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random sass & musing™

quips + wits + sarcasm + sageness = random sass & musing™
 

random thoughts on prettifying, community & rome

27 June 2004

i'm tired of the template on this site. i am working on an overhaul but learning html coding is a slow & painful process. i just need to make the time for it. i've got many ideas, it's just executing that that's been the thorn in my side.

in the meantime, if any of my readers want to grant me the joy of sharing their web design & html coding pages, please do. i'll thank you ever so nicely.

***

in unrelated news, we had our first vintage group meeting for discussing resident aliens: life in the christian colony. i'm so looking forward to how we'll ponder & activate the ideals in this book. i imagine from the bit that i skimmed that we'll disagree in some respects, but that's what healthy discussion is about, no? at any rate, from those who were there & shared their reasoning for attending this particular discussion group, i believe we all have some idea of creating an intimacy not only within the church but in developing more relationships outside of it. plus, the wide range of backgrounds & experiences will undoubtedly bring different perspectives on this matter.

i also managed to miss my first community leadership meeting because of miscommunications about the time they were meeting. apparently i wasn't alone. as luck would have it, they will resume these meetings on july 11th, when i will be out of town. argh.

***

in more unrelated news, more randomness from my life. one of my oldest friends (we're practically sisters & she's the one who brought me to raleigh), sarah, has been vacationing in europe for a month now. one of her roommates (in the three houses she owns) is from sweden & sarah accompanied her back there & decided to run a marathon while she was there. not to mention, they were planning to see rome, paris & barcelona, in addition to sweden.

cue gin blossoms, "jealousy"

welcome to another part of my random world:

hey roni
cant wait to get home
look at www.romeingtours.com under june 23rd
the gallery has pics of sara and me
and then one of the group we are in the back
love you
rome was awesome
the trevi fountain wow
spanish steps
colliseum..did i spell that right
gotta go back
just a month was too long for me
i should have known
i am getting stir crazy now
i am back in sweden
with my stuff stolen in spain i have not recovered mentally
that sucked
sarah


how can i not love my family & friends who not only get my randomness but employ it on their own?!

un.be.liev.a.ble.

23 June 2004

lollapalooza cancelled.

according to perry ferrell's statement, "Lollapalooza could no longer see fit to continue this year. Our plight is a true indication of the general health of the touring industry and it is across musical genres."

i guess no modest mouse, pixies, flaming lips or sonic youth for moi. & how sucky is that for the artists? having to reschedule for what you thought would be a full touring schedule?!

i don't need no stinkin' narration



tonight as i browsed in barnes & noble, i had a craving for a decaf mocha. the decaf defeats the purpose of the espresso, i know. then again it's $tarbuck$ e$pre$$o & thusly not the real stuff anyhow. yet i digress from the point of my original story (not $tory) which is to say: i honestly don't need a narration of what you're doing at that very moment. true, i might -- scratch that, i do -- much enjoy details, i do not enjoy detail$.

as i'm waiting for the teenybopper to make my decaf mocha with a $hot of hazelnut, i have to hear her narration for what she's doing. "i'm putting the espresso into the machine". "i'm steaming the milk." "i'm putting the shot of hazelnut into the cup." seriously. she was saying it out loud as if she were talking to someone, certainly not me, though. at least i hope. it never fails that randoms talk to me for no apparent reason.

since i'm complaining, might as well go for the gusto, eh?

embarrassing moment of the day: my work computer has now somehow been infiltrated with the dreaded pop-ups. ads for dating services; ads for free x-boxes; ads for cheap mortgage rates. apparently today i was choice fodder for some sexual enhancement ad. which chose to surface as my back is turned to my computer. and my boss is talking to me. i thought he had a strange look on his face. i knew why when i turned back to my computer to see some huge, pink banner ad for the female equivalent to viagra. nice.

say it ain't so.

speaking of "say it ain't so", eventually it could be problematic to use lyrics (even weezer lyrics) in things like blogs, i would imagine. according to this wired article, wilco got sued & lost for using some questionably copyrighted looped materials for their yankee hotel foxtrot album. it might be a stretch to say it could be illegal to use them now, but since my legal mind works overtime, i imagine it won't be long until some idiot somewhere gets sued for using an artist's lyrics in their blog. i'm actually surprised it hasn't happened until now.

