Puppies!!

I was reminded today why John and I have yet to get a dog. I always say we don't have a huge yard. So we'd have to take him out to play every day. Since we're not home enough, we just haven't got one. Though right now, I'm seeing how much free time I have. And having a dog would be really nice. SO maybe we'll get one next summer when I don't have to worry about classes starting, me getting busy, and my poor puppy getting sad and lonely.

Anyway, John and I both love dogs and have been wanting one hard core recently. So, we would probably work out the time problems if we ever resolved the real issue... we want completely different things in a dog.

John's dream dog is a Rottweiler. He wants something big and a little stupid. Something he can bang heads with, I guess. Really, as long as he had a really playful dog, he'd be happy. Also, he hates furry dogs. He never wants one. But big and ugly he likes. It's something I don't understand about him.



My dream dog is a Sheltie. Cutest things ever. And they are friendly, good with kids, pretty good protectors despite their size. And they're all fluffy and great. I mean really, how can you resist the cuteness?!



(Note: My mom says this particular Sheltie is adorable because it, apparently, looks like me. We will not even delve into the fact that my mom says a dog looks like me/I look like a dog. That's something for another day.)

So, I always said John could have his Rottweiler as long as he got it as a puppy, so I could learn to love him. And for some random reason today he's like, "why don't you start looking for Rottweiler breeders."

So I did. I also found Sheltie breeders. Because really, if he gets his dog, eventually it will need a friend and I can get mine.

I also got bored, so I took this random quiz to find the perfect dog for us. Since obviously we can't agree on our own. Apparently we should have a Lab. Which would be fine for me. But John had a lab as a kid and he "wants something new." Also, oddly, it said we should get a poodle, which is just wrong. I will never have a poodle. And the third option is a flat-coated retriever, which I think is cute, but is too furry for John.

See, this is why we don't have a dog. We will just have to break down one day and get two puppies at the same time: one Sheltie, one Rottweiler. But I guess that's not happening any time soon. (Even though I spent all day looking at pictures of puppies so now I really want one!)

Summer+writing= negative

So far this summer, I have produced nothing of consequence.

I feel as if I have become insanely lazy. A lot of thinking going on, but not much writing. And by not much, I mean about 5 pgs of my novel and nothing else. I should have a new chapter and 5 poems by now. I guess I can go on a mad writing spree this weekend, or something, but it just doesn't seem like it'll happen. Probably because I've just felt really tired this week.

I think it's good to give myself a small break after the totally insane semester I had. But really, it's time to get cracking. And since I will be on vacation in 2 weeks, I must get cracking now. Because if I go until July without getting anything done, I'll really be upset with myself.

So, I finally forced myself to sit down this week and said I was going to write a complete poem. If not two.

The poem of the week is currently only this:

I imagine he made her
laugh.

Quote of the Day

From our 3 hour long meeting on project management:

"You can be a Project Manager Fashionista."

You really had to be there.

Crabs and Electricity

Yesterday was John's sister's birthday so we were down south celebrating. We had crabs for dinner. This is only the 2nd time I've had crabs and boy is it an experience. The first time, John's dad had to pick a bunch for me so I didn't starve. I am proud to say I did much better this time. I filled my belly all on my own!

Anyway, on our way home we hit this crazy thunderstorm. I'm starting to believe I'm living over a portal to hell. These storms have been insane. Now, I usually love a good thunderstorm. It is, after all, my favorite weather pattern. But not when my life is at stake.

I'm really glad John was driving cause it was just insane. It was nearly impossible to see. When the lightning struck, it was so bright you were temporarily blinded. People everywhere were driving at a snails pace. People were driving with their blinkers on so you couldn't tell if they were trying to change lanes, pull over, or if they just sucked.

We somehow managed to make it home alive. Of course, the power was out here.

Now, I actually have this fantasy about being in a power outage. In the winter, preferably, because you can light a fire and still stay warm. Fall or spring would also be nice. But summer, really never, except for the romantic summer storm factor. Anyway, this power outage fantasy thing is always in the back of my mind. Who wouldn't love to be trapped in a cabin with no power, but plenty of wood and candles for warmth. And a romantic partner. Yeah.

And back home I've been without power for a week, both in the winter and the summer. You would think those experiences would have gotten rid of this fantasy. But no, I'm still waiting for it to come true. That didn't happen.

It was insanely hot in the house. John and I ate ice cream and did Kokology for a bit, but it was just too awful. So we set up the air mattress downstairs and just went to bed early. We had the back screen door open, but it was still awful. And even when it did get cool in the wee hours of the morning, it was bad. Because we had this horrible feeling that we were actually covered in slime, from it being so humid. And though we had some breeze, it was a breeze that left the slime and just allowed us to be cool enough to think for 5 minutes.

The power's back now, which I am thankful for. I never have much luck getting my electricity back in a timely manner. Maybe it's just my house in STL. (seriously, I've gone a week before) So our food is fine. And we didn't have to go somewhere today to escape the heat.

I'm still waiting for that perfect situation though. My fantasy lives on. It's just a very particular fantasy, so all the stars must be aligned.

Zombie Strippers!

