Success!

There are many ways to define success in this lifetime, along with many aspects of our lives where we can achieve it.

Today, I define my summer as a success because I just got to see my sister and she said, "I don't think I've ever seen you that tan. Or with a tan at all, really."

BECAUSE I NO LONGER WORK IN A BASEMENT, BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, it was the best thing ever. No matter what, after this summer? I win.

(Anxiety about the first day of school is coming. Shut the fuck up with all the "Back to School" shit Office Depot. No one is talking to you.)

Song of the day: Pocket Full of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield.

Recession

First, before I get all serious, if you want other nostalgia from my college years, see Jay's blog about High Life. It cracked me up. But only go look if you've got a lot of time for the You Tube-ing. (Tubing?)

Onto some social commentary. Or at least something resembling it.

I keep hearing all of this talk about whether or not we are in a recession, and all this talk of people cutting corners and losing their homes, and to be honest, it sort of goes right over my head. As someone who has been "voluntarily" unemployed since March, believe you me, I know a thing or two about cutting corners. But it felt like it was just me cutting back until recently. Not in a self-centered way, but knowing that I had to cut corners made sense and I didn't really feel like I saw it happening around me. I was walking down one of the big streets in my neighborhood, and I counted 4 cute little boutique-y stores with "Store Closing" signs in the window. Then today, I heard that a very good friend of mine was laid off by a company that I used to work for. I have mixed emotions about the company, but I was always happy that they seemed to be good to her. And she seems fine, but I am pissed on her behalf. She's very "Everything happens for a reason" but I am totally sending some evil eye in their direction.

I don't know. Just everyone out there? Try to put a little money away for a rainy day, but I'll keep hoping for sunny skies over you.

Song of the day: Money, Money, Money by ABBA/Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia. (PS- go see this movie. It just makes me happy.)

Enunciation

It's a beautiful evening here in Chicago, so I'm sitting here with all of my doors and windows open. I can always hear crowd noise when the Cubs are playing, but a few minutes ago, I could actually understand that they were chanting "Cardinals Suck". So I went to check, and they are, in fact, playing the Cardinals. That is bizarre.

In honor of that, it's a Song of the day double play- two different songs called Stutter! Because I can't decide which one makes me happier- the Elastica song or the Joe song (f/Mystikal.) One is very high school, the other is college, and I just can't make the call. One is edgy, the other makes me think I should head over to 201 and see if I can snag a free beer, and since it's Sunday night, maybe try to make it in time for some POS voting. Ah, the old days...

PS- Trel, you totally need to have guest bloggers tell their favorite POS stories and just tell your folks not to read your blog for a few days.

This could be trouble.

I've been home watching approximately 15 mins. of the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics, and I've already heard a story that made me tear up a little. Seriously Olympic commentators? You have to hit me in the heart strings that soon? You're going to show me an adorable 9-year-old who saved his classmates after an earthquake and expect me to keep it together? Seriously, Yao Ming, how are you not just totally tempted to eat that kid's face? He's so cute.

You may be asking too much.

Go Team USA.

But the song of the day is directly to you, Mr. Commentators. (And it's a quick shout out to Jenn- I hope no one will play any games with your heart, either. Fingers and toes crossed, perhaps even a prayer or two.) Quit Playing Games by the Backstreet Boys! Lackey, I think you'll like this one, too.

Dirty girl

Dear Guitar Teacher,

Oh, GT. If you want me in your room, you don't have to make up a silly story about your power being out except for the one outlet that just happens to be in your bedroom. Seriously. I'll go willingly.

XOXO,

Rachel

(I am a huge dork. And this is sort of pathetic, but it's totally cracking me up and I haven't had a crush in a very long time. So it's fun.)

Song of the day: Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. Because it's the song GT decided to teach me last night. He totally wants to make me banana pancakes. (Let me check- yep, I'm still a loser.)

Ka-BOOM!

There are very few things in which I can definitively say that I am not a big sissy. But thunderstorms are one of them. When it starts storming, I get so excited and happy and sitting staring out my window at the sky going apeshit totally makes my day. I love all of the energy in the air, I get a little nutty. Plus, I read somewhere once a long time ago something about reasons why tornadoes rarely hit urban areas, so I have nothing to worry about. But last night, they actually called out my neighborhood and told us to go to the basement, and that threw me. And it was one of those things where I wasn't sure what to do- I don't have a radio anymore, there was no way I could keep track of what was happening because our windows in the pseudo-basement face the wrong way so I wouldn't know what was up. So I was standing in the back stairway and I actually saw the rain twirling. The rain was coming down in circles over the stadium lights at Wrigley. It was bizarre. Even weirder because I'd woken up yesterday morning having dreams about tornadoes hitting the city. Long story short? I'm scary psychic, but fine. And that was one freaky ass storm.

My roommies are both gone for the rest of the week, so this is today's dance around your apt. in your underwear song of the day: D.A.N.C.E by Justice. Do the dance!

Happy Birthday, Timmy!

Awwww, what's that you ask? I mean, it's awfully cute, right? It's like I sent you a little ray of sunshine for your birthday. I'm the nicest girl ever.

Or not. Anyone else remember what I gave Tim for his birthday last year? Yeah, that's right. I dropped some syph on his ass. Recently, he was mad at me for something, and when he mentioned that to a coworker they said, "Why, did she give you herpes again?" And first, I was all, "Yo, give syph the respect he deserves, don't go just assuming that all STD's are the same." Anyway, it was convenient timing because I was reminded that his birthday was coming up, so of course I go check the best gift giving website ever, and guess what! They DO have herpes, and I'm nothing if not a sucker for tradition. So order some herpes I did. (Then sent it to Timmy and being nice enough to hyphenate his new last name...because he hasn't bothered to do that yet.) I told my sister to keep her eye out for it, and she was like, "This joke will never stop being funny."

Apparently, the herp got out of the bag last night because I got a text that said, "I'm glad Sarah thinks herpes is cute since I will have him forever!" Hee hee. Tim has herpes. I'm the best sister-in-law in the WORLD.

No givebacks.

Timmy's b-day song of the day? Catch My Disease by Ben Lee.