quick "woe is me" then moving forward

So my first internship is done.  Phew!  I didn't have very many clients but I sat in on other therapists' sessions and learned a lot.  Placing me for my second internship has been a really rough road.  

First of all, I work.  Somewhat full time.  So that limits when I can go into my internship.  I'm taking two classes this semester; that means I need to be on campus twice a week.  This also limits my internship hours. Because of all this, no matter how flexible I am in regards to where I go, it needs to fit into my schedule.  And no matter how many times my professor asks me if my work schedule can be any more flexible, I have to work and the next "flexible" step I take is to not work at all.  And quite frankly, that's not an option.  

I really wanted to go to a outpatient clinic called Linden Oaks Sexual Abuse Treatment Services (LOSATS).  I really, really wanted to go there.  And they were willing to take me for 10 of my 20 hours a week.  Jackpot!!!  So my professor and I found a residential treatment facility (where, I might add, I use to work) that was willing to have me for the remaining 10 hours.  Score!  

Then the residential place backed out for reasons unknown.  So we were working on finding someplace else to augment my first choice.  But I still had my first choice, so life was great.  

I still had my first choice.  Notice the past tense on that verb.  Had.  Not has, but had.

 Due to staffing issues they can no longer honor their commitment.  When I read that email, I felt like I had been punched in the gut.  That was the site I really wanted.  That's the population that I want to work with and I wanted some experience with them.  I wanted to learn how to help.  I wanted it so bad.  

Now that it's so close to next semester I have very few choices.  My professor gave me some options but three of the four included at least a 45 min drive.  One way!  That does not fit into my already packed life.  It just is not possible for me to have to commute roughly 1 and 1/2 hours for a job I'm not being paid to do.  The last option is super close to my house.  It is working with people (hopefully mainly teens) who have dual-diagnosis of mental illness (MI) and chemical dependency (CD).  Mind you, I have little to no experience with CD, but at least I would be working with teens.  

Ok, pseudo-Jackpot.

Then I find out that my potential supervisor is not the strongest supervisor and that previous students have had a mix of experiences with said person.  

So not only am I working at a site that wasn't even a choice of mine and makes me slightly uneasy due to my inexperience but I'll probably be working for someone who may not be helpful or encouraging.

Big whopping sarcastic awesome!

On a happier note, I dyed my hair black.  I'm surprised how much I love it.  All Christmas day,  #1 Brother kept referring to me as "Evil Jess."

   

Interesting

Me: what movie do you want to watch? I have the Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, Safe house...

Dad: What about the one with the bow and arrow girl?

Me: Hunger Games? You want to watch the Hunger Games?

Dad: well didn't you say you had it?

Reason #5273829 why I love my parents

Yay!!

This is just a quick test post to see how my new blogger app works. Not sure of I'll be able to link and whatnot but its a start.

Wanna thank Erin from Popcorn, Pugs & Peonies for the tip!

fast forward

I think the hardest part of getting back into writing on a more daily basis is: where do I begin?  Do I try to talk about things have happened in the past few months?  Do I just skip it all? I decided that I'm going to skip it all and maybe if something is relevant in the future, I'll post.  It's so overwhelming to be gone so long and pick back up.  

Last night, I went out with Partner for a few drinks.  We went to a "new" bar that we heard has good food (although we didn't actually eat).  One of the coolest things about this bar is their gimmick. It's called Wall St. and on several of the TVs, they have news feeds and ticker streams with the "stock" of the different drinks.  So the more popular the drink, the higher the price and vice versa.  But drinks never fluctuate more than $1.  How cool is that?!   We were drinking Absulot vodka drinks for $3 and well vodka drinks were $4.50.  

It doesn't take much to impress me.

On a random side note:  Does anyone know a way to post from my iPhone?  If I could do that, I would post so much more.  I can't figure it out, but I figure there must be a way. 

Donde estoy?

Wow it's almost been a month since I've graced you with my presence.  So sorry for that.  I have, however, been keeping up with your posts even if I'm not commenting.  

I have been busy. Like, super busy.  So busy that I rarely turn on my computer. 

Here is my schedule, roughly:  

Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays I work 8-12:30 and then go straight to the clinic 'til 7ish.  

Wednesdays I work 8-3:30ish and then have class 3:45 'til 8:30.  

Fridays I work 8-5.  Fridays feel like free days for me since I'm only at work.  

As busy as I am, I do really like my placement.  I like my supervisor and the other therapists.  They all are so willing to let  me sit in with them and are eager to teach.  The other two interns are from my program and I like both of them.  Which is good because we share an office.  

