Over the past 9 days I’ve gone through so many emotions. I’ve felt irritated, empowered, angry,  depressed, and weak. There have been a few days when I haven’t been bothered at all, then others when it was all I could do not to flip out. I’m not gonna lie… I even broke down on Saturday and had a few puffs (after a few drinks) but I don’t think it set me back much. More than anything, I want to be healthier. Eventually I want to be disgusted by cigarettes- but for now, if I can cut myself down to a few puffs a week, then I think I can be ok with that. In fact, more than anything, I’m just proud of myself for not going postal on everyone who smiled at me and told me with their clean teeth and untainted fingernails that they were not addicted to smoking… that, and for not gouging my own eyeballs out with a number two pencil. I’ve also upped my pen chewing 123%, but I think I can deal with that.

I don’t know whether it’s the quitting smoking or the turning into a  28 year old woman, (and I use that term loosely) but lately I’ve been feeling like doing a little more soul searching than usual. For an example, last Thursday night I HAD to go see the meteor shower. At about 10:30 pm I dragged my roommate LA and Moops out of bed and made them drive me 45 minutes out into the country so that we could have a clear view of the sky. We drove forever, and finally found a patch of grass on the side of the highway to spread our blanket on. The three of us lay there  side by side in peace, trying to understand the vast arch above us. This lasted about 7 minutes when we begin to get bitten my gigantic Mothra-esque creatures, which made me remember the podcast I had listened to earlier that evening about ticks and the diseases that they carried. Just as we were gathering up the blanket, I saw 3 shooting stars which sent the three of us back into a trance for about 30 seconds until a cop pulled up.

This cop wasn’t your run of the mill city cop, no siree. This man was old, walked with a limp, and even wore an old fashioned badge. We didn’t freak out as we ususally would in cop sitchyeeatshuns, because for once, we weren’t actually doing anything wrong. He explained that he “had got a tele that some der folks were layin out on der road.” I kind of wanted to hug him because he was the first person I’d seen in at least a few days that could have walked straight out of a movie. Regardless we left, and I was forced to continue my soul searching elsewhere.

 (I took an ambien this evening and the majority of that previous paragraph was written in southern-cop accent, in case you couldn’t tell.)

Later that night, I decided to try to meditate. I put on a guided medidtation cd that I bought a few years ago when I decided I wanted to be a Buddhist, but all I could think about was how hairy my toes were and how much I wanted to go downstairs and eat some tuna salad and maybe even some popcorn… so after about 5 minutes of feigned calm breathing, I went downstairs, shaved my toes and ate a bunch of food. FAIL.

Some friends came in town this weekend and we spent the majority of our time playing Mario Party, which in a way a meditation of escaping reality, but for the most part I forgot about my quest to become a better person. Sunday night we went to see Eat Pray Love, which got me thinking all over again. Not necessarily about the movie… it was ok and all and I kind of want to lick Javier Bardem from head to toe, but all in all the whole thing seemed a bit contrived. I didn’t read the book and I don’t know much about the author, but it irritated me a bit that this whole story was based upon a woman who was most likely paid a book deal to go on the “quest” to find herself. But still, it made me want to do so even more. But what can I do?

I don’t really believe in bullshit self help books (no offense to anyone who uses them) but I was feeling like I didn’t have any other options, so this morning I broke down and downloaded “The Secret.” Yeah, that book that everyone and their great grandmother has read and apparantely became millionaires after reading it. I’m about half way through, and I have very mixed feelings. One the one hand,I agree that positive thinking is a.. well positive way to live your life. The more positive you think, the more active you are going to be in trying to reach your goals (though the book claims that all you have to do is “believe” that you will  become the person you want to be, and that you are that person already, and then acracadabra boom hiss your wish will be granted. )the better chance you have of actually obtaining them. But on the other hand, I have always believed that once you picture a scenario in detail- then there is a 99% chance that that exact scenario will never play out in that exact manner. If it did, wouldn’t that be some sort of deja vu space/time continuim fuck up?

