Snapshots

Do not drink anything if you've had two hours of sleep the night before. At the BBQ last night I think I WAS the entertainment.

Me: "Hey, do you have..."
Friend: "Do I have what?"
Me: "What?"
Friend: "You just asked me if I had something!"
Me: "No I didn't."
Friend: "ARGH."

And this choice tidbit:

Me: "Hi, I'm Aarwenn. So do you work at B?"
Nice Girl: "No, I know Friend through [this extracurricular activity]."
Me: "Oh, that's cool. So what do you do at B?"
Nice Girl: "...what?"
Friend: "Don't mind her, she's a retard with no sleep."
Me: "Hey! I am not a...what did you call me?"

And also, at the movies two days ago:

LT: "Two for Tokoyo Drift, please." *Pulls out his military ID for the normal AMC Discount.*
Ticket Guy: "Oh, we don't have a military ID at this particular theater, sir."
LT: "...Oh, okay. Weird."
Ticket Guy: "Yes, it is weird. Are you a student?"
LT: "Nope."
Ticket Guy: "I'm going to ask you one more time: are you a studnet?"
LT: "...Why yes, I am!"
Ticket Guy: "Great! Here's your discount!"

And finally, a choice tidbit from T-Town as I leave Large Aerospace Company early to go to OzzFest:

"Just so you know, you are not alowed to be a hippie of a vegetarian, an urban professional, and a metal chick. It's confusing."

Laundry List--and I Hate Laundry!

So, I haven't posted in awhile because I have nothing to talk about except give a laundry list of my activities, and really? Snoozeville. I mean, come on. But I have nothing else to offer, so here goes:

T-Town's apartment is ADORABLE! I'm jealous as hell. A little far away from the nearest Starbucks for me, however. Note: she is more moved in to her place in one week than I am, and I've been in my place for going on three months. WAY more moved in.

I am not a homemaker.

But I can IMPROVE! Really, I can. I have a duvet cover--I'm sure I've mentioned it. It's even on the bed. The dust ruffle was IRONED. (Full disclosure: my mother ironed it, because I wouldn't have.) And I did laundry. Two loads. (Full disclosure: I wasted my third dryer load because I forgot to empty the lint trap from my first one.) (My sorority sisters always knew when I had used the dryer because the lint coating the trap was a) thick, and b) black and blue. I may need to start wearing color again. Whatever.)

Being vegetarian is going well...and I bought only vegan items on my recent shopping trip, which was yesterday. The Dark Side is near.

I was so worried that Titan wasn't eating enough--and I upped his food intake so much--that now he's putting on excess weight! Whoops. Not good for his hips. (Excess = you can still feel his ribs. But he's bigger than he was.)

Getting through a barbeque--last night at a co-worker's house in East Capitol Hill--as a vegetarian is super easy. Getting through one as a vegan when I can't eat my favorite Gardenburgers because they have cheese in them: NOT SO EASY.

La la la. OZZFEST TONIGHT!

HAPPY HAPPY MONDAY

Warning: I'm spazzy.

I had a helluva weekend, a FANTASTIC weekend, and I hope everyone else did too. House Parties were good, my new neighbors are awesome, it's record-breakingly gorgeous outside, and I get to home very shortly.

La la la. Pictures from the weekend:


One of my favorite pictures of Titan and I evah!


Titan being adorable.


Action shot!


More Hot Dog Action.


And a Tale of A Tennis Ball:


A-One...


And A-Two...

Ker-SPLOOSH!


And finally, the beauty of nature:


Oh, wait, I'm sorry, I meant the beauty of the WATER. Because we were SAILING. Right.


Beauty. And Water.


More beautiful, gorgeous water.

Fast winds, bright sunshine. Green Tea Frappucinos. Seeing Bling. Seeing Pink. It's been a good weekend. Hope everyone's weather is just as good as mine.

TGIMFF

For the record, that's TGI Mother-Fucking Friday!

It's 75 degrees and sunny. I'll be out of here in a couple of hours. I took the bus so I don't have to drive, so on the way home I can kick back with my iPod, my Doubleshot, a book, and a feeling of contentment big enough to cause a tidal wave.

