Can You Still Feel The Butterflies?

I was tagged by Anra to make a list of ten things about my artwork. So here goes!

1. Impressionism is my favorite style of painting, but I rarely use it myself - I find it difficult to do anything other than realism.

2. I prefer oil over acrylic paint, because I mostly do portraits, and I find it difficult to mix the shading of skin tones when acrylic paints dry so quickly.

3. I almost never blend when I'm drawing in pencil. I like for my strokes to show.

4. I'm already running out of things to say, how will I make it to ten?

5. I like drawing celebrities the best, because they always look so good in pictures, which makes it easier to make them look good with my pencils.

6. I hate drawing from my imagination or my memory, unless I'm just doing something cartoon-y.

7. People say hands and ears are the hardest to draw, but I think drawing hair is a total bitch.

8. I try to never draw landscapes, because I'm way too much of a perfectionist; I would feel the need to try to render every single leaf or blade of grass! So I just stay away from that genre....

9. One of the first things I remember drawing was a family of alligators who walked on two legs and wore clothes. I also drew their house, in cross-section form. They were kind of like Egyptian hieroglyphs, in that their heads were turned to the side, while their bodies were facing forward....

10. It is not widely known that I have also dabbled in sculpting. But it's a lot more expensive to do than drawing or painting, so I've never kept up with it. I made this awesome tiger sculpture in high school, but someone stole it after it came out of the kiln  D`:

Last night was a wonderful night of tv for me, and strangely enough, it consisted of "reality" shows! Reality shows don't normally jive with me, with only a couple exceptions - So You Think You Can Dance and Project Runway. The great thing about these two, is that they showcase people with incredible talent, and focus on that talent, rather than on petty backstage antics or rivalries. They really challenge their contestants, and those challenges are so fun to watch play out, whether it be seeing how a hip-hop dancer fares against the cha-cha, or being awe-struck by how someone could make a beautiful outfit from recycled trash!

So last night was the first episode of SYTYCD featuring the Top 10 contestants and the season premier of Project Runway!

So You Think You Can Dance is so fun to watch, because it's these amazing dancers performing this incredible choreography in all different styles. They possess such talent, skill, strength and grace! I'm totally envious of all the dancers (geez, I can't even do a cartwheel!), and yet that's part of what keeps me watching, because then I can at least imagine myself doing all those awesome moves!

For those of you who don't watch, this is the fourth season of SYTYCD, and the first one that I've watched from the very beginning of the season. During second season, I only started watching toward the very end, because two of my best friends were so into it (I wish Travis had won), and third season I watched when I could remember to. But this season I watched the try-outs (much to the chagrin of my mother), as they narrowed the field down from 200 hopefuls, to the Top 20. Once it's down to 20 (10 males and 10 females), they are paired up in partners, by drawing names from a hat, and they keep those pairings until the Top 10. Each pair then picks a style of dance from the hat, and that is what we see them perform on the show. Then viewers call in and vote for whichever couple(s) they think did best. The results show is the following night, and the three couples with the least votes have to perform solos (dancing for their lives), so that the judges can decide who should leave the show.

          
                                  Before they discovered Jessica's injury

Now that it's the Top 10, they have switched partners, again by picking from the hat, and instead of voting on the couples, viewers vote for their favorite individual dancers. The judges no longer have any say in who leaves the show, other than giving their critique of each performance; the viewers' votes decide which male and female will leave each week.

At the beginning of last night's episode, the dancers did their little introductory "solos", and I noticed that there were only 9, rather than 10. Then the hostess, Cat Deeley, came out and brought on one of the dancers, Jessica, who was the one that was missing. Apparently, Jessica broke a couple ribs, so the doctors told her she's not allowed to dance for a few weeks. They brought Comfort back to replace Jessica, because Comfort was the last female to have been eliminated. I thought it was kind of crappy, because both of them deserve to be eliminated. Comfort will probably be the female who goes home tonight, and if Jessica hadn't been injured, I'm pretty sure it would have been her going home anyway. So it really makes no difference.  I'm not sure which male I think will be going home...probably Gev. Poor Gev, he tries really hard, and I thought his solo this week was totally fierce, but he probably just doesn't have the skills to go much further....

 


                                

I did a whole bunch of voting last night, but I didn't call in a vote for Comfort, because her solos are always basically the same thing, and it just shows through too much that she's just faking it when she's performing in a style that is outside of her element. I also didn't vote for Kherington, because I felt like she was always the weaker link when she was paired with Twitch and now that she's paired with Mark (my personal favorite, because of his quirky style during his solos, and his wonderful ability to become fully immersed in the characters he's given), it's even more obvious that she's just not good enough to make it much farther in this competition. I didn't vote for Will, just because I think he's over-rated, and he'll get a million votes without my help :P  I called in one vote for everyone else and four votes each for my two favorites.

                            

On the other end of the spectrum from Kherington, I didn't care too much for Courtney when she was with Gev (especially at the beginning), but I think she's grown a lot during the competition and has really come into her own. Her solo had really great energy to it, and she and Joshua did wonderful work last night.

 

My favorites are Mark and Katee. I don't know if Mark can really make it to the top, because apparently he doesn't have as much technical training as some of the other dancers, but I just think he's great. Katee, on the other hand, has perfect technique, but she's also got great personality (when she's performing, anyway...). I think she could definitely win the whole thing, especially now that she's paired up with the glorious, fantastic, perfect Will (he really is quite good, but it bothers me how the judges are constantly fawning over him - I can't think of one negative thing they've said to him!).

