relaxing, almost

Phew, it's finally an extended weekend!

Oh, wait. I only work part-time anyway. Tee hee, silly me. My life is one continuous extended weekend. ;)

But somehow I have been busy, exhausted, and grumpy as hell. It's partly the heat, partly my aweful hour+ commute each way from work - fortunately I only do it twice a week. Otherwise I really think I would start running people off the road. I call myself a "tactical urban road warrior" (aka I have road rage) and I realize that I do things I probably shouldn't do, but I am ALWAYS am very aware of my surroundings. I am a consciencous asshole, I suppose.  But do STUPID drivers realize they are stupid when they nearly sideswipe my car while merging without a turn signal, or randomly slamming on their brakes without warning? I'm thinking not. I hate stupid people.

Oh anyway, so we've established stupid people annoy me, and this humid weather is making me cranky. I sat inside and watched movies nearly all day. All the Real Girls - really like that one. As goofy as that young couple is, they remind me so much of how Steve and I were. Boy, were we weird. ;)

But I've been busy - had the bridal shower a few weekends ago, which ended up being more successful (and having more leftovers) than I planned. I was cool with it until the day of the party, when I realized "Oh, gee, I have to play hostess! I'm terrible at being a hostess!!" and proceeded to freak out and beg my mom to help me. I'm not the "domestic goddess" type, if it's not blaringly obvious. And I usually don't relate well to older women, especially more "traditional" type. But I made it through, with the help of my fabulous fellow bridesmaids Jenna and Amy. We did manage to get all these ladies, plus my younger sister/alter-ego, Linda, and the groom, Kevin, to wrap eachother up in toilet paper and try to make a wedding gown. I think a few women were surprised and jealous when our "judge" - Tara's little niece - chose the best dressed as Linda, wrapped with love and mummified by Kevin, over their elegant and impressive paper dresses. Later, we blindfolded them, put on lipstick, spun them around, and had them try and kiss a big Orlando Bloom poster on the lips. Silly girl games. :)

Last weekend was the bachelorette party. Naked men and drunken debauchery, right?! Hey, I've got more class than that. Heh heh, actuallyour bride isn't really into that kind of stuff. Don't think we didn't think about it, though. ;) We did dinner at Italian Epicure, played 18 holes of glow-in-the-dark putt-putt in high heels, sat at a bar and watched all the clone blonde chics get hit on by Ford managers, and laughed our asses off at Joey's Comedy Club in Livonia. We even managed to get two of the comics to make fun of Tara - we sat right next to the stage. It was a good night!

Until all of us that ate the bacon-skins with sour cream got sick. Man, they really are one of the worst things to get sick off of. Trust me.

At work this week, I got to do my first prescribed burn! We wore our fire-resistant Nomex yellow shirts and green pants and spot-burned a few areas of buckthorn seedlings. We took turns burning - strapping a propane tank to a backpack, attaching a long metal wand, and lighting it up to shoot out a jet of flame - or watering - strapping a big metal water tank to our back with skinny, uncomfortable straps. Either way, it was 45 lbs or so attached uncomfortably to our backs in the 86 degree, humid sunny weather. It wasn't like a "wildfire"; we only burned a small area directly with the torch and then put it out. It was great burning stuff nonetheless. It was small but it was hot!

Speaking of fire... thought I would hear back about a firefighter job I interviewed for with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana this week. No word. I really wanted that job too, but oh well. We'll see what happens.

So that's a quick recap. Oh yeah, saw Spiderman 2 last night and it was spectacular. I've always liked Tobey McGuire since Cider House Rules, but I really don't think Kirsten Dunst is that good looking.

This weekend... house to myself! Almost. Parents are out of town and I get to PARTYYYYY! Ha ha just kidding, but it will be nice to have some peace and quiet.

Steve was accepted to Michigan State's grad program in Urban Planning! This is a big deal. He has been going to Wayne State but they don't have an environmental planning program, like he wanted. I'm very happy for him, and I'm going to help him find housing for himself and his 125 lb. mastiff-mix dog. Fun fun!

Time to run off and have some fun... "Go get 'em, tiger!" That's a quote from Spidey 2, but we all know I've been saying that for years!

(The photo is from my 4th of July last summer in Colorado. Myself, Jade, Brent (and Steve, who took the picture) went to Boulder and sat upon a big hill and watched fireworks from all along the Front Range - the view was amazing!)

Detroit Shooting

From the Detroit Free Press

On Wednesday, Steve and I decided to battle the traffic and crowds and head to downtown Detroit for the best fireworks show around. We made arrangements to meet up with Jeff, Donna, and a few other friends - it was gonna be great!

We navigated the maze of closed roads and gridlocked traffic and even found FREE parking only a few blocks away from the riverfront!

Jeff was parked far from us and, given how late we all arrived there, he didn't have a great place to view the show from. He decided to try and see what they could come up with, while Steve and I wandered downtown to try our own luck at securing a spot amongst the crowds. Whoever came up with a good location would call the other party and we would meet up there.