so in keeping with the spirit of these last two paragraphs & thumbing my nose at the supposed powers-that-be, i will close by saying:

i am done with perfection. but don't let go. it's time i got back to the good old life. on an island in the sun, we'll be playing & having fun.

yeah, take that.

meine freunden

21 June 2004

my german's a bit rusty so that could be off. i was just thinking this weekend how lucky i am to have some people in my life that i have somehow attained. on my travels to virginia this weekend to spend time with holly & andy, i realized i'm lucky in so many ways.

i have friends that have known me my whole life. friends with whom i can pick up the phone no matter what time day or night & know they will listen, empathize, dole out advice & especially straighten me out when i'm in the wrong. how i wish that was a "never" rather than "a lot". when holly wanted to spend time, it was not an issue for me to make the time. you just do that for friends of that calibre.

mom & dad called to tell me how their trip was going & when i told mom my plans had changed to go up to virginia to see holly, she mentioned she was so glad the two of us had maintained such a friendship throughout the years. she darn near made me cry (consequently also making me pass messages to my dad through her, only to realize after we hung up that i hadn't wished him a "happy father's day". shameful!)

so, saturday morning i packed up the car, threw the da vinci code on cd into my cd player, & made the sometimes-harrowing-but-this-time-relaxing trip up to lynchburg where i was greeted with happiness from holly & out-of-character lackadaisicalness from shazzbutt, her pug.

we ventured out to a shop called "the estate specialist" for antiquing & searching for treasure amongst trash. and by trash, i mean an entire floor of this three-story building was packed floor-to-ceiling with the unsorted purchases they'd made at various estate sales. all of these were apparently unmarked & unsorted yet, but available for perusal for those interested. i found it rather creepy that there were plenty of photograph frames with the original owners' pictures still in them. however, i overcame the creepiness (along with the slight aversion to bad 80s design items ... the 80s were really a fashion & furniture nightmare, you know). in fact i overcame it so well, i came back with a shelf i swear is ikea in design (though i can't find a marking). spiffy steel frame with birchwood shelving in an eclectic, yet functional & appealing design. for all of $30.00, it became mine. (consequently, while i was waiting for holly to pull up her car, i managed to pick up my furry friend, murphy-the-caterpillar, who liked the shelves as well. at least he was humping ... i mean walking ... on them quite gleefully, it appeared.) said shelf fit into my car only after holly's husband, andy, dismantled half of it. what a guy!

after our perusal for all things antique, we moseyed down to the bateau festival on the river, which was just shutting down. we got to see lots of empty kiosks whee wares had been for sale. sadly, we missed out on the redneck items & the country furniture pieces. deciding we needed sustenance, we met up with andy at their friend's restaurant, the depot grille. quite an interesting place, an old depot, renovated & made into the restaurant. they had maintained many of the old railroad signs & the kitchen area was converted from two boxcars, which you can see through the windows. we finished our evening with a two hour nap/swim session at the pool. rather andy swam while holly & i chatted, eventually napping. i'm telling you, naps at the pool (as long as you don't burn) are gifts from God.

at any rate, my time with holly was grand (as always). i only wish everyone had friends like mine. it's quite a shame we don't live closer to one another, but perhaps it just means we treasure it that much more. it's quite amazing to me to see all the places i've traveled away from them &/or they've traveled away from me (to asia, to europe, to south america) & we have still maintained a strong relationship. i'd have to attribute that to the 'rents in teaching me about building lasting relationships, i suppose.

we saw saved! when i got back into town sunday night. freakin' hilarious in many places (simply because we all know people like the characters). definitely not an outreach tool, not that i expected it to be, but, of course, there are those out there who seem to think any & every film mentioning for that purpose. overall, an entertaining & humorous movie, but nothing to cause more than a blip on the screen.

my day off today (in continuation of my R&R) consisted of me swimming & seeing love me if you dare. this french film was a combination of both whimsy & disturbing oddities. if you're a foreign film enthusiast, i'd recommend it. if not, this will reinforce all your assumptions about foreign films. in truth, it had some strange parallels with eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. of course, the former was not executed nearly as well as the latter, but i couldn't help seeing some similarities in the ingenuity of the film, the characters, & the situations.

