One Year Later

So, if I was willing to allocate even half the time I've spent talking to people about how great Ratatouille is, this might actually be a slightly more active blog. But I'm not willing to do that. I should just have everyone over to watch Ratatouille so I can put myself out of my self-induced misery of having to ask everyone if they've seen it.

And hello. 2007 update: So, four months of law school happened. And my sister lives in Mozambique now. I seem to have an organic cookie addiction. Landline.

I think that's it. Thanks for sticking in there, if you're reading this. Or at least for having an RSS feed of this. Here's to 2008! Go watch Ratatouille! RIGHT NOW!

So I'm not good at this

Hmm, so my last post was September 25. This does not bode well for my ability to keep up with the rigorous schedule of having a blog. But you know what? I'm going to throw caution to the wind (or maybe into the ocean) and keep blogging.

I was at Target tonight, buying various gift cards, baby presents, things for Erin and fluoride. I've only had to go into the baby aisles at Target twice and they are terrifying. Particularly the aisles with the various onesies and baby hats. Did you know that Target has no baby hats with ears?! After realizing that my colleague had not registered for any hats with ears, I decided it was my duty to buy her one anyways. But no. There were also no tshirts with clever sayings.

When I went to check-out, the cashier was like "So let me guess....you're buying stuff for a baby shower and a wedding" and I volunteered that she was correct, but that I was also buying stuff to send my sister in Africa (I always say Africa because I'm convinced that no one knows where Mozambique is) - she was surprised that they don't have licorice in "Africa." Me too, lady.

Law school is still happening. I have a very strict "two days ahead" schedule for myself. That means that I do all of my homework two days before it is due. It's working out really well, so I recommend it to all of my fellow students. I also recommend my five-color highlighting system. It's a little crazy, but I'm completely dependent on it now.

Oh, Land Line

So, I got a home phone. You may have received an email from me with the phone number. In that email, I said that you could call me and be a heavy breather and I'd never know who it was because I don't have caller ID and that I'd be excited every time the phone rang.

Well, the phone rang for the first time last night. I don't think I could have been more excited. I actually jumped up and pretty much screamed "HELLO!?!?!?!" into the phone, but it was a telemarketer. And worse yet, it was a wrong number telemarketer. I talked to them anyways though. And then I kindly informed them that my number is on the do not call list and if they call again, I will report them to the FCC.

So then it rang again. I was a little suspicious since I had just gotten a telemarketer. But it was someone heavy breathing! I have no idea who it was, but suffice it to say, I spent most of the night accusing people of calling me and breathing heavily. So far, you have not stepped forward. I respect that, but I will eventually figure out who you are.

And then the phone rang AGAIN. I was so excited that time that I dropped the phone onto my plant and then it hit my computer...and then I was able to pick it up and say hello and control myself a bit more.

New things are fun!

Suit Up!

So, when I'm saying that law school is keeping me busy, I don't mean that in a casual "I'm re-arranging the order of my Entertainment Weeklys" kind of way. I mean that in a "I GUESS I can make time to eat dinner tonight." (Note - I'm having donut holes for dinner tonight. Someone please adopt me.)

But, there is something to be excited about - I get to suit up tomorrow! We're expected to dress professionally for our mock client interviews tomorrow evening. So, I went to JCPenney's bright and early yesterday and bought my first suit. Yes, my first suit is from Penney's. And yes, I did save $120, so stop judging me, Ann Taylor.

My wonderful sister leaves for Mozambique early on Sunday morning, so the whole fam (including the dog, Kirby) is coming up to Minneapolis for her departure. They're staying at a hotel, with the exception of Kirby, who is staying with me. I feel like I should go buy him some dog snacks or something for his stay here. But I'm sure my mom will pack those in his overnight bag.

Anyways, back to Erin leaving for Mozambique - I know that she has put a lot of work into this and she's super excited about it. And we're all super excited about it! It's such a great opportunity to go out there and do some real good - so, needless to say, I'm incredibly proud of her. And I know my parents are proud of her (because they told me - but my mom did follow it up with the compliment-fishing comment of "I wonder what we did so right...." and then looked to me for an answer, which I did.)

i long for the days of boredom

I am in dire need of time to update this blog. In fact, this post isn't even an update. It's more of a placeholder to get my sister off my back for not posting.

Suffice it to say - law school is keeping me out of trouble (and in the library.)

I'm Not One For Nature

This weekend, Rachel and I participated in the abbreviated version of the Mississippi River Challenge. It was 22 miles of canoeing on the Mississippi River for a good cause.

And poor Rachel had to listen to me ALL weekend.

First of all, it turns out that I hate camping. By the end of our last foray into camping, I had a sneaking suspicion that I hated camping, but I wasn't sure. But yep, I think I hate camping. No electricity, no music, no computers, no ANYTHING. But, we did get awesome cookies from Whole Foods and we got to speculate about our fellow canoers. My favorite people were: The Potheads, Tent Twinsie, Fake Tent Twinsie, Food Boyfriend, and Fun Guy. We later learned that Fun Guy's real name is Brian, but only because we heard him yell it at someone else while we were canoeing. Rachel and I were total canoe loners. Everyone else knew people! We knew no one!

Anyways, after a completely miserable night, during which my borrowed mummy sleeping bag tried to mummify me, we woke up and had a little breakfast. Time to canoe!

And canoe we did. My main motivators are food and anger. And I got both! There were three rest stops on the trip and I eagerly looked forward to each one. Yay - food! It was even organic, so I was forced against my will to be healthy. No pita pizzas though.

But between the second and third legs of the trip, we began to encounter more boats going very very fast on the Mississippi. They're entitled to go fast, but unfortunately, this creates a large wake. And large wakes make small canoes seem very tippy. I have bruises on the sides of my knees from bracing myself very tightly against the sides of the canoe. Rachel enjoyed the wakes - I say she's crazy.

So, as more boats went by at these high speeds, I grew angrier and angrier. At about mile 17, Angry Canoeing kicked in. Angry Canoeing consists of me canoeing very quickly, swearing at people in the motorized boats and wishing that I was not in such a small, capsizable boat. Rachel said she should have gotten me angry at the beginning and we would have cruised through the entire challenge.

We finished and it was a great event. I'm not sure if I'll do it again next year, but overall, I did have a good time. Friends of the Mississippi River does critical work to conserve and protect the Mississippi River and I'm so glad that they run such an excellent event.

Oh, and my arms after the event? I could barely hold a pen.

UFO Days

First post on my Macbook! Yay!

So, this post is being posted much later than I had expected.

Andy, Casey, Erin, Rachel and I went to UFO Days in Elmwood, Wisconsin for my birthday a few weeks ago. I'd put a link to it, but UFO Days is no friend to technology. Anyways, I love Wisconsin, particularly western Wisconsin, so I was glad to be back in my home state for my special day.

We arrived at UFO Days and it was....a bit lackluster. I think the best way to describe it at first is....non-fun. But no worries, I got myself an alien-themed bobble-head headband almost immediately and the fun began. Well, actually, the garden tractor pull began. And yes, it's a tractor pull with garden tractors. It went on for so long that we went and got dinner at The Shack (excellent curds! but a bit weird to put chicken fingers on pizza....but kudos to your inventive usage of the beloved chicken finger) and the tractor pull was still going on.

There are three bars in Elmwood - the Long Branch, Big Dick's and Sandbar Too (no word on where Sandbar One is). I know that we went to two of these locations. And I know I bought a drink at Big Dick's after I dropped mine all over a woman in front of Big Dick's.