 

I also didn't start watching Project Runway until later seasons (third season specifically, the one Jeffrey won - which I was so happy about! XD). I first started watching when it was on in a marathon, then got hooked into watching the weekly episodes.

In Project Runway there are 16 contestants, who are given different challenges each week, in which they must create an outfit that fits the parameters of the challenge (must be made from certain limiting materials, or must be for a specific person's tastes and needs, etc.) in a very short period of time. Once their time is up, they fit the outfit to their model and four judges (Heidi Klum - who is also the host and a producer, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and a guest judge) make notes as the model walks the runway. The judges add up their scores and decide on the top three and bottom three designs; everyone else is safe. They give these 6 contestants their critiques, then send them away to deliberate who should win the challenge of the top three, and who should be out, from the bottom three. Once they have decided, they bring them back in, dramatic music plays, and Heidi announces the results.

               
                                      The Cast of Season 5

For the season premier episode, they returned to a challenge from the first season, which had the contestants choosing their design materials from what could be found at a local grocery store. The top 3 this week were Daniel, Kelli and Korto, and the bottom 3 were Blayne, Jerry and Stella. I agree with the judges' choice of these 6 - Daniel's cup dress (yes, made entirely out of blue, plastic disposable cups) was not only ingenius, but well-made; Kelli did a great job of making the skirt and using unique dying methods, and Korto's yellow dress was chic and beautiful, with the inventive touch of vegetable jewelry adding pizzazz. I was hoping that Daniel would win the challenge, because at the beginning of the episode, they showed a couple photos from his portfolio, and I really liked his previous work! But Kelli did a great job too, so I was ok with the decision :)

  
Daniel's Dress                                                                  Kelli's Dress

                                
                                              Korto's Dress

In the bottom 3, Blayne's unitard was just hideous, yet he was so confident that he had done something wonderful, because it was so different from everyone else's. Jerry's raincoat-dress combo was so awful - it was completely unflattering by itself, but then he adds those stupid yellow gloves to it? And he also thought he had done a good job, because the raincoat was complete and well-made or whatever. Ugh. Stella's trashbag dress wasn't too bad, I thought, but it was rather lazy, and she spent most of the episode whining about how she was going to be sent home, and she had nothing to work with. Wah wah wah! Before the challenge even began, she had this totally disaffected attitude, like nothing was interesting, and she was just way too cool to be anywhere. I'm hoping she goes home soon, but Jerry wound up being the one sent home this first week. With his stupid raincoat left on the mannequin to stand in disgrace for the rest of the season and remind the designers of what they should not (never, ever!) do.

  
Blayne's Unitard                                                                 Jerry's Raincoat

                                
                                                     Stella's Dress

¡Aye Carumba! I've been meaning to update for ages, but haven't gotten around to it, largely due to my terminal laziness. I'm sure I'll forget to tell you loads of things that  I meant to, because of waiting so long, but if I do forget it, how important can it really be? Right?

First off, an update for this journal you may or may not remember/have read about when my house was robbed. Luckily, my mom has insurance, so we knew they would at least cover some of the stuff that was stolen. Back in high school, our house got flooded due to a toilet malfunction and at that time the insurance company's policy was that we had to go out and buy replacement stuff, then send them the receipts and they would reimburse us. So after we got robbed, we bought a bunch of DVDs and CDs (not tons, just a bunch) to replace some of the ones that were taken.

Then the guy at the insurance company told us that they would only reimburse us for part of the costs, even if we had the receipts, and my mom was freaking out. So he worked out some way that the insurance company would buy us the things that were taken and send them to us. We just had to send him lists of what was taken and copies of the receipts we had (mostly from before the robbery). For the CDs and DVDs, he gave us a number of how many of each we could get, and we just had to log in to this website and order them, then they would be sent right to us! It somehow worked out that we got to pick quite a bit more than had been taken, so not only did I get back almost all of my CDs (some were too rare to be found on the website), I got new ones that I had never owned before, too! It was very exciting when they arrived.

Only a few of my DVDs were taken, and I had already re-bought most of them, so almost all of the DVDs that came were for my mom. They also sent me a trombone and a new bass guitar! I think they got a little excessive on the packaging for the bass, though....

And on the same day that arrived, I received my raffle winnings! I never, ever win anything based purely on luck, but I've entered this Health & Wealth raffle twice now, because they've got great prizes, and even if I don't win, it goes to a good cause. So, sure, I didn't win $1,000,000 or a luxury house, but I was still super-excited about my steak knives!!

I'm a WINNER!!!

And no, I'm not being sarcastic.

Also, I went to see The Used in May (I didn't bring my camera to that show, in case I decided to get crazy), and they had a meet & greet thing after the show for people who bought the Shallow Believer EP. So I had them sign my shirt (which I wasn't wearing at the time) and got to say, "Thank you" to them! I wouldn't say that I "met" them, though, because I didn't say anything more than "thank you", nor were there any introductions made, so...yeah.... But it was still awesome and exciting!!

We had a little family of Harris' Antelope Ground Squirrels living in our backyard, which was really cute. They lived in a pile of bricks underneath the vines that have grown over our back wall and there were four or five of them. They're solitary creatures, though, so now that they've grown up, they all left the nest. Then my mom found one dead in our pool filter, so I think that must have been the last one remaining :(  But at least now we don't have to worry about them giving our dog fleas or us the plague or anything!

