Okay, so being at my parents' house is not very condusive to surfing the net as usual. This week has flown by, but it has been really great. Nate and I are headed to Indy tomorrow, then on to Michigan on Monday with Jack & Manda for Matt's wedding / reception / New Year's Eve party. Then Nate's coming down to N'ville for a few days to hang out and do all sorts of touristy things with me. Rock!

My sister chopped my hair off today. Not as drastic as last year's 11-inch slocking, but it's way more layered than I've ever had it in my adult life. It grows back.

Back to normal updates next week.

Hippie Birthday to me.

What a lazy day. Quite nice actually. Went to Grandma's for dinner tonight. Found quite a friend in my little cousin Lucy. (She's 10... but since they live in Western Australia, I haven't seen her in about six or seven years. She reminds me of me in ways.)

I survived the trip back to Iowa on Saturday. Left my house at 6:15 am and got to my parents' driveway at 10:30 pm. Long day.

Snow here. That sucks a lot. I am so cold.

Sioux Center, IA	Nashville, TN
12°F	33°F
Mostly Cloudy Feels Like: -2°F	Mostly Clear Feels Like: 26°F

Email Quote That Made Me Laugh Out Loud:
"I have surgically attached my passport to my butt. (I wonder if that would make it an assport?)"

I spent 6 hours tonight with people I knew in high school. I see Barbara every time I come home... and I used to live with Nate... but the others I hadn't seen probably in a good three years or so. Fun times. We went through our senior yearbook to figure out what everyone else was doing now. 46 out of the 86 people in my class are married or have been married since we graduated. We believe Jess is going for the coveted Last-Person-to-Get-Married title.

I have never really had any big anticipation for my birthday. This year is really no different. The fact that I have reached the big 25-year milestone must say something. Just not quite sure what. I wonder if there are sites dedicated to Christmas babies...

To Be Born on Christmas

The Exquisite Pain of a Christmas Birthday

I should find a way to work this into my template here:

This morning my boss and his family seranaded me with the Christmas songs they have learned... finishing it off with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday". It was really cute. Coffee & chocolates for Christmas and a beautiful matchbox for my birthday. Yay!



Last night as I was walking down the hill to the cottage, I actually said out loud, "If it is going to be this cold, it could just as well snow."

Dear mother nature, I was only kidding. Please spare me from the horrible snowstorm that is being forecast for my drive home tomorrow!

(Check out SnowCrystals.net for more cool photographs of snowflakes like the one here.)

I have known Daniel for something like four years now.

Tonight on the phone he was telling about his new girlfriend. He was so cute about it. He said it was perfect except that her parents do not really approve. In my head, I was thinking that it was because he is in a band and doesn't have a "real job" or something like that. But no... he said, "Well, it's because I'm not white."

I was so floored. That was the furthest thing from my mind. I don't even consider that he is hispanic. It is such a non-issue.

??? Questions.

I have always hated shopping to begin with, but having to go to a mall in December is my own personal hell. Set me loose in an artsy-fartsy downtown with little shops with unique items any day... but malls? No thank you.

I hate shopping and Christmas shopping is like the two minute warning of shopping. In 'regular' shopping, if you don't find what you want at first, there is always time to shop tomorrow. With Christmas shopping there is no tomorrow. Time is running out and you have to score some kind of gift. It doesn't even matter if they like it or not.

Preach it, brother!

It is finished.

Michael and I started this, our first creative collaborative effort, on Monday night. Last night it was completed. It is the first in a series of über-cool cds to be used as pre- and post-show music. It is beautiful. It is amazing. I am actually considering a reroute of my New Year's plans in order to catch the show in Chicago... simply for the pre-show music. :)

**Refrigerator Magnets: Volume One**
01. Children - Robert Miles
02. Message in a Bottle - The Police
03. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
04. Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears
05. One More Time - Daft Punk
06. That Song - Big Wreck
07. Africa - Toto
08. It Is What It Is - Adam Again
09. Pocket Calculator - Kraftwerk (That one is for Adam.)
10. Cars - Gary Numan
11. Walk On - U2
12. Failure - Alfie
13. Hear You Me - Jimmy Eat World
14. we can't remember the the title of this one - Moby
15. Rush - Big Audio Dynamite
16. Safety Dance - The Echoing Green

It's going to be fabulous.

In an effort to keep the bulk of my week heartbreak-free, I would like to thank all those who are cooperating with the theme of "Bad News Tuesday". If I get no more bad news this week, yesterday will have been a success. Something is going down, though I am not sure exactly what yet.

Song of the Day:
I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred
I love being responsible for getting a song stuck in someone's head. (Try whistling "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega sometime and wait to see how long it takes to catch someone else whistling it.) So this morning Ted and I were trying to think of the name of this band and could absolutely not come up with it. I said, "I know what it is. It is three little words... like Right Said Fred or something." Then a little while later he got mad at me for getting this song stuck in his head. (And incidently, the band was Callbox... which isn't three words at all. But a compound word could be considered two little words smushed together, right?)

Well, I had a great weekend, but blogger wasn't working when I came back all ready to tell about the merriment.

