this and that and a rattle-a-tat

WTF?
this is the weirdest thing ive ever heard of...

im not sure why this blog was so entertaining to me..but it was.

i ate dinner at hula hut yesterday with my friends casey and lindsey kane. lindsey will be playing at mozart's on labor day at 7. if youre in town - come and show some love.

i also got to see my friend eileen one last time before she takes off for chicago to do inner city ministry.

you know you're bored at work when...

...when you need to go to the fax machine or the photocopier or someone's office but you begin in the completely opposite direction so that it will take you longer to get there and back.

...when trips to the post office seem as appealing as a trip to sea world would to a 5th grade class.

...when you create fake packages and letters so that you can say youre going to the post office as an effort to at least get out of the office.

...when you voluntarily choose to do inventory every two weeks instead of every month...not because it benefits the company but because counting every brochure and pamphlet takes a dang long time and time is something you have an abundance of.

...when you start reading blogs in spanish just because you like the challenge.

...when you wait as long as hungrily possible to eat your lunch so that the second half of your day seems shorter although in reality the time you take off in the end you add in the beginning. but in a weird way you can trick yourself into thinking its not like that.

...when you've memorized your 16 digit credit card number, the expiration date, and that special 3 digit code on the back bc you've done so much online shopping in your neverending spare time.

...when you go down the list of your email contacts and email everyone you know...everyone...

...when that little familiar noise that outlook makes when you have an email gradually becomes the only thing that sustains you.


i have either done or believe all of the above in either complete or partial form.

through painted deserts

ive talked about donald miller before..im a huge fan of his two previous books - blue like jazz and searching for god knows what. he recently released another book, through painted deserts. it appealed to me not only bc of the author but because of the excerpt on the back:

"...a road-trip memoir about 3 months spent crossing the country in a VW camping van, wondering out-loud if there is more to life than nine-to-five jobs, than the ruts the entire world seems to be stuck in.."

if you know anything about my life then you know that that hit pretty close to home..not being in a van, but the 9-5 job rut. this book is a little different from the others - more of a road journal that documents a road trip don and his friend paul take from houston to oregon. below is another excerpt from a chapter i just read that i really liked. and if you're from houston it's not meant to be an attack on you...just substitute dallas or some other booming metropolis in there if it makes you feel better.

"i tend to think life is about security, that when you have a full year's rent, you can rest. i worry about things too much, i worry about whether or not my ideas are right, i worry about whether or not people like me, i worry about whether or not i am going to get married, and then i worry about whether or not my girl will leave me if i do get married. lately i found myself worrying about whether or not my car was fashionable, whether i sounded like an idiot when i spoke in public, whether or not my hair was going to fall out, and all of it, perhaps, because i bought into houston, one thousand square miles of concrete and strip malls and megachurches and cineplexes, none of it real. i mean it is there, it is made of matter, but it is all hype. none of the messages are true or have anything to do with the fact we are spinning around on a planet in a galaxy set somewhere in a cosmos that doesn't have any edges to it. there doesn't seem to be any science saying any of this stuff matters at all. but it feels like it matters, whatever it is; it feels like we are supposed to be panicking about things. i remember driving down I-45 a few months ago and suddenly realizing the number of signs that were screaming at me, signs wanting me to buy waterbeds, signs wanting me to watch girls take off their clothes, signs wanting me to eat mexican food, to eat bbq, backlit, scrolling signs wanting me to come to church, to join this gym, to see this movie, to finance a car, even if i have no money. and it hit me that, amid the screaming noise, amid the messages that said buy this product and i will be made complete, i could hardly know the life that life was meant to be. houston makes you feel that life is about the panic and the resolution of the panic, and nothing more. nobody stops to question whether they actually need the house and the car and the better job. and because of this there doesn't seem to be any peace; there isn't any serenity. we can't see the stars in houston anymore, we can't go to the beach without stepping on a coke bottle, we can't hike in the woods, because there arent any more woods. we can only panic about the clothes we wear, panic about the car we drive, sit stuck in traffic and panic about whether or not the guy who cut us off respects us. we want to kill him, for crying out loud, and all the while we feel a need for new furniture and a new television and a bigger house in the right neighborhood. we drive around in a trance, salivating for starbucks while that great heaven sits above us, and that beautiful sunrise is happening in the desert, and all those mountains out west are collecting snow on the limbs of their pines, and all those leaves are changing colors out east. God, it is so beautiful, it is so quiet, it is so perfect. it makes you feel, perhaps for a second, that paul gets it and we don't - that if you live in a van and get up for sunrise and cook your own food on a fire and stop caring about whether your car breaks down or whether you have fashionable clothes or whether or not people do or do not like you, that you have broken thru, that you have shut your ear to the bombardment of lies that never, ever stop whispering in your ear. and maybe this is why he seems so different to me, because he has become a human who no longer believes the commercials are true, which, perhaps, is what a human was designed to be."

