I couldn't resist

Okay, you're getting one more because it's too good to pass up commenting on.

Better post tomorrow. Way better. Just have to construct it.

And I'm posting more because I don't have access to Facebook at work anymore, so I need something to do with my breaks I really like blogging. Yeah, that's it.

Legit spy selling sparklers, nothing to see here.

I am now a trained spy.

I know, you're thinking "wow that came on suddenly" but it's real. Totes legit. But I guess I shouldn't be airing it that I'm now a spy or that my new spy name is inigomontoya. See what I did there? I said it really fast so you wouldn't know. Just snuck it into normal conversation.

Hmmm... Let's just go with that I'm not actually a spy. (I totally threw you off my trail with that one!) Yeah, no spies here, just cows.  (WOW I am getting really good at this spy stuff.)

I had a coworker point out that if I am now a spy I should start dressing differently because I'm no longer Sarah. But that's exactly why I won't start dressing differently. Because you will expect it. Duh, I don't know why I have to spell this out.

You can call me Nigo for short, just don't call me Al. Or slur your words, that could end really badly for both of us. Although if you slur it into Neal that would be okay. (Woo Hoo! A new alias!!)

But again, not a spy. NOT A SPY. We sell sparklers. This is a sparkler stand. I'm the one on the left, still lookin' the same.

And I know at this point you all have the frozen perma smile pasted across your faces and some people would interpret it as the "oh my god I think she's lost it" smile but I know deep down it's the "oh my god she's such an amazing spy and she's been a spy one day?!?!?" mixed in with "if she's this awesome of a spy how many other spies are in my life?" smile.

Shock and awe people, shock and awe.

We start all the real spy stuff tomorrow, well the international stuff. See you can't even read that! I'm going to be the best spy ever! NO SPIES HERE. Just move along.

This message doesn't even have to self destruct that's how good I am.

(And now you all think I'm insane, but really, yes I know, really this is how my mind works totally sober.)

This is random

Yay for me! I have posted more this month than any other month. You're getting a deal! (You'll first have to believe that my blog is a screaming deal and that it's something you get hysterically happy about really like reading)

Because I like doing this lately, new music:

And I cut my hair last May to my shoulders. Here is a front picture because taking a picture of your back is really hard, I tried  next to impossible. I think it grew about 4 inches in 8 months. This is why I can cut my hair anyway I want.

Just look at the hair and not the face. I've gained weight and I'm fat.

See? My hair grew. This is SO interesting. You can wake up now, it's over.

Hall's Pep Talk Part II

See? I sometimes keep my word. I try to please. I have at least one more but I got bored so it's not going to happen. Click to enlarge the pictures below because otherwise they're kinda hard to read...

You'll get a better post tomorrow

I still have to construct it. It's going to be: Hall's Pep Talk Part II

But today a few things:

Some songs I recently came across and instantaneously fell in love:

Lisa Mitchell's song Neapolitan Dreams. She's an Aussie so I'm going to have to find a way to get her record.

Cat Power's song Metal Heart. I keep meaning to get into her and I haven't yet. This song is starting to strongly convince me.

And does anyone know why my Tivo is trying to make me watch Hot in Cleveland?

Dear Halls,

Um, no I did not go crazy and start writing letters to the walls that surround me.

Your new "pep talk" ad campaign is whacked. I am specifically talking about your new slogans for your vitamin C drops. Please see below.

MLK Day

I meant to write this earlier but oh well. It's a few days late but I think still close enough that it's relevant.

What MLK Jr. did for our country and its racial politics is still profound to this day. He should always have a day of remembrance so we will talk about it each year and hopefully never forget. We all need to remember to treat people equally no matter race, color, creed, etc.

With that said I do have one bone to pick. I was listening to NPR that morning and they talked about a really great program where blacks and Jews go through a course together of literally following in the steps of Martin Luther King Jr. and the last day of the course they end up where he was fatally shot. I don't have an issue with any of this and I can't find a link to the news story. What really bothers me is that I felt like the language that they used in the piece was that since Jews have also been an oppressed people that they share a common understanding with the oppression that blacks have gone through.

While I obviously don't claim to be either black or Jewish I don't like the singling out. I know I will never experience a day through the eyes of someone that is black or Jewish but how does that make me less? How does it come to mean that I can't understand oppression? I have always worked so hard in my life to treat everyone equally and give everyone a fair shake. I do this (I'm sure I don't always succeed) because it's exactly what I want.

I almost kind of feel that this story goes against what MLK Jr. was fighting for. He wanted equality for everyone and for everyone to have a shared common understanding. I just think when you  gear the message toward specific sects of people you lose the integrity of that. It's also how I hate when people automatically jump to an -ism (racism, sexism, ageism, etc.) card. I personally feel like MLK Jr. wanted us to to do the best to understand where people are/were coming from instead of jumping to the defense mechanism of our worst thoughts.