It was my birthday, so I celebrated appropriately. But UFO Days, I have a bit of advice for you - MORE UFOS! There was a definite lack of UFO-ness going on. There was barely any UFO spirit! I was in the minority with my light-up alien headband! WTF? So, UFO Days, I have some suggestions:

- Have someone walk around dressed in a UFO costume. Instant fun!
- Stage a fake UFO landing. Or at least have tours of the UFO sighting sights.
- Mandate the light-up alien headbands.
- Have a song contest, American Idol-style, of songs involving aliens or outer space.
- Don't let me drink so much.
- Have the parade on Saturday. That would just be more convenient for us.

I'd recommend UFO Days, but be prepared to be the most UFO-spirited person there. I'm highly suspicious that this was actually just an excuse for people to drink.

A Bit Sensitive

Okay, well, I had planned to write a huge thank you to all of my friends and family for the wonderful birthday greetings over the weekend. And now I want to say thank you to everyone who checked in with me or our other friends last night to make sure that everyone was okay. We're an efficient bunch.

Back to my Adventures in Consumerism

Wow, 3 blog entries in one night. And I'm not even procrastinating cleaning the bathroom! Anyways, this entry will be about a topic near and dear to my heart: my Adventures in Consumerism.

So, I had pre-ordered a copy of the latest Harry Potter book at the Borders in Eau Claire. In fact, I distinctly remember pre-ordering it on June 23rd - it was supposed to be added to my sister's pre-order. The seemingly-capable employee at Borders told us that we were fine and we merrily left the store that day.

Now, my sister used to work at this Borders. She even knew the guy that took my pre-order. I was told that everything was fine.

So, we get to Borders at 11:30 on Friday night. After waiting in line for 15-20 minutes to get to the wristband table, we are told (by a manager!) that there was only one pre-order for Erin. NOT TWO. THE GUY HAD MESSED UP MY PRE-ORDER. So, the manager is nice enough to be all "I know Erin, I'll just mark her down for two." However, there was no apology - she didn't even acknowledge that my pre-order wasn't there. This turned into a problem later when Erin had the wristband on and had to get out of line to use the restroom. I just about had a heart attack because I had to hold the place in line - with no wristband of my own! Because I had no pre-order! I thought I'd be outed as a phony.

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. After waiting in line for 40 minutes and not moving, I have something akin to a consumer-mental-breakdown. I decide I've had enough of that crap and I drove us over to the Waldenbooks in Oakwood Mall. Borders employees, you could learn a lot from those folks. Not only was their line moving, but the employees actually seemed happy to be there! We waited in line 45 minutes there, but at least I got my book.

And no, after all of that stupidity, I still haven't started it. NO SPOILERS!

So, I will be refusing to buy any books at Borders from now on. I did not like how the Harry Potter situation was handled on any level. I now consider Borders to be the Best Buy of books. That's an insult. (However, snaps to WaldenBooks - I was impressed.)

Thrift Sale Recap

This was the note telling us to give Kirby lots of love and our permission slip to take him to the vet.
This was the sign location map.



Me, blatantly mocking my mom's old coat.


You know, he really is adorable.

The full view of the garage.


Most importantly, the Star Trek tapes.

If you're all hot and bothered about the thrift sale, feel free to look at the rest of my pictures on Flickr.

www.flickr.com

Hug a Lion

I have a sister. Her name is Erin. If you're reading this, there is a good chance that you are either related to Erin or you've met her. Anyways, Erin started a blog for her adventures in Africa. She doesn't leave for a few months, but she's a funny one, so I recommend reading it.

Day Six

I've learned something about myself: I am incapable of writing something every day in this blog. Suffice it to say that Day Five was pretty normal. Much as I expect Day Six to be.

With the glaring exception that I will be in Eau Claire until Sunday. I don't use the internet while I'm in Eau Claire due to my impatience with the dial-up situation. So, if you really want to IM with me about....hmmm....well, I usually IM about what time I should arrive places, so nevermind. You probably won't want to IM with me while I'm in Eau Claire.

The family thrift sale is Friday and Saturday. I plan on taking many pictures. Since my parents are out of town, my sister and I will be running the show. But, in true "my parents" form, my parents already made us the signs to put by the road and left a hand-drawn map of where we should put the signs. My dad also left us with an excuse for not letting people into the house to use the bathroom: "We have another dog and he bites. He's in the bathroom."

Day...Four

Okay, so, that experiment didn't work out very well at all. I didn't post yesterday, so Day Three just didn't happen. Well, it happened - I volunteered, I painted a second coat on my Wall of Contrast, I stopped at the bank, I stopped for coffee and I figured out my financial aid. All before noon!

So, I took a nap. When I can't think of anything else to do on a weekend, I just take a nap. As a result, I am incredibly well-rested lately.

Day Two

So, my mom is the JV softball coach in Altoona. Also, my mom is one of the nicest people in the world. You may have met her. She's really nice.

Anyways, four idiot teenage girls from her softball team have tried FOUR times to toilet paper my parent's house. Now, setting aside the fact that these girls were stopped by the police walking along a county road with an ass-load of toilet paper (haha), they're obviously not very bright, regardless. My parents are going on vacation next week and my sister and I will be holding down the fort. So, there's a good chance that the idiots will TP the house when my parents aren't even there. And we will have to deal with it. Hell hath no fury. I HATE teenagers.

And how convenient - I will be in Eau Claire/Altoona for five days next week with nothing to do! And if you know me, you know that I enjoy having something to focus my irritation on. So, I've come up with a four-step plan to dealing with these idiots:

• Call the police. Give a detailed statement and be sure to detail the number of hours my sister and I will spend attempting to get toilet paper out of the beautiful trees.
• Look up their names in the phone book, find their houses and tell their parents what their idiot teenage girl did to my parent's house.
• Write a letter to the Head Sports Guy at Altoona and explain the unsportsman-like behavior of these girls. Encourage that they never be allowed to play sports again at Altoona.
• Sleep on the couch with a flashlight. With Kirby near me, so I can get him barking at a moment's notice.

Wow - is it wrong that I'm almost hoping that they TP the house while I'm there? I would LOVE to do this stuff.

Day One

How do people write stuff everyday in their blogs? How is there enough to say to constitute that amount of writing? Maybe I should try that for a week. STARTING TODAY.

Okay, so....I guess I can fill up some space by saying that I saw a fire in front of the Planned Parenthood in Uptown today. And then I saw the fire trucks pull up - very exciting. Possibly the most exciting thing I saw all day.

I would also like to retract all of my venomous language directed at whoever I thought had stolen my reserved library book off of the hold shelf. Turns out the library had misplaced it, but don't worry! They found it and I'm reading it now.

July, July!

HB, Declaration of Independence!

So, yeah, not much on the "things that are new" front with me. Most of my consumer experiences have been at SuperTarget or the Minneapolis Public Library system. I think I've figured out a grocery-buying schedule that allows me to avoid as many screaming children as possible.

No coupons YET from the Lean Cuisine folks - but I'm convinced that it is only a matter of time.

Rachel and I volunteered as abortion clinic escorts last week. It was a really pleasant experience. My favorite moment was when a patient was being yelled at by one of the anti-choice protesters. The patient turned around and yelled "I've already had one, bitch, SO FUCK OFF!" Right on. I'll be escorting the next two weekends. Reproductive health is one of the few causes that will get me out of bed at 6 a.m. on Saturdays.

Lean Cuisine

So, I sent Lean Cuisine an email telling them how much I love their brick-oven-style barbeque chicken pizza. I don't have a copy of it (it was in a web form), but the gist of it was that they had revolutionized my lunch by creating such a wonderful microwavable food. But basically, I was just fishing for them to send me some coupons.

