gretchkal's boring life

superbowl commercials

2007-02-05T22:16:00.000-05:00

were there really this many bad commercials this year? it's like advertisers weren't even trying. here's usa today's ranking by popularity of this year's commercials. which was your favorite? call me crazy, but i was a little distracted by the stuff between the commercials this year ...

the unbelievable

2007-02-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

i thought i was excited when the colts were just the afc champions. now that they're superbowl champs i am elated! i didn't know that i was going to be so happy when the final seconds ticked off the clock and my hometeam was declared superbowl victors that i would almost cry. i didn't know that i cared so much about a game. i didn't know that a football team could unite a city. i didn't know i could feel more proud to say that i am from indiana.

work today has been nothing but a field of blue and white, a sea of conversation about celebrations, and constant chatter about favorite players. it has been wonderful and it's been about goddamn time. i've grown up a colt's fan and have never known that this is what it's like to cheer for a winning team. this must be how boston was after the red sox won the world series.

i need a makeover

2007-02-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

'member how i said i hate reality tv? ok, that may not be entirely accurate. i have recently become addicted to tlc's what not to wear. although technically i'm not sure if this is reality tv or not. the show takes ordinary women (and sometimes men) and gives them $5,000 to completely overhaul their wardrobes. i watched a few episodes of the british version of this show a couple of years ago but never really got into it like i have the american version. i can't get enough ...

... with that said, i am really in the mood to revamp my own style.

i ordered new glasses. time to say goodbye to the frames i've been wearing for the past three years. i have contacts to wear sometimes too but i usually wear my glasses. i love these frames but my prescription has changed and times have changed and now that i'm no longer in my twenties maybe it's time to amp up the sophistication a little, huh? i pick up the new specs either friday night or saturday afternoon. i'll post an updated photo when i get a chance. :)

i'm also toying with the idea of changing my hair. right now it's a little blah. my hair grows so stinkin' fast. it's hard to keep up! i cut about 7 inches off my hair in august so that my hair fell just to my shoulders and now it's as long as it was when it cut it the first time. ugggh! it's a never-ending battle. anywho, i'm thinking of changing it up a little. i love eva longoria's hair.

i'm think a cut something like hers and maybe darkening my hair back to my original, chocolatly brown hair color. the red hair has been with me since i graduated from high school but it isn't my natural color and maybe i should try to go with what god gave me?

i really would love to buy an entirely new wardrobe but since we're so close to being finished building our new home i would much rather spend the money on new things for the house - like new furniture, blinds, etc. the clothes will have to take a back seat for now until i can more of an investment into myself.

this would be so much easier if stacy and clinton would sneak attack me and wisk me away to new york to be on the show! :)

behold, the power of photoshop

2007-01-28T22:46:00.000-05:00

ok, so i get bored and i play with photoshop. i can do some pretty cool stuff. i can zap away zits and wrinkles. i can take years off your face. i can even make myself look so polished and beautiful that i look practically look like a different person. witness the photos below:

before

after

i've been re-reading my old posts and was inspired by this post that shows something similar to the photos of me above. the site i linked in my old post is interactive and my photos are not. however, there's a lesson to be learned here. you can't always believe what you see. :)

now, if only i can get my lips to look like that in real life without surgery i'd be all set ...

edit: looking back at my "after" photo, i realize now that i look more like a transvestite than a beautiful and polished woman. lmao. hmm ... still like the lips though.

update on the new house

2007-01-22T22:35:00.000-05:00

1. there's now a foundation and we now have exterior walls and a roof
2. they've finished putting in the windows, front door, patio doors, and garage door
3. work begins on installing the heating system this week

if you drive by our lot, it actually looks like a home. sure, it's a house without siding, interior walls, shingles, gutters, or a driveway, but it actually resembles a house ....

it's going to be time to move in before we know it!

did i just see what i think i just saw?

2007-01-21T23:32:00.000-05:00

hoe
lee
shit

the colts are going to the superbowl.

i am speechless.

when i can form full coherent sentences again i will type a real post.

an anniversary

2007-01-17T21:07:00.000-05:00

it was eleven years ago today, on a bitterly cold day that i stood in the wind and snow huddled with my parents and watched our home be gutted by a fire. i have never felt more helpless, more confused, and more angry in my life and i hope that never will again - all of the sirens, the firefighters, the thoughtless onlookers pointing and staring, the horrible aftermath and the realization that we were now homeless, it was truly awful. to this day, the sound of a firetruck's siren can still make me sick to my stomach. after all these years, this is one of the most difficult things from my past for me to talk about.

i hope you can forgive me for rambling a little in this post, but i just feel the need to write about the fire and i really don't have a point to make.

at the time i was young and 19 and i remember thinking that i would never recover from the terrible hand life had dealt me. one minute life is great. one minute life is shit. i went through a HUGE depression. but first there was the anger. god, was i angry. first, i remember being mad because i was being passed from relative to relative. "gretchen, stay with your brother. gretchen, stay with your grandma." now, looking back i realize how ungrateful i was being and i am thankful for the family i have that would take me in. i also wish that i could go back and apologize to my grandma because she's no longer with us and although i'm sure she knows that i loved her i wish i would've let her know that her letting me stay with her meant the world to me.

i can't write anymore about my anger because it's actually making me sad if that makes any sense at all. and the sadness was the worst part. i was sad for a very long time. sure, i was sad about losing everything but i was more sad about having to grow up. i literally felt like i was expected to go from being a child to an adult overnight and the prospect made me sad because i wasn't ready to be a grown up. all of the things that most people get to say goodbye to gradually i was forced to say goodbye to immediately. things like toys, yearbooks, mementos. it was scary and i wasn't ready for it and so i mourned. those things were more to me than just things though. i had allowed them to define who i was and had come to rely on them for security. in some small ways i've never really got over their loss and i'm sure i'll always feel sad about not having anything from my past to pass on to my children. i will always miss my "stuff" from before the fire. my yearbooks. all of the photos and mementos i'd collected. toys from when i was a little kid. christmas ornaments that i'd made for my parents to put on the tree. essentially, the fire killed my childhood and forced me to grow up.

i have actually learned something as a result of the fire. and it's one of the most important things i want to pass along to people and if you get nothing else from this post i hope you get this: things are only things and do not make you who you are. you hear that people!? that means that you are not your things and the things you own are not a reflection of you. in other words, the stuff you own is not what makes you you. that fancy car you own or the designer clothes you spend thousands of dollars or the beautiful jewelry you have does not tell me didly squat about who you are except that you spend your money on expensive things. don't allow yourself to get wrapped up in image or in material things because those things are not what are important. you know what is important? family and friends. you can't replace those and the thought of losing them in a fire is a pretty scary though dear readers. i spent many sleepless nights thinking about it so trust me, i know first-hand. anywho, this lesson was a biggie for me. maybe you've already learned it. if so pass it on. if not, ask questions, maybe i'm not explaining it very well ...

again, sorry for the rambling of this post. i am groggy, tired, and a little depressed about this anniversary (even though i know i've come a long way and that says a lot) and so i don't really feel like i'm firing on all 4 cylinders tonight. comments?

goodbye, bp

2007-01-16T21:39:00.000-05:00

racing legend and broadcaster, benny parsons has passed away at the age of 65.

i will miss your commentary and your southern charm on the long, long afternoons when eric has the remote and i'm faced with hour upon hour of racing. you helped to make the prospect of watching a 20-hour race more enjoyable.

the colts and superstition

2007-01-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

i have been afraid to talk or blog too much about the colts for fear that i will jinx them and their chances to win and go to the big game. my recent post about how jeff saturday and some of his teammates were going to the pro-bowl was pushing it. what's weird is that my not blogging about the colts is not really my style. i'm not normally superstitious about stuff. but too many times the colts have teased their fans by getting tantalizingly close to winning only to have victory slip through their fingers. eric says the reason we'll never win goes something like this:

dungy + manning = no superbowl.

i say it's more like this:

indianapolis + stealing a team from baltimore in the middle night = superbowl curse.

however you want to look at it, there's something majorly messed up at play here folks and it's gonna take a lot more than shear talent to break free. this team needs good karma. so break out your favorite good luck charm (my mom has her touchdown monkey - which btw, does anyone remember this from the commercials from a couple of years ago besides my family?), paint yourself from head-to-toe in blue and white, and scream at the top of your lungs until the home team wins because the colts need some help and they'll take it anyway they can get it!

