commentary, R. Kelly decides to explain it again, just in case you didn't get it. It's as if he thinks his audience is a bunch of 9 year olds (insert joke here). He's sitting in an armchair watching the video on a screen, and he turns back toward the camera as if the viewer is sitting behind him. The best part is that he's clearly watching it raptly, and he laughs at it in some points and acts surprised by it in others. And he calles everything that happens a "cliffhanger." Mark, Victor, and I spent the rest of the weekend calling everything that was happening to us cliffhangers.
So yes, get thee to a video store, and rent, borrow, buy, or steal this mofo. Or borrow mine. But you can't keep it too long, because this is something I'm going to have to watch again and again and again.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
And we're off...
... for a nice overnight trip to San Francisco! Here's hoping that I don't have an asthma attack and Victor doesn't get food poisoning. Both of those things happened last time we went. Enjoy your weekend!
... for a nice overnight trip to San Francisco! Here's hoping that I don't have an asthma attack and Victor doesn't get food poisoning. Both of those things happened last time we went. Enjoy your weekend!
Friday, January 13, 2006
Raise your glasses, then, to absent friends!
The other day, I was perusing Myspace when I noticed that Kris had a quiz posted in the bulletin board. Now, unlike most Myspace quizzes, this one was actually interesting. The quiz questions were all about Kris, and you were supposed to copy the bulletin, paste it into a new message to Kris, and answer the questions. You were then supposed to put a new bulletin up so that people could answer the same questions about you.
Some of the questions were easy (What is my name? When did we meet?), while others were pretty difficult (Do you remember one of the first things I said to you?). I filled out the quiz for Kris and sent it back to him. I think I did pretty well, but I know there were questions that I missed. I even racked my brain and remembered that I met him at college orientation. We were in the same orientation group and had the same advisor (we were both drama majors). Anyway, I then posted a blank quiz so that people could fill it out for me.
I got back a few responses. Kris did really well. Two of the responses were from people that I don’t have much contact with anymore. One was my friend Suzanne. We were really close in high school, but drifted apart when we went to college. I haven’t seen her since maybe 1997, and we’ve probably emailed each other two or three times since then. Some of her responses were pretty dated, but she had some others spot on. The other response was from David, a guy I dated for a while in high school. We kind of ended things badly, so we didn’t have any contact with each other for about nine years. We recently began emailing each other sporadically, and we put all of the bad stuff from the past behind us. He has the memory of an elephant, so he did really well on the test. It probably helps that he was friends with my sister, and so he could answer the questions about my family too.
Some things that I learned about myself from the quiz answers….
1. I curse a lot.
2. I’m pretty loud.
3. People think I’m funny.
4. I used to wear a lot of sparkly clothes.
5. Even though I've changed a lot over the years, nothing really fundamental has changed.
It’s nice to think that people from your past still have memories of you, and that they are willing to kill time during the workday answering a quiz about you. Myspace kind of sucks, but it’s great for reconnecting with people. I wish I hadn’t lost touch with so many old friends. I’m a pretty bad correspondent, and I’m going to try to change that.
The other day, I was perusing Myspace when I noticed that Kris had a quiz posted in the bulletin board. Now, unlike most Myspace quizzes, this one was actually interesting. The quiz questions were all about Kris, and you were supposed to copy the bulletin, paste it into a new message to Kris, and answer the questions. You were then supposed to put a new bulletin up so that people could answer the same questions about you.
Some of the questions were easy (What is my name? When did we meet?), while others were pretty difficult (Do you remember one of the first things I said to you?). I filled out the quiz for Kris and sent it back to him. I think I did pretty well, but I know there were questions that I missed. I even racked my brain and remembered that I met him at college orientation. We were in the same orientation group and had the same advisor (we were both drama majors). Anyway, I then posted a blank quiz so that people could fill it out for me.
I got back a few responses. Kris did really well. Two of the responses were from people that I don’t have much contact with anymore. One was my friend Suzanne. We were really close in high school, but drifted apart when we went to college. I haven’t seen her since maybe 1997, and we’ve probably emailed each other two or three times since then. Some of her responses were pretty dated, but she had some others spot on. The other response was from David, a guy I dated for a while in high school. We kind of ended things badly, so we didn’t have any contact with each other for about nine years. We recently began emailing each other sporadically, and we put all of the bad stuff from the past behind us. He has the memory of an elephant, so he did really well on the test. It probably helps that he was friends with my sister, and so he could answer the questions about my family too.
