Copper "Sculptures"

C and I went to Irish Fest a few weeks ago.  We went in 2010 also, and C has gone for the past 15 plus years.  Irish Fest is the largest Irish Festival in the world.

Basically Irish Fest includes eating, drinking, Professional Tug-Of-War competitions, drinking, concerts, eating, Irish Dancing and more drinking.  There is also an area where all the native Irish dog breeds show up and educate everyone.  It is actually a lot of fun and the food is traditional "feel good" Irish Food.

One of my favorite things to do is go shopping.  Last year I discovered a lady who "paints?" .... "etches?" ... (I'm not really sure what to call it) designs in copper.  Website Here Most of her stuff, at least what she brings to Irish Fest, has a Celtic spin on it.  One of my favorite pieces is a Celtic Horse (Left).  I saw it last year at Irish Fest, and I was in love.  Last Novemeber she offered it to me at an extremely reasonable price (1/2 off) however, I have my heart set on a custom piece of Rags and Myself.  (I did find it amusing that she brought this same piece to Irish Fest this year and her price was not the 50% off price she quoted me... Just goes to show sometimes its better to speak to the artist and pay shipping then to get it at the fest).  Anyway, her custom prices are quite steep and at the moment I can not justify spending $300 plus on a piece of art.

However, one of these days, I will commission her to create the picture for me.  It will be of Rags and me walking toward the barn.  I don't think I'll get the picture any time soon, and it will probably be after I buy a house, but someday I will get one.

Motivation Date

Well, I know C is probably going to hate this post but, I had a great boyfriend. :) I blogged a few days ago (see post here) about needing motivation to work out.  I made a deal with myself that if I work out approximately 3 times a week I can buy myself a Keratin treatment on my hair.  Well, C sweetened the deal.  He gave me a bunch of "coupons" for dates.  I have to work out 10 times in order to get 1 free date.  So, assuming I stay to the whole 3 times a week thing, That should translate to about 1 date a month.  Also, considering C gave me 10 plus coupons, this should get me past the "I hate working out and being in pain" phase.

Personally I have never experienced getting beyond this phase, but people have told me that after you exercise for a particular length of time, your body starts to crave the endorphins.  Once you reach this point (supposedly) you actually enjoy working out.  I really hope this is true, opposed to some cruel lie everyone says so they can point and laugh at out-of-shape people trying to work out. 

The Mindset List: 2007 List

Alright.  My friend Decidedlydisastica introduced me to a Mindset.  It is a list created by a college in Beloit Wi about how the entering freshman differ from previous generations.  So, I decided to share my thoughts on my list. :) My comments are colored and in italics.

2007 List

1. Ricky Nelson, Richard Burton, Samantha Smith, Laura Ashley, Orson Welles, Karen Ann Quinlan, Benigno Aquino, and the U.S. Football League have always been dead. - Honestly, when the NFL went on strike this year, I REALLY wanted the strike to last the entire season so the football players and coaches would realize how lucky they are.  Lets see how they feel after not getting paid for a year...
2. They are not familiar with the source of that "Giant Sucking Sound." - Huh?
3. Iraq has always been a problem.
4. "Ctrl + Alt + Del" is as basic as "ABC." - Pretty much.
5. Paul Newman has always made salad dressing. - Newman's Own!
6. Pete Rose has always been a gambler.
7. Bert and Ernie are old enough to be their parents. - So apparently since New York legalized same sex marriage recently, there are a bunch of people who are lobbying for Bert and Ernie to get married. 
8. An automatic is a weapon, not a transmission. - Automatic was standard on my car.
9. Russian leaders have always looked like leaders everyplace else. - ??? What did they used to look like
10. The snail darter has never been endangered. - I don't even know what this is
11. There has always been a screening test for AIDS. - Lucky us.  Although this should say HIV... right?
12. Gas has always been unleaded. - Yeah, honestly, what is leaded gas?
13. They never heard Howard Cosell call a game on ABC. - ??
14. The United States has always had a Poet Laureate.
15. Garrison Keillor has always been live on public radio and Lawrence Welk has always been dead on public television.
    
16. Their families drove SUVs without "being fuelish." - I still think gas guzzlers are silly
17. There has always been some association between fried eggs and your brain. - OMG I totally remember watching this commercial as a kid.  "This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs."  haha.
18. They would never leave their calling card on someone’s desk. - My mom used to work for AT&T and I remember she would always get free 5 min calling cards.  We would hoard them and I would use them all the time.
19. They have never been able to find the "return" key. - Now its "Enter" (In case you didn't know)
20. Computers have always fit in their backpacks. - I wouldn't say this.  I remember when the monitors took up the size of an entire desk
21. Datsuns have never been made. - ??
22. They have never gotten excited over a telegram, a long distance call, or a fax. - Honestly, I HATE the fax machine at work.  Whenever I have to fax something to a dr or something, I always ask if I can scan and email it instead.  Its WAY simpler and guaranteed to arrive.
23. The Osmonds are just talk show hosts.
    
