Run For Your Life - The Beatles
The Distance - Cake
Breathless - The Corrs
She Ran Away - The Daybirds
Superman - Goldfinger
Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz
Run On - Moby
Stronger - Kanye West
We Are the Champions - Queen
Run, Baby, Run - Sheryl Crow
Today - Smashing Pumpkins
Lazybones - Soul Coughing
Wrong Way - Sublime
You Are A Runner and I Am My Father's Son - Wolf Parade
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
- lada is a girl named Sue
*current iPod play list for the 5K this weekend
Friday, January 25, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Mutt
Am I the only one who has so many conflicting personalities?
I am a girly girl - I am a nerd - I am a snob - I am a sports junkie.
Do nerd and jock DNA mix? I don’t know, but I do know that people make fun of me for my various interests. My guy friends think I am a cool girl because I love sports and video games, but then they tease me for reading some chick lit. My sister compliments my rad new handbag but then looks at me weird when I mention the new book that J.R.R. Tolkien’s son wrote. Whatever kids. This is all me.
A comparison of my four basic personalities (in third-person so I don’t feel weird talking about myself so extensively):
lada the girly girl
She: goes out with her girlfriends once a week to sip cocktails at happy hour and gossip.
She eats: dark chocolate
She drinks: Champagne
She thinks: “Midnight in Moscow is my new favorite of nail polish color.”
She wears: Kate Spade
She reads: Confessions of a Shopaholic
She listens to: Fiona Apple
She hates: messy eyebrows
She will name her children: Jack and Sally
lada the über nerd
She: will easily spend 18 hours in one day playing the newest Final Fantasy (she knows the specific uses for potions, antidotes, ethers, and elixirs). Star Wars. Swords and shields. Dragons. X-Men. You get the idea.
She eats: fish sticks
She drinks: cherry Kool-Aid and Red Bull
She thinks: “Oooh, lunar eclipse in February!”
She wears: her glasses so she doesn’t have to squint
She reads: any book about magic, dwarves and elves, or space travel...
She listens to: audio books
She hates: anyone opposed to scientific progress
She will name her children: some random names that will not matter much because she will just refer to each child as “Precious.”
lada the sport fan
She: can’t decide if her heart really belongs to the NFC or the AFC but she knows that either way, the Superfan NFL package lets her watch up to eight games at one time on one screen which is worth every penny of the $300 or so it costs her every season.
She eats: hot wings and bratwurst
She drinks: Old Style or Miller Lite
Shethinks knows: “This is going to be the year!”
She wears: her Cubs sweat band
She reads: ESPN.com
She listens to: Pat and Ron call the Cub games on WGN radio on her laptop.
She hates: domed stadiums and pink jerseys
She will name her children: Ivy Addison or Bleu Bear
lada the stuck-up snot
She: believes that, although her opinions are not correct 100% of the time, you should always agree with her just to be on the safe side.
She eats: sushi
She drinks: vodka gimlets
She thinks: “You need to be quiet now.”
She wears: anything from Banana Republic
She reads: anything on Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels of the Century list
She listens to: Andrew Lloyd Webber
She hates: reality television
She will name her children: Kafka or Dante
Am I the only person out there that loves red patent-leather shoes and battle axes equally?
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #21:
Do be a human guinea pig.
Don't expect an "egg cream" to contain either egg or cream.
- like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of lada's life
I am a girly girl - I am a nerd - I am a snob - I am a sports junkie.
Do nerd and jock DNA mix? I don’t know, but I do know that people make fun of me for my various interests. My guy friends think I am a cool girl because I love sports and video games, but then they tease me for reading some chick lit. My sister compliments my rad new handbag but then looks at me weird when I mention the new book that J.R.R. Tolkien’s son wrote. Whatever kids. This is all me.
A comparison of my four basic personalities (in third-person so I don’t feel weird talking about myself so extensively):
lada the girly girl
She: goes out with her girlfriends once a week to sip cocktails at happy hour and gossip.
