Ellen cracks me up

I am a huge fan of Ellen. I think she is hysterical. I love that I could watch her standup show with my parents and not feel awkward because she took it to that level. She's clean and she's so funny because she speaks the truth - people laugh at what they know is true. That said, I saw this clip from her show online today and had tears from laughing so hard. Its just a segment about an actual product she saw an infomercial for, a special chair if you will. Anyway- if you need a little laugh for the day- watch this:

A Brief Hiatus

Yea, sorry about that, I got very disenfranchised with Top Model so I boycotted my own blog. I lost all motivation to write about anything at all. Sad, really.

But, I'm back- at least for today. I'll do a Top Model post after this one. For this post however, I just feel like rambling a bit about the past few weeks since I last posted.

Politics

The election is moving along, Hillary is still Hillary and Barack is still fabulous. McCain is still trying to ruin everything. This whole Rev. Wright this is really bothering me. Not so much what he said (while, yes, it was some pretty horrible stuff) but the fact that people are trying to tear Obama down for it. Obama did not say these things. Wright is not running for President. Perhaps if Rev. Wright was one of Obama's policy advisers I'd be a little more concerned. But you don't get to where Obama is by agreeing with Rev. Wright. I understand he was the leader of Obama's place of worship, but again, that does not mean that Obama is going to become President and regurgitate everything he heard on Sundays. Believe it or not, some people, particularly the intelligent ones, are capable of hearing things and still forming their own opinions. They are not not carbon copies of the people in their lives. So relax folks. Obama is not out to get us all. McCain on the other hand...

I dare anyone who has not yet watched Obama's "race speech" in Philly to do so. It's long (40 mins) but worth it. It obviously made me sad that he needed to give such a speech, and that the people who should listen to it the most, will likely not (i.e. the people who won't vote for him for no other reason than because he's black). Ignorance is unfortunately alive and well in this country.

Life in General

So when I was in college, I used to talk to my mom and occasionally mention a concert or event that I didn't attend because I didn't have the money. She always told me to forget the money, and go to the show. She always wanted me to take advantage of opportunities and go see everything the world has to offer. In the end, money is just money. I don't suggest being frivolous and blowing it on useless crap, but I most definitely encourage people to live their lives. Not to be morbid, but our days are all numbered, and we don't know what that number is. So life life now, while you can.

DC Cherry Blossoms

Every year, the cherry blossoms bloom in DC and the tourists take over. I consider it the official kick off to Tourist Season. No longer can we walk freely through the streets or through the Mall (the one with the monuments... not stores). It usually falls in late March or early April depending on temperatures. If you've never been, I highly recommend putting it on your schedule for 2009. Many years ago the Japanese gave us all these trees as a gift, and now the surround the Tidal Basin and line some of the most picturesque places in DC. Definitely worth seeing, even if you do have to fight the crowds. If you can- avoid going on a weekend, try it out during the week when the crowds are less intense. Also- pick the best weather day you can during "Peak Week" for the best pictures.

That's all I have for now. Top Model post will be up soon.

It's a hot tranny mess up in here

Alright, so in addition to every other show I love to watch, I love me some Project Runway. I really enjoyed this season more than past ones for a few reasons. One, I like when the designers get along. I don't do conflict and I really don't enjoy watching it. Two, I think they were undeniably some of the most talented designers to ever grace the show. Three, Christian (the winner) and Chris. They both brought so many hilarious moments to the show, not to mention fabulous designs. Four, Heidi and Tim. Everyone knows about Tim Gunn's fabulousness and Heidi? Well, I'm German and I just love her. Or maybe I just want to be her, I'm not sure which. My money is on the later.

So, SNL recently did a skit about Christian and I've posted below. Amy Poehler's impression of Christian is spot on. As is the Tim Gunn impression. Check it out.

Alright, I can't get the video to embed, so you'll have to go to NBC and watch it: http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/#mea=227155

(photos: Barbara Nitke © 2006/Bravo)

Who are these people?

A few nights ago I was out to dinner and we parked next to an minivan. Nothing too unusual there. But then, I'm climbing out of our car and my eyes focus on something on the minivan. That something was fake bullet holes. Really? My brain flooded with questions- Why?? Who does that? What type of person thinks fake bullet holes are a good idea? Are they trying to look like they were in a drive by shooting? Is that a desirable look for a vehicle? Do their friends think they're cool because they have bullet hole stickers on their car? Do they want people to think they're bad ass because their car has been shot up?

I've seen these stickers before- so I'm not sure where the mental outrage came from this time. Its sort of like the people with fake legs hanging out of their trunk, or the fake baseball in the window. Maybe I'm just being a car snob. Or just a snob in general, which is far more likely.

