They're not just Tater Tots, Mate... They're Freedom!

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:21:07 GMT

Going into work an hour early, but get an hour lunch today to make up for it! hurrah! Mom and I will be having a nice long lunch out.

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:31:08 GMT

Stolen from philosophercat

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Put an asterisk next to the books you'd rather shove hot pokers in your eyes than read
5) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them.
(Since I do these lists a lot, I don't feel like doing all the rest, so mostly just bolding the ones I've read)

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte's Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Results: 37 S

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:27:23 GMT

I am still so.... blown away and in shock over the new episode of Doctor Who, which I only saw this morning, but I am going to be freaking out about this all week. Most of the episode was Thom screaming at he computer while I sat in shock with my hand on my mouth. I think I nee to watch it again, because I'm sure there are tiny details that I overlooked.

Okay so. I mean, I am barely coherant enough to type it all out right now even though I saw it at 10:15am.

Just to put this out there:
I AM NOT FUCKING READY FOR A NEW DOCTOR. I know Tennant wasn't going to around forever, but I knew he was supposedly signed on until 2009 and even then it wasn't for sure he would leave after that. But he has only been with us for three seasons and I am NOT READY TO GIVE HIM UP. Thompson apparently promises me that something is going to be fixed and that he's not going anywhere, but I am freaking out.

-Oh Doctor and Rose reunion. I got so cheated out of that. XD That run towards eachother was absolutely ridiculously stupid though... the longest run of all time.

-How in the world does Jack just LEAVE Ianto and Gwen like that? That seems awfully random.

-FOUR WAY CALLING IS HILLARIOUS. That made me so happy, that scene.

-I'll miss you, Harriet Jones. Also, they cannot kill Ianto, Gwen, or Sarah Jane. That'd be ridiculous.

-the most trustwothy companion? Going with Rose or Sarah Jane seems almost too obvious. People are talking about the TARDIS?

-WHAT IS DONNA?!

-The Darkness? I'm guessing that's next season. There's not way they can solve not only the Dalek thing, but ALSO the darkness.

-Okay, so this key? Maybe a Galaxy Quest-eque Omega-13 deal. Someone the key OR teh whole the medusa cascades are a second off are going to play into some sort of thing where they can go back in time for a very specific amount of time and save the doctor

As pockahtee so well put it:
"WE ALREADY HAVE ALL THE FUCKING CLUES, WE JUST HAVE TO SORT THEM OUT
PLOOSH WAS IMPORTANT, WHODA THUNK IT?
LAST YEAR THE WEAPON WAS THE ARCHANGEL NETWORK. WE'D ALREADY SEEN IT USED ONCE, FOR BAD, SO THERE WAS NO REASON TO ASSUME IT WOULD SHOW UP AGAIN.
WHAT IS THIS YEAR'S ARCHANGEL NETWORK, OMGGGGGGGG?"

Did not go to Pride Fest because was sure it was going to storm. Spent most of the day out at lunch with Allison and Thom dicussing Doctor Who at CPK, and then saw Ash for awhile, which was really nice. I'm really not happy that I only have a one-day weekend. >_<

Once I met a stowaway upon my ship on Christmas Day

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:49:41 GMT

This has been one unpleasant week. I had a blinding headache for most of it, and even though we had a couple kids out on vacation, work was slightly stressful due to my monthly meeting which I had to do a long self-evaluation sheet. Also this week, Ash and I found out once and for all that the Kirkwood apartment fell through (those bastards). The other option was moving out with her to Maryland Heights, which would have kicked ass, but in the long run I just don't have that kind of stability were something to happen financially. I was completely upset about it Wednesday night, but at least a decision was made. I was looking forward to living with Ash, but we'll see what the future holds.