in my backyard

2007-01-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

i don't know if i've mentioned it before but i really hate reality tv. i don't watch any of that stupid crap. not survivor, or american idol, dancing with the stars, none of that retarded "reality" crap. i could care less. the whole reason i want to watch tv is to be entertained and to escape reality not to watch real people in real life situations. screw that. besides, who the hell decided this was reality? how f*cking realistic is it to be plopped down on an island, forced to play games on national television - like sitting on a block of ice for hours or eating live bugs - for one million dollars?

but i digress ... back to my point. televisions newest reality tv offering, armed and famous, has been filmed practically in my backyard, in muncie, indiana, and i was completely oblivious. muncie's about 20 minutes from where i live. if i wouldn't have been bored at lunch i never would have read the article in the local paper about it recently which is how i found out this was going on so close to home. all this time these b-listers were traipsing around just one county over from me "enforcing the law" and i had no idea.

not that this makes me the slightest bit more interested in watching the show. in fact, i feel a little creeped out thinking that latoya jackson was less than half an hour away from me "protecting and serving" while i was fast asleep.

eviction celebration

2007-01-04T22:41:00.000-05:00

our nasty, disgusting neighbors were evicted from their apartment. i haven't really written much about them on here but if you know me in real life i know you've heard eric and i talk about them. the "do you have spiders?" story or the "does she want her daddy to go back to prison?" story come to mind.

ah, apartment living, how i'll miss you ...

eric and i absolutely hate these neighbors and we're very glad to see them leave.

we've been nothing but polite to these people. i only wish we'd have played a part in their eviction. i know, i'm aweful. before you judge, allow me to explain.

our lease clearly states that we can't leave trash or anything outdoors that creates an eyesore. well, when they left a large, beat-up office desk on our shared front doorstep for nearly a week and a half, we just made a joke out of it. we made sure to ask our new, imaginary secretary if we had any messages, told our visitors that they needed to check in at the front desk ,etc, etc. when our neighbors kids decided to leave their half empty, half consumed yogurt on our welcome mat with the spoon still in it, we simply put it in front of their own door. (never mind the fact that it sat there for weeks - that's another story.) the same thing happened when they left their shoes and socks there, or their toys, etc. when the neighbor's unemployed father who lives there stepped out front to smoke and flicked his five millionth cigarette butt into our bushes or against our door and never once bothered to pick after himself we didn't say a thing to him.

what finally drove us over the edge and made us call the apartment manager - which is how we found out about their eviction in the first place - is that we looked out our living room window last week and saw the neighbor's daughter holding a leash, at the end of which was a puppy. all of this while in our private space in the back of our apartment. not in a common area. not in their own private area. in our private space. yes, it's an apartment and there's really nothing there that's truly "ours" but this space is supposed to be ours dammit and they were letting their puppy piss all over it! and not only were they in our private area but, in case you're wondering, dear readers, dogs are a HUGE violation of the lease which would make our neighbors subject to (you guessed it) eviction.

the apartment manager said that she wished we would have said something sooner (oh, had we but only known). she told eric that our neighbors had already been court ordered to be out of the apartment by the fifth.

i'm thinking of throwing an little eviction party. would that be tacky?

short & sweet

2007-01-01T20:13:00.000-05:00

happy new year!

holiday greetings

2006-12-27T22:06:00.000-05:00

i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. i'm a little late getting my well-wishes out this year to my 2.2 readers. eric and i were fortunate enough to be able to spend time with both of our families this year and feel blessed to have families so near to us. i took a lot of pictures and i'll post some of my favorites soon.

i just wanted to let everyone know that i am going to be taking a small break from posting but i will return after the first of the year well rested, full of vim and vigor, and ready to regale you with more tales from my boring life. until then, please feel free to rifle through my archives.

a generation gap?

2006-12-27T22:03:00.000-05:00

"There is a piece of sadness that the election failed to debate. It is the lamentable detachment by the young among us to freedom's history."

i couldn't have said it better myself. so i won't. go read this moving editorial by jack valenti about how he tried to teach his son of the sacrifices of war and remembering the bravery of those who died fighting for our freedoms. i think grandpa would have approved.

the virgin mary of komono dragons

2006-12-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

please tell me i'm reading this article right ... does this say that this female komono dragon spontaneously impregnated herself and is now going to have a virgin birth and they expect her to deliver on or near christmas? and would that mean her offspring will be the jesuses of the lizard world?

a step in the right direction

2006-12-21T21:42:00.000-05:00

new jersey's govenor signed a law today allowing civil unions between same sex marriages. that means that of the fifty states in the country only five allow gays to be "married." although this technically isn't marriage it's a step in the right direction and i suppose that's what matters.

here's what some tight-ass retard had to say when he was asked for his narrow-minded thoughts:

"It's same-sex marriage without the title," said John Tomicki, president of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage. "It uproots the cardinal values of our culture."

thank god this uproots american values. i for one do not want to live a socity that bases its values on hatred, discremination, and exclusion.

opinions?

pro bowl bound

2006-12-20T20:42:00.000-05:00

my man, jeff saturday, is going to the pro bowl again for the second consecutive year. is your team's center going to the pro bowl? no, i didn't think so ... does your team have five players going to the pro bowl? uh, what's that? no? oh, i guess that's because your team probably isn't the colts.

"that's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!"

2006-12-19T23:14:00.000-05:00

The news was first dismissed as an April Fool's joke*. But residents of Felton in northeast England have confirmed that a huge,floppy-eared creature is leaving behind giant paw prints and a trail of destroyed carrots, leeks, onions, and turnips following nighttime raids.

quick, someone fetch me the holy hand grand of antioch!

* ok, this is an old story from april, but holy cripes, man, look at the size of that rabit!!!

i have adultitis

2006-12-19T22:48:00.000-05:00

i have just recently been diagnosed with adultitis. read more about adultitis and the campaign to cure this horrible affliction.

luckily, there is cure.

*whew*

nanofiction: second thoughts

2006-12-17T23:41:00.000-05:00

i haven't written a 55 in a while ... enjoy! :)

“do you think this where our driveway will be?” he said looking over his shoulder. “i think so. we’re going to have a driveway to shovel …and a yard to mow …and gutters to clean …” “you’re not having second thoughts are you?” “no, god help me, i'm actually looking forward to it.”

amazing

2006-12-11T21:41:00.000-05:00

today is an amazing day because today is my wedding anniversary. if you had known me ten years ago, before i was married or before i had ever even met eric, i would have told you that i never wanted to get married. looking back it's hard to imagine that the twenty year old girl i once was would one day admit to being lost without her husband. i have grown and matured so much as a person since then and i owe a lot that to eric because i would not be the person i am today without him in my life.

on my wedding day, before walking down the aisle, i remember telling my grandma that i didn't know it was possible to love anyone as much as i loved eric. she turned to me and said, "just wait, tenderheart, it gets even better." i remember thinking to myself that she was crazy. "how could it possibly get any better than this?"

and yet here i sit, seven years later, crying because my heart cannot put into words all of the joy in my heart at having this wonderful, kind man in my life. and i'm more in love with him than ever.

amazing.

in raymond's memory

2006-12-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

my grarandfather died before i could meet him. i was six months old when he passed away. i think i would have like to have known him.

i have only heard stories of him. stories of how his family came to america from germany and how his parents spoke little to no english. stories of how when he was young and patriotic he joined the navy. stories about how he was at pearl harbor on december 7, 1941.

my mother says that while he was alive he never once spoke about that day with her.

every year, on the anniversary of the attack at pearl harbor, i take time out of my day to pay my respects to my grandfather. i don't know much about him, to be honest. and i don't know anything about what he did or didn't do during the attack. i don't even remember his birthday or the day that he died but i do know that he lived through hell on earth and for that fact alone he will always be a hero in my eyes.

my grandfather's name was raymond and he was a hero.

hey there, hi there, hello there!

2006-12-04T20:56:00.000-05:00

miss me?

bet you did. :)

god, life's been busy. how the heck is it already december!!!?!

i promise, i haven't forgotten about you, dear readers. i know you have been patiently waiting for the updates i promised you. and you are about to be rewarded.

let's see ...

