Find Your Grail

A short interim before Pittsburgh.

2011-06-11T11:16:00.001-05:00

Just for the record. The Houston airport and surrounding area is not an easy place to get out of. As in by car, it's probably way simpler by airplane. All I know is that I got VERY tired of my phone "recalculating route". But I finally got back to San Antonio, finished packing and then....

On to O-H-I-O!

February 16th, 2011

Ok, everyone has priorities right? When it comes to visits to Ohio there are certain places that need to be visited. One such place was my first stop. Tai's Asian Bistro.

A short aside from the interim of this road trip. This is the perfect opportunity to both thank Candler, and hate Candler, for introducing me to Tai's Asian Bistro. I'd never eaten Chinese before until he, hmm, I think it was pretty much he made me try it. And I liked it. Nothing new in that story. But now I'm in Texas and there is absolutely NO good Asian restaurant that lives up to this place. If you're in Columbus and have never been.... go!

Back to priorities. In Columbus we must spend time with my favorite and the best kitty cat in the ENTIRE world. Peanut. Isn't she adorable?

Which by default means I have to spend time with Peanut's owner. Just kidding. It means I finally get to spend some bonding time with the forever best roommate in the entire world, Laura.

Laura does, however, own the most annoying clock in the whole entire world. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Sure, it may look nice but don't be fooled. It comes down off the shelf and goes directly under the bathroom sink as soon as it nears bed time. Love your clock Laura!

February 17th, 2011

If I'm in Ohio it is imperative to go down to Cincinnati for some more food. There we have Skyline Chili. So good. So so good.

Oh, and I also had a good visit with my family while eating my Skyline. :) After a nice, but short, visit it was time to go back to Columbus and get some sleep for the continuation of our road trip!

It's time to get back to Clay! Meet and Greet!

2011-05-28T11:49:00.001-05:00

At first they had stated no cameras, but the day of the concert we got an email from the lady from PBS stating we could bring our own cameras. Not that I was truly going to leave it behind, but getting that email made me think that we would be able to get individual pictures on our own devices.

We joined others at the box office at 5:00 and then we waited. And waited. Finally we were brought in where we all signed our names and the name of our guest. In my case, my sister, Linda. We were brought into the lobby area of the theater where we waited. And waited. Annnnd waited. The guy from the PBS special was there and talked about... something. lol. PBS stuff? Eventually, Clay's bodygaurd, Jerome, came out to give/get instructions of how they were going to set up the meet and greet. Everyone was clearly prepared and ready. Or not? It ended up that we were to line up, Clay would come around and greet us and sign something and then we would get our picture taken with him. It was rushed but Clay did give each of us individual attention... twice.

I planned to have him sign my over exposed picture from Spamalot stage door. I was thinking more in terms of a way to scrapbook whatever he signed as well as I thought it being purposeful since you can't see who we are anyway. By the time Clay came out I was calm enough (from waiting) that I think I actually remember at least most of what happened. I think. When he got to me I gave him my picture and told him that our first picture didn't turn out so well. He apparently agreed because he gave it an odd look of agreement, laughed and said that's funny. lol. I told him he could just sign across the entire picture... which he did and laughed at it again.

This time around I was a little more aware too as I remember his height... I love that he's taller then I am. A lady down from us commented on how she liked his hair. Clay's hairstyle can always become a topic of conversation as he seems to change it every two weeks. I found it funny because he said that other people had said that too and he hadn't done anything too it... he had just gotten out of the shower. He truly hadn't done anything to it yet either... it was kind of amusing that people were commenting on it. At that point I had a thought that that's why we had been waiting so long? We were waiting for him to finish showering across the street at his (and my) hotel. :)

Once autographs were signed it was picture time. Mary (Clay's awesome tour assistant) and the girl from PBS were taking pictures... I think they were switching off or something... to move the line faster. Not sure. Mary got my camera though. Clay told Mary not to over expose the picture (like my poor Spamalot pic) lol. He also said it could have also just been his face [that caused it to be over exposed]. Yeah, I'm sure that was it... or not. Anyhoo. Linda was kind enough to share her picture with me so I have two pictures with Clay. When she got up she mentioned that I'm the fan, she (Linda) was just the enabler (it was so true... having Linda here/there was just great) Clay was like... "well what's that supposed to mean?" My sister of course backtracked and said that she was a fan too but.... and was cut off by Clay giving her a look and saying "mhmm.... too late now, can't take it back. " lol. I'm SO proud that I actually remember the face he gave her. Classic Clay.

He said thanks to everyone and than it was another wait to the concert. The meet and greet went by fast but it was worth every penny of that donation to PBS.

Another awesome part of the evening was after the concert. We went back to our hotel and found Jerome in the lobby. I finally got a picture with him. He asked me if it was my first concert. Apparently (and according to my sister) I gave him a weird look and he changed his question to was this my first concert of this tour. lol. I said yes, and that I would be in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. He was like... Cleveland?! He totally didn't know they were going to Cleveland - he just thought they were going to Cincinnati! He said that his daughter was going to be upset with him because he had told her he wouldn't be in Cleveland. I kindly informed him that yes, they were going to be in Cleveland on Saturday and also that they better be there because I bought tickets to a show! lol.

Linda and I didn't go back outside in time so we missed Clay coming out of the theater to the bus. There weren't that many people and he stopped to thank people for coming and took some pictures. I didn't want to look stalkerish by running out to meet him so I missed that opportunity.

All in all. It was a great night. Of course, how could it not be?

Oh, the concert was AMAZING too. Great seats.

Now... onward to Ohio!

Another 13 songs of Jonas.

2011-05-06T00:55:00.007-05:00

Every scene will have a meaning. You go around like you know who I am, but you don’t. Do you have a better thought? Tell me if you’re ready. It’s cool we’re just friends. When we used to be just friends. Don’t wanna second guess. And I wonder…I know that life can be so hard. I know that life will test your faith. If I had my way, we’d talk and talk all day. Nothing comes without a cost. But when I turn 94, I still miss you. No matter how I try, try to kill the time. So hold on to another day. That’s a start. That’s where the answers are. Now’s the time to let the whole world know. Sorry for the miscommunication. Don’t wanna second guess. This has been no walk in the park. One day at a time. So this is where the story ends. Goodnight and goodbye.

Oh, I just can't wait for Friday night. Big Rob is for real and that's no lie.

13 songs in playing order:

Versper's Goodbye (Nick Jonas and the Administration)

Burnin' Up

Hey You

Keep It Real

Goodnight And Goodbye

BB Good

Just Friends

S.O.S.

Games

Crazy Kind Of Crush On You (Nicholas Jonas)

Don't Walk Away

Love Is On The Way

One Day At A Time

My journey to NYC - Jonas style

2011-05-03T23:46:00.005-05:00

So we all remember how I've been wanting to move to NYC right? Ok well an update. With my departments blessing, and my own personal blessings, I plan to start applying to positions within Chase in August so I can FINALLY make the move to my favorite city ever. That being said, I'm still in Texas just working.

Now that we have a solid and informational preface... Today at work my friend Susette decided she was going to write a paragraph using just lyrics from the Jonas Brothers songs. Fun right? Ok, fun for her. And decidedly me. On lunch I had time to listen to 15 songs. Two of them were instrumental so 13 songs. I grabbed a few lines from each song that I thought could work in a paragraph. And *poof*. I came up with a perfectly cohesive (ish?) paragraph about my life and NYC using just lines from Jonas Brothers songs. I got really lucky with the New York line which is how I got a foundation.

Here goes:

Where would we be if we couldn’t dream? I’ll never change my ways, It’s not a phase. Everybody knows it’s true. I’ve found a place where my heart will stay. New York’s cash, but that’s ok. Everyone knows it’s meant to be. I’ve been making lots of plans. One day at a time, try to kill the time. But my feelings never change. I try to live without regrets. Something’s creeping inside, everything is about to change. Building up the strength to say. Are you ready to rock and roll. Don’t hit the brake, no time to waste now. This is critical, yeah. Listen to me now. If you hear my cry, running through the streets. I’m about to freak, come rescue me.

Songs in playing order (though not sentence order):

I Am What I Am

Just Friends

Sorry

One Day At A Time

Conspiracy Theory (Nick Jonas and the Administration)

Australia

But My Feelings Never Change (Camp Rock 2 soundtrack)

Critical

Make It Right

I Left My Heart In Scandinavia

Live To Party

That's Just The Way We Roll

Paranoid

A morning to never be recycled. Hopefully.

2011-04-22T12:42:00.009-05:00

Something I learned yesterday morning... Even though a roommate may appear to be peacefully sleeping as I go downstairs to pour some cereal (sadly I was fresh out of Corn Pops) one should still be prepared to see her barrelling down the stairs, running full speed through the kitchen, and out to the garage for some unexplained reason while I'm still preparing said cereal. It was quite amazing really.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long for an explanation as there came a sort of frustrated scream coming back through the garage door. So much for peaceful.

As it turned out, our household had failed the responsibility of putting out the recycling bin for the second week in a row. Jennie remembered though, partially by the sound of the recycling truck driving past. I was impressed. I can hardly wake up to my alarm that is right next to my head, while she can wake up to a truck driving past our house.

There was an attempt made to roll the bin to the other side of the street but the only response Jennie got was a friendly wave from the driver. With hope lost, it was decided we would have to put our recyclables in bags until the next pickup. And on with our day we went. Until....

I hear the truck rolling back up the road! Since when does the recycling truck go around the neighborhood twice? After our lengthy discussion over left over cereal milk and Oreos it was clearly imperative that we get that recycle bin out. And now there was a restored hope that we would prevail! Getting ready for work and whatever Jennie was doing was put on hold when I yelled for Jennie that the truck was coming back. In some sort of confusion as to why the recyclers, or the collectors for the recyclers, were back we go outside and ponder out loud what to do. They were stopped at our neighbors house so should we wave them down? Run down and ask if they would come back? Should we just take the bin and roll it down to them? So many options to sort out in a short period of time as now the truck was three houses down. And then it was decided. We were going to just roll it down and see what happened. We were on a mission to get this recycling out and we was going to succeed dang it! Either that or fail... we'd have to wait and see.

So Jennie took the job of rolling while I supported her from behind. We got a slightly weird, but friendly enough look from the passenger of the truck, but they took it for us. Success! With the added bonus of none of our neighbors peering out at us running down the street. I don't think...

*This photo is a reenactment

It's about time!

2011-04-16T18:16:00.009-05:00

What do you suppose this blog is about? It's about time for me to post my blog on my meet and greet with Clay? True.... and it's almost done. It's about time to move to NYC? True... and we're getting closer. It's about time to... [insert something else that may be true but is not what this blog is about].

This blog is about my apparent lack of observation and other such appropriate term you would like to add after you read this.

Now, for the most part I've always considered myself to be pretty observant. For example, Clay Aiken fans are very good at taking video of concerts, while Jonas Brothers fans are very much not. Fine, that's not really a good example, if it even IS an example, but it's true and I just wanted to state that. Anyhoo. We'll just get to the point as I have a feeling this is going to turn into a long blog.

The title of the Jonas Brothers first studio album is "It's About Time". It was a very limited release and I've found it impossible to find for purchase so I really hope they re-release it someday. After listening to it I kind of wondered why the title is "It's About Time" because, as the majority of artists title their album from one of the songs on the record, there is no song on the CD by that title. So I thought, maybe it was the fact that it was about time they got a full studio album out for sale. Or that they finally got their band together. Something along those lines. Whatever it was I let it go and enjoyed the CD.

Text message from Susette....

April 15th 2011, 7:21 AM

"... their album it's about time? I just now put together that almost every song actually talks about time. So the album is literally about time."

Ok, I can't even take credit for figuring this out! Let me take you through the album and you'll see. Feel free to skip the below section as I'm sure most of you don't care.

So. "It's About Time". Here are some lines that could easily be picked up on. Or maybe no line in the song is even needed in some cases...

1. What I Go To School For - First line of the song, "Her voice echoed in my mind, I count the days 'til she is mine".

2. Time For Me To Fly - Hello obvious.

3. Year 3000 - Hello even more obvious - the song is about time travel.

4. One Day At A Time - Is anyone sensing a theme here?

5. 6 Minutes - again... the title of the song is 6 minutes. I'm feeling incredibly dense.

6. Mandy - Maybe not obvious in the title but again in the first line of the song - "Mandy USED to be that girl, the one that never said a word, but she only sang 'S Club 7', and all those boy bands. Now it's been a few years, it looks like things have changed."

7***. You Just Don't Know It - Ok, these guys are awesome. Seriously. This song is actually NOT about time. The one exception. And from the chorus it was done on purpose. How do you know it was done on purpose? The chorus ends with,

"I go on and on, singing this song about you.

AND THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS SONG."

8. I Am What I Am - Ok, I'm not even going to quote anything. The song is about being who you are, in the present and in the future. (No time travel though so maybe not so obvious?)

9. Underdog - the song is about a girl who is presently an underdog, but one day she may change the world... the last will be first... maybe she'll be in the movies, etc, etc.

10. 7:05 - Again, hello Captain Obvious.

11. Please Be Mine - A few examples from the song. But I'll be there forever.... All our hopes and our dreams will come true.... 'Til the end, the end of time.

/CD

See what I mean? Why did it take a month to come to this conclusion? It's ridiculously obvious. Maybe even more so if you're actually listening to the songs. Or maybe it's the other way around. Either way, I love these guys. Of course artists and bands often stick to a certain theme in an album, but I have yet to come upon one where it is done so literally. Maybe it's because each song is so unique and different. Note to self, if the title of the album is NOT one of the songs on the CD listen more closely!

In other news, I can now play a few chords and Mary Had A Little Lamb on the guitar. By next week I hope to play the song "Introducing Me" from the movie "Camp Rock 2". Nick Jonas plays and sings it (although did not write it as it was done by the music person for the movie). Below is a video to demonstrate the skills I'll hopefully have by my next blog.

Did I mention Clay fans are way better at taking video?