I don't know why I still get surprised at some of the awful movies that actually get made these days. But sometimes, I find things that are just so wrong I can't help but be surprised. Someone actually wrote this, someone else actually thought to give money to make it happen. And a whole lot of someones spent their time making this. And a real idiot took it and decided it should be shown to the general public. This is, in fact, shocking. Though I really don't know why as I have such low expectations for the movie industry at this point.

Note, that the plot is something like: W. Bush has just been reelected for his 4th term. We're at war with at least 10 countries. We're running out of soldiers. So the government creates something to bring them back to life. Hence, the zombies. Who then bite a stripper. And it goes downhill from there.

Please people, don't see this movie!

Dear Obama

Dear Obama,

Please do NOT make Hilary Clinton your VP.

Thank You,
Melissa

Mizzou vs Towson

This just happened. Or something like this.

[insert image of Mizzou t-shirt] John: That's the same tiger as Towson's. Thieves!

Me: Well, Mizzou had it first.

John: Are you sure?

Me: Uh, yeah...

John: Missouri wasn't even a state until what, yesterday?

Me: Don't insult my state!

And yes, now I am sure.

Mizzou became a school in 1839. Towson in 1866. So first off, Mizzou was a school first and therefore gets to claim all greatness. Second of all. Mizzou became the tigers in 1890. Towson's tiger didn't show up until 1963.

Third of all, the tigers don't even look the same! See:





I don't know why I even care. I didn't go to Mizzou and John didn't go to Towson. But he was making fun of my state, so I had to prove him wrong. Go Missouri!

Oh Bears

For an outdoorsy girl like myself, it is important to find a mate that will remain uninhibited when it comes to the wilderness. (hey, they could be a good opening line for a book...anyway!) John will do just about anything I want in that regard. And we seem to not want to do a lot of the same things. Or, he doesn't regret the fact that we can't do some hard core rock climbing because of my knee. But, we've entered into a problem because of our upcoming trip to Colorado.

John's afraid of bears.

Now, I am also not a fan of running into a bear in the woods or having one around my camp. It's just not good. But I think I'm a pretty safe camper and I don't really hike many places with bears. Sure, we could run into them in CO, but we'll be in mostly populated areas so the risks are minimal. Though around the cabin we could have some issues.

So I'm been trying to come up with ways to reassure my dear boyfriend. He is very happy to have bear pepper spray! And I've been told to carry around dryer sheets as bears don't like the smell. But is there really anything else you can do? Aside from the cautions with foods, trash, smells, etc. I don't think so.

So pepper spray it is. And hopefully we don't run into any bears.

America, I am Disappointed

It seems like today is just the day of disappointment.

So the Democratic committee has decided that delegates from Florida and Michigan will each get half a vote at the convention. This greatly upsets me.

As I have stated before on this blog, they openly decided to break the rules. Florida and Michigan were told "if you do this, you won't get to vote at the convention" they basically said "fuck you rules" and did what they wanted. So now they get a minor slap in the face by only getting half a vote, but still, they get their vote counted.

How is this ok?! How can we have any faith in this electoral system when you can blatantly break the rules and then fight the punishment you knew was coming. And get away with it!

Now, I'm a lot less upset than I could have been. They could have given them their full votes. But it's really hard to accept half a punishment. It's like giving a murderer half a life sentence because it's fair to the people? I just don't get it.

Shame on you America.

Indiana Jones... why?!

John and I finally broke down and saw the new Indiana Jones movie. We had decided to wait until it came out on DVD because we knew it would be disappointing. But we figured, why not just get it over with.

I don't know why there aren't more bad reviews of this movie. Here's a bit of one.

All I have to say is WHY?! It was totally unnecessary to destroy something like this. And so avoidable.

Cate Blanchett as a Russian= funny good
Peru as a setting= awesome good (I want to go to Peru!!)
Harrison Ford, even if he's old now=still good with a whip

And then there were aliens and flying refrigerators, neither of which equals good of any kind. Oh yeah, and we're going to fire Dr. Jones because he's a communist? Whatever.

I have no problem believing that water from the Holy Grail has healing powers or a man can live through something as crazy as having his heart ribbed out of his chest. But this movie didn't have this same believability factor. And it wasn't just the aliens. But honestly, I can rewrite this script 10 different ways, still maintaining most of what happened, and have a good movie. Why can people who do this every day not have that same ability.

I mean, Peru offers an insane amount of legend. There could have been any number of things that could have brought Indiana there. There could even have been a crystal skull with crazy magical powers. There could have been insane jungle adventures and insane Peruvian natives. It could have been amazing!

As I've pointed out, we were all able to believe in the Holy Grail. That was God's power. So why not just have a "god" in Peru with the same kind of thing. Why did those "gods" have to be aliens? They didn't. The Temple of Doom was all insane people, and it was great. Why even take it there? Oh yeah, it's the 50s and that's the only thing we can think about when we think of the 50s-Aliens! We Americans are just that stupid.

We're not even going to go into the fact that there are countless things that are left unresolved at the end of the movie.

And we're just going to pretend that the last 30 minutes of the movie just never happened.

George Lucas, I officially have zero respect for you.