Return to Blogging (or how to beat the high cost of boredom)

Dear blogosphere... my how you've grown.

So after a 5 year absence, I've decided to return to blogging. I have so many emotions and opinions to share that I feel I need to reach a larger audience and broadcast it to the world. My current audience being 1 (3 if you count my dog and cat) and wanting to increase that number times 10!

I stopped blogging mainly because it became such a chore to keep up with and I felt I wasnt doing anything interesting enough to warrant a blog. Well that still holds true but damnit if no one else has anything interesting to say either and still continue to blog. My ultimate goal with blogging would be to steer topics whichever way I choose and not be confined to commenting on others' blogs about their uninteresting topics.

I've also outright stole the title and feel from my best friend Nomi and told her I would give recognition in exchange.

anti: Everything. A good place to start but I hope to narrow it down in subsequent posts.

A blog at the end of the world

Friday night, Nomi and I went to see Garden State at the AMC on Technology. Neither of us felt like mixing with the hipper indie crowd at Magnolia to see this movie. There was barely anyone in the theatre as most of the crowd who goes to AMC are there to see big summer blockbusters... not quirky low-budget romantic comedies. This was most evident in that the sound, once again, was horrible. Last time we saw an indie movie here, Saved!, the sound kept going in and out or was on a frequency only audible to dogs. Great movie but I was hoping for a different ending. After the movie, we went to complain and we got our money back for the tickets so that wasnt so bad.

Saturday, we went to the gym at 7 in the morning. Once again, trying to avoid the crowds and succeeding. I dont think I've sweat for over 6 months since Saturday. I'm terribly out of shape and its embarrassing. I did about 20 minutes of cardio and then tried some strength training. The weight stuff wasnt as bad as the cardio but I'm sure I had everything on girl settings. I've been paying for it the last two days though... I've been walking like I rode a horse on some trail ride.

Saturday night, I went out with a police officer. It was interesting... all handcuff and nightstick jokes aside. He's a really nice guy but I dont think we could be more than friends. He broke a few of my cardinal rules first night. It was bad enough that he wore SHORTS and SANDALS at NIGHT but on a first DATE. I was mortified by that but that wasn't all... he had on one of those coral choker necklaces. It could have been worse, it could have been one of those pooka shell necklaces. Second mistake, on his part, he didnt reach for the bill at the restaurant. I stared at it twice on the table before I finally picked it up and looked at the total. He said he would pay or if we wanted to go "dutch" (my most hated word) and I said I would take care of it. He said he would get the movie or drinks later. I suggested we go see Ju-On which is a japanese horror pic showing at the Angelika. He wasnt too thrilled with having to read subtitles so we abandoned that idea. We went to Snookies instead for more drinks. We alternated between talking, watching the Olympics on the telly, and staring at a birthday party at the table next to us. It wasnt a boring night but I dont think we're suited for each other. I wouldn't mind being friends with him though... if only because it would be beneficial to have a cop as friend at some point.

Policy of Hate

My intention is to disabuse the general public that hate is a negative or ill-served emotion. It's very existance in our emotional vocabulary should lend to its validity and place in human communication. Having said that, here is my list of things I hate in no particular order:

1) overtexturized hair - is it me or has every boy decided to put in tons of producty goop in their hair and spike it out in one form or another? Toni & Guy must be making a killing off this fad, and believe me, it is a fad.

2) sleeveless shirts at night - c'mon now... its not so hot that you can bite your thumb at the fashion gods. Your intent is to show skin to illicit some visceral response in others. Job well done, you've gotten me to feel revulsion and disdain.

3) sandals AT NIGHT - let me clarify this by saying men's sandals, particular thongs, flip-flops, and jesus sandals. call me an elitist if you will, but no one should intentionally wear sandals after 6pm unless going to the beach. Save your sandals for the daylight and if you get caught after sunset still wearing your sandals then get yourself home as soon as humanly possible.

