ilaxSTUDIO.com Archive October 2006 Entries

HOLIDAYS AND CAR ACCIDENTS | OCTOBER 31, 2006

I have a knack for getting into car accidents on holidays (what can I say, I'm talented!). This first time it happened was election day, November 7, 2000. I was driving on a bridge over a highway, when a semi getting on the off-ramp failed to stop and smashed in the trunk of my car (an Oldsmobile), and sent me spinning into a ditch.

The next time was New Years Day, 2001. I was in my "newer" Oldsmobile, and I slid into a parked car in an icy parking lot. Okay, I hit them when I was parking. But it wasn't that bad.

And the last time was one year ago today, in yet another Oldsmobile, as I was driving to pick up a friend on Halloween and got rear-ended by a drunk driver who did not stop for the stop light (that I was stopped at).

Needless to say, I am driving with extreme caution on holidays. I was nervous to even drive today. I had to go through the intersection where I got rear-ended last year, and I felt really nervous and anxious.

But I made it through the day!

COSTUME PARTY!!! | OCTOBER 30, 2006

I scrounged around to find photos of people in costumes on my computer for an ilaxSTUDIO Halloween Virtual Costume Party. Some were a bit inappropriate, so they did not get posted here!

Send me more costume pictures if you have them!

MY FIRST TRY | OCTOBER 29, 2006

Apparently you don't get the wedding jitters until you have bought your wedding dress. Today was my first appointment to try on wedding gowns. Of course, I was super nervous to try them on, but I am even more nervous now that I have picked one out, had my mother pay for it (thanks mom and dad), and it is hanging here in my closet.

Now I have a thousand thoughts running through my mind - what shoes should I wear? What kind of tiara can I find? What jewelry? Can I lose the weight I want to lose? How should I wear my hair? Blah blah blah blah blah... I need to relax.

And I am not getting married until September 1st!

So let's focus on the bridesmaids. What do you think of Christina and Courtney in these? We would use the apple color that Christina is wearing, on the left. (Ignore the expressions on their faces - it was the end of the day!) Here is the link on the David's Bridal page - doesn't it look better on Christina and Courtney than that nipple-y model?

DADDY, DADDY, I WANT ONE FOR CHRISTMAS!!! | OCTOBER 28, 2006

Pretty, pretty please?! Only $249.99 + tax!!!

This FurReal friends horse, named Butterscotch, makes horse noises when you pet it and brush it. And apparently if you stick that carrot in his mouth, he does something with it. He turns his head too.

Who is going to spend $249.99 on this thing?! Is this the cure to every little girls wish of wanting her own horse? It is huge! What would you do with it after you were sick of playing with it? It's not like you can put it in your closet or in a toy box!

PEZ | OCTOBER 27, 2006

Nothing can cheer up a crappy day like some Star Wars Pez Dispensers. I don't care that George Lucas has sold out Star Wars to every merchandising scheme imaginable. What is great about it is that he owns the rights and banks in big off of it. Oh, to be George Lucas.

My Uncle Tom gave me a Star Wars R2-D2 pez dispenser last year for Christmas (Pez R2-D2 currently lives in Chicago on my dresser). He gave me a travel pouch too, that holds my passport and plane tickets. The pez dispenser was inside of it. I was excited about going to Rome then, and Tom was excited about going to Mexico for New Year's.

And this is how large value is placed in such small, cheap items. When they remind you of the people you love and miss, you would never imagine getting rid of them.

TOO CUTE TO PASS | OCTOBER 26, 2006

Questions you must ask yourself before buying what could seemingly be classified as "knick-knack crap":

1. Is this of seasonal use only? If yes, do not purchase. Hmmm, that would be a most definite yes.

2. Do you already own similar items? If yes, do not purchase. Sadly, yes. And more than one, in fact.

3. Are you running out of storage room in your home? If yes, do not purchase. Uh oh.

4. Does it only serve to amuse you? If yes, do not purchase. Well, it is kind of pratical...

5. Is the purchase of other items required to make it useful? If yes, do not purchase. Yes, candy!!!

6. Would it have broke your heart to pass it up? If yes, then PURCHASE!!! Muah ha ha.

And just for fun... (remember, the first comic of Data's World is in the photos section, under "Animals"!)

