Barb's Burblings

Interpret as you will: My

Interpret as you will: My index finger is considerably shorter than my ring finger on both hands (on the right hand moreso than the left).

I watched Winged Migration tonight.

I watched Winged Migration tonight. Good movie--very relaxing with breathtaking scenery. At times it's also quite sad. But easily the most amusing thing about it was watching Colin watch it. He was fascinated.

Today is a good day.

Today is a good day. It's Friday, so right off the bat it's good. And it's absolutely gorgeous outside. Not a cloud in the sky and warmish (mid-50s, maybe). I could drive with my sunroof down. I have no plans for the weekend, which means relaxation. And it's supposed to get warmer! Woo! I got to sleep in this morning (*cough* afternoon). Right now I'm watching Buffy--and it's "The Pack," which means Sexy!Possessed!Xander. Mmmm. I'm having one of those days where I am content with my life.

Current song in my head:
"Perfect Day" by Collective Soul (with Elton John)

I can't find my watch

I can't find my watch and my class ring. I was about to walk out the door this morning and realized I didn't have them on. But they weren't on my dresser. Or my desk. Or the table. They're not at work. It's driving me insane.

I just got a piece of gum from a gumball machine in our kitchen. It's a "Fortune" gumball machine--the gumballs all have little sayings on them. Mine said, "Go back to bed." Sounds like good advice.

I spent last evening scanning in more photos. There are new pics up in "Barb," "College," "Family," and "Scenery." Even one from my 21st birthday.

Current song in my head:
"One Night" by Elvis Presley

MA Supreme Court orders compulsory

MA Supreme Court orders compulsory gay marriages

My parents live frighteningly close

My parents live frighteningly close to where some cows escaped from their farm. I've warned my folks to watch out for Cows Gone Wild.

Secretary of Education Rod Paige

Secretary of Education Rod Paige called the National Education Association (the national teachers' association) a "terrorist organization." He later apologized for his choice of words. His statement reads (in part):

"It was an inappropriate choice of words to describe the obstructionist scare tactics the NEA's Washington lobbyists have employed against No Child Left Behind's historic education reforms.

"I also said, as I have repeatedly, that our nation's teachers, who have dedicated their lives to service in the classroom, are the real soldiers of democracy, whereas the NEA's high-priced Washington lobbyists have made no secret that they will fight against bringing real, rock-solid improvements in the way we educate all our children regardless of skin color, accent or where they live."

First of all, it disturbs me that the Secretary of Education called an organization of 2.7 million teachers "terrorists." My sister is a member of NEA, as are some of my friends. I thought they were just trying to help educate youth. Shows what I know.

It appears that Paige's problem is that the NEA lobbied against the No Child Left Behind Act. Apparently not agreeing with the Bush Administration and its policies is completely unacceptable. And though I've heard a few teachers support NCLB, I've heard far more rail against it.

It just upsets me, partly because I work for an association. We have lobbyists. It's how the government works. True, we have, like three lobbyists, but still. I can relate on that level. Yet another thing that pisses me off about the people who are currently running the government. Don't get me started on Bush's statement yesterday about gay marriage.

Current song in my head:
"My Life" by Billy Joel

An author "roundtable" on Chick

An author "roundtable" on Chick Lit. I like it, if only because my favorite chick lit authors (Meg Cabot, Jennifer Weiner, Carole Matthews, Marian Keyes) are represented.

You're Costa Rica! You're

You're Costa Rica!
You're about as peaceful as anyone on the planet, a real dyed-in-the-wool pacifist. And why not? No one really poses much of a threat to you and everything seems to work out, no matter how much violence and insanity rages all around you. So you relax and appreciate nature and culture while the rest of the world carries on their petty disagreements. If only everyone could follow your example...
Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

OK, who wants to give

OK, who wants to give me a massage? I'm just asking for a nice neck and shoulder rub. It'll be fun!

I spent yesterday afternoon and all this morning editing these horrible documents for our Practice Department. The sad thing is, so far, I've just been dealing with the references. I know I should probably work on the body of the text, but references are just more concrete--there's a right way and a wrong way to do them. Anyway, it's very frustrating. Style is completely inconsistent. Argh.

Add to that the fact that I should be working on getting books ready for conference...I'm a little stressed. And a massage right now would sooo hit the spot. But I guess I'll just have to settle for my department's late holiday party.

Current song in my head:
"No Scrubs" by TLC

I've added some more pictures

I've added some more pictures and a new album ("Scenery"). Check Post-College and Scenery for pictures from my recent adventure in New York City, and view Colin's album to see him attacking Carrie.