(Hey, I worked hard today, swear it on my mother. Long telecons, persuasive arguing, document revision. SWEAR. But you don't want to hear about that, do you? I thought so.)

It promises to be a very busy weekend, which is awesome, although with the added challenge of the previous post--a cash limit. No matter. I will press ahead toward the goal. Want to know what I'm doing? Want to know how I'm going to squeeze in happy hour, one house party, two house party, red house party, blue house party, tennis, taking Titan to the beach, going sailing, going out at night, breakfast, coffee with T-Town, feeding at the parental units', and BFD all in the same weekend?

Well, me too! In fact, I'm probably the only one who cares. But assuming that you really are just dying to know Where in the World is Aarwenn?, click that Google Calendar link, over to the right on the tool bar! And then you'll know! And knowing, as they say, is half the battle.

Announcement

In my ongoing quest for Self Improvement, I have another blog. Find the link if you can. :)

It's not private, per se, but it will be much more boring, if that is possible. So. Now you know!

Seattle on -$45 a Day

Tuesday afternoon dawns sunny and fine, and I have visions dancing in my head of a long walk with Titan and maybe a glass of wine on the patio. Get home early from work, salivating over this vision. But there are a few things on my mind, like:

1. I know I have about $100 to my name, which will cover gas, dog food, and a ferry ride. And it has to last nine days. Scary, but doable if I really tie myself down.

2. I realize I have forgotten to cancel the power at the old place, so I pick up my phone to call Tacoma Power.

3. That's when I realize that I forgot to pay the phone bill. For two months.

4. My service has been disconnected. And it will STAY THAT WAY UNTIL I CAN PAY IT, WHICH IS NEVER.

5. Immediately have a nervous breakdown, because worse than the thought of no phone is the thought that everyone who calls me will get that "Service has been temporarily disconnected" message and they will KNOW that I didn't pay my bill and that I'm a loser. This list of people included my friends, my BOY, and my MOTHER, y'all. This could not be worse. (Until I broadcast my troubles on teh Internet.)

6. I immediately call Verizon and commence getting shady with credit cards. I read them every card number I have. All of them are declined. The lady on the other end is not sympathetic. You can tell she thinks I'm a loser. This is getting worse and worse, and now I can't call Tacoma Power.

7. I hang up and cry.

8. It occurs to me: hey, checks take a few days to post and will buy me some time!

9. I pay by electronic check!

10. I HAVE SERVICE AGAIN!

11. I have no idea what will happen when the check is posted, as I'm already $73 dollars in the hole. Will the bank cover it and charge me? Bounce it all together? Who knows? So I'm reprieved, but definitely not home and dry. Oh well. I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

12. Now I have $40 to my name. For gas, dog food, ferry rides, and nine days. I will not make it. I pray for money to fall from the sky.

13. I take Titan on a long, long walk.

14. Wednesday: still praying for money to fall from the sky, I open my mail from Monday, which got ignored because the LT was there, and...

15. THERE'S A SMALL REFUND CHECK FROM MY INSURANCE COMPANY! Why? Who the fuck knows? I'll take that! It's twice as much as I'm currently worth!

16. Only seven more days to go.

Stranger in a Strange Land

SCENE

1. Aarwenn walks east down the hall. Another person, a man, is walking towards her.

2. Aarwenn and The Man exchange brief eye contact. Aarwenn realized The Man is obviously trying to check her out without seeming obvious. Aarwenn rolls her eyes and focuses on her office door.

3. Aarwenn reaches her office door in safety.

4. The Man's thought are almost audible: "SWEET! Now I can check her out without getting caught! The Man commences staring at Aarwenn's rack.

5. Too bad Homeskillet didn't notice the trashcan in the hallway...

6. BA-BAM!

Food Porn

The dinner went awesome! I used this recipe, which has the added value of not only being vegetarian but also VEGAN, which is cool. The LT asked for seconds. (He reads this occasionally. Everyone say hi!)

UPDATE on the food porn: I had leftovers from this dinner today for lunch (some of them, because I made a TON) and it was just as good, if not better. It was so good that I got distracted eating the cold leftovers in the tupperware instead of getting up to microwave the plate of leftovers I had just dished out. That's how good it was.