I'm only taking one class, psychopharm.  It's a hard topic but the class itself isn't.  There are no papers or major presentations. We have weekly homework assignments; which I like because it makes sure I am learning the stuff.  It's a lot of memorizing and understanding how the brain works.  So compared to last year when I was taking 4 classes a semester, this seems like cake.  

So here's just a quick reassurance that I'm alive and well and not just ignoring you.  

I promise I like good TV shows too!

I have the habit of, what I like to call, watching the shit out of a TV show on Netflix.  Someone asked me once "how *do* you watch the shit out of something?"  Here is my answer:  it's when you watch several seasons in a ridiculously short amount of time.  I watched Parks and Rec in about one week.  I also watched the United States of Tara in about two weeks.  Right now I'm watching the shit out of Greek.  

imdb

It's not necessarily a good show but it's not necessarily bad either.  And I can't stop watching it.  It's an ABC Family show; so I feel like that kinda says it all.  It's off the air now, but did any one else watch it?  What is it about this show that is so addicting??

There a bunch of other shows that are on Netflix right now that I really want to start watching.  But for some reason I can't watch nine episodes in a row like I can Greek.  And yes, last night I watched nine (!!) episodes of Greek.  But in my defense, I have really long weeks now and by time Friday gets here all I wanna do is put on sweats and veg.  

Why hello, Fall!

I love Autumn!  I mean, I really like the summer:  pool days, suntans, drinking on patios, not having to wear a coat, blah blah blah.  

But I love cool nights.  I love dark nail polish.  I love cozy sweaters and skinny jeans with boots. I love the crisp smell of the leaves.  I love the leaves in general.  Too bad if you live somewhere that doesn't get to see the leaves change.  I love pumpkin coffee (I mean who doesn't?).  I love my Mom's apple pie.  I love Halloween.  

But right now it's that weird time of year when it's still kinda nice and summery, but it's September, so in my mind, it's totally fall.  What's a girl to do??  

Fall also means my fall semester started.  I'm only taking one class.  But it happens to be Psychopharmacological Intervention.  Yikes!  My internship hours also jumped up to twenty hours a week.  

I'd like to leave you with this lovely tidbit:  Tyrosine enters dopaminergic neurons by diffusion, where the cytoplasmic enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase converts it to L-DOPA.  L-DOPA is then converted by DOPA decarboxylase into dopamine.  

Awesome.

What's gotten into me!?

On Saturday, I ran ANOTHER 5K!!!  It was called the Color Vibe.  It's similar to the Color Race. Warrior Dash on August 11 and Color Vibe on September 1; what has happened to me???  I'm still a lover of my couch.  For instance, today I'm taking a mental health and plan on watching a lot of TV and movies.  But when a race is fun and different, I want to do it.  There's a race called Run for Your Lives that I want to do so bad, but it's nowhere near me.  And I don't really have time to travel this year for races.  

Like I said, what has gotten into me?!?!

Race preppin' the night before

the crowd

pre-race

post-race

cloud of "color" lingering in the air

full body post-race

Jessica watches another movie

I love horror movies.  I love them even when they are bad.  Because I watch so many movies, very rarely am I scared or surprised.  Don't get me wrong, even when I know something is going to happen (usually based on the music or the scene) I still will jump.  I'm not talking about jumpy-scared, I'm talking about sitting-with-your-back-to-a-wall-so-nothing-can-sneak-up-behind-you-even-when-you're-in-your-living-room-scared.

This weekend I saw The Cabin in the Woods.  When it first came out, I read reviews for it and most critics said that it was self aware and sort of mocked horror films.  So, I've been wanting to see it.  SIL doesn't like scary movies (I'm pretty sure we've already covered that), so my brother asked if I wanted to watch it with him this weekend.  

via

The basic bare bones premise per IMDB: "Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods."  

You think you know the story...think again. 

 I liked it.  It wasn't too particularly scary, it wasn't too particularly gory. They poke fun at all the horror flick cliches, but I thought they did it in a clever way.  The end wasn't what I was hoping for but it never is.  There were some parts where I honest to God checked to make sure that it was #1 Brother's dog next to my chair making noises. And that is more "I'm so scared that this is going to scare me" level then actually being scared by the movie.  Movies have a way of doing that to me.  

I also watched The Dictator.  This was a movie that I had not interest in seeing.  I saw Borat and thought it was really funny.  I think the funniest thing about that movie was the fact that the people in the movie didn't realize it was fake.  I didn't see Bruno, I thought it would be too similar to Borat.  #1 Brother told me it was pretty funny and it was more mainstream comedy then Borat.  