Eventually, Jeff found an open parking structure with a nice view; however, Steve and I weren't sure if we could walk to their vantage point in time, so we just decided to join the crowds near Hart Plaza, at the intersection of Jefferson and Woodward. I was in a bad mood, and the fact that we weren't going to get to meet up with our friends didn't help. What fun is it to stand around, crammed together like anchovies, the only view is that of a balding head or baseball cap in front of you?? In years past, we did in fact put out a blanket and listen to music in Hart Plaza, but you must get there very early. My idea of fun at fireworks is a blanket, a frisbee or football, and lots of friends to laugh with. We had none of that. Grrrrr, said the Lisa. I don't wanna be here.

My bad mood proved to be the best thing to happen that night. Thank goodness I can be a bitch. ;)

I didn't like where we were, so we moved from the street to Hart Plaza. However, I was still unsatisfied and, much to Steve's annoyance, I made him move back to the road.

The fireworks started and I was still grumpy, but our spot had a better view than I thought and we could clearly see all three sets of exploding beauty above Hart Plaza. A few minutes into it and suddenly we saw a rush of people coming towards us; holding hands, running or walking quickly, some with fear and panic on their faces and others looked emotionless.  I was curious at first, but the look on their faces clearly showed that something bad happened. I looked at the cops near us; they didn't seem to know what was going on either. Steve and I worried a riot would break out and it would get dangerous. I've always wondered how a mass of people could just freak out and turn into chaos, but just seeing those people running away envoked a bit of panic in myself - unless you can control that fear, I saw first-hand how easy it would be for people to get caught up in their emotions. Scary. Fortunately, there was no real "riot"; people were fairly calm as they hurried away.

Then I hear somebody say that a man was shot. Not that there was "shooting" in a plural sense; just that a man was shot.

The spot that we had left a little bit earlier was right where the shooting took place.

At that point, the cops tried their hardest to get the ambulence, motorcycles, and officers to the victim. They pushed us away from the area but Steve and I still stayed nearby.

I know in the news reports they say the cops had a hard time getting through the crowd - which they did - but they really did have pretty quick response time, given the fact that there were a million people at the fireworks. I wanted to watch the show but between the crowd shifting, emergency vehicles, and a fear of what else could happen kept my attention on the ground, not the sky.

Steve saw a victim go by in an ambulence. A slew of other random, non-police cars - but driven by officers, with people in back - also went by. That calmed down after a little bit, but the show was ruined for many and people were leaving.

It did settle down enough for me to watch the last 5-10 minutes of the show, with one of the best grand finales I remember.

Only after we got home did we realize that it wasn't just one person injured; some man was randomly shooting into the crowd and injured 9 people. We couldn't even hear the gun fire over the echo of the booming fireworks. It was a sobering thought that, had we stayed there, we could have possibly been victims also. When we realized this, Steve and I could only look at eachother and merely say "...whoa...".

But fortunately, there were no fatalities and the bad guy was caught last night.

Thank you Donna for being concerned about us! Poor girl heard the news and thought "Umm... shooting in Hart Plaza? Where are Lisa and Steve? ...Hart Plaza?!" Means a lot to us! ;)

Brynn and Casey's Wedding

The newlyweds! My friend Steve Cotterill took that picture, and has many more to view. I don't have my own pics (I was using Casey's camera) so I'll just have to swipe everybody else's; thanks Steve! It was such a beautiful wedding, at Pioneer Park in Muskegon. The wedding itself was held on the porch of a rustic-looking lodge, adorned with flowers and citronella tiki torches (darn mosquitos!), while the intimate ceremony was short-but-incredibly-sweet. Brynn wore a medieval dress and Casey donned some Indian (as in Nepal, not native american) ceremonial robes. After Brynn's brother sang a song and the couple lit their symbolic candle together, we went inside the lodge for the best feast I've had. I was astonished that I, picky eater that I am, loved every dish - and then I realized it was because everything was vegetarian! Inside the lodge, there was a large stone fireplace and a Celtic band for our enjoyment. Kirk and Supriya both gave hilarious toasts to recap the drama and heartbreak that paved the way through their relationship. Afterwards, we frolicked on the beach, then went back and made s'mores over the fire. What a great wedding! ;)

Then we all went back to our hotel and we crammed at least 16 people into our room. Jager bombs were generously distributed and we had a loud, fun time with those little party poppers - confetti everywhere! And we didn't even get in to (much) trouble! Brynn and Casey left for their mini-honeymoon at a B&B. Hope I'll see them again this summer!!

The next day, Steve, Heather and I went to the beach and went for a COLD yet refreshing swim in Lake Michigan. It felt so great to be in Michigan for the summer - last year I was in CO so I didn't get to do all the things I love, like swimming and playing on the beach.

Congratulations, Casey and Brynn!

 

Bitter and jaded... yet so alluring!

The most unbelieveable thing happened to Heather and me tonite! Sometimes being a sarcastic bitch pays off in unexpected ways...!!

So goes the story:

I went out to Ann Arbor to hang out with Heather. We tried walking around town, but it was raining and we wound up all wet and sexy with nowhere to go. First stop, Goodnight Gracies. The music was loud and prevented conversation; instead, we went to Conor O'Neils.

We plopped our wet asses down in a corner of the pub, ordered a few drinks, wrung the water out of our shirts, and alternated between listening to the blues/country band and yapping to eachother - you know, about the typical things: pirates, hot guys, cowboy hats, and dirty men. All the while, we people-watched and knew we were in for trouble by the looks of a few prowling men.

