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I have an Oscar.
Only mine is green and he's a Toyota Corolla.
But the Blueberry has been replaced.
And I'm pleased as spiked punch with my Oscar so far---we make a good looking pair.
Other than that, nothing new. Blair and I went to Flannagan's for St. Patrick's Day and met up with some people from work (most notably Kate, Jeremy, Mike, and Tony). We went without the expectation of having a really good time but actually did, and we would go again next year (especially if there's a ticket hook-up again). We rounded out the evening with a trip to Waffle House (where we ran into a guy we went to high school with) and did the breakfast in the middle of the night thing. Classic.
I was disappointed there was no Donna on last night's "West Wing" but overall, a very good episode. Blair and I called the "brother of Santos" thing as soon as it became evident what was in the briefcase (in other words, we should write for a highly sophisticated, witty, quickfire politico drama; yes, yes we should). And Denny not dying on "Grey's" was a freaking relief. I did not need those tears last night.
I bought "The Awakening" from Barnes & Noble this weekend. I need some Kate Chopin in my life (who doesn't?) and I definitely need to reread that book. It's been on the mind a lot lately and I couldn't find my copy anywhere (it's probably lost in some unmarked box in my mom's basement or attic) and it was probably one of my better five-dollar purchases as of late.
And tonight we ate dinner at Schmidt's and my stomach hates me. I think I ate my weight in macaroni and cheese and sausage. Ugh---but something tells me I'll be dipping out some cookies and cream before the night is finished.
Number one rule in my house? There's always room for ice cream.
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Oh my Josh!!!
After seven angst-filled years, he finally kisses her.
And it's about freaking time!!
Oh-oh-oh!!! And the preview for next week...holy crap, Batman, it's Sam Seaborn!!
Thank you, John Wells, for not leaving us out in the cold.
((Play on words/title of episode? You be the judge.))
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Okay, I'll admit it---I can hardly wait until Tuesdays and Wednesdays now. It irks me to no end, being part of such an American pop culture phenomenon, but I am addicted. And I love Taylor. Love, love, love him. The "quasi-weird/makes me almost uncomfortable watching" dance moves notwithstanding, the guy is amazing. If I've listened to his rendition of "Levon" once, I've listed to it about a million times (complete with backup vocal provided by me and my doubles-as-a-microphone hairbrush). I've got a crush on the guy. With the exception of Kelly, Chris, and Mandisa, he is THE reason I watch. I'm curious to see how far he goes; Friday night I watched about five seconds of "Access Hollywood" (or "Extra!" or "Entertainment Tonight;" does it really matter?) while flipping back and forth between "Jeopardy!" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" and they were showing a clip of Simon Cowell at the after-party after Thursday's elimination episode and he predicted the final three will be Kelly, Chris, and Taylor. Oh buddy. I can't wait.
And between "American Idol" and "Grey's Anatomy," I feel like I'm an average ho-hum American television viewer. Why, oh why, can't I have some "Arrested Development?" Me and the other seven people who watched the show would like to feel superior to the rest of America once again. How about it guys? Please?
Oh, and because this is worth mentioning, I'm still in love with my job. Better yet, I'm in love with the company. It (literally? figuratively?) rocks my socks. I love my coworkers, I love their families, I love the dynamic of my office. I love the potlucks, the Adriatico's pizzas and Katzinger's sandwiches, the casual flip-flop Friday (and sometimes the casual flip-flop Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday). I love the conversations, the insults, the teasing, the sing-a-longs (courtesy of pretty much just me), and the after-hours hanging out. Alicia came over Friday night and we hung out until almost two, just talking about the boy situations. It was nice to have a conversation where both of us know the players involved. It makes it a lot easier in the retelling.
Also, I love that I have such a great group of guys I get to take care of every day. They alternately drive me insane, make me laugh and/or pull out my hair, force me to think (sometimes even outside of my comfortable, spacious box), and occasionally they even piss me off. But, at the end of the day, I wouldn't trade in any of them, even the ones who make my job harder than it should have to be (and even then, I usually just roll my eyes and laugh, and write them a note explaining why I want to pull out my hair and shove pencils in my lovely baby blues).