And now, the biggest news! You may remember from this journal that I have been looking for a new job. Well, I got one! Woohoo! Starting in August, I'll be working at an elementary school as a library assistant. That may sound boring to some, but I LOVE libraries, books and organizing/alphabetizing, so I'm excited. It's only a part-time job, and I'll be making less than my old job, but not by much. Plus, I'll have benefits (which I didn't before) and the school is only about a mile from my house! It's the elementary school that I went to as a young lass, and my old job was about 45 minutes away from my house. And, as if all that weren't cool enough, my bff works at the school too! Yay, yay, yay! I'll have to get another part-time job, but that's fine with me. I'm kind of looking forward to having that kind of variety and not doing the same thing, all day, five days a week. Blargh! Also, I got laid-off my old job when my boss found out I had a new job (what a Michael Scott thing to do!), so in the free time I have between now and August, I'd like to start up a website for painting portraits. Or something along those lines. So if anyone has any advice about that, I'd love to hear it! :D

Ahhhh, I love JEW! I saw them last August at the Mesa Arts Center, which was really cool, because it was very small and intimate. They played all sorts of songs that they wouldn't normally do and basically played all of their album Bleed American! Then at the encore, Jim Adkins came out with an acoustic guitar and played "The Middle" (you know, their giant hit single?) and had the audience sing most of it ourselves, because really, who could go to a JEW show and not know the words to "The Middle"? Honestly! More.

5 Songs I Fell in Love with the First Time I Heard Them (in no particular order)

1. The Warmth by Incubus

Such a compelling song from the very beginning, with its otherworldy, whale noises! The message is incredible, about doing your best in life, even when the world seems like a crappy place to be.

2. Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too by Say Anything

This song is just so hilarious. I first heard it live, because they were playing a surprise show, opening for Paramore. Within the next couple days, I had gone out and bought ...Is A Real Boy and In Defense of the Genre, mostly because I liked this song so much!

3. Discipline by Nine Inch Nails

Yeah, this song is brand-spanking new, and I've only heard it 3 or 4 times, but I loved it after the first time :D

4. Red Sky by Thrice

Soooooooo beautiful!! This song made me give Thrice a second chance, and then I fell in love with them!

5. New by No Doubt

I don't know, it's just such a cool song. Need I say more?

I'm too lazy to tag anyone, so do it if you wanna, don't if you don't!

You might not know about Thrice, because they don't get much radio play (I've never heard them on the radio), so I will preface this with how I discovered them.

I would hear whispers during high school of this awesome band called Thrice, but never any direct opinions from reliable sources. So I wondered about them, but never made any sort of effort to find out more. I went to visit my uncle, while in college, and I put on one of Thrice's CDs that my cousin had. I'm pretty sure it was their first CD, and I turned it off after the first song, thinking "This is waaaaaay too heavy for me!" and decided to never bother listening to them again.

Sometime last year I bought an issue of Kerrang! Magazine because it included a CD of music that the members of My Chemical Romance chose as their influences. One of the songs that Bob Bryar included was "Red Sky," by Thrice, and when I listened to it, I thought it was one of the most beautiful songs I had ever heard! So I looked them up online to try and listen to more of their music before going out and buying a CD. I liked what I heard andI went out and bought Vheissu. I was thoroughly blown away by their musicianship. At times intricate and melodic, and at others ferocious and powerful, they are able to pull off both extremes with equal dexterity, maintaining a cohesive song/album.

Ok, this is turning out to be more of an Ode to Thrice, than a journal about my concert experience. They're categorized as post-hardcore, but that mostly describes their older music, and is now a term that is way too one-dimensional to hold them. I like to say that if Tool, Chevelle and Incubus could have a love child — that would be Thrice.

Now — on to the concert! I was slightly worried about the fact that they are a heavier band, and that the pit might be a little more violent than I'm used to, but I really wasn't too worried about it, because I can handle myself pretty well (for someone so puny.) I enjoy being kind of violent at concerts. My anxety increased a little bit when I arrived at the venue because the crowd that had assembled so far was mostly male. This is a little unnerving when you usually go to see bands like MCR and Incubus ... it just seems like there are always a lot more little screaming girls than testosterone-filled college dudes. And security was super-strict — they even made us take off our shoes! Luckily, I had hidden my camera really well at the bottom of my purse.

Two thumbs up!

I headed over to the merch booth and bought myself a t-shirt and a tour poster, which I almost immediately regretted doing before the show. I was going to have to spend the whole concert trying to protect my precious poster, my camera and myself! I had been trying to drink a lot of water throughout the day, because I didn't want to get dehydrated and throw up like I have a couple times in the past (pleasant, eh?), so I went to the bathroom and took these lovely shots — then bought a water bottle at the bar.

Really, now?

Strangely reassuring....

The first band to play was Pelican, and I thought they were really good. They don't have a singer, which a lot of people were grumbling about afterward, but their music was very engaging, and they had great energy, which was entertaining enough. The guitar player on stage right was very fun to watch, and even played his guitar with a bow during one song. I love it when musicians feel their music so deeply that it looks like they're just barely managing to keep it from exploding out of themselves! At one point during a song, the drummer started playing double bass 16th notes really loudly, and it was GLORIOUS!! Or maybe they were 32nd notes ... The guys standing on both sides of me put their hands on their chests, because of the way it was vibrating through them. This made me smile, because I love that feeling — when music becomes a full-body experience and seems like it's going to change your heart-rhythm permanently. *sigh*

Circa Survive came on next and I wasn't really excited to hear them. I moved closer to the back of the room, so I wouldn't be jostled. I had never heard any of their songs before, but I had heard them compared to both Saosin and Chiodos, neither of which I like. Both of which I really dislike. I hate that high-pitched mail squawking. The background music was alright, but the drum and bass didn't seem like they were together. I left the room and went to the bathroom toward the end of their set, because I was sick of standing there, and I was hoping a lot of people would leave when they were done, because it seemed like there had been a lot of people who were mostly there just for them.

