Tag Archive: about


WARNING: girly post

Filed Under: Personal Blogs
Mar.09, 2010

Slacker!  Not you, me.  I just haven’t been feeling up to it lately; something strange is going on in my psyche that just makes things, life in general, seem completely impossible.  It’s some sort of downward spiral, I think.  The more lazy I get, the more bored I become, which in turn makes me want to be lazy, which only leads to more boredom, and so it goes. 

So today, I decided to spice things up: I am wearing a dress.  Not that this in itself is unusual; I have a closet full of dresses.  But I’ve been in a phase lately where I just don’t feel up to dressing up.  The more casual I can get, the better.  I’ve found sneaky ways of dressing down for work, bringing corduroy pants and colored khakis into the mix, throwing in some tank tops with cute little cardigans to make them more appropriate.  But all the dressing down, while being excellent for the lazy-and-comfortable factor, has made me feel like a giant frump, and therein lies a great source of internal conflict.  

It hit me yesterday when I was watching Gunsmoke.  (Does that sound silly? It does. And it is. But it’s true.)  First off, let it be known that Miss Kitty is a badass and I want to be like her when I grow up.  Minus the saloon girls.  Maybe.  But definitely including the big fake beauty mark, cuz that’s awesome in a sort of creepy way.  One time she had one shaped like a star.  I could totally rock that.

Anyways, she brought up the point that every woman needs to feel like a woman sometimes.  I’m sure that means different things to different people, and I don’t think anyone else should be able to tell you what that means for you.  As for me, I have no idea what it means.  I’m still trying to work that out.  All I know is that I don’t, and I think that’s part of what has been subconsciously bugging me the last few weeks.  I’m really just down on my drab boring self.  I feel like some sort of frumpy asexual cartoon child.  I am a live-action Peppermint Patty.  And the worst part is that I don’t know what to do about it. 

The grey dress is the first step.  Testing the waters, so to speak, trying to get back into that phase where I actually put some effort into myself.  It would be easy and convenient to blame my lack of effort on being married and the idea that I’m no longer trying to attract someone, but I just can’t make myself believe that.  It would also be convenient, though not as easy on the soul, to blame it on past experiences and old mindsets that I just can’t shake completely.  For now, I will try not to worry about whose fault it is that I feel this way and simply concentrate on fixing it.  Today, it’s a dress.  Next week, haircut.  And we’ll go from there. 

Wish me luck.

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I just got a raise!

Filed Under: Personal Blogs
Mar.01, 2010

It’s Atlantis time!  It should be gym time, but I unfortunately forgot to pack my shoes before I left the house at an ungodly hour this morning.  Mick is there, and I’m proud of him for it.  While he’s working his tail off, I’m on the couch eating cookies.  I’m not so proud of that.

However, today is a pretty momentous occasion, one worthy of cookies: I just made my final Driver’s Surcharge payment.  Not familiar?  Driver’s Surcharge Fees are reparations that you have to pay when you get, among other things, a DWI.  Generally, if you’re a good kid and blow under a .16, you pay $1000 over the course of a year and then you’re done with it.  I, on the other hand, was not a good kid, blew +.24, and had to pay $1000 a year for 3 years.  $1040, to be exact, for three years.  And today I made my final payment.  So after $3120 in surcharge fees, another small sum in fines and court costs, lawyer fees, 88 hours of community service, one year of probation, $264 in drug tests,  countless hours of AA meetings, $20k and a month of my life for rehab, plus costing me most of my dignity and self-respect, the ordeal is officially, legally, over. 

Part of me is jumping up and down and getting all excited over it.  And I think that’s fair.  There’s a large part of me, though, that doesn’t really feel any better.  Paying a bunch of money to the DPS doesn’t erase the years of bad memories and embarrasing moments and all the things I’m not proud of.  I wish it did.  But I’m trying to be positive.  Yay!  No more payments!  That’s something, I guess. 

I think I’ll celebrate with one more cookie.

Rock over London, rock on Chicago.

