Tuesday, March 2, 2004

nothing like a good run

Nothing like a good hard run into the wind to get the blood pumping, eh? I've decided that anybody who is into any kind of serious sport must be at least a tad masochistic. But the hurt feels so good... hee hee

Had a nice drive down to Detroit today, I really love that city. I know, it's got a bad reputation and certainly parts of the city aren't safe, but I'm excited to see the progress that's going on. For example, the new park they are building by Hard Rock Cafe/Compuware Building, that has a big statue and supposidly an outdoor ice skating rink. I can't wait - watch the Lions whoop @ss at Ford Field, get hammered at the Bleu Club or Hard Rock, then stumble around drunkenly on ice skates in the park. Sounds like a good time to me!

Oh yeah, and here's a link where my mom got her silly little "Daisy Dog". Although I've never been fond of little lap dogs, I gotta admit that Tiny is one little fireball of terror and I love her for it.

Yes, I am one of those lame people that likes to take lame surveys and post their lame results on their lame journal. So here's the latest:

nemesis
Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

Monday, March 1, 2004

Wet dogs

I'm one of those people that has the most energy after dark, lately I've been reading a lot before bed. Finally finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I liked it enough that I read the whole 900 page thing in a week! I've already read nearly 10 books this year, some of which were really good! My recommendations:

- "Road Fever" by Tim Cahill. Funny travel story about an crazy road trip. One of my favorite books right now!

- "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. About Everest disaster in '96. I also really liked "Into the Wild".

Also read "Deep Survival" about who and why some people survive wilderness disasters, and other don't. The first part was pretty intense with regards to brain and body physiology and functioning, but the second half of the book has more survival stories, and what characteristics make a survivor. I'm waiting to get a Peter Jenkins book in the mail; gotta love Amazon.com's option to buy used books! So much cheaper than buying new!

I was thinking about how wicked cool it would be to get that zookeeper job. I mean, I've always thought about being a wildlife rehabilitator, but the biggest problem is that you need experience to be one - and usually getting experience involves a long period of low or non-existent wages. I mean, seriously low. The one internship I applied for a few years ago paid $100/wk. Yikes. But this zoo job pays better (still not great considering the knowledge and training you need to have) and I'd love to work with animals. Yes, even crazy little Lisa has a soft, nurturing side. HA! You'll never hear me say that again! I don't feel quite that soft or nurturing right now though, while I'm listening to Lil Jon! "Move b**** get out the way ho, f*** that sh**! get out the way ho!"

I let the mutts out today in the rain... and forgot about them for an hour. Woops. Tiny is about 3 lbs of scrawny skin and bone, so she looked like a shivering white sewer rat. She wasn't very happy with me, especially since I had to giver her a second bath within two days. Poor thing, but it really was funny. Can't wait til I move out and get my own dog - a REAL dog that doesn't melt in the rain, probably something over 100 lbs. I've seen squirrels bigger than my mom's dog. That's just wrong!!

is the answer jesus?

Another pointless weekday.

Seeing as how I am unemployed, I always dread Mondays. It's the start of at least 40 hrs of alone time while every one else goes off and works, and at this point I think I've run out of things to do to occupy my time.  It's not like there aren't silly little things around the house that I could be doing - my room is full of crap that I never unpacked way back from college, other stuff i never unpacked from Colorado, and everything else is organized a way only I can understand (which means it's thrown about or stuffed in drawers). I could be cleaning it up and start sortof packing for the event that I do end up moving to Montana. But I can't stand staying here all day, so for all intensive reasons, cleaning my room is not an option.

I was all pumped to go for a good run today - it's the warmest it's been this year I think (high of 54 degrees I think?). But I forgot that I am in Michigan - it rains at every given opportunity if the weather is between 50 and 80 degrees. Silly me, what was I thinking. I did get a nice 5 mile hike in yesterday at Brighton, as well as an excellent hockey game last night. Our team kicks ass! Not sure of the standings but we are one of the top teams, and I think I am playing better than when I started. Ok, so I still can't stop very well, but that's ok as long as I take out someone from the other team - no problem there. But my stickhandling is absolutely appalling. According to my hockey-pro-hopeful 11 yr old brother, my stick is wrong for me. I love being told I am wrong by someone half my age - it keeps things in perspective as to how little I actually know. ;) Still no goals or assists, but just you wait!

