Sometimes, my computer in the newsroom sounds like it's going to blow up. Like right now. It's actually so hindering that I have a hard time hearing funeral directors I'm talking to on the phone. S'kinda like a rocket getting ready to lift off, which is fine by me. Go on, black clunky Dell, and take the obits with you, as well as my will to work tonight. Because that, already, is zilch.

I FINALLY got what I've been asking for for Christmas for six years now - a gift card to go get a massage at a local spa. Sounds bratty, right? Well, maybe it is a little bit, but god dammit, I just want 60 minutes to not think about ANYTHING.

And to have my back and feet rubbed, which I wish Tony would do and I bug him about it so much that he bought me a five dollar hand held massager thingy and it just isn't the same when I do it myself because I absorb a lot of vibration into the hand that's holding the massager thingy and it's very distracting. God.ILIVESUCHAHARDLIFE.

I think about where I was at this time last year and it's weird. At this time last year I was getting ready to move back to NEPA from Philly. I was still freelancing out the house and had nothing solid.

Now I work in a newsroom weekly and publish stories weekly, with the HUGE HOPES of going full-time in the near future. Like hopefully the first two months of 2011.

I turn 25 this year. TWENTY FIVE. Something else big has to happen, right?

amazing.

Right now I am speaking this blog out on my new phone, the droid x. How insane is that? It's like I don’t even need my laptop any more!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Happy 100 to meeeeeeee!

HAPPY 100th POST! WOOT!

Here are some survey questions 'cause I'm bored. In the next one imma bitch about an always forgotten Christmas prezzie.



Tell us your three favorite colors: Red, black, and grey. And most often together in some design. I want my wedding dress to be red, black, and white. Weird? Yea. Me? Also yea.

Your favorite season, and why: Fall. Living in our area is a really great place to be when fall hits. The colors of the leaves and, therefore, the insane scenery of the surrounding mountains is out of this world. It's also the beginning of the fashion year so I can see what trends are upcoming and I can dig out my awesome fall boots!

How you came across BLOGGER, and how your life has changed since joining: Blogger was just the next step in a long staircase of blogs I've had. I simply upgraded from LiveJournal and this is actually my second blog on here.

Are you a fitness guru or coach potato? Talk about your exercise habits: There aren't really any to talk about, which is so sad. I REALLY need to start getting my shit together, and fast. I can't get away with the stretchy waistbands of summer shorts and capris. It's jeans season, dammit!

Favorite meme at the moment: Hide yo children, hide yo wife - they rapin' everybody up in here!

Talk about your pets, or the pets you would like to have: I have my precious little dude, Link, who is a 7 month old miniature dachshund. He's this awesome reddish brown color with gorgeous eyes. He's SUPER long and has a puppy face that I hope he never loses. Oh, and he likes to hump people. I guess he takes after mommy and daddy.

Your top three favorite bands: Of all time? Oh jeez, why this pressure? No Doubt is my first choice, I just adore all of them.

Your thoughts/opinions about Harry Potter: Do you WANT to be here for eight years? Seriously, though, I'm a little obsessed. I dressed up as Bellatrix for the midnight of the 6th movie and was on the front page of a paper in Philly. Do I need to tell you any more than that?

Your thoughts/opinions about Mean Girls: Boo, you whore. I remember a while ago my parents went away for the night (when I was living at home) and I decided I was going to be cool and get pizza and movies for myself and just sit home and have a ME night. I rented that movie and the movie Saved. Mean Girls always reminds me of how awesome it felt to be hanging out with myself and loving it.

Do you have siblings? Talk about them, or talk about what it’s like to be an only child: I'm an only child, and I don't get the big deal. I never longed for a sibling, I'm not a total bratface (notice I said TOTAL), so I don't know why people think only children are horrid. We aren't. We're just better than you.

Tell us your favorite junk food: Anything that involves chocolate and peanut butter. What a lovely marriage of tastes.

Your favorite Disney Princess movie: Beauty and the Beast. I always loved Belle because she loved books.

Your thoughts on Ugg Boots: I don't get the fuss.

Do you drink soda more often than milk? Ugh yes. Not any more, I hope.

The initials of your crush: A.R. (Not the state of Arkansas, thanks.)

Do you wear glasses? If so, what are they for? I do. I hate them. I have contacts, but I need new ones and can't afford them, so I wear my glasses until I have monies.

Your favorite subject to study: Literature, writing, Egypt, mythology, psychology.

Do you play a sport? Tell us about it. If not, talk about a different hobby you have: I used to play volleyball and LOVED IT.

Your opinions on Lady Gaga: Her fashion is just...out of this world. And her songs make me really happy. And her concert made me cry. I guess I'm in love with her?

Tell us about the last movie you saw in theatres: Due Date. Robert Downey Jr. punched a five year old and spit on a dog. That's all you need to know.

Tell us about the last book you read: leisure or school: I'm currently reading a book on Greek mythology. Before that I read a book called Lipstick Jungle, which is a waste of paper product and ink.

Name one place you would to visit one day: Egypt.

List your three favorite girls names, three favorite boys names, and your three favorite names for a pet: Girls: Harlow...? Boys: Gauge, Pierce, ? Pets: There is only one. Link. Answering this question was weird, because I used to know what I wanted to name my kids and nowww...I have no idea what I'd name them. I don't like normal names. Ugh, my poor future offspring.

Your first celebrity crush: Probably a Backstreet Boy. Brian, to be exact.

Your opinion on the television show Glee: OH LAWD. I can't get enough!

I feel like my fingers are drunk.

You know how when you ARE drunk, you can slur your words a bit, your tongue feels like it's catching and everything goes a little in slo mo? That's how my fingers feel on this keyboard. It's like they're just dragging across the keys.

Actually, in those last two sentences I had eight typos. Wtf?

Oh Sunday. You slay me. Tuesday will be worse, I'm sure. (For reasons I'm not yet disclosing.)

