So in my neck of the woods there are less than 2 hours left of 2004. It’s certainly been an interesting year, filled with lots of good things, such as getting my certificate in Computer Graphic Design with a straight 4.0 average all the way through and acquiring housing after being in a domestic violence homeless shelter for almost 2 1/2 years.
I also allowed myself to let go of my childhood view of my mother and start to be able to see her for the selfishly manipulative person that she is right now, and be okay with that and love her anyway, even if I cannot be close to her.
Not a bad year overall for personal growth, either. At least, I thought so until a few months ago.
How about New Year’s resolutions? Are you making any? Do you usually? Do you stick to them? I think this year I might skip the resolution thing. Or maybe just resolve to be a total bitch to everyone I see all year long, then when I try and fail miserably I might actually still feel good about it.
How is everyone’s New Year’s Eve turning out? It’s quiet here, the kids are watching Ghost In The Shell and looking like they may not make it to midnight, and this is yet another year for me that I have only the kids to spend New Year’s with. Not that they aren’t great. Just…adult company would be nice right about now. Adult company that doesn’t leave me feeling hollow and empty and filled with despair when it walks out the door.
(the rest is slightly depressing self-reflective stuff)

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Penned by: Tricia | 5 Comments »

The other night I watched Tank Girl for like the thousandth time. I swear, that movie has to be one of the most gloriously campy B movies of all time. But I love it. Lori Petty is ingenious. I get to hear one of my favorite Portishead> songs. I get to see yet another strange and interesting role done by that cutie-pie Ice T. Women kick ass, take names, and save the day (like THAT is any surprise).

Tank Girl (Rebecca) and her friends are the only remaining citizens living in the wasteland that is Earth, where all the remaining water is controlled by Water and Power, the mega corporation/government that runs the territory. While incarcerated at W + P, Tank Girl and her new friend Jet Girl break out and steal… a tank and a jet. After meeting some mutant kangaroo/humans, and rescuing her little girl (adopted by her friends), the kangaroos and the girls kick Water and Powers’ butt.

Oh, who am I kidding, I think I just have a deep-seated desire to wear rockets on my boobs and make it with kangaroo men.

Penned by: Tricia | 3 Comments »

I was having a strange issue with my recent comments script (among a few other things) since upgrading to MT 1.4. It was quite annoying, but thanks to Mandi, first for telling me that said problem was messing up my entire template, then for allowing me to pick at her brain a bit, everything is now back in working order. Thanks, girl! Now if I could just figure out why I am not receiving comment notifications from unregistered commenters, like in MT land would be zen.
I finally got around to changing up my radio.blog. Here is the new playlist, so feel free to have a listen if you want.

• Alicia Keys – Karma
Common ft. Erykah Badu – The Light
• De La Soul – It’s Like That
• Erykah Badu ft. The Roots and D’Angelo – The Hypnotic
• Floetry – Sunshine
• Heather Headley – I Wish I Wasn’t
• Kirk Whalum ft. Wendy Moten – All I Do
• Lauryn Hill – Nothing Even Matters
• LLCoolJ – Hush
• Mariah Carey – Through the Rain
• Sade – King of Sorrow
• Truth Hurts – Addictive

I dropped Gregory off at the Boys and Girls Club for a few hours today. It was a necessary solution to get a few hours of peace, since the boys have been at each other’s throats for the past few days. I suppose that’s only natural after being in close quarters for vacation, but I, for one, was very very glad there was somewhere to send him for a little bit. Too bad there was nowhere for DJ to go, too.
Yesterday we went out in the dirty slushy lovely winter wonderland so that Gregory and I could get some much-needed boots (DJ got his almost 2 months ago). We ended up with some very nice ones, and our feet are much happier.
Then we went to go see Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. (Synopsis follows)

The Baudelaire siblings are likable and clever. Violet (Emily Browning), age 14, is one of the greatest young inventors the world has ever known. Her brother Klaus (Liam Aiken), age 12, is a reader and researcher of extraordinary knowledge and skill. And their baby sister Sunny has sharper teeth than most beavers.
Unfortunately, none of this can alter the fact that after their parents perish in a terrible fire, the Baudelaires are placed in the care of Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), a man who is either a demented evil genius or an egomaniacal actor. Aided by a troupe of theatrical misfits, he hatches one outrageous plot after another to get his hands on the orphans’ vast inheritance.

Now, mind you, this is one series that I have just NOT been able to turn Gregory on to reading. He has the first two books, then I just gave up, because they have lain unread (except by me) for like a year. I enjoyed them well enough, and when I saw the previews for the movie I thought they nailed the “feel” of the books right on the head. And I was right. Now, I normally am not a big fan of Jim Carrey’s, but for the role of Count Olaf, his over-the-top style was quite warranted. I found the movie very entertaining, with a good mix of suspense, humor, horror, inventions, and adventure. And it was hilarious to hear the kids going “Ahh!!,” “Oh my gosh!” and “Whoaaaaa!” all through it. It was a bit…compressed…but then, it was the first three books in one, so this is of course to be expected. But I did like it, and, unlike some other movies we have seen, I felt like my movie money was well-spent. I give it a 4/5.

