I took a chance

I heard this guy Jason Mraz on the CBS Early Show's Second Cup Cafe. He was so interesting. He sang the song, "The Remedy" and it was so upbeat and different. I was immediately impressed.

Well that was months ago. Everytime I've gone in Sam Goody, I couldn't remember his name so I could buy his CD, Waiting for My Rocket to Come. Yesterday, I finally remembered his name and the good news is that I found his first CD in the used CD bin for $8.99. I love this CD. It didn't disappoint me at all. I read that he was influenced by Dave Matthews and you really can hear that in his music. But unlike Dave Matthews, Mraz's music seems happier and more upbeat. But there's no mistaking the complicated guitar riffs... Mraz is clearly a Matthews disciple.

Hey, I don't care. I just love this CD.

I finally found them

I found not one, but two pairs of boots that fit me. I have a hard time finding boots that fit my calves because, well, to put it bluntly, they're big. But a friend suggested going to Value City to find boots and I ended up with a black pair and a brown pair and I got them for a good price too.

Finally...

New York, New York

It was three years ago, tomorrow, that I spent about 7 hours on the street outside Tower Records in New York City waiting to meet Liza Minnelli. That same day I saw Kelly Ripa coming out of Barnes and Noble with her son. It was a cold day and I almost got in a fight with an crazy old lady.

I met Kelly Ripa again, a year and a half ago...
Liza and David broke up...
That crazy old lady is probably still cussing me out.

Yahoo Mail!

Yahoo mail has got to be the most useless email ever invented. It'll give you a bulk folder which is supposed to sort out the "junk". But then it sends everything to the inbox. There have been times when I've left my mailbox unchecked for at most 36 hours and ended up with almost 300 emails, all of which were junk.

One of these days, Alice, one of these days... pow!!! right to the moon!!

It's simple science

The law of inertia states:

A body in motion wants to stay in motion

conversely...

A body on the couch wants to stay on the couch.

:)-

Stuck in the 80's

I don't care what VH1 says, this is still one of my favorite songs of all time. I'm still waiting to see Deborah Gibson in concert or on Broadway.

Foolish Beat
VERSE 1:
There was a time when
Broken hearts and broken dreams
Were over.
There was a place where
All you could do was
Wish on a four leaf clover.

But now is a new time
There is a new place
Where dreams just can't come true.
It started the day when I left you

CHORUS:
I could never love again the way that I loved you
I could never cry again like I did when I left you
And when we said goodbye,
Oh the look in your eyes
Just left me beside myself without your heart
(without your heart)
I could never love again now that we're apart

VERSE 2:
When I was sorry
It was too late to turn around (turn around)
And tell you so.
There was no reason
There was no reason
Just a foolish beat of my heart.

CHORUS

BRIDGE:
Oh, can't you see I'm not fooling nobody
Don't you see the tears are falling down my face
Since you went away
Break my heart, you slipped away
Didn't know I was wrong
Never meant to hurt you now you're gone

I could never love again now that we're apart.
(now that we're apart)
I could never love again now that we're apart.

Regina and Sandra

Ok, scratch last night's blog. M and I have finally decided who we want to be. M is going to be Regina King and I'm going to be Sandra Bullock.

Now if you don't know us or didn't read last night's blog, the irony will be completely lost on you. Otherwise, I think we make a great team!

Tyra and Halle

Last night I dreamt that my friend was black. Now, in real life, she's white. In my dream had a light complexion with curly reddish brownish. She didn't look like a white person made up to look black, she was actually black.

Wait, there's more...

I tell her about the dream today and she says, "Did I look like Tyra Banks"? Now, I can only blame this on America's Next Top Model. She's started watching it and well... I don't know what to say...

So I told her that if she gets to look like Tyra Banks, then I, in turn, get to look like Halle Berry. I mean it's only fair. I've always had good looking friends and felt like the "plain" one. So if there's a tranformation, we're both getting it. I mean, as long as we're stretching things, why not go for gold!

