College Station Weekend!!

We're heading to College Station this beauuuuutiful, cool morning for the official "college visit!" Can you say, PSYCHED?

Someone was trying to convince me yesterday that with Lauren's grades and accomplishments, she can go anywhere to college, and she should "try to get in somewhere better than a state school." Holy wow. I've never heard that from anyone before. A&M and t.u. are two of the best universities in the country!

That "t.u." does look pretty puny next the "A&M," doesn't it? I like that. :)

By the way, Lauren is pretty set on a nursing degree. She would be a fabulous nurse.

Tonight- Midnight Yell Practice. Lauren's first of many to come. And we haven't been in forever! I can't wait.
Tomorrow- the Texas Tech game with KathyL! WHOOP! Perhaps we'll also see her parents, who are sitting in their season ticket seats, in a far better location than we will be.

RE: The sighting of the "gunman" on campus yesterday... Immediately it seemed weird to a lot of people that this guy was only spotted by one person. Also, campus was not put on immediate lockdown, which indicated that there was probably significant suspicion that this was a mistake. Regardless, I am glad they took all the precautions they did! Better safe than sorry!

Read more...

...It'll Be Because You're an A**hole

All ok with my cancer check. Mammogram remains to be done in a couple of weeks, but since that sparkling piece of technology never showed my original half-inch solid tumor, I never think much of it (until the day of the mammogram, of course). Also, breast cancer recurs in the brain, lungs or bone, not the other breast. Dumb old test. However, the ladies at the The Breast Center at St. David's are fabulous! It really is like a spa. They have designer coffees there, but they should really serve wine, for the full spa experience.

In regard to my dad's situation, my doc said as with lung cancer, pretty much all bladder cancer is caused by smoking. So, if you don't smoke, don't start. If you do, please try to quit.

Funniest thing ever was watching the oncologist manage my visit on their brand new computerized records system. He and the rest of the staff are rather slow on it, because it's new. It's great to see how far they've come since the stone tablets and stick figure drawings they had when I first started going there.

Lauren and I saw The Social Network last night, but only because she gets points for it for a class. The movie was so boring, just like I thought it would be. On top of that, the Mark Zuckerberg character is completely obnoxious, from his snotty attitude to his incessant chattering at 2500 wpm. The guy has absolutely no redeeming qualities.

Best line--

Erica (to Mark): You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole. 

Love it!

Read more...

Cancer Check

Well, today is the annual oncology checkup. 18 years cancer-free. As a success story, Dr. L loves to see me. Hoping to keep it that way with a clean bill of health.

I have set up my implant replacement surgery for December. I'm nervous, but excited. It's two days in bed, which isn't bad at all. It'll be the week before Christmas break, so I'll actually have three weeks before I have to be at work again.

Had fun watching the Rocky Horror episode of Glee last night (along with several old friends online)! I about keeled over when John Stamos sang "Hot Patootie." I was like, Am I really seeing this? It was hilarious to watch, and impressive at the same time. That last jump onto his knees, he looked like he pulled something. I was just amazed he could do it at all. Also nice- when the teacher guy took his shirt off. Just. Saying. The cheesy storyline still doesn't really do it for me, but I can understand why people love it.

Donna invited me to join her for an as yet undisclosed activity in San Antonio on St. Patrick's Day. It has rock band overtones, but I don't see anything about them being in town. Whatever it is, if she's there, it will be a full-on blast and a half. She's one of those people where it's safe to commit before you even know what the heck you're doing. She's supposed to elaborate today. *drums fingers*

Read more...

I Wish They Sold Just Tape

This where Jeff and I were standing in Staples...

... when he said, "I wish they sold just tape."

:|

He meant a single roll.

Got some bad news last night. My dad has bladder cancer. Good news is that it seems to be early stage, and they removed all of it in surgery yesterday afternoon. I read that bladder cancer typically recurs and has to be removed again, even if it is early stage. So he is likely in for more surgeries in the future. Biggest cause seems to be smoking. He's a lifelong smoker.

As I was listening to Ursula on the phone, I kept thinking, How long has he known and not told me?! But it turns out he just had symptoms last Thursday and they sped him through the testing process and tossed him into surgery Monday. That is lightning speed! His first surgery EVER. Wow. I'm several up on him. Another weird thing is, now I know neither of my parents is allergic to intravenous iodine dye at all, whereas I am deathly allergic. Thanks for the recessive gene, people. ;)

She says, "He feels good. You know your dad. He has the nurses in stitches." Ahaha. I'm sure he does. I'm supposed to call him tonight, when he gets home.

Read more...

Deep Thoughts

I've been pondering fandoms. I know. I should be working on world peace, but I've been distracted lately.

First, when I say "fan," I am not referring to people who like something a lot. These are people who LOVE something to the point that they have the shirt, cap or other wearable promotional merch, know the jargon, quotes, lyrics, and other uncommon references, and get all fluttery just talking about it.

Here's the theory:

Perhaps we are not actually fans of a particular person, game, character, team, movie, band, song, etc., but rather of the perceived placement of that thing among other like things. I've observed it for years with music fandoms, and then realized it seems to carry through to each of a person's other fandoms as well.

Stay with me, people. Or maybe you should leave now and save yourself two minutes of precious afternoon.

I am thinking there are three types of fans. I'll note that I feel one is no better or worse than the others. Apply these to whatever fandom you wish. Then take it even further, down to subgroups like songs by your favorite band or characters from your favorite movie.

1) The big fan of the most popular one everyone likes.
This person has a penchant for the lead singer of the band, the popular political candidate, the top-grossing movie of all-time, the number one song on the charts, the big football team du jour. They are certain to get enthusiastic support when they mention their love of that thing, which is great for making instant friends with about half the people on the planet. "You love ice cream??!! Me too!!"