Tonight, "The West Wing" returns. Hallelujah! It's about time. I'm anxiously awaiting the very anticipated Josh-Donna kissing scene that I was told is in the works for tonight. Let me repeat: halle-freaking-lujah. Bow-ckicka-bow-wow. Or whatever. I've been waiting years for this and I'm almost as excited as I would be if I was the one sucking face with Josh Lyman. Or whatever.
Oh, and I read some spoiler info regarding Leo's death; needless to say, after I was done, I was sitting at my desk, sniffling, trying not to cry like a baby. I still haven't given away my "People" with the cover picture of John Spencer on it, and I'm just not ready for Leo to be dead too. It's hard to watch any of the reruns on Bravo, or to watch the dvds, without being sad. It's still shocking and heartbreaking, and I don't think "The West Wing" could have gone on past this season without him anyway.
Yesterday I spent the entire day with my mom. We went grocery shopping, to Old Navy, to lunch, spent two hours in Target, and then rounded out the day with a trip to the mall. I can't remember the last time I spent twelve hours with my mom OR spent that much money. And the cashier at Target thought we were good friends, maybe sisters, not mom and daughter. We both just looked at each other and laughed (and laughed and laughed about it later). I'm glad we're friends, in addition to mother and child. Especially since I tried so hard to raise her right...
I am counting down the hours until 8 p.m. And I have nothing else to do in between now and then except wait for my dad to get here to take me to look at a car I know I probably won't like; oh, yes, these are certainly the days of fun in the sun and surf. Lucky, lucky me.
((And I have been keeping up on the whole "Team Brokeback" versus "Team Crash" storyline. Fascinating stuff, a week after the surprise verdict read by foreman-in-sunglasses Jack Nicholson. I loved the advertisement taken out in support of all the awards "Brokeback" did win; classy stuff. And anyone who knows anything about this year's Oscars knows that the folks from "Crash" fronted an excellent pull-ahead-at-the-last-minute campaign these last few weeks. In any case, both movies were excellent, both were about subjects that need to be addressed and highlighted in today's world, and quite frankly, I still think "Capote" might have been my favorite of the nominees, and doesn't that count for anything? Because, Atticus Finch knows, if I was a voting member of the Academy, I might have voted for "Capote," and that's not just because it was a movie that included Harper Lee as one of it's main characters---okay, maybe it has a little to do with that, but not much, I swear.))
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Saturday, March 11th, 2006
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"tough, you think you've got the stuff
you're telling me and anyone
you're hard enough
you don't have to put up a fight
you don't always have to be right
let me take some of the punches for you tonight
listen to me now
i need to let you know
you don't have to go it alone
and it's you when i look in the mirror
and it's you when i don't pick up the phone
sometimes you can't make it on your own
we fight all the time
you and i, that's all right
we're the same soul
i don't need to hear you say
that if we weren't so alike
you'd like me a whole lot more."
- u2, "sometimes you can't make it on your own"
oh, that bono.
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Thursday, March 9th, 2006
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"she's waiting for someone who could turn her life around
someone who could make her feel
the way she used to feel, but he never comes;
she's dating but no one that she cares to talk about
and all the flowers in the world
don't amount to much when what she wants is love
and she'd give anything and everything to fall in love
just this one time, she'd like to find
what she's been dreaming of;
she can find someone to hold her
but that wouldn't be enough
'cause she'd give anything to fall in love."
- boy howdy, "she'd give anything"
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Wednesday, March 8th, 2006
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So my Oscar predictions weren't too terribly off. Five out of eight---not exactly stellar but I went back and forth on the three I guessed wrong and my second picks in each category was the one that actually won, so I can give myself a nice pat on the back for that. I should be a commentator. Seriously.
My weekend was interesting. And that's all I really want to say about that, except that maybe, in twenty years, I will think the story is ten times funnier and a whole lot less embarrassing. Or ten times funnier but just as embarrassing. Either way, I channeled my inner Bridget Jones and she certainly did not disappoint.
