Oh yeah, I just quoted Madonna. I'm getting all 2000 on you.
Lately I've been going through a phase where I want to buy CDs. After illegally downloading purchasing music online for years, I've gotten to a point lately where I want to have my music tangible - where I can rip the music off the CDs for my ipod, or bring the CDs in the car with me. You know what I mean?
CDs are obviously expensive, so, with a few exceptions, I chose to make my purchases at Half Price. I'll likely use Amazon too in the future. I don't want to buy just any CDs, because that'll get excessive, so I'm saving my purchases for my favorite bands. A month ago, I found a 3-CD set of David Bowie, so I was pretty excited by that find. On Saturday, we went to Half Price; my brother bought me the Led Zeppelin IV and Red Hot Chili Pepper's By the Way albums (to pay me back for buying him a record). I bought Houses of the Holy and American Idiot for myself. I bought The Essential Michael Jackson today because, hey, apparently I have to be like the rest of America. Plus it was for a good price. My little collection is expanding slowly - so far, the only artists I have are David Bowie (Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs, which I highly recommend), The Eagles, Pink Floyd (only one album, though...I should be ashamed), Amy Winehouse, AC/DC, Green Day, The Cars, Michael Jackson, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Stone Temple Pilots (it's their greatest hits collection, but it's good).
What I want to ask you all is...what are your essential albums? I'm trying to get outside of my mainstream interests and find new music. I warn you that I'm not really a fan of a lot of indie or emo bands, but I'm willing to give anything a listen. Any other must-have albums I should consider adding to my collection?
What's one thing a houseguest should always do?
Clean up after yourself! Except my parents, of course. They could stand to do a little less cleaning when they come visit me ;)
1. My brother and I went into the music section at Barnes and Noble. Pat is into collecting vinyl records, so he wanted to see what else he could add to his collection. I was acting dumb, bouncing around and singing. We walked by the Michael Jackson section at the front and I wanted to see if they had the Thriller record, since Pat had expressed interest in it the last time we visited. "I wonder if they have that record," I said, but since I was being silly, I pronounced it as re-cooord instead (like the British). It was at this moment that the Barnes and Noble clerk asked us if we needed any help. Patrick thought the timing was hilarious. "I need a moment," he said, walking away and laughing really hard. "Of course you would act like a total idiot when he asks if we need help."
2. When Patrick was buying his record (rather, as I was buying the record since he'd conveniently left his wallet at my apartment), the clerk asked us if we knew that the Sex Pistols album we were purchasing was indeed a record and not a calendar. "Oh yes," I said, secretly a little annoyed that older adults always assume my generation is completely clueless on such things as records. "My dad used to play records when we were younger." "No, I'm serious," the clerk said. "I had someone come in a little while ago wanting to return a record because they originally thought they were buying a calendar." On second thought, maybe I can understand why our elders think Generation Y is full of idiots.
3. I finally gave into the rampant commercialism and mass hysteria and purchased Off the Wall. Everyone else in America is doing it, so I should too! I'm doing it for the Jackson kids. Well, I'm doing it for Michael. Okay, okay, it's because "Working Day and Night" has been stuck in my head for the past two weeks, damn it, and the album was only 10 dollars. I always liked Michael Jackson's music but I really agree with the assessment I read in Time - people feel like it's cool again to like Michael Jackson again because his death has released us from the stigma. I'm happy to see this resurgence, honestly. He deserves to be remembered for his legacy, and it reminds me of the early 90's. Anyway, I want to get Thriller and Bad, and then I think I will be happy. I'm not sure I want Dangerous, even though I love "Black and White" and "Remember the Time." Other than that, the early 90's is when Michael started releasing all those socially-conscious songs and I'm not really into that era (even when I was little I dreaded hearing "Heal the World" on the radio). I just want his music to make me dance. I've been listening to his music nearly non-stop for the past three weeks, so there has been a lot of that.
And by memories, I mean "heat rash."