hmmmm, i've seen many movies in the last week or so. must be the rainy weather. although today that wasn't an excuse ... just the overcastedness. uh yeah ... i need to get out more!

backbiting, infighting a/k/a "politics"



i skimmed an article today (of what i could tolerate) entitled "bush promotes marriage, faith-based works", which of course translates into "i, john kerry, must take the opposite extreme of each & every thing that the evil incarnate gdub will ever do & say". granted, i don't agree with everything bush says or does, but some of the quotes from this article are enough to make you laugh at the absurdity & then in the next moment cry from the absurdity. really. see for yourself (read the article!), but for the lazy ones (i'm looking at you, dice!), here are a few tidbits:

in response to bush's proposed healthy marriage initiative (which essentially addresses & promotes heterosexual marriage in the face of the same-sex marriage hoopla), see this:

Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry campaigned last week in Ohio, promoting a proposed federal program that would pay to keep schools open until early evening to help working parents.


the president & the government in general do not need to be involving legislation in the marriage war. people need to be getting off their arse & making their marriages work. it starts at the individual level, not the legislative level. but, kerry's program isn't any better aimed at it. he's proposing to take taxpayers money to keep kids in schools, give teachers longer hours & use government property for community development. seriously, when does the responsibility shift back from the assumption that the government handles this, rather than the individual? be it marriage or family (which should be hand-in-hand), the responsibility is on an individual level, not the legislative.

On Monday, Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said Bush has had more than three years to focus on the problems of families, saying he "looked the other way" while health costs, gasoline prices and other household expenses hit record highs.

Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken added in a statement: "What President Bush should realize, but does not, is that the single biggest factor in keeping families together is stability - a job, decent and affordable health care, and a quality education."


give me a freakin' break, people. it honestly sickens me more & more to see people yet again shifting the responsibility of the community to the government. do they not get that the further uncle sam is in their pockets, the less ability they have to exercise these freedoms? how fast can one move with someone else's hands deep in their pockets? not far.

and luken? give it up. i agree that the single biggest thing in keeping families together is stability (commitment, pursuit of excellence, furtherance of knowledge & the like), but we disagree that this stability is contingent upon the government providing "a job, decent and affordable health care, and a quality education." again, when did our responsibility shift from us to the government?

anybody got answers? do share.

random genes?

17 June 2004

i'm not certain if it is considered random genes or random raising. but as an example to how my brain at times may skip around, here is an example of where i obviously obtained this same mysterious power.

my parents are currently traveling through the alaskan terrain. it began with a couple random phone calls in which my mother told me where their safety deposit box was located, the safety deposit key was located, & reminded me that they loved me in case something terrible happened to them in the big bad terrain of alaska. on the morning they were leaving, my dad emails, telling me where his prized antique rifles are now hidden in case someone breaks in to steal them. he further tells me where the safety deposit box is located & where the safety deposit key is located. (yes, i realize i am repeating myself ... i can also guarantee that my mother told my father, probably several times, that she had passed on this information. he most likely forgot or tuned her out while plotting where he should hide his precious rifles.) in addition, he reminded me how to care for these antique rifles in his supposed absence.

at any rate, in response to my dad's email, i told him i certainly hoped i would not require this information anytime soon, wished them a safe & enjoyable trip, & asked if they get a chance to email & at least let me know they got there okay. today i receive this email from my dad:

Just got to Fairbanks around 11:00AM. Found the library and decided to check my email. Had 85 messages and all but about 3 were junk!

We head toward Dawson City in am. Can't remember where we spend tomorrow night. Got a good picture of a moose with her calf.

Love,
Daddy


only my dad could go from arrival to the library & email to a picture of a moose & calf. ah, how i love that.

a big shout-out to ma & pa sha as they make their travels.

we were walking downtown

16 June 2004

(i felt the need to cue copeland, letting the music roll around me as i type this entry. in truth the song was picked because ... surprise ... we were walking downtown.)

a group of us headed out for dinner at the rockford tonight. in actuality, the group originated as one of our vintage small groups. of all the groups, this one survived through a unique series of relationships that were forged. & we even had a few more people join us that were tagging along. the highlight (besides my ABC sandwich, of course ... complete delectability in wheat bread grilled, piled with thiny sliced granny smith apples, bacon & cheddar cheese, dusted on the outside with a tidge of powdered sugar ... mmmmmm) was our discussion on community.