Penned by: Tricia | 8 Comments »

I won 50 MORE credits from BE, then not 2 clicks later, won 25, and then 2 clicks later won another 2! Is someone trying to tell me to stop surfing so much and get a life??

Penned by: Tricia | 3 Comments »

Umm…I apologize if this post horrifies anyone, but it would NOT leave my mind until it came out.

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Penned by: Tricia | 6 Comments »

OK, OK, everyone else is blogging about BE, so why not me? (Ohhhh, I am being a follower..be still, my tainted heart.) Plus, I just won 50 credits, so I am feeling better about BE than I have previously.
I know I am not the most prolific or witty or informative of writers, but BE seems to make me want to write more. I find myself racking my brains for something to write about. Is this normal? I find myself wondering what exactly it is that will not only bring people here, but keep them around a bit longer than 30 seconds. I don’t feel as if I have a “niche blog” such as a Mommy blog (although I post about my kids) or a political blog (although I post about politics as it moves me) or a snarky blog (umm…I don’t think I am capable of snarkiness…more’s the pity) or even a religious blog, although I suppose some parts of my site have that component. (Geeze, that’s a lot of ‘althoughs’ in one sentence.)
So what is the elusive ‘blog mojo’, hmm? I don’t suppose I will ever find out, but in the meantime, I am having a blast reading all of the new and wonderful blogs out there. So keep them coming. And let me know if there is anything I can do to make this site better, or at least, less boring for the 30 seconds you are trapped here like a cyberfly amongst a gossamer-threaded cage.
That said, I do enjoy BE. It’s kind of like a roller coaster where you can’t see over the next hill to know if it is just a little dip or one of those looooong thrill hills.

Penned by: Tricia | 8 Comments »

It appears I am currently in the middle of a major comment spam attack. I deleted well over 100 of them this morning, with more coming. So, temporarily, I have had to suspend all comments except for those from registered TypeKey users. I hope to reopen the comments to unregistered visitors shortly. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Hope everyone is having a terrific holiday! As you can see, I put up a new skin today, although the holiday one is still available in the skins directory. Please feel free to let me know if anything looks horribly wrong.
On another note, it snowed today! A day late, but beautiful nonetheless. I will see if I can post a picture or two later on.
[EDIT time='7:15pm'] Comments appear to be working correctly once again. I am trying to figure out how to add a captcha system to my blogs, but for now I can’t seem to wrap my Christmas-pie-stupor-induced brain around the issue. I wish I could afford ExpressionEngine.[/EDIT]

Penned by: Tricia | 2 Comments »

I have noticed a new and interesting thing that DJ does. Anytime there is something open in the house, whether it is a kitchen cabinet, a closet door, or even a drawer, he goes CRAZY. I’m not talking about just telling me the thing is open. I’m saying that as SOON as he sees it, he is like, “Moooooooom, you left that open.” And if I need it open for something, I’ll just kind of be like “Mmmhmm,” and keep doing what I am doing. Only to turn around and find that the said door is already closed. Or, if it is a cabinet out of reach, here comes DJ with his stepstool from the bathroom so that he can climb up and reach the door to close it. Or he is simply jumping up and down reaching up with his hand. (It’s scary that he is almost tall enough for this to succeed.) There have been times when he even resorts to lugging the 2-step stepstool from the hall closet to aid him in his door-shutting endeavors.
If he can’t get the door closed, he whines like a broken-down fire engine. “Mom, close it, close it, CLOSE IT!” until I am at the point where I want to leave it open just BECAUSE.
No…really, I DID need that cabinet door open. I didn’t open it just to see his reaction. Really! I’m innocent!
So at what age does obsessive-compulsive disorder usually make itself known, anyway?

Penned by: Tricia | 4 Comments »

So this is our little tree. There is a nice story behind this tree. Two years ago I had already been in the DV shelter for 6 months and was feeling pretty down. One of the things I had had to leave behind was my old tree and all of my decorations and whatnot, including old decorations that Gregory had made when he was little. I was feeling pretty down about that. Anyway, this dear woman and I had been chatting for a while, and when she found out why I had been so down, she asked me if there was a Walmart around there, because she worked at one in another state. I said yes, and she told me to hang on a second. About 15 minutes later, she told me to go down to Walmart and pick up our tree.

That moment renewed a lot of my faith in other people, and in the holiday season in general. I love this tree.

And here is one gratuitous shot of the munchkin, just because he was being especially cute this morning. I especially love how, with his fingers like that, he looks like he has one massive unibrow.

Penned by: Tricia | 2 Comments »

This next post is a very long, contemplative soliloquy that I have been needing to get out of my system for a few.

So, if you are just visiting for your Blog Explosion credits, feel free to wait your 30 seconds and move on. The rest of the post is in the ‘more’ section for those that wish to stay a bit longer.

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Penned by: Tricia | 3 Comments »