The stage beforehand

Thrice came on and opened up with a couple fast, heavy songs to get the crowd riled up, starting off with the first track from The Alchemy Index Vol. 1 — "Firebreather." The mosh pit was like a huge smile with really angry teeth, separating the room in half, and stayed that way even after they started into their more mellow material. The band sounded incredible and was spot-on, even with all their mixed meters (which I find extremely difficult to keep up with), and were pretty much CD quality. The lighting was cool too.

Oooh, pretty! I'm pretty sure this was during "Broken Lungs."

Toward the end of the middle (or the beginning of the end) of the show, the singer Dustin told us to go check out the Invisible Children section of the merch booth, which I thought was great. I really admire and respect the fact that a portion of the proceeds from their CD's goes to charity, and that they partner with such great causes. Another of the many reasons to love this band!

Dustin and Eddie

The only thing that disappointed me was that they didn't play many of my favorite songs. I understand that they wanted most of their set list to be from The Alchemy Index, since that's their newest album, and Volumes III & IV just came out, but still ... I wanted more from Vheissu, since it's my favorite. Plus they didn't play "Image of the Invisible" or "Red Sky," both of which were singles. Who doesn't play their singles in concert!? It was still a really super-duper-awesome show and I learned from my past mistakes and set my camera to have a faster shutter speed and didn't use the flash, except on this one picture!

Hooray for coming away with decent pictures!

Dustin's totally going radioactive here! And look, there's Teppei - hi, Teppei!

More Teppei! And there's Riley, too!

Teppeeeeeeeeiiiii!!!

This was actually the first picture I took of their performance, and yet it's last....

Don't forget to check out my photo gallery from the concert and read Breesays' review of Thrice's Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV: Air & Earth that hit stores April 15.

With a Silver Lining

I went to the Marquee Theater right after work, to pick up my ticket at Will Call and get a decent parking spot, and was pleased to find that the lot was still mostly empty (it was about 40 minutes before the concert was supposed to start) and there was a relatively small line of people waiting outside the venue doors.

I got to the ticket booth window and asked for my Cat Power ticket, and also asked if I could pick up my ticket to see Thrice on Saturday, since it was at the same place. They printed out my Thrice ticket, but seemed to be scrambling around, trying to find something and get a question answered while I waited for my Cat Power ticket. The guy in the ticket booth disappeared for a few minutes, then came back and informed me that Cat Power had just been cancelled, because she had lost her voice. A guy at the window next to me shouted "Cancelled?! Cancelled?!" and paced around, fuming, as a murmer began to spread through the small, waiting crowd.

I saw someone come out of the theater and start handing out free t-shirts to those assembled, then go back in to get more, so I mosied on over to wait for my very own free t-shirt. The woman came back out with the shirts draped over her arm and started handed out a couple to the people in line, then came over to the few of us by the ticket windows. I watched her hand shirts to a couple girls next to me and looked at the t-shirt she was handing me. She apologized in a low, husky voice, and I said "Thank you!" without looking up. I'm not really a make-eye-contact-with-people-I-don't-know kind of girl.

I watched the woman head back over to the people waiting in line and breathed in the strong sent of patchouli oil she left behind. I noticed that she was dressed in all olive-green, comfortable-looking clothes, like she was going on a safari, but that she had on leopard print flats (perhaps the trophy of a recent safari?). Then I looked at her face, partially hidden behind sunglasses and her hair, with those distinctive bangs and realized that this was Chan fucking Marshall (aka Cat fucking Power)! She had come out herself to give us t-shirts and apologize!

I loitered for a bit, just watching her hand out more shirts and listening to her tell people that she was sorry and had a callous on her vocal chord. This was my first interaction with anyone even remotely famous, and she was being so good to us! I once stood behind Jessica Alba in line at the airport, but that doesn't count, because I didn't say anything to her - at least I said, "thank you," to Chan!  I was so touched by her kindness that I cried a little bit on my way back to my car. Silly, I know, but I couldn't help myself. All day, I had been nervous, worried that the indie crowd would be too condescending, worried that I wasn't wearing the right clothes, worried that I wouldn't get a good parking spot, so my nerves were already slightly frayed, then add on the sudden disappointment, followed by sudden elation - I couldn't help but cry a little :)

Thank you, Cat Power!!

Maybe I'll take a picture of the shirt when I get home - I slept in it last night, because it's too big :)

Never go on Buzznet right before bed ever again.

-I had at least two full-length dreams featuring Buzznetters last night. Weird.

Second Note To Self:

Close car door completely before driving on the freeway.

-I could have died on my way back to lunch after work, but was still laughing, because of the absurdity of it!

Anywho, I'm alive, I'm awake, and I will stay away from Buzznet after 10pm. That's my official Buzznet Curfew.

So I went to the Tempe Music Festival on March 28th, to see My Chemical Romance. There were other bands playing, but I didn't really care about any of them. Puddle of Mud was onstage when my friends and I arrived, and they were pretty good. I was surprised, because I hadn't realized how many hits they've had! Then I had their newest single stuck in my head the next couple of days :/  And it was funny, because at a couple different points during their set, I thought about how much they were sounding like Nirvana, then toward the end, they played a Nirvana cover! I was like, "I sure know how to call 'em...."

