A True Jersey Girl

Tagged

2007-06-26T13:34:00.000-04:00

I have obviously deserted this blog for twitter. But one of my twitterfriends, Nibbler, tagged me on his blog and he is always so incredibly sweet to me so I'm gonna do the meme for him. It should be simple enough - 5 Things About Yourself - but I feel like I have told everything about myself that I want out there on teh intrawebs. I'll give it a try though, especially since no one is even going to read this!

1. I am really, really bad at math and Im nervous that I am going to pass that on to my daughter.

2. I could not possibly live without my ipod. I listen to it probably 12 hours a day.

3. I want to get a tattoo on the inside of my wrist but think I might regret it.

4. I have more pictures of Gerard Way and Jared Leto on my ipod than I do of my daughter. Eek.

5. I have learned recently that I have a highly addictive personality. I knew this already, but its become even more apparent lately.

Consider yourself tagged if you want to do this one.

A Quick Sketch Biography of True Jersey Girl

2007-05-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

One of my awesome twitterfriends, Chris Brogan, has the best way of communicating and starting conversations. He poses questions, short and sweet and thought-provoking, on twitter and we all think and respond and dialogue about them. Now he's taken it up a notch and asked us to do a Quick Sketch Biography. Now, Im fairly sure mine is going to be less-serious and less-techy than anyone else who answers, but its my biography and that's who I am. Its a great little exercise. So here's me, quickly, based on Chris's prompts:

The thing most people know me for is: being a little crazy and being able to have a good time no matter what else is going on.

The people I associate the most with are: people who also make having a good time a priority and who are good people despite their sarcasm and angst.

People who have influenced my life are: my parents. They raised me to think for myself, to speak my mind, to be strong and independent, to stand up for what I believe and to be able to take care of myself. They raised me to care about and be sensitive to other people (ok, so I struggle with that one sometimes). They taught me patience, mostly by displaying such undying patience with me as a rebellious and unruly teenager and continuing to show patience with me as a rebellious and just slightly less unruly adult. They taught me to love learning and reading and writing and traveling and being an active part of the world. Thanks mom and dad <3

One challenge I took on and overcame was: becoming a good mom, despite my mostly non-maternal instincts, my innate selfishness, and my “the-world-revolves-around-me” attitude.

My early years, before you probably got to know me were: wild and insane and a blur and definitely the best of my life.

You might not know this, but: I devour all the political shows on Sunday mornings, watch the cable news channels every night, and read the Sunday paper (nearly) cover to cover because I love knowing what is going on in politics and the world, even though it infuriates me.

I’m passionate about: my daughter, my family and friends, traveling, margaritas, and good music.

In the next year or two, I hope to: be promoted to Director, go to Oktoberfest in Germany and maybe back to New Orleans or Vegas, take my daughter to her first concert, and get one of those Sharper Image massage chairs.

Bamboozled

2007-05-16T11:14:00.000-04:00

I wanted to do a post on Bamboozle because really, it is my favorite weekend of the year. Bamboozle is a two-day alternative/emo/punk/metal concert/festival/thingee held in the parking lot of Giants Stadium each May. It started as a much smaller festival in Asbury Park and has progressed to a huge event.

The crowd at Bamboozle.

Last year was the first time I went, and that was really only because Jared Leto was going to be there with his band, 30 Seconds to Mars. And well, he's hot. It was so much fun and I found so many new little bands that I would never have heard of if not for the concert. This year, My Chemical Romance was headlining Saturday night and Linkin Park was headlining Sunday night, so there was no way I was missing it. If I couldnt find a babysitter, I was prepared to sell Princess to the gypsies if need be.

PatsyDarling and me, drunk at noon.

So Saturday started out great, with me, Patsy, and Diddy doing what we do best - sitting in the parking lot drinking. Hub went into the concert early by himself while we stayed and drank till we could barely stand. By then it was about noon or so and we headed inside to see some bands and continue the drinking. The truth is, I dont remember much about Saturday's shows other than seeing MC Hammer (and no, I dont remember if he was wearing the hammer pants) and pushing my way up front to see MCR. I had a whole list of bands I wanted to see, including times and which stages they were on (yep, Im a dork) and I know I referred to said list often because I do remember my friends mocking me about it. But the only way I know I saw some of the bands is because I posted it on twitter. Said by me on Sunday: "Oh, I did see Paramore, and I see from my twitter posting that they were good!"

Me at Bamboozle. Very drunk.

My Chemical Romance was good - not the best I have seen them. In fact I guess it was the worst I have seen them since the other times have been kickass and this time, despite my love for Gerard Way and my excessive alcohol intake, I knew his voice just didnt sound great. But I was standing on Frank Iero's side of the stage and he's so purty, it made it all worthwhile. I think he is overtaking Gerard as my dirtyboycrush of the moment.

Frank Iero = total hotness

Sunday started off in a similar way to Saturday - we met up with my cousin in the parking lot and she shared her vodka with us. What a nice family I have. However, I remember a lot more about Sunday. We saw some of my favorite bands - Armor for Sleep, Circa Survive, Brand New, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Thrice, From First To Last, and Taking Back Sunday. I also saw Halifax who I've never seen before and they were really good. Linkin Park was awesome. This was the first time I have seen them even though I have loved them for yeeeaarrsss, and I wasnt disappointed. I actually think Chester's voice is better live than on cd.

All in all, good times. However...my body ached for days afterwards from the two solid days of standing and walking and mosh-pitting. So now we're considering the Virgin Festival in Baltimore in August, but we're wondering if our old, decrepid bodies can take it. What a drag it is getting old.

I Never Blog Anymore

2007-05-08T13:45:00.000-04:00

I have been completely neglecting this blog and probably no one even comes here anymore since I never post. I know, I suck.

If anyone even cares anymore, here's what's been up with me:

- Had an awesome party the night before my basement flooded, and am having another party on May 19th even though my basement does not have walls or carpet or anywhere to sit. But the beer fridge and the blender work, so its cool. Its a CD exchange party where we all make CD mixes of our favorite songs and then burn enough copies for everyone, so you end up with lots of new music. I am struggling with what to put on my mix though because I know my friends hate my music. I am thinking I am going to do an all My Chemical Romance and Bjork mix, just for PatsyDarling, because I know how she loathes them and I want to torture her. Here's a pic of me and PatsyDarling at the last party, drunk as usual but festively dressed:

- Just came back from Disney, which was fun. But tiring. I'll probably get around to doing a post about it. Eventually. Maybe. We'll see.

-Went to both days of Bamboozle, which was awesome. Saw My Chemical Romance up close again, and saw like 30 other bands including Taking Back Sunday, Linkin Park, Brand New, Spill Canvas, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Armor for Sleep, Circa Survive, Thrice, From First to Last...and the list goes on. Highlights (other than MCR and Brand New) were seeing MC Hammer and Weird Al. Yep, you read that correctly. Good times. Drank again with my (slightly) underage cousin, although this time she provided the alcohol.

Ummmm yeah, I think that's about it.

Eek! I've Been Tagged!

2007-04-19T10:21:00.000-04:00

My former Jersey Girl Pinky tagged me on this meme - I am supposed to list my 5 most obsessive thoughts. If she only knew she was tagging the Queen of Obsessiveness...

1.Music - I completely and totally obsess about music. I have to have the latest cds from my favorite bands on the day they come out. I have to see them in concert as many times as they are within driving distance (or, out of driving distance, when I flew to FL to see My Chem). I obsess about lyrics and song meanings. I listen to music all day, every day.

2. Traveling - I have often said that the only reason I work is so that I can afford to travel...and its pretty much true. I love going to new places and seeing new things, or seeing things that I have only seen on television or in books. I am constantly obsessing about where I am going to go next...we are already talking about Fall 2008 trips and how they will effect our 2009 trips.

3. Hot Dirty Rockstar Boys - I am like a teenager with my crushes. Its sad, but it makes me happy. I lust after pretty much any boy with tattoos, eyeliner, black nailpolish and black hair who makes good music and looks like he hasnt bathed in maybe a week. And of course, the two boys I obsess over the most are Gerard Way and Jared Leto.

4. Planning Good Times- its like a sickness. I have to have everything planned out. Not that I dont like spontaneity - I do, very much - but I start planning the next weekend as soon as Monday rolls around. I hate being bored so I need to make sure I have enough going on to keep me occupied, and that means that I plan everything out - obsessively. I need to know I will be having good times every time I can get them.

5. And the thing I obsess over the most...I'm not gonna tell you! My mom reads this blog!!!

So there you go, my biggest obsessions. Im not going to tag anyone in particular, but if you want to do this one, let me know in the comments so I can swing by and see what you obsess over.

RIP Margaritaville

2007-04-17T12:44:00.001-04:00

So I planned to post about the amazing time I had on Saturday night with my friends and cousins. But that is going to have to wait because my basement is full of water.

The nor'easter hit Jersey pretty hard. At about 3pm on Sunday we started getting water in the basement, and the water is still coming in today. Now, if I had a normal person's basement, I would be upset but wouldn't really care that much. But have you seen my basement??? We have arcade games, pinball, air hockey, a big tv, and of course a full sized fridge full of beer. Its like a playground for adults. The best part is the bar, which is fondly named Margaritaville:

To make a long story short, we got several feet of water in the basement, and it is sewer water. Every time we pumped the water out, it kept coming back in. As of today, Tuesday, we still have about a foot of water down there. We got all of the low-lying stuff out so we didn't lose any pictures or memorabilia or anything like that. But our couch was floating around, the comfy chair is ruined, all the wood stuff (bar, entertainment center, shelving) is warped and going to rot, the carpet is done, and apparently the walls are going to have to be replaced as well if we can ever get the water out.

I am really sad about it because this is the place where everyone gathers, where I have had some of the best times of my life with my best friends. Its like a piece of history is gone. *tear*

The Boycott Begins

2007-04-10T15:25:00.000-04:00

Tonight begins my boycott of American Idol. There are lots of reasons to boycott the show (its the antithesis of real rock music where you start a band in your garage, play gigs, and finally get signed; it is incredibly boring this season; Paula Abdul). But what officially got me was Gina being sent home last week. I stormed out of the living room and swore to never watch that show again. Yes, I thought Sanjaya was cute in the beginning but he has to go, America. He is awful. And that Hailey chick, practically showing her goodies in order to get votes is appalling, although my husband (and probably most other men) is becoming a bigger and bigger fan of hers the shorter her skirts get. Which I guess is whats keeping her on the show.

So, tonight the boycott begins, and hopefully I can stay strong and not get sucked in by everyone talking about it all the time. My one caveat is when Jon Bon Jovi is on - and I am just going to tivo it and watch only Jon talking, no performances. Let the boycott begin!

A Quick and Painless Survey

2007-04-04T09:08:00.000-04:00

But first...is it wrong that I kept coming back to my own blog just to see that dreamy pic of Jared Leto in my last post?
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and also...I'm thinking of totally abandoning blogging for twittering.
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oh yeah and this too...I am no longer watching American Idol, effective immediately. Complete travesty. I am seriously never watching again.
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And now...Please answer this question for me; its quick and painless, I promise.

Is your blog anonymous, meaning that no one you know in real life knows about it? Or do your family and friends read it? And if people in your real life read it, does it inhibit your honesty?

A Taste of Chaos

2007-04-03T09:30:00.000-04:00

The weekend before last, we went to the Taste of Chaos concert. It was AMAZING. Of course we picked the wrong place to go for dinner (this dive/bar/restaurant place in Asbury Park that serves each person their meal individually - meaning they will give me my meal and then when I am done, they will give the next person their meal...this is not some new, chi-chi way to eat, its just poor service. There were 8 of us so it took about 4 hours for burgers). Since it took so long we missed the first batch of bands, which sucked. I wanted to see Aiden and Saosin. Oh well.

When we got to the concert, Senses Fail was about to come on. They were decent, not great. A little too screamy, even for me. Then 30 Seconds to Mars came on, with my beloved Jared Leto:

Jared Leto = Total Hotness.

Me, Patsy, and this chick Nicole forced our way up to the very front and when the band came on we got totally crushed. We were repeatedly kicked in the heads and necks by crowd surfers, punched by people trying to get in front of us (not happening), and just basically had our air supply cut off by the massive, oppressive crush of the crowd. It was GREAT! I know it sounds like it was painful (it was) but being in the pit rules. I stayed in for about 3/4 of the show and then left because I realized that A) I was spending so much time trying to stay on my feet and not die that I wasn't sufficiently staring at Jared, and B) I was getting really sweaty and my hair was looking bad. Can't have that.

Then The Used came on. I so heart them and have never seen them before. I thought they were awesome. Our group was split on how we felt about them - some of us loved them, some of us thought they were ok, some of us thought the lead singer was too unattractive to enjoy the band. Here was the best part of their set - Bert (the lead singer) says: "Ok, we are going to try something. Let's split the crowd in half (it was all general admission so no seats)." The crowd does as Bert says, so picture about 2000 sweaty, angst-ridden kids on one side and 2000 sweaty, angst-ridden kids on the other. Then, Bert tells them to run at each other. They start playing my fave Used song and then the two sides of the crowd run directly at each other and start the biggest, meanest mosh pit evah. Of course, as soon as he split the crowd I knew what was coming so I got my too-old-for-that-kind-of-thing ass out of the way. It was awesome to watch though.

My Fancy New Shoes and Frank Iero

2007-03-31T13:45:00.000-04:00

I bought these shoes the other day:

I heart them. They are not the most comfortable things in the world, as you can imagine just by looking at them. They were not cheap (I can be quite a brand whore - these are Michael Kors, thankyouverymuch) - in fact they are probably the most expensive shoes I own - so I feel like I paid lots of money to have my feet feel like someone is squishing and poking them all day.

Am I the only one who will wear shoes that hurt like a mutha but they look really hot so I just put up with the pain?
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Frank Iero is the guitarist for My Chemical Romance and I heart him even more than I heart my new shoes. I saw an interview with him on YouTube where they asked all the band members, which do you prefer, New York or LA? And Frank answered "New Jersey." That's right, Jersey rules.

As Promised, A Quite-Long Rant About the Government. I Do Go On and On Once I Get Started But You Know Me, I Have Alot To Say.

2007-03-29T16:08:00.000-04:00

(Toward the end of my long yet very interesting and thought-provoking rant are some pics)

Anyone who has been reading me for even a minute or two knows that I am not a fan of George Bush. There are alot of reasons for my feelings, none of which I am going to go into now. But what I am going to talk about today, kids, is how our President has screwed up royally. No, silly, not Iraq. Not the Alberto Gonzales thing, or the Harriet Myers thing, or Abu Graib or Gitmo, or...well you get the idea. No, today we are going to learn about hurricanes in New Orleans and their impact, and I am not talking about the ones you drink at Pat O'Brien's with the after-effect being a hangover.

Hurricane Katrina occured in August of 2005. That, for those of you without a calendar handy, was 19 months ago. It was a terrible storm. We all watched in horror as the people of New Orleans struggled for their lives and the lives of their children, their sick, their elderly. While watching all this on tv, I remember thinking that this could not be happening in America. We could not possibly be leaving our own people there to die, to stand on rooftops and beg for help, to stand on overpasses and plead for assistance. Didn't we all come together when the tsunami struck? Didn't we have Americans there, halfway around the world, within hours to help out? Didn't our government pledge (whether we delivered or not is another story) millions if not billions in aid?

So let's skip ahead a bit, so that you know this isn't all just my opinion on our poor excuse for a President. Skip past the part where we learned that FEMA couldn't find the convention center where all those people were stranded, even though it takes up about 5 city blocks and every news organization had been there for days. Skip past the part where we learned that the FEMA director's experience was in organizing horse shows, not managing emergencies. Skip past the part where our President claims he didn't know that there were people living in the Superdome without food or water. Skip past the part where we heard our elected officials questioning whether it was even worth saving a jewel such as New Orleans. Ok, you know I can't exactly skip all of it.

But now let's skip to the part where I travel to New Orleans, nineteen months after the hurricane hit. Nineteen months. The French Quarter, which wasn't hit badly compared to the rest of the city, is looking really spiffy. Sure, that's where the tourists go, that's how they can get those tourist dollars (like mine) pouring back in. But let's travel outward, shall we? Let's see how much progress our government has helped to make in nineteen months.

One parish (which is the equivalent of a county) has lost 77% of its population since Katrina. Can you imagine losing over three-quarters of the people in your county? And its not that the people don't want to come back. Here's the thing: they can't come back. They have nowhere to live. Yep, they can get a FEMA trailer and park it in front of their homes (or what now somewhat resembles what used to be their homes) and live there. Except for this - there isn't even electricity yet in some areas. In many neighborhoods, there are no supermarkets, no convenience stores, no gas stations, NOTHING. Every single store or shop or strip mall is completely deserted. Meaning, yes, you can go and live in your driveway in a trailer with no lights, and not have any food, not have running water, and not be able to gas up your car, but you won't have a single neighbor within miles of you because you would be the only fool to do it.

This is typical of what the houses still look like. Nineteen months later.

In addition to that, the red tape is just insane. You have to "qualify" for one of these treasured FEMA trailers, and not everyone who needs one qualifies. Insurance companies are not always paying out - was it flood damage? wind damage? an act of God? Let's nitpick so we can pay out as little as possible. You can't rebuild without getting your insurance money, unless you have a few hundred grand just laying around. A perfect example of ridiculous red tape causing people not to be able to move back: the government is requiring that all houses that are rebuilt (meaning, knocked down and started from scratch) must be a certain height off the ground to protect from future flooding. That makes sense, right? Yeah it does. Except that the insurance companies will not insure your house if its like that because its unsafe in non-flood situations. So even if you want to rebuild, how can you?

Most of the homes still have the markings on them from the searches they did after Katrina hit to see if there were any bodies, living or dead. Many of the homes have grafitti all over them - not from hooligans making trouble, but from residents trying to communicate with each other since they had no phones.

The graffiti on this house says "Lisa and Donnie are ok" - this was the only way to communicate.

Nineteen months later there are still holes in the roofs where the people had to climb to the attic and hack their way out with an ax in order to survive.

This neatly-cut hole in the roof (upper left) shows that these people were rescused from their attic.

This ragged hole shows that these people had to ax their way out of their attic themselves.

So here is my issue. These people are Americans. New Orleans is part of the fabric of this nation and so are the people, rich or poor, black or white. And we have left them to hang. Should the Mayor have done more? Yes. Should the Governor have done more? Hell yes. But where, my friends, does the buck stop? If the leader of out nation sees this absolute disaster happening in his country, to his people, isn't it his obligation to say - "I see that the governor has said she does not need additional assistance, but she is wrong. I am the President and my people need help." Is that too much to ask from our leader? I mean, it goes way deeper than that; it goes to him appointing his buddies to important positions rather than quaified people. It goes to him being seemingly unable to react in a crisis (9/11 anyone? The country is under attack and he thinks it is still suitable to read to a bunch of kids. 'Nuff said.).

Yes it goes deeper, but at the core to me is that as President, this nation is his responsibility. He overrides everything else. He makes decisions every day that take away our fundamental rights in the name of catching terrorists, but he can't make decisions to send money to save a city in his own country?

And now, nineteen months later, he has had the time to think about it. Time to come up with plans to fix the levees, to get money to those in need, to help the poor and middle class and even the rich come back to their homes, to prepare for the next disaster. Somehow, I am fairly sure that if this were to happen tomorrow in another US city, we would not be any more prepared nor would we get any more guidance from our leader.

I don't only blame Bush; please don't misunderstand me. I am fully aware that there's lots of blame to go around. But again, where does the buck stop? He is ultimately responsible, and he screwed up when the hurricane happened and is continuing to screw up now by letting a beautiful, important city rot away with neglect.

2008 can not get here soon enough.

More About My Trip, Part One

2007-03-27T15:00:00.000-04:00

The main reason that New Orleans rules are signs like this. Cheap beer and you can drink it on the go:

We had a great time down in the Big Easy, eating at our favorite restaurants (Crescent City Brewery, Coop's, Maspero's, Bubba Gump's) and drinking at our favorite bars (Lafitte's and Tropical Isle). We did lots of shopping and spent lots of money (that was our contribution to post-Katrina N'Awlins - you were not going to see my ass out there cleaning up or building houses, but I can pump money into the economy like nobody's business!). We really spent most of our time walking around, enjoying the atmosphere down there (so relaxed and casual, jazz music everywhere you turn, good smells on Decatur Street from good restaurants - bad smells that still smell good on Bourbon Street).

Me and Patsy on Bourbon Street, standing with another sign that you only see in New Orleans.

My favorite part, other than the obvious (which would be Voodoo Daquiris, with My Chemical Romance playing on the jukebox) was eating at Nola, Emeril's "casual funky" restaurant. It was not casual in terms of price, that's for sure (my meal itself was $27 - whereas I am used to paying $8.99. Yep, I am a classy broad.). But it was so fantastic - the meal was so scrumpdilliumptious (you heard me) that it melted in your mouth and the service was amazing. Amazing meaning that I asked the waiter where the ladies room was and he took my arm and walked me there. It was worth every penny, and me and Hub decided that we need to start dining in better establishments more often. Of course the next day we went to the place we call "The Drag Queen Diner" - I think the real name is the Cloverleaf Diner. Its in the gay section and is fabulous, in every way. The waiters are flamboyant (example: Mommie Dearest was on the tv) and the food is greasy but delish. Their sign advertising the food says, Check Out Our Weenies! It does not get better than that.

