Kiss My Sass

Our family always did something special with or for Mom every year on Mother’s day weekend. And of course, cards and special long distance chats were sent from us, up north, to Reach Out and Touch dear Grandma as well.

Now that Grandma and Dad are both gone, Mother’s day seems an especially important and simple excuse to get together as a family and show our appreciation for Mom (and my sister, since she’s been a mom for 12 years now).

Being a mom can be a thankless job. Definitely a crazy one. And sure, the retailers have been commercializing it for decades and raking in the big bucks, but there are still folks out there like our family, who don’t feel pressured to spend like crazy.  Or really much at all.  No one’s getting a dozen roses, or being taken out to a 5-star restaurant and/or getting a diamond tennis bracelet, or anything.

So, although it’s just a simple get together with my mom, my sis, and I, along with (sometimes) her hubby, Mother’s Day has been quite the tradition in our family.  Mainly started by my dad (may he rest in peace), who grew up an orphan and basically had no mother (or anyone to really love, for that matter)–typically doted on his dear wife. 

He always put on a special day or did something sweet for her.  Whether it was out to dinner, a bouquet of flowers, or simply staying in with us kids for a quiet evening with a nice dinner or Sunday brunch, one of which I recall somewhat clearly, yet not too fondly.  I was 15 that year.  Dad, sis and I made a champagne brunch for mom with the works–french toast, muffins, bacon, eggs, chef’s salad, hash browns, fresh fruit, juice and, of course, champagne–of which dad let us girls sample a few sips. 

Unfortunately my “sips” turned a game of me boisterously downing everyone else’s leftovers.

“Are you gonna finish that?”, I’d slurred, while hiccupping and pointing at a glass and in the general direction of its owner.  Then, not bothering to wait for a reply, I hoisted it up–much like a sailor would a mast–then chugged the drink in a manner that would make both Captain Jack Sparrow AND Ted Kennedy blush.

I remember getting seriously tipsy, then laughing ’til I nearly peed myself while, reading aloud, in its entirety–the manual for the latest Black & Decker Something-or-Other that dad got mom that year.

“Do not use outdoors or immerse in a pool, lake or tub–’What the… ?!’ “, I howled (it was a juicer, or some damned thing like that).

The last thing I can remember is someone telling me firmly to put the manual down and step away from the glass of champagne I was sloppily nursing at the mo’. 

Then I had a righteous headache for the rest of the day, which pounded merrily along until well past the time I finally slunk into bed that night.

Needless to say, everyone thought I was a schmuck for my behavior.  But they did get a laugh at my misery the next day.

“Serves you right,” mom said (or was it dad? I can’t recall, I was ssshoo hungover).

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

Completely stole this from Renn… thought hers was intriguing and decided to take my own.Results below:

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have high extroversion. You are outgoing and engaging, with both strangers and friends. You truly enjoy being with people and bring energy into any situation. Enthusiastic and fun, you’re the first to say “let’s go!” Conscientiousness: You have high conscientiousness. Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life. Most things in your life are organized and planned well. But you borderline on being a total perfectionist. Agreeableness: You have medium agreeableness. You’re generally a friendly and trusting person. But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism. You get along well with others, as long as they play fair. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is medium. You are generally broad minded when it come to new things. But if something crosses a moral line, there’s no way you’ll approve of it. You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

OK–now I love Chipotle as much as the next average Joe. 

I have eaten at various Chipotle locations in the Twin City metro: West St. Paul was the first one I ever saw, back in 2002 (or 2003?), and I ate there twice, then there was one in South Minneapolis that I found nearby a place I was temping at back in 2004.  So there is also one in downtown St. Paul at which I’ve eaten once - just last Thursday to be exact.  I know that is only 4 times in the space of about 4 years, but remember I don’t eat out much, Ms. Frugal, here.

I go downtown about once a week or less, to do banking, pick up prescriptions or meet clients.  So when I’m down there anywhere betweeen 11am and 2pm I think about lunch, and one place I think of is Chipotle, if I’m in that area of downtown.

But every frickin’ time I go by, there is a line longer than the one back in the 1990’s when the Wild Thing came out at Valley Fair.  I just want to get in and out, with some lunch in hand, to take home and eat.