We had VIP tickets (See VIPness here - ha! I said "Pness"....), which made us feel really cool, and also gave us the option of free food and drinks! I already had a water bottle with me, and the food had been put out a couple hours earlier, so I didn't actually partake in the perks, but it was nice to know they were there anyway. We also got to be in a section at the front, divided from everyone else with regular tickets (though we were kind of toward the back of that section, because it was raised a little bit, and we liked actually being able to see)!

I put my camera on the night picture setting, but, in hindsight, I probably should have put it on a fast setting, so everything wouldn't turn out so hideously blurry....

Bob's drumset had a creepy gas mask person on the bass drum, so I took a picture of it.

That's Matt Cortez, tuning. I took this one for Kitten76 ;)

Yay, the show's beginning!

Look, Ray didn't turn out too blurry....

It's Frank (kind of) and Mikey. He was wearing his "Mikey Fucking Way" t-shirt, and Ray had on one with himself on it too! In the middle of the show, Mikey was showing Gerard a cut on his finger between songs, then Ray said he had one too, so Gerard announced to the audience that both of the guys wearing shirts of themselves had cut their fingers.

Hey, this one looks like an actual person. And you can kind of tell it's Gerard!

He also announced Frank and Jamia's wedding, which was nice of him. Frankie was really boring at this show, like he was tired or something, and it was severely lacking in Frerard >:(

Yes, this kid's arm says "BOB!!!"

I think I like this one the best. Maybe.

It was a great show, though not the best of theirs that I've been to! After the show, we went around to where the backstage entrance was in the hopes of meeting the band. A couple of the guys from Puddle of Mud were there and a bunch of weirdos like ourselves. Then security shooed us away (as always). The stage is set up right next to Tempe Town Lake, so we decided to go up on the bridge, and see if maybe we could see the band from up there. We waited for a while, and then I saw these three people walking along, and it was totally Frank, Jamia and some other dude! We were so surprised that we didn't shout to them, but I did get this really craptastic picture:

A while later, Mikey walked by and my friend got up the courage to squeak out, "Hey, Mikey!" and he looked up and waved, but he looked at the other group of people on the bridge, lol. We still thought that was exciting, though. Then we waited for quite a while, because my friend (the one who called to Mikey) lurves Gerard, and we were hoping to see him. We never did see him, but a couple guys were walking along rolling some big thing, and I recognized Bob, beneath his long hair and beanie, so my friend yelled, "You kick ass!" and he looked up and smiled and said, "Thanks!" Then my friend said, "You make my heart burn!" and he laughed. It was very exciting. Then we left, because my friend's brother was waiting to drive us home.

The End.

I think I'm freakishly territorial about my food, especially sweets, because I was totally mad yesterday....

My boss had to bring his 5-year old daughter into work after she got out of school the past couple days, because his wife is out of town. He used to have to bring her in a lot more often, but hadn't for a while. I always have some sort of candy/food in my top desk drawer, and she knew that from before, so she was scrounging around in there for something to eat. She kept picking up my Cadbury Egg and staring at it for minutes on end, and I'm quite sure she was doing that thing that kids do where they try and get you to give them something without having to ask for it. But I was ignoring her, because there was no way I was going to give her my last Cadbury Egg of the season!

So I offered her my mini Cadbury Fingers instead, because I've got plenty of those, and I don't really like the plain ones (and can't find the caramel ones over here). She ate one package of those and went about her own business, pretending to work in the office and whatnot, then comes back over and digs through my drawer again later on. I can't watch her constantly, because my computer is in the opposite direction of that drawer, and I had work to do! So I told her she could have some more Fingers, and got back to my work.

Yesterday afternoon, when she came in again, her father had bought her a bag of Cheetos and a Gatorade, which I was very pleased about, because I was sick of offering her my food. The thought occured to me that a Cadbury Egg would taste really good right about then, so I looked in my drawer and guess what?! The brat had taken my freakin' Egg! I thought, "Maybe I ate it and then forgot," but the memories I had in my head of eating an Egg at work, were from last week! I looked in the trash in the kitchen (yes, I went that far) and there was the wrapper! Proof!

So I ignored her for the rest of the day, even when she set up a bunch of stuff at my desk and pretended she was working at it too. Is that totally weird? Was I acting childish? She's just a kid, after all, but she didn't even ask! She STOLE MY EGG!

This incident brought up the memory of when I was in second grade and my best friend took one of my Little Debbie Valentine Cakes (you know how they come two in a bag?) even after I told her she couldn't have it! So I started crying and ran off and hid in the tire tunnel on the playground, until she found me and apologized. I'll never forget that.

So, Buzznet, DON'T TOUCH MY SWEETS!

Don't Even Try to Pretend You Didn't.

Gee whiz, how time flies! Today is my first Buzziversary :)

I almost missed it, because I'm so busy at work today - I'm the only one in the office >:0  Luckily, business is pretty slow right now, so I'm not dying from the stress or anything!

Anyway, I'm glad I've been here for a year and met (in a manner of speaking :P ) so many wonderful people! Hopefully I'll be here for years to come.

Today is the Chinese New Year! This is the year of the rat, and it is the beginning of the year 4706 by the Chinese calendar.

