Slacking off...

Yep, that's me. Slacking off this week. I'm going to go ahead and blame mental exhaustion from Jeopardy! last week, even though I know that excuse is already way old.

Tomorrow I plan to write a lengthy and probably semi-boring post about what it's like to be on the show. I am ONLY writing about my initial feelings. I can't give away how I did - and yes, the producers can and will find me and my little blog too - or I will not get my money. And nothing gets in the way of me and my stacks, yo.

I thought all day yesterday about April Fools' Day pranks and came up with nothing. My best prank of all time though was in 2001, when I called my stepmom from school and told her, through my surprisingly effective fake tears, that my sorority's charter had been revoked and we were all being told to leave the house immediately. I was going on and on: Where would I live? How would I afford it? Could I move home if I needed to? Bless her heart, my stepmom bought it hook, line and sinker, until I cracked up and told her "April Fools!" Yeah, she didn't sound overly impressed, but I know she was. I've always been a horrible liar but I finally got her.

Monday Musing - week off

I leave for LA today and the computer is staying home. So no Musings this week, but I will write as much as I can about my Jeopardy! experience when I get back.

Monday Musings - No. 1, Vol. 8

Next Monday, the husband and I will depart for the City of Angels for my Jeopardy! taping, which commences bright and early on Tuesday morning. I have to be at the studio by 8am...which is like, come-to-work-early. Oh well, if I win a lot of money, it'll be worth it. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's muse, shall we?

I do NOT like the new Facebook. I don't have time to sit there and sift through all the updates to figure out which is which. Grr.
This year, I might fill out my NCAA bracket like normal chicks do: "I like their uniforms" "They have the coolest mascot!" "The little guy that plays for this team is soooo cute" and voila...picks are done.
Granted, they are lame, but I'd sure like a Snuggie sometimes.
The internets should forbid me from looking at the local pug rescue website. Every time I go to see their adoptable pugs, I want at least two or three of them. Because I need another dog.
Why can't gyms use some sort of air sanitizer to prevent the place from smelling of sweaty dude stench? I hate that smell, especially when I catch a whiff just as I'm walking into the building. Not a great workout motivator, I gotta say.
Going back to the dog thing, our rescue pug, Boris, has decided that he's going to use our floors for his #2 business. I do not like this and do not know how to stop it, aside from taking him outside every 30 minutes as a precaution. This method sucks. Anyone have better ideas?
Do NOT read Blazers Edge the morning after an embarrassing road loss. It will make you crazy.
Jeopardy! training update: doing well, able to answer most of the questions before the actual contestants on the show. Hopefully I can translate this success into actual money next week.
What is the deal with the blouses at Banana Republic? If I wanted a maternity-eqsue top, I would just go to a maternity store and buy one. Jeez.
If I were a Memphis Tiger, I'd buy voodoo dolls, name them after each member of the NCAA Selection Committee, and go to town. Make it a teambuilding activity.

Paging Dr. Bowie...okay, Dr. Stardust

There is a condition that makes you feel dizzy and lightheaded, stumble while you walk, and feel like the room is spinning all the live long day, and no, it's not alcoholism - it's labyrinthitis. Now, those of you who watch The Office probably think said disease is on par with such well-known 'fake' diseases as Count Choculitis or Spontaneous Dental Hydroplosion. But labyrinthitis is very real. I know because I have it.

I've been battling various head colds and upper respiratory tract infections for the last month. Fun fact: grief does a real number on your immune system. Every germ that is flying around in the air has settled into my cozy bloodstream and taken up residence, or so it seems. Because I hate going to the doctor (and I do mean HATE it) I didn't bother going, because I figured all I had were viral infections, and what can a doctor do about those?

Of course, Mother Nature got the last laugh, as she often does, and I ended up calling the husband from work today because I was too dizzy to drive myself to urgent care, about 2 miles away. He took me to the clinic and we actually managed to get into see a doctor - okay, PA, whatever - right away. NOTE: If you are dizzy/lightheaded at urgent care, they will see you ASAP. No questions asked...this is awesome.

Long story short, the various colds did a number on my sinuses, which then took it out on my inner ears, leading to the inflammation and fluid buildup in my ears' labyrinths (see where I'm going here?) which caused my imbalance problems. I am now the proud owner of three prescriptions to relieve my symptoms and clear up the infection in my ears, but according to the PA, it can take up to 10 days for my dizziness to completely go away.