Can you believe it's November already? I can't. I should be Nanowrimoing at the moment, but I've had zero time. And today is election day, which means I'll be in the newsroom until lord knows when.

But that should be a cool thing to see. I can't lie, I hope I just do obits and cover no races. I know NOTHING about this election, at all. That's a horrible thing to say, and I realize that, but as I've expressed here before, I'm not a very politically inclined person. I'm not informed enough to vote this year. One year I'll wake up and realize I should've been paying attention all this time, but it looks like this year is NOT that year. Which is sad, and I'm not proud of it, but I've honestly just been concerned these past few weeks about getting my writing career off the ground so sorry, crooked politicians, but I'm going to be the selfish one this time around.

See that's the thing, why I don't care. I feel like NO politician is actually a good person or has the public's interests in mind.

And to be honest, right now the only thing I'm really adamant about is gay rights, which is a pretty pressing issue, but not the MOST pressing.

So we'll see. Next time around, I'll pay attention more.

As for this weather, what the hell? It's so cold that I don't even want to get out of bed in the morning.

ketchup!

Yea, I know, I suck. But I've been working every night and had a Halloween party to throw at my house.

Which, by the way, was AWESOME. Guess who I was this year?




BOOM. Kat von D. Hell yea!

I had so much fun being her. I love being tattooed up. It made me want to get more real ones.

Also, I really like that hair and wish I had it for myself. And I enjoy darkening my eyesbrows and wear red lipstick. This may have to happen on the daily.

Ok, here goes the challenge. Today is catch up day and I have time to do that, since it seems that no one is dying on Halloween and the obit desk is BO-RING.

Day 2 - Talk about your piercings or tattoos, if you have any:
I have seven piercings and three tattoos (for now). My tattoos are as follows:
The first one I got was the word "Veritas" (Latin for "truth") on my inner bottom lip.
The second one is a bit bigger, it's angel wings on my back. I'd like to have it expanded and some red thrown in it. There was no real meaning behind it, until the day that my grandmother fell into a coma mere hours after I had come to her asking to apply moisturizer on it for me, since I couldn't reach it and my parents weren't home. A week later, she passed away. That year, there were two more deaths in my family. Now I like to look at the wings as a reminder of the people I've lost and how important they are to me.
The third one, which I got like two months ago, is a pair of dice on my upper left rib that are a one and a three, to represent the number 13. Thirteen is a lucky number to me, as it's my birthdate (there I go sharing that info again!) and it was Dan Marino's number, who was my gram's favorite football player as that was the name of her brother that died at a young age. Also, I had the tattoo done on Friday the 13th!


Day 3 - Your favorite television program:
I am OBSESSED with Glee right now. I haven't gotten "Dammit, Janet" out of my head since Tuesday. I also watch a lot of Criminal Minds reruns because they're ALWAYS ON. Seriously. At one time, on more than one channel. I have no idea why. And Agent Reid is kinda sexy.


Day 4 - Write about your closest friends: I don't have many. The ones that I do have and are true are wonderful. Shit, one lives in Oklahoma and we still talk as much as we did when she was here! I can depend on all of them for anything - a laugh, a shoulder to cry on. They're been through a lot with me, and I with them, and I really think our relationships are invaluable. And if they're reading this, they're probably rolling their eyes at me, because that's how they are. Assholes.

Your middle name, and how you feel about it.

At the risk of putting too much info out there on the web (which I probably already have with this, so why I have a conscience about it now, I don't know) I won't tell you my middle name but I'll tell you that it's plain. I made it work with the picking of my confirmation name, though.

But still it's plain, and I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with prior family members, like most middle names do.

Failtastic, Mom & Dad. You couldn't have picked, like, Genevieve?

another challenge, my friends.

I found another 30 day challenge! This one, I shall do. I think. My computer is shot (thanks for shitting the bed, power cord), but I'm going to do my best. I need to write again. I've been running around crazy for the past month now. No wonder I can't shake this damn cold.

ANYWAY

Here are the questions:
Your middle name, and how you feel about it.
Talk about your piercings or tattos, if you have any:
Your favorite television program:
Write about your closest friends:
Tell us your three favorite colors:
Your favorite season, and why:
How you came across Tumblr, and how your life has changed since joining:
Are you a fitness guru or coach potato?
Favorite meme at the moment:
Talk about your pets, or the pets you would like to have:
Your top three favorite bands:
Your thoughts/opinions about Harry Potter:
Your thoughts/opinions about Mean Girls:
Do you have siblings? Talk about them, or talk about what it’s like to be an only child:
Tell us your favorite junk food:
Your favorite Disney Princess movie:
Your thoughts on Ugg Boots:
Do you drink soda more often than milk?
The initials of your crush:
Do you wear glasses? If so, what are they for?
Your favorite subject to study:
Do you play a sport? Tell us about it. If not, talk about a different hobby you have:
Your opinions on Lady Gaga:
Tell us about the last movie you saw in theatres:
Tell us about the last book you read: leisure or school:
Name one place you would to visit one day:
List your three favorite girls names, three favorite boys names, and your three favorite names for a pet:
Your first celebrity crush:
Your opinion on the television show Glee:
Take a picture of yourself right now and post it, or post the most recent picture you can find:

Well.

Here I am.

Sitting in the news room, doing obituaries by myself for the first time.

This. Is. Awesome.

I love being in this place! It's just nice to be in a media environment. Hopefully soon I'll be in it full-time, as a writer. It's just oooonneee last step that needs to be completed!

I have four stories due in on Tuesday and then I'm covering a Natalie Merchant concert on Wednesday, my first official concert review! I'm really pumped, and nervous, about it. The deadline is ten o clock that night! Eep!

Today sucked. Mostly in the fact that I messed up in an article that was published last week.

I said that someone was the owner of a local establishment when he was, in fact, not. His brother was.

When I called the place for the interview, I asked for an owner. The response was, "Sure, he's right here, his name is Joe," and the phone was passed on. The guy had the same last name of the establishment I was calling, so I put two and two together and there you have it. A mistake.

