Blog War '08

As some of you may realize, we have a war that has recently been declared. Some may frown upon war, but I am excited about this war. Joel has gracefully accepted Mary's blog challenge, or rather, he took her personal goal as a challenge therefore creating the challenge and Mary then accepted his challenge of her challenge. The challenge is to see if Mary can out-post Joel by the end of May. I am excited because I am thoroughly entertained by my friends' blogs, especially Joel's and Mary's. One may have suspected that marriage would have dulled the creativity (or at least the time available to blog on a regular basis) but this is not so. The war will mean lots more posts to entertain the internet world. If you do not regulary read Joel on Internet and Mary's Last Chance, I highly recommend it. I hereby support the Blog War of 2008. I am not taking sides. I am benefitting from both. I am Swiss.

Post

I have started three posts that are still in the "draft" stage in my post queue. The more I try to write and develope them, the less I like them. Hence why I haven't posted in a while. This post's main purpose is to merely be a post.

I am going to the beach this weekend. The Memorial Day beach trip is my main vacation every year. Me and 30 of my closest friends rented a house for a whole week. I'm so jazzed. I will have 10 days of work-free bliss (that includes weekends). This is the first year that we (Raleigh-ites) have headed up our own house. It's been a little stressful. Thankfully Trevor and I tag-teamed it. I'm anxious to see how it all turns out. There will be pictures and stories galore in about two weeks.

So that's it. That's all I got. The end.

fate and fruity water

some of you may have seen a recent commercial for glaceau vitamin water (the company that makes smart water). the commercial appropriately features 50 cent conducting a symphony that begins to play "in da club"...(i dont know about you, but when i think nutrition, i think multi-platinum selling rapper who's been shot nine times). the water tags itself as a "nutrient enhanced water beverage." i'm actually a fan. i like that it's basically water, save for just a smidge of flavor, and not overloaded with sugar or artificial ingredients. i began purchasing one flavor in particular that is named "energy". it's tropical citus with vitamin b and guarana. seemed fitting for the workday when "energy" isn't really coming in spades. without really planning on it, i started drinking my special water on tuesdays (soccer day). then i noticed there is a fun little snippet on the side of my water bottle. to inspire me or something. snapple has their factoids under the bottle cap. vitamin water has motivational messages for drinking fruity water. "energy"'s reads as follows:

in soccer (excuse us mexico, spain, and italy, we mean "futbol"), there isn't a more exciting moment than when the announcer screams "gooooooooal" (yelling "ooooffffsiddde" never quite caught on). with that said, we added b vitamins and guarana to give you an extra kick (pun intended). so now when you're watching soccer, playing soccer, coaching soccer, driving kids to soccer or doing anything that starts with "socc" and ends with "er," you too can have the energy of a raving lunatic to yell "gooooooooooal."

so here's to my new drink and it's uncannily applicable words of wisdom. my soccer team's final game of the season is tonight. i'm excited. i'll be the one playing like a raving lunatic, high on my fiddy cent energy vitamin water.

*yes i am aware that i wrote this post in all lowercase text. if you go to the website, you'll notice that all their text is lowercase. that's also how the bottles read. it's an interesting website, yet also quite annoying. way too much animation if you ax me. but do go to vitamin tv and watch the commercials. the shaq one is especially funny.*

The Pen is Mightier

I don't consider myself a snob about too many things. Maybe snob isn't the right word... I have certain things in my life that have specific preferences. Including but not limited to: greeting cards, hair product, soccer cleats, chapstick, Italian restaurants, and PENS!

I think my obsession with the Pen started in high school and may have been a result of the increase in amount of time that I spent writing. Journals, love notes, etc. I remember days when my BFF Erica and I would go through her dad's desk drawers and try out every pen to see which ones were the best. There are serious differences in pens my friends.

My preferences and opinions regarding the Pen have changed over the years. I used to be a strictly ball point type of girl. I also absolutely refused to use a blue Pen. All of my writing was in black. Now, in the legal world, anything I sign/notarize is in blue ink to differentiate between originals and copies. I'm ok with it now. I have embraced the blue ink as well as the gel ink b/c it's smoother and thicker to sign with. One tradition that has remained is my complete aversion to the pencil - unless expressly required (i.e. scantron sheets, mini-golf score cards). Pencils are ridiculous. Way too much effort involved for such a temporary result.