I don’t know, but I think I’m thinking about this too hard. I don’t think these books are meant for cynical, questioning people like myself. I will try to apply more positive thinking to my life, and I do think that I could benefit from meditating more often, but I also think I need begin to work things out on a more rational level. My own way. I don’t have it all planned out. I have goals (see my last post) but I don’t have a clue about where I want to be in 20 years. I would like to be financially stable, but I don’t spend my nights dreaming about being a millionaire. I don’t have a dream job, I don’t have an innate desire to have a family at this point in my life… so maybe I just need to start with my small goals.I’m going to devise my own self-help stragedy. Like quitting smoking. I can do this. I will kick this. (Check out my positive thinking, yo). I’ve quit other things before. So perhaps I shall start with something small to help my cause. Maybe I should list out all the things I’ve quit before.

Here we go.

*I quit chewing on my knuckles at the age of four. Granted my doctor told me if I didn’t he’d cut them off. Also take note.. this was the first clue I had an intense oral fixation.

*I quit going to algebra my sophomore year of college because it stressed me out and cause a 3am breakdown when I ran out of lead of my mechanical pencil.

.*I quit watching Lost after the second season because it was stressing me out that nothing. ever. happened.

*I quit my job at the costume shop because my boss was a misogynistic blow hole, who made me pick up sequins while down on my knees in a mini-skirt and wouldn’t let me go home to get some sanitary help for my lady problem. He also told me I was stupid because I couldn’t work the cash register.

*I quit eating most dairy products because they make me feel like there is an angry, drunken, bowling team in my belly.

*I quit my job at the sandwich shop because I lost a nail in the vegetables and I was  probably going to get fired when they found out.

*I quit caring and talking about politics when I realized both sides are liars, but mostly because I wasn’t sure that I even cared.

*I’ve quit reading the Twilight series, Harry Potter, and every biography I’ve ever started. Mostly because of commitment issues.

*I quit going to my trainer because I had a crush on him and I found out he was like 6 years younger than me and I didn’t want to be a cougar at the age of twenty seven. Also I needed an extra $125 a month. Also because I don’t like people telling me what to do.

Hmmm… I’m sure there’s more but I’m tired and so I think I’ll quit writing now. I think we’ve established that I’m pretty good at quitting things. Especially things that suck. So now I just have to apply that to smoking, I suck on cigarettes, right? So technically they kind of suck (or blow)… Either way, I think this helped. If for nothing else, it’s helped me see that I don’t deal with stress very well, which is precisely why I smoked for so long,

Oye vey this ambien is making this confusing and I’m getting stressed again. More on this later, maybe. I’m off to suck on a lozenge, which is a word I still haven’t figered out how to pronounce.

Tootles.

I’m afraid my attitude today is a little somber. I’ve had a really tough week, but I’m really trying to stay cheerful so bear with me if I’m not my usual chipper yet resentful self!

I’d like to start on a positive note though. Last Thursday night I went with my friend Moops to go see Pete Yorn which was a blast,  at least from what I can remember. I love Pete Yorn. I love his music, but mostly I really love his hair. I literally had to talk my self out of jumping on stage and running my fingers through it.

We started out at the Monk, where we drank quite a few cocktails as quickly as possible  to avoid the 15 dollar cocktails at the venue, which we ended up drinking anyway. Things got a little fuzzy about half way through the concert, and I remember even less after the show… so I’m going to go ahead and offer yet another “I’m sorry” (this post is chock-full of them) to anyone who was forced to witness my behavior… though I hear I was quite entertaining. I drink for a reason people… and it’s not to make myself laugh. Or maybe it is just a little.

The next morning I had to get up early and head to Waco to see my grandaddy in the ICU, which is probably my least favorite excuse I’ve ever had to truthfully use to get out of work. My grandad is my hero, and has more heart than anyone I have met in my lifetime. I could go on forever but I’ll save that for another post.

