Vents

Ugh. Stuff to get off my chest.

Things which bother:

1) TOUCHING OTHER PEOPLE'S STUFF
I don't know why I have such issues with this (OK, I do know why, but let's not get into it "at this present juncture"), but if I EVER marry and have children ... such things will not be. Ugh, ugh, oy oy argh. I just sincerely hate and abhor it when people move my stuff around, or take things and use them up without telling me ... and it's so gosh-darn inconvenient. I KNOW it's not the end of the world but I'm just brittle that way.

2) Dimwits that park too close to the damn driveway, running me at the risk of clipping the corner of their car trying to turn my lugging behemoth into the parking lot. Gosh, I hate this. It's not a huge, wide street, since I believe it's fairly oldish, and since I've lived here, there's already been 3 separate incidents of side rearview mirrors being bashed off, the left front bumper getting crunched in, and the daily insult of scraping one's hind end along the drive pulling out too fast trying not to get t-boned... if they would park further back from the actual driveway, I might have room to have to make less of such a sharp turn, half-jumping the curb on a daily basis.

3) Not having a washer here. Boy, this is really cramping my style. I hardly ever did much laundry when I lived with my parents, but now, it's driving me crazy. I like doing it more often when I live by myself, I guess. Especially sheets and big stuff, like neato comforters!! Even there, there is DEFINITELY not enough room to hang stuff up so I can't go through massive laundry frenzies as I'd like. OK, guess it might help if I bought less at the thrift store.

4) (Some of) other people's children. Ugh. I am like increasingly not a huge fan of other people's children. The love, it is a-fading. Of COURSE it's easy to enjoy the likeable, well-mannered ones, but they are in increasingly short supply. God have mercy on me if/when I ever have any spawn of my own, and they BETTER act right or they'll have a lifelong lesson to remember. I WILL NOT BE SHAMED IN SUCH A FASHION!!! :P I know all of this is bad of me to say considering my current profession, but honestly ... I am just being cranky.

5) Aging! And a slowing metabolism! I found rank cellulite deposits on hitherto-untouched portions of thigh. I can't IMAGINE what it'd be like blowing up all pregnant and stuff? Yowza.

In other gripes, the current housing situation, while mildly improving, still aggravates me. I KNOW the market is correcting itself, but it won't be "correct" like it was 10 years ago!!!! >:(

I can afford more house now than before, and I honestly would love to be in a house by the end of the year. So I am praying about that, and saving and stuff. In the past year I've raised my credit pretty well, now let's work on a freaking down payment :P. Not likely, maybe, but I sincerely believe in miracles. :)

Stupid, stupid, stupid stupid dumb housing market.

I'd like to feel very badly for the poor sods stuck in ARMs and such but I can't help feeling that it's kind of your own dumb fault. Banks now unable to collect were greedy, and took the risk, and now it's not paying off, and people who signed these horrific mortgages - well, did anybody strongarm them into buying something they couldn't afford??? I think I need more compassion. And a big ole milkshake of human kindness. I am like very not sympathetic these days.

Now here I am with no down payment but healthy credit and I'll just have to look and see what options are available to me.

That, or I sell aaaaaaaall my worldly possessions and gallivant around the world as a carefree pauper.

I think I'd rather have a nice, beautiful house with a bit more room.

The Rose and the Beast

I picked this up at the thrift store, but after reading through all the stories (except maybe one), I decided to put it back.

I just HAD to post about it, though.

I've never heard of this book, or this author, and it was a La Habra school library discard. Hm. I believe it would be considered young adult fiction. The author essentially rewrote classic fairy tales, titling each with a single word.

Her writing style is rather hypnotic and mesmerizing, and what I love is that the stories are short and can be digested in chunks. I lean more towards that type of writing these days. I can't remember the last time I attempted a full novel.

One of the first stories is called "Tiny." Just reading that alone, ESPECIALLY considering the ending, made me want to buy the book right then and there. I still completely and utterly love that story.

Some of the other stories are very disturbing, though.

And I especially hate, detest, abhor, despise, and recoil at stories with completely vague endings. I HATE that. I LIKE resolution. And I especially prefer/insist on happy endings.

So "Ice" leaves me in a bit of a muddle.

I love fairy tale retellings, and seem to be on that track lately. I nearly bought the completel collection of Grimm's fairy tales yesterday at another thrift store, but I DON'T NEED MORE BOOKS.