With the primary coming up

With the primary coming up next week here in Maryland, I thought I'd start looking into the candidates and their positions. So I was on JohnKerry.com and was going through some of the issues. I notice that one of the "issues" that I can see his position on is "children." I may be going out on a limb, but I bet he's in favor of them.

And apparently John Edwards is in favor of women.

Current song in my head:
"And So It Goes" by Billy Joel

I usually don't give anything

I usually don't give anything up for Lent, but I decided that I will this year. This year, I'm giving up jelly beans for Lent. Now, that might sound easy; after all, jelly beans are traditionally eaten on Easter. My problem is that jelly beans are on sale and prominently displayed until Easter. I wind up buying them and eating tons of jelly beans throughout Lent. But not this year. This year I'm going to develop some willpower.

Current song in my head:
"In His Eyes" from Jekyll & Hyde

They're considering raising Metro fares

They're considering raising Metro fares and parking costs. Again. If my parking goes up to $5 a day...I'm going to have to go back to driving in to work. There's no way I can afford what would probably be around $10 a day to take the Metro.

I'm listening to The Beatles

I'm listening to The Beatles 1 and the new version of Windows MediaPlayer lists, among other things, the composer of each song. And for all of the songs (with the exception of "Something" by George Harrison), John Lennon is listed as the sole composer. It struck me because I didn't notice until just now--"Let It Be" is playing. Decidedly a Paul McCartney song. I can see why he'd want some songs listed as McCartney-Lennon instead of Lennon-McCartney.

Edited to note that on Revolver, it lists the composers as John Lennon; Paul McCartney. Weird.

The weather the past couple

The weather the past couple of days has been gorgeous. Yesterday I even drove from the Metro to tutoring with my sunroof open. I love driving with the sunroof open.

This week's Friday Five When

This week's Friday Five

When was the last time you...

1. ...went to the doctor? April 3 of last year. Though I call them more frequently to get refills of my prescriptions.

2. ...went to the dentist? October 6, according to my calendar, though I have no recollection of this. Oh wait. Yep, I believe I was blowing money on another crown.

3. ...filled your gas tank? Monday, on my way back from New Jersey. I actually meant to stop and get gas in New Jersey, where it's cheaper, but wound up not stopping until Delaware. Oh well.

4. ...got enough sleep? Wednesday, when I stayed home sick from work and slept for something like 13 hours. Mmmm.

5. ...backed up your computer? Umm. Never? That's probably not good.

A black hole rips apart

A black hole rips apart a star

Larry: (to Oz) I mean,

Larry: (to Oz) I mean, she's gotta be putting out, or what's the point? What are you gonna do, talk? Come on, fess up. How far have you gotten?
(Cut to Buffy and Willow)
Willow: Nowhere. I mean, he said he was gonna wait until I was ready, but I'm ready. Honest. I'm good to go here.
Buffy: Well, I think it's nice that he's not just being an animal.
Willow: It is nice. He's great. We have a lot of fun. But I want smoochies!
Buffy: Have you dropped any hints?
Willow: I've dropped anvils.
Buffy: Ah, he'll come around. What guy could resist your wily Willow charms?
Willow: At last count, all of them. Maybe more.
Buffy: Well, none of them know a thing. They all get an 'F' in Willow.
Willow: But I want Oz to get an 'A', and, oh, one of those gold stars.
Buffy: He will.

--From Phases

I've reached that point where

I've reached that point where I feel so overwhelmed by what's in front of me that I can't do anything. I have five books that I should be working on, four of which need to be completed by May 19. That's only three months away. I'm stuck in panic mode and I need to get out of it. Ack. Ack. Ack.

Current song in my head:
"I'll Be That Girl" by Barenaked Ladies

As part of my endless

As part of my endless fascination with my own past, I've scanned in more photos and rearranged them a bit, so check them out!

The 1000 Fighting Styles of

The 1000 Fighting Styles of Rumsfeld

And Polaroid is warning you that you shouldn't take advice on photo development from OutKast.

I was just copyediting something

I was just copyediting something (and debating: Web cast or Webcast?) and I initialed and dated it. Only I almost dated it 2/17/05. Apparently I'm skipping ahead a year. I can't even grasp that it's February, but I guess I'm OK with February of next year. My concept of time is tenuous at best.

Current song in my head:
"Storybook" from The Scarlet Pimpernel

On my drive in this

On my drive in this morning I was behind a car with diplomat plates. It had a bumper sticker that said, "We play putt-putt!" Now I really want to know what country this person is a diplomat for, particularly considering that the car was a Toyota Tercel hatchback that's at least 10 years old.

I had a fantastic weekend.

