2003: Year in Review.
Oooh, New Year’s Eve. Time to take stock.
Looking back: 2003 was a very good year. Some highlights:
- Got hired by my employer, an area publishing company. Marks my first “real job” in Maryland.
- Traveled to Chicago, California, and other places. Cali was a first, and Chicago was just crazy.
- Made some new friends, all on my own.
- Got my finances in order, thanks entirely to Iain.
- Tried working out, and found I wasn’t allergic to it.
- Quit television.
- Helped launch a web magazine.
- Launched this blog, and got some props for it.
In the “intangible” arena, I think I’ve become happier with myself and my life, with the way things turned out. I’m starting to think of Baltimore as home. I’m starting to think of myself as a normal person, a good person, a person who can do things, and do them the right way. Things seem to be settling into a good, productive pattern that I can be proud of. I may not be very hip, or have a lot of the cool possessions and qualities that I thought were so important in college. Instead, I’m focusing on what I like and what I like to do, regardless of what people think about it.
For me, this marks a milestone.
The best part of 2003 is that there are so few valleys of despair. There are some, of course: the weight obsession of 2003, which was coupled with the pervasive depression of early and mid-2003; the war and it’s attendant atrocities; some fights and things. But looking back, the valleys didn’t rule the year. The peaks did. And that’s about all I can ask.
Looking forward: Got some goals and projections for 2004.
- Pay off my car.
- Work on my social skills. As in, write more letters, make more phone calls, be better at remembering birthdays, buying gifts.
- Quit spending money on stupid things that make me happy for five minutes.
- Direct my energies outward. Possibly get a volunteer gig.
- Find my brass balls and make some dreams happen. Instead of wishing a book deal would drop out of the sky, start writing a book. Instead of drooling over houses, tighten belt so will be ready to purchase in a year.
- For the love of God, quit smoking already.
- Exercise. At all. [Uh oh … goals and projections degenerating into crappy, cliched New Year’s resolutions … resolve not to let it happen again.]
- Eat better. [Aack! Aack! Stop it. No cliches!]
- Get organized. [I mean it, cut it out].
- Be the best attendant I can be for the weddings this summer. [That’s better. A little more personal, a little more realistic.]
OK. The voices in my head are exhausting me. I’ll stop there for now.
Happy 2004! May this year find you healthy and happy, everyone.
Back in the saddle again.
Back to B-more, back to work, back to the apartment, back to the daily grind. Christmas break was a good time, and it was good to see the fam and few old friends. It’s also good to be back home and in the swing of things again.
Brunettes have all the fun: Speaking of back, I’m back to straight-up brunette. Sometimes the gray hairs and growing-out roots just get to be too much, y’know?
Baby got back: It’s been a long time since I’ve posted about my ass. I’d like you all to know that it’s still here. Not quite as big as it was last winter, but I think my body’s getting ready to store up some wintertime fat again. Yay.
Baby back ribs? Can’t wait to see Stitch this weekend and meet The Boy. Wonder where we’ll go for dinner?
Oh, Eowyn, you kick ass.
Finally saw Return of The King. And I only cried once.
For about two and a half hours.
But lord, it was good. Very well done. Very emotional. Captivating. Good.
You get the point.
Va-cay has been going well. Got my ass handed to me by a 15-year-old in Trivial Pursuit; been bit [lightly] by the new puppy. Been waking up before 9 a.m. Been eating and eating and eating.
Going well, over all, but tomorrow it’ll be time to head back to B-more again.
But that’s OK, because there’s a Stitch at the end of the week! Woo hoo!
Merry Christmas!
And Happy Hanukkah, too! Hope everyone is having as much fun as I am. Actual snow, a new puppy, presents and a ham dinner … does it get any better than this?
When good newspapers go bad.
So I had this dream last night.
I dreamt I was at work.
There was this guy, who was a cross between Albert Brooks in Broadcast News and Moe from The Simpsons, who was our weatherman. For some reason, the weather station was in a bar. Every time he got halfway through his report, he gave up and instead hit on the women in the bar. [One of his lines: “Can I watch you chew these caramels?” Yowsa.]
