Looking Up? If My Neck Isn't too Sore.

Life has been looking up lately.

I'm working really hard on bettering my life

and I'd say so far I'm pretty proud of everything I've been

doing.

After so many years of :

"Oh I'm only a teenager"

"I'm not even 100lbs yet"

"I don't eat THAT bad"

"But I love Taco Bell"

and

"I'll start Monday"

I finally told myself that it was time to take

care of my body.

Just because I'm 95lbs doesn't mean that I'm not

wildly out of shape, and that one day my horrendous

eating habits won't catch up with me.

The earlier in life you make a habit to take care

of your body, the easier it will be to continue

to maintain it.

So last Wednesday I started P90X.

I've done about four discs so far and it is every

bit as brutal as they say it is.

Today will be my fifth day.

So far I've been really excited to work out

and keep to my program.

I know myself and I know that in the past I

get this way for about a week or so before I quit

and everything goes back to

tacos and being a couch potato.

But I'm determined to make it stick this time and

continue to make this a routine.

If I can make it another couple weeks I think it will get

easier since I hear that's about how long it takes to

form a new habit.

It's been about a month since I've had Taco Bell.

I know you are probably laughing at me,

but it really is my weakness.

I've never had any problem giving up other fast

foods, but when it came to tacos, I would give in

within the first week.

My dad gave me this poem when I was too young to

appreciate it.

I do now.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Author unknown

Aside from the other changes I'm trying to make,

I officially quit Hot Topic Saturday.

The more I think about, even though I know it

was the right decision, I keep thinking about all

the things I'm going to miss.

So to make me feel better, I'm going to write down

the things I won't miss.

Mean customers.

Long hours on my feet.

Working nights.

Christmas time.

Bright new merchandise.

Alienating our original customer base.

Bad music on the play network.

Drama.

Folding t-shirts.

Inventory.

Thieves.

Gross finds.

Climbing ladders. (Fear of heights)

Stupid questions.

Organizing the rock wall.

Stabbing myself with sensors.

What I WILL miss?

My co-workers.

Shenanigans.

Shipment.

Creating displays.

POG.

Discount.

My employee number.

Good music on the play network.

Being the first to see new merch.

Pleasant customers.

Sharing stories.

Themed weekends.

Jokes.

Todd's complimentary insults.

And more I'm choosing not to write down so I'm not sad.

The End of an Era.

Do you ever feel like you might be being forced

into doing something, then when you think about it

you realize that you should have done it a

long time ago?

I've decided to put in my two weeks at Hot Topic.

For a whole slew of  reasons.

Without getting into too much detail in a public forum,

it started with some actions taken by some people

that I did not agree with.

My name was used to ensue drama without my consent,

people felt attacked, and a mess of other things.

All in all I feel the situation could have been handled a lot

better. Especially by those who put it all in motion.

After feeling like I'd been backed into a corner,

I began to put it all into perspective.

Hot Topic was always my second job, and for

a long time I was putting it infront of my main job.

So much that I've missed deadlines, and my

work ethic plumited.

So the more I thought about it, I wondered, why?

I worked so hard at that job and was passed

up on promotions twice. The second,

purely on someone playing favorites.

But I realized, I would make more money working

at Visual Sports every day

than any promotion Hot Topic could give me.

Even though VSN can get boring sometimes,

I would make a significant amount more, I would have

nights off, and there is virtually no drama.

(Sometimes with my sister, but who doesn't?)

The more I thought about it, the more I realized the

only things keeping me at Hot Topic are:

My discout.

It's something different.

My friendships with my co workers.

It sure isn't the pay.

So since the friendships are being "taken"

the rest really isn't enough for me to stay.

I am tired of working all for nothing

and waiting for a promotion that will

probably never happen and if it does it's just

MORE work for nothing.

It is foolish to think that you can throw a group

of people of similar age and interests in tight

quarters for long periods of time without

friendships forming.

Personally, the relationships I've made

are more important to me than a minimum

wage job I've had for four years as a

sales associate.

Bottom line is, Hot Topic needs me

more than I need it.



Job Description for Cats...

BATHROOMS - Always accompany guests to the bath room. It is not necessary to do anything. Just sit & stare.

DOORS - Do not allow any closed doors ... in any room. To get the door opened, stand on hind legs & hammer with forepaws. Once door is opened, it's not necessary to use it. After you have ordered an outside door opened, stand half-way in & out & think about several things. This is particularly important during very cold weather, rain, snow, or mosquito season.

CHAIRS AND RUGS - If you have to throw up, get to a chair quickly. If you cannot manage in time, get to an Oriental rug. If there is no Oriental rug, shag is good. When throwing up on the carpet, make sure you back up so it's as long as a human's bare foot.

HAMPERING - If one of your humans is engaged in any activity, and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called helping, otherwise known as hampering. Following are the rules for hampering:

When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted.

For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book --unless you can lie across the book itself.