She eats: dark chocolate
She drinks: Champagne
She thinks: “Midnight in Moscow is my new favorite of nail polish color.”
She wears: Kate Spade
She reads: Confessions of a Shopaholic
She listens to: Fiona Apple
She hates: messy eyebrows
She will name her children: Jack and Sally
lada the über nerd
She: will easily spend 18 hours in one day playing the newest Final Fantasy (she knows the specific uses for potions, antidotes, ethers, and elixirs). Star Wars. Swords and shields. Dragons. X-Men. You get the idea.
She eats: fish sticks
She drinks: cherry Kool-Aid and Red Bull
She thinks: “Oooh, lunar eclipse in February!”
She wears: her glasses so she doesn’t have to squint
She reads: any book about magic, dwarves and elves, or space travel...
She listens to: audio books
She hates: anyone opposed to scientific progress
She will name her children: some random names that will not matter much because she will just refer to each child as “Precious.”
lada the sport fan
She: can’t decide if her heart really belongs to the NFC or the AFC but she knows that either way, the Superfan NFL package lets her watch up to eight games at one time on one screen which is worth every penny of the $300 or so it costs her every season.
She eats: hot wings and bratwurst
She drinks: Old Style or Miller Lite
She
She wears: her Cubs sweat band
She reads: ESPN.com
She listens to: Pat and Ron call the Cub games on WGN radio on her laptop.
She hates: domed stadiums and pink jerseys
She will name her children: Ivy Addison or Bleu Bear
lada the stuck-up snot
She: believes that, although her opinions are not correct 100% of the time, you should always agree with her just to be on the safe side.
She eats: sushi
She drinks: vodka gimlets
She thinks: “You need to be quiet now.”
She wears: anything from Banana Republic
She reads: anything on Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels of the Century list
She listens to: Andrew Lloyd Webber
She hates: reality television
She will name her children: Kafka or Dante
Am I the only person out there that loves red patent-leather shoes and battle axes equally?
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #21:
Do be a human guinea pig.
Don't expect an "egg cream" to contain either egg or cream.
- like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of lada's life
Thursday, January 17, 2008
I Surrender (for the second time this week)
You will be pleased to know I finally broke down and bought a cell phone charger today. I am sure this means that the other three that are lost will magically appear, but what's another freaking $35 down the drain?
I have a decent amount of messages that I seem to have missed over the past week, so in an effort to save time and minutes, I will address those all at once here.
D: Yes, I am okay.
Tim: After much thought, I have decided not to read the Jon chapter until the book is published, but thanks for the word that G.R.R. Martin posted it. Are you grumpy about my review of The Proposition?
Heed: I am glad you finally got your gifts and am pleased that you enjoy them. Doesn't that shirt rock your socks off? Love it! Call me when you aren't working/sleeping - I miss you desperately.
D: No I am not mad at you. Just a dead battery. Don't you have my other phone numbers, Russ's phone number, and my email address which I check fifty times a day? Maybe you should get on Facebook or Myspace so we can keep in touch when I lose my charger again for the fifth time. Sorry to cause concern! XOXO (P.S. Did you see that there is a new Jon chapter up on Martin's website?)
Mom: Take your time on the book plates. No worries.
M.R.: I did miss happy hour because I did not get your message until today. Glad to know the good old-fashioned phonebook still works. I will see you this weekend...?
Quique: You know that it isn't nice to leave people hanging when they are vulnerable.
D: I heard the bad news. I am talking to Josh too. I will call you today.
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #20:
Do get backstage and throw yourself at a rock star.
Don't let telemarketers ruin your day.
- lada is the straw that broke the camel's back
I have a decent amount of messages that I seem to have missed over the past week, so in an effort to save time and minutes, I will address those all at once here.
D: Yes, I am okay.