Here's me and Patsy under the sign that bears our name.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention I picked up some broad from Nebraska. She was visiting with her mom and was out drinking alone, so I let her join us for a few hours and I do think she had the time of her life. She even got me out on the dance floor which just does not happen. Hallelujah there are no pictures of that. Well, none that I will admit to.

And finally here's me and Hub in the Best Bar Ever, Lafitte's, with the best drink ever, the Voodoo Daquiri (for those of you who have asked - its made with ice, grape juice, bourbon, and everclear. Yep, everclear.)

So again, I will say that if you have not been to this fabulous city, you should go. There really is more to do there than drink and its a beautiful part of America that is truly like nowhere else you have ever been. If you are looking for a great place to travel, consider it. You'll have a helluva time and the locals will appreciate your support.

Coming next time: The Wrath of Katrina: Why George Bush Sucks So Hard and Has Deserted An Entire Region for the Past 18 Months, as observed in a semi-non-partison manner by your pal True. There are pictures you just have to see to believe.

If There Was A Prize For Worst Transportation To And From New Orleans, I Would So Win It.

2007-03-26T11:09:00.000-04:00

I finally made it to the Greatest City on Earth. But it wasn't easy. As you know, our flight on 3/17 was canceled due to ice. We were rescheduled for Monday night - but of course, because nothing is simple we were delayed for 3 hours, getting us into New Orleans at the delightful hour of 1:00 am. Luckily Patsy and Diddy met us at our hotel with our fave drinks (Voodoo Daquiri for me; Hand Grenade for Hub). Then, getting home, our flight was delayed another 3 hours. AND THEN, our cab from Newark Airport broke down. It was insanity I tell you.

Luckily, New Orleans is worth it. Another time, I am going to do a whole post on the state of New Orleans' post-Katrina state, but let me just say this - the French Quarter, which is all most tourists see, is still perfect. No damage (other than lots of help wanted signs since so many people have left and have no homes to come back to), and still lots and lots of fun. I know the media is telling you there is so much crime down there - its just not true. We had zero problems, zero. This may sound...bad, I dunno...but the crime is all outside the French Quarter and doesn't effect tourists. Its just like in most cities - it is drug and gang violence, which doesn't happen where the visitors are. It happens where the locals are.

The drinks were flowing, the restaurants were fantastic (the service was way better than usual, actually), the tours were crowded, the people were friendly and wonderful as always - it was the same amazing city its always been. If you have never been, now is the time to go. Support a city that desperately needs to get back on its feet and is totally worth saving.

I Have Still Not Made It To New Orleans And I Am Not Happy About It At All.

2007-03-19T10:20:00.000-04:00

So. My flight to New Orleans on Saturday was canceled due to the snow. It took me 3 hours to even get a call through to Continental, and once I did get through I sat on hold for over an hour and a half. Finally they got me on the next available flight out - which is tonight (Monday). So as long as I can get out of Newark tonight, I will be in New Orleans by about 10pm. Patsy and Diddy are already on their way down there - they got a 6am flight. I am at work. I was supposed to be in New Orleans from Saturday through Tuesday, and now I am going Monday through Friday. We missed St. Patty's Day down there which sucks, but we had a few people over and had an impromptu "St. Patty's in Jersey Really Sucks" party, which didn't really suck at all. We wore all our crazy greenwear that we were going to wear to the parades and looked like morons. Patsy thinks, after seeing how ridiculously green we were, that the Gods of Alcohol realized we were going to look like idiots on Bourbon Street with our green shamrock hats and tiaras, green sparkly sunglasses, light up green beads, etc etc etc, that they decided to spare us the embarrassment and keep us at my house rather than in public looking like that. There are many many pictures but I don't have them at work, and even if I did, I am not sure I should subject you to them.

So please, think happy thoughts for me that I get out of Jersey today and down to the best place in the world. And that Patsy really meant it that she would meet me as I get out of the cab at my hotel with a Voodoo Daquiri.

I'm in New Orleans. Please Send Bail Money.

2007-03-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

So this is what I was going to post tonight so you would know I was basking in the drunken debauchery that is my favorite city, New Orleans. However. It is snowing here and they are saying we're going to get 4-8 inches by tomorrow morning when I am due to leave. Flights are already delayed 3 hours out of Newark Airport. Flights are getting canceled left and right. I am telling you right now, if my flight does not take off tomorrow, I am going to seriously hurt someone. Instead of sending me bail money to New Orleans for doing something crazy, you are going to have to send bail money to the Newark Airport pokey because I, I don't know, punched a pilot or something.

I'll Be The Giver and You Be The Taker

2007-03-12T11:06:00.000-04:00

That's a quote from my favorite song right now, All Hail the Heartbreaker. And its how I feel. I feel like everyone wants something from me and its seldom that I get anything in return. So this is a rant about that.

I have this one group of friends who I love, really I do. But they are so needy. I am not going to go into too much detail because I forget who has this blog address and who doesn't, but let's just say that these friends seemed to be trapped in relationships they can't seem to get out of. I have been trying for years to convince them to get out, and finally, two of them are doing it. Which is great, really.

Except that every effing day, these two call me for advice. And believe me, I like telling people what to do so its not that I mind that. Its more that even now that they are feeling strong enough to get out, they are still so weak that they need to call me every day and say, "I don't know if I am doing the right thing, XYZ was sooo nice to me today, maybe I should stay." Its annoying.

And on top of that, another reason its annoying me (other than the fact that I can't tolerate weak people who don't value themselves) is that they are always looking for something from me without ever considering if *I* need anything. They call and call and email and email and its always about them. It reminds me of this line I always remember from the show Judging Amy - the guy says to the girl, I love you because of your strength. The girl says, everyone loves strong people because we never ask for anything. So that's me, the strong one who everyone loves because I don't need anything from them, I can just give and give without requiring anything from you.

Not that I need anything, I don't. I really am strong enough to take care of myself and make easy decisions, like leaving horrendous situations, all on my own without having to be convinced. It would just be nice to be asked.

Oh. My. God.

2007-03-08T19:53:00.001-05:00

If you don't fall in lust with Gerard Way after seeing this video, there is something wrong with you. See how pretty he is when he's about to cry? ~swoon~

This is the yet-to-be-released video for the song "I Don't Love You" - its phenomenal and beautiful. I so heart My Chem.

Talkin' Bout Good Times

2007-03-05T08:53:00.000-05:00

Another crazy weekend for your friend True. On Saturday night, we went to see Papa Roach in concert. There were 3 opening bands, two of which sucked (It Dies Today and Trim) and the other was good (Kill Hannah). After the show I met the lead singer of Kill Hannah which was cool. So last weekend I touched Evan Dando of the Lemonheads, and this week I touched some guy whose name I do not know from Kill Hannah. Touching famous people rules. Papa Roach was great in concert. I am not a huge fan or anything, but this is still the third time I have seen them in the last 5 months and they put on an awesome show. (That's Papa Roach in the pic.)

Then, we came back to my house for the "after party." My cousin babysat for Princess while we were at the show, so when we got home she stayed and hung out with us. It was good times. She is such a cool kid (she might be just a little under 21 years old so I am not going to give too many details. I don't want you calling Child Services on me). We all stayed up till about 6:30am talking and arguing and laughing hysterically. I was telling her, I so wish she was a little older so she could hang out with the cousins when we go out, and so she could come to New Orleans with us. I love that kid, she rocks. And here's the thing. Everyone says that our little group of friends is really hard to infiltrate. We are like a group of mean girls (even though there are boys in the group) and we don't really like new people. So sometimes when new people try to hang with us, they just can't. We are all sarcastic and we say what we think and don't care much if you get hurt by it. Its kinda like getting jumped into a gang. So here comes my cousin, a young girl of slightly less than 21, and she fit in like she had been hanging with us forever. Of course I have known her for her whole life, but she has never hung out with my friends before. She rocks, seriously.

America Hates Gays and Ugly Chicks!

2007-03-02T09:14:00.000-05:00

So in watching American Idol last night, I have come to the following conclusions about Americans:

1. We hate gays more than we hate Indians (please forgive me if Sanjaya is not Indian but some other nationality - I really don't know). Now, I LOVE Sanjaya. I think he is just about the cutest, sweetest thang I have ever seen. He is like a little puppy dog. But to send the other guy home, the swishy fella who can both sing and dance, instead of Sanjaya who is a cutie but can't seem to get enough confidence to sing well - its a travesty. My heart broke when they sent the merry lad home. Its just not right. He wasn't going to win, but didn't deserve to go home yet. That kid can sing, dawg.

2. We don't care if girls can sing, we just want them to be hot and take nekkid pics of themselves doing nasty things. Antonella has such a sub-par voice its not even funny. I would like nothing more than for a girl repping Jersey to be great, but instead she is pretty but can't sing and seems to have a serious attitude (alright, that part is pretty much Jersey, I admit that). She is just getting votes because she is pretty and she has all those semi-scandalous pics out there. And here's a question - why is it ok that she has these pics floating around (including her on a toilet and her drinking underage) and that's ok, but those pics of Frenchie in lingerie were enough to get her kicked off? I'll let you figure that one out.

3. The judges are pretty much morons. My favorite example of this is how one week they tell them they are playing it safe by singing xyz kind of music and they need to take more chances. So the next week they do, and then the judges tell them they are best at singing xyz music and they should stick to what they are good at. Whaaaa???? And, on top of that, if Paula Abdul ever constructs a single coherent thought, I think I will just about die.

4. Why don't Simon and Ryan just do it already???

What's Today's Earworm?

2007-03-01T17:30:00.000-05:00

I think I am the worst ever for these things - where you hear a song and then for hours and hours you can't get it out of your head. The absolute worst one for me is that commercial for the tv channel Fuse that features "Dance Dance" by Fall Out Boy but they put all the wrong words as subtitles. So for days I will sing - "Dance, Dance, we're fondling a bug till halftime." It makes me nuts.

Anyhoo- what's your current earworm? For me, right now, Its "All Hail the Heartbreaker" by The Spill Canvas (ha ha, its not a My Chem song, I fooled ya!). I just love the lyrics so much (listed below for those of you who are interested). What song can't you get out of your head?

I had the notion that you'd make me change my ways
My bad habits would be gone in a matter of days
I had the feeling that you'd open up my eyes
To a whole new world that had since been in disguise
But that day will most likely never come for me
And it's just my luck to end up getting stuck
To everything you are
So tonight I'll sit and pick apart your pictures
And overanalyze your words
But the truth is that I've never fallen so hard
It's taking everything in me
Just to forget your sweater so far
I had the notion that you'd make me forget the world
But your undecisive mind shows me that
You are "just another girl"
I had the feeling that those looks you gave me were real
What if I ripped your heart apart at the seams
Maybe then you'd know how I feel
I can honestly say that I never, ever, ever felt this way
Your lips, your eyelashes, your skin
These are the parts of your body
That cause my comatose to begin
I will sleep another day
I don't really need to anyway
What's the point when my dreams are infected
With words you used to say
I will breathe in a moment
As long as I keep my distance
I wouldn't want to go messing anything up
So don't go worrying about me
It's not like I think about you constantly
So maybe I do, but that shouldn't affect your life anymore
I knew it the moment you walked into the door
I'll let you get the best of me
Because there's nothing else that I do well
I'll be the giver and you'll be the taker
I guess that's how this one's gonna go
You've got me down on my knees and I proclaim
All hail the heartbreaker

A Long Post About My "Way" Cool Weekend

2007-02-26T12:18:00.000-05:00

So I didn't run away with Gerard Way after the My Chemical Romance concert. But this was still a phenomenal weekend.

Saturday, my sister K and I went to Hoboken to see the Lemonheads. The venue (Maxwell's) was so tiny, it was great. There wasn't a separate door for the band to come in or out, so after the show they had to walk through the crowd to get out. Of course, we ran over and walked next to Evan Dando (total hottie lead singer) and I rubbed his arm. I love touching famous people. They were really good in concert. The last time I saw them was back in the early 90's in their heyday and this was so different. Last time, it was a much larger club and we were right up at the stage and when they came on, the crowd surge was so strong that we all fell down (meaning, like 100 people fell, it was crazy and great). This time, it was mellow and the crowd was exceedingly tame. K and I were the only ones jumping around and I kept daring her to knock the lady next to her down, but she wouldn't. Still good times, nonetheless.

Then came Sunday. My beloved My Chemical Romance in concert in Philly. Rise Against opened and they were really good. The funny thing to me about them was that the portrayed themselves as badass anarchists with their stage set and songs. So the lead singer is making a little speech about Iraq and I am expecting a big anarchist statement. But all he said was "Its time to bring the troops home." Wow, you went out on a ledge with that statement, you wild man.

When we got to the arena, we were probably 25 people back from the stage. I was like, this is doable, I can see and I am pretty close. It was probably 25 people or so deep behind us, so we were mid-crowd. Then My Chem came on and there was of course the crowd surge and we just went with it and ended up maybe 15 people back. Then all these little mosh pits kept opening up all over, and the crowd was really rowdy and kept pushing forward and back. So every time the crowd pushed forward, we did too (and then refused to budge when they tried pushing us backward) and we ended up about 5 people back from the stage. We ended up so close to the stage.

The concert was divided into 2 halves. The first half, they did all songs from the new cd, The Black Parade. They were in black and white makeup and those marching band uniforms they wear. I believe they played every song from The Black Parade cd. It was phenomenal. Every song sounded great and they put on such an amazing show. Then, they took a 5 minute break and came back and did all songs from their previous cd, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. They took the makeup off, which was good because I got to see Gerard's pretty face. He looks great with black hair again (vs. the blonde he had for a while there). During this portion of the set, the crowd got even rowdier because the music is more aggressive. I got kicked in the head once by a crowd surfer but it wasn't so bad. And it was totally worth it to get kicked in the head to be so close to the stage.

I think I converted K into a real My Chem fan, if not by her own choice then by the fact that she was trapped in the car with me for many, many hours as we drove through the snow and ice and sleet to get to and from Philly so she pretty much had to listen to me go on and on with all my very useful and highly interesting My Chem trivia. Plus, she said they put on a great show, that Gerard is a great front man, and I think she is digging on his brother Mikey, the bassist. I will convert you all, one by one if necessary. Patsy, you are next.

Look Out Gerard, Here I Come

2007-02-23T09:23:00.000-05:00

I know you are probably tired of hearing about My Chemical Romance and my Gerard Way obsession. Patsy moans and groans and rolls her eyes every time I mention them. But too bad. I am posting about them again.

Its only two days till I see them in concert again! If you remember, I flew to Florida back in December to see them at an all-day-concert-festival-thingee and it was one of the best weekends evah. My seats weren't close, but I did get to see Gerard and the rest of the guys up close when they were signing autographs.

Gerard Way is so gorgeous it is obscene.

For Sunday's concert, I have general admission tickets, which translates to mosh pit tickets. Ya ya. I can't wait. I will be elbowing little 14-year-old emo kids to get up close to the stage. Yes, they will probably say, why is that grandmother knocking everyone over? But I don't care. I have been in mosh pits for longer than they have been alive (this is sad but true; my first mosh pit was in 1992). I CANNOT WAIT.

If you don't hear from me again, its because I have run away with Gerard. It could happen.
*ETA - Or Frank Iero. He is way shorter than me, but I could run away with him too.

A Long Post About My Kid, With a Cool Pic at the End.

2007-02-21T12:48:00.000-05:00

I see it as a big responsibility to raise a daughter these days. I need Princess to be strong and tough and not take anyone's crap, have confidence in me that if someone wrongs her in any way that she can tell me and I will kick ass for her, while also making sure she is polite and caring and "good." It's a tall order.

I am always working with her on what to do if she is picked on. The boys in her daycare who are slightly older - meaning like 4 or 5 years old - pick on the younger girls and call them babies or say silly things like, Princess you don't have long hair. When she does have long hair. Silly. But it makes Princess so upset that she cries and can’t sleep because she is running it all over and over in her head when she goes to bed. I don’t get why she is so sensitive (but I think my mom’s genes may be to blame. Sorry mom.). So I have been teaching her what to say – like, "Michael, and I am so three years old and I am not a baby, so you are obviously not very smart. Now get away from me."

We practice this. We also practice how to knock someone down if they hit you. We do this only because there is a little boy in her class who hits everyone, all the time, and I am not having that. The kid needs to get knocked down and I am fine with it being my kid who does it. I even told the teacher, if this kid hits Princess one more time, I am going to have to start teaching her how to knock him unconscious since you are not stopping it. She looked at me in shock, but she could tell I meant it. They just love me there.

Anyhoo, this is a hard part of being a parent. I don't want her to be a bully or to hit other kids without provocation, but I also don’t want her getting picked on. I think she needs to learn to defend herself, preferably with the art of sarcasm and wit, as early as possible. She has a mean face she makes when she is mad and I am trying to get her to use it with people other than me and Hub. While its not as intimidating as my mean face, its pretty good. Check it out.

Happy Mardi Gras!

2007-02-20T09:51:00.000-05:00

Its my favorite holiday of all - Mardi Gras. Yes, I love Christmas and Thanksgiving and of course, St. Patty's Day. But Mardi Gras is just about the best idea I have ever heard for a holiday. Drink! Get crazy! Go completely wild! Show your boobs! Whatever! Just be as absolutely insane as you can be on this one last day before Ash Wednesday when you have to repent and suffer for 40 days! What else could be as great as that?

We had our Mardi Gras party on Saturday and it was good times (above is the pic of Princess from our invitations). Patsy was completely hammered and was calling a 3-year-old the C-word (not to her face, and not my 3-year-old). I often wonder why I bother having these parties at all, though, when for me the REAL party doesn't start until about 2am when its down to just our little tribe of friends, jello shots, tequila and stale potato chips. Here's Patsy and me, enjoying good times, in our matching Mardi Gras hats:

Enjoy your Mardi Gras!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

One Month Till Heaven

2007-02-16T11:58:00.000-05:00

Only a month till we go to New Orleans. I can't wait. New Orleans is my favorite place on the planet. Truly, it is like home to me. This will be my 6th trip there. There are 6 of us going (we will, of course, be Princess-free) and its such a good group of friends. Patsy will be going with her man diddy, and the truth is that we can have good times anywhere but we have out best times in New Orleans. And my cousin and his wife are going with us, which completely rocks. The last time I went on vacation with him, it was to Vegas and that was good times. His wife is one of the coolest chicks on the planet. Patsy and I can't wait to show them around our city...all our favorite haunts...like Lafitte's for Voodoo Daquiris, Tropical Isle for Hand Grenades, Pat O'Brien's for Hurricanes, Coop's for the best chicken sandwiches that take 4 hours to make, and my favorite restaurant/bar - The Crescent City Brewhouse. New Orleans is the only place where Hub drinks way too much and throws up. I am so proud.

Between now and New Orleans, I have 3 concerts, and then another the weekend after we come back. Its complete insanity. This jetset life is going to kill me. Ah, but I do love it. This weekend is our Mardi Gras party and I can't wait for that. Next weekend is the Lemonheads on Saturday and My Chemical Romance (look out, Gerard, here I come! You'll recognize me because I will be the only chick over 16 years old in the pit!) on Sunday, and the following weekend is Papa Roach with Kill Hannah. When we come back, we have Taste of Chaos which I can't wait for. That's The Used, 30 Seconds to Mars, Evaline, Senses Fail, and some other bands. I love concerts. I am such a teenager.

Random Thoughts on a Thursday

2007-02-01T10:50:00.000-05:00

I saw at Costco last night that the band Roxette has a greatest hits cd. It features 20 songs. How is this possible?

Do you think that when Gerard Way sings the line, "I'm so dirty, babe" he is talking directly to me since I like dirty boys and my nickname from Hub is babe? I choose to believe so. Please don't burst my bubble.

It is amazing how a watermain break can change a 30 minute commute into a 90 minute commute.

I got some new trendy-ish cropped wide-leg pants and I am wearing them today with tall black high-heeled boots. I think they look pretty cute but I am usually anti-trend so its hard to know.

I wish I could find black eyeshadow that stays put and doesn't smear all over the place.

43 days till Patsy and our crew head to New Orleans! Woo hoo!

When a doctor says that your kid has a virus, I think it just means that he has checked her ears and throat and she doesn't have an ear infection or strep. He has no idea what's really wrong but hopes that tylenol for 5 days will make her A-OK again. Idiot.

Oh Maaaaannnnddddyyy....

2007-01-29T11:22:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's right, I went to the Barry Manilow concert a few weeks ago at Madison Square Garden. We were in *the* last row, which was fine because we got to stand up and copacabana without people behind us getting upset that we were blocking their view. However, the old bitties in front of us did not much appreciate us screaming all the words or my cousin repeatedly screaming "Barry You Are So Hot!!!"