I do not understand quite how the lines are so long.  I mean, come on.  I’m sure half of these dolts standing in line are only there because their co-workers dragged them and they are sheep who would sooner bite off their big toe than let people think they are a loser, sitting at their little hole within the big cubicle farm at their job, with a brown bag lunch staring them in the face.  So they go along.  Seriously.  If each person standing in line really thought about going to lunch on their own instead of following the herd, they’d have been to the McDoodie’s drive-in and back to work by the time Jorge got their order punched in and packed up.

If you’ve never eaten something from Chipotle, and it’s like, I don’t know… Sunday at 3pm, go there!  But don’t go on a busy day unless you want to be ticked off about having to stand in line so long for something you didn’t like or thought  was just *OK*.  They use only humanely-raised meat products, not sure if that means the animals were given no hormones or drugs and/or if it means they grazed in natural habitats vs. being shackled up and packed like sardines in a big enclosed metal pen with no sunlight or air.

In any case, I think it’s delicious.  They have 4 kinds of flavors (beef, chicken, pork, vegetarian) and 4 ways you can choose to have it made: as a burrito, in a burrito bowl, as a taco, or in a salad.  I have never had the burrito bowls, tacos, or salads. 

I always get the burritos, in either the Barbacoa version (Spanish word for barbeque) which is a slow-cooked beef, shredded and seasoned with lovely spices and flavors, or else I choose the vegetarian version of the burrito, which is basically black beans, pico de gallo (optional), and rice seasoned with lime and herbs.  Whichiever one you choose, you can add sour cream, salsa and/or sour cream on top.  Then they wrap it all up in a fresh hot soft tortilla right there in front of you. 

The food is fresh-tasting and fills you up for about $6.  I  cannot finish a whole burrito, even when I’m not eating anything else with my meal.  I always eat half and save the other half for later.  The vegetarian one tastes great cold, but I haven’t tried the meat ones cold yet when I have leftovers.  I usually disassemble it and microwave the meat, then put it all back together again before eating.

Saw a recent post at Fast Company about the success of this giant newcomer in the fast-food world and I also read the comment about how the restaurant’s dining area is noisy and no soft surfaces exist, to absorb the din created by the kitchen staff and the other diners.

Though I wholeheartedly agree that Chipotle could have a more comfortable and cozy atmosphere (not to mention some padding up above instead of the racket-inducing exposed metal pipes and beams for a ceiling), I’m pretty sure that the reason they do this is not only for minimal expense (easier to clean hard surfaces than maintain fabric cushions which can stain, leather/vinyl which can tear, etc.), but also probably because they want people to order their food, inhale it, and get the heck out.  Obviously, they don’t like it when people want to linger for more than 5 minutes to enjoy their lunch.

Still, it is worth waiting for a few minutes, I suppose, *sigh*. 

It could be worse.  I could have to wait for a cheeseburger in a can, to ship from overseas, and then have to wait to boil it before I can eat it.

Yup.  You read that right: cheeseburger in a can.

In a few days, I’m moving out of the ghetto-ass building and neighborhood I currently live in and into a swanky, sparkly, new place, which is practically going to be a lifestyle upgrade, not to mention a breeze to live in.  More on that later, though. 

Tonight I decided not to cook because a) I’m working on a deadline for a client and b) I’ve still got lots of packing to do before I can even move, let alone call my new place, “home”.

Since a) I live in the ghetto where virtually no place delivers food (read: Not Pizza Hut, Not Godfather’s, not Papa John’s) except for Domino’s and a Chinese takeout place; and b) since I get Domino’s emails with coupons, news, etc.  I decide to see if there’s any deals for Domino’s which, frankly, could be a bit better, in terms of pizza but hey I have no time to cook, no real food in the house to cook anyway, and am hungry!

I go to my Gmail to see what deals I missed (which is probably a lot since I just ignore them when they come to my inbox), and lo and behold, there is a coupon code for a meal deal for any large, any topping pizza, 1 chicken wings order, and 1 breadsticks order, for $19.99.  I hop on their site and order and of course have to have a Diet Coke, but I see they’ve got Coke Zero instead.  Fine by me.  My order is only a little extra with the drink added.

