John Mayer, I say you can't get stoned

I've been wanting to write about this for a few days now, but I just haven't yet.

Anyway, I think I know what I'm going to do. I want to get my Master's degree in Library and Information Sciences. It makes sense to me. I'm organized, and I love books, plus doubled with my B.A. in Music, I could get a job as a music librarian. Granted, there aren't many of those jobs out there, but even if I don't get a job doing that, I can always work as a regular librarian elsewhere.

The only school in Ohio that offers this program is Kent State... so guess where I'm applying! I've never even been to the campus, so I'll probably do a visit too, but since it's the only in-state school I could get the Master's degree that I want at, I'm going to have to go there. There's a possibility of doing an all-online program at another school, but let's be honest. Would I stay on top of that? Probably not. Just doing Philosophy of Music online this summer was a pain. And I kind of want the experience of getting my Master's. I wouldn't get that with an online program. So... cross your fingers for me!

On an unrelated note, I can't get enough of "3" by Britney Spears. I'm so happy that she's skinny and back to the old Britney again. Fat and crazy Britney was a dark time.

I finally found where I can watch the episodes of JAG that I've been hunting down! They're on surfthechannel.com, which is where I found the links for NCIS this summer. The only problem is that JAG is on megavideo.com only, and I can only watch 72 minutes of video at a time. But I've found a system that works. I watch an episode, then I click for the next episode to start playing, but I mute it. Then I do something else for awhile. By the time I come back to the next episode, I can watch all of it at one time.

Anyway, there are two episodes from season eight of JAG that started NCIS. It's like a little time capsule. Gibbs is there, as are Tony, Abby, and Ducky. Even the first director (before Jenny) is in it. But there's a whole bunch of other people too. There's this random black guy agent who isn't in it much. And worst of all, there's this redheaded agent who used to be in the FBI who is the most obnoxious person EVER. If you thought Kate was annoying, whoah man, this chick has Kate beat by a thousand! And Ducky has a thing for her, which is just creepy. And Tony and Abby do some hardcore flirting like McGee and Abby in seasons 1-2 of NCIS. There are so many wrong things. I decided that it's like watching an episode of I Love the 90's after having lived through the 90's. You know what it's supposed to be like, but it's like experiencing it through someone else's eyes.

There are also several episodes of JAG where Sean Murray plays the Admiral's love interest's (Dr. Walden) college age son. It's not much of a subplot, except that Sean plays a pothead who has his mom wrapped around his little finger, which ultimately leads to her dumping the Admiral. Honestly, Sean's character is a little annoying. He's overly cocky like McGee was in season 6 of NCIS. Plus he has really dark hair for a few of the episodes, and in my opinion, it looks like a cheap toupee. He also plays Ensign Guitry in one episode in the fourth season, but that particular episode isn't on megavideo, and I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Oh, one last thing before I wrap this up. Catherine Bell is one of the major characters on JAG. She plays a Marine named Mac (nickname for... something with Mac in the last name) who's a JAG lawyer. Don't know who Catherine Bell is? Lemme help (she's on the far left):

That's right, she's Denise from Army Wives! Talk about going full circle... from playing a Marine to being married to a soldier. Anyway, this is what she looked like on JAG (she's the fourth from the right... sorry this picture is crappy, but I was having a hard time finding JAG pictures):

Like I said, small world!

Oh, and for any NCIS fans who read this (ahem... Brenda.... Mike) I STRONGLY recommend watching the JAG-NCIS crossover episodes. They're from the eighth season of JAG. The first is called "Ice Queen" and the second is called "Meltdown". You can find them through surfthechannel.com, but for some reason when you search for "JAG" it doesn't show up, so you have to click on 'Channels' and then 'Television'.

I'm watching the VH1 Top 20 Countdown from this morning online and "Party in the USA" just came on. All the sudden, I feel angry. Too bad Miley Cyrus isn't the victim in Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" video.

~Christine

apparently I have bad karma

Technology has reared its ugly head and snarled at me yet again.

