Fair Phantom

I've Been a Bad, Bad Girl: The "I Don't Take My Medicine" Edition

2009-11-04T03:51:32Z

So I don't know how many of y'all know this, but I've been taking thyroid medication for the past four years. If I have my diagnosis correctly, I have thyroid nodules and am in danger of developing Hashimoto's Disease down the road. I have other family members who have thyroid problems, but out of the three of us, I take the smallest dosage.

I was once very religious about taking my medicine, but for the past couple of months...not so much. I got it into my head that compared to my other family members, my diagnosis is not as serious. I don't REALLY have thyroid problems like they do, I thought, and figured that my medication is more of a preventative measure. So I started skipping my medicine in the morning. It wasn't on purpose - it would be right before work when I'd remember, for instance. Since you have to wait an hour before eating, I'd be in a hurry and would want to eat breakfast right away, skipping the dosage for the day. It got to be where I started skipping my dosages at least once a week, if not more (I hope my mom is not reading this, because when she asked me how often I'm skipping, I just gave a blanket "I don't know.")

So all was well and good until I showed my mom my Halloween pics. Besides hating the blue hair, she said, "Jenny, your hair is thinning." I realized she was right, and when I looked into the mirror, I found a spot of thinning hair right at the top of my head. At first I explained it away as dying my hair this year, but to be honest, I dyed my hair just as much last year and didn't start losing hair over it. Thinning hair is, of course, a symptom of thyroid problems. This worried my mom, and as she was talking to me yesterday and giving me possible reasons from her research (stress, etc), I finally 'fessed up and told her I haven't been taking my thyroid medication regularly. "JENNY," she said in a hushed voice. "That's it. I'm telling Dr. C on you." Dr. C is our endocrinologist. Funnily enough, she's the mother of one of my ex-boyfriends. If you think that it is awkward, no, it's not - maybe only immediately after our breakup. She is a very nice but tough doctor, and I like her a lot.

I was at work this evening finishing up some tasks when my cell phone rang. Guess who it was? Dr. C! My mom had called her office and told her that I wasn't taking my medication. So Dr. C called me up to see what the problem was. "My mom told on me, didn't she?" I asked. "Yes, she did, " Dr. C said. "So you know what you need to be doing. Take your medicine! That's definitely a symptom of not taking your medicine."

So I guess I will take my medicine regularly again, so my hair can grow back, and so my mom won't have to rat me out again to my endocrinologist.

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Halloween or: Blonde and Blue

2009-11-04T03:38:28Z

I'm sorry for the lack of interesting updates. Let's see, what has happened since I last blogged? There was the annual Halloween dance that I attended last Thursday. That was fun...but not as fun as last year, because only the people who paid for a $45 4-week Thriller choreography course could perform the Thriller dance this year. I think that is pretty crappy, because besides the expense, the whole fun of the performance last year was learning it, half-forgetting the moves, and then having everything turn into a clusterfuck at the end. Oh well. I still had a good time though. I went as a mainstream punk princess. I wore a Green Day shirt, tights, black boots, gloves with the fingertips cut off, and BLUE HAIR. Looky:

100_2814

I had a blast with the blue hair, because it was the first time I've ever dyed my hair something wacky (I had the temporary spray dye, don't worry.) When I showed my mom the Halloween pictures, she hilariously declared that my hair looked ugly, and why would I post these on Facebook? Moms :)

That weekend, I went home because Friday was my dad's birthday. I had a good time at home. On Halloween, I went to get my hair done...I am finally Sookie blond! I just got tired of how bad my hair was looking. Even though I'm a natural brunette, I love being blond. Patrick and I watched Paranormal Activity that night. We were cheap and just downloaded it. It was the 2007 screener copy, so it's a little different than the theatrical version (specifically the ending). From what I've seen of the two endings, I think the original one is better. The movie was good. Not scary (it's hard to scare me with movies), but I will admit I got goosebumps during several scenes (I think the exorcism scene and the ending scene were the freakiest). And what is really funny is the other night, I was asleep and my bed was creaking, and groggily was thinking of the movie and wondering what the noise was. Haha.

On Sunday afternoon, I returned to the city so I could see the Gogol Bordello show with Tap, Shashank, and Conrad. It was Conrad's birthday so we went out to eat first. The concert was a lot of fun. I hadn't heard the music before and was a little skeptical by the sound of "gypsy punk," but it was actually a pretty energetic show. I was getting tired by the end because of all the driving I'd done, but they did two encores. I wish my camera had caught some of the craziness going on-stage, but oh well.

