The Many Moods (Modes) of CC

I have noticed that I have 4 distinct Moods or Modes as I like to call them. I thought it would be interesting to delve into these today.

Happy-Crazy-Happy Mode: I think this mode is a majority of my days, that is my status quo. I laugh, I joke, I am motivated and I know that things are getting better. I am my normal friendly self and just crazy happy, or just happy being crazy!

Angry Evil Mode: Yeah, you do not want to mess with me on one of these days. I usually will have one of these days every-so-often and it is not good. The smallest things will set me off and I hate these days b/c they seem like they just have to run their course b/c no matter how I try to shake myself out of it, I have to wait it out. It's usually not an entire day but 5-7 hours of deep seeded loathing of everything around me. What is good is that when I bounce back from this mode, I feel renewed and motivated again. Maybe it's that whole symbolic Scorpio death and rebirth thing...or maybe my hormones are completely out of wack!!

Content Reflective Mode: Many days are like this as well and this mode can be combined with Happy-Crazy-Happy Mode. I tend to be very focused on certain aspects of my life and I spend time researching and troubleshooting these areas (ie: how to make them better, how to organize myself to be more productive etc). This seems to renew my faith in myself. I feel I can accomplish anything just as long as I stay focused and positive. Today is a Content-Reflective Mode day as you can see.:)

Adventure Mode: These are the days when my Happy-Crazy-Happy Mode turns into excitable emails to friends (Christine and Ariane) wondering if a weekend jaunt to Vegas or a week in Mexico hanging on the beach and hiking to ancient ruins sounds like something they would be into. Adventure Mode never takes into consideration budget and finances, available vacation time or any other major details that need to be addressed before such an adventure can be tackled. Perhaps in a former life I was the daughter of wealthy parents and jetting off to some exotic place for an adventure was commonplace since money and time were no object. Spontaneous actions rule these days.

Yep. All these "Modes" make me the person that I am. Confusing to some if they catch me on that wrong day, but otherwise an energetic and happy person doing the best that she can!

The Knights of Camelot: Lego Style!

This one is for all you Monty Python Fans out there! This video is unbelievably hysterical! Kudos to whomever painstakingly put this together!!!

Monday Catch Up

Hello all! I am sitting here finally eating my lunch and getting a chance to listen to this great song I found after much searching. Problem is, I can't download it which stinks, but I am working on it. It is called "Rudy" and it was in the movie "Pretty in Pink". Unfortunately it wasn't on the soundtrack for the film, but I have found it on the MySpace of the guy who was in the band who originally performed it: Talk Back. If you would like to hear it go here and click on the 4th song down on the player to the right: "Rudy". If you are able to download it, let me know.:)

This weekend was a blast. The Annual Meeting and Party for my company at the refurbished Theater was fun, even tho I had to work for 1/2 of it. I went out with a bunch o coworkers afterwards for a drink. I had fun watching all the interactions. Office Politics is soemthing I enjoy watching from afar. It's interesting when coworkers go out together...many of them drop their inhabitions and drink WAY TO MUCH. Even higher ups. It's weird. You would think by now they would know to not get too wild and crazy in front of their coworkers. The Accounting Nazi (a dept head by the way)had 3 manhattans and was (understanably) plasterd. I have never seen her more friendly or talkative. I just smiled and was polite while I sipped on my ONE beer. It was an interesting evening!

I did get my guitar Hero extra guitar and Guitar Hero 1 Game tho which was nice. I arrived Friday night about 5:30pm and my roommate was home to receive it. With this, I was able to take it with me to my nephews and we played against and with each other. It was fun. They did really well.

We also went cross coutnry skiing. We went during the day on the trail around and near their house and then we went at night in the same area. Sunday Thomas and Mike and I went our onto the Harbor and skiied across the lake. That was really neat...but extrememly cold. I had never gone out on a frozen lake/harbor before so that was really cool.

