Hello, Goodmorning....

I've had that song in my head all morning. LOVE it! Hello, goodmorning.

Aziz was amazing last night. After we left I started to think about how very similar he and I are. You may be thinking, you're right Lizz, just like Aziz, you too are a tiny Indian man on a popular network TV show. Funny, you guys are just hilarious, really.

No, I mean that, we're both very unsuspecting fans of all things hip hop. Half of all of his stand up shows reference various hip hop icons. He even throws in select lyrics from these various stars' music to really drive home each joke. It's amazing. And, eventhough I am the whitest white girl you'll ever come across, I understood every reference and song he used during the show. It was epic and I might have peed a little when  he started talking about R. Kelly, just a little.

I felt a little bad for the "older" couple sitting next to us because they clearly had no idea who Aziz was or what the hell he was talking about 75% of the time. They were just there because, like ourselves and a vast number of the audience members, they got the tickets for free.
Now I understand that free shit is awesome. I am a huge advocate for getting stuff, no matter how random, for free. Example:

A friend and I went out to Applebee's for dinner the other night. As most of you know, Applebee's started the whole "2 for $20" campaign where you can get dinner for two people for 20 bucks. I peed a little when this came out because I am both poor and a huge fan of chicken tenders (yes, I'm five). So we decided to utilize this great service and save ourselves a little cash while eating delicious fare.

We were stuffed and my friend had just finished telling me how he gained a little weight over the past holiday and was looking to slim back down. Now, that's cool, good for you, I should probably definitely do the same.

But, we got the 2 for $20 special so eventhough we were fully satisfied, we still had dessert coming to us. Or so I thought.... But when the waitress came over to see if we had room for dessert, my pal said no. No! What?! It's free-it's included! Even if you don't order it-you paid for it so just get it! You don't have to eat it. You could order it and then cut it up and make a chocolate cake sand castle-who cares?! It's free! But no, we didn't get it. Didn't even get the option of taking it to go, my friend said no and that was the end of that. Whaa waaaa. I didn't want to make a fuss over it because, as I said, we literally just finished talking about how fat we both were, but still, free is free that's all I'm saying...

But yeah, so this older couple got these free tickets. And again, I'm not hating on the fact that they took advantage of a free show, but if you've never heard of the guy you're going to see, hit up YouTube. Just one video will give you some kind of idea as to what you're in store for. But no, no clue. They were not amused. I think if anything (especially when Aziz started talking about giving blowjobs to four giant hippos) they were a little disturbed. Lesson learned old folks who-also-love-getting-things-for-free; do your research.

Turn the Music Up...

Alright, first things first-the fridge has arrived! It's a slim so I still have to adjust the shelves a million times before I'll be happy with the configuration of everything but it's finally here so I'm one happy gal.

I also started a new job and met everyone in the office today. I am super psyched and can't wait to really get started. The job is an hour away though so I need to step up my Zune game fo realz. I've got the staples-my hip hop, my pop, my random one hit wonders. But I need to refresh and update my collection like whoa.

My three boyfriends with LA Reid, the only one missing is T.I but he's a little busy right now...

The problem with this, however, is the fact that I don't want songs I wouldn't be interested in taking up much needed space (the Zune is only a 2gig) And you really can't get a quality version of an individual song so it's best to download entire albums, which is fine because I usually like 90% of the stuff but the extra 10% is the annoying part. 

In order to be truly content I'd have to go through my entire collection song by song and individually delete stuff I don't care for and who has the time for that? 

So yeah, I gotta figure it out. I love all genres so finding new stuff won't be a problem. Anyways where was I going with this...? 

Whatever I'm just too excited about the new job right now. I'm working with an old friend from school and everyone I've met so far is ridiculously awesome. Hooray for me!

In other news, I'll be going to see Aziz Ansari this Saturday at Mohegan Sun. He's an amazing stand up comedian and currently stars as Tom Haverford in the hit show Parks and Recreation. Take a look:

This show came out the same year as Community and quite honestly if you watch one and not the other-you are stupid. It's like peanut better and jelly. You cannot possibly Tivo Parks and Rec without Community, it just wouldn't be right. Check our 'Mr. Chang' on Community too, you might recognize him, he did some great work in The Hangover. If you really need help deciding if Community is right for you-go find the paintball episode. You'll thank me later ;)

Go warm up the DVR folks, I like it :)

The waiting game

I brought my camera to work today and wouldn't you know it, my hawk decided to stay home :(
I work next weekend as well so hopefully I'll be able to capture his glorious self nice and upclose.
Our refrigerator has yet to appear as well. I'm getting stood up left and right this week!