This week has been pretty nuts with work. I actually have some to work on here in a little bit (sigh). But it's okay, because at least I should get good overtime hours for vacation. This week is going to be crazy, regardless of work. I'm heading back home on Thursday to pick Pat up, so we can go to the AC/DC concert on Friday. Then I have to take him home on Saturday.

I have a funny story but I will tell it in another blog post.

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An Open Letter to the Dumbass Who Honked at Me in the Parking Lot

2009-10-29T00:28:40Z

Dear Dumbass,

I don't know what driving school you went to, but it's usually a smart idea to make a quick stop and look both ways when entering an apartment complex, especially in the dark. I don't know how many times I would have gotten hit by others cars coming out of the gates if I didn't follow this precautionary step. And besides, opening the gate requires me to slow down a little anyway so I can hit the clicker. I guess all these safe driving techniques were too slow for you, as you honked at me and then risked hitting us both as you tried to squeeze past me in the parking lot. I guess if waiting two seconds is too ~burdensome~ for you, then you have bigger problems on your plate. And dude, really, I'd recommend easing off the horn for stupid shit like that in the future; in my hometown, that could get you shot (seriously), so be glad that I'm not a crazy person and that we're in a yuppie town. I do have to admit that I kind of wish your dumbass self had hit me, because then at least you could pay for one side of Pearl Jr. to be fixed.

Not Sincerely,

Jenny

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Weekend Retrospective or: Awesome Party and Alamo!

2009-10-27T04:32:31Z

This weekend was probably the best one I've had in a long time. My good friend Tap just bought a house, and invited us all to a housewarming to break in the house. I had the hardest time picking out a gift, but I finally got a spice rack as a serious gift. I wanted to get something really tacky for Tap's yard as a gag gift, like a flamingo or yard gnome. My friend Shashank and I found this at Target and chipped in to get it, because it was so perfect:

Lighted Flamingo

On Saturday afternoon, we carpooled to San Antonio for the party. We got there a little early to hang out and get the VIP tour. The party was EXCELLENT. There was probably 30 people there at one point, and everyone was playing Rock Band and having a great time. Conrad made this highly tasty and potent flan with some kind of liquor and Maker's Mark as the caramel topping. After 4 slices of those and the vanilla vodka, I was feeling pretty good to start singing at Rockband, a sure sign that I am not sober. Around 2 or so, a group of us got into the living room and had this impromptu jam session. Tap is really good at the guitar, so we all would take turns singing a song, or sing in groups. We did that for probably 2 hours. The party went until 5, but I was so wired that I couldn't get to sleep until 6. I woke up before 11 since I can't sleep very late, no matter how little sleep I get.

Once everyone was awake and we cleaned up, we were wondering what to do. I'd never been to the Alamo or the Riverwalk (I know, I've lived in this state for 15 years. But I haven't done a lot of the touristy things). So even though my friends had already been there multiple times, we went to check it out. (It was funny, on the way there, we passed that exit that I missed several years back when driving through with my dad.) I was not disappointed by the Alamo at all. I thought it was really cool. It is very small though, right smack in the middle of downtown San Antonio.

Jenny at the Alamo

Afterward we walked down the Riverwalk. Everyone said I'd be disappointed by it too, but I thought it was still cool. We all stopped for dinner; I didn't eat since I was still full from the pizza I'd had that afternoon. We all had a really good discussion about women's ambitions (inspired by something I'd encountered earlier in the week - I don't want to say what it was in the unlikely event that said inspiration is reading this).

After that the group split up, and my friends and I headed back to Tap's house, first stopping at this place near his house that had a really great view of the city. It was a windy and slightly creepy drive there - perfect for Halloween.

All in all - awesome weekend, and too many good things to put into one post. Some things that happen at Tap's just have to stay at Tap's :)

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QotD: Trapped in a TV Show

2009-10-27T03:55:08Z

If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?
I think the answer to this is obvious.

Alexander-Skarsgård-in-tub

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Hee

2009-10-24T03:37:57Z

All through college, I kept a secret blog. I didn't tell ANYONE about it. Well...maybe a couple of people knew about it at first, but then I figured they'd stopped reading it, and would get very personal with it. It seems like a stupid idea now - why put your most private thoughts in a public forum? It still exists, and unless you are a stalker, I doubt you will ever find it. If you do...then you're a stalker. Period.

