The roads of Nashville
Ah, yes driving around in a strange city is FUN! My first experience was as we came into Nashville on I-40 I noticed that there was an exit for Old Hickory. I know that my brother lives off Old Hickory and thus I assumed we were close. then I realized that he does not live off of THAT Old Hickory. He lives on the complete opposite end of town - ANOTHER Old Hickory. And no, they do not meet. We arrived at our hotel, called my brother and got directions to his apt. The directions were to take Maryland allllll the way until it "T"s and then go left. We started down Maryland and as we crossed an intersection I looked at a street sign (a habbit of mine to make sure that I am on the correct street) and I saw we were on Church St. I exclaimed that we must have missed something when my mother - who has been here before - assured me "no, that happens in Nashville, streets change names randomly." Sure enough, Maryland turns into Church St and then into Cloverland before it T's into Edmonson. Great! As the visit wore on I also learned that just because a street crosses the interstate, that does not mean that it will enable you to get ON the interstate - and there is no service road. We made several "detours" attempting to work around this obstacle. The final adventure was tonight. My christmas gift for Reagan was a Pampered chef item I bought from my brothers girlfriend, thus I did not receive it until AFTER I saw Reagan in Little Rock. Since she also lives in Nashville, not far from my brother, I decided to deliver it to her house instead of mailing it. I called and got her address and she told me that her roommates should be home to receive the package. She gave me a directional tip and I figured it would be easy to find. Well I went to mapquest to get the directions from my brothers apartment and then back to our hotel. It was somewhat complicated, but when I saw the directions back to the hotel I recognized what she had said. Had we been going to her house from the hotel it would have been easy. As it was, we were not. I digress. The directions were as follows (with her actual street address not revealed of course!).
Right onto Old Hickory
Left on Nolensville
Left on "Maybe" 1.6 miles (this was not a light and thankfully there was a street light illuminateing the teeny tiny street sign)
Right on "Correct" 0.1 M
Left on "Possibly" 0.5 m
Left on "Might" 0.2 m
Left on "Wrong" 0.1 m
Right on "Right"0.1 m
Sounds fairly simple. NOT. We made all the turns, but when on "Possibly, we quickly realized that there was no street on the left, but instead a forced curve to the right and then we looped all the way around back to "Correct". Ummm okay. Where was "Might" Did we miss it? Well no, because there were no streets to turn on! Well mom suggested that - being Nashville - maybe "Possibly" came out somewhere else and we should try going a "back" way. So we turned left onto "Correct" and then left at the next light and drove. . . . I was about to give up when I saw "Might". MIGHT!!! Hey! thats a street we should turn on! So I made a left and we drove searching for another street on the directions. Sure enough there was Possibly. Interesting. Well we are apparently going the right way. And then there was "Wrong" street. and yay - "RIGHT"!!! So we turned and per Reagan's directions were heading towards "the last house on the right". Ummmm. Wait a minute. It shouldnt' be this far. Okay wait thats Franklin ahead. I think she thought we'd be coming from there. Which means it was technically the first house. Turn around, go back. Pull into drive, lights are on! Yay! Roommates are home! Rang doorbell....... knocked on door.... heard a timid "Who is it?" to which I of course replied that I was Reagan's friend and they opened the door. I am sure it was strange indeed to have a visitor at 9pm on the Monday after Christmas when they had JUST arrived home! I got to meet the famous cat, Mr Tubs, who was very happy to get more loving as he was neglected over Christmas. Thankfully it was easier to leave than it had been to arrive. DANG THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THE STREETS OF NASHVILLE!!!! At least the trip was not boring. Happy new year everyone!
Seasons of Love
While the stage production has its own charms and appeal, I gotta say I may have liked the movie better. Same as with Phantom of the Opera, you can see so much more with film than on stage and they can tell so many more stories in the same time. I laughed, I cried, I sang along. I loved RENT on stage, I love it on film. The characters were excellent - they sang at the right times and spoke "normally" at the right times. The film doesn't take away from the heart of the musical but instead capitalizes on the message of friendship, love, pain and death.
Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way. No day but today.
Prince Charming....?
at my office we have been playing Secret Santa the past 2 weeks and today was the culmination. It has been a great time for most who played (though some were spoilsports and did not participate in the daily clue/gifts). My Secret Santa did very well, with the help of a mutual close friend, and today I got a final clue. It read:
Your Secret Santa wanted to give you the ultimate gift on the last day but alas was only able to get close. What was desired was to give you your very own 'Prince Charming'!! The gift you will receive could turn out to be Prince Charming if you perform the proper task and have the same faith and belief that my 3 grandson's do.
Here, I present to you, my Prince Charming!
How Well Do You Know Me?
Okay, this is a quiz I did on Bebo.com but since I have lots of friends who aren't on there but who read this blog I thought I'd post the questions on here! I know there are SEVERAL of you who read but do not "comment" even though you can! All you need do is click on the bottom right of the entry where it says "comments" and you don't have to be a member of blogspot to do it. So if you want to, take the quiz and put your answers in the comments section! Fun stuff!
