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You'll never guess where I am blogging from right now. Whenever someone prefaces something surprising with "You'll never guess.." I feel like they are impugning my powers of speculation and I very much want to guess, even though the person just wants to make with their shocking intel. So if you have that contrarian compulsion to guess, I get that, and I shall respect that. I'm giving you a moment to guess. I will not reveal my location until "below the jump" as they say ..they do say that, yes? Well, anywhoooo, locale revealed after this totally arbitrary pic..





I'm aaaat PEGGY'S!! Nothing innately surprising about the place, really, but how loopy is she that she wanted me to housesit/ petsit again? Guess I proved my skill at safeguarding UNFEATHERED life forms, and sure enough, both frogs are still with us, as I type this and both dogs are alive and well, not kicking... alive and napping. I'm actually sharing the couch with Trill and am VERY glad he is snoozing because his favorite pasttime, aside from slumber, is licking himself loudly and for prolonged periods of time. I know that sounds pretty mundanely dog-like, but just trust me--it's annoying as all hell.



Also annoying is the horrid basic cable she has. I miss Comcast onDemand. I miss being able to pause live tv. I know, I know, I'm a slave to technology. I, too, am disgusted with my inability to amuse myself in some wholesome Luddite fashion.

Last time I was here, I tried to pass the time watching episodes of Airwolf on RTV But I soon discovered, no matter how confoundingly ridiculous the plot of the episode, I was asleep within 20 minutes. Airwolf, I learned, is not half so exciting as its theme music implies it will be.

That was ok last time, because I was pretty busy all weekend and coming & going a lot. My downtime filler was pretty lame, but I didn't have much downtime to fill. But THIS weekend...oy. I'm trying to keep ahold of what little funds I have, as next Thurs is payday but 75% of that is going to pay rent. And I'm going camping for July 4th weekend and will have to cough up some $$ toward that if I don't wanna come off as a complete &total mooch. But enough of that kvetching...the upshot here is that now I do have lots of downtime to fill, and Airwolf ain't gonna cut it. Thank GOD she has wi-fi here. I mean, I can't meander 'round the 'net or loiter on Facebook for 48 hrs (and OHMILORRRRD do I hate all the games on Facebook! ) but I did a bit of that, but also am streaming movies off Netflix Instants. Their selection is not quite what I'd like ...I have this --admittedly unreasonable-- expectation that whatever I'd like to see, it should be available to stream . I mean, their overall selection covers tons and tons and TONS of movies...but really the bulk of it is still on DVD format. Can't beat the deal I get on it though...it's my Dad's account (and I just know he has the same password for everything)



So far I've watched New In Town (I don't know why Harry Connick Jr should be at all appealling but he totally is) and also the BBC miniseries Wives & Daughters (which I own & have seen a few times.. my initial plan was to just skip to the romantic denoument at the very end, but I so strongly felt that I was somehow cheating that I watched the WHOOOLE thing last night. ALL . FOUR. EPISODES. Stupid, eh? Well, I had the time to kill) Yesterday I watched Staying Together (laaaame time-suck of a movie. I think I only stuck with it because Dermot Mulroney is so dishy. SIDE NOTE: Dermot Mulroney and Dylan McDermott are totally linked in my brain. Except I much prefer the former...though I probably would not kick Dylan McD outta my bed for eating crackers) Modern Girls (technically it's total dreck...but I so dig this sort of dreck. This fit the bill EXACTLY. I wanted a marathon of all this type of movie, but it's distressingly hard to find on Netflix Instants because they don't have much in the way of 80s cheeze and "80s cheeze " is not a viable search term to help you to root out what little they do have . I may break down and watch My Chauffeur because I know they have it and it is exactly that sort of movie. The only reason I would be "settling " if I watched that, is just 'cause I own it on DVD and have watched it like a thousand times or so. Deborah Foreman is the shit.

Stilllllll, I might just watch Sahara. I have seen that (on Netflix Instants) but only the one time. And no, it's not the "Sahara" you're thinking of. Rather from 1983--

I feel kinda sheepish admitting that I dug a movie soooo very schmaltzy & Harlequin like that. But it was pretty decent. And Lambert Wilson, despite having a real poindexter-ish name, is très easy on the eyes.

