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July 30, 2004

In keeping with my week-o-completely fluffy posts, it is quiz time. (All the quizzes are actually there...just scroll down.)
 
#1 What kind of cake are you?    
Strawberry cheesecake was my answer.
 
#2 What drink are you?   
I appear to be Coco-Cola

#3 What language are you?   
Apparently, if you speak Mandy, you also speak Elvish or Orkish. I'm going with Elvish.

posted at 8:10 AM
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July 29, 2004

Someone explain this, please........


posted at 8:12 AM
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July 28, 2004

I am so hopelessly addicted to blogging that I write even when I have nothing to say. This would be one of those times. Deal with it. Has anyone else noticed that the ad banner on my page is now showing  ads for baby stores? Why? Nothing that I have written about had to do with babies. My clock isn't ticking that loudly, in fact I am pretty sure I have found a way to keep the alarm from sounding. I don't get it...why baby ads? I am hungry and sleepy and kinda grumpy cause over the course of the next three days two of my friends are leaving. One was just here for a visit so leaving is part of his deal. Still sad. The other has graduated and is going back to Colorado.....apparently Wyoming has scared her off. I don't blame her...but am gonna miss her lots. Chinese food sounds very very yummy right now. So do chocolate chip cookies. Mmmm...peppermint tea! Nap, must find a way to nap......maybe under the desk...no one will know. Shit, I blogged that....ummm..it was a joke...honestly! Oh gawd, the elipsis are back...it must be an evil plan. "What are we doing tonight Brain?" "Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!" "Alright, but this time you get to put the rubber pants on the gorilla." WTF? Why is the labbie desk sticky? Ewww, bad thoughts, will not imagine what coworkers could be doing while on shift. Dernnit Jim, can't you control your labbies? Wait, no I take that back, continue as you are Jim, I will just clean the desk with the handy-dandy lysol wipes. Focus. Mandy. Focus. I need a flip-top head. Ya know, like from the toothbrush commercials. "So I'm wondering, do the other cookie animals feel sort of ripped? Like, is the hippo going, "Hey, man, where are my pants? I have my hippo dignity." And you know, the monkey's just, "I mock you with my monkey pants!" And then there's a big coup in the zoo." I adore Seth Green, he makes such a cute werewolf. Buffy at 5 am = fun! And then I found $20.


posted at 9:15 AM
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July 27, 2004

I woke up this morning to a very happy kitten. It seems he was actually able to finally catch and kill a bee. He is now awfully proud of himself.......and won't give the damn thing up to be flushed.
 
I hate being allergic to Laramie in the summer, so many things I would like to do....if only they didn't make me sneeze.
 
I have hiccups. Not the standard, soft, continual hiccups, not even that one, loud, renegade hiccup, but continual after a long pause, completely random, sometimes they hurt  hiccups.
 
I've spent too much time in my own head lately. I don't necessarily like that.
 
I feel like a blob......soft, squishy, utterly useless.


posted at 8:13 AM
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July 26, 2004

Late night conversations always lead to interesting places. Even more so when they are between Bridget and me. In a random twist of fate we started talking about churches. Not religion, but churches...and the feelings you get when in them. I love churches, but only when I can be in them and not be bothered. No preaching or pulpit pounding please. Just let me sit and absorb. One of the most memorable "church" moments in my life had nothing to do with a church at all. We weren't even in a church at the time. In highschool our choir participated in a joint All-City and All-State competition. Why they were held at the same time I don't remember. Hundreds of students packed the Cheyenne Civic Center. I believe we were over capacity as students lined the aisles and stage, leaving little room for the presenter. This was at the height of the feel-good motivational speakers. The hyper little man who came to speak to us knew nothing about music. He admitted to not being able to sing his way out of a paperbag. But at the end of his enthusiastic schpeel he did something remarkable. He made us sing. He said something along the lines of "This building is filled with singers, so sing." He had us all stand and sing Amazing Grace. We were not to worry about key, pitch, rhythm, meter....any of it. Just sing. Hundreds of voices singing for all they are worth. This could have gone badly, but it didn't. This was the first time I truly knew the meaning of the words "joyful noise".

This Saturday I spent from 9 am until noon at the Methodist church working with the foodshare people. I went to get my required 2 hours of community service in, but it became much more than that. It is an odd grouping of people. Most of the volunteers are in their  40's or older. There were only three of us in our 20's; all of us new to the program. It is amazing how sorting potatoes, setting up tables, and basically just bagging groceries for people can make you comfortable in a room filled with strangers. What started out as just something to do became something that I would do even without the groceries. For those 3 hours, I honestly believe that room was the safest, most welcoming place I have been in a while. There were no politics involved, like many other volunteer groups. There was no looking down on anyone, either working or receiving. Just a sense of community.



posted at 8:22 AM
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July 21, 2004

The Reverend Furious posted a reading list and requested that we post our own. I decided to play along. I don't know if my list will stand up next to his...Especially since mine fall into the realm of fiction. It is summer, reading that requires me to process only occurs in small increments...or during the class semester.

