honeybuns needs your help!

all-star voting ends tomorrow. the race is close at first base. according to the last official update, justin morneau was in first, but there were two evil men on his heels (one being a wife beater, the other being a jerk who no one will keep on their team except the yankees). you don't really want either of them representing the choice of the fans, do you? it's time to vote morneau!

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100629&content_id=11719002&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb (click on the blue link to the ballot)

(and if you're wondering who else to vote for, it doesn't really matter - obviously joe mauer for catcher but he's got it in the bag, and josh hamilton, nelson cruz and carl crawford would be good choices in the outfield [trying to oust ichiro, here]. the rest i leave up to you.)

i hate eating in the summer

nothing sounds good

i like vacations

ok, so it's only 1 extra day off, but that meant that i could sleep as long as i wanted today. i woke up at 9 and went back to sleep, woke up at 10:30 and stayed up for about 2 hours, then took a 2 1/2 hour nap. that's my kind of day.

Why I love "Les Miserables"

"The book which the reader now has before his eyes is, from one end to the other, in its whole and in its details, whatever may be the intermissions, the exceptions, or the defaults, the march from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from false to true, from night to day, from appetite to conscience, from rottenness to life, from brutality to duty, from Hell to Heaven, from nothingness to God. Starting point: matter; goal: the soul. Hydra at the beginning, angel at the end."
- from the book itself

royal wedding parts 8 and 9 will come later. i need a break.

royal wedding pt. 7 - i'm a snob

I'm a snob. I admit it. But not just for myself. For others as well. The Katie Scarlett in me just can't handle a lack of class distinction.
And so, while I think it's wonderful that Victoria married the love of her life, and Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark married the love of his life, and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway married the love of his life, it bothers me that all these spouses are commoners. Soon there will be no royal blood left in the royal lines! It's a nice romantic fairy tale notion, but if the royalty is all common, what's the point of having royalty?
Yes, I've seen how wonderful Queen Silvia is. I know that the Swedish people didn't particularly care for the king until she came along to brighten up the royal household. But with her being a commoner, and Daniel being a commoner, Victoria's children, including the next in line to the throne, will be only a quarter royal!
There is one redeeming fact to her marrying Daniel, though. It will finally get some Swedish blood in the line. Victoria is German, Brazilian, French, and, like every other royal in Europe, English. 'Bout time her subjects were represented.

don't worry

i only have a couple more wedding posts to do, and they aren't at all like these last 6

royal wedding pt. 6 - random stuff

1. I must say, I wouldn't mind walking down the aisle to the prince on the right.

2. I like this picture.

3. Hello, Prince!

4. Princess Martha Louise of Norway had one of my favorite dresses the night before.

5. Princess Madeleine is gorgeous.

6. As I was looking for pictures of the Swedish royal wedding, I stumbled across this. Happy Anniversary to the King and Queen!

royal wedding pt. 5 - the dance

This is what finally made it feel like a princess movie wedding. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGl8iUIZQqc

the great debate

for years the danish indian gypsy and i have argued over which is better - sweden or denmark.

nicklas bendtner of the danish soccer team is making an excellent case for her.

royal wedding pt. 4 - the groom

Talk about wooden. Hardly any emotion (though Victoria did wipe a tear off his cheek at one point.) Actually he almost looked smug. Maybe he was just nervous. Who could blame him? I will say, though, that the one other time I saw a little emotion from him was when she walked down the aisle. And that's when the groom's face should be priceless.

my diana and i almost died last night

last night my diana and i hung out. we went out to eat a few blocks from her house, and on her way back, we almost died.
we were walking along, minding our own business, when a cop car zoomed past. we looked back, and another cop car had zoomed around the corner on the other side of the block, doing that cool spin out thing, surrounding the white car we had just walked past. they pulled their guns and made the guy (maybe more than one, not sure) get out of the car with his hands up. it was very exciting. i wanted to stay and see what was going on, but i knew we wouldn't get any more info than that, so we just kept walking.
we got to her house, and then i left. this had all happened just around the corner from her house, though, and my car was facing that direction, so while she told me i could turn around in the neighbor's driveway and go that way, i had to drive past the excitement. the white car's doors and trunk were all open, and i could see one cop leaning into the vehicle, but that was all i saw. that and some gawkers.
it was all very cool.

royal wedding pt.3 - the bride

As you can see from the last post, the dress was gorgeous. It was simple and regal and absolutely perfect for her. Classic. The detail of the veil was beautiful, and the crown (which was worn by her mother when she got married - 34 years to the day before this wedding) was nice.
Victoria has always been pretty, but on this day she was beautiful. She was radiant. Victoria is always prim and proper and reserved, but on her wedding day she was relaxed and happy and glowing. It was so fun to see. I couldn't help but beam with her.

http://www.detkungligabrollopet.nu/brollopsbloggen/

royal wedding pt. 2 - the trip down the aisle

In Sweden, the bride and groom walk down the aisle together (the point being to show that they're equals - the man is not the head of the house - whatever). Crown Princess Victoria wanted her daddy to walk her down the aisle. The church said no. It is the state church, and as the future head of state, she would have to abide by their rules. But how do you say no to the crown princess? They were firm. She and Daniel would walk down the aisle together.

