i am a secret romantic

could i be more excited about this???

wuthering heights is one of my most favorite stories of all time. i heart it..

my good ear

i saw this article on msnbc about 'tricks you can teach your body' and one of them really made sense to me. any one of you who know me really well will know why:

2. Experience supersonic hearing!
If you're stuck chatting up a mumbler at a cocktail party, lean in with your right ear. It's better than your left at following the rapid rhythms of speech, according to researchers at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. If, on the other hand, you're trying to identify that song playing softly in the elevator, turn your left ear toward the sound. The left ear is better at picking up music tones.

i think you know what i'm sayin.

going commando

i spent wednesday night at my mom's house. we had fun all day, playing with my nieces. i washed my car; we went to the mall. i broke into my mom's house.

it was her garage, to be more specific. we were getting ready to watch sleeping beauty with my nieces and i wanted some popcorn. when i started the microwave, i blew a circuit - my mom says this has happened before. the fuse box is in the garage but, since she's had a new garage door opener installed on the same circuit that i just blew, we can't get into the garage to flip the breaker. i suggest we get the ladder and i crawl through the attic vent on the side of the house and jump down through the attic access trap in the garage ceiling. the vent is all one molded piece that goes under the siding. i had to break most of the slats away with a hammer while my sister shone a flashlight on them since it was about 7 pm and dark. after much prying and some laughter, i shimmied through the vent and promptly put my foot through the garage drywall ceiling. i crawled over to the trap and lowered myself through ( i have the sore shoulders and bruises to prove it), dropped a couple of feet to the floor, and made my way over to the fuse box where i flipped the breaker to turn the lights (and my popcorn) back on.

it was very exciting.

post xmas

my holidays have been good so far. xmas yesterday was great - i got good stuff, and i watched videos with my nieces all day. we watched rudolf, grinch, and pooh xmas. after dinner, we watched aladdin, with one niece giving a dramatic interpretation for some of the more climactic scenes - there was singing along and some definite character choices were happening. it topped the cuteness scale.

tonight is the party with my college friends and i'm really looking forward to it. i have to go wrap a present for the white elephant exchange...

cleaning

is what i'm doing.
i did manage to get a haircut today, now my ponytail is cute and bouncy.
i'm cleaning my room in anticipation of the imminent arrival of a new piece of furniture. now my scarves, blankets, sheets, etc, will have a place to live. it goes with a piece i already had, and i'm now on the hunt for a dresser to finish out my bedroom furniture setup.

tomorrow i'm going to my mom's house and my dad's. my sister is bringing the girls and we plan to decorate my mom's xmas tree and go bowling with my dad in the afternoon.

such is the stuff of vacations.

xmas

that's right, xmas. took the christ right out of that one, didn't i? i went to catholic school from K-8, replete in plaid skirts and knee socks. we had contests in art class at this time of year to make collages or pictures demonstrating how to "put the christ back in christmas" and now i can't get though the holidays without thinking of it.

i'm on vacation now, for two weeks. on the last day of school i racked up $30 in gift cards from students. today i got all my shopping done and the gifts wrapped. now i am resting on my laurels because, dammit, i'm on vacation.

not sure what tomorrow holds in store - hopefully a haircut and also a load or two of stuff over to goodwill to finally clean my place out. i have a friend coming to stay on monday, don't want my place to look all college student. i finally have the $$ to decorate, and have made an effort to acutally choose stuff to put here!

i like having $. i can decorate, and i bought stuff for xmas and didn't worry about grocery money or rent!!

long time, no blog

i feel i should update.

i haven't for so long for a few reasons. first and foremost, i've been really busy. it's almost been like i've wanted to post, but so much has happened that seemed not postworthy but postworthy.

we mounted the upper school musical, to rousing success. i've gotten through two of three holiday programs, and am fast approaching my first incoming gig, an outside dance company coming to use my space for a one-off show.

i had my first snow day and my first faculty christmas party. there are more of those to come. at this first one, the caterer was the guy who held my job last year. he's a nice guy, and some of the faculty are still good friends with him. it was wierd having him serve me drinks. i've got one more work-related holiday party next week, at the head of school's house. i hear it's the party of the year, and everybody goes. these people party a lot, eat a lot, and have a lot of meetings.

the final holiday party is a group of friends from college who, through various means and for various reasons, have ended up in baltimore over the past few years. i'm very excited about it since it's been 10 years since i've seen some of these people and we had some good times when we were together last.

i'll be spending christmas at home with my family, which isn't any different than years past. friday i went shopping for snow boots for my nieces. saturday they had swimming lessons at the Y down the street, so my mom came up and watched. they are learning to swim like doggies and blow bubbles while they kick and paddle.

while i am having a great time and am looking forward to settling out the last details of my new spot, i miss my old life and my friends who are now far away. some days i still feel i'm on temporary assignment and already am making a must-do list for when i hope to visit, probably this summer.

google meme

i jacked this from my sister, it's the funniest thing going...

at google.com, type "__your name__ wants" and then " __your name__ needs".....


