Have regard for your name, since it will remain for you longer than a great store of gold.

I have a unique name.  I also am not internet or real life famous.  So, finding information on Google on people with my name is pretty cool.

Cases in point:
- The white pages knows my name, my address, my parent's names, my sister's name, my age, and that I am the only person in the United States currently alive with that name.  Awesome and scary at the same time!  I suppose it doesn't help that I broadcast my name on my blog, but whatever.  Facebook has eradicated the possibility of anonymity on the internet long before I gave myself away.
- Lula Mae Hixon Cross' grave.
- I found myself on a website I've never heard of that basically gives a biography of someone including their online aliases.  They capture things from your profiles (in my case, it's info from my old Myspace profile) and partial addresses you've lived at.  Man, the internet is getting to be a bit much.  I'm actually pretty appalled at how much information they're giving out.  Thankfully, this profile has only has 4 views.  I feel bad for people who would draw more interest.  At least it's an old address.
- Also strange, pictures of other people whose G+ posts I have commented on come up under my name.  As do our names together with pictures of maps?  This is really bizarre.
- Lorena Mae Hixon's biography.  Lorena and I have the SAME BIRTHDAY.  Seriously?  Same name and same birthday?!  Except, she was born in 1918.

I tried this with Tyler, but he has virtually no internet presence.  Other people with his name, however, definitely do.  As there's even a domain with his full name.  I have no idea what the website is supposed to be promoting.  I did find an old modeling picture of Tyler, though.  That was cute.

Weird shit.  Try Googling yourself.  Tell me what you find!


Also, my neighbors are very drunk and very loud right now, as are their friends.  Annoying.

The perversity of the human spirit is such that when a young lady longs for one specific partner, every other partner counts for nothing.

I dropped Tyler off at the airport this afternoon.  He's in California attending his grandfather's funeral this weekend.  I miss him.  I was feeling really queasy after dropping him off (seriously, wtf is wrong with my stomach?), so instead of running any of the errands I planned to attend to, I went home and napped with the puppies.  Which was nice, but I miss him.  I'm a total wuss, I know.  We haven't spent a night apart for almost a year, so it's a little hard to get used to.  What can I say?  I like having him around.  I'm lonely, and because I wasn't feeling well, I missed any opportunity to meet up with friends.  Oh well, at least I have the pups and the internet.  Although, I can't say I've made a whole lot of use out of my internet time.

So far, I've organized my bookmarks, created a Linkin profile, wandered around Facebook, and caught up on journals.  Speaking of journals, I used to feel really bad that I am terrible at regularly updating this one.  Then I went and checked all of the journals I follow.  Only TWO of the journals I follow have been updated since I last checked them (and some of them I haven't checked in months).  Shame on you!

Here are the two that actually updated:
http://parasitehilton.tumblr.com/ - a friend's blog/tublr
http://pawcurious.com/ - I'm a nerd for spending my free time reading a veterinarian's blog, I know.  But she's fun, and I kind of want her life, but with my people.  So, I guess you could say she's kind of my idol, in a non religious way.  Duh, she's a veterinarian who also gets paid to blog.


I want this decor.  I wish we still styled ourselves and our homes like this:



I also wish instead of a mid-century home, I was able to afford a victorian home in a decent area.   You see, I made the mistake of falling in love with a home before talking to a realtor about it when we first began house shopping.  I fell in love with a gigantic, dilapidated victorian home that was very, very cheap.  It needed a whole new kitchen, and a lot of exterior work, but I didn't care.  The possibilities that ran through my head of the final product of this home were so enticing.  However, the possibility of this particular home being turned into a town house and rented out for profit was even more enticing for other buyers with cash offers.  We weren't able to act fast enough, and you learn.  I still dream about that house.  One day...


I'm feeling so morose.

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

I know.  It's been a while.  My sincerest apologies, readers.  I haven't had a lot of free time, and when I have, I haven't had convenient access to a computer.

I just got back from California.  I had a great time hanging out with Tyler's family.  They really are amazing.  We didn't waste a moment of time while we were there.  Aside from hanging out with family, we spent some time in LA.  I got to catch up with some old friends, and narrowly missed catching up with others.  (Time really is too short.)  Ate amazing food, hung out at the beach, went to Disneyland.  I really love it in California.  If it meshed with our future plans, we'd probably live there right now.  However, we have a house to buy, and things to do out here in Minneapolis.  Regardless of the weather, unfortunately.  If I was rich, I'd move to San Francisco (did you know the cost of living in San Francisco is similar, if not more than living in NYC?).  Otherwise, I think I'd choose San Diego, since it seems like the beachy version of Minneapolis.

There's been a hiccup in the transferring of Panda, so we are still in limbo with her.  I'm not sure if prolonging the process is making it easier or harder to let her go.  I don't want to discuss this in much detail as I'm feeling a little negatively about the subject.

Nico is about 99% potty trained now, which makes things quite a bit easier.  She is still deathly afraid of everything.  Her leash, people, the wind, the heater turning on, you name it.  She jumps at things that I am not even aware of.  But, she has opened up to me a little bit.  I've learned how to use mannerisms that make her feel less threatened, and that allow me to approach her 100% of the time.  She doesn't completely trust me, but it's obvious she wants to.  She gets really excited about my presence when we wake up, when I feed her, and after I take her outside.  Those are the times she seems most open to love and attention.  The rest of the time, she seems to want my affection, but is extremely weary.  She is severely afraid of every other person, and runs to me (well, more like behind me) to escape anyone else.  Poor Tyler.  He wants her to love him, too, but she's still frightened of him and looks to me to save her.  I have seen her leap ridiculous heights off of the bed or couch to flee him.  This one definitely isn't going to crack anytime soon.  But she's adorable, and easy to train, so her being fearful isn't going to stop us.  I must say, I've never seen fear like this before.  It is just completely crippling.  When I think about how she must feel all of the time based on her reactions, I'm amazed that she has even managed to accept me at all.  I wish it was easier for her to trust, and I hope one day, she is relieved of her anxiety and learns to be at ease.  Poor little sweetheart.

I am currently reading the second book in the Millennium series (The Girl Who Played With Fire).  Just about finished.  I haven't decided how I feel about it yet.  I don't want to mention too much, as to avoid any spoilers for any readers out there.  I would like to know,  have any of you read the series?  What are your thoughts?  Have you seen any of the movies?

Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it.

I had to make an incredibly difficult decision today.  That decision was to no longer foster Panda.  I finally reached my breaking point with her severe inability to potty train today.  I might have been able to hold on a bit longer, but I realized we will be showing our apartment soon and can't afford to lose a tenant because Panda just won't housebreak after many months of trying.

I am used to coming home to messes, but today was exceptionally bad.  I could smell it outside of the apartment.  It was just too much.  I really don't mind cleaning up the messes, but when there is just no progress, it makes it more difficult to know this is what I have to deal with until she gets adopted.  And, I just had to finally realize that I have other responsibilities that also need attending to.  My priority right now is getting a home and out of this apartment as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, fostering a dog that isn't housebroken whatsoever isn't really conducive to that plan any longer.

She is probably the sweetest dog I have ever had the pleasure of being around, I am very much attached to her.  However, she needs a foster home where someone is home more often to help potty train her.  I would never in a million years give up the time I have had with her.  To be honest, if I was able to be home more often, and potty train her, I probably would have wanted to adopt her long ago.  But when the home isn't right, it shows.  Someone out there will give her a great home, and she will be such an amazing companion for them.  I am really going to miss her.  I'm giving my rescue group some time to find a new foster home for her, so I don't have to say goodbye just yet, but, it's going to be quite difficult when I do.

Tyler has been such a saint throughout all of this.  He likes dogs as much as the next person, but he doesn't have quite the same passion for them as I do.  He must have reached his breaking point long ago, but stuck with it for me.  He's a good guy.

Nico won't be back to a vet again until after Thanksgiving, so we've also got some time to think about what our decision will be in terms of adopting her.  We are really waiting on more medical information before anything else.  If we decide against adopting her, we will continue to foster her until she is adopted, then perhaps foster again after we have moved.

