The Wig Game

Today for the first time, I lied about wearing a wig. Not because I am ashamed or embarrassed, but because sometimes, that's just not a conversation I feel like having with some jackhat on a bus who loudly asks me (in a semi-shady way) "How'd you get your hair so curly?" I have been asked that question before (once by some random while I was helping a customer at the front counter at work). I appreciate the admiration of my wig-making game...because it is indeed On Point. However, Random Chick on the Bus, I can't tell if you're trying to put me on blast or are geniunely curious, both of which are bothersome in their own way because well, Black women's hair can be a sensitive issue and wig-wearing, while not unique to us, is kinda of a low-key thing. And sometimes, you as a non-black person just need to settle your curiousity with a fucking Google search and not a loud inquiry on public transit. So I will tell you all about the Shea Moisture products I use on my natural hair to make my curls pop. You just don't need to know I don't use them on the curls you happen to see.

Egads! Moving again?!

So here is my dilemma. I want to move. I have done the studio thing and it has been cool and all, but I'd like my square footage back. And a real bed. F*** this futon nonsense. The dilemma is do I stay with my current management company which means I can just transfer my deposit which would mean less out-of-pocket expense, but also means I won't get very much more square footage. Or do I broaden my horizons and look in previous no-way places like Nordeast or St. Paul where Craigslist tells me I could get, like, 150 or more square feet for what I would pay to upgrade to a 1 bedroom in my current neighborhood. I have 2 weeks to give notice. Decisions, decisions.

It's been a while

OMG!!! Has it really been 7 months since my last post? Yikes! What the heck have I been doing? It sucks that I don't have the motivation to journal or blog like I used to. Maybe it's because my life is boring. Except I have read some of my old journals; my life was pretty boring then. But I did stuff this weekend, so I will blog about it. I stayed home from work Friday because I was not in the mood to deal with anybody at work. They survived. I biked over to Gorkha Palace for their lunch buffet which was really good, then went and saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes at the newly remodeled St. Anthony Main theatre. The movie was good, but I like Rise better. Anyway, after, I rode a bit more then went home and chilled. My internet was being evil because that's how Comcast products work, so instead of YouTube, I watched Play Misty For Me and something called Deranged before just going to bed. Saturday was Tour de Fat in Loring Park. I walked through on my way to the office just to scope it out. Once I finished work, the Tour only had a little less than an hour left, so I walked up to the CC Club instead. There were a number of surprisingly friendly people there at the bar, including a couple of the barkeeps. Tory also came in for a bit. I drank a bit more than I intended, then drunkenly NiceRided home and promptly passed out by 10:30. Sunup day was the Sociable Northeast Brewers Block Party. I was already planning to go to that, them Rebecca called and asked if I wanted to go to that and the Nordeast Open Streets event with her. So I met her and Dave at Grumpy's and we rode over. Open Streets was fine. I had fresh squeezed mango juice. We came, we saw, we walked to Sociable. That was a little bit of a hot-mess. Super long lines for food and drinks. We waited about 30 minutes to get A beer. (Well, smarty pants Dave slammed a cider then quickly ordered a 2nd beer.). Sabrina and Mickey showed up and got served inside almost immediately and they didn't have to buy stupid wristbands. It was just disorganized. I commented on it in the FB event page and Sociable commented back that they underestimated tuen out by relying on FB RSVPs. Hopefully, next year will be better. So, we left there and went to the Mill. We had terrible service (Dave was served the wrong beer; server forgot to put in our initial food order; server failed to own up to his screw up sufficiently), but it was still a good time. Oh, and I saw Rick and Cheri whom I hadn't seen in AGES! So cool! After the Mill we headed over to Grumpy's to say hi to Skille and drink, of course. Again, nothing spectacular, but just a good time hanging out with my friend whom I don't hang out with enough anymore. Since last I blogged, I have quit smoking (almost 7 full months now); moved (now in Elliot Park); started biking (NiceRide, but I think I'll be getting my own bike here pretty soon); and upped my wig-making game (it's all about the hot glue gun now). That's about it. Still no real action on the dating front. I might actually start blogging my experiences with online dating. I don't mention them on FB because well, maybe I'm a little embarrassed. But also, I got family following me over there. It doesn't matter though, because there hasn't been much to blog about. I have gone on a couple of dates the last few months, but nothing has stuck. It's kinda weird doing the online thing. You don't want to chat online toooooo much because it seems like you risk running out of things to talk about when you finally decided to meet. However, you do want to spend some time chatting to be sure you even want to meet in the first place. Some of the apps don't help and they seem to be getting even more unhelpful because they want people to pay. I mean, I might star someone on OKC that I think is cute in his pics only to find out he's a Republican. That I might be able to deal with. The real issue is the number of people who claim they are in "open" relationships/marriages. Yeahnothanks. I get a lot of messages from the under 28 and the just over 50 set. Only a couple of gross "I love black chicks" types. I've been called a bitch when I didn't message back and once when I did message back that I was not interested. Most guys have been cool with it. Oh, there was that guy who sent this long sadsack screed when I sent the "Thanks, but I'm not interested" about how it was fine, but he was really bummed because I seemed like a girl that deserved a really nice guy like him. What the fuck does that even mean? So yeah. Online dating. It's an adventure.

