What's Your Sign?

The lamest pick-up line heard around the nation is making its way onto my blog. But don't fret - this is the last you'll hear of it (from me, at least). Somehow "What's your sign?" evolved from a pick-up line (that may or may not have worked) to a running joke. Along with "Are your legs tired? Because you've been running through my mind all night!", "what's your sign" has been cast as the universal language for geeks (or college freshmen) chasing after the woman they'll never get...and I thought that this would be the only way I'd hear about it.

I decided to look up my Horoscope for today...

You can tell that things are a little different today -- but you might not be
able to put your finger on it. Let your subconscious investigate for the time
being -- things are going to get even more interesting soon!

I don't have any insights on what that might mean, but I don't really care. Maybe today's different because it's Monday, not Sunday.

Anyway... the other day, I had a conversation with someone about birthdays. He was looking me up on Facebook and noticed my birthday. Coincidentally, our birthdays are less than a month apart - which meant that we were both Tauruses. "Ah, Tauruses - perfect match, don't you think?" (or something along the lines)... Whether that was a pick-up line or not - that's the least of my cares right now - that actually made me think.

People either believe in Astrology or they do not. I've seen people check magazines and newspapers to see what the horoscope was for the day. I had a friend who would read the Astrology page to see if her day would be good or bad. I always thought that was funny - allowing what someone says on a newspaper page shape your day.

Have you noticed? Astrology is "carefully" an art. What I mean by carefully is that the "predictions" are both positive and negative. It is neither straightforward nor too abstract. Astrology will say that you're going to have an obstacle but you will triumph. Yeah - an obstacle could be a red light on my way to work, right? Maybe not.

People who read Astrology also believe in what they say about who they will get along with best and who are supposed to be their mortal enemies. People will make decisions about you, your personality, likes & dislikes based on your birthday. How about that? They also decide who you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with.

Astrology lists your strengths and weaknesses along with what you're like personality-wise, how you handle problems/stress, etc... When you really think about it - any of the signs could apply to ANYBODY. How you've lived your life, what your family's like, your socio-economic background, etc all determines who you are, not what Astrology says....

So if anybody asks me what my sign is, I'll kick him in the nutz.

Captioning: Bonus Feature or Required?

Originally written for Houston Deaf Network

Imagine that after a long day, you'd love nothing more than to sit on the couch and watch the newest cutesy animated movie from Pixar. No doubt, you cannot be disappointed... after all, it is Pixar, right? They have delivered pretty stellar movies in the recent past and this should be no different. Now, imagine being confronted with the shock that the DVD has no captioning at all. Maybe you don't have to imagine it. Maybe it happened to you, just like it happened to me.

My roommate scolded me, "Tsk, you should have checked Netflix and Redbox first to see if it had captioning or subtitles." No, I didn't check before I rented the movie, but in this day and age - practically every movie has either captioning or subtitles that most of us don't even think to check anymore, right? It was silly to think that I could have vested so much importance into a cute animated movie to help me unwind, but the fact is - I was extremely disappointed!

At first, I thought I was alone. I must have gotten a bad DVD somehow. Just my luck, huh? Then over the next few days, I began to see steady streams of complaints from friends and fellow Deafies asking about the captioning on "Up."

First it was a "marketing decision." Then it was a "manufacturing error."

In a country where closed captioning is considered mainstream, this was a pretty big shock. Pixar (and Disney) released their newest full-feature animated film to all major rental companies without captioning or subtitles. If you required captioning in some form and wanted to watch "Up," you were out of luck. Well, no... not exactly. If you wanted to watch it bad enough, you could buy the retail version. Conveniently, the retail version has captioning along with the bonus features.

Pixar considers closed captioning/subtitles a bonus feature. Really? Shame on you, Pixar. Back in the heyday, captioning might have been a luxury but today, it is expected. In a place where we have captioning practically everywhere, it is expected of major motion picture companies to produce their movies with captioning.

After a pretty big uproar from the community, Pixar has announced that they will release a new batch of DVDs that includes the bonus features to rental companies.

Let's analyze what Pixar meant by "marketing decision." Could it be that they wanted (or needed) to save money by removing the bonus features? Surely, the animation giant would already have all these features someplace. All it would take is a little manpower (and technology) to integrate them with the feature film. So it couldn't be about saving money. When I sat down to think about it, the only (and most obvious) answer came to mind. If adoring fans wanted to watch "Up" bad enough, they'd buy the DVD, right? Or maybe not. It may be safe to assume that in this economy, Pixar might be suffering just a tad bit just like the rest of us. Apparently, they thought the best way to boost sales was to force those of us who require captioning to buy their DVDs. Lame.

Let's look at "manufacturing error." Error? Yeah right. A complete set without bonus features conveniently ended up at rental places while the other batch (WITH bonus features) ended up in retail stores? A mistake can't get any more perfect than that. For Pixar's sake - let's believe for a second that it truly was an error. With the movie being passed through so many hands from start to finish, it's appalling to even think that everyone could have missed that.

Thousands of devoted fans have become disgruntled customers overnight. I guess Pixar just never accounted for how many there are of us out there. And by "us," I mean those who need captioning to enjoy their movies and those who just like to have captioning on their screen. If everyone stands together and makes one united voice, we can truly make a difference.

Let this be a message to Pixar and anyone who will listen. Captioning is NOT a special feature!

A Rocky Start

It's been almost a month since I've been back here. Whether that's good or bad - I haven't decided. Moving into the house was a challenge and I've had plenty of ups and downs trying to get ready for the move. Honestly, I wouldn't have ever gotten through it if it wasn't for a close friend of mine. C saw me through everything and was there to help me when I needed it. She's the best!

So - here's what happened....

I started packing as soon as I got the news that my application for the lease on this house was approved. I packed with a frenzy at first, packing all the things I knew I wouldn't need for at least a month or so. I felt good. I was getting a head start on packing and felt that when the time came to move, I wouldn't have miscellaneous stuff laying around the apartment waiting to be packed at the last minute.

Well, I underestimated myself. With a full-time job, two kids, a dog and many other responsibilities, I packed less and less over the span of a month. Moving weekend came and I found myself packing and taking apart furniture well into the night. Moving day came and I was still packing and taking apart furniture. Thank goodness - J was there to help me, but of course, it wasn't without a whine or two. He hates early mornings just as much as I do - probably even more.

Anyway, as soon as I was approved for the lease, I started making the many phone calls necessary to cancel current services at the apartment and ordered new ones for the house. That also included the many change of address forms that I had to fill out. Fun, isn't it? I called AT&T for Internet and TV service at the new house and I had to order gas from Centerpoint. Also, the house didn't have a fridge or a washer/dryer so I had to buy them from Conn's. Both AT&T and Centerpoint required someone to be there to let someone into the house, as well as Conn's. With all the deposits and initial activation charges on many things - I couldn't afford to miss work (and AT&T/Centerpoint wouldn't come on a Saturday) so I was stressing out. Since my friend, C, is off on Fridays, she volunteered to come and stay at my house (which had no TV, no Internet and no fridge) to let all these people in.