My one month Jonas-a-versary

2011-04-11T20:49:00.003-05:00

I regret, but not really, that I must interrupt my Clay roadtrip blogs to wish Susette and myself a Happy one month Jonas-a-versary. What is a Jonas-a-versary you ask? Well, it's basically the same as an anniversary. Or a friendaversary. Or some say friend-a-versary. It is googleable so it's a completely valid term. As for a Jonas-a-versary, we are celebrating our one month fandom to the Jonas Brothers.

It begins through some text messages from Susette while she was home sick watching Netflix and a "recommend" came up after she had finished a movie.

That recommend was the Disney TV series "Jonas". Two very important text messages follow:

March 9, 2011 3:11 pm

"I'm watching Jonas. The tv show the brothers by that name have apparently. Lol it is... bad. Lol but entertaining :-)"

March 9, 2011 5:37 pm

"K. So I have a feeling you'd like this Jonas show. Lol"

March 10, 2011

I gain exclusive access to Netflix so I can watch said TV show "Jonas".

March 11, 2011

A new chapter in my life begins. The Jonas Brothers made an appearance on my computer screen for the first time.

Actually that's not entirely true. They had made an appearance when they made a cameo on a Hannah Montana episode but I didn't know who they were at the time and I didn't give it a second thought to find out. I suppose I figured it was a boy band aimed towards tweens and not worth the time.

So there, or here, I was watching this silly TV series about these guys that call themselves the Jonas Brothers. I had to admit, the music was kind of catchy. So it was time to google. And youtube. And wikipedia. And youtube. And youtube.

I would like to put for the record. Clay Aiken has the voice and is undeniable in that department of talent; and for that I'm sure his blogs will remain numerous. No getting out of that one. ;-) But then you have the Jonas Brothers, who are in fact brothers. They play their own instruments, they write their own songs, they actually wrote and recorded their third studio album on a bus (courtesy of Gibson) while on tour with their second album.

The question: How did I miss this great talent until one month ago? With four studio albums, world tours, a TV series, two movies (Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2), obviously plenty of talk shows.... what happened?

The answer: I have no idea. At. all.

So this past month I've been catching up on all that I've missed. You may not believe this, because it actually is quite unbelievable, but I haven't listened to much of anything, not even Clay!, for the past month. Ok, scratch that. I don't want to lie. I haven't listened to anything but Jonas for the past month.

Tomorrow will be past my one month mark of constant Jonas though so maybe I'll shuffle in more music on my iphone. Maybe. Probably not tomorrow.

In other news, thanks to Jonas (credit given mostly to Nick), I have been inspired to once and for all learn the guitar. My fingers have been in much pain writing this blog....

HAPPY JONAS-A-VERSARY SUSETTE!

Roadtrip! 3.1

2011-03-07T22:59:00.003-06:00

February 14th. Finally!

Don't you like how I made you wait for this blog? It's just like I had to wait 7 months for my concerts. I'll try to find a worthy excuse for delays of future postings if necessary.

My first concert was in Houston. It was fun to be able to have my sister there with me. Since she was more there for the visiting part and enjoyment of the concert and not for the excitement of meeting Clay she kinda ended up with the job Clay once dubbed as an "enabler". But that comes later. I know you're excited to hear about it but patience my friend.

Our journey started out with the uneventful drive to Houston. Linda again drove because it's, well, Texas. Just go with it.

Our first stop was Azur Salon to get my hair beautified for the nights event. It was a nice salon and I would go back if it weren't for the four hour drive. That and it was incredibly overpriced for a style that fell within hours. Ridiculous.

We stayed at the Lancaster Hotel which was nice, and a perfect location... Directly across from the theater. Naturally I wanted to find the tour bus because that's just what you do before a Clay concert. I think. It's all about preparing. We didn't have to look long. Our view from the window gave it away.

Yep.

So we checked in, got ready, cursed the guy that did my hair, and went for food. It was almost time to meet our group for the meet and greet! Almost....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wait for it.... wait for it... Part 2

2011-03-02T22:46:00.014-06:00

Before my seven months of waiting for my concert series to end I had to do a little touring of San Antonio first. Not that I did this during my seven months of waiting. No no. I waited until my sister, Linda, got in town the day before my concert in Houston. This was so when I got lost I could just use the "touring" excuse as a reason for why I didn't know where I was at. Or, as it turned out, I just had Linda drive everywhere. This being her first visit to San Antonio it made perfect sense.

Some highlights:

Thrift store. A thrift store is a highlight? It's true. I would tell you the name of it and where it's located but so sad I don't remember that part. The point being is this was not your average Goodwill where they sort everything by color and well, good luck. You had your "better" clothes and everything was sorted by size. Actually, I think this made my "highlight" list because I got a really nice skirt for $3.50. Along with the, er, interesting customers.

Facebook check-in number 1:

San Antonio's famous Riverwalk.

It was my second visit to the Riverwalk and I'm not going to lie. I enjoy it as much as others but I don't quite understand why it's on the "must see" places in the United States list. That is to say if there was such a list. Or is there?

Although...

Facebook check-in number 2:

"The County Line" barbeque restaurant on the Riverwalk. Sitting down to eat in the beautiful weather did make a difference in the enjoyment of the trip. One got to enjoy the atmosphere a little more. Plus, there was the bird. Not to be confused with the bird being beautiful. I think Linda would not appreciate such a remark. The bird...

Do you see him? Because he saw us...

Supposedly Linda has a thing with birds pooping near or around or on her. I didn't get the specifics of that story but I let our waiter know it was her fault for his having to clean bird poo off the table. Or I should have maybe.

Facebook check-in number 3:

The tower of the Americas.

There's a restaurant up there with an amazing chocolaty goodness lava cake. A-mazing-ing. The cheesecake was unfortunately not.

Facebook check-in number 4:

The Alamo

I've been to the Alamo before as well but of course everyone visiting San Antonio must go tour the historical site. Naturally, I was incredibly excited to visit again as I was pretty positive the building may have been redecorated or something fun like that. Surprisingly though it hadn't. Hmm. The trip didn't last long though as we got there right as they were making the announcement that they would be closing the building in five minutes. Being the history buff that I'm not I was totally bummed. It ruined my whole day I tell you! Or not really. Whichever.

Facebook check-in number....

Home! Time for bed. I had to get my beauty rest for Clay in Houston... on Valentine's Day!

7 months of planning and waiting ends. Part 1.

2011-02-20T17:07:00.010-06:00

It's actually very intriguing looking back at the history of the making of ten days of vacation; which as the followers of facebook might have noticed that vacationing ended at 12:01 this morning. And when I say "this morning" I mean whatever day I started writing this blog. I suppose 2-22-11? Actually it was more like 1:30 in the morning because I had to finish watching Karate Kid before going to bed. Great movie by the way.

The facts are these:

The mid year of 2010 brought news to the Claynation. Wait, I'm sorry, I should have mentioned this was going to be another Clay Aiken blog. But before you stop reading I promise there is other noteworthy material for those who are not fans and are tired of reading blogs dedicated to Clay. Anyhoo. Facts.

It was brought to our attention that Clay would be appearing on a PBS special in many cities. Awesome right? Yes, yes it was. It was then found that some PBS stations had several packages to pledge for. One such package for some channels was for two tickets for a concert and two meet and greet passes. For obvious reasons we all know that there was an upcoming tour now right?

Which brings us to July 27th when I get an email from a lady in Cleveland Ohio about group sale tickets for a Clay Aiken concert on February 19th at the Palace Theater. At that time I was still living in Ohio so of course I would be interested in tickets! Response and deposit sent and the continuation of emails and updates on the Cleveland concert would continue through to February 18th 2011.

Then enters Pittsburgh. I have several friends that I've been "talking" with for years now on a message board. Conversation started and it was decided that Pittsburgh was a good meeting ground for those that could make the trip. With that in mind I purchased my tickets for that concert on August 24th. I got my tickets via email and first concert was set!

Well, as it turned out I decided that I would be moving back to Texas in September. With that knowledge a new opportunity arose. I had missed the PBS special in my area but it just so happened that the Houston show had not aired. On September 8th 2010, from the comfort of my room in Columbus, Ohio I called the PBS station in Houston, Texas. Obviously I couldn't see the show or know what kind of things they had pledging so I kindly informed the PBS lady that I was out of town (very out of town) and was wondering what packages they had. They had this, this and this. And I not at all quickly decided on the 2 concert tickets and 2 meet and greet passes. Being that I've wanted to meet Clay since 2005 it was a hard decision to make I can assure you. Or not...

So in the end, or the beginning, as of September 8th, before I even moved to Texas, I was set to have two concert tickets to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. And of course two meet and greet tickets for Houston. This was panning out to be the best concert series I've ever been to!

So between July 27th-September 8th planning was taking place. There would be tweaks here and there before the concerts but for the most part it was time to wait.....

Have I mentioned...

2011-01-03T20:50:00.001-06:00

On Valentine's Day I'm meeting Clay Aiken.

Peanut tricks

2010-05-19T20:24:00.001-05:00

I talk about my roommate's cat from time to time and how awesome it is that she can do tricks. So thought I'd film it and share.

Good Samaritan Returns Man's Signed Paycheck

2010-04-23T18:11:00.004-05:00

With all the fraud I see and work with in my job this story just about made me tear up... I'm glad it made the news! :)

---

Good Samaritan Returns Man's Signed Paycheck

Friday, April 23, 2010 7:33 AM

Print Story

E-mail Story

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A man said Thursday that losing his paycheck helped him find the good in people.

Shaun Siva said he was going to cash a paycheck last weekend when his boss asked him to make a stop at Staples to pick up some paper.

So Siva folded his check, put it in his pocket, and did as his boss asked, 10TV's Brittany Westbrook reported. But when he arrived at work, Siva realized that his nearly $500 check was gone.

"At first I was just thinking, it could be inside the house somewhere," Siva said. "I'm just thinking I didn't want it to be lost somewhere."

Even worse, Siva said, was that he had already signed the back of his check.

"I told my mom and sister and my dad to look everywhere," he said. "They told me that couldn't find it."

Siva's family was unable to find the check, but Robert Maddrey could not ignore it.

"I see this little check floating along, so I walked down to the library and got on the Internet and I looked up the address that was on the check," Maddrey said.

Maddrey then walked to Siva's house to make a special delivery. Siva's mother was the one who answered the door.

"At first she thought I was a salesman with Direct Energy trying to lower rates on the gas bills," Maddrey said. "I said, 'Is Shaun here?' and she said no. I said, 'Well, I found his check.'"

Then, Maddrey said, Siva's family then opened up its doors.

"They just offered me the world," Maddrey said. "Sandwiches and drinks, it was really nice."

Siva said he planned to meet Maddrey on Friday and say thank you in person.

"I want people to see this and say, 'You know, there are good people out there,'" Siva said.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2010/04/23/story-columbus-lost-paycheck-returned.html

Valentine's Day. aka Single's Awareness Day. aka The Holiday from Hell

2010-02-14T22:35:00.003-06:00

The Holiday from Hell. That's a new one actually - at least I've never called it that. Until a couple weeks ago when I was talking about Valentine's Day with a friend. I just randomly spit that name out there and I happen to really like it. Clearly I'm not a fan of the Hallmark Holiday, although this year wasn't too bad. Rest assured, there is no change in heart about how I feel about the celebration of February 14th; just that this year's was nice. Why you ask? Well, I started MY Valentine's day (2/12) off with a gift from the friend that I had the discussion with a couple weeks ago. A poem that he wrote for me. I've never had anyone write a poem for me and this one just fit perfectly. A few hours later a good friend gave me a lovely rose - and I was invited to his team's potluck. Score. And at the end of the day I was told by the most wonderful guy I know in Texas that there was something waiting for me at the security desk on my way out. That turned out to be a lovely bouquet of flowers. Upon receipt he sent me a text saying he thought I deserved more then one rose. ::blushes:: So I went home with a smile on my face. Naturally nothing special happened on the day OF Valentine's Day but February 12th made up for it I suppose. I took a picture of my flowers so I would remember in the future that Valentine's 2010 was a good year and I shouldn't throw so much hate towards the holiday. We'll see if that works at all...

Here's my poem... what a great title!

---

The Holiday From Hell

Come with me and together we’ll find,
The perfect way to celebrate a holiday born from someone’s mind,
Containing flowers and skulls and hearts all ablaze,
It’s amazing no one has come up with a way to celebrate this new holiday craze,

A good friend of mine, she told me about this day,
And in my thoughts, I thought there’s no time to delay,
Let me find the perfect way to celebrate this day.
So, like a rabbit I made quick haste,
For there really was no time to waste.

On February 13th, my mind made up, I went to the mall,
I was focused on my mission and ignored all my calls.
I hopped out of my car and walked through the mall door,
And with what I saw I almost fell right to the floor.

From the bottom to the top there were people all around,
Hustling and bustling, with shopping bags in hand,
Red hearts, and balloons and candy’s wrapped in pink bands,
From that instant I knew the perfect gift could be found.

I went to the bookstore, and thought “This will be Fine.”
Except they had all these books about a Saint Valentine,

My next crazy thought was to find,
A scrapbooking expert who had something in mind,
All she could provide was red paper and glue,
I no longer knew what else I could do.

I sat down on a bench to rest real quick,
And the idea that came to me caused my mind to think,

Here I am shopping at a mall,
For a holiday that is already celebrated by all.

Dedicated to someone who is smart, funny, pretty, and helps in every way,
I guess this is my funny way to say,

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!

---

And in other news I've given up on an amusing blog about my engagement status on facebook. I was bored. I must admit I was no longer bored at seeing the classic snowball effect that I wasn't expecting. Sorry for the confusion.

Melanie's facebook status said engaged say what?!?

2010-01-27T21:16:00.003-06:00

Blog coming soon... as in as soon as I get a chance to write it.

