The Ungrinchification of Ansley

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, finally.

I have been a little grumpy for the last week, not really negative grumpy, just not overly positive and ready for Christmas. So what helped me kick the grump habit? I had tried having a Christmas party, going to Christmas parties, and decorating my apartment, all to only small avail. So here's what did it; making Christmas cookies while singing along to a new Christmas mix. And just in case you're still struggling to get Christmasy (or stay that way while fight crowds on the roads and in stores), here's the music and the recipe.

The music, click here if you want a copy:
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald
All I Want For Christmas Is You - Olivia Olson
Walking in a Winter Wonderland - Bing Crosby
Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
Frosty the Snowman - Fiona Apple
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Dean Martin
Baby It’s Cold Outside
Jingle Bells - Ella Fitzgerald
Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) - U2
The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
I’ll Be Home For Christmas - Aimee Mann
Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas - The Format
I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Bing Crosby
Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
Sleigh Ride - Ella Fitzgerald
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town - Ella Fitzgerald
Last Christmas - Wham
What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve - Ella Fitzgerald

The recipe:
Chocolate Mint Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen

2/3 C packed brown sugar
1/3 c margarine or butter
1 T water
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 ¼ C flour
1 egg
½ tsp baking soda
About 18-36 Andes mints

In a saucepan, heat brown sugar, margarine, and water over medium heat just until melted, stirring constantly. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Put mixture in a large bowl and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Add about half of the flour, the egg, and baking soda to the chocolate mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined. Stir in remaining flour (dough will be soft). Place tablespoon-sized blobs 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes. Let cool a bit but while still warm place ½ an Andes mint (or a whole one depending on what you like) on top of each cookie. As it melts, spread it around the cookie.

So that's the regular recipe. I wanted them to look more festive so I replaced part of the chocolate chips with the Andes mint so they had the same flavor but it was all in the cookie, then I melted white chocolate and spread it on top.This is my attempt at creating a double boiler. It worked and I love this photo because you can see my canisters from my grandma and also the CD player that was playing the mix. And my Portland mug, which always makes me smile.

While the white chocolate was still warm, I sprinkled red and green sugar on top.Lots and lots of cookies!

Then I wrapped small stacks in saran wrap and put then in red cellophane bags with the CD in it too, attached a homemade tag, and have gifts for friends and the Christmas spirit for myself.All ready to go for delivery. Happy Holidays!

Light in the Darkness

Today marks the winter solstice, the official start of winter, the shortest, darkest day of the year. While that seems dreary, I've been counting down the days as I count the accumulating snowflakes.

See it also marks the start of days getting longer. Whenever I feel cold or tired of the snow, or missing the warm weather, I can just go to weather.com, look at the sunrise and sunset times and see that the days are actually getting longer. Summer is coming!

Today also marks Tamara's birthday. It's like God knew if the earth would be the darkest today, it would need her light, her optimism, her smile to brighten it up. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!That's not her! It's her cute dog Watson. I thought his picture would make her smile more.

Getting Political As A Nurse, Sort Of

A few days ago I was thinking about all the funny things that have happened or that I have said in the 4 short months I've spent as a nurse. Sadly, right now I can only remember one, but it's my favorite. A little backstory without breaking the law and telling you too much about the patient. He had taken a mix of an estimated 75 anticonvulsants and psychiatric meds. He was very agitated and when asked any question would reply with full, coherent sentences that had nothing to do with the question asked.

Example: Q: Do you have any pain? A: When can I leave so I can meet my friends on safari in Africa?

So he hadn't peed the whole time in the ER so we bladder scanned him, a painless completely external procedure. He had almost a liter in his bladder but had no desire to try to pee. So the doctor asked us to place a catheter. No this is never fun for anyone but even less so with a patient who is delusional, irrational, thrashing around, and potentially violent.

So I agree to hold his arms and try to calm him down while the aide put it in. The whole time he is saying random stuff but right at the end this was the conversation:

Pt: What are you doing?
Me: We are putting in a catheter, we need to do this because you have so much urine in your bladder and that's dangerous.
Pt: My dad, the president, George Bush, wouldn't want you to do this to me
Me: You really need this and, yes, George Bush would want you to have this catheter.