I had a fantastic weekend. I hadn't left the Baltimore-Washington area since October, so I headed up to Spike's this weekend. We went into New York on Saturday and wandered around, which I hadn't done since December 2001. We had some great Japanese food, played in the Marriott Marquis (which is something of a tradition for me), wandered up by FAO Schwartz (closed until the summer) and through Central Park (view Spike's pictures here; I still need to finish my roll). Then we saw Fiddler on the Roof and grabbed dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner. On Sunday we hung out, watched some movies. Very nice and relaxing. So it definitely made up for blowing far too much money fixing my car--again.

I came home and had to tutor and have ended the weekend by cleaning Colin's litter box. So it is all constant excitement with me.

Current song in my head:
"Homeward Bound" by Simon & Garfunkel

I was very happy yesterday

I was very happy yesterday watching "Friends." Phoebe walked down the aisle to a version of "Here, There, and Everywhere" by the Beatles. I love that song; very romantic.

Barbie and Ken broke up.

Barbie and Ken broke up. And right before Valentine's Day, too.

I'm in two book clubs;

I'm in two book clubs; one with people from work, one with people from Fametracker. The work book club met the other night. I'm the youngest in it by far; the next youngest person might be around 10 years older than me (most seem to be around 40). Everyone's cool and it's a lot of fun, but sometimes it can get annoying. We debated what to read next and someone suggested The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. That's fine and dandy. I jokingly said that I could pull out my notes on it from college and use that to guide the discussion. We started talking about the movie, and I said that I had found it to be fairly faithful to the movie, but added that it had been a while since I had read it or seen it--maybe 4 or 5 years.

Then it began. "Four or five years?! Oh, yeah, that's so long ago." "You're so young!" "You only got out of college then? It's been 20 years since I left college!" And then it degenerated into more general comments about being young and how I guess life isn't difficult at my age. And it just got to me. It is possible to have a quarter-life crisis, and a lot of people I know who are in their early 30s have said that turning 25 was actually harder than turning 30.

I sometimes tease certain people about the age gap between us, my boss in particular. But in general, I try not to bring up my age. Or other people's ages. And it gets to me when people start in like that. Here's the thing: Life is never easy. It doesn't matter if you're single or attached, young or old, male or female. Everyone has a lot of things they have to deal with. We have a tendency to idealize our pasts; I know sometimes I look back and think, for example, that college was this fantastic, incredibly wonderful experience. And it was. But I certainly had my share of problems, concerns, worries, etc., during that time. I remember a former boss talking with another woman in her mid-40s in front of me, discussing how nice it would be to be in their mid-20s and single again. Examples they brought up involved going out all the time and dating tons of guys. If that was how they lived, well, more power to them. But that's not my life. And I don't really want it to be.

Anyway. Generalizations about age are bad. The next day, one of the other members came in and was like, "I hope you weren't offended. We were just joking!" And I know they were joking. But it still bugs.

Happy birthday to President Lincoln,

Happy birthday to President Lincoln, who would be turning 195 this year! And a belated happy birthday to my boyfriend Damian Lewis, who turned 33 yesterday. And yes, that puts him well within my "I'll only date guys up to 10 years older than me" range.

I can only hope that

I can only hope that if the Equal Rights Amendment couldn't pass, then an amendment to the Constitution banning gay marriage wouldn't either.

Bride and Widow in Single

Bride and Widow in Single Ceremony
Key sentence: "His body was not present for the ceremony."

I love horoscopes like this:

I love horoscopes like this:

At the moment, dear Scorpio, you seem to be able to do everything you want to do, dear Scorpio. Everything is going so well for you, as you reap the rewards of important decision you made in the past. The obstacles that tended to get in your way are history now, and your family life is happy and healthy. This success of yours is encouraging you to make plans for the future. It also enables you to look forward to much better days for you and the people close to you.

And it bodes well for everyone who's close to me, too!

A heartwarming story about gay

A heartwarming story about gay penguins.

There's a reason I don't

There's a reason I don't wear nice things to work. Today I'm wearing a fairly nice outfit--not really a suit, but somewhat formal (and the top is that nice, kind of suede-like material). Anyway, at least three people today have made comments along the lines of, "Nice outfit. Job interview today?" Argh. But at least a few other people have complimented the outfit without the interview comment (yep, Carol was one of them). See? This is why I usually just wear a plain skirt or slacks with a sweater. It's easier.

Or, I'm doing this to keep people on their toes so they won't suspect when I am wearing one to actually go to a job interview. Mwahahaha.

This is even more depressing

This is even more depressing than that tax worker in Finland who died at his desk and nobody noticed.

