Friday, May 30, 2008

Hey, this is COOL!

And so are you! Wow, so much coolness all over the place.
The "this" I'm referring to is a new addition on my mom's photography blog. Yes, I know I've mentioned her blog before, but can I help it if the woman and her blog are well, cool?
No, I can't.
Therefore, go check out (on the right side of the page) the new addition featuring the ability to see where her blog readers come from. Yup, no matter your residence, the blog can find your location and hit it as a recently visited area.
Spread the word- let's get my mom visitors from all over the place.
Travel to the blog!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Bumper Sticker Emotions

Portland is a breeding ground for bumper stickers.
My fellow lovely liberals ready to announce their causes to the world (everything from I hate Bush to Save the Polar Bears). My conservative counterparts hoping that someone else in Portland agrees with them about "those damn liberals" or the "rules" of true marriage. And some cars whose apparel show them as less political and just saying what they want like ""Keep Portland WEIRD" and "My skis are my other car".
Regardless, I find myself getting in some quality reading time when I'm traveling to and from Beaverton, Tualatin, SE and N Portland (yes, at $4 a gallon I spend way too much on gas.)
The funny thing- either about bumper stickers or myself- you decide- is their influence on me.
Scenario 1: Some car comes into my lane without a blinker- thanks a lot, dude. However, I look and see that they have a "support Teachers" bumper sticker. Still annoyed, I get over it because they either are a teacher or love one.
Scenario 2: A car wants to get in my lane and I have the chance to put on my brakes or speed up and wait to let it in. They have 5 bumper stickers ranging from "Evolution is a Lie" to "President Bush is my hero". Depending on how much traffic I'm in and how the day's gone so far, I might be too annoyed to let the car over.
Scenario 3: A car next to me houses a cute guy. His bumper stickers? Obama '08. Although I am not a huge fan of bumper sticker display, I smile at cute guy because, well he's cute and obviously a dem. Cute liberal bumper sticker guy smiles back. Then, I remember I have two car seats (belonging to kids that I want to scream, "Are not mine!") in my back seat and wish that they weren't there.
Scenario 4: Some car in front of me has a "Keep Portland Weird" sticker upside down on their car. I roll my eyes and chuckle because I know how much Maddie and Jena would hate this vehicle.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

What My Eyes Have Seen

I moved into my new place in SE Portland on Sunday (whoop!) Today I took the morning off of subbing to finish feeling settled and explore my new 'hood. Here are some things I saw today...

-2 coffee shops that don't have Splenda- I doubt I'll be frequenting them.
-A Thai restaurant called Thaimazing or something punny like that, haha. Despite the name I still want to try it.
-Obama's main campaign office only fifteen blocks from my house!
-3 coffee shops I want to try right this second.
-A funky "We are obviously liberal and we only sell products made in America" kitchen/book/housewares store.
-2 yoga studios in a 10 block radius
-Floods of cars and pedestrians with voting ballots in tow.
-Only two sketch-ish people
-Moms walking their little babes
-Two women- comparable in age to a grandma and granddaughter heading down the street to turn in their primary ballots.

And this was all pretty much just on Division St.- to think what I still have left to explore.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Moving List

A list, an ode, a rant, a compliment, a soap box, or any other name by which you'd like to call this post. A dedication, perhaps, to the ins and outs of moving (which I'll be doing this Sunday and heading over to SE Portland to live and play with Claire until the end of July.)

What I love about moving...............
-Craigslist is the best way to sell all your big stufffff. In the past 24 hours, I've had about 8 inquiries on 3 items. P.S. Also already sold my dining room table to a recent UP alum! Yay, way to keep it in the UP fam.
-Having all your stuff packed, bed ready to sell, etc. allows for some of my favorite things: sleeping on the couch, watching The Bachelor on my little t.v. in the big living room and enjoying my left overs from a weekend of fun.
-Moving means I get to have a sale and having a sale means organization, which I love and that means I get to buy cute little labels and color code them and make a giant Word document to further organize everything I need to sell.
-It means wearing a comfy sweatshirt, putting my hair in a p-tail and headband, blaring my music and creating a nesting mood to clean!

What I hate about moving..............
-Well, this is really hating being the last one to move out, which means it's super quiet at night and kinda freaky.
-Finding stuff and thinking, "oh crap, should I pack this? No, sell it? No, it's not worth selling, I'll toss it. Or keep it. Grrr, I don't know!"
-Having to work while my mind is exploding with all the moving I need to do.
-Waiting on phone calls: from landlords about deposits, and possibilities about friends' trucks or renting a u-haul.
-Probably the actual moving isn't so fun. Ya know, the throw the stuff in the car, drive 20 minutes, unload the stuff from the car.

I guess I don't really mind moving that much, but the idea of semi being unpacked, semi being in bins for 2.5 months is semi making me stir crazy only because I know I'll be relocating again in 2.5 months.

