i need a man.

so, this is one of those times I wish I were technologically inclined. y'see, I have this fancy-schmance tv, right? and this awesomely cute little sound system. it was a treat to self earlier this year. and it was all good 'cept if I played a DVD there was this hum on the speakers. so I thought I would use my rocktastic engineering troubleshooting know-how to whip this bad boy into shape. um, yeah...guess I forgot how much technology and I don't get along.

oh, if I play by the rules we can manage okay. I mean, I can operate a computer or a toaster or whatever. But if I want to do something like, say, burn a data dvd or use a command prompt or put in a bagel instead of bread, suddenly all things with microchips or plug-ins or wires turn against me. It all started with a curling iron that burned my forehead...and it's been downhill from there.

yesterday evening after work I went to the batting cages with two of my teammates, Andrew and Nick. We had fun, hit some balls and talked good-natured junk to one another. I even managed to hit the ball back through the hole where the pitch comes out--which was our goal for the evening and earned me a beer! We had dinner together and I introduced them to the yummyness that is Uno's chicken fajita pizza.

then Nick took me to pick up his thanks-for-taking-pictures-of-my-dad's-awesome-car gift to me--(ps, this is last week's comh, okay?) this lovely coffee mug. Two of the things I enjoy most are the color pink and blue bell icecream. :) Now if only I could have some blue bell icecream...road trip anyone?

anyhoo. Like you didn't already know this, I love all things colorful, and this looks GLORIOUS with the rest of my mugs. Also? I'm so pleased Audrey introduced me to the concept of eating icecream out of coffee mugs--'cause that's so what I'm going to do! and I've gotta say, I find great humor in putting my Trinity UMC and PGUMC mugs beside my MoSex mug (that one's the black one behind the trinity one). I think it's blissfully silly...

so, back to the television ridiculousness. I have a mere THREE things with plugs that I have to contend with--the cable box, the TV and my sound system. It shouldn't be that complicated, right? but it is, it is. after batting, after dinner, after the coffee mug and after talking to Susan I wanted to watch an episode of the gilmore girls and go to bed. This was my brilliant plan. Instead I wrestled with the damn cords for AN HOUR before getting so annoyed that I just placed everything on the ground and went upstairs to bed. Yes, I went to bed angry--but the anger was directed at an inanimate object, so I think I'm okay, right? quite honestly, and I'm soooo not ashamed to admit it, this is one of those times that I could really use a man--they all seem to be able to just magically make the electronic things work. And since I've admitted that to Paul, my fellow ChE and coworker, I figger I can admit it to y'all too.

to sum up:

I've got a TV that will only give me cable picture or sound. not both.

I have eleventeen cables haphazardly thrown/placed in my living room.

and, to quote Ringo, "I've got blisters on my fingers!"

so much for that whole painting and playing the geetar idea, eh?

i love your funny face your sunny, funny face. for you're a cutie with more than beautie. you've got a lot of per-son-a-li-ty.

So, a brief update. Incase you didn't already know, I’ve been dating a 6^th grade Science teacher and soccer coach/player named Matt. He’s the one took me bowling and gave me the stop-killing-the-pins pointer, and I only beat him when he played left-handed. (though I was disappointed he didn’t switch at the end and say “I am not left-handed!” in true Princess Bride style. But at least when I pointed it out to him he began spouting PB quotes with vim and vigor.) and anyhoo.

Last night we watched this:

Funny Face. Have you seen it?

Tres cute. And, well, funny. Plus it’s a musical with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn, and what more could you ask for? I mean, Fred dances with an umbrella—which is marvelous! The costumes are pretty dang cool, too. And I seriously want someone to go out into the middle of a beautiful landscape with me, while I'm wearing a pretty poofy dress, and dance with me—especially across a little river. It’s a good movie. You should see it.