Oh well, at least I've got my cat.

Hi. I'm Cash.

Sorry for the dark picture, she actually does have two eyes, not just the one there

She's absolutely amazing. Like most pets, she does have some flaws. She won't share us with the rest of our pets, she never thinks she's clean enough and her claws would give Wolverine a run for his money. Honestly, he'd cry a little. Like all good parents though, we view each one of these flaws as endearing qualities that make our precious baby all the more special.

Oh she can also open doors. Not like a Velociraptor but man if they ever teamed up we'd all be in some serious trouble....

If you've never had the privilege of meeting our little girl, just watch How to Train Your Dragon. Granted, she's a cat and does not breath fire (maybe we can train her to?), but everything Toothless does in the first half hour of that movie is Cash to a tee. The way he moves, faces he makes, even the way he grumbles-totally our super awesome cat. It's uncanny. 

She's also an assassin. You have a mouse problem? Snuggle with Cash for one week so she develops a liking to you and then let her loose in your mouse infested home for the night. The next morning, voilà, dead mouse carcass in front of your door with a proud kitty sitting there waiting for a pat and a little praise. 

She doesn't give up either. The other night she caught a mouse she's been hunting for about a week and Joe told her to drop it. She obeyed and when she let the poor fella go he, understandably, ran away. Cash tore up the place trying to catch him again but he was gone.... for a day anyway. The next night, he stupidly stepped out again and that was the end. Cash always gets her mouse. 

Oh and she got her name because she was originally adopted by a company I used to work for. They sold and programed cash registers hence, the name Cash. I actually really picked it because I was heavily into Johnny Cash's greatest hits at the time but I let the bosses think it was about the job. They got her hoping she'd handle their mouse problem but they didn't treat her very well so she didn't do any work for em. They were annoyed by this fact and let me take her home and now we're laughing all the way to the mouse graveyard bank. 

Cash: you'd be lucky if you had a cat as awesome as her, but you don't. I like love it :)

Prepare your pants...

because you're gonna pee a little.

Actually, a lot!
MSN.com, those glorious bastards, posted a little blurp about this artist, Mari Kasurinen this morning and I when I looked over the work-I definitely needed a new pair of jeans.

Click the link to her site and then look at the 'sculpture' page first thing.

If you're a popculture nerd like myself-you will positively DIE! I'm putting the link in my links (what else?) section as well so you can come back and visit the site whenever you wish (as I will be doing-A LOT) but seriously-stop reading this and get over there!

Processing....

So the fridge hasn't come yet. The shipping company responsible for delivery is really weird. My invoice says I'm getting basic shipping yet when I called to find out why it hadn't been plopped on my doorstep yet, I was told I'd be getting their full service shipping in which they call me to schedule the drop off. Fun.
So while it is supposedly in CT as of last night, I have to wait to get verification via phone call and then I have to negotiate the hand off.
This is a slim refigerator discounted at Home Depot. This is not a child held for ransom. Why do we need to negotiate delivery terms?
Whatever, just get me my fridge so I can have delicious salads all day long, please and thank you.

Sidenote, completely unrelated: Well, sort of related, after I did all of the domestic things one does when one has an entire day off to themselves; I started Huluing certain shows so I could feel a little better about my afternoon of nothingness waiting for a fridge that apparently wasn't coming. Hot In Cleveland on TV Land? Holy crap-awesome! It's a sitcom in every sense of the word. A good script, a great cast, and some nice, light hearted jokes-nothing heavy, nothing too unrealistic. It's great and Betty White is glorious! Go watch it!

Runaway

If you've got a half hour to spare, you're going to want to watch this. Kanye's done it again!

Runaway

Clean your Springs!

Spring cleaning, I don't like it.
I do like the results afterwards though. And isn't that why we do it? We humans do love that instant gratification and what's better then cleaning and being disgusted by your own filth all day just so you can then sit back and look over your nice, clean and organized environment?

We're getting a fridge.
First off, why is it spelled refrigerator and then when you shorten it, we add a "d"? Fridge. Not Frige... I don't get it. Words are dumb.
Anyways, yes, new fridge, us, ours, tomorrow, awesome.