I do, however, admit to being unable to resist classic Peter Rabbit collections. There were three at the thrift store today, and I bought 2. One was big, with a slipcover, and STILL $10 AFTER 50% off, and the other was only $3. The third was EVEN bigger, with awesome pictures, but it was like, $7.95 or something, AND it had an inscription on a Christmas tag.

I should read the inscriptions, though, eh? Often enough they are from the author.

But, well, somehow I was PRETTY sure it was not Beatrix Potter on a Christmas tag!

Anyway, The Rose and the Beast, by Francesca Lia Black.

An interesting read. I'm recommending it and would love to hear reactions from any of you!!!

If you want something even SHORTER and more humorous, might I suggest "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories," by James Finn Garner.

Such. A. Classic! Good times in high school, good times.

:)

Trashy Naples

Poor, poor Napoli!!!

I love yahoo news, I mean, it's my home page.

So I saw this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080105/ap_on_re_eu/italy_dirty_naples;_ylt=AgS6VTakExktrHqF.JBDeUKROrgF
(I think the link is broken, but the text of the article is at the end of this post in case anyone wants to read it.)

Dang. I know I still haven't posted everything from Europe TWO YEARS AGO, but ... well. When my sister and I backpacked together in 2004, we decided we wanted to visit the birthplace of pizza and also hit Pompeii. I mean, that is just cool. That place is so stinkin' famous, it's kinda a must-see-place-before-you-die.
We were looking around for good places to stay in Naples and then we heard AWFUL reviews. Aaaaaaaaaand, we decided to listen to them. Why not. :P From Rick Steves' Graffiti Wall off his site, everyone was recommending NOT staying in Naples because it was dirty and "unsafe," and we heard about Hostel Brikette, in Positano, south of Naples.

This was seriously one of the best things I've ever done in my whole entire life.

It is one of my most favoritest hostels ever, even though every once in a while I think about how they only turn on the hot water for showers for like, two hours in the morning, and two in the afternoon. And how last time I went, compared with 2004, there was MASSIVE water and mildew damage in the bathroom showers. :(

But I LOVE and still laugh to myself every time I think about being served breakfast, and passing on the coffee/espresso, and asking for juice instead. And the lovely sweet little Italian boy working there who actually SHOWED US TO THE WRONG BEDS AND ROOMS THE FIRST NIGHT would, without fail, say - "Pineapple - it's OK?" And this was repeated 4 days in a row, verbatim. Heh. It was just the way he said "It's OK?" that always has me cracking up.

Because in the end, you get to look at this:

While sitting here:


Anyhoo, I remember that Judes and I were royally SHOCKED at how Naples appeared. It did indeed look much more littered than any other European cities we went to. Since Positano was so incredibly gorgeous, we were very happy we decided to go to Hostel Brikette and skipped Naples.

So I actually went through Naples twice in 2006 - coming by plane from Vilnius, Lithuania, into Rome, taking the train to Naples, and going straight to Positano. Well, actually, I walked around a little bit with my HUGE pack so stinkin' heavy and wanted to try the best pizza in the whole entire world, but since I was there on a Sunday, EVERYTHING was closed. :( I ended up making time for it later, though, of course.

It still looked kinda dirty in 2006.


There was just trash blowing all over the streets.

However, I did also take a night train from Naples to Venice after I'd stayed in Positano.

(Here is Positano, in comparison!!)

Lovely, lovely, Positano.

I mean, in Naples, they did weird stuff like this:

"Hello, what street am I on?"

Who puts a unit IN FRONT of the street sign? I swear that was the reason I couldn't even find the pizza joint originally, because I could not see the name of the darn street. And yes, in Europe, street signs are posted on the buildings themselves. Because Europeans are less obsessed with tearing down old buildings and putting up new eyesores. Sense of permanency and all that.

So then, after reading the article about the state of waste in Naples, I'm seeing unbelievable pictures like these:

This is just awful!!! I know that lots of people do not ADORE Naples, but I do have a rather fond regard for it. Melanie, a lovely Swiss chickie from Zurich said she LOVED Naples, and would always stay in "Six Small Rooms." She said she loved it, and loved the atmosphere. There were some cards and things advertising it in the Brikette in Positano, since lots of hostels have advertisements at other hostels and things.

