My Christmas was lovely.
How was yours?

Reina is leaving tomorrow and she'll be gone for a week.
Brandon is leaving on Monday and he'll be gone for months.

*insert sad-faced Kathey*

Happy Sunday!

Rain, rain, rain.
Better than snow, snow, snow, I suppose.

Anywhoo.
The Youth Christmas party was Friday night.
I went and helped Reina who had volunteered to help Bethany.
We ended up washing dishes and all that jazz and I roped Brandon into assisting us.
To go from launching grenades in *reverent hushed voice* The Field *end reverent hushed voice* to washing dishes... What a shock for the poor boy.
*mwahahaaaa*
He showed me a bunch of pictures of *reverent hushed voice* The Field *end reverent hushed voice* and people I don't know in Idaho.
I gave him the Army ornament this morning and the card almost made him cry.
*tear*

Work is crazy, but I've probably said that already.
People.
They're dumb.
There are some nice ones here and there, but still...

I'm trying to decide if I want to have a Christmas party.
I'm thinking Tuesday or Thursday night. Gotta find out schedules.

The parents are home.
Mother got out of the car and her diamonds almost blinded me.
I picked up her hand and looked at the solitaire and said "Uh, is that bigger than it was before??"
The answer is yes. It's big. Not like gaudy big, just big enough that you notice it's big. Like a carat and a quarter big. But it's beeeuuutiful. And big. She said something this morning about it poking a hole in her gloves. Did I mention that it's big?

I've got to take a picture for the Christmas card so I can send those out.
Don't worry, they're coming.

Time for dinner!
See yaaaaa!!

I got a Vermeer calendar.

It's totally rad, dude.

And there's no other junk on the actual picture, so I can frame them.

Woohoo.

I love Vermeer.

He was a genius.

Statistics final went fine.
Work is crazy.
I'm poop-ed.

Merry Christmas.

My Grandma

Yesterday, Grandma Gooch said to me "I can't wait until you get married and have a baby."
I said "I can!!!"
She said she wonders what it will be like.
She tells me that she's proud of me.
I hope she lives long enough to see my husband and kid(s).

Tea and Sympathy

For all you poor people who are buried in snow and getting slammed with these storms, I am so sorry.

*hugs the state of California*

D - “There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil--a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.”

E - “And your defect is a propensity to hate everyone.”

D - “And yours,” he replied, with a smile, “is willfully to misunderstand them.”

Jane Austen

Becca told me today that I should go into literary criticism.
I think I'm going to be content as a professional amatuer in the field.
:)

To Bach or not to Bach

After not giving a specific answer to that question on the survey about goals for the coming year, I thought of one.
I want to go to a performance of the Concerto in D minor for two violins by Bach.
This particular piece is on an ancient video we have of Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and Zubin Mehta at Lincoln Center. It's one of my first memories of classical music.

Now, after I thought of this, I realized that choosing one piece of music from all those millions that are out there and hoping that it will be performed soon in my area is a bit of wishful thinking.
BUT!!!!
Guess what the San Francisco Symphony is doing on February 4????
You guessed it!!!
However, Joshua Bell is doing a recital at Davies the Saturday after that.
Ach!
Such decisions!!!!
What ever shall I do????
The Bach concerto or Josh???????
If I choose Josh, I decided I can't do the terrace seating. I gotta see the guy, even if it's from the nosebleeds.
The problem is then that I don't know what he's going to be playing. I think it might be Tchaikovsky, which isn't exactly a favorite, but JB can make pretty much anything enjoyable.

I was in the car the other day and I turned on KDFC and I knew right away that the piece playing was Vivaldi. It just couldn't have been anyone else.
I love my Vivaldi.
I feel like I grow about two inches when I hear his music.

The parents think that the Messiah we just went to was better than the one two years ago.
I think not.
The bass was blah this year. We saw Nathan Gunn in 03. Helloooooooo. Need I say more?
But the conductor was better this year. He could probably sing the entire score in his sleep. He was the most animated that I've ever seen. We got to the "and his name shall be called" bit and he sort of looked like I felt.

Davies is a great place to people watch. There is everything from twentysomethings in their jeans to old ladies with two inches of face powder who reek of alcohol, the latter of which are infinitely more entertaining.

Sheesh, it's cold!
In the 30's last night!
That's cold for us!
All you people who are three feet deep in snow can just stop rolling your eyes right now!
Dry cold and wet cold are two different things!
So there!

Anyways.
Been sick.
Yucky.
Been tired.
Work.
Busy.
But out of the blue, I was told that I got a raise at work.
Very timely, since my nice parents are still paying my health insurance and it went up again, so the raise will probably go towards helping that bill.
We make more money to pay for more things to make more money to pay for more things.
Endless cycles.