I guess another recent example was when Green Bay Packer Aaron Rodgers supposedly snubbed Jan Cavanaugh when he was at the airport on the way to his plane. Instead of understanding the circumstances it was automatically leapt to that he was such an a**hole to a cancer patient. No matter that he had already a few days before spent quite a bit of time talking to her and signing her memorabilia.

I believe that you get back what you put out and this is also why I believe in reincarnation. My main feeling (and I try every day) is that we should all find out someone's motivations before we assume the worst. People, over all have the best intentions because they want the best to come back to them too.

My Prius and I are in a fight.

But I think it's winning.

Don't get me wrong I love my Prius, the gas mileage, how it drives, etc.; it's the headrest I have issues with. I've never had a car where the headrest has driven me crazy like this. If my hair is down we have no issues but at the end of the day and my hair is up in a ponytail or a messy knot (it's the end of the day) my headrest becomes my enemy.

 It does this by making me hold my head forward in a really uncomfortable position. It's like the school yard bully holding my head forward. So every evening I throw it on the passenger side floor. I have tried to get used to it. I tried adjusting my seat back back farther. I just look like a ghetto gangster thug wannabe. Great. I tried adjusting the mirror but I still have my neck pulled forward and I can't ignore it.

The issue is that my new bright shiny car looks like it's somehow defective when I have to pull the headrest off every night but I'm not conceding throwing my hair up. So every evening we fight and every morning we make up.

At the drop of a hat.

If you know me (and you all do) I love music, love, love, love it. But there is one song that has stuck with me over the years in the sense that I can sing it at the drop of a hat. I don't need any music or anything to remember all the words. It's not all that up lifting but I find it beautifully haunting. It's the Cowboy Junkies cover of Mining for Gold. I grew up listening to this album on cassette but for some reason I don't own it at all now in any digital form. It helps that it's a cappella and short and I'll be surprised if I ever forget it.

And I'm always curious, is there something you can do at the drop of hat and you know you'll always be able to?



And turkeys! Isaac and I found them roaming the streets this weekend.

Apparently I'm not a Sagittarius I'm a Ophiuchus *updated*

This is messed up.

I've always been told/known that I'm a Sagittarius but now apparently the astrologers got it wrong and I'm actually a Ophiuchus. I've tried to find out what the personality traits of this sign are but so far there really is nothing besides some people saying that it's a cross between a Sagittarius and a Scorpio.

Really!?! I mean that's the best you can give me? Not only do you give me a whole new sign that rhymes with mucus but you don't even tell me anything about it other than it's after an actual individual. Great, cause that helps me. Maybe get your crap together and then tell me all about my new sign. 

P.S. I liked being a Sagittarius, a lot.  (Yes I know you only use P.S. as an addendum to a letter but this is important).


Also instead of being a kick ass archer centaur I am now a snake holder. Um, I don't want that connotation because you know everyone's mind is going to go there.



Part of this is funny because according to the old chart (everyone has three signs) and mine are/were (so confused) Sagittarius, Scorpio and Virgo. So I've already got the Sagittarius and the Scorpio covered, so I guess my personality was already right on? But now I don't know if the Scorpio and the Virgo are correct because everything's been shifted. 


The funniest part of all is that everyone's shifted. Isaac is now a Leo and not a Virgo etc.


Apparently my new sign is either one of these (it's so new they are still deciding on a sign):

You know what? I really liked the old system. (slight under exaggeration)

Oh, thank god.

Oh, I don't know...

Sometimes I look at my blog and just think I'm silly. As in I make myself look stupid and I talk about inane things. And another part of myself loves this side of me because I'm pretty sure life would be useless without laughter and fun. I feel like I don't show my intelligence and or that I can be taken seriously enough.

But yet I've been told that I'm a serious, assertive and take charge kind of person. I'm still trying to see these things in myself. And I do from time to time but it's kind of weird when these are some of the first words about me out of people's mouths. I don't know if I come across the same way on here as in person.

Anyways, here's a book I really want to read:

And something really stupid it's a watch Kanye West had made for himself with his own image on it and cost about 180,000. Also it looks like it has two dials!?!? Is he really in that many time zones everyday or is he just so bad at telling time that he needs something to compare one dial against?

Another reason why snow makes me happy.

It's a lot like sunlight.

Believe it or not I took these last night around 10 p.m. at my house and I didn't use a flash or anything the snow is that bright. I think this is why you never hear of depressed Eskimos.

Why the British are actually Pirates...

1. They call all their friends mates.

2. It's an Island.

3. They write piratey drinking songs.



Okay, so she's from New Zealand but that's an Island too and I'm pretty sure that's a good indicator that you're a pirate.


4. Apparently they start them out young because they even dress their babies as pirates.

Look!

This is what my father in law is making for me. Isn't it awesome! I'm so excited!! He's really talented with woodworking and he is making it off pictures I took. I'm the only one who gets one. :)

Did I mention I was excited?

Sorry the video is so crappy.

Music Update

So I haven't done one of these in a while and Noop is asking for it so here it is. Shown below are albums I've bought recently (not so recently?) but not necessarily brand new. I know I didn't get everything because I'm kind of voracious about music.