Let's start with my car. On Sunday, I drove Katie to theater practice. While she was getting out of the car, my check oil light came on, but it was blinking, like a turn signal. I'm going to be honest and own up to the fact that I haven't had the oil changed since I bought the car in February. But I've also only driven 5,000 miles in it, and it was changed shortly before I bought it. Then the light came on again when I was stopped at a traffic light, but once I started driving again, it went away. Friggin weird, right? Since then, I've driven and it hasn't been a problem. So my dad I checked my oil yesterday and I'm at the maximum level of oil. Huh. He's part of some online car forum thing, so he poked around to see if anyone else had a similar issue. Basically what it boils down to is this:

Option A: The oil pump is dying.
Option B: The engine is dying.
Option C: There's a problem with the indicator thingy. (clearly I don't know much about cars).

I'm hoping for C. Or maybe A. But not B!! If my engine dies, that's it. That's the death of my Sebring. :( So for the time being, I'm being extra nice to my car. I'm praying that since the light hasn't come on again, it was just an indicator thingy problem. And even though it's a car and not a person, I really can't handle any more loss in my life. (side note: WHY THE CRAP IS MY KEYBOARD ONLY REGISTERING EVERY FEW LETTERS I TYPE?!?!? ADD: BASTARD LAPTOP TO THE LIST!!)

Oh, and did I mention that starting in December I now have to start paying my own car insurance? Not a big deal, except that my insurance is over $100 a month because of that goddamn accident last year. Seriously, I hate ice. This winter I plan on never driving. We'll see how that works out. But at this point, if my car kicks the bucket, I may just say "Eff it all! and pack up my things and move to a city in Florida with really nice public transportation. I don't know what city that is, but I'm going to move there. Just you wait, Henry Higgins!

Onto my next issue: I play The Sims 3. A lot. Especially because my internet at home is sketchy if I'm downstairs (ADD THAT TO THE LIST OF WHY MY COMPUTER IS A BASTARD). Unfortunately, this means that I get bored with the game sometimes. So I was reading on thesims3.com forums a suggestion to erase all the pre-made simmies in a town and put in people and families that I had made. So I did! It was a lot of fun, and took a majority of my time yesterday. I even made a chart in a notebook so I could keep track of everyone.

And then... Patch 1.6.6 came out! The first expansion pack is set to come out today (World Adventures... yay!) and so was a new patch for the game. 1.5 was supposed to be for the base game and 1.6 was for people with the new expansion pack. Except EA is dumb and didn't think that November 17th would start for some people in the US very early, compared to those on the West Coast (i.e. where they all are... self-centered idiots). So many people in the Eastern time zone had this patch made available to them before the expansion pack was even released! What's worse is that the updater didn't even make patch 1.5 available... just 1.6. I hadn't even heard of 1.5. So last night I installed 1.6 and now... I can't save the town I spent ALL day yesterday working on! There's some stupid error 16 message that keeps coming up, and in the readme file, the error messages only go up to 15. Cruel. I'm actually kind of lucky that this is the only problem I'm having. People have lost entire legacy families where the sim who was 'alive' was the great-great-great-grandson of the original. Apparently mods (which I guess I installed one and didn't know it!) and custom content (which I have probably over 200 files of...) cause BIG issues with this patch.

And now thesims3.com forums aren't working. Probably because EA realizes that they MESSED UP.

So now here's my debate. Do I uninstall the game and reinstall with no mods/cc? I mean, I have the info on all of those families I made yesterday, and I don't ever go back and play old games. Or do I uninstall just the mod that I have? (ironically, it's a mod designed to help ease the process of installing custom content.) I can't even ask advice from fellow simmers because the forums aren't up right now.

Even though it's Tuesday, which means that NCIS is on tonight, I'm still super bummed about everything. I would like to crawl into a hole and hide from the world until I die. That would be fantastic. :(

Oh, and the crack dream I had last night isn't helping things either. I dreamed that Bill and I went back to UD to visit, and he started playing hackey sack with some old friends, until the hackey sack hit him in the face and got lodged BEHIND his eyeball. I know that's not even possible, but I am seriously freaking out right now. And then I went to find Jen and tell her about the Sebring (since it was her car at one point) and she had joined some super snobby sorority (which just happened to be called Zeta Beta Zeta... I haven't even watched Greek in about 2 weeks!) and she wasn't allowed to talk to me anymore.

I have issues.