You Don't Bring Me Flours Anymore

Earlier this week I saw Stranger Than Fiction instead of being outside in the cold and snow for Family Home Evening.

I loved this movie! I loved the premise, I loved Will Ferrell playing a different kind of character than usual, I loved all of the other characters, and I loved the attention to detail. Dustin Hoffman was hilarious as the Literature professor and I loved trying to figure out which novels he was mentioning as he questioned the events of Harold Crick's life. I love seeing Emma Thompson commit to her role of distracted, hermit author with all the idiosyncracies and affectations. I loved the architecture, color schemes, and the little details like when Harold is staying with his friend who loves space camp (Buster Bluth) the sleeping bag has the cosmos on it. I loved the play on words of flower/flour although it took me about 5 minutes to get the joke. But one of my favorite exchanges was this one...

Dr. Jules Hilbert: Hell Harold, you could just eat nothing but pancakes if you wanted.
Harold Crick: What is wrong with you? Hey, I don't want to eat nothing but pancakes, I want to live! I mean, who in their right mind, in a choice between pancakes and living, chooses pancakes?
Dr. Jules Hilbert: Harold, if you pause to think, you'd realize that that answer is inextricably contingent upon the type of life being led... and, of course, the quality of the pancakes.

And if you want that song that Harold plays, click here...

Brrrrrrr!

Winter is here and everyone keeps saying it'll be a bad one. It snowed last night. I was at work and through the hospital windows, it looked like a blizzard. The University Hospital is in the foothills so it gets more snow than the valley. Bacause the snow hit in the middle of the night, they hadn't cleared the streets yet in the morning and the day nurses couldn't get in. I had to stay at work almost an hour late to cover for some of them.

And then, to add insult to injury, I get into my car and Matt Costa's Cold December is playing..."It's going to be a cold december." I think he's right.

My Post-Halloween Post

Some friends started a CD club last year and October was the last month. It was also my month; my turn to create a mix CD and then send copies to the rest of the group. Some people made extremely varied mixes, some people had themes like songs about cities, states, and the United States for July, or Guilty Pleasures with everyting from Vanilla Ice to MC Hammer. I knew I could come up with a mix of Halloween songs but would they really be songs people would want to hear?

And then something really scary happened to me...My computer crashed. So here it is, my mix of songs I'm glad I still have, thanks to my trusty external hard drive. Some are old, some are fairly new, but all are favorites. If you want these songs, use this link to download them, the link should be active until Nov 11 or 12.

Here's the CD cover, this is what happens when you give a nerd a Mac...
1) Everyday is Halloween - The Postmarks - A very cotton-candy sweet version of the Ministry classic; had to throw a little Halloween in the mix

2) Come Around - Rhett Miller - One of my favorite singers, hard to pick just one song, so I picked the chorus to which I most relate.

3) The Greatest - Cat Power

4) Sick of Myself - Death Cab For Cutie - The original Matthew Sweet version has probably been on more of my mix tapes than any other song. And by using the cover I got in a DCFC song too. There's only so much space on a CD, folks.

5) Do The Whirlwind Metronomy Remix - Architecture in Helsinki - Neither Architects nor from Helsinki; they maybe liars but they are great musicians.

6) Could Be Anything - The Eames Era

7) Ooh Child - The Five Stairsteps - A great song, from a great soundtrack, from a great movie, from a great director - Crooklyn by Spike Lee

8) Coffee and TV - Blur - There's just something about a good Blur song, you have to sing along loudly in your car.

9) Cold December - Matt Costa - One of my new favorites by a cute boy who puts on a fun concert.

10) Baby I Know What You're Thinking - The Mendoza Line

11) Suddenly - Ryan Ferguson

12) Somebody I Used To Know - Elliott Smith - I was first introduced to Elliott Smith and this song on a mix CD by somebody I used to know. Life imitates art, I guess it's true.