No sooner than I’ve ordered, up comes a page that says I can track my order with this new Domino’s Pizza Tracker.  Well!  I’ve always wondered what the heck happens between the time I zap my online order into cyberspace, and whenthe driver gets here.  So I decide to check that out. 

About 1 minute after I ordered, my Pizza Tracker shows this:

Then, at 5:14 pm it shows that they put it in the oven.   I lose a few minutes while wondering in amazement, and right before my eyes it changes, to say that the driver left with my order at 5:22 pm.

I know I’m not the first to blog about this.  I did see a blog post by a European company called The Next Web, who commented on hearing about the feature.  They wrote that they order Domino’s at least twice a week.  Anyway, they seemed to think it would be great for them and couldn’t wait to try it(Pizza Tracker’s not implemented in Europe yet).  But I think from their post, they must have guessed that it could help get their delivery guy through their maze of a building.  No.  There’s no GPS attached to the pizza! 

What I’m guessing happens, is, someone sees my order at the computer, from my online activity.  At the moment they begin making my pizza, they probably check a box off or click to start a timer of some sort, connected to their website.  Then again when they put my pizza in the oven, when they leave with my pizza, and perhaps again by mobile phone or some other handheld device, when they arrive at my door. 

I guess the Super Bowl earlier this month was the actual kickoff date for Domino’s to launch this feature.  Today was the first I’d heard of it (Rock = Me living under it).

I rather like it, though I’m not sitting here chomping at the bit waiting on my pizza! I mean… I was indeed hungry–but since my nearest Domino’s is located less than 2 miles away from my apartment building I usually get my pizza from them about 18-22 minutes after I order it, and I never worry about it arriving when I want it.

In closing, I guess it’s a great feature to have and the technology is cool.  If only Domino’s would now spend as much effort into making better-tasting pizza, they’d be kicking everyone else’s ass.  Still, no one can beat Mom & Pop pizza places for the really good shit that you have to wait an hour for.

I had been to the Keys Cafe in Woodury before and enjoyed meat loaf with mashed potatoes & gravy with family, and thought it was OK.  I had been to the one on Larpenteur/Lex area and it was alright.  At least the food was decent, a bit more than I’d like to pay for what amounts to sort-of-home-cookin’ at a glorified diner.

But the one in Downtown St. Paul leaves way too much to be desired, to deserve more than a 0 rating from me. 

I ate breakfast there with 2 friends on a weekend morning, and I wasn’t a happy camper.  My friends, on the other hand, were fairly satisfied with their food, but then if they were dogs, they’d be happy if you went on vacation for 7 days and left them 2 days worth of Alpo when they’re using to eating prime rib.

My friends and I had pored over the menu for a few minutes, and were ready to order about a few minutes before our server decided to saunter along to see what we wanted.

We didn’t wait horribly long for her, but in a near-empty restaurant, we didn’t think we would have to.  Which would be OK if her lack of attention, grace and positivity didnt’ really stink up the place.  When she came over she dropped her pen on the table which would have also been OK, if it hadn’t somersaulted all around in my friend’s faces.  Even then it would have been OK, but when she picked it up she didn’t even say, “excuse me” or “whoops”.  Strike one. 

I ordered the omlette that I could create myself, with grilled chicken, cheese and mushrooms, making a comment out loud that I was low-carbing, and asked if I could substitute the hash browns for some steamed veggies or a salad?  She said that would be OK but the steamed veggies were a little bit extra.  I guess I didn’t have a huge problem with that so I went ahead with my request for the steamed veggies.  She said the veggie of the day was carrots, so I declined and decided on the salad instead, without dressing. 

After that she asked me if I would like some juice or coffee and I decided on a large glass of tomato juice.  She looked at me and said, “Isn’t that high in carbs?”.  Well, first off, not really, and secondly, it’s not starchy carbs or sugary carbs, but vegetable carbs and secondly I didn’t think it was any of her business to be making judgements about what I wanted to eat.  It was less “helpful” and more “snobby” if anything.  Strike 2.

