1/31/2005 05:05:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So on my first day as a substitute teacher, I got a call. Yay! Pluses...actually working in my field, getting back into the classroom, networking. Minuses...a lot less computer time. ;) Postings will probably be fewer and farther between, as I am now a busy, busy girl. (Hilary, I haven't forgotten about your tag...I swear. I'm working on it!) My first day wasn't bad. A few seniors with attitude problems, but that's to be expected. Here's hoping I get called tomorrow! I finished Bird by Bird (#47 in the 50-book challenge, by Anne Lamott)last night. This was a great book about writing, and I found Lamott's writing to be honest, funny and touching. She gives great advice, her personal insights are fantastic, and reading this made me want to check out some of her fiction. I need to go back through and find some of my favorite quotes. I kept reading things to R aloud. I definitely give this one a thumbs up. I need to finish Moonshadow (#46), but I've also started: 45. The Dominant Blonde (chick lit) 44. Passionate Hearts (poetry) I was kind of confused when R gave me The Dominant Blonde to read, but when I read the "about the author" blurb, I learned that Alisa Kwitney was "a former comic book editor for the Vertigo impirnt of DC Comics." Ahhh...it all makes sense now. Heehee. I'm enjoying both very much. Also on my "to read" list: 100 Years of Solitude Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down The Joy Luck Club Kiss Her Goodbye Sense and Sensibility Breakfast of Champions Maus (I somehow missed this when the rest of the known universe read it in college...) Books 1 and 2 of A Series of Unfortunate Events The Sandman (series...how many books should that count as? ;) ) Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth I saw Finding Neverland Friday night with R and his friend John (I sometimes think I should abandon the "R" thing, as I'm sure that everyone reading this knows his name by now...hmmm...), and I really, really enjoyed it. I don't know if it's "Best Picture" material, but I did enjoy it. I got all weepy and stuff... And get this, Lost fans, John gave me my *very own copy* of the comic featured on the show! It's not in Spanish, but it is the very same comic. It's an issue of Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends, for anyone keeping track of that sort of thing. "I wouldn't recommend reading it," John said. "There's way better comics out there." But still, way cool. :) On Sunday, we watched Dodgeball...lots of fun. I thought the best parts of the movie were the clips...the Globo Gym commercial, the Dodgeball video, the ESPN 8 stuff. (Oh, and Gary Cole and Jason Bateman were an absolute riot as the commentators.) I do have more to say, but I'm going to stop here for now...happy almost-February, everyone!|W|P|110721037325281571|W|P|Back to school again|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/28/2005 10:23:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So after I got the hair done yesterday, I needed to make a few stops. I thought, "Hey, if I stop at Evil Wal-Mart, I can get my glasses adjusted." (They were loose.) I went in, stopped off at the vision center...the nice man took my glasses and came back a few minutes later. "I have to see if we have this frame in stock. I went to tighten the screw, and they snapped," he said. They did not have the frame in brown, but they did have it in black. He said he'd order the brown frames, and gave me the black ones in the meantime. When I got home, there was a message on my machine letting me know that the brown frames were no longer available...manufacturer recall blah blah blah. So I can either keep the black frames or come in and pick out new ones. (With a store credit, of course...I was worried that they were going to try and make me pay for the new frames.) R and Jen both like the black. Thoughts? :) I was surprised this morning with a goodbye breakfast...donuts and bagels, a card with lots of sweet "we'll miss you" sentiments expressed, and a silver Cross pen. It made me a little teary. ;) I have a lot of random tidbits of things that I want to accomplish today, and a busy, busy weekend ahead. I can't really seem to focus on anything... And of course, I want to express sincere congratulations to my dear friend Shannon and her new fiance Craig! I am so happy for you both. Jen posted a photo of the ring here. :) OH! And I knew there was something I wanted to add about Lost. You know the comic book that Walt was reading, which has been prominently featured in a couple of storylines? The one with the polar bear? Well R's friend John colors comic books for a living, and he colored that book! Pretty cool, eh? :)|W|P|110692740793856539|W|P|This-n-that|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/27/2005 