3.31.2006

items of blog business

1) You must see Ice Age Meltdown. We were fortunate to have seen the premier Monday in the city and it was the funniest animation since Toy Story. I can't wait to purchase the DVD for Zane to watch over and over again. It was filled with emotion and nice timing of events in the story. Oh, and look for our friend's name in the credits- (Hans) SR ANIMATOR!!!

2) DO NOT under any circumstances crack your neck. Ever again. You know who you are. Stop. Now. Will explain more later. You know, once I regain feeling in my right arm and half of my face. Once the MRI test results this weekend determine OMG HER HEAD IS ABOUT TO FALL OFF! Here's hoping no surgery will be involved. Anticipation in the bad direction is such a sinking feeling.

3.28.2006

blah blah blah

For the Lauras that tagged me:

Four jobs you have had in your life: Tower Records, JPMorgan Chase Compensation Analyst, Islands Hostess, Chase Bank Collections Supervisor (in no particular order)

Four movies you would watch over and over: Princess Bride, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, About A Boy, Plains Trains and Automobiles

Four places you have lived:
Brooklyn NY, Long Beach NY, Westchester NY, Tempe AZ

Four TV shows you love to watch: Jackass, Real World (NOT Road Rules), Nanny 911 [ you know.. to remind myself that I am not 19 years old anymore and to never have 6 children no matter what], Wife Swap

Four places you've been on vacation: Paris, Rome, St. Thomas, London

Four websites you visit daily:
http://www.superherodesigns.com/journal/
http://www.queserasera.org/
http://www.chromasia.com/iblog/
http://thisfish.ivillage.com/love/

Four of my favorite foods: Taco Bell's Nacho Bell Grande, Milk Chocolate (preferrably with a caramel), mint chocolate chip ice cream, Spaghetti O's [high-class taste, huh)

Four places I would rather be right now:
In Mike's arms watching one of the above 4 movies on the couch, photographing Manhattan, on-stage with OKGO rocking out on the drums, in a night class learning photoshop

Four friends I am tagging that will respond in thier blogs:
Ben http://www.realexecutive.blogspot.com/
Mike http://vtol.blogspot.com/
Lisa http://www.curesma4lindsey.com/index.php?page=LatestNews
Beka http://savesthenewday.livejournal.com/

3.25.2006

on an island in the sun


So I had my first attempt at playing the drums with a song today at my weekly lesson. It was Hip Hip by Weezer. It felt like home, like I have always known how to play and my hands always knew how to do it, they just haven't had a chance to sing. Like they have been caged up. I am not by any means implying I don't need to practice *a lot* just that it feels so right and exhilarating. After learning to decode songs the past 2 weeks I hear songs from a new angle. I love them more. Playing the drums is like drugs, or what I imagine being introduced to a really good drug would do to a person.

It's like I have gotten this great pair of new eyes, or ears I guess I should say. Things are just different. Life is just more fresh.

-----
Oh, Chris, I didn't take this picture, either.

3.23.2006


what can i do?
i'm in
love with you
and
I can't
stop.

3.22.2006

Heaven on Earth

Meet The Disney World Mint Fudge.

It is the closest thing I have found to the best candy in the world: The Fanny May Mint Melt-Away.


Thanks Jaime- as you can see I bit the hand off the mailman at time of delivery.
Tania- thanks for your contribution to my sick cocaine-like habit earlier this year.

* Chris, the photo police, wants me to make sure I give credit to Fanny May for the Fanny May Mints shot. But hey thanks for thinking I had that kind of talent! Besides, you think I could leave a completely untouched box infront of me long enough to take a shot like that!?

strawberry fields, my style

3.20.2006




Hello, old friend. It's been a while. How you been?


3.17.2006


...and hold you like a lucky charm?

3.14.2006

Self Portrait Tuesday



...so a Liz walks into a Spa.....

There is no other way to begin talking about my experience going to a spa, I am like a bull in a China shop- as my mother always said. It's true.

Today I got an oxygen facial. I had no idea what this was before today. Mike selected it as part of a package for a Christmas gift for me. Merry March Christmas- I was eager to cash it in!
--
I wait on a old fashioned, floral couch in a little hallway lit only by scented candles on the floor and a plant stand after the massage. Additional beams of light slip through the frame of the middle door. A nice woman gently invites me in. I am offered a cup of tea for a fourth time.

The room is entirely too small for 3 people, she has an assistant. My eyes are stunned by the bright lights as I scooch onto a 'bed'. From there I close my eyes until the end because a)a bright lamp is in my face b)a cloth is over my eyes or c)freezing cold ice rocks are on my eyes.

As they have muffled conversation with unidentifiable accents I think of all the things that could happen in this tiny room. I could be stabbed to death. I could have my eyes gouged out. I am such a vulnerable puddle of water tucked into a blanket on this table. I work at not allowing my relaxed muscles to tense.

There is clanking of little glass bottles being exchanged, I am reminded of Iodine from Chemistry class. My face is cleaned what seems like 12 times with soapy scrub and then a damp, ice cloth cleans it off. Confusion- I thought cold closed pores? O well relax. relax. relax. Then comes drops and drops of vitamin letters that have a purpose I am unaware of. They are roughly worked into the surface of my face and neck. Then more drops. Warm cloth. Cream?

