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****Disclaimer: The following "lessons" all arose from a lunch table conversation yesterday. It was kind of one of those situations where I was sort of trying to be funny but was told that I was making some really good points. I figured I'd recapture some of my thoughts here and share them with you guys. This isn't a manual on how to live life or anything so do me a favor and don't take me too seriously. Enjoy!****
I've learned that trying to be cool is a pointless endeavor. Here's the deal, if you try to be cool and succeed, it comes across as arrogance. If you try to be cool and fail, it makes you seem a loser to an even larger degree because you were, after all, trying to be cool. However, if you don't try to be cool and you're not cool, it's okay because hey, you weren't aiming for coolness. Also, if you don't try to be cool and by some stroke of luck you acheive coolness, then it's magnified to some exponential factor because you're in the sort of auto-cool zone of being effortlessly cool.
I've also learned not to try too hard to be attractive. Mostly because people that put too much stock into their own appearance have a hard time not coming across as really self-absorbed. Since too, most people are naturally self-absorbed, I figure being self absorbed can't really be appealing to those that are self-absorbed. This kinda ties into the coolness theory too because people that are attractive without really trying are generally a lot more attractivce than the ones that try too hard.
Another good lesson is not to be attracted by attraction. (This is the whole I like a person because they like me syndrome.) Granted this is the basic principle behind the sophisticated art of flirtaion, but taking that into consideration, how many solid relationships have ever been built upon flirtation? There's a gaelic proverb that says that the best mirror is a friend's eye and I think when you consider whether you really like a person you should think about who you are when you're with them and whether you like the person they make you want to become.
The sooner you realize that relationship and responsibility go hand in hand the better off you'll be in life. Yeah, it applies to the whole guy/girl thing, but even more so it applies to every relationship in life - think offices and families as well as just friendships. To be in a relationship is to enter into some intangible mental, emotional, possibly physical, maybe even spiritual contract. And what people don't seem to always grasp is that when you do that, you have to bring something to the table. It's about unselfish living. It's like when kids grow up and want nothing else to do with their parents or siblings. They've taken all they needed and see no reason to give anything back. Then you look at kids that grow up and make friends with their parents and you see that they're giving back - giving time, conversation, and love - and by putting something new into a preformed boundary of a relationship there's suddenly an opportunity for new growth.
I'm not sure if variety really is the spice of life. I think variety in your own perspective can do more to spice things up than any actual changes in atmosphere or situation. Or maybe I'm just too afraid to admit that I don't particularly like change. And yes, I realize that that's a rather odd statement for one with an attention span as short as mine.
Listen to me going on about all this, maybe I should write a book. ;) Truth is, I don't have it all figured out. I can talk a big game, but I'll be the first to admit that there's a lot - no, a ton.... (what's bigger than a ton?) ...I'll be the first to admit that there's a gigaton that I have yet to learn but I will say I'm very eager and anxious to get started learning as much as I can with the time that I have.
Turkey-Sandwich-Thoughtsfully Yours,
lisa :)
p.s. So yeah, as for what's up with me, I moved back in with my parents last month. There's a whole saving money for the wedding aspect to it plus I just have to achieve extreme nerdiness in admitting that *shocking as it is* I actually like my parents! It was a sad day to say farewell to The Holodeck but the future is looking exceptionally thrilling and Tony and I actually bought a condo in The Ville (Bag End - I'll explain later) so it's gonna be a great place to move into after the wedding - 162 days to go. And speaking of wedding news too, I'm not the only Baker girl to be planning a wedding these days! My sister Laura just got engaged to her boyfriend Dan! Cool beans, ain't it??? Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoy what's left of summer!!!
Never was a Corn Flake girl. Thought it was a good solution....
Okay I have no clue where that analogy is going but it was one of those songs that I heard on the radio the other day that hadn't graced my ears for the better part of the last decade. But if there's any relevance of the song in my life it's that I never have liked Corn Flakes. The frosted variety is much preferable but, in truth, if a breakfast is to consist of such an outrageous number of sugar grams one might as well eat Lucky Charms because at least the marshmallows are in shapes much more fun to ponder.
The way I see it though, breakfast cereal could very well be the analogy I want to run with in describing my life at present. I can't go so far as to say that my life derives it's name from the Roman god of corn but to start with, I must point out the obvious comparison that both life and cereal (and I suppose also, Life cereal) have become exceptionally sweet - and life somehow manages to attain that sweetness without pasty white icing, dehydrated marshmallow pellets or being interspersed with sugar coated raisins. [And how Kellog's manages to cover every square nanometer of a raisin's surface with sugar remains one of the universe's more compelling mysteries...]
More so than the sugar factor though, life right now seems all about variety. Anyone who's been anywhere near a grocery store lately can attest to the fact that nowhere exists a clearer manifestation of the essence of variety than in the limitless infinity that is a cereal aisle. With cartoon charcaters to rival a fast forwarded Saturday morning marathon and colors reminiscent of an exploding circus tent, the choices are virtually endless. Similarly so are the choices involved with coordinating the details of wedding planning. [I'm sure you're all in the loop but just in case anyone missed the news, Tony and I got engaged Easter weekend!!! :) Wedding date is December 31st 2004, aka New Year's Eve wedding aka 227 days from now - woohoo!] Dress, Flowers, Hall, Cake, DJ, Photographer, China Pattern, Wedding Party, Tuxedos, Pastor, Ceremony style - I've decided that this is why people advise not to date anyone you can't see yourself marrying because any girl who gets engaged and still questions choice of groom would most likely suffer a severe brain meltdown from an overabundance of decisions to be made. Tony's the part of the equation that I'm very glad to be certain about. In my cereal analogy, he's the toy at the bottom of the box. Remember when you had to eat bowls of cereal every morning just to get one of those freaky squid style wacky wall crawlers? Well, all this crazy decision making stuff is fun and cool (like eating cereal) but the real joy (the toy at the bottom) is the fun of our life together. And anyone thinking me cruel to compare such an awesome guy to a cheap piece of sticky plastic doesn't understand how cool I thought wacky wall crawlers were and should also know that Tony and I routinely exchange such endearing compliments such as "You're like McDonald's" and "I'd rather talk to you than scrub my toilet".
But yeah, enough about wedding stuff. This is weird too because some of you are probably at the gag-me-with-a-spoon point of being sickeningly disgusted by my gushing about this all while others of you want details galore. In other news though, work is going well. I learned how to do mouse surgery today. A more valid statelment would be that I learned how to entangle my enormously large fingers in suture thread and attempt to form minisculely smalll x-shaped stitches in the abdomen of a tiny rodent. It's not a procedure I see myself mastering any time soon and all I can say is that luckily the subject was deceased during my practice trial. *Yikes* It was - in one word: bad. Or messy....no, we'll stick with "bad". In better news, my sister's baby is due next weekend too so I've been virtually glued to my cell phone eagerly awaiting the going-into-labor news. I was going to use the analogy of being surgically attached to my phone but after my earlier exploits in suturing (why do they make it look so easy on ER?!?!??) I decided to scratch that idea.
Well, I'm sure I've said enough by now and I hope that this e-mail finds you all well and happy and enjoying a sweet life free of abnormally sugar-coated raisins but filled with variety. That's all I really have to say for now.