I do think Naples gets a bad rap, though ... I encountered SUCH nice friendly people! I will spin some tales of my adventures another time (hello, only one of THE most annoying, pointless, useless, aggravating, and Seinfeldian experiences EVER), with some other pics and stuff ... but this is just sad. Naples has a bad enough reputation already, and now it is LITERALLy being TRASHED.

Que lastima!

And then this guy from TripAdvisor has a freaking hilarious narrative about his personal exploits there.

I want to meet him.

If you want to read some more Naples horror stories, apparently they are not in short supply.

*******************************************************************
By SALVATORE LAPORTA, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 4, 8:46 PM ET

NAPLES, Italy - Stinking mounds of garbage piled up on the streets of Naples on Friday and officials around the country blamed organized crime and bureaucratic red tape for the city's refuse crisis.

Effigies of city officials, suspended from lampposts and trees, reflected the fury of Naples' citizens, who have had to live amid small mountains of their own refuse since Dec. 21, when collectors stopped gathering it because there was nowhere to take it.

Residents have resorted to setting trash on fire, raising fears of toxic smoke.
"Garbage is piling up outside our building," said Angela Sepe, a Neapolitan walking on the outskirts of the city. "I don't go downstairs any more to throw it away but throw it out the window because the garbage has already reached" as high as the second-floor window.

Naples and other parts of the southern Campania region have been plagued by a series of garbage crises for more than a decade. Dumps fill up and local communities block efforts to build new ones or create temporary storage sites. In 2004, a garbage crisis prompted weeks of protests.

Some protesters hurled stones Friday evening at a police station in the Pianura neighborhood on Naples' outskirts, where work has begun to reopen a long-closed dump, the Italian news agencies Apcom and ANSA reported. One protester was arrested following the attack which left windows at the station broken, the reports said.

Four empty buses were set afire overnight in the same neighborhood, fire officials said.
About 100 young protesters marched Friday on City Hall. Some occupied a central balcony and the roof, where they hung banners protesting the reopening of the dump and demanding a full-fledged plan to improve recycling in the area, the ANSA and Apcom news agencies reported.
Local, regional and national officials handed out blame for the southern city's chronic inability to properly dispose of its trash.

Several lawmakers said the government's creation in 1994 of a special office of trash commissioner to deal with Naples' continuing garbage crisis was part of the problem.
Leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera ran a lengthy investigation Friday detailing findings by a parliamentary committee that allege corruption and inefficiency in the commissioner's office.
Such reports have helped fuel local anger at the city's politicians who have failed to solve the problem.

"Let's bring it (the garbage) to their homes," said Rosaria Esposito, strolling through the center of Naples where trash was piled up on some streets.

Environment Minister Antonio Pecoraro Scanio, who has been a harsh critic of the commissioner's office, also blamed what he called the "ecomafia," a reference to Naples' organized crime syndicate, the Camorra, and its hold on garbage collection.

In an interview with the free daily E Polis, Pecoraro Scanio said the only way to escape the mob's hold on Naples' garbage was to get more Neapolitans to recycle and to build technologically advanced plants to dispose of the garbage in an environmentally friendly way.

Pecoraro Scanio said the Camorra was taking advantage of the fires set by residents to get rid of toxic waste.

"The ecomafias are behind the fires that are burning Naples and that are set to burn the accumulated trash," he said. "In the chaos that is created, the Camorra is always the victor."
The effigies hanging Friday carried banners with slogans critical of Antonio Bassolino, the governor of Campania, and the city's mayor, Rosa Russo Iervolino, the Apcom news agency reported. There have been calls for days for Bassolino to resign.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi chimed in, calling for "unity" and warning that finger-pointing was making residents have even less faith in the government's ability to deal with the crisis.

BITING THE BULLET!

Man, I hate when I'm the forlorn victim of indecision or worse - a bad sense of direction/map reading!

I really need to hone my skills in general SPATIAL REASONING on yahoo maps.

I found a last minute listing for an estate sale literally up the street from where I live but I got the major cross streets all wrong and I missed it, because I WALKED THERE, and got lost. This happened one other time before (reading maps all wonky!!!) but I made a guess that I hadn't gone far enough, and there it was. I think I am very glad I went to that sale, that's where I got great Christmas stuff, but left (boo hoo) some vintage pink glass ornaments that I could have sold.

Oh well.

