August Odds and Ends

The longer I look at the word "report" the less meaning it has and the more it looks like it's spelled incorrectly. Same with the word "tree."

I am now the owner of the best paper doll book of all time. It was necessary to buy it. There are six Disney Princesses (Cinderella, Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Aurora, and Snow White) and they're all standing in the same position, so I can mix and match the 150 outfits! It's awesome! I saw the book at Albertsons last month, leafed through it, and then put it down because I'm 30 and have no use for a paper doll book. I could buy it on the pretense of giving it to my 3 month old nieces, but if I were to buy it I'd want it for me! Well, a week later I really, really wanted it, but it was gone. I even checked a bunch of Albertsons stores. I ordered it online and now it's mine! I don't even feel the need to punch out the dolls and clothes right away. I'm just happy having it on my bookshelf for a rainy day...

Traffic school was not as bad as I thought it would be. I was pulled over for not fully yielding at a stop sign and I don't remember if I did or I didn't. I probably stopped but it might have been at the curb instead of the line. Anyway, I had never been to traffic school before -- and I qualified -- so I thought I'd give it a shot. One of my friends said she went to traffic school in Sandy and it was three hours long and super boring. Luckily, I was pulled over in Midvale, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was only an hour long, and the officer in charge went over a bunch of traffic rules he's most likely to pull people over for. (Oddly, he never mentioned mine, and I forgot to ask about it so I'm still not entirely sure what I did wrong.)

My company is doing an office-wide challenge where the person or team of people who log the most steps wins some sort of prize. I admit, I haven't been paying a lot of attention to what's involved. I don't walk or run for excercise, so I'm more doing it just for fun. I am enjoying the pedometer part, however :) We each recieved one for free, complete with company logo across the front. I lost the first pedometer within 24 hours; I put it on when I stepped out of the car, but by the time I sat at my desk it was gone. The second one died after too weeks, possibly because I dropped it so many times. It wouldn't stay clipped to my pants! So, I bought a third. I've had it two days and it seems fine so far. I learned today that it's possible to cheat with the company-issued pedometer by adjusting the stride of your steps. Like I said, I'm not taking the whole thing very seriously. Just having fun so I'm not too worried about it.

Pantene hair products have treated me very well for the last couple of years, but I decided to try something else. From some study I read somewhere (how's that for specific?) curly blonde hair is the most prone of all hair types to damage, because it's often so fine and snarly. Well, a friend recommended I try sulphate-free shampoo to keep my hair from drying out so much, so I'm using L'Oreal EverPure. It smells amazing, though I haven't noticed a huge difference in my hair's hydration level. I can't say my hair looks better, but that may be because I'm washing it in the morning instead of at night. I get really warm while sleeping, and that coupled with my reluctance to turn the A/C on means I need to shower in the morning during the summer. However, since my hair now dries vertically while I'm doing my morning activities instead of lying on my pillow at night it doesn't dry as crazy-curly as I prefer. I may go back to showering at night come wintertime. My hair was way cuter during Babes in Toyland than it is now. I'm glad it's getting longer though and it does seem more healthy!

It's official. I'm bummed I didn't do a show this summer. I originally decided not to do one because we were supposed to have the big deadline at work July 15. Then in May it was postponed until January 15 which means it may foul up my winter-performing plans. Or I may do a show anyway and REALLY not have a social life. I haven't decided. But I almost-desperately miss performing!!! Thank goodness so many of my friends have been in shows -- giving me an excuse and reminder to go -- otherwise I'd be in complete withdrawls. In the last three weeks I've seen James Blond at the Desert Star Playhouse, The Scarlet Pimpernel at Hale, Once Upon a Mattress at the Empress, and Lucky Stiff at Rogers Memorial. The latter three are now on the "shows I want to do someday" list... which just keeps growing and growing! (They were all fantastic, though. Go if you still can! They close soon!)

Foux da Fa Fa Friday

Hello folks,

Ever since Emily H posted the song "Jenny" on her blog, I've wanted to post "Foux da Fa Fa" on my own.

My brothers introduced me to the band Flight of the Conchords, and for many reasons FOTC will forever remind me of them. I imagine FOTC writes the kind of songs my brothers would write if they wrote their own music. Although only two of my brothers speak French, all four do a great impression of this song! It just hilarious that the band decided to randomly make up a song where they throw in every French phrase and word they know. I hope you all think it's as funny as my family does, even if you aren't familiar with the band...or speak French...

And now, for your Friday viewing pleasure, I present to you "Foux Da Fa Fa" from Flight of the Conchords:

One Question Too Many

Abraham Lincoln... was a lawyer early in his career. He once defended a man accused of biting off his opponent's ear in barroom fight.

There was one witness. Lincoln asked the man, "Did you see the fight?"

"No, sir," said the witness.

"Did you see my client attack Mr. Jenkins?"

"No, sir."

