Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving. Two things are happening today for me that has never happened before..
1) I will be working from 5am-2pm
2) This will be the first time, in my relatively short life, that I have missed Thanksgiving with my Mom's side of the family.

Comments on #1: Who in their right mind would wanna come and WORKOUT on THANKSGIVING?!?! In the past three years, during the nine hours that we are open, LESS THEN 200 PEOPLE HAVE COME TO THE GYM. For nine hours. *sigh* I'm sure it'l be just as slow as it was on the 4th of July, even more so actually. Anyway, it's time and half so I guess I shouldn't complain, but still, it's family time that pretty much everyone else in the fitness center gets off. Which leads me to....

Comments on #2: This is the one that I'm pretty upset about. I look forward to going home for the holidays every single year that I have been in college. And even before then I looked forward to it because it meant that family I don't normally get to see were coming into town. Plus, I just love being around my family. They're all pretty amazing and I just love being around everyone in the big group.

The first one was a complaint, and on this day or thanks, I feel that the tone of that comment is pretty selfish of me, but I'm leaving it because it's reminding me to be thankful for my job. In hard economic times, I'm very thankful to have two jobs and not be too scared that one might disappear.

Also, having to work has presented me with the opportunity to go to my Dad and Diana's house for Thanksgiving and spend time with them and part of Diana's family. It should be a lot of fun since I haven't seen a lot of these people since Dad and Diana got married.

I'm also thankful for all the awesome people that I have in my life right now. Y'all know who you are and it would take way too long to name everyone here and tell them how much they mean to me. Maybe that'll be one of my December posts, but just know that you are in my heart I thank whatever God for bringing you into my life and all that entails.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

pickin' and grinnin'

I've been listening to a lot of acoustic music lately. Mostly ballads and stuff, but also some folksie songs and stuff like that. It's actually inspired me to pick up my guitar again, after a really long time. I want to say it's been at least a year and half since I even took it out of the case, let alone tried to play it. I bought a new tuner, and a guy at work is actually going to help me tune it today during or after work. I also wrote a song. It's really inspired by a song on the Twilight soundtrack (which I have been listening to almost non-stop). I'm not sure how, but I'm going to try and write my own music for it. Yikes. We'll see how that goes. Don't laugh at me please, lol. Back to studying...

missed

Oh man, yesterday completely sucked. Well, not the vast majority of it. Just certain parts of it. Like getting only two and half hours of sleep, and then finding out that for my annotated bibliography I'm supposed to have 15-20 sources. FIFTEEN TO TWENTY SOURCES!!!! W...T....F?? Thankfully, not all of those have to come from our paper that's due. Just some of them. But still. More freaking work, more freaking reading. Ugh.

Buuuuut, I did have some good things yesterday. I had an almost enjoyable time at work, thanks to co-workers of course. I finished an online program so that means I get some money on my next couple of paychecks, woot! And I bought this ridiculously cute scarf and two pair of earrings from World Market. Love it! OH! And I'm done at the school for the rest of the week, sooooo, more time to work ANNNNND DIZDAR IS COMING TO TOWN!

goody

I actually got to the library at a decent time today. I've got about eight straight hours of studying ahead of me. Not really looking forward to it, but it's the only way I'll get to see my family for Thanksgiving and get all my work done. So here it goes.

PS: I'm also working on something else. It started out as a fiction book, but then I decided I wanted to bring it into reality and see where I can take it. An experiment if you will. Jinny and Meg, I'll need your help for the first part of it. Details to come. :)

Random Song of the day: Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth...from the Twilight soundtrack. Also Robert Pattinson - Never Think. His voice is so not normal singing but it's amazing :)

finally

The roughness of a hand,
the gentle glide of a touch
Something so small
Can mean so much.

Lacking the words to tell
just how much it means,
Swimming in a wordless sea
to try and get to the stream.

Fighting the current
with every breath
the darkness begins
and it seems like death.