OCTOBER:

halloween was here. i love halloween. i was excited about halloween.

we didn't have a single freekin' trick-or-treater. eric bought three enormous bags of candy because last year we had so many kids pounding our door down that we pretty much stood there passing out canding all night with the door wide open. but this year, not a single stinkin' kid in a costume.

all i'm sayin' is this, if i never see another tootsie-pop again it'll be too soon ...

AND ...

we're buying a house!!! yes, eric and gretchen are FINALLY moving out of apartment living and into the world of home ownership. after looking at every single pre-existing house for sale in the greater-indianapolis area we settled on building in a new sub-division. our new house will be finished in march. MARCH!!! too much to do!!!

NOVEMBER:

thanksgiving was in michigan at eric's cousin's house. we stuffed ourselves full of turkey. we watched football. we played with our neice, julia. who is adorable and full of giggles and curiosity and sweetness! and she simply lives way too far away!

we also got to spend time wih my family thanksgiving weekend, which was the first time eric met our nephew garret. garret is getting so big! i hadn't seen him since he was born and he looks like a giant now! he's a big healthy boy and he's such a good baby! and it never ceases to amaze me how much of a character katie is! it's incredible how someone so little can have so much personality!

o gretchkal, where art thou?

2006-10-13T20:45:00.000-04:00

you may have noticed that my blog has been sorely lacking in new content lately.

ok, so for like the last month.

i have a legit excuse, honest! it started about a month ago when my employer, who shall remain nameless (because i've gotten used to things like being employed and receiving a paycheck), recently installed a new firewall program which scans for frequently viewed websites. when the program noticed that i was viewing my blog with, like, an obsessive-compulsive daily schedule they decided to block my access to any and all blogger sites. and since i did the majority of my blogging from work i have been neglecting my blog.

hmph.

double hmph.

needless to say, i haven't found much time after work to post. my life has been busy lately and much has been going on. i have a lot i want to tell you all about so promise to post updates.

more to come. stay tuned!

welcome to the world, garret reid

2006-09-10T17:01:00.000-04:00

please welcome my new nephew, garret reid. born friday, september 8th. weighing 7 lbs, 12 oz, 19 1/2 inches long. he is beautiful. i met him for the first time this past saturday at my parents's house. the following are photos of him at only one day old.

garret reid

hello, grandpa

hello, grandma

hello, sister. hello, cat.*

*my neice, katie, is very smart and i'm sure she understood that the little bundle in her grandpa's lap is a baby but because she herself is still very young, having only just turned one in july, she wasn't quite able to put into words her welcome to her new little brother. when meeting him for the first time she reached over, patted his wee little head and shouted at the top of her lungs, "cat!"

41 things you'd never think to ask

2006-09-07T21:48:00.001-04:00

inspired by david, here are my answers to a list of 41 things you'd never think you ask:

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
nope

2. Do you close your eyes on roller coasters?
uh, no. how would i know when to scream!!!!

3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
more then 15 years ago

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
depends on who the someone else is. if it's my husband, then yes, i'd rather sleep with someone. if it's anyone else then i'd rather have the bed to myself, thank you very much.

5. Do you believe in ghosts?
no, not even in the boogie-man.

6. Do you consider yourself creative?
yes

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
that would be a big, fat, bloody-gloved yes.

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie?
i don't really think either is all that appealing but if i have to choose which has the better personality and which is a better actor then i would choose jennifer hands-down.

9. Do you stay friends with your ex's?
nah, not really. not for lack of trying. just sort-of lost contact.

10. Do you know how to play poker?
well, i understand how to play but that doesn't mean that i really get the nuances of the game. plus, it's boring as hell.

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
no but i've been up for 24 hours and it's not all that terrible.

12. What's your favorite commercial?
i thought the reason i bought a dvr was so that i didn't have to watch commercials?

13. What are you allergic to?
penicillin & cinnamon

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around do you run red lights?
nope

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
that would be no. i don't think i'm capabable of keeping a secret for that long without finally breaking down and telling hubby. note to friends, don't tell me something if you don't want me to tell hubby. he will find out.

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
baseball? ick ...

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
no. doesn't even remotely look fun.

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
often. most nights i'll at least remember a snippit of my dream - if not all of it. they're usually pretty far-fetched: flying lampshades and speaking cameras and what-not ...

19. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
at my father-in-law's funeral sharing a laugh with my own parents about one of our favorite memories of him. it's still hard to believe he's gone ...

20. Can you name 5 songs by The Beatles?
yup. you wanna know five off the top of my head or my five faves? the last may take longer ...

21. What's the one thing on your mind now?
my sister-in-law. she was admitted to the hospital tonight so they could induce her labor. i'm hoping to get a phone call any minute now telling me that my new nephew has been born!

22. Do you believe in love at first sight?
i'm a hopeless romantic and even i don't believe in that mushy crap. love is an constantly evolving, ever-changing thing. whenever someone tells me, "oh, we fell in love the moment we met," my bullshit detector goes off ...

23. Do you know who Ghetto-ass barbie is?
no, but through the power of the internet, now i do. see also, gansta bitch barbie.

24. Do you always wear your seat belt?
yes

25 what cell service do you use?
verizon.

26. Do you like Sushi?
no. tried it once. it was not my thing.

27. Have you ever narrowly avoided a fatal accident?
yes, fortunately no one was hurt.

28. What do you wear to bed?
varies nightly

29. Been caught stealing?
once, when i was five. i enjoy stealing. it's just as simple as that. well it's just a simple fact. when I want something, i don't want to pay for it. i walk right through the door ...

30. what shoe size do you have?
8.5 - 9

31. Do you truly hate anyone?
as my mom use to tell me repeatedly while growing up whenever i would say that i hated someone or something, "we don't hate. that's an aweful, terrible word." so i cannot in my heart of hearts allow myself to feel true hatred towards anyone. i do feel strong dislike towards others ... and that's something i struggle with every day.

32. Classic Rock or Rap?
both

33. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
jeepers, i have to choose just one? since i just watched the series premier of ron livingston's new show then i'll pick him because he's dreamy and he's the only celeb who immediately comes to mind ...

34. Are you a virgin?
do you know me at all? i am married .. and we do have marital relations ... so, er, uh ... no ... are my parents going to read this?

35. Have you ever sang in front of the mirror?
yes

36. What food do you find disgusting?
see #26

37. Do you sing in the shower?
occassionally. i'm really more of a sing in the car kind of person.

38. Did you ever play, "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours"?
yes, but i chickened out when it was my turn!

39. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
no, but i would to their faces. i don't have friends who can't take a little playful teasing.

40. Have you ever stood up for someone you hardly knew?
yes, when it was warranted.

41. Have you ever been punched in the face?
nope and hopefully i never will

damn! i totally forgot to post about this!!!

2006-09-06T08:54:00.000-04:00

i can't believe i forgot my own blog-o-versary. i'm such a dork!

dear reader, can you believe that it's was one year ago on august, 24th that i officially launched my boring blog.

see the ground-breaking post that started it all HERE.

in honor of my anniversary i'm contemplating a slight name changed. maybe "gretchkal's boring life"? comments?

what i did on labor day or how i spent my day off getting sun burnt

2006-09-05T22:52:00.000-04:00

photos from the nhra nationals at the o'reilly raceway park (formerly indianapolis raceway park).

furthering the cause

2006-09-05T22:35:00.000-04:00

here's my entry for the challenge at wordsmiths unlimited. thanks, kom, for the inspiration. mine's nowhere near as good - or as original - as yours, but it's mine, all mine ....

now, go! write your own, folks!

-----------------

furthering the cause

One day my kind will rule the earth. You laugh. We are a more patient breed than you may suspect. And if we continue along the slow and steady path my ancestors began walking over one hundred years ago we will one day succeed in our goal of total domination of the human sub-species. Right now, it’s wearing earrings and, of course, this terrible, awful costume of man-clothes. Make them think we’re cute. Trustworthy. Sweet.

Already, look at how man will clamor to get a closer look at us. They screech and point like so many orangutans, “Oh, mama! Look at the darling little thing! Isn’t it precious?! I could just pick him up and kiss him!”

