Effortless Observations

Wildwood, NJ

2008-06-12T22:23:00.002-04:00

So we just got back earlier this evening from our trip to Wildwood, NJ with both of our families. It was a wonderful trip with the exception of my pseudo-dehydration episode the first evening and second morning which led me to carry around a 32 oz. Gatorade bottle every day for the rest of the trip. The heat wave was a bit of a hindrance at the beginning of the trip and I would have liked to spend more time at the beach and the boardwalk. Although, we did relax by the pool and had a chance to see Cape May, Atlantic City, and Ocean City, NJ, all of which I hadn't seen in a long time. Being back in Wildwood made me really nostaglic (although it doesn't take much...). See, every summer in August when I was little we went on our family vacation to Wildwood, NJ and drove up to Cape May one day and on the last day to Ocean City, NJ before heading back home. For some bizarre reason, what I have become nostaglic about, other than the motels in Wildwood Crest, were the Frankenstein Castle and the Dracula Castle on the Wildwood boardwalk and the "ladybug" kiddie ride in Ocean City, NJ. Does the ladybug ride still exists? Because today we peered in the Playland area which is closed during the day but we didn't see it. This was my favorite ride when I was really little. Granted, it was just red, orange, and yellow ladybugs riding around in a circle and going over minor humps every now and then...but I LOVED this ride! Ok, now to the castles. I JUST found out yesterday at our motel pool that the Dracula castle burned down years ago. Where have I been for the past six years you ask? (since apparently it was all over the media and anyone who was a fan of Wildwood, NJ was apparently aware of this). Well, let's just say I was in grad school... for a LONG time. And I don't live in the NJ area. Anyway, this guy at the pool struck up a conversation with my husband. It turns out that he is a retired Wildwood, NJ police officer. He told us wild stories about Wildwood in the 70's and 80's. About all the drugs, etc. All of this happening while I was building sand molds with my pink, plastic starfish. I happened to mention how frightened I used to be of the Frankenstein and Dracula castles so he told me all about how one of them burned down. Once I got home I checked online and found articles and pictures of them. I just remember being terrified of these giant castles. Yet, at the same time, I was intrigued and wanted to watch...from a distance. People dressed up as vampires would stand out in front of the Dracula castle and walk over to you to shake your hand. It was absolutely frightening to a young child. One thing I really liked about Ocean City, NJ's boardwalk is that it looked like the olden days still. I even had to take a picture of the huge purple octopus on top of the mini golf because that octopus just looked so old. I find myself more and more wishing that things could just stay the same. The rides, the quaint beach houses, the shops. I had a great time on our trip. But, I do have to confess that there was a part of me that kinda wanted it to feel like old times again when I was just a little kid. I hope you've enjoyed my reminiscing about Wildwood--I just missed Swingtown.

Umbrella

2007-08-07T12:49:00.001-04:00

Do people really like this song? I mean really...?

Phishing emails

2007-08-02T12:15:00.000-04:00

I am SO F-ING sick of these phishing emails!! I just want to tell these people who sit there all day & night and try to hack into peoples accounts or use ebay to send phishing emails & ads or just to harass people--GET A LIFE! I can't remember any password for anything because I've gotta keep changing them! I'm getting ready to devote my life to locking up these people...

Why I love miniature golf...

2007-07-29T21:11:00.000-04:00

...where else can you interact with windmills and lighthouses?

Is it weird...

2007-07-28T15:18:00.000-04:00

...that I created a murder mystery on my honeymoon? My husband enjoyed going along with this as well. The first murder occurred at the edge of the resort. A woman's body found in a wooded area. (We were walking along and stopped to reapply sunblock when I came up with that part). (Then, during dinner one night, we saw a male and female maid walk down a long path over the beach towards a hut--where couples massages were given--that was on a pier overlooking the water. One turned on the light and went into a back room.) Aaron and I discussed what would clearly happen next. The maid who went into the back room would discover the body. She would scream, but no one in the background would hear her amidst the clanging of the dinner plates and silverware; amdist the romantic chatter of newlyweds and the sweet-nothings of those who would never make it to the newlywed phase (because they would break up, not because they would get murdered). She would run back down the wooden pier screaming (similar to the introductory scene in "Helter Skelter", although this did not take place in a mansion in California--this was in a luxurious resort in Riviera Maya.) I'll keep you in suspense as far as the rest. Perhaps we'll write the full novel one day.

