So far, I’m not impressed with the Sony. The touch screen is more of a frustration to me than anything. I’m trying hard to like it, though. So far, every picture I’ve taken has been bad. But I have a weekend at the farm to really test it out. If Kip comes out looking like an over sized bunny, it’s out for sure. But seriously, reviews have been better for the Casio. And as much as it freaks me out to have a camera that reminds me of my Caboodle and mini-keyboard days, everybody deserves a second chance, right?

And, I was looking for a Caboodle tonight and couldn’t find one.

I bought an awesome Christmas gift for Savannah today! I found it totally by chance, and I’m winning best-Auntie points for it (not that you can buy love). I just hope her parents haven’t already gotten it! Or, that she opens mine first. :) It rocks so much! I actually looked for one and found one, but it was …uh weird, and like a bazillion dollars. This one is so much better, and I think Savannah is sophisticated enough for 8+. Yeah? I can’t wait to say what it is!

Due to the beginning nature of my job (I hope), I read a lot of CNN.com. I’ve been catching up on the news that I haven’t watched in, oh, my whole life. And honestly, there’s not that much going on. Granted, CNN probably isn’t the best source for hard hitting news. …which seems odd, but come on - are they going to report that Obama is a hand-puppet? It’s mostly nonsense and the only reason that’s what I chose is because the techie guy who comes in every once in a while used CNN.com to check my Internet or something.

caller: “Can I please speak to your IT department?
me: “Um, what is that?”
caller: “Computers and networks.”
me: “Yeah, we don’t have one of those.”

Anyway, I read fairly recently (not on CNN.com) that our big government has a lot of superfluous laws laying around. In other words, they work hard to pass silly laws to prevent one situation, and then never abolish them. Here’s a perfect example: A woman is being fined for dying her poodle pink. She did so to promote breast cancer awareness. She’s a hair stylist, and says she’s certain the dye isn’t harming the dog because she used beet juice. Awesome idea to me… beet juice? Who knew! Anyway, I was shocked to read a comment from prosecutors saying that their job is to enforce law, and that’s all they’re doing.

Blindly.

What was the original law passed for? …to discourage people from dying chicks and bunnies for Easter.

I’m reminded of Josiah’s neon sign: What the crap?!

As I left the office today, on the way to the farm, I noticed for the first time that 175 is the ugliest way to leave Dallas. Looking to my right and left, I was reminded of what New Orleans must look like - entire neighborhoods boarded up. These houses are on perfectly nice pieces of land, decently spaced, and are probably historic to some degree. And yet… boarded up. Somebody should fix that because I’m sure there are a lot of people who would pay nicely to live that close to the city center.

Not me. The farm is too close to the city if you ask me. I can see my neighbors.

6:40 am is too early to get up, no matter how you spin it. I typically get to bed at 10:30 and that gives me about eight hours of sleep. Still, I fight getting out of bed. That’s not unusual, I’ve never been a morning person. But for years I’ve gone to bed really late, so morning was an avoided evil. 10:30 isn’t that late! Last night, I went to be at 9:30! And I still fought the morning.

I don’t know how people do it.

When I get home, it’s all I can do to scrape together something vaguely resembling dinner, though a poor excuse at that, shower and crawl in bed.

Anything else? Are you kidding? When can I ever go to the grocery store? Clean my bathroom? Make sure the kitchen sink doesn’t have stains in it? Vacuum?

Quilt?

…paint?

What are those things?

I wasn’t made to do this whole business world thing. It’s not in my physical make-up.

Just recently I said I needed to forgo sleep in order to work on creating a business for myself that will let me step away from reliance on, um, employers.

I have no idea how I’m going to do that. I’m having a really hard time holding myself together as it is.

A woman I used to go to church with has told me on more than one occasion that she admires that I purchased my own car and live (pseudo) on my own and have a job, because she went straight from one household to another. No, you loon, no.

Also, I now know why there is always a pair of pantyhose hanging in my grandmother’s bathroom.

Closer by Ne-Yo.

I’m really hoping for a weather day tomorrow. My office doesn’t close for weather, so it’s kinda my call. That makes me nervous. So far it looks like I won’t be going in for half a day, but I don’t want to make a bad-for-business call. (Even though it won’t really matter if I’m not there. Shhh.) I really want to stay home and quilt. Really, really bad.

me: “How long has Radiohead been around, Dad?”
dad: “That’s a good question.”
me: “A long time, yeah?”
dad, singing: “Video killed the radiohead.”
me: “No, Dad. That isn’t them.”