"I THOUGHT ROME WAS IN GREECE!" | OCTOBER 25, 2006

Today's title is a direct quote from my younger brother. In a recent conversation he said to me, "Until you lived there, I thought Rome was in Greece!"

In my brother's defense, he is not a moron, although he was also not joking. He just went through the same awful school system that I did.

Apparently my older brother has the same curse. He was looking at a car on ebay that was in Missouri, and he asked my dad, "that's right next to us, right?" Yeah, it's the state just south of us! He was probably joking, but my dad teased him and asked if he missed the day they covered that in class.

Steven and I are not any better. We couldn't remember which state Philadelphia was in on Sunday. We thought it was in Pennsylvania, but we were not sure! We finally had to ask someone to make sure... uh... duh!

So I purchased a reference atlas today for me and my geographically challenged fiance. Who knows if we will actually look at it, but it least it will be around when we are having one of those "not so bright" moments.

I think I really learn geography best by traveling. I did not know much about Italy's geography until I traveled all over the country - so my (expensive) solution is to travel more!

THE NEW SURNAME | OCTOBER 24, 2006

I have very strong feelings about not changing my surname when I get married next year. The problem is, I don't have any logical reason not to - and by logical, I mean non-emotional.

Something inside of me just tells me that I shouldn't do it. I feel like if I do, I will be losing a part of my identity.

Ilax is a very unique surname. No one else in the United States has it besides my immediate family. My great-grandpa (on my father's side) lived on Samos Island, Greece, when he decided to come to the United States in the late 1910s to join the US Army. But his surname was not Ilax, it was Alexciou. They made him change it on Ellis Island because they told him Alexciou would not be a good surname. He had sisters and no brothers back in Greece. One of them got married, had kids and moved to Australia, and the others never married. He then had five daughters and one son, my grandpa (who is the youngest). And I have two brothers, so it is up to them to carry on the family name.

People often ask me how to pronounce my surname, and what origin it is. This has given me a sense that my heritage is something important that I should hold on to.

In Hispanic countries, when a child is born, they receive two surnames - the first being the paternal name, and the second being the mother's paternal surname. When they marry (if they are a woman), their surname becomes their new husband's paternal surname, then their paternal surname (confused yet?).

In Greece now, women are forced to keep their paternal surname when they marry, but this is to signify their dependence on their father.

It is only common in the United States and a few other countries (United Kingdom, France, Romania, and more) for the wife to take her husband's surname as her only surname. And while it was more popular for women to keep their paternal surname when they married between the 1960s and 1990s, now only about 10% of women do it.

If a man does not want to change his surname, I think it is fair that a woman should not be expected to change hers. Of course, they both have the choice to do as they please with the situation, and many women will choose to take their husband's surname.

I would rather become Kimberly Ilax Skaff or Kimberly Skaff Ilax (I don't want to hyphenate).

[Of course, when I mentioned this to my mother, she said "You don't want to have a middle name of Marie anymore?!" I can't please everyone. And when does anyone really please their mother?]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! | OCTOBER 23, 2006

Maybe I should just pimp out my 'Olds like this instead of buying a Mini when I graduate. It is probably a lot more classy anyway.

‹ 85 MPH | OCTOBER 22, 2006

There is a reason that cars should go above 100 miles per hour.

When you are really pissed off and having extreme road rage, you can speed your anger away. Or you can speed and feel worse - especially if you get pulled over by a cop.

