Thank you letter to Krystal

At the ZooFriends office, each of us was assigned to write a thank you letter to one of our coworkers. Here's mine:

Krystal,

Thank you for being an awesome coworker! You are super nice to everyone, and you're a great team player. If one of us is busy doing something you don't hesitate to help out when customers come in or a line starts forming. I also remember you being a HUGE help to me when I first started, showing me the ropes and giving good little tips. You always help make the work atmosphere fun and relaxed (I love chatting with you when it's not busy), and I really appreciate your giving nature toward customers AND coworkers.

Casey :)

I'm ready for fall.

Just one more week of July and then it's August. Yay! Then just 2 weeks of August and Colin is here in Edmond for a week. Yay! He and I had a good talk on the phone today for about an hour. We talk pretty much every day, but sometimes it's only for 10 minutes, and sometimes we don't have much to say (and sometimes it's a little less than pleasant :P). But today's chat was a good amount of time and just plain fun. I talked about my hair a bit (real interesting, I know), and I've decided to grow it out again. For a while, I was thinking about cutting it even shorter--like more of a pixie cut, but I'm gonna just let it grow. I miss ponytails and braids. 'Course, when my shoulder blades are covered, I'll probably be sick of it and cut it all off again. *shrug*

Today at the ZooFriends office, I was looking at this DC comics preview thing that Steve had. Apparently in a couple months, DC is going to completely revamp all their comics and start over with #1 issues. I was wondering if maybe I should pick one and start reading it. Comics have always interested me, and some of the characters are really fascinating, but I've never really read them. I've watched film and television adaptations, but I've never gone to a store and bought the paper issues. I do tend to prefer Marvel to DC, but since DC is starting everything at the beginning, now would be a good time to jump in. (If I tried to start reading Marvel now, I'd probably get super confused about all the alternate universes and get lost in the middle of complicated story lines.) If money weren't a factor, I'd probably try following multiple comics, but I think I'll just choose one--probably one of the Batman stories.

Here's a really cute picture summary of Harry Potter that Sam K. showed me: http://pics.livejournal.com/lucylou/pic/0012wqx1

Planning ahead. It's what I do.

Today at the ZooFriends office, Steve and I talked at some length about Halloween costumes. At dinner last night, Ally had mentioned the Halloween party that she and David throw each year, and we sort of (maybe officially?) decided that the theme this year would be "villains." I like it, especially since it fits what Colin wants to be--the bad guy from Commando. Ally said she would be Bellatrix Lestrange (from Harry Potter), which is awesome. Steve wants to be Bane (from Batman). Allison was toying with Ursula (from The Little Mermaid).

I still need to figure out who to I'm going to be. We talked a bit last night about me being Umbridge (from Harry Potter), but I'm not sure I want to go hunting for pink sweaters and wool skirts. Catwoman would be easy enough, but I would definitely want to lose some more weight before doing that. The Wicked Witch of the West would be fairly easy, too, but I would have to wear a ton of green make-up, so I'm not sure on that one. Then I thought of Lady Macbeth. I already have a Renaissance-ish dress, and I could buy a cheap red wig. Then I could put fake blood all over my hands, maybe a little on the dress. That would work, right? She certainly is a villain. But it wouldn't be easily recognizable. People would have to come up to me and ask who I am. Although, that could be kinda fun. When I was Juno for Halloween a couple years ago, a few people did come ask me who I was, and it was entertaining to watch their "Ooooohhhhh, I see it now" faces after telling them. Hmm...

In other news, this heat needs to end, or I just need to get over it. I haven't been going for walks at all lately because it's been "too hot" or I've been afraid of getting sunburned. Really, though, it's going to be a degree of hot any time of day, and I could wear that thing called sunscreen. I'm guaranteed to want to take a shower afterward regardless because I will get very sweaty. I need to just go do it. No more excuses. Maybe being Catwoman for Halloween is the goal I need as motivation to get into shape.

Free stuff!

Since Melinda and Sid are moving soon, they're getting rid of a lot of their stuff, but they're letting people they know have a look through everything before giving it to Goodwill. I went over there this afternoon and came home with quite a lot!

I got quite a few books, some that are classics I've been planning to read, some that just looked interesting. I got the 3 Lord of the Rings theatrical release DVDs (since I only have the extended versions) and the super fun Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit. I also got some random things, like a feather duster, some bookends, a couple CDs, and some mini margarita mixers. I love free stuff!

After that, I headed over to Chili's to have dinner with my ZooFriends coworkers. That was the first time I'd really hung out with any of them outside of work, and it was really fun! I definitely hope we keep doing it in the future. Yay for making friends!

Now I think I'll just chill on the couch and watch some more X-Men (the old animated series) on Netflix.

Did a lot of stuff today!