as we were perched high above downtown glenwood avenue, looking at all the people actively in downtown on a week night, we realized the actual feel of community. sometimes i wish i was a downtown dweller. to be closer to the live music, festivals, neighborhood bars & pubs, funky cafés, eclectic art galleries & the like. to be able to walk to the small indie theatre for a movie. granted, i'm not but a ten minute drive from all of that, but getting into the vehicular transport does prevent one from meeting someone on the sidewalk (unless of course you park three blocks away like me ... and walk ... in the rain ... not that i'm bitter, oh no).

webster's defines community like so:

com·mu·ni·ty
Pronunciation: k&-'myü-n&-tE

Etymology: Middle English comunete, from Middle French comuneté, from Latin communitat-, communitas, from communis

1 : a unified body of individuals: as a : STATE, COMMONWEALTH b : the people with common interests living in a particular area; broadly : the area itself (the problems of a large community) c : an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location d : a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society (a ommunity of retired persons)e : a group linked by a common policy f : a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests (the international community) g : a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society (the academic community)

2 : society at large

3 a : joint ownership or participation b : common character : LIKENESS c : social activity : FELLOWSHIP d : a social state or condition


i think definitions 1(c) & 1(d) define community nicely: interacting. various. common. characteristic. interest. together. within. still wrestling with how i can contribute more in this community.

i'm not sure where i'd make the most difference. so perhaps rather than sitting around contemplating that i should should at least do something. never mind that i have no idea if i'll even be here in raleigh in a year. or whether i'll be here for life. or whether i'll be gone next year from this earth.

now if only i had gotten some of my favorite fruit frappé from one of the local coffeehouses, new world café. see, i'm doing my part. drinking frappé IS doing part of my part, at least!

so little to say

15 June 2004

i realized i haven't posted in awhile. i guess i haven't had much of substance to say.

spent some time with spab & chris last night, hearing their current happenings & frustrations. not to mention hearing chris's new band's music. almost as good as jentheband ... almost. this singer did remind me of matt's soulful lyrics, actually singing something he means, not what he thinks makes him seem this or that. of course their first show in raleigh? the weekend i'm in boone. i scoff in their general direction.

when spab walked me out to the car, we spent another twenty-some minutes discussing choices, consequences & beliefs. he was confessing how very tired he is with life & work & education & finances & relationships. to be that young & that tired already ... that says a lot.

also in our convo we discussed religion & faith. being raised in a staunch christian family, homeschooled & going to christian private schools, he has declared himself "free" of the bondage of a belief in religion. to quote him, this is what he said the first day of his world religions class when the teacher asked each student to share their opinion/perception of religion:

religion is a crutch. and that's okay. everybody has crutches, everybody has vices. it might be drinking, drugs, sex or shoplifting. or it might be religion or "faith". fact is, it's a crutch that some people choose. granted it's the best crutch, but it's still a crutch.


i didn't respond because he knows we see things differently & respects the differences, but i imagine there will be more discussions on the topic.

for now, i'm sticking with my "crutch" because i know i'm lame without it.

love & marriage, horse & carriage

12 June 2004

i attended jim & amber's wedding today. an outside wedding ... in june ... in stormily humid north carolina. not something i'd pick, but to each their own, eh? it was held at the quaint b&b (that's bed & breakfast for the uncouth) located near the mineral springs in fuquay, known as the fuquay mineral spring garden & inn.

for those considering an outside wedding, i'd like to offer these bits of information. your guests will be eaten alive by mosquitoes; your guests will have to walk across soft ground with their heels sinking into the grass; your guests will get mosquito bites & sunburn (especially if they are of the lighter persusasion & stupidly do not wear sunscreen while sporting a halter top ... not that i'd know anything about that); and your guests will sit in chairs which sink into the aforementioned ground & thereby view your wedding while listing to the right at a 45° angle. or i could be making all this up. except not.

at any rate, the horse-drawn carriage was a nice touch. the fact that it was open for the guests to take spins around the block ... even better. if only i had a camera with me. hee.

speaking of marriage, last night we went to see the stepford wives. as i expected, it was entertaining, not to mention a rolicking mockery of the roles that women are expected to fill or relicated to fill. for the record, i don't believe this movie is typical of all men (before someone accuses me of such), but i do find it entertaining as i've met men as buffoonish as some of those fellows. to be fair, i have also met women who relegated themselves to the roles of the stepford robots, sometimes without encouragement from their husband. however, i still love men & there's no man-hate here. in fact one day i'll have one of my very own & i will love him & hug him & squeeze him & name him george.

blameless?