I heart musicals. I think I’m on a kick. Next is Annie Get Your Gun. And My Fair Lady. And Rent. Any other musical recommendations?

and for good measure, a list:
~my teeth are really pissing me off. I have to pay so much for 'em, dangit. I heard this advertisement on wknc about feedthepig.org, and how last year was the first time since just before the great depression that americans spent more than they earned. at first I felt bad about this, but then I though about how I'm spending $1100+ on my teeth just this month alone.
~I think I've changed my mind about my career path again, at least a little. I've decided it's dumb to move to Florida until I know that I have been accepted into law school. If I moved there before getting in, and then didn't get in, that wouldn't be worth my time, money or energy. So instead? Masters at State. And then we'll see. I know I keep changing my mind, but guess what? Better to change my mind a billion times than go down the wrong path. And if you're annoyed or whatever 1) you don't have to read this and 2) if this were about a guy to marry instead of school, you'd completely understand.
~i think my former acquaintance is involved in a pyramid scheme. not sure, but I'm supposed to call him back and he sounded all salesman-ee on the message. weirdness. he's a fellow TU alum.
~i want to paint some more. maybe I'll do it tonight.


mmmm. enough of carrie's random thoughts. please suggest musicals. :)

oh, and--question of the day?

on a scale of one to ten, how weird is it that I own pipe cleaners?

just checking...

bunnies, bowling and beer, oh my!

well, this might have been one of the most fun weekends I've had in a while. I mean, don't get me wrong, I try to have fun every weekend. but this one just might take the cake!

to begin with, the good friday tattoo. no, strike that, tattoos. after some half-price sushi and a trip to 9th street (where they didn't have time for me) we drove through some ghetto parts of durham to get to a different tattoo parlor--tattoo asylum. A very nice man, Jonas, did the tattooing, and I went ahead and got both. Pictures of them both are in the blog before this one.

here am I right after getting the tattoo--and look at the alice in wonderland tattoo on that magazine.

then? to the ale house!!! my, how I missed Michael. I need a good pick-on-Carrie session every now and then. so, here's the cuteness from the Ale House.

after getting home waaaaay too late and then getting up at 9am and taking a blissfully long nap, my guests arrived--a small group, but a super fun group to be sure! we had dee-lish food (thanks for bringing the ham, mary alise!), dyed eggs and hunted. and those eggs we hunted? yeah, they were a drinking game. Michael hid 'em all--including the "golden egg" (which was really silver since it was covered in aluminum foil, but whatever), and then referred to us as his bunnies--Bunny K, Bunny M and Bunny C.

Guess what he called himself? Yep, Hef. We drew the line at bowling in lingerie! And apparently we were quite amusing at the bowling alley--but I'm pretty sure that's 'cause of our bets. Mostly color-blind Michael and I made a bet about whether the green and teal dyes were labelled correctly--it was his idea, and he won. So when he got his first strike, I had to do this:

Yeah, go out on the lane, get down on my knees, and tell him he's the greatest person I've ever known. But later, when I won a game, Michael had to kiss my feet! In the icky bowling shoes!!!

yowzers.

Sunday was wonderful too. I made it to the sunrise service, had breakfast at church and then sang in the 830 and 1100 services. And Sunday school (which I hardly ever go to) was great, too! We performed rather poorly the first service, but the 1100 went very very well.

Here's a picture of the cross in front of my church--we placed flowers, a sign of life, onto it, a symbol of death. It was just beautiful.

And then I had lunch at the Sullivan's house. There were nineteen of us in all--including a bunch of eight year olds, and I spent most of my day hanging out with Challie, who is fourteen. I am so glad to know the Sullivans--they're great people. I sat with them for the Sunrise service, had breakfast with them and Lucinda and I are "choir buddies," so we spend a lot of time singing next to each other! Very very fun. Here's some pretty green stuff I saw on my way to their house! Oh, and I took some easter lily pics too, but haven't gone through 'em yet!

Last, but not least, I walked to the grocery store last night. And on my way home I was singing "was it a morning like this"--and I had NO IDEA that I had an audience. It was dark, and a lady was walking on the sidewalk across the street. It was great though--when she was about to her house she told me that she was really enjoying my singing and that I had a beautiful voice. Kinda made my day. :)

Now? I'm tired. I think I need a weekend to recover from my weekend!

the new tattoos...