24. Undergraduate college athletes have always been a part of the NBA and NFL draft. - They didn't used to be?  I think this should change back.
25. They have always "grazed" for food. - Huh?
26. Three-point shots from "downtown" have always been a part of basketball.
27. Test tube babies are now having their own babies. - Sometimes I think people should spend less time worrying about their own genetics in a baby and more time thinking of all the children that need adopting. 
28. Stores have always had scanners at the checkout. - Did people at the cash register used to have to manually type in the cost of the item?  I can only imagine people would try to change prices all the time!
29. The Army has always driven Humvees. - What did they used to drive?
30. Adam and PC Junior computers had vanished from the market before this generation went online. - Yeah, I don't know what that means
31. The Statue of Liberty has always had a gleaming torch. - It didn't used to??
32. They have always had a PIN number. - YUP
33. Banana Republic has always been a store, not a puppet government in Latin America. - Really? A Puppet Government?  So was the store trying to make fun of the government?
34. Car detailing has always been available - Yup.
35. Directory assistance has never been free. - It used to be free? I guess I always assumed you were charged, just not that much.
36. The Jaycees have always welcomed women as members
37. There has always been Lean Cuisine. - Yes, although I try to only use these frozen meals as a last resort
38. They have always been able to fly Virgin Atlantic. - Um.... ?
39. There have never been dress codes in restaurants. - Well, unless you count No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service...
40. Doctors have always had to deal with "reasonable and customary fees" and patients have always had controls placed on the number of days they could stay in a hospital. - Is this an improvement or not?
41. They have always been able to make photocopies at home. - Not 100% true.... I remember when we had to go to the library. Haha. 
42. Michael Eisner has always been in charge of Disney.
43. They have always been able to make phone calls from planes.  - At a GIGANTIC price though.
44. Yuppies are almost as old as hippies. - HAHA. true.
45. Rupert Murdoch has always been an American citizen.
46. Strawberry Fields has always been in New York.
47. Rock and Roll has always been a force for social good.
48. Killer bees have always been swarming in the U.S.
49. They have never seen a First Lady in a fur coat. - PITA would FREAK out of she wore a fur coat.
50. Don Imus has always been offending someone in his national audience.

In all fairness it should be understood that students entering college this fall do have a few items on their own lists that will separate them from many of their mentors:

1. For many of them today, it’s all about the "bling, bling."
2. They know who the "heroes in a half shell" are.
3. Peeps are not a candy, they are your friends.
4. They have been "dissing" and "burning" things all their lives.
5. They can expect to get a ticket for "ricing out their wheels."  - Haha.  That is so mean.
6. They knew how to pop a Popple and trade a Pog.
7. They can still sing the rap chorus to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the theme song from Duck Tales.

Hehe, anyway, these made me smile. :)

I hate to exercise - Motivation needed.

I never was a fan of exercising.  I loved horse back riding, but that was the only form of exercise I ever enjoyed.  When I was younger I tried every sport, soccer, dance, T-ball, basketball, gymnastics... basically you name it, I tried it as a kid.  The only thing that ever stuck was horseback riding.

The only problem is horseback riding is rather expensive.  Horses eat quite a lot of food and need a lot of exercise.  However since I live in the city, I can not get out to any stables on a regular basis.  Which causes me to have to hire someone to exercise my horse, which obviously is not cheap.  So, when I decided to sell my horses to save for a house, I gave up exercising.

Last year I tried running.  I did it for about 3 months, off and on.  I ran a few races, but it didn't stick.  I never really enjoyed it.  For my birthday, my parents bought me a super fancy exercise bike.  I'm going to try really hard to stick with this and get in shape.  But I need motivation.  So my motivation is the following.  If I ride my new bike ~ 3 days a week until Thanksgiving, I get to get a Keratin treatment on my hair.  I have very very very frizzy hair, and when you combine that with lazy-ness .... well, I barely ever do my hair.  So hopefully this will be good motivation to work out.  I care about what I look like, but who doesn't like to sleep an extra half hour in the morning instead of doing their hair. 

Two barely 18-year-old wounded soldiers

C and I are going to Irish Feast this weekend in Milwaukee.  So we had to drop off Dublin with my parents.  What my parents and I usually do is meet half way at the O'Hare cell phone parking lot.  Its a 1 hour drive (without traffic) to my parents, so meeting half way is always great.

As soon as I get to the cell phone lot (I was previously warned by my father) I see several police cars, a news crew, and about 50 or so motorcycles. Turns out, 2 soldiers just landed in Chicago to go home.  They were injured in Afghanistan and both walked with canes.  My father had already shook the hands of the two soldiers and thanked them for serving, so after I dropped off Dublin, I did the same.