The highlight was unexpectedly running into Kevin Doyle again after two years. He sure knows how to make a lady feel good. (And not in a sleezy-guy type of way.) He just had something genuinely nice to say about every aspect of me. "I love your hair like that. It's a great length." "Love the new glasses." "Those shoes are cool." "You just look amazing." Etc. That sweetheart is going to make a lucky lady so happy someday.

Apparently I have the glow of someone in love. I walked in the door, and the first thing Jack says to me is, "Do you have a man? You have a man! Who is it? Amanda, who is it?" Wish I knew.

Had a Christmas party last night. We determined that at some point in everyone who lives in Nashville will have worked for EMI, Disney, or Coca-cola or work with someone who has, does, or will. Though most of us there were slaves to EMI. Me, technically not, but in the grand scheme of things, yes.


 
 
  Happy
   25th
Birthday,
    Jay!

 

The guy doesn't read. He gets a book as a gift and says, "That was the one gift I was hoping I wouldn't get. I'm a drummer. I don't really read. I have books; I just don't really read them." I'm still disappointed in that guy. How ungrateful. And what is he trying to imply by his drummer comment? I know plenty of smart drummers. Well, at least two.

Friday Five
1. What did you want to be when you grew up? For the most part, I wanted to be an actress... until high school when that morphed into more of an interest in technical theatre. Except when I was 16, I decided I wanted to tour with a band as their merchandise manager.
2. Do you have any nicknames? Dani, Yandell, Donna (from That 70's Show)
3. If you could change something about yourself what would it be? That I would have better financial-organization skills.
4. Have you ever bought anything from an infomercial? I have a friend who buys too much from informercials. With the amount of grief I give her about it, I don't think I could ever cross over into informercial-buying.
5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Driving to Indy first thing in the morning. Manda and I are going to do some Christmas shopping in the afternoon. Getting Mama Carolla's for dinner... mmmm... Then Jack's not-so-surprise birthday party at night. Driving back here first thing Sunday morning. Staff Christmas party in the evening and possibly another party after that one.

Work to do. :)

Good looks do not matter if you do not have the personality and intellect to back it up. No way.

So I went to my first "industry party" tonight. It was a little weird. And then I had my entire impression of this guy blown away. Not only did I have issues with his attitude, but I think I could run intellectual circles around him in my sleep. Sad.

Last Friday's Five
1. If you were to go to a movie this weekend, which one would you pick? I really want to see Behind Enemy Lines. Nate and I talked about going last Sunday, but I fell asleep instead.
2. What movie would you like to rent this weekend? I have been really wanting to see Glory again. I own it, but I think it must be at my parents' house, because I cannot find it here.
3. What one TV show do you always try to watch? 24 (you can watch the encore of Tuesday's episode tomorrow night at 9pm/8central on FOX. :)
4. If you (and your S.O.) were cool with it, what five celebrities (at the most) would it be 'ok' for you to have a fling with? hehe... umm... Heath Ledger, J.C. Chasez (hehe), erm... that's all I can think of. How disappointing.
5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Well, I was at home spending time with my family. Did a lot of chores around the house that had not gotten done with my mother being so busy. Put up Christmas decorations. Spent some quality time at the piano. But "Family" was the keyword for the weekend.

Now I am the last person who wants to walk around all stressed out and paranoid about what might happen in this crazy world, but I read something today that made me think of another story I read last week.

Story #1: American Taliban fighter says new attack planned on U.S.
After interrogating this 20-year-old kid, officials say that he mentioned "additional attacks in phases". Seems as though he is being dismissed mainly because they do not believe he would have access to the real information and that even those closely involved with bin Laden did not know the exact details of the attack on September 11th. Walker mentioned specifically that the second phase was to begin at the end of Ramadan, which incidently ends on Sunday.

Okay, yeah, great. I understand their logic. Punk kid out in the wilderness shooting guns for fun. He is essentially a sheep. He follows. He goes where they tell him to go and does what they tell him to do. I would like to believe, as much as the next person, that he is just basking in his fifteen minutes of fame.

But what if he is right?

Story #2: The Telegram Nobody Believed
This is a tale of a 30-year-old refugee from Berlin named Gerhart Riegner. He tried to warn the U.S. about the devastating news he learned from an anti-Nazi German named Eduard Schulte. "According to Schulte's intelligence, Nazi Germany aimed to resolve once and for all the 'Jewish question in Europe.' This goal required the deportation of 3.5 to four million Jews to the East, where they would be 'at one blow exterminated.'"

It is my understanding that it took over a month to get the information into the right hands because people could not believe such a thing could be true. I know it must have seemed like a fantastic story. I mean, who would honestly want to believe that such an idea could be true.

How many people wish that someone had believed sooner?

Story #3: The Sky Is Falling
A tale about the country fowl who believed the sky was falling just because Chicken Little told them it was so. One at a time, they joined the march to the king. Certainly it was true... because a piece of the sky had fallen on Chicken Little.

Email hoaxes of free tickets from Disney and beta-email-tracking programs forwarded to everyone in your mailing list might be a modern day parallel.

I don't really know what to think today.