I hate making tough decisions.  It makes me feel so guilty.  I also hate saying goodbye.  But I guess it would have happened one way or another, eventually.

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.

I got Nico back from the her extended stay at the vet today.  She was supposed to be spayed, but she nearly flatlined on the table when put under anesthesia, so they had to pull her out immediately.  The vet told me they think she may have an enlarged heart/heart disease.  She said she thinks Nico's prognosis is probably not good, and she will probably end up dying in her sleep.  They couldn't test her for an enlarged heart because they don't have the equipment at that location.  I guess her heart rate is very slow, at about 70 beats/minute when at rest, when it should be around 120 beats.  I was afraid of something like this.  It's weird, because all of her blood tests came back just fine.  The diagnosis hasn't been made officially, but the vet sounded pretty sure.

I'm not really sure what the next step is.  The person in charge of our rescue group said we will try the spay again at an office that is a little bit more seasoned, but I don't know if she knew about the potential for Nico's heart disease.  So, I guess we'll see.

On top of this, I have been sick the last couple of days.  I had to really pull it together today to pick up Nico.

And what's even worse, is Tyler's grandfather is very ill.  We planned a trip out to California for one last visit to see him next week, but it doesn't sounds like he will make it that long.  Ugh.  Rough past few days.

Those that think it permissible to tell white lies soon grow color blind.

I've been watching a lot of horror movies lately.  I would watch them more often, but the selection is never broader than October.  I haven't seen any good ones lately, though.  Probably because I've really only watched ones that are on Netflix to watch instantly.  Anyone have any good suggestions?  I plan to see Paranormal Activity 3 tomorrow, but I'm not going to get my hopes up about that one.

Not much going on in the search for a home.  We put an offer in on another one recently that the owner's accepted.  Now, we just have to wait on the bank(s).  Which could take months.  Hopefully not too many months, as we need to plan our wedding around this house.  A house whose landscaping needs a LOT of work.

Nico is socially coming along nicely.  She's opened up much more.  We had quite a few people over a few days ago, and I think that helped her open up a little bit.  She's still very nervous, but much better than at first.  She's also doing really well with potty training.  I think we give her another week or two, and she's be 100% potty trained.  She has definitely made me feel better about my potty training skills!  (Sorry, Panda!...I just can't figure you out!)  Nico should be going in to see the vet next week, so now we should be able to see if she has any underlying medical issues.  We are pretty certain we will be adopting her once she has been vetted, but we're not allowed to sign any contracts until she has been seen and also spayed.

Tyler and I are going to California in a couple of weeks to visit his family.  I'm pretty excited.  He has to work for a few hours a couple of the days, so I have to figure out what to do with myself during that time...Hm...What to do in LA for a few hours during the day?  Any suggestions?

We're also booking our trip to NYC in January soon.  Another exciting trip that I can't wait for.  We're limiting our trip to just 4 days to deliver us from the temptation to shop our brains out.  I can't wait to see NYC in the winter, it will be such a stark contrast from when we went last time, in the excessive July heat!  I bet it's beautiful.  Except, you know, inside the subways.  Hopefully, we'll have our house by then, so we don't get tempted to stay.  I love that town.

To be brave is to love someone unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. To just give. That takes courage, because we don't want to fall on our faces or leave ourselves open to hurt.

It's been pretty hectic in our household lately, as we've acquired a second foster dog.  I brought Panda to the Dogtoberfest event, where there were a few dogs that were brought in from a Missouri puppy mill rescue.  They were all so timid and shy, but there was one in particular, who was so scared, she was pressing her whole body into the the gate so hard, she must have been trying to disappear into it.  I felt awful for her, so I picked her up and held her nearly the entire event.  It turned out that she had no foster parents.  I really had no intention of taking her, but she pulled at my heartstrings so much, I couldn't say no.  Tyler had not attended this event, as he had to work, so he had no idea what he was going to come home to.  Before he was done with work, I had to make my way into work, so I didn't have a chance to talk to him beforehand.  I was a nervous wreck waiting to hear from him.  I was really afraid he was going to be upset that I brought home another dog.

A few hours later, I got a call at work.  My adrenaline rose, and I prepared myself for the worst.  I picked up the phone, and heard him say, "She is SOOO cute!".  Whew!  Relief.  I reminded once more of why I love my fiancee so much.

What was meant to be only for a couple of days has turned into 11 days...so far.  All of which have been pretty amazing.  The new foster has opened up a bit, but she has a long way to go before she fully trusts humans.  From what I hear, Missouri puppy mills are pretty heinous in comparison to others.  This one spent the first 5 years of her life in one, so I'm sure you can imagine how hard it is for her.

She was casually named "Fidget" at the event, because she is so frightened, that she shakes a lot.  But Tyler and I have decided the name "Nico" is much better.

She is a Japanese Chin, like Panda, but about 1/3 the size of Panda.  She is insanely cute.  She doesn't even look like a real animal, she looks fake, like a stuffed animal.  I marvel at her every time I look at her! We've been seriously toying with the idea of adopting her.  I know what you're thinking, "What about Panda?"  The reality is, I love Panda.  I love Panda just as much as I love Nico.  But you just know when it's not a right fit.  Panda needs a home where she isn't left alone for more than 4 hours, otherwise she will never potty train.  Unfortunately, that is not us.  We can't keep picking up after her soiling day after day, forever.  It is getting pretty tiresome, having to mop every single day.  Nico still has her potty training issues, but she is much smaller, so what comes out of her is also smaller.  More importantly, she is actually catching on to potty training much quicker.

Also, we've socialized Panda I think to the point where she is very ready for adoption.  Nico, I have doubts she will ever socialize 100%, and if she does, I imagine it will take much longer than it did for Panda.  They both have their issues.  Issues that are very similar, but difficult in very different ways.  I feel more prepared and confident in dealing with Nico's fears than Panda's potty training, I guess.

The only thing really holding us back is that Nico hasn't been to a vet yet, so we have no idea what kind of health issues we may be dealing with.  Well, that, and there is an affenpincher with another rescue that will soon be healthy enough to be up for adoption that I am really interested in meeting.  He looks just like Winston, and too, was abandoned like Winston.  Except this one, Ernie, was thrown in a trash and left to die.  I would LOVE to have another one like Winston.  Also, I know if we decide not to adopt Nico, she will be adopted immediately.

This is sweet, little Nico:  

It's so hard to limit yourself, as there are so many heartbreaking stories out there surrounding dogs.  It really angers me that people will go to breeders or pet stores to "buy" dogs.  I really want to make a serious point here, if you are buying a dog anywhere, online, in a pet store, or from a breeder, and you can't meet the parents of the dog, it is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT certain that dog came from a puppy mill.  DO NOT TAKE THAT DOG, as you are helping a disgusting, abusive, and heinous trade continue to operate.  I don't care if the sales people assure you these animals are not from a puppy mill.  That is what they ALL say.  Again, if you can't meet the mother and father of these puppies, then they came from a puppy mill.  Stay away.  The mother and father of this adorable puppy you can't resist are living in squalor.  They live in their own filth, stuck in a small cage, typically in a stack of cages, where the animals can defecate and urinate all over one another, they never know what love or care from a human is, they spend their whole lives in these cages until they are deemed no longer profitable. At that point, they are auctioned off.  If no one bids on them, they are immediately euthanized.  You are helping this process continue if you purchase that dog.  Shame on you, if that is the route you take, really.

I just wish puppy mills could be banned nationwide, then my heart wouldn't break every time I saw a dog I wanted to help, but can't, because my resources are stretched as thin as they can get.  I wouldn't feel guilt because I can't help them all, forever.

Here's some links about puppy mills:

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/puppy_mills/

http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/puppy-mills/what-is-a-puppy-mill.aspx

Who begins too much accomplishes little.

Time to discuss how I feel about the Occupy "whichever location you choose here" movements.  I admit, I'm not fully educated on the subject, which is what led me to do a little research.  