Sweetfully & Varietyfully Yours,
- You bet your life it is -
lisa :)
p.s. Shoutouts to all the May birthdays like Kristy & Erika (I'm sure there's more of you out there but they're the only ones I'm remembering right now - sorry)!! Also a shoutout to everyone who got the whole Tori Amos connection with the first and last lines of the e-mail......nnnnnevermind.
I didn't mean to be rude.
It's not even like I was trying to listen in. I just overheard.
Besides, it's not like they were talking in code. They weren't even talking quietly.
And when she's on one side of the train aisle and he's on the other side facing me, I'm practically TRAPPED inside their conversation. It's amazing how much people reveal about themselves in forty minutes. And with me engrossed in my latest needlepoint project, how can I help but hear?
He's an accountant. Works in Chicago. He's been with his company for the last twelve years. Went to college in Indiana. Worked in Skokie before that but the commute was a killer. Likes his job but hates the month of April. Too many people filing taxes at the last minute. He has a daughter in high scool and a son in college. It was nice having his son home on spring break for a while but it's not like they really talk much anymore. Son had a date on Saturday, but dad never heard the girl's name, how they knew each other, where they went or what they did. Only thing dad does know is that son was out til 4 am and had to leave to go back to school at 9 the next day. Dad laughs at son's irresponsible actions. "He's a party boy," he says with pride. Son even left dorm keys at home. It gave dad an excuse to go into son's bedroom for the first time in years. Dad laughs at finding beer bottles and condoms all over son's room. Son's a minor but dad laughs at this too. "Show me a nineteen year old who says they don't have a fake ID and I'll show you a liar". Dad says that he and his wife threw out the bongs they found in son's closet. He jokes about waiting for son to come home again to discover they are missing.
And he laughed. Through it all he laughed. He joked with pride at his son drinking, using drugs, and being sexually active with no more concern than saying he was involved with basketball, soccer, and wrestling. His Chicago accent dripped with cynical acceptance that all kids at that age are willfully breaking the law. It's normal. They're teenagers, right?
But this complacent approval wasn't coming from a friend. It wasn't some resigned "kids will be kids" statement coming from a teacher or coach who's hands are tied with a difficult rebel. It's from a parent. This kid's own father is laughing at his son's reckless and even illegal endeavors. Maybe I'm too old fashioned. Too conservative. I don't know his son. Maybe he's a straight A student with a brilliantly bright future. But I still just think that some things are wrong. And enabling your own children to do whatever they want and then having the gall to laugh about their indiscretions in front of total strangers while on your way to work tops that chart.
I'm not gonna stand on some soapbox and say that sex, drugs and alcohol are evil and I'm not going to condemn anyone to hell who thinks all three make a life well rounded. But the thing is, life is about choices and it just seems to me that a life centered around that trinity doesn't have much to stand on. And there is some truth to the fact that kids will be kids. They make a ton of choices without always knowing right from wrong - in the saddest cases their parents don't either. I've been asked more times than I can count why I volunteer with youth ministry. The best answer I can give is how broken my heart felt as I unintenionally listened to this stranger's tale of his son's life.
I didn't ask to hear it. But neither can I turn a deaf ear to the all too familiar, and all too true, story I heard. I'm not gonna laugh at the poor choices young people make, I'm gonna do what I can to be a positive role model. I'm gonna impact youth however I can.
That's all I have to say. Thanks for listening in.
Eavesdropfully Yours,
lisa :)
p.s. I've been a little behind on the shoutouts lately. I missed them last time cause not much rhymes with "shoutout". Regardless, happy belated birthdays to
Maria J, Stacey L and Jigga Jess M!!!!
And Happy April Birthdays to
Karrie M, Ty G, and Derek B!!!!!
Happy Birthdays! Love to all!!!!!!!
Greetings my readers of this LoL!*
I thank you for reading, I've a great deal to tell.
Yesterday marked the birthday of a doctor named Seuss**
And in honor of him I've got rhymes on the loose!
Things in my life have been normal, you see,
But there's never much "normal" about life when you're me.....
Birthdays galore made February quite sweet
Chocolate cakes and ice cream were the much favored treat.
See, my brother, his wife, and the whole clan Guerrero
All have their b-days the month after "Enero".***
As for work, all is well and my cells are all happy
I'm still sad when I kill mice - does that make me sappy?
But it's for a good cause, one quite noble, I'll say!
I really do think we'll cure cancer someday.
Who would have thought, I would so love this lab?
After one point five years it's anything but drab!
It seems every month I learn something new,
I'll prob'ly stay here one more year, maybe two!
After that, who knows, but my future is bright.
Back to school? Into teaching? Whatever seems right.
I'm open to much with no need to decide,
'Cause for now in my life I'm enjoying the ride!
Things at church are cool, though my students are spastic
Next weekend in St. Louis should be quite fantastic.
We're goin' to a confrence from Friday to Sunday
(All that time with the kids might make me long for Monday). ;)
It's a trip on a bus so I don't have to drive
And retreats like this one make me feel quite alive.
My seventh grade girls - they all think that I'm odd
But at least they have fun when I teach them 'bout God.
Not much else is new. Not much left to say.
Reply if you like, tell me how was YOUR day?
I assure you it's true I always like to hear
What's going on with my friends far and near.
I've said quite enough for this LoL song
And I know some hate poems that are overly long.
So before I write out stanzas here by the scores
I'll just end this now as......
Seussfully Yours,
lisa :)
* LoL stands for "Lisa on Life" or "Life of Lisa" or "Lisa Online".
** Yesterday March 2, 2004 was the 100th birthday of Dr. Seuss.
*** Enero is Spanish for January.
Before I say anything, it's time for some shoutouts!!!! First to Chriskapher and Skirv Dog - I figure I'd go ahead and add y'all to my list of monthly lisa updates (LoL = Lisa on Life or Life of Lisa or Lisa Online or something like that). Be warned that it's as random as I am but if you like what you read check out the archive - ****edit: http://bloggerarrow.blogspot.com ***** - and see what you missed. On the other hand, if you find this to be an annoyance to your daily life and consider it to be one more piece of meaningless spam, let me know that too and you can get off the list. Next shoutouts go to the January birthday people and while I'm at it I'll go ahead and mention the Feb's too so that if I've forgotten anyone (and I'm sure I have - DOH!) you can let me know and you'll get a s.o. in February. So let's see that's James L, Igor K, Heidi E, Katie B, Danny S, and my sweetie Tony G (who'll be blushing now that I called him "my sweetie" - hee hee).
So......Happy New Year because this is the first LoL of 2004 (yes it really is already 2004!!) and Happy New Monkey Year because a week ago was Chinese New Year and it's the Year of the Monkey!! Like many of you other soon to be 24-year olds I was born in 1980 also a Year of the Monkey and supposedly it's a good luck thing to be born under that sign. Am I lucky? Sure. Am I any luckier than the myriad of people I know also born in that same year? Nah. But I figure monkeys usually sybolize fun, silly, clever creativty so let's just say heck with any horoscope superstitions and we can all just have a Monkey kind of year. Besides, my year was off to a rather chaotic start (got mono, missed two weeks of work, my dog got killed by a hit and run driver...) so hopefully now that it's the New MONKEY Year things will be a little more "normal".