Why are my mother-in-law's cats crazy?

2007-07-24T10:58:00.001-04:00

(Don't tell her I said this.)

A long, fun weekend in Pittsburgh

2007-07-24T10:41:00.000-04:00

We just got back from Pittsburgh last night. It was a fun trip. We had a cookout on Sunday with the family at Rebecca & Paul's awesome new house. Emma is getting so tall! I decided that whenever we visit Pittsburgh I must take a trip over to "Groovy". I think this store was made for me. For those of you not familiar with "Groovy", they have toys and collectables from the 70's & 80's--basically everything we grew up with!! Then, after checking out all the shops in Southside on Saturday afternoon (I got some really cool beads too so I can make some new jewelry!), we ate at Fatheads with Eric & Deana. I got the Sweet MB, which is layers of Polish sausage, then Italian salami, then sauerkraut, then tomato--you get the point. Now, on Monday morning, I actually ate the other HUGE half of this for BREAKFAST. No lie. I was good to go for Hagerstown Outlet shopping for HOURS & HOURS. Now, we also saw two great horror movies from Eric & Deana's fine collection on our trip. "Ringu" had a better "coming-out-of-the-TV scene" than "The Ring", but I actually thought "The Ring" had a more interesting story and more lead-up time (lead-up time is normally more exciting to me than any climax). On Sunday night, we watched "The Eye", which was a great movie. Very freaky. Much better than most of the American horror films. And, one of the best parts of the weekend was when Deana actually GAVE me her tacky, hot pink, 1980's seashell hair clip to add to my collection!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was in heaven...(her friend loves cheap plastic shit too so she understands).

Sick

2007-07-07T18:03:00.001-04:00

Being sick sucks. That's all.

Jelly Shoes/Jellies

2007-06-22T10:25:00.000-04:00

Everywhere I go lately I see jelly shoes, a.k.a. jellies. Those plastic shoes from the 80's that come in all different colors. I've always loved jellies. I'm pretty sure still have a pair of see-through pink ones in my old closet in my parents' house I need to dig up! I remember being at the store with my mom as a kid and staring at a huge display of jellies in all different colors. They had white, yellow, red, bright orange, bright pink, bright green, bright blue, etc., etc. I stared at them the whole time my mother was shopping. She told me she wanted to buy me the white ones (which seemed a little boring to me) and that if I wore them, she'd buy me one pair of any other color I wanted. I couldn't decide between the bright orange and bright blue. I decided on the bright blue. (I want the bright orange jellies now!!). Well, I have no idea what happened to the white and blue pairs and it's hard to find the ORIGINAL 80's jellies now-a-days. The ones I see now have a design akin to swiss cheese with holes. Did you notice that the new ones in the stores now also seem to be cut HUGE?? I think I'd need a 5. Ok, so last night I was at the mall and found a pair of clear pink 80's-style jellies and they were a size 5 (they didn't have my size in the purple which I wanted) but they had a silver leather bow in the front and the straps from the bow were wrapped/intertwined around the whole shoe, which I'd never seen before. The girl working there said "You have to have the right personality to pull them off. You can't be walking around like, 'My life sucks but my shoes are cute'. " So, I figured I was in good shape since I'm pretty happy with my life these days...although I thought they did look a little too little-girly but decided to purchase them anyway since they were less than $8 and I don't give a shit what people think of me anyway. They were the super-soft kind too that actually were comfortable. I told her my husband would probably say they were cute (because that's what he says about my affinity for plastic Goody baby barrettes). He didn't end up finding them quite as adorable as I had thought but when I told them they were only $7 & some change he said, "You'll at least get one use out of them." (???). Well, I only need one pair of jellies with a bow anyway! I do, however, need multiple pairs of plain jellies and look forward to buying them in almost every color of the rainbow before the summer ends...

