I am woman - watch me shine!

One of my favorite things in the world is being a woman. I have spent the past year and a half being the only woman in whatever place I've lived. I think that this has had an effect on the amount of appreciation I have for womanly things. I definitely appreciate, more than I had in the past, things that emphasize my femininity!! I have made a list of some of my favorite things that maybe my ladies out there can appreciate with me!

First of all, I love doing my hair. Curly, straight, up, down, no matter what style I go with, I love that my hair looks amazing! Yeah, every once in awhile, I have a bad hair day, but they are few and far between!

I love doing my nails! Making sure they are shiny and polished and the perfect shape may take time, but the effort is worth it! Being able to look down at my hand and look at my lovely nails that I work to maintain makes me smile!

I absolutely love keeping my legs smooth! I have said time and time again that the best feeling in the world is freshly shaven legs and clean bedsheets! And they look so good!

The next thing I love doing is moisturizing! Lotion on my legs, my feet, my arms and shoulders! The one thing better than having soft hair is having soft skin! Not only does moisturized skin look healthier, but it feels better! I hate the feeling of dry skin!

Last but not least, one of the best things ever about being a woman is smelling pretty! From hair products to lotions to body sprays to perfumes to soaps and conditioners!! Mixing and matching scents is one of the more enjoyable steps to getting ready!

Everyone out there has their list of favorite things to do and every girl has a reason that they love being a woman!! This is my list for today, but what's on yours? Come on, amigas, what is on your list of favorite things about being a beautiful woman?

Sunrise

I have been living in California for four months, now.

Since I have been here, I have found everything a girl needs to be comfortable!
I have found a home away from home in the church the young single adults meet in. The feelings of security and warmth are so comforting and the spirit of love is so strong, it is almost tangible!

I have found a great friend who also serves as my therapist. She is a radiant light of positivity and advice! I am glad to have someone here on whom I can rely!

I have also found a thriving social life. I have been to a party almost every weekend since (and including) my birthday. I have more friends here than I can shake a stick at, although why I would want to, I haven't the slightest! The YSA ward alone is bigger than the stake back home!

Among these bare necessities for fun and comfort, I have also found things within myself that have helped me to realize my own strengths.

Since I have been here, I have read my scriptures and said my prayers every single night. I have a small notebook I have been journaling my days in. I have uncovered in myself a passion and a drive. I want to be better than I am. I want to be able to look back day after day and say 'I am better today than I was yesterday'.

I have been striving to improve in all areas of my life. I have already described my improvements in the areas of spirituality and social interaction. Let me continue by describing the ways I have been improving in other areas.

I have been improving physically. I go out for walks in the park, I play volleyball every week and I have played very intense games of soccer at almost half of the beaches in San Diego. I like sports. I like getting sweaty and feeling like a pile of mush the morning after a game. I like the pain that I feel when my muscles are screaming at me to chill out or take a break. But I never do. They are not the boss of me. I am the boss of them.

I have been improving mentally. I have read more books since I got here than I had in the whole of 2010 and now that I am on a roll, there is no stopping me! I have downloaded the entire works of Shakespeare, the Sayings of Confusious, Pride and Prejudice, A Tale of Two Cities and countless other classics that I have yet to read! I have also been downloading textbooks relating to science and math, my weakest subjects. Who am I to sit idlly by while math and science get the best of me? I refuse to be beaten by them any longer and I am going to be the master of them if it takes all year!

Last night, I arrived an hour early for Sports Night. I was alone with myself. One of the things I have wanted to be able to do since I got here was serving overhand in volleyball. I do not know why I have been so determined to learn how to do this, but I spent an hour last night putting effort into my goal. I practiced my overhand serve until my hand shook. The rest of the night, I was even unable to fully straighten out my fingers on that hand.

Why would I do this? What could have possessed me to spend a full hour repetedly smacking a volleyball against the wall with all my might? Why subject myself to an aching shoulder in the morning and a shaky hand even as I type? The answer is the same reason I will do the same thing next Thursday. Because I have a potential and I realize now what a pity it is to waste that sort of thing.

I have realized the value of working for the things you want. I do not know what took me so long nor do I know how I could have settled for ordinary all this time. But I am done with ordinary.

I have been filled with fresh determination since I have arrived here. I am going to be the best I can be. No excuses, no settling.

I am Mary. I have potental that will no longer go to waste. I am living my life.

Fresh start!