Over the years, I have evolved, maybe even matured, in my Pen of choice. In high school, it was the RSVP pen in fine point and black (obviously). In college it was the BIC-Ultra Stic Grip (I was poor and they still wrote like a charm for a ball point). I also had a run with the Zebra brand for a time. Since college I have found my Pen of choice for work and elsewhere. It is the Pilot G-2 in fine point. I mostly use the blue (b/c I'm constantly signing things) but the other colors are pretty amazing. It is the perfect gel-ness and writes much easier than any ball point I have. Not to mention the clicky-pen feature. I am spoiled by its convenience.

The Pen I use also depends on what I am writing. The quill is reserved for my handwritten letters on parchment paper and wax-sealed envelopes. My journal pen is always the best pen. It can't be ball point but also can't be too heavy and inky. The balance between the ball point Pen and the gel/heavy ink type Pens is a battle I have been fighting for many years. If you get a gel Pen that is too heavy, it shows through on the other side of the paper and also tends to blend letters together if you write too quickly creating a dreadful cursive effect. Needless to say I'm one of the only people in my office that makes specific Pen requests when our receptionists orders supplies. So maybe I am a Pen snob....

The things I do on Fridays...

I am looking to move soon. Therefore I was on craigslist looking for possible furniture options that didn't freak me out. On the main page I caught sight of the "personals" section. Under the personals there is a subgroup for "missed connections." I thought I would share some of these with you and hopefully it will entertain your Friday as much as it has mine and see if you come up with the same conclusions regarding the caliber of individuals our society generates...

Neuse pest control guy - You were at my parents house today doing a quarterly treatment...you did the outside part and your coworker was doing the inside. Anyways, you were hot and I was wondering if you were single. You probably wont see this but if by any chance that you do tell me about anything that you saw during that time. There was tons going on. Just in case you were the guy with the darker hair. Hope I hear back from you! (what was she DOING?!? good gracious woman!)

Cutie in the White Tahoe - w4m - 29 (Kmart- Western Blvd) -"I got to look at you twice in the parking lot- around 12pm." (the location is what gets me on this one...)

Hot Squat! Wed 4/23 round 4 - w4m (Davi's) - I was waiting for a firing lane you were squatting to look at something on the bottom shelf. You caught my eye and then they called my name for an open lane. I need a buddy at the range. Are you interested? ("squat" is such an attractive word... agree? Plus, whenever you bring a mutual love of guns into the mix, you know you got a winner)

checking smokeless tobacco - w4m - 25 (Morrisville) - About a week ago you were checking the smokeless tobacco at Harris Teeter. I thought you were absolutley gorgeous. You accidentally touched the small of my back when we ran into each other behind the counter; I got all giddy and would love to talk to you again outside of work. I am currently in a relationship, seems like I always am, but deep down know I haven't found that perfect person yet... (waiting around in the beer section for Mr. Right hasn't been working for me... maybe I should take this chick's lead and go with the chew)

Hey Mr. Bus Driver - w4m - 20 (NCSU) - You were driving the Village Green bus today around 3:00pm, I walked out in front of you and you had to slam on the brakes not to hit me. Wanna come over and give me a safety lesson? (I think this would have been a greater act of natural selection... )

CLUB BLVD EXIT + HWY 85 EXXON - m4w - 44 (nc) - you , tarheel bunny , 6 pack , candy , white van , me , dirty jeans , harley t shirt , grape juice , blue van. i don't know if it takes much time for you to look so good , or if anyone notices , BUT I SURE DID! nothing but the best will surely happen if you respond. if not then you will be the best looking memory i have. (I hope these two get together, with their matching vans, and she can teach him how to drink more than just grape juice, especially if he's going to be sportin the Harley T)

Roller derby Referee stole my heart! - m4w (Dorton Arena) - Yesterday was my second derby and I decided to sit next to the track. I guess I just happened to pick a spot right next to where the referee's stand because you were right next to me for most of the game and I missed a lot of the action because I was staring at you... Stripes and argyle never looked so good together! (this is beautiful. I know Kmart and gas stations are great places to meet people, but the Roller Derby? It's almost poetic)