1. Eragon by Christopher Paolini.  A story very much in the tradition of Tolkien, but aimed at the Harry Potter-aged readers.  Now, before you dismiss it there are some cool things about it. First off, the author is now all of 19 years old. Second, thanks to a handy pronunciation guide and Language lists, you too can learn to speak "The Ancient Language", Dwarf, and Urgal. I just finished reading this.....you need to read it too!

2.(3 and 4) Daughter of the Forest or Son of the Shadows or Child of the Prophesy by Juliet Marillier*. This is actually a trilogy(in that order) by an Australian author. They can be read out of order, but will make much more sense in order. Each book is the story of a family surrounded and entangled in magic as each generation continues.  The first book Daughter of the Forest should be a fairly familiar story. The basic plot is that of the Seven Swans fairy tale. (look it up if you don't know...it's good.) However, all three books are fleshed out with Celtic mythology, pagan magic, a few historical happenings. Very well done and worth the time to read. And they are Fun!! What more could you want?

5. (6 and 7) The Wayfarer Redemption or Enchanter or Starman by Sara Douglass*. Yet another trilogy from an Australian author.  This one is much more in line with the first book I suggested. There is magic, and evil, people with wings, trees that can sing, and much more. These probably shouldn't be read out of order, but who am I to dictate these things? Also, these books require a bit of a violence warning, there are some pretty gory details within. If you can make it past the opening to Redemption, without revolting,  you'll be fine.

8. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. This is the story of a little girl's murder and the mystery surrounding it. This is unlike any other murder mystery around. It is written from the little girl's point of view, which makes piecing together what really happened a challenge. Yes, it is a murder book, but don't knock it 'till you try it...you might like it.

 
Note: * Since these books were first released in Australia there are different versions. Apparently, American distributors decided that releasing 6 books was just too difficult and compressed both series down into 3 books apiece. So, depending on where you get the books from the titles may or may not be correct and fitting. You might have a lot more reading to do.
Both authors have several other books out. Pick one the fits your interest.
 
These are a few of the books that repeatedly hold my attention, they create worlds to easily escape into. Hopefully someone will find something interesting on this list. Maybe later there will be another list.



posted at 3:46 PM
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July 20, 2004

By now everyone has to of received one of the spam/chainmail type letter scams. Usually they are from someplace in South America or Africa asking you to open your bank account and let this ambassador store millions of dollars in your account, for safety of course. You will receive a percentage when the ambassador is sure whatever pressing situation is happening is over. I have received tons of these letters. I am starting to believe that some poor government is collapsing as I blog because I keep deleting these emails. But today.....today ....I received one from a 14 year old boy in Scotland. Well, actually he is from London but after his father died......you get the picture. So here is my dilemma, do I :  
a) ignore the email, delete it and thereby start the collapse of Scotland's
government as well?
b) respond to the email accordingly, just to see what does happen?   
c) Start sending out my own chain letter spam and see what happens?


posted at 8:56 AM
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July 19, 2004

"Don't look at me, I just know stuff." Finn from SVU. (Ice-T)
 
This was the end of a very good and rather interesting weekend. Don't be jealous......wait Yes, be completely, slap-happy jealous....cause I am the pretty pretty princess and deserve it!
 
~bouncy bouncy bouncy~


posted at 7:47 AM
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July 17, 2004

Quick question:   Is it just my new blog that seems to be having issues such as not being able to scroll and the comments only occasionally working?
 
I am curious because from home my blog is totally fubar'd. It doesn't matter which browser I use (have a Mac can use both) Netscape refuses to show my layout correctly and there is no hope of any sort of site navigation. IE, does the layout almost correctly, but the comments don't work at all...unless I bite my tongue and hum the Mr.Rogers theme.  These are the problems I see from my side.
 
However, these aren't limited to my blog. For the last couple weeks, Travis's blog seems to be joining the crack blog generation as well. None of his format shows up on my laptop, and at times I get to see his code. Lucky me.
 
Please tell me it isn't just me...and my blog screwing things up...
Maybe.....hmmm....


posted at 12:21 PM
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July 16, 2004

I just realized that two frequent visitors to Mandyland have been left off the links list. We can't have wonderful people like that not included in the tour book. So, Mark....Sloth....any objections to being added to the list?


posted at 2:12 PM
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Hmmm, the inside of Blogger seems to have changed again. Nifty, and slightly annoying.
 
