Woot Woot!! All Aboard The Caffeine Train!

I've had two big espresso-based drinks today and a bunch of chocolate. Wooooooooo!!! Between the sugar and the caffeine, I'm in such a good mood that I almost can't stand it. I should just hook myself up to a caffeine iv everyday. Maybe then I'd like people more and be more friendly. Have I mentioned that there's a pajama party tomorrow night at the bar? Have I mentioned that I'm totally stoked to wear my pjs and panda bear slippers in public? Rock.

Frickin', Frickin'...

The ac adapter for my laptop is kaput. This means no computer at home until I get a new one. Work has pissed me off today. I have no money for my trip, for which I leave on Saturday. If you could see me right now, you'd probably run away.

I Blame The Crack.

I wore a skirt to work today. What the hell was I thinking? Tonight, I must catch up on sleep. My brain is obviously not functioning properly if I let myself leave the house like this today.

Wowee.

I had the best time last night! An intern from our corporate office in Chicago was in town for the day to take a look at our parking situation here and report back to his boss. My boss asked me to work with him yesterday, show him around the property and see what there was we could do to make our process flow more smoothly for assigning parking spaces/getting people on a waiting list. Turned out there wasn't much to fix, so he only needed to be in the office for 1/2 the day. He wasn't scheduled to fly back home until today, so he didn't really know what there was to do here in town since it was his first visit to Portland. I offered to hang out with him last night and we had a great time. Dinner at Rock Bottom, dessert and a glass of dessert wine at the Portland City Grill, and then over to the Boiler Room to sing for a bit before walking him back to his hotel in the rain. He opened all the doors, wouldn't let me walk next to the street and paid for dinner. All around good stuff. I'm gonna pretend he didn't just turn 20 two months ago.

Bizarro World

It was about 7:30 this morning. I was having the best dream: I rode up to my grandmother's house in some car with I don't know who driving. I was wearing a white blouse (and later noticed that everyone in the dream was wearing something white), which I never do, and going to some sort of party. Some of my relatives were out on the front lawn, drinking and talking, and I went past them all into the house. The inside wasn't anything like the actual inside of my grandmother's house, but it was familiar. When I looked down at myself, my clothes had changed to dark red and black. I was in a big, poorly lit room with dark wood floors, a desk with a computer at one end and a paper shredder next to it. I went down to the computer and printed out whatever was on the screen, but the paper that came out of the printer said something in big black and red letters like, "Private documents!!! Security clearance required!!!" and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember that freaked me out...so I immediately put the paper in the shredder. Just as it was eating the last few inches of paper, a hand reached out from behind me to save the paper and it slipped through the fingers and away into the shredder's teeth. Next thing I know, there are hands on my shoulders tunring me around and I'm looking into the face of Jonny Lee Miller (hottie guy from Hackers). He had a blue turtleneck sweater pulled up over his lower lip, a black wool hat and was looking at me like I had destroyed something important. I tried to pull away, but I wanted to kiss him...so I pulled the sweater down and leaned in. Just as things were getting good, I was jerked awake by the sound of pounding on the front door. Talk about freaked out. I just sat there for a minute and then heard the pounding on the door across the hall....and then on another neighbor's door. I didn't know what to think, but didn't want to open the door or even look out the peephole. By then, it was about time for me to get up and get ready for work, so I jumped in the shower and didn't think anything else about it...until I was walking down the hall to leave and saw one of my neighbors' door partly open with Portland police officers in their apartment and two people sitting on the couch, handcuffed. I kept moving down the hall and left the building, looking around for police cars or other officers on the street but saw nothing. Is that weird or what?

Early Christmas Window-Shopping

I've started looking at digital cameras to decide which one I'm going to either buy for myself (I give myself at least one Christmas present every year...that way, even if no one else deems me worthy, at least I get new stuff) or put on my list for Santa. I know it seems like it's awfully early to be thinking about Christmas already, but believe me when I say I know what I'm doing. Me and the fat man are like this...ok, well, if you could see me right now, you'd see that my fingers are crossed.

Anyway, the easiest way to get exactly what you want for Christmas, aside from getting it yourself, is to do your research and start dropping hints early. Like around Labor Day. See, Santa is old. I mean ancient. The guy doesn't check his list twice because he's super diligent...he's got a touch of the Alzheimer's and he forgets things. So, it's really in everyone's best interest to write down specifically what they want and include pictures, if possible. In fact, leave pictures laying around of what you want, too... since he's always watching to see if you're behaving yourself and he's bound to see the picture circled in the magazine you've left open or the strategically placed ad stuck on the front of the fridge. Oh, and tell your parents what you want from Santa too. They probably have more pull with the guy than you do.