Found out that Grandma Gooch has more tumors. They can't operate because the tumors are too close to her heart. Don't know if they are b/m or what yet.
Steven Ray is probably going to come out this week.
Guess that means I need to spiffy up "our" room.
I love my uncle. He's a peach.

The parents are leaving Friday night for their cruise.
This means a week alone with the sister.
Yay for me.
Dad tells me to think of easy meals while they are gone.
I said Uh, we can cook ya know...
He cracks me up.
When I was sick and woke up in the middle of the night with the fever and was having bad dreams, he found me crying in the bathroom. He asks what's wrong. I say I think I have a fever - need medicine. What does he do? He goes and gets Mother. I bet Adam went and got Eve the first time one of their kids had an owie.
It's very interesting to note that in general, mothers are the ones who fix bodies and fathers are the ones who fix things. Dads are the ones who hear about the clogged toilet. Mothers are the ones who hear about your skinned knees.

I am sooooo ready for this blasted Statistics class to be over.
Only one more week of regular classes. Yippee.

You know those Christmas cards that are a picture and just have some type on it that says Merry Christmas (or what you will) Love, So and So?
I hate those.
So insultingly impersonal. No signature, no nothing.
I have nothing against the picture thing. My cards this year are a photo holder.
But those mass produced ones where all you do is throw them in the envelope...
Don't like them.
They disturb me.
If I ever get lazy and want to do one of those, I'm going to remind myself of this post.

I've been thinking about something.
Jane Austen did not write real people. She wrote caricatures.
The Brontes wrote real and dreamlike people.
Elizabeth Gaskell wrote real people.
If we randomly selected a Joe Shmoe off the street, I think it's safe to say that he would know the caricatures, not the real and dreamlike ones.
Why is that?

Becca went to a conference put on the JAS across the pond and one of the speakers theorized that period re-enactments (when done by anyone other than the JAS) are morally wrong. He said it's the equivalent of painting yourself black and pretending to be a slave.
That guy has way too much time on his hands.
He needs more cookies.

Since this seems to be the thing to do...

Name: Kathryn Elaine Gooch

Birthday: May 24, 1982

Birthplace: Vallejo, CA

Current Location: Napa, CA

Eye Color: Hazel

Hair Color: Brownish Red

Height: 5’10”

Right Handed or Left Handed: Right

Your Heritage: Did I mention that several years ago, they removed the "Fitz" suffix from Gooch? That should clue you in.... *cough*

The Shoes You Wore Today: I haven't put on shoes yet

Your Weakness: Procrastination and letting the actions of others affect me too much

Your Fears: being disappointed by certain things

Your Perfect Pizza: Cheese. Lots of cheese. And maybe Canadian bacon or sausage

Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: I haven't really thought about it

Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger: I use the word "just" way too much

Thoughts First Waking Up: What time is it?

Your Best Physical Feature: I have been told that I have a pretty smile

Your Bedtime: Around midnight

Your Most Missed Memory: When none of my friends were married or otherwise engaged

Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi

MacDonalds or Burger King: Neither

Single or Group Dates: Group dates are not dates

Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Lipton

Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate

Cappuccino or Coffee: Mocha or tea

Do you Smoke: No

Do you Swear: I guess that would depend on what you call swearing

Do you Sing: Fluently

Have you Been in Love: Yes

Do you want to go to College: Yes

Do you want to get Married: Depends on my mood

Do you believe in yourself: I believe that I am capable of many things

Do you get Motion Sickness: No

Do you think you are Attractive: Married men ask me why I'm not married, so figure this one out for yourself

Are you a Health Freak: No

Do you get along with your Parents: Yes

Do you like Thunderstorms: Sure

Do you play an Instrument: My voice is my instrument

In the past month have you Drank Alcohol: Technically, I think I should answer yes to this. That Nyquil stuff.

In the past month have you Smoked: No

In the past month have you been on Drugs: No

In the past month have you gone on a Date: No

In the past month have you gone to a Mall: Yes

In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos: No

In the past month have you eaten Sushi: Ick

In the past month have you been on Stage: Sort of

In the past month have you been Dumped: No

In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping: No

In the past month have you Stolen Anything: No

Ever been Drunk: No

Ever been called a Tease: Probably

Ever been Beaten up: No

Ever Shoplifted: No

How do you want to Die: On stage, of course ;)

What do you want to be when you Grow Up: Does this mean I haven't reached my full height yet??? Okay.....I want to be a Gretchen Nonnenburg for the 21st Century. Sal, can you smell it yet??? ;)

What country would you most like to Visit: Scotland is on my list for next year

In a Boy/Girl, you like...