Sleazy guy #1 sits down at a table next to us. Heather and I roll our eyes but can tell he's too much of a weenie to be much of an issue and he never approaches. We look like man-eaters! Grrr! I notice a frizzy, curly-haired blond older man hanging around the bar like a shark, staring at us and pacing around. We avoided eye contact and absorbed ourselves in conversation. Something about him seemed odd, though...

Halfway through my first Oberon, I notice another blonde, buzz-cut, 40-something yr old man strut our way. I crossed my fingers and hoped he was just passing by.

Suddenly, I had a stranger sitting next to me, beer in hand, greeting Heather and I with a cheerful British accent and an undeniable quirkiness that made us both pause and think. Do we send him away and dismiss him as another bar fly? Us ladies exchanged concerned glances, but our curiousity had the upper hand. Let's see what this man has to say!

Blondie exclaims that he is writing a novel on the differences between Brits and Americans, two countries with the same language but different customs. Being the skeptics we are, Heather and I drilled him with every question under the sun regarding this "book" and spared no sympathy. We sparred back and forth in a shower of sarcasm and irony, which only seemed to interest this stranger more. In fact, he exlaimed how much he liked talking to us because we were the only people that understood his sense of humor! Him and that British accent!

Needless to say, we didn't believe him but had fun giving him a hell of a time. He inched closer and closer to me, but Heather and I cautiously let him continue. I have never met such a dynamic and exciting stranger! He pointed out strangers in the crowd and asked "What's his story? What does he do? What do you think about him?"and also offered to hook Heather up with the lead singer of the blues band. Us girls were just on FIRE and no matter what we or he dished out, there was always some smart-ass reply that was quickly volleyed back (in good humor, of course).

He got up to talk to his friends (including the guy with long curly hair) and gave Heather and I a chance to contimplate the situation. The guy was certainly hilarious, quirky, and fascinating, despite his outlandish lies about this book and his recruitment of friends to help his failed lie. But we didn't send him away. I don't think we could have if we tried. ;) Which is not to say we trusted him, but we were having a great time being goofy at the bar and he was quite a character!

After a friend of his came over and botched up their "book writing" cover, we insisted they tell us straight up what they do.

"Would you believe I'm a drummer in a band?" asks blondie to us.

Yeah right, we both thought.

He claimed that he was in a band that played next door at the Ark, and that the jig was up - he wasn't a writer but he was actually a musician! "Do you know the band Squeeze?"

Yeah, I love Squeeze!

"Well that guy over there is Glenn Tilbrook, the lead singer, and I'm the drummer."

Heather and I let out a haughty, defiant laugh. Yeah right!

"Wait, so we can be your groupies?! HAHAHAHA!" In retrospect, we were a little harsh. ;)

I told him how much I love Squeeze and he was surprised because it was "before my time", and I admitted I even had a CD in my car right at that very moment. They were happily surprised; I couldn't tell if it was because he really was in Squeeze, or because I just so happen to listen to this band he was trying to pretend to be in. But apparently they think using the line "I'm the drummer for the band" is too "normal" so they instead tried to pretend they were writing a book. Blondie also pointed out that this clever book-story did keep him at the table with us instead of scaring us away, so there must be something redeeming about it!! Their next stop is in Iowa, and he named a few other cities they have been to. Heather and I made a mental note of EVERYTHING so we could confirm or deny it later via Google.

There was so much sass and attitude coming from Heather and I, but the more sarcastic and raw we got, the more he seemed to enjoy our company. He was smooth and charasmatic! We couldn't send him away! So we spent a couple hours with this stranger draped across my back, telling ridiculous lies and outrageous claims back and forth. He was so fun!

Somehow our skeptical sarcasm led way to him inviting some buddies over. It was an eclectic group - the long curly haired man, another man with brown curly hair, another 2 or 3 guys and 2 ladies; some with Brit accents, some without. The other people, to whom had not been part of our conversation previously, were definitely talking about travel, booking, and music stuff. Was it true?! Or are we just being gullible?! Our conspiracy theory was being whittled away; there's no way they could ALL get these "I'm in an old 80s band" facts and questions straight between half a dozen people!

After this silly flirting, we shut the bar down but were still laughing and having a great time. "Simon" was his name, and he wanted to know if we wanted to hit another bar, go back to the hotel and party, or something else. I still wasn't comfortable - if they were lying, then that's sketchy... but if they were telling the truth, then they'd probably be expected to hook up with them. Simon seemed to really like me but a creepy guy was trying for Heather, poor girl!

Taking the wiser, yet more boring, route, I "cut us off" and made the executive decision to leave. Blonde guy was sad to see us go and as I left, he took my hand and kissed it. We swore we would Google him to see if they were being honest.

I think the most impressive part is that, despite our skeptical and harshly rejecting comments, Simon maintained his good humor and ironic hilarity and our attitudes seemed to attract him even more!!

We left the party van behind and hopped in my car. "Let's just go out back and see if this RV that they claim they are driving is really there."

Driving... don't see an RV in the parking lot.... driving....  Wait, there it is!!