So, I still don't know what camera I want, but I have a few more days until I have to start my campaign. If you have one that you love, tell me what kind it is and I'll check it out.

13 Days And Counting...Oi.

I can't believe how quickly this trip is coming up. Seems like we were just talking about where we wanted to go a few months ago, but in fact that was two years ago. In case you haven't been paying attention, I'm leaving on Sept. 4th for two weeks in London and Dublin. (*note to self: get a functional cd player before the trip...14 hours of travel time w/o your own music will SUUUCK.) I haven't flown anywhere or even been inside an airport since before 9/11, so I'm interested to see how the whole checking in/security thing goes. My sister has flown several times and always seems to get picked for the "random" extra bag/wand security checks. Between Florida and here, she's had her nail kit taken away from her, they've asked her to take off her belt and shoes, they've pulled her whole bag apart and then left her to put it back in order.... I never thought my sister had a particularly suspicious look about her, but now I'm starting to wonder. She left a couple weeks before the rest of us to travel around Italy, France and Holland before meeting us in England. Lucky bum. I've been keeping up with the weather in the UK so I'll know what to pack and it's been cooler there than here, which makes me the happiest girl ever. Can't wait to wear layers!

Speaking of layers, the rain started yesterday and carried over to today and that means layering weather is hopefully on it's way for next week. My allergies have been acting up for the past few days and it's making me nuts, so I'm thankful for the rain and temperature change. The heat has just been ugly and my eyes are a mess. I've looked stoned for three days and that's just wrong.

In other news, my folks were here this weekend because they got tickets for the Antiques Roadshow. They said the whole process of checking in, waiting to be directed to the appropriate appraisal section and getting their stuff looked at took all of 1 1/2 hours. I think they were expecting something more than what it was. Anyway, Taryn and I met up with them out in Clackamas to wander around the mall and then they took me to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes (tasty!). Later, they came down to the bar for a few hours and got to hear us sing again and see a few of the old college people who were there for Amy's birthday party. I love it when they come out...it's a rare occurance, so I'm always excited when they visit. Plus, they get to see me in a really good mood and laughing a lot, so I get the impression it makes them feel better about how I'm doing here since they can't see me everyday and, as often as not, I'm in a funk or need to vent when I talk to them on the phone.

Enough rambling...it's shower time.

Old School In The Hizouse

I am Mr Do. I am sedentary by nature, enjoying passive entertainment, eating when the mood takes me, and playing with my food. I try to avoid conflict, but when I'm angered, I can be a devil - if you force me to fight, I will crush you. With apples. What Video Game Character Are You?

Just When I Thought It Was Safe To Go To The Karaoke Bar...

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but, I'm really good at getting minorly hurt in ridiculous ways. Nothing requiring stitches or a run to the ER or anything...just really painful stuff at the time that seems silly in retrospect and heals up within about two weeks. Like the time I caught my heel on the carpeted front stairs in my building and fell forward down six steps into the foyer while my neighbor looked on in horror. Or the time I was playing softball a few summers ago when got blinded by the sun and caught a ball right in the mouth (which was a bloody mess but surprizingly didn't need stitches and my lip healed up quite nicely on it's own). Or that time on my birthday when I smashed my finger in the front door of my building while trying not to let it slam shut about 1/2 hour before I was supposed to go to my birthday party. Yeah, that was cool.

Last night, I was at the BR with Shauna and Jason. We were pretty much the only people there for awhile and the first time I got up to sing, I couldn't get the mic stand unscrewed to adjust it to the right height. I turned to Brad and said something like, "Dude, this thing is broken or something..."... at which point, I let go of the top section and grabbed onto the bottom section right as the whole thing loosened and the top section dropped into the bottom section, thereby pinching the fleshy part of my hand between my thumb and first finger between the very top of the stand and the part you twist to keep the stand at the right height. Sonofa.... Thankfully, I was drinking for awhile before this all happened and Yukon Jack is a great pain reliever. Today, it's purple and a little swollen and hurts a little when I move my thumb. Lame.

Karaoke...It's all fun and games until someone pinches their hand in the mic stand.

Txt Msg Addict

I really think I have a problem. I can't get enough of my phone and text messaging. Ever since I switched over to AT&T Wireless and got the Nokia 6800 (the one with the full flip out keyboard), I'm constantly texting people. Ok, mostly Taryn, but sometimes I text other people too. For example, last night I spent about 45 minutes texting back and forth with Mike. In the middle, we had a 2 minute phone call that got cut off because of reception problems, so we continued texting each other. So silly. When I don't have my phone (which is always an accident), I feel naked. Crazyness. The one time I thought I'd lost it, I was almost in tears until I finally found it. Ridiculous.

