Old woman's haircut

Between the split ends and the humidity, my hair has been looking pretty rough lately. So I went to the local Hair Cuttery yesterday to get a trim. I told the lady to take two inches off, but somehow that instruction turned into 'Take four inches off, then layer it, and then give me face-framing highlights.' Funny how that happens, eh? Maybe I'll post a pic later on today.

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Track of the day: "Down in Flames" by 3 Doors Down

This is annoying

My trackball at work is so ancient that the left button no longer clicks. The spring or something is worn out. So sometimes when I'm in the midst of typing something, it'll click by itself on some random place on the page and now nothing I write makes much sense. It's kind of annoying but I'm not yet desperate enough to call the tech guy for a replacement.

Author recommendation

I realize I go on and on about this every time I read a Wilkie Collins book, but really -- believe me -- if you haven't read at least something by Wilkie Collins you don't know what you're missing. He's only the originator of all mystery and suspense writing. I don't know how you can look at yourself in the mirror each morning. You disgust me.

Start out with The Haunted Hotel if you must. It's a good starter.

The good ol' days

Tomorrow evening, I am meeting my three best friends from high school for a drink, two of whom I haven't seen in nine years! I've kept in touch with only a few people from high school. One of them is my friend Nichole whom I refer to on here from time to time. Remember? She's the D.C. police officer who has no business carrying a gun. :)

Out of the blue, my old friend Erin called me a few weeks ago and wanted to get us all together. Strange, I thought. The last I knew of her, she married her Jehovah's Witness boyfriend and shot out some babies. We talked for almost an hour and agreed that we'd all meet on Tuesday at 7.

So now I'm slightly nervous at the thought of meeting these girls after all these years. So much has happened since graduation. I'm just not sure we're the same people as we used to be. Neither Erin or Karen knew anything about my car accident 6 years ago and were surprised to hear of it. I always dread meeting people I used to know so well now that I'm in this wheelchair. I always wonder what they think of me now because I'm not the same person I used to be neither physically or emotionally. I told Erin about my nervousness and she said, "Awww. Don't be! So? You're in a wheelchair? I'm fat! It'll be great!" Heh. That's soooo Erin.

I'm also excited about it. Through my four years of high school, these girls were my saving grace. High school is a difficult time especially when you have bad hair and braces. I don't have many memories of those days without at least one of them present, so I'm looking forward to seeing how they've turned out.

Life Lessons: Avoiding confrontation

Back when I was young and stupid and a sophomore in high school, I was riding around with my friend Nichole in Clinton. A car pulled up next to us and two big guys, obviously much older than us, started flirting with us on the highway. ON THE HIGHWAY. What kind of shady guys pull up next to an ugly beige Nissan Sentra with plastic rims and flirt with the girls within?! Troublemakers. We saw a carnival that was set up in an abandoned parking lot so we pulled in and the two guys followed us.

I can think back on certain events in my life where I put myself in dangerous positions. This was one of them. Nichole and I were hoping we lost them. But as we got out of her car, they pulled up behind it. The guy in the passenger's side called Nichole over to him. The driver rolled down his tinted window and a cloud of smoke billowed out. "Hey, sexy, come here," he said. I heard Nichole chattering nervously from the other side of the car. I walked up to the driver's side and saw the quality men we were dealing with. The driver was huge -- both tall and wide -- with five chins and fat hands. Ugh. "Hey, girl, give me your number."

He was the last person I wanted calling me on the phone. But I didn't want to upset him. In my mind, I felt him capable of inflicting the kind of damage you only see in cartoons where he pounds you on the head until you sink into the ground. So in my immature genius, I pulled some random 7-digit number out of my head while he scribbled it down. He made unintelligible small talk and then asked me to repeat that phone number. "Ughhh..."

(Here is your lesson for today: When you are avoiding confrontation by giving out a fake phone number, remember to alter your real phone number by one digit instead of throwing together random numbers. Only stupid people do that. People who have no real understanding of phone numbers and how they are distributed. That way, when someone suspects you a liar, you can prove to them that, although you are trying to give them the brush-off, at least you remembered your fake number.)

Oooooh, the fat man was pissed! After some intimidating fist-shaking and a string of obscenities (and two choice words of my own), the car took off. In conclusion, I do not condone the distribution of fake numbers, however if you deem it necessary, please be smarter than I was about it. Just a friendly PSA from Allisonlives.com.