The old ladies who hated us.

It was a good concert, I mean, even if you aren't a fan you still know all the songs. This was the coolest part: they gave out glowsticks and the whole entire place had them. It looked pretty cool:

And don't think for a minute that just because I was at a Barry concert that I have lost my cool. I am still totally gangsta:

Next concerts: Lemonheads and My Chemical Romance (both in the same weekend!), then Papa Roach, then Taste of Chaos (starring The Used and 30 Seconds to Mars, in addition to some other cool bands). And I can't wait for Bamboozle in May, despite the fact that its a 2 day festival thingee and I still don't have a sitter for Princess because everyone I know is going to this thing. I am contemplating taking her, I mean, she loves the same music I do. Think anyone would call DYFS???

This Is Why People From Jersey Have Attitudes

2007-01-25T11:55:00.000-05:00

I am not going to go off on a whole rant about this, but I just want it noted that last night on American Idol, they lied to you. They were not in NY. That was Continental Airlines Arena. In New Jersey. Not NY. I know the NY teams play there, but it is still friggin New Jersey.

This is one big reason Jersey people have such attitudes. We are always the stepsister of NYC, which I get because no place else in the world is NYC. But if you are filming here, playing football here, whatever, ADMIT IT. You are in NJ.

We get a bad reputation because all you see of Jersey is nuclear waste and smoke stacks and pollution and mobsters. Yeah, we have all that too. But we have other stuff as well that we never get credit for because its billed as being "NY".

Ok, off my soapbox.

Dude I Just Went to The Best Party Evah

2007-01-20T23:02:00.001-05:00

I hope this makes sense in the morning because I drank ALOT of wine tonight and I hope Patsy reads this message: Dude, I got the house in Cabo.

Ok, so we get invited to this party at our neighbor's house, they are cool as hell but way older than us. But we're like, ok, we have nothing better to do tonight and they live one house away from us, which in Jersey is like, 10 steps. So we go to the party and the hostess within the first ten minutes tells me about her cleaning lady, who is there working, and who gets only $50 for 5 hours of work and is looking for a house to clean on Monday mornings. So of course I book her immediately. I now have a cleaning lady, thank god, for only $50 a week. Hoo-ray.

So then, the party is going on and this girl of maybe 20 is telling me how cool Princess is, and I am like, duh, of course she is. So then she offers her babysitting services and she lives like 5 minutes from us. The only sitter we have now, really, is my mom. So this is a big deal to meet an awesome girl who wants to watch my kid. Ya ya. So this has already been the best party ever, someone to clean my house and watch my kid, this is great.

So then, I am talking to my neighbor (the hostess) who is totally me in 15 years, left wing, anti-establishment, punk rock crazy person, I love her. So we are talking and I bring up Cabo San Lucas, where she owns a house. She immediately offers it to me and my friends and is like, dude, you must go to Cabo, take my house, don't bring Princess because Cabo is not a place for kids but you must use my house whenever you want, seriously. And I am being all modest, as if I have not been planning the Cabo thing since I met her and I am like, seriously? I can use your house? Are you serious? And she is like, oh my god, you must use my house, you must go to Cabo, its the best evah, you will so love it there and you must use my house.

This was the best party evah, even better than one of my own because as kick ass as my parties are no one ever offers me the use of a Mexican party house out of it. I got a cleaning lady, a babysitter, and a vacation house in Cabo out of this party. Plus I drank some very expensive wine which has me quite buzzed at this very moment.

I have been trying to upload a pic of myself because I looked pretty badass if I do say so myself, with my dark hair and red highlights and black eyeliner for days, but for some reason it isn't working. Maybe its because I don't look as badass as I think? Oh, no, don't be ridiculous. I look BAD ASS. And I am going to Cabo. Don't hate.

Here's What I Don't Get

2007-01-19T09:05:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of things I don't understand about Republicans. I won't even get started on that because listing all the things I don't get could take a long time. But I do want to mention the one thing that's making me insane (other than the big who-ha about gay marriage - who cares?).

Its the war. Now let me step back a few years. I have never supported George W, but when he told me that Iraq had WMD's, and it was just after 9/11, and I had watched the smoke billow out of the World Trade Center from my office - well, I believed him. I had to - I mean, he knows more than me, right? (And, the supposed left-wing media did absolutely nothing to investigate this or question the administration at all, so regular Americans had nothing to go on but the word of our President). So when he told me that we were in danger I was in favor of the war. Nothing scares me more than terrorism, being that I live less than 10 miles from NYC.

Well. Here we are, all these years later. Iraq was not a threat to us then, although it is now. It seemed that we all "got it" when we voted in November. It seemed that we all said, get these morons who obviously have no clue outta there before they do even more damage. So, what does our all-knowing President do? He decides to send in MORE troops. More, yes, but according to everything I have read, still not enough to get the job done. The whole war has been half-assed to this point, so now he's going to send more kids to die but not enough to win.

I want nothing more than for us to succeed in Iraq. I love my country and I don't want us to fail or be viewed as weak. And before you say it, please understand that I support the troops with all my heart (my cousin is a Marine who served in Iraq and I am prouder than I can say). But I don't get how the President can be so blatently told by Americans that we are sick of this war and of his bumbling of it, only to have him say not only are we not leaving but we are going in further.

I don't know what the answer is so don't ask me. I don't know if we should pull out all the troops now or do it gradually or reinstate the draft and get the real number of troops we need over there to win. I don't know. What I do know is that George W. doesn't know either, and that is scary.

My Top 10 of 2006

2007-01-03T11:03:00.000-05:00

I was thinking I should list my favorites in various categories from 2006, because isn't that what we do as we enter a new year? We wrap up the old? To get ready for the new? But then I realized that I only saw one movie in the theaters in 2006 (the Zach Braff movie, I can’t remember what it was called, it was a'ight). So movies are out. And I don't watch much tv these days either. Hm. Ah, but music I know. Music I love. So here, without further ado, are my top 10 songs/cd's of 2006:

1. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade (cd): The beauty of this cd is what started my overwhelming obsession with this band, not Gerard Way's beautifulness (although that didn't hurt). I have said this before and will say it again - this cd is pure genius and if you don't like it there is something wrong with you. Get past the "emo" thing, get past the eyeliner and hair, and listen to the music and the lyrics. It's a gorgeous masterpiece about death that somehow manages to not be depressing.

2. 30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie (cd): I think this cd came out in 2005 actually, but it hit this year so its worth mentioning. Try not to think of Jared Leto as Jordan Catalano and just listen. Attack is amazing, The Kill is phenomenal, and The Story is my theme song. 30STM is one of my favorite bands and this is a terrific cd.

3. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Don't You Fake It (cd): I fell in love with the song Face Down because even though it is sung by boys it is an anthem to girls in abusive relationships to kick those losers to the curb. And the rest of the cd is great too - the highlights for me are The Grim Goodbye and Your Guardian Angel. Love this kid's voice.

4. Taking Back Sunday - Makedamnsure (song): I didn't love this whole cd, but it had its moments. Makedamnsure is a great song that I haven't gotten tired of. It is quite obsessive and I like that in my music. Their new single, Liar, is pretty good too.

5. Hawthorne Heights - Saying Sorry (song): I love the blend of beautiful, light singing with a harsh, screaming rant here and there. It's such a catchy little tune and I find myself singing it all the time.

6. Avenged Sevenfold - Seize the Day (song): Awesome song by an awesome band. Love how they slowed it down for this one. And the video is fairly disturbing but great.

7. AFI - Miss Murder (song): the whole cd is pretty good, but this song is so catchy and wonderful. Especially since Princess sings along but insists that it says "Miss Maria" (one of her teachers) instead of Miss Murder. Gotta love that. And my God his eyeshadow was tremendous on Dick Clark's Rockin New Year's Eve.

8. Fully Alive - Flyleaf (song): This whole cd didn't do it for me. I tried really hard to love it because I would love for there to be a kickass female rocker out there, but she just doesn't have "it" and her voice is just ok (though she does have a fierce scream that I love). But this song, Fully Alive, is awesome.

9. Circa Survive - Act Appalled (song): I would venture to say none of you have heard of this band or song. But I got a sampler cd at last year's Bamboozle festival and this song was on it and I have been a fan since.

10. Justin Timberlake - My Love & Sexyback (songs): Why I like Justin Timberlake is a total and complete mystery to me. I hate this type of music, I hate boy bands, I hate all of it. But somehow Justin breaks through it all and his music is actually good. Plus, I plan on bringing the sexy back in 2007.

Runners Up: Foxy Foxy by Rob Zombie, Tears Don't Fall by Bullet for My Valentine, Ex's and Oh's by Atryeu, Through Glass by Stone Sour, Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin, When You Were Young by The Killers, Pressure by Paramore, Garage Junk Love Song by Ropetree, and Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace.

What songs/cd's did you love that I missed?

My Short List

2006-12-29T09:32:00.000-05:00

The topic of "short lists" has been brought up so many times over the past few weeks, from my uncle at Thanksgiving dinner (who had the oddest short list I had ever heard of) to a friend at Princess's birthday party. I figured it would be fun to update mine. I did it way back when and you can find it here, but I am not looking at it till after I get mine done so I can compare without cheating.

Ok, first and foremost, you do know what a short list is, don't you? Its the list of 5 people you can sleep with and your significant other cannot be angry in any way. Its like your get out of jail free card (which would actually come in handy for one of the guys on my list).

For those of you who used to read me before my hiatus, I know you expect Jon Bon Jovi to be at the top. But no. I have retired him. He is like an honorary member. I figure that I have lusted him from afar for 20 years now and it just hasn't happened, so he is being forced to vacate his spot. Now if I were to meet him and the opportunity were to present itself I would kick myself for tossing him, but oh well, I like to live dangerously.

Without further ado, here is my list (keeping in mind that I actually have a rotating list of 100 or so guys who move in and out of the list depending on my mood, so this is based on right this very minute).

1. Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. He is my latest obsession and is just so damned pretty I can't even stand to look at him. But I can't stand not to look at him either. I love him with black hair, I love him with blonde hair, I don't really care. I just love troubled, dirty, scary rockstar boys. Although in my dreams he is taller than 5'9, since I am 5'8. This is from the concert I went to a few weeks back when I was thisclose to Gerard:

2. Billy Lane of Choppers, Inc. He is the one who needs the get out of jail free card, because he is facing 15 years in prison for manslaughter while drunk driving. Many thanks to my new friend CafeKym who kept me up to date about this even while I wasn't blogging. At least if he is in jail I won't have to worry about him banging strippers. Again, in my dreams he is taller than he is in real life (I think he is 5'10).

3. Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars and various movies. No one has dreamier eyes than Jared. No one. He is prettier than most women. I have met him before and he was a little standoffish. But the last time I saw him he was very nice and friendly, even touching a young girl of 8 or 9 on the nose in a playful manner that had me swooning (see pic from the Buzz Bakesale concert, below). Won't he will make a great 2nd daddy to Princess. Again, he is probably the same height as me, but again, in my dreams he is 6'5.

4. Wentworth Miller of Prison Break. Do I think he is a good actor? No. Do I care? No. He has that brooding thing down pat and when they show him on Prison Break covered in tattoos its a religious experience. Patsy and I are going to share him (and Jared too actually). I think we determined she would have Wentworth first and I would have Jared first and then we'll switch. Sounds fair, I mean, what are friends for? I have no idea how tall he is.

5. Frank Iero from My Chemical Romance. Yes I know I am obsessed with My Chem, but I can't help it. Frank is really cute and I love the tattoos and how dirty he is. Alas, I think he is shorter than me. Where exactly are all the TALL, hot, dirty tattooed punk rock boys???

So who's on your short list????

Is This Totally Weird?

2006-12-20T12:45:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I am going to see Barry Manilow in concert in January (yes, I know that fact is odd enough all by itself but I love me some Barry) and then to see My Chemical Romance in February and 30 Seconds to Mars in March. How many people do you think there are in the world who are seeing both Barry and either of those bands within a month of each other? Its very weird yet kinda cool, yes? Or no?

THREE

2006-12-12T11:55:00.000-05:00

Today, Princess turns three years old. I don't exactly know how three years have passed so quickly, but it also seems like I have known her forever. If ever I doubt there's a god, I look at the fact that I am the most impatient, self-centered person on the planet and I was given a kid who fits me perfectly and doesn't drive me insane. She is so cool. She listens to good rock music and knows all the words. On any given day she will sing My Chemical Romance followed by Ring Around the Rosie. She "hangs out" like a cool teenager and makes it fun to lay on the floor and play with blocks. She is smarter than me. She laughs so hard that it makes me laugh even when I don't want to. She will see a band on tv and know who it is ("Mommy look, its Jared Leto! Run Away! I'll Attack!"). She tells me she is proud of me when I do something nice for her. She is stubborn, hard-headed, strong-willed, and tough (sounds a little familiar). Even my friends who don't like kids just adore her because she is just awesome. Its like somehow I got the exact right kid for me. I am so lucky to have her.

Happy 3rd birthday, Princess!

I Almost Touched Jared Leto

2006-12-05T10:20:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am, in fact, in my 30's. I am not a teenager. My dad always used to tell me that he still felt 21 inside no matter how old he got, and I never understood that. But now I do. On a good day I feel like I am 22, and on a bad day (bad for those who have to deal with me) I feel like I am 16. And I was a baaaad teenager.

At the concert this weekend in FL (see last post to see what a rockstar I am, and see my next post - coming soon - to hear all the dirty details), I got to be very up close to two of my favorite boys, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance and Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars. I was like a total teenager when I was looking at Jared, he was just so dirty and hot. And then, he starts walking over towards where I was standing. All of a sudden I deserted Hub in quick fashion and basically bum rushed Jared. What would I do had I caught him? Hm, use your imagination on that one. But I didn't get to touch him. I was so close though. Afterwards, Hub was like, um hello, WTF was that, you just left me for Jared! I don't know what came over me but I just had to run at him, like a hormonal 16 year old.

And then, when I saw Gerard Way, I almost cried at the sight of him. He was so beautiful. I had chills, seriously. I didn't get the chance to bum rush him, but maybe next time. He is from Jersey so he'll understand how us Jersey Girls get when we see a cute boy.

One of these days I will start acting my age, but probably not any day soon.

I Don't Know If I'm Back For Good

2006-12-01T13:25:00.000-05:00

So I miss this whole blogging thing. I do. I still think to myself when something funny or crazy happens in my life, "gotta put this on the blog." I don't know if I have it in me to keep up with it like I used to though, I just don't know. Princess is turning 3 and she is a full time job by herself, plus of course my actual paying full time job which is turning out to be high stress and high drama (ah, lots of potential stories for the blog there, I can tell you that). Plus my actual life which is really crazy and insanely busy.

I'm not going to "advertise" that I am back, because I am not sure I am really back. But I'm giving it a shot.

Here's an example of how crazy my life is:

Tonight, Hub and I are flying to Florida for a concert. We fly out tonight (Friday) and come back Sunday morning. The concert is all day Saturday. Check it out here: Buzz Bakesale. I have become totally and insanely obsessed with Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance. Yes, perhaps he is a poser, and yes Patsy, I know he was a little scary with the black hair (but you know I dig that scary-boys-with black-hair-and-more-eyeliner-than-me thing). There is just something about the new MCR cd that blows me away; I truly think it is genius. And Gerard is just so purty. So I somehow convinced Hub that we need to fly to FL for a concert, and he somehow agreed. Life is good. I am going to try to smuggle the camera in so I can get some good pics of Gerard (and oh yeah, also of Jared Leto who was my obsessive crush a few months back and is also playing with his band 30 Seconds to Mars at the concert). This concert is just pretty, dirty rock boy after pretty, dirty rock boy and I can't wait.

Scary, dirty Gerard Way. Yum.

Feels good to be (possibly) back.

Taking A Break

2006-03-24T16:35:00.000-05:00

I know, you probably think I have been taking a break from blogging for a while now since I post so infrequently these days. Since I started working again, I just can't keep up. I don't have as much time to blog anymore (even though I still have plenty to say).

This is not goodbye forever, but more of a "see ya later" from your pal True. I am thinking of starting a completely anonymous blog where no one I know knows about it and I can truly say whatever I want. If you want the address for it, when and if I do it, email me at atruejerseygirl@gmail.com.

I will still stop by your places as much as I can, and I will let you know when I am back to my old tricks.

NIN

2006-03-13T19:20:00.000-05:00

I'm back from Atlantic City - we all went down on Saturday to see Nine Inch Nails at the House of Blues. I forgot how awesome it is to see bands in a club rather than an arena - that moment when the band first comes on and the whole crowd surges forward and you feel the crush of all the sweaty people, and everyone starts jumping around and the energy just takes over you. The first third of the concert was tremendous - absolutely awesome. The there was a little lull - I don't know exactly what happened, but the energy left. Then the final third was awesome - they played Hurt and then closed with Head Like a Hole.

Trent shaved his head, no longer having that longish black hair. He looked HOT.

He inspired me to do another "Short List" of the guys I have permission to have sex with and Hub cannot get mad. That will be my next post and you can be pretty sure Trent will be on it. Here is the last time I did it.

What Did I Do Today?

2006-03-08T14:08:00.000-05:00

1. I fired someone who has been with my company for almost 5 years. She thanked me.
2. I sent an employee home without pay who really needs the pay. She did not thank me.
3. I fought with a warehouse manager who thinks he is God when dealing with his employees. And I won.
4. I decided that maybe a trip to Amsterdam, even if for only a few days, would be worth it. I really want to go back to Europe. I am seriously thinking about this.
5. Its 2:15 and I am just having breakfast and taking a break for 10 minutes before my next meeting.
6. I have counted that there are approximately 42 hours before I get to see Nine Inch Nails in concert.

That's about it. What's up with you?

My Kid Rules and Other Random Stuff

2006-02-24T15:35:00.000-05:00

(added 2/26)

Have I mentioned lately how cool my kid is? What songs are other 2 year olds singing, may I ask? A little Baa Baa Black Sheep, maybe a little Old McDonald? Not my kid. Princess's favorite song is "Beautiful Son" by Hole, and when she sings it, she makes a punk rock face that kicks ass. She will be the punk rocker I should have been but never was.

She has also started getting scared of things, and she will cling to my leg and say "Mommy, I scared." So I taught her that we aren't scared, we're tough. So now Princess will say, "Mommy I scared - no, I not scared, I TOUGH! Grrrrrrr!" Its so the cutest thing.
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I have determined that I can't go to Amsterdam with Patsy and Diddy. Total bummer. But I can't rely on my parents to watch Princess for a whole week while I go swim in the Amstel River (it *is* a river of beer, no?). Its not fair to them. I so want to go to Amsterdam, its on my list of places to see before I die. I really am just dying to go back to Europe in general. But anyway, my amazingly cool cousin Chris is trying to plan a cousins trip to Key West (where me and Hub and Patsy and Diddy and J went in November). I am so in, because a 4 day trip is doable. We also just booked a cruise to Bermuda and the Bahamas for June, and we are bringing Princess with us. It should be interesting. We've never done the vacation thing with her before - we usually do the drop-her-off-at-Grammys-and-go-someplace-we-can-drink thing.
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Work sucks. The only good thing is that I am the Chairperson of the Employee Activity Committee and I am planning a trip to the local minor league baseball team's opening game - which just so happens to be on a Thursday when they have $1 beers. Coincidence? I think not. (Patsy, plan to take that night off! Dollar beers - you cannot pass that up!!!)

What's Up With Me?

2006-02-20T20:15:00.000-05:00

I threw a little shindig on Saturday evening for my friend who is moving down south (yes Edd, to a Republican state, but once a Jersey Girl always a Jersey Girl). It was over at 11, so me, Hub, Patsy, Diddy, J, and my cousin came back to my house to continue the beveraging. Oh, and did it ever continue. My cousin and Hub went to bed at probably 2 or 3 a.m., and me J and Patsy stayed up chatting and drinking. All of a sudden we hear someone coming down the steps and I see my cousin. My first thought was, yay, he is rejoining us. Then I realized, wait, he has on different clothes and is holding his keys. That's right, he was leaving to drive home; it was 7:30 a.m. We stayed up a while longer, debated rather voraciously about whether its better to be pretty or smart (thank God I am both and don't have to choose, haha), plus I think I may have told J waaaay too much about myself, and then we went to bed around 9 am. Then I was up at noon to shower and go pick up Princess and then have lunch with Hub's family. It was an exhausting night/day/neverending party.

In three weeks we are going to Atlantic City to see Nine Inch Nails, so it will be yet another insanity-filled weekend. I am thinking of dying my hair black before then - too extreme? Its been black before but I was much younger and I think it might look stupid on me now. I want to either go black or blonde - I am sick of being a brunette. I get bored so easily.

A Few Random Thoughts...

2006-02-17T22:52:00.000-05:00

I am about to go watch Bill Mahr and then pass out but I haven't been round these parts in quite a while so I thought I would give you an update on mi vida loca:

1. I am going to throw my boss through a window if she screws up one more thing, then explains it as "WE made a mistake and I (meaning her) will fix it." Because let's be real, a true Jersey Girl does not make mistakes and we all know the boss is not fixing anything but her nails.