I should've double-checked. I almost always do. That time I assumed incorrectly and it sucks, because someone sent an e-mail in to the paper about it.

I hate mistakes, no matter how minor. I remedied it best I could. In fact, the actual owner kind of laughed it off and didn't care. But, we are running a retraction.

Blegh. This week is off to a shitty start.

At least I get to train again tomorrow. I don't so much mind that.

Oh and, forget that 30 day challenge, obviously. I got turned around on it.

Plus, I already answered the cool questions.

woooweeee.

Hold on.

Wait. Do you hear that?

I think it's...

Yes. Yep. I'm breathing. For once. I've had no time to ALL. WEEK.

Not that this is a bad thing, my friends. Let me just explain to you the timeline from last Thursday, to now.

Obviously, I've been corresponding for the Times Leader writing features articles (Hello, awesomesauce!) and have had hopes of getting my way in there full-time. Now I have a foot even further into the door - I chill with the dead on Sunday and Monday nights.

I'm a part-time obit clerk (whilst still writing features). Last Thursday I lost my freelance job editing acronyms because they could no longer afford to pay all freelancers. That SAME day, when I worrying myself over bills, my editor at the TL asked if I wanted to hop into the company doing obits part-time.

Of course, I accepted. In all caps through email.

So now I'm all TL work. It's wonderful. For the next week or two I will be training in obits and then taking on that weekend night shift.

Needless to say, the past seven days have been WOOOOOOO. Now they're more like WEEEEEEEEE.

And now I must write two home improvement stories I've been working on all week, as well as prepping for another on hula hoops that I'm interviewing someone for tomorrow.

Oh hey. I'm a JOURNALIST. : )

Day #24 - A letter to your parents.

I hope that you know how much people appreciate you. And I’m not just talking about me.

I know you both have had a hard time catching a break on ANYTHING as of late, but I hope you see that your work is not for nothing. Particularly in the past weeks when we lost Grampie.

You have many, many wonderful friends who are here for you. You had many people that you never in a million years expected anything from sending food to the house and cards and showing up at the viewing.

You are not only wonderful parents, but wonderful people. You never hesitate in helping others, you are always very considerate, you’re level-headed – I’m extremely proud to say you’re my parents.

I only hope that one day, I can be half the parents you are.

Day #23 - Something you crave for a lot.

Domino's cheesy bread. That stuff is the devil. It's just the perfect mixture of everything. And it's wonderful when you're drunk.

Clearly, I have not been holding up my end of the 30 day bargain. Before you start debating on whether to quarter or stone me, please hear this:

I lost a family member last Monday. My grandfather, to be exact. I now have no grandparents left to me on this earth.

Needless to say, these past couple days have been horrible.

I sat here and tried to write something about my grandfather, but it’s very hard. Not that there’s a shortage of things to say about him; God no. I’m just having a bit of a hard time. It’s a weird thing to deal with right now.

So, let me switch gears.

I did find a bright spot in this dreariness. In the passing of my grandfather, I found a reaffirming of myself. Inadvertently, my gramp helped light a fire under my ass. (Thanks, Grampie, I owe you one.)

At the viewing there were many people who I had never met before, but became close to my grandfather in the past years. The hospice workers that took care of him, for example.

When every one of this type of person was introduced to me by my father, three words escaped their mouths that brought tears to my eyes and made my heart stop with pride.

“You’re the writer!”

My grandfather saved every story I wrote and kept it on the kitchen table. Every nurse or old friend that walked through his door was treated to every single one of them. He bragged about me to everyone he knew.

Yes, gramp, I am the writer, and it’s all thanks to you.

No matter the horrible health or screwy state of mind my grandfather falls into, he never seems to lose his sense of humor around me.

Today I was sitting with him and mom texted me telling me to ask him how he slept for the first night in our house, which he has just moved into. Do you know what he told me to tell her?

"On the bed!"

Day #22 - What makes you different from everyone else.

You know, I wrote a ton of shit out for this and edited my face off, and then I got to the last paragraph and went...oh my God. This is so simple. This is it.

So, here's the tail end of my mindless babbling, which has since been erased:

I’m constantly optimistic. You will rarely, if ever, find me in a bad mood. I put others before myself, but also have concern for me first when I know it’s necessary. I experience a lot of horrible shit, but don’t say much to anyone. I take the horribleness and spin it into golden optimism and experience and I shower those in need with it best I can.

I’m a combination of a lot of things that I just don’t think you’ll find most places. I’m loyal, I’m honest (but not brutally so), I have a way with words, I love complete strangers, I love being a recluse, I prefer a book over a beer (though nothing holds a candle to a glass of wine), I know my enemies, I know my friends, I know that they are interchangeable. I have the ability to cause people to feel as though they’ve known me all their lives when I only met them hours before. That, to me, is one of the best things: to talk to someone, to make people feel comfortable and happy.

People trust and confide in me quickly and that’s just fine. I can say with absolute certainty that in past years I have not told a soul a secret that has been said to me.

Actually, I just thought of a wonderful way to put this.

I’m filled with a lot of darkness. I acquire my own, through my life experiences, but I also acquire other people’s. The thing is, I have an ability to change that into something good, to not let it weigh on me. I take garbage and make it something beautiful and useful.

I guess I’m hell-bent on changing the world, one ray of sunshine at a time.

o·ver·haul
[v. oh-ver-hawl]

- to dismantle the thing and to reassemble it after reconditioning or replacing its components so that the useful life of the thing is comparable to its useful life when it was new.

- a major repair, remake, renovation, or revision.

- my current state of living.

Day #21- A picture of something that makes you happy.

Genuine laughter and friends. (And a little bit of cleavage, I suppose!)

Day #20- Someone you see yourself marrying/ being with in the future.

The man who named me Keebs. Everything with Tony is just…easy.

We work really well in times of conflict. We generally want the same things in the long run. And things are always fresh.