But back to the subject of the new year, I was looking back at last January and I realized that I actually was fairly successful at all three of my New Year's Resolutions. I figured that after a year like that I deserved a break so I immediately resolved not to make any New Year's resolutions and then got mad at myself for failing already. But seriously, what is it about the new year that makes people so anxious for change? Is it the whole "turning over a new leaf" deal? I cringe everytime I hear people invoke that analogy. There's something inherently foolish about believing that a new day week or year can simply erase the previous. The difference between 2003 and 2004 is a simple case of 24 hours. There really is no magic in the ball dropping over Times Square (although there is something decidedly suspicious about Mr Fountain of Youth, Dick Clark...). Perhaps the whole resolution mess can be attributed to the curse of saying "there's always next year". Aside from the Cubs fans that still want a price on Steve Bartman's head, is this really something anyone should say? Don't try again next year, do something NOW! Life's too short. Maybe the audition, the game, the test, is next year, but ask yourself, what can I do for it now? New Year's Resolutions have to be about an attitude change and you'd better believe that the dead of winter could be one of the most challenging times to initiate changes within ourselves. Why not have Mid-Year resolutions? The summer sun would be a much more encouraging time to decide to start a new hobby and what better motivator for breaking a bad habit than the increasing hours of daylight in May and June?
As for me, I'm not really resolving to change anything about myself right now. Yeah I could go down the same list as everyone - healthier food, more excercise, less caffeine, saner thinking - but with the exception of actually eliminating my entire caffeine consumption (which, trust me, AIN'T gonna happen!), none of these goals can ever be actualized. There will always be a healthier diet, there will always be a few more pounds to shed, there will always be saner thoughts than those that I think. Is it all fruitless? Meaningless? Nah. Goals have purpose but they're so much easier to grasp daily or even weekly. Monthly, maybe, if you're really ambitious - but a yearly thing? Are we in that much of hurry to get through life???
So, you ask, what IS lisa looking for this year??
In a word, ADVENTURE!!!! Not adventure as in lisa's life as a Jerry Bruckheimer film (although Pirates of the Carribbean would be cool... YARR!!), I mean adventure as in new experiences. I'm not planning any world traveling. I'm not even planning any in the country traveling. But there resides inside me a desperate fear of the static and mundane. In my book "routine" should be a four letter word! I'm looking back at 2003 and the year held a lot of firsts. Meeting new people, doing new things, learning new skills, reading new books, hearing new bands, trying new foods, going new places - a whole hodgepodge of experiences that I had previously never experienced! Some of you may read this and be further convinced of my mental instability. You see nothing pleasurable about The New and The Different and may attribute this whole rant to the fact that I've been cooped up with mono for too long. But I'm the kind who never orders the same menu item twice (unless it's coconut shrimp....) - I thrive on the chaos of unpredicability. I'm hoping that 2004 will be as thrilling as 03 and I fully intend to do everything in my power to make it so!
Here's hoping that this year's adventures will include you and if not, may you have plenty of your own!
Adventurefully Yours,
lisa :)
p.s. To S.P. who's right there with me - and encouraging me - to try anything once!! You really are the kind of friend that makes life more fun!!
Christmas is almost here!!!! Less than a week til the big day and if you're like me the Christmas cards are just starting to be sent and the shopping is a task that you've put off way too long and now are overly scared to approach the dreaded location known as The Mall. But before I get too deep into talking about Christmas (and the connection between holidays, Weird Al and Laredo Taft) it's, of course, time for some shoutouts!!
Wonderful December birthdays include Jacklyn B and Natalie U!! And for the sake of just giving some random shoutouts to generally cool people, here's shoutouts to Emily H, Lauren J and Tony G because not only are they three of the superest spiffiest people I know, but they were part of the insanely fun experience that was the midnight trek out to see Return of the King on Tuesday night and it ROCKED!!! Seriously - it was just downright awesome! And although I could make this entire e-mail about the coolness of Lord of the Rings, I do have something of another point to talk about.
Big surprise here, I'm gonna talk about Christmas. Now I'm assuming that everyone on this list is at least pretty familiar with Christmas. You might not think it's the superest holiday ever and it's possible that your family doesn't even celebrate it in the remotest sense of the word, but I'm gonna go with the idea that at least through the psychoses that is modern media you're all at least vaguely familiar with the ideology and iconery that is associated with Dec. 25th.
I came up with a little metaphor/idea here that holidays in general are sort of like inspirational subjects for artists to have their way with. Take for example a beautiful Elizabethan noble woman. Now one artist may have her sit in some distinguished pose and have her image amazingly captured in oils on canvas. Meanwhile another inspired individual sees the same lady and carves her likeness in shallow relief into wood. Still another chooses words as his media and composes a sonnet to tell of her astounding beauty. As years pass by new artists draw on the originals and the oil painting is redone into a threaded tapestry. The wood carving is taken as a template for a new abstract cubist portrait. The sonnet is suddenly embellished with music and transformed into a choral masterpiece accompanied by a full orchestra.
Now let's talk specifics. Christmas is sort of like that beautiful noble woman. The actual holiday started so long ago that maybe it seems too distant to truly appreciate. Every celebration is just a reworking of a reworking of a reworking of the original. You might feel like commercialism and modernism has choked away all sense of what it's actually about. Maybe the artist you most see working with the holiday for you is Werid Al. Don't take this as any sort of a dis on Weird Al - I've long been a fan of his and still can't here "Money For Nothing" without thinking "Beverly Hillbillies". I'm also not endorsing any Weird Al Christmas albums (if they even exist). My point is that maybe you look at Christmas as something that was really cool and fun and made you smile uncontrollably as a kid but lately as every holiday season approaches you realize it's been years since there's been a good hit. You can still look at the older ones with fond memories, but you're tired of just looking back and you're longing for the smiles to be about something new, something current.
If this is the case, I want to offer a new perspective. I've decided that the artist metaphorically designing my holidays is going to be one along the lines of Laredo Taft. Consider this a little journey into Art History 115 but Taft is an amazing American sculptor that most folks from Champaign know solely for the Alma Mater. And actually when I first heard of Taft, that's all I knew him for too. But the then I started to look deeper. There's actually a couple sculptures across the campus, all his, and my favorite is one located in the Krannert Art Museum called "The Blind".
The subject of the sculpture is a story of a group of blind men and women stranded on an island who discover that there is a sighted child among them. All the individuals are groping around in the dark, reaching out to everything but seeing nothing, suddenly they lift a small child up above their heads with the exclamation and realization "The child can see!! Let the child lead us!!!!" It's hard to describe the emotion captured in that single moment if you've never seen the sculpture - and actually it's one of those pieces of artwork that's cool and yet eeriely disturbing (none of the people have eyes, it's kinda creepy). But it's the type of art that I can look at a hundred times and see something new about each time. There's no limit to the emotions it can draw out of me and every angle I study it at reveals something new.
My point is that this is more how Christmas can and should be. Let every angle of the holidays bring about a new emotion. Sure each year is the same thing. And maybe each year doesn't bring happy memories or warm thoughts. But every look is a chance to see something new. And every year is a chance to look deeper and remember a true meaning deeper than Santas and Rudolphs and Frostys. It's not about lights and cards and shopping and wrapping.