Then starts up the machine.
It's seemingly like the tubing device at the dentist's office that sucks out your spit, only it is blowing out oxygen.
She is pointing it right into my closed eye. For a long time. This is so awkward.

Then it's around my forehead, moving slowly and about one millimeter away from my skin. Then the other eye. Why on the eyes so long? I start to tear. She wipes it off.

Then around my mouth and nose and cheeks.

As they continue around my eyes again they both rave at how the lines are disappearing right before their eyes and how amazing that is! And how great my skin is looking and how plump!

Hmph. I didn't think I had wrinkles to get rid of , what is this that they are doing to me? All I can think about is what my face looked like after I got my 4 wisdom teeth removed. I am going to be so pissed if I look 10 lbs heavier and boy is Mike gonna hear about THIS....great gift babe the gift of fat face. thanks.

They finish and put the ice rocks on my eyes and shock-treatment-ice-cold-washcloth all over my face. Basically wish I had done this (whatever this is) before the massage.

They give me a mirror and tell me they pumped a bunch of vitamins and oxygen into my face and it should be nice and plump like this for 10 days. I guess that's a good thing and the wrinkles are gone.

Can't see myself (or my budget) doing this every 10 days, but it was an enjoyably new experience.

3.12.2006

joyfully

So....I GOT MY DRUM SET!

And who knew there were farms and vineyards in New York?

3.09.2006

aching with anticipation

***************************
I am leaving in 10 minutes for an adventure, or so I hope. I am driving 90 miles to bliss. Well, my hopeful future drumset anyway. It will take me over 2 hours one way and I will be a stone's throw away from Montauk. It will be worth it.

The following friends will accompany me:

Jets to Brazil
OKGO
Farrah
Dance Hall Crashers
Death Cab
Dido
Weezer
David Gray and The Cure (for the drive home incase I have to cry empty-handed)
***************************

3.07.2006

the trees creak with their arthritic arms

3.04.2006

classy! classy!

There is a position I held that didn't quite make it to the most recent version of my resume. A position of high visibility and grand prestige.

It was that of the Little Caesar worker. It's not so much the daily grind of double shifts I reflect on at the moment. It is the unique collection of people that clocked into this fine establishment. I wonder where they are today, a mere decade and change later.

First, there was the hiring manager who was short lived in the industry. He had a mild case of Tourett's. Even after remembering quotable lines from What About Bob ("TURKEY TITS!"), I was still able to hold it together during the interview process. That was where I officially declared myself as naturally professional.

Pete: He was next in the pizza biz hierarchy. He was a scrawny guy with a creepy moustache and an awful strand of hair trailing just past his shoulder blades. He always pulled it back into about 15 rubber bands of various color. He was on parole, I never found out why. He always showed up to work riding his bicycle with a white T-shirt with pictures of green lizards all over it dancing. Eventually he pointed out that they were actually various positions lizards could engage in after the marriage ceremony. Well, he didn't put it like that but you get the picture. Oh, and I think he was about 37 years old with a few kids scattered in different places he paid child support for. He was never late and always worked hard. As different as we were, I appreciated his sense of humor, but not his choice of music.

Terry. Well, the first time I was on the register was under his 'watch'. We closed together and he called me to the front of the store after counting the cash. "50 bucks short" he said with concern in his eyes. I yanked my apron off and told him to move over so I could count it. He brushed it off like it was no big deal and told me to finish the dishes while he counted it again. 5 minutes later he tells me he it's all there. Erin, however, was not so bright and fell for that trick weeks later. She gave him her own cash to make up the difference. I made sure to count my own cash drawer any time I was on the register. Last I had heard Terry was fired for stealing.

Girl who got thrown out of a moving truck by new boyfriend: She didn't show up for a few days. But then she did. They didn't care, we were short staffed. I taught her on the dough machine. She told me her whole life story and said he got the ring from a pawn shop. Asked me to be her maid of honor. Thankfully, she never showed up to work again. I can't imagine what kind of dress she would have had me wear.

Jeremy: The sporty guy who was like a little brother to me. Boys from school would come in for free pizza and he would give them a scowl. I always hoped he would learn to control his temper and go to college and be nice to his girlfriends. Years after I quit I stopped in to find him in a different place. He had a baby. I think he was only 17, drove a flashy truck. The first thing he said was 'where have you been?' with some disappointment in his voice. In that short time his brother was hit by a bus and his father left the family. I was speechless.


Shannon: Closing the store together with Op Ivy blasting on the tape deck made missing a Blink-182 concert less painful.

Eric: Because you always have to have the nerdy guy everyone makes fun of. I swear he must be that skinny kid in Road Trip.

J: She got pregnant with the boyfriend on ovens. All 9 months she worked FT with us and at Best Buy. They got married and then divorced. I secretly had a crush on him before she was pregnant and he was the reason I applied to begin with. His name was not Pete, Terry, Jeremy or Eric.

My favorite of all: Jeanne, the Regional Pizza Pizza Manager. She scolded me for quitting and told me I would never have it better than this. Little Caesars was as good as it gets, according to her. I often think of writing her a letter and attaching my resume. Then I think of some of those workers and for many it might have been as good as it could get.

3.02.2006

Dear Zane



This link is for the fam. Since we will continue to be living a distance from you all, I want you to know Zane beyond pictures. http://mydearzane.blogspot.com/