Accentuate The Positive

Mondays. Mondays. Mondays. They pretty much just suck all around now. Especially since Ari and I moved our girls' night to Tuesdays. Ho-hum. At least I look forward to Tuesdays now. So, NOT TALKING ABOUT TODAY. NOT. NOT. NOT.

Let's talk about happy things!

Sunday night the husband person and I went to see Monsters vs. Aliens. Cute movie. Nice date.

We were the ONLY ones that showed for the 8:30PM showing. Sweet! Eighteen bucks got us our own private theater. I smuggled in some gobstoppers, and we paid a ridiculous four dollars for a frozen bottle of water. That's right. Four dollars for plastic covered ice. Not so sweet, but we dealt.

We got to relax, put our feet up and enjoy the show. Frozen water or not, it was great.

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but I must say that Hugh Laurie and Kiefer Sutherland's voices make the movie. Hilarious. Especially Sutherland's character.

Okay. Go see it. ^_^

Worry Wart

My Mom always said my Dad was, among other more severe things, a worry wart. I used to wonder if you could actually get warts from worrying, and if so, what toads were so concerned about. When I got past that, I would worry about worrying too much.

At the ripe old age of 26, I've learned that you do not, in fact, get warts from worrying. I know this because I worry more than just about anyone I know, and I don't have the first wart. Which I am incredibly thankful for. The thought of visual consequences to worrying frightens me severely. I wouldn't consider myself to be a vain person, but I don't want to worry myself into a wrinkly wretched old woman. I worry about this.

I worry about: what I am, what I'm not, things I don't understand. You name it. I've probably worried about it. Now I'm worrying about what you'll propose I've worried about. It's a bit neurotic, really.

I love him with all my heart, but sometimes I worry that I'm too much like my father. How you can be so much like someone you barely know amazes me. Despite the lack of his presence in my life, genetics have taken their toll. I look just like him. I inherited his addictive personality. Though, my addictions are limited to: alphabetizing, art, cleaning, critters, nonalcoholic liquids(thank God), and people.

So, warts or no, I worry entirely too much.

What do you worry about? I might need to add it to my list.

Honestly: List Lust VIIII

Recently I found myself on the much more than lovely Shannon's list of Honest Bloggers. I was thrilled! An award! And for a positive attribute! Thrilled though I may have been, it did not change the fact that I am incredibly forgetful. I failed to pass the thing on, which I totally planned to do.

So, what better opportunity than a List Lusty Wednesday, right? Right!

First thing's first.

10 honest things about myself:

1. I am ever so slightly obsessed with: all things green/musical/shiny/creepy-cute, and Johnny Depp.

2. My dream job is to write and illustrate children's books. I know I could so do this, but I have a ginormous fear of not being good at it, which I know makes me a weenie.

3. I'm a weenie.

4. I have incredibly low self esteem, due to emotional and sexual abuse as a child. Augh.

5. I want to go to foreign countries and build houses and churches. Like make mud bricks and stuff. Todd and I will do this.

6. I was born in Indiana, but I'm not sure what the place was called. We moved to Kentucky when I was two.

7. I have really weird nightmares. Really weird. Like animals bisected...but still living. Creepy as heck, and I don't even watch scary movies?!

8. Certain songs make we want to take off all my clothes and lie down. Not like sexy or anything. All alone. Just be. Completely unarmed. I haven't done this, but I feel like it.

9. I don't roll on the sabbath, but I'm not Jewish.

10. When I get nervous I break out in red itchy stripes. Always bad when playing cards.

Okay. Now for sharing the wealth. I nominate the following honest people:

Austin - A music connoisseur and a good man, Charlie Brown.

Ari - Simply, she's my little prickly pear.

Ashley - You just want to kiss her.

Elle - Uncertain as the rest of us, and totally honest about it.

Jodi - My very own soul mate.

Matt - He doesn't do these things, but he is indeed brutally honest.

Megan - A chef with a beautiful outlook on life.

Michelle - I just discovered her, but she seems to be an open book that you want to read again and again.

Nikki - She's just awesome in every role she plays.

Rachel - Who cares if we can't comment? She always leaves me speechless anyway.

New Zealand? Yeah. Hi. You're Gorgeous And All, But I've Met Someone Else.

Let me introduce you to...Socotra Island. It's the Island of Bliss, my bloggerific friends. Just ask Wiki. He'll tell you.

So, I'm totally in love with this place, and must go there. I thought New Zealand was the strangest, most beautiful place on earth. In my mind, nothing could hold a candle to it.

Turns out I was wrong. I mean, look at these trees! They look like overgrown mushrooms!

And what is up with these big bulbous rhinoceros skinned buggers growing right smack out of the side of a rock?! I love it!