IMDB

It was much funnier than I anticipated.  That's really all I can say.  There were a few bits that I felt were unnecessary, but it wouldn't be a Sasha Baron-Cohen film otherwise.  

I is so smrt

I am officially in my second year of grad school!!  I only have three more classes and about a bazillion hours of clinical.  And when I say "a bazillion" I really mean 900, but is there really a difference?

On to psychopharm!  Which, because I am super nerdy, I'm actually excited about.  

Nobel Peace Prize

Right now, I'm taking Research Methods & Program Evaluation.  Super fun!  We've been working on a research proposal.  We've (by "we" I mean me and & of my friends) written a proposal paper and on Tuesday we have to present it as if it were a real research project and we are hoping to get funded. 

Because we are all so busy, the only time we could get together to write the first part of the paper was on a Friday evening.  Needless to say we decided that drinks and snacks would be helpful for getting the creativity flowing.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen some pics. 

 It was during this that we came up with our team name.  For some reason, my professor wanted us to have team names.  Our first name was Team Glen Coco.  The only reason that was our name was that I wanted someone to yell out "You go,Glen Coco!"  That didn't happen.   As we were writing our paper we realized that we were going to win the Nobel Peace Prize for our fake research.  

We are proposing a correlational study to compare elementary schools with an enrichment programs for gifted and talented students with schools that do not offer a program.  Particularly, we are looking at the prevalence rate of ADHD.  It is our hypothesis that schools with a program will have a lower prevalence than those that do not.  This is the beginning stage of a long term research study.  We are going to solve the ADHD problem in America!  See totally worthy of an Nobel Peace Prize. It's because of this that we are now Team World Peace.  

We have since been signing off our emails with "TEAM WORLD PEACE!"  We're pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.  

evasedropping

I was at Starry Nites this morning with no school work to do!  Oh glorious day!!  I was sitting outside reading Jane Eyre (which I've never read, but I feel like I'm gonna love it).  There were a pair of women sitting next to me and I was catching bits and pieces of their conversation. I wasn't purposely listening, but sometimes I can't help it.  

From what I heard one of them was getting married.  They were talking about random wedding stuff and at one point Future Bride made a comment about working out/getting fit.  Bridesmaid then said something so wonderful that I almost wanted to tell her how wonderful it was (I didn't, of course; that would have been weird).

Bridesmaid:  You don't have to be fit, you just have to be yourself.  

I am a warrior!

1)  I had so much fun doing the Warrior Dash! 2) I finished every obstacle and that was my goal! 3) I am sore as hell right now!  

Here's my weekend in photos!

Pre-race. Notice how pink my shirt is here

It's official, I'm running the Warrior Dash

Real Warriors hydrate with beer.  That sums up our training regiment

My tracker so the Capitol can find me

Post-race.  Notice the not so pink shirt

We survived!

Another post-race with the mountain in the background

I just can't get enough

I love, love, love the Olympics!  I can't stop watching them.  I can't stop reading the news posts on Yahoo!. I can't stop tearing up in inappropriate places when I'm reading about the sacrifice that some of the athletes, their family and their friends had to make so they could make it to the Olympics.  

What's prompting this gushing about the Olympics is the double-amputee that just qualified for the semi-finals.  That's right, you read that correctly: DOUBLE-amputee.  He ran on carbon prosthetics.  And he just qualified for 400m dash semi-finals at the freakin' Olympics.  

Let that all sink in.  

Talk about triumph of the will (Random side note: I normally hate that phrase).  He was born without his lower leg bones and decided "Screw you world! I'm going to be a runner!"

I can't even get off my couch long enough to train for the Warrior Dash. 

Hats off to you Oscar Pistorius!

Loud American opinion

I want to first tell you that I know nothing about gymnastic.  Nothing.  Besides the fact that I love to watch it in the Olympics.  And I also love the move Stick It!, so I know it's not called gym-nice-tics. 

Of course I watched the US women's team last night.  When I saw that a team member, McKayla Maroney, was only doing vault, I was a little annoyed.  Again, I know nothing about gymnastics, but how could they pick someone who was only going to contribute one score?  Wasn't there someone else that was good on vault and was good on the other apparatus?  

But she nailed her vault and it had the highest difficulty in the finals.  

As I continued to watch the finals, I noticed something that made me like McKayla more and more.  Every time a teammate finished a performance, she would come down and all the other teammates would half-hug her and say supportive things.  McKayla was the only teammate who consistently gave full and meaningful hugs.  