And here is their response:

June 19, 2007


Dear Kara,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about STOUFFER'S® LEAN CUISINE® BBQ-Recipe Chicken Pizza. We appreciate your kind and thoughtful comments.

At Nestlé, we are dedicated to you and your family throughout every phase of your lives. Your feedback is valuable to us, as it helps us to improve our products and services.

With more than a century of experience making the food your family loves, we are committed to providing you with products that live up to your high standards for taste, quality, nutrition and enjoyment - in short, "the very best."

Sincerely,
Katy Homes
Consumer Response Representative

Isn't that adorable?

No diptheria here, folks

I would just like to thank my parents (and I guess mainly my mom, based on the handwriting) for keeping such good records of my immunizations and then being wise enough to give the records to me after high school.

I got a bunch of paperwork from William Mitchell yesterday for law school and I had to fill in my immunizations since I didn't graduate from high school in Minnesota. And it was so easy thanks to the perfect records that my parents kept.

I love efficiency.

Dowels and Saws

I woke up this morning and decided to have a Day of Productivity. That basically means that I ran errands. BUT, I also sawed some dowels to serve as backup locks for my windows.

When I woke up, I really got it in my head that I needed to go to Menards (holla Eau Claire) and buy some dowels and a saw. Unfortunately, I can't find my tape measure, so I had to use my arm to measure how long of a dowel I would need. But then I got to Menards and realized that I know nothing about dowels and saws. (This is a real failure on my dad's part - he's all about woodworking. If you've been to my parent's house, you know that a quarter of my parent's garage is my dad's woodworking woodshop.) To make my problem even worse, I was holding up all of the dowels to my arm to see how I felt about the length. I decided to buy oak dowels because I feel like I like oak trees.

But then I had to buy a saw. I know even less about saws; however, I did manage to find them in the store. I bought the second-least-expensive saw. No need to be frugal when it comes to my safety and these sweet locks!

So, after a stop at SuperTarget to get my weekly groceries (and I spent about ten minutes looking at those reflective shades you can put in the front window of your car - I couldn't decide which size to get so I decided to measure my front window and then think about it. There's no need to rush into a reflective shade decision), I went home to make my dowel locks. Luckily, I had a piece of cardboard that came with my new curtains (!!), so I sawed on that.

I was never actually able to saw through the dowels. I basically sawed around the edges and then gave up, and broke it off with my incredible strength.

So, now I can feel safe - thanks to these properly measured dowels in my windows.

Pandas!

Well, it's becoming real. I've started to make my preparations for law school. I'll buy my new computer in about a month and I need to buy a backpack (and NOT a messenger bag.) I thought I had my financial aid figured out, but I need to re-do that.

I'm also putting together a living will. Just in case.

And most importantly, I used my frequent flyer miles to book a flight to DC - yay! I'll be in DC from August 9 - 13 (that's a late Thursday night through Monday at lunchtime.) So...do you think we can tell the National Zoo that we're having a party and need to rent out the panda area for a private party?

I've Been Trying to Replace That Lightbulb for Months

I am the world's laziest person-who-blogs. But let's change that, kids! Here we go!

Hmmm, okay, well, let's outline various consumer-related activities:

• I went camping with Rachel, Erin, Annette, Andy and Casey. It turns out that I really enjoy canoeing. But anyways, the consumer-related part of this is that the bathrooms at the campground had helpful tips and tricks in each of the bathroom stalls about remedies used by Native Americans, how seeds get planted and amphibians. I believe that wildflowers were also discussed on these flyers. Overall, camping was lots o' fun. But by the time we were leaving, I was getting a bit surly and a discussion about whether me and Andy's chicken fingers would have breading on them or not almost came to blows, so I think it was good that we went home. I love electricity. Other highlights of camping included The Pearl (which is what we called the bathroom, thanks to Andy), the world's best panty raid, the food, the rainy hike and ticks' attraction to Casey.
• I got my hair cut and cellophaned. Anyone who knows me knows that flattery is the way to my heart. And my hair stylist knows this. She's so smart. Anyways, apparently, I've been taking very good care of my hair and she said she was very proud of me. She also said that I'm the only true natural strawberry blonde that she'd ever cut. I gave her a very large tip.
• I've been buying groceries for about the last month now. Since I eat the same thing for every meal, it makes it very easy for me. And I finally decided on a supermarket: SuperTarget. SuperTarget is the best solution to my grocery problems - the bag the groceries for you, but they don't insist on pushing it out to your cart for you (I'm looking a you, Lunds), they have great off-brand products and most importantly - I can also buy lightbulbs at an affordable price while I'm there.
• Andy's birthday was yesterday! And one of the notable events was that we played LazerTag (tm) at Grand Slam Entertainment in Eagan. First of all, Andy has a calling and it is laser tag. He was really good. I'm sure this will come as a shock to everyone that I was really bad. I spent a lot of my time recharging my laser tag ensemble after Andy shot me ten times. Fun times!
  

So, that is my update. I'm enjoying this warmer weather, but I think everyone should be prepared to hear more complaining from me soon re: this heat.

Just Walk Around!

Okay, I'm far too lazy to type up an entry.

Summary: Eau Claire, graduation, Kirby, Minneapolis, wrestling, work, Rosedale, pita pizza and that brings us to now.

I'm riding the bus to work tomorrow! Giddyup.

I love this blog about passive aggressive notes. I've been known to leave a note or two in the past. (In fact, I had someone print one of my notes on my former workplace's only color printer so that the stop sign would be more vibrant.)

Chickens are Endearing

I really enjoyed this article.

I particularly enjoyed the part about the chicken trying to hatch the extension cord.

I Really Want a Dog

Happy May to everyone.

So, I've been having a hard time filling my hours lately. Example one: I just played Super Mario World on my Game Boy Advance for 45 minutes. I'm a 25-year-old woman, for the love of biscuits. Example two: I went to JC Penney on Sunday because I was bored. YES, I drove to Rosedale and went to JC Penney. (This was inspired by me recently telling Meg that I got my shirt at JC Penney and me realizing that I actually like the clothes there. Shut up. Have you seen their clothes?! Some of them are decent! And affordable!)

My Adventures in Consumerism theme has suffered as of late. This is mainly due to my lack of funds. It's hard to be a consumer on a budget. Unless my reader wants to read about how I bought three mini-bowls at a thrift sale for 50 cents. (True story!) I've been reading more, listening to more NPR, watching WAY less television and cleaning my condo. I'll be honest - the Summer of Fun is off to a bit of a slow start.

I Really Don't Enjoy Family Guy

I don't write about my job on this web journal. Or any other web journal, for that matter. Not only am I bound to attorney-client privilege, but hey, it's just not cool to be disclosing private information. But I have a cute story. I called one of our clients to tell her about her upcoming green card interview. She was very excited and did a bit of squealing. When she settled down a bit, she asked me if she could ask me a personal question. Now, I get asked personal questions occasionally. No big deal. I'm fine with telling people that I don't have kids and I haven't found Jesus. Anyways, this client paused, got all quiet, and asked me...

"Do you like cake?"

DO I!?!?! I love cake. I told her that I like cake, but she doesn't have to bring me a cake. Unfortunately, I couldn't talk her out of it, so we're getting a cake. (Side note to Rachel: yay! cake!) My favorite cake is the marble cake from Lunds (surprise!) - it has an almondy flavor.

This cake discussion is a good transition into my announcement regarding The Diet of 2007. I've gained five pounds over the last four months. Not cool. I bought a food diary and apparently, the mere act of buying the food diary caused me to lose half a pound.