08:48:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Or brand new hair, anyway... ;) I went to a new place, (to me, anyway) called Bangs. Loved it. I told the girl I wanted a change, showed her the Alyssa Milano photo, and said "I'm toying with something like this. What do you think?" "Ohmygod, that would look *so cute* on you," she squealed. "Okay, then, let's do it." And here are the results: And a side view: |W|P|110687726257138693|W|P|Brand new me|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/27/2005 11:24:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So I'm curious to know what other Alias-watchers are thinking about this season...I've been hearing a lot of general negativity about the stand-aloneness of the episodes, but it hasn't really been bothering me. The network is clearly trying to pick up new viewers with the Lost lead-in, and so they're being slowly indoctrinated into Alias-world. I really enjoyed last night's episode. The guest casting on this show is always fantastic...kind of makes you wish some of those baddies didn't die so quickly. ;) Anyway, I thought the shining moment was when Syd and Vaughn, posing as a married couple for some super-secret Russian spy thing (don't ask), were asked how Vaughn proposed. Syd kind of pauses, looks at him, starts to speak, but then he jumps in. "It was in Santa Barbara..." Santa Barbara, faithful viewers will remember, is where Syd and Vaughn were supposed to be going at the end of Season 2. Unfortunately, after nearly being killed by the evil double of her roommate (again, don't ask), Syd was kidnapped and woke up in Hong Kong. TWO YEARS LATER. So Vaughn tells the story, and it's clear that he intended to propose on that trip to SB that they never got to take. Sniff. It was all tender and sweet and emotional, and very well-played by my TV boyfriend Michael Vartan. ;) Another thing I hear people complaining about is the lack of chemistry between Sydney and Vaughn this season. They're mostly blaming JG's relationship with Ben Affleck. Eh...whatever. I thought their shower scene last night was pretty hot. I was kind of sad last night when I realized that I had forgotten that Lost was a repeat. Wah. And no Alias next week. Double wah.|W|P|110684641166944642|W|P|Alias talk|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/26/2005 11:49:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Every year at Toasted Cheese, we run four contests. To avoid overwhelming ourselves, we divide up the judging. Our current contest, Dead of Winter, is judged by me and my good friend Eden The Dead of Winter and Midsummer Tale contests are themed. The theme for this year's DOW was "The House at the End of the Road." "Dead of Winter" is a contest for stories with supernatural elements or themes. Ideally, stories should be set in autumn or winter. The most original, most haunting stories will be chosen for publication. Winners are to be announced this weekend, so of course Eden and I had to get reading. Many, many of these stories were frightening, but not in the way they intended. We had a total of 13 entries, which is down a bit from previous years. I received the following email from Eden: So you do not needlessly suffer as I did, just read #4, #7 and #11. I used the little judging system and they're pretty clearly ranked for me. A huge problem was that a lot of stories didn't use the theme at all! And of those that did, very few had any supernatural element (I'm not sure about the supernatural-ness of #4). It was easy to go "um, no." *click* I had indeed begun reading them. And it was easy, in most cases, to go "um, no." *click* I replied: Ok, I'm going to need to go back and look at these again, particularly #7. The ones I had circled (I did read, or at least skim, all of them already) were 2, 4 and 11. I felt #4 was ambiguous about the supernatural-ness, but I think there's enough there... #2, which was one of the ones I liked (well written, but didn't quite stick to the theme), unfortunately exceeded our word limit. Sigh. #4 did kind of an ambiguous "is it a ghost or is he *mad*" thing. Eden: I guess I could tell you my rankings, since I picked #4 for 3rd. Since it's light on the supernatural, I'd only be iffy about it winning. And I'm disappointed #2 was too long (although it had 0 supernatural beyond the scary movie -- cop out). I thought #11 was better in dialogue and voice than #7 and the plot was more story-like (I thought #7 was a bit anecdotal). Overall, #11 was the most DOW-ish of all our entries. But if you like them in a different order, that's fine by me. So long as we have rankings in the next couple of days, that's plenty of time. I need to send the notifications. I'm just going to say "thanks for entering. here's who won." I think some of them were written by 11-yr-olds. Wait. I was a better writer