09 June 2004

psalm 19:12-13
who can discern his errors?
forgive my hidden faults.
keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
then will i be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.


i've had the strangest last few weeks. thoughts on life experience -- past, present and future -- are plaguing me constantly. i'm not one who second-guesses my thoughts or actions much. i'd prefer to make the correct choice at the time rather than feel upset for a choice later.

yet, i consider the course life has taken, the ups and downs, highs and lows, and i wonder ... is it possible to have missed a step along the way? is it possible to remain blameless (yet recognize the consequences) to our actions? i'd say there are even just now things i'm dealing with, hidden faults that are coming to surface now that i might even have never considered a part of my character years ago.

i don't object so much. i like who i am, although of course i recognize my weaknesses that need work ... tremendous work. i had a friend today tell me that he recognized i was happy, but not that i was content. he sensed that relestlessness that i can't seem to hide so well these days. were someone to ask, i'd easily say there's nothing i have to complain about in my life. i have a home, a job, a car, my health, family & friends, ambition, character, and potential. most of all, i have a character i know to be shaped and molded by God. but at the same time, i wonder ... had this moment happened that much sooner or later, then where would i be? had i built that relationship with this person, would i be here? had i gone on a whim on that trip with this person, would i be there?

no matter because here is where i am for now, not for always. if the complacency overtakes me, then there's a problem!

an emphatic statement

08 June 2004

patchouli and plumeria are NOT acceptable forms of scent, people. plumeria bath & bodyworks products are so 1990s they have big poofy bangs and warrant written all over them. patchouli? that went out in the 70s, unless you're a new hipster and think this oil is for you.

i say these things because i care. apparently there are some people at work (thankfully not in my secion) sporting said scents. or perhaps reeking would be more descriptive.

perhaps next time i'll scotchtape my nostrils for blockage. that'll show 'em!

weekend update (with sha)

07 June 2004

sorry, no kevin nealon around here. not that anybody really cares because, well, he sucks.

friday i left work to make the treacherous trip to richmond. plans were to meet aj, scott, amy and brian at the champps sportsbar/restaurant at stony point at 7:30 pm. since traffic was ridiculous due to rain delays, i made it a few minutes after. might i add that this particular chammps was located at the stony point fashion park. what's a fashion park? how very hoity-toity of them.

when i walked into the restaurant, after the typical squeals of the women while we hugged and the gruff statements and eyerolls of the men while we did so, i was taken aback by amy's protruding belly. avoiding one of the biggest faux pas ever known to (wo)mankind, i was trying to evaluate if she was indeed pregnant or simply had gained weight. after assessment of her face, chin, hands, and arms, it seemed safe to assume she was prego. why she never bothered to tell me, i don't know! after our drinks were taken, and i noted she didn't order a libation, i asked and she confirmed. soon she and brian will be parents to a little girl named layne in september. anyhow, much catching up, laughter, and reminiscing occurred until we left to go our separate ways. that's what happens when you get old. and married. you're ready to go home at 9:30 PM!

saturday morning my parents and i headed out to yorktown, va national battlefield park. there was plenty to amuse each of us: history, cannons, battlefields, riflery, george washington's actual tent, wildlife, monuments, antique shops, 17th century homes, and gorgeous waters. we ran from tour to tour, it seemed. my parents are pretty spry for being 61 and 59, but don't tell them i told you that.

we had a variety of tour guides, including a canadian who thought she knew history but was confused. my favorite tour (or not) was the guy who thought he was howard cosell. he'd speak in a rather normal tone when talking with him, but he "put on airs" (as my grandma used to say), throwing his neck and reaching deep down within his diaphragm to push out enough hot air to sound like he was doing a radio play-by-play of ... yorktown life. we rebelled, leaving the group since we couldn't "put him on fast forward" as my mom suggested. fine with me ... more picture-taking time, more house-browsing, antique-browsing, and time to sit staring out over the water contemplating life or something like it.

