Ordinary Extraordinary

Such as...

I saw this over at Jesus' Favorite and I simply had to share it.

I have to give Mario Lopez huge props for maintaining his composure; I think I would have laughed wept.

101 in 1001: The Wrap Up

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Inspiration:  The 101/1001 challenge was created by triplux and I found it via Jason over at Negro, please.

I started on November 29, 2004 and I had until today (August 26, 2007) to complete all 101 tasks.

Outcome: I completed or removed 65 of my 101 tasks and of the remaining 36, more than a dozen are still in progress. I didn't finish the entire list, but I'm proud of what I did accomplish, and of how far I've come since beginning it! The 101 in 1001 has proven to be a useful tool for me, so I'm already formulating another one to begin sometime this fall. :)

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Inspiration:  The 101/1001 challenge was created by triplux and I found it via Jason over at Negro, please.

I started on November 29, 2004 and I had until today (August 26, 2007) to complete all 101 tasks.

Outcome: I completed or removed 65 of my 101 tasks and of the remaining 36, more than a dozen are still in progress. I didn't finish the entire list, but I'm proud of what I did accomplish, and of how far I've come since beginning it! The 101 in 1001 has proven to be a useful tool for me, so I'm already formulating another one to begin sometime this fall. :)

Lyrics to live by

Life is Beautiful
Sixx:A.M.

You can’t quit until you try
You can’t live until you die
You can’t learn to tell the truth
Until you learn to lie

You can’t breathe until you choke
You gotta laugh when you’re the joke
There’s nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?

I know some things that you don’t
I’ve done things that you won’t
There’s nothing like a trailer park to find your way back home

I was waiting for my hearse
What came next was so much worse
It took a funeral to make me feel alive

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful.
Will you swear on your life,
That no one will cry at my funeral?

Open Letter: Political Edition

Dear Tony Snow,

I've always thought you were a likeable guy. Hey, anyone who calls Bush "impotent" and "an embarassment" is ok in my book.

(Which reminds me: Where, exactly, did your principles and opinions go? Ah, nevermind. That's a question for another letter. Back to the matter at hand.)

I've always thought you were a decent fellow. You're a musician! You're a philosopher! Once upon a time, you even had original thoughts! (ahem) As such, I developed a bit of a soft spot for you and was vastly sympathetic when you were performing your duties as press secretary in between chemotherapy sessions. However, it is safe to say that my sympathy has run out.

You're leaving your position as White House press secretary because of financial hardship?

Eat me, rich boy.

No seriously: eat me. I am poor and made of ramen. Tasty!

Look, you've been in the position less than 18 months, during which time you've earned at LEAST $200K. Before accepting this illustrious job, you were on both FOX News and your own nationally syndicated radio show. You've been a nationally syndicated columnist, a television host, and a political commentator.  I find it extremely hard to believe that your family will be standing in line for foodstamps anytime soon.

I can understand wanting to get as far away from this administration as possible, really I can, so give us a reason we can stomach. Say you hate the buffoon in the Oval Office, say you suddenly remembered that you have principles (ahem), say that you want to spend more time with your family, but please: don't tell us you have to step down because of the terrible financial strain. We will be forced to laugh in your face.

Repeatedly. And loudly.

No Love,
Me

They say...

... that life begins at 30.

Thus far my new life looks remarkably like the old one!

Unfortunately, my birthday was not the blow-out celebration that I had hoped it would be. The party that Mongo & I were planning fell through, neither the Fireman nor two of my closest friends could be in town, and almost everyone else forgot. So... I took the day off work and spent it doing necessary, non-birthday related things. Like laundry. Do I know how to party or what?

The long weekend wasn't a complete loss, though, as Firebug sent me a beautiful flower arrangement and Teece took me out for a delicious champagne & fondue dinner on Friday night. I spent Saturday with culfinglin, running loose through Ikea and an assortment of other stores, before meeting a couple of other friends for dinner. Sunday was devoted to more errands and a raucous barbeque that found me running through the streets of Glendale playing a Pakistani game called "7 Tiles." I never did quite get all the rules, but my legs are still sore from all the running and I have bright purple, tennis-ball shaped bruise on my thigh so I must have had a good time.

It wasn't quite the birthday I'd imagined, but it was still full of good friends and festive activities so I'm counting myself very lucky.

Thank you to everyone who called, emailed, messaged, indulged me in food and drinks, or otherwise recognized my birthday; you all are fabulous beyond measure :)

With that said, let's see how I'm doing on the list, shall we?