Don't worry (dad), I did not get pulled over by a cop, but I cannot remember the last time I felt this angry and aggressive. Tonight I was driving from Kansas City to Ames, and my exit out of Des Moines was blocked. There was no warning about it - no detour - just a few cones in front of it and two trucks working on the off-ramp I need to take. There was no illegal u-turn area or reasonable exit to take to get to another exit... I wasted time and was pissed off. By the time I finally got back on the correct highway, I was so upset that I just wanted to speed my way home.

But my car only goes up to 85 mph. Ha ha.

I am a lot calmer than I used to be, so I was surprised when I felt so much rage by this stupid exit block. I felt like I was out of control and I just wanted to drive onto the off-ramp and run over the idiots working there at 11:30 p.m. Of course, it is not their fault someone told them to work there and not have a detour sign. It is Iowa's fault. STAY OUT OF IOWA. IOWA SUCKS (right now, in my mind, anyway!).

I hate feeling so angry and out of control.

My more exciting news is that I got a surprise phone call from Rixa (my friend from the shelter in Rome) today! I was so surprised when she called my cell phone that I did not believe it was her for a few moments! The funny thing is that I just bought a calling card on Thursday to call her, and was thinking about doing it today.

It was nice to hear from her. She has been receiving my letters and thinking of me too. She is still working hard at helping cats - so much that she is trying to find a home for a cat in Philadelphia... so if you know anyone from that area looking for a cat, I can help you out!

IT'S ALL ABOUT COLOR | OCTOBER 20, 2006

Here is my dream bouquet - yellow, orange and red calla lilies (click on the image for a full view of the bouquet).

It is perfect for me because it has my favorite colors and hues in it and because of the type of lily - CALLA! Muah ha ha. (If you don't know me or missed my 09/17/06 post, that probably won't make any sense).

I really like reds and orange hues. And since we are having the wedding in September, I think those colors would be appropriate for flowers and for the bridesmaids' dresses (unless you are not supposed to use the same hues for both - then it would not work at all!).

Steven also likes more subtle colors (like latte, victorian lilac, and wine), but these colors below are the ones I want Courtney and Christina to look for (first) when they try on dresses next weekend.

Burnt Orange Pumpkin

I think the first color, apple, would be flattering on most skin tones, but it has the risk of being a bit too dark. I really like the second two - palm beach coral and persimmon, but they might be a bit too orange in person. And even though the last two colors look very similar, they are in fact, different - burnt orange and pumpkin. They are both very appealing to me also.

We'll just see how it all goes ... my preferences could still change completely!

FINAL SEMESTER | OCTOBER 19, 2006

Tomorrow I register for my final semester of college. Woo-hoo! I am so close to graduating that I can almost taste it!

Of course, now I get to think about designing a new resume, reformatting this site (again), losing weight for interviews, researching firms, negotiating contracts, blah blah blah. Oh yes, and designing a portfolio that makes my work from the past four years look more than spectacular.

Yeah. This will be fun.

THE DREADED HAIRCUT | OCTOBER 18, 2006

I am not a girly-girl. No one ever taught me how to apply makeup. No one ever taught me how to match my shoes, purse and dress. And surely, no one ever taught me how to take care of my hair.

Which explains why I dread going to the hairdresser like the plague. I put off making the appointment for months and months (literally), then by the time I go, my hair is so damaged (for not being taken care of for months and months), that the hairdresser always looks at me like I am crazy.

They will ask, "How much do you want to take off today?" And I will respond, "Just the split ends."

Their response, "So about two inches then?"

Two inches is not a normal "trim." Two inches is a look-altering haircut. I was really liking my long hair and the way it looked in a ponytail - but now it will not look the same for another five months. Because five months ago was the last time I saw a hairdresser!

So today I did the unthinkable - I made an appointment in advance! Now I will go back in six weeks, have a normal trim, and my hair will grow in a healthy way. Hopefully.

