Waiting for Kev to get back, so I figured I’d do this meme that I saw on Colleen’s site…

1. Your name spelled backwards. refinnej

2. Where were your parents born? East LA and Van Nuys, CA

3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? Email

4. What’s your favorite restaurant? Chili’s

5. Last time you swam in a pool? Wow, I really can’t remember. I’m not around pools much.

6. Have you ever been in a school play? Yes- in elementary school, and I always knew every line in the play.

7. How many kids do you want? WANT? Who knows. Maybe I’ll have 0-2 though.

8. Type of music you dislike most? Country and Gangsta Rap

9. Are you registered to vote? Yes

10. Do you have cable? Hell yes, you can’t get ANY channels without it here.

11. Have you ever ridden on a moped? No

12. Ever prank call anybody? Yes, in junior high.

13. Ever get a parking ticket? Yes—stupid UCSB Parking Services.

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Hell no—I’m so not a thrill seeker.

15. Furthest place you ever traveled. Europe.

16. Do you have a garden? Nope

17. What’s your favorite comic strip? Dilbert and Fox Trot.

18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Yup.

19. Bath or Shower, morning or night? Shower in the morning.

20. Best movie you’ve seen in the past month? I watch a lot of movies at Vince’s, and lately we’ve been watching really bad ones. Please don’t make me choose one!

21. Favorite pizza topping? Pepperoni

22. Chips or popcorn? Baked Lays Potato Chips

23. What color lipstick do you usually wear? None, I don’t wear makeup unless it’s a special occasion.

24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? No, I haven’t smoked anything.

25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? Nope.

26. Orange Juice or apple? Orange Juice

27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where did you dine? A girl from work. We ate at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland.

28. Favorite type chocolate bar? Milka…damn I need to go to Germany and get more!

29. When was the last time you voted at the polls? The Recall Election where we got a new Governator.

30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? There’d have to be a first time first. Blech.

31. Have you ever won a trophy? Yes

32. Are you a good cook? I’m ok—I’m good at following directions.

33. Do you know how to pump your own gas? Yes

34. Ever order an article from an infomercial? No, but those programs are sometimes fun to watch.

35. Sprite or 7-up? Sprite

36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work? Yup, good old Regal Cinemas.

37. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy? No idea, I would only go to one for medication and I’m not on any.

38. Ever throw up in public? Yes

39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or find true love? Can’t I have both??

40. Do you believe in love at first sight? Not sure. I definitely believe in lust at first sight though.

41. Ever call a 1-900 number? Nope

42. Can ex’s be friends? Absolutely—otherwise I’d have a lot fewer friends!

43. Who was the last person you visited in a hospital? Wow, it’s been a LONG time since I’ve set foot in one. Probably my grandma.

44. Did you have a lot of hair when you were a baby? Yes, I think I had way too much. Why couldn’t I be a cute bald baby??

45. What message is on your answering machine? Just some boring generic message stating that I’m unavailable at the moment.

46. What’s your all time favorite Saturday Night Live Character? Sean Connery doing Celebrity Jeopardy. I rarely watch SNL though.

47. What was the name of your first pet? A German Shepherd named Misty.

48. What is in your purse? Wallet, check book, pens, swiss army card, palm pilot, keys, glasses, rubber bands for my hair, cell phone.

49. Favorite thing to do before bedtime? LOL I’m not gonna say the first thing that came to mind in case my mom reads this. I’m going to say chatting online with friends.

50. What is one thing you are grateful for today? That my hangover got better after I ate some food.

Posted at 8:52 PM | (1)

Yay, Kev is in town for the weekend. Since I am one of the only cat-free households, he is crashing here until Sunday.

He arrived yesterday, and I met up with him at his old house (where some of his friends still live) so that a bunch of us could go get drinks at Blue Agave. It took awhile for everyone to get there and be ready to go, and once we got to the bar, we found that it was full. After 10 minutes or so of waiting, they finally let us in.