Well - Conn's showed up but with a washer/dryer that was damaged. They apologized and said they'd be back Saturday morning with new ones. Ok - not too bad, right? Well - AT&T showed up right after Conn's did and found that there wasn't any connection. The AT&T guy thought maybe something was wrong with the phone line behind my house so he called for a phone tech to come check it out. It took the phone tech guy ALL DAY to show up (The TV guy called him around 10am and he showed up around 4pm) only to say "You're too far to get any services from AT&T." Poor C - she waited at the house all day for nothing. While she was at the house, I was running my many errands - one of them was visiting 4 different schools to withdraw my children from Katy ISD and to enroll them in Cy-Fair ISD. Yes - 4 schools - because my kids attend different schools. Fun! By the way - Centerpoint never showed up either.

So - on my way to one of the schools, I knew I would be passing the house so I stopped by and gave C some lunch. C was texting me all day long keeping me up to date on the many problems there was at the house. What made matters worse was that T-Mobile's servers weren't working that day. The only thing that worked on our phones was text. I ended up having a chat with the AT&T guy about the problems. That stressed me out even more. I ended up not going to work after all because I was just too mad/upset about everything. Since I couldn't make phone calls (no Internet, no phone, no nothing!), the nice AT&T guy decided to hang out and help me with these issues. He called Comcast and set up the service for me. How nice! Funny - he was being paid by AT&T and helping me get set up with Comcast. I wonder how his superiors would feel!

I also called Centerpoint to find out why they didn't show up and they gave me the run-around about some stupid deposit that they never told me about. After two days of trying to find out how to pay the deposit, I finally paid and they finally showed up on Tuesday to turn it on. So - I had to go a couple days without hot water and a oven/stove. Again - fun, huh?

Comcast also came on Tuesday. Since AT&T was stupid in not checking before my appointment whether I could get services or not - I had to go without TV and Internet for a few days. In the old days, that wouldn't have been so bad - but when you live in the world of technology, the Internet means everything. I make phone calls, pay my bills and check my emails. Without the Internet, I'd have no contact with the outside world. Scary.

Finally - with everything turned on and working on Tuesday, my roommate moved in. I thought that things would finally settle down. Nope. No problems here, but a house comes with responsibilities. I've been cleaning out the garage, trying to decorate and watching my bank account take a dent with buying the necessities for the house (toilet paper, anyone?).

It's been fun, but tiring at times. All I can say is that I'm loving the house and good riddance to 3 flights of stairs!

10 Things I Hate About Texting

I'm back at home tonight, but I'm not sticking around for long. It wasn't in my plans to return home tonight, but I've come down with a small cold. I've got the chills, fever, cold, gas, and a horrible pit in my stomach. The pit has nothing to do with my cold. The past couple days was nice, but being back at home has caused me to come crashing back to reality. Reality that is my life and reality of what is going on around me, my friends, my job hunting and everything else.

I was supposed to come home yesterday to do errands, wash clothes, pack (and re-pack) for the next few days, but I was tempted into playing another game of Cashflow. When we were done, I planned to head on out but the friends I was staying with convinced me to stay another night because it wasn't "safe" and pretty late. Soooo, I stayed another night. THEN we played the game AGAIN ... TWICE.... today. Whew. I didn't get home until recently so I have lots to do tonight. I almost didn't come home, BUT the cold hit me and hit me hard. Now I'm not sure if I should even go out of town now.

Anyway, the past couple days, I've been texting and been texted-to like crazy. I've talked to more people than normal (and I'm still wondering how that happened!? Although I'm hearing from lots of random people, I'm not hearing from my closest friends at all. This makes me really sad). This also brings me to more "text" conversations. What I mean by "text" conversations are shortcuts that the electronic world considers actual words. And I've come to be annoyed by them. Very Annoyed.

For instance, why do people say kewl instead of cool? Both takes 4 thumb-strokes. It's NOT a shortcut - just a stupid word to make you sound "cool." How about "aiight"? That isn't a shortcut either, no matter how you slice it. It saves you one thumb-pressing and gives me a whole lot of "nails scratching on the blackboard" feeling. Just say "ok". Just do it. It means the same, trust me.

When driving, I'm all for using shortcuts to make words shorter and I even talk in ASL with a friend of mine sometimes - just to use less words. It's a luxury when you're trying to fight traffic and carry on a conversation at the same time. Times like these I wish I was hearing. Oh well.

Next time you're texting and feeling lazy (or busy), go ahead and use shortcuts... but make sure they're actual words instead of slang that's all the rage now. Trust me, in a year or two, you'll feel stupid over the fact you even said these words.

What the Bleep?

So.. most of you know that I'm going for my masters in Deaf Ed. 23 months down with 1 month to go and that month couldn't come and go any faster than I'd like it to. I'm down to my last two requirements for the worthless degree I'm about to get (and by the way, I have already received my certification, yippee!!!). A huge Comp project and of course, the Comp Exam, which is due in about two weeks. If I haven't told you yet about the Comp project, you'll find out about it now.

Basically, the Comp project is a super-long paper (I'm up to 15 pages so far and I'm NOT even halfway done) detailing what I will do during certain points of my first year as a teacher. Prior to the start of school, first week of school, end of the first 6 weeks, end of the semester, beginning of the 2ND semester, early spring (ARD preparations) and end of the year. I have to painstakingly explain what I will do in which situation at these points of the year and why. Fine, I get the point of the project - but as I struggle to complete it each day, I get more and more frustrated. Why? Get ready because I'm about to give an eyeful.

In every aspect of the paper, I'm required to recite how I plan to incorporate speech, language and audition skills in my lessons along with the other normal stuff like seating, IEP goals for individual students, blah blah blah. I have to talk about how I plan to evaluate the students, determine whether they're improving and how I plan to incorporate new ideas into new lessons based on the students' success. Language I can understand but speech and audition!?

I had an interview last week with a school district that I'm not too crazy about. I had an interview with them back in November as a long-term teacher... needless to say, I didn't get the job. However, this time around, I was much more prepared for the interview because I had a very good idea of what type of questions they would be asking me. Regardless of my teaching philosophy and my personal experience, I answered the questions according to what I knew they wanted to hear. Never mind my beliefs - I was willing to say whatever BS possible to get the job. I'll find out Friday whether I got it or not. I highly doubt it, though.

Now, as I'm completing the Comp project, I'm looking back at the interview and thinking about what they asked me. The more I work on the project and the more I think about the interview, the more I get agitated and angry over their philosophies. It just seems to me that Deaf Education programs are being overrun by hearing people who know crap about Deaf people. In two years of my education and my interviews, I've seen that these people are more concerned about the Deaf kids that has the potential of speaking and hearing. Never mind those who are mute and profoundly deaf with no possibility of hearing a sound. Who needs them, right?