No, but really, my day was fun today. Exhausting, very hot, but good. Geologists in our office have to travel a lot; I don't think I'd like to travel as much as they do, but I really enjoy field work. You work longer hours (which means good overtime pay), you get to be messy and do cool stuff. You always learn something, and there is always some new challenge that makes you think. I have nowhere near enough experience to come up with the solutions on my own, but it's good for me to see how my project managers are able to think on their feet.
We left our hotel at 6:30 and made it to our work site, near downtown, by 7. Our subconsultant showed up shortly afterward. He did not get on my good side. On our down time, he asked me what school I went to. When I told him, he gave a really condescending laugh which pissed me off, but I let it go. He was making a big deal about it and I just ignored him. Then, I grabbed another granola bar because I was hungry. "You're not one of those constant eaters, are you?" he said, and I swear, if there are any Office fans reading this, he reminded me of Todd Packer at that point. "Why, do you have a problem with that?" I retorted, and he looked all shocked. He immediately became a lot nicer and left me alone the rest of the day. I'm usually not that bitchy, but I was already annoyed at what a douche he was being about where I went to school at, and DAMN, CAN'T A GIRL EAT without people making comments? He later picked up lunch for us, which got me on my good side again.
The site we were at was in an okay part of town, but once we went a couple of streets down...not so much. My coworker was on the phone at one point and I had to go into a gas station. This one guy told us to move the vehicle from where we were parking, and thinking that he was an employee, I moved the truck. Then he went to sit in that spot, and I realized he was probably loitering. He told me he wanted to talk to my coworker, but I just kind of ignored him and put on my bitch face to go into the gas station. When I came out, he kept trying to talk to me, but I ignored hm and kept walking. He asked my coworker for money and lied and said that he had tried to help me with my things but that I told him no. We just got out of there because it wasn't a good spot. I drove the truck for a little but it was so big that I freaked my coworker out when we went through the drive-through (it was pretty narrow, and we all know how bad I am with narrow spots, as poor Pearl Jr. can attest). We switched spots and luckily I didn't have to drive anymore after that.
The work was really interesting. I liked sampling and for the morning part of the day, the weather was great because we were in the shade. The afternoon got pretty bad though. At one point, around 2, I was not doing great. I was getting tired and confused, and I felt my heart racing. So I drank more fluids and really slowed it down. I probably should have gone to rest but I didn't want to look like a wimp since I was the only girl there. I'm such a hypocrite - I get on my brother's case for trying to be macho when we run in the heat, but here I was doing the same thing.
We left around 3, and I got to see how confusing downtown Dallas is, along with the crazy interstates there too. I would have been so lost if I were driving. I might have to go back up to that site by myself in a few weeks, so that's gonna be fun! Haha. When I got home, I realized I have a wicked heat rash on my back and front. That's what I get for letting myself get overheated.
I'm exhausted, so I'm going to go rest.
I've been putting all my mundane updates on Twitter, which is probably why I haven't written a real post in awhile. Guess I should get on to that.
Well, not tonight, because I'm in a hotel room! I found out last week that I had to do a field job in Dallas with two other coworkers. I was excited because it's been years since I've been to Dallas, and I was itching to do a little traveling. I'm staying in a hotel in a suburb outside of Dallas (our work will take us near the downtown area tomorrow, should be interesting). There's a theme park literally next door...the new Cowboys Stadium is close-by as well. I got to see that, it was pretty cool.
The rest of this week has been pretty good so far. I should probably get to sleep soon...I need to be up early tomorrow, and since I never get to sleep before 11:30 anymore, I'll probably be hating my life tomorrow (I need to be up by 5:40, boo).
Hope you all are having a good week.
In honor of Bastille Day, we'd like to know: What's your favorite thing to come out of France?
My dad!
(Yes, I'm half-French. I even have the grandmother with the accent and everything. No, you would not know I'm half-French by looking at me. No, I don't speak French, and my grandmother didn't want to teach me when I asked her).