So not only is it the beginning of a new year, but since it is the year of the rat, it is particularly good for making new beginnings. I can't tell you how happy I am that the year of the pig is over! I was born in the year of the pig, and last year was supposed to be a difficult one for me - and it was! Big surprise. According to this site I found, the year of the rat is "a time of hard work, activity, and renewal" and that "is a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start," which is great, because I really, really, really want to get a new job! So I'm hopeful. I've been feeling a little despondent about the direction (or lack thereof) of my life right now, but I'm hoping that this new year will bring me good things. Of course, I have to go after them, but I feel like I won't constantly being knocked back when I try now, unlike last year.

Happy New Year!

Oh, my dearest Bree,

How can one express such undying love with words? I would express it with actions, if I could.

I would pull down the moon and put it in a box with a pretty ribbon on top and maybe some really shiny paper with plenty of tissue paper inside to protect it, or even those plastic things full of air - not the bubble wrap, but those big ones that come in packages from Amazon. *gasp for air!*

I would travel back in time and find you a unicorn in the woods of France (since that's apparently where they hung out). Of course, I'd have to find a virgin to help me, but I would do that, just for you! Ok, and I'd probably grab one for Seb too....

I would kidnap that guy from The Academy Is... (William, right?) and deliver him to your doorstep. And poke him with a stick until he sang a song and did a little dance for you. Or if you want someone else, just let me know....

But most of all, I would write a silly love-letter for you :)  Oh, wait! Already done. Go me! And you...go you, too.

Love, Ashley  XOXO

Yes, folks, the Super Bowl circus has come to my hometown this year! And while I will probably watch the game from the safety of my home, I definitely won't be going out anywhere this weekend. Traffic has already been backed up the past couple of days, and it seems like everywhere I go there are party tents and Goodyear blimps flying around!

And, of course, here to take advantage of the madness and get his face in the news (as always) is our dear Sheriff Joe Arpaio. I don't have any big problems with the policies he enforces. Heck, I even voted for him in the last election! But there's no denying the fact that he is a complete media whore.

I bring this up, because of an article I noticed on Yahoo!'s home page today, "'Toughest sheriff' warns Tom Brady, Paris Hilton." Sheriff Joe is warning football players and celebrities that he's got his eye on them, and if they break the law, he's not going to offer them any leniency, because this is "Maricopa County, not Los Angeles County." He tries so hard to be a bad-ass, that he just winds up looking like an ass, minus the bad.

He'll speak to the media about any topic, even if it doesn't have anything to do with him. I remember how stupid I thought he sounded during Paris Hilton's jail-time debacle, when he said that she could come serve her time here, if LA didn't have room for her. He's constantly talking about how he doesn't take crap from anybody and won't back down and only makes himself look completely pig-headed and stubborn.

Basically, if my sheriff would just shut his mouth and do his job, I'd like him a lot better.

These are my ten favorite comics that launched in '07. Some are ongoing, others are limited series. Some are already finished, while others have barely started. But, all in all, these are the ones that I just can't bear to put down, and for which I can't wait a whole month (sometimes longer!) before getting a new one.

10. Omega: The Unknown

Omega: The Unknown is a 10-part limited series from Marvel Comics, written by Jonathan Lethem and illustrated by Farel Dalrymple. It is actually a remake of a comic from the 70's, which I had never heard of before, so it's neither here nor there to me.

It's only on its second issue so far, but it's about a boy who is somehow connected to a superhero, with robot-creatures following him. It has very philosophical overtones, which I like alot, but which also make it a bit confusing. So if you don't like things like that, Omega is not for you.

9. The Un-Men

The Un-Men is an ongoing monthly series from Vertigo Comics, written by John Whalen and illustrated by Mike Hawthorne. It also has roots in the '70's, but its current incarnation is all that I'm familiar with. It's about Federal Agent Kilcrop, who is sent into the town of Aberrance to investigate a murder. Doesn't sound very interesting yet? Get this: Aberrance is a town of circus freaks. However, there are two different types of freaks here, there are the Un-men, who are surgically freaked out, and there are the "gafs" who are natural freaks. It's gruesome, funny, mysterious and action-packed. Quality entertainment!

8. Deepak Chopra Presents India Authentic

India Authentic is an ongoing series of one-shot issues, written by Saurav Mohapatra and illustrated by different artists. There are plenty of reasons to like the India Authentic series, and here are mine: It's always got good writing, beautiful artwork, and it presents ancient stories in a new way. Well, in a new way to most of the comic book audience anyway. Each issue focuses on a different deity in the Hindu pantheon, telling a story that is accessible to all, because the themes are relatable and timeless.

7. X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class is an ongoing monthly series from Marvel Comics, written by Jeff Parker and initially illustrated by Roger Cruz, but now illustrated by Julia Bax. It features the original X-Men team of Cyclops, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Beast, Angel and Iceman. The stories are always fun, because even though they're mutants who have to hide their abilities from society, they're still young adults and are less jaded than future X-Men incarnations. And at the end of each issue, there's a fun little comic strip!

6. Thor

Thor is an ongoing monthly series from Marvel Comics written by J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by Olivier Coipel. Thor?! You may be asking. But Thor's not new! You might shout. Well, you'd be both right and wrong in your outrage, dear reader. Thor has been in comic books since the '60's, but he has been hibernating, sleeping the "sleep of the gods" for three years or so. He has now been awoken by his human alter ego, to find his god-peers and continue doing good and being awesome. I actually have never read any of Thor's comics until this reboot, which I was drawn to because I really loved J. Michael Staczynski's work on Rising Stars. And so far, I like his work in Thor a lot too! Plus, I mean, come on - he's the freakin' god of thunder!

Haha, I love Adventures in Babysitting!

