Monday (has a feel) Movie-ish Clip

"It feels like Tuesday."

"Tuesday has no feeling." To this I disagree. Although I try to treat every day equally, I tend to agree that certain days have a feeling. I think this comes from years of doing the same things on the same days.

So I am going to try to shake things up. I worked on Saturday this weekend. I'm thinking about going out during the week. I woke up at the time I would normally go to work on Sunday. I say, let's change up the week! Thank God it's Monday!

Happy birthday to me!

It's my birthday week. Hell, it's my birthday month! I've always been a big fan of birthdays--it's like your own little holiday.

I'm not huge on gifts. That's not to say I won't accept them. I guess I just prefer the gift of someone's company to anything that can be purchased from a store. And I won't turn down a beer either.

But since it's my birthday week, I feel like I can get away with going down my wish list. I already have a few people committed to helping me with this; I hope you're in too.

I want:

• Success in whatever we all strive to do. Let's meet our goals. Let's be as awesome as possible.
• More friendly moments. Let's be nicer to store clerks, bank tellers, wait staff, people you pass on the street, census agents, and fellow drivers (even the morons).
• Honesty. If you can't make it, don't say you can. If you want to know if that outfit makes you look fat, be prepared to hear yes. Let's be real.
• Nuclear disarmament. Hey! It's my birthday wish list.
• More green moments. Let's walk to the store. Hold your nose, empty, wash and recycle that old plastic dish in the fridge.
• A few more questions. Remember when conventional wisdom said the earth was flat? There's gotta be more of that out there. Let's find it!
• Love. Embrace the love you have. Extend the love you give.

The more we want for everyone, the more we will all have. I know this is my birthday wish list, but I'd like to think it benefits many. If you're in, thanks for playing! If not, I hope to see you the next time the game comes around.

I may dress up for the Oscar party after all

I've never been into the Oscars. Award shows are silly fodder. Bread and circuses, right? But today I saw a nominee for best animated short, and I think I may actually care who wins in this category.

I know it's 16 minutes long, but it will be worth every minute. Watch it twice. The first time I saw it was like the first time I read Tom Robbins: You mean, other people think like that too?




Even if it doesn't win, I would have probably never heard of this short if it weren't for the Oscars. So I guess maybe award shows aren't all bad.

Radar Love

For whatever reason I woke up a few mornings ago and read my good friend's horoscope. It seemed to be pertinent to her--all about new learning opportunities and such (she just started school)--so I sent it to her. She emailed me back saying, "This morning I woke up thinking I should ask you to send me my horoscope."

Last night I thought: My boyfriend should start the dishwasher. Two minutes later, he did.

This morning I was listening to a really silly pop song while writing my sister an email. On a whim I included the name and artist of the song, thinking she might like it. She later told me that she had an 8 a.m. dance party because of my email.

My friend and I have a phrase for these sort of things: It's weird but it's not.

We are all connected. If you listen to the "weird" impulses in your brain and believe what to some is unbelievable, you can all become mind readers.

Don't worry. Be happy. Seriously.

My friend recently joined AAA. The cost of a year’s membership is less than one tow and includes a lot more than that. And when you live in Minnesota, it seems reasonable to me.

There are, however, a few things that seem less reasonable to me:

• Insurance on your cell phone that you pay monthly and then pay a deductible when you use it…and you may only use it a certain number of times.
• Protection the cable company offers in case you have to have a technician come out and service your wires or equipment you rent from them.
• Warranties available for additional purchase on electronics (read: Best Buy)
• Credit protection for purchase on credit cards, checking and savings accounts
  
  While I try not to give in, there are times when I wonder: Should I have these things? What if my credit card gets stolen? What if my iPod quits working? What if I drop my cell phone in a toilet?
  
  What-if land is a dangerous place to go. I consider it a necessary place to visit, like Washington D.C., but I definitely wouldn’t want to live there. Constantly processing outcomes that may never happen is a sure recipe for living with fear and worry.
  
  There is a Swedish proverb that says “Worry gives a small thing a big shadow.” If we let go of our fear and worry and live in the moment, most of those outcomes we were processing will never occur.
  
  And really, would it be so bad if on occasion they did occur? I live for the day my cell phone runs out of power and I can’t be reached. Imagine a week!

I thought Mel Gibson was convincing in "Conspiracy Theory"

July 24, 2008 - Thursday

Today I drank a Coca Cola at work. I was trying to explain my forbidden love affair with it when my friend asked me if I would like to eat an entire cup of brown sugar because, really, that's all it is. I responded that I thought it was high-fructose corn syrup. Her eyes got wide and with a very serious look she said, "Corn is so horrible. Corn is the root of all evil."

After one of the best laughs I have had in a long time -- you know the kind where there are tears streaming down your face, your stomach aches and you're gasping for air -- I asked what the hell she could possibly mean. She proceeds to tell me about a PBS documentary (called King Corn I believe) that she saw. It told of all the ills of corn and how there was some sort of marketing shift in the '70s to brainwash all of us into thinking it was good. "It's man made," she said solemnly.

This launched me back into a place I haven't been in a while. How is it possible to be socially concious when there are so many things wrong with the world? How much of it is hype and how much is truly threatening?

I like to adopt the Mark Twain way of looking at things: "I've known a lot of troubles in my time -- and most of them never happened." Resolve not to worry. I'm not saying we shouldn't all have our causes we truly believe in, but I think it is too easy to get overwhelmed by all that could be wrong. And when that happens nothing gets done.