The downstairs area was crowded, so we went upstairs and tried to squeeze onto the balcony. There was more than a dozen of us that wound up going, and after awhile we had the balcony to ourselves.

I only had 3 drinks, but I made the mistake of not really eating anything before, so I was kinda paying for it a little this morning. Kev was nice enough to bring back some food for me, and I felt a lot better after I ate something.

Currently I am carless—I had to leave my car behind because I couldn’t drive—and Kev is out with all his friends. Not sure what is going on tonight, yet, although I’m sure it at least involves retrieving my vehicle.

Oh and on a weird coincidence note—apparently some more of their friends happened to come into the bar….and I also saw Steve and his roommate there. What are the odds, especially since I never go downtown?!

Apparently this book meme is making the rounds, and I thought it was interesting. Basically you just bold the titles that you’ve read. Some of these books I haven’t even heard of—I wonder if that makes me a bad English major…

1984, George Orwell
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery (I LOVED this book as a little girl—I think I read it at least 3 or 4 times—as well as the rest of the series.)
Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
The BFG, Roald Dahl
Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
Bleak House, Charles Dickens (ugh I HATE Dickens)
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
Catch 22, Joseph Heller
The Catcher In The Rye, JD Salinger
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens (ugh I HATE Dickens)
The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens (ugh I HATE Dickens)
Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
Dune, Frank Herbert
Emma, Jane Austen (Oooh, I LOVE Austen—probably my favorite author)
Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
The Godfather, Mario Puzo
Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (ugh I HATE Dickens)
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
His Dark Materials trilogy, Philip Pullman
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
Holes, Louis Sachar
I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (The Brontes also write good books, including this one)
Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
Katherine, Anya Seton
The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, CS Lewis
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (I also adored this book!)
Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
The Lord Of The Rings, JRR Tolkien
Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
Magician, Raymond E Feist
The Magus, John Fowles
Matilda, Roald Dahl
Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
Middlemarch, George Eliot
Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie
Mort, Terry Pratchett
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
On The Road, Jack Kerouac (I only got through half this book, so I guess I won’t count it….sorry Martin)
One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (HA HA this is like the 4th mention of this book in 2 days, and I hadn’t heard of it before.)
Perfume, Patrick Suskind
Persuasion, Jane Austen (Did I mention how much I LOVE Austen?)
The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
Pride And Prejudice, Jane Austen (Austen ROCKS)
The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
The Ragged Trousered Philantrhopists, Robert Tressell
Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett (You’d think I would like this book, but I was actually quite bored by it as a kid.)
The Secret History, Donna Tartt
The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
The Stand, Stephen King
The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens (Did I mention how much I hate Dickens?)
Tess Of The D’urbervilles, Thomas Hardy (Also an excellent book.)
The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Twits, Roald Dahl
Ulysses, James Joyce
Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
War And Peace, Leo Tolstoy
Watership Down, Richard Adams
The Wind In The Willows, Kenneth Grahame (Another book I found boring as a kid and couldn’t finish.)
Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne
The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte (Another awesome book from a Bronte sister.)

Overall, I don’t think I fared TOO badly on this list, do you? So which books have you read? Which ones would you like to read? Which ones do you hate?? I’d like to read a good number of books on this list, although excluding Dickens, I’d probably be interested in reading all these books just to see what the hype is about.

Posted at 8:36 AM | (2)

Ican’twaitIcan’twaitIcan’twait!!

I finally got my W-2 form yesterday, so I of course promptly entered the proper figures into TurboTax. It turns out that the W-2 lists slightly less income than I anticipated, which means that I now get like $100 more back!

YIPPEE!!

I logged in this morning and it seems that both federal and state received the electronic transmission I sent last night, so this time next week (or the week after) I might be sitting here $1100 richer—for about a day, at which point I will put that money towards my loans.

Hooray for extra money, ephemeral though it may be.