----I would like to clarify that I like boys----

Favourite Eye Color: Dark brown or green

Favourite Hair Color: Dark

Short or Long Hair: I admit to liking longish hair

Height: At least 6'4" would be nice

Weight: Not stick thin, not Fat Albert

Best Clothing Style: Simple

Number of Drugs I have taken: No illegal ones

Number of CDs I own: I have no idea. A lot.

Number of Piercings: 0

Number of Tattoos: 0

Number of things in my Past I Regret: I regret waiting for dumb people to stop being dumb

Alright!
I moved the Tag Board!
I hope you're satisfied!

I miss my show.
People are dumb.
They would rather have green girls that can't sing, flying automobiles, potty-mouthed con men and ABBA songs with horrible costumes over a nice love story with a heroine who has a moral conscience. And okay okay....also happens to include JB in the epitome of The Syndrome.
But still!!!!! That's even more proof of their dumbness!!!
Bah!!!!

Schedule

We may have a change of plan here.
I talked to Rebecca today. Our trip might be in June rather than April.
This depends somewhat on airfare.
Stupid airlines.
The calendar flips and they want blood.
Gah.

A question

I was at the library today and saw a National Geographic titled something like "Nature's Fury" and I had a flashback to all those disaster NG's that Larry used to show on rainy days at school.
What is it with men and disasters???

Words

Lyricists are funny.
I shall refrain from mentioning his name since I'm mocking him, but I just have to mention this.

The mystery man basically said that over the last 20 years, people have got into the habit of not listening to the lyrics when they go to show, blah blah blah.
Well sir, when the lyrics YOU write consist of gems such as
"I cannot resist his charms and his manly rugged arms," what do you expect????

Sheesh.

I half-jokingly asked my mother if she wanted to pick out a husband for me.
She said "I have. I wrote it down in my notebook."

She didn't tell me who it is and I'm not going to ask.

Mothers.

How very interesting...

More power to him...

I think I forgot to mention this...

Someone from my church, who shall remain nameless, said to me "So, are you just a confirmed bachelorette now?"

Gah.
Good grief, people.

To anyone reading this - if I have ever said anything dumb like that to you, I apologize. Please forgive me.

That a woman conceived me, I thank her: that she brought me up, I likewise give her most humble thanks: but that I will have a recheat winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick, all women shall pardon me. Because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right to trust none: and the fine is, for the which I may go the finer, I will live a bachelor."



--William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

So, You Know Who is doing a show about Lewis & Clark.

How very educational.
*cough*

Feeling . . . clamoured wildly. “Oh, comply!” it said. “. . . soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?” Still indomitable was the reply: “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation . . . They have a worth—so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane—quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs.

--Charlotte Bronte--

Your Love, My Home

Home, the only place I know
Where the heart, the heart finds healing
When the night is cold and dark
Come just as you are

Home, your memory calls me home
Where I'm resting in your arms
It humbles me to know
No matter where I go
There will always be a place for me at home

And somewhere in the night I call your name
And somewhere in the night love answers me
I will never let you go
You will never know a night alone
I will make your love my home

Lost in a dream for something more
I found you were all I needed
You are the strength of us
Without you I'd be lost
There will never be another place like home

And somewhere in the night I call your name
Somewhere in the night love answers me
I will never let you go
You will never know a night alone
I will make your love my home

The road is long and I am weak
But through the rain I see
The light that leads me home

And somewhere in the night I call your name
Somewhere in the night love answers me
I will never let you go
You will never know a night alone
I will make your love my home

--Joshua Payne, Michael Omartian--

Bob

Hah!
Check out this picture of Roberto and Lorin Maazel, rehearsing for a concert in Valencia...



:)
:)
:)

Ugh.
Statistics exam tomorrow.
Evil.
Very evil.

So, I was saying something about dreaming in the last post.
That was, of course, referring to daydreaming.
In nightdreaming news, I have this to report -
I have overcome a subconscious mental hurdle that has plagued me for quite some time.
I, Kathryn Gooch, have officially been kissed in a dream.
I don't ever remember being kissed in a dream.
I'm 23 years old, people.
If that doesn't clue you in that I've got issues, then nothing will.
*sigh*
Anyways, it was a letdown, let me tell ya.
It wasn't the guy that I wanted it to be.
I had never seen this guy before.
Cree-pay, dahlink.
He wasn't even what I would call remotely attractive.
I won't bore you with more details, but it was nothing to write home about.
Thus why I'm writing on the blog about it.
Heh.
Aren't you privileged.
And actually, all my dreams about men (okay, make that one particular man) usually take place at my church, in a theatre, or in a concentration camp.
Figure that out.