And speaking of food (the transitions! It's a slippery slope) - Meghan and I had EXCELLENT customer service at Big Bowl on Sunday. (This was pre-food diary.) A manager saw that we were enjoying some potstickers and brought us a complimentary (!!!) appetizer. Big Bowl manager, I love you. And the waitress was quick with the refills on the awesome hibiscus lemonade iced tea and water. I was a thirsty pocket.

I Look Forward to These Things

I'm having a good week. A woeful lack of Adventures in Consumerism though. I just turned off my TV! At 9:45 on a Thursday night!

Admitted Student Day went well. I learned who to avoid and who to hang out with. Pretty girl, I'm sorry that I accidentally hit on you a little bit. Pretty guy, I'm sorry about rambling about how much I like eating chicken for lunch. My back-up conversation line was going to be about the acoustic tiles in the ceiling, so you should feel lucky. Annoying girl, please don't talk to me ever again. I'm not going to go drink Bloody Marys with you. Admissions Woman, I'm sorry about squealing with glee when you handed me a gavel pencil. I was just really excited.

Tamie's wedding in Fond du Lac was tons o' fun. The food was delicious. I really liked the cheese cubes and the pasta. And the cake. And the dance.

My Fun in Fond du Lac was followed by me being incredibly hungover and driving across Wisconsin back to my parent's house. I was laying on the couch when my sister walked in and said "Wow, this feels like high school all over again." In retrospect, shut up. I also laid on the living room floor, the kitchen floor, the yard and then later, I laid on Andy and Casey's floor. Kirby (my parent's dog) decided to get in on the sweet yard-laying action and laid down next to me with his legs in the same position my limbs were. Very clever, little cockapoo. I know you were mocking me.

And it's been a great week! I'm in high spirits. I'm playing Bingo with Katie and Jill tomorrow night. And then the Craftstravangza is on Saturday! I love that crap.

I do have a minor Adventures in Consumerism story. I ventured to Lunds after work to grab some sushi. There was an Asian woman behind a sample table. She didn't have any samples, so obviously, I was going to avoid her. But I couldn't because she was directly in front of the sushi. She thanked me for shopping at Lunds and I was milliseconds away from thanking her for making such excellent sushi. But then I stopped and wondered if I was being racist by assuming this Asian woman made the sushi. So, I said "No, thank YOU." Ugh. And then the bagger and I had a very awkward conversation about me purchasing a Philadelphia roll and a California roll. He said I was doing an East Coast/West Coast tour and all I could come up with was "Yeah, I get around." Ugh.

Doo-Wop

Tomorrow is Admitted Students Day at my law school of choice. I'm already envisioning me showing up early, getting a good seat and sitting there with my notepad and blue pen....and then everyone else walks in with laptops. And then no one will want me in their group. That actually happened to me in the computer science class I took in college. None of the NERDS wanted me in their group. And then when I asked questions in the discussion group, there was an audible sigh in the room. Needless to say, I dropped that class after a few weeks. And went to work on a campaign.

Well, I don't even remember where I was going with that. Anxiety about meeting new people? Not really. I like strangers.

Also, do you have any idea how excited I am about National Bingo Night?!?!!?!? If you've known me longer than five minutes, you know that I fucking love bingo. When I go to beautiful Eau Claire, Wisconsin for a week in June, I'm going to play bingo with my grandparents. (Side note: I also intend to go to the casino with them on the free bus. It will be all shades of awesome.) I swear that I can predict the letter and number that is about to be called. If you're wondering why I'm not swimming in bingo winnings because of my rare talent, then you don't understand the idea of letting others win occasionally. I always get really anxious when I'm one or two numbers away from a bingo win. The thought of being a Bingo Faker - well, that gives me sweaty palms.

Unfortunately, I will be in Eau Claire (AGAIN) on National Bingo Night. If my sister didn't have to graduate from college that weekend....no, wait. I'll force her to watch it with me. Also, I'd just like to say that I'm hella proud of my sister. She's going to Mozambique in September with the Peace Corps. She'll be teaching English to the little kiddies. And taming a lion so I can have my picture taken with one.

Also, I really enjoy Casey's blog. You should too. (Okay, I know I told you that I was going to think of a smooth way of working a link in to my blog, but I'm not capable of being smooth...and now I just admitted that I talk about my blog with other people in person. I'm just going to slowly back away from this entry.....)

We Will Never Knowingly Disappoint You.

Two blog entries in two days?!

I went rollerblading ("inline skating") for the first time this year. It was actually my first time rollerblading since the marathon in September. (Wow, I haven't rollerbladed since before I took the LSAT. Damn you, long Minnesota winter.)

Anyways, rollerblading is definitely my favorite outdoor activity. A fun fact about me (and Katie) is that I've done three inline marathons. Most people hear that, look at me and say, "Really?" and then I say, "Well, it's easier than running."

I forgot how difficult rollerblading is until I went rollerblading around Lake of the Isles tonight after work. First of all, it was 50 degrees. That's less than 70. It was cold. Also, I've been in physical therapy for six weeks and haven't done any cardio in like seven weeks. I only went three miles and I was wishing for a swift and painless death (preferably not by drowning.)

This is the first step towards doing the St. Paul Inline Marathon in August the weekend before school starts.

You know how I feel about snacks

I'm really not good about posting anymore. Although, I suppose I never had a strict schedule. Maybe I should do that. Perhaps I need more structure in my life.

So, hmmm. Hello.

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. There are many reasons for this funk - financing my impending legal education, my bathroom's plea to be swiffered, the snow in April and other things. I have a plan though. I'm going to swiffer my bathroom this weekend. And it's going to be awesome. And lemon-scented.

Also, I went to Lunds on Tuesday night and avoided Meg's lane.

You know, I think the problem here is that my space bar is broken on my laptop and it's a pain in the ass to type anything. The right side of my space bar won't work, but the left will.

All Grown Up

Things I Did This Weekend

• Got in to law school; and
• Watched Wrestlemania 23.
  

I really love using the bulletpoints.

I've Always Been Boring

Once upon a time, I was nine years old. The year was 1990. For some reason, I felt like I should keep a journal. And my, it was chock full o' interesting tidbits. Here is a sample:

“The Property of Kara and only Kara’s. I will never give it away.”

January 1, 1990

“I got up at 7:00 and watched TV a little bit. Me my mom and my dad cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. My sister didn’t. I cut some threads off a towel. I helped a lot. Then I sat around. My Grandma and Grandpa and Ron and Roger came over. 9:15. That is the end.

[My sister was six. Clearly, she was a lazy child and did not cut as many threads as I did.]

January 2, 1990

“I got up at 7:30. I watched parades. We went some places. Mom came home. We went to Menards. We went to eat. We went to Hardees. Then we came home.”

January 3, 1990

“I got up erly. I didn’t now when to go to be case I had to go to Cherly’s. So I went to Cherly’s. We sleighing. I had fun. Then we came home.”

April 10, 1990

“I got up at 5:45. Last day of school. To bed at 8:30.”

April 11, 1990

“I got up at 5:45. I have to go to Cheryl’s house. At school we didn’t have any work; almost. It was exciting today. It was our last day in school ‘til Tuesday. We went looking at bikes. I settled on a straight handled bike, at K-Mart. I almost got an ugly one from Farm & Fleet. I got to bed at 9:30.”

April 12, 1990

“I got up at six (as usually). I don’t know why I keep on thinking about Kris L. I went shopping today. It was really exciting. It is Grandma’s birthday. We had to put up basketball hoops. I went to bed at 9:00.”

June 23, 1990

“Up at 8:00. But I think I am more excited about tomorrow. You could guess, but no time. Picnic time! Roger is staying at our house tonight. We went to the graveyard. Today is exciting. Once in a lifetime. Bed at 10:30.”

