Posted by: msmaryb | November 27, 2011

One ringy-dingy….two ringy-dingy

I find the subject of ringtones interesting. When I notice that someone has a generic, pre-installed ringtone I sometimes wonder why. Or, more accurately, I wonder why I would never dream of not personalizing my phone to the hilt. Am I really that bored? How can someone be so enthralled with the intimate details of phone settings and yet largely ignore other details like washing dishes, or paying bills on time?

At any rate, here are my current ringtones.

Default: Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5 (Oh, come on…like you expected something different?)

Madalyn: Sweet Child o’ Mine – GN’R

Johnny: Super Mario Bros. theme music (original)

Robert: Star Trek: the Next Generation theme

Mom & Dad: Home Sweet Home – Motley Crue

I should add that the default is about to change, as it does every year around this time, to the BC Clark jingle. It’s just not Christmas in Oklahoma without it. My mom’s will change to her favorite Christmas song, “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Vince Vance and the Valiants.

By the way, not to be content with micromanaging my own phone, I have taken over others’ phones, as well, and assigned myself ringtones. When I call Robert he hears “California Gurls” by Katy Perry, and when I call Madalyn she gets the Glee version of “Just the Way You Are”…..not in reference to me, but to remind her that’s what I think about her every time I call. (For anyone unfamiliar: “When I see your face there’s not a thing that I would change, ’cause you’re amazing  just the way you are. And when you smile the whole world stops and stares for a while, ’cause, girl, you’re amazing just the way you are.”)

If I ever get my MacBook it will have Garage Band on it and, I’m told, I’ll be able to make my own ringtones. Make. my own. ringtones. You think my phone is customized now. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

 

 

1 Comment

Posted in Randomness | Tags: ,

Posted by: msmaryb | November 19, 2011

Text him, Danno.

It’s good to enjoy a t.v. show.

It’s even better to have a friend who also watches, with whom you can gently skewer said show afterward.

Image

**”H50 Bingo” = EW’s Five-0 Bingo

Image

Image

It’s the little things.

1 Comment

Posted in Minutiae, Miscellaneous, Tee hee! | Tags: , ,

Posted by: msmaryb | September 24, 2011

Miss You Love You

That picture? That was my reality Thursday night. Sixth row, center, for one of the best concerts I’ve been to in a long time.

I saw Maroon 5 back in July and didn’t have a great experience. When I was able to snag a seat so close for this show I had high hopes and expectations for a wonderful night and they did not disappoint. I was close, y’all. The picture doesn’t do it justice. Damned iPhone. I was closer than it looks like I was and I could see all of the boys’ faces very well, and it was heaven.

I have been to a lot of concerts. I have seen musicians who looked like they wished they were somewhere else during the performance. On the flip side I’ve seen musicians who appeared to be having a good time entertaining the crowd. But I have never seen anyone who came close to enjoying himself onstage as much as Jesse Carmichael did last night. I’ve never seen someone standing on stage playing and being present in the moment like that. He just seemed so into the music and happy to be alive, right there with us. It was an absolute joy to watch and it touched my heart. He’s a brilliant musician and then to see him being so invested in the performance and taking such delight in it was very special. I wish I could spend some time talking to Jesse because I feel like he’s got a really positive outlook on the world and seems like a genuinely good human being.

I would’ve been happy just to watch Jesse perform but….then there was Adam. Oh, Adam. No matter what was going on elsewhere around the stage, my eyes kept being dragged back to wherever HE was. The boy is compelling. He smiled a lot, which is unusual for him and probably part of why I kept staring. I got a whole different vibe off him than I did at the Paso Robles show. He seemed friendlier, more engaging, more relaxed and like he was having a good time. There was a girl in the general admission section with a sign that said “How” on it (one of their songs). They haven’t been performing it at all – but Adam sang a verse and a chorus just for her, while she bawled. He was simply lovely. And, God have mercy, those eyes. I was close enough to see them pretty well. He’s absolutely beautiful. You have to wonder when you see people on t.v. – do they really look like that in person? They may have twelve tons of makeup on, or be airbrushed in pictures. In Adam’s case, he looks in person just as he does on television – or possibly better.

