So, what do you guys think? I realize I am not going to win any blog awards, but with my ZERO computer skillz this is the best that I can do. Is it summery enough? I sure hope so because I really don’t like trying to figure this stuff out. It makes me feel terribly inept.

Oh and for me and the one other person who thought bunnies would make for a cute theme check out my little image down on the bottom right. It’s Tula! Really though, I’m glad to be back. This theme is just really crisp and fresh looking. The other one was pretty, but it made me really miss the things about this one that I love so much. Hopefully we can deal with this one until I have to change it for Autumn, or whatever.

Guess what! Kasey got a job yesterday!! She went in for a trial at the cafe of a community center at one of our local communities and she went home with a schedule for the next two and a half weeks!! They must have really liked her. She is going to be cooking in the cafe and making sandwiches. She also has some cleaning duties. She said she really enjoyed her first day and I am thrilled for her. Getting a job these days is rough and it has been a discouraging few months. Well, she is back in the swing of things now and hopefully this job will go well and she will be able to stay there for a while. It’s less than a mile from our home too so she’ll be able to get there in the Fall when I have to go back to school. It’s perfect.

I have been recouping the last few days from my trip to the Women’s Leadership Institute. I feel like so much happened and I experienced so much that it is hard to figure out what to tell you about. The sessions were alright, but honestly being someone interested in women’s studies as much as I am it was a lot of things I knew already, but it’s always fun to have a refresher course and it’s not like I have that stuff memorized anyway.

The biggest thing that impacted me was the other women there. I was really feeling my age a bit as I was one of the three oldest attendees, but that wasn’t an issue. Though it did lead to a funny moment (for me) when I was talking about something I watched when I was little and no one knew what I was talking about because oh-my-god-they-weren’t-born-yet (or old enough to watch TV).

I really hope I get to keep in touch with the people that I met because I feel like in one short week through sharing my experiences and hearing theirs and just being able to talk honestly without any judgement, I changed so much. I can home feeling lighter, happier and more at peace with myself.

One night me and a woman named Shaneka stayed behind from a trip to Wal-Mart (the only store around there) and had a really awesome 2 hour talk where she told me more of her story and I shared more of mine. It was amazing and really stuck with me. It felt so good to be able to talk about things without a fear of retribution. I also felt like in telling her I was able to let go of some feelings that I had been hanging on to.

I didn’t hold myself back on this trip. I decided that I was going to make an effort to be outgoing and open and meet as many people as possible. I really feel like I lived up to that goal and I hope that I am able to keep in touch with these women for years to come.

If you have added me as a friend on Flickr you will be able to view the pictures in the Women’s Leadership Institute set. If you haven’t added me as a friend on Flickr, then you should. I’m nice!

I am very tempted to start a birthday countdown on my blog, but I as I get older I suppose I should be more mature about these things.

Oh, screw it: IT’S 16 DAYS UNTIL MY 24TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

A whooping 9 people gave their opinions about this here blog theme. A huge thank you to each and every person who gave me their thoughts.

Survey says:

Three people would like to see something nice for summer.

Two people said leave it alone, I like the poppies. THANK YOU!!

Two lovely people thought that bunnies would be oh-so-cute! One of which wasn’t even me! Rock on!

One person would be happy enough seeing less red

and

One person said to contact them for more ideas. Though…the person who said this owns a wordpress design site and I think they might want actual money.

So there we have it! The people have asked for a summer theme and I think that is what they should get….now how to go about doing that….hmm….

I’ll be working on it! You can count on that.

Until the new design is done and pretty, I’m putting the rainbow one back on for a bit.

I’m back! I bet you guys are going to miss Kasey. Didn’t she do an awesome job? Who knows, maybe she’ll post some more some day.

I am feeling a little lag from the trip still so I’ll have to work on a really good post later on. Right now I am more interested in reading up on how you guys have been doing!

Bottom line though? My week was AMAZING. I could not possibly have expected it to be a great and rewarding as it was. I just let myself open up and be honest and really try to connect with people and I feel like I truly succeeded.