There really is no point to this post; I just wanted to share what I noticed about McKayla.  

yikes!

Do you remember this?  Or this?  Well, I'm sad to say that my training did not go as I planned.  Not as I planned at all. 

I did well for about a month but then life happened and it got hard to find the time to run in between the rest of the things I had to do.  

In two weeks I will be paying for it dearly. On August 11 at 10AM I am running the Warrior Dash.  I would like you to take some time and check out the ridiculousness that I have signed up for.  That link is to the map of the actual race I'll be running.  Now that you've seen it, you can commiserate with me.  

In all honesty, it probably won't be that bad.  Yes, it will suck.  Yes, I will regret not training.  Yes, I will probably want to collapse when I finish.  But finish I will.<---very Yoda-ish of me  

That's my goal: to finish.  I would also like to complete each obstacle.  There is always the choice to go around them.  The race people doesn't not encourage people to give up on the obstacles, but they are realistic.  If I go around an obstacle, I forfeit any awards I qualify for.  But let's be honest here people, I'm not winning about Warrior Dash awards.  

UPDATED: How did I manage this!!??

So I was going through and labeling some of my old posts and somehow ( I have no idea how) I changed my background and what not.  I'm trying to find what I use to have but I can't find it.  

So bare (or is it bear) with me while I figure it out.

UPDATED:  So I did finally find my old template, but only after I made up this new one.  Since you are the guys that look at this, which one do you prefer?  The old one with the dandelions or this new one with the waves.  

Funny how things turn out

When I started school, I was determined that I wasn't there to make friends.  I'm not saying that I didn't want to make them or that I was determined *not* to make them; I just wasn't worried about it.  I was going to school to learn.  

If I made friends, great.  If not, that's ok too.  

Well, I just got home from a girls' night with some school friends.  And honestly, no one really gets my life like they do.  They are also trying to juggle school and clinical and work and friends and potential love interests.  One is also planning a wedding and one is closing on a house next week.  They get it.

I can't believe that I ever had the notion that their friendship didn't matter.  Because sometimes, it's the only thing that gets me through the day.

Who is Keyser Söze?

So the first thing we see in this townie bar is a big banner that says, "Class of 1987 Reunion."  Hmm, interesting.  

After we have the obligatory birthday drink, my friend and I had a conversation about how funny it would be to try to convince some people that we graduated with them.  Now I realize that this would never have worked, but at the time it seemed like a good idea.  Doesn't everything seem like a good idea at the time.  Side note: that actually just reminded me of something; but that's for another post.

Immediately after the conversation, we see a group of people taking a picture.  So my friend asks if she can get in too because it's her birthday.  They kinda ignore us and we made a comment to one of the guys about doesn't he "remember us from high school?"  He looks at us and makes some comment about "oh you 22 year olds."  I'm excited because he thinks we are 22 when in fact neither one of us is in our twenties at all.  My friend, who has a little bit of a mean drunk streak kinda gets all offended and mouthy.  

We walk away and find our friends. 

Fast forward twenty-ish minutes: I go to the bathroom.  On the side of the stall there is half of a reunion name -tag.  The half that has the picture on it.  I grab it and stick it to my purse.  I show my friends and say that I'm going to wander around and see if I can find someone who knows who this is.  This is something that I often do.  Once at a bar, I made it my mission to meet everyone there.  So I wandered around and met everyone and asked how they all knew each other.  Good times.  I also tend to be the drunk bridesmaid that will introduce myself to everyone at the wedding and convince them they need to come dance.  So wandering to find this guy was no biggie for me.  

I grab the first reunion-looking person that walks by me and low and behold it's New Friend that thinks I'm twenty-two.  He sees us and kinda gets a shocked look; like maybe we were stalking him.  My friend once again gets a little lippy and I convince him to ignore.  

I ask him if he knows Name Tag Guy.  Oh Em Gee, he does but Name Tag Guy wasn't there anymore.    I also found it interesting that he informed me that Name Tag Guy was a "big guy."  Did he think I was interested in him because I wanted to date him?  Nope, New Friend, just on a drunken mission.

I would like everyone to meet Mr. Dino Rizzo

Dino Rizzo

This past weekend was my friend's birthday.  So on Friday her and I got pedicures and went out to lunch.  Then on Saturday a bunch of us were going to out.  My friend's only goal was to stay out at least until midnight so it would be her actual birthday.  We're getting old y'all, so there was a possibility this may not have happened.  

