Disconnected

It's day two of Lent, for which I gave up Facebook. I deactivated my account the night before last and will not reactivate it until after Easter. It's not so bad, but I'm having a hard time finding things to do at work. I've actually been working, which is completely out of character for me. Even with all of the working I've been doing, I still end up with hours of nothing which has led me to online shopping. I'm afraid I'm going to spend all my money. I bought a vacuum cleaner on woot today for $40 that I feel pretty good about. Retails for like $80, and Tilly and I just killed the last one with all of our hair. Our bad. I definitely think that I spent too much time on the facebook and some time off will do me good. What I hated was that I would just stare at the screen. After having read everyone's status and looked at all the pictures I cared to see, I was still staring just waiting on something new to appear....which eventually did happen...but still that's too much. It's been a bit of a struggle, but I assume it will get easier with time. Breaking a habit takes a little bit of time. What I'm afraid won't go away is how disconnected I feel. I'm not sure that the connectedness I get from Facebook is valid, but that false connection is something compared to the darkness I'm experiencing now. I have no idea what hundreds of people I don't talk to in real life are doing right now. Can you even imagine?!? My only hope is that this disconnection from the virtual world will somehow help me connect to the real world... I don't know that that makes sense or is possible, but I'll keep you all abreast on my progress.

...The More I Love My Dog!

Valentine's Day, Schmalentine's Day... OK, I'm not going to be grumpy about it. It's a made up holiday, yada, yada. No, I'm not just saying that because I'm alone on Valentine's Day. Of course not. I really do think it's a commercial holiday (not that I don't enjoy flowers and chocolate because I do), but for me, it has yet to get better than decorating paper bags with doilies and exchanging cards in elementary school.

Many of you know my dog, Tilly. She's my Valentine this year, and she's the sweetest thing ever. We have been taking an obedience class, and it has been going really well. There are about 20 dogs in our weekly class, and none come close to the perfection that is Tilly. There are dogs in this class that have major behavioral issues (my dad would argue that Tilly aka 'Crazy Dog' is one of these dogs). Her problem isn't her, it's clearly me. She does exactly what she is supposed to in that class, it's me who can't figure out how to give an about turn command. I was beaming with pride when she stayed down after the trainer dropped a huge, meaty treat right in front of her. I was terrified as this woman approached with said treat. We were the last in the line to receive a distraction and the training lady couldn't even look at darling Tilly because she was looking up with angelic anticipation, waiting on her treat. I look around the room, knowing that I absolutely must to be bias, but having no control over my emotions (as usual..), and I know that she is the cutest and sweetest dog in this class. I actually feel sorry for these other dog owners because they are clearly stuck with their full bred German Shepherds (with papers, of course), while I get to go home with my dear Tilly. I am not an animal person at all, but I am so head over heels in love with this dog, it is insane. Even when I want to kill her, which is becoming less frequent thank goodness, I love her so much that I just want to squeeze her.

The moral of this story is that I could do a heck of a lot worse than Tilly, as my valentine. Thanks to C. Underwood for her inspiration for the title. Good song...I am feeling you on that one this year.

Is nakedness itself the problem?

I know I'm a little behind on this story, but I had some time at work today and just wanted to say that I agree with this guy...

http://http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-dawn/201001/greg-oden-apologizes-naked-pictures-why


Go Colts!!

Not Another Teen Movie

I watched "Don't You Forget About Me" the other day, which is a documentary about John Hughes and the impact he had on teen movies...well, how he basically created the genre. It was good. And it inspired me to come up with a list of my favorite teen movies. In no particular order (besides the one I thought of them in), here they are...

Can't Hardly Wait - "The beer has gone bad! Nobody drink the beer!" I love this movie. Anytime I watch it, I am instantly transported straight back to high school. We had a graduation party that was eerily similar to this, minus Melissa Joan Hart running around with a yearbook...and the pool...and the live band and the police.

The Breakfast Club - LOVE. There really are no words.

Clueless - "Whatever" This one is iconic. I saw it twice in the theater.

American Pie - My dad rented this one and I came in to watch with him, but he was embarrassed watching it with me so he left the room.

