Diecinueve

When asked which superpower I'd like to have, my default answer is flying. I am not abandoning my dreams of flight, but I think I've figured out the ultimate superpower.

Sleeping.

Not just normal sleeping, sleeping in an ideal situation.
Sleeping whenever you decide, that very instant.
Sleeping wherever you decide, that very spot.
Sleeping comfortably, with no aches and pains when you wake up.
Sleeping for however long you decide, and not a minute longer. There would be no need for alarm clocks--your body would just stop sleeping when you wanted to wake up!

Personally, I think I've struck gold. Now I just have to figure out how to make this a reality.

In the meantime, I'm gonna catch some z's... after I set my alarms.

Dieciocho

Although there is almost always a song stuck in my head, I am exceptionally bad at remembering lyrics. I have to go through and read them/sing along at least four or five times before I remember them, and I usually don't have that kind of time on my hands.

Fortunately, it's summer.

Since The Hush Sound is the band I've been listening to most recently, I decided to at least investigate the lyrics to one of their catchy songs (so I can sing along in the car).

As it turns out, it's kind of a sad song. These are the lyrics to the chorus:

As you cry, I wanna lie
Say I love you so, darlin' even though I don't
There's no easy way, to ease the pain
Roses and the tulips have
Withered away, they had their day
So it's time to say goodnight and goodbye

I found the upbeat and cutesy sound to be ironic matched with these lyrics. (Originally I thought it said, "I don't wanna lie, I love you so" which would make sense with the melody. Nope.)

In any case, it's a great song. You should listen to it.
Here's a link to a low quality YouTube video of them at one of their shows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdc4G072vNM

Diecesiete

For two years, my Toshiba laptop (affectionately referred to as "Mindy") has served me faithfully. She has her off days, but overall she's pretty reliable. She is named because it feels a little less crazy to yell at "Mindy" than ambiguous "computer".

Recently, I began noticing the crazy amounts of dust that were underneath the keys on the keyboard. Figuring there had to be some sort of device with which I could clean the keyboard, I called my dad to find out where I could find one of the keyboard cleaning contraptions. (I'll try to steer clear of the alliteration this time...) So Dad tells me I can simply pop off the keys and clean underneath of them. I'm hesitant, but he says they'll pop back on, no problem. He warns me that I should only remove and clean underneath one key at a time.

Yeah, right.

Thinking I'll just be really careful to keep the keys in order, I began taking off five to six of them at a time. I figured Dad was just concerned I'd forget where they keys were supposed to be. It never occurred to me that he might have had other reasons for telling me to only take off one key at a time. Reasons such as, they don't all attach the same way, and some of them won't go back on easily... or at all.

The arrow keys, as it turns out, are not attached the same as the other keys.

Oops.

Sorry, Mindy.

Dieciséis

Two blogs in one week? What?! Madness!!!

For those of you who never read my Facebook note about toothpaste (yes, I write about fantastic and interesting things), I use Listerine brand. They make a gel toothpaste that is incredibly strong and leaves my breath feeling minty fresh for hours. I don't really like other brands because my breath doesn't feel clean when I'm done brushing. Granted, it has always been a bit more expensive to stick with the Listerine brand, but I can scrimp and save in other areas of my budget--I refuse to compromise my oral hygiene. I can shop for clothes in thrift shops, buy generic brand food, and only buy used dvds... but I am not willing to negotiate on my toothpaste preference. I spent too many years in braces, expanders, rubber bands, headgear (yes, headgear; no, there are no photos), and a retainer to allow my teeth look anything short of spectacular.

But there is a problem. I think they may have discontinued Listerine brand toothpaste. It is no longer available in grocery stores or Walgreens. (And let's face it, if Walgreens doesn't have it, what hope is there?!)

It doesn't exist for cheaper than $4 online. I am extremely disheartened by this discovery.

Quince

In 7th grade, I took a "computer" class. I felt pretty slick, because we spent most of the class learning how to type correctly. I quickly figured out that I could whiz through each of the terrific timed typing tests (I like alliteration; I'm going to try to add some more) if I only learned to reach the big, blunt, beautiful backspace button. (Ok, that was a stretch--the backspace button isn't that attractive.) I was kicking butt in my typing class... or so I thought. Soon, the sad, startling secret behind my success showed itself; I was losing points each time I hit the backspace button.