[This one is my favorite because of the sarcasm. At least, I hope it's sarcasm. Picnic time!]

June 24, 1990

“Up at 6:30. Yesterday I wrote “Picnic Time.” I meant Wolf Family Reunion.”

July 23, 1990

“Up at 5:45. Went to pick up Laura. Didn’t do much.”

July 27, 1990

“I have no idea what time I got up. April 12^th, last year, I just happened to mention Kris L. I’ll tell you why I think of her. She stinks! Anyway, I had a birthday party today and I went the fair.”

[I really enjoy how I yadda-yadda-yadda'd past the birthday party and fair to bitch about Kris. Who must have been a total bitch.]

October 18, 1990

“Got up at 7:00 Got read for school. We had different classes. I had art. We did splatter painting (didn’t have it!). Bed at 8:30.”

October 19, 1990

“I got up at 7:00. We got ready for school. We got on the bus. We had different classes. Bed at 9:00.”

October 24, 1990

“Up at 5:45. Got ready for school. Went to Ceryl’s. I went to school. We had different classes. I came home. Bed at 8:30.”

December 25, 1990

“Got up at 6:00. I got a microscope, pencils, slippers, yo-yo and more.”

[Nerd alert.]

December 28, 1990

“Up at 6:00 Went shopping. I don’t know why but I think I’m more independent. Sheila’s birthday. She has the features of Lisa. We went sledding for the first time this year. Bed at 9:00.”

December 29, 1990

“Up at 7:30.”

Wow, I had the world's most boring journal. I imagine this is what a prison journal might look like. Apparently it was very important that I chronicle the time I got up and went to bed. DETAILS PEOPLE.

And what was my adorable younger sister writing about when she was eight?

January 3, 1992

“Well, my Dad is working. My sweat puppy Max is playing in his great kennel. I just wrote a story called “Your NO fun!” and my first day of school! When I grow up I’m going to be a puppy doctor. Oh, how much fun I’ll have. Yahoo! Yahoo! Yahoo!”

January 7, 1992

“Some days are sort of hard for me but I live through them. I just love my dog, Max Alexander. I love my name. My mom is very pretty. My dad is handsome. My sister is weird and my dog is cute.”

May 30, 1992

“Today was a good day. We went to Fleet Farm, Dairy Queen, St. Mary’s school and Shopko. I am very, very tired. I think I will sleep good tonight! I wish I was in 6^th grade so I could stay up later but I am only in third grade! Yesterday was our last day of school!”

Her journal is so much sweeter than mine. Exclamation point!

Also, she called me weird. That's so polite of her. (And thanks to Erin for transcribing the journals and making sure that they were passed around to Mom and Dad while I wasn't there to defend my boring-ness.)

I Would Like to Walk on this Sunshine that You Speak Of

I guess I haven't been into the blogging lately. I was also expecting two people to facilitate me not having to write an entry. Neither of them have delivered. I am, of course, pointing the finger of blame at Andy (where is my guest entry?) and Erin (where is the stuff you transcribed? You are a Liar.) [Note: Erin is my sister. She does not read this. That's right - my own sister doesn't read my blog.] I think I deserve some serious snaps for embracing "blog" , by the way.

So, let's see what is new. I haven't had many consumer-related stories lately. I'm actively avoiding calling Sprint back. And I need to call Comcast to downgrade my cable. I still haven't set up my TiVo since I got internet service so I could have a fully-functioning TiVo unit. I need to buy a router.

Well, wait, Sprint did call me today to try to get me to upgrade my account. I said that I didn't want their free phone or cheaper service because I didn't want to renew my contract. The woman couldn't seem to understand why I wouldn't want this Great Deal. I asked for something in writing and she said that wasn't possible. I'm on to you, Sprint.

I'm in physical therapy for my knee. I find the weekly ultra-sounding of my knee to be disturbing and awesome. I do not find my knee pain to be awesome though.

Maria and I walked around Lake Calhoun this evening.

And yes, you're right - I'm not supposed to be taking long walks because of my knee. But come on - who wants to pull me around in a little cart?

I'm Only Happy When It Rains or Shines

I woke up this morning and thought, "Today is the day! I'm going to update my.....blog!" and then I cheerfully pranced over to my computer after getting out of the shower. I thought to myself, "I'm going to write about this great spring weather! La tee da!"

And then I procrastinated, watched The Today Show for too long and had to go to work.

And more importantly, I went outside to get to my car. It was so disgusting outside. Completely gray, raining and blah.

This was the weather's way of saying, "Don't you dare be stupid and write about me in your blog. Writing about the weather is lame."

Weather, you're a jerk.

Yeah, Sorry About That

Andy is right. I should write about our harassment of Meg, the very nice Lunds cashier, on Friday night. It fits in so well with the new recurring theme.

I'm going to back up for a second though. Both of my regular readers will remember when a nice cashier at Lunds told me that she liked my hair. On Friday night, Andy, Erin and I walked around the lake and stopped at Lunds for salads on the way back. We went through this same cashier's lane and we exchanged pleasantries.

Later that evening, we were at Mortimer's. That place sucks now, by the way. Anyways, Andy made eye contact with this cashier from Lunds on his way back from....the ATM? The bathroom? I'm actually not sure where you were coming back from. Anyways, the eye contact led him to believe that he should go back to say hello, but not by himself. With me, since I already have a pre-existing relationship with this young woman.

Turns out, her name is Meg. And she moved here in September. And we had a VERY awkward conversation with her. I know a conversation is going downhill when I'm talking to someone's friend about how often I have to go to the bathroom when I'm at a bar since I'm drinking water because I'm the designated driver. (I win the long sentence award....I'm not going to edit that.) I don't even know how the conversation ended. I just remember walking away and being embarrassed.

So, I'm guessing she walked away from the conversation with the following:

• She probably thinks that Andy and I are dating. Or that one of us wants to date her.
  
• She probably thinks that we're insane for introducing ourselves. And for complimenting her work. (My bad.)
  
• She probably hopes that neither of us go through her lane again.

Seriously. I love bullet points.

I saw her at Lunds tonight. I actually avoided going through her lane so that I wouldn't have to explain our behavior on Friday night.

How I Spent My Snow Day

Okay, back to the Adventures in Consumerism theme.

I went to the gym today [seriously - a plow (plough)! BUY ONE, MINNEAPOLIS! I shouldn't be risking my life to get to the YWCA.] and after I got done shoveling out the end of my condo's parking lot, I went in to the building to get my mail. And therein was my Sprint bill. I was absolutely shocked to see that I owed $124. Okay, I don't talk on the phone that much. I'm not a phone talker.

Someone had run up $80 in "additional usage charges". Someone was kind enough to download such ringtones as "Let's Cheat, I'm a Pimp", "Ass Like That", "This is Why I'm Hot" and my favorite - someone downloaded the game "Nascar 07."

I called Sprint and - oh, I love it - it was a dropped call. Foiled by Sprint! Twice over! I called back and spoke with a CSR and he told me that because the charges were "verified", I had to pay for them. I told him that I wouldn't and asked for a supervisor. He put me on hold for awhile and came back on the line to tell me that because I was a long-time customer, they would be willing to make me only pay half of the charges, but that I couldn't speak with a supervisor. Which led to this conversation....

Me: That is not acceptable. (And then more blah blah blah about why....I remember saying the word "nor".)
Him: Well, I can't reverse these charges.
Me: I'm saying that I did not download the ringtone "Let's Cheat, I'm A Pimp" and I'm not going to pay for it.
Him: Okay, I'm going to transfer you to a supervisor.