Space Heaters

2009-12-13T16:57:00.000-06:00

It's cold at work. Whether it's hot, mild, or cold outside it's always cold in the building. Why do the temperature controller people do that? Not too long ago though I had an idea thrust upon me. (Yes, I wrote that sentence so I could use the word thrust.) I was sitting at a coworkers desk assisting with a very rude customer she had on the phone when I realized it was not so cold in her cubicle. My cold feet were finding warmth. It was an amazingly wonderful sensation. I looked down and found a space heater. Why hadn't I thought of that? Now, I'm sure there's some rule in very small print of work policies that says no space heaters allowed but who ever reads the fine print? As luck would have it I needed to pick up some Fiber One cereal, Fiber One granola bars, and Fiber One pop-tarts that night (I'm not advertising Fiber One I swear) and as luck would have it they had the above space heater for the low price of $10. It was completely weird how that space heater just accidentally fell into my basket. I've heard you're not supposed to argue with merchandise that falls into grocery store baskets so obviously I had to buy it.

My cubicle was now warm. My supervisor asked if that was a space heater under my desk and the word "no" just popped out of my mouth. Two wierd happenings in two days. I guess he believed me though because although he sometimes complains about how hot it is in and around my cubicle the actual space heater seems to remain illusive.

One other thing I'd like to point out. I happened upon a second use for my space heater.....

It serves a dual purpose! I was really busy one day (as many days) but craving to eat my hot pineapple salad. The name of the dessert, or salad if you want to argue about the name, cleary has the word "hot" in it which means that eating it cold is just not as tasty. So while I was busy with my work, my space heater warmed up my food. It was quite brilliant.

So, the lesson, or suggestion, of this story. For those who work in a building that is cold all the time, and who's break room doesn't have a microwave so you have to walk across the building to the next closest break room to wam up food I recommend stopping by the space heater section of the store and see if one falls into your basket.

A plan.

2009-11-30T20:43:00.001-06:00

I have a plan. Unfortunately I cannot reveal said plan for another month or two but just know... I have a plan.

Isn't this the most exciting blog ever? Hee.

It's November already?!?

2009-11-08T17:50:00.004-06:00

I just went and viewed my blog. According to the preview I haven't posted since July! What happened to the 10 or so other blogs that I wrote in between then and now?!? I think someone hacked my blogspot and deleted them. I hope you got to read then before they were deleted. And don't worry, I have full intentions of finding who did this horrible deed.

I really don't have anything of much excitement to write about so I'll give a life lesson instead. This comes from a phone call that a lady at work received recently. The nice gentleman on the phone had ordered a set of golf clubs online, I didn't take the call so I'm not sure what site he ordered them from. Just for the fun of it let's say he ordered them off of ebay. Now, I don't golf, but according to this gentleman they were a very nice set of clubs... and amazingly inexpensive for how good of quality they were in. Seemed like a deal too good to pass up. Let's now take the opportunity to add that they were coming from China. I must say that they do send over some nice knock-off Kate Spade and Coach purses, but golf clubs? Let's get real here. If the clubs are half the price then they are normally worth that should be a hint to not buy them oh innocent golf club buyer gentleman. I'm just sayin. Needless to say that the bank could not do anything for him as he couldn't find where to ship them back to (ooh, suprise there). Goodwill might accept them though. Maybe.

So life lesson. Things, or sometimes even people, are not always what you hoped for or expected. Get over it as best you can and move on. (Although if we're speaking of people, please don't drop them off at Goodwill) I'll also add that 9 times out of 10, if an item is coming from China and the offer is too good to be true, then don't buy it!

The Dentist.... oooooh.

2009-07-16T00:02:00.007-05:00

I went to the dentist today. This was my first visit since 2000 something. I had three different dental people ask me the date, as well as the paperwork. I gave my paperwork a question mark and the dental people a question mark look with a response of... uh... I'm really not sure.

Let's then conclude that it's been awhile. I made the appointment because I started to develop an ache in my upper gum area... the very back. My only, non dental expertise of an idea was my wisdom tooth bothering me. But the ache wasn't bad so I scheduled my appointment for August... no biggie. And then it really started to hurt. I called the office yesterday and *poof* they suddenly had an opening for this morning. Funny how that works.

So like I said. It's been awhile since I've gone. That was back in the days of clean the teeth, shuffle around that bubble gum flavor cleaner with the water from the paper cup, and spit in the little sink that they have pulled up to your chair. Clean, rinse, spit. Easy enough. Ok, today was a little more complicated. Or not really, but something foreign and confusing at first. Okay, really it's not confusing either but at first I was like... WTH... what is going on and how does this work? New method. Clean, have water sprayed around and use the Grey's Anatomy "more suction please" way of taking out that yucky supposedly cherry cleaner.

Apparently the dental cleaner lady figured I'd done this before because I had no instructions of what was going on. She stuck that suction thingy in my mouth, I said a silent "what the crap is this" and promptly had half of that "cherry" teeth cleaner on my blue dental bib. Uh, embarrassing. I consider myself fairly smart though and I was able to figure out what it was by my next try. That part was mastered.

And then there were the videos. While my x-rays were being processed they had some videos to watch while I waited. Holy scary teeth and procedures being done for those teeth batman. Wow. I will definitely be brushing even better now so I never have any of those problems. I'm even going to floss. Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see.

The dentist came back. I got some praises for my nice teeth and the problem with the ache was something was stuck in the gums near the very back tooth. That's it? How do we get it out then? A cleaning? That's it? Well, apparently that was because my mouth no longer hurts. A deep clean and *bam* all better. Spiffy.

I might add that at the age of 25ish, lack of dental visits, let's knock on wood before I make it public, I still don't have any cavities. My implant looks great. And the only suggestion was to have my upper right wisdom tooth pulled as it most likely will start to push against my other tooth.

And then I worked until nine because of the time I missed due to the last minute appointment. That was no fun.

ETA: I'd like to mention that this was written at one in the morning after a very long day. I think you can tell.

What the...?!?

2009-07-02T11:11:00.003-05:00

This is a picture of 12 year old Michael Jackson. But WHAT are those on his shoulders? Rodents. Hamsters? No wait, RATS?!? There are rats crawling around on him. And FOUR of them. This was before the cartoon movie Ratatouille folks, these are the real deal. Crazy.

Although. The most amusing part is that the two on his right shoulder are all content and happy with the world of shoulder riding, while the two on his left are all like... sitting on a shoulder whatever... running around this kid is way better then a wheel!

Four rats on two shoulders... pretty impressive Michael.

What a day!

2009-06-25T21:02:00.004-05:00

The most exciting... I got most of my Chase systems online so I can start getting away from those old school WaMu programs, systems and policies. It's a simple sentence but it's so much more exciting then it sounds.

Other noteworthy happenings of the day... in order of how they happened.

1. Farrah Fawcett died.
2. Michael Jackson died. Notably a couple weeks before his London comeback tour.
3. I catch up on the news and find that Governor Strickland is trying to cut library funding by 50%.
4. I email Governor Strickland

Normally I wouldn't add such negative or sad happenings in a blog but it's a memorable day that should be remembered.

Also. Have I mentioned how odd Texas weather is? Here's something new. I walked out of work today and find it to smell AND feel like a rainy day in Ohio. Combined with a very hot sunny sky. Got that? Sunny. And hot. With a strong smell of rain. Apparently it did rain though so at least it explains a little bit. Texas is wierd.

The rest of NYC

2009-06-24T16:28:00.002-05:00

Last year I went to NYC two times. We all know why. Or should. In those two visits I had seen Spamalot four times, not to mention hanging out at the Shubert theater stagedoor many more times. That being said, I know you'll be sad to hear that the Shubert has been taken over by a show called "Blithe Spirit". Whatever that is. It's not Spamalot though so it really makes no difference.

I'm not going to go through every hour of each day, which I'm sure your thankful for, but I will mention some highlights.

1. Wicked! This is definitely the most important, exciting part of the trip. My sister, Linda, came in to the city from New Jersey on Saturday. Neither of us had seen the musical and both were dying to. Clearly we're really bad, last minute planners though because every time we went to buy tickets they were sold out. On my last trip, we attempted the lottery that they have every night to win tickets. And lost. We would have to wait until our next trip to NYC. So this time, again, because of last minute planning the show was sold out. I went to the theater in the morning to try to get tickets but all they had were two tickets, separate sides of the theater, where one was more of a partial view. Dang it. But we were on a mission. Again, we tried for the lottery. And lost. Grr. Hopes lost again, we walked off to get some food but it just so happened that we had a combined epiphany on the way. Maybe we should try for some cancellation tickets! Do you get the vibe that we were on a quest to see this show? We turn around and walk the half block back. And what do we find? A cancellation for two amazing seats dead center of the theater! Ok, so the price was a little more then we wanted to spend but it was SO worth it. Amazing show. I recommend it to everyone. And if you need someone to go see it with I'm here for you. :)

2. Visiting the Statue of Liberty. Um, or waving to it. Having previously been to NYC I already had the skillz of getting downtown to buy tickets for the ferry over to visit the very tall famous green lady. Previously we never actually visited the island though because once we got down there we didn't want to wait in line. But no matter. This time however my friends really wanted to go, so downtown we headed. For some reason we took some sort of short cut, or long cut, or different route or something, but eventually made it to the ferry. This was free, which seemed odd, not to mention that the name of the island we would be going to didn't really match up with my memories and/or my apparently not so well founded knowledge of geography and US history. Staten Island, Ellis Island, same difference... with the exception of the Statue of Liberty being on a different Island then where we were traveling to. Clearly it had been a long day. Or we're just stupid. But on the bright side we got to see her closer then being on Manhattan and I had the opportunity of having a creepy guy ask for my number. Seriously. What is the point of asking for a girl's number when you've already asked where she's from? Long distance relationships never work. For most. I'm pretty sure I could make it work out between me and Zac though... I'm just sayin. Moving on.

3. Chinatown. I didn't get there last time so I was definitely getting there! My friends were a little iffy on going, mostly because they're not really purse girls, but they were excited to share the experience. I think. Doesn't matter now. Just like my first trip I was after Kate Spade purses. Simple enough. As soon as we stepped out of the subway we see a nice girl who looks like she means business. I start out our not so much of an english conversation, "Kate Spade? Kate Spade? Kate Spade?" We get the signal to follow her and off we go. Our first stop had a nice selection and everything was cheaper then my last visit. It's always better to shop around first but I couldn't help it. After nearly tripping a few times down the scary staircase we get to a scary room filled with wonderful purses, I talked the lady down in price and off we went with my new purse. Almost. We weren't allowed out of the building until given permission by the lady in charge, I'm assuming she had to do a street check for cops. It would be a shame to have a cop raid on so nice of people. My next purse was picked out on the street by guys carrying around suitcases larger then I knew existed. While I was picking out my second purse, Tia ran into a guy selling "new" ipods. Maybe I was wrong to talk her out of buying electronics from Chinatown but nevertheless I did. It was just a hunch that it wouldn't last long. Kind of like the perfume that I bought. I knew it wouldn't be that strong but I was hoping that the scent would last more then five minutes. $15 gone, but a priceless experience buying it. We didn't travel too far into Chinatown, partly because the streets are named as opposed to numbered and I'm directionally challenged, and partly because I didn't bring enough cash. Note to self for my next time.

4. Of course we ate at Junior's. Even though there is no longer a sign in the alley pointing to "the funniest show on earth" I've labeled it a new tradition of going whenever I'm in NYC.

There are of course other fun experiences but I'm sure you're tired of reading... if you even made it this far. But just like every other New York trip it was fun and exciting and I'm ready to go again!

The hotel

2009-06-17T14:14:00.002-05:00

Back in May of 2008 I wrote about my adventure to Southbend, Indiana. In the post I commented on the motel room we stayed in. The weird carpet, broken cups, etc. It was the Econolodge for the record; I couldn't remember the name at the time of writing the blog.

That motel room had nothing on Hotel Alexander in the upper east side of Manhatten only a few feet away from the 1,2, and 3 subway lines. Perfect. The cost for the Alexander was about $130 a night... not bad for a clean, well reviewed, Manhattan room. We were looking for cheaper, but either everything was booked or they had complaints of bugs, smells, uncleanliness, etc. When we, as in I, found Hotel Alexander one problem that we ran into was there were three of us going to the city. For the $100 range rooms we had a choice of two twin beds or one double bed. Someone was sleeping on the floor! (and it would not be me since I found the hotel.)

Two days after booking the hotel we arrived in NYC. Because we booked everything so late I had a different flight then my other friends; Tia and Leah. I arrived at LaGaurdia airport, successfully got to the correct subway stop and knew where I was headed. Get off at 96th street and walk a block down or so. I walked down 96th street. Where's the hotel? A stop into a apartment complex cleared that up. The hotel was actually on 95th street. Alrighty then. I move over to 95th. Ok seriously, where's the hotel?! A stop into another apartment complex and a call to my sister and learn the hotel is actually on 94th. For the love of... It's a good thing I packed light or there would be some cursing going on here.

I finally arrive at the hotel, get checked in and unenthusiastically drag my luggage up to the room. Um. Ok, did they steal hotel room pictures from another site? Here's a discription of the room, next to which was a nice picture.

"Twin beds, a bedside table with a telephone and lamp. Ample closet space and a dressing mirror. All rooms have a work desk with chair, internet access (at a fee) and Cable TV."

I was quite amused with the room and couldn't wait to show it off to my friends. We'll get back to that. Since it took forever to actually find the hotel, by the time I got there I had to turn back around to go pick them up. This was their first trip to NYC so I thought I'd serve as a tour guide. :)

Friends picked up, back to the hotel, and now for the tour of the room. I tell you what. This is not what was in the picture or the description. Twin beds - check. Bedside table, telephone and lamp - check. Ample closet space - where? Oh, is that the aptly name "scary room"? Seriously, why is this "room" here? It can't be the closet space as there are no rods or hangers or shelves. So what is it? You could fit an entire bathroom in this room; or at least a toilet and sink. Or knock out the wall and give a little more walking space maybe? Anyhoo. Next - work desk with chair. Say what? Where on earth would they even find room for that. Except for in the scary room maybe. That might work.