Tim: After much thought, I have decided not to read the Jon chapter until the book is published, but thanks for the word that G.R.R. Martin posted it. Are you grumpy about my review of The Proposition?
Heed: I am glad you finally got your gifts and am pleased that you enjoy them. Doesn't that shirt rock your socks off? Love it! Call me when you aren't working/sleeping - I miss you desperately.
D: No I am not mad at you. Just a dead battery. Don't you have my other phone numbers, Russ's phone number, and my email address which I check fifty times a day? Maybe you should get on Facebook or Myspace so we can keep in touch when I lose my charger again for the fifth time. Sorry to cause concern! XOXO (P.S. Did you see that there is a new Jon chapter up on Martin's website?)
Mom: Take your time on the book plates. No worries.
M.R.: I did miss happy hour because I did not get your message until today. Glad to know the good old-fashioned phonebook still works. I will see you this weekend...?
Quique: You know that it isn't nice to leave people hanging when they are vulnerable.
D: I heard the bad news. I am talking to Josh too. I will call you today.
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #20:
Do get backstage and throw yourself at a rock star.
Don't let telemarketers ruin your day.
- lada is the straw that broke the camel's back
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
W.I.S.M.I.M. (Part IV)
Why I Shroud Myself in Mystery (Part I)
W.I.S.M.I.M. (Part II)
W.I.S.M.I.M. (Part III)
Why do I try to remain somewhat anonymous? Because it seems I have yet another silly shower story (see Part III) and I am not too impressed with myself on this one. First, because I really and seriously am a dork and a half. And secondly, you would think that by the age of twenty-six, I would have gotten it by now – but somehow, she still manages to impress (and frighten) me. Here's the deal:
When I was nine-years-old, I fell in the shower. I can’t recall how exactly, I just know that I told my family I had accidentally stepped on a dropped bar of soap and slipped. I can’t imagine what I might have actually done to fall, but it must have been awfully humiliating if I thought the whole “dropping a bar of soap and then stepping on it” story was less embarrassing. Either way, I went down hard enough to make a good deal of noise and cause some pain in my elbow.
Now at the tender age of nine, there is only one thing one wants after a painful fall – a mother’s comforting embrace. So I sat there naked and wet with the shower still running, crying a bit and waiting patiently for the panicked footsteps of my mom coming to see what the terrible, crashing noise had been. But they did not come. And so, rather than hauling my ass up, getting dressed and doing a little self-soothing, I decided instead to cry louder.
“Mommie!” I wailed, “Mommie, I fell!”
Finally I heard the sound of my mom’s hurried steps as she rushed downstairs to see what in the world had happened to her now screaming daughter.
She pulled me dripping from the shower, carefully cradling my injured (though not really hurting too much anymore) arm and dried me off. She gave me hugs and kisses and checked me from head to toe to assess my injuries. She asked what had happened (“um…I slipped on the soap…”) gave me sympathetic looks and helped me into a pair of snuggly pajamas. Ahhhh, moms are so wonderful.
Now, ask yourself reader, could you have resisted this outpouring of love? I think not. You would have eaten it up just as much as I did and continued to cradle your arm and bask in the sympathy, despite the fact that you really felt perfectly fine by that point. You might have wondered if it was the best decision when Mom decided it seemed serious enough to drive down the street to the friendly nurse’s house to get a “professional opinion.” You definitely would have had second thoughts about continuing to exaggerate the injury when the nurse said that the arm could possible be broken, or at least sprained, and a visit to the ER was the best thing to do. And you would have had major regrets about the whole stupid fiasco when all the popular girls at school made fun of you the following day because the doctor at the emergency room made you wear a sling for two days. However, you would realize that you had taken the whole attention getting act way too far to have a sudden miraculous recovery, so you would wear the sling just like I did, take the taunting and hope for more mom hugs when the school day ended.
A few days later, I pulled off the sling, headed for the monkey bars and never really gave the episode another thought.