1) How many times have I traveled abroad?
a) Only once
b) 3 times
c) 5 times
d) More than 5 times
2) What color suits me best?
a) Red
b) Black
c) Blue
d) Green
e) Pink
3) What country would I like to live in?
a) France
b) Italy
c) England
d) Canada
e) Australia
4) What is my favorite type of music?
a) Hip-Hop
b) Country
c) Classical
d) Jazz
e) Rock
5) What time am I usually in bed by?
a) 9pm
b) 10pm
c) 11pm
d) after midnight
6) What would I dress as for Halloween?
a) Coke Can
b) Angel
c) Myself
d) Princess
7) What song would I choose to sing at a karaoke bar?
a) Like A Virgin - Madonna
b) Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
c) The Roof is on fire - Bloodhound Gang
d) I will survive - Gloria Gaynor
8) Who is my favorite Disney character?
a) Little Mermaid
b) Goofy
c) Mickey Mouse
d) Minnie Mouse
e) Shrek
9) Have I bought the new Harry Potter book?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Not yet
10) At a party, what would I definitely be doing?
a) Just sitting
b) Dancing
c) Playing deejay
d) Talking to everyone
e) Munching on appetizers
All you need is love
so in a conversation yesterday with a friend, she was telling me how her son had found a new young singer and how impressed she was with this kid and compared his music to "The White Album". Well I was lost. I vaguely recall knowing that the White Album has some sort of significance but couldn't even remember the artist.... yes shocking. So when I responded with "the white album? whats that?" she got very upset with me and proceeded to rant about rubber soul (huh?) and sargent peppers and how the Beatles changed music forever blah blah blah. Yeah, I was clueless. she was shocked and then angry because I'm so "young" and how I haven't been properly educated about music and what is the world coming to. She then told me that she would bring Rubber Soul and Sargent Peppers for me to listen to. My answer? "but I don't have a record player...."
and yes, I survived to tell the story
In a Past Life
| In a Past Life... |
 You Were: A Gorgeous Fortune Teller.
Where You Lived: Quebec.
How You Died: In Childbirth. |
Who Were You In a Past Life?
Memory Lane
sometimes the slightest thing can send me sailing off into memory lane. i miss oxford. it was so long ago and yet i remember it like it was yesterday. i miss walking everywhere, and never really being in a hurry. i miss university park where i would sit and people watch and journal and write poetry. i miss walking along the river Thames and see the boys on their boats (can't remember what they are called, those long ones where you sit in a row). i miss st aldates cafe where i would buy a fresh scone with real cream and strawberry jam and i would sit at a window table eating, drinking coffee and journaling about what i saw. i miss St Aldates church that i attended every saturday night - the prayers, the communion, the people. i miss the college group there, we'd meet on wednesday nights and for 2 pounds have dinner and dessert (whatever they were serving) and Bible study. It was so fun. i miss taking the oxford express into london for 6 pounds return trip and wandering around london, sitting in cafe's or the park and journaling. i wrote a lot while i was in england. i miss the french pastry shop where i would go to buy yum yum's. i miss bimbles where i would go to mail my letters in the foreign looking air mail envelopes. i miss the grocery where i used a tiny shopping cart since everything was so fresh and you can't buy in bulk because it goes bad. thats where i bought my first block of red liecester cheese. and it was in Oxford where I could drink milk and not get sick. i am lactose intolerant here in the states but not over there. i don't know why. i miss the food van parked on woodstock where i could buy a baked potato smothered in cheese and chilli. i miss g & d's creamery where I ate such delectable ice cream like bailey's and sweet cream or marsmania. best ice cream i've ever had - well its tied with gelato. i miss sitting in the eagle and child pub drinking cider after church. i miss hearing the accent. i miss people saying "cheers". i miss who i was when there - i went to plays and musicals and i read a lot of books and wrote a lot of poems and stories. sometimes i think part of me is left there, waiting for my other half to return. while there i felt so at home, so "in my element". and yet when i stepped off the plane in the blazing Texas heat I knew Texas was home. is it possible to have two homes? I think i do. i hope someday i can have the money to go to england regularly. I would love to be super rich and have a vacation home there. if so it would be in cornwall. or maybe dover. *sigh* i miss england.
