christmas update

so, about getting ready for christmas. so far i have gifts for the dogs and my father. i have no idea what to get mom, and i think i'll get the brother and his woman a gift card for going out to dinner, but haven't picked a restaurant or purchased it. i normally get a small gift for monk (the brother's dog), but am not sure if it would be fair to do so and not get anything for the other 2 dogs now living there. i did see the perfect thing for him, though. you can get a fairly realistic squirrel, and i've seen the boy sit in the window and bark at squirrels in the side yard. i know it must sound really weird to put this much effort into gifts for a dog, but i'm not the only one who has told my parents that the only grandchildren they'll be getting will be furry and four-legged.

as far as the 4 birthday gifts i need in time for the christmas party. the big project is totally complete, except that i realized earlier that after augmenting it, i think i put it back in the box wrong. i may decide to fix that. for someone else i have purchased a gift, but intend to purchase an additional and similar gift and give them together. for yet another person i found the perfect gift by accident, but it's a) out of stock in the appropriate size and b) out of my price range. found a decent alternative along the same lines, but with shipping it's still a bit outside the price range and i'm not sure it would be here in time. so, i'm basically at square one there. that leave just one more person to gift, for which i am totally lost.

otherwise, my cards are sent and my mail project will be boxed tonight and sent tomorrow before work. i'm hopeful that will be soon enough to reach there destinations in time. my ornaments are killing me on drying time, but i'm hoping to prevail there.

work has been getting more and more retarded by the day. tonight, despite requisitioning and getting a dedicated cashier to stay on register, at 9:00 i had only been able to get off register long enough to straighten two small grids. by closing (at 10) i still hadn't swept. enough people were coming to the doors after closing that we couldn't leave them unlocked while carts were rounded up. instead someone stood inside to unlock them and let the manager push carts in. this included someone who pulled up across the only spot in the sidewalk that slopes, allowing for the pushing up of carts, then sat there while a passenger sauntered up to check our hours. needless to say they were severely tempting said manager to ram into them with a row of carts, but she was able to restrain herself until they moved allowing her to come in and yell obscenities about them. the "eat me" fudge (so named because it was in an unassuming container with a post-it note labeled "eat me!") went over well. honestly, though, i'm not how much of it got eaten by anyone other that the closing manager and my favorite experienced cashier. i know the two of them hit it pretty hard.

i'm seriously not looking forward to next week, when we will be open until 11:00. especially since i close friday night and then have to be back at 7:00 saturday morning to count money. in fact, in addition to being against company rules about having a register the day before being in the cash office (which my store manager seems to have totally thrown by the wayside), i'm also pretty sure that's a violation of labor laws, since there's only 7.5 hours between my shifts, and i think there are supposed to be at least 8. oh well, money's money, eh?

that is all for now.

happy halloween

now i'm thinking about getting a small pumpkin from work, so i can emulate this.

happy anniversary?

it appears that this blog is now one year (and 2 days) old. just in case anyone cares.

happy birthday

no, not the blog. that's next month i think. this is for two of my good friends. today, well technically yesterday since it's after midnight, one turned 27, and the other turned 28 saturday. so if either of you see this, you're awesome and i miss you. and for the one of you who is no longer living in another state, and also more likely to see this: call me sometime so we can hang out. you've been back like 3 months and the only time i've seen you is at thanksmas, and i've got a birthday present for you.

for everyone who hasn't had a birthday this weekend: i like you, too. and if it's been a while since we've hung out, you're also welcome to call me so we can rectify the situation.

also, expect a new post after my research fieldtrip tuesday. just as soon after as i feel like switching over to new blogger. if you're dreading reading another long post about old buildings, a) blame the bibliophile for sending me a book about them and b) too freaking bad.

cupid is coming... hide your valuables

there are a number of things i've been meaning to post about for a while now, but i'm not going to. instead, i present you with my thoughts on valentines day.

now, i'm down with the concept of a holiday for romance. a nice excuse to take your significant other out for dinner and whatnot. hell, candy and flowers would be nice, if they hadn't been inflated to like 4 times their normal price just for the occasion. but some of the valentine's crap is just that. here are a few examples, provided by commercials that seem to be running non-stop at this point.

pajama-gram. you can send your lady anything from some sexy lingerie to a nice set of flannels. but how many guys do you really think are buying their wives something as sensible and utilitarian as a nice new set of flannel jammies, as opposed to the number who are plunking down serious cash for an outfit that is uncomfortable and serves no purpose beyond making him horny? that's not a gift for their girl, it's for themselves. guys, save some cash and just fuck her naked.