First, I'm not even going to talk about the police brutality.  I can see police hitting people with batons, or using pepper spray, on youtube.  I cannot see what led to the altercations, so I can't find a way to have an unbiased opinion without looking at the whole scenario.  There are very likely situations that warranted that sort of reaction, and conversely, very likely situations that did not.  

I'm also not going to really discuss the fact that the majority of the media seems to be ignoring this movement.  The media really should have learned that there was no way this was going to be kept under wraps.  I mean, look at how Obama won the presidency.  Social media played a huge, huge part in that.  That's just idiocy on their parts.  I have, however, been able to find snippets of news here and there, like on huffingtonpost and NPR.  So, not ALL of the media is trying to keep us in the dark.  It kind of makes you wonder what things were kept hidden from the public back before the internet, though.

I was trying to explain the whole purpose of the Occupy movement to someone today, but I couldn't come up with any demands that I was sure these people are asking for.  I had a lot of hearsay to go by, but that was it.  So, I decided to find out.  I researched and have found no official list of demands.  WHAT?  Seriously?  What have people been trying to get done on Wall Street?  I feel like people are just occupying the street, saying they're pissed about current conditions, but not telling people what conditions need to be changed for this to end.  How the hell is anything going to get better if we just stand around being pissed without actually telling these people what they need to do to get you back to your daily lives?  This is like a bad marriage in dire need of counseling.  Both sides just not willing to communicate with one another until...what?  What the fuck?

There has GOT to be a piece of the puzzle I am missing.  But, so far, I can't find it, so I'm going to continue to be really confused by the order of which this has all come about.

Now, I've read a few lists, and I have to tell you, some of these demands seem quite ludicrous.  Some of them are really good ideas as well.  Some of them are decent ideas, but I really don't think it's possible to put them into effect.  So, I'm going to quote from different lists I've found.  By the way, the one that seems best put together can be seen here, if you're interested:  http://coupmedia.org/occupywallstreet/occupy-wall-street-official-demands-2009

If I don't mention a particular demand, it's probably because I agree with it and have nothing more to say on the subject.

These are all from the second list of proposed demands on the aforementioned site:

#4 on this particular list of demands is to restructure campaign finance legislation.  Limiting individual campaign donations to $100 to get rid of corporate backing of particular candidates, which, in turn should get rid of special treatment towards these corporations.   In theory, this sounds good, but there are some things I'm unclear on.  Can a person running for office use as much of their own personal money as they want for their campaign?  If so, then won't the candidates just change from corporate puppets to wealthy people with corporate agendas anyways?  If that's the case, it's just going to be the same shit, different way of doing it.  If not, then I'm for it.

#5 is real health care reform.  "Nearly all other countries on this planet have a system that works.  Access to adequate health care is a human right not a privelage.  "  If you talk to people from other countries that have this kind of health care, many aren't as thrilled with it as you may think.  A lot of times, I've heard they would prefer our system.  Among the complaints I've heard is that it takes quite a long time to get in to see a doctor.  The healthcare is of low quality.  So on, and so forth.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.  I've had the same job since I was 18, and I've had healthcare all along with that job, so maybe I'm just lucky, but I like my healthcare.  Now, if I decided to quit that job, I may have another opinion.  So I can't say I am completely unbiased, but I can say I'd be nervous to see the outcome of this change.  I just know what the Canadians tell me.

#7 education reform.  I am ALL for lowering education costs.  Which is one suggestion on this particular demand.  I'm even for restructuring the student loan system.  But, completely forgiving all student loan debt?  I don't know about that one.  I think forgiving a LOT of the student debt would be good for a lot of people, but all of it, I'm not so sure.  It is also suggested that higher education should be free.  I think if it were free, a LOT of resources would be wasted.  Many people would just go to school forever, and never worry about getting a job.  I'm sure we've all known quite a few people who have wealthy families who paid for their schooling, and they just went to school with no real purpose, without taking it seriously.   That's fine, I mean, I'm incredibly jealous, because if I had that kind of help, I would NEVER take it for granted.  But the simple fact is, there is a LOT of people who will take it for granted.  Will we be able to afford it?  

#14 the environmental responsibility reform.  This is all about providing incentive for local farming, which, in theory is a good idea, but it is not really environmentally or financially responsible.  We ALL eat foods and love foods that are not locally grown.  So, in turn, we will have to farm foods that are not indigenous to our area in ways that require a huge amount of energy to be used, which actually causes a larger footprint than just getting the foods transported.  This is not an environmentally friendly solution.  If this demand is met, then we need to make a decision:  mangoes, or a healthier environment?  On top of that, not all crops that are distributed are benefitting corporations.  There are whole third world countries who rely on our purchases of their crops.  Do we want to be responsible for their collapse because we wanted to grow our own melons in a way that fucked up our environment even more?  There's better options for strengthening our own economy, really.

From the first list on the site, they mention on #4, passing the Buffett rule, closing all corporate tax loopholes.  Unfortunately, there are just some companies that this will NEVER happen with.  Specifically, internet based companies.  Google, for instance.  They pay NOTHING to America in taxes.  They built their headquarters in Ireland knowing their taxes were lower, and there's nothing we can do about it.  The internet is worldwide, you can't change that.  So wherever such and such company decides to set up shop and keep their earnings is their prerogative.  What we need to do is give companies incentive to come back to America.  There is no way to completely get rid of all loopholes, and with the internet, it's gotten even harder.  It's just plain never going to happen, we have to give companies a reason to build here.  We have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world at almost 40 percent.   Would you start your business here, when you could start it in Ireland which charges only 10 percent?  Until that changes, nothing else will.  Once we start to bring back corporations to America, the jobs will follow, as would more of our economic stability.  We're barking up the wrong tree with this demand.  Companies wouldn't even be trying to FIND the loopholes if our corporate tax rate was reasonable.

Now, I'm going to take from another list, which can be seen here:  http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-demands-for-occupy-wall-st-moveme/  This list was by far, the most ridiculous of them all.  So, I chose to quote from the best and the worst that I could find.

Demand #1, restoration of the living wage.  I am ALL for this.  I think the minimum wage is a joke, it is just not a wage you can reasonably live off of without government assistance.  However, if you scroll down to demand #3, guaranteed living wage regardless of employment, that's where you lost me.  What the hell?  I watch people come in on the first of the month in droves looking for applications so they can turn them in and say they were job hunting, when they were most definitely not at all interested in getting a job, just so they can continue to receive government checks.  Are you kidding me?  You want to give people money for NOTHING?  No way.  I do not agree in any way, shape, or form with this.  The only exceptions I would consider would be students who were actively enrolled in school, stay at home mothers or fathers who were providing a safe and nurturing environment for their children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.  Someone PLEASE explain why this is a good idea, because it is just pissing me off.

Demand #11 is just..ridiculous.  ALL debt forgiven across the ENTIRE planet?  How the fuck is Wall Street going to take away the debts of people in China?  WTF is this?

Demand #12.  Outlaw credit reporting agencies?  Why?  You don't think it's within a bank's rights to be able to see a credit history and determine whether someone is an at-risk client?  Now, don't get me wrong, I think there's a million things wrong with banks, but this really just isn't one of them.  It doesn't make any sense to just hand people loans without finding out if they have the ability to pay them.  That doesn't help anyone out.  Now, could there be a better way for credit agencies to run?  Sure.  But asking for them to be outlawed just seems like you want loans to be offered with a cross my heart promise that we will pay them back.  Sure, I have a job, now let me buy this Hummer?  Oh, but this is coming from the list that wants all debt across the world to be forgiven.  Whoever wrote this list is out of their mind.  

In any case, my point is, shouldn't a group have their shit together enough to come forward with a list of demands BEFORE they protest?  This thing has gotten huge, and now we have whack jobs like the guy who wrote the second list I quoted putting their 2 cents in.  This is demeaning the whole thing, in my opinion.  I fully agree that things need to change, and although I don't agree with every demand, I do agree demands need to be made, and that corporations need to have less pull on the decisions our country's leaders make, and even that they should pay more taxes.  But I think the way this began was pretty sloppy and potentially ineffective.  I sincerely hope this isn't the case, and that changes really will be made, but I can't see large corporations being swayed to make any changes just because a bunch of people are standing angrily on their front lawn.

