You know you're old when...

the Harlem Shake is new to you.
Is it like the Macarena?

just for today

Sometimes I wish I were a little bluebird, who fulfills the measure of its creation just by existing. It has no tests, no trials other than survival from cold and hunger. It is always considered beautiful and sings a song everyone wants to hear.Yes, I would like to be a bluebird. Just for today.

nesting, finally

It's been awhile. Again.

We had a nice Thanksgiving in Dallas, a nice Christmas in Dallas, and an even better start to the new year with a trip to Maui, paid for by my work. Nine days. Yep. It was bliss. Too bad what tan I had is already fading.

Our dilemma with what to do with our nasty wall texture is solved. We had some guys paint our place while we were gone. And---I LOVE IT! I walked in after little sleep on our redeye from Maui, just hoping it wasn't ugly. And it is beautiful! The texture is still there, but I can ignore it thanks to the lovely paint job.

We used Behr's Polar White on all the walls (we wanted Ben Moore's chantilly lace, but those prices are just too much). We used SW Passive on the ceilings in all the white rooms. I LOVE having grey on the ceilings. It's so calming and brings our high ceilings down visually to create warmth (even though we chose really cool colors). The dining room, adjacent to the family room, has Passive on the ceiling and Grey Matters (two shades darker than Passive) on the walls. This is my favorite room in the house, by far.

The kitchen and bathroom are Sea Salt, a greyish blue, also Sherwin Williams. Incredibly, these rooms look like they're painted different colors because of the difference in lighting in the two rooms. The kitchen has halogen bulbs; the bathroom has regular incandescent (for now). I love all the colors we chose so much! All the doors and trim are Polar Bear in Satin, I think. The rest of the paint is flat. It looks awesome!

Next we are trying to figure out what furniture to get.

Tell me, few friends who read this blog. Our living room is 18' x 13'--long and skinny. How would you decorate that space? We will hang our flat screen on one of the 18'-long walls; the cable box/DVD/AppleTV will be hidden in the closet in the 2nd bedroom, with all the cords routed through the walls. I want this Beauty underneath (custom made since this thing is 6k) with the receiver and turntable on top. Other than that, I can't figure out the best layout. Sofa? Chair and a half? Just a tough call, and I am so afraid to buy something that won't fit in the space.

We also need to redo our fireplace file. Wowee, is it ever ugly. Here's what I'm thinking needs to go on instead. I just love stone and wood and I want our whole house filled with greys and olive greens and wood and stone. And yes, we could do cement floors as our condo has a cement sub-floor. For rentability however, we will most likely put down laminate.

Let me know what you think!

Blogs

Fundamentally, I like blogs. I like blogging, from time to time, as a means to express something I would like to say. Usually it's an observation on society, or on myself. Sometimes it's frivolous. Sometimes I share music I like (stay tuned for that). I don't post to see how many hits I can get, or for revenue, or even to please anyone else. I just like writing stuff and I happen to have kept this blog since high school, so I may as well stick with it.

Blogs in general, however, are often no longer just a way for people to write stuff down. Now they're full of pictures, coding, graphics. People obviously spend a lot of time making their blogs look pretty. People obviously spend a lot of time making themselves look pretty for their blogs. What are their motives? The opposite of mine, for certain. Some people keep craft blogs. Great, you have a purpose. Design blogs. Those are cool. I like finding new stuff as much as the next person. But what the heck are lifestyle blogs? How do people who have nothing original to say or who do nothing unique have so many followers just for posting a gazillion photos of their babies and their hair-dos they took hours perfecting for an amateur photo shoot?

Recently I watched a video citing numerous made up names, all originating from the great state of Utah. 

The video itself isn't very funny; the names are. As I watched it, I wondered why so many crazy names come out of Utah. Any ideas? I have one, but I hate to mention it as I think it's rather judgmental, though most likely true.