We've been living out of two mini fridges and a standing freezer for the past two years now. While that suits us just fine, I have been longing for the days of being able to nicely and neatly keep fresh produce in our "apartment" (alright we live in my moms basement) so I might actually be able to eat like a Kardashian and not a Conner.

So I'm excited. I spent the evening condensing (dumping out cans of beer that have been sitting in said mini fridge for months) the contents of one mini fridge into the other so when the refrigerator arrives tomorrow, I'll have a nice open space to place it and still keep the stuff cold until that badboy is ready to receive our goods.
I'm trying to figure out what the heck to do with the mini fridges now though? I mean it's hard enough trying to get rid of one mini fridge, but two?

I've been scouring online to see if I can find some substantial answer as to whether or not Goodwill accepts mini fridges but nothing concrete has been found. The website says no refrigerators but customer reviews for various locations in other states rave about how they were able to get mini fridges at their Goodwills at great prices.

So I'll have to call Goodwill tomorrow and hope I get someone that speaks English and isn't ready to kill themselves because they work everyday at New Milford Goodwill.

I could always try Craigslist but have you been outside lately? Who is going to want to come and pick up a mini fridge thats been sitting on top of a 4 foot high snow pile? And you may be asking yourself why I'd leave it on the curb rather then meet the person? Hello! It's Craigslist. It's not like a yard sale in which there are a ton of people including your family members around to call the cops should some stranger go ballistic on you, no, this is a site that aides one person in finding great deals and then coming to some random persons home (you know, where they live) all by themselves at varying times of day to pick up their used (with love) stuff. So Craigslist, not for this gal. At least, not until after the snow melts and on an day I'm not actually home to be raped bothered.

So yeah. Good stuff. I loves me some shiny new appliances and a nice clean home!
Happy-not-even-close-even-if-i-shut-my-eyes-and-prayed-real-hard-Spring Cleaning everyone!

Call Clinton but tell Tracy to stay home...

I need girly intervention.
I've been saying this for a really long time now. I can't do hair or make up. Frankly I'm lucky I can dress myself each morning.

Mind you, being poor and having to stretch two pairs of pants and three shirts in heavy rotation over a six month period makes things extremely challenging, but I'd still like to be able to dress up my regular clothes in a way that doesn't make me look like a walking "Goodwill" ad.

I'd love to go on one of those 'makover' shows but the hosts always try to dress you in their image. Which is nice and put together and all, but usually the fabrics are starchy, usually not long enough, NOT made of fabrics that breath and dry-clean only. A big girl on a budget cannot honestly be expected to uphold those fashion standards for long, sorry Clinton but let's be real.... And then you're going to put me in heels?! I don't think so..

No what I need is someone to come over and sit me down in front of the mirror and show me what my "colors" are. While I know how to apply makeup, I don't know what kind to use, what colors work best and how to properly apply everything. I can get by for a one night event but I'd like to be able to get dolled up on a regular basis. And hair? Oh ladies I am in need of a hairy-god-mother (you heard that right).

Here's the extent of what I can do with my hair:
Comb; blow-dry; straighten; pony tail; pigtails; braided pigtails; bun; messy bun; double bun (pigtails in a bun); half pony; and once in a blue moon if my hair feels like behaving, side sweep into tiny clip but that's it. None of this looks together or professional or even really consistent from day to day, but it's all I've got.
I have watched some YouTube instructional videos but I can't really practice or try any of them as I'm pretty sure all of the makeup these gals use cost more then 1 months salary AND I'm positive Joe would not be a fan of me bringing his beloved laptop (lappy to myself) into our bathroom as it only has the toilet tank to use as counter-space.

So what's a gal to do? Mind you, a gal on a serious budget?... Anyone know of a really awesome Dollar Store that just so happens to cater to beauty products, clothing accessories and haircare? :/

Nerds...start your engines

I'm going to let you in on yet another secret....
I kinda have a thing for Red Tailed Hawks. I view them as my spirit animal-no joke. I am dead serious about this. Not in a, I'm getting a swooping giant hawk tattoo across my back, but definitely in a, my day just got better because I saw a Red Tailed Hawk perched on a highway street light on my way into work this morning-way... That kind of thing.

see Katrina? This would be what they look like :)

I've had this dream of one day being cast in a roll as a super villain whose awesome super villain name is Hawkeye. If you've ever spoken with me on AIM or bid on one of my EBay auctions or played Harm's Way with me on XBox, you already know Hawkeye is my permanent "handle".