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Trouble with a Capital T

Filed Under: Personal Blogs
Feb.09, 2010

You know what I hate?  Fucking nosy people.  People who think everyone’s business is their business.  People who want to criticize and make assumptions in other people’s affairs that don’t affect them in any way whatsoever.  And who are real passive-agressive about it too. 

You know what else I hate?  How the loudest people in the whole damn company are always the ones to leave their office/classroom doors open so you can listen to them blather on all day.  When I can’t hear the person on my phone cuz you’re screaming about Microsoft Project (to a room of only 10 people), you’re too loud.

You know what I don’t hate?  Jim Croce.  ”Box #10″ just popped up on my iPod and made me smile really big. 

You know what else I don’t hate?  Being appreciated.  Even if they’re just making a joke or trying to be flirty, it’s still nice to hear.  Earlier a random student said as he passed, “I don’t care what they say, you’re doing a great job!”  I giggled appropriately, cuz old people are funny when they say silly things like that, but it does make me feel slightly better.  Maybe he can tell I’m just sitting here hating life, that I’m having a long rough day, that I’m tired and frustrated and feeling pretty underwhelmed with this whole Tuesday thing.  Here’s a note for any of you corporate-types (or people of any type, for that matter): receptionists are people too!  Some of my favorite people to work with are the two guys who call from San Antonio and Dallas almost every day who always ask how I’m doing, who take the time to chit chat and laugh with me instead of just making demands.  They may not know it, but they make my afternoon sometimes.  Thanks guys! 

I talked to an extremely friendly gentleman from the office in Washington DC the other day who was originally from East Texas, and after talking for a good ten minutes about the crappy day we were both having, he told me he hoped I found “a frog split four ways”.  I have absolutely no idea what this means.  Piney woods folks?  Old people?  I assume he’s not speaking literally; either that or I hope I don’t find a frog split four ways, cuz that would just be kinda disturbing.  Unless it’s for some sort of hoodoo ritual or something, I can work with that.

Hey, I finished the Baby Burrito!  WTF is that, you ask?   No, it’s not just a little burrito, or even a very tiny donkey.   It’s a hooded baby blanket/towel sort of thing, knit from cotton and all soft and stuff.  You know, for babies. 

...or a baby owl!

 It’s for a friend, one of the seventeen friends I have who are pregnant right now.  But it was really fast and easy to make, so I might throw together a few more before the Spring Fling next month.  I’m getting quite a stock built up now, which is cool.  My project for this week is to make up some more Tamara hats, as I sold out my last one today.  Which reminds me, knitted items make fabulous Valentine’s Day gifts! :)   I know there’s not much on the Etsy site right now, mostly because I can’t afford to sell out a ton of stuff before the Spring Fling.  I’m hoarding and saving up and being cheeky about the whole thing.  But if you’re interested, I’m totally willing to do private shows for anyone who wants to see the full Hell Bent collection.  You come to me, I’ll come to you, whatever works.  Just throwing it out there! 

And in a separate post, I’ll write up the super-simple pattern for the Baby Burrito, for your knitting enjoyment!

Well kids, I must get to work on some dinner for my wonderful, overstressed, overworked husband.  (He’s not the only one who’s overstressed and overworked, but hey, I do what I gotta.)  Catch ya later.

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The Warm Thrill of Confusion

Filed Under: Personal Blogs, Sponsor Blogs
Feb.04, 2010

Yo! And good afternoon to you cats as well. It’s another rainy dreary day here in Austin, which means I am royally screwed in the allergy department.  I snuck out of work about 45 minutes early today and forced myself to nap for an hour or two.  I don’t feel much better, but I don’t have a fever so hopefully it will pass when the rain lets up tomorrow. 