I figured out which song plays while Victoria is stomping down the stairs at the end of Twilight. It’s Radiohead. Why am I surprised? The last time I wondered what a song was, it was Radiohead.

Radiohead is a great band! A band with longevity, and British to top that off! Radiohead is smack you in the face good music. Except apparently it’s a sneaky slap because [Aaron|afferennen] unknowingly introduced me at FC.

It’s on repeat to distract me from how empty this ginormous house is.

15 Steps by Radiohead

PS. I have to confess that I thought Radiohead had been around since the 70s. Nope - 1992. That’s long enough for “longevity” right? (Technically 1986 when they got together, 1992 was their first single.)

Today, I watched a video of a keynote speaker as he presented on passion (and personal branding, but that doesn’t have anything to do with this). I’m not going to link it because there was profanity in it that I don’t think is cool. (Kids, profanity is not cool. It’s stupid and it makes you look stupid.)

This guy said stop doing what doesn’t make you happy, because you can waste just as much money doing what makes you happy.

This in itself is not the revelation, because I’ve been saying this basically my whole life. Every human does at some point - it’s nature to want what you want. But my mom says, “Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to.”

No you don’t.

You only have to if you’re a sellout.

Revelation: I’m a sellout.

I’m tired of working a stupid job that makes me miserable. (I know! Only you can determine how you feel. Whatever.) I want to quilt. I want to paint. I’m good at it.

This keynote speaker said (paraphrase), “We’re starting businesses! We’re not partying!” I.E. word hard. This is a basic principle; I know this, my parents taught me this, even if they think I squandered the lesson.

Another revelation: It’s not news to me that school is not important, but it occurred to me: No one I know is working in the field they went to school for.

(Of course, this fell apart when I though of Jenny, so don’t nitpick.)

(Can I use two colons in one sentence?)

Conclusion: I’m giving up sleep.

ps. This post brought to you by the phenomenon known as Midnight Genius.

I see this in Alice’s future.

This weekend, I got on Buddy again. This time, I can say I actually rode him instead of just walking around the round pen. I brought out the English saddle to tack him up, but realized the western girth I’d borrowed wasn’t going to cut it. So Mom and I hauled out to the neighbor’s and got him all fancied up as he’s used to. Mom watched as I struggled with Buddy for a while. She assisted in shoving him away from the railing as he leaned in to squish me again. After that, she went to get Joanne and Cowboy Cory.

I was given some simple instructions, had minimal success, and while Joanne went to get whip so I could lunge orneryness out of him, Cowboy Cory jumped in to show Buddy who was boss. As Cory flew around the ring, Buddy was putting up some serious attitude. And Cory’s just had 4 major joints replaced… So, at watching this hideous display of bad behavior via Buddy, Mom and I scoffed at Joanne as she weeks ago said to me, “Ride Buddy, he’s a kid’s horse. No problem!” And I didn’t feel so bad that I had such trouble last time.

I also don’t feel so bad now that my whole body is sore, considering Cory said Buddy’s a pretty rough ride. Man alive. Two days later and I’m still walking bow-legged.

Sunday, I went to church where Brandon Bell’s dad preaches. I think he has Celiac Disease. No, I’m serious.

Mom and I went on Saturday to the Edom Art Festival! We were looking for a saddle stand and a longhorn rug. Instead, Mom came away with… a soap dispenser. I tried to convince her to buy a Ryan Ayer’s piece, but I wasn’t successful. Someday, I’d like to myself.

Oh yeah, she got a metal goat, too. You know those lame people who have fake animals in their front yard? Surprisingly, there’s a lot of that in the country. As if there wasn’t real wildlife to look at. I could understand if fake deer fooled real deer into thinking that your front yard is safe and then they hang out. But, plastic ducks? Plastic pigs? What kind of pink pigs are wandering the countryside?

To me, fake animals are pretty much on the same level as fake plants. Just say no.

But, she got this metal goat as a mock to the fake animal trend. It also holds a potted plant, so it’s cool.

In the quilting world…

grandma: “I’m bidding on your quilt and the monkey. Well, I’m bidding on them until I get them.”
me: “It would be nice if my quilt ended up outside the family, Grandma. If you get it, my circle of influence remains as it was.”
grandma: “Hmm, I see how that might be true.”

