Dylan promised me he would take me to see it!

This really disturbs me....

This is Frank and Louie the Janus cat, a 12-year-old feline with two faces, two mouths, two noses, and three eyes.

I'm frightened enough by my own normal cat when she hops up on the bed in the middle of the night -- I can't imagine what kind of state of mind I'd be in if I woke up to this face every morning.

I feel really bad for being so judgmental. I'm sure she needs love just like any other kitty.... But this is plain scary.

Sad, but true...

Random Things You Should Know

1. The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
2. Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms like fried bacon.
3. Of all the words in the English language, the word 'set' has the most definitions.
4. What is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France.
5. "Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
6. "Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.
7. In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child
8. A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off.
9. Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
10. You can't kill yourself by holding your breath
11. There is a city called Rome on every continent.
12. It's against the law to have a pet dog in Iceland.
13. Your heart beats over 100,000 times a day.
14. Horatio Nelson, one of England's most illustrious admirals was throughout his life, never able to find a cure for his sea-sickness.
15. The skeleton of Jeremy Bentham is present at all important meetings of the University of London
16. Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people. [HAHA! SUCKERS!]
17. Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, everytime you breathe.
18. The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump.
19. One quarter of the bones in your body are in your feet.
20. Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
21. The first known transfusion of blood was performed as early as 1667, when Jean-Baptiste, transfused two pints of blood from a sheep to a young man
22. Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails.
23. Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin. [Then explain why houses that are uninhabited for long periods of time are so dusty.]
24. The present population of 5 billion plus people of the world is predicted to become 15 billion by 2080.
25. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
26. Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, and had only ONE testicle. [.....??]
27. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.
28. Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a "Friday the 13th."
29. Coca-Cola would be green if colouring weren’t added to it.
30. On average a hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute.
31. More people are killed each year from bees than from snakes.
32. The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.
33. More people are allergic to cow's milk than any other food.
34. Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.
35. The placement of a donkey's eyes in its head enables it to see all four feet at all times.
36. The six official languages of the United Nations are: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
37. Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
38. It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a church in Nebraska, USA. [watch out, Union.]
39. You're born with 300 bones, but by the time you become an adult, you only have 206.
40. Some worms will eat themselves if they can't find any food.
41. Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
42. It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open
43. The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is 9000 years old.
44. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds
45. Queen Elizabeth I regarded herself as a paragon of cleanliness. She declared that she bathed once every three months, whether she needed it or not
46. Slugs have 4 noses.
47. Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.
48. A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for 69 years.
49. A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue.
50. The average person laughs 10 times a day.

Cleverness

 

"Yes, pears in the shape of Buddha. A farmer in China who spent years perfecting his technique has now perfected a process in which he attaches a plastic mold to pears growing in his orchard so that they develop into Budhha shapes. He's produced 10,000 of them and is selling them for about $10 each."

~StumbleUpon

Gutsy.

I laughed WAY too hard at this.

On becoming better...

   I'm constantly unhappy with myself. I think to myself, If only I could be more like so-and-so. I imitate people I admire, thinking that it will make me a better person. But Julius Charles Hare has some great advice for my predicament, which is a problem I know I'm not sharing alone:

   "Be what you are.  This is the first step toward becoming better than you are."
   I'm not going to become a better person by wishing I was someone else. The only way I can start improving my life is by first finding out who I am, and then making the most of that!

The Spirit of '45

The life-size statue is here in KC! I must go see it!

 In today's Star:  "Carmelo Guastello of Kansas City took a cue from the statue and gave his wife, Rose, a kiss. Carmelo served in the U.S. Army 315 Station Hospital in Exminister, England from 1943 to 1946."

 How cute can you get??

For those of you that know about my real dad... this is him.

This is convenient for those Sabbath mornings when you realize your skirt is wrinkled only after you've put it on, but you're too lazy to take it off and iron it with a straightener (the life of a college kid.. yes, I did that every weekend last year...).