I answered, “Well I guess it might be, but then I’m the one who’s going to drink it.  I’d like a large tomato juice.” To which she replied tersely, “Alright.”, as if she SUPPOSED (*sigh* !) that it would be OKAY with HER.  Strike three.  “Thanks.” I said back to her, a forced smile on my face.

After what seemed to be forever and a day to come out, my dining companions both received their muffins before their entrees.  Par for the course, at places like this.  I wondered aloud why they couldn’t be bothered to send out my simple salad at the same time so my friends didn’t feel terrible about diving in before I had anything to start eating.  I didn’t say it very loudly but my friend answered, “Yeah, they should have brought your salad out, too.”  Miss Manners heard us and from within about 5 feet of where we sat, while picking up syup decanters from a nearby empty table, sort of hollered, “Your omelette and salad are going to be ready at the same time!”.  As if we had asked her to chime in with her input.

Anyway, ’round about the time my friends were a bit more than halfway finished with their muffins (which was about 15 minutes or so, because if you’ve seen these muffins, you know they are gigantic), they and I both got our main meals served to us. 

Everything looked pretty good, I somehow got 2 slices of toast even though I wasn’t going to eat them, but when I looked at the omelette, no steam was coming from it, so I touched it.  It was not hot, not even warm, but actually sort of cold.  I wouldn’t have even called it an omelette.  It was more like they took 3 eggs, spread them around on a 3 foot griddle until completely rubbery, then put some stuffings inside rolled it around and around.  I guess where I come from, one prepares an omelette by cooking the eggs until they are just slightly set, then folding in the fillings and flip over, so it’s almost like it’s filled but also the fillings are integrated somewhat within the egg fluff.  No, this was more like a cold egg blanket with loose things tumbling out when you poked it with a fork.

I ate it anyway.  The mushrooms were few (about 5 slices), the cheese barely melted, and the chicken? Well, the chicken consisted of dry (not tender) meaty strips that looked as if they came from a frozen bag of premade chicken strips that you buy for fajitas.  And although the menu stated it was grilled chicken, these dry hunks of whaever were not grilled, but instead had a look as if they had grill-marks painted on (you know the kind of meat I’m talking about).  Anyway there were about 4 of these pseudo-chicken strip things and I wasn’t completely psyched out about it but I was starving.  Maybe it would taste good? 

As I was eating, I tasted something strange, like starchy and chewy.  I cut the omelette open a bit more with my fork, and these pale things tumbled out which were the same color as the chicken, but were shiny, lumpy starchy rubbery things.  I opened the omelette all the way up and found dozens more and maybe 1 more strip of grill-mark-painted pseudo-chicken.  I stabbed one of the lumpy things and held my fork up for my dining companions to inspect.  One of my pals thought it was grits.  The other said I should send it back, because whatever it was, it sure wasn’t chicken!

I hailed Miss Manners over.  She guffawed and stared blankly at the lumps when I told her about them.  She said, “Hmm.  I don’t know what they are, let me ask the cook.”  She came back about 2 minutes later with a big smile on her face and proceeded to tell us that as the cook was making my omelette, he was putting chicken pieces into it, and ran out, so he grabbed what he thought was chicken and dumped it in.  Turns out, these were frozen DUMPLINGS.  As in, for chicken dumpling soup! Or whatever.  She thought it was cute because apparently she has a friendly relationship with this cook and it tickled her in some strange way.  I was a bit miffed that I was paying $$ for a dumpling omelette that was cold to begin with.  But I didn’t fume. 

After some back and forth, she asked if I wanted to get a new omelette, but by then my friends were done eating and it was time for us to get going.  I told her that I’d had enough to eat, thanks, and could we get the check please, since we had to leave, and by the way, I wasn’t too happy about paying for the part of my breakfast that was not done right. 

 We walked up to the counter, paid our check and then left.  She never said anything when we were ringing up, but the omelette was stricken from the bill, which I noticed when I got in the car.

Suffice it to say, I haven’t been back there since.

So.  Guess what? 

I’m diabetic. 

Yep.  Got the results in last week from the doc.

Yippee.

More later!

I’ve been trying to eat healthier lately, not only because I’m borderline diabetic (at least I think I am, the blood glucose test I take next week will say so for certain), but also because, let’s face it… healthy food tastes better!