A BIT OF EXPLAINING TO DO | OCTOBER 17, 2006

For about a year I have been using the cbox (aka "chat box") so people are able to leave comments and messages. It functions perfectly, but I don't like that the comments are not linked to a specific post.

So now I have started installing a "Comments" button on the bottom of each new post. This means you can click on it and leave a comment there that relates to what the post is about. You can also leave your random comments there too (this "Comments" button is completely separate from the cbox on the right side of the page - they are not related at all).

All you have to do is click where is says "Comments" and a pop-up window will appear (unless you have pop-ups disabled). In the top of the pop-up window, you will see previous comments if there are any.

To leave a comment, you just enter a name (email and url are optional), then type in your comment in the blank box below. To post your comment, you press "Publish." To see what your comment will look like published, you can press "Preview" first, then "Publish."

I am still experimenting with this, so please tell me which you like using better - the cbox, or the Comments button.

YOUR BLOG VS. YOUR MOM | OCTOBER 16, 2006

I have been browsing this book called Who Let the Blogs Out?, by Biz Stone (cheesy title, right?). I saw it at the public library in the "Computer" section and picked it up because it looked interesting. It was published in 2004, and is basically a history of blogging and blogging software, with a bit of "do and don't" advice. It is not the best book I have read in my life, but it definitely had some interesting points.

There is a whole section devoted to "secret blogging" and how to keep your mom from finding your blog. I found it interesting that the author thought this was a big enough problem that he should right about it - I mean, my mom never reads my blog! My dad does, but my mother only recently commented on how dark the "new" background it, which tells me she hasn't been here since I reformatted it in August!

But if this is a problem for you, the (fairly obvious) advice goes as follows:

1. Do not panic and delete your blog and abandon your readers when your mother discovers it.
2. Use a pseudonym - edit your user profile and change your name.
3. Change your blog address - if your mother is not too savvy with internet lingo, tell your readers you are changing your subdomain (i.e. ilaxstudio.com changes to kilax.ilaxstudio.com ). They will understand what to do, but your mother will not.
4. Censor what you say on your site - use your own lingo to soften up the bad or incriminating things you might say. Instead of saying "I got really drunk last night" say "I got really marshmallow last night."
5. Have a disclaimer that says "nothing in here is true" - even if it is.
6. Remove your blog from Google and other search engines so that your mother cannot find it.

At first I did not understand why someone would not want their mother to read their blog. One of the main reasons I started this website was to keep in touch with my family! And I think that it works - although not everyone leaves comments here - they do give me hints that let me know they are reading.

So I decided to think about the things that you might not want your family or people you know to read about, and here are some ideas - your creepy sexual fantasies, your drug/substance abuse problems, your membership in a hate club, your illicit affair, your secret homosexuality, your abortion (of a child), time spent in prison for killing someone, killing someone and not spending any time in prison, your problem with stealing/flashing people/picking your nose, secrets from your childhood, your disgust for members of your family...

Don't worry, you won't have to read about any of that here. I only talk about those things in person! Ha ha.

SOLO | OCTOBER 15, 2006

One of the hardest things about living alone is admitting how lonely you can get.

I only have class one night a week, and I work three times a week (by myself). Every now and then, I meet with a professor. That is my basic human interaction for the week. If I am lucky, I get to see Steven or my family or his family.

Before I left for college, when I still lived at home with my family, I shared a room with my younger sister. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get out of that situation and see what things were like outside of home. And I liked being away and meeting new people, but always having the opportunity to see my family. I lived in a dorm (although I hardly spent any time there) so I always felt like there was someone around. Because there was.

Then I escaped the dorms and had roommates. That always worked out fine; we got along and there was no hell - until I lived with roommates in Rome.

Before I left for Rome, I knew I wanted to live alone my final year of school, and living with roommates there did nothing more than reinforce my decision. And I was not as lonely as I thought I would be living in Rome by myself over the summer - there was always something for me to do, and I was around a lot of interesting people at work. I spent every night at the shelter, and felt more exhausted than I did lonely (most of the time).