5. Gutsville

Gutsville is a 6-part limited series from Image Comics written by Simon Spurrier and illustrated by Frazier Irving. In the year 1846, a ship bound for Australia was swallowed. The survivors were able to build a shantytown called Gutsville with the remains of their boat in the beast's belly. This story takes place in the present-day with the original passengers' descendants, centering on the son of the town rat-catcher (giant mutant rats), who just wanted to be an artist, but becomes the rat-catcher himself, upon the murder of his father by a mysterious serial killer. If you can get over the fact that they're living in some strange leviathan's intestines, it's really interesting and funny, and the art is gorgeous!

4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season  Eight

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight is an ongoing monthly series from Dark Horse Comics. The first story arc (first 5 issues) were written by Joss Whedon himself, who created Buffy. The current story arc is being written by Brian K. Vaughan, and Georges Jeanty is the illustrator (in general). I'm wary of most Buffy comics, but my excitement for this one grew exponentially when I heard that Joss would be writing it. Not only should the man know Buffy better than anyone else, but he's also an awesome comic book writer (I love his work on Astonishing X-Men). The banter and pop culture references are all spot-on, and the quality continues to be high, even with a different writer at the helm. It's called Season Eight, because the events in the comic book are supposed to be a continuation of those at the end of Buffy's television series.

3. Necessary Evil

Necessary Evil is an ongoing monthly series from Desperado Publishing, written by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Marcus Harris. It's about a set of twins who find out that their mother was one of the greatest supervillains in the world, when, years after her death, they are taken to a secret school that trains kids how to be supervillains. I really like the premise, and it's funny, because it's like normal high school politics, but amplified. Also, one of the twins, Joshua, isn't sure he even wants to be a villain, but his mother said that he would be an even better villain than his brother, because he knows that what he's doing is wrong. Only two issues have come out so far, but I'm eagerly awaiting more.

2. Gunslinger Born

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born is a 7-issue limited series from Marvel Comics written by Robin Furth and Peter David and illustrated by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove and overseen by Stephen King. It has already completed its run, and the whole series can be found collected in the hardcover released in November. You don't have to be a huge Stephen King fan to like this comic. You don't even have to have read The Dark Tower series. I haven't read it, but I loved this. The artwork is extraordinary, and the writing style sets the tone so perfectly, the reader is practically transported to this place, which is equal parts Western and Fantasy. The next series, The Dark Tower: Long Road Home is set to be released in March, 2008, so you've got some time to go out and read this one before then. So do it!

1. Faker

Faker is a 6-issue limited series from Vertigo Comics, written by Mike Carey and illustrated by Jock. It's pretty weird, let's just get that out there from the beginning. As if you couldn't tell from the picture! It's about four housemates in college whose beers get spiked with this strange, government-made chemical that normally causes very vivid hallucinations. However, since they actually drank it, then threw up (all at once), they hallucinated another person, who came to life from their vomit. More or less. So the government is after them, and they have to find out what's happening to them and how they can stop it, before it's too late!! It's pretty weird, indeed, but very cool and engaging. My favorite comic of the year!

And for those of you asking, "What about Umbrella Academy?!" yes, I do read it every month, and I do like it very much, and if this were a Top 15 New Comics of 2007 list, it would definitely be here, but this isn't, so it's not, now get over it. Thanks.

The season for theft, that is.

My house got robbed Friday morning while my mom and I were at work.

Almost all of my CD's were taken, a few of my DVD's (luckily they seemed to be in a bit of a hurry by the time they got to my room, so they left most of them behind), my bass guitar and my trombone were also taken. They took two tv's from our house, my mom's DVD/VHS player and a bunch of her DVD's. They also nabbed this really cool antique camera that was sitting on top of my piano, from the 1800's.

They also took chicken from our freezer. I know, right? WTF?

On the plus side, they didn't harm or steal my dog, and they didn't take my Six Feet Under complete series, which I was really worried about when my mom told me they had taken a bunch of DVDs, because it was freakin' expensive, and I've only had the chance to watch two episodes so far.

So it could have been worse...but it also could have not happened at all, which would have been much more pleasant!

In other good news: My best friend delivered a healthy baby girl early yesterday morning! Congrats to uberdork!

Well, not really. I'm going by myself. Tomorrow morning I'm flying out to Redlands, CA, to attend the wedding of two of my friends from college and just generally hang out for the weekend.

Even though I'm not usually around much on the weekends, I thought I'd let y'all know why I won't be on at all :)

This is the lovely couple (photo not taken by me - I didn't even have a camera then):

I'm so congested - even my teeth hurt! My neck glands are swollen, and apparently when I'm really stuffed-up and I laugh, I sound like Butthead. Which isn't really a bad thing, in my opinion....

Come to Butthead. Come a little closer. Let me touch you. So cool.

Those are lyrics, by the way. I'm going to lunch. Gonna eat some pizza that I can't taste.

by various and sundry artists. Well, a life's journey SO  FAR...I'm not actually as old as I feel sometimes.

From a journal by our dear newageamazon. Choose a song from each year of your life.

1983 - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics - Is there anyone who doesn't like this song? If so, don't tell me. I might lose all respect for you.

1984 - Lucky Star - Madonna - You've gotta have Madonna on your list somewhere if you were born any time in the '80's. However you feel about her now, she was IT back then. My mom has the 45 for this song, so I would listen to it on my little Mickey Mouse record player.

1985 - Raspberry Beret - Prince and the Revolution - Similar to Madonna, any list from the '80's ought to have some Prince goin' on. Always fun and danceable, this song is particularly cute.