The first place we went was a bar called Marge's.  It is literally on Lake Ontario.  Literally.  So when you walk out to the back deck, it leads to a beach.  So you can sit outside on one of the many plastic chairs or picnic tables and drink on the beach.  How awesome is that??!!!

Me, Brandy (birthday girl) Suska, Carrie

Our view 

Once it got dark, we headed to the bar my friend's husband plays softball for.  The bartender there was Lame-o.  I told her I wanted flavored vodka but she could make
 whatever she wanted.  She looked at me like I was crazy.  I never really know what I want to drink, so I do this all the time.  Most times bartenders like it when they can be creative.  Nope.  Not her.  I just ended up ordering a boring vodka soda.

That place was not "fun enough" for my friend to ring in her birthday.  I totally agreed but none of us really knew where to go nearby.  We ended up going to a townie bar in a town that none of us were familiar with.  That ended up being tons of fun only because of a new friend Dino Rizzo.

More about Dino Rizzo tomorrow.  Or maybe on Thursday, you never can tell with me

That time again

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Jessica watches another movie

IMDB

So.  Much.  Potential.  

This is what IMDB says about Apart:  Linked by a rare psychological disorder, Noah and Emily must uncover the mystery of a tragic past in order to find hope for the future.

Well. yes and no.  In the first scene of the movie they tell you what the "rare psychological disorder" is.  It's ICD-10 (F-4), induced delusional disorder.  I've learned it as Folie à deux .  Basically, it's when two (or more) people have shared delusions.  It's one of those disorders that I have a hard time believing is even possible. 

The story is told non-chronologically.  There are two different sets of flashbacks.  One from childhood and one from high school.  In present day, Noah has just awoken from a two year coma and can't remember anything about his life.  The coma was caused by an "accident"/fire that no one will talk about but Noah won't let it go.  Through the flashbacks, we learn what may or may not have happened (remember they may or may not have been delusions).  

Like I said, so much potential. I wanted so badly to like the movie.  I wanted so badly for it to be good.  Sadly, I was disappointed.  It left so much unanswered and it was too confusing at times.

what vacation??

So next week is my "vacation."  Unfortunately, I still have class and my practicum.  I go into the clinic on Monday, Wednesday afternoons and I have class Tuesday, Thursday.  And I'm dog sitting of work, so even on the weekends when I'm not busy, I can't really go anywhere.  

Since my "vacation" is already ruined, I'm going to try to pick up some more hours at the clinic.  

This is going to be the best vacation ever!!!

this shouldn't be news

I.  Love.  Movies. 

 Sometimes, when I'm bored,  I'll go to IMDB and watch trailers for upcoming movies (dork red-flag).  And they have trailers for all sorts of movies, not just big Hollywood ones.  So, I'll see a trailer for something random, get kinda excited to see it and it will sometimes never actually come out in theaters. 

Remember this review? This was one of the those movies that I watched the trailer for and then never heard/saw anything about it for awhile.  

This is where Netflix comes in.  I just saw that they have the movie Apart.  I have been wanting to see this for a few months.  It looks really weird and creepy, but I like weird and creepy.  

Betcha can't guess what I'll be doing at some point this weekend.

UPDATE: back to being responsible

My second summer class started this week.  So did my practicum.  So now I need to start being responsible and budgeting my time.

Tonight is Friday, and I don't do school work on Fridays.  The big question is: can I maintain a level of mature, responsible adult tonight so I can get work done tomorrow??

Happy weekend.  Any big plans? Small ones?  Any plans of any size?

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UPDATE:  As Erin so nicely demanded, here's a rundown of my responsible evening:

 About once a month the city I live in has, what is called, East End Fest.  They close down a street (what a coincidence, it's East Ave) and there are several stages with music and you can drink in the streets.  I was hoping to get out there closer to 8-8:30ish.  But alas, I didn't even leave my house 'til 9ish.  But it was tons of fun and when East End Fest closed down (around 11) we hung out for a few more drinks and then I made the super adult choice and took a cab home.  My friends all went out dancing and didn't get in until after 2.  So I made the right choice.  Yay me!  Although, I was so sweaty and gross that I jumped in the shower and I didn't actually get into bed until closer to 1.

Are you kidding me??!!

"Whatever else may be said about the postmodernist turn in contemporary studies of society and culture, its critique of assumptions about objectivity of science and its presumed authoritative voice has raised issues that all qualitative researchers need to address"

Well guess who's not gonna be reading *that* thirty page article.

sharing is caring...