Hey boys, if you are reading this here are a few memorable sayings from the weekend:

1. "It's a PsychoBilly Freakout!"
2. "When skiing at night, never look behind you..."
3. "It's Dixie Acres!"
4. "We need to purchase the 'Grim Ripper!' "
5. "Gentlemen! Confuse...A CAT!"
6. "What am I saying, how am I saying it and why do you want to listen?" (Or something to that effect)
7. "Only an Elephant could break thru this ice!" "Or Piehole!"
8. "Nathan, That was actually funny!"

It was a fun weekend with my boys as usual. It always seem to go by too quickly!

Random Crazy Stuff!

Camelot...It's such a silly place:



Type out the sentence you end up with in the subject line and leave me a comment with your outcome!!!

Pick the month you were born:
January--I kicked
February--I loved
March--I smoked
April--I laughed at
May--I choked on
June--I murdered
July--I did the Macarena with
August--I had lunch with
September--I danced with
October--I sang to
November--I yelled at
December--I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a Mexican
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19-------myself
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a permanent marker
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that.
Black----------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm cool and I do what I want.
Green---------because I hate myself.
Purple--------because I'm cool.
Gray----------because I was drunk.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars.
Orange-------because I hate my family.
Brown--------because I was high.
Other--------because I'm a ninja.
None---------because I can't control myself.

You Are Most Like Liv Tyler

“I don't want to spend so much time obsessing about myself.”

What Modern Bombshell Are You Most Like?

Pirate Girl's "Pandora" Rocks at Guitar Hero Party!

Boy did we ROCK OUT on Saturday night! We had so much fun taking turns and facing off against each other. I forgot a camera, and so did Carla so we didn't get any shots of the battles. So instead I wanted to share a few screen shots of the character I play as: Pandora



I am looking forward to visiting my boys up north this weekend. I am hoping to bring this game along so we can rock out with it this weekend. Ahhh...Pandora...isn't she COOL? You should see her taunt the crowd before a performance. She has got some attitude!



This screen cap shows game play with the frets coming at you and what Star Power looks like. When you are rockin' out and you hit the star power notes this boosts your points, that blue lightening bolt hits and everything turns blue. Your character jumps and throws their guitar and goes nuts (and so does the crowd!). Notice points and star power meter on the left (4x = 4 times the points in star power!)and the audience rating on the right.



What a riot that was. I hope we have another Guitar Hero Party at some point! I can't wait to show my family this game. I know they will get a kick out of it!

Party on Dudes!
&
Be Excellent to Each Other!!!

Friday Freakout!

Yay for Friday!

We are supposed to get some good snow tonight and into tomorrow morning. 6-9 inches or more in some areas and when lake effect is going, you never know where those bands of heavy snow will land. High winds are going to be in the mis which is bad for people who are traveling anyplace. Luckily I am only traveling home to my apartment tonight! I have no plans until Sarurday evening so it should be clear by then hopefully. Yay for snow 'cause if it stays that means I can get out on my cross-country skiis Saturday for a bit maybe!! I am jonsing to get out and PLAY!

I have recently picked up my Dreambook to check out what my dreams mean lately. I am hoping that you cannot rely on that book b/c my dream last night does not bode well for me and my adjenda this weekend. One positive I guess, at least someone cool was in my dream, b/c there is ALWAYS a celebrity someplace in my dreams it seems. I was at a club, a fight broke out and Vince Vaughn saved me from the chaos that ensued. How nice was that? He's Phenomenal.


So I found a few really neat sites in the past few days I thought I would post. The first is like the South Park Studio only with M&Ms. The volume of traffic on the site has been really heavy lately and I haven't been able to do much, but I thought I would share anyway. Make your ow M&M character and so much more at BecomeAnMM.com

The next was a funny one sent to me by Career Builder, even tho I like Monkey Mail better. You answer a few weird questions about your job and then it ages you based on your answers and dislike of your job. It's weird but try out the Age-O-Matic!

Have fun, have a great weekend and I will have updates with pics from our Guitar Hero Party next week!!!