I couldn't fathom them being so mean. She might be the future queen, but with all the protocol she has to follow, with all the things she has to do because of that role, with the fact that her very personal day was an international affair, couldn't they just let her have her way in this one little thing?

I was looking forward to seeing whether or not they let her. I was hoping, and pretty much believing they would, but not quite sure, and the moment was coming, and I was on the edge of my seat,

and my internet conked out. Next thing I saw was Victoria and Daniel at the altar. It wasn't until after the wedding, when I could watch clips online that I saw this:

i might be a geek

i'm reading a book about tolkien's writing ("Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World," by Verlyn Flieger), which i'm very much enjoying, but requires a bit of thought, as it's examining some deeper themes in his works. this poses a problem, however, in that if i want to read something deep, i can't do it at work because of the constant interruptions. i have to have something different to read at work then. so what did i pick for my light reading? a 1,260-page nineteenth century french classic on social (and spiritual) justice. go me.

royal wedding pt.1 - the blue carpet

First the guests arrived. It was like the Oscars, but with tiaras. My favorite was the understated elegance of Princess Mary of Denmark, though Queen Silvia and Princess Madeleine of Sweden were beautiful as well. Worst dressed, not even a contest - Princess Mabel of the Netherlands.

http://royalweddings.hellomagazine.com/princess-victoria-and-daniel-westling/galeria/20100619360/princess-victoria/wedding/guests/1/1/#ancla

i want to do a post on the wedding, but i can't upload any of the screen caps i got! grr blogger!!!

my sad sad story of the day/weekend

first i was sad that i wouldn't be able to watch crown princess victoria's wedding. but now i might be sadder. it will be on the internet. at 8:30am. on my saturday off.

i have to get up and watch it. get up? at 8:00 on my weekend off? what?! but then, how often does the crown princess of sweden get married? and i don't know if they'll show it again later. i will regret it very much if i miss it. and so, i'm off to bed, that i may get up. on my saturday off.

my profound paper

so awhile ago i said that i had a profound paper that i will someday write (http://i-am-a-hobbit.blogspot.com/2009/09/profound-paper-i-shall-one-day-right.html). i started it last week. i'm only a page into it, just an introduction and the beginning of my thoughts on the word 'failing,' and i know it will need several rewrites, but it's a start. maybe someday i'll write the whole thing.

you know what i haven't posted in a long time?

me saying that i had something to post but forgot what it was. consider this one of those posts.

a nice thing about facebook

i can [be a stalker and] see what the girl who's dating the [former of course] love of my life looks like.
i'm cuter.

Joe Mauer

He is seriously the cutest thing ever to happen to baseball.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTtXE-lY7EQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1sO1nPf7o0&feature=related

not a total waste

this weekend at work was not fun. i knew it wouldn't be. i guess for the most part it went better than expected, but still. we have a new guy, and seriously, nothing's worse than a new employee (well, except two of the night staff, but they are a completely different issue). it's not his fault, and i know i was a newbie once, too, but the slowness, the constant peppering me with questions, the constant 'i'm sorry, what was that? i didn't understand' (which is the one that got to me the most - not quite sure what's not to understand about 'when you set the tables, it's faster if you do all the silverware first, then go back and put the coffee cups out,' and etc.) - just drive me nuts. poor kid, by lunch today i flipped out on him and told him to stop helping me serve, 'it's probably safer at this point if you just let me do it!' (i've been known to make new employees go home in tears. well, ok, one, who is a very sensitive girl, and who did come back. and i didn't even flip out at her, i just gave her one too many pointers i guess. eventually we got along splendidly and even went to a twins game together.) i did apologize to him when we were all done serving lunch, though.

anyway, so these were a couple of those days that are just plain stressful. the kind that make you say, 'screw the money, i'm going home early.'

however.

before lunch, as i was putting tablecloths on the table, i looked up, and who should be walking through the dining room, but good-looking maintenance guy. (really don't know why, really don't care. he was there.) that made it all worth it. (and yes, i know, the cook might see this, but oh well. i don't feel like caring. not like he wasn't there so he doesn't know.)