. . .so let me share with you.

big girl

Sometimes it's so hard to be me.  I'm just kidding, in case you didn't read that first sentence with a hint of sarcasm.  

I'm starting I've started my practicum.  So for two days a week for the rest of the summer, I'll be at a youth and adolescent outpatient clinic.  I have never, in all my life, had a job where I had to look nice.  Ever.  In all my thirty-one years.  

It's kinda exciting and annoying.  

I'm excited that I actually get to look like an adult.  There are a whole bunch of clothes that I never really wear because they have always been slightly too nice to wear to any of my previous jobs.  However, they are also not what I would wear when I go out.  So why did I even buy them??  Apparently I bought them to wear to now.  I even went shopping this weekend for "adult work clothes."  

It's annoying because on the days when I feel fat and gross (and who doesn't have days like that??), I'm not going to be able to throw on elastic waist pants and a baggy shirt.  Now I have to actually look nice, even if I feel like a big turd.  

Right now, picking out my clothes is going to be exciting.  But I give myself three weeks before it gets old.  

For all of you who get to have to dress like an adult, how long til you got over it?

chicken dinner

As in: winner winner, chicken dinner.  

I mentioned earlier that I won Elle Sees giveaway! 

Look how cute everything is!

 It's a Travalo refillable travel perfume sprayer-thing.  I love perfume!  I have a bunch of different scents that I wear depending on how I'm feeling, what I'm doing or the season. I have recently discovered the joy of roll-on perfume.  I can just throw it in my purse and be on my merry way.   However, not all my favorite perfumes come in roll-on. What's a girl to do?  A girl needs to get herself one of these bad boys.  It was so easy to fill.  I recommend you go to the website and read how to fill it up because I know if I try to explain it, it will be more confusing.  

This is something I probably would have bought if I didn't win.  So yay me!  And yay Elle!

"horrible" TV

In the summer, I tend to watch a bunch of crappy TV.  I don't personally think it's crappy, otherwise I wouldn't be watching it but compared to my normal shows,  it's bad.  Instead of The Walking Dead or American Horror Story, I'm watching Teen Wolf.  Game of Thrones and The Killing are over, let me watch reruns of Dawson's Creek.  

I've heard that The Vampire Diaries is good.  I read the books when I was in middle school and I really liked them.  I tried to get into the show when it first started, but I just couldn't do it.  Every now and then I'll try to watch an episode but it just isn't grabbing my attention. 

That is until tonight.  I  just finished the fourth episode (clearly, I haven't really been watching it much).  That episode ended in away that completely intrigued me.  Then Netflix decided to be a nasty and shut down. Whatever, Netlfix!

What are your guilty pleasure TV shows?  

via

from A to B

So last weekend as I was driving to my brother's house, I noticed several military convoys traveling the opposite direction on the highway. 

Do you know the first thing that came to my mind?  I wondered if somewhere a town was being put under military quarantine, a la Outbreak.  Honestly, that's the first thing I thought. I didn't think that maybe they were coming from the Army base that is located 2ish hours from where I was.  On no!!  They were off to quarantine a whole town.  

What on Earth is wrong with me?  Why is that what I think of?  Do you have any random, improbable thoughts like that?

Another movie

Well actually, make that two movies.  

First, I went to see Prometheus with my brother.  I had no desire to see this.  At all.  I'm sure, eventually, I would have watched in on DVD; but if I never saw it, I have lived my life fine.  My brother, on the other hand, really wanted to see it.  SIL does not do well with scary, gory or suspenseful movies. We went to see Black Swan and she had her eyes covered for part of it if that gives you a reference.  So I, unfortunately at times, am my brother's go to person for those types of movies.  And because I am missing his birthday so I can do the Warrior Dash he insisted this was the way I could make it up to him.  Alas, my brother lives an hour and a half away.  The halfway point is where my parents live, but the theaters are small (they only take cash.  Who only takes cash these days??) and the sound quality is horrible.  Needless to say, a couple of movie buffs aren't going there.  

This is what I get on Saturday morning:

So I tell him I didn't really feel like driving since I was slightly under the weather from the previous evening's outing, but maybe I would change my mind.  Then I got thinking:  On Thursday my brother got out of work early and drove to where I live to come see my lame school poster presentation. So I decided to be an awesome sister and surprise him.  

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Like I said, I had no desire to see this.  However, I almost always enjoy any movie I see. It's a "prequel" to the Alien series.  I know I've seen the Alien movies, but I don't actually think I've seen them as an adult.  So I don't remember them.  But that really isn't necessary to understand this movie.  It's less of a prequel and more of a movie that just takes place in the same universe.  Prometheus is about a group of people, some scientists, some business people, who travel into outer space looking for our aliens that they believe may have created us.