It's about the truest gift ever given. It's about God's love for a very dark world.
The child can see. Let the child lead us.
Christmasfully Yours,
lisa :)
Hmmm....
This is odd. It's November, not that there's anything specifically odd about November...besides Turkeys...turkey's are just kinda freaky...and Tofurkey is really odd but I ranted enough about that last year (see The Archive)...what I mean is that is it's pretty odd that it's almost through November already (THANKSGIVING'S TOMORROW!!!) and the last LoL I sent was sometime in early October. I could make excuses that I haven't had time to write anything but really it's more a lack of meeting between inspiration and time on the keyboard.
But as always, nothing to say has never stopped me from talking. Especially since I'm long overdue on a ton of shoutouts. First off November birthdays: Jenny , Sara M & Kristin P!!!! Woohoo!! And since Jenny's turning 20 (is that right??? Are you really gonna be 20??!!?? Dang, I feel old...) there are officially no more teenagers on this list! I have such a mature audience!! Uhh.....riiiiiiight.... And speaking of my "audience" a very special shoutout to Kris and Jason C for being added to the list!! And if you don't know what the heck this is about, don't worry, cause I really have no clue either.
But I will recap a little. There's been talk lately about what "LoL" actually stands for. Obviously it's a play on the fact that LOL is AOL-speak for "laugh out loud" (did anyone NOT know that???) but originally I declared it to mean "Life of Lisa" meaning that these messages would be all about whatever was going on in my life at present. Eventually though I realized how lame my life really was (j/k) and decided that instead of boring y'all with the details of cancer research (no we didn't cure it yet!) I would instead expand off into my crazy thoughts about life in general so I decided that it should stand for "Lisa on Life" but supposedly seeing as how infrequently I'm on the computer these days it might more accurately stand for "Lisa Online". And once again if you want to check out the back-log LOL Archive you can find it at *****edited: http://bloggerarrow.blogspot.com******
So time for random insanity which for simplicity's sake I'm just going to call randsanity. That's my new word. It means random insanity. Randsanity. Use it in a sentence at least three times today and you will help to incorporate it into everyday use. Even jiggabuns had to start somewhere! Actually a better idea would be to use it in three different sentences today. If you went around and told everyone about Lisa's randsanity of inventing the word randsanity then there would be a little too much randsanity going around.
OOH! New topic to rant about: FREE STUFF!!! I love free stuff!!! I mean I know you could argue that nothing is truly free and that even handouts come with an opportunity cost, but we're gonna throw those debates out the window and just say that free stuff is really really cool!!! The reason that I mention it is because last year during our insanely early day after Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza (I don't know if it really counts as an extravaganza, I just really like the word extravaganza) we got free radios at Target. I wonder if there will be any more cool free stuff this year, but actually I've had a string of good luck in getting some cool free stuff lately. First off last month I got to go to a free Sting concert in Grant Park. It was sponsored by American Express and they were giving out tickets at Union Station. It was really cool because they had these little "game pieces" that they handed out and they had bar codes on them that they scanned and told you if you won or not. (I'm not sure why they're called game pieces, handing me something and then scanning it is hardly a "game".) But anyway the conversation went like this:
Me: (appraoching large crowd of people in American Express T-Shirts) What's this all about?
AmEx Dude: It's a free Sting concert in Grant Park, take a game piece and I'll tell you if you won.
Me: (resisting urge to debate if scanning a paper was really a "game") Uhh...okay.
AmEx Dude: (scans card) Sorry, not a winner.
Me: So that's it?
AmEx Dude: Are you a Sting fan?
Me: Yeah he's pretty cool. I mean I'm not die hard, but hey, free concert woulda been cool.
AE D: (takes out large stack of "game" pieces) I gotta winner in here somewhere.... (scans several cards) Here's one! (hands me winning game piece) Just take that over to the guy over there and he'll get you your tickets.
Needless to say I proceeded to ask the game piece dude and the ticket guy "What's the catch???" But aside from having to give them my name and address - which will most likely ensure my receipt of AmEx junk mail for the rest of my life that I'm already inundated with anyway - there really were no strings attached and I walked out with Sting tickets and my dad and I got to go to a really cool show! And for those of you Non-Sting fans out there I have another really cool Free story. I went to see the movie Elf the other night with Tony and his family and while we were in line buying tickets a woman approached me with an invitation to a free movie screening. It was for the new Ben Affleck movie Jersey Girl and they were recruiting a test audience to view it with the editors before its release. Now I'm not really a B. Fleck fan but again it was one of those hey, it's free! moments and I figured even if it sucked big time, I wasn't paying to see it. So Tony and I showed up to watch it Monday night but I guess they overbooked the number of invitations and as we were waiting in line the managers gave us coupons for a free admission to any other show playing at the theater that night! We went to see Master and Commander instead (and although it wasn't the greatest movie, based on what I heard of Gigli, I think it's safe to assume that it was better than Jersey Girl). So yeah, free stuff is cool.
Hopefully that's enough randsanity for you all. Sorry that I've been slacking on the e-mails and even more so sorry for slacking on the shoutouts. I lost my address book so if everyone could send me a quick reply with your name, address, phone number and birthday that would be super spiffy.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Ransanityfully Yours,
lisa :)
Most of you know that my favorite author is R.A. Salvatore and as much as I am anticipating his most recent novel due out sometime this month, I have to stop and remember a time when I was much more a fan of mystery novels than of fantasy. With the example set by Nancy Drew, Cam Jensen and even the Sweet Valley Twins, part of me wanted to be Lisa B: Detective of Mill Street School. Actually my favorite series of cheesy childhood mystery novels was the Encyclopedia Brown series. Hopefully I'm not the only one who remembers those. [For those who missed out, he was this super smart kid that used his knowledge of random facts to solve your typical neighboorhood dilemna] Anyhoo, I think as a tribute to my favorite fictional childhood genius I'm going to write my own EB mystery: "Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Missing Jiggabuns". I'm predicting that it'll hit the NY Times Best Seller list within a week of release.
Then again, my schedule and writing talents may limit me from persuing fame a la J.K. Rowling, but seriously, what ever happened to Jiggabuns? If at this point in this message you're writing me off as "on drugs" or just plain delusional, let me fill you in on a brief history. Jiggabuns is a letter. At least, it's trying to be a letter. See, there's a group of students at the U of I that decided that they wanted to add a new letter to the alphabet. This letter, called jiggabuns, would be inserted into the alphabet beween J and K. I can't show you what it looks like cause there's obviously no jiggabuns on my keyboard. The basic use of this letter - pronounced with the sound jigga - is that when placed in front of an existing word or name it indicates emphasis or coolness (i.e. "That's jiggalicious","Jiggawhat?", "Jiggayikes", and "Jiggajason and Jiggajessica got jiggamarried in Jiggajuly"). Although it sounds like something I would be loony enough to be involved in, I actually have no direct affiliations with the students who invented Jiggbuns, but nevertheless I think the whole thing is hilarious. I first heard about the whole "Jiggabuns Foundation" in the fall of 2001 and for a while it seemed that everything was jiggathis or jiggathat, but there was then a steady decline in the jiggause of this great new letter which prompted me on to stop and consider the ultimate question "Whatever happened to the Jiggabuns"? I can only hope that the plight to add Jiggabuns to the English language is still running strong and hey, maybe even some of you outside of U of I will now try to spread the knowledge of this future eleventh letter of the alphabet. Until then I think I'll just take my "Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Missing Jiggabuns" idea and send it to ABC with hopes that it will be made into an after school special starring Candace Cameron, Jonathan Brandis, and Pauly Shore.