Here is one recipe I will share with you which I concocted on my own after visiting the hospital cafeteria a few times and experiementing at the salad bar… 

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In a small bowl, mix 1 part Fat Free Sun Dried Tomato viniagrette dressing (I use Newman’s Own, pictured here is Ken’s Steakhouse brand) and

mix w/2 parts Fat Free ranch dressing (I use Hidden Valley)
In a large bowl, combine chopped broccoli florets,  chopped red onion, and your favorite bagged lettuce mix. 

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Toss ingredients well to mix evenly, and pour your combined dressing over all.  Toss to coat vegetables with dressing.

Serve 4 salad bowls/plates and top with shredded carrots and light red kidney beans (rinsed & drained) .

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I’m not a conservative, more of libertarian, who happens to have a few conservative viewpoints.  And get this.  I used to be much further to the left than most liberals!  In recent years I began to see things differently and realize that having more liberal/democrat ideals, wasn’t for me.

Anyway, here is my whole take on the Rosie O’Donnell Vs. Elizabeth Hasselbeck deal…

Someone recently told me that they tought Elizabeth was a horse’s ass for trying to twist around something Rosie allegedly said about U.S. soldiers being terrorists, back in May, on ABC’s The View.  See video below for a more detailed look at what happened back then.

Rosie vs. Elizabeth on The View
 « Click to view video 

I don’t think Elizabeth is a horse’s ass for saying what she believes, Rosie, after all got to do that much more than Elizabeth ever does… and in fact I applaud Elizabeth for finally standing up to that clod, Rosie.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth stands alone in her viewpoints on The View’s panel, which is bad because the rest of the women seem to have usually sided with RO.  Is that fair and balanced?  Hell, no. 

And it’s not over yet…

Now, just this week, reports say that while Rosie goes on her gay cruise she apparently hasn’t lived this all down yet, and has even resorted to stooping to her lowest by bashing Elizabeth when she isn’t around to defend herself.  Rosie is reported to have trotted out a large poster of Elizabeth, defaced with childish devil horns, goatee and tail, done in a very childish manner with a black marker, and says to the crowd of people, “Her only effing credit was Survivor! Come on!” 

The Defamer has the scoop on just who has been doing the photo defacing… turns out it was one of Rosie’s writers!  According to Page Six of the NY Times…

“Yesterday, Rose’s chief writer, Janette Barber, was allegedly escorted from the [ABC studios] building after she was caught drawing moustaches on photographs of Hasselbeck that hang in the “View” studios.”

But I digress…

Rosie was on her way out, anyway.  More than a significant portion of America does not like her and had shut off The View as soon as she came on to it.  Now, I agree that while Star Jones was quite the bitch, she did behave herself (IMHO) much better than Rosie ever could, and her background in law provided a very interesting viewpoint along with the others. I don’t miss Star Jones.  She was starting to get on my nerves.  But the show was on a slippery slope anyway, once Merideth Viera left. Now there’s a woman with class, and a sense of respect and manners!  I really enjoyed the show when it was Lisa Ling, Star Jones, Meredith Viera, Joy Behar and Barbara Walters.  To me THAT was a more diverse panel. 

I don’t disageree that Rosie ought to be able to have a viewpoint, and kudos to her for having the cajones to stand up for what she believes, but the way she does it is impolite and rude, her approach is often, “This is what everyone should think” and rarely, “This is just what I think, my opinion”. 

Honey goes a much longer way than vinegar ever will.  Lack of respect is what I sum up when I think of Rosie O’Donnell, as she is today.  Don’t forget I did used to be a fan of hers back in her early stand up days and film career.  Now just because I prefer a female role model who embodies class, ettiquette and respect does not mean I think women ought to stay at home and knit and bake all day and keep their mouths shut, and I don’t agree that Rosie isn’t a smart woman who has spent a lot of time speaking for women.  But because of her swaggering, overbearing, very disrespectful and abrasive manner, combined with her lack of tact, she does give many women including me, a bad taste in our mouths and I personally don’t want her speaking for the female race if she must do it in such a way that turns people off.  I’m positive many women agree.