It rained yesterday. The strong hold MotherNature had on the 85 degree mark slackened just enough to provide for a lovely, cool afternoon and evening. Both times the light ting sound of the drops lulled me to sleep.  Happy.
 
I have the urge to go see a baseball game. Not sure why...just wanna. I love baseball, but only when I can watch it live. Anyone up for driving to Denver and catching a game from the RockPile (cheap seats) sometime soon?


posted at 8:20 AM
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July 14, 2004

At first there was a really cool blog template. It should have been easy enough to make work. But them Murphy's Law kicked in. I fought for a day and a half trying to fix that stupid border problem that was pointed out, repeatedly. I managed to get it to expand but not on a permanent basis. So, Jim being the cool friend that he is said "Sure" and volunteered his coding skills to find the elusive thing. After many fidgets, tweaks, steals, and general chaos it was decided: the original code was made from crack! It wasn't my lack of html skills that was holding the page back, well at least not entirely. It wasn't that most of the code was written is a language yet to be identified, though that certainly helped. It was just on crack, pure and simple. The bubblegum pink boxes with candycane borders were discarded and replaced the layered flowery-ish joy you now are viewing.

So, what do you think? Will it do?


Jim will receive major, heaping tons of praise for helping (see: he did the codes, I pointed to numbers and said things like "what about that, is it anything?") This praise will come in the form of, but shall not be limited to: brownie points, hugs, props, thank you's, snaps, princess points, kudos, bravo's, Queen points, and pogs.

posted at 10:06 PM
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Here's something to keep you busy while the construction continues. It isn't the best quality, but if you watch long enough it gets really funny. Or it did when I was awake at 4 this morning.

http://albinoblacksheep.com/flash/pingpong.php

posted at 8:04 AM
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July 13, 2004

Please wear your hardhats and protective gear at all times. MandyLand is currently undergoing some physical changes. Please play nicely while the debris is cleared away. Otherwise, I may have to resort to drastic punishment measures...such as making you watch "Return to Oz".


Questions, comments, suggestions, concerns can be posted in the comments.


posted at 4:31 PM
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I am a washing machine!

what kitchen utensil are YOU?



posted at 11:59 AM
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July 12, 2004

Generations and generations of peoples have looked to dreams for answers. Although, in many cases these dreams were called prophesies. The people who were graced with these prophesies weren't called dreamers, they were seers (or is it see-ers?). Why weren't these people subjected to odd stares and shunned? Well, they might have been but the answer I am going with....they interpreted their dreams, finding meaning in the random piece of cheese that appeared every five minutes one night. This exposition is only important to me really. See, I believe in signs and symbols. Dreams, waking or sleeping, daydreams or nightmares, all can hold significance in my life. Interpretation is the key. A fish can only be a symbol of upcoming monetary riches if you know it to be. Even given this belief there is still the scientific announcement (at least I believe it to be scientific...can't think where it would have come from otherwise) that in many cases dreams are your subconscious way of working through the day's dealings. Okay, I can buy that. There are some dreams that are just too mundane for me to go digging around in looking for hidden meanings. But then, there is something I have been told over and over since I was a child. Those really strange dreams, the ones that make you believe the sandman used a mixture of crack and acid instead of sleep-sand when he came to visit you, are really just manifestations of the food you ate before sleeping. That GreatDane wearing a backpack waiting to give you the secret message which you must deliver to the kitten word for word or be shot...well, that is really just the smothered burrito you had for dinner possibly mixed with the pound of m&m's you consumed watching t.v. There is a point to this ramble, I promise. Umm, maybe not a point...more like a gently rounded pinnacle. I had a dream last night. Feel free to interpret it if you wish, blame it on some major issues I have to work through, or come along with me and believe that all notions of normality have fled from my life.

~~do la doo, do la doo~~ (a la Wayne's World)

I was rushing around trying to find a building. When I found it I then had to negotiate my way through the maze that was the hallways. They seemed more like tunnels, but parts and pieces could move and slide, sometimes opening up into the passage that I needed. Finally, I make it to the auditorium where I appear to be one of the last to be seated before an awards show. Think the Academy Awards held in the most po-dunk, rundown, falling down theater you can imagine. I found a seat right next to my mom, who wasn't Lady...but still known to me as my mother. Seated to her right was Val Kilmer. Yep, I had a celebrity guest appearance in my dream. Val choose me to go with him to the refreshment stand. He wanted the largest bucket-o-popcorn available. When we got there they didn't have the largest, so we were given several tiny bags of popcorn to carry. For some reason going to the refreshment stand had been a staight line, but going back meant we had to wander through a lounge filled with teenagers. At this point I had to pee. No not in reality, in the dream. So I hand over my bags of popcorn and go through the door with the little "woman" symbol. Inside however, I was not anywhere near the girl's bathroom instead I was in a kitchen filled with Elvi, plaid Elvi to be exact. Yes, I am making that into the plural of Elvis. The place was packed with them. I am assuming they were impersonators because they came in all nationalities and colors. Here is why they stand out. All were dressed in brightly colored, plaid jumpsuits. The oranges, greens, blues, and pinks were blinding. All the same technicolor pattern. I could actually see this color compared to the rest of the dream which played out in sepia tones or dusty black and white.