Livin’ on a prayer

We’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got
’cause it doesn’t make a difference
If we make it or not
We’ve got each other and that’s a lot
For love - we’ll give it a shot
Whooah, we’re half way there
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand and we’ll make it - I swear
Livin’ on a prayer

Wise Words

If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.
If you teach him how to use the internet, he'll leave you alone for a week.

Be there

In the grand scheme of things, there are something that are more important than other things. People are important, how you treat them, how you love them. We live such short lives and there is so much we have to do, so much that most of drown in the sea of responsibility. We fool ourselves into thinking that if we keep plowing ahead, working those extra hours to get more things, our families will achieve some imagined level of happiness.

I have news for you, no such place exists.

If you put your trust and hope in things, then things will be all you have in the end. Go find your loved ones and give them a hug. Tell them you love them. Then you'll find happiness. It doesn't reside in a particular zip code. It doesn't require a minimum annual salary. It only requires that you be there, emotionally, physically, and spiritually for your family. Be present in their lives now before you forget how to do it.

After all, today is a gift...That's why they call it the "present".

Where are the priorities?

With hurricane Wilma headed for Florida, why are all the news headlines about Katie Holmes protruding belly or whether or not Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn are dating or the whole Branelina thing? I'm tired of hearing about celebrities and their personal lives.

Personally, if Jennifer Anniston is dating Vince Vaughn, I say, good for her. Brad doesn't seem to mourning the break up of his marriage. Everyone wants to paint Jennifer as the jilted wife whose friends have to drag her out of bed and re-assure her that life will go on. What everyone seems to forget is that Jen was strong before Brad and will be strong after Brad. She's said plenty of times that she's ready to move on with her life. And this "feud" between and Jen and Angelina... yeah ok. Let it go people, let it go!

The funny thing is that we sit and talk about celebrities as if their successes and failures in relationships have a direct correlation with our relationship successes and failures. I mean people were going crazy with Nicole and Tom broke and now Brad and Jen. Celebrities are human beings just like us. They have problems like everyone else.

Having said that, I will be the first one in tears if Tim and Faith break up ;)

Interesting day

Ok, so it's not enough that I pay an arm and a leg for cable internet. Now for some reason, MSN/Hotmail is blocking all comcast email. This means that I can't get email from my friend who is also my coworker. She emails me from comcast and I use msn mail. This also means that my instructor for LIBS150 can't email me either. And of course, comcast has no idea why this is happening, nor when it will be fixed.

Ok, so was one thing.

Later, I went to Target to get socks. Ok, unless they're white socks, I don't know what I'm doing. When I get to Target, I got about 18 pairs of colored socks, two pairs of panty hose and a purse. After I left, I was supposed to go to Blockbuster to return some DVDs, but I forgot. I'll get back to that later.

I went back to work and couldn't really concentrate for the rest of the day. I got a project started and made some good progress, but my mind kept drifting. After work, I went to the pool for my deep water fitness class and then I went to my mom's house. I picked up my sister to go back to Target to exchange the purse and to return the DVDs to Blockbuster. On the way to Blockbuster, I decided to go in a different entrance to the shopping center than I normally take and a lady in a SUV hit me. We were both turning left into the shopping center, but she went too wide and side swiped me. My car has a minor dent, but her car had some damage. The part above the wheel came off.

When I got out of the car, she came over and asked me if I was ok and asked me what happened. I told her that she turned a little too wide and hit me. I have some paint from her car on my car and a small dent, but I was ok. She started to cry. She was so shook up. She told me that her husband was diagnosed with cancer today and that it had been a very bad day. She kept asking me if I was ok and asked if I wanted her name and address. At that point, with the damage to my car being so minor, I told her no and not to worry about it. I was just worried that she wasn't ok. She was so upset. I went over to her car with her to check things out. Outside of the wheel thing, her seemed ok. She said, that people were more important than things and she put the part in her car.

I hugged her again and asked if she was sure she'd be ok to get home. She said yes and then she got in her car and left. I was shaken up, not because of her hitting my car, although, from the angle that she hit me, I could've been seriously hurt. I was more shaken up by her reaction. I was nervous for her. I prayed that she would get home safely. She was so upset.