Some things that I learned about myself from the quiz answers….
1. I curse a lot.
2. I’m pretty loud.
3. People think I’m funny.
4. I used to wear a lot of sparkly clothes.
5. Even though I've changed a lot over the years, nothing really fundamental has changed.
It’s nice to think that people from your past still have memories of you, and that they are willing to kill time during the workday answering a quiz about you. Myspace kind of sucks, but it’s great for reconnecting with people. I wish I hadn’t lost touch with so many old friends. I’m a pretty bad correspondent, and I’m going to try to change that.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Some things that I learned over the weekend
Well, I will start off by saying that I agree with Jeremy. Eric Bana is hot!!! We saw Munich on Sunday, and I was very impressed by it (the movie, not Eric Bana, although I was pretty impressed by him as well). I thought the camera work was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the 70s atmosphere created by the sets, props, and costumes. I was glad that the designers didn't make the era seem too jokey. I didn't know much about the Munich Massacre before watching the movie, so I've read up a bit since.
In other weekend activities, we had a chance to hang out with my old friend Charley on Saturday. We also met his cousin and his girlfriend (not the same person, even if Charley is from Arkansas!). We met up at The Old Monk for drinks and frites. Victor and I had never been there before, but we are definitely going back. I really liked it. Great atmosphere. We had dinner at La Duni Latin Cafe. The mojitos there were excellent, the dinner was great, and the desserts were better than sex. Victor and I shared a slice of the Cuatro Leches Cake. Wow. Four milks really are better than three!
I have also learned that We Love Katamari is just as addictive as Katamari Damacy... perhaps more addictive. One more thing... I do not function well on 2 or 3 hours of sleep.
Well, I will start off by saying that I agree with Jeremy. Eric Bana is hot!!! We saw Munich on Sunday, and I was very impressed by it (the movie, not Eric Bana, although I was pretty impressed by him as well). I thought the camera work was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the 70s atmosphere created by the sets, props, and costumes. I was glad that the designers didn't make the era seem too jokey. I didn't know much about the Munich Massacre before watching the movie, so I've read up a bit since.
In other weekend activities, we had a chance to hang out with my old friend Charley on Saturday. We also met his cousin and his girlfriend (not the same person, even if Charley is from Arkansas!). We met up at The Old Monk for drinks and frites. Victor and I had never been there before, but we are definitely going back. I really liked it. Great atmosphere. We had dinner at La Duni Latin Cafe. The mojitos there were excellent, the dinner was great, and the desserts were better than sex. Victor and I shared a slice of the Cuatro Leches Cake. Wow. Four milks really are better than three!
I have also learned that We Love Katamari is just as addictive as Katamari Damacy... perhaps more addictive. One more thing... I do not function well on 2 or 3 hours of sleep.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Hooray for the weekend
It's 4:39 on a Friday, and so it's almost quitting time. These are reasons that I am looking forward to this weekend....
Hmm. I think that about covers it. Maybe something else will pop up!
It's 4:39 on a Friday, and so it's almost quitting time. These are reasons that I am looking forward to this weekend....
- No work. Duh.
- Happy hour tonight with Victor's work.
- Hanging out with my old friend Charley, who I haven't seen in almost a year.
- We Love Katamari!!!!!!!!!!!!
- I would like to say sleeping a lot, but the last bullet point will probably make that impossible.
Hmm. I think that about covers it. Maybe something else will pop up!
Thursday, January 05, 2006
2006 off to a great start
So, when I was having my health issues last month, my dad was commiserating with me. He had his share of scary health stuff, and he said how glad he would be when 2005 was over, because it was such a shitty year healthwise. Surely 2006 couldn't be as bad.
Well folks, today I scheduled myself for an appointment with a urologist after questionable stuff came back on my ultrasound (seriously, why did it take the clinic two weeks to have someone look at the ultrasound?). The nurse from the clinic said they couldn't be sure what they saw, so they needed to refer me to a specialist. I'm on Victor's insurance now, so I'm going to a urologist recommended by my supervisor, who has been to him in the past. I'm done with ghetto clinics. Anyway, my appointment is in a couple of weeks, so I'll hold off most of the panic until then, if I can.