Um...I haven't done one of these since March, so let me try and remember all the movies I've seen since then:
Double Indemnity - I was in the mood to watch an old flick and this one did not disappoint. This was a noir film about the man plotting the perfect murder, and how it all backfired. A.
Rachel Getting Married - Oh, boy. This is definitely one of those critically acclaimed movies that do not deserve the accolades. The film, about a drug addict coming out of rehab to attend her sister's wedding, does feature some really good performances. Anne Hathaway's performance in particular deserved the hype, and she even had me in tears at one point with one of her monologues. But the movie was SO. SLOW. It could have been better if there was an actual editor on the project. There was this one interminable wedding toast scene (I swear that went on for 20 minutes), and then another scene where the family had a dishwasher-loading fight. Not really worth your time. C-
The House Bunny - This movie was cute and actually funny. It's about a sweet but ditzy young woman who is kicked out of the Playboy Mansion and starts over as a house mother to a sorority full of misfits. There were great performances from the strong female cast, like Anna Faris, Emma Stone, and, surprisingly, Katharine McPhee (she's actually a good actress! I was surprised). B
Junebug - Another one of those indie films that got a load of attention but actually sucks. The only redeeming part of the film was Amy Adams...she's becoming one of my favorite actresses, just because she's so versatile. If you see this movie at all, see it for her performance alone. C-
Clueless - Yeah, so, I never saw this movie when it first came out. I know, right? It's a travesty. I remember everyone quoting it to death ("AS IF!") but I just never got around to seeing it. I was surprised how...good it was. I got all nostaligc over the 90's while watching it. Plus it had Paul Rudd <3 A
Garden State - Another one of those flicks that I hadn't seen when it was so hyped. I actually liked this one though. I wasn't so sure how I felt about it when it was done- it was one of those movies that made me think for the next couple of days. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I liked it. I could really relate to the themes in the film. Plus Natalie Portman was actually good in this movie...this is the first movie I've seen her in where she put on a believable performance. A
17 Again - I don't care what anyone says, I loved this movie. Just needed more Matthew Perry. A.
Sunshine Cleaning - I really liked this movie. It's about these two sisters who open up a crime-scene cleaning service, and the bond between the two of them as they navigate through their complicated lives. Amy Adams and Emily Blunt were the main characters, so you know there were strong performances. A
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - This was a cute girly movie about a womanizer who is visited by ghosts of his past and present to help him realize that his one true love is someone he left behind. B
To Die For - Nicole Kidman plays a murderous weather girl who will do anything to become famous. Good flick. A
Lollilove - I was a fan of The Office back in the day when it was actually good, and I wanted to check out the faux-documentary that the show's star, Jenna Fischer (Pam) made before getting hired on The Office. The film is about a married couple who have the good, but misplaced, intentions to start a charity by handing out lollipops with artwork drawn on them to homeless people. The movie is definitely low-budget, but it wasn't bad. It wasn't great, either. C.
The Hangover - This was a really funny movie. It's about a buddy trip to Vegas that goes hilariously wrong. Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper were my favorites. Bradley Cooper is so good at playing douches in movies that I wonder if he is one in real life...but he's hot, so I don't really care. A
I think by now everyone loves my love/hate relationship with running. I love it because there isn't anything that makes me feel stronger than being able to say, "Yeah, I just ran five miles BITCH!" (Well, maybe not like that, but you get where I'm coming from.) I've been running since I was 8, so it's one of the few hobbies I've kept consistently practically my whole life. I fell in love with running...damn, on this day, 1992. Isn't that crazy? How the hell do I remember that? (Actually, I wrote about it in my journal back then, which is partially the reason why the date sticks out). I love the feeling of strength I feel after completing a run, the rush of endorphins, the feeling like I've done something good for myself. If you want to see why I love running more, see this old blog entry I did for an English class a couple of years ago (and yes, that's me...Nicole is my middle name).
