rinlage

i'm pretty tired and my alarm is set for 5:45, so here is a list.

x] i got a new job!  i am now working as a Commercial Loan Processor in the back office of a bank.  it is less pay than the Retail Beast, but (and for me, these are significant "but"s) it is an ALWAYS 40 hrs/week, paid holidays, weekends off, no nights.  i remain very part time at the Retail Beast for now, but i'm hoping with some clever budgeting and focused debt reduction, i can leave off within the year.

o]  over the weekend i got back into Cross-Stitch (counted.  printed is for sissies) and am inspired to create crafts.  for resale.  don't you think (my geeky friends) that there is a market for solid polo shirts with gamer-related cross-stitched logos on them?  i'm thinking one-up mushrooms on green, little triforces on yellow, weighted companion cubes on a nice gray or black.  i think there's a small market there.  anyway, i definitely want to start creating sprite-based designs.  cross-stitch is the perfect medium for pixel-based art.

x]  it's puggle season again.  we are going to visit them for socialization this weekend.  yay puggles!

o]  given the prompt "a penguin serial killer who murders children" today, i wrote a particularly macabre and silly poem in about twenty minutes at the Retail Beast tonight.  i think it would make a good picture book for people of a certain maturity level with a dark sense of humor.  now i need an illustrator.  anyone have jhonen vasquez's number?

dear netflix,

i love you and your instant watch with gorgeous definition.  i also appreciate the help of the N Wireless router which ensures the smooth streaming and fast connection. 

xo rin



friday night we were settling down to watch True Blood with some friends when we heard the landlord rumbling up the hill on his ride-on lawnmower.  mildly annoying, but the noise was tolerable until SUDDENLY A LOUD BANG and we all jumped.  he had run over Khaleesi's tether, snapping the metal clip against the inside of our door with enough force to dent the door frame.  and, of course, mangling the tether in the mower blades, breaking it in two.

so now we're using the backup tether, which is only about 10 feet long.  we have to trot her halfway across the yard to latch her on there and she haaaaaates it.  she stands there at the end of her tiny 10ft radius yelping, like "please make it longer, mumma, daddy, please, i want to ruuuuunn."

lol and i feel guilty about the landlord's lawnmower, BUT, he knows it's there, he's moved it a number of times, and he never lets us know ahead of time that he's going to mow the lawn, so what was i supposed to do?  my guilt lessens.

now to have some lunch and do some cleaning and maybe finally take a shower. 

in preparation for the final weekend of my birthday month, we moved khaleesi's kennel upstairs to make more floor space in the living room.  since that time, she's gone up there to settle down in it independently and at random.  weird!  for instance, she moseyed on upstairs this morning before i got into the shower and curled right up to nap.  usually she uses the couch for this activity, so i am perplexed.

the weekend itself was, predictably, both fabulous and rad. 

friday i hosted an Athena's party (adult home novelties lulz) that actually seemed quite successful in that nobody fainted from embarrassment and everybody liked the oatmeal cookies i made.  some friends from work came over early to help me set up, and another friend mannapped josh so he wouldn't have to be in the apt, and then a couple stuck around afterward to play cranium.  they stayed until past one a.m., but not quite late enough to take me to the arrival of douxquemiel and betweenthebliss .  and wes.  but by the time they rolled in, air mattresses were ready and i was practically asleep, so we passed swiftly into

saturday, when we woke up (relatively) early to have milk-less pancakes--surprisingly delicious!!  the mans went out for disc golf, us ladies stayed in to roll around in lush products and watch doctor who.  i finally got to henna my hair and the results were Quite Favorable.  it's too bad betweenthebliss will never see this post, because she would appreciate the capitalization there.  it was 10pm by the time we sat down to eat our scrumptious gourmet dinner, but we were slightly drunk and already in our pajamas, so i vote it a success.  also a success?  boom blox and rock band until the wee hours.

sunday they left and i was sad :'(  but!  i expect we will have more of these weekends in the future. <3

in short, i have some of the most wonderful friends on le planet, LUSH products are freakin great, and khaleesi is a weirdo dog.

what's worse than a school district cancelling prom rather than let the lesbians go?  the response from other students and internet parties:  "oh, she should withdraw her suit and just let everyone else have prom."  "um, yeah, i don't know her, but she, like, totally ruined my senior year."  "what a selfish girl!  why should the normal people be punished for her choices?"