~Christine

I'm seriously considering putting 'hoodia' on my Christmas list

Have you ever been so tired that you feel drunk, but you're actually completely sober? That's how I feel right now. So I'm keeping myself awake so I can blog. I know, I make no sense.

I have had "Country Roads, Take Me Home" by John Denver stuck in my head since Friday. Like I said, I make no sense. What I want to know is if there are so many songs out there that are earworms, then why hasn't anyone come up with the anti-earworm? I've tried white noise (specifically, the HEPA air filter in Bill's apartment) but it doesn't work.

I started writing another fanfic last night. It's about McGee being confused about The Sound of Music. I'm hoping it'll be funny, but I haven't gotten very far in it. I still haven't published the first fanfic I wrote. Katie finally sent it back to me with edits almost a month ago now, but it's a saddish story and I've been feeling sadder and sadder, so I don't feel like sifting through her edits.

Speaking of sadder, I feel like a whale. I have to go back to working out, but so far I haven't had a chance. Yesterday I had to take Rosie to the vet in the morning, and then I ended up eating lunch at my Grandma's, and today I had a doctor's appointment. Tomorrow I'm going to an open interview thing, Thursday I'm going shopping with my aunt. So hopefully I can get there on Friday? I'm praying that I don't get sick again. Right now I want to take a knife to the front of my face. My sinuses are killing me. Even though the infection's gone, my doctor told me today that they still look 'angry' (her words, not mine). I would like to thank whoever created saline nasal spray. They are a god among men. However, my sinuses have now decided that just saline spray isn't going to cut it anymore, so now I'm on a steroid.

Do you see why I'm so freaked about losing health insurance in February? Sometimes my body feels like an electronic device made in France. Doesn't (or at least didn't) look bad, but has zero functionality.

Ugh, I'm giving in and going to bed. Night.

~Christine

two peas in a pod

I'm the kind of person who keeps their promises. So here's my promise to all 2.5 of you! (I really should get a site meter thing so I can see how many people actually look at this page.)




My All-Time Favorite TV Couples! (In no particular order)


1. Casey and Cappie - Greek



They are just too friggin cute together! I think it'll be interesting to see if/how they've changed when Greek comes back in a couple of months. We've heard all about them dating freshmen year, but all we've seen so far is the random hook-up. Good stuff.

2. Jesse and Rebecca - Full House

I'm going to give these two the "Hottest Couple" award. If anyone can look gorgeous in shoulder pads, it's Lori Loughlin. And John Stamos... oh baby!

3. Monica and Chandler - Friends

Last year when I watched all 10 seasons of Friends (pause for applause...) I always liked these two better than Rachel and Ross. Plus Chandler's good for a laugh and Monica reminds me of myself sometimes.

4. McGee and Abby - NCIS

I'm giving them the "Cutest Geeky Couple" award. Even though they aren't together right now on NCIS, they dated early on, and there's still some hardcore chemistry (read: jealousy) between them!

5. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar - 18 Kids and Counting

These two are the happiest people I've never met! And they're actual people, not just actors! I really wonder how they stay sane with 18 kids (and counting, haha!) but I think the answer to that question is that they have 18 kids. Bow chicka wow wow.

6. Jim and Pam - The Office

I have loved Jim and Pam from the first time I watched The Office many moons ago. Thankfully, it would seem that their wedding hasn't caused the fantastic dynamic between office-mates to change too much. Although as of late, Pam has become more and more annoying in my opinion. Yes, your boss dating your mother is weird, but they are both adults, so get over it. And for someone who's 6 months pregnant on the show, she really doesn't look it at all. But you know, I still love them as a couple.

7. Luke and Lorelai - Gilmore Girls

Again, another couple I've loved since the beginning of the show. They clearly bring out the best of each other, even though no one would think to pair scruffy Luke with quirky Lorelai. Thankfully, even after they broke off their engagement and spent most of the seventh season apart, they rekindled their love in the very last episode of the show.

There you have it. I know seven is a weird number, but I couldn't think of anyone else. Jon and Kate Gosselin used to make this list, but considering they're getting divorced and Jon has become the scum of the world, they don't really count. Kate might make my fabulous females list though. Hmmm... maybe that'll be my next list! Hooray for new ideas!

~Christine

how do you expect me to grow up if you don't let me?