13) Let's Stay Together - Al Green - A great song, from a great soundtrack, from a purportedly great movie and director, which I hated, Pulp Fiction - Still a great song.

14) Me and Mia - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

15) Wild Horses - The Sundays - One of those songs that makes you get blurry-eyed and romantic, or is it just me...

16) I Know I Know I Know - Tegan & Sara - When it's done playing, I always hit repeat at least once. It's like Lay's potato chips, I can't have just one.

17) At Least I'm Honest - Tiger Baby

18) Tickets to Crickets - Ferraby Lionheart - Just found him a few days ago, but I like him so I thought I'd share.

19) Cold Hands Warm Heart - Brendan Benson

20) Naked As We Came - Iron & Wine - If you like it, buy their albums for more of the same beautiful lyrics and dream-inducing voice

21) Butterflies - The Arrogants - Just a cute little song by a band I like

22) Come Sing Me A Song - Sing-Sing - Wow lots of hyphens in this entry

23) I Turn My Camera On - Spoon - So hard to pick just one, I asked several friends and we all decided this was a good introduction if you don't know them and a favorite if you do.

All The Pretty Girls Go To The City

I'm not claiming anything about myself, I'm just quoting Spoon.

Did you miss me? Did you even know I was gone? I guess I'm not posting frequently enough to have my absence be very glaring.

I just spent about 5 days in NYC visiting my friend, Tamara. She has a great apartment up in Washington Heights. The best two things about it are that she can have pets and that it is big enough for me to visit.

I got there late Friday night/early Saturday morning. And after looking for the elusive parking spot back at Tam's and then staying up too late girl-talking, we had a hard time waking up and getting going on Saturday.

Saturday, after getting up after 1pm, we wandered through Greenwich Village and Bleeker street. I've been to NYC many times but without mountains to orient myself, I sometimes get turned around when I first surface from the subway. So it took us a while to figure out the right section of Bleeker street. Luckily, like most of life, good things happen even with the wandering.

A few years ago, I had been introduced to Beard Papa's, a great little cream puff shop from Japan with stores in NYC. Tam and I decided it was a must see and must eat. We googled it but then surprise, when we came out of the subway, there was one we hadn't even planned on. Cream puffs while wandering! Joy!

I had 2 goals, new necklaces and a new hat. I found a great red necklace while "lost."

We finaly made our way over to Bleeker St, visited lots of cute shops, a very popular Italian bakery with an even more popular bathroom, and then decided to wait in the line for some delcious thin crust brick oven pizza at John's. This is where I took my only picture of the whole trip. I carried my camera every day but I'm terrible at remembering to use it. And this is it, Tam and I eating pizza and our celebrity "sighting" Johnny Depp's picture above our table. Of course, his is the only face blurred out by the flash.
Sunday we went our separate ways and each met up with college friends for brunch. I've known Serge since my junior year when a girl in my poetry study group took me to meet the guy she had a crush on. Sadly, her story with him didn't last very long, but he and I have remained friends. I couldn't make it to his wedding in February to the "Lovely Sabrina" due to being a poor student. Catching up with him over strawberry waffles, delicious. We then met up with Tam, went to H&M, where Serge offered to give his opinion on clothes and hold my purse. He had told me he was The World's Best Husband, and while I am not prone to believe self-proclaimed titles, after this, I might just believe him.

We then went over to 6th and 26th, an area full of antique stores and flea markets. Again, cute necklaces for sale and I was buying.

That night we went over to Union Square and again, just wandered. Trader Joe's recently opened there and anyone who knows me, reads either of my blogs, or has eaten at my house, knows, TJs is my favorite store and much missed now that I live in UT. But all that love wasn't enough to make me wait in the lines that wrapped around the entire store.

Monday, we met up for brunch with one of Tam's friends who was also visiting NYC. The food wasn't great but Ashley was lots of fun. Later that day, we stumbled across the City Bakery (stay away in Feb) we had heard of and knew they were famous for their "hot chocolate." I have to use quotes because it was really tepid chocolate soup. We each had about 3 sips and were done. Done with the "hot chocolate," done with food until much later that evening, and done with feeling good for the next few hours.