But now I have all this free time - and don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining about that - it just gives me more time to feel lonely. And wish that I was graduating sooner, and could see Steven more often.

Now, I could look on the bright side of things and say that I am happy to be back in the same country as my family, and that I have been spending a lot more time with everyone since I have been back... but let's face it, that is not what you immediately think when you wish they were around to hang out with.

THAT DIDN'T TAKE VERY LONG | OCTOBER 14, 2006

Thank GOD, I do not have to worry about any EVIL spinach being in my bag of Spring Mix salad. If I eat spinach, I WILL PROBABLY DIE.

TIME CAPSULE | OCTOBER 13, 2006

Have you seen that Yahoo! Time Capsule thing?

It is a project done by artist Jonathan Harris. From October 10 until November 8, the time capsule is open for people from all over the world to submit photos into its 10 categories (seen in the image above). On November 8th, the time capsule will be closed, and the snapshots will be sent to the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in Washington D.C.

The idea is that people of the future can look back at it and see what our generation was like. You can submit your photos to it and do searches to see what types of photos other people are submitting. If you click on one of the ten categories, you can see the last 100 photos that were submitted.

The reason I found it is because I was attracted to the interface of it (click on the image above to go to the site). The photos are constantly spinning and moving; if you stare at it for too long you'll get sick!

LETTERS TO ROME | OCTOBER 12, 2006

Every week, I write and send a letter to Rixa. She is my German friend that I worked with at the cat shelter in Rome.

I miss talking to her and seeing her on a daily basis (because I seriously did work at the cat shelter every night), and I wonder how she is doing. Every time I send a letter I hope that she will send a response in return.

But she never does (at least, not yet). And even though she told me before I left that she wouldn't have a lot of time to write to me, I am still a little hopeful. How's that for nice and optimistic?

I wanted to make sure she was receiving my letters, so I emailed another friend of mine at the shelter (Rixa does not do email). And I did not get a response back. Arg.

So I am feeling a bit bummed out about it all. I feel like information is being withheld from me because I am overseas! I suppose this is one of the consequences of having friends in a faraway country.

But then I had an epiphany - why don't I just call her? All I need to do is by a phone card and find out if I can use it on my cell phone (probably not) or find a land line to use. Then I can talk to her right away! I am such a genius.

TRIBUTE TIME | OCTOBER 11, 2006

If you read the comments in the cbox on this page, you will notice that a few days ago, my younger sister Christina asked why she never got her birthday tribute as promised.

I did a tribute for my father last October, one for Steven in December, one for my mother in June, and one for Nicholas just a few days ago. It is a fun way to let that person know you are wishing them a happy day on their special day.

Unfortunately, on my sister's special day (August 25th) this year, I was feeling bummed out and crappy. My uncle Tom's birthday was the day before, so I was thinking about missing him, and I was just bummed out to be back in school in general.

So I told her I would make it up by doing a special post about her birthday trip to Chicago. But when that didn't happen until the end of September, and the day turned out to be a bit of a disaster, I didn't feel like talking about it too much here (sitting in standstill traffic on the highway for two hours, getting rained out during a boat tour, and spending about two hours in H&M with a bunch of crazies will do that to you).

Don't get me wrong, I loved spending time with my sister, and Steven and Blake, but there was nothing worth talking about here. I expected to take a lot of great pictures during the boat tour, but the rain ruined that plan.

So here is your late tribute, Christina. Who knows when you will actually read it, since I assume the internet connection in our home is still slow, and you have such a busy schedule.

Yeah, don't ask me where she got the gorgeous and skinny gene from. Maybe it skips a sister? But watch your back Chris, your sister and sister-in-law are catching up in their "fab-ness"!