I guess we'll see.

A person travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.

House hunting has been interesting.  As a potential first time buyer, it's really scary.  I've never even purchased a new car, and now I'm spending 6 figures on a dwelling.  The idea of spending 6 figures is daunting, but the idea of throwing away that kind of money on rent for the next thirty years is even more so.  Which is exactly what I would spend if my rent stayed the same for the next thirty years.  So, that makes me feel better.

We've looked at a few homes.  We put an offer on one yesterday, still waiting to see what is going to come of that offer.  I'd love to own this home, but, if we don't get it, we will find one that's even better.  A couple even popped up on the market today that I would love to look at if this one falls through.  I guess that's the key to shopping for a home, don't set yourself up for heartbreak, because you WILL get your heart broken.

I've already been prematurely planning the remodel of the house.  Which may also end up being in my favor if the offer isn't accepted...I'll be so overworked from planning, I'll be excited to not have to follow through.  Okay, now I'm just over thinking it.  I'm just way too impulsive for this waiting game.

Panda was selected to be a part of Dogtoberfest.  I have no idea what that is other than an adoption event on the 8th that is more extreme than the average adoption events, but it sounds like a ton of fun.
http://www.underdogrescuemn.com/dont-miss-dogtoberfest/

I love her to death, but, we haven't really gotten anywhere with the potty training and I am tired of cleaning up poop and pee all day long.  If Winston hadn't improved his potty training habits 100% since I first adopted him, I would think I sucked at potty training dogs.  Well, it's still entirely possible that is the case, as Winston is just a mommy pleaser, so maybe that's the only reason I tricked him into going outside for me.

At least I've gotten her socialized and at a better weight.  Right?

In other news, I'm addicted to stumbleupon.com.  If you aren't using it, trust me, you are missing out.  It is the best internet time killer EVER.  I have to resist the urge not to share everything I like on there, because I would post about 100 times a day.  I find pages that I never knew I wanted to find.  For instance:  http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2F1WFB/www.expatify.com/advice/10-best-places-to-live-for-escaping-world-conflict.html

One day, I may decide I'm tired of government shutdowns and say, fuck it, I'm moving to Bhutan, bitches!  I never would have picked Bhutan if it wasn't for stumbleupon.  I'll let you in on a tidbit of information about myself:  I SUCK at geography.  It's entirely possible I may never have even known Bhutan existed if it wasn't for stumbleupon.

By the way, I don't think I would actually ever move to Bhutan.  The reality is, I'd probably choose Canada.  Because, I actually know how to get there.  Well, I'd have to pick up a compass on the way.

I don't want someone shoving his views down my throat, unless they're covered in a crunchy candy shell.

M&Ms are one of my favorite candies of all time.  It's true, their advertisement slogan that M&Ms will "melt in your mouth, and not in your hand" is completely false, especially in the dog days of summer, or if you have a particularly sweaty pair of hands, but they are delicious.  Most importantly, they appeal to my compulsive and analytical side.

I have a theory about M&Ms, a multi part theory, actually.  The theory is that M&Ms taste better when you eat two at a time.  Not just any two at a time, though.  Ideally, you would eat two of the same color at the same time.  If your handful doesn't consist of two of the same color, then you must choose two colors that are most similar, or complimentary.  i.e. brown and red, yellow and orange, blue and green.  If you eat them this way, I am absolutely convinced you are eating them at their pinnacle of tastiness.  If you just shove a whole handful of mismatched colors in your mouth, they still taste good, but you are lacking the sophistication of matching the taste of the dyes to compliment one another.  Kind of like a wine pairing.

I've mentioned this theory to a few people.  The reactions have been varied.  Tyler thinks I am being ridiculous.  I think Tyler lacks the proper pallet to distinguish the subtle nuances of chocolatey goodness.  Especially because he doesn't like sweets.

Try it next time you find yourself with a bag of M&Ms and tell me what you think.

The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.

I am the most gullible person...ever.  Except when it comes to money and finances.  If we're talking about the completely outrageous, though, I will probably believe it, if you present it in a way that appeals to me. A tactic my loving fiancee uses quite frequently when trying to get a laugh.  So, I pretty much stopped believing anything he tells me about anything that seems even slightly outlandish.  This led me to not even accept the fact that narwhals actually existed when he told me about them.



Look at that thing.  It's a dolphin/walrus/unicorn.  How was I to know?  I still have my doubts.

Today, I was fooled again.  I found a website advertising tiny giraffes for sale from somewhere in Russia.  Finding this site was vaguely reminiscent of a time when I was convinced miniature pigs really existed (Royal dandies...there are plenty for sale, but they get a LOT bigger than advertised.  This is not exactly considered a hoax like the giraffe thing).  I somehow got Tyler to agree to getting one once we moved in together.  Then I found out they didn't actually stay that small.  In any case, because of my bitter past with miniature animals, I knew these giraffes couldn't possible stay small, but the live feed of a giraffe was what got me.  I was really excited to be able to watch a giraffe going about his day.  Until my friends assured me this was a spoof, and not a live feed.  I got so excited initially about watching the giraffe, I neglected to actually look around the site and see how ridiculous it actually was.



How embarrassing.

But, you know, if it was real, I would totally want one.  Or I'd at least check the feed at LEAST once a day.  I would also name the giraffe on the feed.  His name would be Mr Donaldson.  Mr Arthur Donaldson, if you knew him well.

Good taste is the worst vice ever invented.

It is allergy season.  I thought Winston was going to be the only victim, but then Tyler got hit, and shortly thereafter, so did I.  I always forget how slightly tortuous allergies can be, until they come back.  That nagging sort of congestion, and the lingering pain that comes with.  Ugh, yuck.  To all my fellow allergy sufferers, I feel your pain.  I know it's tempting to wish for winter to come to offer some sweet relief from the changing of the seasons, but, don't do it.  I don't need your bad snow juju, and with winter comes flus, stomach viruses, and killer colds, which are much worse, I swear.  Not to mention snow.  It's only been what, 4 or 5 months since winter in Minneapolis ended, and if I hear a single one of you Minnesotans wishing for it back, I just might kill you.

Yesterday was Labor Day.  I had no idea that thrift stores put their entire inventory 50% off on Labor Day.  An associate of mine clued me in on this, so after work (yes, I had to WORK on Labor Day.  The humanity, I know.)  Tyler and I went thrifting.  Let me tell you, thrift store shopping is a hell of a lot more fun when it's half off.  For some reason, the silliest things start to look more useful and/or interesting.  We really only got decor, but we got some really cool stuff!  My favorite find was the cast iron mechanical dog trick bank I found:



I looked around online, and these things can go for $2000!  I paid $6.  Of course, the one I got would never go for that amount, as it's not the right condition, and I'm pretty sure it's a reproduction, but it's just a damn cool thing to have, regardless.

I also found the Hamburglar glass I've been missing from my collection since my last antiquing excursion, and a Ronald McDonald/Fry guys glass I had never seen.  Okay, I am pretty excited about ALL of our finds, and I swear they weren't all kitchy.  I mean, we DID get a bunch of Jesus swag.

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

I should write something!

I've been so busy. When I suddenly find myself not so busy, sometimes I forget to write. But not this time!

I purchased a wedding dress two days ago. It's a beautiful vintage lace over silk champagne colored dress. Not sure of the year, as I think it is handmade, since I cannot find any tags on it. Tyler and I have guessed it has originated anywhere from the 30's-60's, but we really have no idea what era it came from. What I know is it is perfect. I had been searching for that exact fabric and color, but the dresses were all very high end and designer, and I was in no position to get one. Tyler urged me to check out a local vintage store, and because I had nothing better to do, we did just that. The dress was layered under a jacket of the same pattern displayed up high on the wall. There was no way I would have ever considered it, had the sales person not pulled it down for me. It fit like a glove. It was perfect. The night before I was hating everything about wedding planning, and I wanted nothing more to do with it, but once I tried that dress on, some of my stresses just melted away. It's pretty amazing how sometimes, your wedding planning just comes together so perfectly.