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Track of the Day: "Liar" by Henry Rollins

Theological Worldview

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71% Charismatic/Pentecostal 57% Emergent/Postmodern 46% Reformed Evangelical 46% Fundamentalist 43% Modern Liberal 36% Neo orthodox 36% Classical Liberal 32% Roman Catholic 21% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

(via Kim)

Pride

There is an ongoing culture war between Americans who are ashamed of this nation’s history and those who acknowledge with sorrow its many sins and are fiercely proud of it anyway. Proud of the 17th-century settlers who threw their entire lives overboard and set sail for religious freedom in their rickety little ships. Proud of the new nation that taught democracy to the world. Proud of its ferocious fight to free the slaves, save the Union, and drag (lug, shove, sweat, bleed) America a few inches closer to its own sublime ideals. Proud of its victories in two world wars and the Cold War, proud of the fight it is waging this very day for freedom in Iraq and the whole Middle East.

If you are proud of this country and don’t want its identity to vanish, you must teach U.S. history to your children. They won’t learn it in school. This nation’s memory will go blank unless you act.

--David Gelernter

Amazon packages

Because my friend Beverly is a big dork, she really REALLY wanted the You Got Served - Take It to the Streets Dance Instructional. Her birthday was on June 4th, but the instructional video wasn't released in time. We were both disappointed, especially because she left for the island of Bonaire for two weeks. And I really wanted her to show the island people how to 'take it to the floor'. Yeah! Tell me whatchoo wanna do!!

Last week a package from Amazon showed up and I assumed it was her DVD. But another package came in the mail today which turned out to really be her DVD. So I rushed to see what the other package was...

*Singing loudly* The Phantom of the Op-errr-aaaaaaa! off my wishlist! An early birthday gift from Mr. Beast1624!

I rented this a few weeks back and loved it. It's beautifully done. I would love to go see this on Broadway. So thank you to Beasty for thinking of me!

Polaroid-o-nizer

Check out this handy-dandy Polaroid-o-nizer! You can do this with your photos:

Two movies

I watched Friday Night Lights and Hitch this weekend. Friday Night Lights started out a little dull but it picked up later. I guess it's your typical sports movie, although it helped quite a bit that it is based on a true story (and in the special features you get to see a few of the real guys). I like football. It's one of the only sports I don't mind watching an entire game. Hockey is good too, but baseball is unbearable unless you don't mind twiddling your thumbs for 90% of the game. But this is the only sports movies I actually cried while watching. But that could've just been the PMS talking.

Hitch was a cute movie. Cute, as in not remarkably good but amusing nonetheless. But I hated Eva Mendez's character right up to the closing credits. Not one tear -- the PMS was obviously silent through this one.

This is how a heart breaks

Awww! I feel so bad! My dad just told me about a baby bird on the ground on the side of our back yard who's crying for food. I tried to convince my dad to go dig up a worm for it, but he wouldn't do it. "Well, then why'd you tell me about it?!" I cried. "To break my heart?"

Go ahead. Tell me about your brother who got shot. Tell me about the kid who fell out of a moving car. But good grief! Don't tell me about animals in distress.

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Track of the Day: "This Is How A Heart Breaks" by Rob Thomas

Boring

I took the day off work to wait for the air conditioning guy. It's 2 p.m. and the guy still hasn't shown up. He said he'd be here around lunch time. Apparently, he eats a very late lunch.

I'm supposed to be learning C# at work so I brought my Learning C# book home to read while I waited. So far, I've fallen asleep with my head in my hands three times.

Weekend Update

Friday
The air conditioner in my house is still broken, so I spent the majority of Friday amusing myself within the confines of my bedroom (which has an air conditioning unit in the window). I spotted a dark blob on my bathroom floor which turned out to be a salamander, so I spent the other part of Friday trying to keep Zeke from eating it.

Saturday
My friend Claire's wedding was on Saturday. Here are a few notes on the blessed event:
1. The wedding was outside at her grandma's house in beautiful Strasburg, Virginia. I'm not going to complain about the two-hour drive to get there or the insanity and unpredictability of an outdoor wedding on a 90-degree day. I never complain. Plus, I love Claire enough to put up with a few inconveniences.

2. Steph (who was my date for the wedding) and I stopped at Starbuck's for iced coffee before the long drive and it was so hot outside that the ink from the cup left green imprints on our hands.

3. I was kicking myself for leaving my digital camera at home. When we stopped for gas, we picked up a disposable camera. Maybe I'll get a slideshow up in a few days.