UPDATE: Called the store; they have these in clear & purple in size 5/6; think I'm exchanging them.

FURTHER UPDATE: Ok, so when I returned them I got the new ones for only $5 (on sale). Saw clear ones that look just like the real 80's deal at Target. Hot Topic has some nice opaque colored ones with stars on the sole. I'm obsessed!

Aggressive Women

2007-06-20T08:27:00.000-04:00

I have no respect for aggressive women. These are women who get what they want (tangible items, power, etc.) by being demanding, over-powering, and condescending. (I call that manipulative). The problem with women like this is that they're really attempting to be assertive, but they've got it all wrong. Assertiveness should be a positive thing: the person stands up for themselves, while respecting others; the other person respects them (and may even be inspired); it's all good...Aggressiveness shows respect for no one. You may get what you wanted by being aggressive, but people aren't necessarily going to respect you or feel respected. They may be less inclined to give in next time--or they may simply "give in" to get you out of their hair. When a man acts aggressively (I don't mean physically) he is considered an ass. When a women acts aggressively, particularly in a work environment, she is considered "assertive". Some women seem to feel the need to act like this in order to compete in a largely male-dominated society. Do we really want to live and work in an environment where the one who dominates the conversation in a meeting is the only one who gets heard? Where the ones who think the fastest get to make all the decisions? Is this really to our benefit? Is this really intelligent and efficient? I believe there is a way to be assertive without being aggressive, but sadly many women (and some men) fail miserably at this.

Summer Work

2007-06-20T07:52:00.000-04:00

What I would really like to do this summer is live at the beach and work in a surf shop. I didn't spend 12.5 years obtaining higher education for that, but so be it. In fact, I'd leave everything after my bachelor's degree off my resume so they wouldn't prejudge me or expect too much from me. I'd wear whatever I wanted. Everything would be low-key. No one would have an inflated sense of self-importance because we're all just working in a surf shop (no offense to those who have made a career in the surf industry). That's all I have to say about that.

Top 5 Reasons Everyone Should Stay in Grad School (Forever)

2007-06-12T13:11:00.000-04:00

5. Less Responsibility, and the responsibility you have, with the exception of your advisor and his/her reputation, is mainly to yourself (your grades, your publications, your life).
4. Student benefits (e.g., discounted movie theater tickets)
3. You can largely make your own schedule.
2. Miss rush hour traffic.
1. Going to Target when no one else is there.

I made an amazing salad

2007-06-12T11:48:00.000-04:00

I made an amazing salad today. I just had to tell someone about it so hear it goes.

Consists of:
Baby Spinach and that purple lettuce that's scary, but so good for you
Organic grape tomatoes (not purposefully organic, just the ones I grabbed at the store)
Grilled "fajita-style" chicken (microwaved for about 35 seconds when ready to eat salad)
red seedless grape halves
a few strawberries cut in half (you can put in more than a few, I was just lazy)
green olives with pimentos
Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch salad dressing

I hate to give up my secret recipe, but others deserve to taste this luscious concoction as well.

Anyone Need Arm-Warmers?

2007-06-12T11:31:00.000-04:00

Did you ever buy something thinking you'll need it and two years later actually need it, but then realize it's not what you thought it was after all? This is what happened to me recently. For some reason, it is so hard to find a decent pair of thin black socks that are thicker than trouser socks. But, I found some on clearance somewhere?? a couple years ago. I finally took them out of my drawer the other day to wear with these new black Nine West shoes that I was so excited about. They still were in the sticker wrap and still had the little hook on top. I took them out with great anticipation. I unfolded them and realized...the edge where your toes go weren't closed off!! BOTH ends of these socks were completely open!!!!! How could they make such an error?? I raced over to the bathroom trashcan where I had thrown out the sticker and could not believe my eyes...I had unknowingly purchased a pair of "arm-warmers."