Breaking the surface from beneath
is a strong hand gripping
powerfully to the frail cargo
dragging it to shore dripping.

The warmth of the sun
sets the water from the skin
while the gentle breeze
captures the waves' din.

Light and pleasing is the breeze
fluttering the grass and trees,
making them dance and sway
to the notes of unheard keys.

Words still escape me
even here, where I find peace.
The strong hand is gone,
so far away an out of reach.

A dream. So real. So welcome.
I reach against the graying sky
pulling and grasping but failing
to bring back the image to my eye.

Nothingness surronds the green,
a black hole in a colorful plot.
My heart, my love,
gone from that spot.

Will it ever be revealed
who in my heart that I should gleam?
Or will it be forever a hopeless
and unfulilling dream?

twilight

So, after being skeptical and then absolutely devouring the Twilight book series, I (like just about every other teen girl in America) went and saw the movie based on the first book tonight. I dragged two friends, who haven't read the books, for moral support amongst the teen hordes.

There was actual screaming, well squealing really, when the movie started and when the guy playing the main character finally came on screen. Irritating, but really funny to here to tweens in the seats behind us getting told to shut their yappers, lol.

Review: For the most part, the movie stayed really true to the book, which was a complete must since the series has so many devoted fans. Think Harry Potter, only just having teen girls as the main market. By staying true to the book, and even putting many of the same lines, fans of the series will be more then happy with the big screen adaptation. They left out some essential plots points that will have to be addressed in further movies or else part of the story will not make any sense, but that's something the screen writer can work out...

My personal view: The acting was really good. I thought that all the main characters were portrayed very well. My main beef with the movie is the camera work and all the close ups. It was really disconcerting after a time. With that many close-ups, it was easy to notice all the white make-up and when the vamp characters had contacts in. But overall, I really did like it, and I'm really happy that it did not deviate from the book as much as I feared it would do. Some book-to-movie deals get lost in translation and I'm glad that this one retained the same message, emotion, and love that the book originally created. I think that's why this book appeals to so many people, the love story is so potent. An old message, but one so simple it's timeless: True love conquers all.

And that's all I've got for tonight. Been up for 22 hours. Sleeping a lot for the beginning marathon of research, papers, and reviews due. Yay. Night everyone.

talking

Why is it, that you can talk to some people about certain things and not others? I feel like I can talk to some people about my stupid fantasies or dreams or whatnot...and not other people. Maybe because I know some people won't judge me or make fun of me, not like my real friends do...but still. I think it's more of an understanding thing I guess...Might just be a stupi simple question.

k

Okay, I know that I promised that I would have a poem posted for today, but honestly, I didn't get a chance to write it. I was razzed today at work for being excited about a "teen" movie called Twilight. I can't help it. I liked the books a lot, and any movies that came from books I'm excited to go and see so I can compare them. So yeah. Plus, it's got cute guys. Nuff said. That's all. Tired+headache=Tired Brinanana, night!

po-em

I write. A lot. Some people don't know that about me, but I do. Anyway, in conjuntion with the strange dreams I've been having, especially the very vivid one I had today that I swore really happened when I woke up (it was probably the anti-nausea medicine though...)here is a poem.

--Coming tomorrow...inspiration has lost me for the moment...--

eww

So it seems I have contracted a stomach virus, like many of the people I work with. Mine's not as bad as theirs was, meaning that I haven't thrown up yet, but the nausea is certainly crappy enough. I might not be throwing up but stuff is still not right. That's all I want to say. So, yeah. I left work early, took medicine and went to sleep. Woke up, had issues, made some green tea, had more issues, and now I'm sitting my comfy chair trying to make myself better enough to go to class tonight. Trust me, if I didn't HAVE to go, I wouldn't be going. But she's missed three classes this semester and I don't want to miss anymore. Plus, I have a book review to turn in. Not sure if I'll make it the entire class period, but I'm sure gonna try...

daydreams

This picture was taken two years ago when Mel and a former friend and I went to Virginia to visit. I wasn't aware that Mel took the picture when she did, but I think that it reflects a very important part of my personality. I've always been a dreamer. I can be sitting anywhere and things will just pop into my head and I'll let my imagination float away with the thought.

