valentina

I absolutely loved the commentary in the spoiler. Absolutely. Loved. It.

I am also sometimes Zen on my blog because I have really nice friends who listen to me bitch, like the one who just did so over my lunch hour. If it weren't for my friends, I'd be utterly psycho 24/7!!!!

I think I've been both a man and a mother in past lives, although I'm neither in this life. (A cosmic tournament bye: "You don't have to deal with a penis or babies in this round...") I don't know what it is about some people, but especially in recent years, there's ones that when we met, we looked at each other and boom, there's a recognition. I don't know if it's reincarnation or that we simply rode in on the same dust cloud during the big bang, but it's there. Jung's theories about synchronicity and the collective unconsciousness also really hold true with those people, often eerily so, although anymore it doesn't really suprise me when things like that happen.

Most of my immediate family, with a few exceptions, were a collection of people with whom I've had karma, but not the good kind. I'm spending the rest of my life running into the people who are my real family.

Or try Beware, big bald, big-balled Bob!

Cool! (Says she who works around politics.) Seriously, Obama's speech at the Democratic convention really blew me away -- I was telling everyone I knew to watch online reruns or watch it again on C-SPAN. Getting a chance to see him speak in person, especially when he's in the process of starting to run for President, would be awesome.

You crack me up, because you say things like "I'm a housewife who leaves the house twice a week to go to class," like you're going to a community college personal enrichment class in flower arrangement. Nothing against community colleges and the art of flower arranging, but you are taking anatomy and forensic science classes at a major university! My brother is a scientist, and he has a few friends, he has a wicked funny sense of humor, he is always looking around him at the natural world, but he can also go for months without talking to lots of people -- he's very happy with his wife and his dogs and doing his thing. I think introverted-analytical people are simply wired like that.

It seems to me that you and indarkmoon and cordia are all introverts who have very close bonds with your sisters. I think that is so interesting -- I have anything but a close relationship with my sister, so I had to go outside my relatives to find my sisters, so to speak.

I sit on the borderline between introversion and extroversion on the Myers-Briggs, but I am more of an introvert, because when I am around people too much, I need to get the hell away to recharge my batteries. I think if you're not out around people too much, you're doing what's right for you. So more power to you!

And I'm glad you're on the blogs and LJ, so I can get to know you in this way!

I am not utterly convinced that snarky has a cottage industry in the making -- cool custom t-shirts and cool custom little critters. Seriously! They are all so great. The Lab should hire you to make little critters for them!

Dawn, I keep meaning to give you static that if you're going to give the title of an entry "Quickies," you KNOW what I think that is going to be!

But good to hear from you. Is the ankle totally healed?

And how was the David Lynch movie?

How better to warm up the man on a dark, cold Illinois morning?

Thank you so much for finding that on YouTube! I hadn't even thought of doing a search there, but there it is!

Dude! Morticia is one of my role models. My heart just swelled when I saw her photo. A nice Morticia walk in a skirt that only helps accentuate the booty? It sounds to me like you are starting to work it!

Has anyone heard the Tori Amos cover of "Father Figure?" She kind of whispers her way through it. It can only be found on a 13-CD set called "Original Bootlegs," but I heard it on satellite radio a few times last spring. It's probably best for my mental health that I don't own it and can't listen to it all the time.

I watched that video again today after not seeing it in ages, I was struck by how George was just smokin' hot. And the actress/model is an '80's version of Bettie Page. And of course, the lyrics still drive me insane...

You're paying serious money for that class, I am sure, and at the very least you should bring up your concerns to your advisor, or to the dean.

Everyone's talking about clothing now, and I do love to talk clothes. Maybe Mister likes the color of the sweater on you? Maybe he likes how it makes you look snug and warm and he wants to crawl up under the sweater with you? Actually, it sounds like a very classic look, and maybe Mister likes a classic, uncluttered look, something I always associate with J. Crew. I always think of Eddie Bauer as the source for more reasonably-priced classic clothing when you don't want to pay the J. Crew prices, which I find absolutely insane.

Yea! Two other people who value their lunch-hour solitude!

The way that I pull off wearing fishnets to work is to wear them with a long skirt and boots. You don't get a big gander at the fishnets, and most people are so unobservant that they really don't notice.