Let's start from the beginning. I've always wanted to be a villain-let's face it, villains have way more fun and get the best costumes (or did until the X-Men movies came along-ridiculous black leather jumpsuit action!) so ever since I was old enough to understand the ever present good vs. evil battle in all things action adventure-I've wanted to be the badie.

It wasn't until the 1990s when I sweet cartoon called Gargoyles came out that I finally put a name to my alter-ego, in a manner of speaking anyways.... Now, I don't have a vintage (ha vintage) copy of TV Guide so I can't give you an exact timeline here ; but from what I can recall (mind you I'm regressing back to the age of 12 or 13)  Gargoyles (or possibly Batman which might have come on right before Gargoyles) had this one sexy "black widow" type badie that wore some kind of tight fitting-vinyl looking red and black jump suit and had a bright red scar over her eye. Couldn't tell you what her villain name was, but her scar got me thinking that if I were to ever live out my dream of playing the badie, I too would definitely need a scar. And if it was going to be similar to hers and cut across one of my eyes, my villain name should some how play off of that badass facial affliction.

Thus Hawkeye was born.

Now, this was before AIM and XBox and all the fun stuff in which you can create your own nickname so no one was ever really given this information and it kind of remained in the back of my mind.

Cut to my senior year of high school (back in 2002-yes kids I'm "old"). I went and toured a college I was interested in called the University of Hartford. I was working at Hot Topic in the Danbury mall and one of the customers and I got into a conversation about colleges and he told me I'd be a fool to look anywhere other then UHa. So I check it out, it sounds pretty cool and I apply.

My mother and I take the drive through CT to tour the college and before we even get there, the cosmos slap me across with face with a shit-ton (that's a copy-rited term so hands off) (oh and really? copy-rited? is that even right?) of signs that scream "This is where you need to be!"

The closest local park to the school is "Elizabeth Park", umm...cool...... The closest church to the school is a Unitarian Universalist (sick architecture building of badassery) church (yes I'm UU r u?) okay...also incredibly randomly cool.... and then we turn into the school and the Universe plants a big wet one on me... The University of Hartford's mascot is the Hawks. The school colors-red, white and black. Wow-seriously?! Nice!

I signed up right then and there, I mean I had to work to get in because as an artist, I'm not exactly the bees knees, but as a chick who likes to talk about art and promote any and everything that makes me happy until I can pretty much be damn sure it also makes you happy, I was GOING to this school.

The next four years were some of the best of my life and throughout those four years, I got to see the resident Red Tailed Hawks swoop over head hundreds of times. It's love baby...

Cut to...5? 4? 5? shit really? I'm like in the "adult category now?! Disgusting.... years later, and I sit at a very nice cubicle (cubicles by Lizz, call me-I can make any work space fabulous!) against a huge window with a lovely view of an abandoned (currently for sale!) officey-type house and a whole bunch of very big, very woodsy trees. And nearly every day, the local Red Tailed Hawk makes his way over to one of the close trees, sits around, looks out for prey, and says hello to me. It's honestly the best part of my day.
You should see my phone, I have dozens of cell phone pictures of my little buddy and the next weekend shift I have, I'm bringing in my super awesome (Christmas gifted with love) brand new digital camera so I can get a nice up close shot of him which I will then, of course, share with all of you.

I even observed him plucking a squirrel off a tree one afternoon. It was of course sad but I openly squealed (albeit quietly-this is an office setting you'll remember) watching the squirrels fluffy tail swing violently back and forth as the squirrel was carried off to be devoured as my homeboys' lunch.

I actually texted all of this to Joe and went so far as to say "my Hawk's eating good tonight!" to which Joe replied "wow that's messed up" Yes, yes it is.. But hey, it's nature, watch the Discovery channel for 15 minutes and then give me a call, I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, that's my Hawk story. I love them, and I think cosmically they love me (?) And hopefully one day, I'll get to live out my dream and get cast in the roll as a badie with a super sexy/toughass scar across my left eye (idk why left I just feel like its right...get it?) with a huge Red Tailed Hawk on my shoulder walking through some warehouse with explosions going off everywhere and people screaming "Oh my God, it's Hawkeye, we gotta move!" and then I signal my Hawk and he flies off to scalp the innocent heros' sidekicks (heros don't get killed, we know this)

So if any (all five) of your readers out there ever meet JJ Abrams, Ron Howard, Tom Hanks or Kevin Smith, please tell them that there's an amazingly awesome Taurus (yup even with the new zodiac change crisis I'm still a stubborn bull) that loves all of their work and would love to one day play a badie in one of their films-even if the film is an absolute piece of shit. <--Please emphasize that point, I'm not picky, I just want to live out my dream.
Thanks ;)

Sidestory-real quick since I kind of rambled with that last one... 