Tyler also purchased the blazer portion of his outfit. We also got some bleached peacock feathers for the wedding. Not exactly sure the purpose, but I knew I wanted them. Thus ends our journey of wedding planning so far. We've been mainly focusing on buying a a house. We plan to save money that we would have used on a large wedding and use it as a down payment on a house instead. We also plan to host the reception at our new house. So, we have a lot to do in not a whole lot of time. (We nixed the previous wedding venue I had blogged about, simply for cost reasons, when we added everything up, it just didn't make sense to spend a fortune on one night, when we could use that fortune and buy something we will be able to use forever)

However, we found a house much quicker than anticipated. We were pretty sure we were going to buy a house in a particular price range. We had talked about getting a loan with a credit union representative, but decided we needed more money saved for the down payment. However, a house popped up that we love in a much lower price range, so we're scrambling to get our eggs in a basket (i.e. money all in one place, letter of pre-approval, etc) quick so we can put in a bid once we tour the house on Sunday. Cross your fingers for us, this could be big.

We took Winston to the vet as well the other day. He has allergies. Have to manage those, but it's done pretty easily. Half a Benadryl, twice a day. I pop that stuff like candy, when the season is bad, so I always have it around. So, as long as they work, no big deal. I should have him feeling better in no time.

Haven't had an adoption event in a little while to take Panda to, as I was ill during the last one. I'm really nervous for the next event. We've grown really close to Panda over the past several months, and it would be so difficult to give her up. But, we're in no financial position this month, or even the next couple of months to do anything about it, so we'll just have to hope that whatever is best for her will happen. We did get her a pretty little pink harness and nametag, though. She deserved something of her own.

Preserving health by too severe a rule is a worrisome malady.

If you saw me right now, eating my microwaved chicken patty sandwich, you may not believe I was making a conscious decision to eat healthier. But, had you seen what ingredients were in the OTHER frozen chicken patty, you might think twice. That's right, I have become a label reader. (In case you were wondering, the brand I am eating, Tyson, is 100% real chicken. The other brands, I'm not even sure what most of those ingredients are)

This year has been a year of change. I quit smoking, I drink less alcohol, I got engaged, and now I'm eating better. I'd add that I started an exercise regiment, but, to be honest, I only stuck with it for about a week. I'm preparing for a lot of other life changes as well, like buying a home. Like I said, a lot of change! It feels good.

Now, I've never been overweight or anything, so that wasn't really my main reason for eating better. It's really just a health issue. I mean, I am/was known for my obsession with McDonald's Happy Meals. I still love them, I just love them less often. I also lived off of preservative rich foods: pizza rolls, pasta using canned pasta sauce, frozen dinners, gas station food, lunchables, etc. If it was easy, I probably ate it for dinner. If I continued this way, I was probably going to die at age 45 with a Hot Pocket in hand.

It started with Tyler taking on the cooking responsibilities. He uses all fresh ingredients, and so I started to really get used to eating better at home. Then, I quit smoking, and in an effort to save even more money, I decided to start bringing my lunch to work. I started bringing frozen dinners, which wasn't overly healthy, but I tried to choose dinners with less calories at first. Then I started reading more into the labels. Eventually, I realized the frozen dinners were not much healthier, just less fattening, and I started making lunches. Typically a spinach salad and a sandwich, or some variation. It's gotten to the point that I'm not sure I am going to be able to get any healthier in the ways of food. I'm considering converting to a pescetarian diet, but, with Tyler doing all of the cooking at home, I think I'll need to have a little leeway. As it stands, I probably am about...70% pescetarian. I'm going to shoot for 80% and leave well enough alone. I like sandwiches, and I can only eat tuna fish so often. I may start with some black bean or veggie patties or something in the future, but then I run into preservatives again, and I want to avoid that.

I really only have two major weaknesses. One, is lunchmeat. I like to buy fresh from the deli, but it starts to go bad way too quickly. I'd buy less, but then I run out after just a few days, and I hate going to the grocery store that often. So, I buy the prepackaged stuff with ingredients that are a mystery.

Then, there's the biggie. Sugar. I cannot for the life of me give it up or cut down. In fact, I don't even want to. It's not like I sit there, eating my cookies, hating myself. No way, I'm PUMPED for that ice cream cone, or cake, or candy bar. IDGAF. Gimme candy! I've read a few places that fruit can be a great substitute. Fuck. That. No way, fruit is not chocolate. Fruit sucks. It's slimy, sour, and gross. The only acceptable fruits, in my opinion, are apples and bananas (I'll eat the occasional couple of grapes mixed in with a chicken or turkey salad, too). And those are morning snacks. Not treats. Thinking about replacing chocolate with fruits actually makes me a little angry. Which is why no one I know personally has ever suggested the transition. I also have to drink 1 diet cola a day. At least while I'm working. Which also has sugar. This, I think I may actually be able to phase out once I get a carbonated water system. I started brewing my own iced tea, so that's where I will get my caffeine. I'll get my carbonation (I don't know why I need carbonation, it's just something I like) from my homemade carbonated water, I suppose.

I'm not having major drastic physical changes, which is fine, since my goal wasn't to lose weight. But, I do feel a lot better. I went from being nauseated pretty much half of the time to almost never. Unless I eat something weird, or I'm really hungover. So, that was a huge bonus. I also have been getting sick much less often, but that could be attributed to my vitamin regiment. Either way, it's all working to my advantage.

I have no idea why anyone might find this blog interesting. I just like to talk about food. Especially candy. So I did. Sorry, dude.

By the way, the food pyramid changed. It's a plate, now.

It's supposed to represent what your plate should look like at any given meal. I call it ruining my childhood memories. Bring back the pyramid!

Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home.

I'm trying to eat leftover barbeque chicken wings and type this blog. It isn't working out very well. So, I'm switching to leftover quesadilla. Tyler and I have had some random dinners lately that we can't seem to finish. I like those mishmash leftover dinners, though.

Anyways, onto things you may actually care about.

I finished my first book on Kindle a couple of days ago. It was unSweetined by Jodie Sweetin. If you're not familiar, let me give you a rundown. This is the biography of the actress who played Stephanie Tanner on the hit sitcom Full House in the 90's. I am a huge Full House fan. Tyler has had to talk me out of buying the DVD box set (shaped like the Tanner house from the show!!) not once, but twice. I'm still not entirely convinced I don't need to own it, either. So, needless to say, no matter what Stephanie, I mean Jodie, had to say, I was going to read her book. However, it turns out Jodie became a meth addict between now and the taping of Full House. So, you get to read all about her crazy life. It was a really quick and interesting read. I definitely question her reasons behind why she wrote the biography, because of the way it ended and the fact that she relapsed during the writing of her book, but ultimately, it doesn't matter. It's Stephanie. She's a meth addict. What more did I need? I have awarded my stamp of approval.

By the way, reading this book prompted me to look at extra pictures of her online. She became pretty damn hot! Then, I decided I was going to look at other actors from the show. John Stamos? Obviously, still hot. Candace Cameron, REALLY HOT! Bob Saget and Dave Coulier? Still not hot (sorry Alanis, I'll never understand how you could have fallen for Dave. He must have been really funny.) Mary Kate and Ashley? Well, they look cool. Not sure I would say hot, but many people would. I even looked up Nicky and Alex, and what they look like now. Except, the most recent looking pictures I found were of them when they were maybe 10. So, yeah, not hot....yet!

I've been itching to watch Full House for the past week, now. Good thing I have at least 2 seasons on DVD.

This ain't your public service announcement meth head:

"How rude!"

I celebrated my birthday by going to my friend's cabin with some friends. It was a blast, but I am paying for it now. My allergies are out of control, and I have the biggest bruise I have ever seen on my inside thigh, whose origins are something of a mystery. Seriously, the thing is the width of 2 baseballs. It doesn't even look real. In fact, it pretty much looks like a port wine stain, except on my leg.

Anyways, I have to be up soon, so, time for bed!

happy birthday to me.