The supervisor seemed to understand. He said this is actually fairly common for people to have their cell phones "cloned" by scammers who want to download shitty songs as their ringtones. But they need to investigate it and I'll find out in three business days if these are fraudulent. However, I already know they're fraudulent.

Lame, Sprint. I'm adding you to my list of Corporations that I am Forced To Do Business With Against My Will. Here's the list so far:

• Comcast [oh, I have a very special place in my heart for the deep hatred (yes, hatred) I have for Comcast]
  
• Bank of America
• Best Buy
• Sprint

And for the record, I'm very nice to CSRs. I am a dream customer. I know it's not their fault - it's way above their head. I only get snippy when they're being ridiculous.

E-Mail My Heart

I am very fond of crappy pop music. And not in your typical "I'm ashamed of it" way that most 25-year-olds are/should be. I blatantly embrace crappy pop music. Oh yes, I have C'est La Vie by B*witched on my iPod. (And now I'm listening to it.)

And then there's the pop music that I don't think is crappy. A certain J. Timberlake comes to mind.

And that brings me to Ms. Britney Spears. I've always felt a special connection with Britney because we grew our bangs out at the same time. It was fall 1999/spring 2000. I was in my freshman year of college (Go Gophers!) and it was time to say goodbye to the bangs. I don't know if you have ever grown out your bangs, but it is not an easy process. There's the bobby pins, the never-being-able-to-put-your-hair-up and the dreaded Awkward Stage. It's good to know that someone else is going through the same process with you. Anyways, Britney and I - we got through it. And that's where our lives took very different paths.

But I stayed in touch. I had Toxic as my ring tone on my cell phone. I didn't judge when her marriage to Jason Alexander was annulled. When she kissed Madonna, I didn't think that was a big deal. And although I have a pretty serious aversion to snakes, I watched her VMA performance with the snake. Okay, I did get a bit too much enjoyment out of her marriage to Mr. Kevin Federline. But come on - who didn't?

But, Britney, you've lost me. I know I was never in your key demographic. I was always too old. But you are in dire need of a good friend right now to say "Seriously. Knock it off." Where's Madonna? You guys were totally BFFs in 2003. And that girl who was your personal assistant/best friend - where is she? She seems like someone who could set you straight.

And I'm thinking that you should stop hanging out with this Paris Hilton girl. She's bad news.

I bought a condo so I wouldn't have to shovel

Dear City of Minneapolis,

Please buy a plow. Or at least a shovel.

Smooches,

kara

Thin Mints are my favorite

Oh yeah - I still have this thing.

I was perusing MySpace this evening (wow, now there's a line that will really reel in some readers) and decided to see what's going on with people that I went to high school with. Now, I've been out of high school for eight years and I feel as though I've kept in touch with the people that I wanted to keep in touch with. Also, I enjoyed high school and have no ill feelings about it.

So, things that I learned from being a MySpace stalker tonight:

• Apparently, I went to high school with someone named "Prom Headquarters" - awesome.
  
• A majority of people from my high school have children. They all seem very proud of being a single parent. Good for them and their kick-ass tax refund.
  
• A slightly lesser amount of people are married.
  
• Wow, I never realized how many people never left Eau Claire.

I love the advancements in bullet point technology.

Anyways, it just made me realize how much I would stick out at a reunion. Not only am I not named "Prom Headquarters", but I have no children and I'm certainly not married. I can't say I'm particularly interested in either experience, to tell you the truth. In fact, I'm so removed from children that I didn't even realize that it was Girl Scout cookie time. (Well, that was until the Girl Scouts showed up at the gym to peddle their wares - and they were on the other side of a glass wall from where I was doing crunches - every time I came up, I saw the cookies. It was all kinds of awful.)

Most people seem to be surprised by my discomfort around children. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad you have kids. I'm glad. No really, I'm glad. But I can probably count the number of times I've held a baby on one hand. Actually, probably on one finger. I can make conversation with 4-6 year-olds - they're still little and they don't get it when I say "So, did you read that article about those crazy North Koreans?! Can you believe they're breeding huge rabbits for food?" Okay, actually, that might disturb a child. But you get what I'm saying. And the kids under 4 just sort of hang out and I like that. I'm a big fan of hanging out. It's the 6-12 year-olds that I actively avoid. They're old enough that they think they have interesting things to say and as an adult, I am expected to pretend like they are little geniuses. Wrong. I only pretend to be listening when I'm talking with this age group. And while I'm nodding, I'm thinking about how I can leave the room without looking like a jerk.

So, this post didn't fit in with my recent Adventures in Consumerism theme, so apologies for that. But I suppose I could throw in a random consumerism-related story. I was at Herberger's on Sunday for Clinique Bonus Days and a saleswoman came up to me and asked if this was my natural hair color. I said "yes" (for those of you about to say "but didn't you have a cellophane treatment like six months ago?", I have this in reply: "yes, but that is all faded by now") and the saleswoman said "I hate you. I'm so jealous. I've always wanted red hair." I didn't know what to say back, so I thanked her.

I Agree

An excerpt from an email I got from my mom this morning:

"I am wearing black today in support of the students who don't get flowers today. I wish they would stop selling flowers on Valentine's Day. It seems like the kids that are popular get bunches and other kids get nothing. For some it only reinforces for them that people don't like them."

I love it. And now I know where I get my pessimism regarding Valentine's Day.

And I Expect It To Be Spent Wisely

I go to Lunds almost every night for dinner. Yeah, I could save money by making dinner for myself at home, but I'm usually way too tired by the time I get home to be thinking about cooking. Unless it's heating up a Lean Cuisine. I'm very good at that.

Anyways, I think I have now achieved "regular" status at Lunds. The checkout girl tonight asked me if I had gotten the haircut I had talked to her about last night. (She said she liked my hair, I said that she made my day and I was considering getting it cut.) And she acted like she knew me. Actually, she probably has a pretty firm grasp on how to be my friend - she knows that I'm a sucker for flattery, she knows that I spend alot of time thinking about getting a haircut and she knows that I like Lunds salads. And she knows that I talk to strangers.

My Valentine's Day present to myself was to have my taxes done by a professional. I get alot of joy out of getting my taxes done or doing my taxes. I'm not sure why. Regardless, I owe the government six dollars.

Another Adventure in Consumerism

To know me is to know my love for my TiVo. I have spent three hours today tending to my TiVo, yet it still spurns my efforts to fix the problem at hand (only one day of programming left! aaahhh!).

I go to Best Buy to purchase one of the TiVo-compatible wired network adapters. Of course, they only have one off of the entire list and it costs $50. Fine, whatever, as long as I can record How I Met Your Mother tomorrow night. Some dude that works at Best Buy comes over to ask me if I need anything and I ask him if that's the only wired network adapter they carry for TiVo. He says yes and that they highly recommend that adapter. Of course you do, it's $50. Anyways, I buy it. And a Pixies cd.

So I get home, make myself a cup of tea and get to fixing the TiVo. I hook up the adapter and it keeps telling me something about a DHCP server or something. Whatever. I call TiVo. It goes something like this:

Me: Hi, I bought a wired Linksys network adapter - model USB200M - this afternoon and my TiVo is giving me a message re: a DHCP server.
Him: Okay, ma'am (very not cool to call me "ma'am", by the way), do you have it hooked up to your wireless router?
Me: No.
Him: (Very snottily) Ma'am, I don't see how you expect this to work if it's not hooked up to your wireless router.
Me: It's a wired adapter. I don't need to hook it into the wireless router for this.
Him: Okay.

Okay, guy, you WORK at TiVo. If I'm telling you how it works, that does not instill confidence. Also, I'm sure he thought I was just some stupid girl who didn't have her TiVo plugged in or something.