.I think because I had no preconceived notions, I enjoyed more than I would have.  However, afterwards, my brother and I deconstructed it (as we do) we started to notice a lot of plot holes and random scenes that were never explained.   My brother spent the evening looking up stuff on blogs to see what other people had to say.  He found some interesting stuff out that helped us understand the holes and whatnot.  But I think you shouldn't have to look up stuff online to understand movies. Especially summer blockbusters.  

The 3D was great!  It wasn't a lot of "in your face" stuff (which I have recently learned is called "beyond the window").  It was subtle.  It had a lot of depth (which is called "before the window" apparently).  So if I had to see it, I'm glad I saw it in a theater, in 3D.  There's no way that would have been good on my TV.  

On Sunday, I watched Chronicle.  

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So good!! It's about a group of high school boys that find something in a cavern and end up with super powers.  It's all fun and games until one of them gets a bit creepy.  It's "found footage" but it's not a typical found footage movie. I honestly can't describe it because I know I would end up either making it sound silly or talking it up too much.  It's not scary or gory; so if you don't like that sort of thing don't worry.  It's different and well done.  I find those two qualities to be few and far between in movies these days.      

Happy Friday!

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Also I won Elle Sees giveaway!!!  I never win them, so I'm super excited.  

close to home

I'm sure, by now, everyone has head of or saw the video of the bus monitor being bullied.  Well, Greece is a suburb of where I live.  

I haven't watched the video because I have no interest in watching someone be humiliated.  Humiliated on purpose. Because it's local, I imagine for every one report you've read or watched, I've probably had to read or watch two.  So it's everywhere.  

I just saw on Yahoo! that the bully "apologized."  I'm sure they did.  They were caught on tape, harassing her.  Then the video went viral.  Then people nationwide started to donate money to her for a vacation.  Then the school investigated.  Then the police got involved.  I bet they do "feel terrible."  

I am always so critical about apologies that happen after someone gets caught.  

That's all.  

Hello, Weekend!

I, like every other person on the planet, enjoy the weekend.  Sometimes I have plans, sometimes I don't.  Sometimes I'm so busy it drives me crazy. Sometimes I'm dying for something to do.

  I'm super excited for this weekend.  Tomorrow is suppose to be sunny and hot.  And I happen to have a friend with a pool.  And not just any ol' friend.  She's the kind of friend that totally doesn't mind when I invite myself over to use her pool.  She is also the kind of friend who likes to lay out all day and listen to pop music.  So I'm going to make some strawberry lemonade popsicles to bring over.  I also bought her a super cute set of plastic Cynthia Rowely tumblers for the deck.  

And then tomorrow night (when I'm all golden brown and sun kissed) I'm going out.  My roommate from Atlanta, who now lives in London, is in town for the week and we are going out.  Yay!  I haven't seen her since last summer.  

Of course, Sunday is father's day.  So on Sunday I'm heading to my parents'.  We are having a cookout at my aunt and uncle's house.  Guess what?!  They have a pool too!  So Sunday will also consist of be laying out.  

Laying out in the sun is one of my favorite things to do.  Alas, I don't usually have the time or the weather to do so.  

Any big plans for the weekend?  How about father's day?

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When too much research is too much

For my class this summer. I have to do a poster presentation.  Basically it's kinda like a science fair for mental health populations.  We get to stand in front of/next to our "poster" and answer any questions people may have.  We also get to invite anyone we would like.  And the programs "community partners" (whatever the heck that is) are invited.  Our topics need to somehow relate to human develop.  Mine is the effects of incest on adolescent development.  Pretty light stuff, eh?

I have learned two things that make me believe I have done enough research on the topic:

1.  I used the phrase "directly correlates" in a casual sentence.  In fact it was an insult.  

2.  While reading my articles, I realized I had read all the original articles that newer articles/research were citing. Not only did I read them, but I recognized there were being cited.

Smart or dorky?  Hmmm, it's a tough call.  

Darn Tootin'!

OMG!

I absolutely love it when gorgeous women cut off their hair still look beautiful and feminine.  

On that "hair" note: I went blonde.  Like all blonde.  Like blonder than I have ever been.  Since A) most of you don't actually know me to know that blonde is a big step and B) I have crappy lighting in my apartment, I'm not going to post a picture until it's actually a good one.  

Soon, I promise

The hills are alive!

