false advertising.

I found this picture off a favorite blog of mine, What Not to Crochet, a blog about the stupid ugly shit people have figured out how to create with a crochet hook. Oh, like you didn't know I was a yarn nerd? Pssht.

Anyway, let's take a look at this Art Direction FAIL, shall we?

1) She's "knitting" a blatantly crocheted afghan.
2) She's holding both needles in her left hand. (Come on, even people that know nothing about knitting know they're not fuggin chopsticks.)
3) This blanket OBVIOUSLY does not have 6 colors in it, and even the 3 do not all need to be used at once.

Awful, awful art direction.
On a completely unrelated subject, the model looks strangely familiar.

she says it wasn't popular when i was born..

From Jezebel:

[Click on image to see original article.]

I really miss my blog.

stop putting holes in children.

I have a huge problem with babies with earrings. HUGE.

Sweet lord, look at social acceptance and what it's done to us. Mothers rush their children to the doctor for bumping their head on the coffee table, but then volunteerily let someone punch a hole through their baby's ear? They don't know what's going on.. it hurts like hell even when you DO know what's happening.. and for what? So they have something shiny and pretty? THROUGH their brand new ears. Will you get their stuffed animals' name tattooed on their shoulder, too?

I wonder if anyone's tried to do that.. wouldn't be too shocked.

the ice cream truck vs. WoW.

I heard the ice cream truck head down my street a few hours ago. It was probably driving about 30mph and I thought, I wish I was still excited by the ice cream truck. Maybe I'll grab it one day. Then it occured to me that, had I even had an interest in running out to it, it is pretty unlikely that I could have possibly gotten off my couch and caught the ice cream truck much easier than any other car heading down my street. How on Earth do the kids do it?

Maybe they don't.

The ice cream truck used to be so easy to catch. It would drive about 15mph through the neighborhoods, rightfully assuming that one of the hundreds of kids hanging out in the streets will jump at the opportunity to buy strangely convenient ice cream. For those who are in your teens, you may be too young to know that the only thing you used to be able to do in the summer is play outside. There were wiffleball games and rollerblades and hide-and-seek. Now, there's AIM, World of Warcraft, Halo. Do kids go outside anymore? Of course they do. But you have to admit it's harder to get them to do since there are so many things to do inside now.

I wonder how long it will take for the Ice Cream Man to lose his job.

i probably would.

amen.

stupid black pants.

They're driving me crazy. Every time I put them on, I know that within the hour, I will be walking into a world of pure, unadulterated dysfunction and drama. Unfortunately, the dysfunction is not just on the customers' behalf. Oh, no, we contribute plenty of that on our very own. How grown up of us.

I am not coming up on month 10 of serious, "real-world" job searching with horrifyingly little luck and nothing but 1 measly interview. I have obsessively updated my Monster and LinkedIn profiles to no end and can't imagine what it takes to get a view in this place. How hard is it to find a job sitting at a desk, answering phones, and picking up bitch work that other people don't feel like doing? ..Pretty hard, apparently. But still, I push on.

For those who don't know, I am completing my Graphic Design Certificate at the end of July. It seems far away, but it's only two more modules. Technically, one split into two parts: Portfolio I and Portfolio II. I am pretty excited. Even more so, I'm absolutely thrilled at the idea of rejoining the academic world to work on my degree. I'm leaning heavily towards psychology, but I've been thinking a lot about the medical side of the health world. I'm fascinated by it. Unfortunately, my weak stomach keeps me from a large portion of options in that department, but I can't keep from thinking there might be a place for me. Nonetheless, I'll be studying some form of health science.
On top of that, I'll get to take college courses (for credit!) in graphic design and really work on expanding my skills. That's really exciting for me.

But, it is Friday night.. and it's poker night (ma ma ma ma).
More to come. I really miss writing.

my 12 hour days.

Things that are easy: staying on your feet, going nonstop for 13 hours straight with only a 1 hour break.
Things that aren't as easy: working in a slower, non-energetic job for 8 hours, then sitting in front of a computer and listening to lectures for 3 hours with a total of a 1 hour break.

Sounds odd, but makes sense.

I have two hours left and I am determined to not nod off.. as difficult as that is.

vital update.

• i am 4 classes away from completing the graphics program. (then, it's on to web.) i'm loving it, but stressed about the schedule.
  
• still working @ acmoore, but now under the title of "merchandising supervisor." title aside, nothing else has changed..
• still interning @ meda & still loving it. i worked my first health fair 2 wks ago and it felt pretty good.
• my current roommates are moving out in less than a month and i actually found a roommate *before* becoming retardedly desperate!
• in the same vein, i'm working hard to keep myself grounded about the new roommate. don't want to relive anything..
• i still really love my apt <3 i can't believe it'll be a year at the end of july.

i need to write more. i don't just mean blogging, but actually by hand. my mental state has been.. questionable lately. i don't mean questionable like slipping back into old thoughts, or depressed, or anything. i just feel like i might be able to think straighter and clearer if i actually got back to journaling. you know, with a real pen.. on paper..  that'll be my new goal. to try to write (far away from a computer keyboard) at least a couple times a week. we'll see what that does for clearing my head.

but, yes, blogging, too. i'm going to try to do that. i've got a lot to say. guess i should make time for it.
hope you're all well <3

it's funny cuz it's true..

music that makes you dumb.

Let's look at a few things.. first of all, someone actually took the TIME to make this chart. What does that tell you. Second of all, considering you can find basically every kind of music/band you can think of off the top of your head and none of them (aside from Beethoven) exceed 1300, I'm going to have to say this is far from evidence-based. Although, I am happy to find Ben Folds and Guster coming closer to making the cut. However, a large majority of people who score over 1300 and *gasp* even hit the big 1600 probably listen to a lot of this.