Eating out veggie is going well, so far. I ate at Quizno's today (which I've loved ever since the spongemonkey advertisements) and had the Veggie Sub (scroll down) which was AWESOME. It's not vegan--but it is totally yummy! Sunday I ate at the local Annapurna Cafe, which was sadly underwhelming. They do Indian, Nepali, and Tibetan food, which I think is too much for one restaurant and may lower the quality of all dishes, but what do I know? I do know that I had the Himalayan Curry with tofu and veggies and didn't bother finishing it OR taking the rest home. Bland! Sad. (My dad loved his Mango Mazza, though, so who knows?)

Fortunately, eating at The Green Papaya was NOT bland or sad. I had the Claypot Tofu, which was AWESOME--I took the leftovers for lunch yesterday and made The Intern jealous. Love, love, love it. But at the same time, my two dinner companions thought their dishes were only okay, so again...who knows? An important part about The Green Papaya: they stress in their menu that separate cooking things are used for the vegetarian entrees. Always good to be reassured.

Announcement

I'm going vegetarian!

This was mentioned earlier, offhand, but I wanted to make it REALLY SUPER CLEAR.

Also, I've changed the links on the sidebar. The Pandora link is still up, but I've taken off other things and added blogs that I like for other reasons, like house blogs, veggie blogs, and fashion blogs. Blog, blog, blog. Hey, it's cheaper than therapy!

You know you're not the only one feeling the stress WHEN:

On a business email, someone hits reply all and types one word:

"Bullshit."

YEAH, AEROSPACE!

Religious Thoughts and An Orgasm At The End.

Yeah. It's really, really gray outside. But I soldier on! Trudge, trudge trudge.

So, About Religion.

Father's Day went well, in spite of (or maybe because of) our discussion of politics and religion. I didn't mention that I had started reading about Wicca, but I did break the news that I no longer considered myself a Christian. My dad, bless his heart, took it well, although to him it was like telling him that I planned to kill myself the next day. (If I'm not a Christian, he won't see me in heaven, and I'll be doomed to hell forever, unless I repent. Which is, I'm sure what he's hoping for.)

Yes, I'm reading about Wicca. Do I feel like every "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual" freak I've ever rolled my eyes at? Yes. Do I still believe in Christianity? No. Why? I don't understand a religion that views this life as a preparation for "eternal" life. Christianity believes that it's not the kind of person you are--all you have to do is believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and ask him to take them away, and you're saved. This sort of thinking is what leads to people thinking that it's okay to lie, cheat, and steal, because hey, I'm going to heaven anyway. This makes NO SENSE--not only does it fly in the face of scientific cause and effect, but it doesn't demand Christians to be good people, therefore ensuring a terrible life on Earth. "Look at the results," I said to my father. "Christianity does not demand results! It makes this life on Earth meaningless!"

"That doesn't matter," said my father. "The only thing that matters is the Eternal consequences."

Yeah. I just can't believe that that's a good way to live your life. Especially when I look at time travel and quantum physics, and then I try to jive those concepts with idea of a Person, one who killed everyone except the Jews in the Old Testament and then preached love in the New Testament. I can't believe.

On the other hand, my dad is a relatively good representative for Christianity. He's a nice guy, he accepts everyone--especially homosexuals--and he believes The Church is DEEPLY flawed, so at least we agree on most things. We differ on what you might call exclusivity: Wicca believes that any path towards enlightenment, as long as you're not hurting anyone or yourself, is valid, and Christianity that they have a lock on salvation and no one else has the right idea.

If my dad has one flaw, it's that he's rather...patriarchal. Not about ME--his only child and daughter, the light of his life, is allowed to do anything she wants--but his views towards women like Hillary Clinton, teenaged mothers, women's rights, etc, etc--are awfully tough for me to not rail against. We survived our political discussion anyway.

Moving on.

Odds and Ends.

I've started travel journals here.

I'm trying to go vegetarian. Maybe even vegan. I've been partly inspired by this girl's post, which centers around this book. Try. Read. Fascinating.

I'm still too much of a chicken to actually detox. Besides, I detoxed while sick--four days without coffee, alcohol, or cigarettes! If that's not detoxing, I don't know what is. (Okay, so I drank tea. Whatever.)