So on to our three day living arrangements. We had a hard time voting on who was sleeping on the floor and, although good friends, I had a hard time accepting the idea of spooning with another girl in a twin bed for three nights. Taking a closer look at the room this problem was soon remedied! In nicer hotels I believe the beds are usually permanently fixed to either the wall or floor. I think. I could be wrong. I've never really tested it as I've always slept in a double bed with no need to be moved. This was a special circumstance though and upon taking a closer look at the beds it was clear that these were not fixed to anything. Problem solved and rearranging the furniture became number one priority. As there was no desk or chair it made it even easier. Slide the night table to side, bed over a couple feet, and *poof* One large bed. Some quick thinking on Tia's part and no one had to sleep in the middle either. As opposed to sleeping vertical we were going to start a trend, or not, of sleeping horizontal. Simple enough!

Ok, easier said then done, but none the less it was done. We had the perfect $130 a night hotel in NYC. At least if you don't mind a shared bathroom, creepy stairwell, and an elevator that fit about one person and one suitcase.

ETA: This blog was started a couple weeks ago after my trip if you were confused about why I'm randoming writing about a hotel room. :)

I'm Melanie. I'm 25

2009-06-05T20:10:00.005-05:00

   'I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other.
   When you're five, you know your age down to the month. Even in your twenties you know how old you are. I'm twenty-three, you say, or maybe twenty-seven. But then in your thirties something strange starts to happen. It's a mere hiccup at first, an instant of hesitation. How old are you? Oh, I'm - you start confidently, but then you stop. You were going to say thirty-three, but you're not. You're thirty-five. And then you're bothered, because you wonder if this is the beginning of the end. It is, of course, but it's decades before you admit it.
   You start to forget words: they're on the tip of your tongue, but instead of eventually dislodging, they stay there. You go upstairs to fetch something, and by the time you get there you can't remember what it was you were after. You call your child by the names of all your other children and finally the dog before you get to his. Sometimes you forget what day it is. And finally you forget the year.'

I am Melanie. I am 25. :)

(That was an excerpt from Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen)

2009-05-17T00:11:00.001-05:00

I got to work friday and found this. The words "Washington Mutual" have been erased to a much more exciting CHASE! I screamed and shed a tear of happiness. :)

so this is what [mild] Texas weather is like...

2009-05-07T21:57:00.002-05:00

It was a crazy day at work yesterday and I longed to be outside in the fresh sunny air of Texas. Finally six o'clock came and as I walked out the doors I took a deep relaxing breath of... not so fresh air. It was a shock. If you would like to experience the sensation...

1. start your dishwasher. (With no dishes would probably be best)
2. After it's finished washing and gets about halfway through the drying cycle
3. open the door and stuff yourself in.

Hot and very humid. Can't wait 'til summer...

Everyone needs a little creativity in life.

2009-04-27T23:01:00.001-05:00

I signed up for a writing course today with Gotham Writers. They're based out of NYC but have online courses as well. Although I'm sure it's not the cheapest online writing course, they have good ratings on Yelp.com and a "test class" to see how the course works. Now, you may be wondering, if I graduated from OSU as an English major why the heck am I paying more money for a writing class. That's a valid thing to wonder about.

I decided that since I have to work a mundane 9-5 job for at least a couple more years, I need a little something else in life. Something to spark creative juices; if I have any that is. So I decided a writing course was the way to go. Hopefully. If not I just threw away some money that could easily go towards a couple months of Texas rate car insurance.

The class starts May 5th and is a ten week course. If my blog writing improves, we know it's working as I will be learning (or relearning) writing skills. Although if my blog gets worse, it could also be working since I'll probably put more time into the required coursework. I'll keep you updated.

In other news: I've been home sick in bed all day... I bet you were wondering how you were so lucky to get two blogs in the same day.

This blog is for Just you!

2009-04-27T16:36:00.000-05:00

In 2005, Clay Aiken had his Jukebox tour. Which if you recall I wrote a blog about my experience there. During the tour he "tested out" songs that might be on his then upcoming CD "A Thousand Different Ways". Although everything was new to me, it was fun to hear music that was not yet on a CD, and no doubt even more enjoyable for those who had been fans from day one of American Idol. He did not sing each song every night, Clay likes to switch things up a lot. (Have you noticed how many hair styles and colors he's gone through?!?) I'm sure this was just fine by fans that went to more then one show, but I only had access to watch the other songs not performed in Columbus via internet downloads. One song in particular that I missed was "Just You".

Unfortunately it was never put on the CD and we were left without a great song.

Let's jump to Friday (as in 3 days ago). Clay got online at the Official Fan Club and started a "Questions FOR Clay" thread. He was online from 1:37 to 8:41pm (not sure what time zone) answering questions ranging from silly topics such as owning a pair of orange crocs (His answer: "UNEQUIVOCALLY, ABSOLUTELY ... NO! NO! NO! NO! So ugly!") to more serious questions about being bullied and Unicef. May I also add that we both share the same favorite song from his newest CD "On My Way Here". :) At 8:41 (OFC time) he mentioned that it's a shame his homework in highschool couldn't keep his attention for so long, he was signing off, but to check his blog for one more answer.

During the course of the day someone had asked the question "Clay, will you ever record... Just You?" The surprising answer... he already had, it was one of the first songs he recorded for his CD "A Thousand Different Ways"! He stated, "It was recorded before the label asked me to do the album of cover love songs and before the budget was officially approved, so I actually paid for it myself." Apparently though it did not fit the concept of the CD and was left out. To his knowledge Clay owned the one and only copy of the song. Crazy right?

And then what happens, this amazing entertainer GAVE us the song. He writes,

"Since I didn't write it or produce it, I can't sell it to you... but I hate to encourage getting music for free. You all have always been SOOOO ethical when it has come to downloading music. I know my fans are probably some of the most scrupulous in the country..."

For example, I bought FOUR copies of his last CD. :)

There was just one stipulation. He was in fact giving this to us for free but he wanted it to count for someone. He encouraged us to make a donation towards the Bubel/Aiken Foundation. Only if we wanted to and/or could afford it. (even 5 cents helps!)

The studio version is amazing, which you can download (right click, open in new window) here and you can also donate here.

Thank you Clay! You're an amazing man who no doubt loves and appreciates your fans.

Whoa, that's a long way down!

2009-04-15T11:40:00.000-05:00

I realized the other day that I never actually wrote down my fun and exciting adventure of being on the roof of Hughes Hall. Or maybe I have and lost it. Or I lost it but you've already read it. If that's the case leave a comment and let me know where you've seen it.

But Hughes Hall. One of the oldest buildings on THE Ohio State University's campus. Hughes is one of the two buildings for the School of Music. Obviously this story is from quite a years back because at the time of this story I actually was a music major.

As a music major it should be assumed that you have to practice a lot. And if it's not assumed now you know. I don't remember how many hours a week you should practice, or I did, but it's a lot. Anyhoo. The fourth floor of Hughes hall consists merely of practice rooms. Every practice room has a piano, music stand and chair. Sometimes a mirror to make sure you're standing up straight and your hair is in place. Ok maybe not so much for hair placement but more to work on your embouchure. And if you don't know what that is I provided a nice wikipedia link for you.

So one day I was upstairs for my daily practicing ritual. Good times. When I was finished I packed up, and was headed out the door. Now, let me digress for a moment. Remember how I said Hughes is one of the oldest buildings on campus? To make the rooms "sound proof" the only extra step taken was to put two doors on the rooms. One opens inwards, the other outwards. As of my time in the music school, no updates had been made to those doors so they were about 1000 or more years old. Give or take a year or two. Because of the age, the doors can be difficult to close and/or open. And in one circumstance, not to open at all. As such was the case on one sunny afternoon. But no worries. It was just a little stuck. Let's try again. Not opening. And again. Um, the door was seriously not budging. Now what? I heard someone practicing a couple rooms over but I knew banging on the door would be pointless and who knew how long it would take for someone to walk back to where I was practicing. Great.

I had only one option. Maybe there could have been other ones but I had the idea of only one option at that time.

The window.

I was on the fourth floor but there was a pretty nice gutter that i could crawl around on to find someone to assist me to get back in the building so I could continue on with life. So out the window I went. They make that type of thing look so easy in movies! Geez. But I got out. I decided to head towards the sound of another saxophone player. Thankfully it happened to be one of my better friends in my saxophone class. I knocked on the window and seriously thought I might have scared her to death. I was rather grateful I didn't though or else I would be stuck outside in the gutter of this stupid ancient building.

I gave a two second explanation of what happened. The sooner I was in the building the better. Amazingly enough, I think, it was harder and more of a pain to get back IN the building then out. It was probably safer to be inside though so I gave up on trying not to get bruises and stuffed myself through.

Once I was inside and both my friend and I were composed I went back to the room that I had been securely locked in. It opened with no problem from the outside. That was quite annoying.

I must say though that the experience made for a very interesting, scary, yet fun story to tell.

And now you know.

I should live where?!?

2009-04-11T19:40:00.001-05:00

I was on facebook the other day and noticed a friend had taken a "quiz" to see which state he should live in; or which state best suits you. I decided to take the quiz. Maybe it would confirm that I should be in Texas, or maybe I should be moving to California, or NYC. It was only a five question quiz. And I end up with...

OHIO?!?

What the heck does that mean I wonder.

Laundry

2009-03-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

We all hate doing laundry. Admit it. I've never known anyone that looks forward to doing the never ending chore. Some put it off by stopping by the store on their way home from work to purchase a new shirt in order to put the dreaded chore off another day. Others have a two month supply of underwear and socks... just in case. Sometimes clothes end up scattered around furniture and floors because there is no more room in your hamper. I'm not saying any of these circumstances apply to me but I've heard from friends and such. The following case however was something I felt needed to be share and with permission I do so. It was a completely random instant message sent to me from a friend at work the other day.

---

okay. This may be TMI. I have to vent.
It's time to do laundry. So I'm wearing my last resort panties. They're HORRIBLE! There's this GIANT hole under the waist band that tears just a little bit more every time I pull them up. Then there's the fact that really is no point to pulling them up (or wearing them at all for that matter) because by the time I walk from the bath room to my cubical they're already down around my thighs. The ONLY thing that holds them up at all is the the crotch of my PANTS! so now I'm wearing some kind of weird mini skirt w/ giant holes in it..... *sigh*

---

Moral of the story. Don't put off doing the chore for TOO long. Either that or keep a three month supply...

Please don't run into me.

2009-03-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

Saturday was an interesting day. And when I say interesting I mean OMG I’m going to die in my new Nissan Sentra that I just bought three days ago. Which I guess we should talk about that first right? My nice little 1998 Honda Civic died on me the poor thing. The cause you ask? Ohio weather. Kind of ironic right? More specifically the winter weather with all the salt on the roads. Three main, apparently important, pipes under the car rusted out and needed replacing. Add that to the 20 other things (give or take a few) that were wrong with the car and I felt it time to get something newer and healthier. So I bargained my way into a 2006 Nissan Sentra. Of course I wanted another Honda but they were just too expensive for my measley income. My new car is nice though.

But Saturday. I had to make another trip to the dealership, Honda if you were curious, for them to adjust one of my headlights and pick up my sad Honda; aptly named Don. They gave him a car wash though which was awesome. He's so clean now! Just in time for me to sell him. Anyhoo.

I was driving to the dealership with one of my roommates. We were almost there and then.... whoa! Say hello to a white SUV coming in my lane about to run over, or into, my much smaller new car! I had a delay in response because I had never used the horn before. In the mean time my roommate and I let out girly screams (thankfully we're girls) as my roommate grabs onto me as if that's going to save us from a car wreck. Thankfully however the lady realized we were there and pulled back over. I thought I was going to have a heart attack directly following the incident. The lady did feel bad though. She decided to not pull over into our lane and instead drove up next to us and waved and said sorry. That was nice I suppose.

So it was an adventure. One I hopefully will never have to make again.

Who ever said compact cars don't fit much?

2009-02-22T22:35:00.000-06:00

Granted they have the commercials that say compact cars are incredibly roomy and wonderful and have all sorts of special camera angles to give the illusion that you really can fit seven people in a two door car. We all know it's not possible. However. I have come to learn that you can certainly fit a lot in them. Two particular instances come to mind. Interestingly, or not so interestingly, both of them have been within the last month and both have been for an hour and a half drive.

First:

A drive from Columbus to Cincinnati at the beginning of our 20 hour drive to Texas. I have a lot of stuff ok? Getting rid of furniture was no problem but how could I possibly give away my *nsync cd collection? Or that pair of shoes? Or that other pair of shoes? It's just not possible. So i n the car they went. Ok, not really everything... I had to make an emergency trip to Cincinnati the night before. But that's a story for another day.

The setup was really quite simple. I got in the car and my roommate piled the stuff on top of me. Amazingly enough it wasn't too uncomfortable. I was able to fall asleep and my roommate woke me up in time for us to miss our exit. Oops.

Second:

A drive from Austin to San Antonio. It's a toss-up as to which was more fun really. Again we were driving a two door car. This trip involved Ikea. I had only been to Ikea once before and it was just a quite run through. This trip however... Ikea is like the best place ever! Anyhoo. There was a particular chair that I was looking for and a tv stand my roommate was looking for. We located both and found the chair to be in a very big box. At least too big in the way of fitting into the trunk, backseat, or even front seat of our car. Thankfully though I had already had experience in packing a car with things that don't quite fit. Once out in the parking lot, the chair comes out of the box and we broke that down to save it in case I needed to make a return. The little legs were stuffed in the back seat no problem. But the chair. Hmm. Even out of the box it was rather large for a compact car. But it was going home with me dang it! For a second time I got in the car and my roommate stuffed the chair in the front seat. This time it was a little harder as the chair was wider then a box. My roommate, a new one this time, stuffed it in as far as possible as I sat there getting smothered by cusioning. When it was just about in we gave up and slammed the door as hard as possible. Bam. Chair in the car. Interestingly enough once I got in a position so my circulation wasn't being cut off I was able to sleep through most of this ride too.