EXER-MA-CISE | OCTOBER 10, 2006

Going to the gym becomes so addictive. Once I start, I don't want to stop. It must be all those good-feeling endorphins (or whatever they are called) that your body releases while you exercise. Well that, or the "Gee, I am not such a lazy fat a$$ anymore!" feeling.

My junior year of school, I was still on a healthy kick (okay, obsession) from the summer when I started fall semester. I got up very early everyday - 5:30 - to go exercise at the gym, because I had such a full schedule that was the only time I could go.

Well, as you can probably guess (or tell if you have seen a recent picture of me), that did not last very long. I was staying up all night working on my studio design, and getting up early to exercise became out of the question. I reasoned with myself - "I will just have to quit exercising this semester, and pick up next semester where I left off."

I figured that the large amount of weight I had lost over the summer (about 35 pounds) would just stay off if I kept to the basic meal plan I had developed - cereal with milk for breakfast, half a sandwich with fruit for lunch and a salad for dinner. And it probably would have, if I had actually stuck to it.

But for me, I am either motivated to do something or I do not want to do it at all, and as soon as I stopped going to the gym, I stopped eating so healthy. The weight crept back on, plus some (of course), and despite a lot of walking in Italy, and following a healthy diet there over the summer, I am back in Fatville.

So now that I know exercise and healthy eating have to go hand-in-hand for me, I know what to do. Wish me luck.

DEJA VU | OCTOBER 9, 2006

I imagine it happens to every blogger sooner or later - you begin to forget if you've had a conversation with someone in real life, or if it is just something you wrote about on your blog. Either way, you risk the chance of repeating yourself over and over.

This weekend, I was (happily) able to visit with a lot of my family members. Unfortunately, I kept finding myself saying, "I may have already said this to you..." And no one stopped me and said, "Yeah, I heard that story before, now STFU," but I am sure a few may have wanted to.

I never know who reads what I write here, so I always wonder if I will get called out on mentioning something I wrote about. Like, "Hey! We already know your opinion on that! Talk about something new for a change!"

I think I am running out of stories to tell.

THE FIRST BIG DAY | OCTOBER 8, 2006

I've been putting it in the back of my mind for a long, long time - thinking about trying on wedding dresses. It is supposed to be really exciting, one of the "fun" parts of preparing for the big day, but for me, it is all about stress.

I have an appointment at the end of the month to try on dreses, but I am no where near the size I want to be when I get married (or a healthy size for that matter). It is stressing me out because I know I need to eat healthier, be healthier, exercise, blah blah blah... but I am not making the effort I should. Why do I make this so hard for myself?

OUR LITTLE SCHEME | OCTOBER 7, 2006

For about a month, Nick (my older brother) and I have been scheming a surprise 50th birthday party for my dad. He kept warning me that he would kill me if I did anything special for him on his birthday.

Well, it seems he didn't forget that promise. When he walked into the room he said, "Someone's going to die."

But I secretly think he had a good time.

TIME FLIES | OCTOBER 6, 2006

Celebrating the birthday of someone much, much younger than yourself sure does put things into perspective. You either think, "Damn, I am getting old," or "Damn, time sure does fly by!"

For me it's the latter. My nephew turns 2 today. Since I can remember what I was doing on the day he was born, and almost every other significant day in his life, it makes me feel like time is really slipping by when we are already celebrating his second birthday.

Yikes, yikes, yikes.

PHONE PROBATION | OCTOBER 5, 2006

A month ago I was complaining about never being able to talk to my busy mother. She was never "really" listening when I called her, blah blah blah, I could tell she was too busy to talk to me... blah.

Well, I started to figure out that if I call her in the middle of the day, when I get off work and when she is on her lunch break, it was a good time to chat. She was still busy running errands, but she was alone, and that helped, a lot.

But no more - I am on phone probation. I went oooover my minutes. According to Steven (who receives our joint phone bill), we talked enough for our phone bill to be $100 more than it usually is.