So I walked over to my landlord's office to check that they got the rent, and ran into my downstairs neighbor! She was just checking out another available place for her parents.

When I came back home I did indeed look up the Craiglist listing and discovered my error, and HAD time to up and go again, but decided not to. I guess I missed out. It was a listing for dad's old stuff, though, and I guess it was cheap, but man, I look around and I have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. I still need to clean out the entire car, too!! Yikes. How did this happen. I have another post in mind, BUT -

so many fishies are posting about 90% off at Target and I think I want to go, AND, I called the Goodwill outlet and they are actually open until 3, not 2, so I decided to go. I can always clean again tomorrow. BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT OPEN ON WEEKENDS! That is just poop.

So when else will I have the time to wander down so far there????

I will have to clean all the lovely goods out of the back of the car (seriously, it's ridiculous) and then see how I am on gas. Yikes.

But at least I can say I've gone once.

I'm just bummed that I don't have my camera with me to take pictures, since I left it at my parents' place.

Ciao!

Hee, Rachel Ashwell fun.

I'm such an addict!

I have been stroking the sheets all day long since they feel so nice and cool and smooth. These are the $5 fitted sheets I got at Target last year or a couple years ago ... which is still 2 years AFTER they clearanced out! Man, this stuff was out JUST as I was getting interested in the Shabby Chic stuff, I'm so sad I missed out. Cuz her older Simply Shabby Chic stuff at Target is way better than the current flimsy thin dorky donkey quilts she gots and the rough ole stiff sheets.

Who would not love this pattern? (Oh, yeah, a straight, beer-guzzlin' scruffy trucker man, probably. With a Doberman.)

I'd love an additional set or some pillowcases (pillowcases!!!!), but I only occasionally see them on eBay, for the nifty sum of $120+shipping, or more.

Nice. Not.

I would have made my own damn pillowcases out of the flat sheet, but not 5 minutes before I came upon the fitted sheet and give an inner shriek of joyful disbelief, I saw another lady with the flat sheet in her cart. I was happy to find the fitted sheet, though, since that's more useful, and that's when the lady came by again and said she was hoping it was a queen sheet because that's what she needed. I knew it wasn't, what she had, and I really wanted it, but didn't feel like arguing or getting into it with her and just hoped she would discard it and I could snag it! But no luck. I was glad they only charged me $5, but man, I would SO LOVE to get my hands on another set of these sheets.

On to the fun! Somehow I found this freaking hilarious post on a the blog by "Your Mama" with pictures of stars' homes and other info.

Oh my - outstanding. Please, seriously, go read that post. She had this picture:

which, like, she and I both found seriously underwhelming. Rachel Ashwell lived in THAT? And now she's trying to rent it out??? For $20,000 a month??? Wuuuuuuuuuuuut. That looks almost boring and dumb. But "de-boned sheep carcass cum beanbag chair in the living room," indeed. Ha!!

This is NOTHING compared to the pics in her books, and on the freaking tags, and such of her Simply Shabby Chic stuff at Target. Yikes. Then again, if she's trying to rent it out, it'd probably be all sparse and not totally spruced up with her bestest jobses.

The page also had a link to Oprah's site with more pics, probably somewhat more flattering:

Well, I've seen better pictures of her before, at any rate. The hair. Yowch.

The blue is pretty, but if Malibu is anywhere as dusty as down here is, um, open shelving would NOT cut it. Unless you like dusty seasonings in your foods.

Wow, that TV is really small.
And the couch, quite white.
I like those cane dining chairs, though.

I guess this bathroom is ALL white ... but she used the stool to turn the sink instantly into a vanity.

Apparently, no closet - and these are her actual clothes! Well whaddya know, even her ENTIRE WARDROBE IS ONLY MATCHY-MATCHY SIMPLY SHABBY CHIC PALETTE. Lol to my head off.

The Oprah site had this captioned as her daughter's bedroom, the smallest room in the house, but this looks more like the big bedroom from the first blogger pic, based on the coverlet. (Arrowhead drinking water product placement!!)

Anyhoo. I really SHOULD go clean now. :0

PrettinessThisIsSuchAFantasticProjectAndIdea!!!

I found a wickedly adorable blog that I love the other day.

Did you know there are gorgeous crafty, shabby, country people doing the decorating thing in FINLAND?? Yeah, me neither.