I'm anxious for flip-flop weather. Like, way crazy anxious. As in, I wore them Saturday night and overshot their appropriateness. I'm considering them for tomorrow---and I've told everyone I know that, even if the weathermen are wrong and it's not in the sixties and it snows overnight, I am still wearing them. I've been looking forward to the warm-up in temperature since I found out about it on Sunday morning. Seriously.
And the only bad thing about Oscar Sunday was the fact "Grey's Anatomy" wasn't on---I need to have my weekly fix of McDreamy. If only "The West Wing" would come back soon so I could have a double dose of hotness: Josh Lyman AND Derek Shepard. Oh my!
((Side note: Taylor sings tonight. I love Wednesdays.))
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My picks:
Best Film:
"Brokeback Mountain."
Best Director:
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain."
Best Actor:
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote."
Best Actress:
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line."
Best Supporting Actor:
Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man."
Best Supporting Actress:
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener."
Best Original Screenplay:
Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco, "Crash."
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Dan Futterman, "Capote."
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Sunday, February 26th, 2006
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"a novel was 'only a place for storage---of all the meaningful things that a novelist isn't able to use in his own life.'"
- john irving, "the world according to garp"
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Thursday, February 23rd, 2006
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and he said, i was so much older then, i'm younger than that now.
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"where are you taking me?" garp asked her.
"ha!" she said. "you're taking me. i'm just showing you the way."
- john irving, "the world according to garp"
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Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006
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My addiction to "American Idol" is ridiculous. It's only going to be worse after tonight when Taylor sings. The guy could warble his grocery list and I'd still think it was brilliant. I can't help it, I'm smitten with the guy. And I'm prepared for America to let me down. November 2004 taught me that much.
I emailed Dave (and Holly) a few of Taylor's songs this weekend; Dave brought in his mp3 player yesterday and we listened to it for a good hour or so (lots of blues and jazz could be heard from our section of the building). That's one of the reasons why I love my job so much; the people really make the difference.
I received the coolest card from Katie yesterday. I love it! It's hanging on my board at work, so every time I see it, I think of how wonderful she is and how there are still many places to be discovered in the world. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded of that during the middle of the week when there's a pile of paperwork on the desk and it seems as if it will never end.
((I call some of the greatest people in the world my friends.))
My love for "Grey's Anatomy" has also tripled in recent weeks. I bought "Season One" Saturday when I was at Target; seventeen dollars was just too good of a deal to pass up for unlimited viewing of Dr. McDreamy (seriously...he's McYummy!). I'm not feeling the whole George-Meredith thing but I'm curious to see where Shondra is taking the show. And, in other news, holy crap, the spoilers for "The West Wing" have given me hope for Josh and Donna after all. Finally. As Blair said the other day: "They have to get together just so you can get on with your life! You've been waiting since high school!" No kidding. I'm not sure what that says about me, but I'll go with it, just purely for the fact that it's true. No need in denial. I save that for more interesting situations.
I drove Carrie and Nicole to Marion to retrieve Alex on Saturday and then returned him to Mark in Marion on Sunday evening. My other option was to drive to Bowling Green to pick Alex up, but I didn't want to spend all day in the car, so Mark agreed to meet us in Marion instead. It's a nice drive and apparently I'm the new favorite non-sister (as it should be, of course). The i-Pod with Journey, Kenny Chesney, and Gwen Stefani made the trip that much more exciting too. Nothing says fun like singing "Don't Stop Believing" at the top of your lungs with one sixteen-year-old who joins in (and screams the chorus, just like you), one sixteen-year-old who thinks you look like an idiot as you dance in the front seat, and one who doesn't know quite what to think but hopes he makes it home with his hearing and good taste intact. I seriously need to take these kids on a day trip to Toledo. Now that would be fun.