I may be profoundly deaf now but I'm certainly not mute. I may not have grown up profoundly deaf but these "insignificant" profoundly deaf and mute people are my parents and friends. It really bothers me that people put more of a focus on deaf children who may be able to achieve much more than those who cannot hear or speak. What the hell? Who are they to decide early in the children's life who and who may not be successful based on how much skill they have in hearing and speaking?

In every lesson, I'm required to think and talk about how I can accommodate those who can speak and hear. I have to talk about how I plan to improve these skills and incorporate them in everything I do. What about the others? What about using your time to think about what visual aids you can use to provide better education for those who cannot hear and speak?

Ultimately, I know that if and when I become a teacher, what I do in my classroom is up to me. However, I do have to follow laws and abide by the IEP goals, district rules and of course, the program rules. I've told myself that I could always put up with stupid people for a while until I found a position at a district that I could appreciate. However, the more I think about it, the more I wonder... am I willing to compromise my beliefs and the children's education because the program coordinators think they know what they're doing? Don't get me wrong - I have no formal experience under my belt so I am not in any position to say I'm better than they are... but I AM a deaf person, I DO have deaf parents and I ALSO have a deaf child.

I teach GED to deaf adults that are struggling really bad (and I mean, bad) in English and Reading. The funny thing is - 3 of the 5 adults grew up in oral schools. My heart goes out to them - and I just keep thinking.... if people cared about them in the beginning and provided them education in their natural language along with visual aids (frankly, ANYTHING that could take advantage of their eyes rather than their ears), would they be at the same place they are today?

Living a Whole Lifetime in 7 weeks

After 14 weeks of student teaching, I am back to my old life. Going to bed late, sleeping in, being a kid at heart almost all day (and it's exhausting!), cleaning up and doing things around the apartment. This is only my 3rd full day back at home, and I already feel like I have too much time on my hands. While it's exceptionally nice to be back at home, I feel happier when I'm working. Contributing to society, supporting myself and my kids, and most importantly - keeping myself busy.

Don't get me wrong. It's really nice to be back at home again full-time. I can get things done and go grocery shopping during the day. How I missed grocery shopping in the daytime during the week. I've gotten used to enduring long lines in the evenings and on the weekends along with the working people. Now I share the lines with stay-at-home moms, the recently unemployed and lazy bums.

In just 7 short weeks, I've learned more than I ever could in my entire life what NOT to do as a teacher. Teaching high school was a mess! In my personal opinion, some of the teachers created much more drama than the students did. They actually leeched off the drama between the students and recreated them. They call it "professionally discussing their concerns for the students" but they are really feeding off the energy and amplifying the situation. Some of the students acted more mature than a few of the teachers. How sad is that?

During my evaluation (which I passed with flying colors - but that doesn't mean anything to me coming from an ineligible sponsor), my supervising teacher gave me some advice - two, actually. First, he said I needed to be more social with the students and the teachers. Yeah - because I didn't want to hang out with him during my free time, that means I'm not social enough. Right. Second, he said I needed to dress more professionally. There he was - telling me that when he himself was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Maybe he meant I should wear skirts or pretty myself up. If that's true - he deserves a fist in the face. Here are some "Don'ts" I've observed and told myself to NEVER EVER do when I'm a teacher. It's also my advice to the supervising teacher I had:

1. When a student needs help on an assignment, never tell him/her to hold
on so you can finish talking about another student and his/her problems (in the
presence of a class).
2. Don't leave your student teacher alone for 30-45 minutes at a time
(almost daily) to wander the halls, talk to other teachers and come back with an
excuse saying "I had to deal with a problem."
3. When you make rules, never break them. If YOU break them, your students will.
4. Never make up grades based on how you feel about the students. If he earned it, good. If not, do NOT give him a passing grade! That only sets them up for failure in the future.
5. Do NOT back stab or gossip about your co-workers. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday it'll come back and bite you in the ass. Hard.
6. Don't teach the same lesson every...single...day. It's BORING! No wonder your students hate you.
7. If you're lazy - you're NOT meant to be a teacher.
8. When you often dump your class on another teacher because of a "situation", do NOT call that teacher lazy when he wants you to return the favor once in a blue moon.
9. Do NOT meddle in your students' lives. There's a fine line between caring and getting involved.
10. If you give assignments and tell them it's for a grade, do NOT just throw them in the trash when you've decided you don't want to be bothered with the gradebook. It's a waste of the students' time (especially when the assignment is 2nd grade material...like, really!? You'd give seniors a 2nd grade assignment!?).
11. When the student teacher teaches for a week, creates an assignment/test, and administers it to the students, do NOT disregard that as "practice" for the student teacher and simply place the papers aside. At least when the student teacher teaches, the students are actually LEARNING. Look that up in the dictionary - I'm sure it's a very unfamiliar term to you.
12. Again - if you're lazy - do NOT become a teacher.

Overall, you can see my experience wasn't a very good one. I did enjoy some of my time there. I met some teachers that I've become friendly with and hung out with during my breaks. There are some decent people there and the students can be super nice.

If you or anyone you know is planning to intern at HISD, please PLEASE talk to me first. I'll tell you who's good and who's not - so you can be sure you're not placed with the same teacher I was stuck with.

Major Venting Ahead

Bitch Mode: On

I am SO pissed! It's my last week of student teaching and I've had enough. It's taking almost all the strength I have to not walk out of the school and never come back. I can deal with the issues here, but this is enough.

Today is the final day of TAKS testing. The seniors were herded into the cafeteria for a long morning of meetings, getting ready for graduation and hearing college reps speak about how wonderful their college is and why the students should go there. Because my teaching supervisor is a Senior Sponsor this year, I got stuck with watching the seniors in the cafeteria.

Normally, these kids are OK with me. They generally listen with an occasional moment of rebellion. They quickly get over it and we get along fine. But today was another story.

The school has a very strict rule - no cellphones, PDAs, etc during school hours. While the college reps were speaking, the Deaf group just sat at their tables and chatted away - completely ignoring the interpreters. They also played with their phones. Instead of taking them away, I gave them a warning. Put it away... and I won't take it if I don't see it again. I guess these kids were really bored (so was I), so they kept playing with their phones. After several times of telling individual students (one warning each) to put away their phones, I got fed up. I told them all.. if I see ONE more phone, I'm taking all of yours.

Of course, they all played with their phones again. They refused to give their phones to me, telling me that I wasn't their mother and their teacher, and I had no right to take their phones. Keep in mind - during this time in the cafeteria, I was alone with 20 students. My teaching supervisor had left me alone with them for at least 45 minutes - AGAIN. He has a nasty habit of leaving me alone with the students so he can roam the halls for people to annoy.