She has failed miserably on many, many attempts to have a career in the media.  Her talk show bombed, her magazine went tits up not long after it was started, and her career on The View only lasted 9 months.  Not even a year!  To me, all these things combined means that America does not like you, so STFD and STFU.  I think she ought to stay home raising her children and being with Kelli.  Or try another venue for her nonsense, such as the GLBT cable channel where she actually has an audience that would appreciate her.

I live in a tiny, cramped 2nd floor apartment on Rice street above some offices. I have all my 9 windows on one side and guess what, it’s the West side! So in the summer it’s scorching and in the winter it’s scorching. I almost never have to turn the radiators on in the winter during the day, at least not if it’s sunny. If it’s cloudy, then maybe. Once the sun goes down, between October and March, it’s #*$)(@# frreeeezing in here. Thank God I have a decent digital a/c for summer. Else I’d go berzerk.

My neighborhood is scary. The SuperAmerica has been closed since December. Everyone I’ve talked to (business owners and residents) all say it is because of too much theft. When it was open, they had permanent red plates screwed to all the gas pumps that it was pre-pay for gas purchase. The store had 2 cm-thick, clear plexiglass guard all around the counter between you and the cashier. You had to talk through a little hole in the clear window, and hold up your bread or whatever you were buying to the glass so they could scan it. There was a cop in the store after 6 at night. When there wasn’t one (which was often), the plexi-guard would go down around the counter.

I once got my purse and notebook ripped off of me while walking down the street just after it got dark out, last October.

The building I live in is for sh**.

Until the owners of the building put a lock on the outside door leading to the lobby where the mailboxes and door buzzers were, there was constantly graffiti and trash (we’re not talking the occasional paper or candy wrapper here–try chicken bones, marijuana refuse, someone chucking their half empty can of Colt 45 on the floor) all over the common areas, and someone or something was always peeing in a corner of the elevator.

People would walk in off the street, and buzz all the apartments, feigning the ‘I left my keys upstairs’ excuse. When, for the most part, they turned out to be just coming upstairs to bother tenants and/or just get in from the cold so they could smoke weed or have sex in the laundry room and basically trash the building.

Some of the people in the building are loud and obnoxious. One of my neighbors used to have loud parties at all hours, even during the week, and she was 19 and had 40 and 50 year old men hanging around. It had to be drugs or booze. 50 and 19 year olds dont have that much in common! She had a 3 year old kid out of wedlock, the product of her being raped by a man who was then her mother’s boyfriend. In the summer she would hang out her window and yell at strange men outside to come see her. She finally got evicted but there are still some characters in the building.

Once there was no washers or dryers working for 2 weeks because some dolt decided to try to crowbar-open the money receptacles of the machines to get the quarters out, thus making the machines inoperable.

I don’t know if the neighborhood is getting better, but I will move soon in any case. I just hate moving. I don’t drive and that keeps me from being as flexible as I would like. I’m considering moving back to South St. Paul because it was quiet and about $100 cheaper rent. I have terrible credit after spending years trying to get my business off the ground, so my options are limited.

This is no home. I wouldn’t put my worst enemy up in this joint. But it’s where I hang my hat for now. Until things get better for me.

you prick

You know what I meant.  So I’m a little backwards.  Deal. 

Just a little update on the home front…

After my last post about my living situation, I was able to get my mom to help…after much yelling and swearing from her end, about how I’m “a grownup and this is not my problem, and look how many times I’ve saved your ass”, and yadda yadda! 

Yes, even though I had to endure the big guilt trip, she was right.  I did assume she would help me, she did help me.  I didn’t have to beg her.  I never do.  But it’s not fair to her I suppose, to subsconsciously count on her as a last resort.  I don’t really think about that, no in fact, scratch that… I never count on anyone but myself  She was mostly mad that I didn’t call her back when I was going to be ‘late’…it wasn’t the amount she was upset about…just the principle of the thing, I suppose.

Seems that, for a long time, my life has been a cycle of being in and out, of a complete, chaotic, mess.  Money’s been too tight (and since November, practically non-existent), and I’m stressing out because I either have too much to do or not enough to do.