I feel like this is a new chapter in my life and I am closing the door on the things that have bugged me through the years. I learned that I am a good person and a good friend to have and I should surround my self with people who appreciate that friendship and deserve it.

This Angela feels more carefree and I am definitely loving life right now. What a difference a week makes.

So, I went to my friend’s apartment and the last time we saw each other was her birthday party months ago. In between then and now she’d acquired a boyfriend. Surprise! I was introduced and he seemed like a nice enough guy. She called him a redneck and I didn’t hold the fact that he likes Nascar and has a bad haircut against him.  But then something became clear. He could not keep his hands to himself and my friend was completely into it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people that hates P.D.A.  There is nothing wrong with holding hands, getting a little cuddly, maybe a stolen kiss here or there.  But there are rules. Rules you’re supposed to follow, especially around your friends. Unless alchohol is involved, there is no reason to just be straight up groping one another. His hands were all over the place and I’m like, “I know you’re in love, but can you keep your pants on?” At least until I leave, then do what you want. I just don’t want to think about it. I feel like in 30 years he’s going to be one of those creepy old guys who goes to the club and leers at the college girls. I see them all the time and I can totally see him becoming that guy! Creepy old guy! Gross!! So, I had a good time once there were more people there, but just me and them, alone was so uncomfortable. P.D.A gone bad is not fun for anyone.  

On to other things. Thanks for the comments. There was a question about Colbie Caillat. She just got popular here this summer actually so it’s funny you mention her. Lord knows they were playing Bubbly on the radio forever before they released a new single. If you like her, then you need to listen to one of absolute favorites ever!!! Sara Bareilles. I loved her before she was on a major label and now she’s all over the place. She writes her own stuff, she plays the piano, her voice is amazing. I mean, if she came to my house and told me she wanted to marry me, Angela would just have to find someone else. Or be my mistress. Sara B would definitely be on my top 10 list of favorite artists. That would be a hard list to make. How about you guys? Could you make a top 10? Here’s my tentative list based on how they changed my musical life in no particular order.

1. Sara Bareilles
2. Aerosmith
3. Kanye West
4. Coldplay
5. Tupac
6. Keith Urban
7. Snow Patrol
8. John Mayer
9. Kirk Franklin
10. Goo Goo Dolls
I love all of those for different reasons. Music is definitely a huge part of my life. I live for it. No additions to the summer soundtrack today. Instead find a song by those artists. (Kirk Franklin is a gospel/Christian artist.)

Hmm, I promised a lesson in slang right? Are you interested in it? Are there any words that you’ve ever wondering what they mean? In fact, is there anything you’d like me to talk about for my last day? It’s tomorrow and then the lovely Angela will be back with all sorts of stories about her time away. I’ll try to come up with something good but feel free to leave me some love. I need it! Holla at your girl.

Peace, love and happiness always.

Picture this: East Orange, NJ, circa 1994. A little black girl in the hood goes to her mother and says, “Mom, can we get a dog?” The mother smiles and says, “Of course you can have a dog baby! When you’re grown and out of my house!!” My mother is NOT an animal person. My dad used to have a dog before they got married. She made him get rid of it! (He gave it to a friend before she could shoot it.) The only pet I had as a kid were fish and slowly her ideas of how dogs, cats and other small animals were germ-infested, smelly, disgusting creatures slowly penetrated my brain. Whenever I went over to a friend’s house and they had a dog, I would stare at it, praying it didn’t attack me. “Oh, Kujo just wants you to pet him.” Many a dog owner would say as their ‘cute’ dog would jump up and down, snarling, teeth bared, looking at me like I was dinner. I mean, I’ve even met a racist dog. No joke. My friend Amy brought me to her house and warned me that her dog did not like black people. And sure enough, the dog growled and then ran at the sight of me and Sam(another black friend) and hid for the duration of our stay. My dog dream was dead.