There is white paint everywhere, like, nearly all the walls I see are white, and I figure that must be because they get so little sun they want things to be LIGHT! And guess what. No leopard print anywhere, either.

Also, I totally and completely, fell in love with this post and probably consider it my favorite thing that I've read in a really, really long time.

Here are two of the pics from that post, and seriously, I'm wishing I had little kids just so I could make this.

Firstly, I noticed the blue of the pot - HOW CUTE IS THAT????

The a slew of fabric food, including the freaking fish!!!

Oh gee. It makes me want to DO THINGS. Like, make things.

And it reminds me! Speaking of play food (ooh, I have some little play wooden cherries from the last Target toy sale in August ... wish I'd gotten the adorable little mushrooms, though, I'm a mushroom freak!), in the play room at church they have a little kitchen with food, and the kids are also so cute about "taking orders" and making and serving me food. Cool! Now if they could learn to do the dishes and put stuff back when they are done! But actually, what I mean to say is, some GENIUS came up with the absolutely-madly-frickin'-BRILLIANT idea of putting little velcro dots between the food that comes in parts - the two halves of a tomato, and in between the pieces of the pizza that come in their own pan. Um, I wish the velcro was white, but that's just the anal side of me. The velcro is red and yellow so you can tell which is the soft side and which is the clingy side.

HOWEVER! The stinking neat thing is when you pretend to CUT it, you can actually FEEL the parts separating because of the Velcro, ANd there is that deliciously satisfying scraping splitting sound of of the Velcro. We don't have any knives, but a thick cardboard card from some book or game or something served perfectly well as a wee chopper.

I looked it up to see if there was a proper name for it, but no, Amazon calls it a chopper/scraper.

Ah, little joys. Seriously, people. If you have play food. Try it.

But I guess whoever did it initially probably did it to keep the food together and keep it from all falling apart.

What a LOVELY idea.

In other news, I saw yet another domesticated Finnish blog and have decided my next primary goal in life is to hunt down a gently blue toile'd measuring cup/bowl.

Loving the polka dotted bowl, too, by the way.

Which reminds me (hooray) - Target now has the Chelsea dots procelain dishes as a 16-piece set (4-piece setting for four, with mugs, bowls, salad plates, and dinner plates) for $39.99!! It makes me glad that I bought pretty much everything else and can now get the dots mugs that I skipped out on in the first place.

:)

Stuff!!!

Oh, interesting. I found an eBay listing for the purple set of Rachel Ashwell Treasures shams I got at the thrift store a few weeks back.

This listing has a pair for $24.99, or $36.99 Buy It Now, and $11 shipping. Hmm. But those are new.

I got mine 3 for $2.95 + tax! Hooray. I guess the pattern is called Regent Park (Floral). Good to know.

Target has had crazy clearance lately. Way more stuff at several of the Targets than I even expected, and for 75% off ! Yowza. I feel like I "should" get out to more Targets and "get stuff," but I honestly don't NEED anything and DON'T! HAVE! ROOM! Pooh.

These were pretty, though.

I also got a couple of these for the table, to go with my as-yet-unused penguin plates (will try to get a pic of those soon).

I also have a red bell topiary tree! It was a bit sway-backed and leaning when I found it in a go-backs cart at Guest Services, and the bottom tin pot kinda broke loose when I tried to bend it back. It is so cute, though, and it jingles! I would be perfect happy taking the pot off so it looks like the blue trees.

I haven't posted a pic of the Christmas trees this year, but I do love tree trios.

Walking to the Post Office again today to claim my packages and then go for some Subway!!!! I'm a freak.

A freak who's gonna clean like a maniac today, I SWEAR.

Review of Johnny Rebs', but I have no pics!

I've only been to Johnny Reb's one other time before today, with Jen for breakfast. Apparently it is quite a novelty to throw your peanut shells on the floor.

Anyway, overall? I must say, I was QUITE disappointed! I'll go there again for the atmosphere, probably, but I know I won't be getting cravings.

The ABSOLUTE best thing there was the BBQ sauce. Yup.

So, I ordered Brunswick stew, PROBABLY because I read about it in Mom's Guideposts while I was at the house last weekend, and I also got the Cajun Sausage with extra sides: hush puppies, Southern slaw, Cajun rice, mashed potatoes, and then extra hush puppies and Cajun rice.

I actually haven't tried the Brunswick stew yet, since I haven't been hungry for dinner.