Posted at 3:51 PM | (2)

I went home on Saturday so that I could borrow my sister’s pass and go to Disneyland on Sunday. I was invited to go with the new girl at work, as she and her friends have annual passes and visit the amusement park frequently.

There wound up being 5 of us, and even though I only really knew my coworker and met her boyfriend a few times, it was fun. I was worried it could be potentially awkward considering I wouldn’t know half the group, but it wasn’t at all.

I even ate at the Blue Bayou for the first time ever—which is understandable, considering how much the food costs. I think I can safely say it’s the most I’ve ever spent on a meal there. It was a nice experience though, and since I got into the park free, I figured I was still spending less than I would’ve if I had to pay for admission.

Anyway, I had fun, and finally visited California Adventure. That place is not worth a separate $47, but if you have an annual pass or the 2fer tickets, it is interesting enough—if not nearly as cool. I went on the water ride and got a little wet, and also went on the ride where you “fly” over California. You fly over LA, SD, SF, Napa, Malibu, and…..CAMARILLO (?!). I’m not sure what’s up with them picking Camarillo as a place to highlight, but I think it’s pretty amusing.

The only thing that tops Camarillo is that they pump out scents as you fly over stuff—so for example, you smell pine trees when you fly over a forest. Unfortunately, you also smell piney orange when flying over oranges, and lots of pine when you fly over the ocean (which is just sorta gross if you ask me.) I guess they need to work on that a bit.

So that’s it in a nutshell.

Posted at 8:36 AM | (2)

Ha ha, someone at work just showed this to me, and it is kinda entertaining as a way to take a break.

I am sure Kev will have something to say about this game. It is even more amusing if you have the sound on, by the way.

Posted at 8:48 AM | (3)

Remember the time I wrote about my roommates warring with each other over empty toilet paper rolls? Well it looks like the guy who instigated it is at it again, but this time it’s personal.

Without getting into too many gory details for the squeamish and the male readers, let’s just say that it involved perfectly flushable, biodegradable paper wrappers for some feminine products.

I made a mistake, I admit it—I didn’t spend half an hour inspecting the toilet bowl to make sure all traces of paper or wrappers were gone. It probably doesn’t matter that I’ve found wads of toilet paper stuck to the sides before or that the bathroom was way more disgusting in the past.

Anyway, my indiscretions have landed me a letter under my door signed “The Household”, asking me not to put such things in the toilet. Since I know who wrote it, and that he just likes to be all superior and bully people into doing things, I refuse to ignore the letter. I printed proof that what I did was not wrong (and highlighted the important parts so that he could not miss it) and slipped it under his door, along with a reply.

I know it sounds petty, but he really has this major asshole streak sometimes that I just can’t ignore it. He’s been nice to me, but I’ve seen the way he talks to the other housemates when he doesn’t like how they do things. Everything used to be so peaceful before he started getting on people for every little thing. If he wants to rock the boat over these minor details, then so be it. If he confronts me about my response and manages to piss me off with a holier-than-thou attitude, then he will face my wrath and vengeful nature. Bring it on, baby, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!

Posted at 9:10 AM | (1)

1. Berry::Berry Kix
2. Fiendish::Plot
3. Bar::Alcoholic Beverages
4. Frank::Louie
5. Bend::and Snap
6. Fanatic::Obsessed
7. Belch::Burp
8. Flagrant::Foul
9. Burden::of Proof
10. Flimsy::Nightgown

I just can’t wait to file my taxes!

I know I am getting a refund, because I got a sizeable one last year and my tax situation hasn’t really changed. Because of this, I have been anxious to file this year and get my money.

I just couldn’t help myself, and so I started entering preliminary information into TurboTax Online. It does indeed look like I will be getting a significant amount of money back again, although this time about $200 less than last year. I attribute this decrease in refund to the small raise I got, and the fact that I paid quite a bit less in student loan interest (I guess that’s what happens when you go crazy and start making payments that are double what is required).