My best friend, Mandy, was one of the targets of his affection. She and I were then driving along in a Buick late at night, trying to think of ways to get this guy to leave her alone.
Just then, a freak hurricane/blizzard hit the town. Mandy disappeared, and I was suddenly lost and trying to find my way to work.
When I arrived, the newsroom was in shambles. Papers were everywhere; people were hiding under desks, nursing wounds. It was like that scene from “The Crimson Permanent Assurance,” in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, when the old accountant guys are under siege.
Turns out my news organization had just been the victim of a violent, bloody coup — a hostile takeover — staged by a crazy, sadistic ex-army guy — you know, the kind who still wears a flat-top and plays homicidal war games for fun.
He had just swept in, mowed down some reporters, and set up shop, leaving a bloody trail of editors and writers in his wake. People grabbed their stylebooks and ran for cover.
Scary Murder Man chose me and Joan Cusack [?!] to be his “secretaries,” which meant we had to sit in his office, knitting and smiling politely, as he directed air traffic for the fighter jets taking aim at the building. We weren’t allowed to react to the screams of agony coming from outside the glass-paneled door — just kept knitting, staring straight ahead.
Finally, I was released for the day. One person told me, as I was leaving, tears of fear and horror streaming down my face, that “the hard part of the job” was over — meaning, that I landed a cushy gig as right-hand man to the psycho in charge.
They obviously never spent eight hours in close quarters with the criminally insane.
And fortunately, neither had I! I realized this with great relief upon waking. It was then that I vowed to never let a military occupation destroy my place of employment.
And to this day, I never have!
This bizarre reconnaissance of my subconscious brought to you by: Fred Jones Part 2 from the album “Rockin’ The Suburbs” by Ben Folds.
Down to the wire.
Just humming “The Hannukah Song” as I wrap my Christmas presents. Thinking about the Great Drive Westward that we’ll be embarking on soon. Family-time, yo.
Dreading the giant pile of things to do that I have to … um, do.
I’m sure I’ll get it done in the next day and a half.
Yeah.
No problem, right? Right?
More seratonin, please!
Things I Like:
- I like my hair today.
- I really, really like my job.
- I like where I work, because I can walk to the shop and buy BUST.
- I really, really, really like BUST, because it makes me all inspired and happy.
- for example, there’s a great article on spiffing up your cube
- there’s a great article on chick DJ’s
- there’s a great article on trans-gendered people [must admit, was flipping through mag, saw cute geek boy, only to realize later that he was a she that’s a he.]
- actually, every article this quarter is good.
- I really like Utz Cheese Balls and I really like that I still have some left.
- I really like Iain. He’s so dreamy.
- I really like going to the thrift store on Saturdays, which i’m doing tomorrow [which is actually today]
- I really like making small children happy by giving them tickets to see the Moscow Ballet perform the Nutcracker.
- I really, really like making lists.
OK. Time for a downer. SoCo, anyone?
This post brought to you by: Woo Hoo from the “Kill Bill” soundtrack by The 5.6.7.8’s.
Look out, Frodo! Part III
Last post of the night [morning], I swear.
A list of fun things to do while viewing ROTK.
OK.
That’s all.
I mean it this time.
Everything I need to know I learned from Sweet Valley High.
I think I’m turning into Elizabeth Wakefield.
Oh, sure, I’ve had my Jessica Wakefield days — haven’t we all? — but the time has come to settle down with my own Todd Wilkins, fight the good fight on the journalism front, and work on maintaining my golden tan and perfect size-six figure.
Er. Something like that.
OK, OK, I’m really going to bed now.
What Tolkien Officially Said about Elf Sex
Thought I’d share this [via metafilter], considering the hullabaloo going about concerning ROTK’s premiere.
Also thought I’d share that I’m probably the only LOTR fan left in existence who hasn’t seen the third film yet. *MB makes sad face.*
Sigh … Am waiting for said hullabaloo to die down; plan on seeing it with hubby at a calm, peaceful Ohio matinee sometime over holiday break.
I just don’t know if I can wait that long!
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my sewing tutorials
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