Angela has two dogs. I was not thrilled. But miracle of miracles, they actually just wanted to be petted! They’re nice, they’re thrilled whenever I walk in the door, they follow me around and they listen to me talk when no one’s around. By george, what a faithful animal!! (is what I thought to myself). In the back of my mind, the dream rose again. Sure rabbits are cute but a dog! Now that’s a pet! I told Angela. We should get a dog when we get a house. I could play catch and it would hang out with me on the couch. Oooh the dream was alive and well. Sure, the dream got beat a little bit everytime these two dogs did something, but they’re still cute and friendly. But then today….today I went down the hall, turned the corner to the bathroom and there was poop on the floor. Not just one little pile, no, SEVERAL PILES OF POOP! It was gross ya’ll. I mean, just when I think I want a dog and I’m ready for what that entails..woo! I remembered the poop and the dream retreats back into a corner of my mind. I asked Angela’s brother if he’d seen it and he acted all surprised but you know what? I think he saw it. He just didn’t want to clean it up. I wouldn’t have believed that about him before but he lied to his parents about eating all the salsa. How you gonna be 30 years old lyin’ bout eatin’ some salsa! You know that ain’t right! Anyway, if you guys have any advice about the dog thing, get back at me. Maybe there’s some small breeds or something that make small poops. Cus you know a sista is not trying to be picking up after a monster dog people!

I watched three good movies yesterday: The Seeker, Live Free or Die Hard and Lost In Translation. I’ve been wanting to see Lost In Translation for forever and it lived up to the hype. I loved it, I loved the music, it was funny and everything people said it was so I highly recommend it. Live Free or Die Hard was also good. I like Bruce Willis as the action guy and even though he’s old he’s still got the swagger. The Seeker wasn’t bad, it’s a kiddie fantasy movie so I wasn’t expecting much.  My next movies are I Think I Love My Wife, Adaptation and About Smidht. Thanks for all the suggestions for heist movies, I’m psyched.

Oh you want more music? I’m trying to educate ya. The Summer Soundtrack rolls on.
1. Disturbia - Rihanna
2. Love Remains the Same - Gavin Rossdale
3. I Decided - Solange
4. Say - One Republic
5. Fall for You - Secondhand Serenade

Alright peeps. I’m actually going to go out tonight, do something with myself. I love it when you comment, it makes me feel even more important than I already feel. Holla at ya girl. Peace, love and happiness. Oh and we’ll get to your slang lesson later.

I always wanted to be a spy when I grew up. I mean, what’s cooler? The cool car, the hot girl(luv ya baby) and all the gadgets. Now that I’m older, that penchant for getting up in people’s business has led me to a very big mystery: my neighbors. On one side there’s a deaf couple who’s always yelling at their kids. They’re cool, no intrigue there. But on the other side of a tall fence is a house full of shadiness. Anywhere between 3 and 10 people live there and I am dying to know what’s going on. Add in a dog and a squawking bird and you have an idea of the madness going on. I just want to call the police and say, “Umm, officer, I think my neighbors are druglords or international criminals hiding out until they’re able to dig up their money and go somewhere warm, like Mexico.” However, since I have no proof the police no longer respond to my calls. Where’s the trust?

On the opposite side, I’ve always wanted to commit the ultimate heist. You know what I’m talking about. You get together a team(your best friends of course) and all of you suddenly have all the skills you need to rob the United States Mint(or some equally impressive building). Like, mild-mannered Julie is suddenly a safe-cracking expert and you know everything about hacking into the security system. Sigh. Awesome.  Got lost in the fantasy for a moment. If anyone knows any good spy or heist movies, get back at me.

The comments keep rolling in and for that I’m grateful. Angela’s very impressed. I would like to thank everyone for their support of my pen cap defense. Who knows if she’ll change her ways. One can only hope. Also, someone said I might be quickly becoming addicted to blogging. To this I say NAY! I will not be sucked into this blogging phenomenon however enjoyable it may be. You won’t get me! Also, someone mentioned that they hadn’t heard of ANY of the songs on my summer soundtrack. Oh, woe to me. My heart is sad. Please, find them, listen to them, enjoy them. What kind of music do you guys listen to? I’ll try to expand my list to include various genres. What my adoring public wants, my adoring public gets.