There are like a gazillion species of plants and animals(mostly buggy/birdy type creatures) that live here, and nowhere else in the world. That just amazes me. This little archipelago in the Indian Ocean has stolen my heart.

Well, I guess I'm really a two timer, because I'm still totally interested in New Zealand. The wildlife and climate has this place beat any day. Socotra is all deserty/monsoony, and it's strange critters are more of the ginormous neon blue insects and creepy bird variety. That's really nothing compared to The Land of Zea, but it still rocks!

Okay. So, you guys need to check this place out. Anyone want to go there with me?! Ari has already R.S.V.P'd.

What Say You, Music Lovers?

Google Reader is great, right? Blogspot's even moving up in the world. I can read all you folks I follow right there from my dashboard...at least in part. Still, I like to visit all your pretty little blogs. Some of you even have music! Which brings me to my point.

I couldn't resist the urge to add music to my blog. Seeing how I consider myself to have wonderful taste, I imagine you will all love the music I chose to share. Yet, I know we are often creatures of habit. Change is something I like...if I'm in control.

So, this whole music player on my oh so dark and shiny blog might not be your favorite. You might hate the music I listen to(for this you should be banished, but I will be gracious:P), and that's not something I'm willing to suffer.

What say you? I have lots for you to choose from. It's all just a scroll away. Maybe you can find something tolerable? Can I have my music and keep you lovely people happy? xoxo

List Lust VIII

I know I'm not the only one feeling drained right about now. I have plenty I could yap about, but can't shake this blah feeling. I promise to post something worth while in the very near future, but for now you'll just have to settle for some list lust.

Some things that just can't get here soon enough:

1. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I'm seriously far too excited about this. I've read the book oh so many times. It was even my FAVORITE movie when I was little. Tim Burton is simply an evil genius, and so is his cohort, Johnny Depp. Sigh. He'll be the creepiest/most delectable Mad Hatter ever.

2. My handmade Ogling Owlie from my Swap-Bot partner in Israel, and my Howl's Moving Castle Stuffy from I can't remember where! Can not wait! Here are the swaps I sent out(you may or may not have seen these pics already-blah).

3. Michael Mann's Public Enemy. I know what you're thinking, and you can just stop it right now. I don't just want to see this because Johnny Depp's in it. It also happens to star Christian Bale. :P

4. To get some veggie sushi with Ari and the husband person. Missis Prickly Pear keeps talking about her glorious sushi, and I can't handle it anymore! ^__^

Well, that about sums her up my bloggerific friends. It is too late, and I am too tired. Sweet dreams.

A Number of Things

I suppose an update is in order. I've ranted and blathered about a number of things in the past few weeks, and I know you're all dying to know the outcomes. Just be forewarned that they aren't very exciting.

The fancy schmancy little house I was so in love with-that had new office space potential? Yeah. My boss is apparently going to see if it hatches into a beautiful little bird, cause she appears to just be sitting on it! $300 bucks cheaper and A-dorable, but I suppose she has other things to consider. What do I know? (That it was perfect, and it had a kitty door. That's what. Sigh.)

My Mom and sister drama? The issue at hand has been dealt with, but they aren't speaking to one another. At this point, I'm thinking that might be best. The selfish part of me would rather be mediator, and keep them both happy, but it can't go on like this. It's so ugly. My prediction is that they'll keep this up for a while, until Jenni(that's my sister) needs some moral support. She'll call Mom, and all will be ignored in order to get along. I'll just pray that neither of them EVER decide to bring "it" up, or all will be lost.

Dinner on Thursday night was yummy. I'm going to ignore the fact that there was only one hot vegetarian dish on the menu, and it wasn't German. Ignoring. Ignoring. The company is what the evening was all about, anyhow. Todd and I, Ari, and Ashley and Ben met Austin. It was good times. Although, I bet a little more uncomfortable for Austin than us, seeing how we all knew each other. Nice to meet you, and I'm glad someone got to eat schnitzel! ^_^

Oh, and the student art show that Ari and I attended rocked. April's great, I was compared to Bernadette Peters, and you were aloud to touch things, which is our cup of tea. Before receiving permission, we were refraining, as normally pressing buttons and licking wallpaper is not allowed(No, the wallpaper was not flavored, much to our chagrin. Upon mentioning the idea to Ari, she replied with a very optimistic, "Schnozberry!"). We shouldn't be allowed out in public unsupervised. Really.