I'm not very good at...

1. Algebra.
2. Doing things the long/hard way.
3. Keeping in touch (i.e., answering the phone).
4. Talking/walking/typing/driving/doing anything slowly.
5. Staying in today and keeping my mind on present things.
6. Being nice to myself.
7. Learning things the easy way.
8. Convincing myself of anything good about myself. This is a very bad quality.

However, I do have some strong qualities.

1. Sight-reading music.
2. Making other people laugh (I'm not funny. I just laugh at something and people laugh at the fact [and the way] that I'm laughing).
3. Organizing everything I have.
4. Listening.
5. Forgiving.
6. Being prompt and on-time.
7. Learning things the hard way. Hey, at least I learn.
8. Convincing myself of anything good about someone else. This is a very good quality.


Today, instead of nagging at myself for the flaws I see and the character defects I need to change, I will focus on what's right about me. And when I'm done with that, 9.4354839 seconds from now, I will focus on making someone else's day brighter. That always makes me happy.

I laugh every time I see this.

This is nuts.

Air show plane crash, Reno, NV.

Ella Tenold, you will appreciate this.

   In today's Star:
   "Police in Roseville, Mich., arrested a 24-year-old roofer in August and charged him with reckless driving after he hit four cars. He had noticed that his brakes had failed but tried to drive on, anyway, extending his left leg out the driver's side door and braking "manually" (yes, as in 'The Flinstones'). According to police, the man was completely sober."

Divorce rings? That's not something I'd want to show off to the world.

http://thelook.today.com/_news/2011/09/02/7571320-will-divorce-rings-catch-on

I wish they would have won. This is so precious.

I don't know what I think

   For the past week or so, The Star and the local news stations have been following the trial of Stanford Griswold, a Black man accused of involuntary manslaughter for fatally punching a guy downtown last year. As the reports went, Griswold was approached by an intoxicated 24-year-old named Brian Euston. Griswold says he was annoyed by Euston, which is why he punched him. However, the hit knocked Euston backwards, and he cracked his skull open on the street curb. He died in a hospital later.

   Today the paper headlined that Griswold has been acquitted. My disappointment after reading the article prompted me to question just why, exactly, I was unhappy with the court ruling. Was it because the defendant was Black and the victim white? I don’t consider myself racially biased at all, but I’ve been forced to admit that moving to an area heavy with Black people has made me cautious. In our apartment complex, the Blacks around us are a little frightening. I’ve always liked Black people, but before I never lived near them. My area of Tennessee was unbelievably segregated; there was one black girl in the Nevada high school in my town; and I went to academy with only one or two Black people.

   Maybe my feelings came about because Euston left behind a pretty young girlfriend, and my heart went out to her as I thought of how I would feel were I in a similar situation. Or perhaps it was because Griswold could have just walked away, instead of punching this guy in the face. Violence is never the answer – I have always believed that. The attorney’s argument that Griswold was acting in self-defense doesn’t make sense, because there wasn’t overwhelming evidence that Euston was trying to harm Griswold. He was just annoying him. That is certainly not a solid ground for decking someone.

This is my favorite picture of all time

I have officially seen it all

   The latest obit to come in? 1,263 words. That's $1,366 for one day. Attach a large photo, add $100. Run for two days, add $764. Total number of dollars this family is shelling out for an OBITUARY... 2,330.
   That's got to be an obscenity.

I don't think this is right...

How could you legally divorce your spouse affected by Alzheimer's if your spouse doesn't have the mental awareness to sign the papers?! Either way, I view this attempt at justification as selfish and crude.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44530424/ns/health-alzheimers_disease/#.TnIVPuxIWnA

When I get old, may my husband still tell me my hair looks pretty.

I don't usually like Dilbert.. but this is intriguing :)

http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2011-09-14/

Mozilla Firefox has this thing called Webify Me...

http://mzl.la/oPcpiW

This is really cute. It's pretty accurate, too.