Right now I’m watching My Big,Fat, Greek Wedding for the 20th time. I do love this movie. Oh, Cloverfield was crazy! And 300 was off the chain with the battle scenes. They were sick(that’s a good thing). Hmm, maybe we’ll have a lesson in slang tomorrow. That sounds fun for all of us.

SUMMER SOUNDTRACK
1. Mercy - Duffy
2. Freaky - Jesse McCartney
3. Lollipop - Lil Wayne (be careful, it’s dirty)
4. Last Name - Carrie Underwood
5. One Step At A Time - Jordin Sparks

Okay, you know what you need to do. HOLLA AT YA GIRL! Peace, love and happiness y’all.

I was at Old Navy this past weekend. Angela immediately zeroed in on some item and I drifted over to the men’s section. (Side note: Why do stores always put the ugly stuff on sale that you never want?) Anyway, while looking around I noticed two little white boys whispering and pointing in my direction. Let me say, no vanity here, but I cut an imposing figure. Short I may be, but I’ve got broad shoulders and a…..solid body. If I was a guy I’d probably have played linebacker on the football team. However, now that my hair is cut, I’ve definitely noticed more small children staring at me. And you know kids. They have no control over what comes out of their mouths. So I’m just waiting for some kid to come over and ask me if I’m the Hulk or something. “No little boy, I’m a butch.” The mother stammers apologies and hilarity ensues. It should be a tv show.  A comedy with little bits of wisdom and lessons for everyone.  Take the Cosby Show, add Queer as Folk, subtract the graphic sex and you get ‘A Butch in the Poconos’. Sounds like Emmy gold to me, but that’s just my opinion of course.

Back to the present, what am I doing? Rearranging the room for the 50th time. It’s going well. I like to clean, it makes me feel productive. I just watched Transformers and it was just as good the second time around. I traded in those other movies for that, Cloverfield and 300. All movies Angela couldn’t care less about. It’s my action movie week. Waiting for a review of the movies from yesterday? Well, I did watch Nancy Drew and RV. They were enjoyable. I didn’t get to the Fountain so I’ll have to get it again. I’ve been “getting” a lot of new music. Woo, there’s some hot records out there. I don’t know what you guys are into but there will be recommedations at the end of this post.

I want to thank everyone who commented. There was a request to tell you something fun about Angela or myself. Hmm, Angela definitely has some eccentric(wierd) habits/phobias. One: She doesn’t like to hold glass. Two: She doesn’t like pen caps. She’ll throw them away! I was appalled when I realized she has no pens that have caps. And she’s like, “What, are they for something?” And I’m like, “Yes!! They protect the ink, the pen.” Now, I doubt it’s true, but I was frantic at the time. Which may say something about me.

Okay you wonderful people, the music you need to be listening to now. We begin our:

SOUNDTRACK FOR THE SUMMER(feel free to leave your suggestions. I’m always up for new stuff)
1. Shake It - Metro Station  
2. Leavin - Jesse McCartney
3. Sucka for Love - Danity Kane
4. Forever - Chris Brown
5. Closer - Neyo
They’ll be more of course.

You know y’all need to HOLLA AT YA GIRL! Peace, love and Happiness. See ya tomorrow.

Not to sound melodramatic, but I swear whenever Angela and I(Kasey) are in a bad mood, it starts raining. Yup, she’s gone. And she left it to me to keep her precious readers entertained or mildly amused for the week. So, I’d like to apologize in advance and tell you straight up: I am not that interesting. I can however tell you this: I won’t be extoling the virtues of body products or bunnies. I actually have no idea what I’m going to write about so this should be fun for all of us.

I’m missing my girl of course. I find it interesting that even though we’re around each other all the time and we haven’t spent more than a week apart for months that I still miss her this much. Is that wierd? Do any of you know of any couples that still like to spend so much time together? I would love to know because I think we’re abnormal in a good sort of way.