I need professional help.

I Guess The Clean Laundry Is Worth The Trauma...

The laundrymat closest to my apartment is kinda weird. It's in the process of being renovated, but it's open while they're doing the construction so there are big holes in the floor where the new washers are going to be. There was no one there on Sunday (was everyone in church or something?) so that meant all of the washers and dryers were open (sweet!) but the dry cleaners isn't open on the weekends, so there was no one there to tell about the change machine being out of service. The guy in the mini-mart next door called the owners, but didn't know when they'd show up and by then I was about ready to just wear dirty clothes and say forget it. I waited for about 20 minutes and the guy showed up to fill the change machine, but proceeded to chat with the lady who works next door and dink around while I'm sitting there waiting to get my laundry done and get the hell out of there. The last place I want to spend my Sunday is in a hot laundrymat with the dryers running and no music (my cd player decided to crap out and not read any of the discs I put in it yesterday). Two hours later, I was finished and home and so happy to have clean sheets that I took a nap right then and there.

I'm Not Actually Your Friend..But I Am...

The Bite reminded me how much I really don't like people. I mean, I like specific people, but people in general annoy the hell out of me. The bands were worth traversing the sea of dinks to find a seat and I was glad Taryn was with me because she was thinking the same things about the crowd as I was. Plus she took some funny pics during the show and that's always good for a laugh. They Might Be Giants was awesome and Death Cab For Cutie sounded great. DCFC played "I Was A Kaleidoscope" and I thought of Koji because he introduced me to them with that song on a mixed cd he sent me once upon a time. And, aside from being bonked on the head by the doofus next to me (three times!), I had fun watching TMBG play. Good stuff.

Later, we went to the BR and I was once again reminded how I am different from my other female friends in that men say things to me that they never say to my friends. I spent part of the night talking to Brad and Wes, who I'd previously thought was adorable...but evidently he was too drunk last night to realize that it's not cool to tell someone you think they're the cutest thing ever and want to make out with them only to take some other random girl into the bathroom five minutes later. Mindboggling. Ah, the joys of alcohol.

After the bar closed, we were hungry so, after trekking to the 24 Hr. Hotcake House and seeing the line, we headed back downtown to the Roxy for breakfast just after 3am. Woo hoo for bacon and french toast! I slept until 1:45p today, dragged myself across the street to get a haircut (hooray for haircuts!), and I'm feeling like taking a nap for a bit until it's time to get ready to go out again (yippee for going out again!).

Rare Post Regarding Politicians!

When politicians need actors and musicians to draw a crowd for them during their election campaigns, it makes me wonder if the people are actually looking at the candidates' platforms or if they just want to rock. The other thing I wonder is whether people vote for these candidates based on the fact that some famous person they're a fan of is supporting them. I mean, if Sean Penn is voting for Dennis Kucinich and you're a Sean Penn fan, you'll vote for Kucinich too. Likewise, if Leonardo DiCaprio is going around to public appearances in support of John Kerry and you loved Titanic or used to watch Growing Pains, then Kerry is the candidate for you.

Personally, I just want to rock and I'm pissed that I had to work while Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora jammed at the Kerry convention.

Also...

I'm in love with Peter Murphy again. Ok, not Peter Murphy actually, but his music. Yeah.

Not-So-Scary-oke

I love Wednesday nights. The regular Wednesday crowd at the bar is so much fun! Shauna and I thought it'd be fun to pick songs for other people and it turned into Regulars Scary-oke Night. We had everyone's name on little pieces of paper and you got to put in a song, unseen by the singer until they got up to sing it, for the person you picked. We ended up with about 4 or 5 songs each and, since we'd decided to be nice, everyone did well with the songs we chose for each other. I love it when we mix things up like that because so often, we all just sing the same old thing and have a tough time picking new songs. Sundays are great for that reason too, because we usually make a point of trying new songs early in the evening while no one else is there.

Also, unexpectedly, I was given a cd last night. Sweet.

Everything Smells Like Curry

When we get lunch from the Indian cart up the street and bring it back to eat, the whole office smells like curry. I love it, but a couple of the other people who work here hate it. I'm not sure why, but that makes me laugh. I'm ready to go home but I'm here until 6pm and only have a few more minutes of my lunch break. All of my posts have been short lately. I've got all sorts of things going on but, partly because of time constraints and partly because I've got some stuff in my head that hasn't become cohesive enough for public reading yet, nothing feels like coming out when I sit down and stare at the screen. When it does, hopefully this will be a less boring blog.