Well, as a break from Netflix Instants and making a huge crater in this couch with my arse, I am going out to dinner tonight with an ex-colleague who is in town from TX. I'm contemplating where to go...I want to take her somewhere that's not a chain--somewhere nice that's unique to the area. But not somewhere too nice, as I've given myself a $30 allowance 'til Thurs. It would be a shame to blow it all in one night. And then again...if I do, I do. I always feel like that's the best, and least regrettable way in which to "blow your wad"-- on good times out with friends...the expenditures entailed with being a bon vivant. And hey, if I'm without cash for a few days, I do have a full tank of gas...and my supply of emergency Ramen.

Fruit Gushers--OOooh!!

I am the technological equivalent of the poor girl in high school who is embarrassed that she has a homemade wardrobe. It's silly...we all know that belongings are no measure of one's worth, right? She should not be embarrassed of her homemade clothes, and *I* should not be sheepish about having a Tracfone and bogarting free Wi-Fi from McDonalds. It's understandable that I covet others' iPhones (and OHHH do I!!) but to feel a bit...I dunno... less than because I am lacking in technologies? STOOOPID!!

{a moment of contemplation elapses..}

Hmm, well... I suppose it's symptomatic of the much more substantial issue of me lacking in the organization/ambition/ initiative (yes, all of the above) that would take me to where I'd like to be, vocationally/financially. So perhaps it's not such a misguided vanity...but definitely the rhetorical example girl has no call to fret her frock. It's not her fault that her parents are slow-witted drunkards, and now in addition to her embarrassing poverty, I'VE used her futilely to prove a point that collapsed in on itself. SORRY BETSY!!

Well anyway, whether my shame is warranted or not, it's there nevertheless but what I was going to segue to (aaaaages ago!) was the consoling fact that I'm not the only one. I went through the McD's drive thru last night and looked through the windows as I circled the building, and I saw a guy on his laptop. Now I've seen this guy before...I find solace in the fact that he is a repeat offender...but it gets even better. He has to be all weird about it...he puts his laptop on top of the trashcan (where the trays are supposed to be stacked up)...the trashcan right by the bathrooms...and he stands there, computin'. OK, well, I probably misspoke..it's probably just that he *wants* to be all weird about it...I doubt he *has to* ...unless there's some painful hemorrhoid troubles that compel him to surf whilest standing... but, uhhh, let's not speculate on that. Suffice it to say, I am comforted by these repeated sightings of standing-up-wifi-off-the-McDonalds-trashcan dude.

Maaaan, "hemorrhoid" is a toughie--- I instinctively misspell it EVERY time!!

I hit up the drivethru, thinking a small vanilla cone would be just the thing, but then when I got to the speaker, I saw "New!! Limited Time- Rolo McFlurry!!" OF COURSE, that is what I ordered. Not only is the word "New!" a siren song to me, as a consumer, but the whole "Limited Time" part of the equation cinches it. I'm uber- game for trying new things, but this caveat tells me I absolutely CANNOT procrastinate on this deal. But here's the ruhtarded part-- I really wanted a vanilla cone and I don't really like Rolos. Hey, I don't hate them (how could I possibly?) but in relation to all the candy out there, in the realm of num-nums...they rank as "mehh". The premise of the Rolo is sound: caramel + chocolate =SCORE! But where the Rolo falls short is in the quality of chocolate . Now, I wouldn't liken it to that

Palmer's shite, but it is somewhat shoddy. It's dried out, and not creamy, and just...substandard overall. Look, if I was foodie, rather than a mere glutton, I could probably say it better. I don't why I get this vibe, but I feel like the Rolo should be more of a hit in the UK. As a semi-major Anglophile, I do like to dawdle in the UK area of my grocery store's "Shop the World" aisle. I can half-make-believe that I'm popping into Tesco's for a few necessities on my way back to my flat. So you see, I'm not completely unqualified to toss off a nebulous, unsubstantiated assessment like that.

So anyway, I was pondering this advent of the Limited Edition Rolo McFlurry thinking: there was demand for this --really? Are Rolos really so popular on this side o' the pond? And still, like I said: "new!" and "limited time!" so there was really no avoiding this purchase. I thought perhaps immersion in ice cream might fix the Rolo's chocolate problems. That was not the case. It wasn't awful (the caramel sauce swirled in there is quite good, actually. I think the lady in the car parked next to mine spied me with my mouthhole firmly pressed to the opening of the McFlurry cup lid, trying to lick the inner rim (hubba, hubba) But mehhh Rolos in ice cream are still pretty mehhh. I'm glad I went with the snack size.