Joe is also a total nerd and we support each others' nerdiness to extremes and back in October when we were road tripping through the midwest (see WindTurbine post), we drove past a car who had a bumper sticker that said "Hawkeyes" and we both pretty much peed a little. 

From that moment on it was our mission (mostly Joe's actually cause he's awesome) that I was going to get me one of those stickers before we went home. We drove to a handful of super markets, Walmarts (yes evil, evil Walmarts) and gas stations trying to find this sticker. You see, we were in Iowa and Iowa state college's mascot is the Hawkeyes (Henky the Hawk to be exact.. Henky? Really?..terrible...) so not only did we make the trip home with a HUGE Hawkeyes bumper sticker, we also got a sweet set of Hawkeyes pens which I use everyday at work and two big ole Hawkeyes street signs. LOVE! 

Nerds-go live your dreams. And if you can't, at least promote and decorate with tiny reminders like crazy so you never forget to continue to dream, that's all I'm sayin' :)

Lemme get 'dem Thin Mints....

Attention all Girls Scout Parents!

No one gave me a heads up and I got screwed out of ordering cookies last year and I ain't letting it happen again! (You folks need to let a girl know!) You want me to help your girlies reach their cookie goals? You gotta give me some advance notice-I was super bummed to see all the posts saying "cookies in come get your orders!" meanwhile I'm sitting here like wait, it's cookie season and no one told me?! NOT cool.

 I don't know which of your kids are in Girl Scouts so unless you give me a shout, I won't be able to order. Leave your comments here or on my FB and let me know when I need to get you the cash.

Now I'm ordering from YOUR KID not little Julie down the road that gave you a guilt trip for only ordering two measley boxes-YOUR little Julies only alright? I will definitely order at least 1 box from each of your kids and depending on how many comments I get, possibly more. Don't miss your chance! I want to help you all so please drop me a line so I can get in on that sweet, sweet Thin Mint action!
Love you-go Girl Scouts!

Snow Dayyyy!

That's the birdhouse in our backyard. Even our birds got snowed in. My front door looks identical to what they've got goin' on. Needless to say, Mother Nature's kickin' arse and takin' names!

I must confess, I was acting like a total five year old last night, all pouty and hatin' on my family members, because they had all been given the red light (red means stop) and were told they're offices would be closed the next day (today) while my company told us we would be opening late for sure and that we wouldn't hear until sometime the next morning (this morning) if we'd (they'd-not my call) decide to close. 

Now most of you I'm sure, are reading that last bit and saying to yourselves, what was she so worried about? The whole state was shut down after this latest blizzard, how could she have possibly believed she'd have to brave the storm to go into work?

But you see my little snow bunnies, EVERY job I've ever had, has NEVER cared about winter storm warnings. I've never had the luxury of a work snow day and after the first big storm of the season, I was really not looking forward to having to go out and deal with poor road conditions and mountains of snow piles all over again.  

It all worked out in the end though. This time around, Mother Nature seemed really, really pissed about something because she dumped a shitstorm of snow on us and I got the most beautiful wakeup call this morning; it was my boss and she said "Hey Lizz, stay in your pjs! See you tomorrow!" Oh thank you Mother Nature, thank you! SNOWWWWW DAYYYY for meeee!!!! 

Now I should have done what any sane person would do and gone back to bed, but I really had to pee and our window does not provide the best view of which to observe the snowy carnage of last night. So I got up and went exploring.......

Seriously-who pissed off Mother Nature!! I want a name!! This is nuts!

Luckily for me, we only have two shovels AND two strapping men in this household for which to wield those glorious shovels so I was saved from having to deal with any of THAT insanity.... I got a good amount of stuff done around the house, watched a little tv and made some delicious mac and cheese to bring to work for the rest of the week. I'd say so far, this has been one lovely snow day. Now off to make some scrumptious marinated chicken and rice and plop myself down next to my guy and watch some reruns :)

Happy snow day everybody!

Gimme some wiggle room

I don't have to express what a powerful tool music is. We love it. We sing along, we criticize, we escape through it. Music provides some of the best therapy in all the land.

