Look out, I might bite

GRRRR!

I'm grumpy today. Not sure why. In my disgruntled mental ranting, somehow I started thinking about all the things I spend a little extra cash on. I don't mean like new CDs or anything like that; just certain things that I don't skimp on when it comes to buying the good stuff. What am I "snobby" about?

COFFEE - always buy the best organic and sometimes fair trade I can find.

Spaghetti sauce; fruits and vegetables (organic whenever possible, but always organic lettuce); eggs (again, more of my granola-crunching organic/free range tendencies coming out); herbs and spices; cheese...

I know there's many more, but I'm figuring out quickly that I take pride in my condiments.

I also decided that maybe I shouldn't take afternoon naps anymore. I had this bizarro dream where suddenly this giant eruption sent this huge plume of smoke, ash, and mud straight into the sky. At first I didn't know if it was a bomb or something, but it ends up it's a volcano - and it's the eruption to end all eruptions. So then I didn't know if I'd have to worry about a wave of lava pouring my way, or a mud slide, or things on fire. I was scared but had to figure out what was happening! I turned back and then saw all this smoke and ash and mud washing down the mountain towards us, and the earth was opening up like the tectonic plates were moving and creating a new big fault line. I think the eruption was supposed to be of huge proportions and was going to wipe out a BIG area. I don't know if I was going to die or anything, but I just remember being scientifically fascinated by it all...

And then I remember that Steve is visiting Brian this weekend in Seattle... Mt. Rainier... volcano... yikes!

being "responsible" or something like it?

Ya know, I could be tired all day and just yearning for a nice long cat nap, but the moment I try to get myself to bed at a decent time, I suddenly am wide awake and can think of 20 things I wanted to get done today/this month/this lifetime. Funny how that works, huh?

It definitely doesn't help that Jeff and Amadeo are going to check out the new club night at Scorekeepers in A2 - dancing and drinking and staying up late without me! Those were the days... one month ago. ;) So what did I do this evening instead of having a good time in high heels and a little tank-top? I went grocery shopping in my PJ pants. Argh, I feel so... DOMESTIC!

Obviously haven't updated in a while, between working and boyfriend (that's right, a  boyfriend! Jeff! My old housemate and friend of most of my ex boyfriends. Hey, stop laughing, crazier things have happened! Nobody ever said I do things the right way...) and trying to sleep somewhere in there too.

Looking back... wow, I didn't even write anything about the ski-trip weekend from hell! Let me recap, G-rated:

Hot tub, lots of alcohol, naked girls making out... and it only went downhill from there, no pun intended. The snowboarding was great, until one nasty spill where I thought I sprained my thumb. Ouch. It got even better when the next day, my binding broke so I had to quit early and wait in the lodge for my friends. An hour later, right outside where I was sitting, I go to grab my new Burton board... Funny, I swear I put it right here... Oh. Shit. Yeah, I was mad my binding broke, but I was even more furious that MY BOARD WAS STOLEN!

We'll just say that board wasn't cheap.

Two weeks later my thumb still hurt, and I decided it was time to see a Dr. and find out what's up.

BROKEN.

First broken bone ever. What a let down - people always said "Oh, if you break something, you'll know it! It will HURT terribly!" Guess what? You were WRONG and I feel like I missed out on that vital part of breaking a bone. Not that I WANT it to hurt... but if I'm gonna break something, I wanna do it the right way. ;)

So I was put in a cast, right after I started my new job. Doh! Fortunately now I have a removeable cast... it's still tender one month later but hopefully I will be given the clear soon from the Dr.

I'm really loving a few song's right now: "Evil" by Interpol and "Time is Running" by Muse. I work a lot of overtime. All this snow, and no snowboard!

Ontop of everything, I've gotten a few job offers since taking this full time job.... such as a wildland firefighter seasonal job in the U.P., one in Butte, Montana (sigh!) and one on another exotic plant management crew in Yellowstone. It took all I had, but I bit my lip and said "I'm sorry, I now have a full time job... But perhaps next year?" ;)

And that's that. Crappy journal update, and I don't even have any good pictures to put up this time. Instead, I'll just put up an old picture I found of me and my Broadway housemates during my junior year of college. But some of us have to get up for work in the morning and can't spend all night dot-com-ing like we used to! Ha!

The Broadway Gang: Tom, Me, Brian, Jeff, Kevin, and Steve!

Environmental News...

"To save a tree, remove a Bush" - bumper sticker I saw a few days ago.

Obviously, it's a bit too late to remove a Bush... But man the news in the natural resources and environmental world has just made me angrier and angrier. Maybe I should go to law school so I can sue all these stupid politicians. Want to know why I am upset with the current administration, and the next 4 years will be soooo painful??

Bad:
Audit: EPA minimized mercury risks - Internal agency report finds rules based on industry plan

Good:
Rule on shooting gray wolves overturned - Judge: Bush administration violated Endangered Species Act

Battle:
Calif. sues U.S. over Sierra logging plan

Not looking good:
House to move on arctic refuge drilling

Don't even get me STARTED!!:
U.S. Waters Down Global Commitment to Curb Greenhouse Gases

WOOOOOOOOO!!!!

AHHH!!

I GOT A FULL TIME JOB! Like, I'm going to have benefits and money and security and get to drive a snow plow!!

Ok so it's not firefighting and not natural resources... but I get to do forestry work and that counts!

I never thought I'd be so excited to NOT move out of Detroit, doing a blue-collar job... But hey I like it, and that's all that counts!

Detroit Winter Blast Festival

Friday night, southeast Michigan was greeted by another snowstorm. Of course, I decided to wait until there were at least 4" on the ground before I decided to try and drive home. (It's more fun that way!) In these situations, I am always reminded of one simple fact: Just because some one has 4x4 does NOT mean they know how to drive in the snow. Seriously, some of these SUV drivers think that just because they have four wheels working for them, they will automatically be fantastic winter drivers; no need to exercise caution or patience, the car will take care of those details itself. Pfft. I might not have four wheels, but I do have more than a few braincells and common sense. :P

This set up a beautifully wonderful challenge in getting to downtown Detroit for the Winter Blast Festival yesterday, but Steve and I did make it (half an hour drive turned into over an hour, making our own lanes on the freeway). It was so worthwhile, and I can't wait until 2006 when the Super Bowl is coming! Detroit did a fantastic job of clearing snow so parking wasn't a huge issue, and the new Campus Martius park was alive with glowing lights, which reflected off the falling snow; 20 ft. tall burning torches; a huge Christmas tree; warming tents every 150 ft; plenty of live music... It was packed with people bundled up but having so much fun! They also had a huge snow slide, but the line was too long so we didn't get to ride it. There were, however, excited fuzzy huskies present for the dog sled demonstrations and to give dog kisses. :) Even better, they had large mobile HEATED restrooms instead of nasty little port-o-potties. We didn't end up eating there, but some of Detroit's best restaurants were serving food, all under $6.50.

So here's first-hand experience that Detroit is gonna ROCK next year for the Super Bowl, despite the cold! My pictures are on my Trekshare site.

 

I was playing on Photoshop and thought this looked kindof cool. :)