Some old B.S.

I'm watching Twin Peaks again on the Netflix* via the Wii. I already know who killed Laura Palmer because of Jeopardy!** But I never actually finished watching the series, so I wanted to give it another go. When the show came out, I was about 13 years old, and either didn't get it, or my parents didn't want me to watch it. I'm thinking it's probably the former, because my P's pretty much let me watch whatever, within reason.

When I moved to Memphis for grad school (about 10 years later), my roommate and her boyfriend and I began watching the series on VHS tape, and got at least into season 2 before I had to move out because the aforementioned roommate was CRAZY. I'm looking forward to silly Kyle MacLachlan and the weird David Lynch-ness of the whole thing.

*I'm really disappointed in the lack of options on Netflix streaming. Anything remotely "new" is unavailable, so I've decided to say "Eff it" and watch old crap from the '80s and '90s until they remedy the situation.

**Can't spell it without the exclamation point! Alex Trebek totally spoiled the ending of this 20-year old series for me the other day. But there's gotta be some kind of statute of limitations on spoiler alerts, so I couldn't be mad.

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Work has been insanely busy lately. I feel like I hardly have time to think, especially to think about my personal life. I'm going to Boston in a couple of weeks to visit my cousin, and I haven't had time at all to think about what to pack, what I'm gonna wear, what we'll do, etc. My hair has grown so long from lack of time to get it cut that I'm giving Crystal Gayle a run for her money. And I've barely had time or energy to exercise, lending to an overall pudgy dough-girl effect. So, rather than find an Eddie Rabbit look-a-like to start singing duets with, I am going to attempt to get back on track within the next week. Chopping my hair, hitting the pavement and the weights, eating better, and (reluctantly) shopping for a swimsuit and other things to wear on my trip. I hear we will spend some time at the beach, and I'm interested to see how a New England beach compares to what I've grown up knowing - the white sands, green water and hot sun of the Gulf Coast. My cousin tells me that the water isn't even warm enough to get in, and that blows my mind. She's also told me they don't have air conditioning. I'm going to try to be a trooper, but I think that even if I lived up there and the weather never got above 90, I'd still like to have some fresh A/C going on. I can't fathom what we Southerners did without it in the past.

Gosh, Kyle MacLachlan looks so young! Gotta go... maybe my next post will be an update from the Boston trip. Or I may just post a bunch of Sifl and Olly links instead.

Just another year...

That is my favorite version of this song, but I must give props to Ani DiFranco who wrote the song, and who is one of my all-time favorite singer/songwriters.

So yes, I am 32 now, and I am owning it so far. When I was about to turn 30, the BF, who is 12 years older than me, assured me that "Your thirties are your best years." At 29, my immediate thought was, "Yeah right, what could be more fun than your 20s? 30 is the time to get serious. 30 is when you have to really start thinking about wrinkles and retirement funds."

But you know what? He was right. So far, my thirties have rocked. Now, of course it has not been all wine and roses, but overall, I have felt more confident, self-assured, and free to do whatever I really want since I turned 30. So 32 is just a little more kick-assy than 31.

I tend to celebrate my birthday all month long, a practice I put into place years ago. But this year I found myself surrounded by many other Taureans who also enjoy celebrating their entrance into the world for an entire month. This all culminated in a party at Hal and Mal's last weekend. While some of us were unsure as to how the evening would turn out, I have to say I think it was pretty fun. There was dancing, there was karaoke, there was random guests and a special surprise guest for me - one of my dear friends just happened to be in town from Nashville and showed up unannounced. It was great! So nice to have such a formidable group of ladies to grow older with.

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Reason #569240 that I love Mimi Smartypants:

Her diatribe on the meaning behind Wheat Thins marketing

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So the economy is in the crapper, we all know that. My job has recently been affected, because starting next week, I get a half-day unpaid every week until late September. This will hopefully save us enough money to keep us operating in FY10, but naturally there is the worry that it won't. I am not happy about this of course, but I am thankful beyond words that I still have a job. And hopefully the economy will turn around soon. But coming off of this past holiday weekend, I have to admit: I am kind of looking forward to having the extra time at home! That is something I never get anymore, really, is time to do things around the house. Since I won't have any money with which to go out and have a good time on my days off, I really think I will enjoy having time to clean out my closets, or start on a collage project I'm thinking of doing, or talk to my plants. Seriously! They may have a hard time getting me to go back to work on Fridays once this is all said and done.

Finally, I have to say, being a former show choir nerd, I am loving the new Fox show "Glee." I watched the pilot on Hulu today and was laughing my ass off. "There is nothing ironic about Show Choir!" Oh but yes, my dear, there really is!!

Here's the trailer:

Home is Where Good Food Is

I have been a "road warrior" the last week and a half, and I don't use that term often because I hate it almost as much as I hate the word "synergy." But since I was traveling for business, it seems appropriate.

I drove to Tupelo last Thursday, drove back Friday, had a nice weekend at home, then got up Monday and drove to Philadelphia*, MS, and was there for a few days. THEN I got to spend one night at home before hopping in another rental and driving to Gulfport! For those of you unfamiliar with Mississippi geography, check a map -- that's a shitload of driving! I don't see how truckers do it, really.

It was my own fault, all this travel. I scheduled too many things all squished up next to one another. Next time I will know better. But I do feel like I got a lot accomplished, a lot of butts kicked and names taken.

*Speaking of Philadelphia, while I was out of town I caught the new FX show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" -- HILARIOUS. My new favorite show. Apparently it's already into its 3rd or 4th season, I don't know where I have been. But that show cracks me up. Danny DeVito's character is like Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force come to life. ATHF being one of my other all-time favorite shows. My sense of humor will never grow up!

I am feeling a lot of uncertainty in my life right now. I am finding that the best way to deal with it is to ignore it and keep busy as much as possible. But I have a feeling that it will eventually come crashing down on me, so I'm just trying to figure out how I will deal with it once that happens. The basic run-down is this: I'm confused about my relationship with xBF, depressed that it isn't working out the way I wanted it to, I'm unhappy with my living situation but don't have the means by which to lift myself out of it. I'm at least 15 lbs. overweight and getting pudgier by the minute, and I feel a bit lost in space because a large number of my friends have moved away over the last few years, leaving my support system looking like a piece of Havarti Swiss. I am finding that I don't have as much in common with some friends as I used to, while others that I do have things in common with keep moving away. There are still many cool people here in Jackson, I am glad to say, but I just feel like I'm having to start all over in a way. I don't have that comfort zone I once had with my group of 10-15 girls. Now it's like I have these friends over here, and those couple of friends over there, but it's hard to bring them all together.

Maybe I need to throw a party? Oh but wait, I live in a tiny apartment. Wahh. Oh well -- better go find something to do so I don't have to deal with any of this!