The first thing I had was the hush puppies, and maybe I've had other hush puppies, elsewhere, but these were surprising. Basically round cornmeal balls that were deep fried. I think they may have had some pieces of onion in them. Somehow I was expecting chunks of corn.

Anyway, they are dark and crunchy on the outside, soft and crumbly on the inside. But just ok. And you only get 2. Okay, so maybe the inside is a bit dry also.

Then I tried the Cajun rice, and it is rather spicy. Looks a bit like brownish Mexican/Spanish rice, and I am sorry, but I am no fan of bell peppers, especially in my rice! So hmm.

Honestly? If you want some nummy Cajun rice, I HAVE to recommend Popeye's Chicken!

I've never actually HAD their chicken, I'm always drawn in by their Crawfish Festival, but I love their rice. And the Cajun fries are nice too, just like shoestring fries that taste like curly fries do. Oh! And the Crawfish Etouffee is not that bad either. The one I always go to is actually run by a very sweet, unassuming Korean man, which always cracks me up. A Korean dude running a nationwide franchise of LOUISIANA Cajun food in LA-suburb Southern California. Heh.

Then there was the mashed potatoes. I mean, when I first got my to-go order, I was confused, cuz I didn't know what everything was supposed to look like, so I had to ask the waitress, just to check. But apparently the Brunswick Stew is dark brown, and the mashed potatoes and gravy are more like the color of oatmeal. A very light gravy.

It was okay. I could definitely taste a lot of cheese in the mashed potatoes, and it had some real chunks in it. Just so-so. I Looooooooooooooooooooooooove Kentucky Fried Chicken's mashed potatoes, and gravy especially.

The slaw was decent, with some random large pieces of cabbage. Very comparable to that at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I love the slaw there now, and didn't care for it as a kid. The KFC slaw has carrots and is definitely sweeter (probably why I like it more), and chopped much more finely. Both were rather juicy with the white stuff/dressing.

Turns out you get ONE Cajun sausage link for $9.xx, and it comes with hush puppies, slaw, and Cajun rice. There were also two little containers - one had some dark beans, and the other had the BBQ sauce. The sauce is seriously great! The sausage was okay - pork, carrots, I think, and chunks of potato. It was fine with the sauce.

I'll try the stew next and see if it's worth reviewing.

But overall, out of perhaps 5 stars, I'd give JR a 3. 5 for atmosphere and service, and 2 or 3 for the food.

:)

*edited to add: I just tried the Brunswick Stew (they gave it to me in a tall styrofoam cup!) and it's quite decent. A little sweet as well. It'd probably taste a lot better piping hot, but I'm too lazy to reheat it now. So, yay. I am such a soup and stew and chowder fan anyway, you can't hardly ever go wrong. Except with that WEIRD tomato salmon concoction I tried in Vilnius, Lithuania, waiting out a storm ... don't know what possessed me to order it in the first place, anyway.

And I just had a thought - I'd forgotten about Lucille's. That place is definitely very yummy, and I love the atmosphere and decor there, too, especially outside! As a matter of fact, that's kind of how I envision my own porch and loungey backyard area to be some day. AWESOME garlic mashed potatoes.

*the end*

A recap of my day thus far

So I decided I wanted to go for a little walk, since the gas is killing me, and I've also been very lax about hitting the post office like I need to - I was making a trade with a fellow fishie and bought the postage on Dec. 5 but never got around to mailing it ... I think she mailed me her end of the bargain already since I've gotten a couple notices about packages from the post office. Oops.

Anyway, so I put a light jacket on, grabbed my wallet, walked downstairs with the package and stopped by the neighbor's place to say hello.

Then I started! Boy, it was windy still. Driving to the party last night was a bit worry-inducing since my big ole van car was being blown around all over the show on the freeway, AND there were so many crazies! Like, a weird stream of FIVE cars with the hazard lights on, swerving and weaving. *I* get the impression they were improperly using the hazard lights to zoom around traffic. Nimrods.

It was blustery today, wind blowing everywhere, leaves scattering all over the street, and pretty much nobody out on the main road. I saw several people chatting on the street in the neighborhood I walked through, and it was interesting to see some of the architecture of some of the homes. Some are all cookie cutter, but there are a few unique ones, including one GIANT estate that looks like it was built from two lots. It has practically no yard but the facade and yard and steps and everything are so neat and tidy and clean and gorgeous. I wouldn't mind having a house like that, but I doubt I'd be able to adequately maintain it since I have no idea what it involves. The funny thing is that it's across the street from these little hovelly 20's bungalows and things.