So this morning I slept in really late 'cause I was having a really interesting dream. It was about Harry Potter. It had Harry Potter characters in it, including Harry, Ron, Hermione, McGonagall, Bellatrix Lestrange, etc. The plot, however, was not the one from the books. The characters were the same, but the events were completely different. Also, I was not in it. Most of the dream was in third person, like I was just watching it happen, but for some parts, I was seeing things in first person from Harry's perspective! In one these instances I was Harry was flying on a broomstick. That was cool! Awesome dream.

Soon after I got out of bed, I went to pick up Aleithia. We ate lunch at the Spicy Pickle (mmmm!) and then went to see Beginners at AMC. We were originally going to see Horrible Bosses, but I'm rather glad we picked this one instead. It was very different than anything I've seen recently. The story itself was original, about a man named Oliver (Ewan McGregor) who is in a new relationship with a Bohemian girl (Mélanie Laurent) and thinking back on his last years with his recently deceased father (Christopher Plummer) who came out of the closet at age 75 when his wife died. And the storytelling was quite refreshing, as well. Oliver's dog has subtitles (which are Oliver's thoughts being projected onto the dog by the character), and as Oliver thinks back to the past, photos flash onto the screen as he tells us, "This is was what nature looked like in 2003. This was the president." Perhaps an odd way for a narrator to tell a story, but it was effective at guiding the audience to see from Oliver's perspective. It's not exactly a feel-good movie, but it has a relaxing air to it and I could see myself watching this on DVD at home, snuggled up on the couch. I just might buy it when it goes to video.

After that was work at the library, from 5-9pm. Uneventful, but I checked out Fun & Creative Dates for Dating Couples since I enjoyed Fun & Creative Dates for Married Couples. I did like Dating Couples better than Married Couples, though, for obvious reasons. They both have similar ideas in them, but with small detailes pertaining to which kind of relationship you're in. And I can't exactly recreate my marriage proposal, as I've not yet had that experience. I would definitely recommend both books. Dating Couples for those people, and Married Couples for those other people.

Tonight I was watching Jay Leno (I don't rightly know why) and Daniel Craig was a guest (maybe that's why). The clip they showed from Cowboys & Aliens made me excited for the midnight premier, for which I just bought tickets. I think it's gonna be really entertaining, if not generally amazing.

Here's a cute trailer of Beginners:

Two Turntables and a Library Book

I've been fiddling around on this new site called Turntable that Sid and Melinda introduced me to. You join a room, build a playlist of songs by either searching on their site (they have almost everything you could think of) or uploading, and then you hop onto a DJ spot and take turns playing songs with other people online. Most rooms have themes, like "90s Music" or "Indie Mix" or "Mashups" or whatever. Or you can create your own room with your own rules. I've already discovered a few artists I really like that other people were playing. It's super fun! I can invite you to the site if you want to try it out!

I also checked out another book from the library called Fun & Creative Dates for Married Couples. Of course, I'm not married, but I figure it all works the same. :P  If it has anything interesting, I'm going to make a note of it and maybe try it out once Colin gets back to Oklahoma... just 3 1/2 more weeks! Seems like a long time, but maybe it'll go by quickly (it won't).

Declaration of Independence from Insecurity

(An exercise from Keeping a Journal You Love by Sheila Bender)

You have prevented me from being myself.

You have prevented me from having fun.

You have made me anxious.

You have made me bland.

You have made me silent.

You have restrained my sense of humor.

You have restrained my sense of dignity.

You have caused me to pretend.

You have caused me to hide.

You have caused me pain.

You have hindered my ability to laugh.

You have hindered my ability to cry.

You have held me in the dark.

You have held me under water.

You have held me back.

I will not allow this anymore.

I will be me.

I will live truth.

I will refute anger.

I will bask in solitude.

I will embrace uncertainty.

I will hold onto my principles.

I will prize my "guilty" pleasures.

I will grow to be a person I admire.

I will show the world who I am.

I will agitate my comfort zone.

I will admit my weaknesses.

I will honor my intuition.

I will fly my freak flag.

I will trust my Self.

I will forgive.

Fresh start

It's definitely been a while since I've written on here. Partly, I was busy last fall working at Blunck's Photography. While I earned lots of money there, I'm glad to be gone from there. I had no life while I was there, and I didn't much like it, either.

Now I have a super awesome job at the OKC ZooFriends office with super awesome coworkers. I'm also working some hours at the Edmond Public library as a library page, which is very low key. I find sorting things cathartic.

Another change is my boyfriend Colin. We started dating in February, and we've had a great time so far. This summer, he's been in Chicago working for his dad, and that's been really hard 'cause we haven't been able to see each other. But I did go visit for a week earlier this month. That was a blast--museums, Six Flags, yummy pizza. I'll be glad when he comes back to Oklahoma in August, though, even if he is in Tulsa.

I checked this book out from the library called Keeping a Journal You Love with tips about keeping a journal without getting bored of it, which is usually what happens to me. :P So maybe this time I'll be better about posting more regularly. We'll see!