What Hurts the Most

   Yesterday was a bit rough.
   I heard that a certain person I've known for a long time wasn't happy with the choices I've made lately. I had a fairly accurate idea in my head of what he would say to me, even before I asked, but he hadn't come and talked to me about anything, which is not like him in the slightest. So I called him on the phone.
   "I know you're not happy with me," I said, "but I would rather you tell me what is wrong instead of me having to hear about it from other people. And I think you'll feel better if you tell me, so have at it."
   I didn't open my mouth once in the next ten minutes. I couldn't get a word in edgewise. Among the things I heard:
   1. I'm a whore and an adulteress.
   2. I've ruined communication between him and other people that he's close to, because he feels like he has to lie to cover for me.
   3. I've committed the unpardonable sin because I'm happy with my choices.
   4. This whole thing will blow up in my face -- he guaranteed it.
   5. He does not want to be around me or Dylan because he can't support what we're doing.
   6. He feels sorry for Dylan because I'm bringing him down.
   7. He doesn't know whose idea this was, mine or Dylan's, but that the only way to get back on the right track is to stop what I'm doing completely and get out of it.
   At first, the things he said pierced me through, and I quivered silently on the couch, tears streaming down my face, as I listened to him. But all of a sudden they stopped. I continued taking in what he had to say, but somehow I closed myself off to the point that it didn't hurt anymore.
   I've been emotionally abused by this person before. Maybe that's why I was able to stop crying: old habits kicked in, and I responded the way I have for years -- by appearing to have let it just roll off my back.
   However, it bothered me the entire day. I crawled under the covers that night and burst into tears again. Not because I regret my decisions; more so because such stinging criticism and cold abandon all of a sudden poured forth from a person I've looked up to for years. I asked for it, yes, but the way he approached it hurt nonetheless. He says he loves me, but ever since I've known him, he has had a tendency to ignore me, manipulate me, or try to run me on a guilt trip, if I don't do things precisely the way he thinks I should.
   Dylan tells me I need to rid myself of people in my life that bring me down like that. But it's a lot harder to do that than one would think. 
   Lesson from this: I am a little less afraid to ask for people's true opinions. I've become better at taking criticism, no matter how cruel the person is with it. And the more I practice being honest and straightforward with people -- the more I force myself to remember that I'm not perfect and it's okay if others aren't always happy with me -- the stronger I become at standing firm to what I have chosen and what I believe in.

Six months.

   Yesterday was six months for us. Yes. It's only been six months, and I'm living with this kid. I know, no one approves of my decision to leave Union and move in with him, and they say it's just nuts that I would do something like this -- "SUZIE? Really? She'd never do that! She's such a good girl!" -- but for heaven's sake, it's what I wanted to do, and I am happy with the choices I made. My life couldn't be better. People think they know what I'm all about, but I'm like the complete opposite of most people's perceptions. I appreciate my true friends who come and talk to me about what is happening in my life, instead of talking around school about what I'm doing with my life and how I'm screwing myself over, when they probably haven't talked to me since May, or perhaps NEVER in my life. I'm not an angel; I make mistakes; I'm not some innocent little dandelion that's never experienced life. But I AM smart enough to get a grown-up job at a reputable company; I'm responsible enough to move out from under the shelter of an Adventist institution and support myself (for the most part), keeping food on the table and keeping my spiritual life where it needs to be. I am going back to school next semester, and what will I have to show for this semester? Oh, that's right. Real-world experience, a resume, and a place of my own.
   These past six months with Dylan have been the best of my life. He's not ruining me -- he's making me better. He's helped me stand up for myself; he's taught me that it's okay to do what I want to do, and to hell with the haters. Some people don't really like him, but I don't care. I do.
   I love the people I got to know at Union and elsewhere in the world -- but seriously, come on, guys. It's old news by now. And I don't think you're talking about me because you're "worried" about my future. If you were, you'd have come and talked to me about it. Thank you to those of you that did. To the rest, shut up about it already.