I must look like a sucker

Man, people tried to screw me outta money THREE times yesterday. As of this writing one was successful because I only noticed I got screwed this morning. So first, I went to my usual spot for my pre-Office lunch. There was some special event happening on the South side, so I decided to go to the fancier North side. It was nice and just as tasty and I ate good and off I went to pay. Well, when the guy rang me up, he charged me for two people. I said I was by myself and he gave me the side-eye. Dude, only ONE time have I ever been there with someone else (Hey, Rebecca!) and he wasn't even there that day. Anyway, the waitress confirmed that I was alone, so he said he give me back the difference in cash since he'd already swiped my card. He then hurriedly gave me some cash and I boogied outta there. But then I realized that he had shorted me $5. So I had to go back and let him know. He was nice about it and I don't think he was really TRYING to screw me over. It was just busy and confusing because all the people who were supposed to be going over to whatever was happening on the South side kept coming to the North side first and had to be shown over to the other one. Moving on. Then, I went up to CVS to see if they have these new Mattifying products I saw on YouTube. They did not, but that had a few other items on sale for 50% or 75% off. I picked up a back-up of my Nearly Naked foundation ($2.49 after the 75% off), a CG mascara ($4.49 after 50% off), and a couple of Rimmel lip glosses ($5.29 before 75% off). The lip glosses were ring up at the regular price, so the guy tried to do the math in his head and said he'd just charge me $2.50. Yeah, 75% of $5.29 is NOT $2.50, son. I whipped out my handy iPod calculator and tallied it up and they were $1.63 each. Handled. So finally, I decided to get my vape on. Jen finally convinced me that it's the way to go. Well, Jen and having to step outside to the frosty cold uncovered, unheated patio at the Cabooze. So I went to the eCig Crib on Lyndale. I tasted all sorts of vapors and bought the cheapest kit I could. Blah blah blah. Anyway, I was fiddling around with it this morning and I was trying to figure out info the extra tank I bought. I grabbed the receipt to figure out the name, and lo and behold, I was charged for 2 juices instead of one. Ugh! The receipt has a big ole ALL SALE FINAL, but I didn't get two juices, so that wasn't a sale. So now I have to go back over there today and see if they'll refund the difference or give me a second juice since it's already on the card. Yeah, I think this is karma because I found $20 just lying in an aisle at work on Friday.

So Ben Stein wrote this: "Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees for the first time this year, which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you. The following was written by Ben Ste...in and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary. My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a nativity scene, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to. In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?' In light of recent events... terrorist attacks, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.' Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. Are you laughing yet? Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein" Sigh. Boy, do I get sick of hearing about Christians being "pushed around". A bunch of people are butt-hurt because the White House called it a daggone "holiday" tree. Who cares? Put up your own tree in your own house and call it whatev...er the fuck you want. Yeah, it isn't necessary to get all bent out of shape about someone saying "Merry Christmas", but please know, it is equally unnecessary to get all bent out of shape about someone NOT saying it. This constant whining about people trying to take their religion away is ridiculous. It's amazing how they can't see that no one is telling them what they can worship, but taking religion out of schools and the government and workplaces is in no way denying one his/her right to practice pretty much whatever the hell they want WITHIN THEIR PRIVATE LIVES. And this business about God "stepping aside" because we don't want him in schools and shit? That's kinda of a dick move on His part, if you ask me. He's not getting enough attention so He throws a weather-tantrum that kills thousands of people? Yeah, fuck that Guy. Oh, but wait, we are only supposed to give glory to God for every good thing that happens in our lives or in the world, but despite Him (allegedly) being the ultimate CREATOR, we aren't allowed to give him a hard side-eye when shit goes pear-shaped. Since many of these people also think science is a crock of shit, they must realize that their BFF God is the one who created those hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and sunamis that keep messing up people's lives.

Back to the Kindle

I love my iPad. I really, really, really do. But that sumbitch is as heavy as a textbook (a paperback text book, not a hardcover) and because I didn't get one of them fancy 3G (or are they 4G?) ones, it isn't always the most convenient device. Sooooooo, I have been toying with the idea of getting a new Kindle. I was considering one of the regular old ereader one, but I remembered my love for the Fire. I decided to peruse Craigslist to see what folks were offering. Not much. Then I got the bright idea to check ebay and lo and behold, I WON AN EBAY AUCTION! I'm getting myself a (*mint condition, barely used*) Kindle for just $71.00 and free shipping. I sold my old Kindle for less, so I don't feel too bad. The seller I bought from has sold a number of items and has 99.9% approval rating from customers, so I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Okay, cupid

So I went on my first OKCupid date. It went well for the most part, but I won't be seeing the guy again. I think he lost me when he told me he was an unemployed, bipolar insomniac. We met at Spyhouse for coffee first which is where I learned that he like to talk A Lot. I think it was maybe a little nervousness, but it was a bit overwhelming. We then went and had dinner at Peninsula. He's fancies himself a foodie and told me about a lot of places he's eaten at in the TC. That was all interesting, but he didn't really engage me in conversation. Whenever I'd speak he's do that "yeah", "uh huh" thing, but like at weird points which made it seem like he wasn't even listening. Anyway, so I've done it and it wasn't terrible. Now maybe I'll meet someone I actually like.