Erm, lessee. Am currently watching episode 2 of Torchwood for the hell of it, while I wash the sheets. I have already put the dishes away, cleaned up, and put stuff back where it belongs. This is because there is a change of plans. The family is coming back tonight (though not until after midnight), so I will be heading home tonight as soon as I have everything done that I want to do for the family. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed again and see my family more, but I can't say I won't miss the peace and independence of having a house to myself. But I will NOT miss getting up to walk the dogs at 7:30am on a weekend.

That's about it. Tomorrow I have my 8:30am-4pm CPR/First Aid course at work, which won't be too bad because ALL my coworkers will be there, but am not loving that my whole Saturday is spent up getting up early and suchlike. However afterwards there may be a trip to the Muny with Allison, my sister and her friend, and then afterwards Al and I may watch the new Doctor Who.

Yesh. That is all.

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:59:00 GMT

Day did not start out well as I had a headache when I woke up and then on the way to work a freakin' BIRD flew into my windshield. It then proceeded to sit there, stunned but alive, on top of my windshield wipers until I stopped freaking out and pulled over. Using a plastic bag, I lifted up the wiper and helped the bird hop out. If it was injured, it didn't seem like it because it then flew away. STupid birds. >_<

MISS THOM MADE ME DOCTOR WHO CDs!!!!!!! SEasons 1 & 2 on one disk and season 3 on another, and so far I've only listened to her "top favorites" list she made me, but they're amazing. Thank you, Thom, since you're not answering your phone so I can thank you in person!

Tonight I got home, walked the dog, and was fending off a blinding headache again that started at work. I decided I didn't feel like sitting around at home and making myself dinner (though last night, I made freakkin' spaetzels with swiss cheese and it was DELCIOUS). So instead I got in my car and decided I would drive south on Lindbergh until I found some place I wanted to eat, no matter how far it took. IT was the most relaxing thing I've done in awhile. I put in the Doctor Who cds and just... drove. You can't really get lost on Lindbergh, it just keeps going. I think I ended up way South County when I found a Q'doba's that really sounded delicious. I ate and read the RFT and then proceeded the relaxing drive back. It's too bad gas prices suck so bad, because I think I definitely needed a long drive.

I am still not looking forward to work tomorrow, or really the rest of this week until Sunday. It might be time to take a day off soon before I go crazy.

Also, The BOSS is going to be in St. Louis. Finally. I could not be more psyched! So is Idina Menzel. Snap!

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:37:26 GMT

It's finally Wednesday, at least that means only two more days to go after this.

Finally caught up completely on Doctor Who, as finished "Turn Left" last night. I can't even believe it!!!! I guess I better find out when the next episode is downloaded. Yay. P.s. the Doctor Who music is just so awesome. I already have visions of getting it and listening to it in my car, driving really fast and being on adventures. Oh yeah. So what's next now, Torchwood?

Can you tell I'm sleepy?

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:20:06 GMT

Couldn't properly drag myself out of bed this morning.

Just realized how much my weekend is already going to kind of suck. FRiday night is my last night at the housesitting house, as they come back Saturday morning. But Saturday morning around 8 or 8:30, I have an all day CPR/First Aid class to attend at work. So not only do I need to get everything I want to get done for the house before the people come back FRiday night, I am going to have to get up insanely early if I want to finish the house, walk the dogs, and make it to work. Blah.

Let's see, finished "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and am going to start a book on Captain Cook. Hurrah!

In case anyone was wondering, I am on season four, episode ten, "Midnight," of Doctor Who.

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:07:02 GMT

Janis Ian concert was awesome. Yesh.

Many things were learned this weekend. Firstly, that you should take people's advice when it comes to watching Doctor Who. For instance, do NOT watch "Utopia" without being able to immediately jump to the last two episodes of season three. Or it will kill you. Luckily I managed to watch the last two together, even though it took me until four in the morning. But was it worth it? Oh yeees. It was SO worth it. I am now five episodes into season 4 (Since I had seen the first two episodes of season four earlier, somehow), and soon will be caught up! hurrah!