I also had a dream about a baby.
Watch out, folks.
Kissing and babies all in one night.
It's the in-between part that I seem to be missing.
I'm not sure if that's a very bad thing or a very good thing.

My one person fan club did end up talking to my boss.
Yay.

There is one important thing missing from the previous rambling about my estate.
THE sound.
MY sound.
What is THE MY sound, you ask?
It's the sound that brings to mind white poofy shirts, empire waist gowns, finger bowls, balls and Roger Hamley's wasps nest.
The sound of that white gravel stuff.
*sigh*
That's My sound.

Yick.
Stat exam in mere hours.
*metaphorically gags*

Oh, and just for the record...
That whole business of was there really a Shakespeare and did someone else write all those plays, etc.,...
I don't give a rat's retina if there was or wasn't or if some peasant from Hicksville wrote them.
Can't we just be glad that we have them in the first place?
Sheesh.

"Your wife and I didn't get on when we met last. I'm not saying she was very silly, but one of us was very silly, and it wasn't me."
-Elizabeth Gaskell

Today at work I helped a man who bought a bunch of the Jingle Ornaments (little personalized snowmen things). There was a particular name he wanted and we were out of it, so I took his name and number and told him that I would call him when we got restocked.
A few minutes after he left, I had the idea to call one of our others stores on the off chance that they might have the one he was looking for.
Bingo.
I called him right away to let him know and before I could even finish my sentence, he launched into this speech about how wonderful I am, how I'm the best representation of customer service that he's come across in years, how great I handle myself, yadda yadda yadda.
I kept saying "thank you" and he just wouldn't shut up. I'm not used to such praise. I was almost embarrassed. Almost. *cough*
He tells me that he's going to tell the owner how great I am. I told him that she will be in the store next Wednesday. He tells me that he's going to make sure to call and talk to her.
Well, he better.
And she better listen.
I deserve a raise.
It's one thing to know that you are good.
It's another thing to have someone tell you that you are good.

I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE ASK YOU ABOUT SOMETHING INSTEAD OF SIMPLY CHECKING FOR THEMSELVES!!!!!
I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT COLOR THE SKY IS, LOOK AT THE SKY!!!!! DON'T BUG ME ABOUT IT!!!

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!

Okay.
Moment of yelling is over.

I saw a license place today that read FIDEAUX.
The holder said something about a dog and cat outfitter.
How cute is that.

I'm considering dressing up as myself for Halloween.

Last night I watched part of my visit with Beca in 2002.
Man, we crack me up.
Bunch of silly girls, I tell ya.
That was when the New York sewer rat got my foot.
Not a pretty sight.
That was also the first time I turned to the complete stranger sitting next to me in the theatre and asked "IS HE REALLY DEAD!!!?????"
But of course, in Urinetown, expect only the expected.

I miss New York.
I miss my friends that live far away.
When I'm rich and shameless, I'm going to be bi-coastal.
Actually, I'll also be bi-countrial, because by then, I'll have my estate.
And you know what that means.....

HOUSE PARTAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!
Don those 19th century riding habits and come on over!
We'll ride the hounds till the cows come home!

I'm trying to figure out why I dream about completely utterly totally entirely impossible things.
It's very odd.
I try to squash it.
Maybe I need a Kathey-size fly swatter.

This is the funniest thing I've seen that is related to Statistics.
Yick.
Don't like that word.

Hah!

Taco Bell

Alright.
You know how you read those articles about so and so who lost a million pounds by giving up fast food?
I couldn't do it.
I love my
.
It's like a Sunday night tradition with me.
I go to Taco Bell after church.
It's just part of the day.
Those Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes.
Woohoo.
Love me some Taco Bell.

Choices

Hey!
It's almost that time!
Time for our you-know-what-ing on Halloween!
Who's coming?

I haven't decided what to be yet.
I thought about trying Jane again.
We'll see how that goes.
Hhmmmm.

People are nasty pieces of work sometimes.
Why are they so mean?
Why do they purposely antagonize someone who is having a difficult time?
Why do they feel the need to rub salt in the wound?
I do not want to be like that.

Yellow

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah they were all yellow,

I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called yellow

So then I took my turn
Oh all the things I've done
And it was all yellow

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know you know I love you so
You know I love you so

I swam across
I jumped across for you
Oh all the things you do
Cause you were all yellow

I drew a line
I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all yellow

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know for you i bleed myself dry
For you i bleed myself dry

Its true look how they shine for you
look how they shine for you
look how they shine for you
look how they shine for you
look how they shine for you
look how they shine
look at the stars look how they shine for you

The Gun Song

It takes a lot of men to make a gun
Hundreds
Many men to make a gun
Men in the mines to dig the iron
Men in the mills to forge the steel
Men at machines to turn the barrel, mold the trigger, shape the wheel
It takes a lot of men to make a gun
One gun

-Sondheim

Change

As much as I like this Byron theme, I'm feeling something else now.
Gotta go hunt.

