My blog is my primary posting place, because I like it best. However, I just took a weirdo survey-thing that came from my livejournal friends page. If you're curious enough to want to read it, you can go there and see.
posted by Beth at 4:35:00 AM
Monday, December 29, 2003
I'm bored. What annoys me is that I'm only bored, because it's right after Christmas. If this were any other Monday, I wouldn't care. Something about the time after Christmas just sucks for me. I know there are things I could be doing. I guess I'll go work on those.
posted by Beth at 6:21:00 PM
Eck. HBO documentaries are really bad for my sense of well-being. Yesterday was HATE.COM and today was Middle School Confessions. This was some weird little Samuel L. Jackson-hosted thing that interviewed kids between the ages of 11 and 14 and their parents about sex, cutting class, depression, violence, and alcohol. All the kids were obnoxious little snotfaces, and the whole thing really reinforced my feelings on never wanting kids. Anyway, a lot of it really disgusted me. I was really grossed out by the 12 and 13 year old girls who were saying things like, "I'm a virgin, but my mouth isn't. Tee hee," but a part of the segment on violence really got me. They were talking about this one kid in particular who picked fights with everyone, and everyone viewed him as an outcast. And I don't condone picking fights, nor do I think it's a good idea to proudly wave your stupid confederate flag, but the part that really really upset me was when they showed the other kids. There were about six of them, and they were sitting in a group talking about why they hate this kid. And none of them said anything about how he picks fights or has a confederate flag. They all said, "he smells" and "his clothes are from Wal-Mart. He should wear nice clothes. We wear Abercrombe. And our shoes cost $130" and then they all started showing off how nice their shoes were. And I just can't stand how they showed these kids like they were the freaking good example. Just because these kids aren't being disruptive doesn't mean that they're A-OK. Put me in that climate, and I think I'd pick fights, too. I think most people would. I just hate hate hate how this problem is totally overlooked. I can't even talk about it anymore, it makes me mad. {g}
posted by Beth at 3:44:00 AM
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Okay, update update. Here's some of the junk that I was talking about posting earlier. Like I say, the longer I wait, the more things seem to decline in importance.
Sunday: I went to the mall (which was a zoo) to buy my mom a Christmas present at Sears. I ended up getting her a fancy cordless drill. She's hard to shop for and she likes tools, so that's what's up with that. After that, my uncle and I went to the calendar kiosk to look for the Queer Eye calendar. My uncle bought it for me as part of my present from him, and it went on to be My Favorite Christmas Present. {g}
Monday: I worked and then went back to the mall to buy the last two presents I needed to get. The mall was even worse that day. Yeah, I don't have much else to say about Monday. {g}
Tuesday: After work, Nathan, my uncle, and I went to the movies to see Elf. I'd seen previews for it in the summer, and I admit I picked on it a whole lot. What eventually made me want to see it was having it be recommended to me by about six different people. I really, really liked it. I think I might buy it, and I think it could easily become a part of my standard Christmas viewing lineup. It was happy and fun and cute.
Wednesday: That was my last day of work. Working on Christmas Eve wasn't so bad. My hours were from 8 to 1. If they were later in the day, then I think I would've cared more. Anyway, for it being my last day, it wasn't as nice as I'd hoped it would be. There was actually very little to be done in the backroom, so I spent the whole five hours doing what was pretty much busy-work all by myself. All of the standing made my back and feet hurt more than usual, too. At the end of the day, I gave my razorblade (for opening boxes) back to my boss-man (who is Canadian! {g}) and told him that I really liked working there. It was really kind of sad and unceremonious. I had imagined it to be a greater moment. Also, the day was kind of a letdown in that the people I liked best weren't working at that time, so I didn't get to say goodbye to them. After that, I clocked out and gave back my nametag and my discount card. I should have been able to keep that until the end of the pay period, I say, but it was my own fault for asking, "do I give this back now?" There were things I liked about the job and things I didn't like about it, and I guess I'll miss it. Everybody was nice to me, and I'll probably miss that the most. On the other hand, I like having a little vacation for the sleeping and books and videogames. Now I'm a jerk without a job. Har har.