Today went to Kaldi's and ate outside in the sunshine while reading my book... was there for over an hour, and it was lovely. I kind of love hearing the trains rumble by. Also, I went to the Global Foods Market, which is overpriced, but very little can make me as happy. I bought:
-Refreshers candy (fruity flavored fizzy sweets from the Great Britain section)
-strawberry yoghurt Milka bar
-Apfelschorle, which I hope hope hope is a sparkling apple-juice drink from the German aisle, which I fell in love with in Austria
-a box of spaetzles from the German aisle that I can make for dinner tomorrow night. XD

Friday hung out with Ash and Allison, Saturday night hung out with Ash after going to a kid-themed disco dance at my work, and tonight if the weather permits Allison and I will try to go get free seats at the Muny to see the Producers.

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:13:31 GMT

Today went surprisingly well considering the morning and non-sleep issues. Managed to get through the day either way. Also day was boosted nicely by having Ash come take a 50 minute walk with me around Kirkwood, just talking and walking, and feeling really good about it afterwards. ATe a delicious baby spinach, feta cheese, tomato, and light balsamic vinigrette dressing salad for dinner. I think I will shower, and then plop down to watch Dr. Who tongiht before a (hopefully) early bedtime.

Tomorrow I see Janis Ian in concert. Hurrah!

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:49:20 GMT

Woken up at 4:30am and up for over an hour with stomach issues, so don't know how work will go today. I'm absolutely exhausted and working off of under 5 hours sleep, I think. I would call to come in late, but today is Splash Day, and that's reaaaally hard to do with even three teachers with all those wet kids dripping all over everything. So here goes.

If I had a million ducets...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:23:52 GMT

Fuck, I wish I had lots and lots of money. Really. Lots of it. Beause there is a ton of theater coming and I want to see it ALL.

Shows I really want to see at the Fox 2009 season:
*Spring Awakening (oh my God, after how long, this show is FINALLY coming to St. Louis! I am going to this no matter what!!)
*RENT (because damn it, I know I saw it last year, but it is quite possibly going to be Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp... when will I get THAT chance ever again?!? Never, that's when. If it's not Adam and Anthony, then I could maybe skip it. The only problem is finding someone to GO with...)
*Sweeney Todd (again? Especially if Beakley is in the tour)
*Legally Blonde (I heard it was fun)
*Hairspray (Also, sounds like it would be awesome to see)

Not to mention that Aida and Pirates of Penzance are coming to the Touhill theater. The only problem is coming up with all the money.... At least there will be the Muny this summer. Free seats, activate! Allison already mentioned seeing The Producers there next weekend.

Want to know how I spent both Friday AND Saturday night? Drinking beer and playing Guitar Hero. It's like I'm going back to a college fratboy lifestyle that I never had to begin with! And it's awesome, that's what. Oh Guitar Hero.

These dogs are smelly.

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:04:30 GMT

Dogs have already broken (chewed) one of my flip-flops, so now I will need a new pair. Crazy dogs. Am still waking up feeling like crap, but ever day is a little better. This weekend, I desperately need to take my computer into a shop and see if it's able to be salvaged, otherwise I may be computer-less. Um... not much else to say.

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:13:37 GMT

Am successfully (or mostly successfully) moved into the house-sitting house. It's almost like living in a private hotel, except without free breakfast. There's an exercise room (which I promise myself to use more than once while here, since it's equipped with at least three machines and a giant tv with a dvd player), a hot tub (which I will only use if we get a cooler evening one of these nights), and internet. After work and a brief walk with the two dogs, I went on a fairly large grocery trip to buy milk, quesadilla ingrediants (something I plan to have for dinner more than once while here), lunch stuff, baby spinach, coke zero, etc. It was very satisfying, except for the money aspect of it.

Ummm. Will probably have to get up way early tomorrow because I don't know how my personal schedule is going to go yet. I know I have get up early enough to give the dogs a proper walk, but also don't know for sure exactly how long it will take me to get to work. I think getting up at 7:30 should be enough time if I want to leave a little before 9am, but we'll see. It should only take a few days to perfect.