That is until seventeen years later when I was taking a shower and suddenly recalled that day I slipped on the soap. I burst out in uncontrollable laughter remembering what a whiny, little ass I had been. Russ was brushing his teeth in the bathroom when I started my cackling in the shower, so he turned around and gave me the “what is so funny/have you lost your mind?” questioning look.
I cheerfully recounted the entire story to him – telling him that I haven’t thought about nor spoken of that incident for the past seventeen years. We both shared a chuckle and that was the end of it. So I thought. Then it got weird.
Exactly one week later to the day, my mother called. One freaking week later and it is the very first question that she asked.
“Didn’t I have to take you to the emergency room at some point when your father was out of town?”
Are you kidding me? I almost fell out of my chair. I have not breathed a word of this story since I was in fourth grade! I tell it one time, one freaking time, to my husband all these years later behind our closed bathroom door and somehow my mom just knows that I have a confession to make from five states away! How does she do that? I mean, I of course told her the whole story and we got a good laugh out of it but, damn!
“She felt a disturbance in the Force,” was the only explanation my sister had.
Ask me if I believe in God and I will tell you to show me the proof.
Ask me if mothers are psychic and I will say yes, every single time.
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #19:
Do master poker and win big in a casino.
Don't mistake commercial printing for original art.
- lada’s eye behold, but see not what they see
W.I.S.M.I.M. (Part II)
W.I.S.M.I.M. (Part III)
Why do I try to remain somewhat anonymous? Because it seems I have yet another silly shower story (see Part III) and I am not too impressed with myself on this one. First, because I really and seriously am a dork and a half. And secondly, you would think that by the age of twenty-six, I would have gotten it by now – but somehow, she still manages to impress (and frighten) me. Here's the deal:
When I was nine-years-old, I fell in the shower. I can’t recall how exactly, I just know that I told my family I had accidentally stepped on a dropped bar of soap and slipped. I can’t imagine what I might have actually done to fall, but it must have been awfully humiliating if I thought the whole “dropping a bar of soap and then stepping on it” story was less embarrassing. Either way, I went down hard enough to make a good deal of noise and cause some pain in my elbow.
Now at the tender age of nine, there is only one thing one wants after a painful fall – a mother’s comforting embrace. So I sat there naked and wet with the shower still running, crying a bit and waiting patiently for the panicked footsteps of my mom coming to see what the terrible, crashing noise had been. But they did not come. And so, rather than hauling my ass up, getting dressed and doing a little self-soothing, I decided instead to cry louder.
“Mommie!” I wailed, “Mommie, I fell!”
Finally I heard the sound of my mom’s hurried steps as she rushed downstairs to see what in the world had happened to her now screaming daughter.
She pulled me dripping from the shower, carefully cradling my injured (though not really hurting too much anymore) arm and dried me off. She gave me hugs and kisses and checked me from head to toe to assess my injuries. She asked what had happened (“um…I slipped on the soap…”) gave me sympathetic looks and helped me into a pair of snuggly pajamas. Ahhhh, moms are so wonderful.
Now, ask yourself reader, could you have resisted this outpouring of love? I think not. You would have eaten it up just as much as I did and continued to cradle your arm and bask in the sympathy, despite the fact that you really felt perfectly fine by that point. You might have wondered if it was the best decision when Mom decided it seemed serious enough to drive down the street to the friendly nurse’s house to get a “professional opinion.” You definitely would have had second thoughts about continuing to exaggerate the injury when the nurse said that the arm could possible be broken, or at least sprained, and a visit to the ER was the best thing to do. And you would have had major regrets about the whole stupid fiasco when all the popular girls at school made fun of you the following day because the doctor at the emergency room made you wear a sling for two days. However, you would realize that you had taken the whole attention getting act way too far to have a sudden miraculous recovery, so you would wear the sling just like I did, take the taunting and hope for more mom hugs when the school day ended.