I love the new name of your blog! Hee! I love mermaids. I'm probaby more of a dryad, but I always wanted to be a mermaid. Have you ever seen the movie "The Secret of Roan Inish?" Love that movie. But I digress.

Your collection of transcendent moment memories now has me thinking about mine. It's something for me to journal about on my lunch hour, I think. I have one particular instance that instantly comes to mind, and it was when I alone except for what seemed like thousands of fireflies, floating up out of the grass at night.

But you've given me a lot of fodder for thought, and for my journal. Thank you so much, for I was in a bit of rut with my retro noon hour process of writing in a journal with a pen.

My own father once pulled me aside during a colleague's daughter's wedding (the bridesmaids wore designer gowns and yes, there was an ice sculpture melting into the shrimp cocktail) and urgently whispered: "when it comes time for you, please elope!"

Hee! My dad used to tell me he'd happily hold the ladder for me when I crawled out the window to elope!

OH YOU GUYS! My guess would be that you're all perfectly gorgeous. You all smell wonderful. You have your own distinct styles and express yourselves, and that's what's wonderful and terribly appealing. Besides, you are all younger than me, I have to work it a lot harder!

darkity, I can't grow my nails long to save my soul, especially in the wintertime. The cold here is very hard on fingernails. I envy long nails, they are so elegant. And the cold weather makes me all about putting shea butter on my skin. My bathroom counter is stacked high with shea butters, creams, puddings and whips. Otherwise I would dry up like a prune and blow away!

Hmmmm, where might one buy something like these Zebra-Striped Panties of Power?

Ordered them from Victoria's Secret. In addition to being rather colorful, they are also exceedingly comfortable. Big sale at the VSC online store -- panty-o-rama!

Yikes! The dreaded SUV spin -- I've seen more SUVs and 4-wheel drive pickups spin and do crazy things on ice, because the drivers assume that their vehicles can't slide or spin. They drive too fast for conditions and then they spin out. I have an all-wheel-drive vehicle, but my previous vehicle was the proverbial "hog on ice" (that term is so odd) and I had to be thinking all the time when I drove on ice or snow so I wouldn't get stuck. Those patterns are imprinted in my brain, so I don't drive my Subaru like a nut, and I've actually had SUV drivers honk at me to go faster through 6 inches of snow because they know I'm effectively in an SUV. Dummies.

I'm glad that you didn't get in an accident -- running into an SUV would not have been easy on your car or you! Those near misses are so heart-stopping, and then the fear and relief that sets in right away is terrible. I hope the roads have thawed out today!!!

Glad some of you enjoyed the "big girl panties" comment!

And as for the men in my office, my boss tends to prefer to hire men, and he likes his male employees docile. There's a guy in my office who's not that way, is one of the smartest people I've ever met, incredibly good at his job, funny, has a good moral compass, is a bit of a manly man (lifts weights, works on cars), and he's treated like he's a second-rate dumbshit by management. They make fun of him behind his back; never mind that this guy should be running the office instead of the people who are. Male pecking order is kind of a scary thing, IMHO.

And I've gotten that "trophy" treatment from certain senators. They like to have everyone seeing me step and fetch for them. It's pathetic. Of course, every now and then I turn it around and get them to consider or present ideas that I have, because if they're going to be that prehistoric, I might as well get them to do something worthwhile. Of course, I get them to think it's all their idea, because if they thought it was my idea, they wouldn't do it. Pathetic, just pathetic.

In general, it a lot of dick-banging, and when you get too many together, it's just a drumming session. And I'm betting most of the dicks are really teensy!!!

Jumping on the winter lights bandwagon! Where I live, it never seems to snow in December and then dumps a buttload in January and February, and the lights are always the prettiest with snow on the ground.

I always have lights on my front porch, even in the summer. I found some really cute little lights that have little mason jar-style covers on it.

Actually, a few years ago, my yoga teacher hung a string of clear lights in her studio at Christmas and she hasn't taken them down since, except when she's replacing one string with another. It gives the entire space a nice feel.

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for the well wishes! I'll survive the briefing, no doubt. I may have to wear the boots, although they will probably be hidden under pants, because it's freaking cold here. I don't think it got above 10 degrees today.

I am debating which oil to wear, and it's between Snake Oil or Mme. Moriarty. I'm leaning in the direction of the Madame, since she always makes me really happy.

Mmmm... l love rice and chicken jook sounds really, really good!