Guitar Hero Party Invitations

Mary (the host of the get together) needed a way to get the word out to everyone and give directions. I of course could not resist making up an invitation cover so she could put all her info in it. It's the cover of the game with a few modifications:

I actually had a pic of Mary to use and mine came from a pic where I was actually rockin' out on a Bass guitar this fall...NO SERIOUSLY PEOPLE! I crack myself up!

I actually went after work and before the library and purchased it last night. I just couldn't wait any longer. This means I get a few extra days of practice in before the battle of the bands Saturday night. It comes wtih stickers but I only used a few of thier's. I had Pirate stickers I had gotten as a birthday present and decided to Yo ho Ho! it up. What's a Pirate Girl wtihout her Pirate guitar??? Mine will definately be the best decorated out of everyone's, to be sure. We are such dorks and I LOVE it!

It's a Girl for Redhead!!!

Welcome Molly!

Today at 12:27am Redhead became the proud mother of a beautiful 9lbs 1 oz, 21 1/2 inch baby girl ready for the world! Both mom & baby are doing fine!

Congratulations Jen and Chris!!!

Addicted

This Saturday I am invited to a "Guitar Hero Party". Basically, a few of us are getting together to play Gutair Hero on PS2. Since I had never played this game, a friend lent me hers so I could get up to speed last night in prep for Saturday.

This has got to be one of the best games I have EVER played on PS2. Not only is the music great, but it's diferent than all the other games I have. It's nice to take a break from ass-kicking every so often.

Anywho, you have a guitar, and then you can have a band which you can name anything you want (mine I named "Killer Creampuff", don't ask, it just came to me) and you have to play these songs to unlock others and advance your band. You start from the High School Battle of the Bands to playing in a seedy bar and then moving up to big time stage acts. The music is a riot and so much fun.

I am definately addicted to this game and I would love to buy it for myself, but I need to wait a few months. Maybe Guitar Hero I AND II will be my reward. Seriously, this game is a riot. Read about it on Wikipedia: I played Guitar Hero II. The article also lists all the songs you can play.

Yeah, it ROCKS...kinda like me on BASS for "Message in a Bottle" or on LEAD GUITAR for "Rock this Town" and "Woman".

Not only would I have a blast with this game, but I know my nephews would as well. It has multiplayer features where you can play against another person or play as a band. We would be so obnoxious with this game it would be wicked!

Anywho, welcome to my new obsession:

Hot or Not?

It's time once again for my Hot or Not List! I haven't done one in awhile so I thought I would weigh in on some topics today.

Are you Ready?


HOT: It's Friday. Fridays are always HOT b/c it's the beginning of the weekend, unless of course you have plans to do something you dread and then it would not be HOT.

NOT: Justin and Cameron are DONE. And to top it off he's been spotted canoodling with the star of his "What Goes Around" video: the overrated Scarlett Johansson. Have to admit I am not a big fan...HOWEVER, if my choices are Scarlett or seeing JT back with Brittany, I will take Scarlett!

NOT: Nepotism. Nepotism, most of the time, is a waste of time. I believe nepotism is the modern day equivelent to "saving the family name and money" from the times of kings and castles. You know, "marry this Prince/ Duke/Count because then we will double our worth, even tho he is your uncle." Today it's "Hire/Promote your brother/cousin/uncle to Manager so we can keep management positions in the family therefore securing the highest paying jobs for us". Unfortunately, this happens all the time and yes boys and girls, life is not fair.

HOT: The fact that I have absolutely no obligations this entire weekend is extremely exciting to me. This will be the second weekend in a row that I can stay home and not travel any place. Unlike last weekend, I have no happy hour to attend so I will be going home, putting on my comfy clothes and pigging out on pizza with my roomie and watching TV. Tomorrow, I might be going to see Night at the Museum, so that will be fun.

HOT: After updating mt resume on 3 different job sites, I have had a bunch of offers via email and also by phone for interviews . Hey Lamby! "Fish are bitin'!

HOT: I just got a call from the library. They want me to work 12-4 Saturday. Now, you may think that would be a NOT, but it's only 4 hours, and I never turn down the chance to make a few extra bucks!