I am too sleepy to tell the whole story. This weekend was hella fun though. More tomorrow.

Until then, here are pictures. I'm afraid that I just might have to get a third one. (I have a thing about odd numbers) and I'm going to get that star filled in a little darker. They said I should start lighter though. But yeah. Carrie=happy. And really? Didn't hurt tooo much. Definitely less than the first time. When he finished the nautilus on my foot I was like, "what? you're done already?" The nautilus is a touch-up of one I got on Good Friday four years ago, and is on the inside of my left foot. The star is on my right hip. Both are roughly the size of a nickel.

more crazy weekend pictures to come, don't you worry. :)

a visit from a familiar friend.

yesterday afternoon I was visited by an old friend. we've spent countless hours together, going to parties, taking naps, eating meals--you name it, we've probably done it together. when this friend is around there's no separation, no leaving, no "alone time." he even goes to the bathroom with me! and though I always manage to forget exactly how miserable and icky this friend makes me feel, when he comes around I find my mind suddenly flooded with memories from days of yore.

who is this friend? Mr. Sinus Headache, that's who.

le sigh.

He made singing the cantata last night kind of miserable, but relief set in around, oh, 8pm. but this morning? back in full force, dammit. I sooooo wanted to stay in bed, sleeping in my cute'n'comfy pajamas and snuggled in next to my kitty cats. Even Hazel's "making biscuits" wasn't so bad. all I wanted to do was turn off the alarm, sink back in and blissfully sleep. but alas, that is not to be. however? sooooo not going to softball practice tomorrow. I'm sleeping in! I'll just go to the batting cages before the game on Wednesday--yeah, that's the ticket!

thank goodness for coffee and ibuprofen. it really sucks that I can't take most sinus meds now. really and truly. sinus surgery happens to be one of my personal heroes, but still. sometimes you want the instant gratification, no?

oh, and? HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE WARD! :)

did the grass sing?

so, I'm a little ahead of myself. It's Good Friday today and I'm already thinking of Easter...but I blame choir for that...

anyhoo. I'm in the choir, right? and sometimes the lyrics of songs make me batty--I mean, what? convoluted sentences and expressions that literally make no sense if taken out of context.
last night we sang for the Maundy Thursday service. It was a combo MT/Good Friday service. And afterwards I practiced the Easter music.

we're singing this song called "Was It a Morning Like This?" and as I sat with another lady, Cindy, who helped me find my notes, I was hit.

the lyrics go "did the grass sing? did the earth rejoice to feel You again?"

now take a minute and think about that--the grass singing. the earth rejoicing. can you imagine?

know what? I'd kind of like to think it did. The grass straightened up, taller and prouder, reaching for the risen Christ. The flowers and fields of the earth shown brighter. The sky was bluer. The clouds whiter. The oceans stronger. Can't you just picture it? And even hear it? Wow.

all because Christ the Lord is Risen.

and on Sunday? Christ the Lord is Risen, indeed.

happy Easter, a little early!

maybe I should learn something from nadine stair...

when she was eighty-five she said, when asked what she would do if she had a chance to live her life again, she said:

"If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax; I'd limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after the other, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had it to do over again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over again, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dance; I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies."

since the spring has sprung, perhaps we should all remember to pick more daisies--or maybe leave 'em there to flourish, but admire them just the same.

ps-happy six hundredth post. yowzers!

orange juice.

this morning I woke up, hit snooze a few (too many) times, and showered while Gobi and Hazel hung out in the bathroom like they always do.

in my towels, per usual, I went downstairs to feed them their wet food and get my breakfast. and then it happened.

I poured my kashi into a bowl, grabbed a glass and went to get the silk and the orange juice out of the fridge. And found that, much to my disappointment, I had no orange juice.

grape juice, cranberry juice, water, milk, silk, three types of beer, two bottles of white wine (one which really needs to be chucked!), diet pepsi, sprite, dr pepper and cherry coke, but no orange juice.

I almost cried.