Every so often, I like to read it and see how much I've grown (or regressed) since then. In some ways I haven't changed, but in many ways, I was a different person. Definitely more naive and innocent...but also more fearful.

Anyway, I found an entry I did back when I was 18 and it strikes me as funny. Mainly because, as I get to know myself more, it's very, VERY true.

According to it, when I am not under stress, I am very compliant. However, under stress I am not compliant. It also says I am aggressive, and I do not like paternalistic tones. This is true. It also says I have sporadic listening skills. Do I? Maybe I do. The funniest thing it said was that I have a low trust level with strangers, and I do not trust answers unless proven to me. This is true. I am quite stubborn. I rarely take someone's answer unless it is PROVEN correct. Needless to say, I've gotten a lot of stuff wrong before because I relied on my "instinct." LOL.

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Just Another (Wet, Rainy) Day

2009-10-22T03:07:10Z

I do not like driving in the rain, in traffic. This morning I had to head back downtown for the rescheduled meeting. I left at 8:06, which was a mistake; usually, I can get downtown in 45 minutes with traffic and still make the meeting on time. But this morning was just a clusterfuck. I didn't get to the downtown office until 9:20, and by then, the meeting was canceled (again) because another coworkers had been stuck on the same freeway was late just like me, and my project manager had to go to another meeting by then. Sigh.

The day was not a waste, though. I finally got Microsoft Project uploaded on my computer. I'm assisting with the schedule for all the segments, which is a bit of a daunting task. I have all day tomorrow to get over 20 of these babies updated because they're due Friday, and I'm not sure how successful I'm going to be at it. I may have to skip dancing tomorrow to finish them in time. And no, I did not procrastinate on these; IT didn't install the program until this afternoon. I actually find it interesting, though. I like the scheduling and the invoices, things that are not engineering-related. Maybe I'd like project managing more than I'd originally thought.

This afternoon I was tired and thought about heading home to work out instead of going running. I decided to go running at the last minute. I saw a doe and her two babies as I drove to the park. It started raining when we started running, and usually I wouldn't want to be running in the rain because ~omg my makeup would wash off~, but I didn't care today and it was liberating. I ran past another deer too (I love all the deer up here). Today's workout was 2-8 sets of 800's. If I were on a track, I'd have done poorly because mentally, I just can't run very long on a track. But I did well here on the trail. I kept my 800's consistently in the 3:45 range, so that was good. I did 6 instead of the full 8...I wish I'd done all 8, but I suppose 3 miles is good enough.

My friend Tap has this Excel spreadsheet for all the tasks that he needs to do in his new house, and it inspired me to create my own list, because it seems to be a very organized thing to do. So I want to work on that list for a little while. Night night.

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A Whole Lotta Nothin'

2009-10-20T22:28:04Z

Right now I am working on a massive Microsoft Project file for work. I can't work off the originals since I don't have the program uploaded on my computer yet, so I'm working from scratch. I'm not sure how much of a benefit it is to start from scratch, but I can at least play around with the file a little more.

I am feeling better today. I am a tough cookie.

I am very tired. Lately I can't fall asleep unless it's past midnight. And last night my neighbors downstairs were slamming doors and walking loudly and God knows what else. For once it didn't bother me, because I know that it's hard to gauge sometimes how loud I have the TV - maybe they hear my TV all the time and don't complain. I ended up drifting off to sleep anyway and woke up this morning to head downtown for my 9:00 meeting. Except the meeting was canceled by email at 8:20, when I was still in the car, so I drove 45 minutes for nothing. Oh well. Good driving practice, right? Right.

This weekend was fun. I went with my friend Conrad to the haunted house and a movie on Saturday night. It wasn't scary, of course, but they did a really good job with it. There were two little kids in front of us freaking out. Some guy dressed up as the dude from Texas Chainsaw Massacre started sniffing me too, which was kind of funny. There were only 2 parts of the haunted house that were a little creepy. The first was when we were walking through what was supposed to be someone's living room, and this guy ran by in his underwear holding pictures. You got the impression that he was a serial killer or pedophile or someone gross, and I found that part creepy. Then we walked through this room where a bunch of fake meat was hanging, and they had the strobe lights going so you could barely see what was going on in front of you, and everything came in flashes. That was a little creepy too. But other than someone jumping out at me at the VERY END and making me jump, no thrills.