Good example of this:
My current employer never played music. We would sit in silence and fill the void with mindless chatter and search the internet for the latest headlines to find things to talk about. Once the holidays hit however, our manager decided to play holiday music all day. It was a good mix so we never got annoyed with the various seasonal tunage coming from her computer speakers and you could visibly see our moods lighten with each new song. We would get excited when songs we recognized came on and discuss which versions of the various Christmas songs we liked the best. It was glorious.

This gave our boss an idea; and she decided after the holidays were over, to keep the party going so to speak. She kept the music on. Mind you, it wasn't Christmas music, but it was the top 40s so there is always a little something for everyone playing.
It's a tiny change to our daily routine, but it's one that has certainly made a difference for the better. We wiggle around in our desk chairs and even boogy-woogy down the aisles of cubicles to make copies or send faxes. It's a lot of fun and has helped relieve a lot of the stress and tension accosiated with doing our type of work.

You never realize how much you miss something before it's gone. Before I worked for this current company, I worked in various retail stores and we always had some form of music piping through the speakers overhead and it was this kind of audible theratpy that kept people from thoughts of suicide each day (I'm telling you, check the statistics-retail is some mind f*ing sh*t)
There's actually a guy in our office we call "Mr. YouTube" not many of us know his name, but everytime we walk by his cubicle, he's got a different music video playing. I think he just overhears the name of a band from one of his young kids and then checks them out at work but it's pretty funny. I don't know what the guy does here since I only ever see him searching for videos on YouTube (seriously guy, get to work-it's not fair you get paid more then me...) but again, his position must be stressful if he seeks that much musical therapy everyday...

My mom used to get annoyed when her BBC Radio online connection would crap out and when she'd come home she'd complain that she missed some interview or exclusive first listen to some new single. In her new office she can listen to the radio as loudly as she'd like and sometimes she and her coworker (her partner in crime-I swear they're like 5 years old when they get to giggling) listen to different stations at the same time.

Hey, whatever works.
So in recognition of the wonderful power of music, this post has been full of various YouTube music videos for you all to enjoy. There's a little something for everyone so don't judge-just shake it!

Sometimes people create awesome, awesome things....

I'm totally geeking out.




Oh and holy crap! I'm not interested in being set on fire after I die, but dammit you could store me in one of these sweet puppies for all eternity and I will not hate on you for it ;)
It's a Ghost, get it?

What's with the Turbines? No, seriously...

Okay the jig is up-I LOVE wind turbines.
No, I can not express to you exactly why in such a way that would make you understand and in turn like them as much as I do. I just really, really like them. I think they are beautiful.

I've always liked them and didn't actually see one in person until the summer of my junior year in college when I took a road trip to visit my best friend in Pennsylvania. I was driving through some part of the-most-boring-state-in-the-US-to-drive-through (no really look it up-it's dreadful) and over the horizon I could see the propellers start to emerge. There were only about six in this little cluster of turbines but it was such a surprise that I had to stop and try and get a better look at them.

This was before I had a GPS so I couldn't really venture off my current path in order to try and find them but I pulled over into the nearest gas station so I could just watch them for a little while. They were awesome!
It wasn't until 5 years later when I would get the chance to actually see these gorgeous beacons of bad-assery up close and personal. The same aforementioned best friend was getting married in Nebraska and my fella and I took to the road and drove from Connecticut to Nebraska (unfortunately having to go through Pennsylvania-I seriously want those 12 hours of my life back)

Now if you've ever driven through Indiana, Illinois and/or Iowa, you know how flat and unchanging the landscape is. The only thing you see for miles are the occasional abandoned barns and rest stops advertising Bud Light Clamato 24 oz. cans. Click the link-I swear I'm not making this shit up.
Anyways, at one point in our trip the landscape changed and we drove through a somewhat populated farm town and off in the distance I saw a load of white spinning propellers.

Now everything is flat so it's not really that hard to get lost or to find the thing you're looking for once you turn off the highway. So we took the next possible exit (me squealing all the way), drove a mile through this flat farmland and found a huge wind-farm that went on for miles in every direction.

Success! 

Naturally I had to spend an hour photographing these sweet sweet engineering wonders but can you really blame me? Look at 'em!