And now my true curiousity has prompted me to actually do a Google search on "Jiggabuns" and it seems that the Jiggabuns Foundation at U of I is actually doing quite well these days. Perhaps this is a fitting end to my mystery novel and I can move on to secondary cases such as whatever happened to Candace Cameron, Jonathan Brandis and Pauly Shore? Actually I think it's safe to assume that nobody REALLY cares what happened to them so I can feel free to move on to more important news. News like how awesome the Cubs are doing!!!! Actually what's even cooler news than the Cubs (hard to believe there is such an announcement) but get this.....DRUMROLL PLEASE.......my oldest sister Anne is pregnant!!! Isn't that the jiggacoolest??? This'll be my sister and brother-in-law's first kid but my parents second grandchild (you may recall hearing about my brother and sister-in-law's daughter Ashley, she's eighteen months old and if you're confused at this point just keep in mind that the B clan really is quite massive). But anyhoo when my sister and brother-in-law made the annoucement I was flashing back to when my neice was being born and they didn't know if they were having a boy or a girl so the rest of us were all sitting in the waiting area taking bets on baby gender and time of birth. It was funny cause I remember someone (I can't remember who but I guess it's better to spare them the embarrasment) asking me "Do you want to be an aunt or uncle?" - they meant to ask if I would rather have a neice or nephew! But it was really funny too cause we were all so hyper and excited that I think before I even corrected the question I responded "Either one's fine with me!". Needless to say I am now super excited about being an AUNT again and all prayers for a safe pregnancy and healthy baby are much appreciated!
Well, I suppose this has been more than enough jiggaloopiness for now! I will be in Champaign for Homecoming weekend (Oct. 24-26th) so if anyone wants to make plans - or come to the game with us!!! - that's super jiggalicious!
Encyclopedia Jiggabrownfully Yours,
auntie lisa :)
p.s. This message is brought to you by the number Dew and the letters "Jiggabuns" and "Deck Stain"!!!
p.p.s. Happy Birthday to the super spiffy Heather M and every other cool person with an October birthday that I'm forgetting right now!!
Yarrr!!
I don't be havin much time to say as much as I'd like, but I was needin to let all you scurrvy dawgs know that today be a very special holiday! Shiver me timbers! September 19th be Talk Like A Pirate Day!!!
http://www.talklikeapirate.com
As a special Talk Like A Pirate Day treat I give you Pirate Riddles from the amazing Captain No Beard:
QUESTIONS (answers below):
10. Why couldn’t the little pirate get into the pirate movie?
9. What is a pirate’s least favorite physical condition?
8. What former LA Lakers star was the pirates’ all-time favorite?
7. Of the ghosts that appear to Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," which do pirates prefer?
6. How does a pirate quit smoking?
5. Which Star Wars character do pirates love?
4. Where do pirates store their gym clothes?
3. Where is the favorite destination for pirates to dock their ships?
2. Which young pirate enjoyed skipping his classes all of the time?
1. Where on a ship can you find the place where pirates use the restroom?
ANSWERS:
10. The film was rated ARRRR!
9. A sunken chest.
8. Kareem Abdul-JabARRRR.
7. Jacob MARRRley.
6. He uses the patch.
5. ARRR-2D2
4. In Davey Jones’ locker.
3. ARRRgentina
2. Captain Hooky
1. The poop deck.
Piratefully Yours,
The Dread Pirate Brody :)
So for those of you that have seen or are at least familiar with the musical Rent, you recognize the subject line as part of the song "Seasons of Love" which for those of you that don't know it goes like this: "Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes, five hundred twenty five thousand moments so dear. Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?"
And the whole reason I bring it up (besides having no other decent way to start this e-mail) is that another year has gone by and tomorrow I'm turning 23!! Now I'm sort of past the point of being overly hyper and excited about the whole cake and ice cream shindig but there is a type of reflective mentality that I always find myself in this time of year - a sort of looking back at what I've done in the past 365 days, wondering how much is the same/different from a year ago (dang! my life got a lot better!!), and also thinking ahead to where I might see myself after another 525,600 minutes go by.
So here we have Lisa's Random Summary of her life as a 22 year old (keep in mind all these answers are Sept 2002-2003 only):
Greatet Carreer Accomplishment: Finally feeling like I know what I'm doing at work
Worst Carreer Accomplishment: Still not knowing what exactly I'm doing with my life
Most Mis-Aimed Goal: Thinking that I should go to Med School
Craziest Self-Torture to head toward said goal: The MCAT
Ongoing Addiction: Caffeine!!!!
Times Tried to Cut Caffeine Addiction: 9
Times Failed at Cutting Caffeine Addiction: 9
Most Caffeine Consumed in One Day: My record this year was 168 ounces in 20 hours (coffee, Mt Dew, D.Coke)
Spats of Insmnia Due to Excessive Caffiene in Diet: Too many to count
Dentist Visits: 2
Dentist Visits For Massively Painful Oral Surgery: 1
Good Habit Enacted: Flossing
Bad Habit Eliminated: Hating the way I look
Best Movie Seen: This one's tough......Finding Nemo? Pirates of the Carribbean? Oh wait...Hands down it's Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers!!
Worst Movie Seen: I'm gonna go with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen just because I was expecting it to be way cool and it SUCKED (...but it was a fun movie going experience....)
Cool New TV shows hooked on last season: 6
Number of those shows renewed for another season: 1
Best Concert: Billy Joel & Elton John (yeah, it's amazing but the best concert of the year was one I went to with my parents!!!)
Best Road Trip: IGNITE!!!
Best Family Vacation: Fourth of July in Michigan
Best Trip to Chambana: 3-way tie - Homecoming ; Entertainment Night ; Lauren's Birthday
Address Changes: 1
Number of friends bribed with free lunch to help me move: 2
Number of friends who would've helped without the lunch: 2
Bad Break-ups: 1
Months vowed to stay single after said break up: 7
Months actually was single before asked to date man of my dreams: 8 :)
Times I cried over a boy: 5 (...but two were actually tears of joy)
Weddings invited to: 7
Weddings able to attend: 4
Best wedding experience: Being Jacklyn's Maid of Honor (...she wasn't supposed to see that wink!)
Number of times rumors started that I was engaged: 5
Number of times annoyingly corrected rumor: 5
Clutziest move of the year: I was gonna say cutting my finger open on a plastic tape dispenser, but I suppose my Statue diving in Louisville tops that...
Wildest move of the year: Getting my belly button pierced
Times I said I was growing my hair out: 3
Times I got hair cut after swearing to grow it out: 3
Most Embarrassing moment: "Jackson..." (If you heard the story, you know what that means ; if not, I ain't telling!!!)
Number of baseball games attended: 3
Number of Cubs games watched on TV: A LOT - I don't know a number but it's more this year than in the past 22 years of my life combined (haven't watched this much baseball since the Twins won the World Series when I was 7!)