The Bugs!

It's a lovely day today.
Kind of cloudy, kind of sunny.
I love California.
I do realize the sun and clouds make appearances in other parts of the world, but California sun and clouds are just nicer.
Take my word for it.
I love to travel and see different places.
But I'm a California girl.
Like, totally.
*flips hair*

So.
Just got back from Denise's wedding.
I left work early to get there on time.
It started 30 minutes late.
Bah.
I was practically getting stir crazy.
I hate it when weddings don't commence on time.
To any of you who will be there, I promise to do my very best that my wedding will be on time.

Today is my sister's birthday.
Yay.

Have I mentioned that I like California?

My favorite thing that Bethany said to me in her comments about going to Mississippi is...

OH, KATHEY - THE BUGS!!! THE BUGS!!!

Hah!

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh......
It's amazing how a little Christmas music can lift a girl's spirits.

Blast that Michael Buble for only giving us five measley songs.
Bah.
Very cruel of him.

This is for Derek Merek

Follow the link and click on View Video on the left side of the screen under the picture.

CLICK ME

I love Vermeer.

I love my cat.

I wish I was leaving tomorrow.

MUSIC, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory;
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heap'd for the belovèd's bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Cracker Jacks

Today I saw two people that I haven't seen in while...one of them many months since and the other not as many months since.

I knew that they were together (in a manner of speaking), but seeing them unexpectedly was hard.
It just made me mad.
Spittin' mad.
Any guy who would rather spend his time with *beeeeep* than me can have his cake and eat it.
And may it be stuck eternally in his throat.
Perhaps I should be thanking him for sparing me of his company.
I say that in all seriousness.

Bah.
People are eejuts.

Ya know, anyone can get the cheap little ring from the Cracker Jack box.

Not everyone can get the emerald cut solitaire from Tiffany & Co.

I'd rather sit in the window display for a while before being taken than to be had by the first loser that gets his grubby hand on the box.

"He felt as if high principle and noble precept ought to perform an immediate work. But they do not, for there is always the unknown quantity of individual experience and feeling, which offer a tacit resistance, the amount incalculable by another, to all good counsel and high decree."

"She felt that he did her good, she did not know why or how; but after a talk with him she always fancied that she had got the clue to goodness and peace, whatever befell."

-Elizabeth Gaskell

I love books.
People think I read a lot, but I don't really.
I'm too picky.
I'm getting to the point where I spend nearly all my reading time with the dead.
The living are just morons.

Sometime I hate people.
Not as a habit, just when they do really stupid things.
Generally, they're somewhat stupid. But when they do really stupid cowardly things...
That bugs me.

Do you know what you are when you do something without telling the powers that Be because you KNOW they won't approve?
You are a coward.
Worse than a coward.
You're a loathesome despicable coward.
If you're going to do something that you know they won't like, have enough guts to tell them beforehand. You're still stupid, but at least you're not a stupid coward.
Bah.
Why do people do stupid cowardly things.
They do them because they care more about themselves than about the people who care about them.
What a horrible way to live.
And then they try to justify their actions. And they apologize. After they plan the whole thing from the beginning.
Stupid cowards.

I know I'm not immune from this disease of stupidity.
I'm sure I have it in some form.
But I certainly hope I never enter the stupid coward terrority.
I refuse to be a disappoinment to MYSELF.
I'm the one who has to wake up with ME every morning.

Exam

Got the Statistics exam back.
Complete devastation, as I imagined it, did not take place.
I'm happy being an average Statistics student.
The even better news is that most of the class stunk royally, so Lohse is giving us 5 problems to do next week which will add to our exam scores.

As the Knutes say, "One could do worse!!"

Guy Noir

For anyone who cares...

The James Sewell Ballet Company is doing a Guy Noir ballet at the State Theatre in Minneapolis.
Very cool.

Plans

On the agenda...

Haddon Hall


Chatsworth


Sudbury Hall


Willersly Castle


Elvaston Castle

Stuff

So!
I'm headed back across the pond next spring.
I'll get a bus to Oxford and meet up with Becca.
We go South to Brighton, Dover and Salisbury then North to the Peak District then farther North into Scotland then back down to London.
Should be splendiferous fun.
I've got a map and everything.
*rubs hands together*

I love me some Garrison!

