My 30 Things

A little (or a lot) on the late side, here is my list of 30 things. I am closing in on 30 as well and there is still much I would like to accomplish. Much I also thought I would have accomplished by now but hey no regrets right? Anyhoo, on to the show, with commentary:

1. Try not to over think everything so much, or be so hard on myself. (it is part of the reason this list is so late)
2. Go see an Indianapolis Colts game at Lucas Oil Stadium (while Manning is still the QB)
3. Go to Arizona to see Amy and Jeff
4. Take ballroom dancing lessons
5. Go back to the UK and go back to my old haunts and discover some new ones
6. Finally get the cajones to get a tattoo
7. Go skydiving again
8. Take a ride in a nice limo
9. Get/find a Euchre group to play regularly
10. Take a photography class and develop my skills more (love taking photos but have never taken the time to get a great camera or put a portfolio together)
11. Get up early, watch the sunrise from a beautiful spot and watch sunset from another great spot.
12. Go go karting
13. Find more places (less excuses) to wear those cute LBDs I have
14. Go to the Kentucky Derby and drink mint julips all day (or the Oaks, its a day before derby and is the cool race/party for all of the "locals")
15. Go ghost hunting! (my parents do this as a hobby and have been to some pretty cool places)
16. See Bruce Springsteen in concert
17. See the Stones in concert (they are bound to start breaking hips eventually!)
18. Show up at a guys place in heels and a trench coat and nothing else (the hard part in this {no pun intended} is finding a guy worthy)
19. Go do some more bad karaoke (of course, if I am singing it will always be bad)
20. Go to ComicCon
21. Learn to say No every once in a while
22. Take a cooking class or two
23. Go to the Beatles Fest for Fans in Chicago (what can I say, can you tell I am a geek yet?)
24. Run a half marathon (I keep telling myself I will do it, and one of these days I will damnit!)
25. Start writing a book out of the whacked out dreams I have
26. Go a Purdue Homecoming and be one of those annoying Alumni with Roadtripper (esp. since I now know why the Purdue Police called me the other day)
27. Go to Alabama to see my Uncle John and family (I see much travel in my future, no?)
28. Buy a damn DVR already!
29. Buy a real Christmas tree one year (cause I have never had a real tree)
30. Visit Andrea's grave again

My Next Boyfriend Part 2 (Electric Boogaloo!)

After hearing the news that President-elect Obama is kind of a picky eater, I decided to update my list of what my next boyfriend will be.

My next boyfriend will NOT be a picky eater!!!!!

I hate men who are picky eaters yet I always seem to end up with them. They are no fun to go out to eat with. And forget about cooking for them!

My ex-husband wouldn't touch seafood. There he sat at some of the finest seafood joints the West Coast had to offer... eating steak. He couldn't even get that one right because he ordered it well done. Ugh! Why not just chew on a leather shoe?

My live-in ex-boyfriend had issues with his food touching. He would order Chinese food but eat the rice separately. I once bought him one of those plates for little kids with the separate compartments. My joke went awry when he actually started using it.

My favorite was a guy that I once went on a date with to a Mexican restaurant. I noticed he barely touched his meal so I asked if everything tasted okay. He said that he was upset about his choice of a chicken and cheese quesadilla. What were all these pesky peppers and onions doing in it? His bright idea was that is should have been advertised as a chicken, cheese, onion and pepper quesadilla. False advertising, dammit!

Did I mention that was our first and only date?

I am not a picky eater (the size of my hips can attest to this) so men who freak out about food perplex me. I am not fond of either carrot cake or mustard. But if I were a guest at some one's house who served mustard braised chicken followed by carrot cake for desert, I could manage. I will try anything once. Bad Wolf and I once went on a culinary binge at a street fair where we sampled everything from Polish food to cow brain burgers. Desert? Chocolate covered grasshoppers.

Well, except for pickles. Those things are just nasty! If one even touches my sandwich, I consider it tainted. Try as I might to get over this, I still retch at the mere smell of a pickle.

*** I have to give a shout-out to CKD for dredging up the memory of Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo from the dark recesses of my mind. Thanks to you, anything second in a series will now be referred to as Electic Boogaloo!

City Mouse In The Country

I adore my new town. There is relatively no traffic (although I do find myself yelling at the slow drivers. Hellloooo... I have to have something to road rage about!) It is a picturesque town with easy access to the ocean and the White Oak River. It has beautiful sunrises and sunsets. I am constantly amazed when people chit-chat in the stores. When I lived in the DC area, I could conduct a purchase of a loaded grocery cart without the cashier even bothering to grunt out a hello. People here talk about everything from the weather to family to what was on TV last night. It is a very relaxed and charming change of pace for me.

Having said that, there are things in this town of just over 900 residents that make me laugh. I once had a Taco Bell craving at about 9:15 PM so I jumped in my car for the quick drive only to discover that it was closed. How the hell can you have the so-called "4th Meal" when it closes at 9 PM!!?!?! The streets definitely roll up early around here.

The best is this conversation I overheard Walgreens:

Little old lady: Do you sell milk here?

Clerk: Yes, ma'am. Lowest price in town.

Heh! Too bad "in town" consists of Walgreens, Lowes Food grocery store and two gas stations! Not a great deal of competition.

Play Free Bird, Man!