Ugh. I know that it is me who is talking to much, because I love to call people in the middle of the day and just chat, chat, chat. I call my mom, my grandma, Steven... basically anyone who will listen to me blab when I am bored.

But it is only after 9:00 and weekends now. Bummer.

DISCIPLINE | OCTOBER 4, 2006

It may just be me, but when I run across a child who is misbehaving or has little or no manners, I immediately (mentally) blame it on the parent.

For example, when my neighbor's kids are screaming all night long and my neighbors are screaming at their kids, I don't think it is the children's fault. They are unhappy, and they are screaming to let their awful parents know.

Or when you are in a restaurant and see young children with their families, playing with their food and eating with their mouths wide open, you think, "Why didn't their parents teach them not to do that?" You don't think that they should know better...

But I think there is a certain age where young people should start to make their own decisions and correct the mistakes their parents made in raising them. Like closing your mouth when you chew your food, keeping your voice down in public, treating other people with respect, picking up after yourself.. the list could go on and on.

Because if I run across a teenager acting like that, and it disrupts my life, I am going to let them know how I feel.

JUST FOR FUN | OCTOBER 3, 2006

I am stealing this from Dave...

1. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up? The jerk who rear-ended me last year and fled the scene.
2. You can flip a switch that will wipe any band or musical artist out of existence. Which one will it be? With no hesitation whatsoever - AVRIL LAVIGNE (that is, if she is considered a musical artist by ANYONE). Hopefully the switch will not be affected by her spitting talents.
3. Who would you really like to just punch in the face? My studio professor from my semester in Rome.
4. What is your favorite cheese? Mozzarella.
5. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your immediate disposal. What kind will you make? For the rest of my life I can only have one kind of sandwich? My mom's mom makes this killer sandwich - toasted pita shell with tomato, onion and cheddar cheese. Ymm, ymm good.
6. You have the opportunity to sleep with the movie celebrity of your choice. We are talking no-strings-attached sex and it can only happen once. Who is the lucky celebrity of your choice? I think that Pierce Brosnan is unbelievably attractive, but he is 53 years old. And I am 22. Ewan McGregor is only 35, but honestly, I would rather "meet" a movie celebrity of my choice than sleep with them! If I could meet one movie celebrity, it would definitely be Natalie Portman.
7. You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who do you pick? I don't think it was Steven's intention when he introduced me to Michael Bublé's music, but I think he is attractive. But like I just said, I wouldn't want to sleep with a music-celebrity. In fact, I don't even want to meet this guy, I just think he is handsome.
8. Now that you've slept with two different people in a row, you seem to be having an excellent day because you just came across a hundred-dollar bill on the sidewalk. Holy crap, a hundred bucks! How are you gonna spend it? Bills, bills, bills... but if I didn't have any bills, I would probably use it to pay for part of the Sex in the City - The Complete Series.
9. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go? I would go back to Rome to visit my friends at the cat shelter.
10. Upon arrival to the aforementioned location, you get off the plane and discover another hundred-dollar bill. Now that you are in the new location, what are you gonna do? If it was €100, and I did not need it, I would probably donate it to the shelter.
11. A demon rises out of Hell and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. It is...? I don't drink alcohol very often, but I really like Prosecco.
12. Rufus appears out of nowhere with a time-traveling phone booth. You can go anytime in the PAST. What time are you traveling to and what are you going to do when you get there? I would want to go back to 1975 in Cedar Falls, IA and hang out with my parents and see what they were like when they were teenagers.
13. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place? No one is allowed on the island without my permission. That way, I can only invite the people who do not drive me absolutely nuts (except for my parents, they can come anyway).
14. You have been given the opportunity to create the half-hour TV show of your own design. What is it called and what's the premise? "Cats of the World" - All about... the different types of cats around the world! A different type showcased during each show, of course.
15. What is your favorite curse word? Sh*t - I can't really say I have a "favorite," but it does seem to come out of my mouth the most!
16. One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren't really doing anything, they're just standing around your bed. What do you do? Scream, then wait for the morning and see if I can sell them to a museum.
17. Your house is on fire! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don't worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what's the item? Assuming I have my engagement ring ON and all of our documents were in the fire-proof safe, I would grab my external hard drive, because that is where all my pictures and music is stored.
18. The Angel of Death has descended upon you. Fortunately, the Angel of Death is pretty cool and in a good mood, and it offers you a half-hour to do whatever you want before you bite it. Whatcha gonna do in that half-hour? Tell my family good-bye and drive my car really fast (assuming I do not drive an old granny car like I do now! - no offense to my grandma).
19. You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what's even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What's it gonna be? The power to understand all languages spoken.
20. You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again? The night Steven proposed to me (the part when he proposed of course).
21. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? My last three years of high-school.
22. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool stuff... you can move to anywhere else in the world! Bitchin'! What country are you going to live in now? England.
23. This question still counts, even for those of you who are under age. Check it out. You have been eternally banned from every single bar in the world except for ONE. Which one is it gonna be? I guess it would have to be one close to home, although I never visit bars.
24. Hopefully you didn't mention this in the super-powers question.... If you did, then we'll just expand on that. Check it out... Suddenly, you have gained the ability to FLOAT!!! Whose house are you going to float to first, and be like "Dude, check it out... I can FLOAT!"? I already have the power to float. In water. That is enough for me. Of course, if I could fly, I would keep it a secret!
25. The constant absorption of magical moonbeams mixed with the radioactive vegetables you consumed earlier has given you the ability to resurrect the dead famous-person of your choice. So which celebrity will you bring back to life? Aaliyah.
26. The Gates of Hell have opened, and Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person, etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back? My uncle Tom.
27. What's your theme song? Ironically, Steven and I were trying to figure out our theme songs this weekend - the songs that would play when we enter a room or did something cool. He came up with Chariots of Fire, which I don't think can be beat (click here to hear it). I think I would have to choose something intimidating (rather than uplifting), like The Imperial March from Star Wars.