What do weirdo names from Utah have to do with blogs? Just yesterday I was reading my friend's creative and crafty blog, and she linked to some other blog, which I didn't like (lifestyle blog), and she linked to some other blog with the dumbest premise I've ever heard of for a blog. It's a children's lifestyle blog. BORING. It's apparent she's put a lot of time and money into making this blog look fab, and I bet some moms eat this stuff up. There's a 97% chance that any given lifestyle blog is written by an LDS woman or a homemaker from Utah. Guess where she's from. Utah! No surprise there.  Anyway, I'm reading this first entry about a clothing store in Utah called Koo De Ker, featuring some other mommy blogger, who writes (not really writes as she doesn't write--she maintains) a blog on fashion. Wow. Obviously this mom has way too much time on her hands, and too much money. She's loving the camera, really milking these shots. This is the highlight of her day. Now to the best part--her son's name. This fashion blogger's son's name is Hanes. You read that right. H-A-N-E-S. Now stop and think: what comes to your mind? First image that comes to mind is Michael Jordan wearing grey boxer briefs. Hey Michael, how you doing. Second is that jingle from the old Hanes Her Way commercials. Here are two to jog your memory.

As a young child, when I heard this jingle I instantly knew I could improve upon it. So I made up a little song. It went like this: "Hanes Her Way! Your butt's on display. Hanes Her Way! Put on pants, okay?" For anyone reading this who is musically inclined, the melody is: C-E-G, F-E-D-E-C, plus rhythm but I can't annotate that with words. Just know the Hanes Her Way is syncopated.

Part of me thinks that if Hanes had used my jingle, their underwear might be more popular today. Alas. I'll just be contented feeling sorry for the little Utah boy named after underpants.

funny

Here's another oldie that I think is pretty funny.

One thing I will never have is a couple's blog. I guess maybe it could be cool, but most of the time I don't like them. I don't want a couple's blog ever.

The snow: fun to drive in and fun to play in! I just drove home from Alex's. Correction: slid home from Alex's.

The winter makes me crave carbs. Carbs and cookies. Cookies are carbs.

I probably shouldn't post this entry since it borders delirium.

have i told ya have i told ya

I promised some drafts; here's the first. From spring 2004. End of freshman year at the ol' BYU.

yo yo. i'm excited because i'm going to san diego/brea this weekend to see the peeps. it's gonna be tyyyyte.

nothing much is going on in l-town. i am working as usual, making the moolah. i got my hair cut and dyed a few weeks ago, but i'm really not liking it right now. it's being very disagreeable, so much so i want to chop it all off.

i think i may have finally found a place to live at school. it's this little yellow house near campus. i'd have three other roommates. it sounds like fun i think.

then comes classes. i still don't really know what i'm going to take, but i really want to take intro to women's studies so i can meet the weird chicks at BYU and maybe make some normal norcal friends. no offense ladies.

life is just good for the most part and i'm happy.

oh btw, i talked to perry last week! he's doing well but now he's in washington. he was in the airport in slc when he called me. so yeah. i miss him but he's better and getting help and that's what matters most.

much love,
miss lisa marie. xoxoxoxo

The main reason is...

How often do you have those days when you want to run away?

You can't stand cooking one more meal/prepping one more lunch. You're sick of your own face not to mention your entire wardrobe. The thought of sitting at your desk at work all day doing stupid menial tasks because you wasted your shot at a career you love/you're indifferent i.e. lazy makes your skin crawl. You're angry and mad at everyone and everything. The house is messy...again. Dishes are in the sink...again. Laundry hampers are full...again?! And don't forget you sliced your finger open with the kitchen shears a few days ago and your finger is still bleeding, and you hit your head on the one chair you have in your family room when you were sitting on the floor because you had a genius idea to get rid of all your furniture, and just this morning you burned your hand on your curl stick you don't use too often but you just wanted to look nice for one stinking day DARN IT!, and everyone around you is useless. Just useless!

The main reason why I am so scared to be a mother is because I have these days, well, too often. And I'm sick to my stomach at the thought of feeling this way toward my kids.

Tell me how you deal while I sit here listening to the new Guided By Voices album which is pretty good so far.

Hey guys, this is funny

Seriously, this is really funny!

New York City Subway Stairs from Dean Peterson on Vimeo.