"Did you see my client bite Mr. Jenkins's ear?"

"No, sir."

"Well then, and think very hard about this question, did you see my client bite Mr. Jenkins's ear off?"

The witness looked Lincoln in the eye: "No, sir," he repeated.

At that moment, Lincoln had him. He could have sat down, having completely destroyed the man as a witness. But instead, the great Abraham Lincoln made one of the few mistakes in his career.

He asked one question too many.

"Then how in tarnation," he thundered to the witness, "do you know that my client did bite Mr. Jenkins's ear off?"

"Because I saw him spit it out afterward," came the devastating reply.

[from Fallen Heroes by Dafydd ab Hugh]

I think about this story often.

Last week, I thought about it after talking to my next-door-neighbor. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night that week, I heard loud music with a beat coming through our shared wall. Until at least 2 a.m. each night. It kept me awake. Tuesday night I'd even gotten out of bed at 1:30 and listened at all of the doors in my building and walked around outside to see if anyone's lights were on, and I didn't see or hear anything. (I had this problem in a previous apartment. I was on the third floor, and the music was coming from the first floor. It could be anybody.) As I listened through the wall I could hear the television, but no prominent music. Where was it coming from?

By Wednesday I felt grumpy and exhausted by the whole thing. I called the property management company in charge of the condo and they said if I want to complain I should send an email. They like this stuff in writing. They'll send the offender an email reminding him of the rules, and if I complain again, they'll send someone out to listen for the noise and then charge the offender a fine for being a nuisance.

I debated whether to go talk to my next-door neighbor before sending te email. The "con" to this situation is that if I do complain to the management company he'd know who the whiner was. However, if I turned him in and then it wasn't him, I'd likely lose credibility, and may make an enemy of my neighbor. The "pros" to talking to the neighbor before complaining was that the music was more likely to stop by that night and I might get some decent sleep, I meet my neighbor, and he doesn't get a formal reprimand. The pros won, and I walked next door and knocked on the door.

This neighbor and I had never met. We've smiled at each other on the stairs a couple of times, and I know he's had several conversations with my dad (he's a contractor and offered Dad advice while Dad worked on my closet), but I wasn't sure he knew who I was. When I knocked on the door, I introduced myself, then explained about the music coming through the walls.

He was very polite, but assured me that it couldn't be him because he doesn't play loud music until 2 a.m. "It's probably the people downstairs." I felt disappointed because I had hoped not to accuse everyone in the building, but if he said he didn't play music, then what could I do?

However, the neighbor then kept talking. He said that since they get a lot of noise from the street, he leaves his television on all night. I asked if there was background music on the shows, and he said no. He just puts it on some movie channel and shuts it off when he wakes up in the morning.

Um... it is just me, or is there often music playing during a movie, and could that very well be the music that's been keeping me up? At that point, I was pretty sure the music was coming from the television. The neighbor was very nice and although he didn't think it was him, he agreed to turn the volume down, just in case.

I haven't heard any music since.

It was probably him. He almost convinced me it wasn't, and then he just kept talking.

Oh, well. No skin off my nose. I am just glad I can sleep again!

Vacation Time!

The most common thing that married people tell me they would do if they were still single is travel as much as possible. True, I have a lot of money saved up and can think of few things better to spend it on than touring the world; it's the limited vacation time from work that's a problem. Still, it's also true that when I marry and have a family, I'll have more urgent and important things to spend my time and money on.

It occurred to me last week that the only vacation I have taken in the last 12 months (from August 20, 2008 through August 20, 2009) was the Mesa, AZ trip in April. The year before, I went to Disneyland, the western Caribbean, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, and Cedar City. But this year, most of the time I took off from work was because of physical illness, and I was probably getting ill because I wasn't scheduling time off. It's a vicious and yet predictable cycle.

Last night, I grabbed the globe from my desk and started looking at all the places I want to go: Thailand, Greece, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, eastern Canada, Alaska, New Orleans, Missouri and Illinois, Costa Rica, Buenos Aires, Russia, Australia, Georgia, Cuba, Fiji, Egypt, Israel... the list goes on and on, not to mention places I have already been to that I would like to revisit. How I wish I were independently wealthy so I can travel all the time!
[photo is courtesy of travelwo]

So you can only imagine how ecstatic I am to have not one, but two vacations planned within the next six months! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! I am so happy to have something to look forward to, I don't even care that I have to wait six months for the second vacation.