We’ve been together a little over two years and it doesn’t feel that way, at all. He still does the cute little gestures he did in the first week we dated. Every time I look at him I can see a future. He truly is my best friend.

Day #19 - Nicknames you have; why do you have them.

Korny - This goes back to volleyball in high school. It’s part of my last name. My coach and teammates always called me this.

Sarey - This also originated in high school and choice people in my life call me this.

Keebs - Tony bestowed this one upon me. When we first started dating he told me I had incredibly tiny ears, like an elf. Keebs, Keebler - get it?

Papa - This comes out of the fact that Schmidt’s auto-complete on her phone sucks and apparently turns “Sara” into “Papa”.

Chudge - This comes from C Bell, because one night I was eating the oddest combination of cheese and fudge. Most likely, I was drunk.

Cheese - The best little cousins in the world call me this to this day and I hope it never leaves our lives. I hope when I'm 50 they're still calling me this. It comes from a character from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. And also the fact that I adore cheese.

Day #18 - Plans/dreams/goals you have.

I would like to get married. I would like to have kids. I would like to travel to several different countries. I’d like to learn to speak several different languages. I’d like to write a best-selling novel. I would love to build myself a library in my house. I also want a revolving closet, like Cher’s in Clueless. I want a pair of Manolo Blahniks. I would love to be editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine. I just want to work in the fashion industry in SOME capacity. I’d like to live in New York City, at least for a little bit.

Day #17 - Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why.

I would normally answer Stephen King or Anna Wintour. At this point, I think I’d rather switch places with someone of my age that lives in Italy or Egypt. I would really love to go into a different country with a totally different culture and just see how they live. I feel like I get so caught up in the way I do things that I never stop to think about the fact that the world is not simply here, in America.

Day #16 - Another picture of yourself.

In Florida holding a gator, obv.

an impact unknown.

This past Friday, I had an article published as part of my correspondent work. It was on the book "Eat Pray Love" and dealt with a local woman, Melissa, who went to Italy because of the book and met a man there, who she dated. It was a romantic story and probably my favorite one to write to date. (If you'd like to read it, here you go.)

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from my editor that she received from someone else. The woman requested it be forwarded to me. Here it is:



Sara,
Do you believe that God works through others to send us a message when we need it the most? Well, I do ..

It happened to me this morning reading your article “Best Selling Book Inspires a Real Life Love Story”.

Tomorrow my daughter leaves for college…I’ve been closet crying :) off and on for weeks. I actually had to take vacation days off this week to get myself prepared not to lose it tomorrow…. This morning I was at my lowest point until I read your article and knew everything would be okay.. I’ll give you the short version of the story… (Please excuse my writing ..)

19 years ago when my daughter was 8 months old she was in critical condition at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia because her liver failed due to the chemo she was receiving for a tumor they removed under her right arm. They didn’t give us much hope that she would survive.. on the seventh day after eleven in the morning something happened.. She started laughing and moving around...The liver specialist couldn’t believe it..her liver was back to normal..I remember him saying that no medical book can explain what just happened.. By Thursday of that week we were home…and in the mail was a big folder with all home made get well cards from my friend’s daughter's CCD class. Also with the beautiful cards was a note from the CCD teacher Melissa that on the same day my daughter recovered at 11:15 all the children would pray for her recovery….So, there it was..a Miracle… I don’t know if this is the same Melissa as in your article… but seeing her name reminded me that God saved my daughter for a reason…it’s time for me to let her go and find out why….
For her graduation I put together a picture of all those beautiful cards and the letter as a gift to remind her that she is a miracle. I just needed a reminder myself… Thank You!!.


Guess what, blogging world? I checked it out and yes, that Melissa IS the same Melissa that was in my article.

When I first talked to Melissa I was merely checking up at local libraries about the book. It was by chance that I found her and her incredible story. Now I see that maybe it was a chance meeting with a higher purpose.


I am 1,000% sure that I'm in the correct job (even if it's not officially a job, yet). Nothing has made me feel so good as this e-mail. I've always wanted to make a change with my writing.

Well, there it is.

Day #15 - Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play.

Scott Farcas Takes it on the Chin - Less Than Jake
Nasty Naughty Boy - Christina Augilera
BoysBoysBoys - :Lady Gaga
When You’re Evil - Voltaire
Roxanne - The Police
I’m a Scat Man - Scatman John
I’m the Shit - DJ Class featuring Kanye West
Oklahoma - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Soundtrack
All Hail Me - Veruca Salt
Moar Ghosts and Stuff - DeadMau5


A pretty little mixture, no?

Day #14 - A picture of you and your family.

At Fenwick Island, DE. My, Tony, my mom and my dad. : )

Did I know at 11 AM Friday morning that by 11 PM that very day I’d be applying tattoo cream to the latest body art addition of mine?

Nope.

Did my friend Jess know that morning that she’d be sitting with me as a needle dug into my upper ribs, while I held her hand and nearly shouted “MOTHER FUCKER” every two seconds?

Naw.

Friday was the 13th, a superstitious day for some. Not for me; I was born on the 13th. Also, my grandmother was a huge Dolphins fan and had a brother named Dan Marino (also the name of #13, Dolphin quarterback), but he passed away when he was 7. My grandmother’s love for the Miami team spread to me. My parents always say 13 is their lucky number, due to my birthday.

I’m all about 13, my friends. So, when a local tattoo shop was having a Friday the 13th special (number 13, knife, and hockey mask tattoos at a lower price) I said to myself: “Let’s be spontaneous. Let’s do this shit.”

I call Jess at 11:15. She says she’ll come. Great, I say. Now I just need to figure out where to put this on my body.

I consult friends. It’s either the inner ankle of my right foot or the left ribs, since other parts of my body are taken by future tattoo plans.

At about 11:45 I panic. I call Jess back. It’s off; we aren’t going.