They were both fun trips with a lot of laughs but I wouldn't mind it if I didn't have to take another one in the near future. :)

2009-02-20T14:20:00.000-06:00

Let's compare the San Antonio Washington Mutual building to Polaris' building in Columbus shall we?

Columbus:
- 2 cafeterias with incredibly good food. Like, really good.
- Dry cleaners - perfect for those who seem to have a lot of clothes that need dry cleaning
- Post office/UPS/Fed Ex store - perfect for those who don't feel like driving to your nearest unknown location.
- Starbucks - exceptional cheese danish! And I'm sure coffee for those who drink it.
- Small store - with the absolute best gummi bears ever. I'm not kidding. AND swedish fish. How much better can you get?
- DVD rental - which I never used that service but they then put Previously Viewed movies on sale for cheap. Got a few good ones that way.... although they never sold Step Up.
- Massage service - also never used but it's pretty cool knowing that they have one right?

and then we have my new location of...

Washington Mutual:
- 1 ok cafeteria with prices more expensive then Columbus
- um, yeah that's it. :sigh:

I think I might have gotten spoiled at Polaris you think? I especially miss those gummi bears.

Traffic

2009-02-13T23:16:00.001-06:00

When Chase first started asking for volunteers, like myself, for relocation to San Antonio a conference call was set up with someone currently residing in Texas, supposedly San Antonio. Some of the attractions were listed as well as geography, housing, and a notable comment on traffic. As far as I remember, and I confirmed with a friend who moved here as well, it was mentioned that traffic was not a problem because of the newly developed highways.

We were lied to.

There is traffic. As in traffic jams. Everywhere. All the time.

The dirty details.

2009-01-17T22:31:00.000-06:00

I never really understood that expression but no less. It is the title of this blog. The details you may ask, or you may hope, are about my move to Texas. San Antonio to be precise. But I think I mentioned that part at least.

I'm sure you all read or at least heard about Chase buying out Washington Mutual. And if you didn't hear about it you seriously need to get out more. Or at least buy a radio for your cave if you don't want to go out. But they did and it was a really fast move too. One day there are two banks the next day *poof* only Chase. So because of this transaction they asked people in my department (and others as well) if we would like to relocate to WaMu's Texas location. As an added bonus of getting out of the cold wintery my car didn't even want to start and I had to sit for ten minutes while my window defrosted enough to be able to scrape it the other day weather Chase is paying us $4000. To some who have kids and a mortgage and lots of expensive furniture that's not much. But as I have none of the above it's a fair amount. They would like us to stay there for two years but as long as we remain within Chase we only have to be there for one. I found a roommate there who just bought a house and if I hadn't left my new computer at home after Christmas I would post a picture of it. I google mapped it and it looks really nice.

I leave Columbus early Friday the 29th with my roommie Laura. She's riding with me in and I'm flying her back. We'll probably stay in Memphis friday night and get to my new residence Saturday evening. Assuming all goes well. And if it doesn't then thankfully we have AAA.

As for my car making it you ask? The driver's side window is taped shut making it impossible to go through drive thru's because I rolled it down one day and it decided not to roll back up. And there's a piece missing off the right side of it with blue touch of paint. And it's a two door car so I'm going to need to get those bags where you vacuum all the air out to hopefully make stuff fit. But according to the place where I get my repairs done (clearly the window and the piece that really isn't missing I just haven't paid to have it put back on are not top priority repairs) the mechanic says that it's in good condition and it should make is just fine. Hopefully he's right.

So. There you go. Details. I'm sure I'll have much more to blog about in the coming days and weeks so stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T21:16:00.000-06:00

Once I had a dream ...
or maybe I read it and incorporated it.
Sometimes, memory of where fails me,
but I know it was good, really good.

There was a world,
and we all lived there, together.
There was peace among all faiths,
and all races; opportunity existed for all.

Everybody celebrated,
celebrated the joy of their uniqueness.
Sharing whatever they had with
those who had need, without obligation.

Together we shared
the planet that we were so blessed with.
The environment was nurtured like a baby,
protected from greedy users and abusers.

There was love there,
love for every living thing.
Understanding how creation of all life
directly relates to us on a personal level.

Joy was daily ritual,
joy for discovery of something new.
Not a form of obedience or requirement,
but a beautiful understanding of balance.

War did not exist,
there was no need for a defense budget.
We were all a part of the big picture;
all people had a voice, we were important.

This was a world of honor,
a world of Jesus and Mohammad,
a world of LaoTsu and Buddha,
where all paths have honor and validity.

Education was second nature,
learning became a way of life for all people.
Religion was not a means of conversion,
but a method of discovering ones own path.

May the new year bring you:
success in your business,
sunshine in your love life,
health in your physicality.

May your country bring you:
peace in world relations,
honesty in their rhetoric,
openness in their policies.

May our educators bring us:
freedom in our thoughts,
knowledge of all things,
lessons in how to think.

May you bring your world:
integrity in your dealings,
love in your friendships,
beauty in your creations.

Once I had a dream...
By John Doelman

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T21:57:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday. Cherish the moments. And remember, don't save it all for Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas from VLC.

2008-12-20T18:50:00.000-06:00

I use VLC media player for all of my media needs. i.e. watching videos. This is what it looks like in my start menu...

The other day I opened it to watch a video and found my VLC media player has a Santa hat! I laughed. And thought I'd share. Did everyone finish their Christmas shopping yet?

How to speak Texan. Apparently.

2008-12-19T18:50:00.000-06:00

My mom sent this to me. I guess to help with the lingo for when I move.

---

Kinky Friedman, entertainer and former Texas gubernatorial candidate, explains how to speak Texanese:

"Y'all is singular."

"All y'all is plural."

"All y'all's is plural possessive."

---

Note to self.

Ten things I know about San Antonio Texas

2008-12-14T09:59:00.000-06:00

1. Two hours from the beach
2. Seventh largest city in the U.S.
3. Warm during the winter
4. HOT during the summer
5. They have scorpions (which that just might be Texas in general, hopefully not San Antonio.)
6. There are either 7 Universities or SEVERAL Universities. I couldn't understand what the guy was saying in the conference call.
7. There's at least one University.
8. A lot of people live there.
9. I'm going to live there.
10. I really can't come up with a number ten. I don't know if number nine even counted. Suffice it to say it's going to be an adventure.

In case you're wondering, I'm relocating there with Chase. If you pay attention to the news, or even if you don't, you should know that Chase bought out WaMu. They are keeping WaMu's San Antonio center open but want heritage Chase employees to transfer down to be there for the conversion. It should be fun!

Birthday Cakes

2008-12-10T18:53:00.001-06:00

There are two kinds of birthday cakes in this world. Ok, there are many kinds but for the sake of this blog there are two.

The kind that look good...

And the kind that taste good...

In case you're wondering why the candles look like they're sliding off the cake it's because my friend thought the un-iced cake was corn bread and cut a huge triangle out of it. :blank stare: A grand attempt was made by the baker to cover it up but it didn't matter what it looked like. It was amazingly yummy and by far the best icing I've ever had on a cake.

Although cake number 1 may have been preferred, cake number 2 came in pretty close to the best birthday cake ever. Thanks Susette. :)

This is the Knight!

2008-11-29T22:54:00.000-06:00

STAGE DOOR: TAKE FIVE

As exciting as being with my family was. And touring the city. And my new found Heaven on Earth (blog coming soon…) it was the night of Spamalot. Lovely Spam, oh wonderful Spam! Our seats were in the mezzanine, second row center. First row had been preferred (of mezzanine for my family, I would have been fine with first row orchestra in spitting range of the actors). Because of the later purchase of tickets those taller then 5’2” were cramped into one position, unable to move your legs for fear that you would knee the head of those sitting in the first row who were quite comfortable in their seats. In some cases, jealousy may have cause for those in the second row to have a slight leg jerk every now and then, but I think my family was kind enough to not display such immature behavior. Right?

I won’t go through the details of the show. It was superb, hilarious, and although the previous Lady of the Lake was missed the new one held her own. The replacement of the beloved Tom, who was out sick, was better then the one I had previously seen, but just not Tom. Clay was, well, you already know how I feel on that subject. I think. I hope.

Fast forward to the end of show.

My plan was to leave a little early to get a good spot at the stage door. I’m not sure where my mind was but my “little early” was like, a lot. Apparently I thought they changed the show around and they no longer had a curtain call with the fun sing along, confetti pop, and Clay’s salute? I was already losing my mind. Needless to say I was definitely first outside. Luckily I had the company of Jerome. No one was around so I mentioned this and asked if I could take a picture with him now (as opposed to the previous night). Which how I was ever to manage to take a picture with me and a man who is 6’7” is just a stupid idea. Nevertheless I asked. He declined again and we started talking about I don’t remember what. I remember him mentioning another Broadway rule that you’re not allowed to say the name “Macbeth” within theater walls. To which he continued, “And you know I’m ghetto, so I had to see what would happen”. Or something like that. I remember the ghetto part and that made me laugh. Chalk that up for something else Jerome did wrong in the Broadway scene.

Finally the show was over and naturally the Claymates were first out of the building; running, reaching, lovingly pushing, and finally screeching to a halt the closest they could to the metal barriers. Tonight I had chosen a spot close to the stage door where Clay always starts his signing. I was taking no chances this time.

The stage door crowd was smaller then his first run. Clay’s Champions for Change annual Gala for his charity The Bubel/Aiken Foundation (yes, I’m plugging) in North Carolina the next day may also account for some Claymates not being in NYC. I noticed a lady (Clayfan2001 from the Clayboard) handing her camera to another friend so she could be set to ask for a picture with Clay. I did the same, I asked if Clayfan2001 would take my camera. I showed her how to use it but in my excitement forgot to turn on my flash.

And the door opens. Again… EEEEEEE! I made note of Clay’s height… he really is 6’1” and that he was a very good looking guy. His hair looked darker and he was wearing a white hoodie. And naturally I paid close attention to those nice hands that he has. Ok, I’m totally lying. I remember nothing. Not clearly anyway. I remember him laughing at the can of Spam that my nephew was having him sign. And I think he took my clipboard with my ticket on it. I’m assuming since his signature is on it. I asked for his picture but apparently didn’t hear him respond “give your camera to someone else” so I asked again. (my sister told me that he had said that afterwards) Which now I just feel dumb for asking twice but oh well. I DO however remember that he put his arm around me. I remember that clearly. Tyra Banks would be happy at my “smiling with my eyes” picture. I ALSO shamelessly remember that I did NOT put my arm around him. What the freakin crap? I was looking forward to that halfway hug and I failed! I realized this about the time that the picture was about to be taken and I didn’t want to have my face distorted for my priceless picture to make sure I got that halfway hug.

Clay moved on to the next lady and I got my camera back from Clayfan2001 only to find that it was completely overexposed and you could barely see us. :( Talk about disappointed. But I guess I can only blame myself; if I had remembered to turn on the flash it might have turned out better. Or maybe I can blame my sister for meandering around in the background for too long and not armed and ready with my camera. I like that better. :)

I had plans to get some great pictures with my nice camera to share with my friends. I failed at that too. I got a little too distracted and only remembered that I had a camera in my hand when he was toward the end of the line. I got two pictures… of his back towards me. :rolling eyes:

All and all though it was a great experience and one to cherish. Hopefully I’ll be more prepared next time and remember what is going on and get my hug!

On the bright side, the lady that took my camera, gave hers to the lady who got a good picture of Clay and I. :)

Stage Door: Take Four

2008-10-31T13:32:00.000-05:00

If you remember, the last time I was in NYC I showed up to the stage door three times in the hope of seeing Clay. On the stage as Sir Robin was the only time I saw him. But this time….

STAGE DOOR: TAKE FOUR

My sister, brother, nephew and I headed out from the hotel and over to the Shubert Theater alley where Juniors is located for some delicious cheesecake. My sister, Linda, and I shared a piece of something; raspberry swirl I think? I was getting too excited to remember, although I clearly know that Juniors cheesecake is magnificent. It was quite nerve racking - this was going to be my first time seeing Clay up close and personal, not counting first row of Spamalot. He was Sir Robin then, not Clay. My sister, Linda, does not consider herself a fan although she agreed to stand outside the stage door on three previous occasions. Her previous disappointment made her a little skeptical that Clay would make an appearance this night. She mentioned her skepticism to our waiter who kindly shared, with enthusiasm, about the crowds that the stage door brings each night. At least our waiter had a positive attitude.

As soon as the infamous Shubert Theater mustache guy came out and started to set up the gates, my nephew, Bret, and I rushed out of the restaurant leaving the bill behind for my brother and sister. My bad. For the first time I was front and center. Well, slightly right of center, but in the front none the less. Clay's bodygaurd, Jerome, came out to have a look around. Perfect timing for him to watch E! Entertainment interviewers attempting to get short interviews from people. Most people declined but naturally they finally got to the younger crowd hoping for their 15 minutes of fame, or .15 seconds, whichever. E! got their info, and quickly disappeared out of the alley. I was able to talk to Jerome during this time; that was exciting. No really. It was. I asked him if I could get a picture with him although apparently some unknown to the world Broadway rule restricts him from taking pictures with fans. He said he got in trouble for doing so because he didn’t know this unknown rule. Shady. So no picture with Jerome. He left about the time that E! did and a few very long short minutes he exits again with Clay. EEEEEEE! I’m sure he said good evening how is everyone doing? Or something to that effect. That seems to be a popular greeting in the videos I’ve seen but I have no idea what he said this evening. Clay was about halfway around the barricade with his greetings, signatures, and a few pictures and was about three or so people away from me. I flip my hair, straighten it back out, and have my playbill ready. And then….

Jerome, who had been meandering in the background, rushes up, grabs Clay, practically picks him up and pulls him back towards the stage door and into the hall. WTH. Three people away Jerome! Did I have bad breathe? Did he think I was some psycho stalker with an evil agenda? Did he know I was using a playbill from Clay’s first run; that I actually hadn’t seen Spamalot that night? But don’t people do that all the time? WTH. Oh but wait. There is the three E! interviewers rushing back into the alley with their cameras and microphones held high. Are you KIDDING me?!? How many years had I been waiting for this? I hate you all. Anyone affiliated with E! that is.