NOT: My job and My company. Yes, I am a broken record.

HOT: The Constant Gardener. I just DVRd that and watched it last weekend. What an amazing movie. So stirring and moving and scary, obviously for it's reality based storyline. I HIGHLY recommend this flick, especially if you are in the mood for heavier subject matter.

HOT: Criss Angel. He's such a Mindfreak!



Have a great weekend everyone!

"Playing Hooky"

The first printed use of the phrase to 1848 and relates it to the 19th-century phrase "hooky-crooky," which means "dishonest or underhanded." The parent of this phrase is "by hook or by crook," meaning "by any means necessary."

Stereotypically Speaking...

I am sorry but I need to rant a bit about a coworker at our Texas office. Now, stereotypically speaking, Northerners see Southerners as slow and dumb. I guess it would be fair that Southerners see Northerners as stressed and rude. Let me explain why these stereotypes are true (for me anyway).

Dealing with our office in Texas is at best a pain in the ass. In my experience, they are extremely slow on the uptake of information, tend not to be consistant in their work and take offense to any directions given to them. This particualr worker is seems to be extremely dense and doesn't seem to grasp the simple workings of ordering and tracking office supplies.


Now I realize that the world of office supplies can be very fast paced and stressful... But enough jokes. When your job is only to receive your product and fax the pack slip to NY, it's incredibly ridiculous that you cannot perform these simple tasks in a timely manner. It's been 3 weeks since she signed for 3 packages but only received 2 of them. Has she told anyone that she didn't receive the 3rd product? No. She was just going to "wait and see if it came in". Ahem...If you signed for 3 packages and only got 2, UPS is not bringing another package b/c you signed for 3 already and they figure it's complete!


So back to the Stereotype discussion. These North vs. the South ideas come from situations like this. She's so stupid and slow she can't grasp the easiest ideas and complete the most simple tasks. Me telling her what she needs to do, as nicely as I can considering this is not the first time, has made me look stressed and rude.



How do we stop these stereotypes?

Southerners need to stop being so freaking slow and stupid and we Northerners won't be so stressed out that we are rude to you!

No seriously, that was not meant to offend anyone living below the Mason Dixon Line, 'cause I have lots of friends in the south, and I love the south. I just think you should all know that there are certain people who are helping to continue those stereotypes and perhaps we should band together and... never mind that idea might be considered illegal in most states.

ANYWHO:

Sure, this is a petty thing, a monkey could do this office supply stuff. That, my friends, is the dilema. I am supposed to oversee that orders are placed correctly and get received correctly and this bullshit makes me crazy. I have enough other crap to worry about, and believe me, whether or not you got your toner or not is not on the top of my list. It's simple, just do your job and make mine easier!

I am amazed on a daily basis at the amount of people who actually survive everyday when they are so obviously inept. Obviously that last statement is across the board and proves that I am an equal opportunity basher. So no hard feelings y'all, 'cause I know more smart people in the south than I know smart people here in the north most days!

My Reading List

Recently I just finished reading "The Prestige" by Christopher Preist. Great book, and very different than the movie. Even tho I read the book after the movie, they were so different that they were both very enjoyable and still so.


My next project will be reading "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. I say "project" b/c it is about 2 million pages long. Even tho the length tends to be a daunting task for me I have been told by Pinky that I will love it and she has been bugging me for the past 4 years to read it. I purchased it and "The Fountainhead" together a while back and Pinky has "The Fountainhead" since she hadn't read that yet. I figured now that Winter is upon us (if we ever get some friggin' snow!) it's the perfect time to begin this book.


BUT FIRST! I must read something silly and ridiculous! To my surprise and happiness, my librarian had caught on to a little series of books by one Gideon Defoe. I think I had mentioned his first book "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists" in another post when I had read it over the summer. We had just received "The Pirates! in an Adventure wtih Communists" recently so I snapped it up and am currently reading that. There is also another book she is ordering called "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab". Those are the only ones out right now, and I hope he will write more.