In the afternoon, Nathan and I ran an errand for my uncle and picked up some things for Christmas dinner at the grocery store and liquor store. We got out of there relatively quickly and unscathed. After that, I finished wrapping presents. This year, I really fell behind on everything. Then we waited for people to come over. See, normally on Christmas Eve, the majority of my family comes to my house to eat and exchange presents, then they come back on Christmas Day and we have a big dinner. People have started coming over later and later, so this year, I was flaking out that no one would come, and I'd feel sad. But at 8, the Jack Benny Christmas special came on and that cheered me up, and then people started coming over and all was well.
Thursday: I got up really early, for me anyway, at 11-something. I opened up my presents and they were all great and lovely and fun. I got a lot of the videogames and books I'd asked for and some nice clothes and chocolates and other things. Then I went to Craig's to drop off presents and chat. Craig lives next door and yet I never see him. It bites A Lot. {g} Dinner was pretty good, although I wished we had turkey instead of just a lot of ham. It was fun talking with Mark and Alyssa, whom I also never see. I need to remedy that, but I don't have the nerve to call ever. Eck. Nathan and I watched that World Idol thing, for lack of anything better to do and because I'm an American Idol-loving freak. {g} I forgot how much Simon Cowell can really annoy me. My favorite singer was the girl who won the contest in the Arab countries. She was the only one who sang a song in her native language, and afterward, he said, "I can't tell you whether or not I like that." Holy shit, you don't know if you like something unless you understand the words? Jesus Christ, that pisses me off. Especially because, after that, he told some other guy that conforming was bad and about how he should stick to his roots. Grrrrr. What an ass. I think I only like his judging in the preliminary stuff.
Christmas was really nice for me this year. I still kind of wish it wasn't over. It's not Christmas I like so much as it's Christmastime that I like. I kind of wish I didn't feel so hurried and that I would have had more time to savor it, if that makes sense. I barely got to watch any of my Christmas tapes and that's a big part of my little tradition.
Friday: Nathan and I drove to Jersey City to park the car and take the PATH to NYC where we called erin, so we could meet up with her later on. First, we went to the Sanrio store, which was a total zoo. It was kind of disappointing in that they seemed to have more Hello Kitty stuff than usual and the majority of merchandise is Hello Kitty stuff anyway. All I bought was a Sweet Coron pencil box, but I guess it's better that I hold onto my money. Then we went to Books of Wonder so Nathan could buy some of those crazy Oz books, and he did. erin and Matt met us there. I hadn't seen Matt in about three years, so it was really cool to see him again. I think I only saw erin three times this year, and that is just retarded. {g} We ate at Chat and Chew. I'd never been there before. I liked it. The macaroni and cheese was really good, even though everyone probably thinks I didn't like it. My cheeseburger was also really good, and my cole slaw was just weird. {g} After that, we went to Irving Plaza for the big TMBG show. Corn Mo was the opener. I'm having a hard time describing him. erin said he was "Meat Loaf with an accordion." That's pretty much right, but unlike Meat Loaf, who has epic songs, Corn Mo had weird, long and really fast-paced, epic monologs in between (and once, during) the songs. {g} There's not much else I can say about him. You'd have to see him to understand. {g} They Might Be Giants was, as usual, super awesome. I think it was my first time ever hearing "Metal Detector" and "Dirt Bike" live, so the rest of the show was just gravy or whatever. I am perhaps misusing that expression. {g} I love "Stalk of Wheat," it's my favorite of the newest songs I've heard lately. This show reminded me a lot of a couple years ago, when I'd take the bus up to NYC for every TMBG show and to see erin and Co. I had missed that a whole lot, so it was kind of great and wildly sentimental for me, because I'm crazy or just crazily sentimental. After that, we left in kind of a hurry, which was too bad. But we got home okay at about a quarter after three. Yesterday made me switch back into, "I want to live in the NYC-area" mode.