At 12:15 I tell myself that I’ll regret this if I don’t do it, so just do it, STOP BEING A BABY AND FORGET THE FACT THAT FEET AND RIBS ARE THE WORST TATTOO PAIN ACCORDING TO, LIKE, EVERYONE ON THE PLANET.

I call Jess back. She leaves me no room for thinking. She’s at the house in ten minutes.

And then there we are. Sitting in the shop, looking at the pre-drawn tats up for sale. I choose dice, a one and a three, to represent the thirteen. Because, baby, I’m Sara and a normal roman numeral that’s got a fancy design just won’t do.

Black and red, upper left rib. It took about a half hour and I may have cut off circulation to Jess’s hand, but it was totally worth it.

I present to you my Sailor Jerry-color-reminiscent, rockabilly-feel, potentially to be turned into a larger sidepiece, new tattoo: (also quite red because this is literally thirty seconds after it was finished)

Day #13 - A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.

I'm going to be honest with you: It takes a lot to hurt me. Like truly, cut me deep. But lately, certain family members have been hurting me simply by their ignorance and immaturity.

So, at the risk of putting this out there publicly and having someone see it (which I'm coming to find, I kind of don't give a shit), here we go, directed really to three people.


You're so "depressed", it's almost pathetic. Stop whining constantly and do something about it, ok? And stop saying that our family isn't helping out in your neck of the woods. People do EVERYTHING for you guys, my father included. I also don't think you're taking a step back and really LOOKING at this situation. Your mom is the one who got here. I understand that '07 was a tough time for her. But it's time for her to stop making excuses and get back on her feet. And it's time for you to stop feeding into/adding onto her complaining, man up, and do something about your life. It's YOUR life, after all; please take control of it.



Where does your money go? Oh, wait - I know. Tattoos and piercings. Don't get me wrong, you're talking to a girl who has plenty of those, but you're also talking to a girl who's responsible and budgets her money. And also doesn't move every couple months. Or start a job and then find some excuse to end it. I don't understand what happened to you. You were one of my favorites. And now...I get sick to my stomach thinking about how you've become. A good deal of it has to do with a certain person's influence. But now you're above that. Please stop begging people for help, all while saying that you don't NEED help or you don't WANT help, when your insinuations reek of seeking money. Money that you aren't even going to use to pay your bills.


Your problem deals with you and him, yes, but I'm starting to see that maybe you're a bigger part of it than I originally thought. He's scum. He always has been. He looked me up and down the first time I ever met him in a way I won't forget. He probably has cheated on you and probably still is. I don't trust him an iota. And you don't help this situation at all. You're up, you're down. Get a grip. Get out of there. You know you need to, you know there's obviously something wrong here. Your hope is futile. And I know there are a lot of assets attached to this, but hey: that's kind of your fault. You should know better than to go and do something like that and back yourself into a corner. I also have a feeling that if this DOES end, you'll be on to the next soon after. STOP DOING THAT. Stop being so needy. You can handle this yourself, I know you can. So, hop to it.

Day #12 - How you found out about (blogger) and why you made one.

I've been blogging since about junior year of high school. I was always on LiveJournal. I think I actually went through, like, 3 or 4 blogs there.

Then I decided I wanted to go to a new service and try it out, and I saw that my friend Steph was using blogger. So, I set one up. Easy as that. : )

Day #11 - Another picture of you and your friends.

my college loves.

playing catchup.

well, these last couple days have been hectic!

i have two days to catch up on of my 30 day quest. they'll be the following two posts, then i'll do sundays post, and then i have to tell you about my friday the 13th - possibly the best one i've ever had.

Day #10 - Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad.

Happy:
Little Secret - Passion Pit
Black Velvet - Alannah Myles
Seven - Dave Matthews Band
Oh No - Marina and the Diamonds


Sad:
Faithfully - Glee soundtrack
The Only Exception - Paramore
This Time is the Last Time - Mae
Aqueous Transmission - Incubus


Bored:
Anything from Glee
John Mayer
Dave Matthews
No Doubt


Hyped:
Don't Rain on my Parade - Lea Michele; Glee soundtrack
Anything by Hot Hot Heat
Hate on Me - Jill Scott
Starstrukk - 3Oh!3
My First Kiss - 3Oh!3


Mad:
Do You Call My Name - RA
Freak on a Leash - Korn
Forsaken - David Draiman of Disturbed
We Started this Opra Shit - Repo! The Genetic Opera soundtrack

Day #9 - Something you’re proud of in the past few days.

Two articles I wrote as part of a job application/freelance works for the Times Leader, a local paper:

Phiten Necklaces

and

Country Story



: )

quickie.

The goals thing got me thinking. Some stuff I want to do:

Ride a horse
Learn guitar
Learn violin
Have a party at Sugar's Tea Room
Learn French
Learn Japense
Kayak down the Susquehanna


In the nearer future, please.

Day #8- Short term goals for this month and why.

- Get this job at the Times Leader that I'm patiently waiting on. Why? Because it's been way too long since I've had an ACTUAL job and I LOVE LOVE LOVE to write and this is the job I've been waiting for.

-Get in shape. Why? Because for about six years now I've been saying I would do this.

-Organize all my books and records; paint my bookshelves. Why? Because my room is a god damn mess.

-Start to learn guitar. Why? Because I've had one since I was 16 and never really played it. Also, my good friend Shannon is moving back to the Dub and is willing to give me lessons.


Notice how a lot of these have to do with my procrastination? Yeaaa.

Day #7 - A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you.

Mr. Johannes Gutenberg,

Thank you for inventing your printing press, thus jump starting the industry I work in today and the many works of literature I consume on a daily basis.

Day #6 - Favorite super hero and why.

Anthony Edward Stark
aka
Tony Stark
aka
This sexy hunk of metal:



I'm not even going to lie to you - this has a lot to do with Robert Downey, Jr.

I have always loved comic books; Marvel, in particular. I've never actually had an absolute favorite. I'd say Spiderman because he was always forefront in my mind. But, in all honesty, Tony Stark is my favorite because of the person he is. And the way RDJ personifies him? Perfection.