I Still Wanna Go To The Beach

I've never been to Multnomah Falls. I've never been to the lava beds in eastern Oregon. I've never been to Christmas Valley. I've never been to Astoria. I haven't been to the beach in years. I'm gonna whine now.

Sad, Sad, Sad.

I just had the most pathetic lunch ever: picante beef flavored ramen noodles, two slices of american cheese and a glass of generic lemon lime soda. Wow. Welcome to restriction. I'm only allowing myself Wednesdays and one weekend day out and no dining out or frivolous shopping until my trip (only 26 days away!). I'm gonna become best friends with my books and video collection over the next few weeks. Someone needs to come keep me company because this is going to suck.

Stupid Guest Room.

I'm awake right now. It's 5am on a Saturday. Sucky.

The 700 Club

This is my 700th post. Holy crap.

Last night was...unexpected. Jennifer came down from Vancouver and hung out all night, which was fantastic. I miss working with her and she always cracks me up. Taryn and her family came out and I'm sad that I didn't get to spend any time talking to her brother as I had a great time with them last time he was in town. Hopefully I'll get another chance tonight or tomorrow night before he and his wife have to head back down to California. And now for the unexpected part: I met someone I'd only previously talked to on Friendster and it turns out he went to high school with Taryn and Izak. Small world, eh? Anyway, it was nice to put a face with the words on the screen (a cute one at that). He still owes me an e-mail so I'm curious to see what he writes now that we've met...

Time for food.

A Million Miles, A Million Miles...

Miles to go before I sleep...and all that jazz. I'm tired already (waiting for the guest room renovations to begin) but I'm going out for awhile tonight anyway. A friend who used to work with me is coming out for the first time in ages and T's brother is in town so it'll be fun to be around different people for a change. I'm going to see if I can sneak in an hour nap before I head out but I have a feeling that's not going to happen... damn. I have to run errands on the way home anyway so it's just not in the cards for me to rest today. Where're the m&m's?

So Much For That Idea...

While I was waiting for the #14 bus to take me home yesterday, the #33 pulled up and someone was sitting in the back looking out the window at me. He looked and then looked away and then looked again...like maybe he recognized me or something...and waved as the bus pulled away. Totally made me grin and pulled me out of my grumpy mood a little. So, thanks mystery bus guy.

Around 8ish, Shauna called and asked if I was going to the bar. I said I hadn't planned on it, but guessed I could. So, an hour later we're driving down to the BR and we're talking about how we've both been pissy lately...too much stupid crap going on, etc. We got to the bar and pool was still going on and barely anyone else was there. We parked it at the usual table and chatted with Brad for a bit before more people showed up and the singing began. We called it an early night around midnight and I slept pretty well with the fan pulling cool air into my room from the living room. Had weird dreams between hitting the snooze this morning...I was at someone's house, helping arrange presents for a party. I carried them into the main room and tried to make the table look nice and my grandmother (looking younger than she actually is for some reason) made some offhanded, surprised-sounding remark about how I was good at what I was doing...and I snapped back a comment about how amazing it was that I could possibly be good at something. She gave me a nasty look and fumbled for words and finally walked away. And I felt so good and so guilty at the same time. And then the alarm went off for final time and I got up. Guh.

Give Me A Frickin' Break.

I'm just now taking my lunch break and I hate everything right now. Grrrr... I'm ready to go home and not talk to anyone for the rest of the day.

Tan Lines And Awesome Cool Dudes

Ok, even though I went to get a manicure and pedicure yesterday (which made me feel extra pretty), I'm still a little miffed about the tan lines on my arms from going to the Red Bull Flugtag on Saturday. I love my pale complexion and the tan lines around my wrist and shoulders were not on the agenda. I guess I should have seen it coming but, after putting on SPF 45 before leaving the house, I figured I was good to go. Should have brought my paper umbrella. Damn.

So, last night I went over the the Ash Street Saloon to see CAC and I'm so glad I went a little earlier than planned because the band before Brad and Eric was awesome. They're called the Awesome Cool Dudes and they're from Austin, Texas. They're playing again tonight at the Twilight Cafe on Powell and if you get a chance, go check 'em out.

In other news, I'm going to England and Ireland for two weeks next month and I can't wait. If you'd like to donate money to the trip fund I was supposed to start six months ago, e-mail me for details.