sunday was relaxing with church, lunch and then going through more things i've have stored at the 'rents for years. i threw out most of it, but i'm such a packrat, always thinking i could use something later for some other project. i found a notebook from middle school with a ranking of some of the boys in my classes. i was apparently industrious enough to draw a chart and rank them, inviting others in the class to participate. i really needed to get a life.

finally, on the way back to raleigh i had a minor run-in with the law. on the way back into town i decided to drop off a library book. since the library was closed (it was 7 PM, duh), i decided to pull into the one way only portion to turn around to the dropbox. lucky me, i met a copy coming toward me head-on. attempting to pretend as if i wasn't breaking the law (i WAS going one way!), i pulled up to the dropbox and dropped off the book. mr. po-po walked up to my window and asked to see my license and registration. busted! he mispronounced my last name and out of habit i corrected him. heh. i was lucky he didn't think it was serious enough to warrant a ticket but warned me not to be so rebellious again. um, yeah, living on the edge in the library parking lot!

and that was my hott weekend update. the end.

06 June 2004


ah, yes. fertile yorktown sprouting vegetation from the top (yes, the top) of a brick wall.




yorktown, va mural commemorating the battle at yorktown and directing you down to the waterside.




the colonial way of saying "DO NOT ENTER"?




gate to the nelson house at yorktown




liberty onions & bamboo growing wild at yorktown

weekend shots



(and by shots i mean digital pics. no, really.) i traveled home to see the 'rents and some friends this weekend and documented some of the travels as you can see below (i haven't yet figured out how to include these in one post. one day i will though and with that i will easily take over the world. or at least this blog.)

i'll post a recap of the weekend shortly. enjoy said images until then ...

before & after specs



for those who have asked, your questions have been answered. behold ... before and after specs pictures.

(i plead complete idiocy in posting images to blogspot with the hello! software ... i kid you not, it's called hello, although i added the exclamation point. how european of moi. except not.)




after specs!




before specs!

inny, outty, hotty, totty

04 June 2004

are you an inny or outty? have you pondered the reality of the navel?

we all have one. it's evidence of our connection to our mother at one time. the receiving end of our nutrients to grow strong and healthy. at birth, it's snipped, leaving us with a few-inch long protrusion which eventually falls off, leaving the scar tissue that is the belly button.

apparently it's always been of some erotic appeal to someone somewhere, perhaps due to its location on the body, framed in a hotbed erotic zone by chest, stomach, hips, and pelvis. in the 1930s/40s, men in "proper" films who happened to be filmed with their shirts off, were to wear trousers that belted above the navel. no navel-gazing in these films since we all know how women fawn over the belly button, you see.

now it's common place for the navel to be displayed and adorned. low-riders cut down to the hipbones and below are providing a frame of sorts to that place where we were first attached to our mother.

all of this contemplation is to say, it's an amazing thing how God orchestrated the human body with first the humanity of conception and birth, and secondly, a resulting mark from that birth that will forever link us to the woman who sheltered our growing body for 9+ months.

i wonder what mark reflects our relationship with our heavenly Father?

seeing things from a higher view

03 June 2004

i give you a bird's eyeview of raleigh.

and a hope that i will forget the last couple of days of customer service hell i've been through with the idiots who pretend to work at such illustrious places as earthlink, time warner and sprint. you want to see somebody HOT?! put me on hold for 48 minutes and then after i explain what i need to tell you for the gazillionth time, transfer me to another person who (1) doesn't care and (2) is an imbecile. or put me in line for almost an hour and then have not customer skills, much less grammar ideals.

mmhmm.

if only i could see things more from a higher view, like God's perspective. he must think we're real pieces of work sometimes.

millie & guido

02 June 2004

i'm dedicating this post to two people who amused me yesterday to no end (for very different reasons).

in my water aerobics class, i'm one of very few women under the age of 40 in that class. the majority is actually an average age of 70, i'd say. when we broke into pairs for the relay/water-walking portion, i got paired with millie, a spry 74 year old with a wicked sense of humor. millie was water-walking for all she was worth and i was cheering her on. since my mind was a million miles away, she was telling me to move my arse during my portion of it. at the end of the session, millie turns to me and says, "today people would have thought you were the 74 year old and i was the 29 year old. must be the legs." i was simultaneously amused and insulted, but since millie makes me laugh she gets homage in this entry.