Also, my computer is spazzing out on me. When I turn it on, the screen is really jumpy and moving all about and it almost sometimes looks like interference lines on my tv. I'm reaaaally hoping that there's nothing seriously wrong with it, because I totally can't afford a new computer right now. I'm giving it a rest at the moment.

My boss told me that one of the teachers who comes in and does group learning experiences with all the teachers told my boss that she was really impressed with me and how far I'd come and how much I was learning. He told me that maybe we should sit down and talk about where I want to take my future. I told him I was getting really interested in the education part of this ,but I think he misunderstood me to say that I was sure this was what I wanted to do with my life. What I MEANT was that I really, really am fascinated by the mental development aspect of early childhood education, and that I love furthering my own eduction through the articles we're given. But all in all, it was WONDERFUL to hear that my teacher was "going on and on" about me, and it makes me feel like maybe I['m doing something right for once. Plus, a sit down to discuss my future is not a bad thing. So yay me.

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:46:25 GMT

Weekend was uneventful considering I spent the whole of it inside sick. The fever finally went away and turned into a chest cold. I went back to work Monday though I could have used another day to recooperate, but have been doing all right except for teh fact that I am still eally tired and slightly achey.

I start house-sitting tomorrow. Two dogs and a longer commute to work, hurrah.

You Are 9: The Peacemaker

You are emotionally stable and willing to find common ground with others.

Your friends and family often look to you to be the mediator when there is conflict.

You are easy going and accepting. You take things as they come.

Avoiding conflict at all costs, you're content when things are calm.

At Your Best: You feel connected, trusting, and fulfilled. You feel at peace with your place in the world.

At Your Worst: You compromise your values to make sure peace is maintained. You give in to bullies.

Your Fixation: Harmony

Your Primary Fear: Causing conflict

Your Primary Desire: To preserve things as they are

Other Number 9's: Marge Simpson, Ronald Reagan, Audrey Hepburn, Jerry Seinfeld, and Abraham Lincoln.

What Number Are You?

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:44:23 GMT

Was home sick all day and didn't sleep well at all, to the point of being up at 5:30am to go get ibprofin from Walgreens and watch the sunrise at the same time. Then I stayed up and switched between Firefly and Shakespeare in love before finally managing to get back to sleep. SO been in an out of bed all day, with the exceptions of all those tornado warnings. Feeling a little better thogh. My fever this morning when I woke up was 101.6, but now is hovering around 99.2. Hurrah.

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:20:01 GMT

Fever dreams are bizzare little buggers, that strange state of uncomfortable half-awareness, half deam-like state, getting tangled in the sheets as you try to balance your body temperature between hot and cold with your warm comforters and the chill of the outside air.

Suprisingly, I don't feel that awful, except that my body and joints are sore (I thought it was from over doing it at work today), and I had this dry cough that is now rattly in my chest and makes it uncomfy.

The shame is, that I FINALLY thought I was over the part in my teaching career where I was sick every other week. I have been bug-free for quite awhile not, all things considered, but I guess I must remember that my immune system is not *completely* immune. Of course I could be feeling proportionally better tomorrow morning, despite that I woke up at like 2:30am. I hate to leave my coworkers with nobody to close the room down with such short notice, but if my temp is above 100 degrees, I can't go.

Last known temperature- 100.6
Probability of staying home from work tomorrow- 65%

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:53:04 GMT

Put my lisence plates on my car, hurrah! Now it's a reeeeal car of my own. Name is hovering between Levin or Jellybean.

Have a new ipod. His name is Dustfinger.

The days are faaar too long, but the week so far seems to be going alright.

Took a picture I really like, but computer seems to have deleted my photo editing program so there's no way to crop it or anything to put on devart >_

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:17:40 GMT

Just a forewarning, I will be housesitting/dogsitting in Kirkwood from June 11th through June 28th, which means I will be living there for that time.