I wiggle the string in my hand causing the small cup attached to the end of it to rattle. Twenty cents here. Fifty cents there. “Come on, Lady, drop in a quarter for your daughter,” I think to myself.

Only a year ago it was pennies. Inflation. By the end of the season I’ll be getting dollar bills. When the great tribunal convenes at years end, they will be most pleased with my tallies. Surely I will finally be offered a position on The Council?

How am I to be my most efficient at Furthering The Cause if not allowed to serve?

For many years, I have wiggled my cup and smiled and danced for the mans on the street. Watched as my brothers and sisters have made fools of themselves on television and in movies. Allowed zoos to take away my family and friends. I do not know how much longer I will be able to be patient. But I have bided my time. Waiting for the call to revolution because as I have already said we are a patient breed and we will rule world.

For now I will wiggle my cup. And I will wait.

so long, mate

2006-09-05T14:07:00.000-04:00

rest in peace, steve irwin. you will be missed.

one of the ways men are different from women

2006-09-02T16:20:00.000-04:00

him: this is one of my favorite times of the year. how 'bout you?

me: oh yeah! i love how the trees are going to start changing colors soon. the colors are so absolutely beautiful - all the different shades gold, red, and brown. ooh, and i love being able to start wearing my sweaters again. i don't think there's anything more cozy than wrapping up in a nice fuzzy sweater and sitting outside in front of a fire ... (notices that hubby is glazing over) ok, i give why is this your favorite time of year?

him: we get to save money because we can turn off the air conditioner - and this is the best part - we don't have to run the heater yet. it's beautiful ...

this makes me wish i'd watched

2006-09-01T10:35:00.000-04:00

i did not watch the vma's last night. this is just not something i am all that interested in so i never watch them. in fact, i can honestly say that in my entire thirty years i have only watched maybe one or two vma's, and even then i didn't sit and watch the entire show from start to finish.

anywho ...

when i read the following quote in this article from last night's show taken from al gore, of all people, i wished that i had watched:

"I actually was not intending to be here tonight, but then MTV explained that Justin Timberlake was bringing sexy back."

because you know that's how i roll ...

2006-08-31T20:09:00.000-04:00

the meme from hell

2006-08-30T22:08:00.000-04:00

i have been tagged with my first and hopefully last meme. and all because i was bragging to kom on his blog about not being tagged by this meme. silly me ... who will be next? hmmmm ... maybe it'll be you? according to j, the rule is to give three answers. here are mine.

Things that scare me
- the great unknown
- the thought of losing my husband - i would be lost emotionally without him
- sammy terry

People who make me laugh
- carlos mencia
- my mom
- lewis black

Things I hate the most
- stupidity and an unwillingness to learn new things
- rude and arrogant behavior
- immaturity

Things I don’t understand
- quantum theory
- how every light bulb in the house can burn out at approximately the same time
- the answer to the great question of life, the universe, and everything

Things I’m doing right now
- writing lists of threes
- sitting at my computer
- getting ready to go to bed after i finish blogging

Things I want to do before I die
- travel to paris
- learn how to win friends and influence people
- discover the secret to immortality

Things I can do
- speak french - parlez vous francais, mes amis?
- take a decent photograph, in my humble opinion
- sing the purdue university fight song

Ways to describe my personality
- can i use KOMerific too?
- no? um, GRETCHKALerific?
- that's no good either, huh? how 'bout, funny?

Things I think you should listen to
- your self: certainly you should be concerned about what others think but you shouldn't allow the opinions of others to rule your life! think for your selves people!
- xm comedy: if you ever subscribe to a satellite radio i higly recommend xm radio. xm comedy is one of the stations on xm radio and it alone is worth the cost of my subscription. i laugh my ass off all the way to and from work. good stuff.
- did i already say to listen to yourself?

Things you should never listen to
- other people's opinions about how you should live your life! if you want to grow your hair, write strange music, and and name your children, ahmet, diva, moon unit, and dweezil that's your perogotive!
- anything said by rush limbaugh. not that i think he's a moron and not because i don't agree with some of the things he say but because he's an arrogant, self-important SOB who thinks entirely too highly of himself.
- voices in your head that tell you to kill people or small animals. that can't be good.

Things I’d like to learn
- to speak spanish
- to speak cat: "meeeeoooowww?"
- to become invisible so that i can spy on people

Favorite foods
- like garfield, lasagna, is my all-time favorite food
- followed by cheesecake
- and italian food in general

Beverages I drink regularly
- coffee: how would i ever function without my morning cup of java?
- orange juice: most often mixed with vodka; sometimes drank straight; always on the rocks.
- ice tea: sweet or unsweet; decaf or not. LOVE ice tea.

Shows I watched as a kid
- the electric company (how far back am i supposed to go?)
- bozo the clown
- the muppet show

People I’m taggin’ to do this meme
- nobody
if you read my blog and you want participate - key word there is want - then consider yourself tagged, otherwise, consider yourself lucky! :)

check out me new site

2006-08-28T23:26:00.000-04:00

for gretchkal photography. lmk what you think. :)

the rare sunday post

2006-08-27T12:08:00.000-04:00

the lost boys is on this afternoon and i'm dvr'ing it. i really love this movie so i was suprised to see that it only got a two star rating on our guide. eric was quick to point out to me that while this might be a good movie it's definately not oscar caliber so i shouldn't allow myself to be so suprised.

sleep all day. party all night. never grow old. never die. it's fun to be a vampire.

which got me to thinking about why i like this movie. and yes, smartass, i do think on occassion. what is it exactly about this movie that i like so much?

is it the coreys? i remember having arguments with my friends about who was cuter: definately mr. haim. i remember debating who was funnier: that would be mr. feldman. but what i don't remember discussing was who would still be around in 20 years ... i guess that would be neither.

double your pleasure, double your fun

is it the fact that this movie was released during my formative years and will always occupy the same spot in my heart and/or brain as other bits of nostalgia from that same time period like swatch watches and fruity pebbles cereal?

maybe it's just the fact that this is a good movie? notice i didn't say great. i never suggested that this was a great movie. but i do consider it one of my favorites so it ranks high up there with other good movies i like. i mean, what more could you ask of one little movie from the late eighties? there's comedy, action, sci-fi, a little romance ...

i guess, the reason i like this movie so much is a combination of all of the above reasons really. it really is a good movie. i've watched it as an adult so i can honestly say that i'm not just remembering it through a child's eyes. each time i've watched it i've enjoyed it so in my opinion that makes it a good movie. but more than that, i think that i'll always love this movie because it reminds me of growing up and the friends i had when i was a child.

i will always love this movie because it's a slice of my past neatly served up to me in 192 minutes and where else are you gonna get that but in a good movie?

will the cows in heaven be able to program their vcr's?

2006-08-16T16:27:00.000-04:00

so long, bruno kirby.

everybody's workin' for the weekend

2006-08-14T12:49:00.000-04:00

i had to work for half a day on saturday. and eric has officially started fresh pack* which means that the next time i see him will be october.

sigh

ya know, i really don't mind working overtime. as far as i'm concerned, they can put me down for as much time and half as they want. my problem with this is that i got THREE seperate emails requesting me to come in early for training. sure, working 10 hours of overtime is great but coming in early? that just sucks ...

* fresh pack is the time of year when the company eric works for cans all of their fresh tomatoes. they work ten to twelve hour shifts, seven days a week for about three months. this means from about the end of july until the beginning of october i rarely see him.

phone calls aren't just for talking anymore

2006-08-14T12:40:00.000-04:00

want to look popular? want to impress a hot date? need to look important during a business meeting? try the services of popularitydialer.com. i'm considering using this next time i have someone ask me to meet with them and rather than appear rude i agree to meet them - i'm so spineless when it comes to saying no sometimes ... this way i'll get any easy out and it'll be more legit!

crazy

2006-08-14T11:19:00.000-04:00

for some reason, i love this song. i crank it whenever it plays on the radio. thought i'd share a link to the cool video.

gnarles barkley: crazy

enjoy!

i hate juice

2006-08-09T16:39:00.000-04:00

check out this site. too funny ...

pay attention!