4) the recently political - how I hate to hear people drone on as to why I need to vote and the "hot issues". I am consistent in my apathy, thank you very much. I did register to vote and will be casting come November but I feel no need to promote my political agenda in my idle chit chat.

5) radio - 10 minutes of bad music interlaced with 15 minutes of commercials. Don't even get me started about morning radio shows.

6) the "easy" - remember when sexual discernment was classy? Lets forget that most people are a walking petri dish... what happened to taste? Sexual innuendo is rampant in the media and you can't walk 5 steps without running into a dick, puss, or boob reference. Have a little respect for yourself and those around you. Keep it in your pants for more than a day.

7) people who use the word "hot" to describe anything other than the temperature - Surely we can find better adjectives. I also disapprove of the term "hottie".

8) jennifer aniston/brad pitt - sexist couple, my ass. Totally trite, but so is this whole entry.

9) Von Dutch - I use it to polish my toilet bowl now. I think I saw those foreign girls who worked at Mythik wearing all the clothes they couldnt sell before going out of business.

10) humanity (in general) - this includes my pontificating and self-righteous self. We'd be better off as lizard people who spit actual poison, instead of methaphorical, at each other when agitated.

What blogs may come...

What has brought me back to the world of blogs, you ask yourself. What has caused me to transcend the mundane routine of work and sleep? The premier of Big Brother 5 and The Amazing Race, of course.

BB5 - Okay, I'm so tired of the twists on reality shows now. People, I have a reality addiction problem... you dont need to throw fancy lightshows or complex twists to make me tune in... you've got me. That being said, I LOVE the new twist. I hate the idea of Project DNA (Do Not Assume... how cheezy) but I FELT for the cowboy when he figured out he may have a half-sister in the house. I totally knew it had to be two of the people originally from Texas. Of course, the two ugliest people in the house are the related ones... they have to bear the same genes. I hope he saves Jennifer, AKA Nicodemus, because it looks like the little alliance of boys wants to pick off the ugly girls first (typical). On the other hand, when Jennifer asked to be called Nicodemus (okay, thats not what she asked to be called but I cant remember what she said other than it means Daughter of the Moon and is probably her name for Dungeons & Dragons, you know it is), she totally signaled herself as FREAK. The tattoos and piercings dont help either. OH, and now i'm certain the contestants don't get final approval of their glamour shots they hang on the wall because I dont think Nicodemus would choose to look like Blossom. And what's with them picking the ONLY white girl in San Antonio? Early favorites are The Cowboy, Will, Lori, Drew, and Holly. I'd like to see Nicodemus advance further but I really think she has too many things against her to let her go very far. I do want to see her know the truth about her half-bro, the cowboy. I don't know what Will is thinking that he's going to fly under people's radar and not say he's gay until its too his advantage. First off, Will, you are TOTALLY gay. If your voice didnt totally give you away, your mannerisms did. I totally saw him swish. Second, when has being gay ever given you an "advantage" other than scoring you Cher tickets and a headstart on an eating disorder. Drew, okay I just want him to win because he's cute. Lori, she's a pretty girl and she doesnt seem totally insane. She made a big mistake by taking the $10,000 but i think she can recover from it. Holly, the girl is ditzy and I dont think she's playing it like she says she is. Holly is just like I like my girls, funny and dumb. Right now I'm really HATING Jase and Scott... especially Jase. of course, Jase won HoH and i just KNOW he's putting up Nicodemus because she's ugly. His hair is way overtexturized and he needs to tone it down. He's probably comes out of Toni & Guy and likes the way they overprocessed his hair and keeps it that way, whereas I am the person who comes out and looks for a mirror to tone down the texturizing immediately so i dont look like a freak Pia Zadora hair.