After struggling for a while, I walked out of the cafeteria. I found my supervisor and with a stern expression, I told him that he needed to go back to his students and handle them because I'm fed up. He just said "OK, go back over there. I'll be there soon." He shows up 15-20 minutes later and HE DID NOTHING! The students had their phones out. He just looked at them. He didn't say anything to them and he didn't do anything.

I realize that as a future teacher I need to get a handle on my discipline abilities. In elementary, I quickly got my students under control, I even won over the girl with emotional issues. I got along well with my high school students. I taught and they listened. However, they've been spoiled by their real teacher. He's all talk and no action. Whenever I tried to discipline them (or just teach), he would frequently step in and interrupt me.. when he's around. I feel that he undermines my status here at the school and presents a huge problem here.

Anyway, the students sat there and boldly started talking bad about me - in front of me and my supervising teacher. "She can't do nothing, she's not a teacher," is one example. You don't want to know what else they said. And my supervising teacher did - you guessed it - NOTHING.

In fact, he turned around and started flirting with a young interpreter. They chatted about Gallaudet and they both took turns talking about themselves, promoting themselves as an excellent teacher and excellent interpreter ("I learned all ASL all by myself! I never took ITP courses, I became very skilled because I have excellent deaf friends." mock giggle). GAG!

I was fuming inside. I pulled the assistant principal aside and told her about my situation with the kids, their disrespecting me and using the phones. She told me to go to her office later and to write them all up. I'm going to do exactly that. You can be damn well sure of it.

On top of all this - my supervising teacher told me this morning that I wouldn't be able to teach my lessons. On Friday, I approached him and told him I came up with an idea on how to present reading materials to the student and that I wanted to do that this week. He said "Oh, sure!" Today, he said "Well, we need let them go to the computer lab and do online activities. It's been crazy with the TAKS testing so this week will just be easy, OK?" I'm thinking - the past FIVE WEEKS has been easy on his students! The seniors did absolutely nothing all week last week except watch movies. And we need to take it easy because of TAKS?

I had started to become excited about potentially teaching a new idea I came up with. I wanted to test it out on my students and see if it really improved their understanding of their vocabulary words. Guess it won't happen.

4 more days. Will I make it?

Bitch Mode: Off

Abusing Sick Days

Let's review our vocabulary for a minute here. Don't worry, nothing too difficult.... Define the word, "sick." Done? OK, now define "sick days." The answer's pretty obvious, right? It's your basic kindergarten vocabulary. Sick means: "stay the hell away from me when you're coughing, wheezing, sniffling, blowing your nose, running a fever or sweating cold sweats - OR all of the above."

I have an issue with people abusing their sick days. Everyone does it, I know I have in the past... but excessively calling in sick and using up your sick days for when you are actually well is just plain stupid. And I'll tell you why.

There are two people that I know (who will remain nameless for obvious reasons) who have used up all their sick days for the year already - and they used it all up a long time ago. One used it to take an extended vacation for spring break - taking 3 days off right before Spring Break. I'm not going to list all the reasons why they used up all their sick days. Some were valid and some were simply "because I didn't feel like working." They were given 10 paid sick days. With all the school holidays, spring break and summer break - is there really a need to take an additional 10 days off - some of which because you didn't feel like working?

Because they have used up all their sick days, they have go to work when they're sick. When they work while they're sick, they expose their germs to other people - forcing them to take their sick days off work if they ever caught the germs. Here's a tip from Social Decorum 101: It's RUDE!

One of them came down with a very minor strain of "Influenza" (his words) which is just a fancy name for the flu. Is a very "minor" flu any better than THE flu? I think not. He was pretty sick. I did my very best to distance myself from him. His co-worker (who also used all her sick days) got sick, maybe from him, and continued to pass on the germs. Needless to say, I avoided her like the plague.

What's even worse - using up all your sick days will cause some people to act immorally (for lack of better word). Because her sick days were all gone, someone snuck out of work for 3 hours (during lunch and her free period) without signing in or out (because she couldn't afford to) to go to a doctor's appointment. For lunch - you're allowed to leave campus but during your free periods, you're required to stay on campus. Just her luck, the principal came around looking for her. This forced the other teachers to lie and cover up for her - telling the principal that she was in the bathroom, in the library, etc, etc. The principal was pretty pissed off - but I didn't hear anything about the teacher getting in trouble. I guess maybe because the principal couldn't really prove that the teacher stepped off campus.


My point is simple and my point is this: If you're sick - PLEASE take the day off and stay away from me. If you're NOT sick and it's NOT a life/death situation - drag your ass to work. IF and only IF you have lots of sick days left towards the end of the year and there's a VERY good chance you will not be sick (hey, you never know), then do whatever you please. If your job doesn't carry your sick days onto the next year then go ahead - use it all up and take an extra vacation. But for your sake AND mine, don't be stupid and spend it all on frivolous frolics at the beach. Comprende?

Outrageous Spending

Begin Rant.

What is Michelle Obama thinking!?

Sometimes when I see news like this, I wonder if we're really in a recession. Even during a recession, people's spending is still pretty high - and when I say people - I mean celebrities. They have tons of money, more than they could ever need in a lifetime and what do they do with it? Spend it - and spend it stupidly.

I don't have numbers and I don't care enough to do research - but I'm guessing that if we put all the millionaires, billionaires and zillionaires together, and told them to spend just half of their money on normal goods (not Couture, Armani, Gucci, all that fancy crap), I think they could pull us out of the so-called recession. Maybe that's too far fetched but I do think that it could help. They have plenty of money to go around with. Come on, spread the love!

They could put their money to good use. Donate lots of it to charity and buy items that will help companies from losing money. When companies aren't selling their goods, they become broke, which will result in lay offs, which will result in more homeless people, which will result in a crisis.... see where I'm going here?

OK - If I was filthy rich, I'd probably say "it's my money, I can do whatever I want with it. I worked for it, I earned it, and it's MINE!" I see the reasoning behind it. But come on - working 4 months out of a year on average for a movie, they could earn millions and millions of dollars. If they lived a normal lifestyle, one movie - just ONE movie - could finance their whole life.

Here's what started this whole rant. Michelle Obama attends a charity event wearing a pair of shoes that cost $540. Like, really? Did she really do that? Why not just take that $540 and give it to the charity? Here's a photo of the shoes....




To add insult to injury, I don't even think the shoes look $540. It's fabric, dyed in color, with rubber soles, and shoelaces. I bet you could find one that looks similar to the one she's wearing for $30. OK, maybe $50 or $6o but it's a hell of a lot better than $540.

What bothers me most is celebrities will appear at charities and auctions to raise money for a good cause. Good for them. But you know what would be really cool? How about donating some of your own money? I'm sure most of them do - but it's a very modest amount compared to what's building up interest in their bank accounts. I remember a news article on Yahoo talking about a celebrity donating $10,000 to a charity. Whoo hoo! Big fuss, right? Wrong. They have millions and $10,000 is all they give? Oh please.