Best Hangout Places Discovered: In the burbs - Gameworks ; In Chambana - Cowboy Monkey
Favorite People to Hang there (or anywhere!) with: ALL OF YOU!!!!
So I could go on, but this seems like a pretty decent place to stop. But yeah, it's been a crazy and random year. 525,600 minutes. So long and yet every moment is so precious and so unique. To finish off the song I started: "How do you measure a year? In daylights? in sunsets? in midnights? or cups of coffee? In inches? in miles? in laughter? or strife? In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes, how do you measure a life? How about love... measure in love. Seasons of love." And perhaps that is in fact the best way to look back at every year of life and the best way to look forward at every coming new one - to look at, look back on, and look forward to how much and how many we are loved by and love.
525,600 Minutesfully Yours,
lisa :)
p.s. I also have to give supreme shoutouts to those super spiffy people that also have September as their birthday month so Super Kudos to Laura G and Matt M!!
p.p.s. Great quotes that somehow didn't find a place in this e-mail:
"Live to love and you will love to live."
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."
"You want the main purpose of my life.....how about.....love. Oh wait, that kinda makes me sound like a weirdo hippy chick...."
Yo.
Did you ever realize that everything matters to you when you're a kid? You can tell a class of fourth graders about the benefits of recycling and they'll all swear to never again throw a soda can in the trash but if you explain the same issue to high schoolers, they'll tell you that sometimes it's too inconvenient to hunt out a recylcing bin. Or when a nine year old discovers a dead bird on the sidewalk coming home from school. They'll usually either ponder some type of rescue effort, back away in horror, or with tearful eyes share the grisly scene with an adult. Same person a decade later might just as easily step over the carcass without a second thought or even kick it to the side so noone else treads on it. Kids are usually really good at being peacemakers too. They'll beg adults not to argue - wanting things to be right with the world and desiring happiness for everyone - only to grow up and find that they can wound and be wounded by words every single day. And children take joy in the smallest things too. Not only does everyone know what it's like to feel like "a little kid at Chrismas", but have you ever watched children on a playground? Those playing on the swingsets are sure that they have the ability to fly and even something as simple as blowing the fluff off of spring's first dandelions seems to be the most magical task in the universe.
I guess what I'm getting at is that there's a certain level of ideality, innocence, and sensitivity that we have as kids that this whole growing up process forces out of us. Now I'm not headed for nostalgia here. In fact, I think nostalgia may perhaps be one of the most fruitless emotions - truly it is a shame to miss out on the present or the future cause you're too busy longing for the past. But I guess lately there's a part of me that hopes I still possess a childlike heart. (And I'm not talking about being an optimist either. I know I've got that one down. In fact it could even be argued that I'm optimistic to a fault.....not that that's necessarily a bad thing....)
What I'm really trying to say is that I hope my life is always marked by taking joy in the good times and grieving in the sad times as well as a full experience and expression of everything in between. I'm not just saying this to give myself permission to be moody. See, I was culturing a tumor sample at work last week. The cells are actually growing too which means that our lab will have a new cell line to do research with. I knew when I took over the culture that it was a sample from a patient at Children's Memorial Hospital, but somehow the reality of what I was dealing with didn't quite sink in. Today though I learned the details. See, there's a four year old boy with tumors on his spinal cord. They operated on them last week and sent our lab a sample. But the tumors are spreading rapidly and actually growing toward the boy's spinal column. This means that he will most likely be paralyzed by five and will be considered a miracle if he sees the age of six.
Yeah. "Lisa On Life" is not always smiles, sunshine and funny stories, but truthfully, I wouldn't have it any other way. I've decided too that this is why I can't become a doctor. I want to live a life where children dying of cancer breaks my heart. I think things like this SHOULD make me want to cry. I don't want to have to build up the type of emotional immunity where "after a while you get used to it" because "you can't let it bother you". And I want the emotions that I hold onto to fuel my passion for the work that I do and I want to find hope in the fact that someday there might be a cure and I even want to remain idealistic enough to believe that what I do today might even further that cause.
Now I'm sure at this point a few of you are very curious about the subject line of this e-mail but whether you're a Harry Potter fan or not, you might be familiar with the legend of the Pheonix. According to various lores and traditions, the Pheonix is a great bird that at the end of it's lifespan is engulfed in flames and once burned, rises again from it's own ashes. It sort of goes along with the whole point of #37 too that my life is rather circular these days, but even more so, I guess I want to live with a Pheonix-like heart. Pain and hurt and stress are always going to come - there is certainly plenty of evil in this world to engulf anyone's heart in extreme ache - but I want to always rise again and return to the hope that there is good in the world too. What it comes down too is that whether good or bad, I want to feel things in life. I'm reminded of the scene in Braveheart - and forgive me for not knowing the exact line and quote - where Robert da Bruce (brilliantly portrayed by Angus McFadyen) exclaims to his father "I don't want to lose heart!".
Anyhoo, I'm rambling and I really have to get back to work. Some of you, I know, will consider this the most introspective and inspiring LoL I've written. Others will delete it quickly because there's no hint of amusement to be found in it's overly lengthy content. To me, it's just some stuff I wanted to say.
Pheonixfully Yours,
lisa :)
p.s. Side note too is that this is also the first LoL that I've written directly all at once. Usually I'll start to compose and then hold it in my drafts box, editing here and there throughout the week. This time no drafts, no edits, just me being me. Forgive any and all tpyos. ;)
All my life's a circle. Surise and sundown - the moon rolls through the nighttime til the daybreak comes around. All my life's a circle still I can't tell you why the season's spinning round again, the years keep rolling by.
It seems like I've been here before, I can't remember when. And I've got this funny feeling that I'll be back once again. No straight lines make up my life and all my roads have bends, there's no clear cut beginnings and so far no dead ends.
I've met you a thousand times, I guess you've done the same, but then we lose each other - it's just like a children's game. But as I find you here again, the thought runs through my mind, life's just like a circle - let's go around one more time.
All my life's a circle. Sunrise and sundown - the moon rolls through the nighttime til the daybreak comes around. All my life's a circle still I can't tell you why the season's spinning round again, the years keep rolling by.
***
So in pondering how to start this craziest of crazy August LoL's I scoured my memory bank and came up with that. Brilliant and beautiful, ain't it?? I wish I could say that I wrote it but it's actually a song called "Circles" by Harry Chapin. A few of you coolest of cool people (Emily, Lauren & maybe Kristin?) will recognize it as the traditional end of the year NNHS choir concert song. But even without the music, it's a really pretty song/poem that makes a good point about the coolness yet oddly familiar state of my life right now.
Plus, for those of you that have been with my psychoses from the begining, you'll realize that as of next Monday I'll have been at my job for a full year which also means that this marks almost a full year of the LoL/Life of Lisa/Lisa on Life e-mail list! Woohoo! Now if you're looking at the fact that this is only #37 and realizing that a full year would technically be 52, you have to remember that as of this summer - and for most of winter - it's been a monthly and not a weekly thing. Also, I know with fall approaching some of you have graduated and gone on to bigger and better things (jobs, grad schools, etc) but if you have a new e-mail address let me know otherwise when all my messages bounce back to me I'll just figure that you've taken the change of address time as a chance to release yourself from my mindless ramblings.