The only complaint I have is that the show was too short. I could happily have gone for another hour, at least! But was I did get was a thrill. You know how I know it was a good show? When the band left the stage for the final time I had that moment of, “No! Wait! Take me with you! Please!” I haven’t had that since I saw Paul McCartney. I’d have given a kidney last night if they would’ve just agreed to let me stow away in a cupboard in the tour bus. Tonight I felt jealous of the people in Dallas who were watching them perform. And I felt sad that the tour is almost over and that I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to see them again.

Worth every penny. And then some.

(One last random, odd thing I noticed is that the guys’ sizes ran true to expectation. Sometimes you will see people on telly, then you see them in person and they are utterly and completely wee, and you had no idea they’d be that way. Not so with Maroon 5; they all looked as I’d expected.)

Leave a Comment

Posted in Maroon 5, Musings | Tags: , ,

Posted by: msmaryb | September 19, 2011

It’s the most! Wonderful time! Of the year….

In general I tend to think Little Debbies are vile (no offense to my Little-Debbie-snarfing pals). However, they make two seasonal items to which I look forward every year. This is the first to show up. I’m too lazy to get up and check on their proper name. Shiny Happy Vaguely Pumpkin-Shaped and Sorta Creepy Patties or something.

Om nom nom.

The other item? It won’t show up until Christmastime.

Like Moon Pies, only not disgusting.

All this is is merely a way of saying how thrilled I am about the season. September through December is my absolute favorite time of year, for reasons far too many to enumerate. Suffice it to say they are not all snack food related, despite what my outward appearance may attest.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Cheap Thrills, Minutiae, Randomness | Tags:

Posted by: msmaryb | September 15, 2011

Merry….birthday

Next week is going to be Christmas in September….or maybe happy early birthday to me. Not only do I get to go see my Maroon 5 boys (have I mentioned the sixth row, center?) but I will also, God and UPS willing, become the proud possessor of new headphones and a headphone amp, a new iron and a new hair dryer.

For some reason I always feel like I have to justify myself and my purchases so allow me to impart, to one and all, the following information:

1) My current hair dryer is pushing 20 years old. I brought it with me when I moved to Oklahoma from California in 1996. It was not new then. It was my mom’s before that. Its plastic housing is cracked and every time I turn it on I think I have it set on low by accident. It’s not. It’s on high. It takes approximately eight hundred years to dry my hair with it.

My diffuser....let me show you it.

2) I, as many peole know, iron A LOT. My current iron is at least as old as my sixth-grader. The non-stick coating on the plate is coming off, it won’t squirt water any more, I can’t adjust the steam level because the switch broke off, and it leaks.

Don't worry, love. I'm coming to save you.

3) I have been owed a pair of headphones for more than a year now. In the summer of 2010 my very nice pair of Bose headphones (barely over six months old) went missing from our house while I was out of town. They either found their way into a box while Robert was cleaning out the closet and were accidentally thrown out or put into the impromptu yard sale he held, or one of the girls he had helping stole them. I know that I did not move them somewhere because part of the two-piece cord was left behind in the closet. I never would’ve separated the two halves, as I had no reason to do so (and I couldn’t have used the headphones without the lower half of the cord). I have also ruled out the perennial favorite parental explanation that they must’ve grown legs and walked away. Ever since the disappearance Robert has been promising me a new pair so I can listen to all the Beatles remasters.

John, Paul, George and Ringo live in here.

So, yep; I officially love next week. Shallow? Perhaps – but I think a good case can be made for it being well past time for an upgrade on two of those items. The third? Maybe not so much, although it does bear repeating that it’s a replacement for an item I already had which was lost through no fault of my own. And, what can I say? Music makes me happy. Being able to really crawl inside the recording and hear things I’ve never heard before? Makes me even happier. Surely that’s worth something.

No idea how to use one of these but it was totally a must. Totally.

1 Comment

Posted in Hip-Hip-Hooray!, Retail Therapy | Tags:

Posted by: msmaryb | September 11, 2011

Humans Only

I think we are petless.

Last Tuesday our cat, Grace, ran out the door and we haven’t seen her since. Being that she was raised as an indoor-only cat, she had no collar or tags. She has gone out a few times before and stayed out two or three days, but during those times I have sighted her around the property before she actually deigned to come back in the house. This time, I have seen hide nor hair of her and it’s been six days, not two or three. Tomorrow I will call the local shelter and see if she’s been turned in; however, she is not friendly to strangers and I can’t imagine anyone could get close enough to her to catch her.