Paris Hilton lives off of the interest of her trust fund... yes, just the interest (I can't prove it but I've seen it time and time again in different articles). It would be nice to live comfortably, I won't deny that, but how about putting your money to good use instead of hoarding it in multiple bank accounts? Most of that money will still be there when they die so what's the point of having it all if they don't use it?

End Rant.

What do you guys think about celebrities, their spending habits and Michelle's shoes?

Curiosity At The Wrong Time

This morning, I left for work on time. In fact, I even left earlier than usual because I was ready. As I got in my car, I thought that since I had a lot of time, I could treat myself to Starbucks or kolaches, but decided not to. I didn't want the extra calories and I wanted to save my money. As I would soon find out, it was a good thing I didn't stop to get anything.

Traffic in the morning isn't too bad on I-10, usually. Sometimes the entrance ramp is backed up and traffic is slow until we reach the point where an extra lane opens up. From there, it's smooth sailing all the way to the school. When there's slow traffic, it takes me 5 minutes or less to break through it. Knowing how bad traffic can be, I'm happy with 5 minutes of slow traffic.

Anyway, traffic was horrible this morning. The exit ramp was backed up as usual but the line was extremely long. I drove past it and snuck in line at the front - I wasn't in the mood to wait. Traffic picked up a bit when I reached the extra lane and zoomed down it, passing many cars. All of a sudden, at Beltway 8, all the cars screeched to a stop. A bit annoyed, I wondered what was up. It took me 40 minutes - yes, 40 minutes! - to get to the Silber/Antoine exit. I should have already been at the school by then.

At the Silber/Antoine exit, traffic miraculously opened up. I went from 20mph to 70mph in a second (ok, maybe not a second but you get the idea). Traffic flowed beautifully from that point on. I glanced to my left because there was a cop car, a tow truck and a huge pick-up truck (Dodge or F-350). Apparently, the white truck encountered a problem or he had a one-vehicle accident. His guardrail was a little messed up. The driver of the truck and the cop were working together to remove the guardrail from the truck.

What's ironic is that the truck was in the HOV lane. Cars in the HOV lanes were zooming by at the speed limit - but all 5 lanes on I-10 was backed up for miles! There could not have been any other factors for the backed-up traffic. The moment I passed the "incident" was the moment that traffic became extremely clear.

I understand that there's a natural curiosity when it comes to accidents. Just yesterday, on my way to work, I encountered a two-vehicle accident at an intersection a mile from the school. From the looks of it, the cars collided head-on (or almost). There wasn't any traffic so I drove past it quickly - but there were actually spectators sitting in lawn chairs at the intersection (the accident happened in front of a residential neighborhood). Maybe they were occupants of the vehicles involved in the accident - but I'm positive some of them just came out to watch - there were about 8 people standing around.

Anyway, it's alright to be curious about things. You'll learn a thing or two and discover hidden talents and interests. But when curiosity makes me late for work - it's not ok!

A Fuddruckers Experience

So... I'm going to tell you what happened to me about three weeks ago. I had thought about writing about my experience right after it happened, but then I got busy and forgot about it. Later, when I remembered to write, I decided I didn't want to give Fuddruckers any publicity - even though it would have been bad publicity. At that time, I was just disappointed in them, a bit disgruntled and didn't want anything to do with them. Since then, the problem has been solved so I am feeling better about the company.

Before I go on, let me tell you what happened. I decided to join a friend for dinner at Fuddruckers on Highway 6 in the Copperfield area. I brought my daughter along with me, and she decided to bring a book. I thought nothing of it. I think I actually encouraged her to bring a book - knowing that my friend and I would be chatting and that she might be bored. Plus, it doesn't hurt to read a new book. So, we ordered our food and had a pleasant meal. We chatted for about an hour and 1/2, maybe two hours, before deciding to leave. We stepped out into the parking lot and before we even reached halfway across the lot (which was about 30 seconds to a minute), I realized that my daughter had forgotten her book. I sent my daughter back inside as I waited outside near the doors. She spent a while inside and I became worried. She came outside and said she couldn't find her book. My daughter tends to be a lazy searcher. More than 50% of the time, she doesn't find what she's looking for and it's usually in plain sight. I went inside with my daughter to help her look for the book. After searching for what seemed to be a long minute or two, I became really confused. How could a book disappear!? I looked under the table, on the side of the booth and even in between the two booth seats that were pushed up against each other. Nothing.

Disappointed and puzzled, I went back outside with my daughter. I told my friend I couldn't find the book and he decided to go in and look for himself. After waiting for a while (outside in the cold with no jacket), I decided to go inside and see what he was up to. The book was nowhere to be found. My friend decided that maybe the staff had picked it up. I thought to myself, "a staff picked up the book in less than 30 seconds after we left? Strange."


So... we all go back inside once again. I asked the cashier if anyone turned in a book. She said no, sorry - and left it at that. I requested that she check with the busboy. She asked the busboy if he picked up a book... he gave us a nod and went into the back to retrieve it. After we waited for at least 2 or 3 minutes, the cashier went into the back to see what was keeping the busboy busy. She stayed back here perhaps 5 minutes. When the cashier went into the back to check on the busboy, I immediately knew that the book was thrown into the trash. I waited patiently and finally, the cashier came out with the book. She gave me the book and said, "the book is a little dirty, sorry."


A little bit peeved, I asked her, "did he throw it in the trash?" It was obvious that the cashier was a bit embarrassed and admitted that yes, the busboy threw the book into the trash. The book was wet and smeared with food. I was disgusted. I asked for a gift certificate to be reimbursed for the cost of the book. She said "we don't do that, sorry." I asked for the manager and waited another few minutes for the manager to come up to the front.


I told the manager what happened and emphasized that we had been outside for 30 SECONDS (I had told her one minute - as to not to seem like I was exaggerating) before realizing that we left the book inside. I expressed my disappointment and disapproval at how they handled my daughter's book. The manager's attitude was nothing more than a disapproving look and a simple comment, "sorry, but it's not our problem you left the book here." Of course, I became irritated and angry. Yes, I realize it was my daughter's fault for leaving the book and my fault for not making sure she took the book with her in the first place - but did they really have to immediately throw the book into the trash along with leftover food and drinks? I argued with her for a while; all I got in return was a bad attitude and a look that said it all: "go away, you're annoying me."


I gave up, threw the book at her (more like tossed) and said something along the lines of "pathetic" and walked out the door without looking back. When I got home, I made a beeline to my computer, turned it on and pulled up Fuddrucker's website. I couldn't find a corporate email but I found a comments page. I left a comment, marked it as a complaint, typed out a detailed message and sent it on its way. The very next day, I received an email from a female representative apologizing for the incident, thanking me for the comment - good or bad - and that my message would be forwarded to the appropriate people on the management team at the Highway 6 Fuddruckers.