pgs. 75-76, through painted deserts

im in love

and his name is amos lee.

when i listen to new music i would say that it generally falls into 3 categories. the first being an automatic, no this is crap - i do not like it(citizen cope). and i would say that my appreciation for music is pretty wide so it takes something pretty terrible for me to decide immediately that i dont like it. i welcome all different genres and can tolerate almost anything depending on my mood. so thats category one - no good. the second category would be where i hear music and might not immediately love it but will continue to listen in case my skepticality(yes, i know i made that word up) simply stems from it being unfamiliar. and after giving it its deserved listening the music will either grow on me to an extent where i decide i really do like it(bright eyes, ed harcourt) or i decide that its alright and nothing really sticks out to make it great(death cab, maroon 5). and all you citizen cope, death cab, and maroon 5 die hard fans...these are merely my opinions and i dont claim to have any music credibility so if you disagree with me thats completely fine.

lastly, the 3rd category. sometimes when you listen to something new, you immediately know you are going to be a fan. it might be the lyrics that seem to be speaking to you personally, it might be a great guitar riff that impresses you, or more simply - it might just sound good. the first time i heard amos lee i knew we were going to be friends. i had heard of his name, but thats about it. his music just soothes your soul. and i know thats kinda cheesy but i cant really think of a better way to describe it. i listened to the first song, keep it loose, keep it tight and found myself continually pushing repeat every time it ended. i think i listened to that song about 20 times before i even ventured out to track 2 if that says anything. and in case youre wondering, yes, the rest of the album is just as good. he actually played in austin not too long ago and now im quite disappointed that i didnt know about him before now. but better now than never i guess. so if youre looking for something new to listen to, give amos a try...he wont let you down.

don't piss off your cable company

"Jeffery Scrotum Bag Barnes"

don't ask for me to explain, just read the article...

check out boing boing for a lot of other interesting stuff if you're ever bored

no, i am not a helpline

..and no, the medical institute is not a hospital or doctor's office.

this conversation just happened:

*ring ring*
"medical institute, this is kate, how can i help you?"

"this is marge"

"hi marge"

"i have a toothache"

"ok..."

"i need my tooth pulled"
"oh and i have my medical card"

"well marge, i don't think you meant to call me; this isn't a doctor's
office"

"this isn't the dentist??"

"no, this is the medical institute for sexual health"

"oh......ok..."

*hang up*

i wish marge and her toothache the best...

and thats just a 'G' rated version of some of the stuff i get. people will go off about symptoms and rashes you never thought imaginable before i have a chance to interfere. i swear one lady thought i was a sex therapist or something...needless to say i didnt have a lot to offer her but that sure didnt stop her from sharing very openly with me...can you say awkward?

and another wedding...

kyle and paige got married on saturday nite at paige's house. her house is beautiful and has a small lake in the backyard, no lie. she probably grew up canoeing in her own backyard. but back to the wedding...it was a cute outdoor wedding...very casual and informal and fit them perfectly. if anyone knows kyle mattingly, its kinda hard to fathom that he's married right now...hes just so crazy...but i guess thats what paige loves about him. but yeah, the wedding was fun...the food was good...the daquiries were great and somewhere along the way a water fight broke out..

the trip to mt. pleasant wasnt even that bad either. kelly was an excellent dj on the way up there while the boys slept. dj box took over for the nite shift while rie drove us home and us girls got to sleep. rie - thanks again for driving - couldnt have done it without you.

and then today it was back to work....although its not as bad since ive decided that im going to quit. and more than just saying im going to quit, i actually know which day i will be putting in my two weeks on and that is a great feeling. im going to take a little vacation up to vail and hang out for awhile...come back to austin and get a job somewhere. where, i dont know yet, but im not really worried about it. wherever it is, itll be better than where im at now, and thats all that matters. life is too short to be miserable for 8 hours a day. thats what i think at least and im just sad it took me this long to realize that. i dont wanna look back on my life and say, i wish i did this, or i wish i did that, or why did i stay at that job for soo long? so yeah, i might not make as much money or be able to save as much now...but at least ill be having more fun and enjoying life a lot more...and right now..to me..thats a lot more important.

when all else fails, get a billboard

some people will do anything to get a date

and sometimes love just ain't enough...

cute girls can get anything they want

heres katie and kel - the beautiful bride and maid of honor. the week in houston was crazy, but sooo fun. having a nice long vacation from work was fantastic, especially since i started out the trip with schlitterbahn. and lets talk about that for a sec...20 people going to schlitterbahn together= controlled chaos. all the philly people were there too and theyre just the funnest people ever so it was a blast hanging out with them all week. oh, and dinner afterwards...lets just say there was a little 'incident' involving me and this guy who was giving us crap. luckily no big fight or brawl ensued however if it had, all those guys would have had my back ;) the story spread pretty quickly though and before you know it papa(miller dad) was calling me a 'fiesty lil shit' and if you know papa then you know that that's almost a compliment. i felt it oddly endearing and truly felt like part of the family.

