It's Been So Long: A Midweek Five That Is Really Lists Within Lists

1. Idol FanGrrrrl: I just wanted to let you know that I have selected the recipient of this year's Idol Crush posting. I'm just working out in my head how to do it since it's full of possibilities. Now, I know that nothing can ever compare to the Bo Bice fan posting of 2005. And truth be told my last two crush selections bowed out of the competition pretty early (and I think that this one may, too). No, it's not Archuletta, because I'm not insane. Praise poetry is being written right now for this year's recipient. Awesome.

2. A List of Times You Should Not Call Me: I used to LOVE March Madness. Like, you know, for all of my life. But that was before I went to work in sports gambling world. Now I have bags under my eyes literally every day in March. Bags.Under.My.Eyes. I have no idea even why I'm still working here other than inertia. But regardless, right now my work day starts at six and ends at six and there's still some work before I go to bed. And I love everybody, too, but I don't love when you complain that I don't answer my phone. So here's a list of times it's not kosher to call, and it's most of the time until the end of March:
Monday: All day. All night. Seriously.
Tuesday: Before Noon, Between 4pm and 6pm, after 10pm
Wednesday: Any time after 4pm
Thursday: Before Noon, Between 4pm and 6pm, after 10pm
Friday: All day. All night. Seriously.

Seriously. Do the math. That schedule shows you how much free time I've got during the week right now. And I have people in town EVERY WEEKEND THIS MONTH except for the last weekend during which I'll be in Denver. Which is awesome, don't get me wrong. But there's no sleep in my future. No sleep. That is all.

3. A List of Things Making Me Happy Right Now: But there are a lot of things making me happy right now!

a. Mimosa Shower and Bath Gel from Philosophy: Candy Woo bought me this for Christmas, and nothing is making me feel better at 5am when I'm suddenly getting ready for work instead of chilling with the cats than then scent of a prohibited morning mimosa. Yummy.



b. Red Bean Mochi: Is delicious and the perfect dessert for the dieter (that's me, because the current size of my ass is not something that's making me happy).

c. Chocolate Cherry Tea: Is the best thing ever created. EVER. Try some.

d. Grey Goose Pear and Cran: Has been my drink of choice for a while now. But I've been drinking more lately because I've been so stressed out. So that makes me happy.



e. Schulz & Peanuts: There are a whole bunch of people whom I think would enjoy reading this. Kind of the way I'm enjoying reading it. For an hour a day while soaking in a bathtub. TMI? Perhaps.

f. The Cave of Ordeals: This is a section in "Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" where you have to battle through 50 floors of enemies. I've never beaten it yet. But I keep trying, every night before I go to bed.



g. The New Treadmills at the Gym: Are awesome. You can run a hill that's designed so that you meet the same resistance points as if you were running up part of Kilimanjaro. You can charge your iPhone while you're running. For that matter, you can plug your iPhone into the treadmill and see the iPhone display on screen.

h. Spring: Is here. I've had my windows open all week. It's been nice.

i. My Wish Box from K-Rock: Kari made and painted a wish box for me for my birthday. I'm having so much fun determining what to wish for.

4. A List of Thoughts About Sex and the City: Okay, so this week I finished watching the last episode of Sex and the City, which means I've now watched - straight through - all 94 episodes (because I wanted to be fully prepared for the movie). I have thoughts. If I weren't so busy and tired, these thoughts would probably be their own entry. But instead they are a list. A list within a list.

a. God, that show was good ... And I don't care what you all say about women not really being like that and nobody living that well in New York and that show making men disposable. Maybe that's not your life. But there's a lot of similarity to my life and to the life of a lot of women I know. And there's not a single episode of that show that I don't enjoy. Seriously. There's not a single episode that I watched while doing something else in the background because they're all that good. It may be my second favorite thing that was ever put on television (Northern Exposure is, of course, first).



b. But the problem was ... that I always hated Carrie. She's the least likable of the girls. She's so self-absorbed, so unrealistic, so selfish. So, just, I wouldn't want to hang out with her. Neurotic. I'm always relieved when I take those Sex and the City quizzes and I'm most like any of the girls but her. Sometimes it's hard to watch that show because you're just not cheering for her when it comes right down to it. And then, like I said, I was never, ever able to forgive her for letting go of Aiden. Only a very selfish woman does that.

c. But she redeems herself with ... her speech in the final episode, in the final 10 minutes, when she leaves Paris and The Russian and she gives him a speech about how she's somebody who's searching for love, for ridiculous love, for consuming love. And suddenly, you forgive her for all the times you wanted to hit her in the head with her Manolos because you realize she really does understand herself and who she is. Even if I don't like her, I then have to respect her for that kind of self awareness.