Alright, so I am done with advertising on the blog. I mean, yeah, it was cool, but seriously, I am done. I want my blog to be fun, and a reflection of who I am. I don't want to be a sellout. I want this to be something I want to do, not something I am obligated to do, yaknow?

I miss the people, the other bloggers, and just the atmosphere this blog exposed me to.

I kind of want to come back to all of this and I mean on a consistent basis. I know I have a lot I want to write about and I want to write for me. I want to get my creative side going, because I have been concentrating so hard on social and educational aspects, I think my creativity and writing is starting to suffer.

Anyway, I just thought I would kick it off with this.

Soon, I am going to be blogging regularly. I got a new iPad for my birthday April 29th, and this on-screen keyboard will take some getting used to, so until I get back up to the 70-80 wpm I was at before when I was typing regularly with an actual keyboard, my posts will be shorter than my usual rambling.

I think that will be a healthy and welcome change, though.

Almost a year.

I'm up way too late, but I don't care. I'm 22 years old and I can do what I want. That's what I like to tell myself, at least.

A week and a half from now, it will have been a year since my mom died. September 29th is the anniversary of her passing away.

A lot has happened since then; some good, some not so good. In March, our family found out that my dad has a Melanoma. Those of you who follow me on twitter might remember the exact day, because I freaked out just hearing the 'C' word.

Dad had a few surgeries. One to remove the melanoma in early April, another to remove certain inguinal lymph nodes on April 29th. In case you don't know why I would remember the specific date, April 29th happens to be my birthday. My first birthday without my mom and I spent it in a hospital room looking after my dad.

Luckily, I had a friend who was kind enough to bring a wonderful goody bag full of party supplies and treats and presents to me the day before, so when I got to the hospital, I could have my own little party while dad was drugged up and knocked out.

Also, luckily, I had a friend, who had spent a lot of time in that same hospital as a child, come visit me while dad was in surgery, so I didn't have to wait alone. He showed me where the little room was to get dad water or juice or something, and he showed me where the extra linens were. He even kept dad company with me while he was there (and while dad was awake). The guy spent at least 8 hours at the hospital with me, playing bored games with me, chatting it up with dad, and just being there.

In the summer, Dad started an ongoing treatment. He's doing some 'immuno-therapy' stuff, called 'interferon' (sp?). Basically, it's a month (five days a week for four weeks) of high dose meds that make him feel like he's got the flu, and 48 weeks of low dose, less frequent (three times a week) shots that he's been giving himself.

He got an infection a couple weeks ago and none of the antibiotics they tried slowed it down, so they had to go in surgically and remove everything, so that stunk. He spent a week in the hospital, and I spent three days there until he made me go home to take care of the house.

Things have been calmer since then, and I'm glad. I have time to reflect upon the things that have happened this year, and I have time to remember when everything was easy.

I'm still grateful to have a wonderful family, and I'm thankful to still have one parent. I'm thankful for everything my mother was while she was here, and to the wonderful example she set. I'm grateful for the support of our friends here, who, the day they heard dad was in the hospital, sent flowers, visited us, and had us over for dessert and movies and games.

It's just Dad, myself, and my two little brothers at home now, so when dad's not around, it feels like we're a broken family or something. Thankfully, we have a wonderful bunch of friends who are there for us, and we can rely on them for anything, even if it's just a night of company and fellowship to keep our minds off of things.

Yeah, life could stand to be a little easier, but I'm grateful that it's not worse, and that we're going through everything as a family. We still laugh and play and talk and watch movies together, and we say "I love you" to each other more often, and I'm thankful for the trials we've been handed, because they've helped us grow stronger and closer.

I miss you, mom, and I wish you were here, and even though I know you aren't coming back, I hope, at least, you're watching us, and that you're proud of how we've managed so far without you. I know I'll see you again, but until then, my memories of your life and your love will have to do to keep me company when I think I can't handle things.

"And when one of us is gone
and one of us is left to carry on
then remembering will have to do.
Our memories alone will get us through.
Think about the days of me and you.
You and me against the world."

--Helen Reddy

Weekend of Craziness!

So I've been working at this preschool for the past month and I finally went to pick up my paycheck yesterday and I was relieved that it was enough for me to put most of it in the bank! I told the bank ladies that I'd be back soon with more money because this weekend was going to be very busy! I'm babysitting, catering a wedding open house, and babysitting some more! I can't wait for Monday morning when I can go to the bank and deposit more money into my very small bank account.