When we were ready for food, we were also ready to stop walking and relax. We decided to go to Whole Foods and get a smattering of favorites, go back to Tam's and then later go out to see Marie Antoinette. At Whole Foods, in addition to the delicious Indian samosas, Italian grilled veggies, Greek pasta salad, Thai coconut chicken, and French orangina, I had a REAL celebrity sighting. I saw, are you ready for it...

Sarah Chalke, from Scrubs! I know, not as great as Johnny Depp but she was a real person.

Dinner was delicious. We decided to get candy for the movie and although they seem to have taken over the city, we knew there wasn't a Duane Reade near the movie theater so we stopped at a bodega in Tam's Dominican neighborhood. And what should I find, Coffee Crisp. Canadian candy in a Dominican store in NYC, I love serendipitous moments.

Marie Antoinette? Meh. The movie got out so late that the next day we decided we would rather sleep that have a fancy brunch, although Tam did make some fancy pancakes. And that was it, we went to JFK, wondered if it was open because there were about 3 other cars there, and I flew back to SLC.

Thanks Tam for a great visit. Can't for March in Mexico!

Spatially Inept

I have never been good at things requiring spatial skills. I can finally read a map but that's about it. In wheelthown pottery, I could center it and thin the walls to get a great cylinder but could never get the shape I envisioned in my head into the clay. I can't do those questions on the SAT or IQ tests where you have to say which design on a flat paper will end up on top once the paper is folded into a box.

So I'm impressed by anyone who can.

Or anyone who can solve a Rubik's cube.

But I'm especially impressed by this guy. He takes one sheet of A4 paper, cuts it and folds it so that all the paper is still there, the flat part and the 3-D pop-up part are both amazing. This website has other projects of his too.

It Ain't Easy Being Green

I've had my nursing license since late June but I've been an employed nurse for only about 6 weeks.

It's been exciting:
Learning so much in such a short time
Meeting lots of new people that I work with
Starting my first IV
Placing my first NG tube

But last week was hard. I started night shift, which I like but is always difficult at first. The initial sleep deprivation causes me to not regulate my temperature as well, feel really cold, stops my digestive system (ewww, sorry), and I'm more emotional.

Most of the patients I see are fairly healthy, have a procedure, get some meds, and go on with their lives. Last week was different. 3 of my patients, all under 35, had cancer. Big, scary, spreading cancer. Add to that patients who wake up to find that the accident wasn't only painful, they had to have major surgeries, and their family died. Plus there were language barriers. I speak French, they didn't. Lots of other staff speak Spanish, still they didn't. So I can only use small sentences, hope they understand the call light and how to call me, hope they know the words for water and pain pill when I ask if they need anything, hope a smile translates well.

It was frustrating. It was disheartening. It was part of life as a nurse. Learning to shut off part (but not all) of your emotions so that you can help them rather than just curl up in the corner and cry, so that you can move on to the next patient, so that you can sleep when you get home, so that you can go back the next day.

Maybe It Is Time For That Microdermabrasion...

10 year ago today I went into the MTC to then go on a mission to Geneva Switzerland. YIKES!

You Can Take The Girl Out Of Oregon But...

I'm wondering if I'm the only person in Salt Lake that is excited today is a cool, overcast, rainy, Saturday. I guess the skiers are happy too.

I know I just happy to have my new down comforter. It's warm and toasty and I love the kinda crunchy sound it makes when I wrap up in it.

Mish-Mash of an Update

I've been in Salt Lake for a little over a month now.

I've started my job at the University of Utah hospital. Everyone is friendly, helpful, and I'm learning a ton. I'm in orientation still which means I spend 8 weeks adjusting to the floor before they let me free to take care of patients on my own. I'm sure the patients are happy about that.

I just spent the last 3 days in a nursing orientation that was lots of 30 minute - 1 hour lessons on all sorts of hospital stuff. The MRI part was the best. We saw a video describing the dangers of the magnet and then actually showed wrenched and buckets smashing through bricks to get to the magnet. Sadly, I couldn't find a video online, but here are some pictures, including a chair and an oxygen tank, plus a video of a chair being removed.