I love musical theater!  For the past few years my mom, aunt and I have had season tickets to a local theater that does a summer season.  They are always really good.  Even if I don't like the shows (which is rare) it's always because I don't like the show not the talent or the production.  The actors are usually students and recent graduates of Tisch.  So needless to say they are professionals and are amazingly talented.  And one of the coolest things is that the theater is an old Merry-Go-Round house.  

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This year we are seeing Kiss Me Kate, 9 to 5, My Fair Lady and Cabaret.  I've never seen any of them live but I love My Fair Lady.  

And to top off my musical experience this year, my mother and I season tickets to the Rochester Broadway series.  Wait to you see this line up: 

The Book of Mormon!

Mary Poppins!

Memphis!

Addams Family!

Les Miserable!

Can you believe it!!??  

better late than never (again)

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beautiful

Not sure if you've read this story or not.  If you haven't, take a minute to read it.

I'm not 22.  I'm not just graduating.  I didn't just spend the past four years of my life living on a college campus. All that aside, this is a beautiful piece.  For some reason it hit home for me.  

I really liked it and wanted to share it.  

Adventures in popsicle-ing

Made my first batch of popsicles.  I made two batches; I technically made them yesterday but we ate them today.  Both were pudding based.  One was chocolate with chopped Oreos, the other was strawberry cheesecake.  

And as per usual, I didn't take any pics while I was making them. I never think about it until I'm half way done.  I'll try to take some next time.  I didn't try the chocolate ones but my friends daughter loved it.  I left the boys some, so I'll see what they have to sat about them tomorrow.  I did however have a strawberry cheesecake one.  I'm not entirely sure what I thought about it.  I used a cheesecake flavored pudding and diced up some fresh strawberries (I put some sugar on the strawberries to get them sweet and juicy). I didn't really like the combination of the creamy, frozen pudding and the frozen berries.  My friends all liked them.  One of them didn't really like the creaminess but loved the bits of berries.  So I think it is really a matter of taste.  I think next time I'll puree the berries with sugar and swirl it in.  

I'm going to make some different flavors for the weekend, so I'll let you know how that goes.  

This is the book I bought in case you care:

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Is this possible?

Is this a real post??  I've been a very bad blogger.  Here's a quick run down of my life.  Then you can be up to speed and I can be better at posting.  And everyone will be happy

*  I'm in the process of dyeing my hair blonde.  My hair naturally (I think) is a dirty blonde/light brown.  It lightens up in the summer but during the winter it is a mousy, yucky brown.  Normally I dye it darker colors (yes even in the summer).  I find that blonde is too hard to maintain.  The roots always show.  And it's not something that I feel as though I can do myself.  But since I have super short hair and a cheap hairdresser I thought "why the heck not go blonde?"  So I've got some a lot of blonde highlights now and I go back early next month  to make it all blonde.  

* I started my summer class.  Right now I'm only taking one class, human development.  It's crazy how fast it's going.  I've already had two papers and a test.  And I have a test next week.  They are oral exams in front of the class.  Yikes!

*  I haven't been bringing my computer to work now that I have an iPhone, hence the lack of posts and comments on yours.

*  I just ordered a popsicle "cook book" and two sets of molds.  I am really excited about making popsicles.  I'll keep you posted about how they are.  It should come in the mail tomorrow and I plan on making a batch right away for the boys to try.

More to come!

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Because I can

So I've been reading people's reviews on Birchbox and  My Glam Bag and there seems to be no clear winner.  So with that in mind, along with the fact that My Glam Bag is sold out, I bought SIL a 3 month subscription to Birch box for her birthday.  When I went to sign up, I realized that I had to sign up and then wait to be notified as to when I could actually order.  I thought I was going to be screwed; I find her to be one of the most difficult people to buy for. But, yay for me (and her), I got an email the following day.  So I signed her up and while I was at it I decided to give myself one too.  But I bought myself a "gift" subscription.  And in the message area I wrote "Treat yo'self!"

Yep, I rock!

Oh the scandal!

If chocolate milk and coffee had a secret love child, it would be this:

It was such a delightful treat.  

you just get me

Apparently, based on my interest in Sex and the City, Netflix recommends Jem & the Holograms.  Times like this I wish Whiny & Master were girls; then instead of He-man, we would be watching this: 

Watching this was like a bad acid trip flash back from when I was 4.  Not that I was doing acid when I was four....Not that I was doing acid ever.  But whatever you understand.  I even remembered the lyrics.  I may just  try convince the boys that this is *not* a girl cartoon.  Duh, it's about rockstars!