I've been saving up trying to pay for school myself this next semester. I found a number of a woman that might need a summertime nanny, and I think I'd be perfect for the job! I have a car, an imagination and tons of experience! I just need to figure out if I want to take classes during the summer or not. I don't know.

Learning is fun!

Even though I am taking this spring semester off to work and just live, I still like to learn new things. I stopped by the library today and picked up a couple of books on Sign Language! I have always wanted to learn it, but have never really felt that I had time to spare! But now, I think I'm ready to try it out! So I'll immerse myself in non-verbal communication for the next few days and see how it works out!

I wish I had a friend close by who could help me learn, because it's always more fun to learn something new if you have a friend backing you up. But I think I'll have fun anyway. I've learnt songs and the alphabet before in sign language, so I hope it'll be easier than not.

Anyway, wish me luck in my new endeavor! Hopefully, I'll expand my horizons and gain new confidence in my learning abilities! Yay!

Going to go have fun!

I'm going to go out tonight with my friends to a Halloween Themed YSA dance! I think it's going to be fun. It's a dress-up thing, so I'm going as a cowgirl. I can't get enough of being around people I love. It feels so awesome to get out and be around people who have my back. I won't be home until around 2am, but I honestly don't care because I'll be in good company!

UPDATE:

Had a pretty awesome time! I met my "little brother"'s new gf, and shall report back to my "other mother" as soon as possible. Also, I almost entered the costume contest, but when I was informed that the prize would be a date with the host of the party, I decided it wasn't all that worth it. Hahaha! I think that guy likes himself too much.

Anyway, my favorite costume was some girl who was dressed up as Flo, the progressive insurance lady from the commercials! (linkage to my favorite commercial with her)

Anyway, I had a pretty awesome time, but was up super late! Got to bed around 2pm! Holy cow! But then I slept for ten hours, and now I'm all better.

I hope, one day. . .

I hope, one day, I'll be as wise as my mother was.

I hope, one day, I'll be as brave as my father is.

I hope, one day, I'll be as independant as my sister.

I hope, one day, I'll be as strong as my brother.

I hope, one day, I'll be as loving as my uncle.

I hope, one day, I'll be as caring as my aunt.

I hope, one day, these traits I will have.

But now, today, I can only hope.

I love Jolly Ranchers!

Alright, so I have a Public Speaking class this semester. My first speech has to be a process speech. It can be about anything (says my teacher). She even said I could trace the history of a specific company if we wanted to! Like presenting a timeline to the class! The company I've chosen is Connected Ventures.

I spend enough time on their sites and know enough about the company already, it'll be easy to talk about it. And I'm sure I won't have any problems with finding enough information to present. I think my biggest problem will be making a smooth segue from one point to the other.

I think segues are my biggest issue when required to speak in public. I've spoken plenty of times, and have no problem doing so. I live for the laughs I get when addressing a group of people, but I hate spending time coming up with ways to transition from one subject to another.

But I have until next Wednesday to prepare and to make sure my transitions are smooth.

I think the only type of Jolly Rancher I'm not fond of is the apple kind. Can't they find someone who likes the apple kind and give them all the ones from my bag? Can't I just have a bag of blue, red, pink, and purple?

See? Did you see the complete lack of segue there? I mean, I went from talking about a class to talking about jolly ranchers! What the heck is that?! Where did that come from? I don't know. You don't know. No one will be able to find a connection that isn't there!

But seriously, Jolly Rancher people, if you could just find it in your hearts to make customizable bags, that'd be great.

Yay!

My adorable nephew came by today and we had fun playing video games! I'm glad he's around to help make it look like I'm awesome at them. And make it look like I'm taller than I am.




This is us being very very serious. See our serious faces? Nothing silly or funny going on at all in this picture!

My vid for Annie, Kimmeh, and whoever else.

Already showed them, but I figured I'd put it up here for y'all to check out.

Back-story!!

I was sittin there, at the Annie and Burl show last Wednesday, and the topic of conversation was Pickup Lines. So I have a pretty good one that I've learnt and it helps me pick up spanish speaking hotties. But that is a lie. So I shared it with the chat room, and Annie tried to pronounce it. Which turned out to be hilarious. But at least she was braver than kimmeh and burl! Who both dismissed even attempting to say it.

So during the show, I figured I'd make a quick little vid about how to actually say it! So here is the video for you guys to check out. Enjoy!

Ouch.