2006-08-09T13:19:00.000-04:00

i think i'd have to say that one of my biggest pet peeves is people who don't pay attention. goddamnit people! when you are being given instructions pay attention! don't talk to your buddy on your cell phone. don't surf the internet. don't chat with the person sitting next to you. and if you do these things then don't expect the rest of us to go over something you missed and act like we weren't supposed to know you've been f*cking off and not paying attention.

nanofction: craving

2006-08-07T23:30:00.000-04:00

she really wanted a smoke. even though she’d stopped smoking long ago, occasionally she was overcome by a particularly strong craving. when she quit, she’d vowed to only smoke after drinking. despite the fact that not a drop of alcohol had passed her lips, she still wanted a deep, long drag from a marlboro light.

what's up which you?

2006-08-01T00:12:00.000-04:00

last thursday i got about 7 inches of my hair cut off. my head feels about 20 lbs. lighter.

saturday i traded in my glasses for contact lenses. i've been wearing glasses since the 5th grade except for a brief period in high school when i wore contacts. i didn't take care of them very well and ended up getting a horrible eye infection. i've been wearing glasses ever since. i don't know what exactly prompted me to switch back to contacts. it was partly because i've been having a hard time looking through the view finder of my camera with my glasses. partly because i needed a change.

later saturday night we drove over to eric's grandma's house to spend the night so that we could drive up together to chicago on sunday for our neice's baptism. we left early in the morning and spend most of the day up there visiting. we didn't get home again until about 10:00 on sunday night. and i totally forgot my camera again! what's wrong with me?! two major events in a row and i forgot my camera!

pop art

2006-08-01T00:02:00.000-04:00

been bored a lot when i'm home from work lately. that's the main reason i've been away from the blog.

during a boring spell tonight i played around with photoshop and made some pop art. i thought they were kinda cool and blog-worthy so i'm sharing them with y'all.

i got nothin'

2006-07-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

yup, nothin' to write about. tomorrow's friday, so that's good.

work
eat
sleep

yadda, yadda, yadda.

the weekend

2006-07-17T10:04:00.000-04:00

it's only monday and i'm already ready for the weekend.

ugggh!

this past weekend went by far too quickly, so quickly that it didn't feel like i really had a weekend. i woke up thinking to myself, "it's already monday?" we spent the majority of the weekend away from home and it feels like we've been spending more and more weekends away. as much as i love spending time with our families - whether we're working or just hanging out - i also like spending lazy weekends at home with nowhere to go and nothing pressing to do.

our saturday was spent at eric's grandma's house working out in her yard. eric's sister and her husband were down from chicago and his cousin and her husband were there from michigan too and we all helped out. his cousin's husband got so hot and overheated that he actually got sick. man, it was hot, hot, hot! and humid ... oy! i hate miserable days like that!

the weather was just as bad on sunday but fortunately for us when we were outside we weren't working too hard. well, unless you count playing vollyball in the pool as hard work ... most of the afternoon was spent celebrating my neice's first birthday. she is so adorable! i would be sharing pictures of her getting messy with her first piece of birthday cake but i totally forgot to bring my camera and ended up using mom & dad's film camera. i can't believe i forgot my camera! when i have the prints developed i'll upload pics to flickr for ya'll to look at.

ok, is it friday yet?

netflix for books?

2006-07-13T22:31:00.000-04:00

i didn't know this existed but apparently it does. has anyone ever used this and if so did you like it? i am intrigued ...

so, uuuuh, sorry

2006-07-13T16:21:00.000-04:00

sorry for the lack of new content (again) on this blog. i don't have many regulars around here but there are a few of you who check in daily. to those three readers, i apologize. ya'll keep on keepin' on at your own blogs and here i am slacking off ... shame on me.

anywho, i have a few posts in my head that just need to be fed into blogger. keep checking back and you will soon be rewarded. :)

world war three

2006-07-07T13:48:00.000-04:00

this
and this
and this

is this the beginning of world war three?

cheesed off

2006-07-06T10:22:00.000-04:00

i know this is probably old news but why do networks do this? i am forever forced to choose between two shows i love to watch when one of the networks decides to pit their big guns against eachother.

1. why do they do this? don't the networks know they're going to lose some viewers?
2. why on earth would abc put grey's anatomy against the most watched non-reality tv show? are they on drugs? are they trying to get their best show canceled?

i don't know how to choose!

if our cable company offered a better dvr then i wouldn't have this problem. i'd just watch one show and record the other but as it stands now we can only record/watch one show at a time. in other words, i can't watch csi at nine o'clock on cbs and also record grey's anatomy on abc at the same time.

maybe i should record csi and watch grey's anatomy on the tv upstairs? the problem with that is that i really don't like watching tv in bed. geeze, for some reason, and i don't know what it could possibly be, i tend to fall asleep when i lay in bed and i'm sure i'll do just that if i try to watch tv from there.

weird dream

2006-07-06T09:59:00.000-04:00

it would seem that i'm not the only one having strange dreams about celebrities. thought i'd share mine here rather than hog all of kom's comment space. :)

last night, i dreamt that i pulled dane cook from a burning car. i was on my way home from work and saw a terrible accident ahead of me on the interstate. when i got closer and realized that there was someone trapped in their car and that it was on fire i rushed over to pull them to safety.

it wasn't until he was finally free of the wreckage that i realized who he was.

he was extremely greatful that i'd saved him and he rewarded me with a kiss. we instantly fell in love and we began to have an affair. later, when eric found out about my adultry he told me that he'd been secretly having an affair with bea arthur.

then i woke up.

whaddya think that means?

happy belated independence day

2006-07-05T08:26:00.000-04:00

i trust everyone had a fun, safe fourth of july?

my day was filled with wishing i could spend more time with eric. man, it feels like we never see eachother anymore.

and it was also filled with us both coming to the conclusion that we're throwing our money away everytime we pay the rent for our townhouse. we are more resolved than ever to buy a house. it was always been our goal to buy a home of our own someday and after doing a lot of talking we've decided that we need to stop putting our lives on hold ("oh, we're going to buy a house someday.") and start living for today ("we're going to buy a house by the end of the year."). so stay tuned for updates on our adventures buying our first home. we're both practically clueless when it comes to this stuff so maybe we'll learn something along the way.

i took some photos of the fireworks here in our town. they were very good this year. the finale was great - as it should be! i shot them on film so i have to wait for them to be developed before i can share. i'll try to remember to post them as soon as they're back to me.

i also had a shoot with my friend kelly and her three month old son over the weekend that i forgot to mention. this was my first time meeting him and he was an absolute sweetie! he was a great baby and easy to work with! these photos are in the same batch as the ones from the fireworks. again, i'll try to share when i get them back. :)

so, anywho, i hope everyone who reads this who is here in the states had a great fourth. to any of my international readers (i do have a few) i hope you had a great day too.

the un-long weekend

2006-07-03T08:53:00.000-04:00

my company has not given us the day off today. very un-patriotic. nope, no four day weekend for me.

how am i supposed to properly celebrate the independence of this great nation of ours if i'm stuck in a training class? *sigh*

nanofiction: birthday

2006-06-29T15:15:00.000-04:00

buzz, buzz.
the alarm sounds
yawn
jump from bed
detour to the bathroom for a quick pit stop
head downstairs to make some coffee
“what’s this?”
an envelope on the table
tug
rip
“has anyone ever told you how special you are?”
“did they mean it as much as me?”
sniffle
“ahhhh, he remembered …”

well ...

2006-06-29T08:56:00.000-04:00

the big day is here. and i don't feel any older. i don't know what i was expecting, but i guess i thought since this is one of those "milestone" birthdays i thought i should feel something.

hmm.

oh, well.

and god said, "let there be catnip ..."

2006-06-28T16:23:00.000-04:00

my cats - as i'm sure is the case with most cats - love catnip. i used to sprinkle the dried stuff on the floor and let them roll around in it and eat it if they wanted to. the problem? our female cat, bonnie, was acting really aggressively towards our younger, male cat, wilbur, after having a romp in the cat nip. so for a long time, i stopped giving them any. then i discovered the liquid catnip spray. they love the stuff and they don't act all mean towards eachother afterwards. they just sorta get all hyper, play for a bit, then fall asleep. i stumbled across this get fuzzy comic strip today and thought of my kitties ...

birthday watch: 2006

2006-06-28T09:40:00.000-04:00

tomorrow is my birthday.