WHAT THE... | OCTOBER 2, 2006

Okay, two questions. First - Why the heck are we having 90° F highs in October in Ames, Iowa? This is not the type of October weather I have been looking forward to.

Second question - What the heck is going on with all these school shootings?

Aug. 24, 2006 : 27-year-old man goes to elementary school in Essex, Vt., fatally shooting one teacher and wounding another.
Aug. 30, 2006 : 19-year-old man in Hillsborough, N.C., kills father, then opens fire at Orange High School, wounding two students before surrendering to police.
Sept. 13, 2006 : Kimveer Gill, 25, opens fire at Dawson College in Montreal, killing one woman and injuring 20 people.
Sept. 27, 2006 : 53-year-old man takes six girls hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colo. He sexually assaults them before fatally shooting one girl and killing himself.
Sept. 29, 2006 : 15-year-old boy brings two guns to school in Cazenovia, Wis., and fatally shoots principal.
Oct. 2, 2006 : 32-year-old man takes about a dozen girls hostage at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County. At least three girls and the gunman are killed.

And the last three all happened within one week of another! There are dozens more that have occurred in the US and Canada recently (within the year), but have not been as big of news because there were no fatalities.

Some criminology professors are calling this the "Copycat Effect," and pointing towards Columbine as the trigger that has influenced these copiers. They hypothesize that vulnerable and angry individuals are trying to figure out what to do with their feelings, and these school attacks are like "suicide turned outward."

I know its broadcast can't be prevented, but I don't think the media's way of sensationalizing everything really helps the situation. It is a sad world if you have to worry about your children being safe in school. It is also a world I do not want to bring any children into.

I'M STILL HERE | OCTOBER 1, 2006

I've been going MIA on the weekends. I'm still here, I am just laaaaaaaazy. Sorry.