Today, whilst joining in some horseplay with my little bro, I went too far ( I guess). You know that movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop? That part where Kevin James' character headbutts the guy and they're in the ball pit and he moans afterward "Nobody wins with a headbutt!" Thats sort of not true. I won. Well, and I lost. See, I got in trouble for it, but at least I didn't cry about how bad it hurt like someone. So I won and lost at the same time, I guess. Is this proof that I'm tougher than my little bro? I think so. And don't forget it!

I'd take a picture of the bruise I left on my head, but my camera is M. I. A, so I can't. But it's a pretty big red circle on my forehead. Luckily (even though I have a class tuesday night), it's like, 4 days until the next ysa dance, so I don't need to worry about it. It'll be gone by tommorrow most likely. And if it bruises, that'll be long gone come friday night.

Here's some music to send y'all off with, and a sweet fanmade vid to go with it- check it out, y'all!

I'm gonna go take an advil for this headache. (Totally unrelated- the headache is from the paint fumes filling our house right now thanks to the painter guys painting our house with paint.)

How I waste my time-

Here's another special "skill" of mine.

Thinking about how some people could possibly know other people. Just listen to what I'm saying, alright? It won't make sense and I'm not promising it'll be completely sensible, but check this out.

By the way, this is another one of my special skills.

I am friends with Dr. Val, right?

Well, at least, I certainly hope so!

And Dr. Val did an interview with Phylicia Rashad about peripheral artery disease back in September, right?

And it seems like the interview was a pretty good one! So it's safe to say that they could be considered friends, right?

Now, assuming that I'm correct so far, let's now go to The Cosby Show. In which Mrs. Rashad starred alongside Bill Cosby and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. So it's probably safe to assume that Mrs. Rashad is still quite good friends with those men she shared the stage with for so long, yeah?

We're going to assume I'm right.

So Malcolm-Jamal Warner recently filmed in a movie with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson called Fool's Gold.

I think it's safe to assume at this point that they're all good friends from spending so much time together during filming, right?

Now, going from there:

Matthew McConaughey just recently finished filming his newest movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past which also features Breckin Meyer.

Breckin Meyer guest starred on an episode of House, MD back in 2008. Alongside both Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard.

Robert Sean Leonard starred alongside Robin Williams back in 1989's Dead Poet's Society.

One of my favorite movies with Robin Williams is Hook. In which he stars as Peter Pan across from Dustin Hoffman's Hook and Julia Roberts' Tinker Bell.

Julia Roberts was spectacular in her performance in Stepmom alongside Susan Sarandon.

And finally, Susan Sarandon starred in 2008's spectacular musical sensation Enchanted with Patrick Dempsey.

So if we assume that everyone is friends with everyone they meet at least once, that means that I AM FRIENDS WITH Dr. Val who is friends with Phylicia who is friends with Malcolm-Jamal Warner who is friends with Matthew McConaughey who is friends with Brekin Meyer who is friends with Robert Sean Leonard who is friends with Robin Williams who is friends with Julia Roberts who is friends with Susan Sarandon who is friends with PATRICK DEMPSEY!!

As you can see, it's very exciting.

Cuz Brandi Chastain says so.

Which reminds me. Not only are there only 12 days until my birthday, but there are only 419 days until the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa!!!! Wooo-hooo!! Start picking your teams and checking their groups! I think Romania has a very good chance this year! They were so close to the semi-finals in Euro '08 last year! But I still love Italy and Spain from Fifa '06!

Anyway, that's all from me. I hope you weren't too weirded out by my crazy movie association game. But I do it all the time. I just thought I'd share this one with you. I spent a good five minutes figuring it all out. And be sure to keep in mind that Fifa '10 Cup is coming up! And that my birthday is coming up sooner. I'll be 22 by the time the Cup rolls around, how weird is that?

But alas, it is time to finish up this blog post!

Farewell all!

Adios!

La revedere!

La Pelota

So a year ago, FIFA released a video displaying amazing soccer tricks. Look up Fifa Street 3 anywhere and chances are, you'll happen upon this video:



Now, I don't know how much (if any) of this is photoshopped or fake or whatever. I do know it looks flipping cool!

When I first saw this video, I really dug the sound. That song playing in the background sounds awesome! So I tried to find an actual mp3. But they didn't actually record a track or release an mp3! They made it just for the video! So I went on for months searching for the mp3, eventually giving up.