So life is good, meeting new people, finally all unpacked and into my cute apartment, had a delicious birthday dinner with a beautiful lemon cake AND a dark chocolate cake too, and I'm in a ward where I am among the youngest people there, that's unusual at 33.

Pre-Partum Blues

First things first - I'm not pregnant.

I meant pre-partum from Portland.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm so excited to move and, yes, I am but...

I'm also sad to leave Portland. I've lived here 7 years, the longest I've ever lived anywhere I wasn't born. This is my home or at least one of my homes. In some ways, this is where my life, adult life, began, this is where I grew up. And it's beautiful, artsy, weird, green, near the mountains and coast, and home to most of my current friends.

It would seem that the move would be more real because of the piles of moving boxes I've been filling and this morning put into the moving "pod" or selling my kitchen table and chairs. But it really hits me when I realize I will have to change all my car radio presets or when especially when I check the weather and realize I don't need a full 10-day forecast anymore.

So yes, I'm excited and hopeful about the future, but some of my heart stays here.

I also have to say thanks to everyone who helped me move today: Elizabeth, Laura, Sara, David, Jeff, and Jon...I couldn't have done it without you.

I'm Back But I'm Also Leaving

I'm back on this blog thing...I'm moving out of Oregon.

A lot has happened since my last post a month ago. I took the NCLEX (the licensing boards for nurses) and passed. I guess I said that in the last post but it's a big deal!!!

I had been thinking about moving when I graduated for a while and finally decided that I would do it. I'm moving to Salt Lake City.

KaRyn, a friend from Portland who now lives in SLC, came to visit for July 4th so I drove back with her and then stayed through Sunday. I spent all of Thursday walking around looking for an apartment. SLC has lots of hills and my calves were so tight the next day. I found a cute apartment in an old house that is now 4 apartments in the Avenues section on SLC.


Then on Friday I had 4 interviews. I accepted a job at the University of Utah hospital on a telemetry floor (that's cardiac monitoring). Everyone I met on that floor from the manager to the person who gave me a tour to a nursing student who introduced himself were so incredibly friendly, I think it will be a great place to work. Now I just have to buy scrubs.

Things are going well, although it is far too hot in Portland to want to spend any time packing boxes, it's hard enough to ever want to do that, but especially when it's 100 degrees in the non-air-conditioned Pacific NW. More on the packing, move, and thoughts on that later.

Graaaaaaduate, Good Times, Come On!

It has been a busy few weeks.

I had my last final on June 12.

I graduated on June 17. Nursing schools have pinning ceremonies.
My Mom, Grandma, Aunt Patty, Aunt Elizabeth, and her 3 kids Cady, Maddie, and Michael all came to see it.

So did 2 friends, Kathryn and Tamara. I really appreciated all the support and love.
After the ceremony, we went to dinner at Everett Street Bistro. If you haven't been, you should go. So good and my outfit matched the decor. My Uncle Mike was very distraught that my school didn't have nurse's caps so my mom made some and each family decorated one for me. When I asked my Aunt Patty if I looked dumb, she just laughed. I meant dumber than I should with handmade decorated caps on my head.
On Thursday the 22nd, I took the NCLEX, the national boards for nurses.

It takes a couple days to get the results so I threw a party on Friday night to celebrate the graduation and distract me from waiting for the NCLEX results.

Tamara made me this super-cute cake!
I got to bed at 2am, but I woke up at 7am and couldn't go back to sleep, wondering if my score was in. So I got up and checked. And it was. It took me 3 tries to get all my info and credit card number entered correctly to get my score, I was nervous and sleepy. But I finally was able to get my results.

It's official and legal, I'm a nurse!

7 Down - 5 Letters - Big Screen Entertainment

I should be writing about my graduation yesterday and I will soon but I just found out about this movie, Wordplay. It's about crossword puzzles and competitions. It's a documentary with Will Shortz, the guy who creates the NYTimes puzzles and is also the puzzle master on NPR. Plus Jon Stewart. I have liked him for at least 10 years, especially after I heard he proposed to his wife in a crossword puzzle.