Beggers can’t be choosers however, and I am more than happy to take what’s coming to me. The only problem is that I haven’t received my W-2 yet and so I’m not 100% sure that the figures I entered are accurate. I imagine that any differing figures aren’t significant enough to change the amount of my refund, but for (God forbid) auditing purposes, I of course want to be completely accurate.

I can’t wait until the form does come, because then I can e-file my return immediately and, if it’s anything like last year, have my refund electronically transferred to my account in a little over a week!

*sings*

Money don’t get everything it’s true.
What it don’t get I can’t use.
So gimme money (that’s what I want)
A little money (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want, ye-ye-yeh,
That’s what I want.

Posted at 2:46 PM | (4)

Earlier this week one of my coworkers was shopping for her boyfriend in the bookstore and decided to buy me a soft little stuffed animal to add to the collection atop my computer. Isn’t that the sweetest thing??

What’s funny though is part of the reason she bought it for me. Yes, she did know it would be a welcome addition to the other animals. The real reason though is because it is a bit obscene.

The tag says that it is a Gund Ocean Wonders Zip Along. The one she got me is a manatee, although they also have other animals like walruses and stuff. Anyway, at first glance, it appears to be your regular run-of-the-mill miniature animal.

And then you turn it over.

Protruding from right above its tail, in what can only be perceived as the groin region, is an arrow shaped bit of fabric. Yes, it appears that this manatee is anatomically correct (well, not that I’ve ever seen a manatee’s anatomy). Even more disturbing….if you pull on this bit of fabric, the manatee starts vibrating.

I know it’s supposed to be cute and kinda hop along a table, but it just seems awfully obscene. I mean, you pull on a piece of fabric shaped like the tip of a penis and then the animal starts convulsing. What were they thinking?! They could’ve put the pull-string in a less objectionable location or at least made the shape more innocuous. I’ve seen animals that do the same thing, only the pull-string is on the back of the animal and is pulled by a plastic ring.

Anyway, I’m not really advocating for less obscene animals, because then I wouldn’t be enjoying this one so much. This manatee is seriously the funniest gift I’ve gotten in a long time and, because it was given randomly, is that much more awesome.

Tonight while driving to my house, I experienced some scary road rage!

I exited the freeway and coasted down Turnpike as usual. There was a car in front of me that was going just under the speed limit and so instead of regular coasting, I had to brake periodically down the hill. I wasn’t annoyed or even trying to ride this car’s ass—in fact, I braked so that I wouldn’t get too close.

Apparently this car decided that I was following too close, because when he got into one of the two left turn lanes, he decided to choose the far left one to let me pass, and then got directly behind me! He was really close to me and decided to ride me like he thought I was riding him. I turned down the street that takes me to my house and he turned too. There was no way I was gonna let him see that I actually lived over here and so I drove to the end of the street. He turned right a few streets before I did, probably figuring that I was bluffing and was gonna try to backtrack back to the main streets. Well, I did, of course, and he caught up to me as I hit the stop sign.

I turned right onto Hollister, and so did he and proceeded to follow me some more—I am sure it was him because of the stupid backwards hat he had on. He trailed a little behind me, probably in order to follow me better should I choose to make any sudden turns. Luckily, one of the lanes ends, and so I was able to put a minivan between me and my would-be stalker.

I just kept driving until I was sure that I didn’t see him behind me—I was banking on him just wanting to scare me and not actually follow me for miles and miles. I then drove home and thankfully didn’t see anyone suspicious.

I wasn’t totally scared, but I was admittedly a little. If he kept following me I was already planning out in my head how I’d have to call the police and talk to them while explaining how this guy is following me. Thankfully it didn’t come to that.

I wonder what he would’ve done if I had just gotten out in front of my house like normal? Would he have yelled at me? Tried to beat me up? Left me alone? I’m glad I didn’t have the opportunity to find out!!

In conclusion, all I can say is: What a stupid punk-ass gansta wannabe—with his little backwards hat—thinking he’s all that because he can scare a tiny girl in a Jetta.