I did, however, hear a neat song on the radio on my way home from work.  Thank you KOOP for playing a funky new version of “In the Flesh” (you know, from The Wall) by Fol Chen.  I heard it right as I was pulling into the driveway and sat and listened to the whole thing before going inside.  It’s not even that the song was amazing or brilliantly redone, I just couldn’t remember the last time I had heard it.  And what surprised me the most is I found myself singing along to words I thought I’d forgotten years ago.  I guess they might be hard-coded into my brain by now.  I blame my 13th summer. (I’m estimating here, because I’m not sure how old I was and the amount of time I wasted meant there couldn’t have been school at the time.)  We had just moved to a new city, 3 hours away from everyone I’d known my whole life.  I didn’t fit in, didn’t have many friends at first, it was just me and Spud (that’s my brother, btw).  And my dad bought us a computer game: Star Wars: Dark Forces.  It’s a pretty standard first person shooter, at least for the time it was out, and Spud was savvy enough even at 11 to dig up cheat codes for us.  I would put that thing on invincibility mode and play for hours and hours and hours, the whole time listening to The Wall in the background.  Over and over and over.  I’d play through the entire game in one sitting, then do it again the next day.  So somewhere rattling around in the depths of my brain is every note and every word to The Wall, etched into a lobe like graffiti on a bathroom stall.  And, on days like today when I hear something that brings it all back, I don’t even have to think about it.  My mouth says the words almost involuntarily without my brain even being involved.  It’s a strange feeling when I’m aware of it, even stranger when I’m not.  Sometimes I talk without realizing I’m talking at all, and if you asked me what I just said I’d tell you I didn’t say anything.  But that’s another story for another time.  I also have a twitch, but that’s not important. 

I’m not sure what was important about that little diatribe.  I guess it says something that my formative years were filled with sci-fi and psychedelic rock, seeing that my later years are too.  And then I married a man who also cherished these things, who also happened to be my absolute soul mate.  So I guess not fitting in at 13 gave me the awesome life I have now.  There’s probably some after-school special moral to the story, but I’ll skip that and just say this: you gotta play the hand you’re dealt, because you never know what you’ll land on the turn.  Maybe you’ll get lucky on the flop, who knows. 

Or maybe you’re fucked, it’s not my call.  I don’t know everything.  I just write shit on the internet. 

And here’s a sponsor for ya today: you know how when you’re sick you get that horrible dry nose thing going on, where it hurts to touch it with even those really expensive tissues with the lotion and the aloe and various oozes?  Best cure ever: Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream.  It’s normally formulated for, well, cuticles, but it works great on skin all over.  It’s not greasy and slimy like vasoline, and it’s all-natural and non-toxic so it’s okay if you accidentally eat a little.  And it smells awesome.  It works great for chapped lips too!   Plus it’s inexpensive and you can find it at most drug stores.  Sometimes if your skin is really bad it might sting a little at first, but it’s totally worth it. 

And with that, I think I’m going to force some food into me.  Maybe my favorite sick meal of eggs and toast, or maybe just a cup of applesauce.  Not sure how I’m feeling just yet.  Hopefully I’ll be better and raring to go tomorrow, just in time for THE HOLY DEUCE at the Alamo Drafthouse this weekend! See y’all there!

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The world is just awesome.

Filed Under: Personal Blogs
Jan.27, 2010

When all else fails…Discovery Channel. 

Was that in my blog of awesome things way back when?  If not, it totally should have been.  This is reality TV I can get behind. 

I probably should have stuck with my childhood dream and become a scientist.  Technically I always wanted to be a marine biologist, ever since I was tiny tiny.  I remember taking a Jaques Cousteau book to preschool for show-and-tell.  I think I wore out three copies of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea before I was eight.  Unfortunately, I lacked the discipline in my teens to do much of anything that would have allowed me to pursue a scientific career.  Instead I went in the Liberal Arts direction, got my English degree.  And now I’m in a low-paying, mind-numbing, dead-end job, trying to compete in the entertainment industry that I abhor and writing a silly little blog every day.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all bad, and the choices I’ve made have gotten me all of the amazing things I do have in my life now.  But part of me would kill to be working out at the McDonald Observatory, bringing amazing new discoveries to the world.  Or operating a deep sea submersible, cataloging new species of crazy looking fish.

(By the way, Bear Grylls totally just ate a giant fucking worm that he found in a log.  Ugh.)