When human is working at computer, jump up on desk, walk across keyboard, bat at mouse pointer on screen, and then lay in human's lap across arms, hampering typing in progress.

WALKING - As often as possible, dart quickly & as close as possible in front of the human... especially on stairs, when they have something in their arms, in the dark & when they first get up in the morning. This will help their co-ordination skills.

BEDTIME - Always sleep on the human at night so he/she cannot move around.

LITTER BOX - When using the litter box, be sure to kick as much litter out of the box as possible. Humans love the feel of kitty litter between their toes.

HIDING - Every now and then, hide in a place where the humans cannot find you and ... do NOT come out for three to four hours under any circumstances. This will cause the humans to panic (which they love) thinking that you have run away or are lost. Once you do come out... the humans will cover you with love & kisses, and you probably will get a treat.

ONE LAST THOUGHT - Whenever possible, get close to a human, especially their face, then turn around and present your butt to them. Humans love this, so do it often.



Adventure Time.

I'm working on St. Patricks day.

Woot.

Instead of talking about all the horrendously

awful things that are going on like jobs,

money, several broken cell phones,

and soon to have a home demolition,

I'm going to talk about the good stuff.

Adventures with man friend.

1. Garbage picking for old 60's records.

2. Picking up a stranded, drunken couple

that ran their car into a ditch during the

last snow storm.

We were deemed the nicest people they've ever

met and he insisted we take $20.

It took SERIOUS convincing on his part

to get me to let them in the car.

I was sure I was about to be killed and

buried by the interstate.

But they were in trouble and I believe in karma.

They were very nice and appreciative,

but after seeing that they lived in $800 apartments,

I'm sure he was a drug dealer.

It's ok, drug dealers need help too sometimes.

3. Man friend getting hammered ass drunk on

Britney's birthday and everyone ending up at a

sleazy strip club 10 minutes before they closed.

So the ugly broad was out.

4. Having dinner and then going to a thrift store

to add to my now growing collection of old

furniture.

I bought an old trunk for $40 and I'm quite

proud of it.

(shitty phone picture)

I'm using it as my bedside table for the time

being, but I think that will be it's permanent

home.



Things That Rock #2

NINTENDO VIDEO GAMES

CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES

BUBBLE WRAP

OBSCURE CULT CLASSICS

OWL JEWELRY

LEG WARMERS

CHILDHOOD CARTOONS

MEN WEARING CARDIGANS

FANCY CUPCAKES

THESE PICTURES

JAKE GYLLENHAAL WEARING A

MINOR THREAT T-SHIRT





Picking through trash, being white....white trash?

Me and man friend went on quite an adventure last night.

We we were watching Heroes (yea I name drop)

and I mentioned that I saw this cool piece of furniture

on the side of the road on my way home from work.

I guess my voice sounded like I really wanted

it, because he then tries to convince

me to go get it.

Finally after my many excuses we drive down

to see if it's still there and we take a flashlight

to look to see if it's in good shape.

Oh, because I forgot to mention, this is all

happening at 10:00 PM.

We pull over, have the hazards on, and are

rummaging in front of this persons house

with a flashlight at 10:00.

I was sure the cops were getting called.

Anyway it turns out that it's an old record

player and the top opens up.

REALLY cool piece,

but this thing is frickin HUGE.

No way it was going to fit in my car.

So we drive home and I try to forget about it.

As soon as I pull into my parking spot,

man friend suggests we just go get one of

my parents' vans.

It takes 2 seconds of convincing before we head

to the rents.

We get in the first van and the gas light

turns on the second I turn on the car.

Sigh.

So I get the keys to the other one and it has

about a centimeter above the red line.

Bigger sigh.

I blame Russell.

We take it anyway.

I kept saying we needed to stop at a gas station

but man friend say OH NO we can

TOTALLY make it there with this, the light's not

even on yet.

We get about half way before the light turns on.

I take this time to gloat.

Finally we make it back and at this point it's 11.

So we go to get this thing in the van and it

easily weights 300lbs for me

because I am useless with physical activity.

It takes 10 trys before we finally get it in

the van and let me tell you, laughing

while lifting heavy things is futile.

So we get home and I literally have no place to

put this thing. It's sitting in the

middle of my living room for now until I

find somewhere for it.

I'm 98% sure the record player doesn't work

but it's still a really cool piece.

Love it.

Despite a few mishaps the night was

a whole lot of fun.

Occasional Musing #3

I think they should bring back

Invader Zim.

It's all kinds of trendy now and WAY

overplayed in Hot Topic but it

was still a brilliant cartoon.

Jhonen really has a way with pulling nonsense

out of his ass and making it work.

It's just so funny.

I have no idea why.

If anything he should put out his own DVD

or something that's not censored.

Whatever he wants to do really.

Pure genius.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kinda miss you already.

"I don't care just where you go
As long, as long as it's with me
I don't mind just what you do
As long, as long as it's with me, too

Oh, okay, yeah, that's where you go
Oh, come and dance with me"

- Born Ruffians