Does the person who made this chart not listen to music? It doesn't even make sense.
And one more thing.. isn't the highest you can score on SATs now 2400 or something?? They added a new section after my class took them. Whatever.

this has to do with my IQ how??

is anyone else REALLY creeped out by these facebook ads??

murphy's law cancelled my plans.

tonight, i was supposed to shoot a friend's show (cure for static). i spent a total of about an hour making sure my commute went smoothly and as safely as possible. (nothing like walking alone in boston with $1600 worth of equipment on your back.. i made arrangements to avoid that.) i had someone meeting me at the train, and a ride back. times were double checked to be sure i would get back before the final train.

i spent an hour packing and charging, making sure i had every last piece of equipment i needed, making sure everything worked and all my cards were formatted and i had the right cards and ID, a little cash - which i didn't think i'd need - my keys, phone, everything. i am not the most prepared person in the world and, knowing this, made sure i had prepared correctly. i ran out the door and got to the T station on time and, as promised, called my friend so he knew i was on my way.

i pulled the $5 out of my pocket as i pulled in, prepared to use $3 of it to pay for my parking. parking at the station went up and was now $5.75. what the fuck. so, i dug into my car change and gave the attendant the whole $5.75 i had on me.

i parked and ran up to buy a ticket (couldn't find my Charlie Card anywhere before i left). i put my check card into the machine (exp date: 09/12) and it was immediately rejected while i was told it was.. expired. lies.

i drove home. there were no other options. i drove home and grabbed my credit card, which i forbid myself to use unless it's an absolute emergency. count it. i get back to the station, explain to the woman what happened and that i just paid for parking 10 minutes ago. the language barrier caused some disturbance, but i was able to get back into my spot without much of a fight.

i grabbed "all" my stuff and made a run for the train, which was in the station as i pulled up. clearly, i wasn't getting on that one. it has now been approximately 20 min since i told my friend i was on my way.

trying desperately to catch my breath, i shoved my credit card into the machine to get a $5.oo ticket to ride. "cannot read card. please try again." you've got to be kidding me. i ran it 6 or 7 times and then decided to try to pull it out a different way as it was a little warped. finally, it took it. i shoved the ticket into the gate - down to $3.30 - and walked to the train.

figuring another train would not be by for about 5-10 minutes, i thought i'd pull out my cell phone and bitch via Twitter. not in my back pocket.. not in my jacket pockets.. i groped at myself for about 20 seconds before i realized.. my phone was still in my car.

i took a deep breath - getting stressed would not get me to landsdowne st any faster - and exited the station to get my phone. i wouldn't make it to the show without it as i had to meet up with people at the kenmore station to know where i was going and get there safely. as i exited, it occurred to me that there was no one but the ticket machine to convince that i had already paid my fare. i would have to pay another $1.70 to get back on the train and, of course, $1.70 to get back home.. which meant putting another $5 on the ticket, as i would come up $o.1o short after having already paid once.

at some point, you have to figure that.. maybe i'm just not meant to go to the show tonight. i fought the best i could, but the night fought harder and it was time to turn around and go home. sometimes, the universe has a funny way of telling us, "you should probably stay home tonight." i called the boys to apologize and thank them for the trouble they went through to try to get me there. he told me to get home safely and they'll see me at the next one. hopefully, their next show will not be on a night when the universe has decided it doesn't want me going out.

the good news is: i'm ridiculously tired and have more work to do than i know how to handle. i have to admit it's a bit of a load off to know that i can put my pajamas on at 10pm, get some work done, and get to bed early to finish the mountain of projects i have in the morning.

i'm going to go make tea.

omg, a blog!

hmm.. it seems as if i've fallen sadly behind on my personal blog. actually, kind of both, but way more on this one.

i've been very busy, but would really like to make writing more part of my business. i promise to try harder.

since december 12th, i have started working.. at least, i'm pretty sure it was after that point. i feel like i've been there for about 3 months, now, so my sense of time is even more distorted than usual. i work at a craft store that is going to remain nameless so that i have the freedom to tell stories about dumb people there! and there are so.. many of them. i'm hoping to not be back in retail for long, but for now, i'm happy as hell to have a source of "income".

so, now i'm working. i'm an intern at MEDA (the multi-service eating disorder association) and spend 1 day a week in the office, mostly doing design work. it's awesome and i'm freaking in love with it. i was also offered a position at a framingham elementary school for an after-school program. i would be teaching little kids how to knit :D i start next friday on a volunteer basis, just so we can get to know each other. i'll be assisting the current teacher and, if all goes well, well.. we'll see :)
tomorrow, i'm auditioning for "some girls" at hovey players tomorrow. if i get in (i hope, i hope, i hope..), it will be the first show i've done since "fools" back in may.. thanks to waitressing. i loved serving, but now i can work hours that don't rape me of rehearsal time!
..i'm not home much, lately. i'm not even working full-time (not sure how that happened..) and i'm working towards finding full-time. i'm just worried it's going to cause me to sacrifice MEDA hours. that would suck.

that's that, for now.
now, for a fun "retail customers are retarded" story.

here's a short-but-fun one from one of our custom framing employees:

a man walks up to the CF counter and says, "hey, do you sell any of that invisible wire for hanging photos?"
"yup, it's right over here!" she walks over and grabs a package of fishingline-esque material off the shelf and hands it to him. he looks at her as if she had just done something horribly, horribly wrong.
"is this some kind of joke?"
"not a very funny one.. what's wrong, sir?"
"this wire isn't invisible. i can see it."
...

peace out!