What is that supposed to teach children? Are we supposed to sit back and say that solving our somewhat serious life situations is stupid and superfluous? "I realized you've discontinued the dilemma, but it's indubitably inconsequential, because your monumental mistake must make a mark on your life. For-ev-er." (Sandlot style.)

It's no wonder so many kids have self-esteem issues.

On a somewhat related sidenote, if I'm going to sacrifice capitalization or punctuation in a text or message, it'll always be capitalization. It is much easier for me to understand that "kris" was supposed to be "Kris" than it is for me to guess that "your" means "you're". (I also rarely capitalize my name. I think it looks better in all lower-case letters.)

Catorce

The joy known as asthma is currently dominating my life. As always, frustration leads to some analysis.

Alex made an excellent point in an email he wrote to me this week. He wrote this:

I hope you're feeling better, or if you're not, that you start to immediately! I don't know why people say "soon".
"I hope you start feeling better soon"... It's like they want you to suffer just a little more first.
Masochists.

Also, I don't understand why people are asking if I'm sick when I clearly sound like a man. I almost want to respond with, "No, I just thought I'd try something new." Here's your sign.

Trece

Sometimes if a minor incident occurs at the beginning of my day, I'm a little wary at what the rest of the day might bring. These incidents can be anything from spilling coffee all over myself, falling down the stairs, or smacking my head on the top bunk. (All of which I have done... more than once.)

This particular morning, I was the first person on the schedule for the desk, meaning I would perform the "opening" tasks. These include security rounds, calling Coro to let them know we're open, and physically cranking open the window. Opening is easy. Usually.

Today, however, just as I began to crank the window open, the lever snapped off. All of the sudden I was holding the lever and it was not attached to the window-opening mechanism. This left me with an open slit of about two inches where I could peek (very creepily, I might add) into the lobby.... and there was no way to actually open up the desk area. The emergency maintenance response was quick, and they ended up having to dismantle the entire cranking apparatus to find the problem. The guy said it was going to break sooner or later. (It figures it was during my shift.)

Although I was in shock that I "broke the desk", the situation didn't really surprise me.

*****

Update: Later, during the same glorious shift, I also managed to lock myself out of the desk area. This left me with one option: vault myself back over the counter. Excellent. I'm very acrobatic and coordinated and such, you see.

Doce

Consistency and reliability are pretty difficult characteristics to personify. Life gets in the way, sleep deprivation leads to forgetfulness, and priorities are imposed upon us. Nonetheless, I have been (for the most part) a consistent and reliable person... until recently. I can't figure out quite where the disconnect has been occurring, but somewhere between making plans, writing them down, and executing said plans I haven't been able to manage to keep up with things. I've always been the kind of person who makes lists and reminders on Post-Its, in planners, or on my hand. However, all of the aforementioned methods of reminding myself about what I am supposed to be doing seem to be failing me at the moment. I can't remember anything without it being written down. And sometimes I forget before I even have the chance to write it down; there's just no hope at that point. This is all very, very strange to me.

Once

At first glance, my title says "once", meaning "less than twice". It is actually Spanish for "eleven" and is pronounced "on-say".

I was in Hallmark today because I'm a nerd who likes sending cards to people. They have a wide variety of very specific card genres... "From Both Of Us" (who is "us"?), "For Father and Significant Other" (the girlfriend? the mistress? the fiance?), and "From the Dog". Now, the "From the Dog" genre never really bothered me. In my mind, it was an excuse to break the present limit. "No Honey, this one isn't from me--it's from Fido! See, the card even says so!" (Strange, but justifiable.) Today I found a card genre that said, "For the Dog."

Really, card companies?

(Brian Regan understands me. For proof visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj9KUwSGKOs&feature=related - enjoy!)

Diez

In retrospect, I should've made my blog names Spanish letters, not Spanish numbers. I never learned the Spanish alphabet, or at least it never made its way into my long-term memory. My freshman year in high school I learned a Spanish alphabet song, but it was an echo song where the class echoed the teacher. Once I left his class, I no longer knew what I was doing. Though I struggle to remember the verses I've forgotten, I know they've left me forever. I only hope I never have to spell something important in a Spanish-speaking country.

That was a fun class. I went to Europe that year with a group of students and my Spanish teacher. I got lost in Rome and it was one of the scariest adventures of my life. But I did eat the most delicious pizza ever. And far too much gelato.

Also in that Spanish class, I learned that it is perfectly acceptable to copy someone else's homework and in-class assignments as a way to learn a foreign language, as long as you make sure they are not an idiot.