So I discovered a Washington Mutual bank across the street from the post office, which is convenient for cash, and it means I won't have to head in the OPPOSITE direction nowadays.

I dropped the package off after staring dumbfoundedly at a huge, graphic poster they had in the foyer/lobby. It was "encouraging" dog owners to be "responsible" and not let "this" happen - one picture of two huge, deep, dripping blood gashes on the right leg of some poor "letter carrier". Oh, man. He had his leg in one of those tubs to keep the blood from dripping all over the floor of the truck.

But I noticed his oh-so-retro BLACK high-top Reeboks. You know, like what people used to wear in the 80s to do aerobics. OUCH.

And the second picture was of a dazed-looking letter carrier with scratches and scrapes ALL OVER holding a bandage to one arm while being directed by a firefighter with other emergency workers nearby.

Yeesh. Talk about a job hazard. AND YES, DOG OWNERS DO NEED TO BE RESPONSIBLE!! It was kinda graphic. A lady who walked in after I did dropped her package off first, and then glanced over at the poster because I was standing there looking at it. She looked like a sweet lil country granny (big grey bouffant, loose knitted shirt, and lil jeans!) mailing something to her wee grandchildren! But that's just my random imagination.

So then I started walking towards Subway since I was having cravings AGAIN for a ranch dressing and spinach-covered meatball sandwich after dinner last night!! Whee, it's a Mimi special. Cuz pretty much nobody else I know would touch a thing like that.

It was closed. Pooh.

I remembered noticing that Johnny Rebs' was open. I was quite surprised the first time I saw it, since I wasn't aware that Bellflower was a bastion of Southern hospitality, but I guess so.

It's so cute in there, I'll take Jenny there when she gets here, and I want to try some of their BBQ ribs.

Incidentally, the manager of another location happened to be there today, and EVERYONE there was SO nice and cheerful and helpful!!

So then I walked home a different route, munching on hush puppies the whole way, and saw sooooo many homes for sale.

I'd really love to buy a house within the next year and a half. If it happens, it will be a total miracle, but quite frankly, I've had miracles happen before and it wouldn't surprise me one bit! I have Someone who takes care of me that way :).

Anyhoo, I saw a CUTE little Arts and Crafts-type bungalow, but it was painted PISTACHIO ICE CREAM GREEN. Still, the design of the house, the original windows, oh my - so cute. It even had a HUGE attachment built in the back (um, kind of weirdly ugly in a 60's/70's kind of way, but so much space!!). I wouldn't mind a house like that.

But honestly, it's all about location, location, location, and frankly, the location there sucks.

We shall see what the new year brings!!!

After that I basically came home and ate and sat on the computer the rest of the day. I WILL be productive tonight, though. If I get the bedroom and the kitchen squared away JUST tonight, that would be a major accomplishment.

In other news: ants, please just go away :(.

Well, darn it. The first post of the new year!

I was all set to post about how nice and quiet this new year was ... I love quiet in the mornings. Especially since I live on a fairly busy street, around the corner from the fire station, so I hear NOISE.

Not noise like the other guy I met who lives 1 block from the freeway exit ... because he regularly hears car crashing in the street out front from idiots jamming off the freeway. Yikes. I met him when I knocked on his door to inform him about the white hoopty out in front his place with the entire back in smashed up to smithereens, the trunk crunched into the back windshield like 3 feet in the air, ripped open with the woofers showing! I saw it when I passed on the street and GASPEd because it was THAT BAD and I wish I'd thought of getting a picture. Heh.

And NOW the dumb neighbor has music on (not super loud, but maybe I'm sensitive!!!) and I can hear it and it BROKE THE SILENCE AND KNOCKED OFF THE PEACE.

And a fire engine just blitzed by briefly with like, 2 or 3 wails.

Ugh. Real life.

But the streets are dead and that is absolutely lovely.

Shut up, neighbor. I'm sick of hearing the stupid electric guitar licks. Maybe they're playing Guitar Hero??? I never thought of that.

But it's called headphones dude.

Rock on ... silently, please.

Um, not to be totally un-PC here or anything, but how do deaf people rock out??? Just wondering. :)

Happy 2008!!!