Now, my bf (he has a name, it's Joe) wouldn't let me actually run up and touch (or hug/kiss) any of them as we were on someone's property, but he did agree to let me fill up our SD card with glorious footage of them to my hearts content (he's a pretty nice guy). The result is an online album of nearly 50 pictures of wind turbines for me to enjoy for the rest of my life.

The best part about this trip was that, in addition to this first wind-farm, we drove through about three more and those other farms cut right across the highway. So even though we didn't pull over for the others, we still got to enjoy them up close. 

People who know me ask me all the time why I'm so obsessed. First of all, I don't think I'm obsessed. Yes, I do plan on getting a tattoo of a wind turbine (already sketched it up) and yes, I did receive two desk top mini wind turbines as Christmas gifts and one of the latest Wind Farm Lego sets AND and sweet sweet shirt (again from my amazing best friend and his new wifey) that may or may not look like this making me the proud owner of a mini wind farm but c'mon, obsessed? That's a little harsh...

I think the thing that got me interested in the first place, was this awesome kids movie called Mac and Me. 

In this movie a young boy befriends an alien that has been separated from his family and together they spend the entire film trying to find this baby aliens parents who are stuck somewhere in the desert. For the entire movie, the baby alien keeps making these mini pinwheels out of flowers and straws and paper and such. Then  when they finally realize where they need to go, the scene changes and you see the family mini van drive through this vast desert full of wind turbines. I vividly remember this being the first time in my life I had ever seen anything like them. I always wanted to know what they were and where they were so I could have my mom drive our minivan through the center of this wind farm as well. 

Like I said, this was a kids movie and I was super young when I first saw this scene and there was never really much mention of them in other movies or on tv (until Living with Ed came out) or anything like that so I never really expressed my feelings for them one way or another. I mean hell, I grew up and still live in Connecticut and there isn't really a ton of open space (yes we have farms but those are currently occupied by cows) in which to just plant a dozen wind turbines. So it wasn't until that random trip to Pennsylvania and then again the trip to Nebraska that rekindled my love. And, thanks to Facebook, I got to share my pictures (though not all so people didn't think I was nuts-though you probably do now) and express how much I truly do love them. If I could open a farm and live amongst the turbines I would in a second believe it. 

So that's the story. And that's why the background of this blog is of a wind turbine. Blogger actually had a wind turbine background I could have used but my bf was nice enough to help me reformat one of the pictures I had taken on our trip to use instead (like I said, he's a nice guy)

If you have any pictures of your own you'd like to share, please do. There's a lot of different wind turbines out there and I'm always excited to see pictures of new ones. 

Oh and go see Mac and Me. There's no way you'll appreciate it now, but your kids (or future kids) might :)

 

turbine under construction-how cool is that?

Scenesters, know your roots.

I'm a big Facebooker.  I used to be "Team MySpace" back in the day because you could do more things like customize your page and friend bands and all of that good stuff, you know, before Facebook opened the flood gates and was only for college students. I'm an ole G.

For those of you "Scenesters" out there, thats stands for "Old Gangsta", or "Hipster". You see the difference between "Hipsters" and "Scenesters" is, Hipsters, like myself, are up to date with all of the latest in technology and Pop Culture while maintaining a sense of history (we can name every member of the Beatles including the unfamous ones WHILE playing Beatles Rockband and murdering your gamer score) where as Scenesters (that's mallrats and the like-you know, 12 year olds with cell phones and Kanye shades) are only hip to what's going on right now, they've got no sense of history, they don't know they're roots. They think every P. Diddy beat is his original genius at work...I'm just sayin'. Know your roots people.

Anyways, where was I going with this? Oh yes, big Facebooker. I'm telling you, once Farmville hit it was all over for MySpace, but I digress...
Right now there's this super fun "trend" going on where people post the following message in their status:

Pay it forward 2011: I promise to make something handmade for the first five people who comment. They must in turn post this and make something for the first five who comment on their status. *The rules are it has to be handmade by you, and they must receive it before 2011 ends! *

I must say I absolutely LOVE this idea. Not only have I requested some stuff from friends doing this, but I myself have posted this as my status and have been hard at work coming up with unquie gifts ideas to create for everyone.Once I have everything made and sent out I'll post pictures on here so you can see what I came up with and once I receive my special goodies I'll make sure and share those with you all as well.


If you're on Facebook or even MySpace, I highly recommend you take part in this, it's an awesome way to express yourself and reconnect with friends and it's also really interesting to see what everyone comes up with.