2. Grey's Anatomy is the. best. show. period. I have been sick for 2 weeks so I couldn't stay up and watch it Sunday but I tivo'd it. I watched it Monday afternoon and bawled my eyes out. Like when Bailey's husband died on the table! That look in McDreamy's eyes! And then he came back to life! And then McDreamy saying "where is she?" after the bomb went off and Addison comes running out but uh-uh, we all knew he was looking for Meredith! So then I watched it again on Thursday night and yup, I cried again. I am a disaster watching that show.

3. My cousin is trying to plan a trip to Vegas, but he is talking about December. Hub can't take off in December so I said I couldn't go. So then everyone starts replying that if True isn't going, they aren't going either. Go me! I rock!

4. My kid is smarter than your kid. She is two, and she is speaking English and Spanish. She knows her days of the week and her numbers in English and Spanish. We don't speak Spanish - she has picked it up from school. I am so proud of my bilingual two year old. Si!

5. Tomorrow night I am throwing a bon voyage party for my friend who is moving to South Carolina. There is an open bar, me and Patsy will both be there, and its going to get ugly because I have had two BAD weeks of being violently ill and feeling violent towards my boss and I am going to take it out on my liver.

That's it for now...I'll visit soon, promise!

Shufflin'

2006-02-03T23:17:00.000-05:00

This is how much I rock:

I put my beloved iPod on shuffle, and first came Air Supply's "All Out Of Love" followed by Hole's "Teenage Whore." I so rock.

My Third Husband

2006-01-21T18:41:00.000-05:00

I kinda played hooky from work yesterday and went into NYC to the Motorcycle Show at the Javitz Center. It was pretty cool - since it was a weekday it wasn't as crowded as it would have been on a weekend, and it wasn't as big and overwhelming as the Auto Show.

But most importantly, I met Billy Lane again (Billy will be my third husband, as Jon Bon Jovi will be my second).

Yep, he is touching me.

Hub and I went up to his booth before he got there and talked to one of his employees for the longest time. She was so cool, and she reiterated what I already knew - that Billy is a sweetheart. He was due to get to the booth at 2pm to sign autographs but by 2:15 he still wasn't there. I figure he was at some bar, which was fine with me because I wasn't even on line yet. When he finally got there I saw him from afar, and he had his dreads pulled back in a knit cap and looked a little gangsta. Cool. Hub thought he didn't look as good with his hair back, but I disagreed.

We got on line at some point, and while we were online some jerkoff was in the booth, yelling and being completely obnoxious. The employee we had been talking to earlier came over by us and was like, can you believe this guy, he is the biggest ass. I am looking at the guy and thinking, I know this dude. Finally it hit me - he was the lead singer from Smashmouth. He was a complete ass, and finally one of the other employees escorted him away from the booth.

That Jerk From That Sucky Band Smashmouth, and Billy.

We get up to Billy and I started getting nervous. Not because I was seeing my future husband, but because I was afraid my previous impression of him as a kickass guy was going to be shattered if he wasn't as cool as the last time I met him. Well, no need to worry. He was SO awesome. He is so down to earth and just a regular guy. Hub told him that - that he is impressed with what a nice person he is - and Billy thanked him and said that he always promised himself and his folks that he would never change. We talked to him for a bit (Billy actually spends time with each and every person who comes up for an autograph, as opposed to those OCC jerks who treat it like an assembly line and don't even LOOK at the fans, much less speak to them). He is totally the kind of guy who you want to hang out with at a bar, do some shots and drink some beer, and just hang. Hub wants to invite him to one of our parties, which of course I am totally cool with ;)

We also met Matt Hotch, another chopper builder, and he was equally cool. He is much shyer, not as outgoing as Billy, but really cool. We had a normal conversation with him and he was completely down to earth.

Matt Hotch, Cool Guy

Honestly, I am getting more and more respect for these bike builders - their work is awesome and they are completely cool.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

2006-01-13T08:56:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe not exactly today, but it was 20 years ago that the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off was released. This is one of the greatest movies of all time and its is one of the movies I quote most often (I hail from a family where every other word we say to each other is a movie line).

I will get back to that in a minute, but first let me tell you how this movie inspired me. While it is a hysterically funny movie, my favorite scene is at the Chicago Art Museum where Cameron is looking at the Seurat painting while The Smiths play in the background. He stares and stares at the painting until it all becomes a blur, and it is really such a touching scene. My friend C and I decide we must go see this painting in real life, so we hop in the car and drive from Jersey to Chicago (stopping only to visit Notre Dame). It was one of the most fun trips in my life (and Chicago is one of my favorite places to visit...I even considered moving there). We basically traveled through Chicago as Ferris did - going to the Sears Tower and leaning against the window looking down (yes, they yell at you for doing that), going to a baseball game and yelling "Swing batta batta batta...sa-wing, batta," and of course, seeing that huge, beautiful painting (a copy of which hangs in my dining room) and singing "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" while gazing at it and letting it become a blur. Awesome.

So onto the quotes - my most often used quote is a possibly obscure one, but its "Snooty? Snotty!" from when they are in the fancy restaurant with Ferris pretending to be Abe Froehman, the sausage king of Chicago. There are so many good ones...what's your favorite quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

Its Lonely At The Top

2006-01-11T12:14:00.000-05:00

But first...COMING SOON - Christmas pictures, Princess's birthday pictures, and New Year's Eve pictures. Note to Patsy: you were not as neat and clean while puking on NYE as you thought. Hub found chunks in various places in the bathroom. He cleaned it up, so I am not complaining.
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There are things I love about my job (working in HR). I get to help people with their issues, give them a paycheck, give jobs to qualified people, be a sounding board for suggestions, sell ideas to upper management and then implement them, etc etc etc. But there are things I really hate about working in HR.

The main one is that you can't get close to anyone. I know things about employees, like if they are going to be disciplined, what their raises will be, what their bosses say about them behind their backs, how much their bonus will be, if they are going to be fired. And its hard to look people in the eye and smile and act as if things are normal when I know something's going on. I want to tell them (especially the nice ones), but of course I can't. And the worst part is that in this company, I handle all disiplinary action. So if someone in the company is getting written up, I am the one doing it.

You may remember a few months back when I first started this job, I mentioned "the cool girl" who asked me to go out to lunch with her and her little group. Well these 3 girls are my "crew" here. But as it turns out, the "cool girl" is not liked by her direct manager nor by her VP. One of the other girls is not performing as well as they expected. One of their other friends in the company (who I am not friends with) is going to be fired any day now (I am looking for her replacement and I am going to be the one to fire her). I can't tell them any of this. So how do I go out to lunch and chat and not tell my friends these things?

Another guy, one of our Directors, is going to be written up this week. I have worked really hard to break through this guy's rough exterior and get him to trust me and know I am not your typical HR person. And now, I am going to have to write him up for his attitude. Fun.

What I have realized is that, despite the fact that I DESPISED my former company, the one good thing about it was that there were 6 of us in the department so I could be friends with my co-workers. They were going through the same thing I was. But here, its just me and my director in the department so its a very lonely place to be. I am giving myself a year here, to learn all I can and gain as much experience as I can, and then I am moving on. I have to, for my own sanity.

I Have the Best Hub Evah.

2005-12-28T09:44:00.000-05:00

Well hello strangers, I am back. My boss is off this week, so despite a huge workload that is burying me I am here with you! What a gal!

Christmas was just lovely this year. I think I got the best gifts evah this year. I made up a new song to celebrate my gifts: "Have a Coachy, Coachy Christmas, right this very moment..." Catchy, no? This is my song for this year because Santa was goooood to True in the Coach bag department. I got 2 wristlets, a handbag, and an ipod cover. And three of those were from Hub - now, if you know anything about Hub its that he is cheap (frugal? cautious with money? whatever, the man does not like to spend money). So I open some gifts from him, and he got me cool stuff (books I wanted, peppermint foot lotion, other goodies) and as I am getting mad because he didn't get me the one thing that I actually dropped hints about (the new White Stripes cd), he hands me a box. I unwrap it to find a shoe box. Did he buy me Manolos? Let's not get crazy. So I open it to find a Coach box inside, tied with a pretty red ribbon. Inside was a holiday patchwork wristlet. Woo hoo! I am in shock, as Hub thinks that Coach bags are the biggest ripoff on the planet, next to Kate Spade bags and Louis Vuitton bags and all the other bags near and dear to my heart. Then he hands me the next gift. Again, a shoe box, again with a Coach box inside it, this time with a holiday patchwork handbag in it. My eyes are as big as saucers. He tells me I can pick one of the two to keep (which he later relented on and said I could keep both. Yup, I am spoiled.). And after that ANOTHER shoebox, with ANOTHER Coach box in it. What the...??? This time its the khaki signature ipod cover with hot pink trim. My Hub, the man who only buys shoes when he can get them at Kohl's for $5, bought me THREE Coach items! Then we go to my mom's, and she bought me another Coach wristlet! Whoa! Can a girl get any luckier than that??? Sing it with me..."have a Coachy, Coachy Christmas..."
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On a less-self-absorbed note, Princess LOVED Christmas. She loved her gifts and she thinks Santa is the greatest guy ever. Well, I guess that is still self-absorbed because its my kid becoming like her mom and loving to get gifts. Too bad. I also love giving gifts, I will have you know. I bought Hub a Steel Curtain jersey, signed by all 4 members of the Steel Curtain (Hub is a huge Steelers fan). And I bought him a few books on choppers, and only one of them had my next husband's pic in it (Billy Lane). So see, that wasn't a selfish gift at all. Hardly. Hmm.

My 2-Night Bon Jovi Review

2005-12-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Last night was the second of my two Bon Jovi concerts this week. On Monday night, I was sitting in floor seats as close to Jon Bon Jovi as I have ever been (about 15 feet from him), while last night I was muuuuuch further (upper tier, 15th row).

Now, you know I love me some Bon Jovi, and I would never ever say that one of their concerts wasn't good. But I will say this: These were my least favorite of all the times I have seen them (and I have seen them well over 50 times). They played too many songs from the new CD for my taste. I will never understand why performers who have been around for years and years don't realize that when we come to see them in concert, we want to hear the songs we know all the words to and the ones that actually made us fans of them in the first place. A few new songs, yes. But 8 or 9? Too too much.

My other complaint is the way they revamped a few of the older songs. Take Blaze of Glory for example. It starts out mellow, but then it kicks in and starts rockin. Well, not the version they did. It stayed mellow, and that took away from the enjoyment of the song. And there were a few songs like that, songs that they tried to change up and it just didn't work (if you have heard their "This Left Feels Right" cd, you know that they should leave their songs alone and not try to rearrange them).

But with those complaints aside, I will still say that Bon Jovi is one of the best live bands I have ever seen. The way they connect with the audience is unparalled. Jon touches as many people in the crowd as he can reach, and they are always finding new ways to reach the people in the not-so-good seats (like little secondary stages out in the middle of the arena where Jon sings from). Even the new songs were performed well, and they did play some of my favorite live songs (Bad Medicine, Keep the Faith). Even though this was definitely not my favorite setlist by a long shot, I was still not disappointed. I brought my 16-year-old cousin J and her friend with me, and they were singing along and had a great time. They thought it was an amazing concert (maybe because they didn't have 50+ other shows to compare it to). So that alone made it worthwhile.

And most importantly, my dear God, JBJ is still so incredibly hot its not even funny. Being so close to him, I got a really good look. His skin is just perfect, flawless. His hair is still awesome. And the ass...well, what can I say. A-Mazing. My friend who came with me (and who was at my first Bon Jovi concert with me in 1986) and I were swooning. Yes, swooning, as in, oh my God, hold me up, he is so hot I may just pass out. Seriously.

Merry Christmas, Everyone! See ya in the new year!

I Know, I Suck

2005-12-16T16:03:00.000-05:00

I have just been too busy to blog lately. I am surprised anyone comes here anymore. I am sorry, but life has just gotten in the way lately and shows no signs of backing off. As an example, let me tell you my schedule for this week:

Tomorrow: Kick Ass Christmas Party at my house
Sunday: Recovery from said Christmas party, and then an afternoon kiddie Christmas party.
Monday: Bon Jovi concert, plus a MAJOR celeb is coming for meetings at work
Tuesday: Dinner with one of my friends
Wednesday: Work Holiday Party
Thursday: Bon Jovi concert
Friday: wrap gifts
Saturday: Niece's Christmas pageant, and then dinner at my aunts
Sunday: Christmas at Mom and Dad's with the whole fam

The thing is that yes, this is a particularly insane week in my life, but its not totally out of the ordinary. I feel like I never stop. So blogging has taken a backseat. I am hoping 2006 will calm down just a tad so that I can catch up on all my buddies and what you guys are up to.
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Thanks to all of you who have emailed me asking for my home address to send a Christmas card. It means alot to me, truly. But I just can't do it. Too many freaks out there, and I can't take any kind of chances with my daughter. So please know that I am grateful for the thought and its nothing personal. Just gotta stay anonymous.
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I will try to be back before Christmas with my Bon Jovi concert reviews, but just in case....MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANNUKAH, HAPPY KWANZAA...whatever you celebrate, make it a good one.

No Work For Me Today! And My Dilemma...

2005-12-09T15:23:00.000-05:00

So we got about 6 inches of snow last night and this morning, and Princess' day care was closed. I called work and they were having a delayed opening - but what can I do? I had to call out. This is the drama of being a working mom, I suppose. So, I called my boss and told her I wouldn't be in today. During my interview she told me she was super-flexible and understood what it was like to have young children while working. She seemed cool about it when we spoke this morning, but I suppose we will find out on Monday just how flexible she really is.
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So here is my dilemma. Our annual Christmas bash is next Saturday night. There is this one couple that comes to my parties all the time. The husband is a huge alcoholic, and not the fun kind either. Whatever, his alcoholism is not my problem. What *is* my problem is that they come emptyhanded and then he goes to my bar and drinks bottles and bottles of the expensive stuff. At my last party, which I guess was Mardi Gras, this guy drank a whole $50 bottle of Grey Goose vodka and then started on a $40 bottle of Cabo Wabo tequila. So how do I keep this guy away from the good stuff this year? I hate to put everything away, because I don't mind people having a drink or two (Patsy can have as much as she wants). But this guy is trashed when he arrives at my house and then its like he targets my pricey stuff the second he gets there. Is it rude to put signs on the stuff I don't want him ingesting that say "Do Not Drink This Under Penalty Of Death"?
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The most exciting part of next week's party is going to be the Howlers (in our Jersey-ease, we pronounce it Howlah, btw). It is a delicious little recipe we picked up in Key West - vodka, pink lemonade, ice and Everclear in a blender. Delish. The last time I had a "real" bartender at my party he refused to use Everclear in the Voodoo Daquiris we wanted him to make because he thought we would all go blind. Little did he know we drank those things by the gallon down in our beloved N'Awlins. This time there will be no pesky bartender prohibiting drinks. Yippee!

Sunday Stuff

2005-12-01T15:01:00.000-05:00

But first...wow, I can't believe not one person said anything negative about gay marriage. Guppyman must have been busy. Or maybe it was because I told you how close to the mob I am (no, I didn't grow up in Nutley, it was Union) and now you don't want to cross me. Whatever. I am quite impressed with you guys.
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And also...Go Giants! Frickin Feeley did miss another field goal, but at least it didn't cost them the game. I did get some pleasure in knowing that my good friend J, a die hard Cowboys fan, was out in the bitter cold watching his team suck and lose.
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And finally...Lots of people say lots of things about me. Some good, some bad. Whatever. But I had to share with you the best description of me that I have heard lately. My friend Jose, who happens to unfortunately be blogless, emailed me about my last entry concerning gay marriage. He complimented me on what I wrote and then said this:

"That's one of the reasons I love you...that and because you can drink as if we we're in a speakeasy during prohibition not knowing when the next bottle will arrive."

Yay me!

How Is This Possible?

2005-12-01T12:49:00.000-05:00

But first...you all probably watch The Sopranos and think its not really all mob'd out like that in every day Jersey life, right? Wrong. Yesterday they found the body of a capo in the Genovese crime family in the trunk of a car in the parking lot of a diner (but of course its a diner, its Jersey after all). Where is the diner, you may ask? In the town where I grew up. It was a super-Italian town (I am not bashing the Italians; Hub is one of them) and the mob was just a part of every day life. I remember as a kid, a guy on my street got shot when he opened his door - a mob hit - except they went to the wrong house, killed the wrong guy. Yay, New Jersey!

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I know I have a couple of right-wingers who read me, so you will just have to excuse this teensy tirade (or comment on it nicely, people, I am no longer tolerating anything other than civility from my commentors). Did anyone see this? How is it that a country that as recently as 1994 did not acknowledge blacks to be equal to whites is so incredibly far ahead of us on a social issue like this?

I know that people have issues with gays getting married, but I don't really get why. I can understand a religious ceremony being out of the question (don't get me started on religion and gays, that is a whole 'nother tirade). But I didn't get married in a church, and my marriage is just as valid in the eyes of the law as someone who did. It does not diminish my marriage in the slightest to have a gay couple who are in love declare that they will spend eternity together. I don't understand at all how it taints the sanctity of marriage to let people in love get married. And please don't bring up the "next thing you know, people will marry their dog" argument because that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. How you can compare two human beings making a decision that effects their lives with some idiot wanting to marry his dog - well, its just insulting. I have gay friends and relatives who have been with their significant others longer than I have been with Hub - they own homes together and have children together (and lead way more normal and conventional lives than I do, btw). Why shouldn't they get the benefits of being married (healthcare, pension, tax stuff, etc) if they want to get married?

Honestly, I don't really get why people care so much about this issue. What difference does it make to YOU personally who gets married? Maybe its because I live in a liberal state where we see all kinds of people all day long and its not shocking at all to see homosexuals together, but what consenting adults do is really not my concern. And I don't believe it should be a concern of the law. Besides, don't you think we have SO MANY MORE things to worry about than who gets married? I personally want my lawmakers concentrating on getting us out of Iraq and protecting us from terrorism and things like that rather than whether two men can get married. Puh-lease.

If you are against gay marriage, I would really like to know why - and you can't bring up religion because we are talking about a civil ceremony, and you can't bring up marrying animals because then I will know you are from Alabama and I will ban you from my site :P

A Slogan For My State

2005-11-30T08:48:00.000-05:00

Did anyone see The Daily Show last night? I love me some Jon Stewart and that show is among my favorites even though it keeps me up past my bedtime. Well, last night they were talking about Jersey and how the state is looking for a slogan. They interviewed our interim governor Richard Codey (our last governor resigned amidst a gay scandal which was the least of his worries, really), which was pretty funny. They showed a map of my fine state and showed how perfect it is as a route to get to other places, but not a place to actually visit. They showed streets in what I assume to be Irvington or Newark and how scary and crime-ridden they are, and then roads in what I assume to be Hudson County (sorry Patsy Darling) and how congested and smelly they are. It was a pretty accurate piece on what people perceive Jersey to be. And it was really funny (yes, I can laugh at my own state's shortcomings).

But my real question is, why aren't they coming to the one and only True Jersey Girl for a slogan? "Bon Jovi, Big Hair, and Bruce - What More Could You Want?" I mean, if that (plus my charming personality) does not make you want to visit the Garden State, I don't know what will.

The Giants Suck

2005-11-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

Have you ever notived how hard it is to concentrate on work when your boss is out? Well, not only is my boss out, but most of the company is out. Until Thursday. The big question is, will I get ANYTHING done this week???
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"Jay Feely will be kicking himself all week. But if Sunday was any indication, he'll probably miss." This is the best quote I have seen about last night's fiasco of a game between the Giants and the Seahawks. This one isn't bad either: The more the Seahawks tried to hand the game to the Giants, the more Jay Feely kept kicking it back.

Mr. Feely. You have one job to do - kick the ball through the posts. And you miss - not once, but three times, in game winning situations. He should be FINED for each of those misses (ok, maybe not the 54-yarder, but the others, yes). This is why it is so hard to be a Giants fan. Even when we are vaguely decent and having a semi-competitive year, we still find a way to shoot ourselves in the foot every time. As my dad has been telling me since I was a kid, THE GIANTS SUCK. But somehow, we are still fans. Maddening.

Its My Birthday! My B-b-b-Birthday!

2005-11-23T14:44:00.000-05:00

(You'll just have to imagine Cartman singing his birthday song there. I am a complete moron and can't figure out how to get the link up.)
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Well, today isn't my birthday - Friday is. But knowing me and my completely ridiulous absence from the blogging world lately, I will probably not get on here to post for my b-day itself. But perhaps, as a gift to me, Hub will give me about 10 hours of interruption-free time online to catch up on all your blogs.

Here is the funniest thing about my birthday. I do not know how old I am. Yes, I could do the math but the answer will depress me. Plus, I am not so good at the math so I might end up adding wrong and thinking I am older than I am. Luckily, since I do not know my real age, I can just go on pretending I am 22. Works for me; that was a damn fine year.
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Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow American readers! I am thankful for each and every one of you (especially you non-lurkers). Have a great day!