RV set up on the street, decked out and in good condition. Wait, did we really... hang out with SQUEEZE?!?!

Simon tried so hard to keep the party going; despite his charsima we held strong and left. But then of course I drove in circles trying to decide with Heather whether or not to go back to the bar and tell him we believe him or how to handl it. We were so excited!! "Let's go around the block again and see where they are at!!" We weren't positive but their story of being a "band" was seeming to check out... But if we went back, what would we do?? We decided it was still too sketchy.

We didn't get out and talk to him again, or wait for him at the RV. We went back and googled him.

His name is Simon Hanson. He is a drummer for the former band Squeeze (aka Glenn Tilbrook and the Fluffers - click on photos and see the one of the drummer - that's him!!). He has played with many others (Iggy Pop, Ozzy). It was true. It was all $#^%$# TRUE!! They were promoting their brand new album!!

HEATHER AND I HUNG OUT WITH SQUEEZE! SQUEEZE WANTED TO TAKE US HOME! I made fun of his shirt!

As soon as we saw their pictures we knew it was true and felt horrified but slightly proud of our aloofness and attitude we threw at them. I don't know how often they get young women making fun of them, since they ARE famous... but I don't think it would have been nearly as cool if we were just swooning over him. We don't swoon; we scowl!

Realizing it was really them, I decided to drive around with Heather and randomly scream in happy excitement! WE HUNG OUT WITH SQUEEZE!!!!!

We blew it and ruined our chance to hang out with them some more, but it was too sketchy to do much else. Oh well. But it was one helluva time!

The guy in the middle back is Simon and the guitar/singer is Glenn!

Here's Simon again

 (photo from www.babylonandon.com)

Ranger 146

To show that I am not the only seasonal biologist out there going through this, here is one of the classic websites that I'm sure is in every bio tech's Favorites menu. I like his photo: No cellular coverage!

Ranger 146: My Life as a Seasonal Wildlife Biologist
(Also many excellent job links!)

Photo by Ranger 146

In other news... I had a bad day. I had the bad interview, I was yelled at by the bad woman-hater, my achilles aches badly.... And I finally heard from Colorado State. Bad?

DENIED!

Frankly, I was shocked. Don't wanna toot my own horn, but my grades were excellent, Dean's List and graduated with honors, excellent references and work experience... It's not even that I wanted to go anymore - I pretty much decided I wouldn't enroll this fall. But the fact that I didn't get in!! Then I look at the reason: They ran out of open spots. Doh! It doesn't help that I had thought my application was finished in October when, in fact, I was missing one letter of recommendation and turned it in very late (May!). So I salvaged some of my pride knowing that they didn't have many open spots in the first place, and I still kick ass. They don't know what they are missing.

get with the times!

Lots to write about but I've been very busy - Casey and Brynn's wedding, getting things ready for Tara's shower, the new job, interviews, yaddayadda... But I'm annoyed and thought I would rant a little bit.

By the way, I do realize that the content of my journal isn't very exciting to people who don't know me, and probably not exciting even if you do. The original intent of the journal was to keep family and friends updated, and also provide a place for me to babble. I do hope to write more fun stuff in the future but that time is not now! Oh, I am also writing a novel so my creative juices are flowing elsewhere. ;)

I visited my city boys today and, as always, a certain jackass greeted me with "Geez, haven't you found a job yet?" and his typical barrage of "you're lazy and stupid and worthless" comments. Methinks he hates women and has bitterness towards his mother or some other female figure in his life, because he hated me the moment we met a few years ago. I don't take his psychotic rambling personally. He's just an ass.

I have a job now, albeit part-time, so I thought maybe, just MAYBE, he would lay off.

Apparently I forgot who I was talking to.

"Oh yeah part-time, that's really "working"?! Get a real job! Even McDonalds is more of a career than what you do! If I were your parents, I would have kicked you out by now to teach you a lesson!"

He sounds like an old man. "Back in the day, we'd have none of this freeloading!" He's only 34.

Fortunately, I have a sharp tongue and quick wits and volleyed right back.

I started telling my other friend what I do as a "stewardship intern" - the township's parks are mostly non-developed and they place a lot of emphasis on preservation, education, and passive uses, and I am helping develop the program. They don't have althetic fields and haven't razed the land the way Novi does.

This sparks off another old fart - "What a waste of land. They need to tear it down and put in a mall or something to create more jobs."

Argh! There is no use to talking to people like that. Thank goodness he is too apathetic to vote.

The most frustrating part is that they think they are right, and that's how things are or should be. But really, times DO change.

I live at home. But so do nearly all of my friends. I recently read in the paper that 2 out of 3 college grads my age live at home. If you go to college, you can't move out at 18 like many of my blue-collared 30-something year old friends did. They started working at 18 and got married, end of story. Now they just bitch about it. For college, you are PAYING for four years, and right now even a degree from a great school with great grades such as I have doesn't mean you can find a full-time job. And it seems like a waste for me to work any old job that I will HATE when I don't have to. I do have the luxury of choice right now.

That's just the way things work where I live. Most of our high school class went to college, and now most of us live at home. I moved out for a while but I ended up back at home. Most people I know won't take a crappy job out of their field just to "work" unless they really need the money.