The movie opens next Friday, the same day as my graduation party. I've never semi-regretted having a party. So this is my new mantra, "I can wait for the movie..."

What Not To Wear

It's bad enough when celebrities with professional stylists make huge fashion faux pas, but when it's Trinny. Best. Fug. Ever.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's 60th birthday!

So here's why I celebrate him:

• He's following his dream
• He just "retired"
• He's building his new dream house
• He wants to buy a Vespa to get around town
• He went back to school for another degree in his 30s
• He reminded me of that when I wondered if I could do it
• He buys my gas while in school
• He reads my blog
• He hosts Christmas at his house every year
• And cooks too
• He runs into at least 3 people he knows everytime he goes to the grocery store
• He taught me to do stained glass
• He gave me his SLR camera
• He works with several charities in his town
• He looked at all my pictures from Thailand, about 600 of them
• He loves his family
• He supports me even when he doesn't understand my choices or beliefs
• He tries to understand me when he doesn't
• And I get to see him in July!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Smiling About The Land of Smiles (That's Thailand)

One year ago today, after taking my finals early, cleaning my cute little studio apartment where I had lived for 3 years, and moving all my stuff into the garden shed of the lovely and generous Tamara, I got on a plane to Southern Thailand. After over 40 hours on planes and layovers, I reached my final destination, Khao Lak.

I know I have written about this before but not a day goes by that I don't remember that trip, think about the people there, the changes I hope are still happening, notice sunspots and freckles I got while there, wear some cute shoes from Thailand, or look at pictures I took. So here are a few pictures...

The view from my hotel room. How lucky was I?!

My first day, going to the worksite. The rainy season if you couldn't tell.

Mixing cement with some visiting monks

Yep, that's me, twirling fire on the beach

I'm posed like a dressed down Vanna White but I built this whole wall all by myself. My eyes are closed from fatigue, it's either that or the dust from sawing concrete blocks in half is in my eyes.

Jaime and me after a long, hard day of work

Thanking Linda the Elephant for the adventure

Oh, Are They?

I should be working on a presentation for class tomorrow, or studying for finals, or studying for the NCLEX, or, or, or...

But I just had to post that I finished clinicals! These are my scrubs on fire. I never have to wear navy blue scrubs again. I got a uniform catalog in the mail yesterday and it was the first time I really looked at one. I had been avoiding them as I got sicker and sicker of the navy but knew I had no choice. Now I could actually get something else. The problem is I'm not really a flowery/Disney/heart/angel/cartoon type of girl. So I'll probably just end up with some solid color, anything but navy.

Only 13 days till graduation!

When Did Tandy Start Designing Websites?

All of my posts have been short lately and this one will be no exception. Just one month left of school so I'm busy but I took a break and spent a few minutes on one of the coolest band websites I've seen recently. The Raconteurs. Maybe it's because I remember when computer screens really looked like this, but I loved it, especially how you navigate around sans mouse. Say what you will about them, I like Brendan Benson, and the song "Steady As She Goes" but they do risk overexposure.

Too Two Political?

Two semi-political posts in a row? Is that too much?

Did you see SNL with the Al Gore as president opening sketch? Priceless!

Catch it will it's still up on youtube

5/16/06 - Of course, the video has now been removed. Try this link if you didn't see it. You have to click the video link and choose QuickTime or WMP.

Big Fish

According to this article, when asked about his greatest moment of the last five years, GWB said it was catching a 7.5 pound fish.

Yep, that sounds about right...

Smile Like You Mean It

Here are the things that made me smile today:

A sunny day with no school and no work

Waking up without an alarm clock

Spending part of the day washing my car

Almost reaching my fundraising goal for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life

Chocolate soymilk and banana in a blender

The new Mac ads with the guy who played Warren on Ed

My apartment's secret garden in full bloom

My nice landlord being sure I saw it since it is kinda secret even to me

Hanging new art on my walls

Listening to Tamara's master's thesis, a 35 minute radio spot about Mormon dating in NYC

That wonderful moment at the doctor's when your name is called and you get to leave the waiting room - then leaving with a clean bill of health

Making vacation plans for the end of school

Hope you had a day full of smiles too.