I really like Stark because he's a larger-than-life personality. He's cocky, he's witty, he's a womanizer. He's kinda sexy. But, after a life changing kidnapping, he turns himself around and really betters himself as a person. Without losing his wit and womanizing skills, mind you.

The Iron Man movies are spectacular, too.

So yes, Iron Man it is. The only DC character I like is Wonder Woman, but we'll save that for another time.

Day #5 - A picture of somewhere you’ve been to.

Opry Hotel in Nashville, TN. Yup, this is the INSIDE of the hotel.

Day #4- A habit that you wish you didn’t have.

Is lack of discipline a habit? Because I have boatlods of that.

I'm a very optimistic person. Rarely am I in a bad mood. But, deep down, I have a horrid habit of assuming the worst. Like, constantly thinking about the absolute most horrible thing that can go wrong in a situation.

Mind you, I consider ALL sides of a situation, but it's the worst one that always sticks out in my mind and that I focus on.

I also constantly bite my nails. For no reason. It's not when I'm nervous, sad, happy, yadda yadda. It's because they're there, it doesn't take much to lift my finger to my mouth and it's something for me to do.

Yuck.

Day #3 - A picture of you and your friends.

This was actually really hard because all of my very good friends aren't in one picture together. But I see that later on I can post another picture of me and friends. So, I present to you part of the valley crew: (I'm missing Jessica and Kev and Ted)

Day #2 - The meaning behind your Tumblr name.

Well, this obviously isn't a Tumblr, but I took this idea off of my best friend who HAS a Tumblr, so pardon me, Blogger, for mentioning your rival's name.

The title of my blog is "supermassive black hole." This is the title of a song by Muse. While I risk losing a lot of cred for this, I'll also tell you this little tidbit about my title: this song was used in one of the coolest scenes in all of the Twilight movies. During the first movie, this little diddy is in the background during vampire baseball.

I know, to even say that there's a "cool scene" in the Twilight movies is a smite against the movie industry itself. My apologies.

Muse, on the other hand, is an incredible band and one you should check out. I promise you won't regret it. Not like how I view the Twilight movies as hours of my life I'll never get back.

Day #1 - A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

I'm totally stealing this from Steph and doing a 30 day thing. Each day I'll post something different off this list:

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Tumblr name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Tumblr and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/ being with in the future
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Who are you

So, here we go!



1. I have a tattoo on my inner bottom lip.
2. I own over 100 records.
3. I played the flute when I was in elementary school.
4. I was prom queen my junior year.
5. I used to collect mini erasers.
6. Shaggy, from the animated Scooby Doo, was my first crush.
7. I own every book Stephen King has ever written.
8. I own a handmade bracelet with the Turkish evil eye amulet on it, which I wear every day. I got it from a waiter that was from Turkey on the cruise we went on.
9. I am deathly afraid of birds.
10. I do not want to wear white on my wedding day.
11. My favorite state I've ever been to is Louisiana, which is funny because I was there when I was 11 so I barely remember it. But I still stand by that notion.
12. When I was younger, I took the cheese off my pizza. But, cheese has always been my favorite food.
13. Sometimes when I walk on the sidewalk I make sure I take the same number of steps in each cement block and I never step on the cracks.
14. I was one of three winners at a headline writing contest during a conference at the New York Times.
15. I could have been an intern at Seventeen magazine, but they called me for an interview two weeks too late.

stealing this from steph.

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Tumblr name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Tumblr and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/ being with in the future
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Who are you

Klingons and the Romulans pose no threat to us - 'cause if we find we're in a bind we just make some shit up!

I’ve been a little offbeat all my life. The girl with the combat boots, the girl who loves vampires, the girl with that tattoo on her lip, the girl with the crazy colored hair – all me.

My interests go anywhere from shoes to zombies, Zelda to James Dean. When I started dating Tony I was opened up to a world where I could love all of these things, and then some, in public and with other people.

Tony introduced me to the world of conventions. Wizard World Philadelphia, Video Game Expo Philly, Horror-Con – we frequent these every chance we get. This year is the second year that I’ll be attending Wizard World and, let me tell you, I’m overwhelmed.

At the first Wizard World I got a taste of celebrity when I acted like a dumbfounded fool upon meeting Emma Caulfield, better known to Buffy fans as Anya. I like to consider that a practice run for what would happen months later at Horror-Con: my meeting with the crush/love/I-want-to-have-your-babies man of my dreams, James Marsters. (better known to Buffy fans as Spike).

This year’s Wizard World is packed to the brim with people I’m dying to meet. James will be there, as will a bevy of people that are icons in the kingdom of nerds.

Shall we?


Ernie Hudson, of Ghostbuster fame, as Winston Zeddemore.



Mmm, my favorite Baldwin, Stephen. I dunno which I'd consider more of a classic: Biodome or The Usual Suspects.



Many Batmans have come and gone, but none are so awesome as Adam West. POW! SMASH!


Bruce Campbell. Two words for you: Evil. Dead. I dunno, I've always had an awkward crush on this guy.

And the mother of them all:


Guys. Come on. It's Captain Jean-Luc Picard. And if THAT doesn't get your blood pumping, let's have a little chat about Charles Xavier aka Professor X.

Needless to say, my camera will be at the ready at all times and my Twitter will be going crazy this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

I'm also on the hunt for the dude who dressed up as Thor last year. Wicked costume and I need a picture with him to place beside the ones of me with Spiderman and Wonder Woman.

If you want to find out more, check out this site!
http://www.wizardworld.com/home-pa.html

Maybe I'll see you there. : )

triforce, bitches.

When I was a little girl, I had a very hard time putting the little plastic shoes on my Barbies. The feet were inflexible, the shoes always seemed too small, and I just didn’t have the patience.

So please imagine what my life is now like, having to fit a harness around this - a living, MOVING creature:




This is Link, the new addition to mine and Tony’s life and home, and the most adorable dog on the planet. Yea, I said it. If you’re a dog owner I want you to look at your little one and say, “A mini doxie just made your cuteness level drop drastically” and lament the fact that you don’t have my dog.