d. And in the end, I most felt connected to ... Miranda. Don't get me wrong. Charlotte is sweet and I love Samantha, but Miranda is really the one who changes the most and becomes the most complete person.

e. And speaking of the final episode ... Yeah, sure, there's the argument that maybe it maybe cleans things up too neatly, but that doesn't mean that I don't love it. I love the moment where Carrie gives her speech, I love the moment where Smith comes back and tells Samantha that he loves her. I love that episode of television.

f. My most favorite episode ... You know, I hate to say it. I do, and there are a ton of episodes that I really, really, really love, but my favorite episode has to be the one where Berger breaks up with Carrie on a post-it note. The entire episode is about them figuring out their relationship, and then he just quits, and the last scene is her throwing the flower vase he gave her across the room. And it's just perfectly real and perfectly done. It's my favorite: though I'm also quite fond of the episode where Charlotte and Trey break up and he comes back for the photo shoot, and the episode where Carrie and Aidan break up even though I can barely watch it without having a breakdown, and the episode where Carrie goes out with the twenty-something, the fireman episode, the Vince Vaughn episode and, particularly, the episode where Carrie and Aidan first move in together.

g. And the movie ... Well, I think it will be emotional. What I know for sure is that Miranda and Steve are dealing with infidelity and something has happened to Carrie (the movie takes place three years after the tv series left off) that fundamentally changes her. So much could possibly account for that.

5. A List of the Best Text Messages That I Received This Week
From Ferris:
Three Things Robin Thicke is fascinated with: his birthday, sexing up the girl, his birthday.



From Hott Scott:
On Beauty and the Geek one of the beauties didn't know if dinosaurs breathed fire or not. Awesome.

6. A List of the Best Conversations I Had Last Week: The topic was "relationships", as it usually is right after my birthday. Enjoy.

With Chicago Style:

Me
But you know, the thing is that I've pretty much figured out that I'm not the marrying type AT ALL. But who wants to be alone? So I'm trying to figure out a middle ground solution.

Him
Well, I'll be waiting for my middle ground invitation.

Me
Yeah, but you know what the problem with middle grounds is? Somebody always eventually wants to move off of the middle.

Him
You've been doing this too long.

With shamus?

Me
Blah, blah, blah, blah, internet sex, blah, blah, blah, blah, social disease, blah blah blah blah, appeals to my sense of distance, blah blah blah blah.

shamus?
But isn't that what's so perfect about sex on the internet? When you're done, there's the "off" switch that everybody's been looking for all along.

With RJ

Me
You know, I think that what I'm determining is that long distance relationships are pretty much perfect for me. I get all the emotional intimacy without having my space invaded, and they fit perfectly into my time schedule. Which is to say that they require very little actual time, or none at all outside of texts and emails and the occassional phone call which can be done while doing other things.

RJ
It's true. I think that sounds just about perfect for you. You may have finally figured it out.

With Hott Scott

Hott Scott
So now, every time I hear a Melissa Etheridge song, I think of you. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED?

Me
Isn't that what every girl wants?

With Big D

Me
I mean, I've really looked at it in the last six months, and I'm really starting to get okay with the idea that it just may not happen for me.

Big D
Yeah. Me too. I mean, I'm almost forty. I'm starting to think I'll never fall in love.

Me
But I'm okay with that. I mean, I know that I'd rather be alone than be in my sixties going through a divorce. Who wants that? I want to look back at sixty and say that it was all worth it. I'm kind of starting to think that the only way I can do that is if I do it on my own. I don't want to end up like they ended up.

Big D
I know what you mean. I'll see you in a week and we'll drink until we can't stand up. Then we'll believe again.

With Miss Erin and Miss Kat

Me
Well, the thing is, it may not happen for me -- the whole marriage and babies thing -- but it may not happen because of decisions that I personally made about what was important to me and how I wanted to live. But I'm standing here right now on the brink of realizing it may just not happen, and if you asked me if I'd change any of it, I wouldn't. I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on seeing and experiencing the things that I did.

Miss Erin
I feel exactly the same way.

Miss Kat
I just feel like, as women in this day and age, we really set ourselves up more times than not to not end up married with babies because we don't need to end up married with babies. And I'm not sure if that's better or worse, but I wouldn't have wanted any life other than the one I had.

Okay, that last one sounded like we were on The View, but it was actually in my car on the way back from Lake Las Vegas.

It's been a long week. And it's, like, Wednesday.