Posted at 9:17 PM | (10)

Dammit, I need a long, hard back massage. I think all those hours of uncomfortable positioning against the metal bars of my headboard are finally taking their toll. Aren’t I too young for this?!

My back right now just feels achy, but other symptoms have included feeling like if I move wrong I might pull something, brief tingling (umm, that doesn’t seem good, does it?), and a sore spot on my lower neck where my spine rubs against a bar.

When I sew, read, watch TV, or use my laptop (pretty much any time I am on my bed while awake), I prop myself up with my 2 pillows, but it just isn’t enough to combat the bars—especially when I constantly change into very non-ergonomic positions. To combat this problem, I finally broke down last night and bought a backrest pillow. I owned one in college, but it got worn and dirty and I believe my mom threw it away. For $10 I don’t think it’s a bad investment, since it makes sitting in bed way more comfortable.

I could still use that massage though. Anyone care to volunteer their services? :)

Posted at 8:38 AM | (4)

You watch an episode before bed and then dream about it that night.

In my dream, the two couples who had their rooms redesigned were there, and I discovered that their houses were actually in Santa Barbara, just down the street from me! I walked outside and there was the Trading Spaces trailer and everyone was outside and I got to meet one of the designers.

Oddly enough, in my dream, the designers were different than the ones that actually appeared in the episode I watched (though the couples were the ones from this episode). In my dream the designers were Genevieve and Laurie and I met Gen.

LOL all I can say is, where is the dream where I meet Carter and we go have a romp in Carpentry World?!

Posted at 4:01 PM | (1)

I mentioned this issue about a year ago when I switched cell phone numbers, but has anyone else ever had this problem?

Whoever used to own my current cell phone number, a man named Dennis, is apparently (IMO) some shady guy who gave out his number a lot. In December 2002, when I switched, I got a handful of phone calls a day asking for him. Once I finally convinced a few people that I didn’t know him and that this was just a cell phone number, the calls stopped.

Until recently.

A few weeks ago I got a call from a prospective employer who said that he listed this number on his resume. Then, last week I started getting a call from an automated message asking to call them back at an 800 number. Normally I wouldn’t call back such a message, but it was calling once or twice a day and driving me crazy. I looked up the number listed on caller ID and saw that it is a collection agency. I finally got in contact with them and, sure enough, they were looking for good old Dennis. I told them I didn’t know him and that this was a cell phone, and they said they’d remove the number from their list. It’s been 2 days, and so far no more calls. We’ll see how long it lasts.

Anyway, this is an issue that makes me wish that number portability was an option last year. That phone number only got a few misdialed calls—no calls for a previous owner that I could tell. Hopefully I’ve heard the last about this Dennis guy. The way some of those people spoke to me, and the locations some of the calls came from, make me wonder what kind of guy he is…

Posted at 11:11 AM | (4)

After a nice, long, 6 day weekend, I am back at work after my trip to Vegas. We all had a lot of fun doing nothing but constant gambling and a lot of walking. I actually gambled with my own money for part of it this time and lost a whole $2 *gasp* on a video poker machine.

Anyway, I’m still a little tired and my inbox is about to fall over, so perhaps I will write another update later. I just wanted everyone to know I’m back safe, and give Angela something to read when she accidentally clicks over again. :)

Posted at 8:42 AM | (3)

It’s time for me to once again embark on a trip to Las Vegas! I’ll see you all when I get back. :)

Posted at 6:21 PM | (7)

Happy 2004! I hope that this new year will find everyone healthy and happy, and able to keep all their resolutions.

Last night I rang in the New Year at the Merc with a group of people that included several coworkers. It was the first time in awhile that I wasn’t inside a house at the stroke of midnight. The Merc wasn’t too busy and was pretty mellow, but I figured it was better than sitting and watching Dick Clark for hours.

How did you wind up ringing in the New Year?

UPDATE: Awww maaan, I just realized that I slept in so late that I missed all of the showings of the Rose Parade! Oh well….