Also, life is funny. I was thinking about that when I was laying in bed on Monday night. It's crazy, the things that happen. The differences a few years can make, the relationships that grow, that falter, that recreate themselves within a matter of one or two words, one or two moments when everything can change from what you knew or thought you'd always know. It's an interesting thing to think about, especially at two in the morning. For a girl who dislikes change, that seems to be the only constant in my life.
These are the decisions I make, these are the events that shape my days. And as Natalie Merchant sings, these are the days. These are the days.
"well i got this guitar
and i learned how to make it talk
and my car's out back
if you're ready to take that long walk
from your front porch to my front seat
the door's open but the ride it ain't free
and i know you're lonely
for words that i ain't spoken
but tonight we'll be free
all the promises'll be broken."
- bruce springsteen, "thunder road"
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Tuesday, February 21st, 2006
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"with a long and slender body
and the sweetest, softest hands
and we'll blow away forever soon
and go on to different lands
and please do not look for me
but with me you will stay
and you will hear yourself in song
blowing by one day."
- suzanne vega, "gypsy"
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Monday, February 20th, 2006
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Did Princess Mia's leg pop when she kissed Jack Twist?
These are the questions that keep me up at night...
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Wednesday, February 15th, 2006
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I'm procrastinating.
things i love right this very second:
01. taylor hicks. if i doubted my love, it was proven when he sang "the first cut is the deepest" in hollywood. the guy has mad sex appeal and he may have replaced anderson as my favorite premature grayer. key words: may have.
02. john irving. as always.
03. "grey's anatomy." seriously, how is that not everyone's favorite show? this past episode had me so emotional i think the neighbors heard me crying.
04. greg house. next to patrick "mcdreamy" dempsey, hugh laurie is the hottest doctor on television.
05. wearing flip-flops. spring is coming, my friends, it's coming.
06. lorelei and rory reuniting. it's about damn time.
07. katzingers. the best damn pickles in town.
08. van morrison. i've said it before but i'll say it again. his voice makes me believe in things like love and good bottle of wine.
09. the thrift store. gap, ann taylor, ralph lauren, and jones new york, i love you.
10. texting. so bad it's good.
11. picasso. toro y toreros especially.
12. willie nelson. a song about cowboys being secretly frequently fond of each other? that's the kind of acceptance i'm talking about.
13. oscar season. next to my birthday, thanksgiving, and the fourth of july, my favorite day of the entire year.
14. "arrested development." while i'm sad it's seemingly finished, those last four episodes were two of the funniest hours of television thus far this season. and buster's comment about "skating with the stars?" classic.
what i'm not loving right now:
01. stupid boys. no explanation necessary.
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"i would have given you all of my heart
but there's someone who's torn it apart
and he's taking just all that i had
but if you want to try to love again
baby i'll try to love again but i know
the first cut is the deepest
baby i know the first cut is the deepest
when it comes to being lucky he's cursed
when it comes to loving me he's worst.
i still want you by my side
just to help me dry the tears that i've cried
and i'm sure gonna give you a try
if you want to try to love again
try
baby i'll try to love again but i know
the first cut is the deepest."
- sheryl crow, "the first cut is the deepest"
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Saturday, February 11th, 2006
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"in this dirty-minded world, she thought, you are either somebody's wife or somebody's whore---or fast on your way to becoming one or the other. if you don't fit either category, then everyone tries to make you think there is something wrong with you. but, she thought, there is nothing wrong with me."
- john irving, "the world according to garp"
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Thursday, February 9th, 2006
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I can't get enough of Van Morrison right now. My idea of an ideal evening now consists of a glass of wine, the couch, and "Tupelo Honey." And maybe, just maybe, someone to enjoy it all with, but only if (s)he promises not to talk and lets me enjoy the quiet solitude of nothing but Van's voice and maybe the sound of rain hitting the roof (because, in this fantasy, there's rain and I'm wearing flip-flops and a very comfortable pair of pants).
I had dinner with Blair tonight; El Vaquero's is quickly replacing every other restaurant in Columbus as my numero uno favorito. The strawberry margaritas alone---totally worth the trip.