Saturday/Today: I caught up on sleep, and then my uncle, Nathan, and I used a Red Lobster gift certificate that Nathan had gotten for his birthday from his mother. I had more shrimp than a person should have. Then I came home and wasted time on something or other, after watching the DVD that came with Tori Amos's newest CD, which was a present from my mom. I was looking at the On-Demand listings and making mental notes to come back and watch certain movies, when I came across a listing for that HBO documentary HATE.COM. It's about people who put up racist or other hate websites and some things that have happened because of them. It's not that new. Someone was telling me about it awhile back, and since I finally saw it listed, I watched it. It was the frickin' scariest thing I've seen in a long time. You should go watch it, too. I find it hard to believe that some people are that evil.
There you go, a weekful of updates crammed into one post.
posted by Beth at 3:12:00 AM
Saturday, December 27, 2003
I see commercials for those Sonic drive-in restaurants on TV a lot. As someone who likes to try cheeseburgers from everyplace in the world, I just went to their site to see where the closest one was. It's in Virginia. Isn't it a waste of money to advertise in the Philadelphia market, then? I looked at their site, and now I want a cream pie milkshake. Hmph.
I have lots and lots to say about this past week, so make sure I do it, okay? Sometimes I'll feel that way, and then so much time will pass that I won't bother writing, because things won't seem so important anymore. Now I have to go get dinner, but later I hope to write about Christmas and TMBG and New York and lots of other things. Bwoop bwoop.
posted by Beth at 6:56:00 PM
Thursday, December 25, 2003
What the hell? {g} I was just guessing, I swear. {g}
You are a DEFINTE Aaron Carter fan!!! You know almost everything about him!
I'm gonna look for it tomorrow! I have to go to the mall anyway. THEY'DBETTERHAVEIT!
posted by Beth at 2:09:00 AM
I am listening to Dr. Demento's Christmas album. I think "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" is a really cute song. It makes me want to march around and wave a Christmassy flag or some such craziness. On the other hand, I do not like having "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" on the CD. I have weirdo issues with that song. When I was little, I loved it and thought it was like the funniest and bestest song. I have this memory of me and my cousin Johnny jumping on the bed and singing it. After my own grandma died, the song was wrecked for me forever. She died of emphysema and asthma, not of reindeer-related troubles, but I just lost my enthusiasm for the song about a grandma who died. I like this CD, though. The dogs barking "Jingle Bells" (which is still way better than Barbra's version, yessiree) makes Dewey think that there are dogs inside my computer speakers. Is funny. I like Dr. Demento. There are a lot of other funny things on this CD, yo.
Um, yeah, so here's an interesting news item. Christmas Eve is my very last day of work. I only found this out yesterday. I went to look at the schedule for New Year's week, and I wasn't on there. I asked why, and they said, "Temporary employment ends around that time." Well, the thing is, no one ever told me that I was only hired as seasonal employment. I swear, they did not. Then I picked up my check, and there was a letter attached that said, "thank you temporary employee. You are helpful to us at Christmastime, blah blah blah, get out." My wretched defeatist attitude keeps telling me that they thought I was such a terrible worker that I got bumped down to temporary work, so that they could get rid of me. Another possibility (that doesn't involve me insulting and hating myself) is that when I filled out the application, I said I was willing to be hired temporarily or permanently, and they just chose temporary, because of the holiday rush. I really don't remember what I put on the application. I filled it out before my birthday, after all. At any rate, I have only three days left of work with this store. I'm more than a little disappointed. I was just starting to get used to things and feel comfortable. Not only that, but looking for a new job sucks eggs. On Monday, I have an interview on a computer (how annoying that will be) at another store. I'd originally filled out their application before my birthday as well. I set up that interview on Friday, and the manager-lady kind of irritated me. I told her that I worked at a store for a month and that I was hired temporarily and will need new work very soon. She asked, "So you worked their for a little while, and they didn't hire you permanently? They usually do that." No they do not. If you are hired to work for Christmastime, then of course they don't ask you to stay. They don't need you anymore after that. Jeezorama. I think the store hired somewhere in the area of 30 extra people for holiday work. Why would they need them in January? That's the slowest time of the year. Feh. I could use a little vacation anyway. Otherwise I'd miss not having a Christmas vacation for spending all my time sleeping and reading and playing videogames and watching DVDs. But I guess I thought my First Job Ever would have lasted longer than one month, y'know? Wish me luck that I find something else, my babies.