P.S. If you haven't heard about the Relay for Life, click for more info or to donate.

18-Hour, My @$$

Most of my posts have been about events in my life, my thoughts, preferences, nothing too embarrasing, until now...

This morning, close to the end of my 12 1/2 hour shift at the hospital, I felt a weird poke in my side. It took a few seconds to figure out what it was. The underwire in my bra had broken. Now this has happened before as they wear out but usually after going through the wash, never while I was wearing it.

Like most things in life, it could have been worse. The wire could have broken through the fabric and really poked me, it could have happened at the beginning of the shift, I could have had on something other than a big baggy scrub top. And I have to say, it did help wake me up for the last few hours of the shift.

By The Time We Got To Wordstock, We Were Half A Million Strong

OK maybe not half a million, but this weekend Portland held the Wordstock Festival, a three day "Festival of the Book" with readings, workshops, and a book fair all to benefit Community of Writers, a non-profit that supports writing in the schools.

Last year I went and saw Caprial and John Pence on the cooking stage, Linda Sawaya, who wrote a Lebanese cookbook I bought years ago not knowing she lived in Portland (my great-grandfather is from Lebanon), a screenwriters' panel with Mike Rich and Whitney Otto, and Sarah Vowell and her quirky voice reading from her newest book.

This year I saw Eric Blehm, who wrote about Randy Morgenson, a 28 year veteran park ranger who disappeared, Paul LaRosa, a true crime author, Joyce Carol Oates, and Dave Eggers.

It amazes me that Portland can pull something like this together. It's not like they have one headliner...They had so many authors I wanted to see that it was almost impossible to choose only one each hour.

One of my favorite things this year were the images from the promotional material.






P.S. Dad, I just liked the image, I really like you more than Atticus Finch.

P.P.S. Ellen DeGeneres just mentioned Cash Cab on her show!

Big Yellow Taxi

My nerd status has been proven on many occasions, these posts about Jeopardy and nursing school, being a chemistry major my first year of college (once a chem nerd, always a chem nerd), and that I love Sudoku. But here's the most recent evidence. My newest favorite show is Cash Cab on The Discovery Channel. You can even pretend you're on the show and take a quiz if you go to the site. This show is great because not only is it about trivia and you can win money, the people are hilarious. They are much more relaxed than on a show with all the production value of Jeopardy. Sometimes it's just one person, sometimes families, sometimes lots of friends.

As much as I love this show, there is a disturbing trend I noticed recently. When it's a guy, he is usually confident in the answers he knows, even if only an educated guess. But when it's a girl, even when she has gotten the last several questions right and eventually gets the current question right too, she is all sorts of hesitant and unsure of her answers. It's so frustrating. I don't know if these girls just doubt themselves or if they think they have to seem kind of stupid. But then, who knows how I would act if I were ever lucky enough to be on one of these shows. It's so easy to guess the answers at home when money and remaining in the game aren't on the line.

Yyyyaaaawwwnnnnnnnn!

Just trying to wake up and remember what day it is. Yep, that timestamp is right - 3:34PM and I'm just waking up. Last night I worked my first night shift at the hospital. And when I say "worked" I really mean "worked for free" or even worse, I guess I actually paid to work since it's my clinical hours for nursing school and I paid for the class. But I survived it, got home at 8:30AM and when I woke up today I just hoped it was at least noon. Imagine my surprise and joy when I saw that it was 3:25PM.

I smiled knowing this meant I would be able to survive the shift again tonight.

While looking for an image for this post, I saw everything from books called "God Works the Night Shift" to manuals for new doctors and nurses called "Working the Night Shift: Preparation, Survival, and Recovery" to the book cover I picked, a Stephen King novel describing excursions into the horror of the Night Shift.

Any advice, support, stories of your own night shift experiences?

