A Musical Failure

So, I can't sing this song. I've been trying, very hard for several days, and it just won't happen. The tempo is too slow, or the range is too low for me or something, I just can't do it. But I really want to. I love Johnny Cash, so his is the version that I linked, but there are others. (I can't sing any of them.) This is super frustrating, because usually, I can sing whatever I want to. (Not that I'm out to win American Idol or anything like that, but typically no one runs from the room clutching their ears when I open my mouth.) *sigh* I guess it's back to musical scores and Gene Autry for me, and I guess all those awful patriotic songs, which are, for some reason, all written in the perfect key.

Chasing Amy

So I watched Chasing Amy yesterday for the first time in...oh probably 5 years. I love Kevin Smith, but this particular film is definitely my favorite of the bunch, and I can't believe that I let myself go so long without watching it. There are about 10 really terrific monologues, and I've done a couple of them for audition pieces, so they were no surprise to me (you can find all of them on YouTube), but yesterday was a little emotional for me and I found myself getting all blurry eyed maybe 3 times...Luckily I was watching the movie with another girlie-girl and she was sniffly too. Three cheers for girl friends!

Happy Easter

It snowed this morning, we almost always get our last snow of the year on Easter, so this isn't unusual, but I am hoping that it really is the last snow. I'm tired of cold.

So, anyway, Easter. This isn't really a big holiday for me, it stopped being an exciting day right around the time that I stopped getting an Easter dress, but I do feel like I should post something...When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a little brass basket filled with marble eggs in different colors. They were really beautiful, red and blue and orange and green, I think maybe 7 or 10 of them, and my cousin, Jenny, and I used to hide and hunt them around the house. It didn't have to be Easter for us to do this, but I'm sure that it was probably Easter the first time we did it, and it always felt like Easter when the eggs came out. I've been thinking about those eggs today, remembering their weight and coolness, remembering how my grandmother always acted surprised and proud when we had found all the eggs. It's been just over 10 years since my grandmother died, but something reminds me of her every day, and today, I'm wishing that I had one of those eggs.

Ah Ha!

This explains so much about my life a few years ago...

Bad Idea #1846

I spent the weekend in Albuquerque and planned to drive back in the afternoon/evening on Monday, just heading straight to work. In case you didn't know, it's quite stupid to drive 7 hours, (partially in the dark) after a weekend in which you only had a total of about 7 hours of sleep. Helpful hint? I hope so.

To Pass the Time

What is your occupation? Interpreter

When was the last time you cried? Yesterday

What are you afraid of? Being too vulnerable

Do you like banana sandwiches? *gag* Excuse me, no

What are you listening to right now? Good Morning America

What was the last thing you ate? Pretzels and baby swiss

Do you wish on stars? You don't need stars to wish...but yes.

If you were a color, what would you be? The palest pink or lavender

What is the weather right now? It's a little cool, the sun is just coming up.

Last person you spoke to on the phone? My dad

How old are you today? 26

Have you ever dyed your hair? 2 days ago...and every 8 weeks or so since I was in Jr. High.

Do you wear contacts, or glasses? Glasses, but only when I'm tired

Favorite month? May

Favorite food? Cheddar and apple grilled cheese sandwich on crusty bread

What was the last movie you watched? Edward Scissorhands

Favorite day of the year? Depends on the year I guess.

What do you do to vent anger? I cry, scream into pillows, slam doors. and throw things, it's quite a show.

What was your favorite toy as a child? I loved those ribbons on sticks, like they use in rhythmic gymnastics. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Fall or Spring? Spring

Hugs or kisses? Depends on who I'm doing it with.

Cherry or Blueberry? I like all the berries...are cherries a berry?

What is on the floor of your closet? Everything that isn't on the floor in the rest of the house. Shameful, I know.

Who is the friend you have had the longest? Matthew

Plain, cheese or spicy hamburger? Cheese and bacon

Favorite car? New VW Beetle, navy blue please.

Favorite dog breed? Beagle

Number of keys on your key ring? 5 I think, but I'm not looking at it.

How many years at your current job? 2.5 years

How are you dressed? Pink T-shirt, gray pajama pants, pony tail.

When is your Birthday? May 6

Pushing Daisies

I love this show, it's funny and sweet and sad, and just perfect television. I also appreciate the fact that Kristen Chenoweth has a major role. Occasionally she does guest shots on tv shows, but primarily she's a Broadway and opera star, so it's nice to get to see her on a regular basis. I just found out that ABC has picked up the show for a second season (how could they not?), but I'm unsure as to when it begins....I'm very anxious though. Haven't seen the show? Here's a clip:

New Deadly Sins??

The Vatican has handed down seven new "deadly" sins. They are far less glamorous sounding than the original ones, and I, for one am slightly offended. (I'm also vaguely disturbed that while I've dallied in all the original deadly sins, I seem to have none of the holy virtues: Chastity, Abstinence, Temperance, Diligence, Patience, Kindness and Humility. Oh my.)

The other thing is, the original seven deadly sins are pretty simple, one word transgressions: Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. The new sins are all wordy and vague. I guess this is what happens when a group of priests write the rules instead of just leaving it to Dante.

So that you can be fully informed, and save your souls from the firey pits of hell, I present (drum roll please) the new deadly sins:

1.Ruining the environment,
2.Carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments
3.Allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos,
4.Taking or dealing in drugs
5.Social injustice which caused poverty or “the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few”.
6.Abortion
7.Paedophilia

So I guess, they really break down like this:

1. Pollution
2. Science
3. Medicine
4. Drugs
5. Being a Republican
6. Abortion
7. Paedophilia

Anyway, I don't think any of these things should qualify (except perhaps being a Republican), and that they should have just kept things as they have been for the past 1500 years, but you know the Catholic church, always an agent of change. *smirk*

Seven Secrets

I'm bored, and I don't really have anything to post about, so I swiped this meme from a random blog. Something to do anyway.

