internet and schtuff

sorry i haven't been able to post in the last few days. my internet has been down. you know, it is absolutely amazing how much we rely on the internet and its functions. i haven't been able to check my email in 3 days and was going insane. i couldn't check to see if tampa had traded up to #2 in the draft. i felt helpless.

now that that is fixed, i can start to bitch about other things. i'm sitting here right now watching the bulls/heat game 3. i hope chicago wins bc i don't like shaq. i think he is so overrated. my bosox came back last night. wily mo pena hit a grand slam in the 8th to give them the lead. so happy. it is also amazing how much we let the outcomes of sporting events affect our mood.

one thing really cool about having a blog is you can say whatever, whenever, and however you want. i find myself sometimes rambling incoherently and typing things just to type (like right now). i guess since i have been w/o internet i feel like i just have to write stuff.

next time i post i'll try to have something more meaningful to say (like the secret to losing weight, some sort of religious epiphany, the answer to all of life's deep questions, like why do they call peanut butter peanut butter? i understand the peanut part but not the butter. it's not peanuts and margarine)

so, i'm at jsu this morning and am going to the bathroom when i see a sign that says something to the effect of "don't drink the water bc there has been a busted water line and the water might be dirty". considering the fact that i wasn't about to fill up my big gulp with some toilet bowl water or turn my head upside down to drink from the sink, i find that sign to be a little misplaced. i needed to get rid of some water and drinking more water was not on the brain.

we have finally decided on a date: april 12, 2008. yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh. now all of you know when i will officially not be able to make a decision on my own.

i have been trying to figure out why there seems to be a demand for pet caskets. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070424/ap_on_fe_st/pet_caskets;_ylt=AoF40Q9fZapvEFQPZE7Yxe_tiBIF
i find it haunting to go into my pet shop for oskar and find headstones. "here lies a man's best friend". damn! that's depressing. they are conveniently located at the end of the first aisle on the way out, so i have to see them while walking to pay for the dog food. so, every time oskar is hungry, i'm reminded that he is going to die (eventually). that sux. can we please move those damn things to the back of the building so only the people who actually lost their loved one has to see the headstones?!?! i love my little middle and don't want to be reminded on a regular basis that he will not live forever.

if that isn't weird enough, have you heard of the putt-putt course in the funeral home???? it is in the Ahlgrims Funeral Parlor of Palatine, Illinois. http://dethroner.com/?p=2470&akst_action=share-this

how fucking creepy???? who would want to play putt-putt in the basement of a funeral home when grandpa joe is resting 6 ft above you? isn't that a little basackwards???

well, i just got back from a wonderful church retreat. i know, jon on a church retreat. it sounds funny to me every time i say it. but this was a wonderful experience filled with hiking, beauty, nature, wonderful people, and plenty of food, beer, and dirty jokes. this was an experience that i will never forget and i would like to extend a heart-felt thank you to the holy comforter episcopal church in gadsden, al. i would also like to to extend a thank you to my future family, lewis and andrew fuller, for inviting me. THANK YOU. the only thing that would have made it better is if my little middle were there with me (and of course my fiance). i only hope that i can join you guys next year.

on another note, the lakers lost to the suns today in the first game of the first round of the nba playoffs. KOBE WAS HOT. he had 28 points in the first half alone. his teammates, specifically the bigs, kwame and andrew, didn't contribute anything. farmer looked really good and walton had some unbelievable assists. lamar is always good (a consistent double-double guy). but something is missing. HEART. every time the suns scored a basket, the lakers just stood around and looked to point the finger at one another before in-bounding the ball. look, these people are getting paid around the same amount of money you are, you honestly don't believe that you can have a shutout in basketball, do you? PICK IT UP FELLAS.

i'm so excited that tomorrow i get to go see my fiance and my little middle. even though that it is just for the day, the two of them brighten my life so much that it is well worth it.