Last night/early this morning, as I laid in bed, I contemplated the various TV couples through time who are my favorites. But now I'm too pissed to be cute and bubbly.

I am so sick and tired of people telling me what I should do with my life. No, I don't want to work at Target. No, I don't want to use the cell phone lot to pick up Bill. I've done the loop-around many times and it works just FINE. No, I don't want you to turn the lights on when you wake me up in the morning. Get your head out of your ass and start giving me the respect and PRIVACY I deserve! I had JUST gotten to the point where I was okay with getting a job, and now I'm not because someone couldn't mind their own damn business and had to turn a simple shopping trip into a job hunt. I AM NOT A FUCKING CHARITY CASE SO STOP TREATING ME LIKE ONE! Yes, I clearly have a problem, but I'm working through it on my own, so just fuck off and leave me alone.

This little trip to Dayton couldn't have come at a better time...

~Christine

I'd like a do-over, please

I wrote an entry earlier about food. But then the interwebs broke and when I had to restart, it went away. Sad. Oh well, moving on.

I'm awake. I wish I wasn't. I should be asleep right now and battling whatever it is I have. I'm starting to think that the sinus infection I had last week never left, but no worries because pneumonia hasn't been ruled out officially- yet. The medicine I'm taking for Disease X (as I'm starting to think it should be called) won't allow me to take antacids while I'm on the antibiotic, so of course tonight I have heartburn and can't take any Tums. So I'm resorting to a large glass of milk. I don't know why this remedy works, but it does. Something about the calcium?

Soooo... I'm a hot mess. I don't know why I do this to myself, but I spent almost an hour tonight going through tagged pictures of myself on Facebook. I know, I'm a narcissist, but really, who isn't? Okay, who in America isn't? Back on topic... I'm completely disgusted with myself. I have really let myself go, even since the end of summer. There are still cute pictures of me from the last (and second...) workie party shortly before I moved home. But now... ick. I have no pride in myself anymore. I started off okay, working out when I could, skipping dessert, that sort of thing. But now I just don't care anymore. I haven't worked out since the Friday of Bandcoming, and granted, I've been sick a lot since then, but that's not really a valid excuse. The simple fact of the matter is that I can't think of the last time I liked myself. Not just physically, but emotionally. I got to pictures from graduation back in May, and I feel like I was looking at pictures of a completely different person. I had ambition back then, I felt like I had something to live for. And now, here I am just a few short months later, and I can barely stand myself. I KNOW I need to get a job, and I KNOW I need to figure out what I'm doing with my life, but I just don't want to. I don't want to leave my house. Even though sometimes it barely feels like home, it's all I have right now, so it'll have to do. Maybe if I had made more of an effort to move in back in August, it would help things now. I'm STILL living out of suitcases and laundry baskets. Gradually, some essentials have moved into my room, but generally, nothing here is from college. If I want anything from the past 4 years, I have to go digging for it in a box in the garage. I don't even have my printer set up. And the worst part is that I don't care. I have no desire to change anything. I would be perfectly happy if I could spend every day of the rest of my life sitting on the couch watching TV and playing The Sims 3. That's a really scary thought. I'm going to turn into one of those rednecks living in a bathrobe watching daytime TV. And I'd never thought I'd become someone like that! I used to know what I wanted. And now I just don't know. I thought I was doing the right thing by spending so much time at home, but I don't think that's the case anymore. I told my mom on Monday that I'm afraid to leave because I'm afraid that I'll miss out on something. It's a core part of who I am, and now it's a problem. Even when I was little, I never wanted to take naps because I could miss out on something while I was asleep. And now I don't want to turn my back for a second because if I do, someone else could die. I'm still really shaken up from losing Nana and Grandpa this summer. And my Grandma isn't handling life well. And my Papa was diagnosed with emphysema and lung cancer today. And I would say that if I lost anyone else, I would lose it completely, but the last time I said that, my Grandpa died, so let's not go there.

I apologize if you actually read that monstrocity of a paragraph. But if you didn't and you skimmed down to here, let me spare you the gory details.

1. I don't like how I look.
2. I have no motivation to do anything with my life.
3. I still miss my Nana and Grandpa.
4. I live in fear that someone else will leave me.
5. I may be insane.

Time to finish my milk.

~Christine