Mama's Got a Brand New Bag!

Hey guess what fools? I'm back at blogging with some fresh thoughts and a fresh new look.

I have not posted in months and while I could make up many excuses why, it really does not matter. What DOES matter is that I have decided to return to my faithful readers (all 7 of you I believe) and hopefully recruit a few more so that I may once again have a fun and healthy release of my regular thoughts.

Don't you wish your girlfriend had a blog like me? Dontcha.

So what to begin with.....

How about the last 5 things I did that made me smile. Awwwww, now isn't that a great place to start? I think so.

(In no particular order)

1. I won my regional qualifying round in Austin Air Guitar....which earned me $100, an awestruck crowd, and a spot in regionals TONIGHT at the Parish! Here's a video. Watch it.


2. My friend Drew and I signed up for swing classes. We had our first lesson on Tuesday. And minus a few older dudes with some bad beer breath, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

3. A good ol' friend of mine reappeared in my life after almost a year of being absent. A phone call from him almost brought me tears of joy. I am excited to see him for sushi next week!

4. I learned how to ask for what I want and (fingers crossed) possibly get it. Sweet, huh? I have discovered the key to happiness. Well, besides the other key, which gets me into my house everyday.

5. I formed a karaoke team which begins competing in the Austin Karaoke League next month! Our team is called SHY and includes a bunch of good friends and new ones who all shine in their own special ways. I can't wait to tear a new one into the competition this summer!

And so there are some rays of sunshine in my life keeping it bright. But right now, the brightness of my lamp is causing me a slight headache, so I will be signing off.

So glad to be back here. :)

Did you know?

Did you know:

.....that the longest recorded projectile vomit is 27 feet?
.....the slowest fish is the Sea Horse, which moves along at about 0.016 km/h (0.01 mph)?
.....the harmonica is the world's best-selling music instrument?
.....Leonardo da Vinci never built the inventions he designed?
.....Charlie Sheen's real names is Carlos Estevez?
.....India is the world's largest democracy with more than 600 million voters?
.....Peter the Great taxed people for growing beards? (Strangely, I'm on board with Peter.)
.....there is a bird called Antpitta avis canis Ridgely that barks?
.....the fear of clowns is called coulrophobia?

go here: www.didyouknow.org

incredibly educational and informative.

FOUND: Halloween Photo

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. After every Halloween, I immediately start planning costumes for the next one. Well, this past Halloween was a series of unfortunate events. It began with the onset of the flu. Despite the illness, I carried on.....spending 2 hours to prepare for my most elaborate Halloween costume to-date--Smurfette. 2 hours of smearing blue body paint ALL OVER myself. I finally made it to the party only to continue to feel more sick. With no camera of my own to capture all of the wonderful costumes and festivities, I relied on others' photos to be MySpaced and Facebooked to me in the coming days. But then I passed out in my friend's guest bedroom in the middle of the party and was later informed that my friend (who had been taking all of the photos that night) had mistakenly erased her entire memory card.

So then I was left sick, sad, and without any proof that I was indeed once Smurfette.

UNTIL NOW......when perusing through my computer files, I realized that I had captured a few shots of myself on my webcam before leaving my house.

This may not make your day, but it sure made mine!

When BAD things happen to talented celebrities......

Now I normally don't follow celebrity gossip, but somehow I stumbled upon this interview between Joaquin Phoenix and David Letterman:



Which immediately led me to want to know more about what the hell is up with Joaquin. Which then led me to this article and these videos:

"Watch Joaquin's Hip-Hop Trip"
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/usa/article2144646.ece







And now I am sitting here literally dumbfounded. I'm not sure what just happened. True, I don't "pal around" with Joaquin Phoenix. I have no right to judge him. But really quickly, I AM going to judge him.......wtf?