But I was looking it up today, the first time since last november, and I discovered THIS! The song wasn't La Pelota by Alejandro Londono- it was La Pelota by Massive Music feat. Alejandro Londono! AND! They provide links to download the mp3 for free! How amazing! So now, I have a brand new song on my zune and I love it!

Happy early birthday to me! :)

P.S.- I've posted this on facebook, but I wanted to say it here as well. My birthday is in 26 days. You all have until the 29th to find Patrick Dempsey, put him in a really big, really pretty gift box, and send him to me. Get going! What are you still doing here, reading my blog? GO!

Sleep

I have a skill. It's a super-secret skill. And I would like to discuss the unique aspects of my "talent".

I'd probably better start by telling you what it is.

I can sleep anywhere, anytime and on virtually anything.

Let me just say here, that no, I'm not narcoleptic. I am just skilled at sleeping. I think it comes from my high school years. But I think my mom would say it comes from years of practicing and staying up late.

But high school is boring. The classes weren't too terribly hard, the work load was light, and there wasn't alot going on. The teachers weren't engaging or interesting, and some classes, even the people around me were boring.

So, like most young high school students, I developed the ability to sleep in one of those desks that has the chair and desk attatched by a metal bar.

Sometimes, when the class was emptier and the day was slower and the teacher was lazy and didn't want to teach, we would have a lazy mess around day. On one of these occassions, I slept in three desks at a time. You just have to arrange them the right way!

So while I was remembering this, and recalling all of the things I've slept on, I came up with a pretty big and quite impressive list!

I've slept :

• On School Desks
• In a movie theater stretched across several seats
• Sitting back to back with a friend one morning in high school
• In a tent with a sleeping bag out camping (several times)
• On a rock. It was a big rock.
• In a tree. Just find a couple of branches close together or one big branch and drape yourself across them! Many an afternoon were napped away in the branches of the big tree in the backyard in Atlanta.
• On a picnic table in an adarondac.
• On a hammock (not that hard)
• In a bed (easiest place for falling asleep)
• On neumerous floors. Carpeted, hardwood, you name it.
• On the ground. Concrete ground, outside of school.
• On the grass, outside
• On the dirt, with lots of rocks and pebbles around.
• Backstage on misc. props whilst waiting for curtain call.
• On a ladder. It's quite easy if it's a stepladder.
• Chairs. Wooden chairs, plastic chairs, even metal folding chairs.
• Stairs. Actually quite relaxing.
• In the pool. This requires a floatation device.
• On a boat.
• On a plane.
• On a countertop.
• On our back porch.
• In a car. (Backseat, front seat, truck bed, even the trunk! Cars are one of the easiest places to fall asleep)
• Couches (any couch can be easily converted into a bed by laying lengthwise on the couch.)
• In a closet
• In a bathroom (oh like you haven't! And it was whilst taking a bath, weirdos)
• On bleachers. While they are, at first, kind of cold, it's do-able.
• On top of cardboard boxes. They're warm and soft and comfy.
• On a car. I already said in, but I've fallen asleep on top of a car before.
• On a beach, lying on a towel. Again, not difficult to do.
• Leaning against a wall.
• Sitting in an empty kitchen cupboard. There are pictures.
• And last but not least- in the middle of a road. On the warm asphault. Soaking wet.

That's all I can think of at the moment. The list includes dangerous places where I don't suggest you attempt sleeping in. And some were for as little a time as 1 minute and as few times as one. But sleep is sleep.

I must say that there are some instances mentioned that happened when I was little, and haven't been tried since I was 12.

So there you have it! Proof, no doubt of my amazing sleep-tastic talent! No matter where I am or what I'm doing, I can best the beast of tiredness using sheer willpower and thinking happy thoughts.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, just leave a comment! I'll be glad to give you the story behind any of these. I'll respond in the comment section as soon as I can, so go ahead and ask about any you feel weren't accurate or weren't safe or just sound like they have an interesting back-story!

Fans

I have no fans.

And before you start thinking I'm emo or something, let me explain.

What I mean by fans is hard to explain. Part of it comes from the site "friend or follow". I've been checking it for awhile. And I kind of hate seeing people who I'm following but aren't following me back.