A few days later, I pulled off the sling, headed for the monkey bars and never really gave the episode another thought.
That is until seventeen years later when I was taking a shower and suddenly recalled that day I slipped on the soap. I burst out in uncontrollable laughter remembering what a whiny, little ass I had been. Russ was brushing his teeth in the bathroom when I started my cackling in the shower, so he turned around and gave me the “what is so funny/have you lost your mind?” questioning look.
I cheerfully recounted the entire story to him – telling him that I haven’t thought about nor spoken of that incident for the past seventeen years. We both shared a chuckle and that was the end of it. So I thought. Then it got weird.
Exactly one week later to the day, my mother called. One freaking week later and it is the very first question that she asked.
“Didn’t I have to take you to the emergency room at some point when your father was out of town?”
Are you kidding me? I almost fell out of my chair. I have not breathed a word of this story since I was in fourth grade! I tell it one time, one freaking time, to my husband all these years later behind our closed bathroom door and somehow my mom just knows that I have a confession to make from five states away! How does she do that? I mean, I of course told her the whole story and we got a good laugh out of it but, damn!
“She felt a disturbance in the Force,” was the only explanation my sister had.
Ask me if I believe in God and I will tell you to show me the proof.
Ask me if mothers are psychic and I will say yes, every single time.
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #19:
Do master poker and win big in a casino.
Don't mistake commercial printing for original art.
- lada’s eye behold, but see not what they see
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Pre-Primary
Sorry, this is the second (and last) political post this month. It's just that, now that we are living in South Carolina, our primary votes are suddenly super important and the stink of politics is heavy in the air...
I went to see Barack Obama today in Charleston and it happened that John Kerry was also there to give Barack his endorsement. I stood in line for a couple of hours but I got really close and was able to get some great pictures. I also got the back of my head and my right shoulder on CNN, so I can check that life-long goal off my list.
After the speech, they went around doing a quick meet and greet. I was trying to squirm my way through the crowds to the front when a Secret Service agent caught my eye and yelled at me not to push. Aah, scary! Seriously, those Secret Service guys are crazy intimidating. They really are the ultimate cliché - perfect suits, sunglasses, absolutely no facial expressions, whispering into their lapels with one finger on the earpiece.
But right after my S.S. scolding, Barack reached out and shook my hand! Cool.
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #18:
Do study the Kama Sutra.
Don't leave home unprepared.
- lada smells what Barack is cooking
I went to see Barack Obama today in Charleston and it happened that John Kerry was also there to give Barack his endorsement. I stood in line for a couple of hours but I got really close and was able to get some great pictures. I also got the back of my head and my right shoulder on CNN, so I can check that life-long goal off my list.
After the speech, they went around doing a quick meet and greet. I was trying to squirm my way through the crowds to the front when a Secret Service agent caught my eye and yelled at me not to push. Aah, scary! Seriously, those Secret Service guys are crazy intimidating. They really are the ultimate cliché - perfect suits, sunglasses, absolutely no facial expressions, whispering into their lapels with one finger on the earpiece.
But right after my S.S. scolding, Barack reached out and shook my hand! Cool.
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #18:
Do study the Kama Sutra.
Don't leave home unprepared.
- lada smells what Barack is cooking
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Banished Words
A Michigan university has released its 2007 Banished Word List. These are some of their words and phrases that were used ad nauseum this past year and they believe should be officially retired:
Gitmo - When did the notorious Guantanamo Bay Naval Base change to "Gitmo," a word that conjures up an image of a fluffy, sweet character from Japanese anime?
Combined celebrity names - Celebrity duos of old - BogCall (Bogart and Bacall), Lardy (Laurel and Hardy), and CheeChong (Cheech and Chong) - were lucky to have missed this sucky trend.
Gone/went missing - This phrase makes “missing” sound like a place you can visit, like the Poconos. “Is missing” or “was missing” would serve us better.