Hmmm. I must think of something fun and lively to post about next, otherwise this place is going to become a real drag.
So, when I was having my health issues last month, my dad was commiserating with me. He had his share of scary health stuff, and he said how glad he would be when 2005 was over, because it was such a shitty year healthwise. Surely 2006 couldn't be as bad.
Well folks, today I scheduled myself for an appointment with a urologist after questionable stuff came back on my ultrasound (seriously, why did it take the clinic two weeks to have someone look at the ultrasound?). The nurse from the clinic said they couldn't be sure what they saw, so they needed to refer me to a specialist. I'm on Victor's insurance now, so I'm going to a urologist recommended by my supervisor, who has been to him in the past. I'm done with ghetto clinics. Anyway, my appointment is in a couple of weeks, so I'll hold off most of the panic until then, if I can.
Hmmm. I must think of something fun and lively to post about next, otherwise this place is going to become a real drag.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
So this is the new year, and I don't feel any different.
Welcome to 2006, folks. I trust all of you are still alive and kicking after Saturday night's festivities. Victor and I went to Austin and had a nice weekend hanging out with friends. Nevie was gracious enough to host a potluck/party, and we rang in the new year with good food, friends, and plenty of bubbly (cava and prosecco, but not champagne). I was the designated driver, so I didn't party too hard, but we all had fun nonetheless.
On Sunday we saw King Kong, and even though my bladder didn't enjoy it, I sure did! I thought it was fantastic. I am usually not a fan of mega-CGI movies, but I thought the computer generated stuff looked incredibly realistic. They totally had me fooled. The one thing I would have changed is that at some point, someone should have said "Holy shit (or equivalent), dinosaurs still exist!" Because I would have. Nevertheless, great movie.
So, what does 2006 bring for you? For me, it brings a bunch of weddings to attend (yay for friends getting married!), a new commitment to being healthy, and a positive attitude on controlling our finances. We also hope to get some good trips in soon. We had originally wanted to go somewhere extravagent for New Year's and do a week-long trip, but the way my job gives out vacation didn't really allow that. So perhaps we can go somewhere for a 4 or 5 day weekend in February (Dublin, I'm looking at you). Two of my friends are planning on moving to the UK this spring, so I hope to go visit or travel with them. I'd like to go back to the Caribbean, and we want to visit Victor's uncle in Mexico City again (and see the pyramids). I'm not giving up on a long trip to New Zealand, but only if Ellen is there. Not to mention all of the trips we want to make in the US! We definitely want to take advantage of our flying benefits, because your job is never completely secure in the volatile airline industry.
So yeah, new year. Here's hoping it is a great one!
Welcome to 2006, folks. I trust all of you are still alive and kicking after Saturday night's festivities. Victor and I went to Austin and had a nice weekend hanging out with friends. Nevie was gracious enough to host a potluck/party, and we rang in the new year with good food, friends, and plenty of bubbly (cava and prosecco, but not champagne). I was the designated driver, so I didn't party too hard, but we all had fun nonetheless.
On Sunday we saw King Kong, and even though my bladder didn't enjoy it, I sure did! I thought it was fantastic. I am usually not a fan of mega-CGI movies, but I thought the computer generated stuff looked incredibly realistic. They totally had me fooled. The one thing I would have changed is that at some point, someone should have said "Holy shit (or equivalent), dinosaurs still exist!" Because I would have. Nevertheless, great movie.
So, what does 2006 bring for you? For me, it brings a bunch of weddings to attend (yay for friends getting married!), a new commitment to being healthy, and a positive attitude on controlling our finances. We also hope to get some good trips in soon. We had originally wanted to go somewhere extravagent for New Year's and do a week-long trip, but the way my job gives out vacation didn't really allow that. So perhaps we can go somewhere for a 4 or 5 day weekend in February (Dublin, I'm looking at you). Two of my friends are planning on moving to the UK this spring, so I hope to go visit or travel with them. I'd like to go back to the Caribbean, and we want to visit Victor's uncle in Mexico City again (and see the pyramids). I'm not giving up on a long trip to New Zealand, but only if Ellen is there. Not to mention all of the trips we want to make in the US! We definitely want to take advantage of our flying benefits, because your job is never completely secure in the volatile airline industry.
So yeah, new year. Here's hoping it is a great one!