Janine needs yoga and she needs you too!
Janine needs our support.
Janine needs a room she can go wild in.
Janine needs to find a way to distract the gardener and knows just how to do it.
Janine needs to review her lives before she can choose to be reborn or not.
Janine needs to give that man something new to study
Janine needs the competition.
Janine needs to use your shower because she smells!
Janine needs some time to herself.
Janine needs to get what's coming to her…
Janine needs the spotlight, really.

Janine wants to buy three doughnuts, and there are five varieties to choose from.
Janine Wants a Standing Ovation.
Janine wants to know what's in it for her to keep standing up to Sonny.
Janine wants to scare me.
Janine wants to see what she has been missing as a normal teen-ager since she has been modeling all the time.
Janine wants to show you how she has a good time
Janine wants to be best friends right away.
Janine wants to participate in an international exchange program with a French university for one year.
"What Janine wants, Janine gets"
Janine wants you to take a closer look, much closer
Janine wants to die in peace, but Derek has her preserved just moments before it's too late.
Janine wants to continue to help break down the mystique of what it means to become a member.


Have a go and find the cheapest, discount Janine imaginable! Socome buy with Bid On Auctions for all your Janine needs.


need i say more?

extra crispy

fall is in the air, here in b'more.

i love the fall... it is, by far, my favorite season.
i love the cool, crisp air, the foliage, the turtlenecks. i have more fall/winter clothes than any other season.
i love being under blankets.
i love that i can keep my windows open now so it will be chilly without a fan.
i love football on tv.
fall has a smell, that dried leaves smell, that makes me so happy.
i love hot toddys with spiced cider and rum, and chili.
i love my footy pajamas.

Queen Fatspam

i saw this site, it's a random generator site.

they have a site for randomly generating cat's names.

when i clicked on it, it gave me Queen Fatspam.

i laughed, out loud, in my apartment, late at night.

guess my age, win nothing

i just got my picture taken for the yearbook.

how old am i?

what year is this?

will i be 'most popular'? 'most likely to succeed'? 'best parties'?

oh, the anxiety! the waiting!

stasis

i went shopping yesterday. it's a beautiful thing. now i can control volume and switch between components without leaving my chair!

tomorrow is another week... busy, but rewarding. my sister and i have tix to see coldplay on friday night, and we are so excited we might burst before then.

i get a cell phone on tuesday, hopefully, after much train wreck behavior from verizon.

today i got clean laundry and i washed my car. banner day.

CMT

I'm thinkin' about my doorbell, When ya gonna ring it, when ya gonna ring it

Yeah, I'm thinkin' about my doorbell, When ya gonna ring it, when ya gonna ring it

oh, I'm thinkin' about my doorbell, When ya gonna ring it, when ya gonna ring it

Yeah, I been thinkin' about my doorbell

"My Doorbell"

-the White Stripes

pissiness

my cell phone was stolen off my desk, this makes me slightly pissy.

blogger refuses to publish my last post for some reason, which also makes me slightly pissy.

i guess that's really it.

so maybe not so pissy.

my new career

i taught my first class today. my mentor said i did great, and nobody fell asleep so i guess i prolly did okay. i started with their reading assignment for the day but got bored just talking about it so i switched to visual aids instead. i had brought a model (the guys) that really demonstrated the principles the reading talked about , so i just winged it - i described the design process, and the choices we made and all that. i had them hooked, it was pretty cool.

i have no idea what to do on friday, scott won't be there to take over if i get stuck.

as a side note, i discovered tonight that their textbook, the al goldfarb one, has a whole chapter about a show i worked on at ISF - i had even referenced that show in class today! so i'll prolly point that out on friday.

i've ended up designing the fall musical - they pulled our rights to 'chicago' so now we're doing 'can can', a cole porter musical. design wasn't on my plate originally, but isn't an unwelcome addition, espcially since i can use it in class now, to demonstrate the design process.... that's what i hope to spend some time doin on friday.

no progress today on the CMT, you know who you are..

soccer and greta garbo

today i watched my nieces play soccer for the first time, on a team at the local y for 3 and 4 year olds. it was, by far, the cutest thing i've seen. we had varying degrees of team spirit, and sometimes maybe the girls just didn't feel like kickin the ball, but they were even cute when they were being stubborn.

tonight, i watched a tcm documentary on greta garbo. i realize she is, by far, one of the most beautiful women ever to hit the silver screen. her story was sadder than i knew and i was surprised to learn she retired in her early thirties - seems like a terrible waste of talent.

my first big gig is on thursday so say a little prayer to the sound mixing gods...

week one, down

i have finally completed my first official week as 'faculty'. i have never been to so many meetings in my entire life. meetings, assemblies, bowling.. you name it.