Since I've shared it on here I will share the wealth with my readers (all 1 of you right now). If you post a comment at the end of this post and request something handmade (follow the rules-1st five people who comment) I'll make something for you too. Now who wants some free schwag??
Happy creating kiddos!

Hey, Do It Yourself!

No, really, you should. It's awesome.
There are a ton of sites out there that show you how to make really awesome things right in the comforts of your own home and with minimal supplies. If you aren't in the financial position to go out and buy up the the entire craft section of your local hardware store (lord knows I'm not) there are a number of awesome websites that can make things for you or customize already made items for fairly cheap. From personal, professional bound books to recycled, handmade custom jewelry and home goods.
I was recently turned on to two websites that will publish and bind books for you with hard or soft covers. One is called Lulu and they will help you publish any written material and even include pictures. It's very complex because there is a TON of options from page format to font size and style, but it's a really great way to package your work in a beautiful and professional looking package. Here's the link:

Lulu

I know a couple of friends and family who are interested in writing a book of their own and you can bet I sent them this link to help them get motivated to turn their dreams into reality. I read of one blogger who used this site and created a book over 700 pages long and only spent $40 to have it published AND you can order multiple copies over and over again!

Another awesome site I was told about is called Love Book Online. Again, you can choose either a hard or soft cover and add as many pages as you'd like at a low set cost. This site is a little different as you don't add your own pages, you choose pages to include provided by the site. Each page lists a different reason of why you love someone. They include cute little cartoons that depict the various "love actions" and you can actually customize each cartoon to look like you and your significant other and yes, they have pages of same sex couples too. Mind you, it doesn't have to be for folks in a relationship, you can make one for your sister or brother or mom or what have you. It's just a really sweet customizable gift that would put a smile on recipients face. It's a little tedious customizing each page as you can pick over 300 to include in your book but again, it's nice to be able to create something and have it come out looking super professional that will last forever.
Here's the one my best friend's wifey made for him this Christmas:

And here's the link to make your own:

LoveBookOnline

It's not just books, there are sites all over the place that can help you create and one of a kind beautiful gift. If any of you know of some other "make it yourself" sites, please post them here to share with everyone.

If you're looking for a way to sell your items or looking for goods that are already made but can be customized, here are some great sites that can help you with this too:

Etsy

Zazzle

Artfire

I've sold my work on Etsy and it's fairly easy to use. Each site is bursting with amazing work you will not find anywhere else so enjoy and hopefully next Christmas will be full of handmade, one of a kind gifts. 

And speaking of Christmas..... There are also some wonderful charity sites you can go to, to be connected with a vast amount of legit charities, some will even let you campaign and create a link to your own charity or fund raiser so folks looking to donate have a clear and concise outlet in which to give. It's great because through these sites, you don't have to worry about tracking folks down or trying to meet up to get peoples checks or cash, you just email them the link to get to your page and they can donate at their leisure. You can even set a timeline so people can continue to donate even after your event has finished. 

First Giving

The Hunger Site

Give give give! There's nothing better! First Giving is the site in which you can locate various charities and create a donation page of your own. The Hunger Site is this great non profit group that allows you to donate without spending a dime of your own. All you need to do is "click to give" on each of the five main pages, and for every "click" the various sponsors of the site (big companies that have more money then they need) will donate $1. It's pretty awesome. You click, others donate and everyone wins. 

Hey, I'm new alright?

This is the weirdest thing.. I haven't done something like this since LiveJournal was all the rage back in the beginning of the new millennium. The only difference here, is this stuff is seriously more involved and will most likely be viewed by far more people. Hopefully you folks like it, if not, follow the blogs advice and get your own.

Apparently I'm too happy, or too accepting of anything and everything on Earth and have been scolded for "liking" things too much. Well haha to you dummies, now I've got a blog about it.

It's not going to "flow" and it certainly won't be "perfect" (though with the automatic spell check I'm feeling far more confident about it) Did you know spell check is two words? Just found it out myself, thank you Spell Check!

But yeah, some days I'll post rants about things I like and maybe even a few things that don't tickle me in all the right places (but hopefully there will be very little of this as I enjoy a good giggle fit) Some days I may just post pictures of things that make me happy like this:

Again, A LOT of things make me happy so none of this will follow any particular "theme" or order. When I like things I post 'em, that's about it. No method or agendas on this blog. Just a silly girl getting way too excited about things that most people wouldn't take a second glance at. But hey, it's my blog so stifle it Edith!