Randomness

2005-11-21T22:17:00.000-05:00

Go read this about what us Jersey broads are like, over at my sister's place.
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I thought the housing bubble had burst? The people across the street from me, who have a much smaller house and an even smaller lot than I have, had their house listed for $450k. It just sold for $495k. Insanity.
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Does anyone else think that Grey's Anatomy is the best friggin show on tv? I don't even watch Desperate Housewives anymore, its gotten so lame, but Grey's Anatomy is phenomenal. And I love me some Prison Break, except I am getting sick of them trying to break, I wish they would just do it already. Though it sure was nice seeing Michael in his skivvies tonight.
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Remember I told you how my boss was always taking credit but in an odd way? This proves how odd it is. I coordinated an employee event for the company, the first one ever at this company. It got RAVE reviews, from the top management down. Everyone loved it. I was standing a few feet from my boss when our CEO came over and told her how great the event was and thanked her for coming up with the idea and carrying it through. Without knowing I was standing there, she told him, "Go tell True, this was all her doing, I had nothing to do with it. Isn't it wonderful?!" She gave me full credit to the CEO, yet she steals the credit for creating a silly little form? This is why I think there is some mental deficiency there.
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My cousin, the one who just got married, is so awesome. He is on his honeymoon and he called me from the Dominican Republic because he thought we were all in Key West this week and wanted to wish us a happy vacation. How cool is that? What 26 year old guy thinks of calling his old lady cousin at all, much less on his honeymoon?
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I will be spending my four-day weekend cleaning and decorating for Christmas. We have our outrageously amazing Christmas Party in a few weeks, and Princess's second birthday party is the weekend before that...so no rest for the weary.
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Have I mentioned lately how very much I love my ipod?

An Update On My Life

2005-11-17T10:52:00.000-05:00

On Sunday night, Hub's other eardrum burst. So we had quite an exciting weekend, and not the kind of excitement I am used to. He saw a doctor on Monday and got some medication, and he goes back to see him next Friday. He still can't hear so well, but he is getting better. And the bleeding has stopped, which is always a good thing. Thanks for all of your concern; its much appreciated!
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So I have not told you too much about work, have I? I think I have told you how well Princess is doing in daycare - she is doing AMAZING. She loves it. It was most definitely the right thing for her at this time. She is learning so much, its amazing. She talks about her friends and her teachers all the time. I am SO pelased with how she is doing there. In fact, yesterday when Hub dropped her off, she didn't even want to kiss him goodbye, she just wanted to go play with the kids. No crying, no drama. Beautiful.

My job? Its going well. My boss is a very accommodating woman who keeps me in the loop about everything, shares all the info I need (this is something I so didn't have at my previous job), and is a nice person as well. People here are so positive and happy, and are much less cynical and sarcastic than at my previous job (not necessarily a plus for a gal like me being quite the cynic myself, but don't you worry: I have befriended the only other cynical girl here). But I have been here for about 2 months now, and already the shine of working has worn off. Because already my boss is annoying me. And to be honest, I am sure part of it is me (because I am a very easily-annoyable person. I know this.). But I know its not all me. And since its more fun to tell about the negatives than the positives - here we go.

A perfect example is what happened yesterday and today. Yesterday, we were terminating some employees in the HR/Payroll system who had left the company. There is no method to how all this is done and no way of knowing if someone else in the office has already done it. I suggested that a good way to track the changes we were making would be to create a form that would go into each employees' personnel folder when they start with us. We can have a checklist of items that need to be done for each employee from the time they start with us till the time they leave us (such as starting them on benefits, taking them off benefits, etc). Great idea! she says, You are brilliant! So I start working on it last night and I am finishing it up this morning. She walks into the office this morning and says, "I had a great idea I thought of last night. We could create a checklist of items that need to be done for each employee from the time they start with us till the time they leave us." Ummm, why does that sound familiar to me? Because it was my idea, beeyotch! And she has done this type of thing before, where I will make a suggestion and then soon afterwards she claims it as her own. And not even to upper management or anything, like she is trying to steal credit - she does it right to my face. It is bizarre and annoying.

And, she really has no sense of humor. She is a nice person, but she doesn't really find anything except her own self to be funny. Like I said before - no sarcasm or cynicism in this bunch. So I find myself laughing fakely at the unfunny things she says, and when I say something funny she doesn't even smile. And trust me, I am one funny broad.

The other thing that is annoying me is this. I have never run payroll before, but I am learning how to do it here. Great, no problem, I want to learn, its one reason I took this job. So she is going sooooo sllllooowwww with me going over the most basic things - like entering a newhire, hello, I have been in HR for 10 years, I know how to enter a newhire, duh, its simple data entry that a $6 an hour clerk could do - but then when it comes to things like archiving data and running tax reports and things like that - she expects me to know that and gives me no guidance on it. I think it is because she doesn't really know how to do it herself so she isn't capable of teaching me. But that doesn't make it less annoying when she says in one breath "OK, use the drop down menu to select the newhire tab...ok, now enter the person's last name, just type it in, ok, now type in the first name, ok, now use your mouse and go to the next area where you can enter their address..." and in the next breath she says "now archive the hourly punches from the last two weeks, and run a batch for employee 4411 in the grid." Bah.

I don't know if any of that made any sense, but I just needed to vent. I do like my job and I do like my boss. Its a great company and HR is well-respected here (very rare). I am learning a ton and will be able to take that to my next company and make boku bucks. So I don't mean to make it sound terrible or anything. But like I said, I am easily annoyed and who else will I tell if not you?

I Am Freaking Out Right About Now

2005-11-12T22:52:00.000-05:00

Hub just went to the emergency room. Its almost 11 pm here and he was fine to drive, and someone had to stay with Princess so here I am. He has had an earache since Key West, probably from the horrendous waves while we were snorkeling. I got mad water in my ear but it all came out that day. I think his was trapped. Its been bothering him, and today it got really bad. So he holds one ear closed and pushes really hard, like trying to push the water out of his ear. Some liquid comes out followed by gobs of blood. The blood didn't stop. I asked if he wanted to go to the emegency room, expecting a manly "No Dear, I Am Fine" out of him. But no. He said he wasn't sure. So then I start worrying. I came onto the computer to check WebMD to see what I could find out (useless, btw) when he comes into the office all dressed with his keys, saying he's going to the hospital. Now all I can do is sit here and wait and hope there aren't too many gunshot wounds ahead of him on line at the hospital.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaack!

2005-11-10T22:27:00.000-05:00

Now you all know I am a Jersey Girl from head to toe, right? So don't think I am dissing my state when I say this: it sucks to be back. I left sunny, gaw-jus Key West yesterday around lunchtime, after spending a lovely morning with Patsy by the pool, recovering from the night before. We had some airline issues (they changed all our flights due to rainy skies here in Jersey, including which city we flew into and what times both of our flights left, and we circled over Newark Airport for God knows how long), and as soon as we got off the plane the difference from Florida to NJ was painfully obvious. People were yelling and running around like crazy, horns were beeping and drivers were cursing at each other, it was cold and rainy, etc etc etc. Not a pleasant welcome home. Until of course I went to pick up Princess at my parents' house. She saw me and was freaking out, yelling unintelligible sounds and then "mmmmmmommmmmmmmyyyyyy!!!!" At that moment, I was glad to be back.
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How much fun did we have in Key West, you may ask? Well, I can tell you this much. We hit nearly every bar on Duval Street and a bunch on other streets and piers too. We closed down the bar two of our 4 nights there. We heard so much Jimmy Buffett that we wanted to find the man and kill him for writing so many songs that sound exactly alike. We were so grateful to hear a few Bon Jovi songs here and there that we screamed every word even though the bands sucked. We went snorkeling, which was so not fun (not much to see, VERY choppy water that you had to fight the entire time) but then we drank so much "free" beer that we got our moneys worth anyway. Our friend J and I did not argue at all until our last night there (shocking). Hub made all our feet hurt with his insane walking tours of cemeteries and everything else from one side of the island to the other, but we also relaxed by the pool and hung around and drank and had mellow fun too.

A toast to our first night in Key West:

Yes this guy was grabbing my ass:

Me and Diddy doing a shot at the famous Sloppy Joe's on Duval:

Me and Hub at the Southernmost Point (only 90 miles from Cuba):

All of us on our final drunken night in Key West, having drinks at the Southernmost Tiki Bar:

(Top row: Hub and J; Bottom row: Me, Patsy and Diddy)
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Yes, there was damage to the island. There were palms down all over the place, along with tons of peoples' belongings that they had to throw out due to the flooding. It looked like it had been years since anyone picked up garbage there - but it was all debris from Wilma. This church was seriously messed up:

But overall, the island was in decent condition. Everything was open, at least in the tourist areas (on our way back to the airport, our taxi driver told us that the Sears and the KMart were totally demolished - in fact, he said there were barracuda swimming in the KMart). People were in good moods, there was food and clean water, our hotel was in pristine shape (I loooved the hotel - somehow me and Hub got a suite for the price of a regular room), and there were lots of tourists there who weren't deterred from their trips. We contemplated going elsewhere after hearing of the hurricane, but I am so glad we went there. Anyplace that has no open beverage container laws is a winner in my book, no matter what.

Later, Gators!

2005-11-05T08:07:00.000-05:00

So Whaddaya Think?

2005-11-02T20:53:00.000-05:00

I thought it was time for a new look. Ms. Bathing Beauty whom I have had for a while was feeling a little chilly in her swimsuit, so I decided to go with an uptown, chic chick for my new look. Don't worry, I am still the same True, no matter how classy my blog is looking. And perhaps we will go back to the "hot chick," as Hub has come to call her, when the weather gets a little warmer. Thanks to Mia at Ciao My Bella! (or are they now just Bella? I am not sure) for my awesome new design. I love it. Notice my sidebar titles are all Bon Jovi song titles (except for "on my ipod"). Nifty, eh?
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I wanted to post some pics, but I am having issues with blogger's picture hosting (bah, what else is new?). I will try again tomorrow.
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On the Saturday we come back from Key West, we are going to take Princess to her first hockey game (Patsy, do you and diddy want to go?). Its youth jersey day, so yippee, she will have her first Devils jersey before she even turns two.
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Is it bad that I have only been back to work for a month but I already feel like I sooooooo need a vacation?

Yep, I am a Slacker

2005-11-01T14:13:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I have been seriously slacking in the blogging arena. Life in Jerseyworld has been completely insane lately, even moreso than usual.

The wedding I have mentioned a few times was last weekend. The bride was so not Bridezilla-like, as she had been during the planning stages of the wedding. It was a whole weekend shindig down in Virginia. Friday night we had the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, which was at a cool little Italian place in DC, and then we went back to the hotel bar. There were probably 40 of us hanging out there, and that was fun. At like 2 am they shut it down, so we head up to this kid Derek's room (a friend of the groom). Then at about 4, security came and told him they were calling the cops if we did not disband immediately. So the party broke up, but I hung out with Patsy and Diddy and J for a bit in their room. I got to bed at about 5 am.

Saturday we got makeup done for the wedding; ya ya, I looked so friggin glamorous. I never wear that much makeup but I got rave reviews. Then came hair, and I felt like an 80's Jersey Girl all over again with my hair all teased up and piled high on my head. Princess was supposed to walk down the aisle with me since she was the flowergirl, but she was in a MOOD. So Hub had to carry her down the aisle. Whatever. The wedding was nice. My cousin (the groom) was so cute, when I walked down the aisle and looked at him, he was crying already, before he even saw his bride. He was so emotional, it was really beautiful. Then came the reception, which was alot of fun. My family really knows how to party, and we crowded the dance floor and did our thang. The only bad thing was the alcohol situation. Before the cocktail hour was over they had run out of two brands of beer, and they didn't have anything to make shots (we always do a "cousins' shot at weddings). That sucked. But it was good times.

After that, we head for the hotel bar again. We stayed till about 3 am, and then we all just crashed from exhaustion. Sunday, it was breakfast with the bride and groom and some family, and then the long drive home. I am honestly just getting tireder and tireder by the moment (yes, thank you, I know tireder is not a word, so what). I feel like I could die I am so tired. And on top of that, someone did not get the message to Princess that its daylight savings time, because she is still getting up an hour early. Yeah, that sucks big time.

I will have pictures up of the wedding and of Halloween hopefully tomorrow. And then I leave for Key West on Saturday. My plan? To lie in a chair by the pool with a drink in my hand, listen to my ipod, and maybe read a book. Maybe not. I may just sleep in the sun.

What Part of "RELAX" Do I Just Not Understand?

2005-10-23T20:14:00.000-04:00

So here it is Sunday evening and I still have not relaxed. I had the best of intentions and then they just went out the window.

Saturday night was my cousin's bachelor party in NJ (for the groom from the wedding I am in next week in Virginia). Hub was going to it and I was going to have an early dinner with my mom and sister and then be in bed by 11. All the guys met at my house and then headed out for the evening, starting at Dave & Busters. Me, my sister, my mom, and Princess went to the mall and to dinner. It ended up a later night for the girls than we planned, because I had to look for jewelry for the wedding, and mom needed pants and a cool shirt for the wedding rehearsal evening, so we wandered the mall a bit. By the time we left, it was about 9pm (waaaay past Princess' bedtime) and Princess had hit the wall. She was a lunatic at Macy's, just running around and being crazy. So we get home and are getting her ready for bed when she falls flat on her face, splitting her lip open and spewing blood all about the hallway and herself. We all stayed pretty calm but the blood was not stopping. Then my insane, lunatic dog starts flipping out, running and jumping and barking for no apparent reason. It just added more chaos to an already chaotic situation.

Finally the bleeding stops, the maniacal dog stops, Princess goes to bed, and sis and mom leave. I look at the clock and its about 10:15-ish. I changed into my pj's and read some blogs, and at 11pm I decided to head into my room to lie in bed an watch tv. I was getting ready when the phone rings and its Hub. Apparently some of the guys left the bachelor party early and one of them was the one that drove them, so they had to leave where they were and do something else. Would I mind if they came and hung out at the house? Hm, let's see, do I say NO, I need sleep so go to a strip club please? Or do I say, I cannot resist a good fun time so yes please, come here? What do you think? But I tell Hub that I am actually ready for bed and I probably am going to go to sleep before they get home. He says, oh, but C (the groom) really seems like he wants to hang with you, but if you want to go to bed I guess that's ok. Bah. I had already taken my Tylenol PM's by this point. But I love C like a bro so I put on some lip gloss and had a few beers to catch up with them before they get to the house.

Long story a little shorter, I didn't go to bed till 7am. That's right, SEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. There were many many beers, many funny stories, many good times had by all. And, as usual, my cousin C and I spent the last hour or so have a deep conversation about life and family and all that good stuff. And even though I am now more tired than ever AND I am getting a cold, probably due to the lack of rest, it was worth it because I love my cousin so much and I am flattered that he wanted to come hang out with me and that he confides his deep feelings with me. I am a sucker for that stuff. And, well, for the beer too.

I am a Cool Girl

2005-10-21T22:45:00.000-04:00

Remember how a few weeks ago I said that the cool girl at work had asked me to go to lunch with her? Well, I have been so busy at work that I haven't even taken a lunch. Until this week. So I called Cool Girl and asked if she was going out to lunch today and if she'd mind if I joined her. She said sure, as long as I was NOT a human resources person when we left the building. I was like, I am not really an HR person when I am IN the building. I'm just me. Because they like to talk trash on our co-workers and bosses, which is all good with me. I likes me some good gossip now and again.

So we went out to lunch, there were 4 of us together and they decided that I needed to be hazed to get into the group. So they peppered me with some questions and of course I passed the test and I am now a Cool Girl too. None of them have kids, so I think they expected me to be this politically correct, prim and proper, serious-minded, HR, mommy type person. And if you have been reading my blog for more than oh, say, 10 minutes, you know that isn't me.

We laughed, we talked, we ate (yep, I met girls who actually EAT when they go out - no salads for these broads!), and we had a good time. Yay, I have new friends at work. I thought I was pretty much done making friends because, well, I don't really like people all that much. But these girls are pretty cool and fun.
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This weekend I am doing NOTHING. Well, almost nothing. We took Princess out for pizza tonight, and I am doing dinner with my mom and sister and Princess tomorrow night. But other than that - I am resting and relaxing and vegging and preparing myself for the wedding next weekend. I don't know if you were reading me back then, but I wrote a whole post about how I was going to fistfight one of my cousins at the wedding, and now I learn she will not be there. That sucks. The groom, who is also my cousin, said I could use his sword to fight her too (he's a Marine). Damn, that would have been fun.

Things That Annoy Me Today

2005-10-18T11:59:00.000-04:00

- Daycares who want to charge me for a full week when they are closed Monday for Columbus Day and Thursday and Friday because they flooded from all the rain. (Oh, no, you know I am not having that. I argued with the woman, sweetly of course because she is taking care of my kid, until she agreed to credit me for Thursday and Friday. Well, as sweetly as I can. Which is perhaps not that sweetly.)

- Word verification on blogs. Yes, I know I have it too and we have to have it to block out spam. But half the time I can't even read the letters and I get it wrong and have to start over.

- The fact that I am too tired to even blink, because when I close my eyes for that brief millisecond, I am almost passing out from exhaustion.

- Tailors who tell me they can alter my bridesmaids dress, and then when I call them to confirm my appointment they tell me that they only tailor men's suits. Yes, the wedding is 11 days away.

- The place I ordered Princess's flower girl dress from. Because I don't have it yet. And the wedding is 11 days away. And I can't buy her shoes until I have the dress so I can try to match them. Bah.

- The fact that I cannot just play "Golddigger" by Kanye West over and over all day long. I love that song and it plays in my head all the time - why can't I play it at work? (Ok, language is perhaps not appropriate. But still, lovin' that song).

Busy Weekend

2005-10-16T20:16:00.000-04:00

So, it was another busy weekend at casa de TrueJersey . It was a good one though. And finally, finally, after 9 days of non-stop rain, the sun came out. We finally had a nice crisp fall day today.
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Yesterday was my cousin J's Sweet Sixteen. I was a senior in high school when she was born, and I have always thought she was just about the coolest thing that ever existed. When she was about 2, I brought her into my room and showed her all my Bon Jovi posters (it was more like wallpaper - covered every inch of the walls, including the ceiling and the inside of the closet ). My sister and I taught her how to say Bon Jovi, and we would point at the pics and say "Who's this?" and she would yell "Bon Jovi!" Well, here she is, 16 years old. At her party, I met her boyfriend. I saw him hold her hand and I wanted to take him out. She's just a kid, for crissakes, get your damn hands off her! Bah, am I getting old or what? But what made my day (or year, or life) was when she introduced me to this pierced punk-ass kid she is dating (nah, he seemed like a cool enough guy). She said "this is my cousin True, my favorite person on earth." Awwwww...I just about melted. Now I know I am not really her absoluter favorite person - I think that spot is reserved for Billy Joe from Greeen Day - but it was sure nice of her to say.

Princess and J:

And the most exciting thing is that in December, I am taking her and one of her friends to see Bon Jovi on one of the nights I am going! How cool is that?
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Today, we went to a housewarming party for Hub's tattoo artist. Is that odd? Does it mean you are addicted to tattoos if you are close enough to your tattoo artist to be invited to her housewarming? Well, anyway. We had a nice time - they bought a farm (its not a working farm anymore - just a cool old farmhouse, a barn, and another house-type-thing of some sort) and they have so much property (6 acres - compared with my 50x100 lot). Her husband somehow talked me into drinking this moonshine his friend made in his bathtub (nah, not really, he said it was grappa, but isn't that really just a fancy Italian name for moonshine?). It was NASTY. It was so strong that it actually ate through the plastic of the cup I was drinking from. How gross is that?

See the green? That's the plastic disintegrating or something. It freaked me out a little.
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And what did I do the rest of the weekend you may ask?

I heart my iPod so much. I don't know how anyone (Tommy) could hate iPods, it is just the rockin-est thing I have ever owned. I truly heart it so much.

Guess What...I'm Expecting!!!

2005-10-11T22:31:00.000-04:00

That's right, can you believe it! And you thought Princess would be alone forever. Nope, Hub finally agreed to let me have another baby. I have seen her (but of course only on screen so far!) and she is GORGEOUS. I can't wait till her blessed delivery. So here I am, impatiently awaiting her arrival in 3-7 business days!

(Whaddaya crazy? You thought I was pregnant? Puh-lease! Baby iPod is still a girl, even though I decided to get the regular one instead of the cute pink mini because I have waaaaaay too much music to fit on that little thing. I can't wait!!!!)

Dear Lord, Did That Wedding Suck Or What?

2005-10-10T21:25:00.000-04:00

Where shall I begin in order to tell you just how much the wedding sucked yesterday? I guess we could start with the fact that it took an hour and a half to get there in the pouring rain. That sucked. And the rain was fierce - it has been downpouring for 2 straight days here. Hub was driving 85 MPH the whole way because we were running late because one of us (him) misplaced the directions. So 85 in the rain was a bit frightening.