The Amazing Race - What, no gay teams?? No gay cheerleaders? No gay best friend?! I feel very slighted by this season! Where's my demographic?! Of course, I'll be tuning in just to see the midget. I mean "little person". I feel terribly bad for her because she can't RUN. I'm sorry, her legs are way too short and she's going to hurt herself eventually. On the other hand, she can carry her partner's fat ass on her shoulders. That none of the geriatric teams got eliminated totally shocked me because they are usually first out. There's a couple from Corpus Christi, wow. Okay, I'm not terribly excited about this season's cast but I do know that I don't want Allison and her dumb as a post boyfriend Donny to win. Its still early, I might really get into the season later. I'll still watch, I cant help it.

A Tale of Two Biddies

Okay, the time between posts just gets longer and long. Sorry about that to the, hmm, THREE people who probably read this blog.

My original intent was to write a post concerning this man I had to interview for a part-time position in my department. My original post would have eviscerated the guy's looks and demeanor BUT I have since decided to turn over a new leaf and makeover my INSIDE as well as my OUTSIDE. Thank you, Oprah.

So, I returned from the Memorial Day weekend with a new haircut. I went to the lady who used to do my grandmother's hair and would do my hair occassionally. She gave my mom and me free cuts because my grandmother was such a good customer and she misses her. It made me sad. So, I asked her to pretty much shave my head with a 3" guard but to leave the front/bangs long. I call it my Tony Hawk hairstyle circa 1985. If my bangs were longer, it would totally look skater-ish. I, personally, like my new cut and have gotten compliments at work but you never know if they're just being nice. Nomi won't say she likes it, she just says "I need to get used to it." which means "I hate it but I'm too nice to say that." \/\/! She hates modernity... even if its retro-modernity.

So I'm most likely going to see the new Harry Potter movie this weekend. I had promised Matt that I would wait and see it with him but I figure what's a little white lie between two people who barely know each other? So I'll be seeing it with Nomi on Friday night. Saturday, I'm going to get my brows waxed... again, the whole Bresnev thing. We're also going to check out some knitting classes. I know it sounds like an old maid thing to do, but knitting just seems so peaceful and relaxing and at the end of it all, you get a sweater or some socks. I can make sweaters for christmas and give them away as gifts!

One last thing, Nomi and I started our diets on Tuesday. Originally, we were going to have another competition between her, me, and Vero. I won the last competition but it was easy because they both ended up gaining instead of losing so i didnt have to lose that much to win. This time around we made the rules slightly more complex in an attempt to be fair because odds would favor me in just weight loss. So we made different categories to judge such as weight loss, lifestyle change, etc. Well, I think we made it too complex for Vero and she has already given up on the bet. It wasnt COMPLEX and I dont know what she's complaining about but oh well. Nomi and I are still going to go thru with it and arent going to look for reasons to fail. We've done both well so far and my pants already feel looser. Wish my luck!

Something for the Weekend

Let's recap, shall we?

Friday night, I went to have dinner with Nomi and Ivan at Bread Winners. It was a decent meal but the restaurant was totally DEAD on a friday night. This totally confirms what I was telling Nomi that its a breakfast place. It's like going to IHOP for dinner... it can be done but its not adviseable. There were TONS of people at a bar & grill two restaurants down from us. I think it was Primo's... or possibly Republic. Anyway, we still had a good time and talked about nothing in particular. Next turn it will be Ivan's choice of resturant so I expect good things. I came back home afterwards and worked on 2 CDs for the next night's activities which I will explain forthwith.