2) The big fan of the close second.
Uber-fans of the lead guitarist, the sidekick, the supporting actress, maybe the big hockey team du jour. This fan tends to be an enthusiast of the thing that many people would agree should be the best, but for whatever reason, it it is hovering ever-so-close to the top of the heap. No one would disagree that this thing is great, but they would argue xyz is better. This fan feels a special kinship with other fans because it's not the Captain-Obvious popular thing of the moment. "I LOVED Moulin Rouge." "You did? Me too!"

(I'm this type, with the exception of my unholy love of George Clooney, Sexiest Man Alive. Just saying.)

3) The big fan of the obscure and overlooked.
These are aficionados of the character actor, the show on Bravo that no one watches, the unreleased song from the Japanese version of an otherwise popular CD, that really shy drummer, indie films, unsigned bands, roller derby. Access is the keyword here. This fan may actually chat with a film's director on Yahoo, because they are one of the ten folks who saw the movie. And when they meet another big fan- it is a moment tantamount to finding a long-lost twin. "YES! Blake Berkmanchester is doing a book signing at Quizno's on Saturday!" "WHO?"


It's late, so I'll just leave it at that. I think there's a future obscure and overlooked book in there somewhere though.

Read more...

Live in the Ballpark

Went to Live In the Ballpark last night. Very cool! Such a deal to be able to see all those bands in one evening.  I particularly enjoyed Gin Blossoms and Collective Soul. Best moment was when Ed, the lead singer of Collective Soul, pulled a random person from the audience to play guitar on "December." The guy was awesome! I think we all loved watching as much as Brandon enjoyed his time on stage.



The only bad thing about the event was for half the sets, the speakers weren't loud enough. We could easily chat and hear everyone around us chatting as well. Not that we couldn't hear the bands, but when you're at a concert, you want the sound to kind of envelop you and numb your eardrums. Ya' know?

On a completely unrelated note, I present a very powerful and moving message about physical beauty. Thanks for sharing, Donna!

No. The word "pretty" is unworthy of everything you will be, and no child of mine will be contained in five letters. You will be pretty intelligent, pretty creative, pretty amazing, but you will never be merely "pretty."

Read more...

Saturday

Having two kittens around while I'm on the computer has taught me all sorts of things about the function keys on my keyboard. Just now, I learned about something called "caret browsing" (F7).

:/

On the other hand, the best thing ever is greeting two kittens in the morning or after you come home from being out for several hours. They just crawl all over you, purring and happy. SO adorable.

Patrick's Saturday Six

1. If you had to choose between being married to someone you no longer loved with no chance for divorce or separation, or being single forever, which would you choose?
I can see a few benefits to just being "married," even to someone with whom you don't really have a connection, but the downside is far too high a price to pay. I would definitely rather be single forever than spend my life with a guy I didn't love. You can have very significant loving relationships and stay single.

2. If you had to give up either the use of your arms or legs, which would you choose and why?
Legs. How am I supposed to Facebook without arms? And Jeff would have to Chi my hair for me every morning, surely to result in severe injuries to us both.

3. Which annoys you more: poor grammar or poor spelling?
I have rethought this. Grammar annoys me more. If someone is a poor speller, it seems to me that they are just careless with regard to spelling. If someone consistently uses poor grammar, it makes me think they didn't pay attention past third grade English.

4. Which would you enjoy more in an arcade: a video game or a pinball machine?
Pinball, baby!!

5. You have the chance to spend time with a close friend: would you prefer to spend time one-on-one over a homemade meal or in a nice, quiet restaurant?
Definitely one-on-one at home. At some point during my visits with my close friends, we are talking about something that shouldn't be shared with the population at large-- sometimes the conversation in its entirety.

6. For one month, you can only communicate with those around you electronically: would you choose email or texting, and why?
Email. I am a slow texter. Also I much prefer being able to write a long message and edit it to make sure it reads the way I intend it to read, before I send it.

Read more...

J Zero and Harry Turd

One of CJ's exes' last name is Zera. She mentioned him the other day and I said "J**** ZERO?" She about fell out of her chair laughing. She says I have said that literally every single time she's mentioned his name in the last 25 years. That's not the worst thing we call one of her exes. The worst is Hairy Turd. (We just call him Harry.) It's a mix up of a few letters of his real name. She We I am terrible! Don't mess with my friends or you, too, will henceforth be known by an embarrassing junior-high nickname. :p

Talked with Doug last night! I think we've covered most of the basics since we last saw each other about 10 years ago. I haven't given him the link to this thing yet, but I did tell him that when he comes here, he can search for his name and see how long and riddled with potholes my sleuthing process has been. He is sure to be impressed. Even though he lives right down the freeway from me and I somehow missed it. Yeah. This may not have been my most impressive Googling ever. Heck, I found Scotty in two days... in Coatzacoalcos! Of course, he has a Facebook, like a regular person. Not that he's ever on it... ;)

Doug tells me Glee is doing a Rocky Horror episode next week. Wow! How cool will that be?! Why can't I get into that show? I have always wanted to love it, but the story just doesn't do anything for me. I only like watching the musical numbers. (Well, I LOVE the musical numbers.) Somehow I'm rarely watching the "big" TV shows everyone else is watching.

Happiest of Fridays, all!

Read more...

Facebook Parodies

I love these two...

1) From The Onion-



2) YouTube Movie trailer a la "The Social Network"-

Read more...

It's Doug!!!!1!!!111!!!

That's sorta what I said in my FB friend request just now.

Looks like the elusive Douglas just got on Facebook!! And he's back in Austin. Double freakin' BOO-YAH.

Y'all have been with me on this quest for a couple of years now. Just thought I'd share the great news!

:)

Read more...