Me and orange juice, we have a special relationship. I have had it, oh, pretty much every single day of my entire life. It is such a part of my routine that I kinda don't function without it. This probably sounds silly to you, but it is what it is. When I go on a trip, I make sure there's orange juice. It's what Karen Chen and I laughed about during pref, and that's what really made me want to be a KD. It's something that everyone in my family and all of my friends KNOW I've got to have. And on the few very rare days when no orange juice has been consumed at all, they've all turned out kinda crummy, really.

and thank the good Lord the cafeteria sells orange juice here. It's no Tropicana Pure Premium with Calcium, no pulp, but it's still orange juice. And it goes quite well with another of my faves, oatmeal. Which is perfect for this colder-than-usual thursday. mmm-mmm-mmm I LOVE oatmeal.

boring, dull, unexciting, uninteresting, unstimulating

according to answers.com, that's how I'm feeling today. the opposite of interesting, y'see.

not writer's block, per se. more like, well, not feeling like I've got something to blog. which is okay, 'cause I'll have plenty to say after this weekend...

so, um, yeah.

glad it's holy week?
yeah, me too. wanna come hunt easter eggs at my place on saturday? it'll be fun, I swear.

and I got to talk to jessica last night, so that was nice. got to tell her about my goings-on. :)

and, uh......I got nothin'. 'cept that I'm long-distance-helping li'l bro Harvo with some al-gebra tonight (anybody remember that? anyone?)

ooh, I know, I shall tell you a joke.

how many mice does it take to screw in a light bulb?

two, but we don't know how they got in there.

is it time to go to choir yet? we sing half the cantata tomorrow (maundy thursday) so I'll be glad to have it over and get "see, they come with torches..."out of my head!

ps-at least there's a new layout, right? hope you can read it...

if i could cheat, i would skip to the end, and decide if it's worth going through with,

skip to the last, paragraph, just before we start, to see the happy ending, or the broken heart.
~the futureheads.

I've a confession to make--I'm completely a book cheater. I'm a skipper-to-the-end-er--I go and read the last paragraph or page sometimes. Like, often. Not in sci-fi books, usually, but anything emotional. Or sometimes mysteries. I figure I can do it if I want to--I'm not ruining it for anyone else. So I do. Almost always.

and that, m'dears, is how I'm feeling right now. about boys, about law school, abotu photography, about moving, about friends. I've never wanted to cheat so badly in my life. I just want to know. And I know that's part of what life IS. you've gotta live it to find out.

That reading the last page first thing--it doesn't usually make a whole lot of sense, but it gives me a glimpse--and that's what I needed. I need a hint, people. An idea. A notion.

there's nothing to fall back on. (nanan, naaa, nanananana)

and if it's good enough, if it's tempting enough it makes me want to hurry to get to the finish line--and if it's really good? I'm going to go through the time on my way skipping.

why am I thinking about this? because I got my GRE score yesterday. and because I kicked the writing portion's ass and they put a makes-carrie-very-happy number beside it. because I realized how very well I did on verbal and how superb my analytical writing skills are and then noticed my still-good-but-not-so-stunning quantitative skills. and it got me thinking about how I often pursue things 'cause I feel like I *should.* but, hey, being a patent lawyer is kinda like being a technical writer, right?

I so wish I could skip to the end. like, hand-in-swinging-hand, head-bobbing, take-a-peek, skip to the end.

my personal dna.

what's yours?

hey, it's okay that I over-analyze too much.

that's why Mary Alise loves me. :)

yesterday was awesome. the weather was good, church was fun and I spent, oh, eightish hours painting pictures. for the first time since AUGUST. this one is my fave that I did--I did another like it that was smaller, and then wanted to do one bigger and with pink. and then I finished one that I'd been asked to paint forever ago. they are all up on my art blog.


I also watched umpteen episodes of the Gilmore Girls and talked on the phone for hours and hours and hours. So what if I gave up procrastination for Lent? It was Sunday, dangit!

my knee is feeling much better today, thank goodness. but my forearms? yeeeowch! guess I need to stretch 'em more after batting.

so anyway, last night I was talking to someone about tattoos, and he said he was thinking about getting another one. and there were three options--one on his side, one on his shoulder and one on the inside of his bottom lip. people actually do this. like, for reals. see? ick ick ick. no thank you, no thank you.

is it friday yet?!? le sigh.