I mean, in some cases, it's fine. I'm following around 4 romanian twitterers, because I am in the process of learning the language. Eu stiu putini, dar nu vorbesc foarte bine. I'm working on it. Anyway, as a step in learning it, I follow these 4 romanian twitterers to measure how much I know, and compare it to how they type. It's helped alot so far with understanding spelling and, since alot of their tweets are in the first person, helped with understanding the grammar a little as well. I don't care if they're following me back. I really don't. I'd feel guilty if they followed me just because I followed them.

And I also hate seeing the number of people who are following me but I'm not following them back. Because I don't know how many people are empty followers, or how many are spam, or how many are just trying to get followers of their own. I don't count these people as fans because I have no interaction with them. I never hear from them, I never communicate with them, and I am pretty sure alot of them don't care. But I can't speak for every single one.

Now, I found friend or follow through a friend, and since it's one of those sites where you can pretty much put in any username and review their stats, I checked out a few other twits' fans friends and following lists.

See- some people I don't mind if they follow me or not. I really don't. But when I consider someone a friend and follow them on twitter, and they don't feel the same way and don't follow me on twitter, I feel bad. Especially if it's someone with, say, 420 followers (don't bother checking, it's no one who actually reads this blog, I'm sure) who only follow 58 people, and one of those people isn't me. Sure, the person responds to my "@replies", but since they don't follow me, they respond through direct messages. And even then, only if I'm "lucky" enough for them to even notice I've repied to a tweet in the first place.

This sort of thing is something I've come to sort of despise. It feels like hero-worship. As if I am just a lowly fan, and they don't realize that respect is a two-way street. I respect people, I really do. I respect alot of people, but when it gets to the point where I'm the only one showing any respect in a "friendship", I kind of lose the respect I feel for the person.

Now, I hope hope hope that I have no one like that. No one that I've snubbed because of a "I'm better than you" complex that shouldn't exist. If you feel I'm ignoring you unjustly, let me know! I know how it feels. I definetly hope I have no "fans" and hope to death that I only ever have friends.

(I have since stopped following the person on twitter, because I felt like a number, not a friend. Though I still read their blog, I don't know how to handle the situation. One of the last times I've commented, I was made fun of by a fellow commenter and the blogger's indifference has discouraged my willingness to keep up with them at all, but I'm hanging in there to see what happens. I always thought I was more than "just a fan" and more like friend to this person, but we'll see. I'm beginning to lose interest.)

QLD and the blind.

Have you guys heard of the best job in the world? I heard it from Leif Pettersen. I applied. Check it out HERE!

Rate my video to help me get the job HERE!

Thanks guys! I know I've already e-mailed some of you and I'm sorry if you don't like getting e-mails like that, but I'd still appreciate your help to get me into the top 1o!

This is the shortest blog I've ever written I think.

But maybe not, because I feel a random thought coming on. . .

Why don't dollar bills have braile on them? I mean, blind people can't tell the difference between bills! How much more convenient would it be for them if bills were different? Y'ever thought of that? They have to rely on people to tell them which bill is which. And some people are dishonest, and might not tell them the truth.

Yes, I watched that new reality show that came on after Deal or No Deal. So sue me.

Dear Mr. Used-to-be-President Bush

An open letter to the previous president of the United States. He might not have been the most popular president in the world, but he was my president. And I liked him. And I've always wanted to hang with him, so here's my letter.

Dear George W. Bush-

So, now that you aren't the president anymore, I bet you have alot of time on your hands, huh? Not so busy doing important things and talking to important people anymore I bet. So . . . what'cha doin'? Got any plans? I mean, now that you have time for other things. . . d'ya wanna be my best friend? I hear I make a pretty good best friend, and I've always really wanted to meet you. But seeing as you were always so busy with presidential things, and I've always been busy doing. . . kid stuff. I mean, you've been the president since I was 12! I grew up with you as the president! And I'm going to miss seeing you on tv! So I figure if we're best friends and hang out alot, I won't miss you so much! It's really the only solution I can see. I promise to never be mean or throw shoes, and if you want to play tic tac toe, I'm fine with that. If we play battleship, I want to be the red board, and if we play checkers, I'd prefer to be the black. But you can choose what color you want if we play chess and if we disagree on which movie to watch on movie night, I'll gladly play you in rock, paper, scissors to decide which one we watch. But I promise to never make you watch a chick flick. We'll stick to action, comedy and drama. I hope you can get this letter. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Mary

Sugar and Spice but I'm not very nice.

Oh guh-ross! Barbies?? Blegh! I do not like Barbies. The doll that looks like it belongs in the playboy mansion. The doll that comes with . . . *shudder* Unicorns and. . . blegh, adorable pink bunnies, and even worse-

A career!