So no luck Thursday night. I did get the Lady of the Lake’s autograph. I had her sign the front of my playbill since she wasn’t actually listed inside.

As we were walking away we passed by the E! crew (two guys, one girl) where a quite obvious Claymate was expressing her feelings on the matter. I’m pretty sure she was standing next to me at the stage door so she hadn’t gotten an autograph either. The exchange of words was rather amusing. Naturally I had to stop and shake my head in agreement with her. Once her rant was over she huffed off with her friend and my sister asked for a picture of the E! crew. Amusingly enough the girl refused to be in it. Interesting, eh?

2008-10-25T13:21:00.001-05:00

Coming soon... my trip to NYC.

2008-10-11T23:05:00.000-05:00

This, my friends is Dr. Russel Mikkelson. And me, (and the reflection of my cellphone taking the picture for this blog because it was easier to just email it to myself instead of scanning it) but try to stay focused on Dr. Mikkelson thanks. This was a couple years ago but you get the gist. I hope.

Now you may ask. Who is this and what is the point of this blog? No worries. I shall explain. After which you still may wonder about the point of this blog but I think that’s most of my blogs right? Right. Moving on.

About Dr. Mikkelson…

He’s the director of University Bands at THE Ohio State University. He conducts the “Wind Symphony”. Which back in the day I think used to be called the “Concert Band” but I don’t think that was a fancy enough name for the top band in the School of Music so it was eventually changed. He’s in charge of a lot of other stuff irrelevant for my story but he’s pretty important. As a side note his looks kind of remind me of my dad. Kind of in the same way that Tom Selleck in his Magnum P.I. days did. Although Dr. Mikkelson and Tom Selleck don’t look much alike do they? In which case maybe neither one look much like my dad.

Anyhoo.

Upon starting as a music major at OSU I quickly became acquainted with Dr. Mikkelson. We had to audition for what band we would be in for the year. I decided to play the infamous “Improvisation et caprice” by Eugene Bozza (everyone knows that piece right?) I had played it in several competitions in highschool and I’m pretty sure I got some good scores. Or maybe not, I don’t remember, let’s pretend that I did. Either way I played it. It’s a fast song and if I could still play it you may be impressed. Or not. Whatever. Dr. Mikkelson was anyway. He said something to the effect of “that’s a lot of notes; very good!” Actually maybe he wasn’t that impressed but as a freshman it made me feel good. Coming out of the audition I decided that this is the best professor ever and ooh he is one good looking guy. I hope I’m in his band.

But I wasn’t. Dang it. I was placed into the symphonic band directed by Professor Blatti. He is a very good conductor and picked some good music. And somehow was always quite sweaty by the end of practice.

I think it was my third quarter into the year. A couple weeks into the quarter Professor Blatti slipped on the metal ramp on his way into Hughes hall; the mothership of the School of Music. You may be asking, why a metal ramp? That doesn’t seem very safe, especially in the winter with ice and snow. Well, it may have something to do with the fact that Hughes Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus and has never had any renovations. Clearly this fact had many drawbacks. Metal ramps, no air conditioning, and practice rooms with ancient doors that occasionally, or at least once, locked you inside the room forcing you to climb out the window, crawl around on the roof, while looking into other practice rooms to find someone who could let you out of the practice room you were just in. Not that I ever had this happen. Although I might mention that for such an old building, the gutters are quite sturdy. Just an observation.

As a result of Professor Blatti slipping he pulled something, I don’t remember what but clearly important, and had to be out the rest of the quarter. Now what? Who’s going to conduct? Then Dr. Mikkelson comes in to provide us with an update and who will be taking his place for the rest of the quarter. Him. Omg Dr. Mikkelson is conducting the rest of the quarter? Omg omg omg. Did I look ok? Did I brush my hair before I left my dorm today? Do I have anything in my teeth? Have I practiced any of this music yet? What are we even playing? I don’t remember. I’m holding a saxophone. Do I know how to play a saxophone?

I guess the practice went okay though, I don’t remember any odd looks, although I do remember forgoing food or anything else and going straight to a practice room (not the one that locked people in) promptly after classes.

Anyway. It was a grand quarter and I’ve been a Dr. Mikkelson fan ever since. It’s a shame he’s married, has kids and is a bit older.

Oh. The point of this blog. I saw him today. Me and a few friends went to the marching bands pre-game performance and he conducted the Star Spangled Banner. It’s a little bit grayer but ooh… he still has that nice hair. I also noted that distinct conducting style that I always liked while making a mental note to get to the Wind Symphony concert this quarter.

Go Bucks!

2008-08-14T11:56:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago, and when I say a week or so I mean from the time I started this blog, I got a flat tire on my way to work. Actually I'm pretty positive the flat happened over the weekend while my car sat on a nail for two days straight but no matter. Now, it was early in the morning and I don't make it a habit to walk around my car checking for flat tires before I leave. (I later made a note to self that maybe I should start doing this)

So I headed out to work and was on the highway like every other day. This particular day I was chose to follow the speed limit, with my speedometer that doesn't work, while driving in the middle lane. Not too long after getting on the highway a white gas guzzling Mercury SUV, driven by a guy who probably complains about gas prices more then I do, started tailing me. Which is one of my pet peeves by the way. Then he decides he's tired of bothering me and pulls over to the right lane and starts to pass me. Which is another pet peeve fyi, you're supposed to pass people on the LEFT side. However, I guess he realized that he shouldn't bother me by passing on my right, got behind me and went into the correct lane for passing. WTH. Was this guy drunk at 9:00 in the morning?!? He doesn't pass me though which annoyed me (I get very annoyed by little things in the morning) so I look over to give him an evil look. That will show him! Yeah! Evil look! But what? He wants me to roll down my window? Dude. No. Go away.

However, at this point annoying Mercury SUV driver has finally awakened me early, most days it takes me until 10:30 or so, and it finally dawned on me that something could be wrong. (Please remember I’m not a morning person.) So I rolled down my window.

"You have a flat tire!" he yells.
I didn't hear him, "What?!?"
"You have a flat tire! In the back!" he screams while pointing towards my tire.
"Seriously?!?", in a tone that I really don't believe him.
"YEAH! IN THE BACK!"
"Thank you!"

And he drives off. It's at this point that I feel my car shaking for what would have been an unknown reason if I hadn't known I had a flat tire. Understand that I've never experienced having one before. I was now heading on to another highway so I pulled over on the shoulder. First I called work to let them know I would be late. That seemed like a highest priority while sitting on the side of the road with cars zooming past me. Next was Triple AAA (American Automobile Association in case you were wondering. Or it could be Autos Are Amazing. You pick).

Because I was on the side of the highway I supposedly got a Priority One dispatch. Apparently. Maybe they lied. It wasn’t very priority one like. It’s funny really because while I’m sitting there in the heat of the morning I had a AAA truck drive past me. That truck seemed like it would be there in a priority one length of time. Then as I had nothing to do I was watching the highway in back of me and saw a second AAA truck going on down the highway I just got off of. Do do doo. FINALLY, a AAA lady pulls behind me. She get out, says hello, and says, “That is definitely a flat tire”. Thanks for that, I’ll log that away, moving on, can you fix it now kthanx.

She fixed the tire. She showed me the nail. And she advised that the previous owner appeared to have bought three new tires when they last bought tires, the flat one was a lot more worn then the others. And she advised it would be best to buy a new tire.

As a side note, I appreciate AAA lady’s tire advise because she showed me the difference between tires, she appeared to be right, but of course when I actually went to buy a new tire as expected they tried to sell me four new tires. I politely said no thanks, give me just one, the cheapest if possible.

As another side note, I would like to add that I do know how to change a tire. I could probably direct someone in doing it. I think. But should you be a lucky, or unlucky one, to know me, you have to know that there is no way I could jack up a car, drag a 20 pound tire out of my trunk and get it on my car securely, yeah, in your dreams. Or my dreams.

I digress.

I did get to meet a very nice state trooper in the midst of all this. He randomly drove up behind us with his lights on. It’s kind of nice to meet police officer related people without getting a ticket. They seem much more kind and caring when your tire is flat and it didn’t happen because you were speeding. Because I wasn’t. Anyhoo.

Finally everything was fixed and I was on my way to work. I was an hour late. Which is much earlier then if I would have had to fix it myself or course.

2008-08-13T07:04:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let you all know...

I found out about a half hour ago that Clay is returning to Spamalot in September. September 19th - January 4th. I'll be there in October. But I'm not excited or anything.

In other news, I'm working 60 hours this week so I can have money when I go to NYC in October.

2008-08-05T21:22:00.000-05:00

So in case you were wondering I haven't fogotten about my blog. I'm actually working on a blog now, well, at work. The blog is at work and I'm not starting over so you'll have to wait for me to remember to e-mail it to myself so I can post it. However, I can tell you that it's a good one. It's about my second expensive Monday in a row. The first one was me waking up, tripping on my blanket, falling over my alarm clock and smashing my glasses. The second expensive monday is a longer story though so turn your RSS feed on and stay tuned.

2008-07-12T21:08:00.000-05:00

My first montage! I did this for my friend Susette. I was one of her bridesmaids. :)

2008-07-04T10:53:00.000-05:00

Happy Independence Day fellow Americans!

Tonight I'm going to put a [hopefully] new talent to the test. I'm going to try to make a montage. Of what, I don't know. But if it turns out fairly well naturally I'll share my work. :)

2008-06-26T12:14:00.000-05:00

UNICEF: Clay in Somalia, Asks World "Not To Forget"

Clay is currently on an UNICEF trip to the African nation of Somalia, his latest trip abroad for the UN organization. He is using his goodwill ambassador status to once again to remind us "not to forget" about children living in poverty. Clay told OK! Magazine via Thomson Reuters:

There hasn't been much discussion of Somalia since the early 1990s in the U.S. In the lower part of the country, southern part, I feel it's a more desperate situation than any place we've ever been. In Somaliland, you really do have a sense of people who really want to help themselves, who want to do better, who want to effect change for themselves, that is very hopeful.

Reuters.com has a full wire story about Clay trip:

U.S. pop star Clay Aiken appealed on Wednesday for the world not to forget Somalia, where conflict and hunger have created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Aiken said U.S. and international interest in Somalia had been minimal since failed military intervention in the early 1990s.

"There hasn't been much discussion of Somalia since the early 1990s in the U.S.," said Aiken, a U.N. goodwill ambassador, on a visit to Somalia. "The American population kind of got a bad taste of Somalia in the early 90's and hasn't really had much interest in the country since."

Somalia has suffered relentless civil conflict since the 1991 toppling military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

[...]

Aiken, 29, who was travelling on behalf of U.N. children's agency UNICEF, was in Somaliland, a relatively peaceful northern enclave of Somalia that has declared itself independent but not been recognised internationally.

On Sunday, July 6 at 8 PM EDT, both the US and international CNN networks will air a UNICEF special titled "The Survival Project: One Child at a Time". "CNN will explore why 26,000 children die every day from preventable causes, and what UNICEF doing to save young lives."

This article brought to you in part by Clay's Daily Double.

Rats Ice Fishing

2008-06-24T22:04:00.001-05:00

2008-06-03T21:33:00.000-05:00

It was raining for a bit today with a few thunder and lightnings. And it made me think of one of my favorite Clay moments. I probably have way to many to count, but here's one.

This is from his 2005 Jukebox Tour in Wolftrap, Virginia. It was raining then, much as it was today. The amusing part begins at about 2:45. Clay Aiken doesn't lip sync folks.

A couple years ago I started a project making wallpapers from each city of this tour, with the location and something fun that he had said that night. I didn't get very far, but I did do Wolftrap. I forget what the technique is called that I did here, but it's basically a bunch of layers, in this case 19, overlapping.

2008-05-29T12:44:00.000-05:00

Boredom

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, boredom is an emotional state experienced during periods of lack of activities or when an individual is uninterested in the activities surrounding them.

That being said if you ever have a school project, or are interviewing for a newspaper or website and need someone very knowledgeable and experienced in the act of boredom I am here. Call for details.

Now, I’m sure you’ve seen me mention this briefly, but thought I’d offer you the chance to read the full explanation.

I got to work not too long ago and as every day of work, except for that day when I came in when I wasn’t scheduled, I logged onto my computer, opened all my programs, got ready for calls, and opened my browser to post a “Good morning” and greetings to my friends on The Clayboard. That’s a Clay Aiken message board in case you didn’t guess. But what do I find when I get to the website? An error stating that it’s in the category of “social networking” thus the site has been blocked by Chase. Followed by my [silent] outburst of “Are you kidding me?!?”

Now, there are many Clay Aiken message boards. The Official fanclub board, The Clackhouse, Clayversity, and the Clayboard are the main ones that I know of. I only spend time and post on the Clayboard. That’s where I first signed up and I have met several wonderful ladies and friends from all over the world. And wouldn’t you know it? I can still get on all of the other boards EXCEPT the Clayboard. Are you KIDDING me?!?

And now you’re wondering what the heck is wrong with this girl. This is not the end of the world. She can’t access one freakin website omg it’s going to be ok Melanie I promise. Yeah, no. You don’t understand. That is what was keeping my sanity here. I take call after call over and over again. Despite the fact that I was spending a fourth, maybe a third of my time in after-call-work surfing the board I still have lower talk times then most of my team members. That’s just sad I say.

And now you think, no wonder they blocked the site! Melanie was wasting a third of her talk time surfing a message board. Not just a message board, but a CLAY AIKEN message board! This girl should just be fired for the Clay Aiken reference in that sentence. Although for those who think that, they obviously haven’t seen Clay in Spamalot or listened to the new album. And although the flat iron hairstyle he was sporting on The View that one day might be slightly alarming get over it and move on.

Anyhoo.

It was keeping my sanity y’all I’m not kidding. I had friends to keep in touch with. The breaking Clay Aiken news to read. The excitement of all of the activity with the album coming out. And the fact that I could read all this at work and not spend my time at night was a plus. And now? Now I’m stuck reading news articles and looking up the word boredom on wikipedia. For the love of give me my site back before I loose my mind!