Well the point of that whole little rant, I guess, is to say that I love science.  I love learning about the world around me, what it’s made of, how things work and why they work the way they do.  And I don’t get to do enough of that, enough discovering.  I have so many questions, all the time.  Like if you’re forced to eat a bug, is it better to eat it alive or kill it first?  Or, what other things could I possibly eat before having to resort to eating a bug?

I guess maybe that’s my calling in life: to find things out and write them down.  The little academic voice in the back of my head is saying “throughout history, scribes have been very important, revered members of society.  Without written history and a record of discoveries…” blah blah blah.  Yeah, okay, you’ve made your point.  I don’t know, maybe I just don’t feel like being a writer tonight. 

Instead, I’m going to be a bather and a reader.  We’ll see if a bit of quality fiction doesn’t make me feel better.

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(Insert clever title here)

Filed Under: Personal Blogs
Jan.15, 2010

And what a looooovely morning!

Every time I say that I hope that Gene Kelley will show up at the door and want to do a dance.  But knowing my luck, it wouldn’t be Gene Kelley a la Singing In The Rain reincarnation but some Monkey’s Paw type shit.  Even still, Zombie Gene Kelley would probably be pretty sweet too…Think I could get him to do Thriller??  Somebody CGI that shit for me. 

Aaaanywho I did promise you I’d tell you about Book of Eli.  I was gonna write a whole review and be all thorough, but then I read Devin’s review on CHUD and it looks like he said pretty much everything that I was gonna say anyways.  So here’s a link to his article which you should read and take to heart.  A few things I’d have to disagree on, like the existence of Mila Kunis in the whole thing.  She was actually a lot better than I expected (I had some pretty low expectations), and I think her relative cleanliness can be chalked up to her being the charge of the richest man in town.  That’s how I saw it, anyways.  There was one little tiny bit of the film that, for some reason, threw me off in an unexpected way; without giving too much away, I’ll say that I think it was the first time we actually find out the character’s name, Eli, and it’s a tiny fleeting thing but for some reason it made me very sad.  Like deep in my soul sad.  I’m not sure if it was a sort of “hero from humble roots” thing, or a “missing civilization” thing, but it made me feel sort of empty.  I can’t explain it well, I’m sorry.   Anyway, let’s move on before I get too depressed.

Also in the newsosphere, I read a rumor today that Jason Momoa is on the short list for the title role in the new Conan the Barbarian movie.  You may not be aware of my almost-embarrassing love for the Conan, and have probably heard about my insane love of the Stargate franchise, so the two of those together would be a gigantic geekgasm for me.  But, as the article clearly states, it’s just a rumor.  Or the basis for some fucked up crossover fanfic!

(As much as I adore the idea, I could never be a fanfic writer.  I can’t even read the stuff.  I think that unexplored relationships are more fun when they stay unexplored.  Nothing against the writers and readers of said fanfic, but I don’t think they can make the payoff beat the tension that I’ve managed to build up in my own head.  Sorry.)

And in my haste yesterday I forgot that I had meant to give a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Johnny T (of Johnny T’s Round Rock BBQ), who celebrated his birth yesterday.  And thank god for that birth, else the world would be much less flavorful, and I wouldn’t know the true joy of sweet potato fries.  He’s a fabulous chef and a fabulous BIL and all around nice guy.  Go eat at his restaurant, it will make your soul happy. 

Well kiddos, it’s Friday afternoon and I’ve got about a thousand things to do before I can leave work, so I must be on my way.  Y’all don’t work too hard, and look for more adventures from Mick and Tara over the weekend.  A little rain won’t hold me down!

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Anti-psychotics and Whovian whatnots

Filed Under: Personal Blogs, Sponsor Blogs
Jan.13, 2010
Evening all!