Anyhoo, amidst the insanity that was my last e-mail some of you gleaned the the real truth to why I said my life was so surreal. And it still is, but now there's a bit more reality to things - no dream lasts this long, I MUST be awake. ;) Maybe I should have come right out and said something of what all is up with me, but I guess by now the word's getting spread fast enough that half of you will call this revelation "old news" while the other half will be spared from feeling like you're "the last to know".
But yeah, remember when I said some things never change? Well, it's true. See, day has always given way to night. Road construction has always been done at the most inconvenient times and places. Alternative rock has always been a genre dominated by groups of posers insisting that they're not a group of posers. Having to park far from the door has always meant that you get better deals at Wal-Mart. The Cubs have always been cooler than the White Sox. And I've pretty much always thought that Tony G is the spiffiest guy I know. Yeah, it is a bit bold of me to say that, but as spiffy as he is as my friend, brother, and Spanish teacher, he's now also my boyfriend. :) (Surreal, ain't it???) Yes, I know plenty of you have "seen this coming" since as early as the fall of '99 but let's just say the best things come to those who wait.
Like I said before though, it's not the type of thing that I want to sound boastful about nor do I want to seem fickle for dating someone after authoring the top ten list of "Why a Gameboy is Better than a Boyfriend" so to avoid all sappy girly girl comments (and for the sake of avoiding the discussion that my new title should be Super Smiley Girl) I'm going to skip right to the shoutouts. First off to the super spiffy 7ackie - and no that's not a typo, it's a 7 not a J, let's hang out sometime!!! - and again I totally forgot when your birthday is/was. My apologies too for majorly screwing people over on birthday shoutouts. I was really organized for a while there, but then I just lost it. Plus, I remember birthdays for really odd reasons - like if they're close in date to one of my family members or a holiday - but most of the time I suck at remembering. Basically if anyone didn't get a shoutout, drop me an e-mail and let me know NOW when your b-day is and you'll be guaranteed a shoutout next year. And a shoutout to Lauren too just in case I don't get another LoL out before your b-day on the 27th (even though you accused me of not giving you a shoutout last year, when I did!!!!) - just kidding L-dawg! Oh and a shoutout to Mr. and Mrs. Derek and Jacklyn B!!!!! Woohoo!! You two bring the number of married people on this list up to a grand total of five! And also a most random of random shoutouts to Cowboy Monkey! (...which is actually a place and not a person but I really just wanted the chance to say Cowboy Monkey in an LoL).
Wow. That's a lot of shoutouts. Anyhoo, for a random change of subject let me just give you my quick little two cents about Wal-Mart. Ever since the Route 59 store was built I've been a fan of Wal-Mart. Now in terms of finding cool stuff that you don't really need, I'm gonna have to say that Target (or Tar - jhey) is totally my kind of store. And if you're talking about the 3am let's go be slap happily silly trips you really can't beat Meijer (aka Meee - jer). But still I find myself undeniably recruited to be a fan of Wal-Mart (or if you prefer Wal-Market, Wally, Wally-World, or just Walls). First off their stuff is just cheap. And I'm talking necessity type stuff. Contact solution, shampoo, toothpaste, Lord of the Rings action figures..... Okay so that last one snuck itself onto the list... but seriously, it's one of few stores in town that not only sells them but sells them for pretty cheap. (And, yes, I know it makes me a big nerd but those of you that have seen my room can vouch for the fact that it's sort of my new collecting hobby). Anyhoo, it all started when Emily got me Saruman for Christmas last year because then in January I found Gandalf, and Frodo followed soon after, and then my mom bought me Pippin, and Samwise....and well, the collection was doing great except for the fact that I could never find my most favoritest character of all - Legolas! So yeah, to make a long story short (TOO LATE!), I was at The Walls last week and the place was packed so I ended up parking something like a half mile from the door but as I made my way around the store looking at everything and anything - I actually found the Helm's Deep Legolas action figure!!! The last one they had left! My sisters have always had the rule that the farther you have to park from the door, the better will be the deals that you find so I guess in this case it was true.
Man, that turned out to be a really lame story. Uhhhh......riiiiiiight. But, hey, Legolas is cool and Two Towers will be out on video soon and then Return of the King will be out in four months and probably a good third of you really couldn't care less! Yeah. So did you like how I said I was at "The Walls"? I did that just for the point of bringing up the ultimately Chicagoan phrase of "The Jewel". You know the grocery store Jewel? Or better yet, Jewel-Osco? For some reason in Chicago it's perfectly normal to refer to it as "The Jewel". I mean, what's up with that? "THE Jewel" - like there's only one??? Yet somehow for Chicago and Chi-town suburbia "The Jewel" is perfectly accepted regardless of the fact that there could easily be three of them within a half mile of your current location! Actually for real Chicagoans it's technically "Da Jewel", but that's another story!
So yeah, "The Jewel" annoys me which is actually funny because after realizing how annoying it is, I realize how often people actually say it. Stick with Wal-Mart though, it'll never do you wrong.... Especially when they have cool Legolas action figures... Ever since I read the first book I thought Legolas was cool and some things never change... And no I didn't just buy it cause Orlando Bloom is cute, it doesn't even look that much like him and besides I've got a cutie in my life now that's not an action figure. ;) And I know that's cheesy but let's just say this relationship's been predicted since even before I knew what the Rober H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center was... Which was even before I wrote "LoL #1: It Starts..." Which as you can see brings me all the way back to the start of this e-mail which was very appropriately Harry Chapin's words: "all my life's a circle..."
Circlefully Yours Circlefully,
lisa :)
p.s. Circlefully is really fun to say..... circlefully circlefully circlefully......
Remember that really dramatic scene in the first Matrix movie where Morpheus is explaining what the Matrix is to Neo and the whole scene spins with the really dramatic music leading up to Lawrence Fishburne's oh so cool delivery of the line "Welcome to the Desert of the Real."? That was cool wasn't it??
Well, the reason I mention it is because lately I think I've been welcomed to the "Desert of the Surreal". Now I'm not talking surreal like Dali's melting clock paintings or my life is a Tori Amos video or even surreal like some postmodern "what if we're all just brains in jars on a desk somewhere and broccoli can feel pain" philosophy. This is more the surreal in the sense of things in life coming together so fantabulously that I'm in the pinch me so I know this isn't a dream stage of having no actual words to describe life such that the only audible description of the present is a very Keanu Reeves style exclamation of:
Woah!
Ever have one of THOSE days/weeks/months/lives?? A lot of you know what this is about, if you don't, you'll find out eventually. I would spell everything out but first off that's no fun and secondly I run the risk of coming across as either boastful or fickle and desire to be niether. Needless to say, it's not about med school. In fact I've pretty much decided that I'm not even going. (See, don't I seem fickle??) It's not a bad thing though. I'm a little glad to actually look at the next decade of my life and say, hey, I'm actually gonna HAVE a life! Right now I'm thinking that I'll end up as a nurse or a teacher (more likely the latter but the former is intriguing me right now). I guess I've always been the indecisive one, but some things, believe it or not, are constants. One of those is my middle name (Joy) which my life has always been filled with but is sometimes - like now - overflowing with. I've come to realize that it's only when I convince myself that something right is wrong that I run away from what I should pursue or pursue that which I should flee (or that which should be pursuing me).
