I'm stealing Amy's "Love and Hate" tradition

So I have decided having a blog is like having a potted plant- even if you don't want to carry the stupid thing upstairs to water it, you have to in order to keep it alive. Then at random moments, you notice your green plant and say, "Hey, that's a good-looking plant. Good thing I water it and keep it alive." So I'm watering my blog, even though I have nothing to say. Because I have nothing to say, I stole Amy's jumping off place- her love/hate posts. So here goes.

Today's hate:

Stupid College Boys.
Let's admit it. There are three kinds of guys in college. One, the kind that is genuinely nice and sweet and is also confident enough to ask you out, and he won't be the subject of jokes in your family for the next year. Two, the kind that is nice and sweet, but too shy to ask you out. Or three, The kind that are total morons, but they're brave enough and gutsy enough to ask you out (and they'll pretend to be nice almost the whole time). Unfortunately, there seems to be a great abundance of the third kind. And a bit of the second kind too, but they aren't much help if they refuse to make eye contact when you speak to them. Oh dear. This proves to be a bit of a predicament.

Today's Love:

Thanks to Brand New, I have not decided to bite down on the cyanide pill just yet while riding the train (it is quite the ordeal, and it takes a very long time, and it's really boring). Lucky for me I have Deja Entendu to listen to while I ride the Public Transit from Hell, and it makes it livable. Heaven blessed me with Guernica. I love music. The end.

So how was that watering?

Reasons I love family dinner: Weiner dogs, Babies, and Old Pictures.

So today, we had family dinner at my house (complete with the leaves in the table to make it long enough to fit everyone- I'll have you know that our table is pretty imperiously huge). Tonight for me was a particularly awesome night, because my family just makes me happy like no one else can. There were three things tonight, though, that made me really happy. We'll start with this.


That, my friends, happens to be my sister and brother-in-law's new puppy, who happens to be among THE coolest dogs I've ever encountered. And that is saying something, because I have worked at the vet's, a dog daycare, and the animal shelter, so I've worked with quite a few dogs in my day. This little dog is a piebald miniature dachshund, with gorgeous green eyes. Her name is Magda, and I can't help but think that I might have to steal her. That being said, Amy and Jon, I promise I will give her back when you ask me to puppysit, but just know it's very tempting. The next awesome thing about tonight was this.

This is Jack, my 2 month old nephew. He weighs in, currently, at 13 lb. What a little chunker!! He is so cute though, and today was a huge milestone for my aunthood- I made Jack smile. Not just one of those weird newborn muscle-spasm smiles that disappear within seconds, but a prolonged, huge, gummy smile. And it was adorable and it melted my heart. Remember how I'm an aunt? Me too. Then, this:

Lauren, my big sister, was looking for pictures to put in Brian and Ali's wedding slideshow, and discovered this gem. Yes, that is me and Lauren, and yes, she is, as a matter of fact, holding my head like a football. For most of our growing up years, Lauren and I shared a room, and in that room, we shared a queen sized bed. Inevitably, it led to some pretty strange night-time antics, such as "steam-rolling" (the objective of this game is to roll on top of, and consequently squish, the other person), me reading scary stories to Lauren before we fell asleep (I thought it was funny that I could terrify my older sister), "THE CLAW!!" (just don't even ask), Power-Ranger Gymnastics ("The splits, the splits, how does she do it?"), and a whole variety of other oddities. By the end of this, we were pretty exhausted, and that resulted in some funny (and in my mind, cute) pictures in the mornings. The thing I love about this photo is that it makes me think of all the times that Lauren would hold my hand or calm me down when I'd had a bad dream, all the stupid jokes we split our sides with, all the random pranks I pulled on her. It makes me remember how lucky I am that she's my sister. So the moral of this story?

I love family dinners.

I am now a protege.

So this past week, I was officially accepted to the partnership program at the Art Acess Gallery. Which means, I get to tag along and bother a really good artist for seven months, and then at the end, we get to show the pictures we made. My reaction to this? Joy. I am so excited! My artist's name is Erica Houston. She is an INCREDIBLY talented woman, and we're going to explore mixing mediums, interpretive portraiture, etc. One of the big bonuses of being in this program is that I get a $500 grant for art supplies! Do you know how many Prismacolors that will buy?? I am a little bit happy inside. :)



This is a picture I did about five months ago. I have room to improve.
If you'd like to see any of Erica's art, or her husband, Blue Critchfield (who shares a studio with her) go to either http://www.myspace.com/ericaehouston or to http://www.myspace.com/mothmind

I love my little brother.

My little brother Josh is quite possibly the most amazing person I have ever met in my life. When I first met him, he didn't know any english, he was severely undersized, and he hardly knew how to smile. Every smile we got we had to coax out of him. Now, his smile is the biggest brightest smile in the world, and his hugs are the best thing in the world. He has to deal with so many difficulties every day, but somehow he knows how to find the joy in each day. He teaches me to be a stronger and better person, and I can't wait for him to come home from the hospital. In short? Josh is my hero.