And what a lovely evening it is.  Today has been infinitely better than the last two days, and I’m hoping this positive trend will continue.  I went to the doctor today for a refill of my crazy pills; he seems to think that as long as I’m still doing ok, no thoughts of suicide or the like, that I can just keep on keepin on.  Which works for me.  Aside from costing me $15 a month, it’s not an inconvenience, and I don’t think it’s supressing me in any way.  I know a lot of people are all anti-medication and I can get that; meds for no reason are bad, I agree.  However!  Some people actually do need to be on meds.  Myself, for instance; let’s compare:

-Depressed, non-medicated Tara: alcoholic, drug addict, couldn’t hold down a job, unstable relationships, self-destructive
-Non-depressed, medicated Tara: steady job, loving husband, 2.5 years sober, friends and family, relatively healthy

A friend of mine has a daughter who is bipolar, which makes her batshit crazy.  There are medications she can take to help control her mood swings and depression and the like, but she refuses to take anything.  Therefore, she’s still batshit crazy, and because of it has lost custody of two of her three children, can’t get or hold a job, and has practically alienated her entire family.  That’s where the anti-medication argument breaks down for me. 

Well that was a little rant, now wasn’t it.  Sorry, didn’t mean to go angry places there.  I wanted to tell you about happy things.  Like, at this very moment, I am burning incense and DVDs.  Not like burning DVDs with fire, but you know what I mean.  And I guess I’m not really burning them anyways, but putting them onto Mick’s fancy little hard drive, WHD or WMD or something like that.  What DVDs, you may ask?  Oh, only FIFTEEN discs of old schoo Doctor Who!  Well, there’s some new stuff in there too, like the last three Christmas Specials, a few Children in Need specials, and some Doctor Who Confidential.  But this collection also contains things like the 1963 unaired pilot, tons of Dalek storylines, “The Five Doctors”, and much much more.  Definitely one of the best Christmas presents in recent memory.  Thanks to one of my awesome English buddies for getting me cool stuff that you can’t find in America.  Double-bonus awesome: he also sent over the TimeOut London with David Tennant on the cover!

Yeah, that one. 

If anyone ever questioned my level of ubergeekitude, you might want to rethink.

And furthermore, if you’d like to revel in ubergeekitude much like myself and are looking for a good read with which to do so, check out the book “Who’s Next: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who”.  Authors Mark Clapham, Eddie Robson, and Jim Smith go through each series and hash out the good, the bad, the strange, and the miniscule.  They use categories like Notable Cast, Other Worlds, The Plan, Scary Monsters, Science/Magic, and Things Fall Apart to tell you what the story is about in the terms of a viewer, not a studio exec or a pitch writer.  They also helpfully include an Availability section for each, which if you’re outside of Britain can be pretty depressing.  And of course, they share their own Verdict on each story, sometimes praiseworthy, usually snarky, but from the POV of a true geek.  I picked up this fun little reference at a Half Price Books a while back and have been using it as a bathroom book.  And now I have many of these stories to watch for myself!  So if you’re a total Whovophile (I just made that up) and like to know everything there is to know, or at least be able to look it up quick, this is a neat thing to have.  And there’s my free sponsorship of the day.  Woohoo free!

OBLIGATORY BEGGING SECTION: Mick and I still have plenty of spots open for advertisers and daily sponsors, but it’s only getting more costly!  So don’t delay!  You can still get a spot for under $20, and that’s cheap as hell for someone to rave about your product for all the world to see.  Can’t beat that with a stick!  We’ll rave about your business, your art, your pets, or even just how awesome you are (cuz you know you are!). 

Ok, begging over.  I think now, whilst I continue to burn things, I’ll be going back to a bit of knitting.  More dishcloths to make, more pictures to take, new things to post on Etsy, blah blah blah.  I’ll leave you with that for the evening.  Take care, little ones!

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Brr.

Filed Under: Personal Blogs
Jan.07, 2010

Thursday?  More like TWOsday!

Ok, that was lame.  I’m sorry.  I blame the cold.  That’s right, it’s freezing as fuck in Austin right now, although 90% of the town is inside right now so it’s not a big deal.  Apparently there’s some big football game going on now or something.  Whatever, all I know is that the grocery store was virtually empty, and that’s good news for me.  And after all my shopping and procuring of fine edibles, I’m having garlic bread for dinner.  I like to think I’m just adding on an extra layer of blubber to last me through winter.   Like a narwhal might do.  When in Rome!