It's even harder to make them understand what I'm doing because they don't understand that the natural resources field works a bit differently than, say, engineering. There isn't a lot of money in what I want to do, so there aren't paid interviews (my engineering friend frequently had paid travel to their interviews - hotel, air, and food!). You need a degree, but you must learn most of it on the job and usually get paid very poorly, if at all. In the more "traditional" fields, you get trained at an entry-level career job; I have to mainly rely on seasonal jobs, as career-entry level enviro field jobs are hard to find.

I'm not complaning; I love what I do/what I am aspiring to do. I was paid to hike through a park and identify birds yesterday. It's just frustrating when people try to tell me how "things are supposed to be" when they don't know how it really is. It's hard to swim upstream when people like that get in your way, but at least I'm in the water. Figuratively and literally sometimes - worked in the rain every day last week! ;)

**This is Amicalola Falls in Georgia. I took it in March 2003. Tallest waterfall in the eastern US at around 723 ft or something like that.

What a great weekend!
I attended an awesome wedding for a great couple, went for my first dip in Lake Michigan for the year, watched my hottie Seth Bullock battle his inner demons (and get it on!) on Deadwood (season finale, my favorite episode so far!), and then watch the Pistons shut down the Lakers in yet another game of bball.
Life is good. ;)

Basketball

Game 3 of the Pistons-Lakers series is tonite, and you can bet that I'll be up late watching it!

Anyway, I like this article from AOL about why Detroit DESERVES to win!

Shouldn't Kobe be in jail or something anyway?? ;)

work? what's that

Monday, I received a call about that stewardship crew job. I was all set to say no... But instead of offering me full-time, they offered me two 10 hr days/wk (with occassional weekend and evening) for decent pay.

I had to think about that one. Having to drive an hour each way sucks, but I could cope only doing it twice a week. I was definitely going to turn down full time but this... I might be able to work with this...

She needed to know by that afternoon, and I decided I would tell her yes. An hour later, I get another phone call: an environmental consulting firm, regarding a full-time staff scientist position. Set up an interview for Tuesday.

Now I had a dilemma: Do I accept the part-time job with the risk that I would have to quit right away if I was offered the full time? Or do I say no to part time and hold out for this (or even some other) full time position? I hate quitting jobs, but "that's the way it goes" is what everyone advised me. So I accepted the part time.

Yesterday I went to the interview. I have the book "Job Interviews for Dummies" and did a speed-read to prepare. I am great at being personable, likeable, enthusiastic, and energetic (read: I fidget a lot but smile and giggle) but my skills end there. This book actually helped a lot!

Interview went well - I sold myself like a nickle whore! The book explains ways to show how your experience and skills will help the company out, and I even researched the company on the web and brought up what I found. I'll find out Friday if I get called back for a second interview with the president.

The job itself wasn't quite what I though. I want to do field work, but apparently they try to avoid women doing those jobs. "Not that we're sexist, it's just very hard physical labor and we don't want anyone to get hurt." It's statements like that that make me want to do labor to prove them wrong! (Yeah, I'm stubborn like that). I insisted that I get to do some of the fun stuff though and he said we might be able to "work something out". I hate phrases like that!

So I was wary that I would be mostly inside doing budget and project management and writing papers. But wait, isn't that what consultants do? Isn't that what you want to do Lisa - is be a scientific professional? We'll get back to that later.

(Phone rings... answer... just landed an interview as an environmental sanitarian with Livingston county! The fun never ends!)

Then we talk about hours and pay. Minimum 45 hrs per week to get everything done, but to do well it would probably be more like 50-60. Lots of overtime! Now I did work 50-55 hrs/wk often at the end of the summer at Rocky, so it's not that I'm totally lazy (ok, that's part of it...) I don't do overtime unless it's for something I am passionate about or at least enjoy. The pay is ok to start but the opportunity for advancement is huge if you put in the time and effort. Thing is, is that money doesn't mean much to me. It does, but happiness comes first. At this point, I realized that I could DO the job and probably do well if I tried hard, but it would be all work and no pleasure.

I realized that I don't want to be a professional. At all.

I went to college but I like to be simple. I am intelligent but don't want to use only my brain - I want to get dirty and use my hands and keep active. I've thought this is only a phase and I'd get over it and want to be a white-collar worker, but NO! I am convinced that some people are fundamentally designed for certain types of work - I am smart but not driven or ambitious enough to slave away at a desk job and manage people. I dont like people telling me what to do, but I don't want to supervise anyone except myself!

And this whole time I've applied for those kinds of jobs. Screw it. I don't care if I stay low in the food chain as a laborer - it's what I like to do. Like those seasonal National Park Service positions. I want to be seasonal forever! (Except they don't offer benefits, and that's annoying.)

So then I made the mistake of starting to read my latest book, Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. It's about how to be a long-term wanderer. Work a little, then hit the road. Or work on the road. Point is, is that whatever disease infected him is also in my blood, and this book is only encouraging me to adventure on. Get another seasonal fed job, move to Alaska, or even move somewhere forgein.

Some people dream of wealth and power, sports cars and huge houses. I dream of experience and adventure, jungles and mountains.

And now I go to my new job, so I can earn money for my next adventure. ;)

H2 Whoa!