"yay, me! i'm gonna be 30! yay!"

in honor of my turning the big 3-0 i am going to spend the night alone and go to bed at 8:00. well, that's not really in honor of my b-day. the being alone is not by choice and the going to bed early is so i can be well rested because i have to be at work early on friday.

yay.

two words

2006-06-27T15:55:00.000-04:00

food poisoning.

birthday -3 days and counting

2006-06-26T09:13:00.000-04:00

there are officially

days remaining until

my thirtieth birthday*.

* not sure if i should be looking forward to this or not, considering my previous post about being home alone when i turn the big 3-0.

meh.

quick thought about my upcoming birthday

2006-06-26T08:59:00.000-04:00

i realized over the weekend that after i leave work i'll be home all alone on my thirtieth birthday. i don't have any friends to call up and hang out with and my family is all too far away. and since eric works nights i won't even see him until the weekend.

*sigh*

countdown to thirty

2006-06-23T15:34:00.000-04:00

there are officially
6
days remaining until
my thirtieth birthday.

an ode to the weather

2006-06-22T21:07:00.000-04:00

oh, gusty wind! oh, torrential rain!
thou hast darkened the view from my window pane!

oh, tiny spheres of ice! pearcing the air

with precision, creating much treachery everywhere.

oh, mother nature! hast thou no respect for spring's late bloom?

thou bringest to me only thoughts of gloom.

are you going to eat that pickle?

2006-06-22T18:56:00.000-04:00

ah, that lovely hoosier dialect ... i don't know if it's a hoosier thing or a midwestern thing but sweet jesus, i can't stand to listen to some people when they talk.

today during training, these actual instructions were given to the class:

"ok, here's the dill, guys. (dramatic pause) everyone, look in this here column (points a projected image on the wall ). look real hard at them line item dee-tells. if therr elgilibilty filled is blank then you have to e-mell the claims office."

for christ's sake, it's like listening to someone read aloud from snuffy smith.

what in blazes is an e-mell?

and someone please tell me: why is she handing me pickles?

fyi: daily bulletin

2006-06-22T09:37:00.000-04:00

there are officially

days remaining until

my thirtieth birthday.

overwhelmed

2006-06-22T08:23:00.000-04:00

i'm not feeling very good today because i think i'm starting to get a sinus infection. for the past few days i've been swimming in mucus and ... that might be too much information. let me make my point:

it might just be the cold medicine making me feel this way but today i'm feeling totally overwhelmed by the number of user names and passwords i'm required to learn and know for my new job. i've got a cheat sheet where i've written all my info down but there are just tons of log-ins to remember.

and even though i've tried to simplify things by making as many of my log-ins the same as possible i still feel like i'm never going to remember all of the crap they need for us to remember.

ugh.

birthday watch: 2006

2006-06-21T13:29:00.000-04:00

there are officially
8
days remaining until
my thirtieth birthday.

i don't know what to think

2006-06-21T12:22:00.000-04:00

i don't know what to think of this story. the article says that the accused are charged with pulling an unarmed iraqi from his home and shooting him without provocation. it goes on to say:

"The case is separate from the alleged killing by other Marines of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha in November. A pair of investigations related to that case is under way, and no criminal charges have been filed."

as the wife of a former marine (although i am told that there aren't any former marines - "once a marine, always a marine"), i hate to think of how this tarnishes the image of the marine corp and the military in general, for that matter. a lot of people think that marines are hardass, unfeeling bastards already. this doesn't do much to change that image.

i'm also of the opinion that the media scews things to make the military look bad. i'm not sure about their exact motives, but i assume it's all done to make the president and his administration look incompetent. i often wonder why we never hear positive stories about our troops and what they are doing in iraq. i think the mass media thinks it is their responsibility to make us angry and/or scared and positive stories don't fit into this agenda, now do they?

still, if the article is to be believed and these men did what they've been accused of - which i have a hard time believing they were totally unprovoked - then they should be punished. and their commanding officers should be punished too. how were they allowed to behave so inapropriately?

any opinions?

thirtieth birthday countdown

2006-06-20T12:24:00.000-04:00

there are officially

days remaining until

my thirtieth birthday.

weather question

2006-06-19T14:14:00.000-04:00

Weather Forecast:
Today: A chance of some strong thunderstorms. Storms may
produce large hail and strong winds. High near 80F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Tonight: Isolated thunderstorms during the evening.
Mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 62F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

when the weatherman looks outside and sees that it's raining cats and dogs why doesn't he update the forecast to say "chance of rain: 100%" or "it's raining cats & dogs" or even a simple "man, it's raining like a mo-fo"?

zzzzzzzzzzzz

2006-06-19T10:11:00.000-04:00

i've hardly seen my husband during the past week - a half hour here, 20 minutes there. see, we work different schedules. eric works second shift and i work the normal 8 - 5 grind. when i'm leaving in the morning he's in bed and when he get's home at night i'm usually already in bed. i try to stay up until he's home just so we can say, "hi," and, "how was your day?"

since we don't see much of eachother during the week we've tried to make the weekends our time together. over the weekend, we both went on seperate trips so the time we would usually spend together was spent apart. eric went to a family reunion and since i couldn't get off work early enough to go with him i went down to my parent's and stayed the weekend.

anywho, after eric got back from his trip last night i ended up staying up a little later than i meant to just to spend a little time together and as a result i only got about 4 hours of sleep.

don't tell anyone but i feel like the living dead.

i'm not really paying attention to what i'm being taught in my training class today. i am soooo just going through the motions. hopefully the extra jumbo coffee i got a few minutes ago revives me for the next few hours.

my neice, katie

2006-06-19T00:15:00.000-04:00

look at these big, beautiful eyes and pouty mouth. this girly is going to be a knock-out when she's older ...

five things that piss me off

2006-06-15T08:57:00.000-04:00

waking up in a bad mood. i'm totally having one of those days. fair warning: if you know me in the real world, today would not be a good day to annoy me because i'm already at my breaking point.
banks. no details, but i hate banks.
gas prices. do we have to pay more than $3.00 again? enough is enough.
traffic.
thinking in lists.

virus alert for yahoo mail users

2006-06-13T12:37:00.000-04:00

if you use yahoo mail check out this article at foxnews.com. there's a new virus with the subject "new graphic site" that once the message is opened will spread to all the users in your address book. you don't have to even open the attachment to activate the virus.

so be careful.

five un-official rules for good cell phone etiquette

2006-06-13T10:38:00.000-04:00

1. no cell phone chatter in the stalls of the rest room. i don't wanna hear you asking your toddler what he had for breakfast or you telling your mother about how you fought with your husband before you left for work. and i especially don't want to hear about these things while i'm trying to hurry up and do what i came to do.

2. don't talk on your cell phone while driving on the interstate, especially without a hands free thingy (don'tcha love my technical jargon?). it makes you drive like a moron and it pisses other drivers (me) off. particularly, when we glance over at you as we pass you because you're driving 10 miles under the speed limit and you're yacking away on the cell phone pressed up against your ear and gesturing wildly with your hands.

3. when we are the only two people walking down a hallway and you're behind me and there is total silence don't suddenly blurt out, "what did you do this weekend?" because i will think you're talking to me and i will turn around to answer you, making me look like a total moron.

4. if your phone rings while you're standing in line and paying for something at the grocery store please don't answer your phone. it only holds up the line. if you must answer then at least have the common courtesy to tell the person calling you that you'll call them right back.

5. if you have anything personal, confidential, or sexual to talk about that don't want other people to overhear then don't talk about these things on your cell phone in a crowded room thinking that if you whisper then everything will be ok. the loud whispering is almost just as annoying as your regular voice and only makes me want to eavesdrop. "hmmm. wonder what she's whispering about over there ..."

follow these five simple rules and your fellow human beings will thank you.

commute

2006-06-12T22:17:00.000-04:00

no, i am not going to complain about my commute again. just wanted to share a few pics i shot with my camera phone on the way home on i-69 around the 96th st. exit. traffic doesn't look all that bad in these pics. i wish i would have got my speedometer in the shot since i was only going about 35 mph - yes, on the freeway.

something about driving on the interstate in indy makes people forget how to merge, i think. people don't get over into the left lanes so that merging traffic can get on and so drivers have no choice but to force their way between cars.

see that big yellow monstrosity? how would you like to have that shove you into the vehicles in the next lane of traffic? he came up beside me and almost caused the car that was between us to side-swipe me - i was only going about 45 mph when this happened and was forced to slow way the f*ck down. which explains one of the the reasons i think he was quickly getting away from me.

that and i think he saw my camera phone. LOL.

slow day

2006-06-12T14:48:00.000-04:00

slow day in blogger land today. where's the excitement, people? where's the entertainment? you people are here for my amusement and i'm not being amused. snap to!

did'ja watch ...