I thought - so far, so good. I received an immediate response and have been forwarded to people that would probably ultimately decide what to do about the situation. A week went by, then two weeks. I had forgotten to send a follow-up email because I had not heard back from anybody else at this point. My friend kept reminding me, so I finally sent an email back to the corporate representative and told her I had not heard from anybody yet.


The very next day, I remember receiving missed phone calls on my VP. Since it was from Sorenson, I ignored it. I continued to receive at least two missed phone calls each day. The way that Sorenson works is that if a hearing person calls you and you miss the call - you see Sorenson's name as the person who called you, not the hearing person's name. When I tried to call back, I reached the Sorenson Relay number and it asked me what number I wanted to call. With no number, I had no idea who was calling me.


Finally, a few days ago, I received a sign-mail from Sorenson. Whoever had been trying to reach me finally decided to leave a message. It was from Fuddruckers. When checking my e-mail for the sign-mail message, I noticed an email from Fuddruckers as well. It was from a male corporate representative that works in the Houston area. He mentioned that he had been trying to call me for a while and wants to sincerely apologize for the incident.


The management team and employees had been counseled on proper procedure and how to handle customers. He decided to give me a $20 Fuddrucker gift card to reimburse me for my trouble and for the cost of my daughter's book. I emailed him back, thanked him for his response, his action and for the $20 gift card. In his email, he mentioned that he hoped I would give the Highway 6 location another try, but that my card would be valid at any location. I made sure to point out that I'm still somewhat disappointed in the employees at the Highway 6 Fuddruckers and will be taking my business at another location for a while.


I realize that people may leave their things by accident when they go out. What can the employees do but to hold on to it for days, weeks, or months? After a length of time, it would probably make sense to mark it as trash and just throw it away - after all, if the owner hasn't come back for it in weeks, he/she probably would never come back. However, my situation was different. I came back LESS THAN ONE MINUTE after stepping out of the restaurant. I never even LEFT the parking lot. If I had forgotten my cell phone instead, would they have thrown it out? Somehow, I very highly doubt that. It shouldn't matter what the item was or what it's value is - ALL items should be treated with equal respect!

So - that's my experience with Fuddruckers over the past couple weeks. I still love the food and still like the chain restaurant - I just don't like the Highway 6 location.... for now.

Reality Shows aren't Reality

So... it has been 10 days since my last blog. I'm slacking off....

I was watching TV the other day. A reality show. A show about boys who can't let go of their mothers. A show about a blonde boy who cares about blonde girls. Specifically, a girl who's a Barbie wanna-be. A show about a blonde boy who cares much more about how the girls look rather than how smart they are (whose mommy is upset about that). A show about a jewish boy who wants to break apart from his tradition and date a non-jewish girl (with much chagrin from his mommy). And about a boy who just cannot get out from under his mommy's shadow. You get the idea.... I'm watching Momma's Boys.

I have to admit it. I'm addicted to the show. It's only been running for 3 or 4 weeks and the finale is on Monday. I'm looking forward to it. It's about 3 boys who are obviously momma's boys. They set out on a journey to find a girl that they could possibly marry - and bring their moms along for the ride. Their mothers have a say in who they shouldn't and should date. Sometimes the boys listen, and sometimes they don't (when they aren't listening to their mothers, you know what they're listening to...).

What makes the show really interesting (and I mean really interesting) is a mother from hell. She'd make the worst mother-in-law ever. It's no wonder JoJo is still single. The umbilical cord wasn't cut at birth and still hasn't been cut. Seriously, the boy is in his mid-20's. It's time to let go.

While I'm fascinated by the show and wait anxiously each week for the next episode, I see a huge flaw. Not only in M0mma's Boys, but in every other reality dating show like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and whatever else. See... while it may be "reality", it isn't real. On each date, you see romantic candles, the sun setting, making out on the beach, making out in the hot tub, making out in the ocean, and drinking wine (while making out).

Sure, the show's romantic. When you're thrust into a romantic environment (like Cabos) with a beautiful girl (and a sexy man), you just cannot resist the temptation to make out and make goo-goo eyes at each other. I have a feeling the blonde boy has gone a lot further than the show has let on (with multiple girls). He's a player, I'd bet on it.

Even if the boys find love (and if their mothers approve), it won't last. Why? Because it isn't real. Once they're back in real life... working, going to school or doing whatever it is that they do in life, they'll find out that when the romantic environment disappears, the lovey-dovey feeling will probably disappear as well. Then what? What's more - the boys and girls are all from different cities and states. Long distance relationship? Won't work. Count on it.

The best relationships start out boring and plain. Well, not boring - but normal. Become friends, go out once or twice to a restaurant, a coffee shop or even a movie to start with. If you really like each other, go out some more. If you're both daredevils or like to have fun, go have fun. It's your life, do whatever you want. Just keep it real. Get to know each other (slowly, might I add) and learn all your flaws. Get into arguments every now and then (and enjoy the making-up process). That's how you build a real relationship. Being whisked away to the tropics where you're dressed in bathing suits all day long, making out in the ocean and the sand gets you nowhere. It's all physical and nowhere near meaningful.

So here's a tip to the producers (like they'll listen), next time you want to make a "reality" dating show, make it real. Please.

Free At Last

For the past couple of weeks, I have been super busy during the week trying to do this and that while feeling very overwhelmed. I save my weekends for myself and fun with friends, which causes my weeks to become crazy... I'm happy to say that finally, today, I got caught up on everything I needed to do. My To-Do List is never-ending... but at least for now, I can breathe, sit back and relax knowing that other things can wait a day or two now with a peaceful mind.

I have so many things to gripe about. Today, traffic was horrible so I was 15 minutes late to work. Thankfully, my boss is ultra understanding and super nice. When I move to another job, I kinda wanna take him with me. I was almost hit 3 times on the freeway (yes, 3! and NOT my fault), in less than a minute. I was minding my own business traveling down my lane when three separate cars tried to move out in front of me from their lane (cuz their lane was super slow). Geez! And there's someone at work that EVERYONE in my department doesn't like... she gives us problems (does a crappy job), we get upset (because we have to fix her mistakes) and she gets mad cuz we're upset. This has been going on for several weeks. I'm just really surprised she hasn't been fired yet. OH - and she goes to the bathroom at least 2-3 times an hour and stays there 5-10 mins at a time. You can imagine just how much work she does during the day. Today, she tried insulting me and my friend - saying our "hand gestures" bother her so please stop talking. Very interesting because where she sits, she can't see us at all - we're talking behind her back (literally). I wanted SO much to say... "Well, your face bothers me." Yes - I know that's mean. Of course, I didn't say anything. So unfprofessional, right? But I feel much better now that I've made it public here :)

I have much more to complain about BUT it's such a nice day and have been really nice lately, so I'm going to stay in a happy mood and enjoy the weather. It rained a lot last week.. some thunderstorms and some sprinkles. It was mostly overcast all week and I actually enjoyed that. It was calming and soothing to me for some reason. We were welcomed with cool winds and sunny days after the rain went away so that was nice too.