Men fought and died in 1776 so that your children would not be subjected to cricket! We fought so we would be free of those wretched fried tomatoes that the English have for breakfast!
So that we would be free of Corgis, those ugly little rodent-like dogs that are favored by Queen Elizabeth.
The English even wrote a musical about it, it's called Corgi and Bess.
It's a terrible musical, like most English musicals......Andrew Lloyd Webber - the Walmart of musicals!
The only great English musical was written by Americans and that's My Fair Lady, but nevermind!
People think of the English as civilized but that's because they never attended an English soccer match!
Enormous red-faced men bellowing and throwing up on each other...that's what that's about.
When was the last time you had 30 people trampled to death at a baseball game?

I love my iPod.
Muy mucho.

And Jane.
Dear Jane.
*sigh*
There are things in life that we like and then there are things that become a part of us. They're grafted into us. They are as natural as breathing. The thing and us are like the sun and sunlight - you can't have one without the other.

I love Chopin.
Dear bi-polar Chopin.
He sure knew how to crank out a good tune.
I'm forming the opinion that normal (for lack of a better term) people are somewhat uninteresting.
It makes me hope that I'm not normal.
Of course, the space between normal and bi-polar....that's sooooome space we're talking about.

I had some funky dreams this morning.
One of them centered on me being involved in a crime. I'll just say that I was the victim.
Sleeping dreams.
Odd things.

Then there are awake dreams.
Those are sometimes the ones that cause the damage.
It's a sad day when you have a sudden realization that you have dreams that will never BE. Very sad. It isn't as if you previously consciously believed that they truly WOULD happen, but then you realize that they WON'T.
You sit and cry about it and then you sort of lose that part of you that wanted those dreams in the first place.

I look at my cat, asleep in his box, and I admire the pure self-indulgence that he displays.
A dog's perception of people: You feed me, you take care of me - YOU must be god!
A cat's perception of people: You feed me, you take care of me - I must be god!
That's why I like cats. They're so magnificently stuck up.
Is that perverted of me?
Take Lucy from Peanuts, for example.
I love her.
She's such a pain.
BUT - she's a funny pain.
Alas, that doesn't often happen in reality.

I better stop before I start debating the merits of rice farming in Topeka.

Signing off.
*beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*

Guess who!

Good old Hammie

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

-William Shakespeare

Thoughts

Wow.
I'm sick.
I'm tired.
And depressed.
Probably because I'm sick and tired.

Foolish mortals

As a rule, man is a fool
When it's hot, he wants it cool
When it's cool, he wants it hot
Always wanting what is not
Never wanting what he's got

BAH

Vééérrrroooooooone!!
Vééérrrrooooooooone!!
Vous êtes Véroooooooone!!!!!

Bah.
Blast those blasted Froggies.
They may not know squat about staging, but they sure write some catchy tunes.
:)

It's nice to have friends

Why Can't The English?

Henry Look at her, a prisoner of the gutter,
Condemned by every syllable she ever uttered.
By law she should be taken out and hung,
For the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue.
Eliza Aaoooww! Henry imitating her Aaoooww!
Heaven's! What a noise!
This is what the British population,
Calls an elementary education. Pickering Oh,
Counsel, I think you picked a poor example. Henry Did I?
Hear them down in Soho square,
Dropping "h's" everywhere.
Speaking English anyway they like.
You sir, did you go to school?
Man Wadaya tike me for, a fool?
Henry No one taught him 'take' instead of 'tike!
Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?
This verbal class distinction, by now,
Should be antique. If you spoke as she does, sir,
Instead of the way you do,
Why, you might be selling flowers, too!
Hear a Yorkshireman, or worse,
Hear a Cornishman converse,
I'd rather hear a choir singing flat.
Chickens cackling in a barn Just like this one!
Eliza Garn! Henry I ask you, sir, what sort of word is that?
It's "Aoooow" and "Garn" that keep her in her place.
Not her wretched clothes and dirty face.
Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?
This verbal class distinction by now should be antique.
If you spoke as she does, sir, Instead of the way you do,
Why, you might be selling flowers, too.
An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him,
The moment he talks he makes some other
Englishman despise him.
One common language I'm afraid we'll never get.
Oh, why can't the English learn to set
A good example to people whose
English is painful to your ears?
The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears.
There even are places where English completely
disappears. In America, they haven't used it for years!
Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?
Norwegians learn Norwegian; the Greeks have taught their
Greek. In France every Frenchman knows
his language fro "A" to "Zed"
The French never care what they do, actually,
as long as they pronounce in properly.
Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning.
And Hebrews learn it backwards,
which is absolutely frightening.
But use proper English you're regarded as a freak.
Why can't the English,
Why can't the English learn to speak?