Saturday, Nomi and I woke up early to workout. We DDR'd because its just easier. We can do it in the apartment, plus its just more fun than anything else. I think we're both getting a lot better at it. Next time I go out dancing, I can practice my moves. They play practically the same songs on the game as they do in da club. Nomi and I went to see "Super Size Me!" at noon at the Magnolia. It was a decent movie... very interesting and it made me think twice about fast food. It was, of course, very extreme in Michael Moore kind of way but not half as annoying. I'm not saying it changed my life, but on Sunday I was hungry and wanted to get something from Wendy's but thought twice about it and settled on just going to the grocery store and getting something else instead. Later that night I went on a "date" or "outing" or what have you. I don't know what to call it because it conjures expectations and just makes me feel stupid. Met up with Matt at GameWorks at Grapevine Mills Mall. I was supposed to give him a run for his money by thoroughly kicking his arse in Marvel vs Capcom 2. Well, I havent played the game in years and he obviously has. He totally beat up on me and I was lucky to take down one of his characters occassionally. Most of the time, I just watched him play. It was VERY surreal because normally I have people watch me play. Time moves MUCH slower when you're just watching and not playing. I still had a good time but I felt like one of those skatergirls who just sits on the curb and watches their boyfriend skate instead of just skating themselves. I guess i'm would be a "betty". Anyway, yeah... we didnt even play DDR! I would have if he would have done it too but I wasnt about to sweat on a first "outing". I think he's too cool to try it plus he just looks like he lacks rhythm so I didnt push the issue. After he beat everyone there was to beat a couple of times, we went to grab something to eat. We went in his car and I let him choose where he wanted to go. He wanted to go to IHOP (oi vey) so off we went. He thought he knew where one was but we drove around lost for about 15 minutes and accidentally went into DFW airport. It was amusing and kind of fun. Eventually we gave up on IHOP and found Denny's which he had never been to (shock!). Totally dead Denny's and our waitperson was a large black man with a womanly voice. I thought it WAS a woman when he/she came up to our table and asked what we wanted because i hadnt looked up and when I did, I totally did a doubletake. So he ordered "Moons Over My Hammy" and was embarrassed to call them that and said "Moons over..." and waited for the waiter to finish the order. I think he wanted something egg-y and you know I wont do egg except maybe in an omlette and only if it has lots of cheese. I had the chicken strips because it looked the most benign thing on the menu. So we talked while we waited for the meal. I felt like we were in Reality Bites. I felt very 20something and in college. His humor is VERY dry, more so than mine which was odd for me. He also mumbles which I find endearing because I have a tendency to mumble too. He listens to the same kind of music as I do but not the same bands. We talked briefly about religion which I tend to steer clear of on first conversations. It can be such a touchy subject. He's totally atheist and I'm non-practicing catholic. My view on God is weird. I don't want to totally deny Him but I also believe in science and the secular. I think the fear of hell was drilled into me as a child and I want to cover all my bets... which is why i still capitalize the "g" in God and the "h" in Him. I did tell him about my mormon chic that I tried to cultivate about a year ago. He found that amusing. He's totally anti-fashion and brands which can be a potential problem with me. Okay, so almost everyone I know is not into fashion but they arent ANTI it. Uh uh, you can tell me you dont care about brands but don't dis Karl Lagerfeld to my face! He thought my Paul Smith wallet was a pride/rainbow wallet and I was aghast. I quickly explained about Paul Smith and his stripes and even threw in stuff about Paul Frank. Anyway, I still had a good time and I think he did too although he probably thinks I'm totally dorky but he's a comic book/card dork so he hasnt have too much room to talk. We drove back to my car and I gave him the CDs I had made him for which he was really appreciative. It was a good night, I guess. I gave him a handshake which is what I always do because I'm dorky and not forward. We emailed the next day and he said he had a good time and blah blah. We'll if we end up setting something up again.

Banned From the End of the World

Jem is so insightful...

So not too much has been going on with me since I last posted. I'm going out to eat at Bread Winners with some friends. I've never been but Nomi has her heart set on it for some reason. I've always considered it more of a breakfast place that just happens to serve lunch and dinner but oh well.

I think we're going to go see "Super Size Me!" tomorrow during the day. I've been wanting to see it but I don't think it will be exciting as I think. I think I just enjoy the notion of someone "living the dream". I can't imagine eating McDonalds every day but alas, I dont see that ever happening. The experiment is inherently flawed because the average person does not eat fast food exclusively and, yes, its fattening and high calorie but I'm doubtful that McDonalds markets it an eating regime. The documentor's time would have been better spent showing how Americans can lose the weight rather than how they put it on. That wouldn't have made for as interesting movie, I guess. They could Brad Pitt in it and it might have had a big opening weekend.