Fair Phantom

What's your favorite Michael Jackson song? Bonus points if you share the video.

Hands down, "Beat It" (though "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is a close second).  It's just an amazing song, and how can you go wrong with the Eddie Van Halen guitar solo?  I'm trying to learn the choreography at the end of the video because I think it's badass, and I was only able to do a sad imitation of a couple of the moves at the 80s party.  (The thing about Michael Jackson's video choreographies is that he makes them look really easy, and when you try them yourself, they are SO HARD. I learned this last year when we did the "Thriller" choreography). 

Michael Jackson - Beat It

I've been thinking of an entry for a couple of days, but my thoughts were so scattered that I couldn't just sit and put them down. I'm not going to pretend to be an ardent Michael Jackson fan.  I love his music from the 80s and early 90s; my parents have been playing Thriller since I could remember, so it's no surprise that most of my favorite songs of his are from that album.  But the past 15 years or so, I've been quite critical of him and his  controversies.  Even more, I was just saddened at his obvious decline and personal problems.  Maybe some people enjoy watching celebrities fade into obscurity and become trainwrecks, but I never did.  I think it was hard to be a fan in the past decade, though I never let his notoriety get in the way of enjoying his earlier music.  It was just hard to take him seriously anymore. 

I went through a phase at the beginning of this year where I listened to his old hits and watched his videos.  It saddened me to see him so full of talent and youth in the earlier videos.  It made me wonder what his legacy would be when he died.  Would he be remembered for his incredible musical legacy, or for his personal tragedies?  I didn't expect to see an answer to my question so soon.  I always assumed Michael Jackson would be one of those reclusive old celebrities, where I would reminsice about his glory days with my children.  I found out about his death via Twitter, and my stomach churned when I read he was dead.  I was just in shock.  Despite everything, he's a musical icon; he's the Elvis Presley of the 80s generation (sadly, in more ways than one.)  How can icons die so young, at only 50?  I obsessively refreshed cnn.com, because it just didn't seem real unless they said so (of course, CNN ended up being one of the last major media outlets to confirm his death). 

Like many people from Gen X and Gen Y, I grew up with Michael Jackson.  He literally was always THERE.  Thriller was released two years before I was born, so even though he was very popular when I was growing up, I wasn't alive to see him at his peak.  My mother was pregnant with me when his revolutionary video "Thriller" was released.  I can only remember his videos from the Dangerous album being released, not Bad because I was still too young.  Luckily, I am old enough to remember when Michael Jackson was still considered a true pop idol-sure, there were questions on why his skin was so white, but no one ever considered him a pedophile back then.  Sadly, along with his hits, I also remember every crazy story - the shock of hearing that Michael Jackson may have molested a child, seeing his tearful plea of innocence on TV, the interviews with Lisa Marie Presley and their kiss on MTV. 

After the party was finished on early Sunday morning, my friends and I watched a tribute to Michael Jackson performed by the Phillipine prisoners, and it was then that I felt really sad, for the first time.  I mourned that the sweet little boy singing "I'll Be There" would grow up to have so much material wealth, but so little of what really matters in life - love, friendship, happiness. I am so glad to see that Michael Jackson is rightfully being remembered for his musical genius and influence. But I think in many ways, the real Michael Jackson died a long time ago, perhaps even before my birth.  I hope that he's in a better place. And now, all his personal, publicized tragedies are no longer relevant.  I'll continue to remember him for his wonderful music and for the joy I feel when I hear it, just like it should be.

So this weekend was the party that Tap, Conrad, and I hosted.  It ended up being so much fun.  Tap and Conrad did a live performance of 80s songs during the party - huge props to them because they were awesome!  During several songs the audience was allowed to participate. 

It's kinda hard to see but I'm the chick with the wavy hair and bandanna who starts singing the first couple of lyrics.  I also take over the camera towards the end, so that's me saying stuff like, "How do you turn this off?" and trying to pass the cameraman duties on to my brother.

Summer is finally here! What are your plans?

I love summer.  Even though I have to work, I love the long days and warm weather.  Plus my birthday is in the summer (wow, already less than 2 weeks away!) and even though I'm getting old, it's always something to look forward to.

So, let's see.  This summer I plan on the following:

-My day job. I kind of need it to support my plans, so no complaints
-Parties and barbeques.  The 80s party is this weekend...I don't know what to wear yet!  I'm getting ideas though.
-Running.  I'm finding myself getting stronger slowly, and I'm hoping to improve.
-Dancing
-Concert(s).  Green Day on August 9th!
-Crafts. I used to be crafty when I was younger, but now, not so much. I'd like to get back into it.
-Italian.  One of my Italian great-aunts I haven't seen in years supposedly is visiting Texas next month soo...I need to get moving on that.

I'm talking about cable news networks with Tap, and it reminded me of my long-standing dislike of Nancy Grace.

It probably all started when she interviewed Elizabeth Smart on her show and asked the most inappropriate questions you can possibly think of asking a kidnapping survivor.  I'm not kidding when one of the questions was related to how wearing a burkha feels.  Elizabeth Smart was completely classy and shut her down.  Watch the video below for the hilarity:

Crazy Bitch

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I was watching The Wedding Singer tonight. I must have seen that movie forty times now but it's one of my favorites.  I love it. Thanks to that movie, I can't hear the song "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" without breaking up in laughter. (I was also watching for inspiration for our 80's theme party two weeks from now.)