The Big Sale is happening on Sat. at 8 a.m.
The moving is happening after all my crap is sold and the next day.
Still looking for a way to transport my futon to the new place. Holler if you have suggestions. Especially if the suggestion comes in the form of a truck.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

The "Move On" Train Already Choo Chooed away

So get over IT.
What is this IT I'm referring to? The Miley Cyrus photo scandal, which by the way I do not think is a scandal. Let's look at the scenario:
Annie Leibovitz asks you to do a photo shoot: OKAY. Would you ever turn her down? NO. She took a photograph or as some refer to it, art. This photo exposed, gasp, Cyrus's BARE BACK! OMG. Because a bare back has NEVER been exposed in a bathing suit or an Oscar dress.
And, wait for it, Miley Cyrus is on the Disney Channel and Disney stars never do anything provocative. I mean Britney, Lindsay, Vanessa Hudgens (and the list goes on) they all worked for another mouse, right?
While I am all about keeping kids safe and being modest, etc., this picture's harm has yet to find me. If parents are so worried about their kids seeing it maybe they shouldn't be showing their kids Vanity Fair or allowing them free will on the internet to find it.
I'm the first to admit that beyond the sentimental duet Cyrus and her dad have on the country channel I am so over her. Thank you Hannah Montana, you are free to exit stage right ASAP and your ridiculous one line lyrics and repetitive fake rave beat need to go. But, we all have our guilty pleasures at 12 or even 22 (I still like N*SYNC, so what?) Despite my eye rolls every time I see her face or hear her voice, leave the kid alone. Having to walk on egg shells 24/7 to prove to the media and millions of soccer moms that she is not a slut, nor will she turn your children into strippers is not her job or necessary.
To all those radio shows, magazines, blogs and stars who are still bitching about the corruption, MOVE ON. Thank you Marie Osmond for your insightful look at how Billy Ray is to blame, but we don't need your mormonism corrupting us just as much as you don't think Cyrus needs to corrupt eight year olds. Give it a rest.
Yes, I realize this post continues to perpetuate the talk on this issue, but I hope you find this refreshing compared to the horse beating that ensued for far too long.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Annoying

I had to change my blog url.
My mom finally figured out that the reason that other random person's comes up when you typed it in is because a letter was missing from mine. Probably because the blogger site offered me alternate addresses when that one was taken.
Then I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to come up with a new variation only to realize that literally every other red head has a blogger site with redhead something, We are only 5% of the world- good grief people, dye your hair and change your address name!
Anyway, that's the story and although you've figured it out, here's my new address name: http://redheadedpersuasions.blogspot.com/
I went for a variation on the original with a slightly unintentional, but always sub conscious Jane Austen reference.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Happy Anniversary

Although for most people May 5th is deemed "Cinco De Mayo", for me May 5th has always been my parents anniversary.
For years my sisters and I have tried many ways to celebrate our parents on this day. From making them breakfast in bed, putting on special Cinco De Mayo anniversary performances, buying them gift certificates, and graduating college on the day of their anniversary, we've always enjoyed celebrating their day.
Even though I cannot be near my parents on this day, I wanted to let them know I'm still celebrating with them. (However, I'm sure the Michael Buble concert they attended last night was celebration enough.)
So, here's to paying tribute to my two role models on the day they decided to share their lives together.
Congratulation on 24 years, mom and dad. Along the way you've displayed the essence of marriage and celebrating life. Thank you for teaching me the meanings of love, laughter, compromise and commitment.
Here's to creating another 24 years of memories!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

SEX and 5th graders

Me: "Alright class, today we're going to read an article in your science magazine about BLOOOOOOD!"
Class: Blood??!! Cool.
Me: "Yeah, so before we begin, as I pass out the magazines, i need you to be scientific investigators and look over the article so we can read it together as a class."
Class reads quietly for about 30 seconds until...
Student: "Ms. Brown! The 'S-WORD'" is in here!!!!!!!
Me: What s-word? Samurai?
Class: Oh my gosh, the word SEX!!
Class breaks out in short pandemonium while my quick teacher brain switches into high gear.
Me: Students, have a seat, let's talk about this. I know that sex is an embarrassing, silly word, but we're scientists. So, any section of the article that has sex in it I will read so you don't have to be embarrassed, but I need you all to remember that we're scientists and scientists need to create a positive learning environment for discoveries. So, if you hear the word sex, in your head you can say, "eeeeeeew, groooss! Ms. Brown said SEX!!"
Class laughs.
But, you need to pay attention and not yell and scream because we have a lot of learning to do today.
After that, students took turns reading aloud, except of course when it was my turn to read sex. Thankfully, all my little scientists listened and did not freak out which allowed me to talk about AIDS and how sex is one of the only ways you can contract it. This of course developed into a lengthy conversation about HIV vs. AIDS and which one you give to a person in sex and which one a mom gives to a baby. However, I believe none of this would have happened if they'd been screaming about "the s-word" the entire time.
Thank goodness I am too cynical and I didn't say crap like, "You can't be grossed out by sex. Sex is beautiful." Puke.