I have been trying to exercise more regularly lately. Usually I only work out 2-3 times a week with a run, but I don't think that is enough. Not counting dancing, I worked out 4 times last week, so that is good. I had a really good run on Sunday. It was just beautiful outside. I warmed up by walking about 1.75 miles listening to The Beatles, and then ran about another 4 miles afterward. My only mistake was I hadn't had anything to eat since I didn't want to be full while I ran, so I was completely starving by the end. If I'd had something to eat, I think I may have been able to run longer.
I had a really good run yesterday as well. I had been planning on sandbagging it, but we had to do relays with a partner. My partner ended up being one of the fastest girls in the group, so I was like, craaap I have to bring it. I am nowhere near as good of a runner as she is, but I had to at least be respectable. Our relays were 8 x 300 m. It's all mental - 300 meters is just short enough for me to be able to run fast without feeling like I'm going to collapse. I was doing pretty well until after the 6th one when my stomach was all, "Hey, so I'm kind of in pain." "Shut up, stomach," I said to myself firmly. "You only have two more left to go." After the 7th lap, my stomach said, "OK LOOK, Jenny, I'm in pain. Why don't we stop? You can finish your lap later." "Stop being a pussy," I retorted. "You have only 300 meters left! That's less than two minutes out of your life. Woman up." So I put on "All My Life" (seriously, Foo Fighters is my running soundtrack, especially for the end when I need to feel motivated - even if I'm tired, I'll just put on "All My Life" or "The Pretender" and feel like kicking so much ass). I found myself running faster and faster, passing people up and sprinting towards the finish line.

"Daaaamn!" my partner said when I finished. "That was your fastest yet!" I hadn't been timing myself, but apparently I'd been running each lap faster and faster after the fourth lap, finishing lap #8 off at 1:12. I felt really proud of myself and we talked for a bit afterward. Then my stomach was all, "BITCH. I TOLD YOU. I AM IN PAIN. PAIN PAIN PAIN." So the next ten minutes were rather painful, but other than that, I felt great with my run.

I want a nap. I am looking forward to this weekend.

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Movie Roundup - Part 2

2009-10-18T16:55:53Z

Here's part 2.

The Informant! - Matt Damon deftly plays an employee rising in his agri-business company (based on a true story). Along the way (with some nonsensical voiceovers and observations from the main character), his character becomes a whistleblower to the FBI, alleging that his company is engaging in price-fixing. But along the way, it becomes hard to tell who's really telling the truth. This movie would have been better if it didn't drag on toward the end. B
Star Trek - Believe the hype - this movie was awesome, and I'm not even a Trekkie (though I did love The Next Generation when I was a kid). This prequel follows the early years of Captain Kirk and Spock in an alternate universe. Good performances by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, along with a special guest appearance by Leonard Nimoy and excellent special effects, buoy this flick. A
The Proposal - This is another one of those romantic comedies where you have to suspend your disbelief (isn't that how they all work)? But hilarious performances by Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, and Betty White make you overlook the plot holes. Sandra Bullock plays a bitchy boss who's about to be deported to Canada on Visa issues, so she plans on marrying her assistant, Ryan Reynolds, to stay in the States. They just have to convince Reynold's family (and the immigration agent) that their love is for real. But will they fall in love along the way? SO HARD TO GUESS. B+
Toy Story 3D - I just had to see this in 3D, and it was a lot of fun. Pat and I watched the first one so many times that I can still pretty much quote the entire movie. But I'd only seen the second movie when it first came out in '99, so it was pretty much a brand new movie to me. A
Meet Me In St. Louis - True story: so this movie accidentally made its way up my Netflix queue, and I was not excited about watching it. At all. So it sat in my basket on my desk for an embarrassing amount of time, until I finally realized how much money I was wasting a month on Netflix by NOT watching it. Turns out that this is a great movie and I should have watched it a long time ago. This film follows the adventures of a family in the turn-of-the-century St. Louis. Judy Garland is, of course, a standout, and this is the film where she famously sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." A
Away We Go - I was all excited about this movie because I'm a fan of John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, and it's directed by Sam Mendes, who only directed one of my favorite movies of all time, American Beauty. Away We Go is no American Beauty, that is for sure. The concept is sweet, though - a young couple, expecting their first child, try to find the perfect place to raise their daughter. I've read reviews calling this movie too "twee" and they are so right. It's bolstered by an annoying indie soundtrack and Mr. Mendes tries to hard to make the film seem "indie." The only part I really enjoyed was Maggie Gyllenhaal's New Age character. John Krasinski was so adorable in this movie, though. His character in this film is not as vanilla as Jim is, but he still manages to come off as the perfect guy. C-
Zombieland - I've heard mixed reviews from people on this flick; my dad couldn't finish watching it, but others said it was hilarious. I will say that it's definitely entertaining. There are a couple of parts that are a little self-indulgent or drag on too long (I don't want to spoil anyone, but the cameo performance, I think, went on a little too long). But overall, this was a funny, mindless movie about what happens when the world is taken over by zombies and there are a couple of human survivors left. B
The Exorcist - After last night, as the haunted house I went to didn't scare me, and Zombieland was more funny than scary, I decided to do something I said I'd never do, and watch The Exorcist. I figured it would do the trick - after all, pretty much anyone I talk to says it's a really scary movie. Respectable institutions rank this as one of the scariest flicks ever. Even my tough ex-military dad refuses to watch it again. So I turned off all the lights in my apartment, cuddled with a blanket and a pillow, and excitedly turned it on.