Now playing in theaters - This is heard in movie advertisements in case you find yourself wondering where you could see that movie. I know my instinct is to try seeing it at a laudromat, so I am always glad when they clarify.
We're pregnant - Were men feeling left out of the whole morning sickness/huge belly/labor experience? You may both be expecting, but only one of you is pregnant.
Armed robbery/drug deal gone bad - This is commonly used in news reports. This is apparently after the drug deal has stopped going well and good?
Ask your doctor - Ask your doctor if (fill in the blank) is right for you! Or, you could just try and take one or two and see if it makes you (insert desired effect) or if it makes you deathly ill.
Search - This word is obviously an antique having been replaced by the verb “google.”
Boasts - See any classified advertisements for a house, as in “master bedroom boasts a fireplace.” There never seems to be any desciptions such as, “bathroom apologizes for cracked linoleum,” or “kitchen laments pathetic placement of electrical outlets.”
Any others? I personally would add "throw someone under the bus" to this list.
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #17:
Do own a pointless collection.
Don't settle for wire clothes hangers.
- lada pushes her own buttons so you don't have to
Gitmo - When did the notorious Guantanamo Bay Naval Base change to "Gitmo," a word that conjures up an image of a fluffy, sweet character from Japanese anime?
Combined celebrity names - Celebrity duos of old - BogCall (Bogart and Bacall), Lardy (Laurel and Hardy), and CheeChong (Cheech and Chong) - were lucky to have missed this sucky trend.
Gone/went missing - This phrase makes “missing” sound like a place you can visit, like the Poconos. “Is missing” or “was missing” would serve us better.
Now playing in theaters - This is heard in movie advertisements in case you find yourself wondering where you could see that movie. I know my instinct is to try seeing it at a laudromat, so I am always glad when they clarify.
We're pregnant - Were men feeling left out of the whole morning sickness/huge belly/labor experience? You may both be expecting, but only one of you is pregnant.
Armed robbery/drug deal gone bad - This is commonly used in news reports. This is apparently after the drug deal has stopped going well and good?
Ask your doctor - Ask your doctor if (fill in the blank) is right for you! Or, you could just try and take one or two and see if it makes you (insert desired effect) or if it makes you deathly ill.
Search - This word is obviously an antique having been replaced by the verb “google.”
Boasts - See any classified advertisements for a house, as in “master bedroom boasts a fireplace.” There never seems to be any desciptions such as, “bathroom apologizes for cracked linoleum,” or “kitchen laments pathetic placement of electrical outlets.”
Any others? I personally would add "throw someone under the bus" to this list.
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #17:
Do own a pointless collection.
Don't settle for wire clothes hangers.
- lada pushes her own buttons so you don't have to
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Barack The Casbah
Congratulations to Barack Obama for winning the Democratic Caucus in Iowa. I am so very excited! If you want to know more about his modus operandi, here's where you can see his thoughts and voting record on most anything.
"Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference.”
"I inhaled - that was the point."
"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America. There's the United States of America."
"No one is pro-abortion."
"I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying."
"Today we are engaged in a deadly global struggle for those who would intimidate, torture, and murder people for exercising the most basic freedoms. If we are to win this struggle and spread those freedoms, we must keep our own moral compass pointed in a true direction."
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #16:
Do stage dive or crowd surf at a concert.
Don't try to beat the red lights.
- lada is ready for change
"Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference.”
"I inhaled - that was the point."
"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America. There's the United States of America."
"No one is pro-abortion."
"I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying."
"Today we are engaged in a deadly global struggle for those who would intimidate, torture, and murder people for exercising the most basic freedoms. If we are to win this struggle and spread those freedoms, we must keep our own moral compass pointed in a true direction."
101 Things to do (or don't) before you die - #16:
Do stage dive or crowd surf at a concert.
Don't try to beat the red lights.
- lada is ready for change
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