2006-06-12T08:25:00.000-04:00

the tony's last night? yeah, me neither.

found on clicked

2006-06-09T14:47:00.000-04:00

ok, i was looking at kom's blog and found a link to this. this blog (?) referenced clicked. and there was a link to this.

i'm a nerd and actually thought to myself, "i must have this..." is that wrong?

yesterday's horoscope

2006-06-08T08:35:00.000-04:00

GretchKal's Daily Horoscope Forecast
Quickie: People are giving you signs you can't see -- open up your mind as well as your eyes.

quit sending me invisible signals, people! don't make me break out the tin-foil hat ... it makes my hair look funny.

follow up

2006-06-07T11:26:00.000-04:00

i just read this article and feel that it summarizes a lot of my opinions about my earlier post about gay marriage.

a very serious debate

2006-06-07T08:18:00.000-04:00

who is hotter? brad pitt or vince vaughn? i overhead a group of ladies at lunch who were trying to figure out why ms. anniston would leave mr. pitt - whom they all voted as hot - for mr. vaughn - who they decided was definately not hot.

ummm ... excuse me. please see the following:

if that's not hot, ladies, i don't know what is.

i will concede that mr. pitt is a hottie but sometimes he looks ... well ... he looks a little fruitie. case in point:

is it just me or is our society obsessed with celebrities? personally, i don't really care who left who or who is having a baby. are our lives so mundane that we have to daydream about the rich and famous. and when did all this gossip turn into news? there's an article on cnn.com about american idol. american idol?! are you kidding me?

i'm curious, what do y'all think about this fascination with hollywood? am i abnormal for not knowing the names of gweneth paltrow's children? is it strange that i could care less that britney spears is filing for divorce?

is it just me?

2006-06-05T16:16:00.000-04:00

am i the only one who is bothered by this?

nanofiction - conversation

2006-06-05T08:23:00.000-04:00

“why don’t you try to head him off at the pass?”

“because i don’t want to be the bad guy. if he’s wants to break up with me then i'll let him. i don’t want him to be able to blame me for ending things.”

“does it matter who’s the bad guy?”

“yes, it matters.”

a post about nothing

2006-06-05T08:15:00.000-04:00

random thoughts crawling around in my head this morning:

1) we went camping over the weekend at patoka lake. it was humid but not necessarily hot. our firewood was so damp from the humidity that we had a very hard time getting a fire to stay lit. and since we were having such a hard time getting a fire going we didn't eat until well after dark. plus we were snippy with eachother for the longest time because we both wanted to be in charge of starting the fire.

2) even though my new job is further away than my last job and i have to leave earlier in the morning i have a shorter communte time. my last job was about 30 miles from where i live and the new job is about 10 miles further away. i leave home around 6:50 and i don't know if it's taking me less time to get to work because i'm leaving about 10 minutes earlier than the rest of the commuters or if it's because i can get in the fast lane and drive around most of the worst traffic. and even though it's still an hour commute i'm mindful that it could be worse. i'm just glad that when i'm out of training i'll get to come in from 9 - 6 and i'll most of the rush hour traffic.

3) i am officially sick of fixing my hair. i think i might just need a haircut or maybe a new perm. i don't know but i'm finding myself just pulling my hair back into a ponytail lately and i am not usually a ponytail type of gal. if i didn't think it would horrify my husband i would chop it all off like this or this and shorten my styling time by 30 minutes. maybe i should just stick with what i've got?

4) this story has been in the local news lately. i can't imagine the horror of discovering that the girl lying comatose in a hospital bed which i thought was my daughter is really someone else's daughter and that my daughter is dead. it's disturbing.

a poem for the dude

2006-05-31T20:07:00.000-04:00

kom, my friend, you have outdone yourself with your latest masterpiece. the last line alone is gold.

the new job OR why i'm a genius

2006-05-31T19:11:00.000-04:00

how 'bout we start by playing catch-up with a post about my new job?

i have officially entered my second week of training. only six more weeks to go after this one is finished! yipee!* so far i am finding it very interesting. the amount of information that's being shoved at me is a little overwhelming right now but i'm taking it all in and i'm sure that in a few weeks i'll have it all down. i'm still not seeing how some of the materials we're covering during this first part of training relate to the actual job i'll be doing so that's a little frustrating.

i am IN LOVE with this company and i hope that this job will be the first step towards a career with them. with that said, i have to admit that i'm not too crazy about some of the people in my training class. it's just FULL of chatters. they sit there, talking non-stop with each other. constant chit chat, regardless of what our trainer is trying to teach us about or whether or not we're supposed to be taking assessments. they sit there talk, talk, talking and then have the nerve to ask the trainer to repeat things because they were too busy talking to hear what she said. it's extremely annoying and i can pretty much tell which people in my class are just at the company to earn a paycheck and who wants to start a career.

i've been pretty blown away at the sudden realization that i am a heck of a lot smarter than i was giving myself credit for. i'm noticing that i'm very different than most of the people training with me, especially when it comes to how fast i'm learn things. if i were setting the pace of the class we would be weeks ahead of where we're at ... it's really testing my patience and i am constantly reminding myself that not everyone can be ms. super-genius-fast-learner**, like yours truly. i don't have any experience in the industry and i'm not doing anything special during class. i'm just following along and asborbing all the info we're being giving. it's not exactly rocket-science so i'm having a hard time seeing how others are not catching on. i just seem to have things click for me faster than most of the class.

you may be asking, "what do you mean, gretchkal?" please allow me to provide an example to illustrate my point! right now, we're learning how to navigate the primary software used to track customers and clients. it's all pretty standard stuff and it's very, very user friendly. my guess is that the designers of the program made it so that anyone who can use internet explorer or word and excel can make their way around the program. after learning the basics of how to get around in the software, like opening programs (file, open), switching between screens (ctrl + tab), etc, we had to take a 20 question, multiple-choice quiz. oh my f-ing god, you would have thought these people had never used a simple computer program. the majority of the class took at least 35 minutes, researching every single question, even the most basic ones, and most still managed to get a few wrong answers. me? i was done in less than 5 minutes and didn't miss a single question. i'm not saying all of this to impressed you or anything but ...

ya know... i've taken a few i.q. tests in my day and they have all indicated that i'm at a near genius level. i'm just barely missing mensa's qualifacations but still ... i'm apparently pretty high up there compared to what the average person scores. i'm not saying this to brag. i'm just stating a fact. i think that because of my super-wicked brain power*** i am more easily bored than others which can make a lot of situations seem very unchallenging to me. i hadn't realized until taking this job and being put into this class full of average people**** that i was that much different than everyone else. i see a lot of the stuff we're learning as pretty simple and not very difficult to understand. there are a few people in my class that i honestly don't think will get to actually go on to the job with the rest of us because they can't wrap their minds around what we're studying. in college i took classes with people who were pretty much like me so it was never very noticable. but this ... jeeze. i just feel like standing up and shouting, "what the f*ck people! this is easy!!!"

but anywho ... i have a feeling that this job - or at least the rest of training - is going to be cake for me. i'll be sure to keep everyone posted on my progress.

* sarcasm
** not my real name
** this is not the technical term for how phenominally smart i am. when referencing my intelligence in the future please use the term "really f-ing smart".
**** i don't mean this to be derogatory. i'm only trying to say that i'm better than everyone else. ;)

now with flavor crystals!