On the Food Network, it

On the Food Network, it is Chocolate Obsession Week. Last night I wound up watching an episode of "Top Five" and it was the top five ways to indulge yourself with chocolate. Number Five was chocolate fondue. So evil. I am now totally craving chocolate fondue. I haven't had it in years, but man, it looked nice. And I'm not even that big a chocoholic.

I love this judge.

I love this judge.

It's amazing what some good

It's amazing what some good Japanese food and an hour-and-a-half lunch spent gossiping with your boss and coworkers can do to improve the attitude. Well, mine, anyway. Mmm. California rolls.

I may by Cranky McMopeypants

I may by Cranky McMopeypants today, but I must say that I have found the love of my life: Suave Naturals Cucumber Melon Moisturizing Body Lotion. For the first time in weeks, my hands feel like they aren't about to crack from the dryness. It's great.

And as I was walking down the hall, Carol complimented the shirt I'm wearing. She's so great.

In contrast with yesterday's post,

In contrast with yesterday's post, I'm feeling pretty blah today. Physically, emotionally. I want to be at home in my pajamas. In bed. Asleep. That sounds ideal.

There's a woman in my office named Carol. She is probably the most genuinely nice person I have ever known. She always takes a moment to say hi, always seems interested--genuinely interested--in what you're saying, remembers things you've told her in the past. She's fantastic, and I wish I could be more like her. I mean, most of the time I'm content. But it's times like right now that I wonder how she does it. I'm sure she has her moments of confusion and unhappiness too--who doesn't?--but I've never seen them.

I don't know. Right now...right now I just don't know. About a lot of things.

Current song in my head:
"New York, New York" by Ryan Adams

"Me" My heart's jumpin' God,

"Me"

My heart's jumpin'
God, I'm feelin' open
Spent a long time mopin'
Get a load of me, feelin' free
No pain no more
No blockin' up my own door
All anger out my back door
God, it's good to see

Life,
Got kinda hard, I faced it
Fought and cried and almost gave in
All negative forces faded
Love of me just walked right in

I'm just me, I'm enough
With myself I'm in love
I've been weak, I've been low
Made me strong, now I know
I'm just me, I'm enough
Nothin' less, nothing more
I wish everybody could just feel this kind of love

Feels good, feels fine, feels good, yeah
My mind's older
Chip's fallen off my shoulder
All need to prove is over
Good enough for me
Found willingness
Found will to be courageous
No need to feel defenseless, Peace

I'm just me, I'm in love
With myself I'm in love
I've been weak, I've been low
Made me strong, now I know
I'm just me, I'm enough
Nothin' less, nothing more
I wish everybody could just feel this kind of love

-Kina

I tutored on Monday night,

I tutored on Monday night, and I was working with Katie, who's in first grade. She gets "b" and "d" mixed up, so I had her at the board and would say "b" or "d" words and have her indicate which is correct. At one point I said, "Barb" and followed with "Dickson." She looked at me and asked if "Dickson" is my son's name. I told her that I don't have a son. "What do you have?" she asked. Me: "A cat." I then said that I'm not even married, which just blew her mind. "I thought you were!" Nope. I have no idea why she'd think this. She also thinks I'm 29. Which I'm also not.

The other night there wasn't

The other night there wasn't much on tv, so I wound up watching a good chunk of Gladiator, which I own but haven't watched in ages. And I still really like it. Good movie. Though I'm at the point where I'm more familiar with the music, having listened to the score a lot more than I've watched the movie, that I kept being like, "Oh, this is where they use that piece!"

Current song in my head:
"Where Do We Go From Here?" from the Buffy musical

OK, why am I hyper

OK, why am I hyper now? When I was trying to exercise before, I was exhausted. Now I'm jumping around the apartment. Typical.

Punxsutawney Phil says six more

Punxsutawney Phil says six more weeks of winter. Swell. Though, if that means I do get a snow day tomorrow...

My horoscope for yesterday: You're

My horoscope for yesterday:

You're likely to be feeling so confident, that you could be thinking in terms of starting a new enterprise dear Scorpio. Partnerships at this time are especially likely to succeed. You could also grow closer to those who mean the most to you - family, close friends, romantic partners. If you aren't currently romantically involved, you might be soon. Your new sense of self-confidence should be pulling more people into your circle.

Fairly spot on, though I don't know about a "new enterprise." I had some good discussions with friends that I hadn't really connected with in a while. I even talked to my mom, who told me that my cousin and his wife had their baby on Saturday. So congrats to David and Kristin! Anyway, I am feeling more self-confident. It's all good. As for getting romantically involved, maybe soon...well, that would be nice, yes.

Current song in my head:
"All For You" by Janet Jackson (damn you, Super Bowl!)