Well, my birthday is in two days. I received my birthday gift from Tyler a little early. He got me a Kindle. So thoughtful! I trought Id give blogging from it a chance...it is pretty neat, but i will probably save my blogging for whem i am on a real computer, as typing on the Kindle isnt that easy. I sure love it, though!

If you look for the positive things in life; you will find them.

Today was a day spent mostly blinded by my weariness and moroseness.  I trudged through the day and got home, where it slowly, but surely, got better.

I took the dogs out, and took a nap, shutting out the world. I slept, and I slept.  Tyler came home after work, with flowers and fried chicken.   We ate dinner, then we went to lay down for a bit before he had to get ready for his show tonight.  I fell back to sleep.  I woke up, brewed some iced tea, baked some peanut butter, chocolate, and walnut cookies, and made some lunches.  I opted out of rocking tonight to nap and bake cookies.  I also had some potty training successes with Panda today, so that was a positive.

I could have slept for many more hours, which tends to happen when I'm in a funk, but I had to force myself out of it so I could do something productive to start to feel a little bit positive.

Life is never easy.   I have nearly everything I've ever wanted, but all of those things take hard work and effort to keep sustainable, which, you never consider when you're dreaming about it happening.  So, as happy as I am most of the time, sometimes, because I put a lot on my plate, it can get to me, and I end up feeling a little negative.

"It hurts to find out that what you wanted doesn't match what you dreamed it would be."

But that doesn't mean it isn't all worth it.

In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant. My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known -- no wonder, then, that I return the love.

I'm having one of those days.

You know those days.  The ones that weigh heavy on you for all the reasons in the world, but none in particular.  You feel under appreciated, yet useless.  Frustrated, yet apathetic.  Nothing is really right, but nothing is really wrong.  I meant to do a million things today, but only actually got to a handful after work.  Tomorrow will be better.

It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

I just finished watching the final installment of the Harry Potter movies.  Yup, two days early.  I saw a girl I haven't seen or spoken to in at least 12 years at work.  We chatted a bit, and she told me she was going to see Harry Potter tonight.  I was incredibly jealous, as I had no certain plans to go see it because Tyler's band is playing their biggest show yet on the day of the release.  She very generously then offered me one of her extra prescreening tickets for the showing that happened in the same establishment as my work.  A showing that started EXACTLY at the same time I was finished with work.

What the hell are the odds that a prescreening two days early was happening in the same building at the exact time I was getting off work and a girl I knew 12 years ago was going to have an extra ticket to offer that very day, only two hours in advance?  I tell you, sometimes the good karma train comes rearing it's big, beautiful head.  In regards to Harry Potter, this isn't the first time good luck has shown itself to me.  At the last midnight book release, I had another pretty similar experience where I had resigned myself to have to wait longer than everyone else, and somehow my good fortune showed up and I got a copy much earlier than anticipated.  Harry Potter, you have been one amazing ride full of all of the endearing descriptive words I can think of but don't feel like typing all at once.

In any case, I realize not very many people had the chance to see the movie early, and there are still people who haven't read the books.  So, I assure you, no spoilers here.

I will however, tell you the obvious, which is how I feel right now.  I feel so happy.  The movie was amazing, as I think we all expected.  Other than it being incredibly short in comparison to the rest of them.  I cried nearly the whole movie long.  Also, I'm quite sad.  This is really it.  Harry Potter has been quite the journey for me.  It is by far, my favorite book and movie series of all time.  I realize there are many of you who won't give it a chance.  I can tell you until I'm blue in the face how wrong you are, how I felt the same, how once you read it, you will see just how wrong you are.  But you know what?  If you're not willing to even try, to give it a chance, well, sucks for you, because you are missing out.  I don't know a single person who has read the books (not just the first one, but at least through the third) who isn't completely obsessed with the series.  Not one.  I have never heard anyone who has read up to the 4th book and said, "Eh, it was ok."  or "I just can't get into it." or, "I hated it."  I can't say the same for the movies, but I'll talk more about that later.

When Harry Potter first came out, I was such a skeptic.  By the time the third book came out, I had a boss who was really enthusiastic about the series.  I really looked up to her, and it was hard not to get excited about the things she was excited about, but I could just not understand her interest.  She always had Harry Potter books sitting in the back room.  I just shrugged it off as a strange thing about her.  At the time, I was above CHILDREN'S books, you see.  I was reading Hesse, Rand, Sartre.  Rowling just did not fit into that group of writers.  She was so utterly beneath my reading material it was incomprehensible to think I would ever read Harry Potter.  Then, one day, I forgot my damn book at home.

I worked, at the time, in Brookdale Mall.  Some of you readers may be from the Minneapolis/St Paul area.  If so, you will remember Brookdale Mall.  I'm pretty sure it has finally shut down, maybe not, but it will soon, don't worry.  Working a day in Brookdale Mall was more than interesting.  That mall was in the HOOD.  Not only was it located in the hood, but it had a bus arriving every 5 minutes (literally) from many of the other hoods.  I spent every single day waiting for every single customer (I use this word very lightly) to try and shoplift, or hit on me, or get in a fight.  I saw people get brutally stabbed in my front doorway.  I saw fights every single day.   My employees nearly got robbed on bank runs.   I could not walk through the mall without men shouting at me some ridiculous thing that they figured would get me interested ("HEY GIRL CAN I GET A BITE OF THAT SAMMICH!?"  "OH YOU FINE PRETTY LADY YOU GONNA CALL ME NEXT?")  So, needless to say, I preferred to take my breaks in the back room in peace.

Back to that fateful day when I forgot my book.  What the hell was I going to read?  I looked around and there was that silly Harry Potter book.  So, I started perusing through it.  Then I started reading it.  It was a very light read, and only once in my life have I started reading a book and never finished it (It was House of Leaves.  If you tell me you liked it, I'm going to tell you you're full of shit and just want people to think you liked it so you can appear to be cultural, interesting, unique, and elite.  I doubt anyone really likes that book.  It is virtually unreadable.  Unless you like reading trite, pointless bullshit that is arranged terribly AND annoyingly, and makes no sense.) so, I decided to just take it home and finish it.  I did.  I was mildy amused.  It was cute, and incredibly imaginative.  I wasn't sold.  But then, I finished whatever book I was seriously reading at the time.  My boss was excited that I finished the first book, so she brought the second one in.  I had very young nieces at the time, so I had actually seen the first two movies, but didn't think much of them.  I really didn't think much of the second movie.  But, I was without a book and not really sure what my next endeavor was to be.  I think I had just read Demian by Hesse and I just wanted something light, and I didn't feel like spending any money on a book at the moment.

So, I read the second book.  It was okay.  But, it was good enough that I thought giving the third book  a chance was worth it.  So, I picked it up.  I read it.  It blew my mind away.  Seriously.  I had never read a book so imaginative.  So detailed.  So interesting.  A book that made me feel every sort of emotion.  It made me happy, sad, anxious, angry, you name it.  I never looked back from there.  From the 4th book on, I always purchased the books on opening day (or sometimes at midnight the night before).  I always reread the entire series before each book and movie came out.  (except the last two movies, I really just didn't have time or the absence of guilt to shut Tyler out of my life while I read for two weeks straight).  I was, quite frankly, obsessed.  I still am.  It is quite literally no surprise.  Like I said, I've seen it many times.  You cannot get through the series and say you didn't love it.  I've never heard of it.  You may not have the same dedication as I did, but you will love it.  There is just no way not to.  Unless you are just so uninterested in reading you can't trudge your way through a book.

I cannot imagine what watching the movies without reading the books is like.  There is so much that doesn't (understandably, for time reasons) make it into the movies, I'm not even sure how I would follow properly.  But, people do it.  In my experience, there are far more people who have seen the movies and not read the books who aren't super fans.  But like I said, no one has read all of the books and doesn't love them.  That I know of, anyways.

Anyways, it's all finally over.  I'm glad I saw it.  Happy I saw it.  But so sad it's over.  I wish JK Rowling would decide she could use more money and write a prequel or even a distant future sequel.  I would be the happiest and most impatient girl EVER.