These books are absolutely hysterical (and completely random). I highly recommend you pick them up and read them immediately! Check out the Author's Blog Site if you get a chance. You can read excerpts and get an idea of the wacky sense of humor this guy has. The title of his blog is genious as well, especially for those of us who blog and surf at work!

Weekend Update!

So tonight I am heading out after work to a happy hour for Looney Linda, who's last day is today. As much as she annoyed me, now that she is leaving, I will have much more work to do and that sucks. 1 step forward and 4 steps back again for me I guess! But Hey! She is 47 and found a job that pays more than she was making here, so there is hope for me after all.

Not many are going to the happy hour b/c she was not very well liked...she was more just tolerated. I am going to be polite (and for the fact that they have a pool table there.) :) It should be fun. I have gotten a few people to come to hang out with me if nothing else. 'Cause you know me, "Bringin' the fun in!"




Some intersting news about a friend of mine from High School. His sister was in my "group" of friends throughout elementary and High school. Daryn and I always got along famously, bonding over silly things such as Coming to America and Batman movies and later on sitting around smoking the occaisional cigar and having discussions on many topics. He went to school for cinematography at Ithaca and has been involved with Independent films since he graduated a few years back. I just found out that his latest film was accepted at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival! It is called Low and Behold. Daryn is the Director of Photography on this film and it looks really interesting. he is also listed on IMDB. How cool is that? Congrats Daryn! Keep on keepin' on!


Quiet weekend here for once lately! I get to stay home! No traveling! Yippee! I do however have to clean my mess of an apartment and take down the tree and various Christmas decorations. I am hoping to get a few other things accomplished as well this weekend which will help me in the future and allow me to add a few things to my 2007 list. :)

Happy Friday!

Thursday Thoughts

Where to start?

I don't know if it was the full moon yesterday or the fact that I was stressing a bit last night about an interview I was having early this am, but I was in rare form and fairly emotional.

Let me tell you about this interview. I had been approached by a coworker to interview for a position with his wife's office. He thought I would be a great fit and felt I was being under-utilized here (duh) so we chatted and at the time (this was about 3-4 months ago) I decided not to bother. He approached me again right before the holidays and I figured that opportunity doesn't usually knock twice so I said I would interview, even tho my gut was telling me it wouldn't work out.

I had a 7:15am interview this morning at the office. It is a medical office and the position was "Receptionist/Office Manager". This was not moving ahead for me, but since he talked it up as a growing field of health with advancement opportunities, I figured, why not? His wife was great and had an upbeat friendly personality. I think we would get along famously. Her assistant was nice too.

So anyway, we talked position requirements, hours etc and the initial information. Then we get to money and they asked me what I was looking for and I told them. They wanted to offer me much less than my anticipated wage and to my surprise, less than I am even making currently! Then they tell me that vacation would be less than I currently have and that the medical and 401K is still being negotiated with new carriers. The assistnat even told me that her 401K was just sitting there not accruing anything b/c nothing had been decided for a few months!...Um, No!

So basically I felt like I got up at the Butt-Crack of dawn to be offered less than what I am making now with shaky benefits at best? I don't think so.

I realize that my skill level and education level are way beyond this position, but I thought if they would pay me decent, I might try it while keeping my eye on the big picture and an actual career goal. They were nice as was the environment and a 4 day work week with every Friday, Sat and Sunday off seemed very workable...HOWEVER:

(So as Lamby so elequently put it:) I cannot make a lateral move for less or the same as I am making now. I should be commanding a better salary and higher status considering my education and experience at this point. I should be focusing on career goals not just taking another job.

This is all common sense, but it it nice to hear someone say "Yeah, you are worth more!" even if it is your own sister and she is biased! :) Hey, at least I interviewed to keep those skills up, even tho I interview very well, every experience makes you better, stronger and more knowledgeable.

Oh and by the way, they offered me the job, I just need to call them tomorrow and decline the offer. Hopefully since this didn't work out, it means that a better opportunity is on the way...so back to the drawing board I guess!