In my googling for pictures to accompany this post, I found that there is in fact a whole world devoted to fake bullet holes... interested? Check out www.bullet-hole-decals.com/ "You've seen people here there and everywhere with them, and now you can have them for yourself on your own bus, truck, car, suv, motorbike, even your bicycle or helmet - It's the really cool Bullet Hole Decals...Check out the cool real-life picture over there to the right (left) of a Honda motor vehicle with several bullet hole decals attached. Forget big mufflers, stereo equipment and those other complicated and expensive ways to customize your car. These fake bullet hole stickers are a truly inexpensive and fun way to customize your car and add a little 'shock effect' to motorists that may pull up beside you."

So according to this website, its for shock effect. I've never really had a desire to "shock" other drives. I suppose if I did though, I'd come up with other ways to do so.

I'm not sayin... I'm just sayin...

So I was watching Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO last night and he was interviewing Terry McAuliffe, Hillary's campaign manager. A few minutes into the interview which was clearly not going in the direction McAuliffe wanted, they "lost the feed." Hmmm. I'm not sayin, I'm just saying.

McAuliffe was getting trampled by Maher who has previously expressed his support for Obama. It had the potential to be a great, enlightening interview, but no such luck.

Quarter Life Conundrum?

Everyone has surely heard of the quarter life crisis. Usually hits around the early 20's - a time when you are out of school but not yet sure what to do with the rest of your life. It seems like no one else understands, no one "gets you"... yada yada yada. I think I already had mine. At least I already had the panic that accompanies the quarter life crisis.

I panicked that I had no idea what to do with my life, where to live, how to live- I felt very lost in the world. Well, maybe I'm over the crisis or maybe I've just learned to live with it, but I'm at a place where I'm okay with not knowing. I've embraced my lack of certainty. I realize that I'm only 24, I'm still relatively young and there is no rush.

Admittedly, I do have moments where I think "Gosh, so many of my friends are married and seem to be on a track, am I falling behind? Am I never going to have that?" But then I get over it. I really don't want to be married right now. Sure, the stability and companionship would be nice and if I found it tomorrow I wouldn't object, but at this point in my life- this very day, this very moment- I'm enjoying having the freedom to do whatever I want. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some selfish punk who doesn't want to get married for fear of losing my "freedom." As I said, I will gladly embrace that situation when it presents itself. But I digress, this post is not about stability, its about instability.

I'm at a point in my life where I don't know what to do with myself. I have so many brilliant ideas and the only thing that scares me is not being able to fulfill them. I want to live in Europe. I want to become a history teacher. I want to get a high level degree in military psychology. I want to live in DC. I want to move back to NY. I want to be near my friends. I want to be near my family. All glorious ideas, however I must pick and choose because I can not, logistically, have it all.

I love my job. As much as anyone could love their job, after all, they have to pay us because it is in fact "work." Would I prefer to jet set around the world taking pictures and learning foreign languages? You bet I would, but that won't pay the bills. So in the meantime, my job is just great. Which makes it very hard to leave to pursue any of those previously mentioned ideas. And I like it where I am, I have friends here but I do miss home. But I do long to live in Europe or go to school full time. I just can't make up my mind what to do. No matter what, something will be sacrificed. I guess it will come down to which sacrifices I'm willing to make. And the fear that I will pick the wrong one resulting in a life of perpetual 'what ifs' is always present.

So here I am, stuck in my quarter life crisis. Although crisis implies panic and stress, of which I am neither. So less crisis, more conundrum.

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Post Script: When I googled images of "quarter life crisis" my results yeilded a picture of Britney Spears. Ha! Thanks for making me feel better, Google. :)

I've lived to tell about it...

I finally had it done! My wisdom teeth finally came out today after last week's postponement.

Needless to say, I was extremely nervous but my best girl pals gave me pep talks and lots of encouragement to assure me I would infact survive. The doctor was wonderful and made me feel very comfortable. He was funny- but not in that corny doctor way. It all happened pretty quickly- he explained everything to me for about 10 minutes, then they took me into a different room and took off my glasses (which was a blessing b/c I was then unable to see what was going on- you know, all the huge pliers and giant needles there were about to use in my mouth).

They then put the oxygen on my nose and very gently inserted the IV sedation. Clearly I'm a lightweight having never been a drug user, and the meds hit me pretty quick. I told all the doctors over and over how funny it was that since today was Feb 29, leap year, next year I wouldn't have a anniversary of my wisdom teeth extraction (because at this point in the sedation I was pretty certain i would be celebrating this joyful occasion... yea.) After that I was out like a light. When I woke up it was all over. Apparently I then proceeded to thank all the doctors and nurses profusely for being "so nice." Ha, very typical of me.

I'm all home now and have been all day. Also in a lovely amount of pain. My swelling is pretty minimal at this point, although my post-op instructions say the 3rd day is the worst for the pain and swelling.

So that's all the news about the wisdom teeth. I'm just glad to have it all over and done with and now hopefully all my teeth and sinus problems will be alleviated. I also want to get those clear Invisiline things to straighten my teeth, but that's a story for another day. Time to zonk out on my pain meds.

Thanks so much for everyone's encouragement and for refraining from telling me their horror stories until after mine op was all over :)

That cute little picture is from Goodbye Wisodom Teeth!