In new kitten-related news, well, I still need to take pictures of him and stuff. He's really snuggly and affectionate, and he and David get along well and play together. I think David teaches him things. {g} He still hides behind the couch an awful lot, because the dogs can't get to him that way, and it's his hidey-hole. Dewey still drives him crazy, but he's not mean, just curious and enthusiastic. Gypsy is the worst one, for some reason. She's a bully. She corners him and won't leave him alone at all. At least Wally seems to be getting used to things. He's a really sweet cat. He's kind of the opposite of the way David was as a kitten. David would bite and claw and not hold still for long. Wally has claws, but he never uses them, and he'll let you pet him for as long as you want. I like 'im. For the first time in the nine-and-a-half years that we've had David, today he crawled into my bed and slept underneath the covers next to me. Dewey and Gypsy were both sleeping in my bed at the time, too. I wonder why he finally did that after this much time. I was both touched and honored.
Last thing: I am no fan of Cheech and Chong (although I kind of prefer them separately...), but this is on the afore mentioned Dr. Demento Christmas album, and I think it's really funny. You will hate it, probably. {g}
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, too.
posted by Beth at 1:22:00 AM
Sunday, December 14, 2003
Hmm, so far David hasn't been openly mean to Wally, just interested but cautious. That's quite understandable, and I'm fortunate that they aren't fighting. Wally seems to want to be David's friend, but he's being careful not to make David mad. As for me, I'm happy to have a new kitten, but David is making me feel bad about it. He doesn't want me to pick him up or pet him (in the past week, before today, he'd been really snuggly and everything). Now he won't even eat cat treats, whereas he usually tried to take the whole bag out of my hands. I know he'll eventually adjust, but I he gets over this really quickly. He sucks for trying to make me feel bad. {g}
posted by Beth at 10:13:00 PM
I got a new cat!!!!!
Yes! Today we adopted him from Petsmart. His name is Wally and he's about eight months old. He looks almost exactly like David. He's really nice. He lets me hold him and he doesn't fuss or scratch at the dog and cat. David is a little wary of him, but he hasn't hissed at him or anything. He sniffs him and watches him from a couple feet away. Dewey is trying to force Wally to play with him. Gypsy won't meet him until tonight, when she and Harry come home. I wanted a cat named Wally so much, since last year, and this one was already named Wally, so it was meant to be. ^_^ We saw him at Petsmart last week, actually. That was on Wally Cox's birthday (Wally Cox is my very favorite guy from the old Hollywood Squares, the good Hollywood Squares), so it was extra meant to be. Pictures are sure to come, but they'll probably turn out badly, since the cats are so dark that the pictures always look like a black blob with bright green alien eyes. I will still try! {g}
You might say to me, "While I apprecite your attempt to holiday up your blog, some of those colors are hard to read." And then I might say, "Yes, I know, I know. Trouble is, I had some better colors picked out on Photoshop, but it kept informing me that they weren't "web friendly." I tested it out, and it turns out that Photoshop is not a liar. Just look do your best to read it."
Our tree is nowhere near being up. It's still in a box upstairs, which saddens me greatly. Also, I haven't watched a single Christmas tape yet. At least I've been listening to Christmas music since Thanksgiving.