"i'm willing to assist in the delinquency of floozies."

~kara schiltz.

this quote was almost as good as stefan calling methodism the caesar salad of christianity. almost.

today the right side of my body is all owie. I bowled last night (and learned something about how to improve my bowling!!!--apparently I'm "killing" the pins, and if I'd just throw it a little softer...), went o-u-t out and then played softball this morning at 10am! between the two of them my forearm and shoulder are s-o-r-e, and I've done something icky to my knee. which, y'know, I love. le sigh.

so, you might want to know about the floozy delinquency thing, right?

1. my date's friends might think I'm a floozy. okay, not really, but it sure is funny to say...it's a bit of a story. at least I had a lot of fun! it's one of those more-amusing-if-taken-out-of-context things. :) and it gave me a chance to use the word "floozy," and how often do you get to do that, really?
2. I think I'm going to go get my tattoo re-done on friday. the first time I got it done was on a good friday, and I figure I might should keep the tradition. goodness gracious, I can't believe that was four years ago. but anyway, tattoos are immoral or something ridiculous, right?!? I think Kim and Kara and I'm not sure who else are going to come with me. When I first got it I went with my sisters--Melanie, Jessica and Tuck--after a tragic thing happened on our house property, and I kind of want to go with sisters again. Perhaps you think that's weird, but I kind of like it, thanks.

yeah.

annnnnyhoo.

I'm really excited about this. I mean, how AWESOME!!! way to go for looking out for the environment. [insert high five here] those californians? they've got good ideas, most of the time. but sometimes, they're crazy. guess that's how it works.

and have y'all heard about the new forever stamp? net present value at work, right? random. and I am SO DISAPPOINTED that the new stamp rate won't be 42 cents. that would have made my day!

happy palm sunday tomorrow, dearies!

let's do smack-smack-smack-smack-smack!

~betsy pearce, said with an overly-cheery and highly-sarcastic voice, while making lots of little quick excited claps

I LOVE FUNNY PEOPLE. Seriously, y'all rule. And half priced martinis and talking about boys? A great way to begin the pre-weekend. :) Plus? I got to talk to Adrienne McVey, my dear dear Itsy. How I have such a wonderful KD family I will never know, but boy-oh-boy am I thankful. And? I might just be going to Alaska in June. Alaska AND Oklahoma. And Alabama. Uh, and maybe New Mexico? (okay maybe I need to spread these trips out, but whatever)

so, I'm catching up on a couple of corners-of-my-homes. only I'm also making this about whatever it is in my house that seems like something I'd wanna share.

1. the breakfast of champions.

I meant to tell y'all about this after I took the GRE. This is what I eat for breakfast EVERY time I have a big test/interview/whatever. A cream cheese danish. I had to go to three grocery stores before I found these guys. I've been doing this since, oh, middle school? Before every ACT, every SAT, visiting TU, interviewing for Top Ten Freshman, interviewing at Burt's Bees, my old job and my present company, before my scholarship interviews, before the FE and most recently before my GRE. It's a thing. Every damn time. And seems to kinda work for me. And come to think of it, the times I didn't eat it have been the times I've not done quite as well. Interesting, no?

2. this guy has to be retired.

Sterling made me buy this mug when I was fifteen. It was in the summer when I went to my cousin Michelle's wedding in Chicago. He had one, y'see, but his mom had accidentally broken it. So I bought one for me and one for him from the Starbucks there. And I've been using it ever since. Today I realized that there was water (and some icky brown mold stuff) stuck inside the insulating-air that's a part of the cup. That means it's time to chuck it. It's a little sad though. I've been using this for, what, eleven years now, almost? It's funny to think how different I was eleven years ago, and all the places I've taken this silly mug.

