Best & Worst

Today was all about extremities. On the one hand, I am discovering that the not being able to breathe part of being sick was not so bad. I guess imagined all the goop in my lungs magically disappearing. I was very wrong. This is very disgusting.

On the other hand, today happened to be my favorite day of the entire year: Girlscout cookie delivery day. I suppose as a young professional woman, I should be against girls in silly outfits selling cookies. I'm perpetuating a stereotype or something. But they're so darn yummy. Mmmmm.... Samoas. I really do love the crispy cocoanut, the gooey caramel, the crunchy cookie, the waxy chocolate.... It's a good thing they don't sell these year round.

Recovery

"Yea" for antibiotics. I'm one of those people who likes to deny that I'm sick. This time I gave up and went to the doctor and I'm very glad I did. No more bronchitis for Aleisha.

On that note, I'd like to mention that while I was laid up, I started reading "Tales From the 1001 Nights" for fun. I think "The Princess Bride" has convinced me that I need an adventure book to read whenever I'm sick. Anywhoo, I get to this story called "The Historic Fart". I giggled a little. Deep down, I'm a 5 year old boy. The adult part of me assumed that "fart" was probably something different in this context. Well, it wasn't. It was a story about a fart so huge that it was remembered for years. These stories are ancient and they almost all take place in Baghdad. I think it should be safe to say that the US and Iraq have more in common than we'd like to admit. Can't you imagine a bunch Al Queda sitting around, laughing at each other's farts? All boys are the same.

Pretty In Pink

Call me shallow, but sometimes, things make me very happy. I don't need stuff to feel good, but I sure do love that feeling of satisfaction when I find something GREAT at a GREAT price. I'm a happy lioness feelin' pretty damn good about a pretty pink coat. It looks a lot like this one http://www.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=144302&CategoryID=15080. It was originally $140, and I got it for 50 bucks! "Woo" for me. Now I just need some pointy shoes, a big white tote bag, and a job to wear it to. My current job is more "Gap" and this jacket calls for a "Banana Republic" sort of job. Time to hit Monster! I apologize if I'm making anyone nauseous... It's just so pretty! :)

Calling All Musicians!

Instead of a usual Blog entry, today this is a "wanted ad". I'm bored. You are all very aware of this. I've been complaining about my boredom for the last few weeks, and I've decided to do something about it. I need a design project. I'm specifically looking for a band/singer who is serious about marketing their music and looking for an album cover/website/posters/whatever. I am willing to do the first project free of charge (anything after that, we'll play by ear). With this cruddy economy, I can't get any interviews without 3 yrs experience. I'm putting in my three years... but I'm not doing much designing. I realized yesterday that my last large project was almost a year ago. This three-year hiatus also isn't doing much for my portfolio. I want a project that is "artistic" by nature and I want to work with someone who will give me plenty of freedom. I'm not set on working with a band. It just sounded fun. So, anyone interested at all, please contact me at postmaster@aleishaknight.com or leave a comment on this post. To view my online portfolio, go to http://aleishaknight.com/graphicdesign.html. I only ask that if you request my services, you intend on actually using what I create. (I don't want to make a poster for your imaginary band.) Thanks!

The Sun's Shine-Shinen'

Around 1:00 today, I finished up some work on our model search, went to my car, put the windows down, put the shades on, cranked the radio (Kid Rock's "Cowboy" was playing), laid some rubber and lifted some dust, and passed 2 Humvees and a Viper on my way to the McDonald's two miles from work. This is not the town I grew up in anymore.

But it's April and 70-some degrees. Nothing can bring me down.

Luckie

This is my stupid cat and this is where she sits all day, toasting in the window. (This picture is from about a month ago- note the SNOW in the reflection!!!)

I'm So Tired, But I Can't Sleep

I couldn't sleep last night. I know that I saw 4:30 at least. And when I finally did go out, I had a weird dream about shopping at Ikea with Matt from "the Clique" and his non-existent identical twin brother. They left me there. Matt, why did you and your twin brother ditch me at Ikea???

At least this was a relatively normal dream. More often than not, I'm being chased by zombies or cannibal pygmies. Someone or something is always trying to eat me in my dreams. Strange, huh?

On to happier things. I may be doing a touch of modeling for a photographers' workshop thing this summer. The instructors for my class are the Simones, world famous photographers who charge thousands of dollars for a session. (Here are some examples http://www.simoneportrait.com/photo-index.html ) I'm very excited. The images will be gorgeous and I get a CD to keep. I just hope it all works out and I'm not having a bad hair day or something.

La la...la la... In-Com-Plete!

Maybe I'd been trapped indoors for too long. Maybe I'd been scraping ice off of my car for too many days. Whatever it was, I have never been so relieved to have nice weather in my entire life.