Harry, you were AWESOME in the true sense of the word.  Very much in a league of your own.  I salute you, motherfucker.  You brought me many, many hours of the best entertainment anyone could have asked for.  <3

The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect.

Many of you may have heard of Google+.  Some of you may even be using Google+.  I was fortunate enough to be invited to use it a couple of weeks ago, now.  So I've had some time to figure it out... Mostly.
 

I find myself still learning things, like when you're getting used to any social networking site.  (I was so entwined with Myspace, that when I had to finally pull the plug and start using Facebook, I was like a fish out of water.)  However, the nice thing about Google+ is it is a lot like Facebook, only better.

There is a stream, not unlike Facebook's "News Feed".  You can post pictures and videos.   There is a video chat function, called "Hangouts", which allows you to chat one on one with a Google+ user, or with multiple users in the same chat room.

Another major change with Google+ is the differentiating a positive response to a person's post and being interested in something.  Both are called called "like" or "liking" on Facebook.  You can "like" a person's post, or go to a specific profile for a thing, actor, movie, group, or whatever, and "like" it to get news and posts from that thing.  It was a little confusing when they changed adding a profile of whatever thing you were into as a friend into "liking" it.  They should have called it something different to avoid any mixups.

On Google+, these are two very obviously different things.  For instance, if someone on your stream (news feed in FB talk) posts something you liked, you "+1" it.  I don't know why they called it that, but I guess it means you agree.
Now, if you like something, and you want to get posts, news, or info on it, you search for it on "Sparks" and add it to your interests.  This gives you quick access to any info posted on Google+ on the subject.  I haven't tried it, because I can't think of anything in particular to add just yet.  However, I did just do a search for "Harry Potter" in the sparks section, and it came up with some pretty interesting posts/videos/news stories/etc.  So, I think this looks much more organized than doing a search on Facebook for things you may like.  Especially because what comes up isn't just profiles and fan pages.

Another thing Google+ did better was creating "circles".  Instead of having just one list of "Friends", you can add whomever you want to any given circle, or multiple circles.  You can name the circles whatever you please to make them easily identifiable.  For instance, you could make these circles:  "acquaintances", "family" "work friends", "teachers", "college friends", "people i wanna do", "creepers", "friends who like the same nerdy things as me", "people I don't know but who've added me to their circles", etc.  The circles can get as creative as you want them to be, that was just a list of random circles I could think of.
Now, here's where it gets really cool.  Every single thing you post, be it a picture, a video, a link, or just a text post, only shows up to whichever circles you want it to.  For instance, if you want to post a picture of you and your baby niece, you can post it to just your "family" circle.  Or, if you want to post something funny your work friends will only understand, you can send it just to them.   Say you want to post a picture of you getting a lap dance that you don't remember from the night before, but you don't want your family or work friends to see, you can send it to whomever you feel it's acceptable to send it to. The important detail is, you only send it to the circles you want to see it.  This is good not only for you, but for the people in your circles as well.  You're going to save yourself embarrassment perhaps, but you are also going to save the people in your circles the boredom of having to go through posts they don't care about.  Well, in theory, anyways.

I know Facebook tried the whole "lists" thing, but to be honest, by the time this became an option, I had already censored myself quite a bit to mostly accommodate all of my friends, family, AND coworkers on Facebook.  Creating a bunch of lists just seemed like too much work at that point.

Another cool thing about the circles is, you can choose which circles you want to read the streams from. You can read them all, or read the streams of each circle individually.  Which also saves yourself some boredom if you don't feel like reading the "comic book nerd friends" stream today.  Or ever.

If you have an Android phone, there could not be a better social networking app.  It is incredibly seamless.  It's quick, it's neat, you can delete posts from your phone unlike Facebook.  Whenever you take a photo on your phone, it automatically uploads to your Google+ account in a private folder.  After it uploads, you have the option of posting the photos publicly and who you would like to see them.  No more having to upload each photo individually.

Another difference is how Google+ combines all of your gmail contact information into your account.   I like that you can access all of your contacts on Google+.  Well, you will be able to once it opens to the general public (if they choose to sign up).  I like having my information all in one spot.  It makes life a lot easier.  I also have a google phone, so that integrates things a lot more as well.  The less work I have to do to juggle e-mails, friends, contacts, voicemails, etc, the better.

One thing that Myspace was always a step ahead of Facebook in was the tiny amount of anonymity.  You were able to have complete strangers on your friends list.  You can do that on Facebook, but it always seemed a little weird to me to do that because I have so many family members and coworkers on my friends list.  I didn't want to open up my profile to some randoms who might post really strange things on my page and have my parents or bosses wondering about it and how it relates to me.  I got some really odd posts on Myspace, but on Myspace, you had privacy settings that let you approve comments, so you could avoid some of those really weird or awkward ones going straight to your page.
Also, on Facebook, I feel like a lot more personal information is available than was on Myspace, which is also something I didn't always feel comfortable sharing with complete strangers.  On Facebook, a friend can check you in at whatever location you may be at with them.  Which is fine, but, on Myspace, I had thousands of followers.  I really did not need all of them knowing where I was exactly at any given moment.  Google+ gives you the best of both worlds.  No one can see which circle you've put them in, so they won't be offended if they may not see everything you post.  You can post your location, but you can choose who sees that information.  It's all very good for privacy, and this way, you can add people to your circle that you don't know, but may find something in common with.  I like it.

You also can't post on someone's wall, but you can tag them in a post directed towards them.  I think.  I haven't actually done this yet.  But I've seen other people do it.

There's probably a lot of features I haven't touched upon, but those are the biggest ones I've encountered thus far.

I can't wait until Google+ opens to the general public.  I really like it.  I feel like the only thing it's missing is a blog section.  Then, once everyone joined, I would never need to post anything anywhere else.  But don't tell my network host site I said that.

Oh, and if anyone knows how to merge two gmail accounts (I made the mistake of using one for this site, and one for the my google+) let me know.  I'm tired of having to switch accounts when I go between my blog and google+.  Or, if there's a way to change your blogger main email address to another email address, that would work, too.

Anyways, here's a Facebook funny:

Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has to take the place of the victim and on his behalf demand atonement or grant forgiveness; it is the one crime in which society has a direct interest.

Ah yes, the Casey Anthony trial.  I didn't follow the trial closely whatsoever, so I won't try to say I know without a doubt what the verdict should have been.  (Although, from what I do know, I'd have to say "guilty".)  Casey Anthony was rumored to be offered $750,000+ for a book deal.  I'm sure there are offers for movies.  I've also heard from an insider that she was offered ONE MILLION DOLLARS to do a porn movie.  Really, America?  This is the image we want to portray to the impressionable?  This is what we want other countries to see?  If you kill your child (or are at least accused of it), you could become a famous multimillionaire?  I keep trying to fool myself into thinking this cannot be real life.  But it is.  We are a soulless, money grubbing country.  We suck.

In other news.  I just got back from a mini tour with Black Church Service.  We went to Nebraska and back.  Omaha was a bit of a letdown, except the zoo was more than amazing, especially for the price!  I loved it.  Lincoln was a lot of fun.  Sioux Falls was great, as usual.  I don't think I could live that lifestyle for more than a few days.  I wasn't getting completely drunk every night, so it's not really the drinking I'm talking about.  It's the countless hours riding around in a van and eating terrible gas station food the whole time.  Yuck.  I'd feel like hell if that were my life all of the time.  But, for a short period of time, it was quite the good time.

Here's a cool shot I took at the zoo:

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.

Winston bit me in the face today.  I was trying to trim his nails and he was not having it.  This was after giving him xanax.  It's really bizarre, I used to be able to trim his nails pretty easily, but now he just will not let me.  He also doesn't let me brush his teeth.  I'm taking him to the groomers from now on, that shit is not worth getting bit in the face over.

Food is the most primitive form of comfort.

I'm a bad blogger.  I had the whole day to myself and didn't save any time to write a blog.  So I'm writing one now instead of sleeping.  But that's okay, I don't have anything to do early tomorrow, anyways.