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:30:51 GMT

Am back from a lovely weekend in Chicago. Depsite the awful long distances in the car (in which I got a TON of reading done in A Short History of Nearly Everything), it was really nice to see the Chicago side of the family, of whom I see way too little. There was a wonderful afternoon graduation luncheon in the gorgeous weather in honor of my sister and our cousin, and much catching up with Grandma, Grandpa, and various amounts of cousins, aunts, and uncles. Very nice.

Been trying to think of things to do this summer with the girls. Came up with a few things that I will keep in mind and mention to various friends for any interest.

-Cahokia Mounds
-Scott Joplin’s home
-New Salem, Illinois
-Float trip
-Arch?
-The Producers, My Fair Lady, Miss Saigon, Fiddler on the Roof at the Muny
-Paddle-boat in Forest Park at the Boathouse
-midnight movies at the Tivoli
-Meramec Caverns?
-National Tiger sanctuary
-Find great hiking trails 90 minutes away or less
-local biking trails
-Powder valley?

later:
-Haunted St. Louis tour?
-St. Louis symphony does Lord of the Rings symphony (September, tickets on sale mid-June)
-St. Louis wine festival on art hill (September? but tickets on sale now or soonish?)
-opera at the Touhille theater (Aida and Pirates of Penzance, in fall/winter and winter 09?)

Sat, 31 May 2008 04:36:54 GMT

Just a heads up, I will be out of town this weekend until later Sunday due to my sister's graduation party in Chicago.

-Finished "PRince Caspian" and am now starting "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. I am WAY excited for this to be my car reading for the Chicago trip.

-CRAZY storms going on for the past couple hours are shaking the house. Wooow.

Wed, 28 May 2008 03:17:11 GMT

Since I've been really bad about updating, just a few quick things.

1) Finished watching Tin Man and fell deep into the fandom hard and fast, searching for much fanfiction hell. hurrah!

2)Finished reading "As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raises as a Girl" and am taking a break from the heavier reading to breeze through "Prince Caspian" which will take me like... no time at all.

3)Went to my little sister's gradation today. It was just bizzare, because my baby sister can't really be graduating from high-school and going to college. And also, because it brought back some crazy memories of my own high-school graduation, which I can't believe was five years ago. Jesus.

Thu, 22 May 2008 13:20:03 GMT

-Last night saw most of the first part of Tin Man. Can't wait to see the rest

-bought tickets for Indiana Jones on Friay, whoot.

-Going into work an hour early again today, on top of a headache. >_<

-Tonight: Chippendales

Sun, 18 May 2008 21:38:47 GMT

So, the long promised car pictures. They're not very good since I kind o just went outside and briefly took a couple, but you can at least tell how the color of the car is hard to describe depending on lighting... one minute it's a slate gray, the next it's blue, etc etc. Also, for some reason how the logo on the front of the car is upsidedown. Hah.

Wed, 14 May 2008 02:48:00 GMT

I keep forgetting to take car pictures, but I will, I promise.

Tomorrow after work I have the opportunity to see The Soup being filmed in St. Louis (for some odd, unknown reason that I will not question). It will be awesome.

I feel like a little kid playing "grown-ups"

Thu, 08 May 2008 02:45:16 GMT

So I have a car. I spent a good 2 1/2 hours at the dealership, but it's finally mine. My 2007 Kia Rio. It's beautiful, and it's MINE. I can't believe it. I've never written such a large check before in my life (oh down payments, you are my savings), and I just signed paper after paper after paper and the whole time I couldn't believe it was actually happening.

How come the color says "Olive gray" but it looks... blueish? I like the color a lot.

I will probably be a dork and take pictures of it tomorrow. I still need to get plates and stuff, but wow. The car is mine. I OWN a car. a CAR. hahahahaha.