Now, truth be told, I am a little sore, but I'll take some tylenol for the pain.

This is funny, but true

The juices are flowing

After slaving over a design for my website project for over a week, today I looked at the draft that I turned in and had only one word to describe my design; "yuk".

I can never get completely satisfied with a design. There's always something better I could do. I'm at that point right now. I just worked on a second design, although, I'm not sure if my instructor is going to let me change the design now.

I hope she does because I'm happier with the second design.

Don't worry... as soon as I finish it, I'll upload it for you to see.

Matthew 6:33

(Matthew 6:33) 33 "Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these [other] things will be added to YOU.

Whenever you're stressed about all the pressures that are weighing down on you, read the above scripture and pray to have your thinking re-aligned with God's.

I forgot to do that last week and I let the careless speech of another person ruin my mood. I was told that I need to change who I am in order to achieve a particular goal. What was suggested was contrary to my personality and something that I never felt I should have to do. So imagine the negative self talk that went on in my head.

"Maybe if you were more social, you'd meet someone..." Great advice, but people have a saying that you need to be more social and then not inviting you to anything. Ok, so be social, but just not with us. Hmm...

Then today, I was reading an article in the Watchtower about Noah and the faith that he had and showed in building an ark, when no one had ever seen a flood before. He did this work for over 100 years. The article said that Noah had a faith that was so strong that it directed his every choice in live. He worked toward the goal of finishing is God given assignment and he did just so.

It made me think about all the things that I could get wrapped up in. All the things that could bring me down. Not being married is something that if I allow it to, could bring me down. But God's work of preaching and teaching will never bring me down. It's something that is a privilege and I should do the best that I can at it.

So I'm not going to let singleness bring me down. If it is meant for me to be married, I'll get married and I won't have to change myself into someone I don't like to do it. If I keep putting the kingdom (work) first then all these other things, (the desires of life that are in harmony with God's purposes) will be added to me.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Tagline: Laugh. Cry. Share the pants.

Plot Outline: Four best girlfriends hatch a plan to stay connected with one another as their lives start off in different directions: they pass around a pair of secondhand jeans that fits each of their bodies perfectly.

Actors: Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Jenna Boyd, See more

Researching...

I'm scheduled to get some surgery on the 24th and I decided to do some research. I'm a little disturbed by what I've read. I made the mistake of looking at some pictures on one website and was completely grossed out.

I will say this, though, I did find some very interesting information. It looks like I might have to take off a week or so from work, because I may not be able to walk that much. I'm all for a few days off, but I don't know if I'm up for immobility. I'll figure something out though.

I'm not afraid though...not yet. I think that by getting as much information about this ahead of time, the scariness will be minimized.

Of course, that's what I say now... it's only the 13th.

Quit Smoking

So this morning I saw a Phillip Morris (the cigarette people) commercial. The commercial was about quitting smoking. It was hard to believe that Phillip Morris really wants people to stop smoking when it's their cash cow. Why should they care about smoker's health?

Oh yeah, that's right... Maybe it's all the class action suits that have them concerned... If they really cared, how about this... STOP MAKING CIGARETTES!!!!

If you want to quit smoking, go to the American Lung Association Freedom From Smoking website.

It's getting cold

I've been avoiding this for a long time, but the time has come. It's been in the 50's and 60's for about a week now. It's been rainy and cold. So it's time to go get pantyhose.

I know that man must have invented pantyhose, but they are pure torture.

Walmart

Think Pink

I don't usually buy things like this. But I felt compelled to buy this today.

From the Target website


We’re in this together. Wear it in support of your sister, your mother, your friend, yourself. These bracelet sets come with 20 single-strand rubber bracelets in 3 shades of pink and 6 inscribed silvertone charms ("Hope," "Love," "Courage," "Mother," "Sister" and "Friend") that you can hook on to make multi-strand bangles. Or you can sport the pre-assembled triple-strand bracelets with a Target/Breast Cancer Research Foundation ribbon charm that stays on (includes 4). Benefiting the women who have fought the illness, the people who’ve borne it with them and all who have lost a loved one to breast cancer, Target will donate 100% of profits from this product to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, dedicated to preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding clinical and genetic research worldwide. For more information, visit bcrfcure.org or call toll-free 1.866.FIND.A.CURE.