I am left with mixed emotions. I am an advocate for animals. I love animals. This was an animal which I committed to care for and I’ve failed in that. As annoying as she’d become, I didn’t wish anything bad to happen to her. No animal deserves an untimely death or mistreatment. I don’t feel like I have any right to hope for or root for another living being’s demise. I was prepared to let her live out the rest of her natural life with us, taking care of her despite her foibles, because it was the right thing to do.

On the other hand, I am now faced with the prospect of being pet-free for the first time in twenty-two years. Since I got my dog when I was 15 I have always had at least one pet at all times; usually more. Besides the obvious hair and poop issues, having pets it also a logistical nightmare for people who travel as much as we do. It adds stress to a situation (getting ready to go on a trip) that already causes me a lot of anxiety.

There’s another thing – the anxiety I just mentioned? It really kicks in when a pet becomes ill. It’s very upsetting to me, not to mention dealing with the prospect of obtaining veterinary care when it’s sometimes not in the budget.

What I’m getting at is, after more than two decades, I am tired. I am tired of hair everywhere, “presents” on the floor every morning, the stress, the worry. I had thirteen – THIRTEEN – guinea pigs at one time, folks. It took me two hours just to clean all the cages. I spent thousands (yes, thousands) of dollars on vet care for them, ferrying them back and forth from where we live to an exotics vet in Guthrie (110 miles ONE. WAY.). I spent countless hours doing nursing care on sick guineas at home and had genuine anxiety and a legitimate grieving process when each was sick and subsequently died. It still hurts my heart to think of Cosmo, our cat who went missing a year ago, and, not only that, I still have never gotten over the death of my dog, Baby, over ten years ago.

I’m officially exhausted.

I’m exhausted from both an emotional and a practical standpoint. I am ready to not have to clean up barfed-up hairballs and crap from the floor and to not have a fine coating of hair on everything I own. I am ready to prepare for a trip and only have to worry about packing clothing and stopping the mail; maybe getting my brother-in-law to stop by just once while we’re gone to check on the house. I feel like I’ve given all the concern and affection and time that I can muster to pets and I don’t have any left. When having pets ceases to be a joy and becomes drudgery, it’s time to stop having pets.

I just wish it had happened with a happier ending. I’m sorry, Grace.

3 Comments

Posted in Blah, Breaking News, Musings | Tags:

Posted by: msmaryb | August 24, 2011

Breathe.

Today was my longest day of school out of the four days a week I go. I had three classes (one in a room where the air conditioner worked scarcely, if at all), I did quite a bit of schoolwork, and the last class involved me trekking down a huge hill to the basketball arena and then back up said hill and across campus to my car – in 100-degree heat. After I left school I drove across town to pick up Eliza, came home, got changed, started some laundry, got the baking potatoes ready to put in the oven tonight and got a snack for Eliza.

Would someone please tell me that, after all that, it’s okay that I don’t feel like immediately getting started on my homework or working on any tidying projects around the house? Because I totally have this nagging feeling right now that I should be working. Y’all, none of my homework is even due tomorrow. I have something that has to be turned in online by Friday at 11am (and which is basically already finished), and my other assignment (about half a page’s worth) isn’t due until next Wednesday. I feel I should start on my “cheat sheet” I’m allowed for my first algebra assessment. In September. I’m not exactly up against a deadline here on any of this. And yet here I am with a persistent, pernicious voice in my head saying, “Come on, gotta stay ahead, get it done now and you have no homework this weekend.” Which is an appealing prospect, I will agree – but it’s only Wednesday. Heck, it’s only Wednesday afternoon. Surely an hour or so of work later tonight when the kids are in bed would be more than sufficient, and then another block of time tomorrow evening could finish it off.

I really do wish I could silence this….whatever it is. It’s a need to do everything perfectly. The instructor gives us an assignment that’s due Friday? No, if I leave it till Thursday night that means I’m not “on top of it” – better do as soon as I get home. Professor asks for a two page essay? Better make it four, just to prove how smart I am or how committed I am. I’m afraid if I maintain this frenetic pace I’m going to get burned out. I have got to get over my distaste for having things “hanging over my head” and give myself permission to sometimes, not always, but sometimes do the minimum needed to get by. I’m becoming exhausted from listening to my own internal monologue.

2 Comments

Posted in Neuroses and Psychoses, The Indiana Jones Project | Tags:

Posted by: msmaryb | August 14, 2011

God bless the University of Oklahoma

I’ve had to….I won’t say “fight hard” to get into school because, compared to some people’s trials, my experience wasn’t that difficult. I did have to jump through some hoops, though, and there was a time or two when it would’ve been easier to say, “Forget about it, I don’t need the hassle” and walk away.