I LOVE Lists

For some reason, I have always been a fan of lists. Perhaps because I am visual person and enjoy seeing things laid out. Perhaps because it helps me bring some much needed organization into my life. It is actually the one and only way I am good at organizing. God knows one look in my bedroom, car, or office and you'll understand. Regardless, I have decided that lists are awesome because they are quick, easy to read, and are a row by row account of interesting and important details.

So here's a list I made right now to share with you:

TOP 10 SKILLS I WISH I HAD (in no particular order):

1. I wish I knew how to sew. Like I could go shop for those dorky patterns and make myself my own little costume or dress. Or hem pants, because they are never the right length for a short girl like me.

2. I wish I knew how to use a bow and arrow. I can think of so many times when it would be hilarious to bust it out.

3. I wish I could speak another language fluently. I've always wanted to be able to have secret conversations with other people who knew another language so we could say whatever we wanted and nobody else would have a clue.

4. I wish I could do a backflip. Anytime, anywhere, onto or off of anything.

5. I wish I REALLY knew how to do laundry....without having to look at the instructions inside the washer lid everytime.

6. I have always wanted to be able to play the guitar. Now an air guitar, I got on lockdown. A real guitar though.....that's a whole other ball game.

7. I wish I could lie well. I know that this is not necessarily the most virtuous skill, but it would really come in handy sometimes.

8. I wish I knew how to create and keep and budget, knew anything about investments, knew anything about finances.

9. I honestly would like to be able to say that I have mad breakdancing skills.

10. I'm not sure exactly what you call this skill---but it consists of being able to use a bit more censorship in what I say and to whom. Sometimes I have word vomit and it causes a mean hangover.

9 Hours of Solitude

On Saturday, I decided to participate in a marathon viewing of "Dexter". This should come as no surprise to you if you read my previous post.

Well, after watching 9 consecutive hours of Dexter and his search for normalcy, human experience, and meaning.......it really caused me to deeply reflect on some of these issues myself.

Strange to consider that Dexter is showing me much more insight than I ever thought possible. I suppose it's because as an outsider, he notices the all the small things that make people truly human. He has spent most of his life studying the nuances and "ways" of people in order to wear a more convincingly human mask. And so he is on a constantly confusing and curious path to understand himself and others around him.

But it does help you look at your life from a fresh perspective. And that is what 9 hours of solitude on Saturday gave to me.

(Although it did also make me a bit socially strange as well. I mean after a full day of serial killers and the search for "humanness", I felt overwhelmed and awkward.)

Obsessive Personality Disorder

Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to approach my interests in an obsessive manner. Once I'm into something, I'm waist deep in it to win it. I am completely unable to
"savor" anything over extended amounts of time. So it's like this: It all started with "Lost". I got so into it that I watched all 2 seasons in a matter of weeks so that I could be caught up for season 3 last year. Then, last fall, I heard about the "Thrill the World" event (which you can read about in previous blogs) and it was like Thriller, Thriller, Thriller---all the time, everywhere. Zombies, brains, more brains, etc. Then someone introduced me to the Twilight series, which I read in a matter of 2 weeks.....totally into vampires forever. I'm wrapping up the 7th book of the Sookie Stackhouse series and have already watched the entire first season of its TV adaptation called "True Blood". Keep in mind that this means I have read 3 Twilight books, 6 Sookie Stackhouse books and watched 12 episodes of "True Blood" since December. I knew that I would soon run out of vampire thrills, so naturally, it felt like time to move onto something new. I decided to check out a show called "Dexter". And now, I'm officially hooked. Hook, line, sinker. I watched 5 episodes the other night.

It's just like when you REALLY like music and that same damn CD stays in your player for weeks.

I wish that I was able to slow down. Take it easy. Enjoy little morsels over time. I'm afraid that will never be the case though.

And now I notice that my obsessions (interests) are becoming darker in nature.....which worries me. Zombies, vampires, and serial killers. I mean, seriously, what's next? I feel like I need to start at the opposite end of the spectrum. Watch out unicorns.....I'm coming for you.