Monday Musings - Lost edition

Last week was a little hectic, so I didn't get a chance to watch Wednesday's Lost until today. Holy time travel snag, Batman. The musings today are dedicated to the newest Dharmanians, because frankly, I can't stop thinking about it.

So, is Resurrected Locke in 1974 with the rest of them, or is he in the present time? I imagine he's gotta be in '74 also, but the people he crash-landed with were hanging out in a Dharma station, and I don't remember seeing any Dharma peeps manning it.
Sawyer + Juliet = RAD. I really used to like the whole Sawyer-Kate dynamic but I now prefer him with Juliet. She's good for him.
Who knew that Jin's hair was so curly?
Speaking of missing Ajirra Airlines flight 316ers, where is Ben? And who beat the living hell outta him before they got on the plane? I think it was Kate, or maybe Angry Sun pistol-whipped him.
For someone who seems so omnipresent, Richard Alpert can be pretty danged dense at times.
Now we know how Faraday knew about that donkey wheel - and why he was there when that creepy Marvin Candle discovered the 'odd energy source' in the season premiere.
Speaking of our favorite marooned time-travel expert, I'm excited to see him interact with the Young Charlotte.
Desmond? Wherefore art thou? I hope he's in 1974 also - with Penny and Charlie.
What sort of random Dharmajobs do you think Jack, Hurley, et al will be assigned? So far all the Oceanic/freighter folk appear to work menial jobs (i.e., security, motor pool).

So yeah...I have a lot of questions after last week's episode, and according to ABC, I have almost two weeks to mull them over, reach my own conclusions, and be proven wrong when the next episode airs. Namaste!

Monday Musings, Vol. 1, No. 6

I've spent most of my time since last Tuesday in a Jeopardy-induced haze, so the musings may not be a sharp as they usually are. Oh, who am I kidding? You and I both know this regular feature of my blog is hazy too. Let's venture into the mystic together, shall we?

Coming up with 5 (and more!) interesting 'one-liners' about yourself that are appropriate for sharing with a national TV audience is not easy. Especially if you are boring, like me.
The next time a stray cat comes into my yard, I'm chucking rocks - big ones - at its head. I'm TIRED of strays using my yard as their personal fight club and/or toilette.
Wanna buy a house? Relatively cheap? Let me know. We're listing ours in month or two.
I like Channing Frye. I think he's funny, self-aware, and intelligent. I realize those aren't the three most important characteristics of an NBA player, but I don't care. He's rad.
I can't get over my fear of being filmed in HD. If I have a zit during Jeopardy! it is going to drive me batcrap crazy.
My order of contact lenses are at the optician's office. However, said optician's office is only open Mon-Fri, 8:30am-5pm and closed from 12-1pm for lunch. Soooo...when am I supposed to go and pick them up?
I love our new desk for the home office. Of course, after using Nick's old ratty college desk for the last 5 years, anything's an improvement.
I'm going to the gym today after work. This is the first workout day since my dad died. I never thought I'd look forward to going to the gym, but today I am.
T-minus 15 days until St. Patty's. Get ready.
Okay, I get it: the digital TV conversion was supposed to happen last month, so a bunch of shows decided to go on hiatus during that time. Well, the conversion got pushed to this summer, so why didn't the networks start showing new episodes instead of taking weeks off? If I don't get a new Gossip Girl soon, I'ma lose it.
Does anyone have tips for finding cheap flights from PDX-LAX? Searching for reasonable non-stop fares is like trying to find the proverbial needle in the proverbial haystack.
I love Will Ferrell. And thank you NBC for showing his "Best of" SNL episode last night.
Blazers are 5th in the West. It's go time.

This person is going to be a Jeopardy! contestant

Who is...me?!?!?

Yes, 'tis true. I'm fulfilling one of my childhood dreams (probably the only one I will ever fulfill, but who knows) and getting the chance to compete on Jeopardy! next month. My taping dates are March 24-25 in LA, but I don't yet know when my show(s) will air.

This all started last year when I took the online contestant test - on a whim, thanks to my former co-worker Adrea, who suggested I do it - in January. I received an email from the Jeopardy! team informing me that I scored high enough on the test to merit a spot at the in-person auditions being held in Portland that March. So I show up to the auditions, pretty freakin' nervous, wondering how many of the 19 of us would actually get a coveted spot in the contestant pool. Turns out, all of us at that point were 'in'...for the next 18 months. However, the producers made it clear that just being in the pool was not a guarantee of actually getting on the show.