the next nite was bbq and bachelorette fun. the bbq was incredible as expected and the bachelorette party was so fun. we had a suite in a hotel downtown where we did "bachelorette stuff" :) then we went downtown and this is where we learned that cute girls can get you anywhere and anything. dana quickly became our spokesperson and not only did we get into every bar and club for free, but got free rounds of drinks at every place as well. you cant get better than that. we might have partied a little too hard though since the light rail had stopped running by the time we were done and so all 6 of us had to pile into joshs car...and then kel lost her purse and deann lost her keys. so the nite didnt end in our favor but we wouldnt trade it for anything.

so then it was nearing closer to wedding time...we did all the normal wedding stuff...nails, hair, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner etc. all the while trying to not get overwhelmed in the chaos of the miller house.

and then the wedding. oh the wedding. the ceremony was short and sweet...kelly, katie, and steve all cried a little...ok, and maybe i did too a bit.. the reception was great. the ballroom was amazing, the food was good, the cake was delicious, and the dancing was outta control. everyone had a great time and i got to see a lot of old friends. the party wrapped up around midnite and then it was time to go home. or at least to the millers home. we went back there and had some more cake..yum...and watched the wedding video..yes...5 hours later we watched it. but its so much better the second time bc people start admitting things they did wrong during the ceremony and then once you actually get to look for them and watch them its hilarious. the pressure is off and you can laugh about it.

so that was the week..and weekend. so busy...and it just flew by and before i knew it i had to drive back to austin and go back to work.

so congrats katie and steve...hope youre having a great time in hawaii right now :)

vacation is gooood.

im trying to filter what i write about in my blog in the sense that im trying to not just write about meaningless everyday babble. no one cares about what i do all day, or don't do for that matter, so why write about it? my goal is basically to entertain or amuse thru the happenings of my life or provide interesting fact or fiction, all the while provoking some sort of thought process in your head. im not a profound thinker or writer however so i might just fail miserably...

once in a while i like to throw in a plug for a book im reading. for one, it gives me the ability to share my opinion on something, and two, it proves that yes, i am literate. im so literate in fact that i usually like to read 2 or 3 books at a time. unfortunately the common result is that i dont finish 1 or 2 of them. for instance, right now im reading the fifth harry potter. i realize im a little behind since the 6th book just came out but it took a long pep talk with myself to actually being reading a book that was over 800 pages in length. so what if its a 4th grade reading level, its long! and then when i went to d.c in may i started reading me talk pretty one day by dave sedaris. luckily the book is comprised of random little humorous stories so its easy to leave and pick up later. and thirdly, thirdly? is that a word? probably not. thirdly, im reading captivating by john and stasi eldredge and this is the one id like to talk about for a sec..

captivating. its co-written by john and his wife which is great bc it really gives a great female perspective. its basically the woman's wild at heart and complements the ideas in that book as well. it discusses how all women desire 3 things: to be romanced, to be a part of a great adventure, and to have a beauty to unveil. these go along with the ideas in wild at heart that men want a battle to fight, an adventure to be in, and a beauty to rescue. reading captivating has been great because for one im in a book club with some other girls so we discuss a couple chapters a week. it makes you remember what youve read a lot better and its so interesting and beneficial to hear other peoples perspectives as they read the same thing.

im about halfway thru and the last chapter i read was about being romanced. and its not about being romanced by a boy with flowers and candles and guitar solos, although theres nothing wrong with that once in a while ;) its about being romanced by our Father in heaven b/c He is our ultimate lover. and that sounds weird but its true. He knows us best and loves us most and its not until we give up addictions of boys, or money, or food, or of our flesh that we realize that He is the ultimate pursuer and satisfier and should be be the ultimate desire of our heart. and thats that i love about the book..its all based on the truth. you can tell what parts stasi has written bc they are the parts where any girl will read it and be like, oh my gosh..me too! and then whats great is how everything always comes back to God's purpose in creating us and His love for us. i could go on forever about this book and im not even finished yet! i really thing all women out there should read it and it probably wouldn't hurt for you guys to either...it might help you understand women better - i know that seems that unfathomable thing, but ya never know!

in other exciting news..its tuesday and im not going to work for the rest of the week!! schlitterbahn tomorrow with the millers and then the rest of the week doing wedding stuff for katie miller and hanging out with old friends - i cant wait! oh, and check out my name at the bottom of my page - thanks to a link from julie's webpage :)