I'm alive

Sooooo....

Been busy.
Work.
Stuff.
Ya know.

The Queen and I went to San Francisco yesterday and had a great time.
Went to the Palace of the Legion of Honor and saw my favorite Rembrandt.
Bummed around Golden Gate Park.
FYI - the Japanese Tea Garden is free after 5pm.
The nice man we talked to at the Shakespeare Garden told us who to talk to about holding a wedding there. I have the feeling he thought the two of us were the happy couple. This was shortly after the woman at the gift shop in the museum told us that we reminded her of herself and her WIFE. *sigh*
Anywhoo, we went to the Sunrise Deli and I had a lovely shawarma and some magnificent baklava. Aaaaahhhhh, it was delicious. I want more.
We topped off the day by walking the double G.
It was a little chilly, but not too terrible.
It's so fun to be in a city and see all kinds of people and hear all kinds of languages. San Francisco is a nifty place.

Alright...

Have to do something terribly girly, so you've been warned -

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I LOVE YOU, JASON CRABB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay.
I feel better.
:)

Of course, the above comment refers to the musical sense of the phrase.
Yep.

He's so special, he has Ringtone status.
Ooooohhhhhh.
Very special, indeed.
And I'm sure his WIFE would agree with me.
*sigh*

Ornament premiere set-up is tomorrow.
Blech.
Yucky.
Blah.

It's hot.

I started antibiotics today.

It's hot.

Re-did the blog.

*sigh*

Bob

So, Bob and I are getting along splendidly.
He definitely keeps me entertained.
He has all the right music and Solitaire.
He doesn't talk back or disagree with me about anything.
I can turn him off whenever I want.

Too bad he's just an electronic.

Chocolate

My mother just handed me a piece of candy from See's and said "Here, this was my sample a couple of days ago."

Not knowing what said piece of candy might contain, I tentatively bit into it.
It was a truffle.



I took a couple of hasty bites and then told myself to slow down.

It was so lovely.
The taste remains in your mouth and it's just as good afterwards.
*sigh*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I GOT AN iPOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*runs around in circles*

You Raise Me Up

When I am down, and oh my soul, so weary,
when troubles come and my heart burdened be.
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
until You come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains.
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas.
I am strong, when I am on Your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be.

There is no life, no life without its hunger,
each restless heart beats so imperfectly.
But when You come and I am filled with wonder,
sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

Brendan Graham, Rolf Lovland

The Circle

Sometimes I really don't like people.

I suppose people sometimes really don't like me.

So it all works out in the end.

Just wanted to add..

Alright, how cute is this??



That's my boy, reading to the kiddies.
Isn't he a dear.
I hope he's okay.
Haven't seen hide nor hair of him for quite some time.
I tried to email his sister, but it was returned to me.
*sigh*
No love for the Gooch.
*sniff*

This and that

Well.
Trying to make myself post more often.

Uhm.
Worked today.
Tired.
It rained, which was fine by me, but a lot of other people seemed to be unhappy about it.

---random lyric moment---

Rain
Falls from the sky
Fresh on my skin
Kisses my face
I
drag myself up
Weary I walk
guided by Grace
There in the darkness
a flicker of light
Leading me onward
Over the moors
to a road
a road winding slow
that leads to a house
a house that I know

---end random lyric moment---

I don't know what was wrong last night, but I couldn't go to sleep till 2 blasted am.
Crazy.
I hope that doesn't happen tonight.
I need all the beauty sleep I can get.

Speaking of which, just thought I would let you all know that I am not a cute girl.
And I am okay with that.
These girls that I work with, they crack me up.
They are so cute, so high school, so like yeah, totally Californian teenagers.
Their topics of conversation are amazing.
A man came into the store today and bought a graduation card for his nephew.
He asked me when I was graduating.
I said "From what???" and laughed.
I told him the year that I graduated from high school.
After he left, I turned to Erika and said "I'M SO OLD!!!!"
I tell people I graduated in '99 and it sounds like that was 20 years ago.
Gah.

A quarter (maybe more like a third) of my life is behind me.
So much to see and so little time!
So many tickets to be bought!
So many critics to yell at!
So many castles to visit!
So many burritos to eat!
So many Peach Pleasures to be enjoyed!
And not enough time!
Bah!
*shakes fist*

*sigh*
Well, in the words of Mr.Nichols...
Cheer up. Life isn't everything.

Boy, for some reason, I'm now having a Benedick moment.

BEATRICE
I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior
Benedick: nobody marks you.

BENEDICK
What, my dear Lady Disdain! are you yet living?