And, oh yes, if we are talking about rain, let's get right to the part that really sucked. The wedding was outside, in a tent. They obviously didn't put up the tent till the morning of the wedding, because the ground was straight up mud. So the chairs sank into the mud when you sat down, my heels were entrenched, the bride's dress was brown after about 15 minutes. And you may ask how they tried to combat the problem of the mud. Well, I'll tell you. With hay. Yes people, apparently there is a place in Jersey that is so far north and west that its almost NY State or Pennsylvania, and they have hay there. So each time I would get up, I would have hay stuck to the mud that was stuck to my shoes.

Here's Hub, sitting at our table in the mud:

Another thing that sucked? The restroom situation. Because, you see, there were no rest rooms - there were portapotties. And as if that was not sucky enough on its own, you had to leave the tent in the pouring rain, walk up a muddy hill while balancing with your umbrella, over a slippery little bridge-type-thing, and then stand on line to pee in a portapotty.

One more thing that sucked was that Hub, the brilliant man that he is, gave the waitress $20 right at the beginning and told her to stick close to us. So at first she was bringing us beer like it was going out of style. And then, she disappeared. So we (well, not we, more like Patsy's man Diddy) had to walk across the mud to the bar and get us drinks. And lets talk briefly about the drinks. Now, I am no classy broad or anything, but at a wedding sometimes you like to have a mixed drink or ten instead of just beer. Not an option. All they had was beer - and my brand was in cans. I much prefer bottles.

Here's a bridesmaid, who prepared for the wedding:

And due to the rain, the DJ (who sucked big time) left about halfway through so there was no more dancing and no one to lead the bouquet toss or anything. Not that you could dance anyway because the dance floor was soaked and muddy and slippery. Some freaks danced, but I was just hoping they would fall so I could laugh at them more than I already was. The only thing the dance floor was good for was at the end of the wedding, when the water was getting deep. We fled to the dance floor like N'Awlins refugees looking for higher ground. And oh yeah, the photographer also left before the wedding was over, so there are no photos of anything after they cut the cake.

And it was so incredibly cold out, and we were right by the "door" to the tent. Me and Patsy did what we had to do to keep warm: drink beer and warm our hands with votive candles:

Some clog-wearing freak in the mud.

Oh, and how about the bugs? At one point, a humungous tarantula-like spider crawled up out of the mud and onto our table and started eating our food. Then, at the table next to us this woman starts freaking out and leaves her table. Turns out the worms wanted some of her food too and started coming out of the mud and crawling around. (Patsy has a good pic of the worms. Ick.)

I have never been to a more hillbilly-ho-down wedding than this one. If it wasn't for the free alcohol, it would have been a total waste. I am going to kill Diddy for talking us into giving an extra $100 beyond what we were going to give for this horrendous shindig.

Lovely Day

2005-10-07T10:44:00.000-04:00

Ah, what a great day today is!

My boss is off today, so I have a nice relaxed day. No, not really, I am still busy, but its nice to be boss-free.

I got asked to lunch by the coolest girl at the company, who hangs out with all the cool girls. Yay me! By association, I am now cool!

I am going to Gymboree today to spend my Gymbucks and get Princess her Christmas dress. Yes, its $52, but its so pretty and with Gymbucks I can basically get it for half price. And they have this little pink velour sweatsuit that says Princess on it. You know she needs that.

I have a cocktail party to go to after work today. I love that at least one couple I know is classy enough to have cocktail parties.

Tomorrow I have a wedding to go to, which I have mixed feelings about. In one sense I am not looking forward to it because its an hour and a half away and its a 12:30 wedding. And, I am not sure if they are having an open bar (a cardinal sin in NJ). But, I am looking forward to it because Patsy will be there too (they better seat us together...although, the groom has seen me and Patsy in full drunk mode, so he may try to keep us apart. He thinks we are crazy and probably doesn't want a scene at his wedding. Yeah, good luck with that.). That reminds me of the scene that Patsy's ex caused at my wedding. He got SO hammered that he pulled his pants down while some chick smacked his arse with a maraca. Then he yacked in the gardens, and passed out face down on the bathroom floor. My wedding was the most fun evah.

And then Sunday, while in hangover mode, I will be visiting EVERY SINGLE BLOG ON MY BLOGROLL. It may take me all day, but I will do it. Because I love you, really I do.

That's Right, My Kid Is Brilliant

2005-10-06T11:10:00.000-04:00

I went to pick up Princess from daycare yesterday after work, and two of the caretakers were in the room. One of them tells me how great Princess is, how happy she is, and that she never cries (yay!). Then she says, she also knows all the other kids' names. So the other caretaker says, "Yes, Miss Princess is amazing! She has learned all of the kids' names! Most of the kids can't even say our names, but Miss Princess knows them all!" So I have to test her. I point to a kid and ask Princess, who is that? She says, "That's Kayla." And another kid, who is that? "That's Brandon." My kid is waaaaay smarter than those other kids. But of course, I already knew that.

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I am reading the Janet Evanovich books about Stephanie Plum which sooo many of you recommended. Overall, I like them. I am on book three now. But I have to say, some of it is so not Jersey. Like when she says that in some areas of the country they don't allow shopping on Sundays, but that we would never allow that here. Ha. Bergen County has blue laws that do not allow shopping on Sundays. Of course, I refuse to live in Bergen County because I do need access to shopping 7 days a week. But I was thinking, how well can this author know Jersey if she doesn't know that one whole county doesn't allow Sunday shopping? I know she is originally from here, but....

And she also has characters use the term "on account of" - as in, "I couldn't do it on account of my busy blogging schedule." No one I know uses that phrase - maybe its a Southern Jersey thing? In my part of Jersey we would say "I couldn't do it cuz of my busy blogging schedule." Anyone here from Southern Jersey? Do ya'll say that down South? (Anything beyond the Driscoll Bridge is "down south" to me).

Hope everyone is doing well - I promise that when my life calms down, probably in early 2006 or so, I will get back on the blogging wagon and visit more of you. Nah, I'll try sooner than that. Life's just been a madhouse lately.

The President Does His Math

2005-10-03T12:36:00.000-04:00

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing. He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."

"OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!"

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.

Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"

"Have A Nice Day" Review, by the Very Un-Biased True Jersey Girl

2005-09-30T10:58:00.000-04:00

**** (4 stars out of 5)

First of all, love the cover. While I would love to see Jon's nekkid bod on there, the smirk is perfect for both the Jersey attitude and the title song's feeling. I also love the fact that the lyrics are included in the liner notes - a rarity these days. In 2 months when I am at the concert, I will need to be singing along to every single word of every single song, so its great to have lyrics included. And the pics they included inside are pretty great (drool).

So onto the music. I miss the days when I would get a Bon Jovi CD and worship it right away. These days I find I have to let them grow on me a bit. (Although I did love their last CD of original material - Bounce - at first listen, probably because there were more rockin' songs on it). But I think I need to stop comparing to Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, because I doubt anything will ever compare to them. Anyway, here's a quickie song-by-song review:

Have a Nice Day - I even have Princess singing it. I liked it from the first time I heard it and haven't tired of it yet. It's the most rockin' song on the cd, and I would have liked to have more like it.

I Want to Be Loved - Great song. I dig it. Although one part of it does remind me of Austin Powers and his "Daddy Didn't Care" song. And Jon, your wish is my command - you want to be loved? You got it.

Welcome To Wherever You Are - I am not a big fan of the slower, soft-rock sound that they have gravitated towards lately, preferring the harder stuff. This is a good one though, and I find myself humming this one. I like it.

Who Says You Can't Go Home - Of course I love this one, because it was written about New Jersey and I totally relate. Love the melody. Great song, very catchy. I keep catching myself singing this one in the shower.

Last Man Standing - I am not sure about this one yet. I like the message behind it about real musicians vs. lipsynchers and phonies. At first listen, I didn't like this song much, but it is growing on me. Its almost like they are trying to do a grand, theatrical song - and that's not what they do best. Keep it simple, boys.

Bells of Freedom - Good song, if not a little corny.

Wildflower - I have always liked songs about odd, complicated girls because, well, I am one of them. This one is sweet.

Last Cigarette - The symbolism is a little much in the lyrics of this one, but I like the music and especially the chorus. Gets me tapping my feet while sitting at my desk.

I Am - A nice ballad without it being too ballad-y. Sweet without being corny. I like it.

Complicated - I would have liked this song to rock a little more. It seems like it could have gotten a little rougher, especially during the chorus. To me, the chorus is too sing-songy when it should have rocked out.

Novocaine - A little bland. Nothing stands out about this song.

Story of My Life - Another song I can't find anything special about. Its ok, harmless, doesn't suck, but just isn't that interesting.

Who Says You Can't Go Home (with Sugarland) - The addition of the female voice does a lot for this song. Her voice is really nice and while it does turn this into a somewhat twangy country-ish song, I still like it.

Overall, I like it and have been listening to it non-stop at work. If you have not bought it yet - first of all, why haven't you? But second of all, I do recommend it. For those of you who own it already - what do you think?

A Music Meme that I Kinda Dig

2005-09-28T21:07:00.000-04:00

This is a pretty cool meme for music lovers like myself. Go here (scroll all the way to the bottom of the page) and click on the year of your high school graduation. Bold the ones you dug, italisize the ones you hated, "red" the ones you don't remember, and leave alone the rest. Easy enough?

1. Look Away, Chicago
2. My Prerogative, Bobby Brown
3. Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Poison
4. Straight Up, Paula Abdul
5. Miss You Much, Janet Jackson
6. Cold Hearted, Paula Abdul
7. Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler
8. Girl You Know Its True, Milli Vanilli
9. Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird, Will To Power
10. Giving You The Best That I Got, Anita Baker
11. Right Here Waiting, Richard Marx
12. Waiting For A Star To Fall, Boy Meets Girl
13. Lost In Your Eyes, Debbie Gibson
14. Don't Wanna Lose You, Gloria Estefan
15. Heaven, Warrant
16. Girl I'm Gonna Miss You, Milli Vanilli
17. The Look, Roxette
18. She Drives Me Crazy, Fine Young Cannibals
19. On Our Own, Bobby Brown
20. Two Hearts, Phil Collins
21. Blame It On The Rain, Milli Vanilli
22. Listen To Your Heart, Roxette
23. I'll Be There For You, Bon Jovi
24. If You Don't Know Me By Now, Simply Red
25. Like A Prayer, Madonna
26. I'll Be Loving You (Forever), New Kids On The Block
27. How Can I Fall?, Breathe
28. Baby Don't Forget My Number, Milli Vanilli
29. Toy Solider, Martika
30. Forever Your Girl, Paula Abdul
31. The Living Years, Mike and the Mechanics
32. Eternal Flame, The Bangles
33. Wild Thing, Tone Loc
34. When I See You Smile, Bad English
35. If I Could Turn Back Time, Cher
36. Buffalo Stance, Neneh Cherry
37. When I'm With You, Sheriff
38. Don't Rush Me, Taylor Dayne
39. Born To Be My Baby, Bon Jovi
40. Good Thing, Fine Young Cannibals
41. The Lover In Me, Sheena Easton
42. Bust A Move, Young M.C.
43. Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Great White
44. Batdance, Prince
45. Rock On, Michael Damian
46. Real Love, Jody Watley
47. Love Shack, B-52's
48. Every Little Step, Bobby Brown
49. Hangin' Tough, New Kids On The Block
50. My Heart Can't Tell You No, Rod Stewart
51. So Alive, Love and Rockets
52. You Got It (The Right Stuff), New Kids On The Block
53. Armageddon It, Def Leppard
54. Satisfied, Richard Marx
55. Express Yourself, Madonna
56. I Like It, Dino
57. Soldier Of Love, Donny Osmond
58. Sowing The Seeds Of Love, Tears For Fears
59. Cherish, Madonna
60. When The Children Cry, White Lion
61. 18 And Life, Skid Row
62. I Don't Want Your Love, Duran Duran
63. Second Chances, .38 Special
64. The Way You Love Me, Karyn White
65. Funky Cold Medina, Tone Loc
66. In Your Room, Bangles
67. Miss You Like Crazy, Natalie Cole
68. Love Song, Cure
69. Secret Rendesvous, Karyn White
70. Angel Eyes, Jeff Healey Band
71. Patience, Guns N' Roses
72. Walk On Water, Eddie Money
73. Cover Girl, New Kids On The Block
74. Welcom To The Jungle, Guns N' Roses
75. Shower Me With Your Love, Surface
76. Stand, R.E.M.
77. Close My Eyes Forever, Lita Ford
78. All This Time, Tiffany
79. After All, Cher and Peter Cetera
80. Roni, Bobby Brown
81. Love In An Elevator, Aerosmith
82. Lay Your Hands On Me, Bon Jovi
83. This Promise, When In Rome
84. What I Am, Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians
85. I Remember Holding You, Boys Club
86. Paradise City, Guns N' Roses
87. Iwanna Have Some Fun, Samantha Fox
88. She Wants To Dance With Me, Rick Astley
89. Dreamin', Vanessa Williams
90. It's No Crime, Babyface
91. Poison, Alice Cooper
92. This Time I Know It's For Real, Donna Summer
93. Smooth Criminal, Michael Jackson
94. Heavan Help Me, Deon Estus
95. Rock Wit'cha, Bobby Brown
96. Thinking Of You, Sa-fire
97. What You Don't Know, Expose
98. Surrender To Me, Ann Wilson and Robin Zander
99. The End Of The Innocence, Don Henley
100. Keep On Movin', Soul II Soul

I can't believe there are so many I don't remember. I think I would probably know them if I heard them, but chances are they sucked anyway. Not tagging anyone for this, but it was kinda fun to do so let me know if you do it.

An Update On My Life

2005-09-27T20:21:00.000-04:00

I am in week 2 of my new job and I am still loving it. And, the best part - I got my first paycheck today! Woo hoo! Go me! So now I just have to convince Hub that it makes much more sense to buy an iPod than to pay those pesky credit card bills. I know you are all with me on that one.

Believe it or not, the second week of leaving Princess in daycare has been rougher than the first. She caught a pretty nasty cold and only wants to be with me (not Hub, not Grammy, not anyone but me) so the LAST place she wants to be is with a lady who she isn't quite sure about yet and some kids who probably smell funny. So that has been hard. But we are getting through.
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We had an incredibly busy weekend. I had a shower for my cousin's fiancee at my house (I think she was surprised), which was exhausting. Then we all went out for dinner and to a club. The bride-to-be was exhausted though, so we only stayed out for about 1/2 an hour. That sucked, because although I do get to go out alot more than a lot of moms (thanks to my folks), I still don't often get to just go out and listen to live bands at some little club and dance a little and drink a lot and yell over the music and all that stuff. I would have liked to stay out longer. But oh well. Me and Patsy and her man Diddy came back and hung out in my basement and drank and talked about New Orleans and politics and had fun. Then, I had family in from Scotland who we went to visit on Sunday. That was an hour trip each way. Then we had to go to my niece's birthday party. So it was a tiring weekend. Then, of course, back to work on Monday!
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Oh, but I forgot to tell you the best part. You can probably tell about me that I can be a bit ornery and I will argue about anything. Well. After the shower when we went out to dinner, the husband of one of the other bridesmaids came with us. He decided it was a good idea to tell me that women should not be allowed to hyphenate their names when they get married. Oh, the holy hell I unleashed on that poor, ignorant boy. He had no idea what hit him. It got ugly and I wanted to stab him in the eye with my fork. But I didn't. I bet he wishes I did just stab him and get it over with rather than the long, drawn out arguments I can carry on. If you want to argue with me, especially about "women's issues", you better have your argument well thought out and be prepared for the long haul. He was neither. His wife just sat there with her head down, and every once in a while she would say to me "oh no, he didn't really mean that, he's not like that." So, she deserves a neanderthal if she is going to disagree with him but still defend him. Bah, I couldn't wait for those two to get back on a bus and go back to their caves.
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Bon Jovi review is coming, I promise. I have not had time to listen to it more than a few times yet, so I am bringing it with me to listen to in my office tomorrow.

So Didja Miss Me?

2005-09-22T22:32:00.000-04:00

Well. I forgot how time consuming this whole 9-to-5 thing can be. Even worse when its 8:30 to 5. But, I have to tell you. I LOVE my job. I know, its only the first week and things will most likely go downhill. But I am going to enjoy it while it lasts.

My boss is completely amazing. She is so empowering. When I ask her things - like, I noticed you have done this in this way in the past and I was thinking it would be better to do it this way - she tells me not to ask her things like that. That its MY job and I can do it however I want; I don't need approval from her. I can just run with it however I want. You have to understand that at my last company, you had to check with 50 people before you were allowed to use the ladies room. I am not used to this. It rocks.

And everyone there is SO nice, and not in an annoying way (maybe you have to be from Jersey to understand what I mean by that, I don't know). Its a young company and everyone is amazingly cool. I haven't met one single person that I didn't like. On my first day, I met with the CEO for over an hour and he was so cool. He's like, in this company what we value is excitement and change and new ideas and committment to making your area as awesome as it can be.

Not to mention, its only 10 minutes from home and 11 minutes from daycare, so I am home with Princess before 5:30. And, not only that, but I can leave my office and be in Target within a 5 minute period. Yeah!

And Princess, how is our dear Princess doing in daycare? Well, she is doing GREAT. She is still going through the adjustment period, definitely, but overall she is a real trooper. She cries when Hub drops her off, but then he stands in the hallway where she can't see him, and she stops crying within 30 seconds and then doesn't cry all day. She comes home and says "play with the kids" and we ask her, "do you want to go play with the kids?" and she says "yeah!" What a kickass little chick I am raising. She rules.

So I am very confident that I have made all the right choices here. I picked the right job. I picked the right daycare place. I picked the right time to go back to work, and I picked the right guy to marry who will take her in the mornings so I am not a disaster when I go to work.
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I will get my review of the new Bon Jovi CD up in the next few days. Needless to say, you need to go buy it. Its great. And I taped Oprah on Wednesday and have only had time to watch the very beginning of it. All I know is this: A. The man has still got it and B. I do not need to see his skank wife. At all. Evah.
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I am hoping not to neglect this blog (or all of your blogs) but I have to get myself on a good schedule so I have time for everything. I hope you will all be patient and keep coming back.
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And a final shout out to the amazing Nat, who kindly sent me her Mixamania cd along with another mix as well. You rock, girl!!! Thanks!!!

I Will Survive, Hey Hey

2005-09-19T08:15:00.000-04:00

I just did a whole post about my first day of work and Princess's first day of daycare, and friggin Blogger ate it. I am not retyping it all now. So I will just say this, with more details to follow: We all survived.
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Go here to find out how you can help people affected by Katrina - all led by the awesome Grace Davis, my blogging hero and who I want to be when I grow up. And, for something less serious (much less serious) after you donate money and whatever help you can, go visit my other blog. It has been long-neglected but we are trying to get it up and running. We being me and Patsy Darling.
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And tomorrow, go buy this. Do not delay.

Getting Back to Normal (or what passes as normal around here)

2005-09-17T09:44:00.000-04:00

But first:
Q: What is Bush's position on Roe vs. Wade?

A: He really doesn't care how people get out of New Orleans.
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I am the last person you will find watching the Country Music channel. In fact, it only existed in my peripheral vision, like I knew it was there but didn't ever care enough to hear about it. In fact, I thought it was called the Alabama network or something. I am clueless about country music, completely.

Ah, so what would get me searching madly through those upper channels looking for this channel that no self-respecting Jerseyan would watch? But of course: Bon Jovi.

Apparently they do some kind of concert-thing where they put a rock band with a country band and they sing each other's music together. I guess sorta like the Linkin Park/Jay-Z mash-up. So Bon Jovi was on last night with some band with Sugar in their name (sorry, once I see Jon, everything else is a blur). It was AWESOME. The other band had a female singer with an amazing voice, but I still wanted to kick her ass because she was so close to Jon and you could tell she was totally in love with him. One of the other female band members was like, I have to make a cheat sheet for the songs because how can I concentrate on stage when Jon is in front of me? I hear ya, girl.

They sounded great and Jon looked AMAZING (Jonny, the hair is just a little too blond for me though). I felt like this was a nice little preview to the Bon Jovi mania I will be experiencing shortly. Tuesday is the release of their new CD, and they will be promoting it on all the morning shows and nighttime shows, and then they'll be touring. They are in Jersey on 12/19 and 12/21 - so I will be going to both shows, of course. And I am sure they will tour again in the summer and play Giants Stadium, which always rules.

I am like a 16 year old when Bon Jovi comes out with new music, I just can't help it!

Wow.

2005-09-16T09:38:00.000-04:00

I wrote my last post in a true fit of anger at not being able to personally have it out with the idiot who felt the need to criticize my family's decisions to do what is best for us. I truly felt like it was not worth it for me to put myself out there anymore when people are so hateful and judgemental - whether they claim to be having a "bad day" or not. And not being able to have it out with the bitch - that for me was the hardest part. Because, as in your comments when you told me to "be Jersey" - well, that is what I wanted. I wanted to personally tell off the ignoramus who left the comment and make her sorry she f'ed with me. But I couldn't do that, and that made me even angrier.