Hmm, I guess that’s it. I’m going to watch some Golden Girls and maybe research topics to write about since I am woefully ignorant of blogs, what to blog about, why people blog, etc.

Song of the Day: Amsterdam - Coldplay (cus it’s a great song to listen to while it rains)

Realization of the Day: I’m alone with my girlfriend’s parents for an entire week. They might try to talk to me alone.

Movies I got from the library: RV, Nancy Drew(don’t hate) and The Fountain. I’ll review them for your pleasure tomorrow, or later today. Should I post more than once a day? Get back to me.

Peace, love and happiness.

1. If you haven’t taken the poll from yesterday, please do so. I will be using the results when I get back for the new theme. Very important!

2. I am painfully aware that one of my buttons is squishing my main body of text, but I removed them from the design and yet they are still there. So I really don’t know what to do about that, do you?

3. Are you swapping? I bet you’re not. If you are over 18, a woman and have a Flickr account you can sign up right now to be part of the July Creature Comforts Swap. Doesn’t that sound like fun? I know some of you have seen the swap stuff around. The minimum is $15.

This time we are swapping a pillow and a book or magazine! Fun! Sign up! You can read more about it at that link to. I’m just saying that besides OMSH the only other active swapper I know is Rhiinpink. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I’m just saying that it is fun and exciting to get packages in the mail. It’s also fun shopping for someone else and trying to find something they would love. Okay. I am done pimping the swap group.

4. Holy crap, I am leaving tomorrow morning to go on a week long trip to somewhere I have never been with people I have never met. What was I thinking? Seriously. What is someone with an anxiety disorder and minimal conversation skills doing going on a trip like this. Oh thank you for selecting my university, I’m sure I’ll do a stand up job.

Also, I don’t mean to sound like one of those girls, but this will be the longest I haven’t seen Kasey since last June. That is scary for me. I don’t like change. It’s only a week though, right? I’ll be fine? I hope so. My nerves are starting to get jumpy and I actually had a NIGHTMARE about it. For reals. I did make Kasey a cutesy little package for while I am gone with a letter for each day and shiz because I’m corny like that.

Honestly though, is it really too late to cancel?

5. Today I am picking up my rental, going to Target, packing and worrying. Heavy on the worrying! Tomorrow I leave home at 7:00 am, meet the other 3 girls at 8:00 am and then I will be driving us the 5 hours to the institute all while trying to subtly keep my shit together.

Okay! So I admit it! I missed this theme. I have already gotten crap from my friend, Kyle, about it because he helped me customize the other one. Sorry! Listen. I don’t take change very well and I the other one just had visual things that I didn’t like. I hated that part of the background only lasted for half of my posts. Then the comments! They were all bunched together and my beloved author comment highlight was gone. I like to feel a little special when I respond to comments. This is my Z list website, after all.

I’ll fix the red. I have to figure out how I customized it the first time and redo it to something easier on the eyes. Alright? It will probably have to wait until I get back.

Speaking of which, Kasey will be posting some things while I am away so you can stop by the site and see what she has to say. I have no idea what sorts of things she will talk about, but don’t be surprised if she tells you all to go see Kung Fu Panda or discusses the finer points of France.

Last night I tried seared Ahi Tuna for the first time. Let me tell you, if you enjoy tuna sushi you will LOVE Ahi Tuna! I was skeptical at first because I got it at a bar and grill I had never been to before and it was coated in sesame seeds, which I don’t really care for. It was really good. I would definitely get it again some time. Hooray for trying new things!

I might not be able to update until I return so I’ll miss you guys! I really don’t know how I am expected to survive for 7 entire days with no internet access. It’s really quite sick of them. I am bringing my laptop anyway in the vain hopes that in this cabin (or whatever) in the backwoods of PA has wifi. A girl has to have dreams! I am also bringing all of my shower supplies. I don’t care if I am out in the wilderness I need my body products. The wilderness….shudder.

Please also take this very important poll!

I will be reviewing it upon my return to see what I am going to do to fix this site up.