That probably makes little to no sense. Which is about right. Sometimes the only sense you can get out of life is a sense of humor. Which may explain why I can't stop smiling. I know all thanks goes to God, but I can't help but give a little credit to the Chicago Cubs, Harry Potter, and of course, Adrien Brody.
Alright now I'm going from the bizzare to the ultimately obscure. Words words words, so many of them yet saying nothing. Then again this is the Desert of the Surreal (even though "desert" doesn't quite seem the right noun for this place...). While I'm off in Tangent World and since Adrien Brody got his second LoL mention, I may as well keep up the craziness. In the tradition of Celebrity Death Match imaginary matchups -
Who would win: Adrien Brody, Kerry Wood, or Kid Rock?? (And if you're not hip to pop culture these days, Mr. Brody is the actor who won an Oscar for The Pianist ; Mr. Wood is one of the coolest pitchers in baseball - he plays for the Cubbies ; and Mr. Rock (?) is a guy who thinnks he's much cooler - and younger - than he is and is caught somewhere in between music genres of heavy metal, rap, punk, and country) My first call in this odd matchup would be to give the whole thing to Kerry Wood based sheerly on athletic ability. This could be a mistake though because as witnessed with his Halle Berry kissing Oscar acceptence we all know that Adrien Brody is in fact the spontaneous and unpredictable competitor. Plus we have to account for the general creepiness factor carried into the match by Kid Rock, seeing as how creepiness could serve a distinct psychological advantage, especially in a three way competition. Now if in fact we were to make this some sort of intellectual challenge, I'd eliminate Brody right away based on the complete stupidity of aforementioned Halle Berry kissing (hello! she was neither asking for NOR expecting that, and isn't she MARRIED???). Which brings it down to Kerry and Kid... My first inclination is to give this one to Kid Rock. After all he was the one who came up with the lyrical genius of "Ba wit da ba da bang da bang biggie biggie says da biggie says up jump the boogie". Uhhh...yeah with that said, Kerry Wood. Hands down.
Anyhoo, I think I've ventured away from reality for long enough.
Surreally Yours,
lisa :)
p.s. Este "shouto-outo" es por Antonio porque el es mi profesor nuevo de espanol (y spanglish). Y este mensaje en todo es sobre el. :)
Friends, it is with great blankness and an empty mind that I possibly regret to inform you all that my creativity has ceased to exist. I cannot for sure place an exact date or time to the departure of the creative random psychoses that has given rise to such great debates as "Cooler miniscule sidekicks: Ewoks or Oompa Loompas?" and "Who would win in a fight: Ian McKellan as Gandalf or Ian McKellan as Magneto?" but I find that my creative inspirations have waned. Long gone are the days when I could weekly greet you all with a description of my typical day through the perspective of my sense of smell and no more can I conceive of such gems of uniqueness such as interviewing myself as a late night talk show host.
Someone once said that there are no new ideas in the world anymore - that every so-called unique concept is, in essence, an old idea simply clothed in a new format. If this year's summer movie lineup is not evidence of the truth to that statement, perhaps then, the mere fact that I am quoting some anonymous person who said it makes it some type of self-validating factoid of truth. I know that some of you reading this will be eager to bring up my use of such phrases as "self-validating factoid of truth" as defense of my lingering creativity. You may desire to suggest that my creativity is more akin to a missing person than to a dearly departed. I admire these sentiments with all of the optimism a stoic can muster but I am compelled to explain to you that I have nothing to say.
But let us not view this as a sad point.
Instead, let us remember together that the very foundations on which the LoL's were conceived is the principle that I have never had anything of importance to say and yet have refused to adhere to the age old addage of "If you don't have anything to say, keep your mouth shut". (In my defense too, I must point out that in truth, my mouth is shut and it is only my fingers on a keyboard that have released my insanity to you). Even now, as I approach what may be debated as the fourth or fifth paragraph of this e-mail I am gladdened by the fact that I have said close to nothing in the most creative way possible. The spirit of creativity does indeed live on regardless of the fact that any suitable topic for my rambling eludes me.
One might suggest that the topic of my rambling should be myself. You may be asking yourself: Self, what has been going on in the crazy life of Lisa B lately? But there comes a point where I just flat out tire of talking all about me. Besides, my life -or lack there of- is boring. Seriously. Not that I don't love it (Movie quote du jour: "I love being me. Ask anyone!") but let's take a quick peak at the highlights of the last week of my life: Monday - started working on a double plasmid SPARC transfection with a tet on/off system ; Tuesday - hectic work day, went wallclimbing to blow off steam and excercise ; Wednesday - went to the Taste of Chicago, spent the evening wandering Chi-town and eating yummy food (CHEESECAKE!!!), went to a late show of Terminator 3 and got in free cause of spiffy manager friends from Cantera ; Thursday - got my MCAT results, got over subsequent self-loathing and disappointment, realized that I was being too hard on myself but spent most of the evening rethinking the plans of my life, stayed up waaaaaay too late hanging with spiffy people and watching Alien Resurrection on USA, packed to go to Michigan, planned to take hour nap before leaving at 5 am for MI ; Friday - recieved call from mom at 3:30 just as I was heading to bed that we were leaving at 4 instead of 5 , stayed up entire car trip talking to parents, arrived in Michigan sleep deprived yet hyperily caffinated, hung out with spiffy cousins ; Saturday - more hanging with spiffy cousins, swimming boating, reading, relaxing ; Sunday - same as Saturday plus sunburn ; Monday - headed back from Michigan, unpacked, chilled out ; Tuesday - back to trying to understand the complexities of tet on/off systems and their applications in double transfection experiments.
See what I mean? I have no life. I have nothing to ramble about! I have nothing to be creatively funny about!! I have absolutely nothing to say!!
Yours,
lisa :)
p.s. Where inspiration ends, satire begins.
p.p.s. SHOUTOUT TIME!!!! First off big Happy Birthday Shoutouts to Emily H, Beth T, and Agnes Z who in the month of July will be turning 23, 24, and 25 respectively. Also a shoutout to Jason and Jessica Jigga-M! Sorry I missed the wedding but love and congratualtions to you both!! Next, I don't want to take away the right to spread her own news too so a shoutout to a super spiffy friend that recently got engaged - yeah, you know who you are - love ya lots, girl!! And even though I still say you've had too many shoutouts of your own lately I also said that anyone who asks for a shoutout will get one - my last very special shoutout is for Adrien Brody (and no, the REAL Mr. Brody isn't on my list, but he makes someone happy who is on this list and I needed to prove that I'm really not the Shoutout Nazi!).
p.p.p.s. For anyone who knows why it's hilariously cool and funny during one breakfast in Michigan, Jenny and Beth were quoting Eddie Izzard: "Cake or Death??" "Uhhh...Cake please!" "Cake or death??" "Cake please!" "HAHHA We're out of cake!!" "So you mean my only choice is 'OR DEATH?'??" hee hee funny stuff :)
Yeah.
It's a song by Staind.
Not Nickleback.
I just like Chad Kroger and tend to attribute cool songs to him.
Blame the fact that I'm subject to crap music at work. Or just say that it's lack of sleep meets excess sugar. Or just write it off to me and the rest of my psychoses. Either way safer bets now could be as early as mid July instead of Late August.
lisa :)
p.s. no clue? read 34.