Also, Best Buy guy, you suck. This is, by far, the crappiest piece of electronic periphery I have ever purchased in my life. It literally fell apart in my hands. I'm returning it immediately. (Well, not IMMEDIATELY - the store is like 10 minutes away and it's cold out.)

First Installment in Adventures in Consumerism

If I am anything, I'm persuadable. And gullible. But mostly persuadable. Andy suggested that I start a regular feature in this...blog entitled "Adventures in Consumerism." Or maybe he didn't suggest that exact title - I feel like he did. Anyways, I hate bad customer service. I hate it. So I'm going to write in here everytime I receive bad customer service.

I was at the Hope Gospel Mission thrift store in Eau Claire over the weekend. I love that store - I don't care what sort of religious affiliation they have. It's a totally rockin' (yes, rockin') secondhand store. Very clean, very organized. OR SO I THOUGHT.

My friend, Meghan, had mentioned that she was on the market for a bread machine. Lo and behold, the Hope Gospel Mission thrift store had a new-looking bread machine. And it worked! Oh happy day! But it had no price tag. Whatever - it's a secondhand store that helps the homeless. They will surely sell me this bread machine for a reasonable price (similar bread machines were priced around $10.)

I bring it up to the checkout with my other items (Pyrex bowl for $3!) and I see a sign that says "no price tag, no sale, no exceptions." Lame. So I put the bread machine on the counter and tell the snotty churchy-looking lady that it doesn't have a tag. She asks me if I looked on the bottom. Of course I looked there - do I look like a fool?

So she says that she can't sell it to me because there's no tag. This is the Midwest so I decide to be passive aggressive. It's just my nature. I turn to my mom and loudly say "This store helps the homeless, yet they don't want my money to pay for this bread machine. That's a ridiculous policy. I think it's stupid. They should be feel lucky to have someone willing to buy a used bread machine." My mom gives me a dirty look and the churchy-looking lady ignores me. Mission accomplished.

I then bitched the entire ride over to the antique store about the stupid "no tag, no sale" policy. I maintain that it's a stupid policy though - you help the homeless! Sell me the bread machine!

It's like camping

I don't do well when I'm forced to live without the internet. I got home from work on Thursday and saw that the wireless network I had been using was password-protected. Message received, sir. Well played.

Okay, so, I went back to Eau Claire for the weekend and my parents have dial-up, so I obviously wasn't going to use the internet there.

I spent most of yesterday trying to decide if I could live without the internet at home. I sit at a computer for 8 hours a day. I shouldn't be encouraging that in my non-work time. But then I thought of my TiVo. My poor TiVo. Why should it be punished because I'm too poor to afford the internet? It has done nothing wrong. My TiVo has provided me with hours of entertainment and even more hours of me talking about the TiVo. I can't leave it stranded like that.

And let's be realistic. I'm not going to live without the internet. That's like camping. (Note: I do enjoy camping - I just rarely have the chance to do it.) In college, I woke up one Sunday morning and our apartment didn't have any electricity. My friend, Angie, was in town visiting. I basically went into full panic mode - no TV, no radio, no computer and no internet. I was actually packing up some stuff to go sit in my car and listen to the radio when the electricity came back on. Approximately 20 minutes had elapsed. So yeah - I view that incident (or as Angie remembers it - "The Time Kara Flipped Out Over No Electricity") as a "tell" of my character.

I can only watch Mythbusters so many times

My parents called tonight to check on me (awwww) and to tell me that their dog was sick too. Luckily, I don't have whatever he had because I don't sniff/eat dead animals in the field behind my parent's house. Charming.

Anyways, my Dad wanted to tell to look something up on "the Google." Cute.

Okay, well, clearly I should not be stuck in my condo for three days. For one thing, I'm SO EFFING BORED. Yet so tired. Also, I'm sick of looking at this place. I need to clean it up and then get rid of a bunch of this stuff. Some of this stuff has been sitting in the same place since I moved in - I'm looking at you, upright fan.

I wish I had never learned this

So, I'm still at home, sick. I woke up this morning and felt like I had been hit by a truck. Although, I've never been hit by a truck.....okay, but I have been the catcher during a softball game when someone slid into my knee with her cleats. And that hurt alot. So, let's say that my pain today feels like that.

I'm sitting here, minding my own business, being bored and decide to watch 30 Minute Meals with my least favorite TV personality - Rachael Ray. But whatevs - I'll watch anything. I'm sick.

But then she kept talking about "sammies" and I had no idea what she was talking about until she got out bread. She calls sandwiches sammies? I'm a big fan of abbreviations (but not nicknames), but "sammies" really bothers me.

Also, I almost accidentally watched "A Baby Story" on TLC.

Yet somehow, I didn't see a single music video

I have been fortunate enough to be sick all weekend. Normally, I'm all for sitting on my couch, but I think I've left a permanent Kara-sized imprint on this couch.

Thank god I have cable. Did you know there is a new show on MTV entitled "Maui Fever"? It's like The Hills or Laguna Beach. (Wait, isn't The Hills a spin-off of Laguna Beach? I can't keep them straight anymore.) I watched a bit of this Maui Fever, since I was home sick (perhaps with Maui Fever?) anyways. What a stupid show. It wasn't even entertaining - it just made me glad that: 1) I'm not friends with anyone like that; and 2) I don't live in Hawaii. After an episode, I had that same dirty feeling I get after reading Cosmo.

However, after watching many True Life specials on MTV today, I was reminded of how easy my life has been/is. I wouldn't do well as a street racer or a sumo wrestler.

I think I'm going to buy some of these for my condo. I'm also considering buying this chair.

Jack has a brother? Did I miss that last season?

Oh yeah - now I remember why I didn't want to create a.....blog.

Because I have nothing to say that I feel warrants being publicly published. And when I do have things to say, I will usually seek people out to speak with. (My friends that have been on the receiving end of my long rambling messages that end with "oh yeah, this is Kara...(insert my last name)...in case you know more than one Kara...your friend from high school/work/college" know this.) (Have I mentioned how much I love living alone? Seriously. Try it sometime. You'll like it...or your money back.)

I'm a little hyper-vigilant about my privacy since an incident in college when some psycho got my full name from my email, checked me against Walgreens' records (he worked there), and then proceeded to send me a message saying that I had a clean mental health history because I hadn't been prescribed any antidepressants. But then he asked if anyone in my family had any allergies....

But the Kara brand of hyper-vigilance involves me having a public myspace, a flickr account that stupidly says my full name (and they won't let me change it) and my email is still my full name. (Although, I no longer slum it with Yahoo. I'm looking at you, people who aren't using gmail.) I am just a very paranoid, very accessible person.

Yeah, so this was like a long rambling phone message. I'm beginning to be embarrassed about this whole thing.

This offer will remain valid

I really enjoy craigslist. In fact, I have craigslist to thank for meeting my wonderful former roommates in DC.

And if I'm bored, sometimes I look through the personal ads on craigslist. Usually, they're guys from the suburbs who want to "watch a movie and cuddle." Pardon me while I vom.

But then I saw this tonight. I can't tell if it's:

• A joke; or
  
• An actual offer.
  

Snaps to me for figuring out the bullet points.

Anyways, I wonder if he won these gift certificates or if someone gave them to him. I'd like to think he won these at a raffle. Unless he bought them for himself, I don't think he can honestly say that anyone is getting a night on the town "courtesy of him."

I think it is An Off that I can refuse though.

I maintain that it was a funny joke

A brief list of the chatting I did with strangers last week

Checkout lady at Rainbow - We talked about how great coupons are and how I should get my groceries at night during the week because it's much less busy


Lady in the elevator at the downtown Target - We talked about how hard it is to find stores when you're walking. You can walk right by a store if it doesn't have a proper awning. Right on lady - I hope you made your way back to the hotel without being lost for too long.