Ohhh..other "new" McMenuOffering that I succumbed to: Frozen Strawberry Lemonade. YUM!! I hope this is not a Limited Edition thing. Although, I could go for it being seasonal---I can't really picture myself knocking these back in bleak midwinter. Right now, though, it's the PERFECT bev. I did attack it a bit too zealously though, and got a bitch of a brainfreeze.
Y'know what all this ravings on gnoshables makes me? I am this kiddo--

I'm OK with that. He f-ing cracks me up, he does. I know he's got his critics, his, meeeean, MEAN troll critics, but I have two words for them: Jerry O'Connell.

Anyway, I figure..I am OK with me...as long as I'm not all---

(I don't recommend watching the whole thing...it's quite the ordeal)

　

Ditat Deus---the pissed off epilogue

OK, homeskillets, if you were paying verrrrry close attention to my prev. post, you will notice that there was no video of Sedona nor was there any video of the Grand Canyon. That's because Blogger is a shitty piece of shit. After eons and f-ing EONS of looking at---

and numerous encounters with---

I GIVE UP!! GRRRR!!!

Well anyway, I'm sorry Blogger is so bloody aggravating and uncooperative and that it's making me be bitchy to you. Here we have a complimentary picture of me and some cacti. Hope you ENJOY IT!!

Ditat Deus*

I don't particularly feel like rehashing my AZ trip, but I feel like I oughtta. That makes it sound like it wasn't a good time, my not wanting to "rehash it", but that is SOOO not the case. Despite the heinous sunburn I took home with me (hey, at least my skin-molting forehead gave me something to do on the plane ride home) I had a terrific time. It's just that, I'm not one to usually have such adventures, and so the trip was a hot convo topic, even before I left and even more so since my return home, just feels like I've been talking and talking about it... A LOT.

However, I did make mention of it on my last post, so I feel like it would be a good way to recommence blogging...sorta "picking up where I left off" y'know? Also I feel like it's incumbent upon me to blog about actual happenings when I actually have something happen rather than just natter on about whatever inconsequentia flickers thru my head ..although...check the top left o' the page..that's kinda the promised premise here)

Well, I was gonna take the shortcut of posting here all the pics I put in my FB album--complete with the verbose captions I gave 'em (a bit of a phot0-essay, it woulda been) But I soon realized that that is not much of a shortcut--- there are 54 pics in the album...and I find that Blogger is a BITCH for uploading photos. Has that been y'all's experience too, or am I just unfair/impatient/nitwitted?? Of course I could have chosen the highlights out of the 54, but that would entail reviewing and evaluating and sorting and...unnnnh..NOT a shortcut either. As you might have surmised by now, a written recap of the adventure is also too cumbersome an undertaking. I know, I know, blatant and acute laziness is an inauspicious blogging recommencement. (Parenthetical mini-tangent: I've always felt like the word "auspicious" had a negative sounding ring to it...even when I DO know it means quite the opposite. I do use the word, but it dogs me as a slightly defective word. Oh!! and even more so with "annex" -that one really sounds like it means the opposite of what it does mean. And I used the word "nascent" tonight, and looked it up on m-w.com because I was uncertain about the spelling. Come to find out, I was not only wrong about the spelling, I've been wrong all along about my pronunciation of it too---which I hadn't even questioned. I was thinking it was "nay-scent" but it would seem the proper way to say it is "naaa -scent" --the a sound like that of "nap"--Look, I dunno how to type fancy pronunciation letters--schwa vowels and whatnot, so just lay off OK?? Anyway, I still feel like my pronunciation is righter.)

I hope my audio-visual offerings compensate for my letting my laziness deter me from telling you ALLLL about my great trip (and also for my unchecked word-nerdy nattering a moment ago) Here are the vid montages I put together of the Grand Canyon & Sedona --two of the most beautiful bits of AZ (though I was really taken by Bisbee, AZ too, and eally recommend swinging by that berg)

* I was gonna name this post with the AZ state nickname but feel like "The Grand Canyon State" is just waaay too obvious a nickname to impress. However I am a sucker for a state motto in Latin (South Carolina's is especially marvy) hence the "Ditat Deus"