I sat down at my laptop this morning while enjoying a big, cold glass of water when I got a call from Steve.

"Hey, could you bring me some bottled water to work? There's a boil water advisory for the city. But I don't think you're affected," he said.

So I looked it up and found this. And by the poor wording of the advisory, we weren't sure but decided I lived in the "safe" part of the city.

A water main broke yesterday. I had seen nearly every DPW and Water Dept employee hanging out - I'm friends with all of them, so I noticed - and it seemed like a situation of "How many city employees does it take to fix a water pipe?" There were so many people, including the upper level management, so I knew something was going on... but they were all just hanging out and not doing anything. I'm sure there was a reason but to see all of your friends wearing yellow vests and water gushing over the road, surrounded by flashing warning lights and barracades... and they are just hanging out and talking... Keep up the good work, boys!

That was late afternoon. Steve and I went to Royal Oak for the big 3: coffee, cigars, and conversation. When we came back hours later that night, there weren't as many people but there was still lots going on under those blaring spotlights.

I smiled. At this point, they were making double time to sit on the grass. I wanted to stay and watch them actually fix it - they have been trying to work around it all week, and I've only caught the after-effect: wet and muddy, grumpy men from head to toe. How hot is that? Ha ha!

I finished that quenching glass of water and was about to update this journal about my interview and the job I start today, when Steve calls back.

"Hey, don't drink the water. You need to boil also."

... Dammit.

Good old Probert, still as fiesty and mean as ever.
He's an infamous former Detroit Red Wings hockey player. Ever seen the hilarious movie "Slap Shot"? We'll just say Probert would probably fit in pretty well next to Tim McCracken and Olgilthorpe.
Even though I was a wee little girl when he played for Detroit, I still remember hearing about him. Well boys and girls, he's still alive and well... and getting his ass tasered by cops in Florida!
I think the Wings need to find another guy like that to join our team - we've got too many feeble old men and timid young boys - it's time we got some low down and dirty hockey thugs! I want skanky mullets and missing teeth! Face-off fights and leveling the goalie! All that good stuff!

Hey Calgary just scored in overtime. They deserve to win the Cup - they beat Detroit, so they've gotta be good, right?

I had an interview today for a seasonal position on a "stewardship crew" - essentially more exotic plant management and environmental restoration. Ends up it takes an hour to get there - yikes! But I figured if it was a good job, I could deal with it.

The entire parks and recreation department for this township consists of three people and their program is in its infancy. The funding to hire an entire "crew" fell through; consequently, they would only be hiring one, maybe two people. They wanted it to be full time but gave the disclaimer that they might run out of money and it would switch to part time in the middle of the summer. Also, lots of evening and weekend work.

The interview went quite well and I think I have a decent shot at the job - except for my concern regarding how many hours I would be working, and how much I would be paid. To drive an hour each way and only work 20 hrs per week seems excessive, especially if it doesn't pay well. For that reason, they may not choose me because the job and my needs don't seem to fit well. Even if I get offered it, I will probably turn it down. Ah well, they were great people with an excellent program and at least it was an interview!

************************************

My older friends play on a beer-league softball team and I love cheering them on. They're actually really good, too! So yesterday I was all set to whoop and holler for my boys... and the game got rained out. What to do on a Wednesday evening??

Call Heather, of course. Us bad girls have to stick together, ya know?

I went to her friend's house - a guy I don't really know - and it was like a high school reunion! I usually avoid anything that has to do with high school or No-ville, but we put in Pirates of the Caribbean... Yeah, my friends have this thing for pirates. Arrrrrr matey! I just have a thing for Johnny Depp. I think it's the mascera. ;)

Pirates and booze go hand and hand, of course, so we passed around the Captain while the girls talked dirty to the larger-than-life Jack Sparrow cast upon the screen from a projector TV. Then we had to leave.

But I wasn't bored or tired! It's only 1 am on a Wednesday night - lets hit a bar!

Heather and I staked our claim at the Library Pub and watched obnoxious "how are they 21?!" type girls giggle and blush at muscle-bound meat heads; apparently we don't attract those types of boys. Thank goodness. We'd eat the poor things alive. Man eaters we be... Arrrrrr!

Yeah, we shut the Library down. Who am I supposed to do that with when/if she moves?! Heather, don't leave me!

So tomorrow, we will be sitting in our bikinis and cultivating some cancer cells near the pool, talking about men and jobs and being sarcastic and cynical.

Ok, this wasn't the most exciting journal entry for ya'll in cyberspace to read, but I was bored. ;) The photo was when Brian, Steve and I attempted to climb Mt. Adams in Washington, taken at sunrise.

Bball!

YEAHHHH PISTONS!!!!!

That is all.

"things" are happening

When one door closes, another one may open - right?

Well I'm basing my entire employment future (for the summer, at least) on that notion. I turned down a job today.

What else is new.

This time, at least I didn't speak before thinking it over. I didn't say "Yes", then turn around and say "Ummm... I meant no!" It was much more complicated then that, but I did learn my lesson.

What I want isn't always necessarily what I can have. For the time being.

Two weddings, lots of showers and bachelorette parties, grad school, a sick mom, and lots of loose ends make leaving suburban Detroit harder than you would think!