Making Mix CDs for every mood helps with the June Gloom. So does coffee. MMMMMM, COFFEE.

I'm making dinner for the LT tonight and it has to be vegetarian because I am! He seems okay with that. Hope he's okay with mushrooms.

And last but certainly not least: Happy Orgasm Day!

I own a CUTE duvet cover!

FINALLY!

Take a look.

Timeline of a sickness

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 1: Huh. Sort of sniffly today. Quick check: I have sick leave. I'll stay home.

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 2: Not 100%, but I don't want to waste my sick leave! Back to the office!

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 3: Still not at 100%. Took afternoon nap when I got home. Not the most restful, as Titan whined the entire time because he wanted to go out and I sweat like a motherfucker in the sunshine. Dinner for both Titan and I is late. I go to bed even later.

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 4: Definitely getting worse again. Stayed at work late for no reason reading archives of Dooce online. Go home, let Titan out. Sit up and play Solitaire for no reason at all. Go to bed late.

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 5: Don't have to be at work, thank God. Not feeling TOO bad. Go to a high school and be around a bunch of germy kids all day. Got home and my glands are HUGE. Went out anyway. Not a good move.

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 6: Woke up too sick to make my tennis date, do chores, or really do anything except curl in a ball and moan. Took Titan out, drank fluids. Eventually left to make a house party in Tacoma. It was a necessity, I swear.

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 7: Woke up sick and hungover, but not as sick as the previous day, so maybe there is hope. My famous appetite has left me, as I discover at a fabulous breakfast place when I get a huge plate of wonderful wrecked eggs and just push them around on my plate. The waitress came by and I said I was done and Former Roommate looked over at my plate: "I don't think she's even started." Later on at my parents' house I ate half a grilled cheese and got a Frappucino with The LT. It's easy to feel better on a sunny day at your parents' house in a beautiful part of town with a Navy stud mentally undressing you.

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 8: Woke up sick, but decide to go to work anyway. Had a friend over after worked. Stayed up very, very late.

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 9: Woke up extremely sick and crabby. Yelled at friend who had spent the night on the futon. Crawled in futon with computer, connection to work, and CSI. "Worked" from home. Started heavy application of water, vitamins, and Top Ramen.

Diary of a Sick Girl, Day 10: GODDAMMIT I AM TIRED OF BEING SICK. I'm staying home and doing NOTHING today except BEING SICK. I have to go buy more Ramen. Maybe some cheese toast would help. I will buy throat lozenges with zinc and eat them by the bagload. I will take echinea every hour on the hour. Where is my water? I NEED MORE WATER.

Help me.

One-Upmanship

T-Town: I am here for a 10 hour day today, on barely six hours of sleep and a wicked Champagne hangover.
Me: I just have my glands swollen to the size of baseballs. As in, they are visible to little children, who run away from me now on the street. They may actually be glowing. And I got FIVE hours of sleep.
T-Town: At least that is not your fault.
Me: Well, not DIRECTLY. I mean, who knew that a lifestyle of no sleep, wine, and cigarettes could be bad for you?
T-Town: I will also be $200 in the hole at any moment.
Me: My rent check bounced.
T-Town: Well, this weekend cost me $300--and I was spending my money on OTHER PEOPLE.
Me: I spent $25 on cab rides ALONE on Friday.
T-Town: So this weekend I just need to:
1. Keep my bank from overdrafting
2. Pack my whole house
3. Move
4. Pack for Mt. Rainier
5. Climb Mt. Ranier
6. (Make a TOP-SECRET life-changing decision, edited for privacy.)
7. Work 40 hours in four days.
Me: Well, I have to have dinner with a new boy!
T-Town: ...
Me: Okay, back to you. So, in this week you will: move, xxxxxxx, and climb a mountain, not to mention work ten hour days and fight with your bank.
T-Town: Yes.
Me: Fine, you win. I'm only $900 in debt.
T-Town: Thank you.
Me: ...so, can I help?

Sunday Evening Contentment

Good Things: I went to Target today! I bought necessities--facial wipes, a dog food container--and non essentials--silver shoes, a wine cube.

Bad Things: I feel asleep on the couch instead of going to the grocery store.