Didn't really help me during class when it happened. I was able to channel a lot of that daydreaming into writing. So far, only partly constructed works have been written. I've got concepts for about twelve different books and a lot more short stories waiting in my head or on random sheets of paper for me to finish or get a chance to write down.

For the most part, my stories revolve around a central theme. Love. Amor. The one thing that causes the deepest pleasures and the worst pains. I've been in love, REAL love(well on my end anyway), only once. And it ended REALLY badly. If I was to psychologically analyze why I can't finish one of my stories, I think it might be because I haven't had a successful enough love story to want to write one. But there are some stories I have finished. The ones that I finish either have to deal with a love lost, a relationship ended, or no relationship at all. It's funny. I've never really put this into perspective before. Makes sense in some really messed up way I guess.

School

I can't seem to find any motivation for school these days. I have a lot of research I need to be doing for the papers I have to write, not counting the reading for the weekly classes I need to do as well. I'm finding the lack of motivation very displeasing, but I can't seem to make myself do anything about it...

Next semester is at least promising to be better. Better class selection and my interest was sparked in all of them, so here's hoping. Next semester I am signed up for...

The Revolutionary Atlantic--which I hope is a military history class, cause that's what I want to specialize in.

Rise of the Jim Crow South--I'm already taking the professor this semester so hopefully with a topic I'm more interested in, the class will be more interesting.

History of the Mediterranean--The countries surronding it, not the water itself. At least that's what I figure, lol.

And finally.....Educational Psychology--Yup, that's right. I rejoined the UTD Teacher Certification Program. I think that it'll help me to actually take a few more classes and build my confidence up rather then just trying to do an alternative certification program and hope for the best.

It's likely I'm going to be dropping one of the grad classes. I hope I don't, because that means I would have to take three classes next fall and I really don't want to do that. But we shall see what happens. Everyone have a great weekend.

New Business

Hey y'all, two of my friends and I have started our own business! It's pretty exciting, going slow of course, but it's been pretty exciting getting everything together. Advertising and marketing what we do and all that. If you want to check out the website we can be found at www.personalassistant3.com

We offer a wide variety of services and we are all very professional. So if you are in need of assistance, please do not hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an e-mail. We will be glad to be of service =)

Okay, enough of the kissing up for business.

But seriously, check out our site. It's pretty cool, Carlos and I have been working on it for a month or so and Melissa has recently joined us here in Dallas and now we have become a mighty team of three, working together to make this personal assistant thing work.

But I'm still working at the gym and also at the school. I will be cutting my hours at the school to accommodate for my school hours that I am taking at UTD in the spring. More on that later.

Random Quote: Road head cures road rage.

Random Song of the Day: The Fugees-Killin' Me Softly

dreams

Ever have like a really vivid dream that kind of haunts you through the rest of the day? Not because it was scary or anything, but because it just felt so real?

I've been having one certain dream, which then turns into a daydream when I'm awake, and I find myself thinking about it before bedtime, and then I'll have a dream about it again. I'm not sure if I believe in dream interpretation or anything like that, but I would like to believe it's more then just my subconscious telling me something. I don't want to get into what the dream is actually about, but yeah, it's just been on my mind for the last day or two.

Dreams are a weird thing anyway. Carlos, my lovely roomie, told me that he had about 100 of them the other night, just one right after the other. I don't know if I do or not. If I do I surely don't remember them. I usually have one that I remember, and by the end of the day I can only recall figments of what it started out to be.

This one? I remember a lot.

Surreal, and very haunting as well. Okay, back to dealing with the crap I need to. Just wanted to get this down really quickly while I had the internet available.