Song for the Day:
Once Again - from All Around the World

Breaking news -- Thanks to The Globe's investigative reporting, we now know that Bin Laden killed Princess Di. Okay, so the line was pretty long at Kroger tonight.

A recent National Institute of Dental Research survey found that adults had an average of 23 decayed and filled tooth surfaces, with 30% of adults having more than 30 decayed or restored surfaces. I have none. Or at least no fillings to show for it. I had a few caps and fillings as a child... but I have none in my permanent teeth -- yet. However, I have had a constant toothache ever since I went home. :( I guess I had better go to the dentist at Christmastime.

This is an entertaining critical essay on the theory of The Tooth Fairy.

I'm back again after a quick trip to Iowa to be with my family. More updates later. Just trying to get caught up at work again.

It's a Small World Moment: Ran into the band on Thursday as we both had connections in Minneapolis. Sat with them on a bench staring at passers-by. Everyone was a little tired, but it was cool nonetheless.

Thanks for the phone call, Tash. :) You're the best.

Grandma died this afternoon.

I'm designating Tuesdays as being Bad News Tuesday. If you have any bad news, please kindly wait until a Tuesday to tell me. Thank you.

Looking for presents for your true love? Search no further.

Partridges
Pear trees
Turtle doves

more to come...

Today I sent a letter to the McDonald's corporation to ask them to bring back the fried apple pies instead of those blechy ones they have now. They switched over in 1992, so I figured 2002 would be a great time for a comeback.

"After making us live without them for ten years, would you please consider bringing back the fried apple pies? 2002 could launch their comeback after a decade’s absence.

"I am sure some people appreciated the gesture of concern for America’s health by offering the less-palatable baked pies. I understand that some people face real issues in regards to their weight and cholesterol, and this is a healthier alternative for them. However, I do believe that Americans are smart enough to gauge whether they should choose a fatty item for their diet or not. Perhaps offering the fried pies along side of the baked pies would be an option."

I really hate this Ginger thing. More about that later.

It's Moonday. (Or Monday, I guess.) On my way to work this morning, the moon was still hanging in the western sky. The shadows on the surface looked kind of like a yin-yang.

Last night it looked like there was a man in the moon.

This site shows you Today's Moon and also lists what events happened on which phase of the moon. Kind of interesting.

By the way, I'm working for NASA. Kind of. I forget where I got this link, so I apologize... but you can go here and help mark craters on images of the surface of Mars.

So apparently there was an American among the captured Taliban. That makes me feel really weird. This article has him describing what it was like at the prisoner uprising in Mazar-E-Sharif. It seems to bring a new perspective on what is happening.

And I'm so glad that "Ginger" has finally been revealed. After all the hoopla, it's a stinking scooter. Just what America needs. Another anti-exercise device. For the latest updates, see Ginger-Chat.com.

If I was an Autobot, I'd be:


Take the Transformers personality test at android5.com!

So Amanda and I spent two and a half hours doing glamour shots. I admit it was kind of fun to be pampered and told how beautiful we were. The girl said I have "perfect, pouty lips". Uh, okay.

Also, on Saturday I got my free month of digital cable installed. 500+ channels. Since I didn't used to watch much television, it really is overload. BUT... I was able to tape the Jimmy Eat World concert special on MTV2 tonight, so I am thrilled with it already.

Ever heard of Entomophagy? Here's a hint... you can read about it at EatBug.com. I found this one while trying to figure out what these mutant cricket things are that have plagued me lately. (Okay, so I have only had two... but two in three days is far more than I care to host here at the cottage.)

We built a fire in my fireplace for the first time this weekend. Fire hint for today: start with a base of pine cones... worked like a charm for us to get the logs going. Here are some other tips to get your winter fires burning.

On my way to work this morning, I followed a van with "God Bless America -- Love It or Leave It" on the back windows.

Then I read about some apartment complex that is requesting tenants to take down their flags. ''During one of the inspections, I suggested to the management that we put out a flier saying that the time has gone by for displaying flags and other things," said the property manager in the interview. Hmm... I don't see anything wrong with a tastefully displayed flag. As long as it is done properly. (See my gripe on that issue from a couple months ago.)

Is tomorrow really December? I am in December denial. Somehow it just doesn't feel right down here. Garland and wreaths look strangely out of place when running around in short sleeves. I can't imagine how those kiwis do it in New Zealand. :)

Friday Five
1. What did you have for dinner last night? Totinos Cheese Party Pizza
2. Do you ever get up for a midnight snack? not at all
3. What's your favorite dessert? My mom makes the best strawberry dessert thing that I always request as my birthday "cake" since I hate cake. I am also going to learn to make tiramisu one of these days.
4. Tell us something about you that would surprise us. well, on the food topic, I have never in my entire life eaten an entire peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I have tried a couple bites now and then throughout the years, but those would probably only add up to not even half a sandwich. The whole concept just grosses me out.
5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Manda is coming down for the weekend! Yay! Tomorrow she is making me take Glamour Shots with her against my will. Chinese food is in order at some point. Possibly going to see fellow tomorrow night.

Song of the Day:
Sarah's Song