3. this will always sit by my kitchen sink.

for the whole entire rest of my life, if I have anything to say about it. if I don't have a kitchen sink, it will go by my own sink. this little jar is full of rocks that anna, adam, my mom and me dug up in arkansas. there's also one from cali, oregon, oklahoma, texas, north carolina, virginia and I'm not sure where else. It used to sit under the stairs in my mom's house, and it was something she gave me when I left. It reminds me of home, of how anna and I always lost teeth at the same time (but opposite teeth--hello, mirror image twins, much?), of all of the empty beer cans we found under the stairwell when we tore it out, of the old olds--the white car with red interior where the glue oozed out of the sides of the panels 'cause it was so hot in arizona and of my mom and her fun black light things she kept on the little shelf there. for me, this little jar of rocks means that a place is really my home.

hip-hip-hooray for friday!

discontinued.

in recent-ish history, the following things I like have been discontinued:

~my bra from VS
~my awesome redken shampoo
~studio 60 on the sunset strip

these? these I can tolerate. but now?

my jeans. they're being discontinued too. my very cute, excellent fitting, rather inexpensive (~$40 a pair!) jeans. they're not going to make 'em this dark anymore (and oh no, is the light jeans trend coming back?!???). I am going to have to order a pair online in order to get new ones.

gah.

so lemme get this straight, my mom tends to like things just before they become uber popular (black and white checkers, sunflowers, rainbows, holograms, e.g.) and I like things just before they are discontinued. what a cosmic circle we weave. luckily none of it is THAT important. le sigh.

it's the room, the sun and the sky.

~silversun pickups

for me right now it's more like the cube, the rain and the cold, but whatev. I'm still in a good mood. Despite the impending (and admittedly self-inflicted) busy weekend we're coming up on on, and despite the fact that my review starts in thirty minutes, I am still in a swell mood. I am blogging pre-review, just in case.

I am looking forward to cheap martinis with a few chick-a-dees, singing, pulling those (not really) rusty softball things out of the closet, watching the final four games and getting some sleep. ooh and maybe painting. maybe definitely painting.

oh, and I didn't watch LOST, so for the love of all that is holy PLEASE don't tell me. I plan on watching it tonight. I think.

and, funny Carrie story, for good measure. last night on my way home from choir I was a good girl. I'd noticed that my front tire looked a little low, so I went to air it up. Girl Scout that I am I had my pressure gauge in my glove box (along with random things like tampons and my old honda's registration card--what???) and I proceeded to air up Mattie's tires. I got off the phone with my mom to concentrate, and I called Renee when I was done. I came home, I pulled up to my house, got out, got the mail, and--shit--realized I'd left the caps AT the gas station. Yes, I know you can buy those puppies elsewhere. But they were all there, and only one was smashed. So that's good. But since I totally need new wiper blades anyway, and since I only have another week and change of not procrastinating, guess I should get right on that rose, eh?

also, when did it become thursday? and almost APRIL?!? tempus fugit--not that I'm complaining--must mean I'm having fun?

handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.

~pearl strachan

I had another one of my weirdo dreams last night. This one, though? It's pretty cool. It makes me want to write a children's book about it. So you? Don't steal my idea. I claim it.

So anyway.

In my dream I was with Anna. And it seemed like we might have been younger, but I'm not sure. And we were somewhere much like here, but not. I couldn't tell if we were visiting or what. But I did know a few things--we were staying at my grandparent's home, and one of my old suitcases was on my canopy bed, and there was something strange about this place. Every single one of your words counted. And what I mean by that is--well, all words have connotations, right? And some of 'em are good, and some are bad and some are neutral, y'see.

So when you said a sentence, you could literally see the words escaping from your mouth. Just floating away and dissipating. They were kinda particle-ee and translucent. And the weight of your words was seen on the world. The neutral ones became dust, settling on the surfaces of the world. The good ones acted as a kind of fertilizer, nourishing the plants and making everything shinier or better or cleaner. And the bad words were like poison. I specifically recall them poisoning the fish. And classes of children would be taken to the beach or the ocean to recite good words in hopes of making the fishes better. Every morning and every night each person would say as many good words as they could think of, and if you said a bad one (or ones) you tried to counter them with good.