This weekend, I'm going to the Texas Renaissance Festival with a friend. SO looking forward to it. We're going to try and dress up this weekend for the festival. I've never dressed up for that before so it'll be fun and interesting. Maybe do a little bit of role-playing... I suck at acting, so we'll see.

Maybe I'll chicken out and just go as myself.. and try to keep my friend from tipping over too much. I think he plans to go as a drunk jester. THAT will be interesting to see.

Yesterday's News

I check Yahoo news daily if I can help it. I don't necessarily read everything but I read whatever seems interesting. I regularly check the Featured, Entertainment and Local news. Yesterday, I found out that Obama won the Democratic nomination. Maybe that's old news by now (or so I was told), but it was the first I heard about it. I haven't watched the news or read Yahoo news in a couple days - so that explains why I wasn't up to date. But yesterday, I finally got around to reading the news and I came across something very interesting. OK - maybe not so interesting but it fascinated me for some reason. I was highly amused as well.

Yesterday, I read that Sarah Jessica Parker (the star of Sex in the City) was upset over a dress. Apparently, the dress she wore to her movie's premiere has already been worn twice before. She expressed disappointment in the people that mislead her, never correcting her assumption that the dress has never been worn before.

OK - I have to complain here. I realize that the A-Listers in Hollywood are "all that." They have tons of money and throw it around like it's nothing - buying $5k purses and $1k strollers for their babies. Everyone envies them in a way, whether it's fame, money or something else. But their lives definitely aren't easier.

I have to sit here and wonder, can people really be that materialistic and lame? I can't, for the life of me, figure out why people actually think it's OK to be upset over having worn a dress that was worn before. I don't know procedure or proper etiquette in Hollywood but I bet the makers/owners of the dress probably will be blacklisted by the celebrities for a while. It's all sad.

It just seems lately that I've been griping about this and that. I guess there's always something to complain about because there's just too many stupid people out there. But on the bright side, there are a lot of good people too. I guess that's what makes life bearable.

Life & Chocolates

"Life is like a box of chocolates.... you never know what you're gonna get." That's one of the most famous quote and probably most widely used - but I have to say it hasn't gotten boring yet... at least to me. I've always liked that quote. Why? Because well, it's actually true. None of those boring, stupid lame lines like "The grass is greener on the other side." DUH! Everyone thinks the grass is greener on the other side but no one ever thinks about how it's NOT greener to the person that's actually LIVING that life.

I wasn't planning to write a blog tonight but I figured - why not? I'm feeling wide awake among other things. I figured I wanted to see if my writing changed at all. Maybe it will. Maybe it wont. You be the judge of that and let me know.

Hmm, what to say? Life in general sucks, doesn't it? But right now - I don't really have any complaints. Yeah, I'm going through some tough times but who isn't? With the gas right now at ridiculous stupid $5.00 a gallon in Cali and almost $4.00 a gallon in Texas - who isn't miserable? Food prices are on the rise too. Economy sucks right now. It's ok - blame the war. Everyone does. It's better to have something to blame other than yourself. And you know what people? Your stimulus check isn't actually FREE money. It's "borrowed" money from your next year's tax refund. Did you know that? If you didn't check yahoo news frequently and are clueless, you probably didn't know that. I feel sorry for the suckers out there that spent all their $600-$1800 on clothing and stuff thinking it's all free money. They'll find out next year that their tax refunds are reduced and they'll be stuck knee-deep in credit card debt. Ha-ha. Who's laughing now?

Ok - enough about life. That's depressing. Let's talk about chocolates - that's much much better! I personally prefer dark chocolates. Yummy. Milk chocolate = ok but dark chocolate = orgasm. It's the best. I keep seeing advertisements for dark chocolates that it's also a natural antioxidant. It prevents cancer (supposedly)! All the more reason to eat tons of dark chocolates a day! Yummy. But - it'll cause pimples, some people believe. Yeah right. It'll also cure headaches too, but that's my personal belief.

And you know what's also bugging me? Stupid spam forwards from people who keep sending me info that's totally false. Here's news to you people - ever check out Snopes.com? PLEASE, please, for the sake of mankind, check your information there first before you send me the stupid forward! It's pretty annoying when I get false info. You'd be surprised just how many people agree with me.

Since I'm talking very randomly about random stuff that random people randomly think about (seeing the pattern here?), one last random topic of the night - sleeping. Did you know that on average, we sleep away basically 1/2 of our life away? If we were alive for 100 years, we slept approximately 50 years of it. That's a bummer! Since I'm 26, I have already slept approximately 13 years of my life away! That really really sucks! I want to see things, explore the world, travel, see whatever exciting fun things there are to see. But I LOVE to sleep. I could sleep up to 12-14 hours a day if I didn't have responsibilities to attend to. That also meant sleeping my life away. Talk about double-standards. Oh well. I hope that in this life, I get to sleep all I want AND travel the world, see everything there is to see. We'll see if I get to accomplish that. Let's see if ANYBODY gets to accomplish that.

If there's anyone out there that was capable of sleeping all they wanted AND still saw the entire world (the important, amazing, fun, beautiful parts of it), let me know your secret. I want in on it.

Another Pet Peeve

Today, I decided that I'm going to whine. It's not that I'm in a bad mood, I'm feeling OK now because I had a good last few days. I'm going to whine because I'm getting fed up. It's nothing new... We have all dealt with this type of person at least a few times in our lives so far. Most times I can easily put it aside, ignore the irritation, bite my tongue and smile to prevent myself from being rude to this person. But - after having to put up with an abnormal amount of this recently, I wanna vent.

So what's bugging me? To put it bluntly - people who go off on talking about themselves 24/7. These people think that they're the most important living thing on this planet. They think that they're so fascinating, they have to share every little detail about their life - both flattering AND unflattering. They'll share private information about their lives or children or other people with strangers just so that they can talk about their self-absorbed, self-centered and conceited selves.

I'm talking about the people who's always saying "me" or "I" in every sentence. I'm talking about the people who gets so angry that another party was planned (by coincidence) on the same day as THEIR party. Oh, God forbid that several people may choose to attend another party besides theirs. To me, that just shows the insecurities that this person has - afraid that their popularity depends on how many people shows up at their party. Here's news to you: if people show up at your party because there isn't anything else for them to do - that doesn't exactly mean you're popular, that just means they're using your party as an excuse to get out of the house.

I'm also talking about people who brags about stupid things like "I've been to jail 5 times!" or "I'm smooth, I can get drugs - I have connections" OR... how about this - "Yeah, I'm all that, I can get girls in bed like it's nothing." Like any of these things are flattering and impressive.