Because of this you might think that my main emotion upon being accepted into school would be jubilation. That isn’t entirely accurate. I’ve been excited, sure. But it’s been tempered by a feeling of trepidation. Part of this, I am sure, has its roots in “Can I do this?” in the sense of the actual work/homework.

The other part, I now realize, stemmed from a different kind of  ”Can I do this?” You see, I was led to believe that the University of Oklahoma (where I plan to get my degree in Anthropology) did not have an archaeology program.

We don't want your kind 'round here! Also, get off our lawn!

This left me with quite a dilemma; namely, that the closest university with an archaeology program is in Austin, TX. Now, whether I’d be able to even get in there or not (they are notoriously biased against non-Texas residents), the bottom line was the same: I was looking at leaving home to get my Masters and being away from my family for months at a time. The uncertainty as to how I was going to manage this cast a definite pall over the whole school situation.

So imagine my absolute and utter delight today when I started researching schools and found that I was completely, 100% wrong. Not only can I get a Masters in archaeology at dear old OU, I can get my PhD if I am so inclined. All I need, it seems, is to get some field school work before beginning the program – which I’d intended to do anyway.

You may laugh at my pants but you and I are going to be seeing a LOT of each other. Where you stayin' at, girl?

I have always wanted to go to OU, anyway, and the glaringly obvious practicality makes it that much more attractive. I freaking LOVE the University of Oklahoma now. I would gay marry the University of Oklahoma if I could (but we’d have to move to New York first). I am filled with so much school spirit already.

Okay, maybe not quite that much.

Now, OU is an hour+ away from where I live, so there will likely be some separation anyway. Husband and I have discussed my actually getting a place up there and staying M-Th or M-F. This way I could take a full load and actually get finished in a normal amount of time rather than dragging it out for a decade or more. I could come home for the whole weekend and even be readily available if one of the kids has a school function. If my schedule worked out so that there was a day where my classes ended early and the next day’s classes started later it’s even close enough where I could run home just for the night and be there to help get the kids off to school in the morning. That, compared to my actual moving away and only coming home on school breaks? Is positively heavenly.

Cue the jubilation.

After I graduate I'm going to dress like this every. single. day. You've been warned.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Hip-Hip-Hooray!, The Indiana Jones Project | Tags:

Posted by: msmaryb | August 7, 2011

I didn’t think anyone had noticed

This morning I was at my Mom’s computer and had been sitting on my foot. When I straightened my leg my foot, of course, was asleep – fast asleep. As blood flow resumed I had major pins and needles. In response I started making yelping noises while still looking at the computer. Madalyn, asked, “What’s wrong, Mom?” Eliza figured she had the answer. With a sigh and in a long-suffering voice she said, “ADAM.”

Honestly, I don’t know what gives her the idea I’d react that way to him. Kids and their imaginations.

1 Comment

Posted in Maroon 5, Tee hee!

Posted by: msmaryb | July 31, 2011

It really could go either way

As we were walking across the parking lot to the theater the other day (with other theater patrons fore and aft) Johnny broke into song. Not an unusual occurrence; this time it was “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5.

Now, I have some doubts and a good dose of parental guilt about letting my children listen to this song in the first place. So, to assuage said guilt and make me look a little less like Ms. Trailer Park 2011, he could’ve gone for the innocuous second verse: “Maybe it’s hard when you feel like you’re broken and scarred – nothing feels right. But when you’re with me I’ll make you believe that I’ve got the key.”

But did he?

Oh, no.

Instead dear John busted out with the chorus, that old standard lullaby that every 8-year-old knows:

“Take me by the tongue and I”ll know you.* Kiss me till you’re drunk and I’ll show you all the moves like Jagger, I’ve got the moves like Jagger….”

*(I’m pretty sure Adam means this in the Biblical sense.)

So either my family is ultra-liberal and wildly, painfully hip, or I should be wearing ass-revealing denim cutoffs, no bra under my Harley Davidson tank top and no shoes, chain-smoking while a baby (clad only in a diaper) crawls around on the ground playing with empty beer cans.

All part of our mystique, I guess.

 

1 Comment

Posted in Musings, Rugrats | Tags: ,

Older Posts »

Categories

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.