I made a fantastic meal today.  I made a pine nut and currant meatball dish with swiss chard and baguette slices:
Trust me, I'm aware I need to work on my display, but whatever, it was incredibly delicious.  I got the recipe out of a Real Simple recipe book/magazine.  I purchased it a while back and made another meal out of it previously which was equally delicious.  I plan to cook an apricot glazed ham with asparagus and potatoes meal from the book later this week, which I'm sure could not be bad.

I own a lot of recipe books, but this one piqued my interest for a few reasons.  Real Simple magazine is a GREAT magazine, it is incredibly useful for a million different reasons, so obviously, they're going to make a good cookbook.  Another reason I chose this book is because many of these dishes had really interesting ingredient choices, some of the ingredients they put together would never have occurred to me otherwise.  The dishes are also incredibly varied.  If I want scallops one day, braised chicken the next, and turkey waldorf another, it's all here.  Lastly, and most importantly, all of these dishes are intended to be quick, easy, and mostly nutritional.  So far, they have been.

Here's a link to the book to purchase if you're interested:  Recipe Book .   You may be able to find these recipes on the Real Simple recipe website as well, I'm not sure.

Tyler is a major foodie and he has really loved all of the dishes I have made from the book so far.  It makes me feel pretty good, because he does most of the cooking, and it's nice for me to get to make something delicious every once in a while as well.  I wish I had the natural ability to cook like him, but I don't.  Luckily for me (and him, I suppose) I am really good at following directions.  So, as long as it's a good recipe, it's going to be a good meal.  This is probably one of the reasons I tend to do more baking than him.  Baking is a lot less winging it and a lot more measuring and following timelines.

I had it all set in my head that next time I wrote a blog it would be about communication differences based on your upbringing, but somehow this just ended up being about food.  Whoops.  Maybe next time!

By the way, this Saturday is Tyler's birthday and we will be heading to Chicago to see Beady Eye (Liam Gallagher's new band).  We're only going for one night, but it should be a lot of fun!

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.

I FINALLY got internet, thanks to my new neighbors, so posting will no longer be painful.  Huzzah!

Remember when I said I was excited to have my new bike?  Well, did I ever mention I haven't truly ridden a bike for any sort of real distance in probably 15 years?  Yesterday, during a record breaking hot day, which was also incredibly windy, Tyler got me to ride for about 15 miles.  My butt hurts incredibly bad from the seat and I have a ridiculous sunburn on the tops of my shoulders and my nose.  I can wear a t-shirt, but makeup only goes so far in covering up things you want hidden on your face.  I feel a little ridiculous, but at least it's just temporary.  I still like my bike.  I just won't be riding it for a couple of days.

I brought Panda to the most fun adoption event yet on Sunday.  There was so many adorable puppies.  There were even two I secretly considered adopting myself.  One was a female who looked and acted like Winston but she was about 5 times bigger, which, is still pretty small.  Her breed was something of  a mystery to them, but I am pretty sure she was a Brussels Griffon or Affenpinscher mixed with a Chinese Crested.  The other was a black female Brussels Griffon, and she was just very docile, gentle, and sweet.  I guess I also toyed with the idea of this grey miniature poodle with no teeth.  She was very sweet and incredibly soft, and so cute and tiny, but to be honest, it was mostly because she looked really bizarre without any teeth and I loved her for it.  I'm a glutton for strange dogs, I guess.

Fostering has been going well, by the way.  We're still working on some potty training issues, but Panda has gotten MUCH better.  She almost always pees outside, but her pooping inside has unfortunately not changed a whole lot yet.  She's become much more social, but she can still be very shy and still spooks pretty easily, but I give her another month and I think she'll be doing much better.  She got a lot of compliments from the other fosters (a few of them have even fostered her for short periods of time), they all said she looked great physically, because she used to be a bit overweight, and that she seemed so much more friendly and social.  She's always been a sweet dog, but she mostly just tended to herself when I first started fostering her.  Now, she is starting to enjoy the company of people and trust them a bit more.  I'd say she's probably at the halfway point, but moving really quickly towards healthy responses towards people.  I'm really proud of her, I can't imagine what her life was like in the puppy mill.  It really makes me feel good that she is making such strides and that people are noticing.

Anyhow, time for food and bed.

To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.

I just wanted to do a quick update to make up for my absence over the past few weeks.  Ever since I quite smoking (in January) I've been feeling the urge to start something of an exercise regiment.  However, I'm reluctant to get a gym membership, because if I have to travel to a destination to do it, I probably never will get around to it (I am lazy when it comes to driving anywhere).  It has also been a terrifyingly long winter, so exercising outside as a beginning was not of any interest to me, either.  But now, it is finally nice outside, so I made a few purchases.

I bought a hula hoop.  This is fun, but not really much of a workout, so I think I need to take it apart and put some sand inside.  I also bought a jump rope.  This is a pretty intense workout.  I have to alternate between jumping for a few minutes, and then hula hooping for a few, otherwise I get way too winded.  At least for now, until I increase my stamina.  These two items together were only around $10-11, so it was a pretty good deal.  I figure in the winter, I can use these in the laundry room when it's too cold to use them outside.

My favorite exercise purchase, though, is my new bike.  I got a hybrid Schwinn and it is so cute.  I'm working on getting the seat adjusted perfectly so it becomes a bit more comfortable.  I love it, I've taken it on a few rides, but nothing more than 30 minutes yet.  I can't wait until Tyler and I have time to bike together all day.

It's amazing how just a little bit of workout can help, though.  I only just made these purchases about a week ago, and I've exercised probably 3 of the days, but I can already tell a difference in tone.  Not much, but enough to encourage me to continue.

Anyways, I am currently in the throes of online house shopping and hanging with the pups, so I am going to get back to that.

Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.

My sincerest apologies for the lack of blogs.  I have been consistently on the go for a couple of weeks, and thus, have forgotten to try and make time for my blog.  The important thing is, I'm here now, and I have plenty to talk about.

For this blog, I'll finally talk about my trip to New Orleans.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I took a pretty ridiculous amount of photos.  I'd take a photo and post it immediately to Facebook almost like a photo journal.  Had I had the option to make the journal on here somehow, I would have.  But, at this point, it would take me days to compile all of the photos, transfer them to photobucket and then repost about everything I was doing, so I'll stick with some highlights.

First of all, we ate food like we were never going to eat again.  We spared no expense and spared no amount of calories.  It is easy to do this in NOLA:

Soul food at Mother's:


The highlight of the trip for me, crab legs:


Tyler wanted a bib too, even though he was only eating shrimp:


Beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde.  I should mention I NEVER drink coffee, but I drank it twice in New Orleans because it was just that good:


Crawfish at the Bayou Boogaloo (a local music festival):


Excellent brunch:


I have tons more food pictures, but you get the idea.  We ate well.  It's pretty rare that I get to eat seafood for every meal, so getting it eat it 95% of the time for our entire trip was quite the treat.

We saw and heard some really great musicians:

Street musicians:




Cedric Burnside:


Had plenty of drinks:




Did some tourist shopping:

Sweet feather hairpieces:


Mardi Gras wear:


Avoiding the plague:


We got some tattoos:




Hung out in a firehouse:


Did some sightseeing:




We also went on a swamp tour:






So, as you can see, we had a pretty eventful and wonderful time:


I would highly recommend a visit to anyone who is considering it.  I can;t wait to go back and do some of the things we didn't have time for.

New Orleans.

We got home from New Orleans yesterday, it was amazing.  More than I could have expected, even though we didn't get to do most of the things we had planned to do on our trip.   I took well over 150 pics, so you'll have to give me some time for me to choose a few to describe the trip.  If you're my friend on Facebook, you can check them all out there.  Is there a Blogger app for the Droid?  I should find that out so I can update with photos more regularly.

There was a massive tornado near my neighborhood while we were out of town (in fact, it was in my old neighborhood - even my old apartment was affected).  After we got home from Nola, we took a bunch of pictures of the destruction, I'll be sure to post those as well.