Biggest. disappointment. ever. The movie was so slow, for one. I was getting ready to fall asleep. It took about 45 minutes for Regan to finally get "possessed" and even then, the only "scary" scenes in the movie were the ones I'd already heard about or seen parodied. This version didn't even have the spiderwalk. There was no element of surprise. Now, I'm not looking down on anyone who finds this scary. My dad was a teenager when it came out in the 70s, and this was before everyone was desensitized with scary and gory flicks. I imagine that watching this film, in a dark theater, without expecting the iconic scenes, would be very scary. Or if you find the idea of demon possession scary, then this movie would terrify you. But all these years later, after hearing about it all my life? Nope. It's just like when Patrick watched The Ring. I'd seen the movie right when it first came out, and find it to be a genuinely creepy movie. One of my friends, who shall remain nameless, couldn't sleep with the TV on after seeing it. Pat saw it four years later, after all the hype and endless parodies. "This movie sucks," he said when we finished it. I feel the same about The Exorcist. D

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Movie Roundup - Part 1

2009-10-18T16:29:10Z

Here's a whole list of movies I have been watching since probably July and hadn't blogged about. Since I've been lax on blogging these, I've split them into parts 1 and 2 for your reading enjoyment.

Falling Down - We watched this after seeing previews for it on TV back during the summer. Michael Douglas plays a guy who's basically gone crazy, and makes this trek across LA to see his estranged daughter for her birthday. This movie was great. See my favorite scene below - it really sums up the tone of the movie perfectly. A.

Taken - I saw this movie back in the beginning of the year but forgot to blog about it. I don't know how because this movie is so KICK ASS. Seriously! Liam Neeson plays a former government agent who has to rescue his kidnapped daughter from sex slaves. It's all action from start to finish. A
I Love You Man - You can't go wrong with Paul Rudd. This enjoyable flick follows the plight of a dude who just wants a good bromance. B+
The Accidental Husband - This is a very flawed, but watchable film, about a firefighter (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) whose girlfriend calls off their wedding because a self-help guru (Uma Thurman) advised her to. The firefighter wants to ruin the guru's life by forging a marriage license between the two, thus throwing a wrench into the guru's own wedding plans. Uma Thurman's and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's characters get closer as they both try to undo the fake marriage license, but OH NO! Will they fall in love along the way? SO HARD TO GUESS, RIGHT? If you want to enjoy this movie, you just really have to suspend your disbelief. C+
Knowing - Oh lord, this movie nearly put me to sleep and granted, I was fighting off a small cold, but it's very rare when a movie will make me want to go to sleep. This is one of those weird movies Nicolas Cage has insisted on doing for no reason at all. He finds some code or some bullshit that predicts all these catastrophes, and there are supernatural beings in it, and blah blah. C-
Moon - To be honest, I was not expecting much from this movie at ALL but it turned out to be a really good flick. Sam Rockwell plays an astronaut fulfilling a three-year mission on the moon harvesting energy. About two weeks before he's due to return to earth and his family, weird stuff starts to happen. I don't want to say any more about it because I don't want to give any of it away. But it's a great movie. David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, directs and did a really good job. A+
Observe and Report - I had heard a lot about this movie, only because of the supposedly controversial sex scene (which, to me, was much ado about nothing). Seth Rogen plays a delusional mall cop determined to keep his mall a safe place. Along the way, he decides to try out for the police academy. There are some pretty funny scenes, especially with guest appearances by Aziz Ansari. B

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