But sometimes I can really hate running...especially on those shitty runs where I either feel too slow to move, or too tired to push myself, or when I can hardly breathe and I think, "WHY AM I DOING THIS TO MYSELF? HOW CAN THIS BE GOOD FOR ME?" But I can get through those moments because they are so ephemeral. The worst, though, is when I get bored of running. I hit these plateaus every so often, and they are really detrimental, both physically and emotionally. They are physically detrimental, because with all the hard work you put into your training, it evaporates in weeks if you don't keep up. That's why after my break this winter, I kind of hated myself when I was getting back into shape. But it's emotionally detrimental for me, because running is my Prozac. Seriously. I can trace really blah periods of my life to periods of time where I was not running regularly (maybe one run a week at the most). The last one was this winter. But once I started running regularly again in April, guess who was a happier person? Me.
I'm happy because I'm really trying not to miss my regular workouts - fast run on Monday, lake run on Wednesday, slower run during the weekend. Of course I can't say that I've made every single run, but I've put an effort and I feel it because I feel like a strong(er) runner. I've been able to run faster. Not quite my peak when I was 19, but not bad either. Tonight's workout was pretty tough in the triple digit heat, but I did it...four half mile laps with a recovery walk between each. I did negative splits on each of them, with my fastest being 3:45 (not bad in the heat!) The last one I took slower (about 4 minutes), since I was starting to feel the effects of the heat. One of the runners at the Wednesday workout group said that I was looking more toned (which may have been a little inappropriate...) but that I was back to the running shape I had before I took my winter break and that I was running strongly. That made me happy.
One thing I really have to work on this winter (and it's going to be tough!) is finding a way to go to all the workouts, even in the cold. It'll suck for awhile, but it's better than the alternative.
...and I kind of like it? Maybe?
This morning I woke up with Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen" stuck in my head. I played the lyrics over in my mind for a little but then thought, "Wait...I turned eighteen 7 years ago. I'm not eighteen today. I'm TWENTY-FIVE."
Yes, today I hit the dreaded quarter-century birthday or "mid-twenties." I have mixed feelings on this. I keep teasing my friends who turned 25 before me as being "old," and making my friends roll their eyes whenever I mentioned how I was becoming geriatric with my advanced age. But do realize, despite all my jokes, that 25 is still quite young. I know I'll be looking back on this one day and think I was being silly for thinking 25 is old. It's like when I turned 13. I dreaded turning 13! Remember that episode of Blossom where Blossom turns 18 and is all depressed over it? That was me when I turned 13, because I thought my childhood was gone. I think back to that time and think that 13 is so little! I was practically a baby -how could I honestly think I was getting old at 13?
So after ruminating over my old age a little longer, I woke up and ate a delicious breakfast my mom made me. When my brother woke up, he said, "This is your last one" and then attempted to choke me with his belt. I really think that having a crazy brother really prepares you for all the best in life - not only has my brother attempted to attack me on numerous occasions, but thanks to him and his gross-out humor, it would be very difficult for anyone to make me lose my appetite. My parents took me to Kohl's to shop for some new clothes, which was excellent. Then they made me a seafood gumbo for dinner. We ate chocolate cake for dessert.
I'm not where I thought I'd be at 25; that's not a bad thing, mind you. I suppose when you are younger, you think that 25 is supposed to be some fantastically mature age. I realize now that the twenties are really just the puberty of adulthood. I'm okay with that. I think I'm in a good place; I know I've matured a whole lot since, say, even just two years ago. But I know I have a lot more growing to do.
24 was a good year. It still had its sticky moments - there were several car accidents/incidents I could have done without, as well as a pretty blah period I went through several months ago. But overall, I did a lot of growing. I drove a box truck to Lubbock (that was a big deal to me, okay?) I grew and advanced in my job. I started swing dancing again and even entered a competition. I made an effort to become better friends with my pals, and reconciled with several people I hadn't talked to in years. I also had a lot of fun, including several concerts and good times with friends. Ironically I have been having a better time being OUT of college than I ever did while in college...I realize I was pretty lonely and unhappy back then. I don't regret it though...it just reminds me how I DON'T want to live my life now.
Here's to hoping that 25 is even better.