Here's a comment I wrote on Tavie's blog that I might as well post here, too:
The other day, I caught the tail-end of a Christmas Carol-themed episode of The Jetsons. I've always enjoyed The Flintstones, but never ever have I enjoyed The Jetsons. Everything always seemed too damn easy for them. That is irrelevant. {g} Anyway, ultimately, Mr. Spacely only decided to be generous with the Jetsons, because he found that, if he wasn't, they'd sue his ass and take his money and he'd be po'. Isn't that weird? I didn't know that the Jetsons were litigious people (but I'm not surprised). {g} Anyway, I just think it's totally wacky that Mr. Spacely only changed his ways after that. Even though Astro was dead or something. Even Scrooge McDuck felt guilt about the possible passing of Tiny Tim. I guess Mr. Spacely is the bigger asshole? Hmm. {g} This should probably be on my own blog. Perhaps it will go there also.
posted by Beth at 2:47:00 AM
Check this! I added a new link over on the right. Her name is Beth, and she, too, likes Ben Folds amd TMBG. I like those qualities in a person. {g}
posted by Beth at 12:31:00 AM
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
On the radio, the other day, I heard the crappiest version in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE of Jingle Bells. I didn't know who was singing it, but I supposed that it was Barbra Streisand, who happens to be a crazy bitch, but that's not important at this time. {g} Well, I just thought to look it up and see if I was right, and I am. You should go listen to an audio clip on Amazon. It's horrible. HORRIBLE. You know what's both better and more classy? That dogs barking Jingle Bells thing. {g}
posted by Beth at 9:45:00 PM
I just watched part of some show on VH1 about how Victoria and David Beckham (or Posh and Becks, if you prefer) spend shitloads of money on everything. I think that if I bought a $20000 corset to wear under an $80000 wedding dress, I'd feel like crap, because some families don't even make $20000 in a year. She always was my least favorite Spice Girl.
I just tried running disk cleanup, and it kept freezing and shooting the CPU Usage up to 100%, but I have remedied the problem, and now all is well.
Yesterday, I got to volunteer for the first time since I started working, because it was the first Tuesday where I wasn't scheduled to come in and work. I was glad, even if I did come in late, because I wanted to sleep. I'd missed doing it. I find something calming in spending two hours matching invoice numbers on invoices and check stubs and making sure addresses are correct.
Right now, I'm quite pleased. This evening, my uncle and I took David to the vet. David is nine-and-a-half years old, and the last time he'd been to the vet was when he was about four months old. Last year, when Sam and Kit died, I made up my mind that I need to be better about getting the animals checkups. Right, so anyway, David hadn't been to the vet since he was a tiny baby, and tonight I spent part of what was my first paycheck in getting him looked at. Since he's never left the house since his last vet visit (which was to a different vet), I was afraid that he'd get really scared and get sick or try to run off or do some other bad thing, but he was really good. The vet and her assistant really liked him, too. They said that he's healthy and his teeth are clean (which is great, because I never brush his teeth. He's an all around clean cat, though). He got rabies shots and some other kind of shot, but I forget which. Also, the vet said that he probably has sinus problems, because he most likely had some kind of upper respiratory infection or virus as a baby. I think that's probably true, and I think he probably got it from when he spent that week at the stupid animal shelter, before we could take him home. We got some pills to give him, and if those work out, then she'll give us some antihistamines for him. My cat is healthy. I am a good owner, who paid for his bill all by myself. Yay, wee! Now I must look into getting another cat. {g}
posted by Beth at 9:33:00 PM
Thursday, December 04, 2003
1. Last night, Nick at Nite was to show their Christmas special at 11, and I set up my VCR to tape it. I turn the TV on at 11:35 to check on it (the special is an hour long) and see that Roseanne came on at 11 and 11:30. What gives? How am I to see Ted Danson read a story now?