I spent the ENTIRE day outside rollerblading, running around, and sitting on the porch while my poor cat stared out the window at me. She had her little nosed pressed up against the glass, and actually made me feel sorry for her for a bit.

Wait, before all cat lovers all over the world start sending me angry emails, let me just say that I love cats. I'm totally a cat person, and I adore my baby as much as I possibly can. She just isn't very affectionate, so it's hard for me to really connect to her. That and she's such an idiot.

One more thing. Please forgive me, but I really do like the new BSB song, "Incomplete". I heard it for the first time today- it's almost all AJ singing with a symphonic background. (Oh please, I was in high school during the summer of "I Want it That Way", I'm allowed to know their names.) Anywhoo, the song is quite beautiful and I've been humming it all day. I'm officially 40. Bring it on.

Meow.

Well, I've had a busy week, and learned some very important lessons.

First, apparently, an interstate can be physically one road, suddenly become "two" roads in one and therefore have its mile markers and exits start with different numbers. Thank you I-69-96. (Jamie is LAUGHING!!!)

Second, no matter how bad your day was, bagel pizzas, alcohol, ice cream, and a best friend you haven't seen in months will make it all better. (This is feeling a little like a credit card commercial... bagel pizzas... $2.00 ... Ben & Jerry's Caramel Sutra... $4.00 ... Giant bottle of Arbor Mist... $7.00 ... Girls' Night In... Priceless!)

Finally, cars are not sound-proof. I know they seem that way when you're parked somewhere, but sometimes people can hear your conversations. And poor Karen had a middle-aged dad asking for her number all because I opened my big mouth when his Abercrombie& Fitch-good-looking son walked by. Wow. He was hot. ;)

Alright kids, the night is young, I have a big pile of movies to watch (I've already gone through "Ocean's 12" - fun, but not as good as the first, "Flight of the Phoenix" - awful, but the whiney-aeronautical-engineer-Nazi guy is intriguing, and "Maverick" - it always makes me smile.) Next up, "Batman Returns". Love that Tim Burton. Love that Christopher Walken. Love that Catwoman suit.

Mmmm Mmmm Good

I have been spending entirely too much time on the internet the last week or so. For one thing, I'd like to know why people choose to use "Japanimation" characters in places where their picture should go. Maybe I have an overgrown ego, but I'm proud of my identity, and I'd rather not hide behind a cartoon. I suppose it's less "anonymous", but they could at least choose other kinds of artwork. I'm a giant RPG fan and I love the style in that context, but does every cartoon-representation have to have blue spiky hair?

I've also realized that I'm one poor, unusual soul wandering the universe. Sometimes I wake up with a great desire to don my pretty khakis and scamper the streets of NYC, singing a chorus of "I Enjoy Being a Girl". Sometimes I wake up and want to stay at home, playing KOTOR as my Jedi alter-ego, Liah Averrod. Other days I want to paint, and then watch a "film". I've always realized that I have a unique combination of interests, but I seriously can't find many people that I have much in common with! I'm becoming a very lonely, schitzophrenic stew of stereotypes.

Nothing Much

I've been taking long walks in the woods the last week or so, enjoying the beautiful weather and trying to get a bit of exercise before the weeds come out. I was doing the same today, and I took my camera along to use up all of my old black& white film. I was looking through the viewfinder and very nearly stepped on a big, icky snake that was crawling along very slowly. Of course, I started screaming "Oh my God! Eeeeeh! Oh my God!" and running away like a big idiot. Guess that's the end of my walks. It's back to pilates.

Ugh... the weekend isn't long enough. I have to go to a program/ conference thing in Lansing this Tuesday, and I'm positively dreading it. But I get to see Karen at any rate. Yea!

Irreverent Comments

First, spare me one old-lady moment. I'm looking out my back patio and the sun is just below the horizon, illuminating the sky in blues, purples, reds and pinks. Every now and then, I am reminded of how lucky I am to have a 180 degree view that extends all the way to the horizon, with no trace of human life. Gorgeous.

Ok, time for the irreverent comment I promised you. The Pope used to be hot. The news keeps showing pictures of him when he was young, and I would have hit on him if I had been a member of his parish in 1940-whatever.

That brings me to my next thought- I have been doing some research on my family tree recently and have discovered that I'm mostly German and Polish, with a dash of Hungarian (this explains the nose....) and the great-great-granddaughter of some impoverished indentured servants. My families came to the US in the late 1870's to avoid starvation. This totally kills all of those "Princess Diary" daydreams I had when I was about 12. What a bummer.

Does Your Truck Offer the Most Torque of Any Gas HD Pickup?