~~do la doo, do la doo~~

That is where I gave up, decided to share this with you, and rolled over waking up just long enough to start a new dream. And then I found $20.

posted at 8:08 AM
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July 10, 2004

Done! We survived! The dances were great. We had a good crowd with only a few cowboys leering at us before and after. A lot of families stopped to watch and infact the whole area right in front of the stage was occupied by a herd of children watching and sometimes bouncing along. I am hyper now, as well as hot and sweaty. I am going to go take a shower and cool down...maybe become comatose for a while...

Thank you Abra, Rachel and Bridget for coming to watch! You are now evidence that it actually happened and that I am not making this all up. ~grin~

posted at 1:58 PM
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July 08, 2004

I don't have anything in need of saying at the moment. I can tell you about the choli I got for bellydancing. Choli is middle Eastern (don't ask me to get much more specific i can't) for top that will only cover your breasts and arms. Seriously, the hips scarf has more material than the top...kind of unsettling. But it doesn't matter...not entirely sure we are actually performing. We haven't heard anything about when and where. Actually we haven't heard anything since someone asked our instructor if we would want to. Who knows? I may have a cool outfit and nowhere to wear it. Oh, there is a purpose to the random rambling. Travis requested I put something over the girl and her car....I didn't want to take her down...so I went this way...the path of distraction. Did it work?




Bellydance update: The performance is Saturday at 1 on the stage downtown. We are performing a whole two songs....so if you want to see it don't blink.

posted at 4:47 PM
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July 07, 2004


Kristen gets all the credit for the title. Posted by Hello

posted at 9:35 AM
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July 06, 2004

I was going to post on the Fourth but then everyone else did...or maybe I was too lazy...or it could have been that I have a slight identity crisis when it comes to my feelings on National Pride and the like. The problem is I believe in supporting our troops, well...most of them...the guy singing in Fahrenheit 9/11 is an ass of the first order! Anyway, the way I see it, they are just doing their job. Unfortunately, there is a dumbfuck in charge. To me supporting the troops is not supporting, liking, understanding, or following The Great and Powerful Oz....err....george bush.

~Wait, that is politics, must not have that in Mandyland~

The Fourth is also a family holiday for me. In an odd way I was able to branch out this year. (And Jim didn't ditch me for guys this year!) I visited mom all day on the Third, and then was up bright and early to volunteer with the Safe House for the "Freedom has a birthday" celebration in the park. I am not actually sure if volunteer is the correct word to use. Is there a word that means something along the lines of: was out of my mind and willingly climbed onto a bench above a tank full of cold hydrant water so people would donate money and throw balls at a target to drop me into the water? Oh, yeah....SUCKER! Actually, it was fun and for a good cause so no real complaints. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent with Jim and Travis. Yummy food, pretty explosives in the sky, a bunny, and Sousa on tiny speakers. Happiness.

I feel like this post is just randomly ending. As if there needs to be a lesson...or some sort of wrap up. But I just can't figure out what to say ...so you get this instead..."The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."
Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)

posted at 8:25 AM
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July 03, 2004

I must confess....Buffy isn't my only t.v. obsession. I am also horribly addicted to Law & Order. SVU is my favorite, but the others do just as well. Between TNT and USA (the channels) there is pretty much always an episode on. I being the good t.v. viewer that I am, I fall for it and watch hour after hour...happily. I am also in love with the HBO series OZ. I saw just a few random episodes when I had access to the channel. Why is this important? It isn't, except that on Friday I realized I am not the only one who adores these shows. Bridget, a cute little feminist English geek (she was in Senior Sem with Linus and I), does her impression of a slug every night too. So we hung out on Friday night watching the first few episodes to the first season of Oz, falling for the characters and playing spot the Law & Order actors. Being a slug is quite entertaining when other slugs are around.

posted at 9:22 PM
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July 01, 2004

I wasn't going to post today, honest. I didn't think there was anything to say. However, when I woke up this morning a little rhyme I was taught a long time ago, possibly around kindergarten, came back to me. So, I thought I would share.

~If July the first be rainy weather; It will rain four more weeks together.~

Not sure if this one really works...but we shall see.

posted at 8:09 AM
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