Sunkist+Dianetics+Strangers=Fun Party!
so last night I went to a Christmas party hosted by a guy I know from work. I don't know this guy all that well but he invited me and I had nothing better to do on a friday night so I went. I did not know how long I would stay considering the only other person I would know there probably wouldn't stay more than an hour. So I get there about 15 minutes "late" and there are only 2 other people there. My friend, the host and one of his neighbors, Neil. Somehow, we got onto the subject of Tom Cruise and Scientology and Jeremy (the host) said he had a book about Dianetics. I immediately grabbed it and began reading. If anyone reads this and is a scientologist you may wish to stop reading now. I do NOT understand that stuff. Granted this book was written in 1991 but it was just nuts. He used big words and it was somewhat confusing. I now have in my vocabulary words like "aberrated" which means insane, and "engram" which is basiclly post traumatic stress syndrome and indicates a painful memory which then causes a person to react negatively when encountering something in that "engram". Hence a person who murders or rapes or whatever should not be held responsible because they did those things due to an engram from something in their past. You know the whole he's a wife beater because his daddy was a wife beater and so on. Anyway I also learned "clear" is the term used for people who have erased their "engrams" and are now free from negativity and thus are free from disease/illness. A "clear" person never gets a cold according to this book because a cold is self-induced due to engrams. Yeah. I made an act to read this stuff aloud to Neil, Jeremy and my friend and we had a great time discussing it and asking questions and looking up the big words. I went to a party and read a book aloud about Dianetics and had a blast. What is WRONG with me? Well part of it was the Cherry Limeade Sunkist which has just been released and is actually very good as long as you like the regular Orange Sunkist. Its some strong stuff you guys, I was hyper on that for like 3 hours! 42 grams of sugar baby! So as the time went on more people came and Neil and I were slightly outcasted for our constant laughing (he had Sunkist too) and our "inside jokes" regarding aberration and clearness. But it was a very small studio like apartment so eventually everyone was altogether. Jeremy has The Book of Questions and so that was fun. Again Neil and I managed to somehow isolate ourselves in that game and we pulled Paul in with us. But soon the others joined in. Questions like "Which of the three would you choose if you had to: Save 20,000 kids in Indonesia, prevent a plane crash that would kill 200 people in your metro area, or save 1 acquaintance from a car crash?" Or "If you were at a good friends for thanksgiving and found a dead cockroach in your salad, what would you do?" It was hilarious. Seriously. So I stayed til midnight, laughing my butt off, at a party with people I had never met before, reading a book about dianetics and answering questions out of another book. and maybe I made some new friends. or maybe I will never see them again. Either way, possibly one of the best parties i've been to in awhile! hats off, Jeremy. Good times!
The mind of a 4 year old
Last night I was putting up my Christmas lights on my balcony because it was perfect weather to do it. Not too cold outside and since I knew a cold front was coming in (it has now arrived brrr!) I wanted to get it done. While I was out there, two little boys that belong to 2 of my neighbors were out in the courtyard playing while their daddies talked. They are the cutest things - I think both are about 3 or 4 years old. So anyway as I was finishing up I heard a little voice say "Ooooh look at the pretty lights!" so they wandered over under my balcony. I said "HI! Do the lights look pretty from down there?" and one little boy nodded his head and then with a quizzical look said, "Are you David's mommy?" and I chuckled and said "No". He thought for a minute and finally said "Whose mommy are you?" and I said "I'm not anyone's mommy unless you count my cats." At this he just looked at me, obviously mystified that I was not a mommy and then he walked away. I guess to a 4 year old, all ladies are mommies to someone!
Phone Survey Fun
Back when I was a temp I did a lot of phone survey's. I am a pro. I figured once I was a "real" employee maybe I would dodge that job. Not so. Every once in a while we have to survey stores to find out if they have product, etc. Yeah. Lots of fun. Here are some excerpts from some recent conversations I've had."____ Can I help ya?"
"
Can you tell me if you have Dr Pepper on your fountain?""Dotta Peppa? I thank so hang on"
*clunk sound as the phone is put on the counter*
in the background I hear "Some chick on da phone wanna know if we got dotta peppa on our machine. what kinda question is dat?" *Laughter*
"Yeah we got it"
"
So it is Dr Pepper, not Mr Pibb?"
"Uh yeah its peppa"
"
Okay thank you very much"
*this guy talked in a very singsong voice the whole time*
"Thank you for calling ____ what can I do to make this day better for you?"
(I had to hesitate because I wanted to laugh)
"
I just need to know if you guys have Dr Pepper on your fountain?"
*long drawn out pause*
"What?"
"
Do you have Dr Pepper on your fountain?"
"Dr Pepper?"
"
Yes"
"Oh, well I think so but let me just go make sure for you okay? Hold on just a minute......... Yes ma'am we sure do have Dr Pepper!"
"
Okay great, any chance you know who delivers that to you?"
"Who what?"
"
Who delivers it to you - who delivers your pop?" (I have to say pop because I'm calling the north and thats what they call it)
"Oh well I think its probably ____"
"
Okay well thank you"
"Thank you for calling _____have a great day!"
But the normal conversation goes like this:
"Thank you for calling ____ How can I help you?"
"
Hi, Can you tell me if you guys have Dr Pepper on the fountain?"
"Well, we have Mr Pibb and its the exact same thing"
"
Okay, thank you"
FYI : DR PEPPER AND MR PIBB ARE NOT THE SAME THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Dr Pepper is not a Pepsi product either!
Cats
Its a tough job, decorating for Christmas, but someone's gotta do it. And then take a nap.
Ty, on my lap
Lady, on her back
Decorating for Christmas
Living Room lights
The Mantle
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