i'm getting used to my laptop; my desktop is still my favorite, but i like the portability of the laptop. the campus is wireless networked out the wahzoo, and there is a hotspot somewhere near my apt, which means i can type in bed! the keyboard is funky to type on but i'm sure i'll get used to that too.

i am slightly overwhelmed, but am not alone in that - several new teachers i've chatted with feel the same way. some of it is just getting used to the wierd 10 day schedule, some is the fact that we've been completely deluged with information this past week with little individual time to ready our respective areas/classrooms.

i've had two assemblies already and they both went fine. everyone seems to be pleased with me, which is a relief. i have a lot of goals i would like to accomplish this year, beginning at the most basic levels like shop maintenance and organization of the shop and booth. it appears that organization and saftey have not been at the top of the td list for some time now.

this past weekend we moved my brother into his dorm at umbc, which was exciting on many levels - it was neat to be back at a college, neat to remember my college days (which were a blast). we went to visit him last night and he seems to be doing all the things a college freshman should/will do (draw your own picture).

i've babysat for my neices a few times now and it's always a blast to see them. they, and my sister, came to the 'new faculty dinner' at the headmistress' house on monday and people are still telling me they've never seen such cute kids. i've gone to my mom's, just because i can, a couple of times now. i get to see my sister everyday if i like.

this weekend i plan to play catch up with the unbelievable amount of paperwork i've gotten this week, and i will prolly head over to school for a bit on sat/sunday to try and clean up the shop a little, while i have the opportunity to wear dirtyable clothes (i have dress like a grownup during the week!). aside from those things, i plan to sleep and finish unpacking my apartment.

decor and occasion

tonight my sister helped me purchase some fine, fine decor for my new, adult, apartment. the theory behind the big $$ action is that new, grownup job should = new, grownup atmosphere.

i got dark purple sheers for my bedroom that match my comforter and some of the artwork in there. i had no living room furniture so we set a standard with a walnut finish bentwood chair w/ black cushion, a burgundy shag rug and matching burgundy chenille pillows and throw. i also picked up the coolest little occasional lamp that has japanese rice paper action.. very cool. i'm going for a coordinated look in the place, to go with my actual sense of style, not what goodwill had to choose from. this is the first time i've ever been able to choose furniture and accoutrements and, at 30, i feel i've earned it!

my goal is to have my place done before school starts - the logic is that i will be so crazy in a new building with a bunch of people i don't know, i want my home to be my sanctuary and place of calm and order.

i went to work (!?) on monday to scope things out for myself.. without any keys i was unable to get into all the places i'd hoped to explore, but i did hang out in the scene shop for a little bit and boy was i dismayed at the state of affairs. it's a mess. it's dirty, the tools are kind of haphazard, and there's crap everywhere. i've got my work cut out for me, and i suspect the kid who had the job before me washed his hands of the place as soon as the school year ended. i expect the booth is in the same shape but that was locked up tight and i was unable to see for myself. i hope to go back later this week and try to get keys and id so i can get an early start on cleaning/organizing.

i love target.

biding my time

i'm posting this while vectorworks takes it's sweet time unfreezing. i'm trying to finish drawings for my show at nat, and my computer is not cooperating. it's been funky i think since i installed a personal firewall... i think the next move is to uninstall and see if that's the problem. everything has been running slower/funkier since i did that.

things here in the big city are great. yesterday i got plates for my car (finally, after much aggravation and swearing on my part) and an official neighborhood parking sticker. my computer table was sposed to come yesterday but is still mia... tracking site says "in transit" so wait i must.

tonight i'm going to an orioles game with my sister, with free tickets courtesy of my brother in law's sweet work connections. tomorrow i drive to ellicot city to see my brother bowl in a tournament. these are the reasons i moved home, in addition to my cutest ever neices. they do an awesome 'hollaback girl' with lyrics and booty shakin. they are three.

monday i am going in to my new job, two weeks early, to scope things out and get the lay of the land so i don't get lost on my first day in front of the students. i'm scared shitless for a variety of reasons but i know this was the right decision. it took some balls to even start looking for another job, and i still miss my old job and my far away friends, but i feel like the whole world is opening up again and it's all just for me! it's a great feeling. i highly recommend it.

relocation

i'm blogging to you from the east coast now... does the type look smaller?

i've got an apartment, i've got all my stuff in it, and thursday i get electric so i can get me in it! it's 3 blocks from my sister and around the corner from shoppin, videos, and laundry. i have a bay window, hardwood floors and ceiling fans. it's a 'charming one bedroom in the heart of charles village' and i think i'll really like it.

today my dad got me a bowling ball, measured and drilled just for me, so we can bowl together when i come home on the weekends.

my family is excited, i'm excited, and my cat is wigged out by all the change, but i think she'll like it too since it's bigger than my last place and hopefully she won't have to do this moving crap anymore.

relocation is the bomb!