4. I'm not sure what possesses all my good friends to have outdoor weddings and then ask me to be a bridesmaid. Wheelchairs and grassy fields don't mix. I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE NOT THINKING OF ME ON THEIR WEDDING DAY! When we first arrived, we followed the paved drive around to a courtyard where I noticed a few steps down to get to the ceremony area. I sat there for a few minutes when a window flew open in the house above and a rough voice yelled out, "You can't go that way! Go around and though the grass!" Yelled instruction is always helpful. In fact, I wish in addition to the handicap parking sign, they'd have a sign that said something like, "You stupid cripple, park here because, if you park elsewhere, it's farther to the door AND you won't have enough space! Dumbass!"

5. After rolling at a turtle's pace across the grassy field, we made our way to the chairs. I had just positioned myself in the back row when I heard a man say my name. I turned around to see a couple who obviously knew me although I'd never seen them before. "Allison, it's Lurker Jen!" said the lady. Yes! Lurker Jen ...who reads my website ...who never comments ...whose baby I posted under my Take Note section a few years back. I'm a celebrity!

6. Did I mention it was hot? At least we were in the shade. About half way through the ceremony, Steph whispered in my ear, "See? We have the best hair styles here." Earlier that morning, I was pondering what to do with my crazy hair. Humidity defeats the hair dryer every time so we both opted to go with no-nonsense up-dos. As I was glancing through the sweat-stained shirts and oily faces, I could only nod my head in agreement with Steph. AND I was wearing deodorant. Bonus!

7. The reception was held at a gorgeous golf course in an AIR-CONDITIONED room with glass windows and a deck overlooking the green. There was a chocolate bar with cookies, fruit, and a chocolate fountain. The main course was some form of Italian chicken. It was delicious.

8. Our table was right in front of The French Table, a table consisting of Lurker Jen and her Lurker Husband, a few French people, and several other employees of the company Claire works for. It's a French company, I think, so I don't feel bad stereotyping. My table was served bread way before The Frenchies. I told Lurker Jen we were obviously more valued guests than her table. I talked to Jen for quite a while mainly in hopes that if we knew each other better, she'd stop lurking around here and drop a comment every so often. Whatever.

9. Steph and I had to leave right after the toasts. Claire's Maid of Honor gave a toast but started sobbing about 4 words into it. It was all downhill after that, so we had to make our exit. I don't want to be a toast snob or anything, but I can give a good toast. I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY AWESOME TOAST. The key is to rehearse it a little and not let yourself become overcome by emotion during it. Nobody wants to hear "I-I-I just...I just love...*sniff*...love you sooooo much! Waaaah..."

10. Steph had a flight to Indianapolis Sunday so we left the reception at 10 p.m. We hit Beltway traffic at 11:30. They had closed off two lanes. Steph called me a crazy driver and made me feel bad for not letting other crazy drivers in. We got home exhausted at 12:30 and I let a little mudball named Zeke inside. Whatever he was rolling around in stinks. Steph hosed him down but he still smells like sewage.

Sunday
After 6 hours of sleep, I got up to see Steph off. I decided to redesign my banner, so I worked on that in my air conditioned room. I wound the weekend down with an hour-long documentary on lighthouses. If that's not excitement, I don't know what is.

Congratulation Claire and Mike.

One Note Samba

New design. :) Got tired of the perverts coming here in search of smokin' hot ladies. I'll tell you about my weekend tomorrow.

Congratulations Reb!

Reb is the winner of the 1000th Comment Contest! Yay! (Actually, Russ won again but he doesn't count because he won last time.) Heh. The count stayed at 999 for the longest time.

Anyhow, Reb, let me know the subject matter/sentiment you want painted on your mug and I'll get crackin' on that. Everyone else have a fantastic weekend.

999

Okay. A mortgage spammer was just the 1000th comment. Come on, people. You can't let spammers win my mug.

Movies I'd like to see

I can't wait for Murderball to come out! Nothing is more awesome than wheelchair rugby. (Click on the link to see the trailer.)

Making beautiful music together

There's an article in the Washington Post about how we are constantly surrounded by music. Between our CD players, mp3 players, commercials, cell phones, American Idol, mall stores, and musak in elevators and grocery stores, we can't get away from it.

Certain melodies inspire, arouse, invigorate. Others provoke, insult, infuriate. As we've learned from watching decades of movies and TV shows, effective music can move us to tears and to cheers. It pumps up the color and texture of reality; the mundane morphs into art.

We consume music and music consumes us. We are caught in the middle of a musical war. Whole industries are built on dumping music upon us, while others allow us to choose the music we want to listen to. ... As composer Libby Larsen puts it, "Recording technology has made us all digital democrats." Music today is free-flowing, intoxicating, addictive, and it's no wonder that some people...just can't get enough of it.