Good Things: I pampered myself! Legs shaved, face masked, arms covered in heavy lotion.

Bad Things: When you fall asleep on the couch with heavy lotion on your arms, you pick up couch wrinkes twice as fast.

More Bad Things: When you sleep on your hair wet...

Really Bad Things: When the Hot Metrosexual across the hall knocks on your door, and you jump up half-asleep from the couch and open the door, and he says, "Oh...wow. I can see this is a bad time."

Good Things: The tuna with sauce packets that Trader Joe's sells. HELLO! AWESOME!

More Good Things: Dinner date on Wendnesday!

Trying to convince myself it's a Good Thing: It's Spring. Time to detox!

Bad Things: No caffeine, sugar, salt, or nicotine.

Really Bad Things: UGH.

Good Things: I'll feel so much better when I'm done!

Really Bad Things: UGH UGH UGH.

Good Things: At least I can wait until Wednesday to start, because really, what kind of girl would I be if I went on said Dinner Date and then refused to eat anything on the menu?

Bad Things: Welcome to Seattle!

Question of the Day:

Are the birthdates of the world evenly distributed over the days of the Gregorian Calendar as we know it?

Original question between me and T-Town: Is there an equal number of Virgos (she) and Sagittariuses (me)?

T-Town: No. Birthdays are not evenly distributed. But I have no proof.

Me: The Intern and I think that they are, although although there might be nation-centric patterns depending on differing social customs.

T-Town: Also in countries with poor health care, babies born during harsher months might be less likely to survive, so there would be less people living with those birth months.

Me: But does it even out overall?

T-Town: Thanks to Hallmark, I can tell you that:

• More people are born in August than any other month (9.07 percent). About 21 million Americans have birthdays in August.

• In recent years, July ranks number two in birthdays (8.80 percent of births) and February is last (7.55 percent)

And also bring you this handy chart:

Rank Month Percent
1. August 9.07
2. July 8.80
3. September 8.62
4. October 8.60
5. March 8.51
6. May 8.30
7. January 8.25
8. June 8.15
9. April 8.12
10. December 8.07
11. November 7.96
12. February 7.55

Me: So the months are pretty evenly distributed, with not more than 1 and a half percent between smallest and largest. But even with that low difference, there ARE more Virgos than Sags. Because I'm low on the list, whereas you are high. So by definition, there actually ARE more Virgos than Sags, especially because both months that contribute to virgo and both months that contribute to sagittarius are close to each other, in their high and low spots, respectively.

T-Town: So are you saying I am more ordinary than you?

Me: Duh.

Because Lists are SO Five Minutes Ago.

Good Things: I'm working from home today!
Bad Things: It's because I'm sick.
Really Bad Things: In an effort to be a responsible adult, I'm refusing to drink coffee.
Really, REALLY Bad Things: OH THE MIGRAINE.
Good Things: I have drunk a lot of really good tea instead.

Good Things: I made chocolate chip cookies! I BAKED! And Not Under Duress!
Bad Things: Being home puts me closer to the gigantic plate of fresh cookies.
Really Bad Things: I've had four. Today.
Good Things: I only baked 15 in the first place, so I can't get into too much trouble.

Good Things: Also I have clean clothes!
Really Good Things: YAY CLEAN CLOTHES!

Good Things: My blind date--thank you, Craigslist--went well on Saturday.
Bad Things: It may not matter because I just discovered last night that I have a crush on a friend.
NOTE TO SELF: DRINKING AND MEN FRIENDS OR NEIGHBORS DO NOT MIX.
Good Things: I did get to see my friend, and it's always nice to see someone you care about.
Bad Things: We really CANNOT start to see each other. I'm tired of my ruining my male friendships with sex!
Really Bad Things: Uh...I swear, the sex is not that bad. I'm not that bad. I swear.

Good Things: Got to see the Hot Metrosexual Across the Hall.
Bad Things: It was in order to borrow his cookie sheet for the cookies.
Good Things: So far in our relationship he has dressed me, taken out my trash, made me coffee, and loaned me cooking utensils.
Bad Things: Most of those things I should be (according to gender roles) better at than he is.
Really Bad Things: This ruins any chances I had of sleeping with him.