Maybe I’ll bring in a cross-stiching kit and make some Christmas presents that the recipients never know what to do with.

Point being? I’m bored.

2008-05-28T17:24:00.000-05:00

The house that stood on 14th.

Actually the house is still there, but I liked that title better. I saw that house the other night and I thought I would take the opportunity to pay a little homage in honor. Technically the house is completely not worthy of such an honor, but just go with it.

I lived in a half house my junior year of college. And when I say junior year I mean my third year for those curious minds. It was my first year out of a dorm and that in and of itself was nice. It was a good house. Most of the time. Part of the time. It was a roof over our heads.

Our landlord decided to be kind and replace the kitchen tiles. That went well. On our move in day he was on his hands and knees gluing them down. This was his first time tiling, I’m assuming, because I still have that sock with a cheery sunshine with glue all over the bottom. It was a nice thought of him to retile but I don’t think I ever walked around that floor in my bare feet my entire stay.

Not too long after we moved in, the house was broken into. We were home tucked snuggly in bed with no idea that some hungry stranger was meandering downstairs. Why hungry you ask? Well, upon waking up we found our kitchen window broken and a piece of cheese on the floor. The punk stole my cheese! As well as my bread and my roommates ham. Thankfully we were not completely moved in so there was nothing of great value on the bottom floor except for my bike, which was also gone. I miss my cheese.

There was a piece of fruit that flew through our kitchen window one evening. At least it appeared to be a fruit although the four roommates and landlord who was over replacing the window for a second time couldn’t figure out the exact type.

Winter came. We didn’t have any heat. I don’t remember why it took so long for it to get fixed but there was an extensive amount of swiss hot chocolate packets overflowing the trashcan. Sugar free of course. That was the only time I wished that I was one of the two ladies living up in the attic.

Summer came and guess what that meant. Killing the front yard grass! Don’t worry, I got permission. I think. Anyway, I spent the thirty or so bucks for a blow up pool. And when I say blow up pool I don’t mean one of those pools to sit in a lawn chair and cool down your feet. I mean eight foot we had no air pump to assist blow up using my saxophone breathe from the diaphragm skills to the point of passing out, taking a break and repeating over and over again. Then spend even longer with a hose connected to the kitchen faucet. Finally followed by blowing up my florescent yellow raft and laying out catching the brilliant rays of sunlight making sure to flip over every half hour or so to nearly suffocate myself in said raft so I could get an even tan. It was beautiful.

The best part of the house, and when I say best I mean could it seriously get any worse, was the bathroom. Or was it the kitchen. Oh, yeah, it was the part of the bathroom floor landing in the kitchen. That was a good one. And I got to be the lucky one to be there when it happened. A little to close for comfort I say but it was amusing.

Overall it was a good year. I lived with some great girls in a house worth speaking of.

In other news, I’ve started to post some of these blogs on facebook. If people ever start to defriend me at least we know why.

2008-05-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

Some of you may wonder how I became such a big fan of Clay Aiken. Here is my story.

In 2005 I went to my first Clay Aiken concert. I didn't know who he was, just that he lost American Idol and had that Invisible song on the radio.

Back in 2005 I was still a big fan of *NSYNC. Not hard core like omg how am I going to get to Florida for Challenge for the Children, or let’s buy three sets of tickets to a concert trying to get as close to the stage as possible hard core, but still a pretty big fan. I was a fan club member so I could get all of the “breaking news” about the group, which in 2004 wasn't much. I did however chat on the message board from time to time. One of the girls, broomykisser, had bought tickets to the Clay Aiken concert at the Ohio State Fair. She had found closer seats and was trying to sell hers. Since I was in Columbus I guess it seemed logical that I take them. They were only 35 bucks, why not? From the way she talked about him it sounded like it would be a good concert. I bought the two that she had and made plans to go with my friend Susette.

Both of us went into the concert having no idea who Clay Aiken was. Of course we had heard of him, they played that silly song Invisible on the radio. The only episode of American Idol I had watched was half of the second to last episode while at work because we couldn’t find anything else on. He sang Bridge over Troubled Water which I found very boring and thought it was ridiculous that he had an entire choir singing with him. He was good and stayed on key, but his voice didn’t really do much for me. I voted for Ruben. My bad.

On to the concert.

After a song or two he started talking to the concert goers. He has an accent? Where is he from? Susette didn’t know, I’d have to google it later. From the first couple songs he seemed to be a pretty good singer though. Much better live then what I saw on American Idol and from hearing Invisible. And then he brought up a young girl to sing “Without You” with him, the duet he sang with Kimberly Locke. I loved it. The way he interacted with the girl was precious.

And then he sang “I Survived You”. Why didn't I know about this guy sooner?!?

And then the kicker was when he sang “You Were There”. Susette and I turned to each other and she said how it sounded like an Especially For Youth song, kind of churcy. She was right! I never would have expected that song at this concert. I was impressed. It brought tears to my eyes. Not that I would admit that or anything.

When the concert was over Susette and I made remarks to each other about how good it was, and how he was amazing live. Hearing him on the radio or a CD holds no justice to his live concerts. I would have to say I walked out a fan, wondering how I could have voted for Ruben.

I later bought his CD and found that his accent was from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Susette and I went to see his Jukebox Tour at the Ohio State Fair the following year. After that amazing concert was when the true fandom began. I learned more about him, I read his book, bought his Christmas CD, and eventually found a website, THE website, to download all of his TV appearances, performances, and concerts to assist me in becoming the fan I am today.

2008-05-20T16:57:00.000-05:00

Cotton Candy

I went to a baseball game Saturday night. That was fun. Not so much because we won, because we didn't, but because it's fun to go enjoy my what seems to be an allotted one game per season.

As one of America's pastimes, at least before XBox, Playstation and Wii, there are guaranteed to be some classic attributes to the game. The prices of $2 hotdogs, $3 sodas, $3.50 cotton candy, and $5 for a box of cracker jacks, so you can sit and kinda sorta watch the game are a few that come to mind. Actually I didn't see any cracker jacks, but I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be at baseball games. Although I'm probably wrong on most of those numbers, maybe, the $3.50 for a bag of cotton candy was right. I think.

I didn't actually pay $3.50 for a bag of cotton candy, and for that I am appreciative for thank you, but I did have some. For not having eaten it in so long it was totally worth the $3.50. I'm not kidding. In all it's sticky, sugary, very blue goodness it made me think. What if I could eat this any time I wanted, and for FREE?!? And that was my goal at work today. Have good handle time while finding a way to make my never-ending supply of cotton candy.

After much, or not much, searching I came up with a very simple recipe. These directions were written for a younger audience, but can obviously be applied to anyone.

Here is what you will need:
Plastic swimming pool
50 pounds Dumino's sugar
20 gallons water
Dad's boat and motor
Dad's truck with trailer hitch
Gelatin (any flavor)

Directions:

Before you begin, make sure you get Dad's truck keys, preferably while he's sleeping. Grab some books to sit on when you are ready to drive the truck so you can see over the steering wheel. Back the truck (with the boat connected) up to your swimming pool.

Next, get out of the truck and start pouring the ingredients (sugar, water, and gelatin) into the pool. When you have finished doing that, start the boat motor (you got the boat key, right?). Make sure the boat propeller is in the pool. Mix all the ingredients very quickly while avoiding the side of the pool (you don't want holes in pool in case you decide you want to make more cotton candy later on). If you are in a big hurry, push the throttle wide open.

When you are finished, you should have a whole pool full of cotton candy. As a nice gesture, go wake Dad up and offer him some of your delicious homemade cotton candy. Dig in, remembering that Dumino's sugar is good for you. If you're lucky, you won't be grounded for life for using Dad's truck and boat or for using your $10.95 swimming pool.

Directions curtesy of http://jansown.com/.

And there you go folks. Watch out world, Melanie is about to make her very own cotton candy!

In other news, what's with all the illusive comments I've gotten about the relation between air conditioning and gas consumption?

2008-05-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

Air conditioning and turn signals

I made a comment the other night about how I was not going to use my air conditioning this summer because of gas prices. One of the few facts I know is that air conditioning eats up gas at a pretty fair rate. That's correct right? Or is one of my few facts wrong? You know what, I don't want to know. If I'm wrong keep it to yourself. Anyhoo. It eats up gas at a fair enough rate, at least a rate to not want to use it. However, upon thinking about this comment I realize that is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever said. I'm not kidding. Gas prices whatever roll up the windows and turn on the air! Or if you don't want to roll up the windows to give the illusion that you're saving money that's fine, but I get shotgun and turn it on anyway so I can have the cool air blowing in my face. Point being, I take that comment back. Not that anyone cares, I'm just sayin.

On to turn signals.

It hasn't been that long since I got my driver's license. Or something like that. I don't know. I was like 79 when I finally got it so it seems like it hasn't been that long. I think. But I know when you get your license there's something on there about turn signals. Besides the body, and engine, and wheels, and all of the other pieces that make the car actually move, they seem to be a pretty important part. I'm assuming since they always make you turn them on and off every time you get your oil changed and then tell you it's illegal to drive without the blinky light and charge you an outrageous price for another light bulb the size of you finger. If it wasn't for the good looking guy who gave me a discount I would have refused.

But I digress.

Turn signals are used in the manner that their name describes. They signal when you are going to turn. Now as stated, or implied, above, I really don't remember what was said about turn signals on the driver's ed test. Although does anyone really? The only thing I know about when to use it is when you are about 100 feet from the distance you want to turn. Which that amount of distance may be completely wrong. The only reason I know that is from when Hillary Duff was on Punk'd and she was 16 or something and getting her driver's license. I don't remember exactly what was going on, I'm guessing she was probably about to turn on to another street, and upon being asked she stated that you were supposed to signal about 200 feet before the turn. The guy who was assisting in the Punk then corrected her and said it was 100 feet. So although we know that everything on television is the absolute truth, it could be neither.

Either way, the point is to signal well before you turn so those behind can prepare for the action. If it's two in the morning and no one is in the vicinity don't worry about it, or even if it's daylight and there aren't any cars around, feel free to save your ears from the annoying ticking that the action ignites. But for the love of, if there's someone two feet behind you, I might be exaggerating, turn it on so those around know what is about to occur. kthanx.

In other news, after listening to On My Way Here a few ::mumblemumble:: times I have finally started to write my review. I have a feeling it may take awhile though. Stay tuned.

2008-05-16T10:27:00.000-05:00

7 8 9

I purchased the new Barenaked Ladies cd the other day. Although when I say purchased I mean I bought six Clay Aiken cds so back off. However if you would like to send the FBI after me please send Agent Booth from "Bones". If not then don't bother.

I love Barenaked Ladies and this cd is absolutely hilarious. Below reads a bit of the song 7 8 9...

1, 2, 3 and 4 more makes 7
And 6 is afraid of 7...cause 7 ate 9!

Nine was minding his business
Talking to 10 about Gordy Howe's clothes
Why 7 ate 9, nobody knows.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10
What about 9?
Seven ate nine!

It's catchy and creative and fun. And gets stuck in your head OMG! Granted it's better then having "I like big butts and I cannot lie" but having three measly numbers in your head, those being 7,8, and 9, it gets kinda old.

Especially old at 3:30 in the morning. Yes, I went to see the midnight showing of Prince Caspian last night. From The Chronicles of Narnia for you confused people such as my supervisor. I must say it was quite good. I am undecided if it was in my favor to have read the book though. It's good because if you haven't read it, or at least seen the first movie, you're pretty much confused for the first half, or maybe the entire, movie. But bad because you end up comparing it to the book and get all grrrrr because parts are left out (the giant folks, where was the giant?!?) or added parts (what's with Peter fist fighting?). But overall I was quite pleased. At least I'm assuming, it was past my bedtime.

Once home and retired to bed what should come to mind? 7 8 9. 7 8 9. I tried to think of nothing, but you know that never works. I tried to think of how much I love Azlam and wished he was in more of the movie. Or how freakin hot Prince Caspian is. Or where was the giant. And I tried counting sheep. But then the only amount of sheep there were was 7 8 and 9.

In case you were concerned, I did finally get to sleep, giving me about 4 hours sleep until my work day began. That was fun.

Aren't you glad my websites were blocked here at work so you can get these spiffy blogs on a regular bases now? It's ok to lie.

In other news I seemed to have developed a speech impediment recently. I'm not kidding.

2008-05-13T12:11:00.000-05:00

A Night to Remember.

When I first saw these pictures I was all OMG the crazy, or enthusiastic as Clay likes to say, Claymates found his Manhattan apartment and have shown up all Britney Spears paparazzi like but dang he looks awfully happy for having that happen.

It's been ten days since Clay's last show of Spamalot. He certainly made it one to remember. Well, I wasn't there May fourth but you better believe I knew what was going on! And I must say, it was probably the craziest show the cast will ever have. For the few people that were there to actually see just the show they were all probably like... what the heck is going on? And for the love of keep quiet so we can hear the dialog for goodness sake! But apparently the actors had to do a lot of pausing in between lines to cheer and such, the audience, not the actors. Not just for Clay but for EVERYONE. That makes me happy.

Most excitedly it was the stage door. The entire alley was crammed with people. I think people were told there would be no evening stage door after the matinee that day but no matter... party in the Shubert Alley!

Apparently there was a photographer up on the roof of the theater taking pictures of the packed alley. Now picture one of those I-have-a-brilliant-idea light bulbs over Clay's head, or don't, but soon after, the crowd saw Jerome up there checking out the scene and you KNOW what that means. Yep. A few minutes later Clay shows up greeting the crowd. It was freakin awesome. I wish I was there. I weeped softly in both happiness and sadness. Maybe.

The perfect ending to a wonderful few months of Spamalot.
---

There was an article the other day on Variety.com about Broadway ticket sales.

Terrence Howard's return to "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" ($682,690) brought some heat back to the box office as the show rose more than $175,000, the largest jump of the frame.