at age 11. Snerk. this was kind of depressing, because we've usually gotten much better quality entries. So we agreed on #11 being the winner, but I lobbied for #4 second. It was just a better story, IMHO. I replied: Yes, out of these #11 was my favorite. I'm still not completely in love with #7...I found #4 a more interesting read. So I would go 11, 4, 7. (a bit of snark...for #10, I actually wrote down "no-blah!" and for #9, "huh?") And Eden's thoughts: I put a big line through #10. My comments were "poor structure, good idea, technically bad, tacked-on end." #9 I put a "0" under theme and big lines out from that on either side. That one is a huge "WTF?" Remember that song "Camel Walk" from circa 1995? "You make me wanna WAWK! Like a CAMEL. WOOO!" Story-wise, I did like #4 more than #7. It was only on "theme" that it wasn't comparable. As I put in my writing blog last night, I wouldn't be upset if we flipflopped #7 & #4. I think #11 was the best as well. I'll send out notifications this afternoon. Thankfully, I don't remember that song... ;) But in order to help things next time, Eden has come up with a plan! A foolproof formula for crafting a scary story! Your story is about two or more kids and a spooky house. Kid #1, preferably the narrator, is afraid or has a bad feeling about what Kid #2 wants to do. Kid #2 wants to provoke the ghosts/supernatural/whatever that is/are connected to the house. Kid #2 should taunt Kid #1 until Kid #1 gives in and follows Kid #2. Kid #2 should "pay" for tempting the supernatural. Kid #1 should live to tell the story unless your Shocking Twist is that Kid #1 is dead. All stories should have a Shocking Twist, about three pps from the end. You can always tack on a "years later..." pp to explain what happened instead of including it in the story. Don't forget to include all the backstory (in detail) of the haunted house and some backstory about the kids. Make sure it has nothing to do with the actual story. Be sure to give everyone first and last names. Don't forget to address the reader directly (ex: "dear reader" or "you may be wondering" or come right out and say that you're "submitting this story as a contest entry to the �Toasted Cheese Literary Journal.� Be sure to misspell words and construct your sentences any way you want! Good advice, no? (I completely defer to Eden. She's much funnier than I am.) : )|W|P|110675966658637442|W|P|Now *that's* scary...|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/25/2005 09:22:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|As seen at All Things Jennifer and Bookslut, I, too, am going to take the 50-book challenge. Heck, I easily made that last year, and I only really started counting around June. ;) Already have read: 50. If Grace is True...Why God Will Save Every Person I found this fascinating...I'll need to get the book out to properly blog about it, because I underlined. A lot. 49. Factoring Humanity Fabulously well-written science fiction. I'd read another book, Calculating God, by the same author. R had it and recommended it to me. He then bought me this one for Christmas, and I finished it in an afternoon. As I told R, it's great to read sci fi that doesn't make you feel like you're being lectured at. Sawyer's books are truly about the people AND the ideas. Great dialogue, well-drawn characters, and really cool ideas. Thumbs up. :) 48. Brooklyn Dreams Very interesting, well written and well drawn graphic novel. Currently reading: 47. Bird by Bird 46. Moonshadow|W|P|110666462790033963|W|P|50 Book Challenge|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/24/2005 01:25:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Can Erin pull off a look like this: (er, the hair, not the dress...) and does she want to?|W|P|110659121337907876|W|P|Question of the day|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/21/2005 10:37:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I got a pleasant little surprise in my inbox a few minutes ago. Just a little note of validation for which I am extremely grateful. I think that we ("we" being the collective universe of bloggers) sometimes wonder if anyone really cares. We all have moments of self-doubt...am I boring? Does anybody really want to read about my stupid life? So sometimes finding out that, yes, someone does, can make your day. Thank you. :) And for a complete change of direction...today, I want to write about January 21, 2001. I had just moved to Buffalo the previous summer. Other than college, this was my first move away from home. I come from a very close family...meaning my extended family....grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. I hadn't seen (or really talked to anyone but my parents) since Christmas. I had spent Saturday evening, the 20th, hanging out and catching up with an old friend from college. I