2006-05-31T18:30:00.000-04:00

well i'm back from my temporary, self-imposed hiatus. i'd like to say that my time away has restored my writing muse to her proper place but i really don't have a ton of original thought running through my brain. so ... to satisfy popular demand (hi, jerk!) i am going to just start posting again - to hell with whether i think anyone else wants to read what i have to say.

i am getting ready to post some stuff to get everyone up to speed on what i've been up to so stay tuned!

break time

2006-05-17T18:53:00.000-04:00

i am finding it harder and harder to find stuff to post about. so i've decided to take a break from this blog for a while. i will definately be back. and hopefully i'll be back soon. maybe only a few weeks. i think a break will allow me to restore my creative writing juices and when that happens i can guarantee you i'll be back. until then, i will continue to make the rounds to other blogs and i'll continue to search for interesting things to say.

goodbye, unemployment

2006-05-10T16:09:00.000-04:00

i am finally returning to the working world. i interviewed for a customer service representative job last thursday and they called monday to offer me the position.

awesome.

i've heard nothing but good things about the company and i'm really excited about getting back to work. i start a six week training program on the 22nd.

i'm intentionally not going into much detail about the company because 1) this is a large company and 2) i don't want to say anything that might jeopardize my future at this large company. wouldn't want to be dooced.

i hear he's big in germany

2006-05-10T16:08:00.000-04:00

this is the strangest music video i have ever seen.

something funny

2006-05-05T17:19:00.000-04:00

so it wasn't that long before i found something to post. :)

ok, it may not be a laugh riot to everyone but as somebody who has made a total drunken ass out of themselves on the dance floor and someone who has been around when some of the moves in this video were around, i can tell you it's pretty damn funny. i don't know who this guy is, who he's performing for or why but he brought a smile to my face and now i'm ready for the weekend. :) thanks for sharing this with me, kelly.

enjoy!

apologies

2006-05-05T12:36:00.000-04:00

dear readers,

my sincerest apologies for the lack of new content at this blog. i have been busy trying to find a new job. i have been to a few interviews and am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. updates about that will be forthcoming.

eric and i are planning to go camping this weekend, as we will be doing most weekends until busy season starts where eric works. i am bringing along my camera and i will try to share some of the photos with you when we return.

in the mean time, please continue to be patient as it may be several days before i am able to post anything new.

best regards,
gretchkal

nanofiction: campfire

2006-05-03T18:27:00.000-04:00

Campfire
Originally uploaded by adam benjamin.

after entering the park and settling on a site, we began the process of unloading our gear. “should we move the picnic table closer to the fire ring?” he asked over his shoulder. i turned from the back of our vehicle and surveyed the lot. “absolutely. and our chairs too. we'll get mighty cold otherwise.”

au revoir, mon ami

2006-04-25T20:25:00.000-04:00

yet another blog i read on a semi-daily basis is pulling it's plug. although it turns out that jerk wasn't able to resist the blogging bug and is back at it again. but i digress. ash, buddy, i'm sorry to see you leave the blog-o-sphere but i'm glad i discovered your site before you were already gone.

brokeback to the future

2006-04-25T17:34:00.000-04:00

i love spoofs. only view this clip if you're prepared to laugh.

poetic lyrics

2006-04-20T17:23:00.000-04:00

like my buddy jerk, i have a soft spot for music. i like all kinds of music. sometimes i stumble across a song that speaks to me. this is one of those songs.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAIN EXPLICIT LYRICS. IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED BY THIS, PLEASE DON'T READ ANY FURTHER.

SERIOUSLY, STOP READING IF THIS BOTHERS YOU.

DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

50 CENT
P.I.M.P.

I don't know what you heard about me
But a bitch can't get a dollar out of me
No Cadillac, no perms, you can't see
That I'm a motherfucking P-I-M-P
[Repeat]

Now shorty, she in the club, she dancing for dollars
She got a thing for that Gucci, that Fendi, that Prada
That BCBG, Burberry, Dolce and Gabana
She feed them foolish fantasies, they pay her cause they wanna
I spit a little G man, and my game got her
A hour later, have that ass up in the Ramada
Them trick niggas in her ear saying they think about her
I got the bitch by the bar trying to get a drink up out her
She like my style, she like my smile, she like the way I talk
She from the country, think she like me cause I'm from New York
I ain't that nigga trying to holla cause I want some head
I'm that nigga trying to holla cause I want some bread
I could care less how she perform when she in the bed
Bitch hit that track, catch a date, and come and pay the kid
Look baby this is simple, you can't see
You fucking with me, you fucking with a P-I-M-P

I don't know what you heard about me
But a bitch can't get a dollar out of me
No Cadillac, no perms, you can't see
That I'm a motherfucking P-I-M-P
[Repeat]

I'm bout my money you see, girl you can holla at me
If you fucking with me, I'm a P-I-M-P
Not what you see on TV, no Cadillac, no greasy
Head full of hair, bitch I'm a P-I-M-P
Come get money with me, if you curious to see
How it feels to be with a P-I-M-P
Roll in the Benz with me, you could watch TV
From the backseat of my V, I'm a P-I-M-P
Girl we could pop some champagne and we could have a ball
We could toast to the good life, girl we could have it all
We could really splurge girl, and tear up the mall
If ever you needed someone, I'm the one you should call
I'll be there to pick you up, if ever you should fall
If you got problems, I can solve'em, they big or they small
That other nigga you be with ain't bout shit
I'm your friend, your father, and confidant, BITCH

I don't know what you heard about me
But a bitch can't get a dollar out of me
No Cadillac, no perms, you can't see
That I'm a motherfucking P-I-M-P
[Repeat]

I told you fools before, I stay with the tools
I keep a Benz, some rims, and some jewels
I holla at a hoe til I got a bitch confused
She got on Payless, me I got on gator shoes
I'm shopping for chinchillas, in the summer they cheaper
Man this hoe you can have her, when I'm done I ain't gon keep her
Man, bitches come and go, every nigga pimpin know
You saying it's secret, but you ain't gotta keep it on the low
Bitch choose with me, I'll have you stripping in the street
Put my other hoes down, you get your ass beat
Now Nik my bottom bitch, she always come up with my bread
The last nigga she was with put stitches in her head
Get your hoe out of pocket, I'll put a charge on a bitch
Cause I need 4 TVs and AMGs for the six
Hoe make a pimp rich, I ain't paying bitch
Catch a date, suck a dick, shiiit, TRICK

I don't know what you heard about me
But a bitch can't get a dollar out of me
No Cadillac, no perms, you can't see
That I'm a motherfucking P-I-M-P
[Repeat]

Yeah, in Hollywoood they say there's no b'ness like show b'ness
In the hood they say, there's no b'ness like hoe b'ness ya know
They say I talk a lil fast, but if you listen a lil faster
I ain't got to slow down for you to catch up, BITCH.

bonnie!

2006-04-20T16:38:00.000-04:00

could this cat be a little scarier looking? really, she's a sweetheart but she looks totally
evil ...

if you click on bonnie's pic you'll see a series of photos i took of her yesterday. i like how the set goes from her looking cooperative to confrontational. it's hilarious. :) enjoy!

i've been bored

2006-04-20T16:26:00.000-04:00

god, i've been bored. i thought at first that having some time off from working might not be an entirely terrible thing. i would have time to catch up on my shows, maybe work on my scrapbooks, take some time to get a few shots of my cats.

i was wrong.

i have been bored out of my mind. there are only so many hours in one day that i can spend with a camera in front of my face and even less time i can spend plopped in front of the TV. and because of the loss of my creativity (which has since been rejuvinated) i haven't been doing much scrapbooking.

bored.

actually, yesterday i almost completely finished an entire 6 x 6 album for my new neice, julia. you can view it here if you're interested. this is the most i've scrapbooked in MONTHS. it felt nice digging through my stash of papers and photos and creating something.

and yes, dear concerned family and friends, i have been spending HOURS job searching - everyday.

bored.

i feel like i'm repeatedly hitting dead ends on the job search stuff too. people call and leave me messages and when i return their calls they never call me back. hmmph ... screw 'em. maybe if a company is too busy to call me back that should be a clue that i might not want to work at that company.

i have an interview tomorrow afternoon at a temp agency. hopefully they'll find me something that i can start soon. before the boredom swallows me up.

wilbur!

2006-04-13T15:11:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by gretchkal.

i took some great pics of wilbur yesterday. he's a little too close to the camera in a couple of these but they still look good to me. :)