Month: February 2003

Friday Five

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This week’s Friday Five …

1. What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)? It used to be books, but since I was introduced to the internet, I read magazines more.

2. What is your favorite novel? I don’t have one.

3. Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!) Nope.

4. What is one thing you’ve always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read? Nothing in particular.

5. What are you currently reading? Watchers by Dean Koontz.

I used to read a lot when I was younger, mostly because I had no life. One of my favorite authors was Stephen King, who is known for his very large novels. It took me nearly a year to read The Stand, but that was mostly because many parts of it were quite boring, yet I had to know the outcome. Normally I’m a very quick reader, finishing a 500 page book in two days. I tend to get into the storylines so much so that I can’t put the book down. When I was younger I’d stay up until the wee hours of the morning just so I could finish a book.

For the past several years, I couldn’t read fiction at all. I’m not sure why, but it seemed like a waste of time (not sure what my reasoning was since I’m an avid movie watcher, which could also be deemed a waste of time), but I just realized this week that I’ve fallen in love with fiction again. I’ve been reading Koontz and Danielle Steele, although Steele’s books are all the same in my opinion. Then again, so far so is Koontz’s. He is fascinated with murder. But his novels are much more interesting than Steele’s.

Music Woes

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Aw damn, why didn’t someone tell me that Borders online has a partnership with Amazon.com? Then again, who doesn’t these days? Toys R Us, Carson’s, Marshall Fields, and Target all immediately come to mind. Sellouts! Well fuck it, I’m still using my gift card. Now if only I could find something decent worth buying. So far I have the newest Underworld cd picked out, but I’ve been listening to sound samples of various sub-genres under the Dance category and everything that I don’t already own sucks. Anyone care to make some nice Techno, Trance, Drum n Bass, or Electronica suggestions? I already own most of what’s been released by Underworld, Moby, Orbital and Prodigy, as well as the only decent music I could stand by Aphex Twin.

Olive Garden, here we come

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20030227-giftcards.jpg The gift cards I mentioned a mere week ago arrived today. I’m really surprised and impressed. I was under the impression that it would take 6-8 weeks for me to get the cards. The Red Lobster ones are good at The Olive Garden, as well as a few other restaurants, and since we haven’t eaten there in a long time, I think we’ll be dining there this weekend. I might have to check Borders online too, now that I’ve got $40 burning a hole in my pocket.

Nothing better to do

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Thank god I decided to bring my Sony MiniDisc player to work today, otherwise I think I might have gone insane from the boredom. I spent the entire day keying adjustments into our Oracle database. I get to do it again tomorrow too – I can’t wait! That’s sarcasm in case you’re impaired. I can’t believe I went from one end of the professional spectrum to the other. My last job was non-stop work and my new job is not enough work to keep me from constantly watching the clock and wondering why an hour at work seems to go by as fast as five hours of non-work.

When you’re staring at a computer screen for hours on end and listening to various genres of music, the mind tends to wander. Among other things, I found myself thinking about the time I went to London. It was a fantastic experience, despite the fact that I was sick as a dog the entire time and spent more time in bed than exploring the one city I’ve always wanted to visit. I did get to see The Cure live in concert, though, so that made it all worthwhile. But the thing I recall most vividly was how desperately lonely I felt. It occurred to me on more than one occasion while I was abroad that I had no one at home who cared about me (family not-withstanding). No one awaiting my return; no one who truly understood me, loved me, and wanted to spend the rest of their life with me. It depressed me more than I can put into words. My trip was at the beginning of December, and by the time the holidays rolled around I was in such despair, I don’t think I could ever feel more hopeless again if I tried.

The point of this story? When I look back on that time, it demonstrates to me how so much can change. Sure, I waited another four years, but happiness did find me. That person who completes me even more so than I could have ever hoped for found me and made me feel whole again. So when I start thinking about some things right now that I’m unhappy about (not relationship-wise, mind you), I remind myself of this very situation. It’s just a temporary stop along the intended path, you see. Do I believe in fate? Hell yes I do.

Another thing I was thinking about at work today is how much I miss taking nature photos. There is just nothing left in this apartment worth photographing. I looked back through my photos from the summer and fall and suddenly felt impressed by my own work. I look forward to the weather warming up so I can find new and interesting things to photograph. The Nikon 5700 is a good camera in any situation, but I feel that it truly shines when used for outdoor photography.

At the store today I spotted some cute flowers and had to have them for my desk at work. It’s been so cold and miserable lately and I need a little spring to cheer me up. Funny thing happened when I bought the flowers – the cashier guy only charged me $.49. See, I had grabbed one of those plastic trays that catches the water and set the flowers in it. I really didn’t think much of it when I did it. But apparently Mr. Not So Bright wasn’t paying attention and just scanned the whole thing together, so I was only charged for the tray. Normally I’d say something, but I’m really tired of correcting people’s stupid mistakes. If I bought a tupperware container and threw all my other groceries in there to make room on the conveyor belt would I only get charged for the container? Of course not. So phooey on stupid people and corporations who hire them.

But now you know the secret to buying cheap flowers. ;)

Another one bites the dust

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Another weekend, that is.

This time the boy didn’t want to come visit. Very unusual, as he always wants to visit, but what can you do? Kids are so unpredictible. So Friday night we took the girl to Taco Bell for dinner, and let her pick out a movie at Blockbuster. She chose Anastasia. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, so I was happy. For ourselves, we got Stealing Harvard, which we ended up watching last night. I don’t recommend it. I really didn’t think it was that funny. Also, I was disappointed in Jason Lee’s performance, much like I was with A Guy Thing. I hate to say it, but I really think he can only find “success” starring in a Kevin Smith flick playing a cynical character. It just works for him. That’s why I liked him in Kissing A Fool, even though Kevin Smith didn’t have a part in it. And don’t get me started on Tom Green. The only movie where he didn’t make me cringe from his absurdity was Road Trip. The guy has issues.

Yesterday we took the girl to the mall and had lunch. We ended up buying this really sexfantastic lava lamp. I’ve wanted one for awhile, but never bothered. This one is red and has glitter in it instead of wax. Very sweet! After the mall, we went over to our friends’ house so the girl could play with their little girl. They did play together, but our girl was much more interested in playing with their three cats, especially P.J., who everyone affectionately calls Lunchbox due to his size (he’s huge for a two year old cat). He is a total sweetheart, and much like a dog, he likes to play fetch. We were there so long that by the time we got back the girl pretty much had to go straight to bed.

This morning after we dropped the girl off at home, we ran to Walmart to pick up some toys for my cousin’s son’s birthday. They live in Indiana, which was a long haul, but it wasn’t too bad. Now we’re back at home, rental in hand (we got One Hour Photo which I hope is as good as I’ve heard), and we’re set to relax the rest of the evening, or what’s left of it anyway.

I hope it’s warm next weekend since we’re kid free. I know we’ll definitely be seeing a movie, but I’d like to go out and take some pictures. I’m trying to kickstart spring early because I just can’t wait. I’ve finally cleaned up the ruins of last year’s flowers on our patio so I’m prepared for this year’s batch. I bought some cone flower seeds today, and I filled up our bird feeder and put it back outside. Bring on the warm weather; I’m ready!