Oh boy!

So I had something interesting happen to me RIGHT NOW.

*WARNING: It is only interesting to me.*

I got on my statcounter, as previously discussed, and guess who had visited me? Someone from DERRY! DERRY!

Yeah it was Derry, New Hampshire and not Derry, Maine, but still... wait, you don't know what I'm talking about? Don't know anything about me? Don't know anything about Derry? Well, well, well, look who knows so little! (it's you).

Derry is the scary-ass town with the scary-ass clown in the book "It" by Stephen King. Haven't read it? That's probably because it's over a thousand pages long -- and every page is worth it if you enjoy being so frightened you're afraid to sit with your back to the door and shower at any time after reading it, and if you enjoy long nights wondering exactly what it is your parents (or children) are doing when they're not within your field of vision. Running through the sewers? Ignoring screaming and bloody children? Not seeing anything at all? What are they doing? WHAT??

I first read the book when I was ten -- that's right, TEN! -- and it's been scaring the pants off me ever since. If I didn't have bloodcurdling nightmares as a small child, I'd just assume "It" was what kicked them all off (but I started with the nightmares very young, so Mr. King is off the hook for that one).

So I'm very excited (and scared) to greet my first guest from Derry. Hope to see you HAUNTING around here again! !!! (yep.)

Lameier Sculpture Park Music + Movies

Lameier Sculpture Park does this great thing I didn't know about until recently. In June, on Fridays, they blow up (with air, not explosives) this big screen and hire a band. The live band plays music until the sun goes down, and then they get a movie going on the big screen -- and it's FREE. Well, I might have not been too impressed with a free movie if it wasn't JURASSIC PARK! JURASSIC PARK! ON A BIG, BLOW UP MOVIE SCREEN? *signs up*

So we went. Myself and my beau headed first to Wal-Mart to snag some chairs and some Off, and then we met up with two of my fellow supervisors and staked our claim to a nice view on the hill above the screen. Another supervisor from work joined shortly after. The day had been hot, but the night was perfect; light clouds rolled in, bringing a nice fresh cooling breeze with them and keeping us all at just the right temperature.

There were the usual comments from the peanut gallery. I might stay quiet during a movie I've never seen, but all pre-watched movies are subject to snarky comments and this movie was no exception. Probably my favorite part was when the four-year-old girl sitting behind us said clearly in an innocent voice: "What are they gonna do with that cow?" The cow onscreen was then lowered into an enclosure where it was obviously dramatically completely devoured by dinosaurs with scary-sharp teeth. Oh boy, did we have a laugh over that one!

There's one more movie left in June: the Sandlot. If you're thinking about traffic, you're thinking wrong, because we didn't have any issue at all leaving last night - not even a line to the stop sign. So take all your snarky-commenting friends and go see it.

Long time no bitch, moan, and complain

My it HAS been a long time, no?

I've been relatively busy; I'll say that I can't imagine how people have families and children and jobs but still find time to blog. Working full-time and being in a relationship is definitely time-consuming; while I'm still long-distance with my (wonderful) beau, we spend a lot of time on the phone, so there's not time to type a blog when you're chatting with the handsome about politics or medicine or burping. Just no time. (and trust me, I'm not complaining)

I wish I had some big news for you. The truth is, everything is fairly regular. Still working out several times a week (week 7 of a structured workout now) and working what FEELS like everyday (tomorrow is the sixth day in a row, ugh). Still annoyed at some family and happy with others. Still kicking along. Still around. So is there any news worth sharing?

For those of you caught in the economic crunch, remember that Six Flags St. Louis is still hiring. If you need a little extra cash, there are a lot of jobs to be had out at the park. Can only work weekends? That's okay. They'll take you. Just something to consider.

Besides that, I'd like to congratulate J. Spaghetti (late) on her new job. So glad to hear so many people are finally getting back into the workforce. We definitely need to remember how it feels to be broke and scared so that when the economy rebounds, we don't turn back to our old spending habits and get in this same mess. God willing, we have seen the worst of it.

"Y"

... "MCA"

Yes indeed.

So I 'joined' the Y's "Personal Fitness Program." It's a program in which you agree to work out three times a week for at least a half-hour each time - or face an embarrassing phone call asking you exactly where you've been. I haven't received one of those calls yet; I've been doing fairly well at it. And as an added bonus, I have suddenly been able to fit into some of my smaller clothes as well as some tops I would never have worn because of the previous weight factor.

The only major problem I'm encountering is a cold I have. I've only been to the Y twice this week, and I'm sick. That's right -- I'm sick; it's just a cold from my very frigid office, but I'm very uncomfortable and it's hard to breathe. Guess we'll see what happens tomorrow; I can't work out Sunday due to my job, and if I'm still sick tomorrow I don't know if I'll be able to make it to work out or not.

Guess we'll see...

The fat and the cheap.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/apr2009/db20090420_108489.htm

...

Seriously?

...

Seriously, people are so cheap and fat these days.

...

That is all.

i wanna be sedated.

I understand people who take valium. I do. I can understand the overwhelming desire to to be "even" for a long period of time. It's so rare to have that even keel; it's not common to have a calm life naturally.

It's funny, because some people say smoking relaxes them. It doesn't. It does the opposite. It speeds up the heart and increases blood pressure; it causes stress alarms to go off in the body.

It's also funny that some people say drinking relaxes them. It also makes them strip down and swim in other people's pools after midnight. It's not relaxing to wake up on a Sunday morning with one half of a handcuff on your wrist with no idea why, or where the rest of it is.

I used to think that writing relaxed me. It didn't. Instead, I have chronicled all the bad parts of my life, so that I can go back and re-read and re-live them any time I want to. Fabulous, btw.

And there are some that argue that anti-depressants are relaxing. Sure, if you don't mind the extra 30 pounds and the inability to get it up when your equally overweight girlfriend finally feels in the mood after six months. But hey, maybe next time.

Finally, some would argue that a joint or two will relax you without any ill effects and without the worry of addiction. I think that those people never looked out their window every few minutes with a bag of cheetos in one hand and a baseball bat in the other, because they thought they heard a car door and "the cops are sneaky."

So yes, I understand valium.

Bizzaro.

Have you ever met someone who completely repels you without any reason at all?

I am actually dealing with something like that right now.

There's nothing wrong with this person at all; he's a very nice guy. He tries to crack jokes; he doesn't act threatening. I come into contact with him only rarely, yet the way he looks and sounds was enough to actually give me a very nasty and lingering nightmare just a few nights ago, with someone very much like him as the antagonist. The problem is, I have very frequent and vivid uncomfortable dreams, and once you're the bad guy in one you're pretty much marked for life; I'm only exposing this here in the hopes that 1) someone else will know what I'm talking about and reassure me; or 2) I will talk about him enough to keep him out of future nasty and lingering nightmares.

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with this guy. I work with thousands of people, and he is no stranger than any of the other men I see daily; fortunately, I only see this guy once every couple of days at most and have little to no contact with him. I don't even know his name. So I have my fingers crossed that if I try to speak to him more often or maybe avoid him altogether (which very well may be impossible), that I can stop this awful, uncomfortable, sick feeling I get anytime I see him or am anywhere near him.

Ugh. I feel so bad!