apparently not the right answer

recently we had an inservice at work. generally all the kitchen people go at the same time, but my co-workers went on my day off, so i had to go alone. i got to the conference room, and the nurse presenting it was there, as was the chaplain. as we were waiting for others to show up, one of them asked me, "and how are things in the kitchen?" "fine." "same old, same old?" "nothing ever changes in the kitchen." they both just looked at me. "sometimes it feels like the movie 'groundhog's day.' we're just doing the same day over and over."
i was surprised at my honesty, since it's not like they're my friends or anything, but apparently not as surprised as they were. they just stared at me like i was a horrible person for not being thrilled to be a college graduate who was once in the master's program at the number one school in the nation for her field who's back in her high school job, only using her brain to remember that edie likes peanut butter on her toast. how on earth could i not be ecstatic to set tables and do dishes every day, knowing that i could beat pretty much every manager in an iq test? how could it not be thrilling to get up every day at 5:00 to do the job of a trained monkey only to be too tired at the end of the day to even watch a tv show? it's just unfathomable.
thank heavens another nurse came in then to break the awkward silence.

My Alphabetical Biography List: Armstrong, Karen - religious author

"The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness"
A former nun, Armstrong left the convent after seven years feeling utterly broken. Her adjustment back to the "real world" was extremely difficult, due in part to anxiety attacks, hallucinations, and times when she would have no recollection of what she had just been doing or how she got to where she was. After years of psychiatric "help," that only made things worse, prescription drugs that did nothing, and living with the fear that she was losing her mind, she had a grand mal seizure. This finally brought her to the right doctor. Turned out this was not a psychiatric issue; it was a form of epilepsy.
In the course of all this, she lost her faith completely. She started writing books about religion, aiming to show how that all religions are fiction. Through her study of various religions, however, she came to believe that all religions are the same and all are true. I found the last part of the book, in which she was explaining all this, extremely sad. I just heard over and over in my head, "Tash is Aslan and Aslan is Tash." It's not true. All religions are not the same. She had some interesting points, but she was so far from the Truth. You just have to hope that people who read this book aren't influenced by her views.

One of her interesting points, though, was when, after she had lost her faith, her friend asked her to bring her (the friend's) son to church. Many changes had taken place within the Catholic church since she had left it. "This was the new vernacular Mass, the creation of the Second Vatican Council. It was lively fresh, and cheerful - perhaps a little to cheery for my taste. It was all so sensible and matter-of-fact...this service was so wordy. The old liturgy, punctuated by singing that gave the congregation time for reflection, had had a silent, contemplative core. But now we seemed to be afraid to stop talking..." It reminded me of when I was in Sweden and Sven commented on the American tendency to bow our heads and pray, say amen, and get on with whatever is next. We don't bow our heads and listen, at least not during a service. Services aren't contemplative at all. They're missing something. We're missing something. It's a shame.

Pop Reviews: Mountain Dew White Out and Mountain Dew Voltage

I wanted to try all 3 of the new Dews, but couldn't find a bottle of White Out anywhere when I was coming back from Iowa. I found Voltage, though, which my co-worker really likes, and then today she gave me a can of White Out.

Mountain Dew White Out

Fine. Nothing to it. It's like a cross between Sprite and Squirt without the kick. It's good, there's just nothing unique about it.

Mountain Dew Voltage

Blue Sno Cone

"Only Hope," by Switchfoot

There's a song that inside of my soul
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold,
But YOU sing to me over and over and over again

So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray to be only YOURS
I pray to be only YOURS
I know now YOU're my only hope

Sing to me the song of the stars
Of YOUR galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again
When it feels like my dreams are so far,
Sing to me of the plans that YOU have for me over again

So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray to be only YOURS
I pray to be only YOURS
I know now YOU're my only hope

I give YOU my destiny,
I'm giving YOU all of me
I want YOUR symphony
Singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs
I'm giving it back

So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray to be only YOURS
I pray to be only YOURS
I pray to be only YOURS
I know now YOU're my only hope

my traumatizing trip to chelleybutton's

the smell of skunks, tar, iowa - not the biggest traumas. the traffic - everyone was pretty good. the weather - fine for a drive. the animals on the side of the road, however - sucky day to be an animal.
i'm driving along, and on the side of the road there's a dead dog. very sad. i keep driving and cars start merging into the right lane. i knew road construction was coming, but thought it was a little early to be merging. but whatever, i merged. and then saw that it wasn't because of construction. there, in the grassy part in the middle of the freeway, was a horse. a horse. he was standing, with a police officer holding him still, and a couple other people there. when i drove past, i noticed his legs were all bloody. driving farther, i saw a truck with a horse trailer being directed back toward the horse by a police officer. i have no idea what happened, but it looked like the horse fell out of the trailer or something (though i don't know how it could be standing if it fell out at 70mph). scary! poor thing! i'm so glad i wasn't there when it happened (whatever it was). after that trauma, the dead fox farther on didn't seem like such a big deal. though i'm sure it was for the fox.
oh, and i almost got dead by a semi that decided it was going to change lanes even though i was right there.
but now i'm here with chelleybutton, and that is good.

Movie Review: Bride Wars

Ih.