So, I've had to work from home the past two afternoons to get my A/C fixed.  (I say "work" but it's incredibly hard to work from home without getting distracted...I'm going to take 3 hours or so of sick time just to set things straight. I'm pretty conscientious about charging my time).  Now, friends, I am not mechanically inclined.  I did not inherit that gift from my dad. If not for my dad, who was an engineer down in the engine room back in his Navy sailor days, I would be completely clueless.  I had two different repairmen, the first who was clearly in a big hurry and said I was low on freon...except my unit kept on dripping. My dad said this meant something was wrong with the condenser or compressor, but the maintenance man didn't entertain my questions.  "Don't you feel the difference already?" he asked, trying to shut me up.  "No," I replied.  But the person today took his time.  So far the leak has stopped but we'll see. My dad is convinced my A/C unit will go out soon.  Hopefully it will happen when Patrick is here next week (hehe), so he can be at home when the repair guy shows up (I dislike having people in my apartment when I'm not here, and try to avoid it as much as I can).

This weekend was really good. I went to a friend's birthday party on Saturday. The introvert in me is always a little unsure about attending parties where I know only one person...but this ended up being a lot of fun. There were cool people there. We are all swing dance nerds, so there was a lot of conversation about dancing...I even got a dance in, lol.  I was exchanging numbers with someone at the end, and this really drunk girl spotted us across the room and said, "WOO! Go ::insert guy's name here::, she's hot!"  Haha my face was red.  Then on Sunday, I ran for 40 minutes in the heat (like around 3 o'clock...I know, I'm crazy) because I'm trying to get acclimated to it.  Then I dashed home, cleaned up, and headed to my aunt's and uncle's, who live about 30 minutes away from me.  I had a good time and was happy to see them and my adorable twin cousins (who are going to kindergarten this fall. OMG. I remember waiting in the hospital when they were born.  When did time pass by so quickly?)  Joshua reminds me a lot of my brother and me when we were little.  We were pretty energetic kids...I think Joshua would make a good runner when he gets to be a little older.  (Maybe that's why my dad took me running all the time...hmm).  My new baby cousin, Eliana, is supposed to be born the day after my birthday.  I'm pretty excited to meet her.  She'll be my...35th cousin? I think? I lost count.

Yesterday was good.  I talked to my project manager and received unsolicited feedback...very good! She said I'm doing a really good job, and that I have natural management skills (me? lol).  I was really happy to hear that.  Then I went for a good run.  It was a partner relay...5 x 1.5 lap sprints.  It was tough.  My partner is a good runner so I didn't want to be lame and slow.  The first two intervals I was doing pretty well, hitting 2.5 minutes.  But I got kind of tired by the 3rd lap, so after that I slowed down to 2:45 minute intervals.    

My mom told me that she found old family friends on Facebook.  My mom was good friends with an Italian woman who had three daughters, Jessica, Laurie, and Jennifer. I have such good memories of hanging out at their house in Virginia when I was little, so I was really happy to find them on Facebook.  The girls all speak Italian.  Three of my Italian aunts, Zia Lucia, Zia Tonia, and Zia Daniela, are on Facebook.  And some of my Italian cousins - Diego, Stefania, Sabrina, Antonio, Rossanna, Antonio, Amanda, Tony, and Noemi-are on Facebook (you know how everyone is named "Nick" in My Big Fat Greek Wedding?  In my family, it's like that, except with the name Antonio).  So that means I really have to crack down on my Italian, because it's embarrassing when my cousin wants to talk to me, and I can't understand what she's saying because she's using some slang version of "What are you doing?" or whatever.  I'm the only one in that whole group who doesn't speak it fluently and I'm ashamed of it. It's not my mom's fault because she certainly tried...it's just my lazy self.

Wow, it's already 11. Time to get ready for sleep. 

What is a recent white lie you told?

Who, me? I NEVER lie ;)

Daddy:  So, are you coming down this weekend?
Me:       Yes, I am.
Daddy:  Cool, cool. I have it figured out, we'll feed you peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while you're here.
Me:       What?! Why would you do that?  That's so mean. 
Daddy:  Because you eat too much of our food.
Me:       But it's Father's Day!
Daddy:  Yes, Father's Day.  What does that have to do with anything?
Me:       I don't know, maybe showing love for your child?

Have you ever burned yourself?

What an important QotD. But since it's not sponsored by Allstate or Cisco or whatever, I'll take it.

I have the faintest, crescent shaped mark on my middle finger on my left hand; it was more visible when I was little, but I can still pick it out.  Apparently I got it from some childhood experience of touching a stove, which I do not remember.

This is a really dumb story though - when I was fifteen, I was in a chemistry lab that required the usage of a hot burner.  At the end of the lab, in order to disconnect the burners, I placed my fingers right on it.  I know, right?  What person in their right mind would touch a hot burner? I was like one of those idiots who benefit from the "do not drink this" sign before using Windex or something.  Pain.  I watched my fingers blister for a moment, then headed to the sink to cool the burn with water.  My teacher gently chastised me and got some bandaids.  And get this - I wasn't the only one who burned myself that day! Another guy did too, but I suppose he wanted to be ~manly~ about it, and didn't take care of the burn.  When I saw him later, his burn was a lot more worse off than mine was.

Before leaving class, a classmate asked me what happened, and I explained.  He shook his head.  "Dumbass," he said.  That sums it up about right. 

What's the hardest part about your job?

Remembering all the details about the easement configurations and where they are in relation to the water line, especially when the design engineer changes them over and over.

I bet that sentence put you all to sleep.