Only the first week of 2007 and I have already started the job hunt. Not too shabby, huh?!

Yep, and now I am all pooped out:

Year in Review

I stole this little "Year in Review" meme from Wiccachicky. It was neat to look back at a glance and see what was going on last year. Here are the rules:

1.Pull up the first post of each month in 2006 from your blog archives.
2.Write the first sentence (or complete thought if you think it requires explanation) from the post next to the month.
3.Entertain us with your year in review!

January 2006: Well, I stole this from Amy's blog, she had gotten it from a friend via email and I thought it looked like fun. So here is my trip down memory lane from the year 2005. (This was the Year in Review where you answered questions for each month)

February 2006: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend for PS2 (etc.)was announced to be available in stores April 2006! The game's story sounds pretty neat and I am psyched that they have revamped her movements and there will be cool new environments to explore.

March 2006: Grabbed this fairly lengthy Meme from Wiccachicky. Took a little trip down memory lane. Hope you enjoy some highlights of my High School Career!

April 2006: I arrived at work today and found Blow on my desk. I got it from Beth. Wait, that didn't sound quite right. Let me see if I can post a pic that will explain. I am curently trying to watch the few Johnny Depp movies I haven't seen. Ed Wood will be next. Just wanted to clarify! Thanks to Beth for loaning me her Blow...


May 2006: DANI CALIFORNIA I have been a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers since the early 90's and I remember listening to them and dancing up a storm with Jenn Souder. I know she would love this song if she were around to hear it...


June 2006: Since I am swamped here at work today I thought I would post this hysterical email I received from my friend Lura.
NEW DRUGS FOR WOMEN
D A M N I T O L : Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours.


July 2006: Another great 4th of July Weekend celebration at Mike and Kim's took place this last weekend. Swimming, kickball, boating, bocce tournaments, we did it all! Monday we also were able to go to the beach and also test our strength and fortitude tubing the lake. Here are a few pics of the fun that was had!


August 2006: MB Vacation 2006 Part 2: Saturday was great on the beach but we were getting mighty hungry after our travels. we decided to do this seafood buffet just up the road a bit from our condo. It was called GIANT CRAB!!! WHy you ask? Well it had a Giant Crab on the building. Here is pic I got off the website. It was a decent buffet and we pigged out a little. My first plate was about a pd of crab legs!! YUMMY!



September 2006: The National Eastern Grey Squirrel Society, although maintaining radio silence for the past few months, leaked photos this week to remind us they are still on task when it comes to PieHole.


October 2006: I swiped this Q and A Meme from Amy's blog the other day. It's a long one, but I haven't posted this week at all so this should make up a bit! SO...here are my answers. (this was one of those anser the questions about yourself memes)


November 2006: Hello and welcome to another wonderful Whatever Wednesday!!! Today I have some sad news, some glad news and some "CC needs to vent" news. Hope you get a kick out of it anyway! (the post continues with a hidden message in each point)


December 2006: Happy Birthday Mamacita!!!She is so darn cute and the best Mom in the world!

CC's 2007 List!!!

Here we are folks! Another year gone and another year beginning anew. Happy New Year 2007!!

As you all know, last year I had CC's 2006 List and I did a decent job crossing off most of the things I listed. This year I have the 2007 List ready to go. I decided to start slow with a few things that are basic guidlines really, with a few specifics thrown in. I know I will add more as the time goes on, but this is a good start for now.

CC's 2007 List:

1. Continue to simplify my space and life
2. Continue my search to find a better job
3. Travel / Take a vacation or trip someplace new
4. Visit the Tut Exhibit in Philly (it arrived Feb 3rd and will be there thru until September)
5. Purchase a computer

Red, or anyone else that is blogless: If you have a list and would like to keep it here at cclifeorsomethinglikeit, send it to my blog email address: cclifeblog@hotmail.com

Happy New Year Everyone!!! May this year be filled with great success, excellent health and much happiness for all!!