1. Your deadliest sin? (Lust, Wrath, Pride, Avarice, Envy, Sloth, Gluttony)
Definitely Envy, although I must admit that I'm pretty familiar with most of the deadly sins.

2. Tell us a secret.
I cry about something every day. Sometimes it's about something that's a big deal and sometimes it's not (those Pedigree commercials kill me), but every day, there's something.

3. Why are you ashamed?
Because I'm miserable at my job but completely lack the motivation to do anything about it.

4. What is your secret fantasy?
There are so many...Mostly I wish I could find one thing that I was really good at, and then find the courage to pursue it.

5. Greatest guilty pleasure?
Chick-lit

6. Secret behavior?
Dancing around in the kitchen while I do laundry and dishes...all girls do that right?

7. To where would you escape?
Greece, My Aunt Eva Pearl's house-18 years ago.

Again.

My dad's aunt LaFawn died early this morning. It seems like every three weeks or so I have a post about this sort of thing. This makes three since the middle of January. They (whoever that is) say that death comes in threes, so I'm hoping we'll be done with this for awhile now.

I don't really know what else to say right now...

Omens

I had a weird drive home last night. There were rabbits everywhere, in the field across from work and frolicking at the side of the road for almost the entire drive. There were so many of them that I actually noticed them out there, during a time that I usually sort of just zone out and drive. It was weird enough that that I thought I'd consult my handy-dandy Dictionary of Superstitions when I got home this morning. The rabbits are good news, they are generally seen as good luck, so I was pleased that there were dozens of these lucky charms hanging around. (By the way, apparently the feet are only lucky if they are back left feet, from rabbits killed by a cross-eyed man in the light of a full moon. I swear I didn't make that up, but thought I'd include it, because it's funny.) So yeah, rabbits...the other superstition is that they are good luck because they're born with their eyes open, and that allows them to see evil coming and avoid it, which brings me to the bad luck.

About half way home, a white mouse ran out and stopped directly in front of my car. It practically glowed in the dark, and I veered to the right so that I didn't hit it, but I was totally spooked. The book says that this mouse thing is bad news. White ones in particular are scary, and if one crosses the floor in front of you (and I would assume this also applies to a road), it's a portent of doom. I'm hoping that the rabbits cancel out the mouse...Not that I'm taking this very seriously, of course, but it's kind of creepy all the same. I think I'll lay low for a couple of days, just in case.

The Apparatus

There's an awful show on The Discovery Channel called How It's Made, I don't know why it's on my TV every time I sit down in here to use the computer, but it's the most boring thing I've ever seen.

Anyway, this isn't really about my critique of TDC's programming, I'm posting because, normally on this show, I can look up and know what they're making. It's usually fairly obvious that the pile of sticks is going to be a basket, and the molten metal is going to be some sort of tool or whatever, and if it's not obvious, the worst narrator ever will tell me in a reasonable amount of time. However, I've been sort of absently listening to this for about 10 minutes now and they keep referring to whatever it is that they're making as "the apparatus." I can't tell from looking at it what it is, but I'm afraid that I'm going to get sucked into the whole damn show in order to figure it out.

I hope it's something naughty, and that the censors are making them refer to it this way, because it's illegal to say "sex toy" before noon.

Beginnings of Addiction

I've never been one of those "music people." You know the ones who, if asked "what's the one thing you couldn't live without, if lost in the wilderness," say "my Ipod, my guitar, my music." I've never really understood that sort of thing. Haven't they watched even one episode of Lost? Don't they know that the correct answer to this question is something like "tooth brush, sun screen, John Lock?" Apparently not. Lately though, I've gotten very attached to my mp3 player, and while it's still not at the top of my scary island list, it's slowly climbing the ladder.

I keep catching myself looking for chores to do so that I can listen to it and dance around like an idiot while I wash dishes, change sheets and do laundry. I have long, happy fantasies in which I own one of those plastic things that would let me take it into the shower with me. I harass Justin to download new music for me more frequently than I'd like to admit. (I have no interest in learning to do this myself. Not having to download my own stuff is the reason I got married, at least one of them.) So yeah, I might be turning into one of the Music People. I haven't decided how I feel about that yet, but I'll let you know.

If I start complaining that MTV isn't about the music anymore, take away my batteries.

In Like a Lion

Yesterday afternoon it was sunny and warm, and really lovely, exactly the way March should be. When I looked out the window at around 5:00 the sky was sort of split down the middle. Blue to the South, scary dark gray to the North, but what's a little spring storm? The thunder helps me sleep. When we left for work at midnight, the wind was howling and blowing and seriously scary, making it super hard to drive, but this is West Texas, we're used to that bad behavior in our weather. Now, it's snowing. A lot. *scowl*

The news on the radio this morning said, 28 degrees, blowing snow, sunny and warm this afternoon. Mother Nature is obviously in menopause.

Drugs on Board

I don't know what the problem is, but for what I think is about the 5th time in 7 or 8 months I have a cold. My nose is stuffy and runny at the same time, which is the stupidest thing I can think of, and my head feels like it's full of some sort of super heavy cotton wool. All I want to do is sleep, and so today, I've taken a nap every 3 or 4 hours. I have to work tonight, I have no idea how I'm going to manage that, but after several attempts and some interesting side effects (paralyzing paranoia anyone?), I seem to have found a combination of drugs that works. Here's the math:

12 Hour Sudafed + 12 Hour Claritin = 4 hours of relief

If I take a sleeping pill on top of these two "non-drowsy" drugs, then I manage to sleep and breathe (all at the same time!) for a couple of hours.

Going to nap (again) before work.