Last, but not least, the thing we've all been freaked out about. Our uninvited house guest. So far, it seems that changing the locks did the trick. We've had no apparent attempts at breaking in, and the suspected party came by late Thursday evening, which is totally out of the ordinary. During his obviously tense visit, the little punk nonchalantly mentioned my Jeep being parked out back, the locks looking different, and that we should give him a key!!! That way he could "come by when we're not home, and check on our critters". I don't think so, buddy! We are so convinced that this is the guilty party. I'm having a hard time being polite, but I'm working on it. The kid is eighteen. I'm hoping moving out will be in his near future. Arrgh.

I think that about covers it, folks. I'm home with a slightly unhappy tummy, but it's sabbath, and somehow that makes everything better. I'm hoping to read, relax, finish a painting, and that my next post will be riddled with pictures of finished projects. Here's hoping!

List Lust VII

Obviously, that last post left out some important details. In honor of the List Lust that I would like to have written, I think I'll just go ahead and list the facts. The terribly creepy, disgruntling facts.

Initially, we thought perhaps these things were all separate issues, but now we know otherwise.

1.) For about a week and a half now, Todd and I have been arguing over who is leaving the back door unlocked/not completely latched. Like a good gust of wind blows, and the door is standing open. You have to kind of slam it, and finagle to get the dead bolt locked.

2.) In the last three days I've come home to the door either standing open or the handle is locked, but the door is not shut all the way. To the untrained eye, it appears to be shut, but it's ghetto. The door way swells, making it less than incredibly easy to shut it.

3.) As of late, my living room smells of earthy strangeness. Todd and I have been burning candles and incense, climbing under the house to see if there are rodents in the ventilation system. Something is making my house smell, well, a little less like hazelnut cream, and a little more "mossy".

4.) My poor Kimchi Kitty has been getting sick as of late. Like, not normal. Sometimes he eats too much, and I find wee piles of already loved kitty kibble, but this is different. His tummy is obviously upset.

5.) Once or twice I've come home to find the kitchen door open, which is NOT okay. We ALWAYS shut it. We installed it to keep the birds safe from the kitty, when we're not home.

6.)Yesterday, I got up about 20 minutes after Todd left for work. I went in the laundry room to grab my clean clothes, and found the back door not shut all the way. It looked shut, but it was not. Only the handle was locked.

So, I called Todd.

Me: Honey, did you go out the back door this morning?
Todd: Nope, and I dead bolted it.
Me: Obviously not. It was not dead bolted. Nor was it latched shut.
Todd: I checked it three times! Did you go out it for anything?!
Me: No. I was getting clean clothes and saw it wasn't shut all the way.
Todd: Someone has a key.
Me: What?!

What does that mean, friends? That means that someone has a key to unlock my deadbolt. It also means that they have no problems coming in the house WHILE I AM STILL SLEEPING/IN THE SHOWER.

I quickly got dressed in the privacy of a locked bathroom, and left for work. I checked our hide-a-key, and sure enough, it was gone. I vowed not to enter this home until we had replaced the locks, so Todd got on that.

We now have new locks and deadbolts, and a hidden camera to see who attempts to get in. Muahahaha. Plus, I'm hiding here today. Jeep's hidden in the back. I hope to God we catch them. We have an idea as to who it might be, but we don't want to point any fingers. We could be wrong, but someone has been coming in.

My bet, is that it's a teenager. Coming in with our spare keys. Smoking a little pot(thinking we don't know what it smells like). Watching some tele. Playing some PlayStation. Just to have a getaway. Punk probably thinks it's not that big a deal. Thinks it's not hurting anything/one. So, I'm not expecting the culprit until after school.

However, the teenager theory doesn't explain coming in while I'm sleeping. My Jeep was outside! They knew I was here. It's really my most hoped for scenario. I'm not afraid of this kid. I want to catch the punk, call the cops, and do a little life threatening. Then I'll be good.

If it's not the teenager? I'm not even going to think about it. Right now, I'm thinking we've got new locks. No one can get in. I'm in here with my kitty(who hasn't been sick) and my Louisville Slugger close at hand.

If I hear someone trying the back door? Say "Hello" to my little friend. I am going to dent their frickin' head in. I am so mad that someone would invade our privacy like this. SO MAD.

Oh, and working for a non profit teen shelter, I've heard all the creepy stories why teenage boys might enter your home. Let's just say that I've washed all my undergarments. *cringe* *shutter*

Mad Mad Madam Mim

I don't get mad very often. Frustrated? Sure. Down right mad? Not so much. Usually, a good rant and I'm done, but I guess that's because it's never that big a deal.

Invasion of privacy? Big deal! Breaking and entering? Big deal! Being all around creepy? Big freaking deal!

Someone has stolen our "hide-a-key" and is coming in our house-either while we're sleeping, or not home. Yeah. You read right. SOMEONE IS COMING IN OUR HOUSE!

Now, I realize a spare key out of doors isn't the best idea, but you have to understand who we're talking about here. ME.