Here is the latest addition to my tattoo collection. Upon hearing the news, my mom sighed heavily and started praying that her daughter wasn't headed towards circus life as the amazing tattooed lady. (In my defense, I only have 4!) Since mom is already exasperated with me, I can't post a picture of just where it is on my body since it would require me to be in my bra (right ribcage so just use your imagination).

So... what does it represent? It is my very own free bird. In honor of my 30th birthday, I decided that a bird taking flight would be indicative of me embracing this new decade. That's right... the girl who vowed to spend her 30th birthday curled up in the fetal position, drinking vodka and ignoring her "well-wishing" friends' phone calls has now turned coat and is relishing her 30s.

Mom just wishes that I had chosen a less permanent way to celebrate!

Welcome To The Island: Dennis Miller

Mom always said that good looks will only get you so far; it is much better to have someone with whom you can discuss the morning paper with over breakfast. Smart = sexy. But smart + funny as hell = my eternal devotion. Enter Dennis Miller. I have had a secret crush on him for years. I love his old stand-up routines, even though I have to break out a dictionary to decipher half of what he is saying. I even tuned in for his disastrous run as a commentator on Monday Night Football (anyone who knows me can attest to my hatred of the sport) just so I could get snippets of his razor sharp wit and see that wicked smile.




His recent turn as a wack-job right wing news commentator definitely tests my devotion. Dennis Miller still cracks me up though, and I would love to see what discussions we would have over the morning paper. Welcome to the island, Dennis!

Welcome to the Island: Tim Roth

Not everyone on our island is as classically pretty as many our recent posts may suggest. They don't have to have six packs or know six ways to kill someone. There are certain men who strike our fancy for no obvious reason. So maybe it's the nose, maybe its the accent (that definitely helps), or maybe it's the fact that it was in the classic Reservoir Dogs that I first saw him: Tim Roth:



Whatever reason it is, I find him incredibly hot. And hey, I've seen Rob Roy and still find him sexy. That is no easy feat.



So welcome to the island Tim Roth, I'll be your honey bunny anytime.

Have you Hugged A Veteran Today?

Roadtripper has been having computer issues lately, so on behalf of the both of us I wish you all a happy Veteran's Day. It is not only a day off for most federal and state employees, it is a day to remember the reason why most of us got to sleep in today. It is for the long days, weeks, months, and occasionally years that our fighting men and women go without seeing their loved ones to serve a greater cause. Whether you believe in that cause or not, they often do. and even if they don't they do it without (much) complaint. So on behalf of two veterans (one still serving), go hug (or kiss, or shag) a veteran, they deserve it.

And go Navy beat Army!!

30 Things

My first social networking site wasn't Facebook or even Myspace. I used to belong to the online community 43 Things. The initial concept was simple: you listed 43 things that you wanted to do in your life. These goals could be lofty (I want to walk on the moon), frivolous (I want to get a weekly pedicure) or mundane (I want to clean out my garage). The whole concept appealed to my love of making lists while giving me time to reflect on what the hell I wanted to do in life.



Like most good things, 43 Things became too much of a good thing. Users were encouraged to give in depth explanations of their goals. Other people could comment and offer advice or encouragement. Then came all those "cheers" you could give to people. Keeping up with cheers was more intensive than keeping up with all my Facebook applications. Then came the sister sites 43 Places and 43 People... I waved the white flag.

Still, I miss having a list of things I want to do in my life. Until I realized, hey, I have a worthless blog that I can spout of my goals on! No cheers to keep up with; just the comments from my beloved readers.

And to hell with 43. Since I turned 30 this year, I am sticking with that number. Plus... it is Saturday afternoon and I am feeling lazy.

30 Things I want to do:

1. go horseback riding (how does one make it to their 30th birthday without ever doing this?)

2. have a signature dish (frozen pizza from the box doesn't count)

3. find that "sweatsuit alternative" that Tim Gunn keeps talking about

4. convince Bad Wolf, Blonde Bomb and CKD to go to Ireland for vacation (just think of those accents, ladies!)

5. find an antique cameo ring (to replace the one my shithead cousin stole after my aunt died)

6. learn how to play chess

7. find a place where everyone knows my name (a la Cheers!)

8. quit expecting the worst from people

9. visit Andrea's grave

10. learn all the lyrics to "We Didn't Start The Fire" (you never know when this might come in handy)

11. practice yoga regularly (regularly being the key word here)

12. go to a Purdue Alumni function (aka be one of those annoying people that roll around West Lafayette drunk out of their mind, reminiscing about "the old days" that really weren't that great)

13. wear my pearls more often

14. go skydiving again

15. actually keep a houseplant alive (hellooooo... cactus-killer here)

16. figure out how to wear one of those trendy scarves

17. write more bad poetry

18. take all those clothes that don't quite fit right to a tailor

19. go to the movies by myself

20. quit fighting with my snooze button

21. write thank you notes on spiffy stationary

22. turn my home office in to an actual home office instead of a junk room

23. find out if cruises are a great vacation or just floating hell on earth

24. watch the Godfather trilogy

25. score the perfect Little Black Dress

26. never be "the other woman" again

27. download audio books to my Ipod and listen to that on my work commute (instead of screaming at slow drivers)

28. find a sexy guy with a sexy motorcycle

29. send my all my friends flowers at work and sign the card as their secret admirer (because what girl doesn't like flowers at work? And, since guys never send them, friends should just pick up the slack)

30. cover up that tattoo on my back (so people can quit asking what "that big black circle" is)