I CALL BULLSHIT.  not to beat a dead horse on this one, but let's apply this to another similar movement for civil rights:  "oh, she should just move back a few seats and just let some white lady have that seat."  "um, yeah, i don't know her, but i can't take the bus right now because of the boycotts."  "what a selfish woman!  why should us good white folks have to sit side by side with those dirty negroes?"

i don't want to offend my black friends here, but there are no women, no black americans, no irish or chinese immigrants that should begrudge the GLBT movement their strides forward.  each of those minorities has been equally marginalized in their time, and no one now would dare question their full equality. 

the town whose prom has been canceled says "we're not backward, we're just good, god-fearing, bible-following folks."  stop hiding behind the bible; i'm pretty sure they used that excuse for slavery, too.

i have lame, unclassy icons; my paid account has expired; i never update anyway; i can't keep up with online rpgs anymore; i don't live in southern new england; i have few creative outlets and even less free time.  i feel like i'm dissolving, disappearing from the internet.  i work six days a week in two mindless jobs and can't find time to go to the gym.  my past disappears into gmail archives, resurfaces neither on facebook nor twitter.  where did it go?  where did i go?

at least i thrive on solid ground. 

on work:
i picked up a part-time teller job at a small local bank to help pay for things like moving out of the in-laws' basement.  mission accomplished and now i'm perpetually burnt out.  i'm averaging about 47 hours a week now, though during the holidays it was closer to 50 (at least).  much of that was seven days a week, though i'm back down to six now, and that day off seems like a MIRACLE every week.  still i am worn down and the more significant miracle is that i haven't gotten sick yet.  

to be honest, most days i don't mind that i'm pulling another 11 hour day.  it's days like today, however, when everyone at the bank is drooling over the long weekend ahead, and josh has the next four days off (state furlough day) that my schedule slams into me with an unbearable weight.  i could barely stand to roll into best buy this afternoon. 

i'll be switching departments pretty shortly, which has the potential to improve my outlook.  one of my managers posited if i were getting a full forty hours at bby every week, i could quit my second job.  the idea is like the clouds parting.  suddenly i could foresee a time when i might have two days off every week.  time to myself.  time to do the laundry or read a book or even (i know, it's outrageous) write something.

josh doesn't love the idea.  at all.  he's financially anxious anyway (no matter what the finances look like), but oh it's nice to dream.

on life:
otherwise we live in delightful harmony.  khaleesi, our year-old boxer/border collie mix, is only about 15% mischief (more if you count the poo-eating, which i'm pretty sure we could avoid by just cleaning up the yard).  the rest is all clever dignity and the deliberate ripping apart of chew toys.  or whatever else happens to be within reach.

i've been really enjoying grocery shopping lately, which is odd, because i hate grocery shopping.  but when i have a recipe in mind and cupboards to fill, i find it quite satisfying.  oh, except that time i went to shaw's, because their produce was hideous and their selection sucked.  i have this vegetarian cookbook i've been trying out.  the eggplant chili was so awesome!  i think it was the dark chocolate i stirred in at the end.

i have officially run out of lj steam.  sorry, kids.

reading a Dan Brown book is like devouring a whole bowl of crunchy yellow corn tortillas baked and lightly tossed in a unique blend of perfectly balanced seasons and spices that enliven the senses and dance on the tongue

...and then discovering that the bag says "Doritos" and the tingling sensation in your skull is the MSG.

google chrome is a jarring change.  i am concerned as to what this may mean for firefox, and curious as to how i can easily use twitter.  thoughts from other google chrome users? 

a couple of weeks ago, i got married.

despite the stress and hustle, i had a fantastic weekend, an absolutely gorgeous Day, and a completely fabulous time with my beloved family and superawesome friends.  yes, it was indeed a superlative experience. 

on the road between the white mountains and home, we talked about our future and what we wanted to accomplish together.  we've decided one or both of us will be going back to school, which means moving up to bangor within the next six months or so to attend the state university.  i'm thinking a teaching degree is in order--if i teach 5 years in a low-income area, i can have my federal loans forgiven.  yes, please!  it's a desirable career path anyway.  the important part is, we think we can make it work, and there are so many benefits!

to that end, we purchased two GRE prep books today.  i took a second job as a bank teller, which starts next week, so there was a stop at target afterward to purchase some bizcas-wear.  to top today off, the first televised Bruins preseason game is on nesn (they're up 2 to 1), a beer to my right, and a husband to my left.

life is good.

i am inspired to make a post listing my Top Ten Favoritest Music Videos of All Time, but now is not the hour for list-making and cutting commentary, so I will simply plant this teaser in your brains.


a posse of large women in pink tweed