10 Things I Hate About You - "And I'm back in the game" I still use that quote quite a bit. Also, my introduction to Heath Ledger. And I had a purple t-shirt that I thought looked just like one that Julia Stiles wore in this movie that I loved.

Almost Famous - This is one of my favorite movies, period. Top 10 for sure, probably top 5. I couldn't imagine anything more glamorous than being a Band Aide.

Sixteen Candles - Molly Ringwald. This one was just always there. One of those movies that shows you what being a teenager is supposed to be all about. Like a guide book to make sure you're doing it right.

Grease - My uncle got me this movie for Christmas when I was in like 5th grade. At the time, I thought I was too young to watch it (I watched a lot of Disney until I turned about 14), but I watched it anyway and while I didn't get a lot of the jokes until I was older, I watched it over and over. I was terribly disappointed when my high school didn't have a dance off with the hand jive.

Mean Girls - I was in college when this came out and we watched it like 10 times the week somebody got the DVD. Hilarious.

Wayne's World - "Party on, Wayne. Party on, Garth"I fell in love with this movie in middle school and I still love it dearly. It totally takes me back.

Empire Records - This movie is just so cool. Just makes me want to work in a record store and buy a bunch of records. People who have records are cool.

She's All That - A bit of a cliche and the inspiration for some spoof movies, but I was in high school and a sucker for a happy ending.....and a makeover.

Dazed and Confused - This is why I've always wanted to be a hippy. And why I've always wanted to haze people. "Fry little piggies!"

High Fidelity - Jack Black at his finest.

Juno - Oh, teen pregnancy...

Superbad - Completely inappropriate inaccurate portrayal of high school, but hilarious just the same.

Dirty Dancing - "I carried a watermelon" This has been on my favorite movie list since I was 9. It is also one of two "grown-up movies" that my mom had on tape. She would fast-forward to the very end so we could see the dancing scene. Oh, and Patrick Swayze was hot. Dirty dancing is hot.

Pretty in Pink - Molly Ringwald again.

Varsity Blues - My dad wouldn't let me see this movie in the theater even though I was a senior in high school and 17 years old. I saw it anyway though. And loved it.

Save the Last Dance - I'd have to call this one a guilty pleasure. I almost left it off the list, but then I remembered that I listened to the soundtrack on repeat for 2 months freshman year and decided I had to include it. Ahh, young, interracial love...so romantic.

Bottom Line: I love a teenage movie!

Blonde Wins by a Hair!

Sorry I couldn't resist. Thanks for your opinions, even though I'm pretty sure it was just my mom voting for blonde every day and Soups voting for brunette to keep it tied. So basically I'm just going to do whatever I want. I don't think anybody cares enough for it to matter.

High School Reunion

I've been watching High School Reunion on TV Land because I'm on a constant quest to fill my DVR. After the first episode, I couldn't believe how catty the girls were and how everybody seemed to result back to their high school selves. Initially, I blamed the people they choose to be on these shows. Obviously, if they're still single and willing to be on a 3rd rate reality show at 40, they have issues.

After ten years, I've have had a change of heart. Here's the deal...we all know that I played volleyball in high school, and that I use the word played loosely. Our volleyball team won State three of the four years I was in high school. I was on the JV squad two of those years, but I still felt like as much a part of the team as anybody else, and I was never worried about playing or not playing. Things changed a couple years ago when the school decided to recognize the first state championship at a basketball game for the 10 year anniversary. I, of course, wasn't technically a part of that team. So now it matters. FF to now, they're recognizing the team that I was on so I'm invited. Now that I'm going, it's like I'm back in high school all over again. All the good players are getting together before the game and I wasn't invited. I don't necessarily want to go, but I don't like them having the power to decide that I'm not worth inviting. I completely happy with who I am, but somehow now feel inadequate because I wasn't a starter for the best volleyball team in the state 10 years ago. How stupid is that? So there's something about being thrown back to high school that makes you feel like you're in high school. I'm going to cut the Summer Girls on High School Reunion a little slack, and hopefully I get over this before my actual reunion this summer.