One album below - James Vincent McMorrow I actually had to order from Ireland and then subsequently found out that it will be available in the US iTunes store later this month. Oh, well.

FAIL and a total WIN

Because this:

is not me. And I've never talked about Dance Dance Revolution before (especially on here) except to say it's name in a funny and dramatically excited way (yes you can be dramatic and excited at the same time). Like Dance! Dance! Revolution! And now I've talked about Dance Dance Revolution, so I guess now this could be me?

And as an even more important note, why when I look up my blog with the title does Dance Dance Revolution come up anyway. They are so not related, except now I guess they are.

So I guess if you want to read my blog you have to know where it is because otherwise you'll just end up playing Dance Dance Revolution. My work here, is done.

This is such a weird post to write...

Hodgepodge

I was opening a new box of kleenex this morning and noticed their slogan. It's totally making fun of people that have a desensitized sense of touch, in English and French. Way to go Kleenex.

Also, in the forefront a really poor flame. In the background a really good flame.

And lastly a poem I wrote a while ago that I really love. It's not so happy but I really like the imagery.

Our personal sorrows are shut up

Shut in

These broken gems

Rarely,

Pulled from pockets and coveted

These are other lives

Working their way through disintegration

Fragments of fire

Dimmed down during the coming of the day

You don’t need to see my

Crimson lined dreams

My stars pulled through nothingness

Leaving fingertips scarred in moonlight

We will play at happiness

Trying to pull sinews into alignment

With lightness

Sinking the dark stones

Ghosting to the timbers at our feet

The fastest cadence will never help

To blur past them

And we are afraid they are contained

Within our molded sorrows

Riveted to our hearts

so we are like

Sinking stones in ephemeral bodies

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I'm not going gray, I'm going blonde.

So, every since I can remember I've had this small section of blonde hair that is part of the end of my left eyebrow and extends up into my hairline.

It. Is. Getting. Bigger.

I think the blonde has been working on a strategy for years now because that small patch that was only right at my hairline now fully extends down the left side of my face. It has also convinced a small patch farther back on my head to joint it's side. So not only do I have my kinky curly patch now I have a renegade locket of blonde hair back there keeping it company.

As a side tangent - I have always had trouble with my hair. This is just adding to the mess. Really?!?! Having wavy curly hair means I have to do it every day or otherwise have my hair look like a 5 year old did it. There is no in between, the only way I can look like an adult that you would actually entrust anything to is that I actually do something with my hair. I am now figuring out that my hair has figured out that I have caught on. (was that sentence convoluted enough for you?) And this is it's counter attack. "Sarah figured out how to make herself look like an actual adult, she foiled us and now we have to bring the balance back to our side. Bwahahaha!"

That's not all. It seems to me that there is a section on the right side of my face (exactly mirroring the patch of blonde on my left side) that is slowing getting lighter. My hair is trying the sneak attack but I know it's going to turn blonde and then my hair will shame me with wings of blonde on either side of my face. I will look like a blonde/brunette skunk. I am trying to sleep as little as possible so the hair on both sides of my head has less time to work out their plans, but I'm still sleeping. Sleeping = me getting screwed over by my hair.

There's nothing I can do to counter act their plans besides dye my hair. And I have dyed my hair but I dyed it red. Hello! Hair! I gave you a suggestion, many times. Why did you pick blonde? I have never said I wanted to be a blonde. I am now expecting to be fully blonde by the time I'm 40. So if you see a blonde woman that looks vaguely familiar but you can't quite place her. It will be me.

Thanks a lot stupid hair.

____________________________________________________________

As to the new popular post section: Don't forget the fakelaki is number one? I honestly didn't see that coming. I mean I don't even talk about what a fakelaki is and if someone is going there thinking that they'll get an education on what the history/definition of fakelaki is then they are going to be severely disappointed.

And as to all the posting lately. I don't know what to tell you other than apparently I am finding things to write about/thinking I have really funny things to say. (Please don't ruin this moment for me)

Here's to hoping 2011 is better than 2010

So yesterday morning was beautiful, sunny and cold. A really good start to the new year. Isaac and I went to have breakfast in La Conner and on the way back I spotted some bald eagles. BALD EAGLES. So Isaac pulled over to the side of the road so I could take pictures. There were two of them so I'm taking that as good luck for Isaac and I for this next year. We then also saw a whole migration of birds up the road. The flock was huge and they were still flying in.

Apparently I will be no less clumsy though because later in the day I slipped on our deck (it was icy) as I was trying to get to my car faster than Isaac so I could drive. Isaac was insisting on driving and I really wanted to so I was trying to beat him there. (I know, I'm so mature) Isaac said it scared him when I slipped and fell into the gravel but I don't really understand that. I mean how long have we been together? I would expect him to get worried on a day that I somehow don't try to maim myself. Later I tried to show him how I skinned up my knee and he said he didn't want to see it. :(

And then today I went to Archie Mcphee's and got these. I love them.

But these might be fun too.

These ones seem kinda tame for party rats.