Somehow, I don't think this is what he meant....

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel - He made some of the coolest videos ever, and this just might be the best.

How much fun is that? Almost too much. Almost.

1987 - Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi - Bon Jovi rocked my socks off during the '80's. Literally. I was on the verge of suing for the loss of my beloved socks, but eventually found them, so everything turned out all right. Bon Jovi are thanking their lucky stars to this very day.

The socks in question.

1988 - Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard - I did not discover the wonder of Def Leppard until later on in life, with a bit of help from the Bloodhound Gang and their wonderful song "Why's Everybody Always Pickin' On Me?" where he breaks it down, shouting "The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!" over and over. That's when it dawned on me: how awesome do you have to be to lose an arm in a horrific bus accident and keep on playing? Pretty freakin' awesome. Respect.

1989 - FIVE-WAY-TIE!!!! - Who knew that 1989 was the best year in music history? I wouldn't have guessed it. Good thing I'm not the betting type.

Cold Hearted - Paul Abdul - She may be little more than a punchline these days, but she was well-respected and very successful back in the day. Plus she had cool videos. Co-co-co-cold hearted! Ooooh Ah-Ah! Co-co-co-cold hearted ssssssssnake!

Girl, You Know It's True - Milli Vanilli - Every song in this five-way tie, I still listen to. Believe it.

So what if they were phonies? They still hold a special place in this girl's heart.

She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals - Oh, God. I can't say enough about this song. It's so much fun to sing to, and my family listened to that tape on every road trip. On my insistance, of course.

Lovesong - The Cure - Who can leave The Cure out of a list like this? Well...probably lots of people...but not me, dammit! And this one belongs in The Greatest Year in Music History.

Welcome to the Jungle - Guns N Roses - Dude. Axel was so hot. Slash was so cool. Those other guys were just kind of there. Although, teased hair = not quite so awesome.

Axel! Don't let them brainwash you!!!

1990 - Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode - Yeah...I do believe I've said before that this is my favorite song of all time. I stand by that.

1991 - Now That We Found Love - Heavy D and the Boyz - It was between this and Losing My Religion by REM, but when I read the song title, I get the whole song stuck in my head, that's how catchy it is. And good. And rainy. Oh, wait...that was the video.

1992 - Black or White - Michael Jackson - I was trying to decide on the perfect Michael Jackson song to have in my list. I could have had Bad, Billy Jean, Smooth Criminal, all great. But only Black or White had Macauley Culkin pretending to rap in the video. And that was almost too rad.

1993 - Can't Help Falling In Love - UB40 - This was from the movie Sliver, so the video was kind of creepy, but I always loved the song! I like it better than the Elvis version, but maybe that's just me....

1994 - Closer - Nine Inch Nails - Yeah...one of the greatest videos of all time. Trent Reznor...*sigh* As you can tell, I have trouble finding words for this one. Maybe pictures can tell the story?

And now that you know what a freak I am, let's move on....

1995 - Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage - Shirley Manson is the man! Er...the woman! She always had great attitude and a great look and that voice - phwew! Who can compare?

1996 - Criminal - Fiona Apple - I did this song at karaoke a couple of years ago. Yeah, that's right.

Another Mark Romanek video (he did Closer also); I'd say this man really knows his sexy.

1997 - Your Woman - White Town - For some reason I can never remember the artist that did this song - I only have it here because I looked it up - but I absolutely loved this song. I really liked the fact that it was a guy singing about never being your woman. Or I think it was a guy...umm...that was always the impression that I got...hmm.... It was a man singing in the video! Don't look at me like that! I know what I'm talking about!

1998 - Raspberry Swirl - Tori Amos - Yay, Tori!

1999 - The Warmth - Incubus - My favorite song off my favorite album of theirs! I probably didn't really hear any Incubus until the year 2000, and then I saw them at a radio festival here, but the cd Make Yourself was released in '99, so it counts!

This is, of course, from the video for Drive, but it's from the same album, so it counts as well :)

2000 - The Hollow - A Perfect Circle - Maynard James Keenan is so awesome in whatever band he's in, and APC is no exception!

2001 - Sweetness - Jimmy Eat World - Woo, the song that made me fall in love with JEW in spite of myself! Sweetness has such driving energy and Jim's vocals are great! It's like, perfect.

2002 - Noise and Kisses - The Used - Their first CD is probably still my favorite of theirs, and this is my favorite song.

2003 - Bleed Black - AFI - I don't know if you've noticed, but as my list becomes more recent, I have less to say about each song, because they're not so much about memories at this point, more like what I like now. I guess. So this song is my favorite song off of my favorite AFI cd!

2004 - Slow Hands - Interpol - When I was in California for college, I remember being so excited when I first heard this song on KROQ. I love it when bands I like become more popular! Then I get even more exposure to them.

That's Paul Banks. He's cute.

2005 - Red Sky - Thrice - This is one of the most beautiful songs ever. If you haven't heard it, you need to listen to it. It's kind of sad, but so are lots of other beautiful things. So there! I told you! Dang!

2006 - Mama - My Chemical Romance - Soon to be the next single, or at least that's the word on the street. This song totally showcases the theatricality of the album The Black Parade, and how better to personify that, than having Liza Minelli on guest vocals? Plus I really like to sing along to it in the shower, and I have storyboards for a really awesome video for it in my head.

2007 - Misery Business - Paramore - I'm going to see them on Thursday, and you're not.

*All images shamelessly stolen from Google Images.