And yet, I saw the wheels continue to turn behind her dark brown eyes, plotting a way she could keep my quilt and still give me business.

Patsy: “I tried to use that machine quilting thing, but I showed it to Foy and he said, ‘Well, were you shakin’ all over?’ It was like I had The Palsy!”

That’s the woman I learned to quilt from. Her husband bought her a new machine. :)

In the real world…

Two things I’ve been considering selling my car for (don’t tell my car):

On a sidenote, I got two emails today. One notified me of a bilingual position I’d applied for (someone else applied me, not me). The second notified me that I’d been rejected in favor of more qualified candidates. I’m a amusedly (?) miffed at this correspondence!

ps. I updated iTunes the other day, and I’m having so much trouble with it… anyone else? Lousy, skippy, and slow.

mom: “You like funny.”
me: “I do like funny.”

What I said: I listen to an exorbitant amount of classical music.
addendum: But I still can’t tell one piece from another.

Who wants to see Twilight with me? (*wink wink nudge nudge*) I can’t decide if I want to see it the night it comes out or not. If I did, would it be stupid of me to dress up like Hermione Granger? In informal boycott, of course. Maybe a very pale, ethereal Hermione?

I’m almost done with the 4th book. I’ve slowed down to get some other things done. But, I’ve taken the week off from quilting. (It’s nice to be my own boss of something and say, “I’m taking the week off.”)

Though, I’m very excited about what’s planned for Melissa’s! It has to do with my favorite Starbucks card… that I had to order off of eBay. Whatever.

I heard it was $2.79 somewhere in the Dallas area today.

I’m not a cat person.

I don’t like them. I had one good cat, and he was so beyond cat that we couldn’t even name him - so he stayed KC (Kitty Cat) for about a decade before he died. I don’t currently have a picture of him, but one day I’ll post it. I never had a kitten because KC came to use an adult who drank bottled water and didn’t have any claws, and the one kitten I did have gave me ringworm, so we gave her back.

I digress.

This weekend, I planned to get some more futile practice on the back of Buddy, my chestnut Western nemesis, who would rather crush my legs into a metal pole than pretend to remember that I’m on his back. I didn’t get that far, though. I was stalled by something I didn’t think I’d care that much about.

What makes it more unbearable is that, not only do I not like cats - I loathe black and white cats. I just do. Cats can come in better colors.

Meet Alice, who has no sense of personal space, who hopped in my lap not two seconds after I entered the room, and who shot straight up my fishnet stockings on Sunday morning. I love her, she is the death of me.

And then there’s Jasper, and if his eager little purr doesn’t melt your heart, you’re a cold shrew.

Presumably, if they ever make it out of the house, they’ll be bloodthirsty barn cats, all too happy to rid the farm of ratty vermin.

If I don’t steal them from my mother.

On a less selfish note, I did do good things this weekend.

I finished the Sacred Selections quilt, and due to a country postal system, I sent it on with Larry. I hope it’ll make it to the fundraiser.

Speaking of which: go to it. It’ll be October 18th in Crosby, TX. There will be games, food, an auction, and a softball game thing. I wish I could go, but I’ll be in Edom (quickly becoming a favorite name).

The thing about quilts…

…is that I pretty much hate them, until they’re finished. Same with paintings. I’m too critical. But, I remind myself that I’m less critical than my mother, who took apart one of my skirts because a seam in the inside wasn’t lying flat. I’ve learned to let go of it because if I don’t, I’ll never finish. So, I set forth with a goal, meet the necessary requirements, and then when the quilt is lying on the floor and I’m seeing it from the viewpoint of, “I’m done, it’s over,” I love it and I don’t want to let it go.

So, go to the fundraiser and bid on my quilt. It’ll put a baby in a good home.

I thought I was getting sick this weekend, but it turns out that sore throat may just have been due to screeching this song for two hours as I drove to the franch on Friday. Then I screeched some more as I drove around the town on Saturday looking for a place from which to ship the SS quilt. I decided to lay off on the way home, and now I’m doing alright.

I listen to an exorbitant amount of classical music.
I wear a lot of blue jeans.
And I live in a big house that only grows more enormous at the passing of each day.
My weekends at the franch only make it harder to come back to the wretched big city.

ps. David Gray sounds like a sheep.