My New Imaginary Boyfriend

Imaginary Boyfriends - I have lots of them and last night I met a few more. These aren't imaginary people, they exist, they just don't exist as my boyfriends. See I'm not THAT crazy, just a little.

Last night I went to a show at the Doug Fir.

The 88 - Opening band. Very fun, recognized a few songs, one because of The OC soundtrack. Why do I make so many embarrassing admissions on my blog? Each member of the band was intriguing for their own reasons. Brandon, on guitar, had Sideshow Bob hair (Rich deserves credit for that reference) and the red lights shining on it only added to the effect. Carlos, on bass, was adorable in a way that reminded me of an ex-boyfriend. Adam, on piano, bounced way more than I would think possible if you want to play the correct notes. Keith, on lead vocals and guitar, had a bright red tie and was quite the dancer/entertainer, played to the crowd and I bought it, and his facial expressions were beyond explanation. And Anthony, on drums, one of my new imaginary boyfriends, well the drums sounded good, but I really noticed him because, CUTE!

Matt Costa - My other new imaginary boyfriend. He's cute, he plays a mean guitar, and his songs vary from sweet ballads to sunshiny peppy songs (one is actually called Sunshine) to twinges of southern rock, all sounds I like. But he also won me over with his laid back sing along style, his soulful brown eyes, and my boy plays harmonica! If you don't know him and want to hear some of the new hotness, you can either go to his site or 3 Hive, a music sharing blog started by some college friends, check it out for other music too.

Once In A Lifetime

If you are reading this, you are on the Internet which means you probably already know this, but today had a unique time/date surprise.

01:02 and 03 seconds on 04/05/06.

11 Weeks To Go

While we disagree on most issues, Donny and I have one thing in common... This is what my hand looked like by the end of the day.

My last term of school started today. I was so tired after the time change and not being able to fall asleep last night and having to get up at 6:30 after 2 weeks on spring break.

I think the muscles in my fingers had atrophied during the break and for the first hour of my 6 hours of classes today, I took barely legible notes far too slowly to keep up. But I quickly recovered and think I'll survive the next 11 weeks till graduation. And then?...

Non-Trivial Matters

Tonight at 8pm PST I am taking the Jeopardy online test. It's the first step to getting on the show. I'm super nerdy and super excited! Wish me luck!

Hopefully I'll do better than "Sean Connery" on SNL.

Hello, And Welcome To Moviefone!

Tonight I am going to see She's the Man with Jessica. Yep, that's right, the Amanda Bynes vehicle "based on" Twelfth Night.

That embarrassing admission aside, while looking on Fandango.com for theaters and times, I found something disturbing.

OK, one more admission - I read and liked The Da Vinci Code. It was over-hyped, poorly written, predictable in spots, and nonetheless was also enthralling. I remember wondering if I could read at red lights while driving, seriously.

I knew the movie would be huge, the book was huge, and it's starring Tom Hanks. Duh. But this is way over the top... The movie comes out on May 19... You can already buy tickets online. That just seems like more planning than any movie or other non life changing event deserves. Please tell me you don't consider this movie "life changing."

Chuck E. Cheese, Here I Come

Do they still give free tokens for A's on a report card?

I got a 4.0 this term!

Just one more to go!

And yes, it did deserve all these exclamation points!

Ansley Miller. Yep, That Sounds Good.

I didn't set out to jump on the Rhett Miller blogger fan club bandwagon, then I saw him sing, play guitar, talk to little kids, and shake his hair around, and jump I did.

The show here was sold out so I went to an in-store performance at Music Millennium. There were several great things about this:

It was free

A wide range of people were there and I love that about Portland. The people next to me were at least 65 and there were lots of kids around 2-4 as well.

Rhett took requests since lots of people there couldn't get into the sold out show.

He sang an impromptu kids song that he sings for his own child, further cementing the crush, mine on him, not his on me.

Laura joined me for the day and, having never heard him, liked it.

Music Millennium just happens to be next to Papa Haydn's

P.S. I know he's married, OK! No reprimands are necessary.