Link is eight weeks old and we just picked him up Saturday from a breeder in Bloomsburg. (beavervalleydoxies.com – I HIGHLY recommend her!) He already recognized where he needs to pee and poop outside the house, where the gate is to get back in the house, and where his food and water dish is. After almost 72 hours of being with us.

Suck on that, Lassie.

He gets the hiccups, he whines something fierce when he’s in his crate, he likes to bite EVERYTHING and he is just, in general, the epitome of adorable.

Tony and I are so excited to have him and I think his mere presence has bonded us more as a couple. Tony shows a fatherly side with him that I’ve never seen before. The man that dresses all in black, barely says a word that isn’t sarcastic, and has a fixation with anything bloody and gross coos, oohs, and ahhs over this dog. He babytalks him, cuddles him, and calls me “mommy” and himself “daddy.”

Link’s cast a spell on the whole family, including myself, and much of our neighbors who pass us as we walk him outside.

Oh, and about the name? “Aww, he’s a hot dog- dog, so it’s like a sausage link!”

No way, noobz. We are more creative than that.

zombie hoarde? vampire attack? nope. just wine.

I just spilled red wine.

All over our bed sheet.

Our BEIGE bed sheet.

And really, by all over, I mean only about a one inch diameter spot.

But come on now. It’s red wine, I’m home by myself, I never had a stain like this before, it’s only a month old bed sheet. So to me, it looked like a murder scene.

I’d like to thank Google, for always being there in a pinch, and our neighbor Tom, for loaning me a cup of laundry detergent. Since we just got our washer and dryer YESTERDAY, we have no such supplies.

My advice to you if you have a red wine stain, my friends: act QUICKLY. Rinse it with cold water, sprinkle some salt on it and let it sit for a minute or two, rinse it again. (Possibly repeat this action one more time.) Now rub some laundry detergent in, let that sit, and rinse. Throw that shit in the washer. Then sit back, relax, and marvel at how efficient you are. Hell, have another glass of wine!

Just make sure not to spill it.

boo, you whore.

I. Suck.

I've been cooking, but not blogging.

I went on a cruise - I need to blog about that.

I just need to get my shit together, you know?

I'm already up early and going today, so maybe this is the week? Maybe the cruise was the breaking point?

We shall see.

and it fell, and fell, and fell...

So I found that I was asking myself a lot of questions when I woke up this morning.

Such as, where are our front steps? How can those birds possibly be chirping at me from that tree as I push a foot of snow off my car? How can I repay the nice man who took a snow blower to our front walk? Why is that guy up the street with the braces even attempting to walk his dog?

I’m not kidding about that last one. Guy’s like three hundred pounds and he smokes. He’s got braces attached to his arms that he uses to help him walk. Only time I ever see him out is when it snows and he’s with his dog. The dog runs around, he yells at it and feigns horror at the fact that he can’t chase after the thing. He holds a lot of conversations with himself in loud tones about how tired he is and what a pain in the ass the dog is. He’s loud and obnoxious and I swear to God if he ever falls down I am only going to use my cell phone to take pictures of it, not call an ambulance.

Is there an Olympic event for shoveling? ‘Cause if there is, I win the gold. And if not, fuck you Olympics. I felt like a curler this morning anyway, vehemently scraping the ice off my car.

Well, I’m off to shovel some more, as the white stuff just won’t stop falling. Toodles. : )

the all new, all purpose me.

As I have pointed out numerous times to you, I’m sure, I’m an only child. It wasn’t until recently, when Tony and I moved into our own home, that I’d really been out by myself with no one to lean on.

I’m not saying I’m not a domestic person, because I have certainly proven to myself in the past couple of months that I’m totally capable of handling my affairs with ease and efficiency. I knew I always had the knowledge and the verve to accomplish such things; the problem was, I never had an environment in which to use them. Well, now I do.

One thing that I have yet to fully exercise is my culinary skills (or lack thereof). Please understand that until about oh, five years ago?, I was an extraordinarily picky eater. I brought peanut butter sandwiches to lunch with me every day from eight grade until graduation. I used to scrape the cheese off my pizza and damned if I knew anything about fruits and veggies – what are those, anyway?

I still have my misgivings (tomatoes, onions, certain types of meat), but all in all I’ve gotten over my food phobias and have become a well-rounded eater. (Both literally and figuratively…although it could be all the Dominos, and not my expansive diet, that’s caused a bit of weight gain.) So, now that I have my own kitchen to mess around in, I’ve decided to delve into the art of cooking.

I come from a family of great cooks, namely my grandmother. She had a garden, made pasta from scratch, and was relied upon for the best meals during holidays. She made a spaghetti sauce that will never match any other. Unfortunately, by the time I realized I wanted to learn how to cook and make such a sauce, she was gone. I’ve just now inherited a little piece of her that should help me along the way.





The 1997 edition of The Joy of Cooking. Five-ish pounds of not only recipes, but the basics of food and appliances and cooking methods. This book was always at her side and now, with it in my hands, I see the tattered and bookmarked pages – she used this thing a lot. So, now I’m going to methodically go through it and do my best to nurture my (hopefully) innate Italian/Polish cooking skills and make some damn good meals.

Yes, I am going to go Julie & Julia on you for a bit here. Sorry. But when I screw up it’ll be funny, right? And if I don’t, simply tasty – and you’ll wish you were here to try it.

It saddens me that the brilliantly bright flame of your innovation and talent has been snuffed out so soon. RIP. You were a true fashion powerhouse.

food analogies.

We had our first “pick up furniture someone offered us” experience. It was…interesting.

My best friend’s aunt graciously offered Tony and I a couch for the house. This made us ecstatic because, up until this point, we were to have only my grandparent’s bedroom set and whatever boxes we moved into the house with as furniture.