But back to the two thing…I got a call from my grandpa yesterday telling me that apparently I have a twin in Austin.  Not a real one, of course, (come on, two Taras?  the world would implode under the weight of the awesome) but someone who looks and sounds just like me, enough that MY OWN GRANDFATHER thought it was me for a minute.  She’s a bartender at Joe’s Crab Shack, which, A-I vowed never to work behind a bar ever again, and B-in all my years of service industry hellholes, I never EVER would have stooped to the level of Joe’s Crab Shack.  Hawaiian shirts?  Kiss my ass.  Loud obnoxious birthday songs?  Fire me, please.  So just in case anyone else is confused, no that’s not me working at the Joe’s on Riverside.  Hell, for all I know this girl and I could just share a passing resemblance, and Poppa was just looking for an excuse to call and chat.  Which is cool, I guess.

Speaking of cool, my cheeks are still partially frozen.  Even a close parking spot feels like miles away when it’s 19 degrees outside.  In my haste/warmth-lust I almost ran a dude down with my cart.  Looking back on it now, I think it might have been someone I used to know years ago.  But then again, I see this person’s look-alikes all the time, all over town.  It’s never actually him, I guess the mustachioed junky musician look is pretty common around Austin. (fyi – I just ran the spell-checker, mustachioed was totally correct, but it doesn’t like the word “junky”.)  I didn’t get a good look at him so I guess I’ll never really know.  And so what if it was?  The right side of my brain says “you should have talked to him!  You guys used to be such good friends!  Wouldn’t it be great to catch up?”  The left side, on the other hand, gives the right side a swift backhand and says “what the hell do you have to say to him?  What would you talk about?”  And when I think about it, I guess I have a lot to say. 

“What have I been up to?  Oh, you know, split with that douchebag I was with, got sober, graduated, got married, wrote some screenplays, just stuff, you know.”

That’s the short version, I guess.  The version I would give to someone in the HEB parking lot in sub-freezing weather.  And were we to sit down over coffee, I would brag my ass off about the awesome guy I’m doing and the stuff I’m married to.  (Ok, that wasn’t so PG, my bad.  Is it wrong to brag about an awesome, stereotype-crushing sex life?  I don’t think so.  Sorry mom.)  And then left brain chimes in again and says “no, there are parts of life that you need to just close the door on.  That is one of them.”  And it’s right.  Some things, some people, don’t need to be revisited.  That little chunk of memory is all tied up in Elliot Smith albums and will never really go away, and it is in happy pristine condition.  Better not to tarnish it with visions of the present. 

And also on the “things that look like people” train, I started a new knitting project tonight.  No, I didn’t finish the mock-designer scarf I was telling you about, almost but not yet.  This idea just came to me this afternoon (thanks to the magic of the twitterverse) and I had to get on it right away.  I hope it is as amazing as I think it will be.  So far it doesn’t look like much of anything.  But when it does, there will be a grand unveiling and you will ooh and aah and request one of your very own.  And I will consider it.

Remember when I said I was eating garlic bread for dinner?  I meant I was eating half a loaf of garlic bread for dinner.  I don’t know, it just kind of happened.  I can already feel retribution gurgling inside me.  Time for Tums and ginger tea.  By the way (this will be my free sponsor for the evening), if you can find somewhere that sells Mighty Leaf Ginger Twist tea, buy it!  It’s awesome.  I have many fond memories of being so very hung over and huddling over a big mug of Ginger Twist tea at Flipnotics, usually surrounded by books on ancient Egyptian history.  Those were good times. 

You’ll hear from me tomorrow if I last the night.

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Warning: this is all nonsense

Filed Under: Personal Blogs
Jan.05, 2010

Hola Muertes!  And adios, because it’s almost time for me to say see ya, jump in a hot bath, drink a cup of earl grey and call it a day.

