Worth it

Ted Kennedy. Dominick Dunne. THESE are people worth mourning. People who's lives mattered and who did great things. They tried to improve the world around them, chipping away little by little, even when met with opposition. They made a difference. Michael Jackson. Not.So.Much. Goodbye Mr. Dunne and Senator Kennedy - May angels lead you in.

Monsters! Monsters!

Holy Sh*t!! Is anyone else watching this!?!?! Oh, sorry - I guess that could be just about anything on TV these days. I'm taking about the show "Monsters Inside Me" Again, I say Holy Sh*t. I don't think I will sleep for at least a week. Then there's the itchy scalp/arms/torso crawly feelings Oh my God. Who's idea was it to make this show? Why? What did the world do to you? And who are these people that agree to be on it? I guess I get the whole 15 minutes of fame thing - but come on! "Hello, I'm Bob, and I had a bunch of bugs gestating in my melon!" Don't know what I'm talking about? You're very very lucky. "Monsters Inside Me" is this evil-yet-you-can't-look-away show on Animal Planet. The episode I caught had this guy from Colorado who had bot (I think? dunno, was too creeped out!) flies growing in the back of his head. I said IN not ON. He had three doctors say three different things before his original doctor figured out what was going on. The damn things had been in there for weeks!! Oh.My.God. The evil larvae have these little teeth-like thingies that will latch on to nearby tissue to prevent removal. So, they burrow into your flesh and then you can't get them out. Finally doctor man got them all out - all 5 of them! - and gave them to the guy. How could he be so clueless??! He said he didn't get too concerned until he HEARD AND FELT something under his skin on his head. What did he hear? "Dude. This place is awesome. I'm soooo going to turn into a fly here." "Yeah, I know. This guy is so dumb. Brought us back all the way from Belize" I had to turn it off after I saw the mason jar of fly larvae that this guy keeps somewhere in his house. He was chuckling about it. Is this a story you tell at parties? I would think not - but hey, go on TV and tell the world!! Some time during a commercial break, my head started to itch, and my arms, and I had to turn it off. I think I turned on the news. That's 10 times less scary than that awful show!

Nearly two years

On Tuesday I'll hit my two year anniversary of quitting smoking. I can't believe it's been another year! I try not to think about it too much, but when I do think back on my days as a smoker, and the months immediately following quitting, I have a totally different mind set now than I did then. For over 14 years I had swore up and down that I would not quit. I had heard it would be the hardest thing ever. I'm not going to lie, it was hard - incredibly hard - but not impossible. I remember being frustrated, and even crying in the weeks after quitting. Now that it's been two years, I find it hard to believe that I reacted that way. I'm going to be honest, I am incredibly proud of myself. I've made it a point to tell everyone I know that my anniversary is fast approaching. People say "That's great!" or "Good for you!" I say "I know!" and "Thanks!" I want to sing it from the rooftops with my cleaner healthier lungs. The interesting thing is that now that I am really and truly done with cigarettes, more people accuse me of cheating more often. Let me explain something. I've hit that point, finally. The point that I've been waiting for - the real and true light at the end of my nicotine tunnel - I'm finally there where I HATE the smell of smoke, and smoking in general, and I want to get everyone I know/love who smokes to quit. Not only are they harming themselves, but ME too!! And hey, my lungs have been through the ringer already! I don't need anyone else's help irritating them! Yep, I've become one of those people. But not too annoying (yet, I make no promises). I don't intend to harass any strangers about it, or complain loudly about it in public. People can do what they want. I'm only concerned about people I care about. *I'm looking at you - Mom, Ma, Laura, Debbie, Dawn, Victor, Toni, MenD, etc......* Getting off my preachy table now - just one last thing! Yay Me!!!

Home...home again.

MA was wonderful. As always. I'm loathe to say "Boston" because we didn't actually go to Boston this time around. Things didn't bode well from the get-go. Shannon and TheMarty were 1/2 hour late. They emailed that they were going to be late, but still. I wanted to get the hell out of Dodge! We were on our way at 12:31. Sure, we immediately got stuck in traffic - it was like Chicago knew we were going to cheat on it, and didn't want to let us go. It took us a loooong time to get there. There was a couple of hour stop over for sleeping in a truck stop parking lot. This little break ended when TheMarty lept out of his seat - out of the car really. The reason? He had a dream that someone(s) were coming to kill us. Also, Shannon had seen a foreign film in which a bunch of people get raped and/or killed while sleeping in a truck stop parking lot. We got to our Days inn in Middleboro around 10am on Saturday. After a nice three hour nap we found we could hang. Shannon and I were off for very crappy mani/pedi (my nails were chipped and peeling the very next day) after which we met up with our Boston friends in Plymouth for dinner and drinks. Love. Plymouth. Love.It. The wedding Sunday was also in Plymouth - at the Plimouth Plantation. The gardens where the ceremony/reception were were gorgeous. The thing that was missing? Shade. Yeah, it was about 9,000 degrees out, and there was minimal shade. I felt bad for the bridal party (all of our friends!) who were dressed up more than the rest of us. We busted out of there about an hour early - we really couldn't take the heat anymore - and went back to the hotel. Ended up with the whole group over at Lauren and Greg's. They are fantastic hosts, who happen to have a gigantic pool in their yard. Aaaaah. Pooooooool. There was much drinking and many shenanigans. There was also a trip to Peaceful Meadows. Look it up. An ice cream place. On a farm. You can walk up and thank the cows for your frosty treat. Heaven. Monday was all about Persey's for breakfast, then a jaunt back to Plymouth so I could wade into the ocean. I wanted to go to a beach, but it wasn't really a beach, but it was still awesome. After that we went back to Lauren and Greg's for more quality time with them and more pool time. Ok, AND another trip to Peaceful Meadows. Tuesday morning came way too soon. So did 4am, which is when we left for the drive home. These trips always go by so fast!! The MA friends make very strong cases for moving there. They really do. As long as my parents are alive, I know I would never move any where else, but I'm not ruling it out for a down down down the road kind of thing. I probably should have taken off work today. I'm exhausted still. I know I got a LOT done today, but I know there's still a ton more to do. I guess it's good to be needed!! Some things I learned on this trip: When TheMarty decides to leave the Tricycle of Awesome, he becomes the Unicycle of Underwhelming. I am someone who "dances on the edges of nerd-dom" and I love that. That Dave and Eric are very very good at doing impressions of the lead singer of AC/DC, and the rest of us are practicing really hard to be just as good! That I really do love MA. That the only movie Roger Ebert found worse than "National Treasure" is "National Treasure II" That the mixed drink Sweet Tarts are fanfreakintastic and everyone should try one! That's all for tonight. I'm still so tired!!