It’s my own damned fault, I suppose.  I could be getting more work.  Or more money, somehow.  A little back-story…for those who don’t already know… I run my own business from home, which can be scary sometimes if you don’t plan things well.

But it’s hard to be out and about trying to get contracts and meet people all day long and then go home and work for 12 hours more. 

I suppose I could get a part time job, but then when would I sleep?  I’m the only person working here, so it’s not like I could just delegate some tasks to a staff member!

If I continue this cycle of neglecting my own self-care, rest, and health, and spending 12-16 hours working every day, soon I will be dead.  When I’m working, I neglect myself.  My hair won’t get washed every day, I won’t take care to eat the right things, and I smoke too much.  I love my job…but it’s ruining my health. 

So I’m trying some new things…like not working one day a week and just spending that day doing meetings or marketing/making calls.  Then I will spend the rest of that day not doing a damned thing but having “me” time.

I will give it the ol’ college try and post how it goes.

Today I think I’m at the bottom of the bottom.  There’s the earth’s surface, then 50 feet of crap, then there’s me. 

I got turned down again for yet another contract job, and then I got a knock on the door and was handed a notice of eviction action…a summons…not an official “eviction notice”. 

Roughly translated, if I don’t go to court next week and pay 2 months rent, I could be forced to move within 24 hours afterward.

Long story short, the last couple of months haven’t been very prosperous, as far as getting work goes.

I’m actually thinking back now…there were only really 2 paid projects I took on since just before Christmas…and they didn’t pay well.

So. 

It’s no wonder I’m flat broke.

Guess I’ll go sell fruit on the corner.

I have been visiting www.youtube.com for some time now, and I know the original intent was to allow individuals to upload their own videos and allow “the people” to have freedom of expression in the form of online video.

However, as most of the people who visit this site are aware, YouTube has also been a way for visitors to view videos that are copyright protected, such as interviews from tv shows, commercials, music videos by popular artists, and clips from tv shows…even whole tv shows being broken into parts.

I’ll admit to having been addicted to YouTube for the latter reason. I find it very gratifying and fun to be able to go lookup a clip online to see something I may have missed on TV which has people buzzing, such as the recent ‘feud’ between Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump, or to view the commercials that aired during the Superbowl XLI.

The way YouTube works is this: You post a video that you recorded and people can rate your video, add it to their list of favorite videos, subscribe to your videos (meaning they can get alerted whenever you post new videos), and of course, reply to your video in one of two ways; by posting a text comment, or by uploading a video of your own, in response to the original video.

Then you have the people who respond to a video in the form of a video response, vs. simply replying in the text comment boxes. Some of these people, I find to be funny and/or entertaining, while others seem to me, to be using the platform as a means to trying to become famous. Good for them! Lots of these people who post videos and video responses and use YouTube for the main intent, seem to have the most subscribers to their profiles, if their videos are especially humorous, entertaining or original. These people tend to garner a ‘celebrity’ status at YouTube and are the most active participants, once they realize how powerful their contributions have become.

I found though, that the ‘celebrities’ of YouTube seem to be the people that use the site for its original intent, and although many of the videos they post are entertaining, some even informative, I have this theory…

I believe, that the most popular YouTube users are either a) trying to get jobs/be famous for video production and editing and/or acting/journalism/tv personality, or b) just really not talented in writing or typing anything with substance or intelligence.

So there you have it. I think YouTube for the most part, is a way for people to ‘blog’ by video because they are too daft to write and/or type.

Say what you like about me. That’s just my $.02.

I was reading the entries for the Wife in The Fast Lane contest, which is being run by a woman who wrote (and is promoting) a book about busy career moms/superwomen/etc. and was laughing at some of them (they are funny) and happened to visit the blog of the author.  I was reading a post in January’s archives and saw a photo belonging to someone I thought was at least 18.  There was more cleavage than anything else.  The text below said the picture was of a 15 year old.  I can’t believe this woman lets her 15 year old daughter dress like that!  There was no way to comment on the site and EVEN if there were, I felt it would be rude to speak my mind there (not to mention none of my beeswax, I suppose–she’s not my kid after all), so I put it here. 

Since it’s my blog, I guess I can.

*sticks tongue out* 

And that’s all I have to say about that.