Also, I hate people who interrupts you mid-sentence when you're talking about yourself, your accomplishments or something that happened to you (which is rare) and they go "OH, me too!" and then proceed to talk for 20 minutes straight about themselves with no regard to you. When you finally manage to divert the topic or get a word in, they'll interrupt you again to start another 20-minute speech about themselves again.

Don't get me wrong. There's a very thick line between sharing about your feelings, your problems and your concerns to someone who's willing to listen and be there for you and just bragging about yourself just to hear yourself talk. Also, there's another thick line between bragging too much and simply telling people about your accomplishments that you're proud of. If I have to explain where the lines are, then maybe you shouldn't waste your time reading my blogs.

After watching the Autopsy Files, I was discussing with a friend how there are some people out there who are willing to hurt themselves or their children for attention and sympathy. That discussion made quite a few memories come flooding back. Boy, am I a little too familiar with people like that. Another thing that really bugs me is that these type of people only contacts you or shows up to events when they're looking to get something out of it personally. Sure, when we all hang out with friends or go to an event, we all expect to get something out of it. Fun, social interaction, stuff like that - right? Not these people. They're looking to milk all the attention and sympathy they can get by complaining about their hardships to anyone who will listen. These type of people will only contact you when they want something or need help - they don't contact you to simply just to hang out and enjoy each other's company. That disgusts me.

Well, this is the end of my whining...for now. Thanks for listening! Disclaimer: This blog isn't directed at anyone specifically. This is just general venting. But for those of you who think you may be someone I'm complaining about - I hope you learned something new. Tune in later for a more happier and cheerful blog (hopefully).

Who Cares?!

Reality Shows. They're popular... they must be. They're everywhere. In these shows, people date, lose weight, travel all over the world, and eat/do scary things. They have one thing in common: they're all competing for something, most likely money.

Once upon a time, I loved watching these reality shows. I was a fan. I didn't watch all of them though, but I still watched a lot. I watched them more than I watched sitcoms. There's only one reality show that I watched to the end: Fear Factor. If they brought it back, I'd watch it again. Currently, I watch the Biggest Loser (when it's on) - but that's about it.

Back in the beginning, I shamefully loved "The Bachelor". I was a dedicated viewer. I watched the first and second seasons with a passion. I was furious when Alex didn't pick Trista and I jumped with glee when that blonde what's-his-name picked Helene. Over the seasons, I lost interest. Why? Because these relationships don't last and ultimately, these guys are losers. They got the body, the look and the charm but please, they got nothing else.

When Trista was picked to be the first Bachelorette, I was so happy. Mostly because I wanted her to stick it to Alex. She was a woman scorned and shoot, she deserved a happy ending. I became a dedicated viewer again. I watched Trista and Ryan's wedding too. Finally, a happy ending. I never watched a single episode again.. until a few weeks ago.

I was flipping the channels, bored, looking for some kind of entertainment. I happened to catch what it seemed to be the 2nd episode of the newest and current Bachelor season. This dude's from London. Apparently he's a dud over there since he had to come to America to find a wife. Don't they hate Americans? Maybe it's just the French people.

(Vent On)
Anyway, my point is... enough! This is the 12th (yes, count the losers, 12!) season. This doesn't include the two Bachelorettes. How many of these men stayed with the women they picked on the show? ZERO! 0 for 11 so far. Sad.

On this particular episode (remember, this is the 2nd episode or so), the women are already fawning over this guy. They just met him! Claws were out and the women hissed. They all believed that they were the perfect woman for him. Some of them professed that they'd move to London for him right there and then. And when they got kicked off, they cried like they lost a serious boyfriend (and don't forget money - most of the bachelors are loaded).

I could never go on that show. First, no way I'd want to share my man with other women. That's just unnatural. Second, they stick you in a huge fancy mansion and whisk you away on exotic trips while you get to know the guy. While that's nice, it isn't reality at all. And third, they give the guy a couple months to decide who he wants to propose to after being faced with 25 options.

There's only one thing that bothers me so much. The bachelor ALWAYS has a tough time deciding who to kick off the show. I mean - if he really loved a girl and all, he'd know. He'd be able to kick all them girls off in a heartbeat and be able to truthfully tell the girl "I knew it was you all along." It's SO lame when a guy proposes and says that he knows she's the girl. If he knew, why was he debating kicking her off some 5 weeks ago?
(Vent Off)

While I think it's funny to watch these girls tear each other's hair out, I'm getting sick of it. I truly hope that this is the last Bachelor. Enough is enough.

What's in a name?

Ok, listen up people. I'm going to write about something veeeerrry interesting. My name. Yeah, it's interesting, just keep reading....

First, I want you to imagine something. A tall, skinny woman with her hair in a bun and tiny round glasses on the tip of her nose. White button up blouse and a long, boring straight black skirt. Oh yeah, she's holding a ruler too. You know the type - stern, nagging and a prude. Got it? Ok..

Now, imagine her saying this... "Maryellen is ONE word - not two! It is NOT Mary Ellen and it is DEFINITELY NOT MaryEllen. They are together and the "E" is NOT capitalized. Got it, buddy!?"

Now that I've got this off my chest, I'll explain a little bit about my name. My mom decided to name me after the character, Mary Ellen from the Waltons. I like my name, I do, but I'm VERY picky about how it's spelled and what people call me.

My whole life, people called me "Mary" and for years, I've tried to get everybody to call me "Maryellen." It's much more sophisticated, right? Right! So... eventually, some people started calling me Maryellen and others just stuck with Mary. THEN - a creative ex-boyfriend came up with another name to call me... "ME."

One summer, I went to a youth camp (best summer of my life) and I had a boyfriend who will be called "E." We were all about the age of 15 - an age of immaturity and well, fun. One night, a bunch of boys were bored and decided to start shaving their heads. "E" decided he wanted to brand my name on his head, only "Maryellen" was way too long. So he decided to shave "ME" on the back of his head (yes, it really happened). As you can imagine, there were lots of buzz going on the next day regarding E's head. He received a lot of flak because everyone assumed he was talking about himself - as in... me. Poor E, he had to explain to EVERYONE who would listen (and poor me, I was utterly embarassed) that "ME" stood for MaryEllen.

Fast forward many years later. I have two close friends - let's call them P and C. We text each other lots and I guess "Maryellen" was just too long for them to type so they reduced to calling me "ME" when they text. Fun, huh? One day, they went to Wal-Mart or something (yes, without me!) and came across the DVD "I know Who Killed Me." Now, the title of the movie is in all caps so of course, me looked like "ME." So they started a running joke that the movie was about me. Ha-ha.

So there ya have it. The background, a funny story or two and how I want to be known as. I realize that I will probably spend the rest of my life correcting people but then again, maybe I should give up. I have determined that people are just... lazy.