Spring time in Adelphi

I got an email from my academic advisor telling me that it's time to register for Spring classes. Hello, it's only the fifth week of classes. We've still got nine weeks left and she wants me to think about spring?

Come on now :(

I went ahead and printed out the online course section of the schedule of classes because in reality, who really needs all 148 pages of that thing? I just need a list of online classes that will be available.; seven pages in total.

While I was thumbing through the schedule of classes, I discovered something that I guess I had seen before, but didn't realize. Each semester is broken into two mini-mesters. So theoretically, I could sign up for 2-three credit courses, (one in Spring 1 and one in Spring 2) and still be considered a 6 credit student for the spring. That might actually work for me. This way I can get two classes out of the way without doing them both at the same time.

Now I just have to decide what to take. I'll let you know how that goes.

Good day

There are days when I feel super-productive and the mental juices just flow. Today was one of those days. I'm happy to say that I was able to keep most of the promises I've made over the past week. And I got some stuff done faster than I thought possible.

Mary Tyler Moore to go back to ‘70s’

Will play newscaster on ‘That 70s Show’

Updated: 8:08 p.m. ET Aug. 24, 2005
NEW YORK - Mary Tyler Moore is returning to the newsroom.
Moore is going to play a local newscaster in three episodes of “That 70’s Show.” But Moore won’t play the loveable character she did in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”
Fox says the episodes will air next year. The new season of “That 70’s Show” will premiere November second.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Two shoulders

When sadness fills your heart
and despair is all you see
when you feel you have nothing else
you have me.

Be strong my friend...

September tears fall like rain

Historically speaking, September has never been a month of happiness.

9/11/1973, when the Americans orchestrated the military coup that overthrew and assassinated Salvador Allende in Chile. Over 3000 Chileans, mostly indians, were killed.

09/18/1989 Hurricane Hugo makes landfall over Charleston, South Carolina.

9/13/1996 Tupac Shakur dies from complications resulting from multiple gun shot wounds.

Late 8/31/1997, Princess Diana dies after being chased by papparazzi. The world grieves and tries to figure it out throughout September 1997.

Labor Day weekend 2000, my friend Iran is found in his apartment dead from a self inflicted gun shot wound. He was 26.

08/25/ 2001 R&B singer Aaliyah is killed in a freak airplane crash. The country spends the next few weeks trying to figure out what wrong until...

9/11/2001, Terrorists destroy the World Trade Center Towers (north and south), crash a plane into one side of the Pentagon and killed another plane full of people in Pennsylvia in an attempt to hit the White House. The United States is never really the same.

9/11/2003 Actor John Ritter dies from what doctors diagnosed as an aortic dissection (an unrecognized flaw in his heart).

9/18/2003 - Hurricane Isabel devastates the eastern coast of the US, killing 50 people and causing $3.37 billion in damage.

9/12/2003 Singer Johnny Cash dies from complications from diabetes.

9/01/2004 Armed terrorists took hundreds of school children and adults hostage at School Number One in the Russian town of Beslan in North Ossetia. On September 3, 2004, the third day of the standoff, shooting broke out between the hostage-takers and Russian security forces. According to official data, 344 civilians were killed, 186 of them children[1], and hundreds more wounded.

08/31/2005 Hurricana Katrina displaces over a million people, kills over 1000, and virtually wipes out the gulf coast cities of Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle.

As if that weren't bad enough, 09/24/2005 Hurricana Rita finishes off the gulf Coast, making landfall between Sabine Pass, Texas, and Johnson's Bayou, Louisiana, and refilling an already over flooded New Orleans left with even more water than Katrina had dumped three weeks earlier.

Many other sad things happened, as they do everyday. It's important to let the people in your life know how you feel. It's important to clear up any unfinished business. It takes so much energy to be negative. In the grand scheme of things, it's better to love and be loved and spend your days appreciating your loved ones because tomorrow isn't promised to any of us.