I can understand that. Music is a wonderful thing. I, for one, would be bored to tears without music on a long car ride or as background noise to fill the silence. In no way am I as fanatic about it as the kid in the article who wakes and sleeps and even swims to waterproof music. That's going overboard. I do have an iPod though. And I listen to it daily. Sometimes I'm shocked to see how much music I've got on that thing. And I'm positive I'd be shocked to talley up how much I spend annually on music alone.

Music is definitely addictive though. I was just thinking that last night as I was listening to my current favorite songs which are very different than last week's current favorites. And I'm sure next week's will be different than this week's.

Like I've said before--music moves me. And I like to share it with people who appreciate my taste. That's why I make about 4 mixed CDs per year and give it to people on my distribution list. And that's why I've been listing the Track of the Day with some of my current posts.

I am very interested in what my readers listen to. Help feed my music addiction and leave your current favorite in the comments. :)

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Track of the Day: "Something Beautiful" by Tracy Bonham

Hurry while supplies last!

So... if you remember correctly, last year around this time Russ won his RADHOLE Mug of the Unknown (hand-painted by Yours Truly) for being my 2000th comment. Well, shortly after that, I moved all my entries to text, archived them, and started over from scratch. Apparently I ran out of server space and am way too cheap to upgrade. So there you have it.

Now my comments have reached in the 970 to 980 range and I'm offering the following: My 1000th comment (that is not spam nor Russ) shall hereby be awarded a complimentary AllieMug, hand-painted with the subject of his/her choice. It shall be shipped free-of-charge to the winner, and the winner shall cherish it forever! I am offering this great deal because I value you as my readers and because I love painting mugs. (Ask Dave--he has a limited edition Smoking Cow Mug.)

All I ask is that when you comment, please leave an email address if you are truly interested in this special offer.

Lazybones

Because Russ is attending a family reunion, I'm guest posting over there for a few days. I'm way too lazy to post both here and there so check me out at RADHOLE.

Let's boycott and go hairy

Ha! I think the razor market has gone completely wacko with the introduction of multiple blades and battery-operated vibrating parts. Nobody shaves with a simple blade anymore. I could handle the two blades and even owned a Gillette Sensor for years, but suddenly we have three and four-bladed razors. Soon we'll have ten in a row and every female will be walking around with bloody, jacked-up arm pits.

So naturally, I think it's hilarious that razor companies are getting into legal battles about who has the right to multiple-bladed razors and who's making false claims. A judge just ruled that the Gillette ads that feature a vibrating, battery-powered razor are false advertising. The razor's claim that it literally raises the hair away from the skin goes "well beyond the capabilities of the product." Well, duh. All I know is you gotta be one crazy fool to hold a vibrating razor up to your leg, let alone your face. Something's not right when you have to buy batteries for your razor.

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Track of the Day: "Protest to Praise" by Downhere

Do you think I'm sexy?

I think Rod Stewart is secretly trying to take over the world by populating it with his offspring. He is expecting his first child with his fiance Penny Lancaster. He already had 5 kids with 3 other women.

Let's talk news

An English couple is celebrating their 80th wedding anniversary! That's amazing. Even if I got married next year (which, by the way, would take an act of God), I would be 108 by the time my 80th wedding anniversary came along...and frankly, I don't think I could make it that long.

In other news... I am wearing the tightest jeans today. I can barely breathe, but the good thing is that they hold my gut in really well. I guess I'm sacrificing comfort for style today...or skinnyness. I'll let you know if I pass out later.

I have to confess. I really want to see this Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie. It's supposed to be a teenage chick flick but I'm a sucker for those almost as much as I'm a sucker for movies with dancing in them. Any kind of dancing too. That's right. I went to see You Got Served. My friend and I were the only two white girls in the theater, but there was dancing!

Apparently, one in three single men are trying to catch a woman who out-earns him. Does this mean female gold-diggers are out and male gold-diggers are in? Maybe. Or maybe the traditional gender roles are shifting. Women are no longer seeking a husband for security. Men are tired of being used?

"Men are sick and tired of women taking advantage of them all these years," said Wendee Mason, who teaches dating skills in southern California. "They want to know how stable the woman is financially so she won't suck the living daylights out of them. They're tired of supporting women who can't support themselves ... I know a man who has given four houses away."

Well, it works both ways. If a guy married me for my money (he'd be a pathetic man because I have no money), I'd want to know he wouldn't "suck the daylights" out of me. I've never had the daylights sucked out of me, but it sounds like very bad business indeed. I don't know about you, but I'd really like to see K-Fed suck the daylights out of Britney.

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Track of the Day: "Sacrifice" by Rachael Sage