I'd like to take this moment to express my pathetic devotion to the TV sensation that is "Lost". Yes, I tune in every week, looking for those "hidden clues". I actually know all of the character's names, including the dog. And of course, I have plenty of running theories on the "mystery" behind the island. At first I thought they were dead, then I thought they were in the Bermuda Triangle. My current favorite is that they all moved through some sort of hyper-dimensional wormhole and are now in an alternate universe. No matter how you slice it, I'm far too into this show for a first season. My Wednesday nights are officially filled for the next three to five years.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
I tried the Tropicana(?) Fruit Smoothie for the first time today and was very disturbed. Somehow, drinking yougurt mixed with juice is NOT appealing. It tasted fine, but I just couldn't get past the drinking-yogurt thing. Save yourself the effort. On a similar note, the new "Smoothie Mix" Skittles get a big thumbs-up.

One last thing. I'm turni (AHHHHHH- my alarm clock just started blasting Marvin Gaye at me out of nowhere!!!) ...ahem. I'm turning into an incarnation of Jane Austen's "Emma". I started plotting yesterday to take this sweet, naieve girl under my misguided wing and do a little match-making. God help us all.

White Padded Room

It's a Monday night, I'm listening to some "Hey Jude", and I'm so exhausted I'm about to fall over face first into my open bag of Smoothie Mix Skittles.

Again, I'm placing the blame on DST. Of course, to make matters worse, I came across an old day planner from college last night, and had a minor quarter-life crisis that spanned from feeling like I've sold-out and given up, to a flare up from my ticking biological clock. The underlying life-issues that I don't have time to think about during the day always catch up to me the second I turn the light off. Why do I suddenly start worrying about becoming a pathetic old spinster woman at 2am, when all I really want to do is sleep? Why does that progress into an in-depth analysis of my entire personality? -Is there something wrong with me? Why do I push everyone away?- Before I know it, I'm trying to quantify every aspect of my life. The problem is, I can't step outside of myself and look at my life from an objective perspective. How many people really can? It's a vicious cycle, one-hundred percent in my control, one-hundred percent my fault, and yet I always find a way to blame it all on God instead.

Salvete!

Let me just start by saying how much I despise Daylight Savings Time. It's completely ridiculus, and I'm greatly opposed to anything that disturbs my sleep schedule. So there it is.

In addition to the whole "lost hour" thing, I slept in unusually late, so I'm feeling a bit off balance. You may notice that as you read this.

Anywhoo, I got up and started my journey into the Latin language. All those years of Spanish (and Karen's French!) are finally proving useful. I'm finding my first few lessons much less daunting than I expected. Maybe someday I'll find a good use for this language too.

Today has been pretty quiet otherwise. I went on a long walk- it is beautiful outside, the snow is finally melting, and my legs could use some toning. I also spent lots of time online today... only to find that I can't "Google" my name anymore. Some stupid little girl actress also named "Aleisha" has taken all the good spots on the search engines. Damn that "Are We There Yet"! So I'm determined to destroy her career one way or another and reclaim my spot. Anyone have any ideas?

Si vales, valeo!

It's a Beautiful Day

To my amazement, today wasn't so bad. I spent most of the day with my niece, running around outside, playing "airplane" and blowing bubbles. When I wasn't looking, she stopped being a toddler and turned into a little girl.

I also spent some time working on my website. It needed to be reworked and "prettied up". I haven't posted any changes yet - I plan on doing some more work tomorrow and posting it all at once. As a graphic designer, I can't help but feel very embarrassed of my current website. It really sucks. Of course, after designing and retouching all day, working on my own things never sounds appealing.

One last thing. Today I decided to learn Latin. Anyone who knows me is probably aware of my obsession with Roman history, so it isn't that shocking. I've always been interested and always have had a certain aptitude for it. This evening I finally went to Borders and got myself a grammar book, a dictionary, and a Caramocha. Ok, and one of those cool blue travel mugs. I justified the purchase by saying it was all in honor of the pope. I realize I'm not Catholic, but you can't just tell someone you've randomly decided to learn a dead language without throwing a tiny bit of a not-funny joke in there. Someone might think I'm weird. :)

More Monotony

Ugh. I'm so tired, I alliterated my title. But considering I'm new to this whole "blogging" thing and it still hasn't lost it's charm, here I am typing anyway.

So my day was as boring as usual. I went to work, made people look better, questioned my life choices while waiting on hold... I spent a half an hour of my life removing scabs from the lips of some old man's portrait. Besides feeling somewhat sick to my stomach, I couldn't help but ask myself, "What the hell am I doing?". All I ever really wanted to do was make nice logos and brochures.

On a positive note, I did a little shopping after work. I'm desperately trying to restrain myself from doing too much vacation shopping (I don't leave for Maui until the end of June!!!) but I just can't help it. One can never truly have too many pairs of flip-flops and tank-tops.

Well, that's about it. I am planning on doing a little spring cleaning on the ol' web site tomorrow, so watch for big changes at aleishaknight.com.