Fast forward to nearly 11 months later, and I figure that I'm not going to get my chance. I haven't been actively studying or testing myself at home against actual contestants on the show...I am as unprepared as can be. But let me tell you: I'm making up for lost time now! Cram sessions with friends, scoring myself against the contestants on the show, tracking my hypothetical wins/losses - all of it in the hopes that I will be successful in my quest to be a Jeopardy! champ.

Stay tuned to find out how it all goes!

Monday Musings - No. 1, Vol. 5

The musings are back. I know, I know...exciting! Woo-hoo! Okay, so maybe you aren't THAT excited, but I am. Another notch in my 'new normal' belt, you see. So without further ado, enjoy:

I got my Red Sox Nation membership card in the mail. It came with a Sox cap, a decal, and a weird photo of my name on the scoreboard at Fenway. If you catch me talking about things as 'wicket' this or 'wicket' that, please remind me to knock it off.
New flavor of Sun Chips: Spicy Chipotle. Soooo good.
I'm officially in love with Kate Winslet. She is incredible, and listening to her answer inane press room questions with honesty and a sense of humor after her Oscar win just made me love her even more.
Benadryl comas are good for getting over a cold. Especially the lingering Grief Cold that kept me down all of last week.
Ash Wednesday is this week, so it's probably a good thing I've been on somewhat of a fast during the last two weeks. Should prevent the dreaded rumbly tummy between meals on Wednesday.
If you are a Seattle-area driver, please explain to me why everyone thinks it's necessary to stay in the left lane(s) of I-5, even if you are not and clearly have no intention of passing anyone.
I want to take a nap. Right now.
I found my old Boyz II Men CD in my old room at my parents' house while I was there recently. Oh good times...and before you ask, it is their classic 1994 "II" CD.
Sometimes I think that if I tried hard enough and knew the right people, I could be the first commercially-viable white female rapper. I mean, that's crazy, I know, but I think about it anyway.
Seriously, I really want to take a nap. I have three articles to write for work that are due, um, TODAY and I just have zero motivation to write them. Ugh.
Feliz Cumpleanos to Gurdave! Lemme guess...25 again, right?

Words Is Hard Sometimes

Although I enjoy my blog and the 3 of you that actually read it, I keep it on the lighter side of things because a) this ain't a private blog and b) serious writing is for personal journals. But I feel like I need to write a little bit about my blogging absence the last week and a half, and hopefully it doesn't sound all weird and stuff.
So, those of you who know me well enough know that my dad died on February 6th. It came out of NOWHERE and even worse, our relationship had been strained for over a year when this happened. Because of all this, I've had a hard time figuring out what to write here that will sound like ME again. And I came to the conclusion that for now, anyway, I'm not the me I was 10 days ago.
I miss my dad so much...and even writing 'so much' seems inadequate. I'm beyond thankful for the years I had with him, because several of my friends lost their fathers at even younger ages. I'm glad he was able to see me graduate from high school and college, and walk me down the aisle when I got married. But it's hard knowing that he won't ever get to hold my someday-children, or be around for holidays, or grow old with my stepmom. Right now it's easy - well, easy-ish I guess - to do normal things and forget for a while that he's gone. But when my mind goes idle, and my thoughts wander, I think of those things he's missing or going to miss, and suddenly my eyes tear up and I feel sadder than ever.
If there is one good lesson to be learned from this, it's this: Always love. Yeah, it's the title of a Nada Surf song, but it works. I know that my dad loved me and that I loved him, but we didn't say it as often as we should have, especially over the last year. If I could do things differently, I would. I regret that I let my pride and stubbornness keep me from letting him know that even when we had our differences, I loved him just as much as when we weren't at odds. As cliche as it sounds, sometimes tomorrow doesn't come...so you need to make every day count. Tell someone you love that you love them, no matter what.
And Dad...wherever you may be...I love you. I always have and I always will.

Obligatory Weekly Post

I set myself a goal of at least one blog post per week this year. But this week has been rough, to say the least, and writing a smarmy/witty/random blog post hasn't been high on my list of priorities. But a goal is a goal, and so here's my weekly post. I apologize that it isn't more fun to read, but it's my blog and if I want to write a fairly useless post from time to time to keep my weekly posting goal intact, then so be it.
I shall return next week and hopefully with more interesting things to write about.