got in around midnight, then hung out for a while with Jen and her then-boyfriend who were in the living room watching TV. I think we watched Iron Chef. I went to bed, probably close to 3. A little before noon, the phone rang. I got up to answer it, which was kind of unusual. It was my dad, and it was obvious there was something wrong. "Your grandma's in the hospital." I didn't know which grandma he meant. Neither of them was sick. Grandma Angie, my mother's mother, had collapsed in her bedroom Saturday night after complaining of a headache. A blood vessel had burst in her brain. She was in a coma, and wasn't expected to come out of it. I told my father I was coming home, assured him that I was okay to drive. I hastily packed a bag and explained to my roommates that I had to go home. I didn't take a shower. I asked Jen if I could borrow some CDs for the trip. I cried for the entire two and a half hour drive. I'm the oldest grandchild on both sides of my family. Not to give the impression that I don't love my other grandparents, because I do, but I had a special relationship with my mom's parents. I spent the night there frequently when I was young. Angie was the grandma I baked cookies with, the one who made the world's best pies and homemade bread. She was the one who told me stories and sang me to sleep. She was only 77. She was supposed to see me get married. Her name was Angelina, which she never liked, and I never understood why. But she was always Angie. I got to the hospital, where everyone was waiting. When I got there, a priest was praying the rosary in her hospital room. It was obvious, then...not that there was any life left in her at this point. She was already gone. Thankfully, my mom and her brothers and sisters were spared the agony of having to decide whether or not to take her off the respirator. She went on her own, and we stood there, holding each other and crying. My grandma collected angels. Angel figurines of all different types. Grandpa keeps her "angel table" up in the house. I had never lost anyone very close to me before. A couple of great aunts. My great-grandparents on my father's side. This was my first real confrontation with death. I still miss her. We all do... And on a happier note, I make note of this now because it is unlikely that I will be blogging tomorrow...tomorrow it is six months since R and I officially met. I am still amazed by him each and every day. R, thank you for answering my initial message, for "bravely showing up" at Brew Pub to meet me, and for being the smartest, kindest, most thoughtful, affectionate and sweet man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. :)|W|P|110632574743223879|W|P|Friday ponderings|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/20/2005 01:30:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Around and around and around it goes...I first saw this list on Byzantium's Shores. A little digging, and I learned that the list is Blender magazine's Fifty Worst Songs (read more about it here Here is a list of the Worst Fifty Songs of All Time, and you have to bold the ones you like. So, time for a few potentially embarrassing admissions. Remember, I like the bold ones. ***songs I don't actively dislike in italics*** 1. We Built This City ... Starship 2. Achy Breaky Heart ... Billy Ray Cyrus 3. Everybody Have Fun Tonight ... Wang Chung 4. Rollin' ... Limp Bizkit 5. Ice Ice Baby ... Vanilla Ice I know it's a shitty song. I know he ripped off Queen. I know Vanilla Ice is lame, lame, lame...I know. ;) 6. The Heart of Rock & Roll ... Huey Lewis and the News 7. Don't Worry, Be Happy ... Bobby McFerrin 8. Party All the Time ... Eddie Murphy 9. American Life ... Madonna 10. Ebony and Ivory ... Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder 11. Invisible ... Clay Aiken 12. Kokomo ... The Beach Boys 13. Illegal Alien ... Genesis...to be fair, I don't know this song at all...but I don't dislike it. ;) 14. From a Distance ... Bette Midler 15. I'll Be There for You ... The Rembrandts Yeah, it was overplayed, but still catchy and fun. 16. What's Up? ... 4 Non Blondes 17. Pumps and a Bump ... Hammer 18. You're the Inspiration ... Chicago 19. Broken Wings ... Mr. Mister 20. Dancing on the Ceiling ... Lionel Richie 21. Two Princes ... Spin Doctors 22. Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American) ... Toby Keith I must interrupt this meme for a rant...I completely agree with whomever put this song on the list. Not only do I not mind country music, but I actually kind of like Toby Keith. And I'd have to add Alan Jackson's "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning." ugh. blah. And even more obnoxious than the Toby Keith song was "Have You Forgotten" by Darrell Worley, which in addition to its general obnoxiousness, rhymes "Bin Laden" with "Forgotten".[/rant] 23. Sunglasses at Night ... Corey Hart 24. Superman ... Five for Fighting 25. I'll Be Missing You ... Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112 26. The End ... The Doors 27. The Final Countdown ... Europe 28. Your Body Is a Wonderland ... John Mayer...(I liked this song until someone told me it was about Jennifer Love Hewitt. I haven't been able to get that image out of my head since.) 29. Breakfast at Tiffany's ... Deep Blue Something 30. Greatest Love of All ... Whitney Houston I learned this in sign language when I was in Girl Scouts. Yes, this story has no point. 31. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm ... Crash Test Dummies 32. Will 2K ... Will Smith I don't own it or anything, but I thought this one was fun. 33. Barbie Girl ... Aqua 34. Longer ... Dan Fogelberg I know it reminds my dear roommie of the condom commercial...I don't care. I think it's sweet. 35. Shiny Happy People ... R.E.M. 36. Make Em Say Uhh! ... Master P featuring Silkk, Fiend, Mia-X and Mystikal 37. Rico Suave ... Gerardo 38. Cotton Eyed Joe ... Rednex 39. She Bangs ... Ricky Martin 40. I Wanna Sex You Up ... Color Me Badd 41. We Didn't Start the Fire ... Billy Joel 42. The Sound of Silence ... Simon & Garfunkel 43. Follow Me ... Uncle Kracker 44. I'll Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) ... Meat Loaf 45. Mesmerize ... Ja Rule featuring Ashanti 46. Hangin' Tough ... New Kids on the Block...I have never danced on a bar with a stripper pole while this song was playing. Ahem... 47. The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You ... Bryan Adams 48. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da ... The Beatles 49. I'm Too Sexy ... Right Said Fred 50. My Heart Will Go On ... Celine Dion|W|P|110616105223845849|W|P|Music, sweet music...|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/19/2005 01:58:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Oh, did this make me laugh... Mr. Potato Head goes to the dark side Heeheehee... :)|W|P|110616123852836402|W|P|Master of disguise|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/19/2005 11:56:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So on my really, really long-ass drive to work this morning (the roads sucked. it took me like an hour.), I was listening to Shredd & Ragan going on and on about, uh, whatever it is they go on and on about. (they lost me when they started talking to the guy from FHM about Teri Hatcher and Desperate Housewives and how comparing it to Sex and the City is bullshit because "that show was all about 'oh, is he gonna call?' and this one is just about a bunch of hot chicks getting it on." Um, yeah. Whatever. It makes me wonder why I'm ever entertained by these guys. But I digress...) Before all this blather, one of them mentioned Tim McGraw (why Tim McGraw? Who knows...), making a point of the fact that one of the biggest stars in country music doesn't write his own songs. Well, duh. Whatever your opinion of it is, this is a fairly common phenomenon in Nashville. And only slightly less common in regular pop. There are a few talented singer-songwriters in Nashville who are currently making it work (Brad Paisley is one), but for the most part, it's discouraged. The Dixie Chicks wrote little of their debut album, but not because of lack of talent or ability. I remember seeing an interview with them where they told about how they wanted to record their own songs, but were gently steered toward the "professional" songwriters. (One thing that made me really respect the Chicks...they won an award for "Wide Open Spaces," which they did not write. They made the songwriter get on stage with them and handed the award to her. Very cool.) The country singers like Tim McGraw are making a career out of performance...and if you're a *good* performer, is that necessarily a bad thing? The really successful ones usually get involved in production and have a creative say in their work, rather than being just mindless singing corporate robots. The guys argued for a few minutes, one of them making an Ashlee Simpson comparison, causing the others to disagree. "But dude, she sucks AND she doesn't write." They brought up Frank Sinatra. So while I have greater creative respect for someone who writes his or her own songs, I can enjoy a good vocal performance (something you find in country music that's found much less in pop music) purely on the merit of the performance. Martina McBride comes to mind. This is one of the things that really attracted me to new country...women who can actually sing, with power and soul, rather than being little disposable pop-tart clones. So what do you all think?|W|P|110615561615132714|W|P|When country wasn't cool|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/19/2005 09:50:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Yep, another quiz.
Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence
You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.
Journalist. Writer. Teacher. Hmmm...maybe I should try one of those. ;) I also learned that my famous blog twin is Wil Wheaton. Maybe I should start reading him, eh? |W|P|110614631913329702|W|P|No big shock here...|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/18/2005 01:59:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|The thing about Mondays off is that it makes Tuesday feel like Monday...ah, well... My cheerleading class at the Y started up again Friday night. I have seven girls in the class this time, five of them repeats from the last session. (They like me! They really like me! Ahem...) I went home and watched About Schmidt, which I enjoyed very much. People who have seen this film...what did you think of the ending? R and I had a conversation about it, and we are in agreement. I thought it was positive, hopeful. I had all kinds of plans for Saturday morning. I was going to go and get that estimate on the dent in my hood! I was going to clean the floors! I was going to read the Dead of Winter contest entries! What did I do? I watched Fillmore (loved it), fiddled with my blog, took a shower. Um. Hmm... I got to meet another friend of R's this weekend, Mark O. I really enjoyed meeting him and look forward to seeing him again. :) We just hung out at R's place on Saturday night. Adam came over, and the boys frequently became engrossed in deep comic book/superhero conversations. "Okay, guys, I'm really afraid Erin's going to leave me," R interrupted at one point. ;) Last night, R and I went to see The Aviator. I knew next to nothing about Howard Hughes going in. (Er, he was that crazy recluse guy, right? That's about all I knew.) Also, I believe the only Scorsese film I'd seen up to now was Goodfellas. (Oh, wait, I was wrong. Cape Fear, too.) But anyway, I really enjoyed it. I thought Leo did a fantastic job with the lead role. Cate Blanchett was absolutely brilliant as Katharine Hepburn. And it really didn't *seem* like a 3-hour movie. ;) (side note...R has been threatening to "tie me to a chair and make me watch his entire Scorsese collection." I told him that tying me to a chair was unnecessary...heehee) And now I'm back at work. Blaaaaaaaaagh. Next Friday is my last day here. Now, that's a little terrifying...keep good thoughts for me, eh?|W|P|110607243163726500|W|P|Tuesday, Tuesday|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/18/2005 01:31:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So finally, I bowed to peer pressure and took the "what's your real age" quiz:
You Are 32 Years Old
32
Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.
|W|P|110607325303987584|W|P|What's my age again?|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/14/2005 11:05:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|My first cup of chai was so good, I had to have a second cup. This was the little inspirational message on my second cup: Where there is love, there is no question. I like that. It's also quite apropos. ;) And this, this is a "holy crap" kind of moment...I just tried to click on a link in a friend's blog, and I got the "this website is filtered" message. The reason? "the category gay, lesbian, bisexual interest is filtered." Hrm.|W|P|110571887450999366|W|P|Tidbits|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/14/2005 09:53:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Is the image at the top of my sidebar visible? I just realized there was a problem with it, and it appears to be fixed now... :)|W|P|110571448283350278|W|P|Technical difficulties|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/13/2005 09:58:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Well, this morning got off to a stellar start. Got up late, of course. I fell asleep in my room after watching The West Wing on tape (I missed the first 20 minutes, because I forgot to tape) at around 11. Woke up around midnight when Jen came in, watched Aqua Teen, washed my face, and went back to bed. Did not want to drag myself out of bed when the alarm went off. Managed to get to the shower, decided to shave my legs and wear a skirt. Ran ridiculously low on hot water. For some reason, after I got out of the shower, I just could not summon enough energy to put on clothes. Finally managed to get back up off the bed and get dressed. Put on pantyhose, go to put on shoes and realize there is a giant hole in the heel of the pantyhose. Sigh. Go downstairs to where my laundry is sitting, put on pantyhose that I really should have washed first. And in order to finish the story, you need this piece of information...shortly after Jen and I moved in to our apartment, I bought one of those cheap $5 full-length mirrors. I had intended to attach it to my closet door, but never quite got around to it. So, I have the mirror propped between my dresser and the closet door. I reach into the closet to shut off the light, and... CRASH! There goes the mirror. Expletives are muttered. At this point, I'm already a good 15 minutes late. I choose to leave the pile of broken glass on the floor and deal with it later. Anyone know how to counteract 7 years of bad luck? ;)|W|P|110562877770887619|W|P|Writing's on the wall|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/11/2005 03:06:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So much happy and sad news floating about...I just received word that a dear college friend gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Congratulations, Jen and Tim! I'm so happy for you. : ) Also, my friends Mary and Rob are engaged and planning a wedding for sometime later this year. Susan sent out an update of her wedding plans. (Hm...methinks I should start working out before dress fittings. ; ) ) And in the midst of all these happy, joyous occasions, another dear friend emailed me to let me know that his 21-year marriage is ending. I honestly had no words. All I could do was offer a virtual hug and an ear to listen. And at least once a week, I hear something new in the saga of my aunt's potentially very ugly divorce that makes me want to hop on a plane and strangle her soon-to-be-ex. He seems hellbent on making sure their six-year-old daughter needs years of therapy. So what does this mean? It means I love you all. It means that I share in your happiness, and in your sadness. It means that I wish you love and joy, and all the very best life has to offer...if not now, then soon. Growing up is hard...|W|P|110547458266734876|W|P|I met a girl who sang the blues|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/11/2005 09:40:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Help out a good cause by visiting California Hammonds today and leaving a comment. It'll leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling. :)|W|P|110545456083198637|W|P|Help needed|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/10/2005 10:03:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I got a call from the community college on Friday and got back to them today. Turns out another section of the class I'm teaching this semester is available. So I'm teaching it. Yay! And since it's the same class, it won't really require any more planning time. (I'm going to have to be really disciplined about grading, though...) Yay! This is very, very exciting. : ) Had an interesting weekend...work party Friday night, dinner at the Gate and gallery opening Saturday night. Sunday afternoon at Barnes and Noble. Jen introduced me to Aqua Teen Hunger Force. (uh....wow. crazy stuff) We watched Desperate Housewives. I read for a bit and listened to Jen watch the season opener of Alias, which I had taped for her. (I, by the way, was thoroughly entertained. I loved the whole 'going back to the beginning' approach. I squealed a little when Marshall made his appearance. Love, love, loved Vaughn in glasses and fake Russian accent. Of course there were unanswered questions and things that didn't quite fit...but I believe JJ and company have set up a promising fourth season.) Random...I had recently been bitching because no one seems to carry regular Dentyne anymore. It's all that Dentyne Ice crap. Well, my friends, yesterday I made a quick run to Rite Aid, and what did I see? So all in all, it's been a good couple of days. ;)|W|P|110537033809689647|W|P|Hooray for me!