2. Speaking of Christmas specials, I watched part of the tree-lighting thing on NBC with the musical acts. I saw only the second half of it, and, no offense, but Jessica Simpson and her husband's songs suck and why the urine are they singing them on a holiday special? Wasn't Jessica Simpson's song something about "feeling beautiful" and "wearing only a t-shirt" or something similar? Yahoo, Christmas! Now, here's the tragic (in more ways than one) part. After those two clowns finished up, Harry Connick Jr. who is awesome, came out and sang "Frosty the Snowman." That part is good, BUT at that exact point, our affiliate did a split screen, breaking news thing about a church catching on fire. Now, I am super sorry that a church was on fire, but I kind of wish that, if it *had* to happen, why couldn't it start to burn a little earlier to put a downer on Jessica Simpson's performance? You understand that I'm not evil, right? I did like Kelly Clarkson's rendition of "O Holy Night," I thought it was delivered nicely and respectfully, as it is the granddaddy of all Christmas songs. And I'm not even religious, I just love Christmas.
3. I get paid tomorrow. Bling, bling. Here's a question: If I work a six hour day, does that entitle me to a 30 minute lunchbreak or just a 15 minute break?
4. I tried to make an appointment at the vet for David, but the call wouldn't go through. I tried more than one phone, and both would call other numbers, yet I couldn't get through to the vet's office. No ringing, no busy signal, no "your call did not go through" message from an operator. I'd punch in the numbers, and it would just be quiet on the other end. That has never happened in my life.
5. I wish I were someone who wouldn't get totally worked up about things that don't apply to me. Earlier, a 14 year old cousin of mine said that if she gets clothes for her birthday, she doesn't want "prep clothes," but instead would prefer black shirts or t-shirts of bands like Linkin Park, Korn, and some crappy "punk" bands, because she now fancies herself as such. Not only are those shirts $20 apiece, but I wouldn't want to be seen buying one. {g} Anyway, the part that makes me mad, is that while I was never close to her, I'm angered (but not surprised) that she's buying into the shitty high school politics of preps, punks, jocks, etc. I hate that so much. I'm so glad that high school is far behind me. I can't stand people who feel like they need to find themselves by labeling themselves and labeling others and living by it, because ultimately, they just lose themselves. Yes, I am profound. Shut up. ;p
6. Today I found that if I want to join the accounting program next fall, I need to take calculus this summer. I'm not happy about that. I knew calculus was required, but I was hoping to take it in the fall with the other classes. I don't remember any of it, and I'm afraid that learning fifteen weeks of it in five weeks will be really hard for me, and I might do poorly. I wanted to take an accounting or business class this summer to try to get a feel for it, but it looks like I'm stuck with this instead. Oh well, I shall do it.
7. And I went and saved the best for last, like I'm Vanessa Williams. In the mail today, I got my special collector's edition Zelda game. I subscribed to Nintendo Power just so I could get it. It's a GameCube disc that contains The Legend of Zelda, The Adventures of Link, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask. It's such a great thing, I love it. So far, I only played a little of the original Legend of Zelda, and they didn't change a thing, all of the sounds, graphics, and poor translations are just as they should be. It's a tough game, and I'm out of practice, and it's even tougher on a GameCube controller, so I died a couple times already, and I have only one piece of Triforce.
posted by Beth at 10:28:00 PM
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
People need to shut up about those Hilton girls. They're famous, but they're, I don't know, fake celebrities.
posted by Beth at 7:38:00 PM
You're Jai! As the Culture Vulture, you hope your charm and personality are able to rub off on some of the victims. You use all aspects of your professional training and skills as a performer plus your social charisma to coach the men on everything from mixing 'n mingling in a social setting, to conversation skills, and to being at ease on the dance floor.
You'd think I'd have looked up Queer Eye quizzes months ago, huh?
Kyan Douglas, grooming guru, is your twin! You're both fun and upbeat. Chances are you're the "nurturer" among your friends. Snaps for you ... and your hair!