On the other hand, the departure of American Idol alum Clay Aiken from "Monty Python's Spamalot" ($519,454) caused sales for the tuner to plummet by more than $300,000, the steepest slide of the sesh.

Now I don't follow ticket sales but I'm pretty dang sure that's not good. New York is a quieter place now folks. Not to say quiet, just quieter. No more Clay fans screaming all fan-girly like when a bus with a Spamalot advertisement passes, followed by chasing it down the street praying your camera is on and ready, while people give you the "this girl is insane" look while wondering if she's really going to cross that crosswalk without looking for any crazy taxi drivers that really don't care if people are in the middle of the road. Not that I know this happened or anything. ::whistles::

Clay's run on Broadway was a time to remember. And should he ever decide to do it again I will start searching for a Manhattan apartment the day before it is announced, then spend my life fortune to go see it every other night.

In other news, don't expect to see me at any activities or parties anymore, I have to save money on gas so I can get a life fortune started.

2008-05-12T12:37:00.000-05:00

I got to work the other day and look what I see...

Yes, you read that right. I am the 30 day star of my team! I'm not exactly sure of the requirements for such an honor, but nonetheless, my name is on the wall and I am proud of it! Of course, not knowing the requirements, I had to consider what the different reasons are and how I got this honor.

1. POC percentage - this is the percentage of claims you take in relation to the amount of calls. Ideally you open and close a claim on every call. This is unfortunate because that means you can't pace around in your little cubicle decorated with Spamalot and Clay Aiken concert stubs while on calls because you're constantly typing. Many claims you can't close due to farther research needed, others don't even need a claim because the customer called our department in error, or was transferred by a banker because they didn't know what to do. But the more claims you open and close the better.

My POC rate is pretty dang good.

2. Average handle time - this includes three parts; time spent on a call, after call work (acw) and hold time. They like handle time to be about 6 minutes 40 seconds. Or something like that.

My April AHT was spot on. Go me.

3. Utilization percentage - this is the percentage of time spent on a call to the amount that you are in acw and breaks. Utilization should be AT LEAST 65%. The higher the better. For example, a 5.5 minute call and 1 minute acw is fantastic!

I fail in this. My utilization is pretty much crap because my time on a call is usually too low, thus I try to bump my handle time up by hanging out in acw, which drops utilization. It's a vicious cycle and totally not fair I say. They blocked The Clayboard a couple weeks ago which was beyond tragic. They also blocked fark.com this past weekend which was not as tragic but just plain annoying. So now my after call work consists of twiddling my thumbs, writing this blog, and being just plain bored. Not to say blog writing is horrible, but The Clayboard was just something to keep a smile on my face. Sometimes. Other days it's just plain impossible.

4. Random picking.

Personally I vote that it's random picking. Why you ask? Because I'm almost the last person of our team to have their name taped up on that pretty star. Psh. From such a wonderful score card I should have been up there first. I'm just sayin.

Either way it's still spiffy and now I have the picture to add to my resume. I'll just print it up on a post-it note and "accidentally" have it stuck on the front of the paper when I take them to interviews. I'm sure it's a guaranteed $1000 salary increase. I'll keep you updated.

2008-05-04T20:51:00.000-05:00

Melanie’s Most Excellent South Bend Adventure

When: My 25thish birthday (i.e. November 28th, 2007)
Where: Mainly on the highway, a brief time in South Bend Indiana
What: Clay Aiken’s Christmas in the Heartland concert.

First of all. I don’t know why I’m an Official Fan Club member. The special pre-sale tickets reserved especially for valued members like myself are not even worth the $29.95 I paid for the membership. Clay’s occasional blog might be worth it though. Maybe. Ok, yeah. I talked myself into it, I’ll renew my membership.

Anyhoo.

After much ticket stress I got my tickets through the theater’s website, not the OFC, because their seats were worthless. Center orchestra, Row E, which actually translates into about row 10-15. You choose. After having them for about two months it was finally the day of the concert. Finally.

Somehow Susette and I got on the road late. I don’t know why, I’m always on time, if not early, for everything. I’ll blame her. We made a quick stop by Wal-mart, buying enough junk food for five trips to Indiana, and off we headed to South Bend. Which, in case you didn’t know South Bend is actually north. Very north. Google maps should have reminded me of the fact that this was going to be a one day trip and to wait and see if there were going to be any other concerts scheduled in the area before buying tickets. I’ll blame Google.

As a passenger I had four jobs. 1. give Susette the quarters when we got to a toll, 2. keep an eye out for cops, 3. directions, 4. freak out about the traffic that was delaying our arrival at the theater. I did a good job on number 4 anyway. And I think I did an ok job holding the phone and repeating everything that my VZNavigator was instructing Susette to do because I couldn’t understand the actual directions on a map. Moving on.

The show was fantastic. My pictures were not. I obviously bought my camera too close to the time of the show and didn’t know how to use it. I got one perfect picture, that being of Quiana, not Clay. Go figure. But the show was wonderful and Clay was amazing. On a kind of same note (haha. Note. Clay sings. Get it?), we found out that Clay is in love with a stripper, either that or he was talking about the song I’m In luv Wit A Stripper. Whichever. But I assure you it fit right in with the Christmas season and what he was bantering about. Kind of. I would add a completely appropriateish comment on this subject now, but unless you’re a 50 year old Claymate it’s not worth it. Ha.

We decided that we weren’t about to drive the however many hour drive it would be to get home. Instead we found a nice cheap, or inexpensive, motel and followed my VZNavigator directions to said motel. I don’t remember the name, it’s probably best that I don’t. I will however make a brief mention of how classy it was. The floors felt like they were wet, maybe due to the heat being off, maybe not. The cups provided in the room had a nice big crack in them, so I had to share my daily allowance of water with my sweater, and, hmm, it’s probably best I don’t remember the name.

In the morning we went to Ihop. I had never been to Ihop and until recently firmly believed it was a club. It’s definitely not a club, but they do serve some very good breakfast. The hot chocolate not as good, or not good, but either way both of us ate too much and have the pictures to prove it.

We hit the road and were back home in no time. Ok, not really no time. But it was uneventful anyway.

I didn’t get to introduce myself to Clay yet but I’m working on it. I carry around my special rabbit foot 24/7 in the hopes it will help me out. Or not really because that’s cruel to the rabbits. But maybe the next tour will bring me better luck. Mwaa!

Clay Aiken new album OMWH Amazon clips

2008-04-29T19:46:00.001-05:00

2008-04-29T16:10:00.000-05:00

Being a part of the Claynation

I love this story and wanted to share. I post this with permission from both the writer CarolinaClay and Mariedrummond.

Claying It Forward on Broadway

When Clay says he has the best fans in the world, he’s not kidding—and he’s right. Everyone in the fan community has either participated in or read about the “Claying It Forward” incidences that take place almost daily. Sometimes it’s a CD or a DVD of performance clack; other times it’s passing along an extra concert ticket.

You may have read about just such an incident at Spamalot in February. After seeing a nutshell of the chain of events, I looked up the original post at the OFC. With permission, this is the extraordinary experience of Canadian fan Mariedrummond:

On my birthday weekend, Feb. 16-17, I saw Spamalot four times. While I was waiting for the Sunday matinee, I met several Clay fans, and one introduced me to Scarlett. I just discovered Clay last December, and I thanked her profusely for all the great clack that has allowed me to reconstruct Clay’s journey of the last five years.

Incredibly, Scarlett invited me, a total stranger, to sit with her for the evening show in seat A111. The ticket had originally belonged to Toni7babe, who had to fly home before the show that night.
I gave my E6 ticket to Michelle, a fan I met that weekend and who had a row K seat. Then I met Nikki, who had a row Q ticket, so I gave her the K seat.

Still holding the Q ticket, I went back to the SRO (standing room only) section and asked a mother and her young son if they would like to share the seat. It turned out that this was her son’s 12th birthday, and he became very excited and started jumping up and down.

“Spamalot” on Feb. 17 turned out to be one amazing “Claying It Forward".

---

I post this story to share a little about the Clay fandom that I’m so thankful to be a part of. Being a Clay fan does not just mean being a fan of Clay. Obviously that is a big factor, and why the Claynation exists, but there is so much more.

When CarolinaClay mentions that these types of “Claying it Forward” incidences happen daily she’s not kidding. For example, during tours the Claynation has a website set up for ticket donation for those occasions where you suddenly have six tickets to a concert that just you and your roommate are going to. I don’t know how it happens because I’ve never had it happen to me, *cough*, but it does. And then when all of the upgrading of tickets finishes and you end up with however many extra tickets you have *cough* you can donate your tickets to The Way We Make A Difference site, who then works with places like Best Buddies, Special Olympics, YMCA, Ronald McDonald houses, etc. to allow people with and without disabilities be able to experience the joy of attending a concert together. It’s fantastic.

There are many other opportunities for fundraising and donations which I won’t go through.

And then there are the people I’ve met. I don’t really spend much time on the Official Fan Club, but there is one thread on The Clayboard that I frequent. I’ve met ladies from all around the country, all around the world in fact! I’m definitely the young[er] ones out of the group but we all have such a great time. No matter what age, no one is left out. I truly hope I have the opportunity to meet up with everyone during the summer concert series.

I came home recently and found a small yellow envelope addressed to me. It’s so exciting to get things besides bills. But in this case I had no idea who the person was. I stood there for a minute wondering who the heck I know in Connecticut. Yeah, nothing was coming to me. But whatever, it was mail and it was addressed to me! I opened it and found a Spamalot playbill. And then I let out a squeal of excitement. A lady on the message board had inquired if anyone was interested in one, as she had scooped up a bunch after the show that people had left behind. I provided my address just in case she had an extra but said I would be going to a show as well, so don’t worry about it if she ran out. This lady, who I had never before talked to, made my week! I now have the playbill in my cubicle at work preparing me for my trip to NYC.

Anyway, I will not take any more of your time. For anyone who wonders what the heck I see in that Clay Aiken guy, make fun all you like but I’m not leaving the Claynation anytime soon!

2008-04-29T15:55:00.000-05:00

A trip to celebrate Family Day

Yesterday was the new Ontario holiday “Family Day”. Do you realize how many more holidays they have in Canada over the US? I’m thinking of moving to Canada for that reason not really. But yesterday was Family Day, and I thought I would celebrate it with my friend Lynn who by chance actually lives in Ontario. It was Family Home Evening (FHE) at my church and I was definitely going to go in celebration. It started at seven. I attempted to primp and prep and get beautiful, which didn’t work out so well, and headed out.

As I was leaving it started to snow. No big deal. It snows in Ohio, I’m used to it. However, as I pulled out of the parking lot a torrential downpour hurricane of a snowfall started. Holy mother of snow batman. But it was Family Day dang it and I was going to go celebrate! About a mile up the road I decided that I definitely lived in the US… Family Day whatever I’m turning around!

Now when I say a torrential downpour hurricane of a snowfall I’m not kidding. You couldn’t see two feet in front of you, headlights were useless, and I just happened to be on a road with no streetlights. That worked out well. As a special added bonus you could no longer see the street names because snow had magically fallen in such a way that it was stuck to the signs covering them up. Wheee! This was fun! I had driven this road many times though so when it was time for me to turn onto the street heading into my neighborhood I signaled in plenty of time and turned left onto the correct road. Or not. Turns out they moved my street and in its place there was a newly formed apartment complex. Hmm. Ok then. This complex was also poorly designed because the parking lot did not leave ANY room for turning around. An attempt was made, but I figured the parked cars would not appreciate me sliding into them. Yes, the roads were already very slick. I would have to drive around the complex to the exit. Upon finding this exit I headed out and back towards the street I was supposed to turn on. But not really. The exit seemed to land me in the opposite direction and I slowly drove into the unknown.

I found a street sign that was pointed opposite from the snow so it wasn’t completely covered yet. It looked familiar so I thought I’d take that route. Although when I say familiar it really means I’ve driven by the sign many times so the name looked familiar but I didn’t exactly know where it led. At this point I thought it best to get help. I pulled over and called my roommate Laura. I figured she lives in the same house as I do, she would know where I live! From the cozy confines of our sometimes warm house, Laura directed me home. Phew.

Looking back I realize I should have used my vznavigator to get home. The nice lady would have given me precise directions and when exactly to turn. Well, maybe. She might not have been able to see through that snow either. At least she wouldn’t laugh at me because I couldn’t find my own house.

2008-04-29T14:32:00.000-05:00

Plastic frames, wire frames, no frames oh my!

There are many things in this world that I can be decisive about. Asparagus or green beans? Do I want to go to work or stay home? Should I wait to buy tickets to Spamalot or buy them two seconds after they go on sale even though I have no money for food, no money to get there and no idea what it costs for a Manhatten hotel? These things are very simple decisions to make.

And then there is the process of buying glasses. Now I’ve been wearing glasses since second grade so I’ve had some experience in that department and I will admit that I’m not as decisive when the occasion arises. This time however I was ready. I went to lenscrafters.com and looked at all the frames. All of the modern and trendy and office and old lady reading glasses. I knew what was there and I was ready! But funny because when we got to the store none of the glasses looked familiar. Had I gone to the wrong website or was I in the wrong store? Either way it was a new search, and all preparedness was lost. Back to being indecisive. Thankfully my roommate Laura was there to help me out and tell me which was best, afterwhich I had to ask every single employee there what they thought just in case Laura was wrong. But I had found the perfect pair and it was time for my eye exam!

1 or 2? 2. 1 or 2? 1. 1 or 2? They look the same. 1 or 2? 3? 1 or 2? Oh for the love of…

Exam done and it was time to decide on how I wanted my insurance to be applied. Indecisiveness returns. But wait! My glasses will cost 500 DOLLARS OMG WHAT?!?

I’ll just get the contacts kthanx.

2008-04-29T13:45:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my new blog. I have been a long time member of livejournal, my previous blog, but as I have found blogspot to have many more options available, it is time for me to move on. I'll probably move some of my favorite blogs over here just for the fun of it, but bookmark this site and enjoy!