I lock myself out of the house on a regular basis. In the cold. In my terribly mismatched pajamas. Without my cell phone. Or my car keys. And I'm too short to climb in our most likely locked windows.

So, all the locks have now been replaced, we've installed a video camera, and I'm working from home tomorrow...with my Louisville Slugger, and cell phone in hand.

At the moment? I'm not sure who I'd like to get a hold of. I just know I'd like to. I could seriously do some damage right about now.

Walk of Life

It's almost midnight and I am typing. That's what I'm talking about, folks. Dedication.

I almost said devotion too, but then this would've turned into a post about Dire Straits, and how Mark Knopfler rocks(despite his eighties wardrobe choices). Not happening.

What is happening?

- I'm currently obsessed with finding the perfect ring tones for all my contacts via Tonzr. It's glorious and has no obvious negative effects, thus far.

-I'm knitting an oh so colorful, sudserific dish cloth, with which I will joyously disinfect dishes. At least that's the plan. I'm pretty shallow when it comes to dishes. If it isn't attractive, I want nothing to do with it.

- My cat keeps throwing up his healthy kitty kibble. Healthy, hmmm?

- Tomorrow night is Girls' Night In at Ari's, which may possibly be invaded by a favorite male of mine. We'll see.

- Thursday night is Vegetarians Attempt To Eat German Night with the hubs and a few real life/blogger friends.

- Friday afternoon Ariana and I are attending a student art show, which, according to current information, ought to rock. We will make an appearance wearing literal bells(Ari- I was totally planning to mention this to you tomorrow. We have to go bell shopping.)

- I'm going to bed.

List Lust VI

We all know that a list...well...it's a many slendored thing. Grocery Lists, Christmas Lists, To Do Lists. So many always helpful forms of this thing that I love.

Today, I want to share another type of list with you. Maybe the most important and helpful list out there. Some instructions. And fun ones, at that!

What's that saying? If at first you don't succeed, try reading the directions? I think that's it. Well, here ya go bloggers.

4 Easy Steps To Indie Stardom...Maybe.

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days

Third picture, no matter what, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar program to put it all together (If you don't have it, here's an online photo editor: http://www.picnik.com/).

So, what do ya think of Kagenna's first album? From The Known To The Unknown. :P

I'm not so sure I like my band name being a term derived from a word meaning "Jewish Hell," but hey. It's a neat band name, right?

Oh, and that image? Couldn't be more perfect!

Have fun, folks. I wanna see these albums a.s.a.p. ^_^

P.S.

Watchmen? Yeah. Awesome! A little much anatomy and gore for my taste, but it was only doing justice to the comic. They changed a few conversations, took a couple things out of sequence, but I think it had to be done to make the movie less than 3 and a half hours long. It had a little more closure than the book too. So, that's always nice. All in all? It thoroughly rocked!

Why? Why? Why?

It's not often that I feel impressed to verbally bash someone. Leave a puppy in a truck all afternoon, or sit at a green light for an excessive amount of time , and I might rant a little. Might.

This fine day I am going to rant about my family. Why, on this little blue and green planet that God so carefully made, can my mother and sister not get along?! Why?

Is it so hard to be nice to each other from a few states apart? I understand that when you live in the same household it's difficult to breath without annoying one another, but they live in different states. We only get together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We're all intelligent individuals. Why?!

Without giving any nasty details, it's bad. If they ever speak again after this is resolved, I'll be surprised. Seriously. It's that ugly.

And who should be the mediator? Ah, yes. The little sister. The nice one without a potty mouth (Seriously, folks. When they're mad, these women put sailors to shame.). The one that's at peace with everyone in her family. Even her less than constant alcoholic dad. Let's call her and rant and cry. It calms her down and helps her sleep at night.

I actually like that they both know they can talk to me. I just wish I could fix things between them, and I just don't think I can. :(

Yeah. So, I can't really focus to post about anything else right now. It's the mama drama at the moment, and I apologize. Hopefully, I'll have cute crafty things for you tomorrow. Along with a little list to lust after. Until then. I'm off to Ari's for girls' night in! There might be a boy or two involved, but we'll get rid of them before the night's over.

SNOW

Do you see this? Do you?

This, my bloggerific chums, is what I'm talking about. Bliss.

I awoke, blinded by the white awaiting me outside my bedroom window. Winds of about 40 miles per hour. A nice steady snow fall. Rapture.

I know there are a lot of you folks out there who could care less if you ever saw another snow flake as long as you live, but I miss this. It's just such a lovely change. One that reminds me of good times as a kid. Good times that were few and far between.

I LOVE SNOW!

Benjamin, please forgive me. ^__^