Trust me, people, I am a very tough broad. Not alot truly gets to me. Almost nothing hurts me to my core because I know who I am and what I stand for. But this comment wasn't just a troll. Its like this - imagine making the toughest decision you have ever had to make, questioning yourself about it a million times, deciding what is right and necessary even though your doubts are still rolling through your head - and then having someone come in and tell you that all of your doubts are right and that you are a selfish person for making that decision. All while the feelings are so raw and close to the surface. It was just too much for me to handle yesterday. It wasn't about letting the troll win - trust me, kids, no one beats me - it was about perhaps sharing too much with people I don't know and letting them in on parts of my life that maybe I should have kept to myself. I couldn't really see a good reason to continue to blog anymore.

But then. Wow.

I wasn't really thinking of *your* responses when I wrote yesterday's post about quitting. I was just really mad and had no one to punch. I couldn't have ever predicted that so many of you would express such wonderful sentiments to me.

Wow.

All I can say is thank you. Thank you for reminding me why I do this. Thank you for taking the time to ask me to stay. Thank you for making me smile and laugh at a time when that is the last thing I felt like doing. Thank you to my true blogging friends for coming out en masse to support me, and thank you to the lurkers and newcomers for de-lurking and telling me you like my blog.

I am going to stay around, and I thank you for convincing me that I should. I appreciate your comments and the many, many emails I received more than you will know. So again, thank you.

Thank you.

2005-09-15T08:46:00.000-04:00

I decided to quit this blog for good last night.

I am so sick of judgemental assholes coming here and putting their two cents where it doesn't belong. When it was about politics, I was annoyed but I expect it. But last night, the commenter went too far. She basically said said that I am selfish for going back to work and that I am sacrificing my daughter's well being by doing so. And she had lots more to say. I deleted the comment, as I had said I would do to hateful comments.

And I started thinking that this is just no longer worth it. I love so many of you whom I have met here through blogging. But to have someone who knows nothing about me or my family question my loyalty to the most important thing in my life was just too much. Because how do I even respond to it? Do I defend myself to this self-righteous bitch who thinks she knows what is best for every person on earth? Do I tell her that if I don't go back to work we will have to sell our home because we have gone through all of our savings and cannot afford the mortgage and taxes (and we don't live an extravagant life)? Do I tell her that my goals for my daughter include college and if we can't afford a place to live, we certainly won't be able to afford college?

Or do I tell her to mind her own fucking business and keep her self-righteous judgements to herself? To think before she spews hateful comments onto something she knows zero about? To keep her mouth like she keeps her mind - closed???

Going back to work was not something that was decided lightly. It was not decided so that we could have the "extras" or go on vacations or any of that. It was decided so that we could continue to have a place to live. Does that sound "selfish" to you?

So, in any case, I decided not to do this blog anymore because I am so incredibly sick of getting hateful, ignorant, moronic comments that hurt me. That is not why I am here. I am here to have some fun and to learn from my fellow bloggers, not to deal with this crap.

Then, I thought, I won't let a few fuckos (thanks for that word, C-Mac) ruin my overwhelmingly positive experience here. And that maybe I need to stop telling little pieces of my life and just talk about music or tv or whatever. But then, that isn't me.

As of now, I am not sure what I am going to do. I am turning off anonymous comments, for one. And I need to figure out if this is worth it to me.

Vacationing and Then Back To Work

2005-09-14T08:30:00.000-04:00

The shore was great; the weather was perfect and Princess loved the ocean and the sand and the rides on the boardwalk. It was a wonderful little escape. Then yesterday, Hub took off from work and we took Princess to the zoo. She enjoyed herself, but I think Hub enjoyed it even more. Now today I am off to the mall to try to find navy shoes and grey shoes for work, to the dry cleaners to get all my old work clothes cleaned, and to Princess' doctor to get her paperwork filled out for daycare.

I start my new job on Monday. I got an HR Generalist position, which basically means I will do a little of everything. I used to be primarily focused on recruitment and dabbled in the other areas of HR (such as employee relations and benefits and stuff like that). So this job will give me a more general background and more experience. The company is only 10 minutes from my house and 11 minutes from Princess' daycare, so that is a good thing.

I am nervous about putting Princess in daycare, since she has been home with me since day one. She is such a smart kid, and I am afraid that she may just get lost in the shuffle with other kids and not get the one-on-one time she has with me. But I also think she is at a great age and stage to start daycare. She loves being with other kids and I think she needs to be socialized more than she is now. And I am very comfortable with the daycare place we picked. They use a combination of play and learning for kids Princess' age and have a great curriculum. It came highly recommended from several friends on our block. But its still a nervewracking thing to give your kid up to someone you don't know for 9 hours a day.

Anyone got any advice on that?

2005-09-11T00:01:00.000-04:00

Down the Shore!
Be back Wednesday!

See yesterday's post for my 9/11 commentary. Don't worry, its not a rant or even sad. I chose to remember something nice.

Nine-Eleven Remembered

2005-09-10T14:54:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of 9/11. I wrote a post to commemorate this day awhile ago as a draft, but I have decided not to publish it. I will just say this: 9/11 hit me quite hard. I watched the smoke pouring from the Towers from my office across the river in NJ. I knew people in the city, and I knew people in DC. (Thankfully, no one I knew was killed). Maybe next year I will tell my whole story. But for now, I have decided to tell the story of the first time I laughed after 9/11.
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It was the following Friday night, sometime after midnight. I had been glued to the tv, and since I worked at a newspaper, I couldn't even get away from the coverage while I was at work. It was constant inundation. I don't think I had stopped crying yet. I was losing my mind just a little bit.

Hub and I were lying in bed watching tv, because even though a few days had passed, we still couldn't sleep. All of a sudden, I heard what I thought were bombs dropping. I asked Hub if he heard anything, and he said no. He muted the tv, and all we heard was silence. A few minutes later I heard it again. This time Hub heard it too. He muted the tv again, and we lay there, listening to what sounded like massive fireworks happening maybe a few towns away. But it was after midnight, it couldn't be fireworks. I was sure they were bombing Manhattan, which is only about 10 miles from me.

Hub and I just lay there, listening and wondering what we should do. Should we evacuate? Should we just get in the car and drive west? Should we go into the basement and tape up the windows to "protect" us from a nuclear attack?

Then, suddenly, Hub leans over the side of the bed. The noise stops. The dog gets up, walks to the end of the bed, and shakes the sleep off himself. That's right, you guessed it. Gypsy was snoring; that was the noise we were so sure was the end of NYC as we knew it. His rumbling combined with the sound of the ceiling fan sounded to us like a reason to flee New Jersey in our pj's.

And we both laughed. It was this release, as if to say, we are going to be ok. We are going insane, but we are going to be ok.
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I am off to shore for a few days. But before I go - good news! I got a job! A job I really wanted! Now I get to buy myself some new clothes! And maybe an ipod! Woo hoo! I will tell more about the job when I get back from the shore.

Have a great weekend, all!

Here I Am, Not Ranting! Go Me!

2005-09-08T21:34:00.000-04:00

So let's see...what can I post about if I am not ranting? I forget how to post something civil...(but thank you all for your support of my insanity at anonymous idiots. I see that you all get them as well. I hope I spoke for you, too).
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There is a tray of uneaten jello shots in my fridge. At my bbq on Sunday, I got a bad headache at about midnight and that was it for me. I just couldn't party any more; my head was throbbing. Bah. I am hoping it was just a regular run-of-the-mill headache and not old age setting in. Nope, it can't be that.

Now don't get me wrong. We did eat one tray of them, the purple ones which were in honor of our fallen N'Awlins. And they were yummy. But I didn't think one tray was enough, so I made two. Then, I got a headache. Hence, the tray in the fridge.

So in any case, every time I open my fridge I get a big whiff of strawberry, kiwi, sugar and vodka. It is a lovely smell. But trust me, I make some strong jello shots, so these are not to be eaten on just some random Wednesday evening or something. It needs to be a party situation. Now, I will not be around this weekend, so do you think if I put them in a Tupperware or something that they will last till next weekend? I mean, does jello go bad? Someone please enlighten me. I have never had jello shots left over before so I have no idea what to do.
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This weekend, I am going down the shore for one last summer hurrah before Autumn hits like a ton of bricks. My mom is taking me and Princess down for a few days for a "girls weekend." Princess loves the beach and has actually been asking to go in the ocean, so she will be excited.
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Oh, and I have FINALLY been inducted into the Shitty Blogs Club. You do not know how hard I had to work to be shitty enough to get into that little party. But I did it. Thanks, Jeckles.
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Ok, well, that's it for now. I am off to watch Jon Stewart and donate to "Hillary in 2008" and listen to NPR and buy Al Franken's book. Smell ya later ;P

For The Last Time...and Rockstar INXS

2005-09-07T23:06:00.000-04:00

Look, I welcome everyone's opinions here. Right, left, or somewhere in the middle. In fact, some of my favorite blog friends are right wing freaks. And I love them, even though I generally disagree with them. They stick to the topic I am discussing, they keep it brief, and they don't hijack my space to make their own points. And I have the same courtesy for them and their space.

So on that note.

To all of you Anonymouses out there: STOP USING UP ALL OF MY COMMENT SPACE TO MAKE YOUR FEEBLE LITTLE POINT. IF YOU HAVE THAT MUCH TO SAY, GET YOUR OWN DAMN BLOG. And don't say that you "have better things to do, like work" which is the excuse I always get when I ask why you anonymouses don't get your own blogs so you can spout your moronic bs whenever you want. For the time it took you to write 10 paragraphs in my comments, you could have taken the 2 minutes it takes to set up a blogger account.

I was not at all partisan in my questioning of why nothing was done to prevent this disaster and why the response was so slow. I blame everyone in the federal and Lousiana state government along with the New Orleans local government. Regardless of their political party. I am generally pretty anti-Bush around here, but I have not said anything on here about Bush and his handling of this crisis (except to joke that he should have let them use his plane to save people instead of taking time out of his busy riding-bikes-with-Lance schedule to tour the disaster. And that was funny.).

So why exactly do you freaks come to my blog and, I guess because you see that I link to moveon.org, make comments about Hillary and Bill Clinton's handling of some other disaster or about the NY Times and what they said about the levees years ago? You are totally off topic.

Here is my deal: I am a fan of New Orleans. It is my favorite place on this planet. I have been there countless times for Mardi Gras, for St. Patrick's Days, and other times just for the fun of it. I want it to be there, and its not. Its not there because SOME PEOPLE didn't use the funds they were supposed to use to fix the levees, or because SOME PEOPLE voted against using funds for that, or because SOME PEOPLE think poor people aren't important enough to protect, or some other reason. I don't really know what the reason is, and I don't know who those SOME PEOPLE are. I don't know if they are on "my side" or "your side" and I don't care whose side they are on. I want them punished for not doing their job of protecting Americans. And I am also ranting about the fact that it took so long to get help to people while they were starving and dehydrating and dying. Especially since SOME PEOPLE, whoever they may be, knew it was coming and didn't prepare, and after it happened they didn't act.

This is a NON-PARTISAN topic for me. I want the heads of whoever is to blame, Republican or Democrat. Yep, you guessed it, I think Republicans are more to blame because since 9/11, which happened right in my backyard, we were supposed to be upgrading our responses to emergencies. And our response to this emergency SUCKED. And guess what, when you are the President...the buck should stop there. I know, I know, its a real bummer to have to cut your vacation short. But as the President, its the least you could have done. Oh no, wait, *what you actually did* was the least you could have done. I stand corrected.

Ok, I am getting mad and ranting again, and I am getting off topic. My point is this, and I don't think I can make it more clear: This is my blog. Yes, it is public and I am sharing my opinions online and blah blah blah. But guess what. I don't care. You can disagree with me and I have no problem with that. You can ask my many satisfied right-wing customers. But don't hijack my space for your own ends. If you have that much to say and feel so strongly about it, GET YOUR OWN BLOG. From now on, I will be deleting long and blathering comments for the sole reason that I am sick of scrolling past them trying to get to the comments I really want to read. And I am not defending myself on it anymore. Here is my defense - my blog, my decision.
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I knew Jordis was going home tonight. She had just lost it over the last few weeks. You could see her confidence shrinking week after week. I have no doubt that she will be a big star, and I know that losing this competition was the best thing for her because she is too good for INXS. Her voice is absolutely amazing and I can't wait till her solo CD comes out some day soon. Please, dear God, let JD be next. I am so sick of him. I am digging Marty more and more, and Mig is looking more and more odd to me. Suzie has improved like mad over the past few weeks, and I think she has a shot. So, sayonara, Jordis, we will definitely be seeing you around soon.
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Tomorrow - a return of the happier, more uplifting True! (Wait, have I ever been happy and uplifting? Ah, well, I will be back tomorrow anyway, happy or not.)

Some Boring Information About the Netherlands To Prove I Am Right

2005-09-06T11:28:00.000-04:00

For my Anonymous "friend" who posted that the hurricane in New Orleans was not related at all to what they have developed in the Netherlands and that I needed to get away from CNN, perhaps you need to read a tad bit more and stop talking out of your ass. My point was that they are on similar types of land (below sea level) and were prone to flooding, not that they both are threatened with hurricanes (duh).

And, because its my blog and I hate anonymous commenters who "snark and run", I have decided to dedicate today's post to the Netherlands and how I was right in my post from Saturday. You can blame my anonymous "friend" for the long and boring-ness of this post.
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This is what happened in the Netherlands back in 1953 and how the US responded to their disaster. Completely opposite of how we responded to our own disaster.
From The Star-Ledger of Monday, 9/5/2005 by Mark Mueller:
Similar disaster, but a different ending: When flood ravaged Netherlands, response was unified and swift
From his home in the southern reaches of the Netherlands, Toon Franken has watched the televised images of New Orleans with growing astonishment. The scenes make him "shiver," he said. But it is not the scale of devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina that so troubles the 50-year-old Dutchman. It is that for nearly a week after the storm surge swallowed much of the city, so many people remained trapped there, desperate for water, food and escape.

"How is it possible in a civilized country that help is coming so late?" Franken asked in a telephone interview this weekend. "It's incredible."

While criticism of the U.S. government's response to Katrina has grown by the day, Franken brings a rare perspective to the debate. He is curator of the Zeeland Archives, the historical record of the Dutch province devastated in 1953 by the North Sea Flood, known in Holland simply as "the disaster."

More than 1,800 people died in the flood, a gale-driven wall of water that struck without warning in the early morning hours of Feb. 1, 1953, overwhelming centuries-old levees and inundating 625 square miles of land. Not since the Middle Ages -- more than 500 years earlier -- had the low-lying Netherlands been so ravaged by the sea.

Franken has studied every facet of the flood, including the Herculean effort to rescue and evacuate tens of thousands of people. The contrast with the response in New Orleans, he said, is jolting.

"It was a national disaster, and therefore there was a national movement to help," Franken said. "Everybody stood as one."

Historical accounts and extensive coverage of the disaster in the archives of the New York Times confirm Franken's view. Hours after the raging North Sea caused dozens of levees to give way in the southern provinces, primarily Zeeland, the Dutch government dispatched troops, vehicles and boats to the region. From low-flying planes, air crews searched for signs of life, dropping inflatable rubber dinghies wherever they spotted movement.

Queen Juliana, accompanied by her 15-year-old daughter, Princess Beatrix, donned hip waders and toured parts of the region before night fell. The government implored anyone with a truck or a bus to head south, toward the flood zone, to aid in the evacuation. By Feb. 2, hundreds of boats, from the queen's yacht to small fishing vessels, were rescuing people from southern islands and the flooded mainland. Helicopters sent from England, which also suffered heavy damage, plucked survivors from trees, rooftops and lampposts.

The commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, Lt. Gen. Manton S. Eddy, surveyed the damage by air and promised a swift American response. By nightfall on Feb. 2, some 36 hours after the levees broke, U.S. amphibious vehicles were on the ground, shipped in from neighboring West Germany. A detachment of American medical personnel soon followed. The number of boats involved in the rescue climbed to 2,000 the following day. From the air, dozens of helicopters, now mostly American, rescued hundreds more people, ferrying them to staging areas from which they were taken by bus or boat to the north.

There they took shelter in sports arenas and exhibition halls. As in New Orleans, the refugees were forced to deal with crowded conditions. But unlike the fetid Superdome and New Orleans Convention Center, the shelters in Holland were well away from the flood zone, with working electricity and ample supplies of food and water.

Battling snow, sleet and cold, the multinational rescue force evacuated or rescued more than 50,000 people within five days, a figure that would grow to 70,000 by week's end. Damage to the area was enormous. In addition to the 1,836 men, women and children killed, the waters claimed 10,000 animals and destroyed some 4,500 buildings. The flooded region was not fully reinhabited for more than a year.

Certainly New Orleans has presented unique problems. Lawlessness and gunfire have slowed evacuation efforts, and the city's bowl-shaped topography has prevented floodwaters from receding. But Franken, echoing bitter criticism voiced across the political spectrum in the United States, remains baffled by the delay in dispatching troops and by the lack of available food and water.

National Guardsmen arrived in force only on Friday. The first amphibious vehicles arrived the same day.

"The Americans helped Holland so very soon in 1953, and in their own country the help has come so late," Franken said. "We here cannot understand that. It's strange that the United States was not prepared for such a disaster."
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And, perhaps more importantly, after they went through that disaster, they actually did something about it to prevent a similar situation from happening again. They built an intricate dike system where if there is a breach in one of the dikes, it will not flood into the city but into another chamber of the system. Sounds like something we should have done since we went through something similar in 1969 with Hurricane Camille in New Orleans and we knew it would happen again:

The government upgraded its ancient system of dikes and dunes after a powerful storm breached sea dikes in the south of the Netherlands in 1953, killing more than 1,800 people. Today the Netherlands has some of the world's best defenses against flooding, including a chain of 40-foot-tall steel walls suspended by piers in the open sea.

Anti-flood measures will be reviewed in all Dutch regions below sea level in light of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath to ensure they would be adequate in an emergency, the government said Sunday.

All possible weak spots in the dikes -- the tall, uniform embankments that protect the Dutch countryside -- also will be examined, said Melanie Schultz van Haegen, the junior transport and waterworks minister.

She said emphasis will be placed on the populous Amsterdam and Rotterdam regions, which both lie below sea level, De Telegraaf newspaper reported Sunday.

Flood protection in The Netherlands -- a country about twice the size of New Jersey that is mostly below sea level -- is considered among the best in the world.

The government is planning to spend $3.7 billion over the next ten years on new projects against the threat from river floods, in addition to the $620 million spent annually on maintaining the current system in the country.
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I added those italics to show how much money they spent on protecting themselves. I wonder how much we have put into our levee system?

A Semi-Non-Rant and Some Other Crap

2005-09-03T22:32:00.000-04:00

I know it was requested that I rant yet again today. But ya know what? This has been a crappy week. Now its finally over; its the weekend and I want to start fresh and new. Don't you worry, though, I will be back soon enough with complaints about how poorly the whole situation in New Orleans is being handled vs. how the tsunami was handled, and how it would be more helpful to keep Dubbya at his ranch biking in the daisies with Lance Armstrong and let the relief efforts use his helicopters and planes to transport the ill and the elderly and the pregnant women and the children, and how the Netherlands is on similar-type ground as New Orleans and they are so much more prepared than we are for this type of inevitable disaster, and about how race and social status couldn't possibly be playing a part in how much aid and how quickly its getting there. And let me say, speaking of rants, that the Mayor of New Orleans is my newest idol for speaking his mind about what is needed in the city and putting it out there in plain language that even our politicians should be able to understand, or so we would think. Right, but I am not ranting about that today. Really, I am not. Let's move on, shall we?
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Ah, I love Labor Day weekend! I am not a huge fan of the summer, because I don't really enjoy sweating or mosquitos. So fall is my season. And although September is really pretty summery around these parts, the godawful humidity starts to drop and the bugs start to die and we can enjoy the outdoors.

This weekend we have two bbq's, one of which we are hosting at our house. We are going to break out the blender and make the famous Jean Lafitte's Frozen Voodoo Daquiris (from the French Quarter) and I am making purple jello shots in honor of our beloved, fallen New Orleans. While we are too far away to actually go in and help, we will be keeping everyone in our thoughts and in our toasts.
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Is it odd to get teary when you hear "When The Saints Go Marching In"?

Didn't You Hear? Gays Caused the Hurricane. Yup.

2005-09-02T09:42:00.000-04:00

But first: I told Bridezilla to do her own dirty work if she felt it was necessary to get on her soon-to-be- MIL's "good side" by telling her that she needed to return the dress she loves because it was the wrong color. And I am saying screw the surprise for the shower, and my selfish cousin is going to have to be the one to tell Bridezilla about that. I have done more than my share of work for this wedding, and this chick is DONE. See yesterday's post if you have no idea what I am talking about.
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And this: Please, if you can give, give. Go to Redcross.org and be as generous as you can be. We are the country that gives the most to other countries in need...and now WE are the ones in need. Do your part.
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I found out about this over at Patsy's, who got it from Anti-Everything. You can read the whole "article" (I use that term very lightly) at this horrible and hateful website.