I've been stressed lately. Between the boys and the work (and the workload) and the general messiness that comes from (over)loving a job, I'm in need of a vacation. Or in the very least a weekend. Thank Atticus Finch tomorrow is Friday.
I saw "Something New" with Mendy last weekend. I was surprised by how much I actually liked it; I had my doubts but as far as romantic comedies I didn't really want to see, it was good. I'm still trying to make it to see "The Constant Gardener" and "Syriana." "Good Night, and Good Luck" is also on the list. Ugh. I need to make a day of it sometime soon.
And Mark and I are starting on our new book club book. "The World According to Garp." This one should inspire some pretty good conversation. I have no doubt. Johnny Irving, you've never let me down, why should you start now?
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Tuesday, February 7th, 2006
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This morning I woke at the ungodly hour of six so I could make a bagel-and-coffee run for the girls in my office. There was an annual meeting this morning for the drivers, warehouse guys, and office staff which, mercifully, I wasn't required to attend. But, because I love them so much, I went to get my co-workers breakfast. On my way in, as I was crossing the Goodale bridge over 315, I saw a Miller Lite truck getting ready to turn onto the freeway and I thought to myself, "Well, that must be one of the stragglers; surely they've all already left!" But then, as I went closer and turned onto Michigan I passed truck after truck after truck....and they all honked and waved and smiled as I drove by and my little heart swelled. I'm definitely fond of those guys.
And bagels and coffee with the girls was fun this morning; I even had time to go to Target on my way home. I picked up a bag of Hershey Kisses for the guys because today's desk-calendar trivia question is "What beverage causes the alien in "E.T." to become drunk?" The answer is, of course, a six-pack of Coors Lite and if the drivers get it right (which I assume they will, since they'll either guess that or Miller Lite) they'll each get a piece of candy. Heck, even if they get it wrong, they'll get candy.
Today will be a long day but that's okay, it's not like I've got anything else to do but hang out with my girls. We're like the Steel Magnolias of the beer world. Seriously.
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Wednesday, February 1st, 2006
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I pulled my copy of Owen Meany from the bookshelf the other night and skimmed the last few paragraphs. It still chokes me up, even now, years after I read it the first time. "Into paradise may the angels lead you." I don't know why, but it is one of the books, one of the select few, that continue to stay with me. The most obvious, of course, "To Kill A Mockingbird." And "Christy." "A Joy In the Morning." "The Great Gatsby." "Schindler's List." "The Hemingway Women." There are others, though probably not as important to me. Those are the books I chose to recommend. They're not light, they're not fluffy. They're real, like sturdy trees with trunks the size of small cars. They're the ones I take with me on planes, to the beach when I want to be with a friend but still left to my own thoughts and discoveries. They are always new to me, even after years and worn pages and underlined paragraphs marked with the confidence of a proud owner.
I don't know why but I found comfort in Irving's words this week. It's been a long year and it's only the first day of February. Perhaps this month will be better. Perhaps, and we can hope.
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"there's times where i want something more
someone more like me.
there's times when this dress rehearsal
seems incomplete.
but, you see the colors in me like no one else
and behind your dark glasses you're
you're something else.
you're really lovely
underneath it all.
you want to love me
underneath it all.
you're really lovely.
you know some real bad tricks
and you need some discipline.
but lately you've been trying real hard
and giving me your best.
and you give me the most gorgeous sleep
that i've ever had,
i guess it's not that bad.
you're really lovely
underneath it all.
you want to love me
underneath it all.
you're really lovely.
so many moons that we have seen
stumbling back next to me,
i've seen right through and underneath
and you make me better
i've seen right through and underneath
and you make me better,
better, better.
you are my real prince charming,
like the heat from the fire
you were always burning
and each time you're around
my body keeps stallin'
for your touch, your kisses and your sweet romancing.
there's an underside to you that
so many adore aside from temper.
everything else is secure,
you're good for me baby,
oh that, i'm sure;
over and over again i want more.
you're really lovely
underneath it all.
you want to love me
underneath it all.
you're really lovely."
- no doubt, "underneath it all"
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