And since we have no sponsor today, I must pick something I like to write about instead.  But I like a lot of things, and today I’m not feeling choosy.  So here’s a list, organized alphabetically for your OCD pleasure:

ANGLO-SAXON – it’s a language.  I guess you could call it a “dead language”, only a handful of people still study it.  I used to be able to read it fairly well.  My speaking wasn’t great (I have a hard time pronouncing words like hwaet), and it’s difficultto write as it has almost no grammatical structure.  Nevertheless, I have read Beowulf in its original language and have vowed that if by some unholy torturous fate I end up having a man-child, I will name him Theoden.

BACON – does it really need an explanation?  I mean, really?

CUTIE CLEMENTINES – clementines are awesome because they are delicious like an orange, but small enough to be eaten in one sitting.  And they have cute little stickers on them, with clementines playing soccer and clementines dressed like elves and the like.  They are also cool because they are almost the same as satsumas, which can be used to save the world from alien invasion. 

DIRTY JOBS – not actual jobs that are dirty, but the show.  I mean come on, what’s not to like?  A charming, watchable host who travels the country doing jobs that you may never have even heard of and that can be infinitely fascinating.  Ok, they’re not all gold; I actually had to turn the show off when he was doing work with raw waste.  But I’ve also seen a cow with a window in its side thanks to this show.  I’m quite familiar with the process of tanning leather and making bologna and plucking ducks for feathers.  I’ve seen about a dozen different animals giving birth.  I’ve watched a man stick his fingers/hands/arms into more animal assholes than I want to admit.   And he went to the Snake Farm.

EXPLOSIONS – it’s true, I’m a sucker for things that blow up.  Especially if it’s in a fiery blaze, or a towering inferno, or a shower of shrapnel.  That’s why Mythbusters is one of the greatest shows ever: science + explosions.  See if you can find the clip of them blowing up a cement mixer.  I think that might be my favorite explosion ever.

FEMALE IMPERSONATORS – I. Love. Drag queens.  I don’t know why, I’m not sure what it is, but I do.  I find them fascinating and wonderful and every one I’ve ever met was a true delight.  Is it the “fuck you” attitude, or the gorgeous outlandish outfits, who cares!  They are amazing people.

GREEN – it’s my favorite color, has been as long as I can remember.  I’m sure that makes me some sort of hippie, which is pretty acurate; or maybe it says that I’m a jealous person, which isn’t untrue either.   

HAIR DYE – you may have noticed that I’m a bit schizophrenic when it comes to my hair.  It has been every color in existence, individually or in combos, sometimes on purpose.  Much like some painters, I go through phases.  There was a blue phase, and a yellow phase, a black phase; I’ve been in a red phase for the last few years, with some pinks and purples thrown into the mix, sometimes venturing all the way into copper.  I’ve never had a brown phase.  I have no idea what my natural hair color is now.   

ICE CREAM – probably my favorite food in the world.  I never don’t want ice cream.  I don’t care how cold it is or if we have to walk an extra mile and a half, I want some ice cream. 

JUMPING FROM CLIFFS – into water, preferably.  I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember; there are pictures of my dad tossing me from a diving board when I was about 2.  Floaties and all.  It’s always a little bit scary and it never gets old.  I like to think I could be like those cliff divers in Mexico, but I’m not sure I could go that far.

KISS – C’mon!  Tell me you don’t want to wear huge platform boots and breathe fire!  Get in your car and crank up “Cold Gin” and tell me you’re not gonna rock out. 

LEATHER PANTS – what a glorious travesty! 

MEAT LOAF – not the food, gross.  No, the man.  The man, the myth, the Meat.  If I ever write a Meat Loaf biography, that’s what I’m going to call it.  But really, he is awesome.  Partly because he does a lot of cool shit with Jim Steinman, partly because he wears frilly shirts, mostly because he’s just so goddamn theatrical that it never ceases to be amusing.  And it’s always the perfect choice for karaoke.