The first trip will be to Washington D.C. next month. I had scheduled time off for my birthday without a clue what I actually wanted to do, but I was pretty sure I didn't want to sit around at home for five days. Then, while talking with Aaron and Shonni on the phone a few weeks ago, Shonni asked "When are you going to come visit us in D.C?" She and Aaron are planning to move back to Utah in a few months, so my time was growing short. Everything just came together and I said, what if I come Labor Day weekend for my birthday? A few hours later, I had purchased a very reasonably priced plane ticket, sealing the deal. Just like that, I have a vacation planned!
[photo courtesy of Teambuildinginc.com]

Since I recently saw many of the tourist sites in D.C., I asked Aaron and Shonni to treat me like a native, so they are already thinking about restaurants and dance clubs and other activities to take me to. If there's a Labor Day celebration somewhere I want to go! However, I'll be there on a Tuesday, and I imagine they will have to work, so I am thinking about what to do that day. I would like to do a session at the Washington D.C. temple and maybe visit the Smithsonian museum where Dorothy's ruby slippers are kept. I am just so excited to get out of town and play with my darling brother and his friends!

The second trip is a western Caribbean cruise at the end of January with a group of singles! Yaaaaaay! I went to the eastern Caribbean with this group in 2008 and absolutely loved the whole experience. The prices this year are ridiculously low, and the stops are in Honduras, Belize, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. Shonni and I are signed up to be roommates and are hoping for more people for our room, Aaron is coming too, and we're trying to get as many of our single friends involved, because the more people we know, the more fun we'll have!
[photo courtesy of Fins 'n Flippers]

If any of you single ladies and gentlemen are interested in joining me on this cruise, shoot me an email or post a comment on this post with your email address and I'll give you the info. Sorry to leave you out, married folks, although I bet if you wanted to bring your family and come along I would see you there! It won't be exclusively single people on the ship so you'd be more than welcome. Let me know if you want the info. Cruising is the BEST!

I am especially excited about the timing for this cruise, because our next software release is on January 15th... again. Remember how last year I was working my brains out through the holidays and doing a show and pretty much no one heard from me for three weeks? Yeah, I really could have used a vacation then and kicked myself I didn't sign up for the cruise. Because we'll be scrambling to cover for one of the technical writers who left for another awesome employment opportunity, I'm thinking this release will be even more stressful than the last. This year's cruise starts January 25, perfect timing, no? Even if we don't quite finish the work, my boss already gave me clearance to go. I am very, very grateful and even more thrilled.

Meanwhile, I also have a desire to visit China within the next year -- most likely in the late spring or summer. I keep hearing advertisements on the radio for tours starting at $999. That includes hotels for a week, sightseeing admission and airfare. I'm sure there will be extra Chinese travel visa fees and tips and stuff, but I am quite excited about the idea and can't fault the price. I need to call the agency to see what options are, pick a date, and then start recruiting friends to come with me. If I went next summer I wouldn't even have to worry so much about whether to invite student friends, because they wouldn't have to miss any school!

I generally don't like planning things that far in advance because there are so many factors I can't predict: possible family weddings and such. (Hopefully if I plan in advance, though, they might be willing to take my schedule into account...? I know that's completely egotistical because I have no business making demands of a wedding and I'd only be peripherally involved anyway, but I missed Adam and Lindsey's wedding during my mission and I really don't want to miss another one of my brothers getting married!) Another kink is that it might mess me up on doing one or more plays next summer. However, going to China would likely be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... it just sounds awesome. When else am I going to do something like this if not now? Anything can happen between now and "someday," so if I want to go -- which I do -- I should probably go now.
[photo courtesy of Trader China]

Anywho, I'm looking forward to travelling and taking some much-needed and hopefully much-deserved time off from work. And it's always nice to take advantage of these opportunities when they come along. Woo-hoo!

Big Daddy's Advertising

There's a Big Daddy's Pizza place near where I work. I drive past the strip-mall where it's located on the way to work, on the way home, and if I drive over to Ft. Union for some reason during the middle of the day. Apparently, the pizza place's location is a little-known secret, so they advertise by having teenagers stand on the street holding signs like this:


(I admit, I have a crush on the boy who strums his sign like a guitar while listening to his iPod. He completely ignores the passing cars and looks like he's having a great time!)

Well, a while ago, I drove past the stretch of road where they advertise during lunchtime, and saw one of the boys dressed like this:


That's right, he's the Joker from Batman. He even had the mannerisms down, feeling the inside of his mouth with his tongue and glaring creepily at cars who were stopped at the traffic light. He gave me the evil eye when he saw I was taking his picture. One of my co-workers said she saw another of the teenagers dressed like Batman! Batman and the Joker advertising for pizza -- how's that for random? You've got to give them credit for making a dull and thankless job a little more fun. Heck, I'd love to put on my Sleeping Beauty costume and walk around on a random Thursday.

I've never eaten at this pizza place, but the kids with the signs intrigue me. I doubt they're out there all day every day -- just lunch and dinner time. What do they do the rest of the time? Work in the kitchen? Go home? Do they get paid a salary or is it based on how many people they bring in? Will the corner-standing continue when summer break is over and most (if not all) of the kids return to school? I'm going to miss them if they disappear.

Not the worst summer job in the world. They've entertained me, at least!

Are YOU a picky eater?

Today's Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson: