Pigeon

Today was crappy. Nothing in particular was horrifying wretched - it was just a bad day. An aweful, lousy, and overwhelmingly pathetic day.

Ever had one of those? When you wake up and are just one miserable SOB? For me, that was today. I tried to rush into Newark to grab football tickets for the homecoming game, then realized that I was going to be late to work. Somehow that transformed into me being a failure at life, and I had a bit of a mini-breakdown. In my car.

So, as I was sniffling and wiping the snot traveling downwards from my nose, I turned the car around and headed towards work.

On my way, something happened. I saw a group of doves flying over Kirkwood Highway - pure white doves. I'm thinking that somebody was married today or there was some sort of ceremony.

However, in the middle of those doves was a black bird. A pigeon, I realized, as I squinted at the flock. He certainly wasn't supposed to be there.

But, the flock moved as one - pigeon and all. They twisted and turned in the air, riding the currents like they were just so thrilled to be alive. Almost acrobatic in their flight, I watched as they circled overhead with no real purpose.

And they didn't care one bit that they had a pigeon among them. Because do you know what another name for a pigeon is?

Rock dove.

It occurs to me that I may be able to learn something from this brave little pigeon.

There he was, surrounded by the beautiful white plumage of his relatives, and y'know what?

He didn't give a shit. He was just happy to fly.

Sometimes it's the simple things in life. Lately I've been so consumed with just the daily grind that I forgot. I forgot to look around and appreciate the simple things.

Life is what you make of it, right? If I can make the concious decision to have a positive day, then what's to stop me from having one? I forgot this. I forgot that I am a fully-fuctioning and capable human being. I haven't had any great tragedies happen to me. I'm just an ordinary human, just like the billions of others out there, trying to make her way in the world.

Thankyou, little pigeon, for reminding me of this.

Blog Action Day

So world, I've signed up for blog action day.

This year's theme is climate change.

Expect my post on Oct. 15th about this topic. I think that it's great that there's an organization that's doing this - trying to get people involved.

We need more people to get involved with what ails the world. Too many have become apathetic, and it's a disease that's spreading rampantly.

The link is provided below if you wanted to participate, or you can always click on the nifty little badge I have over in the right column. Go on. Click it. You know you want to.

http://www.blogactionday.org/

Today

This is what I did today world.

Today was my day off, so I didn't bother waking up until noon. I'd like to rationalize this by stating that I didn't go to sleep until six. In the AM.

Don't judge me.

After waking up, I decided to lounge around in bed some (after taking care of all the animals, of course). I decided to look for a job. Three very depressed minutes later I started reading blogs.

Procrastination and I are good buddies. One might even call us the best of friends.

So, after getting off my lazy ass doing my morning reading in an effort to improve my vocabulary, I cleaned. The fish tank, to be more precise. Again. Because there's too many fish in there, but hey, Mr. Neighbor didn't care about that when he gave me his fish. Nope, he said to either take them or he was flushing them, because he was moving and hadn't made proper arrangements for them.

Damn my bleeding heart.

So after cleaning the tank, I decided to try the job searching thing again.

I am apparently qualified for custodial work. Which, FYI, pays less than what I make now.

Woo. Hoo.

I then attempted to make myself a grilled cheese (as I hadn't eaten yet). Three very burned sandwiches later, I decided to settle for Lucky Charms.


Rusty began whining pitifully, so I took him out. He hobbled galloped around the yard, and made sure to protect me from the vicious moth that was heading towards me. He's my knight in shining armor.

Oh, and it's not snowing here. I just don't have any recent pictures of him on my laptop (I use a different computer for photo editing), and I'm too lazy to boot that one up so that I can grab some of those pictures. So this is what you get world. Take it or leave it.

I called Pookie, found out he was having a shitty day. Decided to try to make him feel better by surprising him at work.

Except I was running late, so by the time I managed to fight my way through 5 o'clock traffic (and when did 5 o'clock traffic start at 4?), he had already gotten home.

Opps. Oh well. I got there just in time to watch the ending of a Bond movie.

We went out with our friend Whitey - who, for your information, is about three shades of awesomeness. Pookie spent too much money on sushi - but I'll forgive him for it, because it's sushi. And I haven't had it in over half a year. Because I'm poor. So yay. Sushi. A rare treat indeed.

We then went to Main St. and had a drink. We also may or may not have made some fun at the expense of a few fraternity pledges. And the drunken college kids.

Oh, the drunken college kids. I wish I could see their faces when they leave school and realize that they can't stay in their precious little collegiate bubble.

Ok, that was mean and bitter of me. I'm trying to find it in me to care.

Dropped Pookie off at his place. Drove home. And here I am. Sipping a cup of tea and wondering what my place is in this world.

Ah. There's nothing quite like wasting a whole day. It leaves me with a penchant for introspection. I think it's healthy to sometimes have a day to decompress. I think I'd be out of my mind if I didn't take a day every once in a while and do this.

Tomorrow I go back to the grind. I can't tell you how excited I am for it.

Oh, and some updates (for those of you who were curious):

We wound up naming the bird Tuck. Because one of the birds at the store is named Robin Hood. So...Friar Tuck is my bird's new name.

Nikki? Yea. She's a "he." You'd think that after working at a petstore for as long as I have been, I'd know. But no. He's neutered, and up to date on his shots. My neighbor (think crazy cat lady) forgot that she took care of all that last January. So that was a nice surprise. Guess I'm going to have to spell it Nicky (or just plain Nick) now. No girly spelling for my boy.

Rusty's got a lot of energy - he's fighting the cancer pretty well. My biggest concern with him is his breathing - because the tumor is so big (you can't see it in the above photo, since it's an old one), he snores. LOUDLY. And has a tendancy to drip snot from his nose. Gotta tell ya...it's just lovely.

Job front still sucks. I have some ideas, so I'll keep ya'll posted (cuz I know that you're just on the edge of your seats waiting in anticipation).

Holy crap I almost have 700 views. I love ya'll. I really do.

Have a lovely day! (or night, or afternoon, or morning, or whatever the hell it is wherever you are).

Picture Monday

So world, I'm going to do something a little different for today's blog.

That's right. PHOTOS!

From Ireland and Scotland.

This one is from the Guinness Storehouse. That's right...we started off our trip with alcohol.


The view from the Guinness Storehouse's Gravity Bar - complete with a complimentary pint.


Dublin traffic? Yea, it's insane. I don't know if it's a UK thing or what, but JEEESSUS I thought we were gunna die.

Beautiful sunset photo, courtesy of mother nature and the river Liffey


Saw these sitting on the outside of the Temple Bar. Thought they were pretty.


Trinity College - far prettier than anything we got around here.




St. Stephen's Green was pretty spiffy too.

Unreasonably pretty.

We managed to find the only American license plate in Ireland - at a Coyote Ugly themed bar. And look...it's even a Delaware one! :) REPRESENT.

Oh Edinburgh Castle...you are one dramatic SOB.

We, of course, had to visit the Queen's boat (HMY Britania)

Seriously long flight of steps...

But the view was SO worth it. (Cliffs of Moher)

Oh..why did Cromwell have to tear the roofs off everything? Him and his damn fetishes.

Oh, come on...you didn't think the alcohol ended with the Guinness Storehouse, did you? (Jameson Distillery)

Oh Jim Larkin. I hear he helped out with some little tiff the industries were having in 1913

.

So yea. I think I might do this every Monday - post up pictures, that is. What do you think? Good idea, bad idea? I'm kind of playing around with different things for the blog. :) Have a good day!

Nostalgia

"Nothing happens in a vacuum, and everything leads to something else."

My high-school history teacher used to tell us this. He also taught us that humans were the only beings on this planet who routinely came up with bigger and better ways to destroy ourselves.

I adored him.

He was the most monotone person I've ever met - I'm pretty sure the man could give Ben Stein a run for his money. He never smiled. He assigned monsterous amounts of reading for homework, and half his lecture was usually missed because I was asleep.


Because of all of this, I absolutely abhorred History class. Regardless, I loved him. He was my loveable old man professor who was one part absent-mindedness and three parts absolute brilliance.

As the leaves start turning and dropping and the air gets crisper, I'm reminded of my high-school days.

Granted, I hated high-school. One of these days I'll have to let you all in on the hilarity of it. I'm sure there's humor in being known as "that girl who fell down the steps again," among other things.

But that's not why I'm writing this blog tonight.

The truth is, world, I feel old.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "She's only 24, she doesn't know the meaning of old." Well...yea. That's true. I'm still very young, and still have a lot of my life left to live (hopefully).

But, I see high-school freshmen now and I wonder if I was ever that young. They all look so carefree and well...tiny. Them, with their braces and backpacks and acne.

Was that really only a decade ago? Can't be. I feel so distant from that little ego-hazed bubble of adolescence. I can't say I miss it, tell ya the truth. I was an impossibility in high-school.

I do, however, miss the simpleness of it all. In high-school, I felt like anything was a possibility. Now I know better.

Oh well. Not like one can stop the freight-train of growth, right?

Stuff it.

Ok world. Here I am.

I recent read the infamous Dooce's blog. She had written about all the hate-mail she had been receiving.

Now, I'm not a huge Dooce fan. I could take it or leave it.

But what I can't seem to comprehend is why so many people seem to have an objection to her. They call her self-absorbed. A leech on society. They don't like that she makes money off her blog. They think she exploits her children. And so on and so forth.

Well, this is my message to them: GROW THE FUCK UP.

I'm sick and tired of people's pre-conceived notions as to how a blog should be used, and what is or isn't appropriate to post.

Bottom line, it's her blog. Not theirs. So the way I see it, she can put whatever the hell she wants in it. And if thousands of people read her blog (which they do) and she makes a little money off of it, who gives a fig. I mean, really. It sounds to me like they're a bunch of jealous whiny snot-nosed idiots.

Aherm. Now that I have that off my chest...I'll get to the main topic of this delightfully anger-inspired post.

What is a blog to you? To me it's a writing exercise, in and of itself. It's also a way for me to put my opinions out there, to ramble on and on about whatever insignificant little thought passes through my mind. Because, let's face it, if I ranted like I do here to any sane person in the "real world," they'd probably try to have me committed.

Granted, it does puff my ego a bit (especially when people comment...hint hint), but that's not why I created it. I'm not setting out to change the world here. I'm not trying to contribute to society.

I'm just writing.

It may not be great writing, hell, it may not even be good writing. But it's my writing, world, and if you don't like it you can just stuff it.

So, the question begs some answering. What is a blog to you?

Have a nice day! :)

Does Not Compute

So I've been in a writer's block lately. You can read more about that here.

Sometimes it can take me days to unblock myself.

And then again, sometimes material just presents itself.

That's right world. I think you know what I'm talking about.

Kayne West.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, let me catch you up to speed. When Taylor Swift (who, in the words of Beth over at The Confused Homemaker, just reeks of all things cotton candy and unicornish) got up to give her acceptance spiel speech she was brutally robbed of it as Kayne decided to hog the spotlight and point out Beyonce (sucessfully mortifying said songbird) and the superiority of her music video.

Ok. Let's get some things straight. I am NOT a Taylor Swift fan. At all. The little strumpet makes me feel underachieved for my age, and she's prettier than I am to boot. Not to mention that she sings country. I loath country.

Petty reasons, but hey. I'm human.

Even so, I felt bad for her. She was the proverbial awkward turtle as she stood by and watched that media whore Kayne steal her moment. And well, that just doesn't sit right with me, not at all.

Granted, Beyonce allowed Taylor to have her moment later on - a true class act, if I ever saw one, and one that deserves to be recognized.

Still though, the whole fiasco has gotten me thinking. How many Kaynes do you know? I bet you can name a few. I know I can. Why is this type of behavior acceptable in our culture? I just don't understand.

I kind of feel like I should be standing on a street corner screaming "Does Not Compute!"

Since when did we get so complacent? From what I've gathered, everyone seems to be of the opinion that this is "typical" Kayne behavior. And yet the man rakes in millions of dollars per year.

Does Not Compute.

Why do we idolize such figures? Because they're off the wall? Because they're different?

Well so are criminals. We don't idolize them (usually). And no, I'm not comparing Kayne to a criminal. I'm just saying that I don't understand how someone of questionable behavior would be placed in a prestigious position.

Does Not Compute.

I guess I'm not educated enough on the social scene to understand.

To tell you the truth, world, I don't think I want to be.