I just saw a commercial for Barbie. And let me tell you. I wasn't wrong to distrust those plastic boob havin' , 1950's Doris Day lookin', unattainable goal projectin' . . . punks!

Growing up, I played with toy dinosaurs. Those things are awesome. And they were the kind that had the name on the belly so you could tell what dinosaur you were playing with. I had two Pachycephalosauri who constantly bumped heads with my one triceratops. One Anklyosaurus, who liked to bludgeon my Iguanodon, a Tyranosaurus Rex, and an orange one that was bigger than the t-rex, but didn't have a name on the bottom. But he was a carnivore for sure.

Anyway, so whilst I was playing with my dinosaurs, my best friend was playing with barbies. When she brought barbies over to my house, I would play with them, yeah. But they'd be doing something awesome. Like re-enacting some scene from Rambo, or flying.

My mom never bought me Barbies. And I thank her endlessly for that.

This commercial I saw just a few minutes ago had the usual Barbie commercial song. Stating that you can "Be who you want to be! B-a-r-b-i-e!"

And you know what career they were giving her today? Today- the inaugural day of the first Black President. Today- nine years and twenty days into the twenty-first century. Today! The time when women can not only vote, but can also have careers and lives outside of housework and homemaking!! Hallelujah the strides we've made!

And today- Barbie was cooking. Barbie was making pie, I think, to be more specific.

Now, what's wrong with cooking? Nothing- lots of people do it. What's wrong with pie? Nothing, I enjoy pie, and I myself can make a pretty mean apple pie.

What's wrong with the commercial? Everything. Barbie is a sort of example for girls out there. A sort of spokeswoman if you would. And you know what she was telling your little girl? She was telling your girl to be who she wants to be. . . as long as it's feminine.

See, I have this sort of problem with these sorts of ads. I have a definite problem with multiple toy commercials. Commercials for barbies, commercials for hot wheels, commercials for video games, etc.

Any commercial that tries to draw a line and put "toys for little boys" on one side and "toys for little girls" on the other gets on my last nerve.

And McDonalds is the worst! Every month or so, they come out with a new promotion. Giving away new toys in their happy meals for little boys and girls to enjoy. What's the big deal? I'll TELL YOU what the big deal is! When you order a happy meal for your kid, they give you a specific toy based on the gender of your child. If you have a little boy, he gets a hotwheels car. If it's a girl, she probably gets a pretty little barbie.

But what if your little girl doesn't want to be restrained by the ideals of society? What if all your little girl wants to do is race her brother down a mountain with a wicked awesome car? Well too bad, little girl. You'll lose that race. Because you know what? Barbies don't come with wheels, specialty paint jobs and amazing modifications (. . . insert joke here). Barbies come with dresses and aprons and cleaning supplies. And those don't stand a chance against brother's new corvette up on that racing mountain. Not a chance.





Little Tikes Hot Wheels Car Adventure Mountain




Weird but relevant- Whenever I get happy meals, I always have to specify that I want a "boy toy" (. . again, insert your own joke here).

My first (kinda) Video Post. . .

. . . In which I make a fool of myself.

Ummm. . . alright, so. . . . . . . . .

I was bored. . . it was late. . . my camera was, like, right there waiting to be used. . .

Sooooooooo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . yeah.

I pretty much started off by saying hi and about two seconds into it, I thought that I was starting off my video the way that Doc A usually does. So I got a little carried away pretending to be everyone's favorite medblogger/podcaster. But it was fun. You have no idea how hard it was keeping a straight face.

Also- sorry but it's kinda sideways. I would've fixed it, but I honestly didn't want to spend that much time on it. I'm lazy. (Ask my mom- she'll tell ya all about it.)

So learn to deal. And just so you don't have to look sideways to see me right side up, I'll even put up a picture!

Awesome Hat was made by my friend Lisa's Mom! Thanks Lisa's Mom!! How awesome! I love it and I'll probably be wearing it nonstop for a while. I love it!

Awesome Polka-Dot Long Johns were bought for me by momma

Awesome Pink Tank-top was bought by me from some store down in Myrtle Beach this summer.

The vid is kinda dark, so I don't know if you'll be able to see that well. It was lighter on my camera . . .

Don't forget to check out the REAL Doc A show! Show number 67 this Thursday, January 15th, at 9pm Eastern time! It's gonna be gooood!