Kitty.

   Dylan promised me we could have a kitty some day. As soon as we come up with $400 to spend on a fluff ball.
   In our apartment complex, getting a pet requires a $300 pet deposit, refundable at the end of our lease if the carpet is still intact. Add to that the estimated hundred dollars it will cost to adopt a pet from the shelter -- and there goes two weeks' worth of my pay.
   Every once in a while, Dylan will put his hand on the couch cushion next to him, stroke the air, and say, "Suzie, I want a cat. I want something to pet." Then pretty soon, he'll follow that with, "I don't even really care about playing with it. I just want to see how cute YOU look with it."
   Growing up, I always had at least one cat. But I haven't had one since my sophomore year of high school, only because I haven't lived at home. Now that I have my own place, I'm starting to miss having a pet.
   I'm saving my money starting now so that I can bring home a little friend. Any suggestions on names?

Someone just called about an obit for a Mr. Poffinbarger. Poffinbarger. Haha.

Labor(less) Day at the lake.

Isabella!

Johnny.

Us.

No one makes me happier.

I'm keeping him for the rest of my life.

At work today I burned time with this...

http://katiebarnes.com/

Today I am grateful for...

1. A short, albeit hectic, work day.
2. The specialty red velvet cupcake my boss bought me yesterday.
3. The thunderstorm. Goodbye, 100 degree weather.
4. Funny coworkers that cuss at their computers.
5. Dylan Rada's smile every morning.
6. My fantastically entertaining, somewhat depressing, but definitely GROWN-UP job at The Star.
7. Friends that do not forget about me, even when they are miles away, at different schools, living different lives. I want to list names, but that will get me in trouble.
8. People with last names like "Quer" and "Sprinkles" and "Peele."
9. Jazz music.
10. Sugar.

A man that does not know how to be angry...

    Henry Ward Beecher once said that "a man that does not know how to be angry does not know how to be good." I'm clinging to that philosophy right now.
   After looking at silly pictures (see below), listening to Anderson Cooper laugh hysterically, and listening to a couple happy songs, I was feeling quite better. The frustration of the day had begun to dissipate.
   Until, that is, I got an obit for a three-year-old.
   I had talked to his parents earlier on the phone; I expressed my condolences, and thought, Oh, how sad. But what got me - what really got under my skin - was the final line of the obit, right before the address of the funeral home:
   "I love you to the moon and back - and that's a lot!"


   So far today I alone have taken care of 25 obits. There's another girl working who has done just as many. Every single issue of The Star that prints has at least 40-50 obits on a normal day. And Sundays are nuts. Anyway, that's, like, 350ish people that die every week, just in the KC area. Now take that and think about how many people die in the world. It's an easy thing to brush off; I know. I did for years. They're just numbers until I see the stack of papers I have on my desk by the end of the day. Seeing something concrete in front of me makes it real. That's someone's little kid, a boy who didn't get to live life. It's someone's husband, their best friend, the most important person on the planet to them. I think about how I would feel if my mom died, or Dylan, or Ella, or a hundred other people that I love so much - and that's how all those families are feeling right now.
   Now I'm just irritated by everything. Some lady emailed me an obit and asked for an estimate; I told her it was 14 lines, which would cost $79; she replied with, "Is that within the 12-15 line range?"
   No. 14 comes in between 16 and 17. Learn how to count.
   God, give me patience.

I am trying to make myself laugh.

I like the word "kumquat." It makes me giggle.

Something like this would happen to me today...

Look at me wrong, I'll pinch your head off.

   I woke up pissed off.  And the fact that I’m being an idiot today has not helped.