So today, I talked to a guy with the Bureau of Land Management fire program, based out of MOAB, Utah. MOAB! I love Moab! That was one of my first stops on my road trip and I loved it. Add the fact that it was for a fire job, and my first reaction was to say "Yes! Yes! I will fly home every weekend just so I can take this job!"

Shut your mouth, girl. Think, then speak.

Never been good at it, but I apologetically declined and emphatically said that, in the event that any positions opened up after July, to please please give me a call!!

Door closed. :( But hey, you never know. Maybe Moab will beckon me later this summer.

Suddenly another knocking on a different door. A local door, even. Got an interview for that stewardship crew out of Oakland county.

I'm never going to leave this place! Argh!

flowers and war

No, I don't mean war as in Dubya's rotten Iraq war. I mean war as in "Troy". But they do share one thing in common - All hype, no substance.

Even half-naked Brad Pitt couldn't save Troy. (Though his character does do a good job at burning it to the ground...) I was certainly excited when I was first bombarded with media propoganda - "buffed and bronzed" Brad Pitt, wearing that sexy gladiator outfit; put him alongside the latest hottie Orlando Bloom and a couple of cat-eyed beautiful women; throw in some swords, armor, an intense fight scene between our two heros, plus some flaming balls of hay for mass destruction - and hey, I liked what I saw. Visually, the movie did deliver as the trailers promised. The fight scenes were exciting and Brad Pitt couldn't keep his clothes on. Beyond that, though, it was overdone and overdramatic to the point of being downright corny. Now, I know that it was based off of classic literature, but I could hardly conceal my giggles at some of Brad Pitt's inspirationally corny speeches.

Gladiator definitely dominates in this genre still!

While watching the previews, they showed a trailer for the movie "King Arther" - and, much like my initial reaction for "Troy", I was immediately drawn to the "once upon a time" setting and beautiful people (the hot chickee from Pirates of the Caribbean) and thrilling fight scenes. Then I snapped out of it and realized that it would probably end up just like Troy, just a few hundred (thousand? I never was into history hee hee!) years newer. It will probably disappoint, but I will probably pay that $7 to see it in the theater anyway. That's just how it is. ;)

On the landscape front...

Last year, when I was gone, my family planted flowers in the early spring and that was IT. All nurturing and care ceased after that. Tiny invisible seeds of evil lurked in the fertile soil, waiting for just the right opportunity to explode into weedy action, popping up in every inch of soil, mulch, or even from within bushes. For some reason, nobody touched them and they were prolific in their domination of our landscape. Canada thistle, clover, and something with little yellow flowers... Somewhere buried underneath were beautiful, colorful flowers, drowned out by the sea of invasive forbs.

Considering I spent all last summer controlling these beasts, I was appauled to see that they had all gone to seed.

Rule #1 in controlling weeds: NEVER let them go to see. NEVER!! There's a reason why they are called weeds - they have thousands of seeds that can plant themselves anywhere!!

And so the problem got worse. Which is where I come in.

(cue the old West cowboy music they play for a duel)

I gave in and nuked our yard with herbicides. This is a big step for organic, granola-crunching me, but there really was no way to kill the little weed babies literally carpeting the landscape. I pulled some and sprayed some; repeat. Now begins the fun part: planting!

On my shopping list:

Perennials:  Yarrow (yellow and purple); Coreopsis (yellow); Artemesia (silver foliage); Purple sage (Salvia)

Annuals:  Alyssum (white); purple and yellow Petunias; various Dahlia; something little and bright blue; and red cockscomb. Much more to come!

I'll take pics when I finish. Gotta make it look fantastic for Tara's shower!

Travel and art

Remember "The Secret of NIHM", the cartoon-movie about those intelligent rats and the mother of a sick mouse who is doomed to be crushed when the field gets plowed? Gosh, I love this movie still. It's quite dark and creepy for a kid's movie and I still remember being freaked out by some of the scenes.

The pic above is from the trip I took with Kevin and Beth to Shenandoah. And here are the latest pictures from my trip to Chincoteague, Virginia. I just can't seem to stay home, can I?  Wanderlust and ADHD seem to go hand in hand. What, Lisa has ADHD? Doesn't come as much of a shocker, does it. ;)

Latest news out of me? I have an interview next week with an environmental stewardship crew out of Oakland County (where I live). I think it's the first year the crew has been assembled, because I've never heard of them; it is in part sponsored by the Oakland Land Conservancy. Doubt it will pay much more than minimum wage; it's always a toss-up between experience and making money. They don't seem to go hand in hand. I received a call when I was in Virginia regarding an open fire position with the Fish and Wildlife Service in the upper peninsula; however, he pointed out that he was filling 1 spot and had 159 people on his list. Yikes. I can only hope that he is buddies with my old boss. It would be wicked to live in Marquette or even Munising, but I don't think it's going to happen.

Gonna do it - get my temp Commercial Driver's License (CDL). I need it to apply for a Public Works job in Oak Park. Ok, it's not in my field but I love labor. Maybe that has to do with the ADHD also. ;)

I also decided to start up an online art portfolio of my stuff. Not sure why, but I might set it up to sell prints if people like my stuff. Mostly photography right now but I'll hopefully scan in some of my sketches and paintings soon.