When I went in to go to sleep I opened my suitcase, which was sitting on the pink and white comforter that I love so much. And inside of it, along with other things, was a little bear I've had since I was, oh, five or six. I wish I had a picture to show you. It's white and fuzzy and wearing a shirt that says "I heart Carrie." And I hugged the bear, and it made me smile. It’s kinda weird though, ‘cause that bear lives in my G&G’s home. It’s been in my room for as long as I can remember.

and then it gets fuzzy. but there was more, I know. something about studying the fish, I think. not sure.

What does it mean, you ask? Well, some of it seems pretty obvious, about the consequences of your words. And there’s some significance to Anna and my Grandparents being in it. But the thing that got me the most was that bear inside the suitcase. See, suitcase and stuffed animal. Hm. Hmm. Hmmmm. Hmmmmmm.

Things making me happy today: $3.88 yellow daisies from wallyworld (target was closed, don’t hate), some of which are on my desk, the silversun pickups (check out their song on my myspace profile) the fact that I’m going to change my photography blog profile description and remove the word “amateur,” how Nick likes the pictures I took and is likely going to get these four (maybe with the ones of the car body in color) and the yummy green grapes I am eating with my lunch. Ooh, and that I have choir today. yay!

I might have to paint while I watch LOST tonight. It's been an awful long time since Wednesday has been art day at the Carrie household...

it'll only take a few seconds.

so, if you're married or have ever attended a wedding you're likely well aware that they are expensive. even the cheaper ones still cost a pretty penny.

so please take a minute of your time and help someone else begin their lives together without such financial encumbrances.

My friend's friend and sorority sister Adine Bagheri and her fiance are one of the couples eligible to win a free wedding from a news station in Dallas. Adine was the new member educator when she was a new member in Gamma Phi and she's one of the most incredible people my friend knows. You can read her story on the website, but since graduating from SMU she's lost her father to leukemia, been attacked and robbed, had her house burn down...it's been a bad time. But this would be a great thing for her and Joe.

So, if you don't mind, go to www.nbc5i.com/wedding and vote for Joe and Adine. Voting ends today at 5 pm. (central time)

all you have to do is fill in your email addy, and select your vote.

muah! thanks for voting!

babe-ehs!

that's what sterling and I are going to call our canadian love children--babe-ehs. heh. we be funny, man.

so, today I am thankful for the telephone. See? telephone.

okay, mine sooooo doesn't look quite like that, but that picture is cuter, so let's roll with it. anyhoo. i like the phone. i like talking on it. it's a good way of keeping in touch. and with the advent of cell phones? amazing! included long distance, call waiting and text messages, oh my!

people even write poems about it (well sorta) remember this gem, eletelephony, by Laura E. Richards?

Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant-
No! no! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone-
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I've got it right.)

Howe'er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee-
(I fear I'd better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)

But aye, here's the rub: I've used my phone for hooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuurrrs over the past two days. hours and hours and hours. having lots of convos I've very much enjoyed. y'know, about boys and girls and movies and science class assignments. talking on the phone is fun. and if you're lucky, funny. and believe me when I tell you that I've genuinely appreciated the miracle that is. I talked to some damn wonderful people last night (and betsy, the wine we shared was wonderful--ha!).

and here's a convo snippet:
him: I think I'd have to tackle the dog. I mean, I would feel awful hitting and animal.
me: yeah, me too. i'm kind of an animal lover, y'know.
him: [insert sarcasm here] oh, so that's why you have two cats.
me: oh, no, it's 'cause I really loooove the smell of clean cat litter.
him: no kidding. they should totally bottle that and sell it.

heh. with convos like that, how could one not love talking on the phone, I ask? but in all honesty, I think I might be feeling less like Laura Richards and more like Cake...

No phone, no phone I just want to be alone today No phone, no phone

maybe to let the crick in my neck go away. just for a day. stretch it out. because that combined with my left arm, which is either sore from driving or from sleeping funny, means that I should probably take a teensy tiny brain break from the phone-ee-ness.

and for you, a joke:
how did the telephone propose to his girlfriend?


he gave her a ring.

yeah, you know you love it. lates.