NESTS – like the chocolate Russel Stovers ones you see some places around Easter.  You have to hunt a bit, not many places carry them anymore, but if I find them I will buy them in large quantities.  There are few things in the world I find more amazingly delicious.

OWLS – owls are just awesome.  I am an avid collector, not of real live ones unfortunately, but of various likenesses.  I don’t know how many I have, but it’s a lot.  In the beginning, I was giving them all names; a few of them are named after Stargate characters, four after Russian composers, one after a Hyperion hero.  I have two pairs of owl pajamas.  Wouldn’t it be cooler if I did collect live owls though? 

PIGEONS – just kidding, I fucking hate pigeons.

QUEEN – I don’t think I know anyone that doesn’t like Queen.  My father-in-law likes Queen.  If you don’t like Queen, I want you to close your browser and never visit this blog again.

ROOT BEER – I’m not a big soda fan, but root beer is the king of sodas.  It even makes ice cream better, and ice cream is pretty effin awesome on its own.  Next time you’re at the Alamo Drafthouse, order up some of their draft root beer, it’s fantastic.  And if any of you happen to be crafters of fine root beers and want to sent me a sample, I am totally okay with that. 

SCIENCE FICTION – I know, you’re shocked.  Never would have guessed, right?  Yeah, okay. 

T, U, and V have been censored due to FCC regulations.

WRESTLING – and it’s all Mick’s fault.  He’s been a wrestling fan his whole life (did you read his blog?), so naturally a lot of it gets watched at our house.  And I gotta say, it’s kinda fun.  Live shows are always a good time, especially some of the smaller promotions.  I’ve seen it all, from an independent group down in San Antonio all the way up to the WWE shows that come through town.  I own a few t-shirts, I know a bit of lingo, and I still feel like the classiest lady in the joint at most house shows.

XANDER CREWS – which is a roundabout way of saying I like Frisky Dingo, but I had to think of something that started with an X.  It’s not easy!  But it’s true, Frisky Dingo is amazing and I don’t own enough of it.  Harumph!

Y – because we like you.

ZYDECO – yep, I do.  And I blame it all on KOOP radio and the Swamp Rock show.  It just happened to come on while I was driving home from work, and the more I listened the more I got into it.  Of course the show wasn’t totally zydeco, it was all sorts of music from Louisiana and the gulf coast, but it was a hell of a lot more fun that I like to admit.  Sadly, the show isn’t on anymore and I miss it.

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Setting Up Shop

Filed Under: Personal Blogs
Dec.22, 2009

Good morning all!

Here it is, post #1 on the geek blog! I’ve spent most of the morning playing with settings and code and futzing around with different things. It’s not all perfect, some things don’t quite fit like I want them to, but I’m working on it. Good thing it’s almost a holiday and I’m caught up on projects here at the day job!

That’s right, day job. Get used to those words, you’ll probably hear them a lot, and probably not in a great context. It’s not that I hate my job or that it’s a bad job at all. I don’t, and it’s not. But the basic fact that I work in customer service and am constantly surrounded by customers means I’ve got to find some method of release other than screaming directly at them when they’re being, well, just plain stupid. And trust me, my friends, there’s a lot of stupid in the world. It walks through my door every day. And don’t even get me started on the phone calls!

But enough bitching, you get the idea. This is why we need your help. (“We” being myself and the amazing Mick. We’re Your Geeks For A Day!) Now don’t go thinking that this is just a flimsy money-making scheme and that we’re just some bandwagon-jumpers looking to exploit you for cash. If we were, I would at least be honest enough to tell you. I’m nice like that. For me, it’s more of a social experiment and an excuse to help people out. You can read our About page for more information on why we’re here…or better yet, go check out Mick’s first blog post at http://mick.yourgeekforaday.com/. He’s all philisophical and junk. I like him.

Did you read it yet?

Sweet.

So that’s the basic story. We’re just a couple of folks trying to make a living doing something we really love. And we want to tell people about it! Because making a complete life change is less fun when you don’t have people to share it with.

Alright, look for more from me tomorrow. Today there is much to be done! Adios!

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