Wednesday is the zoo interview. Yikes! Pretty much one of my last chances to have a job related to my field here in detroit... then it's either on to Montana after all, or sticking around here and mowing grass for the summer. And since I'm already a seasoned pro at mowing even the toughest turf (ha!), I don't really thinkI need another summer of practice if I can avoid it.

Friday, February 27, 2004

know when to hold 'em

i think i've just found myself a new unhealthy addiction to keep myself busy while i try and find a job...

texas hold 'em!

thanks to jeff, who's always eager to get you drunk and steal your money in return. and i mean that in the kindest way. ha! actually i'm pretty pleased with myself - finished in 2nd place; not too shabby considering it was my first time playing ever! we'll just say i came home with over 400% of what i put in... it sounds much more impressive than if i actually told you what i brought home. trust me.

and to top off my winning evening, i had a great drive home! usually that drive from ann arbor can be so dull at 2 am, but i saw a coyote and got to enjoy the smell of a bonfire. it might not sound that exciting, but considering i've only seen 1 or 2  coyotes in michigan EVER, and that the smell of firewood burning is one of my favorite, most nostalgic scents, it made that flat, boring drive down US 23 400% more enjoyable. i can't wait to get some good camping in this summer - i hardly roughed it at all last summer (though my apartment was pretty primitive and definitely infested with enough bugs to make it seem like i was roughing it)!!

wow, what a pointless journal entry. doesn't make much sense either, guess i'm a little tired, eh? on tap tomorrow: helping jenna go bridesmaid dress shopping, and fetching an autograph from Zetterberg. what can i say, i live on the wild side (sarcasm). ;)

Thursday, February 26, 2004

they've got a pepper bar

Lisa's back. Back again. Keeshka's back. Tell a friend....

Yep, I'm finally going to start updating this silly little thing. I figure that, being unemployed and slowly decending into boredom-induced madness, I have a little bit of time to kill and an overabundance of "alone time". In other words, I need a hobby.

It's not as dire as I make it sound, though I am definitely bored out of my mind and grateful for the warmer weather drifting in these days. I'm in the middle of reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix right now, and once I'm done with that I don't know what I will do to keep busy! Sadly, the place where I was working out (former employment) gave me the boot - the new boss finally realized that I don't actually work there and I could sue them if I got hurt. Hee hee. I got away with it for 4 months though... and right when my arms were starting to look Patagonia-model approved! :(

I had a great conversation with Marc today about ghosts. I used to live in a haunted house... Hey, I see those smirks on some faces out there. Guess some people won't believe it til they've seen it, but I've experienced crazy shit back at the old house. It's nice talking with marc about it because he's experienced weird ghost stuff too; not too many people can usually relate on that subject. Maybe I'll write down some ghost stories on here.

Got back my exam results for the canton job... didn't pass. woops. There were too many weird lawn-related questions, so I am not surprised. It would have paid wicked wages, but it seemed like the whole job dealt with business people complaining, yelling, and disobeying you. Good times.

Next week: Zookeeper interview. Yippee! And I will hopefully hear whether or not I get the restoration assistant job, and talk to the fire dude from Bozeman. Still trying to stay here, but it looks like the only sure-thing i have right now is a summer of fuels reduction out in Montana. If only it weren't 27 hrs away from family and friends... But there is always the option of more seasonal grunt-work with the county or cities until something bigger and better pops up, or until I figure out how to get a job as a guide up north near Houghton. If only...

My mom's aunt committed suicide today. I didn't really know her, but it's weird to think that she just spoke to her on the phone last night; she had even gone to the hospital because she was thinking of killing herself, but she got out and it didn't help at all. My mom was going to visit her this summer to cheer her up after her husband passed away last summer, and tried to talk to her about happy things, but guess it didn't work; she started her car in the garage and never left. Sad.

...Hmm, I guess this is an eclectic revival to my journal but at least it's something!