|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/06/2005 01:30:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Well, I'm IN. Yep, went wireless. Yippee! One point of business down...|W|P|110503267165820838|W|P|Update|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/05/2005 11:34:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I need your help working something out here, friends... I mentioned the full-time substitute teaching plan. I would like to offer my wireless number to districts, in order to ensure that I always receive calls. My current wireless number, as a part of my parents' family plan, is a long-distance call in WNY. I toyed with the idea of getting a new plan of my very own and dumping our land line altogether. We hardly use it, *except* that we have DSL. We could go with cable internet, *except* that we had to sign on for DSL for a year. A suggestion was made that I look into prepaid wireless for the purposes of sub calls, but I don't know that this will save me a significant amount of money. So... 1. Do you think it's a bad idea to have a long-distance phone number? 2. Dumping the land line...good or bad? 3. Cable or DSL? (which doesn't acknowledge the fact that I really can't dump the DSL until the year is up...) Oh, if only I had an unlimited supply of cash and didn't have to ponder such questions. Sigh.|W|P|110494334187096280|W|P|A sort of complicated question|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/04/2005 02:25:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|1. To get back to my (former) NaNovel this month. Nag me. Please. ; ) 2. To actually use my free YMCA membership. I had to walk up six flights of stairs yesterday (broken elevator) and I thought I was going to keel over. Not good.|W|P|110486683001667610|W|P|Resolved:|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/04/2005 10:51:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So, yeah, here I am... Had an alternately busy and lazy weekend. On Friday, I met up with the gals to have a celebratory lunch, both to celebrate the roommie's birthday and ring in the new year. We headed to Cole's (home of the Clancy. mmmm....Clancy) where we started with a bottle of champagne (er, sparkling wine) and an order of Sicilian wings. On the way out, this guy stopped to express his admiration for our having champagne and wings for lunch. Heehee... At the tail end of our lunch, Susan's fiance stopped by, as did Lady Stephanie of Pittsburgh (hee). I then headed to R's to be given a refresher course in Euchre--we were going to a party with his childhood friends, and they have an annual New Year's Eve tradition of playing a Euchre tournament. The tournament is set up so that each person is partnered with everyone once. They keep track of scores, won-loss records, total points, and at the end of the night, an overall winner is determined. R won the tournament with a record of 6-1. The only game he lost was the one where I was his partner. (uh, sorry, baby!) I came in 7th. Out of 8. In 8th was the *other* girlfriend in attendance. ; ) Ah well...I think I made a respectable showing for a newbie. I actually had a lot of fun... Saturday, we went out for brunch with his friend John, who was visiting from Michigan. Saturday night, we went to another little get-together at another friend's house. I got to kick a little butt at Playstation Jeopardy. (woohoo!) Throughout the weekend, I got to experience some of season 5 of the Simpsons, which R recently bought on DVD. We also watched The Life of Brian, which I had never seen. (I did enjoy it, but I still think I like The Holy Grail best.) : ) I'm looking forward to 2005...it's certainly gotten off to a good start. I'm thinking of making some professional changes (I got the formal rejection from the school district. I think I need to be substitute teaching full time and getting my face out there.), which is scary, but I really think it's the right decision. And R wins the award for first bad pun of the new year. Are you ready for this one? I was telling him about how I had to make my annual visit to the girly doctor on Monday. Without missing a beat, he quipped: "So you're going to have a Pappy New Smear." (it's okay, groan.) ;)|W|P|110485505176727282|W|P|Gonna be a happy new year...|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/03/2005 04:00:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Erin-go-blog is indeed alive, and she had a very happy new year. (don't you hate when people talk about themselves in the third person? heehee...) Look for details later tonight or tomorrow. Happy 2005, everybody! :)|W|P|110478608334217556|W|P|Yes, she's alive...|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com1/01/2005 12:58:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Erin-go-blog welcomes the comments and questions of her readers. However, here are a few commenting guidelines to keep in mind: 1. This is my personal space, in which I write about things that are of interest to me. If you don't like what I'm writing about, it is certainly your prerogative to not read Erin-go-blog. 2. Anonymous comments will be deleted. Please leave either a name or an email address. 3. Comments that are excessively rude or offensive (as determined by me) will be deleted. 4. Comments deemed abusive to me and/or other commenters will be deleted.|W|P|110896693604340147|W|P|Commenting Policy|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com