So I rounded up my uncle, who has a pick-up truck, my best guy friend and Tony and we set out to grab the couch. Turns out the initial couch was REALLY wide (although really comfy looking) and probably wouldn’t have been able to fit into the house. But, we were told that there was a narrower couch downstairs with a chair to match that we could have. Yes, we took it – but not without problem.

The furniture was in the basement of the house which was, thankfully, attached to the garage. It was blockaded in by a pool table and a pillar, though. And, as you may know, you can’t just move a pool table or the whole thing’ll have to get realigned or some shit. I didn’t know this until I was all, “Well hey, let’s get this out of the way” and it was met with “NO!!!” from all people present. I didn’t ask to kill a puppy – it’s a pool table for Christ’s sake.

So the couch had to be lifted up above the pool table then moved through a narrow hallway to the door. Well, after seeing some majorly impressive real-life Tetris moves come out of my uncle instructing the boys to move it this way and that, we finally had to take the legs off the couch to get it through the door. It’s amazing what three inches can do. (That’s what she said?)

Same thing for the chair. It was loaded on the truck and on the way to my grandfather’s for storage.

It got off the truck and into the garage fine. My uncle left and myself and the boys stayed to talk to my grandfather. Not two minutes after walking out the door my uncle was back inside.

He backed into my car with his truck.

So now Mo (Moesha is her full name) has a crinkle-fry hood that needs to be completely replaced and a jiggly headlight. My poor baby

We have to pick up another couch from a friend of ours. Can’t wait to do that. Maybe I’ll have a pancake for a car afterward.

since when do i wash clothes? seriously.

Guess what? It’s merely January 20 and, already, 2010 is my bitch. Take THAT, new decade.

I’ve learned a lot in the past twenty days. Renal has to do with the kidneys, people at utility companies are generally dumbasses, and I should never go to a dollar drink special that runs for two hours.

In between all of the science term editing I’ve been doing (fuck you, National Institute of Health, for having so many science-related acronyms on your site), I’ve also been organizing things for mine and Tony’s house.

Yep. The girl who has only ever lived away from home was when she moved to Philly (and moved into her boyfriend’s parents’ house anyway) is moving into her own digs.

A year and three months shy of being a quarter of a century old and I’m finally feeling like an adult.

Please join me on this journey. I shit you not when I say that I’ll probably have a couple of mini breakdowns (which’ll be funny, in retrospect) and a lot of hilarious things will go down.

So, about this house! Huge living room that opens up into a nicely sized kitchen. There’s a pantry off the kitchen. The steps are right in front of the front door and go straight upstairs, where there’s no hallway; you come out into a common room. To the right is a spare room and to the left is the master bedroom. There’s a bathroom in the bedroom and a half-bath downstairs .The basement is unfinished and scares me (as most basements do) so I’ll be avoiding it for the duration we’re living there. I read Stephen King books. You can’t image what I think is going on in the cellar of every house I’m in.

I can’t even express to you how much storage space is in this bitch. I can fit all of my shoes AND my books AND Tony’s DVDs in the house and still have a MASSIVE amount of room.

I also already have colors planned for everything:

I’d love a green and blue kitchen. Think navy and a more pastel green, but a bit darker. (I can’t think of a name for it. I’m not Martha Stewart.)

Definitely a red, black and grey bedroom, a Japanese theme. Tony and I are pretty gothic people as far as tastes go.

The middle room upstairs will be my reading/working room and I’m thinking rustic colors. I have a lot of sepia paintings and pin-up girl-like things, which is completely my style. The other room upstairs will be Tony’s game/movie room so I’m letting him do what he wants with that. I’m going to wager black, since the kid looks like Johnny Cash on a daily basis.

As far as the living room goes, I’m not sure. There’s wood paneling, so I can’t really paint. Probably gonna go with Earth tones in there.

God, when did I get so domestic? Oh yea. When I started making to-do lists like this:





Mini breakdown, here I come.

funny people.

Oh, hey. Happy 2010 : ) Tons to tell, but that’ll come later.

So, yes, I do play Facebook games. I’m deeply involved in Restaurant City, for God only knows what reason. In order to play the game to the best of my ability, I often friend people temporarily and then delete them. Sometimes they decide to IM me on Facebook chat for those couple hours that they’re my friends, and most of the time they either speak horrendous English or are trying to hit on me.

But yesterday I stumbled upon someone who gave me a little view of how people view us Westerners. He’s from Indonesia, a school teacher in his 30s. We were talking and I told him I was from Philly. This is what he said:

i don't know why, if i hear philadelphia, i just think many big building like in italia with many Negro, and they 'r doin' many violence, like at a film.

Ah, like at a film. Thanks, movies.

And while it’s true that, yes, there may be a higher population of African Americans in Philadelphia and there are certainly some parts of the city that are heavily laden with crime, I find it disturbing that this is the first thing that comes to mind when this man thinks of the city where America begin, the site of many an important historical spot.

We spoke for a bit more, and then he asked me this gem:

But there's a question, is there the women there like to grab their friends breast? because every women of america at facebook show that photo at their profile.

HA. Oh, my. Our drunken Facebook photos really DO reach millions, don’t they? WE LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF ASSHOLES.

I explained to him that that’s commonly a joke among friends (leaving out the part that it’s almost always booze-fueled) and he said this:

hahhaa, that's just a joke? if u try that thing here maybe you will get a hot slap from the women here, lol hahahah

He explained to me that it’s disrespectful there. From that point on we spoke of traditions. He said that they have a lot of them and it makes him feel as though they are all “reigned in” because they cannot do so many things. He said that we are very free here and he thinks freedom is good, but he also thinks that rules and traditions are important to have.

Sir, I could not agree more. While I value the freedom we have in this country, I sometimes wonder if we take certain things too far. Years and years ago, manners were better and different things were valued. Sometimes I wish the vast majority would be more respectful of one another and wouldn’t take things for granted so much.

My Indonesian friend summed us all up quite nicely:

hahaha, west is funny.