   In my makeup pouch, I have a little glitter tower thing with 48,362 different shades of glitter. I never use it, but for some reason I haven’t taken it out of my bag, and I needlessly tote it everywhere. You would think after the first time it spilled, I would have removed it…

   Today as I was getting ready at the gym, the little tower broke and dumped emerald green glitter EVERYWHERE. All over the sinks and counter, down the front of my shirt, all over my makeup brushes, everything. And I had two minutes to get my hair fluffy and poufed and up in a ponytail before I had to leave. What great timing.

   Have you ever tried to clean up glitter? MOST IMPOSSIBLE TASK EVER. I tried to wipe the majority of it up with a wet paper towel. That didn’t work. I didn’t want to leave a pile of glitter there on the middle of the counter, so I blew on it, hoping it would kinda just spread itself over the counter. Why not make the counter all pretty and sparkly?!

   Aaaaaaannnnndddd…of course, I ended up with green glitter all over my face.

   I didn’t have anything nice to say then, and I don’t now, so I’ll leave it at that.

   I have to use my badge to get into the parking lot at work; but naturally, this would be the one day I forgot my badge. Long story short: I found a parking space 11,234,567,890 miles away, and the parallel parking was a fail. Ella knows how I love parallel parking – legitimately – but today it just wasn’t gonna happen.

  And, no, do not try to tell me it is the weekend, and everything will be fine in seven hours. It is not the weekend for me yet, thank you. I guess I could choose to be happy… it’s just glitter and a parking space… but what’s the sense in that? I’m entitled to a bad day. So I’m going to milk it for all it’s worth.  

Anderson Cooper laughing fit. If you have ever laughed at me because of my laugh, you'll want to watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYl-2Wsvfrc

The Argyle Sweater

Bunny Suicides.

Everyone hates, but Bruno Mars is a beast. How is he THIS good even in a live performance?! This song makes me happy.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/684911/amy-winehouse-medley-valerie-live.jhtml

Guys Like Flowers, Right?

   Last week when I was driving home from work, I got stuck in a pretty nasty traffic jam. I took an exit that I don't normally take, thinking that driving through town would be faster. However, when I passed a little fruit stand by the side of the road and saw a hand-painted sign that said "ROSES - $5.00/HALF DOZEN", I got an idea.
   My mom once had flowers sent to my grandpa for his birthday. "I didn't know what to get him!" she explained. "I always get Grandma flowers, but guys never get flowers. So I tried something different."
   If my mom can do it, so can I.
   I didn't really know what Dylan would think of getting roses, but I knew he thought flowers were pretty cool. And if they were from me, he would definitely appreciate them. At least, I hoped.
   I got out of the car and asked the boy working there for a half dozen roses.
   "We only have a dozen-rose bouquet left," he replied. "It's ten dollars."
   I pulled some cash out of my wallet and counted it. Only eight bucks. "Never mind -- I only have eight dollars. Thanks anyway," I said, and started to walk away.
   "Wait!" he yelled. "It's okay. You can have them anyway."
   After asking him if he was sure, I accepted his offer, but promised to bring him the extra two dollars on my way home from work the next day.
   When I got home, Dylan was napping on the couch, so I tiptoed past him and left the flowers on the kitchen counter where he would see them. A few minutes later, he woke up, and the first words out of his mouth were, "Who bought you flowers?"
   "I got them for you!" I said a little sheepishly. It took a couple minutes to convince him that I really had just bought him red roses and hadn't gotten them from some secret admirer. He didn't say much, but smiled a little and gave me a hug.
   Later that evening (like, three hours later), he said, "Suz, thank you for the flowers. I was a little embarrassed at first because I've never gotten roses like that, but it really meant a lot more than I let on. That was really cool."
   Stepping out of the box and doing the untraditional is a bit hard for me. But I'm learning that it's almost always worth it. Whatever you decide, whether it's to buy flowers for your boyfriend or to wear striped socks to work, make up your mind, and just go for it. Choose your path and run it, full speed ahead. And whatever you do, don't look back.

I envy the creativity of many people. But this guy for sure.