I asked a bystander who the soldiers were.  I should have known, they were the only 2 injured individuals in the group of people.  I went up to the soldiers and shook their hands.  I said "I was just in the neighborhood, and I saw what was going on.  I wanted to thank you for serving...."

The boys were so young, younger than me, and they didn't look like they could legally drink.  I felt awful for them.  Granted they had all their legs and arms, but they both looked like they had injured their knees.

Shortly after I shook their hands, it was time for them to leave.  I sat in my car and waited for the procession.  It was so amazing.  There were about 3 Chicago police cars.  They led and ended the whole procession.  Then there were about 50 motorcycles.  Half were in the front of the soldier in the car, the other half were behind the soldier in the car. All of the motorcycles were honking their horns.

Needless to say, I think this was a perfect way to welcome home the soldiers.

Why do you interrupt me while reading?

This is my morning routine.  After I get up, get ready, take the dog out, I leave the house to walk to 30 (approximately) steps to the EL.  (Trust me, It is LOVELY in the rain, and snow.)

I honestly expect and hope that I spend the next 30-35 minutes in solitude and do not plan or desire to have any conversations until I arrive at work.  For the occasionaly friend that I run into, a conversation is acceptable.  Although, I honestly hope we are good enough friends that we can talk, say Hi, and then return to reading our books.  I mean really.... I don't start to wake up until I've been at work for 1 hour.  For someone who I went to High School with, it is also acceptable for you to start a conversation with me, but please have the decency to do it when you are a few stops from your departure so we don't have to talk the entire way to the city.  Otherwise we both feel obligated to talk during the entire trip, and I have a strong desire to get off the train and change cars so that I can read in peace.

As soon as I get to the platform, I take out my nook and begin to read.  When the train comes I get on the train and (I know you can believe this, but...) I continue to read.  So you have to understand when the following thing happen, it kind of ruins my morning.

If I am reading, what makes you think that you have a right to interrupt me and ask me about the nook.  Since when were people able to hold a conversation and read at the same time?  Do people not understand that I am reading for pleasure?  That there are certain people in the world that ENJOY reading?  This has happened to me twice in the past week.  Its usually a man who looks to be "tight on cash" who interrupts me to ask me what I'm doing.  If I weren't afraid (hmm, maybe afraid is the wrong word, maybe cautious, timid, aware... is a more accurate description of my feelings toward him) of him, my response would be "Well, I WAS reading on a Nook, but since you interrupted me, I am currently not able to read now, am I...."  But since I don't know this person and he could be dangerous, even though I'm always on a crowded El, I simply say "This is a nook" (without making eye contact) and continue to read.

Unfortunately, even though I am attempting to be visually engrossed in my book (which I usually am actually engrossed in the book), the conversation NEVER ends there.  At this point I feel like I'm becoming a Nook commercial and honestly I have no desire.  They ask the price (which I always tell them is $80 since I got mine refurb'd and I don't want him to think I'm rich), how many books it can hold, if it comes with books, and  how much books cost.  Of course, since I am afraid of this guy, I always answer him.  But I usually fail to mention all the cool nook features, like library lending, and "lend me" features.

Unfortunately, this conversation usually ends up lasting 10 minutes, and I keep re-reading the same sentence over and over again because I'm being interrupted.  What is even MORE unfortunate is the man must want to talk or something and tries to continue to talk to me.  At this point I usually say "what?" a lot to try to signify I'm really not in the mood to talk.

Perhaps I'm too nice but, this attempt usually fails.... Thus a crappy start to my morning.

Non Black Tuxs

Alright, I got my inspiration.  See I've been having writers block and so I was searching facebook for something to write about. And... I found non-black tuxes.  A friend of mine's boyfriend was in a wedding and he wore a beige-ish tux.

I know this is not the best picture, but I purposefully chose one that does not show faces that closely.  So, anyway, I can't decide if I like these tuxes or not. Personally, I have never seen non-black or white tux. I know you can get them at a store, but I've never seen pictures of them, or seen them in real life unless its pictures from a wedding in the 70's.  And let me tell you, I am NOT a fan of the 70's wedding with powder blue tuxes.... HIDEOUS!

So anyway, I think these tuxes make the wedding very unique, but I also think they make the wedding less formal.  I am NOT a fan of white tuxes.  In my opinion the bride should be the only person in white at the wedding.  I generally feel bad if any part of my dress has white on it; even if its a summer wedding and its OK.  So, I believe white tuxes are a no-no.

I also believe that white and beige (generally) do not go good together.  So I have to say I'm not really a fan that they chose white tux shirts.  But aside from that, I have to say, I kinda like these Beige tuxes.  I know its something completely different, but I think it looks very summery and fun.  So, I guess I vote Yes....

Opinions?