i feel like i'm the only one taking stupid pills!!

all right, all right. so little disclaimer before i go on my rant. i am a cal fan, so it's natural that i hate usc with a passion equal to or stronger than stanFUrd. there's your warning. first of all, if you've read my blog in the past, you'll know how i feel about usc being ranked number one for football. over the course of the last few days, i have read more articles about they are going to be unstoppable...undefeated...blah blah blah. the tone even suggests that they hadn't lost last season as well. hello, did you see them play cal?? anyway, the biggest frustration for me was their schedule!! they played the pathetic ten (sorry, as much as i hate that term, most teams were pretty weak) and the following: auburn, byu, and hawaii. are you fucking kidding me?? you all know that if cal or any other pac ten team last year had done this, that they would have not been ranked numba one. man...the weakness of their schedule just kills me. anyway, i just hope cal kicks some huge ass this season, and totally blows everyone away. GO BEARS!!

i'm not sure all these people understand (nightswimming, r.e.m.)

holy crap. i knew it was going to be a great day when i heard my favorite song on my workmate's radio this morning (at last, etta james), but it is now officially going to be AWESOME because i just heard, "nightswimming" by r.e.m. on the radio for the first time. wow. more later since i'm at work...hee hee!!

this is by far one of the most powerful things i've ever heard. i first heard it about 4 years ago. i'm thankful i had the chance to listen to it when i was in college. i of course had forgotten about it until recently. for some reason, it had been echoing in my head; just little bits at a time. i thought i'd share it with all of you.


WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S BLUEPRINT?
Note: Six months before he was assassinated, King spoke to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967.

I want to ask you a question, and that is: What is your life's Blueprint?

Whenever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the guide, and a building is not well erected without a good, solid blueprint.

Now each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives, and the question is whether you have a proper, a solid and a sound blueprint.

I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life's blueprint. Number one, in your life's blueprint, should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own somebodiness. Don't allow anybody to make you feel that you're nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.

Secondly, in your life's blueprint you must have as the basic principle the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You're going to be deciding as the days, as the years unfold what you will do in life-- what your life's work will be. Set out to do it well.

And I say to you, my young friends, doors are opening to you--doors of opportunities that were not open to your mothers and your fathers-- and the great challenge facing you is to be ready to face these doors as they open.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great essayist, said in a lecture in 1871, "If a man can write a better book or preach a better sermon or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, even if he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

This hasn't always been true-- but it will become increasingly true, and so I would urge you to study hard, to burn the midnight oil; I would say to you, don't drop out of school. I understand all the sociological reasons, but I urge you that in spite of your economic plight, in spite of the situation that you're forced to live in-- stay in school.

And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. don't just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn't do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley.

Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.
From the estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

stolen'd from annie...thanks, girl!! :)

PAST
[ + ]first grade teacher's name: mrs. lienenger...totally misspelled...sorry!!
[ + ]last word you said: "float" i think i asked my daddy if he wanted me to make him an orange float
[ + ]last song you sang: proudest monkey-dave matthews band
[ + ]last thing you laughed at: my brother making fun of me and my belly laugh. which of course cracks me up some more
[ + ]last time you cried: i dunno...maybe a week ago??
[ + ]last person you thought of: prolly erik cause i just answered a question about him

PRESENT
[ + ]what's in your cd player: crash-dave matthews band in my car, o-damien rice in my room
[ + ]what color socks are you wearing: i am not wearing socks
[ + ]what time did you wake up today: 6:30

CURRENT
[ + ]current hair: wet and pulled back
[ + ]current clothes: a towel...just got out of the shower, yo
[ + ]any bad habits: not really
[ + ]do you find it hard to trust people: nope
[ + ]last thing you bought yourself: a picture of a garden in paris
[ + ]bath or shower: shower for the daily stuff, but bath to the max for fun times. gotta have my relaxing candles, no lights, a little music, my perfect bubbles in a jacuzzi tub, baby!!
[ + ]favorite season: summah summah summah-time!!
[ + ]favorite color: pink. did you have any doubts about this, really??
[ + ]favorite flavor: i like vanilla or malt added to drinks
[ + ]favorite time of day: the second i come home from work!! hopefully this will change soon
[ + ]gold or silver: most of my stuff is silver

FASHION
[ + ]do you wear a watch: yup yup
[ + ]favorite stores: lavendar bay (before they moved)
[ + ]how big is your closet? pretty big...lots of storage space!!
[ + ]ever spend more then $200 in a store?: yup
[ + ]do your friends know everything about you: yup...what does this have to do with, "fashion"??
[ + ]what do they tend to be like: great listeners!! and super fun party animals
[ + ]can you count on them: all the time
[ + ]can they count on you: yeah!!

LAST
[ + ]last book you read: the gospel of mary magdalene
[ + ]last movie you saw: i, robot
[ + ]last movie you saw on the big screen: i, robot
[ + ]last show you watched on tv: things i hate about you
[ + ]last song you heard: crash into me-dave matthews band
[ + ]last thing you had to drink: root beer
[ + ]last thing you ate: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans
[ + ]last time you showered: about 10 minutes ago
[ + ]last time you smiled: a few minutes ago
[ + ]last time you laughed: see above
[ + ]last person you hugged: my mommy
[ + ]last person you talked to online: bean!!

DO YOU...
[ + ]smoke: nope
[ + ]drink: hell yeah
[ + ]have sex: i'm saving myself for jonathan cheechoo. ;)
[ + ]sleep with stuffed animals: you better believe it
[ + ]have a dream that keeps coming back: several
[ + ]play an instrument: i used to play the clarinet and piano
[ + ]believe there is life on other planets: life as we know it?? who knows
[ + ]read the newspaper: yup yup
[ + ]believe in miracles: without a doubt
[ + ]consider police a friend or foe: for the most part, friend. i hate people who whine about being pulled over for going 75 in a 45 zone. he-llo!!
[ + ]like the taste of alcohol: every day and every night
[ + ]believe in astrology: nope, but i do read horoscopes if i come across it in the paper...hahahahaha
[ + ]believe in magic: like black magic or david blaine or what??
[ + ]go to church: not as much as i'd like to
[ + ]have any secrets: of course!!
[ + ]have any pets: not any more
[ + ]go or plan to attend college: been there. done that.
[ + ]talk to strangers: if they have a packers hat on or somethin
[ + ]have any piercings: yup, 5
[ + ]have any tattoos: not yet ;)
[ + ]hate yourself: not really
[ + ]wish on stars: oh yeah
[ + ]like your handwriting: sure
[ + ]believe in witches: nope
[ + ]believe in ghosts: yes
[ + ]believe in santa: yes, cause he still brings me presents!!
[ + ]believe in the easter bunny: did you hear me stutter??
[ + ]believe in the tooth fairy: yeah, but she never gave me as much as my friends, so i stopped believing after a while...hahahahahah!!
[ + ]trust others easily: for the most part, yes.
[ + ]sing in the shower: all the time