BEATRICE
Is it possible disdain should die while she hath
such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick?
Courtesy itself must convert to disdain, if you come
in her presence.

BENEDICK
Then is courtesy a turncoat. But it is certain I
am loved of all ladies, only you excepted: and I
would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard
heart; for, truly, I love none.

BEATRICE
A dear happiness to women: they would else have
been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God
and my cold blood, I am of your humour for that: I
had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man
swear he loves me.

BENEDICK
God keep your ladyship still in that mind! so some
gentleman or other shall 'scape a predestinate
scratched face.

BEATRICE
Scratching could not make it worse, an 'twere such
a face as yours were.

BENEDICK
Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher.

BEATRICE
A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours.

BENEDICK
I would my horse had the speed of your tongue, and
so good a continuer. But keep your way, i' God's
name; I have done.

BEATRICE
You always end with a jade's trick: I know you of old.

*sigh*
Ah, the battle of the sexes.
Will we never escape it.
Do we want to escape it???

Okay.
This is where I go to bed.
Night.

So.
New blog theme.
Not that I didn't like Garrison, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.
*cough*

Went to LA.
Went to Disneyland.
Saw James.
All that good stuff.

Just FYI - that Israel and New Breed Live From Another Level dvd looks like it was filmed by a bunch of people on crack.
Sorry if that seems crude, but it's true.
Don't watch it if you get car sick.
Sheesh.
If I had known it was like that, I probably wouldn't have bought it.
But really, only in Santa Monica will you find a dvd like that at Tower Records, the Twilight Zone of Christian music.
:)

I've decided that I don't really like L.A.
It makes me feel icky.

Hey Bethy, James is playing Lancelot in a one night concert thingie at the Hollywood Bowl.
*sigh*
As Professor Gonzalez says, "C'est moi!"
;)

Life is weird.
And it never ends.
Until you die of course.
But then, you're dead - you don't know what you're missing at that point.
I'm glad God didn't make it so that we remember being born.
That would be so traumatizing, we wouldn't make it anyways.
I'm glad He thought about those things.
Speaking of God, I'm stuck on that line from the show (the blog theme).
Those words come out of his mouth (JB's, not God ;)) and you can hear the entire audience go "Hhhhhhmmmmm..."
I'm glad I already knew that God isn't hiding.

Well.
There's your theological discussion for the week.
I'm pooped.
I'm going to bed.

Update

Sooo.......

Had a birhday.
And a party.

Got an A in Public Speaking.
Shocker, I know.
You are all aware of what problems I have with speech.
I tell ya, this class has been a life saver.
*cough*

I got a car.
I'll have to take a picture of her and post it.

Dad scared the pooey out of us last night.
He had a panic attack at 3 am.
He's been sick and he's got asthma.
He isn't the most physically stable person in the first place. When you get up at 3 am in the dark after taking Codeine and feel like you're going to fall, a person like him panics.
*sigh*
I woke up to a veeerryy loud noise.
That isn't normally a good sign.
I remember waking up when we had that earthquake a few years ago and the sheer NOISE was amazing. I thought Well, it's the end of the world.
So anywhoo, lots of banging and then Dad freaking out.
I got up and opened my door, saying Jesus a couple of times (in plea, not in frustration :)).
We calmed him down.
Some people don't adapt to change very well.
*sigh*

The album is looking soooo nifty.
I wanna keep it.
It's lovely.
If this doesn't inspire gratitude, than absolutely nothing will.

I'm working allll day today.
SVS this morning and then 12-7 at Hally's.
Ick.
I was bored to tears last Saturday.
I arranged, I straightened, I cleaned.
It did pick up a little, but Saturdays just feel different than weekdays. They feel slow and lazy. Weekdays have a little more zip to them.

I've been asked to change the blog theme because the person said that the bird (among other things) was freaking them out.
I'm not sure if I should respond to my public so willingly, but hey, they're the only public I have.

I am so sick of hearing bout Wicked.
I wish it would go away and never come back.
Ever.
And if those moron Tony Shmony voters give the Best Musical award to that canned ham of a show rather than Piazza, their status as Real Live Morons will be cemented in my book. As Czolgosz says, they are the vilest scum in the world!!! ;)
So yeah, canned ham is nice once in a while. But ya can't live on it. And even if you could, who would want to?????

Bah.
I gotta go.
*sigh*

Oh, that this too too solid flesh would melt!!

Well...

Just stumbled across these in one of my Yahoo photo albums.
Brings back memories.

At the big 25th Anniversary Bash


I think this was at a Dennys...after BAPC one year...that's Sean's hand on the back of the seat...


After being up ALL night at a Lock-In, thus the Zombie look


More anniversary


:)