Enough rambling. Seinfeld is on and pizza is here. "Heellllllllooooooooooo!"

caffeine-induced updates!

Hey I'm on a roll so I thought I'd make up for lost time...

I haven't written about my Virginia trip yet, but doing a little field work did wonders to redefine what I am doing with myself. Trapsing along the ocean in the misty night, the beach illuminated by my headlamp, I remembered exactly why I went into Natural Resources in the first place! Scanning the beach for horseshoe crabs while the mosquitos feasted upon me was a certain kind of fun that only a scientist could appreciate, I'm sure; but I've never been the type to sit still or stay indoors so I had the time of my life!

Now, instead of entertaining thoughts of graphic design, construction, landscaping, modeling, art, or marrying a rich old man, I am once again on track (or as much as I will ever be in my random-whim habit) to pursue a career in my field. Well, at least my renewed determination is there; it won't be any easier, but at least I won't waste my energy trying to do everything else in the world for right now.

Emphasis on right now. It's just in my blood to have this insatiable curiosity for everything! I live to live! There is so much I want to do!

...And I crash from my caffeine high. ;)

I took a spin on my mountain bike at Lakeshore Park today. Any locals need to check it out - very technical and lots of fun. I suck, so I think it's hard but well worth the blood, sweat and tears!

Earlier this evening I was watching VH1's hottest hotties... I have a fetish for hotties, LOL! Especially in the spring, when all those tanned, muscular landscape and construction guys come out of hiberation... I'm worse than a guy when it comes to checking them out. We'll just say I have my dark sunglasses for more than UV protection. ;) Tricks of the trade, you see. Nothing beats Colin Ferrell, Brad Pitt, and a young George Cloony though! [drooling on self...]

Which brings me to a sad-but-true conversation I had today with Jenna... I am damned in this culture of metro-sexual men. Sensitive, well-dressed, well-groomed, and well-behaved?! GASP! What has American culture done to all the REAL men?! Heather loves her metros and most of my exs are to some degree... But notice they are all EXs. This means the relationships didn't WORK, LOL (sorry Steve)! Metros are not for me. I like my men to be stubborn, macho, and sarcastic; rugged, tough, and outdoorsy; no styling products in his hair; carharts and t-shirts! Football and hockey! Pretty much the exact opposite of the types of guys I grew up with. Sure, those mountain men exist IN THE MOUNTAINS! Not in metro Detroit, though. If you see one, send him in my direction (except Marc - jackass!); they're endangered around here.

And so revealed is the truth as to why I want to move back to Colorado - men. ;)

Lightning

?? Which Natural Wonder Or Disaster Are You ??
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revolutionizing my internet existence!

Guess what I'm doing right now?

Sit down for this...

Typing this journal from a LAPTOP while watching crappy tv!

What's that, you ask? You bought a new computer??

Damn straight! (pausing to watch a funny-yuck anal probe scene in some weird movie called "The Sex Monster")... Oh wait, where was I? That's right - I was gloating about my newfound desktop-liberation!

Hmm... I don't seem to be very successful with writing and watching tv, even if the movie is absolutely ridiculous.  Tee hee, I feel so... modern!

It was an opportunity I couldn't refuse, $400 off. It's not top of the line, but it's much better than my fossil desktop from 1999. This is actually a huge step for me - considering I am unemployed and just spent muchos buckos. But I see it as an investment; I can't stand sitting in my room on my computer all day because I get cooped up and get a little nuts, so there's no way I could stand to write very long. This way, I can take my computer with me and actually get serious about pretending (??LOL) to be a writer!

Lisa is free!! Wheeeeeee!

I also had way too much coffee tonite. Wheeeee again!

The BIG STORM!

So now I am two stories behind -  my first Virginia trip, and now my other Virginia adventure. I definitely need a laptop. My computer is in my room, in the basement of my parent's house, and after sitting down here too long I go a little nuts... I'd be much more inclined to write if I wasn't cooped up down here!

Anyway, it figures that while I was away enjoying the beach, crabs, and alcohol, Detroit got a wicked storm. I love wicked storms, and I missed it! I was watching TV in Chincoteague and they showed Detroit underwater, so I called up Steve to get the lowdown. He works for the city and said that the emergency sirens went off, hailing everybody into the emergency shelter area. I later talked to my buddies at the garage and they said they all went outside to watch, of course. Which is exactly what I would have done, hee hee.

He said that the sky was an eerie green and the clouds actually looked like sine waves. Others said the rain was so heavy that it would come down in sheets, and wind was up to hurricane-level speed - 60 mph or more! AND I MISSED IT! Also, two funnel clouds were sighted over Northville and Plymouth but didn't touch ground. Steve also said that the ~80 ft. cottonwood tree that hovers directly over his house fell down - and incredibly missed the neighbor's and their own house and other trees. Couldn't have fallen any better. The tree was so sketchy in the first place, that they were going to have it removed this summer. Guess it's cheaper this way. ;)

I'm hoping this constant cloud cover/rain turns into another "Great Lakes Hurricane" this week so I can drive my car through it. Yeah, I'm crazy like that. Anyway, here are some pics from my aunt in Dearborn that day. Keep in mind that it is only 3 or 4 pm and it is that dark!