Wicked Pissah

The tricycle of awesome - aka me, Shannon and TheMarty are heading out to Boston tomorrow. At noon they're going to pick me up at work, and off we go. We're driving - again. It's fun. Admittedly it's not something everyone can do, nor do I recommend to just anyone, but the three of us can do it, and pretty well. Of course, I'm packing two books, iPod, and my ds - I will need some alone time along the way. We're heading there for a wedding. Wishing us pleasant traveling weather. Wishing Dave and Hil a gorgeous day for a wedding on Sunday. Wishing you all a great weekend. See you on the flip side.

200.2

Here it is, finally, the 200th post. I was not entirely sure that I would make it to this point, or that I would care when I did. I did, and I do. When I first thought about writing my own blog, I was intimidated by the whole thing. What would I write about? Who would give a shit if I did write? Would I be able to write? Should I have a theme? Who would find this blog that I didn't want to? Well - let me address each of these. I write about whatever. Whatever comes to mind in a moment, or something that hangs on, churning in my brainz until I let it out. I think some people DO give a shit that I do write. I know I've been given a little grief, or a nudge when I've been negleting VFN, so I guess that means you do care. I am able to write. Sometimes. It's still difficult, but I do still love it, and it's made me practice. VFN has no theme. Yes, admittedly it IS a ranting/humor thing, but overall that's not a theme in my mind. Many people have found this blog. Co-workers, bosses, exs, ex-friends who should just move on as they are no longer welcome....but I blame this on me. Sometimes I'm very excited about what I've written, and I open my big stupid mouth and tell people. I love this process. I love VFN. It's harder than I thought it would be, and I am not as good of a writer as I thought I was. I get a little stressed when I have no topic, as I do aim to provide some entertainment. I had originally intended to write 3 posts a week. Time flies, and I am a busy grrrl, so that does not always happen. I admit it, and am sorry for it. I regret that I feel like I have to filter VFN. I may stop doing that. Of course, I will never divulge where I work or what exactly I do (that would be stupid). What I will do is think less about backlash and write more what I want. This means that very soon you'll be reading a post about the horrible "date" I had this weekend - screw it if he finds it. I'm over it. The upside of this blog is way way bigger than the downside. Every person on my blogroll over there --------> is a great writer, and they inspire me to be better, do more, push harder. These people are also my friends - or that's how I view them. I know that should I have a troll they will handle it. I also know that when bad things happen and I share them that I will get support from them. They take the time to stop by and leave a comment or two. I consider them my people. They make this blog better. They matter to me. Over these 199 (or so) posts I've given a lot of myself. Whenever something awesome - hello Carlos Zambrano! ; or terrible - still missing my little beagle Charlie; or HIlarious - fight on a bus? yep that's me!; I give all of these things to you. It helps me remember them, but I hope it also provides you with a quick read, a break from your day. Thank you to Shannon for asking me to guest-post on her blog, getting me interested. Thank you to TheMarty for encouraging me to comment around the blogosphere, getting my feet wet, and introducing me to many of the people on my blog roll. Thank you to my blogroll - see above - I dig you all the most. Thank you to my friends and family for providing me a LOT of fodder for VFN. I vow to try harder and be better moving forward.

An update

So, I sent the bus fight post to the RedEye - an offshoot of the Chicago Tribune. Guess who's been posted in their blog about public trans? Here's the link - I'm pretty sure it's identical to my post below - I'm just putting it out there. http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/redeye/2009/08/a-cta-bus-argument-blow-by-blow.html I'm interested to see if anyone leaves any comments. Hey, y'all - I'm in the newspaper! (Ok, KINDA, but whatever) It's still cool I think. The lady that writes the Going Public column and maitains the Going Public blog was pretty awesome - so thanks to her for re-posting my post. p.s. - this does NOT count as post 200 - still working on that. Thought you'd just be interested in the updated.

Big milestone

Soooo My next post will be #2oo. Please let me know what you'd like me to write about. Leave your comments, and may the best suggestion win. That is all - back to your regularly scheduled Monday.