Guy who works at the gym - I actually spoke with him twice last week. The first time, he said he liked my mittens, which of course prompted me to spew forth this: "Thanks, my mom made them for me - they're made from hand-spun wool" - thankfully, he was nice enough to say "yeah, they look like they're homemade, in a good way". And then the second time, we talked about working out in the morning. Nice guy.

Guy at the tire place - This was, by far, my favorite interaction. I had a screw in my tire - so I HAD to make the joke "So you're saying I got screwed!!" - he politely half-laughed and I asked him if he heard that joke alot. Of course he did. But that wasn't going to stop me!


Salad girl at Lunds - Yeah, you're awesome. Right off the bat, we had some great banter going about how we weren't sure if I deserved the lettuce mix. And then she told me about Tom, the sandwich bar guy. Apparently, he is the culprit when the fajita ranch dressing is too spicy. And then she let me try the fajita ranch dressing to see if it was too spicy.


Coat check guy at the concert - We had a conversation about how nice it was that he put my scarf in the sleeve of my coat for me.

That's all I can remember off the top of my head - I think my favorite conversation (this was about a month ago) was when the TiVo lady told me a woman that called to cancel her TiVo and was crying the whole time because she was so upset about not having TiVo.

No solutions

I make no secret of the fact that I sleep with my television on because I'm afraid of ghosts. (I thought I saw a ghost at my last apartment and since then, I always sleep with the television on all night...I used to just set the sleep timer, but that was before I saw the ghost). But last night, the television was working against me in my plan - I woke in the middle of the night to a program about ghosts. More specifically, it was a program about people talking about their encounters with ghosts. It freaked me out, so I turned the tv off.

So, I just sat there for awhile, completely convinced that there were ghosts in my condo, and not sure what to do about it. So I did what any self-respecting 25-year-old would do: I turned the tv back on, changed the channel to MTV, put my sleep eye-cover-thing back on, covered my ears with pillows and went back to sleep.

I also got a flat tire yesterday. Anyone who has spent time with me in the car while I'm driving on a freeway knows that I used to frequently (I stopped letting myself do this as often recently - big mistake) roll my window down slightly, and then ask my car companion if they thought it sounded like I had a flat tire. I never did.

UNTIL YESTERDAY.

I'm still trying to decide if this means I should change my ways (no tv at night, no rolling down window) or if I should step it up a notch (louder tv! more rolling down windows!).

I saved 3.25 this week

UPDATE: Well, my my my. Heloise, I'm on to you. Two days after I post an entry about coupon and coupon organization, you put an entry about coupon organization in your column. Imagine my surprise when I opened the Star Tribune yesterday at lunch, ready to read all of the advice columns (I LOVE advice columns) and there it was, staring back at me. No, it's okay Heloise. Don't worry. But just know that I'm watching you. And I got an A in self defense.


The wonderful Ken has suggested that I write an entry about coupons. And since I am in the midst of avoiding applying for law school (you'd be surprised how much time I devote to NOT applying), I am more than happy to write about coupons.

And before you get all "Kara, coupons are so lamesville" - just remember that if you ever need a coupon, I will be the first in line to give you one. And it won't be expired. Because I throw away all of my expired coupons every Sunday morning. Duh.

How To Acquire Coupons

Well, I'm old-timey, so I get my coupons from the Sunday Star Tribune. You, being a young and connected person, may want to buy yours on eBay. Yes, on eBay. Perhaps you need some ultra-portable laundry detergent? (Actually, I just bought that yesterday and I didn't have a coupon. Now I feel like a fool.) Or maybe you just want some general coupons. (Not a bad idea, for the coupon-user on the go.) I think you can also print them off of websites, but what's the fun in that?


How To Use the Coupons

Well, duh. But, beware. Of course, different stores have different policies. For those of you lucky enough to live in the general vicinity of The Best Grocery Store in the World, Harris Teeter, you can (unless this policy has changed since October 2005) DOUBLE all double-able coupons valued under $1.00. This, of course, makes 75 cent coupons very valuable. Treasure these, my friend. The 75 cent coupon is your new best friend. (Sort of like how Jello is my new best friend, thanks to WeightWatchers.) (BTDubs, look at Harris Teeter looking out for you and protecting you from whatever "coupon fraud" is.....aren't we lucky to have such a crusader in our midst?) Of course, HT does occasionally have Triple Coupon Weekend - just know that Triple Coupon Weekend can change your life.

But for those of us who live in an area with sub-par grocery stores, they will only double up to 5 coupons, valued at less than one dollar, on Wednesdays. Yeah. Sucks to be us, guys.

And don't think you're limited to grocery stores - I regularly use coupons at Target.

How to Easily Store Your Coupons

I store mine in something that vaguely resembles this, but is much much smaller - dare I say, it's coupon-sized. However, investing in something fancy is fun, so why not buy the Coupon Organizer? Or maybe you want the World's Ugliest and Most Cumbersome Coupon Organizer? (Award-winning? I want to know who is giving out awards for coupon organizers OTHER than QVC.) I move mine directly into the correct section every Sunday in date order, by expiration date. And then I remove the expired coupons.

Okay, so, yeah, those are my coupon tips. When I first started using coupons, I kept a spreadsheet that kept track of how much I was saving each week. (Did you know that I'm THAT nerdy?) I eventually stopped doing that because it felt worthless because I was saving so much money with coupons anyways. Also, I tend to lose receipts, so it was hard to keep track of it.

I feel like I should write into Hints from Heloise - I would BLOW THE MIND of some of those readers.

Welcome to Earth

I just watched Independence Day (I'm not going to link that to imdb because if you're reading this and you don't know what I'm talking about, then I'm not sure why we're friends).

I am terrified of aliens. I know they're out there. I have no proof - but it's a very strong gut feeling.

A better web journal-er than me would back this up with some sort of web-based proof. It would probably involve many links.

But I'm lazy.

The Moving Walkway Is Ending

I am in the habit of getting too excited about small things. I almost feel bad for people who are around me when I use my lovingly-clipped coupons. The Legend of Triple Coupon Weekend will never die. And I feel even worse for those that I force to use my coupons on their own purchases. But seriously - that's 60 cents back in your pocket, sir.

But I digress. I LOVE to go into the airport when I pick people up. I think I got this habit from my parents - it was always very exciting to come down the escalators in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport and see my parents waiting there. People just always look so....something in the baggage claim area. Happy, irritated, tired, whatever - I think it's awesome (for lack of a better word). And everyone is coming from somewhere where they did something. I've always been a fan of hustle and bustle (unless it's too hustle-y and bustle-y...I don't want to be involved in a hustle and bustle that involves people brushing up against me).

It's also much easier to just go in than to attempt to coordinate the timing of a pickup at the doors by arrivals. Something will inevitably go wrong - bags get lost, plane is slightly delayed at the gate, broken wheel on wheeled luggage (okay, that has never happened to me...but I'm sure the wheels on my luggage are just biding their time and waiting for the most inopportune moment to be assholes). Doing laps around the airport is such a bad idea. It stresses me out just thinking about it. DC and Seattle have cell phone lots where people can wait until they get the call and then drive in to the airport. Makes perfect sense to me, other than the fact it robs people of the ability to go into the airport.

And it's always so clean by the baggage claim. I really appreciate clean spaces.

Andy and I went to pick up Casey last night at the airport and poor Andy had to listen to me talk about this for about five minutes straight. And 48 hours earlier, he was on the receiving end of my excitement about coupons. What a trooper.