Can you believe that in the middle of all the devastation that is going on in the south right now, there is a group that has the time to sit down and figure out how to make it a religious and political issue?

Right, because didn't you hear? It is the fault of GAYS that Hurricane Katrina destroyed everything. That's right. You see, there is a gay festival down there that would have started yesterday, so God destroyed New Orleans because He did not approve. Ah, I understand. God is all-powerful, right? So instead of taking care of things by say, not allowing gays to exist, or singling out gays and killing each one of them individually, God decided that it would be best to destroy the entire Gulf Coast. Millions of innocent people's homes have been destroyed, who knows how many people have died, and the survivors' lives will never, ever be the same again. And God did all of that to punish the city for hosting a gay event. What a wonderful and merciful God these people pray to!

It is APPALLING to me that these so-called Christians are so full of hate that they would blame something like this on gays and make it into a "talking point" when what they should be doing is gathering food and water and money and medicine and necessary supplies for those in need. Isn't that what God would want? Aren't they the ones always asking "What Would Jesus Do?" This is a perfect example of why these right-wing religious nuts are scary and dangerous.

I emailed these morons, and here is what I had to say:
"Blaming gays for the devastation of the Gulf Coast is ignorant and self-serving. Why, then, did God destroy a good, Southern, God-fearing place like Mississippi and yet He spared most of the French Quarter the same absolute devastation? You are a bunch of hateful, horrible people who look to other peoples' misery to promote your own cause. This is something God would not approve of. Shouldn't you be spending your time and energy helping those in need, as God would want us to do, rather than disseminating this kind of ridiculous banter? You need to start looking at yourselves before you judge others."

This is two rants in two days. Watch out, people, I am on a roll.

Thanks and a BIG Rant

2005-08-31T22:38:00.000-04:00

But first...thank you all so much for your kind words and condolences on my uncle. It is greatly appreciated.
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Alright. I am so pissed right now I cannot even speak. I wasn't going to blog till tomorrow, but if I don't get this out I will probably not sleep tonight.

I am in my cousin's wedding in October. I adore him and I adore his fiancee. BUT. I may kill the both of them.

The bride's friends suck, and despite the fact that I am the bridesmaid who knows her the least and for the shortest amount of time, I am the only one having a shower for her. No one else, including the maid of honor who lives in her state (I live 7 hours from them) is throwing a shower. I emailed all the bridesmaids about 50 times over the summer and finally decided that if these people can't get their stuff together, I am not going to let the bride (I'll call her A) suffer for it. So I said, I am having a shower for the family and friends in Jersey. I emailed all the moms. I talked to my cousin about 50 times to get the perfect date so we could get her up here and surprise her. I am doing ALL the work. I just sent out all the invitations on Monday. So what happened?

I just got a call from my beloved cousin. Turns out that despite the fact that I reserved this date months ago, he agreed to have his bachelor party the same day. Ok, no problem right? Problem. They are taking him to Atlantic City, so he has to be at the meeting point by 2:30. He is supposed to get A to my house at 2:30. He can't change the timing on his end because they are catching the bus or something, and I can't change the time on my end because I ALREADY SENT OUT THE INVITATIONS. So now, all my hard work in trying to make this a surprise has gone down the drain. We are going to have to tell her about it, or else why would she drive all the way up here when he is going to AC for his bachelor party? I could kill him.

But that's not all.

His mom (my aunt) never wears dresses, but she went out and found a dress that she fell in love with and is so incredibly excited about. She even called me to tell me about it. She can't wait to surprise her son with this fabulous dress she got. So what is the problem? I just got home after not having checked my email in a few days to find an email from the bride. She is not happy that my aunt bought a taupe dress. She wanted her to wear blue. And she wants ME to tell my aunt she doesn't want her to wear that dress! Because, you know, it would be *uncomfortable* for *her* to tell my aunt that, but it would obviously be easy for ME to tell her something that goes a little something like this: "I know you spent all day with the girls looking for the perfect dress, and I know how much you love it, and I know you haven't worn a dress since high school but you fell in love with this perfect dress, but ya know what, it would be better if you start over and look for another perfect dress because taupe is not exactly what A had in mind. No biggie, right?"

Let me tell you this. I am SO not doing that. Its totally not my place to get involved in that discussion, and I am NOT going to be the one to break my aunt's heart. Right now, between the shower situation and the dress situation (not to mention that my dress was nearly $300 and Princess is in the wedding and the dress A wants for her is nearly $200...and did I mention we are PO????) I wish I was not involved in this wedding at all.

Sorry for the rant, and if you read this whole thing, bless your big, monstrous heart for hanging in there. I am just so pissed and I needed to rant.

Random Stuff

2005-08-29T09:48:00.000-04:00

I may not be around much the next few days. My uncle passed away, and the wake is tomorrow and the funeral is Wednesday. I am not going to make this a downer of a post; I will just say Uncle Bobby, rest in peace.
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And, I will just say a quick little prayer for my second home, the city of New Orleans. I am so glad I got to party there 5 times before it gets washed out to sea by Hurricane Katrina. Take care, Bourbon Street. I hope to see you soon.
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Thanks to those of you who recognized my reference in my lists from The Breakfast Club about taping your buns together.
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I was going to write a post about the bbq I went to on Saturday, but I'll just leave you wtih some pics for now:

Princess and Little J in the baby pool:

Princess and the froggie:

S and her man, RJ:

Dirtbag kid jumping into the beautiful pool:

The Meme of 7's

2005-08-28T11:16:00.000-04:00

But first: Yes, for those of you interested, I do live right in the heart of Soprano-land in NJ. Yes, the show is very accurate. In fact, on my street growing up, there was a mob hit. The guy opened the door and was shot to death. Unfortunately, they hit the wrong house. All in a day's work, I suppose.
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Had a busy day yesterday bbq'ing and drinking with my some of my girlfriends, and today is equally busy. So I leave you with this: the meme of 7's. I was tagged by Better Safe Than Sorry this time. Read to the end to see if you are tagged:

7 things I plan to do before I die
1. Visit Scotland and Ireland to see family
2. Have a job I really love
3. Open a bar with Patsy Darling
4. Go to Oktoberfest in Germany
5. Meet Jon Bon Jovi
6. Get an ipod
7. Go on an African safari (once they get rid of all the mosquitos and flies)

7 things I can do
1. Throw a kickass party
2. Blend up strong margaritas
3. Make good fajitas
4. Drink alot and not puke in my hands
5. Make Princess laugh
6. The 35-minute Firm exercise dvd
7. Tape all your buns together

7 things I cannot do
1. Sleep
2. Get my hair to stay straight in the summer
3. The whole 55-minute Firm exercise dvd
4. Shots of Rumple Minz (anymore)
5. Pass up a cold beer
6. Figure out what a podcast is
7. Decide if I want this HR Director job

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex
1. tall
2. nice eyes
3. an "edge"
4. tattoos
5. working-man hands
6. nice arse
7. sense of humor

7 things that I say most often
1. Whatever!
2. Where's my drink?
3. Nope, I didn't get around to cleaning the house today
4. I'm almost done on the computer
5. No, we're not watching Blue's Clues again
6. Are you still looking at internet porn?
7. No whining!

7 celebrity crushes
1. Jon Bon Jovi
2. Billy Lane
3. Keanu Reeves
4. Eddie Vedder
5. LL Cool J
6. Trent Reznor
7. Henry Rollins

7 people I want to do this
1. Xtessa
2. D-Crunk
3. Jennism
4. Sleeping Mommy
5. Charlie Mc
6. Drunken Master
7. Nat
....and since Nat is out of town, I'll also tag Trine, since she loves playing tag with me. If you don't want to do it, don't. No pressure here.
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And also, go check out this week's Carnival of New Jersey Bloggers. This is my first time participating - my link is down in Southern NJ by Atlantic City because that's what my post was about. Who knew there were so many Jersey bloggers out there?

There She Goes, Miss America!

2005-08-27T10:15:00.000-04:00

I am sure you have all heard by now that the Miss America pageant is leaving my fair state. Its been pretty big news around here. But I don't really care. I don't think that anyone my age or younger (and probably older too) watches Miss America. Its a contest that has seen its best days and left them behind. The women aren't sexy, and men can see much more attractive and scantily-clad chicks in Maxim. And I hope that most women aren't interested because of the ridiculous idea that you have to strut around in a bathing suit and heels to compete for a college scholarship. Um, no.

I don't see how its a loss for Atlantic City either. I don't think you have swarms of people coming to AC to see the pageant. I am sure a few people (like, maybe the contestants' moms?) come for that. But most people come to AC for the gambling. There's nothing else to do down there as far as I am concerned. You can't take 10 steps down the boardwalk without being hassled by a beggar or propositioned by a hooker. The beach? I don't know, does anyone even go on the beach in AC? And God forbid you walk *off* the boardwalk onto the streets of AC...scary. Hold your purse tight. I would venture to say that 90% of the people down there never even leave the casinos. At all.

Now, I understand parts of AC are improving. They have added the upscale Borgata hotel and casino, which is supposed to be lovely. And from what I read in the paper, it sounds like lots of the casinos are adding bars and clubs to cater to a younger crowd (in most of the casinos, if you are under 70, you are probably the youngest person around).

As you know, I am a Jersey Girl through and through. But. It takes me about 3 hours to drive down to Atlantic City. And it takes me about 3.5 to fly to Vegas. Which would you choose?
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One final note, a total aside: Jon Bon Jovi once had a band called The Atlantic City Expressway. I know you were dying to know that.

I Am A Shoe-In

2005-08-26T09:07:00.000-04:00

But first: Somehow, I became a Marauding Marsupial yesterday for a brief time in TTLB Ecosphere! Why is this important to me? I have no idea! I figured I would be an Adorable Rodent forever (and I am back there now), and I am fine with that. I hardly ever even check how I am doing on there. But for some reason I checked it out yesterday and there I was! Marauding around like the Marsupial I am! For some reason, this makes me very happy!!! Are you part of TTLB? Do you look at where you rank and watch how you are doing?
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I bought 2 amazingly cute pairs of shoes yesterday. At Payless. I am not generally a fan of the Payless...not that I am Carrie Bradshaw, buying Manolos and Jimmy Choos, but other than the occasional Target or Kohl's flip flop, I prefer Macys or Bloomies or something like that.

But, maybe I have mentioned this? Have I told you we are po'? I can't afford $100 for a pair of shoes. So, off to Payless I went yesterday before my interview, feeling like if I got a cute pair of shoes I would certainly get the job. And what did I find? Ah, a Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Price sale! Love that! So I looked around and found 2 pairs of adorable shoes that I love. I wore the black ones yesterday, so I am sure I will be offered the job, just because of that.

So what do you think? Both pairs for $28. Even if you think they are ugly, you just can't beat that deal.

These are green faux suede with brown ribbon and a cute wedge heel. I have been wanting a cute wedge heel for fall. So now I just need to buy something green to wear these with.

And these are the pointy-toe shoes that Clinton and Stacy from What Not To Wear are always touting, and they are right. They look great on. I think I may even wear these with jeans in the fall.

2005-08-25T09:57:00.000-04:00

Had my second interview yesterday for the HR Director position. It went pretty well. The CEO seems to dig me. But now she is going on vacation until the day after Labor Day, so I won't hear anything till at least then. Bah. But I guess its good in a way because it gives me time to interview for some contract recruitment positions and then figure out what exactly I want to do.
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I really liked Deanna's song that she wrote and performed on Rockstar INXS, but I wasn't surprised that she was sent home. Poor Ty, though. He seems devastated every time he is in the bottom three, especially when he feels like he did a good job. He is so emotional. Although last night, they all kind of fell apart when Deanna was told she was leaving. Mig was a mess. They were all crying. Jordis was right; based on her performance she deserved to be the one sent home. Hub thinks she is now throwing the competition so she DOESN'T win. I think maybe she got a little overconfident and felt she didn't have to work as hard.
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Princess has gone cold-turkey without Dora. She is totally uninterested. Now, its all about Blue's Clues. She is even worse with Blue than she ws with Dora. Seriously, she wakes up, I go into her room to get her, and the very first thing she says is "Watcha Blue". And then it becomes her mantra until I put the damn thing on. My BIL babysat for her yesterday and I was gone for about 2 hours for my interview. When I came home, Blue was on. I said, "Ah, we're watcha Blue?" He said, "Yep this is Blue's second run since I got here." The chick is addicted.

Various and Sundry Stuff

2005-08-24T08:40:00.000-04:00

I talked to my former boss yesterday and she was SO NICE. I guess the bipolar thing was swinging the right way. She was so complimentary of me, and said that she would have nothing but good things to say about me in a reference. So hopefully the pendulum will keep swinging towards the "I'm a happy person!" way until my references call.
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Dave Navarro annoys me more and more each week on Rockstar INXS. Telling Ty that he was "Ty-riffic"??? C'mon Dave. How long have you been saving that little gem of a statement? And Jordis, what happened to your voice last night? I think maybe she was getting a little overconfident. I still think she is the best one on there, but personally, I think they will pick Mig because he is the right one for that band. He is even Australian.
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My brother-in-law babysat for Princess yesterday while I went to the doctor, and is babysitting again today while I have my interview. He is generally a pretty reserved guy, but when he gets around Princess...he is just so great with her, and she LOVES him. He even changed his very first diaper and did a great job. Thanks, BC!
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Someone compared the new Tommy Lee show to The Simple Life (I guess because they are both fish-out-of-water type stories?) and I don't think they could be more wrong. Tommy really seems so earnest in trying to get along with his teachers and qualify for the band and learn the drum routines...even in trying to learn chemistry and such. I think his little brain just can't wrap itself around the classes he is taking, but he seems like such a decent, cool, genuinely nice guy. The total opposite of that hag Paris Hilton.

I only watched her show once, and they showed her and Nicole staying on Staten Island in some little house with this family. The woman's dog had died recently, so they decide to do something nice and get her a new dog. Well, they get her two HUGE great danes which cost like $2000 each. They are bigger than the house. But the family is like, aw, how sweet those girls are to think of getting us a dog because we were sad. Then, of course, the bill for the dogs shows up and Paris and Nicole have moved on to their next "adventure" and these people were stuck with the cost. It just showed how out of touch these broads were to do something like that, and not consider that the family A). can't afford dogs like that, B). can't have dogs that large in their itty bitty house, and C). might get attached to the dogs and then when they can't pay for them, have to return them. Idiots.
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And finally, how cute are my kid and my dog?

Bitchy Bosses and Signing Off

2005-08-23T08:45:00.000-04:00

So today I am doing the mature thing. I am calling up my former boss and kissing up to her for a while so I can get a good reference out of her. Now, don't get me wrong. I was a great employee for my company and I worked very hard for her. But she is one of those bosses where you never know what you're gonna get from her. Some days, she would tell me how smart I was and how much I contributed to the department. Other days, she would act as if I was not even in the same building. So, since I don't know which person she will be when my references call her, I have to at least get the Gods Of The Bipolar Bosses on my side and remind her, subtly, how awesome I am.
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Isn't it totally weird when you have your daily blog reads, and then all of a sudden one of them says - "its been nice, but I am not doing this anymore"? This has happened to me quite a few times since I have been blogging - most recently with Bridget and Mel, both of whom seem like they will actually be sticking around - and its a totally bizarre thing. These are people I don't know, I've never met, and yet somehow I miss them when they sign off. Do you all feel the same way when a blog friend calls it quits?

Six Feet Under Finale - Spoilers Below

2005-08-22T08:20:00.000-04:00

So what did everyone think of the series finale of Six Feet Under?

At first, I hated it. I was sure Brenda's baby was going to die and I did not want that to happen. As a mom whose daughter was taken from her as soon as she was born and put into the NICU - it hit a little too close to home. And Nate was just being so obnoxious; even though he was dead I still wanted to stab him in the eye with something sharp.

And then I hated it more, because this group of horribly wonderfully dysfunctional people suddenly became...well, functional. Everyone got their shit together and everyone became one big happy family. The whole time, Hub was shooting hex-eyes at the tv trying to kill them all off, because he thought the best way for it to end would be for them to all be having dinner together and either The Big One (earthquake) hits and they all die, or else there is a gas leak and they all die or someone comes in and shoots them all and they all die. He was just so sick of every one of the characters that he wished death on them. And I don't blame him. They did all get very annoying and whiney and hard to bear.

But then, the way it actually ended...it was touching. I was teary. Clare drives away and then you flash forward to how each of them finally do die...and how sad was it to see Keith get shot? He was the most normal person on that whole show. And seeing David teaching his son the business...ah, Fisher and Sons, it does go on. And seeing that Willa (the new baby) was, in fact, okay. That was good. So overall, I did enjoy it and I did think it ended well and I will miss the show.

What did you think? Were you disappointed in how it ended, or did you think they went out the right way?

(Edit: Sorry about the word verfication in the comments. I am so sick of comment spam and have to do something about it.)

True Jersey, HR Director?

2005-08-20T12:05:00.000-04:00

I had my interview for the HR Director position yesterday. I wasn't sure how it went...I felt good about my answers, but I still felt like I didn't have enough experience in certain areas to be considered. Then, lo and behold, about an hour after I get home from the interview the phone rings. Its the CEO, asking me to come back for a second interview. Wow. So now I really have to think about whether I am actually capable of doing this job. And I am not talking about giving myself a pep talk and saying "You Can Do It!" I mean, the company has no HR department right now, so I would have to build the whole deal from scratch. Is that super-exciting, or is it super-scary? And, its a non-profit company. Which could be great to work for because the people might be really nice and cool. Or it could suck because the money's not as good and I hate crunchy-granola people.

All I know is that I have picked out all these new clothes I want to buy for myself, and all these clothes for Princess. So I need a job soon. I have another interview on Monday at a different company, and then I have my second interview for this job on Wednesday. So, we'll see what happens.

Music and Unemployment

2005-08-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Crap. I have been tagged with a meme. This one isn't so bad really (nothing like that godforsaken game I played last week that took up half my lifespan to finish it). I was tagged by a new friend, Hello Shiity. All I have to do is list 5 songs that I am digging right now, which is fairly easy. I am not tagging anyone in particular, but if you are at a loss for things to say and want to use this, please be my guest.

My Five Songs:
1. Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue
2. Have a Nice Day by Bon Jovi
3. The Man Who Sold The World by Jordis Unga
4. A Favor House Atlantic by Coheed and Cambria
5. Pon de Replay by Rhianna
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I know you have waited a long time for this, or perhaps you don't care at all. But I am going to post it anyway. The video from the John Mellencamp concert where Patsy, our friend J, and I sing so loud and off key that you can't hear JM at all. Keep in mind that you can't see anything in most of the video because it was an outside concert and it was dark and we tailgated for so long that from our crappy lawn seats we could barely see the stage anyway.

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I had the oddest phone interview the other day. It lasted about 45 minutes and the woman asked me questions like, "do you consider yourself a storyteller?" and "what kind of numbers do you think about all day long?" I had been kind of excited about this company, but after the interview I thought about it awhile and realized that as a recruiter for this company, *I* would be the one asking those ridiculous questions and I would be thinking to myself during the whole interview how ridiculous they were. And that's not what I want to do. So they called me to set up a second interview and I said no thanks.

I have interviews this afternoon and Monday at two different companies, so we'll see how they go. One is for an HR Director position which I don't think I am qualified for but I am going to fake it as best I can. The other is for contract HR work, where I can make a buttload of money but it can be inconsistent. I am feeling pretty good overall because while I haven't found the right job yet, I am getting tons of calls and lots of interest. So, hopefully in time, something perfect will come up. I am going to be picky and hope that pays off.

Which Curse Word Are You?

2005-08-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

But first...thank God that skank Jessica was voted off RockStar INXS last night. I'd had enough of her a few weeks ago and finally they all agreed. The top three were Jordis, Marty, and Mig, and I think that's right on target. They are the best, and I think Ty is a close fourth.
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(Sorry mom, but...)

Your word is FUCK. You like to come across as rude
and rebellious, and often you do. You also are
intelligent and maybe surprisingly sensitive,
though God help anyone who said that in front
of your friends.

Which Swear (Curse) Word Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Froggy Too

2005-08-17T09:32:00.000-04:00

Ah ha! Thanks to Trine, I have found a way to post larger videos. Check this one out of Princess - its a bit grainy because it was taken in the evening in my dark living room, but its still pretty funny. Notice the shorts on her head. Yep, she was spending time with Hub and odd things are bound to happen.

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And in other news. Dave Navarro needs to stop talking on RockStar INXS. He used to be on my short list until he married Carmen Elektra, and was taken off because no punk rock god could marry that ho - he should have married like, Courtney Love or Shirley Manson or well, me. So on RockStar, he says things like "my homies" and "give props" and it makes me think that he married just the right person because he comes off as a big dork, not as the cool person I thought he was.

And finally, Tommy Lee. Anyone watch his show last night, where he went to college? My Good God, he is dumb. But wow, he is still pretty friggin hot for being a rock star for 25 years.