so, the question of the day is why in the hell did i go to camp with a bald head and no sunscreen? it seems that every single time i go to the beach or to some outdoorzy thing, i have a shaved head and no sunscreen. this makes no sense. my dad is a cancer doctor for god's sake. you would think that i have heard enough horror stories that i would even wear sunscreen when i go to bed. i guess most of the stories that i hear are seemingly so tragic and non-preventable (like the shit just happens) i figure, well, a little sunscreen ain't gonna prevent sudden onset of something that is going to kill me in less than a year so why be so concerned with the sunscreen? so for now and the foreseeable future, i look like a ripe tomato with a pair of glasses and a goatee.

u sexy beast

hello again. now i know that what happened at va tech was senseless and horrible. but i'm already tired of hearing about it. therefore, i'm not going to anymore until something breaking happens.

as for today, have you every wondered why people as "how are you doing?" when you know they really don't give a shit? why do we continue to speak such meaningless phrases to people we don't care about? next time someone asks me how i'm doing, i'm not going to say the generic "fine". i'm going to tell them exactly how i am doing. my back hurts, i'm stressed about my wedding, stressed about finals, stressed about finding a job after i graduate, stressed about comps, happy the lakers are in the playoffs, hopeful that the bucs will draft calvin johnson, pessimistic that the government is not going to change anything, dreadfully missing elizabeth and oskar, and so damn hungry i could eat a cow.

having said all of that, by the time someone asks me "how are you doing?", i will have forgotten all of that and just say "fine, u?"

My "Little Middle"

this is my sweet oskar

good morning! i guess for some, that would be an oxymoron, kind of like jumbo shrimp. unfortunately, everything seems to still be a mess at va tech. as i said before, my heart goes out to all the victims and their families. what a scary incident. stricter gun laws may be on the horizon. and personally, THANK GOD. don't get me wrong, i'm not a no guns person, i have 3. but have you ever bought a gun or gone to get a pistol license. it is completely simple, far less of a hassle than something as mundane as getting a haircut. you know that i went to get my haircut the other day and 3 beauticians were standing around talking, not working on anybody and they told me they did not have time to shave my head! it must be because i was not female and over the age of 65.

anyway, back to the pistol permit. i went a month or so ago to get mine. there was a hispanic family in front of me and the dad new little, if any english. his daughter filled out his paperwork for him and the woman behind the counter gladly gave him the permit. i was shocked. however, i did not say anything and continued to fill out my lengthy 1 page 200 point font paperwork that asked brutally complicated questions like "why do you want a pistol?". i wonder what they would do if my response was to shoot somebody?

so, after i paid my dues, i went to buy my first gun. and do you know what? THEY DIDN'T EVEN ASK TO SEE MY PERMIT. what's the point!?!? not only that, but what happened to the 3 day waiting period and background check?? i asked what the waiting period was and the guy said, "we don't have one"; and the background check? "we have an instant background check." sure. i'm trying to do an internship with the state of alabama and the check took 2 months. the whole process of buying my first gun AND ammunition took about as much time to by a gallon of milk and a honeybun. i find these gun laws to be almost laughable. granted, some states are tougher than others, but in alabama, carrying a gun is not only a right but nearly a societal expectation; if you don't own a gun, something is wrong with you (you tree-hugging left-wingers). funny, i now understand why i have splinters in my biceps.

has anyone been paying attention to what the news has said about this guy. apparently some professors who had this student were scared to death of him. one even said that she thought that he was suicidal. DID ANYONE TRY TO GET HIM SOME HELP!?!?!?!? before you ask, no i am not blaming the powers that be for this incident. i am simply stating that if someone sees warning signs, TALK TO SOMEONE.

on a totally different n0te, jessie maxwell, one of my good friends, just got back from germany. she is a wonderful photographer and beautiful to boot (sorry for any single guy reading this, she is taken). she has her own website www.jessiemaxwell.com. here you will be able to see some of her photographs. her germany pics are on http://ua.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2137710&l=eab55&id=27403738. hey jessie, next time you go to germany, PLEASE TAKE ME!?!?!?

hello. this is my first post on my new blog. if you want to learn about me, check out my profile. otherwise, my first post will be dedicated to the lives lost in the va tech shootings yesterday. this is an incredibly senseless tragedy and we all need a reminder of just how precious life really is.