vermont teddy bears. in the commercial all the girls in an office are oooing and aahing over the "love bandit" teddy bear one of them got. not only is this pretty damned corny, but somewhere not too prominent this commercial will tell you that these bears cost $80. yes, 80 freaking dollars. i don't know about most women, but if some guy ever bought me an $80 teddy bear, i would bash him in the head with something heavy for being such an idiot.

and no, i'm not down on this stuff because i'm single, but because i'm sane. how much more would a little romance from your partner mean if it was "just because" instead of because it was that time of year again.

halloween?

so, what should i be this year for halloween? as much as i love my pirate outfit (thanks for the loan of the mini parret for the picture, evilducky), and need to get some more use out of it for the money i spent, i'd like to switch it up this year. my mother suggests that i be a wench, but that sounds rather uncomfortable. the best idea i've come up with so far is to be a nun, which would be funny. so, any ideas or opinions? please remember that i am poor and can't do anything custom. we're talking something i can put together from things i already own or stuff i can get on the cheap. and it has to be comfortable as party wear.

sunday

the celebration of my birth went well. i had fun and noone else seemed totally bored. we forgot to total all the minigolf scores, so i only know how it shaped up for the 5 of us on the card i have. mac and vb tied for winning with 58, then sharon at 65, me at 74, and mb got 75. despite the fact that i almost lost, i did hit the winning spot on the 19th hole so i get to play free next time we go. i'm actually pretty good at that, since hitting the ball way too hard seems to be a good thing for once on that hole.

i got lots of good gifts. i got some books, the shirt i wanted, a button, cash, pineapple candy, a planted pineapple that i hope survives (i'm not so good at remembering to water things that don't come whining when they're thirsty), and a real concrete gnome.

i also want to say that it was proof that being an adult isn't like i thought it would be, but not in a bad way. who knew that at 25 i'd still enjoy a nice retro-campy minigolf game with all my friends.

happy birthday to me

i'm a quarter of a century old today. yay! i just wanted to say that.

well, i'll see you sunday at 6:00. unless you live across the country, then i understand why you can't make it for celebration by minigolf.

tales of acquisition

so there's this really awesome game that i have for the playstation, called katamari damacy. it's really strange, but totally cool. you are this little green prince, and you have to roll around this knobby ball called a katamari. things stick to the katamari, and the bigger it gets, the bigger the things that can stick to it get. at the very beginning you can barely pick up thumbtacks, later you can pick up cats and small children, and by the end you can get small islands and very large buildings stuck to your katamari. very strange i know, but it's SO much cooler than it sounds.

i first played it at a friends house and i enjoyed it so much that very soon after that i went out and picked up a used copy for myself. i have played it a lot and while i still do really like it, i have beaten it several times. therefore i have spent several weeks on eBay hunting down a copy of the sequel we love katamari. tonight i mailed the check, so soon it shall be here and i am so excited to get it. it apparently also has a new cooperative 2 player mode, which is super cool for sharing the joy. yay!

to graduate or...

ok, well i already graduated, as in finished all the classes for a degree. what i'm trying to decide is if i want to go to my own graduation. on the one hand, i already took off work for it (although i'm going to a party that night anyway, but it sounds so much better to tell my boss i have commencement) and it seems like i should go for closure. on the other hand, it's gonna be so long and boring and crowded, plus i don't know anybody else who'll be walking this year. oh, and i'd have to dress up, so add uncomfortable and hot. i've put off buying my cap and gown so long that i don't know if i'll be able to get one that fits, although i have to buy one no matter what so my mother can take pictures of me in it.

so really it comes down to several hours of uncomfortable, torturous bordom, or having to lie when my boss asks me how it was. i'm still thinking on it.

hey look, month two

okay, so the blog isn't a month old yet, but it is the second month and it not only hasn't been abandoned, it's hardly even been neglected.

so i was trying to decide what i could blog about, and i thought i could try playing some kind of april fool's joke, but i'm a few hours late for that.

instead i think i shall contemplate something that's happening right now (or actually several minutes ago) -- the time change. i hate daylight savings time. actually i only hate it in the spring; i love the random extra hour of sleep in the fall. regardless of that, though, i always think it's dumb and pointless; not bad just pointless. now, that doesn't mean i think it's a great idea that most of my home state (not including my little corner, the bit up by chicago and a few other areas) has been ignoring it. everybody else does it, so even if it's kinda dumb, not doing it just makes us seem like a bunch of backward-ass hicks, already a problem for indiana. besides, it makes it weird and tricky trying to remember what the time difference is between places when it changes depending on the time of year.

well that my rant for today. oh, and happy, happy me, i just bought this. i know it's out of season right now, but i've been coveting it for over a year.