and that brings me to guido.

after my class last night i headed over to the sprint pcs place to get my phone fixed, as the LCD display is shot for some reason. i don't really dig not being able to see who's calling me in case i don't want to speak with them. kidding, bygones. in all actuality, i am in dire straights since i can't see my phone book listing the names and numbers in my directory. so, i trek over to sprint pcs.

i wait in line for about 30 minutes, using the time for downtime and people-watching. (by the way ... people in the sprint store? some were buying $500 cell phones while wearing tattered clothing and driving a 1970-something hooptie. your cell phone should not be worth more than your car, folks.) as i'm waiting in line, i'm observing my chosen "sprint specialist" who's nametag says his name is rob, but i'm convinced it's guido. short, italian, chest hair-baring, gold-chain wearing, new york guido.

the woman ahead of me is asked by guido "what can i do you for, little lady?" with an atrocious new yawk accent. he's throwing all his game on this woman (and trust me it wasn't much, although i'll bet his gold chains were worth a bit of change) in an effort to win her affections. until her boss/boyfriend (i'm not kidding) came over to help her with the business address for their corporate account (since she didn't know it). (yes, she was blonde.) (yes, i'm using parentheses liberally today.) after guido retreats from getting his mac on and finally servicing her, it's now my turn.

guido repeats his assumed-witty line of "what can i do you for, little lady?", despite the fact that i am easily two inches taller than him. after explaining my issue, guido attempts to sell me a $500 phone. when i refuse to budge he offers to sell me a $300 phone. he then downgrades to the $150 phone (after rebate). the catch with all of them is that i have to sign another 1.5-2 year contract with sprint, which i'm not interested in doing. finally, guido disgustingly says he can just order a replacement phone for me for free if i get sprint long distance (for no charge) on my phone. when i happily accept said offer, he begins to ring up said transaction. and then something i thought could never really happen in real life happened ...

i hear the opening chords for "eye of the tiger" like it's the backdrop for a movie.

dun - dundundun - dundundun - dundunduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun ... dun - dundundun - dundundun - dundunduuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun

i think to myself, "this is like a bad 80s movie." and then i realize from where said music comes from: guido. or more specifically guido's phone, in his pants.

me: your pants are ringing.
guido: yeah, nice, eh?
me: "eye of the tiger"? hmmmm, not so much.


guido answers his phone and is reprimanded by his wife for not bringing home something he promised he'd bring. and then i got my phone order after his wife finished reaming him out. i now have to traipse back to the store to pick up on thursday since i'll be out of town this weekend. such a shame that guido and his "eye of the tiger" phone won't be working that night.

who in their right mind ...

01 June 2004

... schedules a shins show on MONDAY, june 14th? cat's cradle, that's who!

other melodic temptations upcoming include:

  • arrested development (broken linky!) at cat's cradle, july 16

  • modest mouse in hotlanta, august 21


  • now to convince some of my friends on that monday shins show ...

    memorializing complete



    and i'm oh so worn out from it.

    raving success of a partay at jen's last night. some of these people are such lushes that she ended up with approximately 30+ bottles of beer left over after everyone left. and trust me, some people were sucking on longbottle brews like there was no tomorrow. i imagine that today they are wishing that such a thing was true.

    sarah came, bringing several people in tow. there's a guy she's been trying to introduce me to for sometime (and who she's claimed i've met before through cary, which i promise i've never done. ever.) although he's a friend of cary's he's surprisingly funny, witty, attractive and intelligent. i never got the opportunity to chat with him until ten minutes before they had to leave, meaning just as things were getting good they had to skedaddle in one car. and as fate would have it, sarah will be out of the country until july 2nd, meaning i won't be meeting neil again before then. niiiiiiiiiice, real nice. and also the story of my life.

    back to life in general, i'm having a wake-up call that i have a million and one things to get done. and it's a four day week. i should get motivated. or something.

    at least i'm not so distracted by the sunburn as it's less painful. although bug bites on my back are not my idea of a good time either.

    i also need to post something of substance to this blog or else i'm doing those self-gratifying bloggish things that are so popular amongst teenie-boppers. the last time in a long time i'll be mistaken for teenie-bopper material!
     
       





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