I was in a pretty shitty mood, as you can imagine… and I shouldn’t have been shocked when I woke to find out that it was pouring rain. There is nothing that I despise more than having to drive on the highway during the pouring rain. I don’t even like driving on the highway when it’s not raining. I went my first three years of college without ever getting onto a highway. I literally drove on access roads everywhere I went, which is reason #2146 that my friends refuse to get in the car with me.

As soon as I got on the road I noticed that something wasn’t right. Something other than the fact that my car dies anytime I’m in idle for more than 30 seconds. Even the most daft people are aware that roads “May Be Slippery When Wet,” but I’m telling you people, my car was out of control. I spent the first hour going 30 mph on I35, which is never a great idea. I had to keep both hands on the wheel and every time I hit the slightest bump on the road, my car started hydroplaning. I couldn’t decide whether I was just being paranoid that something was wrong with my tires, or if there actually was a problem for once, but I finally decided to pull over. Luckily, the first shop on the exit that I pulled off on was a tiny little tire shop. Of course no one there spoke English.  Luckily, I’ve taken about 10 years of Spanish and was able to eventually convey that I had a problem by using phrases such as “Mi coche es no bueno!! Mi muerte diez tiempos en la calle de la tires esta slippingo everywhereo!! AYUDARME!!!!!!!!!”

Turns out I had 3 completely bald tires, and was forced to purchase 3 new/used ones for twenty bucks a piece. I’m not sure of their quality, but they eventually got me home!

The rest of my trip was pretty uneventful and mostly consisted of sitting in an ICU waiting room, but since I’m already on a role here with a boring-ass post, I’ll share a little of the more exciting details.

*I spent about 30 minutes walking around the hospital looking for a water fountain. I’m really glad now that I didn’t find one. I realized after seeing about 20 people who were surely victims of the aporkalypse, that there are no water fountains in the hospital for a reason. Yeah I’m that bright.

Satan on two sticks

*My mom got a cockatoo. I have decided that the cockatoo is spawn from the devil himself. I have never met such a needy animal. If you don’t stand in front of it and pet it’s stomach it makes a sound that can only be designed to make people shoot themselves in the face. The only thing I can compare that sound to is that of my roommate Jake when he is trying to “break” me. Unfortunately flashing my lady bits at the bird is not near as effective as a weapon on the bird as it is on my gay roommate. I debated whether to spend the entire duration at my house playing “shadow” with the bird (which consists of me saying “Hello,” the bird saying “Hello,” Me saying “hello,” The bird saying “hello,” ) or hiring an avian hit-man.

*I learned there are certain movies that you definitely shouldn’t watch with your father, no matter how cool they may be. Specifically, I learned that I will never again watch the movie “Bruno” with my father, as it is extremely uncomfortable to sit on the couch next to your father while watching a penis dance and then speak.

*Finally saw the “Where the Wild Things Are”… Not my favorite movie of all time, but ya gotta love Spike Jonez for the effort. It was entertaining and I loved the message. The score was amazing. I found myself smiling throughout the entire film, but I doubt I would have liked it much as a child. The “Wild Things” kind of reminded me of those creatures at Chucky Cheese, and those things really used to freak me out.

*My dog Princess Stella Rosita Devito Tootsie Bertha Brown Jr. has been staying with my dad out at the family farm. She has found a new favorite pastime of rolling around in Cow manure. Even after I gave her a bath she smelled like, well shit, but I cuddled on her anyway because she’s just so freaking cute.

Stella is not very photogenic, but yes, she is in direct relation to Danny Devito.

*I also watched Food Inc. I guess I’m going to have to stop eating food now.

*I came home last night to find my roommates giving our house a Griswold family makeover. I’m a little nervous about the electricity bill, but I frickin love it. Why decorate your house if you’re not going to be obnoxious about it? Pictures to come.

*My grandad is doing much better and finally got out of the ICU. He’s still a little weak so please keep him in your thoughts!