Coaches Poll.

Trust me, I'm well aware that I'm the only person reading this who gives a damn about college football, but...

Texas Tech will beat UT this weekend. Just you watch.

And for the rest of you...



(Don't watch, just listen.)

Coffee, Tom. Freaking coffee.

I decided today that my job can be summed up in a single phrase, "What do you want me to do about it?"

In researching this book, I found this fantastic review:

I vaguely remembered when this riot took place, hearing it on the national news. They never really went into great detail, as to why the riots took place. However, this excellent book goes deeply into the corruption, the physical blackmail, and the awful conditions taking place inside this prison. This book will make you angry! This prison was a trainwreck waiting to happen, and those in power knew it. This book discusses specific events leading up to the riot, the overcrowding, the lack of proper amnentities, the threat of violence not only from inmates but from guards as well, all of these and more contributed to the horrific conclusion of that three-day-weekend in hell.
Yes, it is graphic, and not for those who don't want to know the torture endured by some of the weaker inmates, but the truth being exposed may keep the Mexico prison riot from happening again, there or in the U.S.

Wait for it....

FAIL.

Dad got a wind turbine for his birthday today. Feliz compleanos, padre.

Mom's born on January 20th. She would like a black president and an inspirational speech. Go vote.

Wrangle up some cattles.

Last year at Spirit, I sold Halloween costumes to Minus the Bear. They had a band/company credit card.

Yesterday, I sold Halloween costumes to this band:


Every Avenue

They played the Sunshine with All Time Low on Monday night. The only reason I know who they are was because I knew they had to be in a band and when I checked an ID, it was from Michigan. Internet stalkage and process of elimination allowed me to discover that I did, in fact, sell merchandise to a power pop band with 162,000 friends on myspace.

And today, I sold this wig:


To this man:

Keith Jardine

Which is apparently a big deal?


He was nicer than this.

Maria cannot stop laughing at Spencer's flesh beard.

Chuck Norris doesn't grow up.

Ended up getting massively upset over working this weekend, after having to miss a haunted corn maize, the zoo, and a speech from the democratic nominee for President. Sad, SAD lady writing this blog.

Work on Friday was nice, I've coming to realize I enjoy a good bluegrass band every now and then. Spirit was ridiculous on Saturday, just wall-to-wall people. After five hours of retailing, I managed the El Rey for Django Fest, which actually proved to be problematic. European musicians don't understand the basic concept that actually they need to pay for alcohol and not steal inventory out of coolers. Also, the bar was upstairs. I probably staired it about 50 times. Cavs are still burning as I type. And finally, I couldn't get the day off from Spirit on Sunday. Despite my boyfriend's pleas that I just not go to work, I was there; groggy and disenchanted. As soon as I got off from there, I headed up to the East Mountains for Kyle's birthday celebration with his family. We had a camp fire outside, and while enchanting, it made for a late night and I am dearly paying for it this morning. But, you know, it's the least I can do; lose a little sleep over my boyfriend's birthday. (He got these for his birthday. I bought these.)

It's just been a while since I had some good old fashioned time off. It's really starting to wear on me. I'm sure most people I know will attest to the fact that I have not been pleasant these past few weeks. But, the end is near. I only have 3 more shifts at Spirit: today, tomorrow and Thursday. After that, only a week more of office work. It worked out that I'll be treating myself to a small scale vacation soon after, as the Anderbenmans and I are going to Tempe for B-Folds on Veteran's Day (no finer way than celebrating our soldiers than listening to "Army"). And after that... nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I can't decide whether or not I like the light at the end of the tunnel. It's there, I see it, but it's really scary; the thought of not having a job. Like I said, I'll still be getting paid until January and if I really must, I can file for unemployment. But I feel like there's too many question marks, too many what if's, and it makes me very anxious, especially given the status of the economy right now. I can't get a job. I've applied for probably 20 positions, most of which I'm qualified for, and I can't even get a call back. It's frustrating and it makes me feel helpless. I don't like being here, in limbo. I hate you, limbo.

Trying hard to be optimistic. I know this'll all work out and everything will fall into place soon. I'm exploring lots of options about possible certifications I could get, mostly in counseling/social work. But, being an adult doesn't feel all that rewarding right now.

Maybe Natalie Portman and Rashida Jones are right. Puppies.

Function Check Required.

I got to go up on the roof of Spirit last night. Pretty awesome.

Not even upset about working this weekend. While it's going to prove to be brutal, I'm at the El Rey both tonight and tomorrow night, at office today, and at Spirit tomorrow morning. Both El Rey events are going to rule. Tonight is bartending for Cadillac Sky and one of my new favorite local bands and tomorrow is managing for the almighty Django Fest. I'm a little bummed that I'm not bartending the second one, since I made a retarded amount of money last Django Fest, but it'll also be nice to be able to roam around and have some fun. Spirit will be okay on Saturday. It'll be really busy, which makes the time go by quickly. And I'm going to try my hardest to take off Sunday from Spirit, so I can attend the full day of boyfriend Birthday activities, which include zoo that I'm really excited about, and dinner at his parents, which I'm not nearly as excited about.

But, Bruce-Dog will be there.


This is not cool, by the way.

YAH. UR SOOOO FUNNY. IT RHYTHMS.

Jack & Diane

Want: Hot bath and good book.

Substitute: This album. And it's a damn fine substitute.

Change what exactly?

It's funny to me to listen to conservatives talk right about now. "If Obama wins and this country becomes a socialist state, I'm moving." Where ya goin? Canada? I doubt that one will work out the way it did 8 years ago. Maybe try Iraq since everything's good and democratic over there now. Hey, you'd probably have a better chance at getting a job.

Political nerdity: Early voting's here. Get a sample ballot for your precinct here. There's some really important local races and bonds you should internet it up on. I'm in no position to tell you how to vote, but it probably won't take long for you to make up your mind.

Newborn's are slippery.

This time in October is freaking birthday time. Maria's is today, Kyle's is Wednesday, Stancie's is next Monday and my dad's is next Wednesday. The moral of the story is January is a popular time to copulate.

And on that note, Hey, roommate, Happy Freaking Birthday!


(Times Square, December 2007)

Maria's in Vegas. It's 9:38 in the morning and she's probably already drunk. She's a champ.

Anyway, I tried to find old school pictures of the two of us, from the Redondo days, and I found this priceless gem:


(Retzen's kitchen, 2002)

Ah, Spankette days. When me, Emily and Maria found no better excuse to sneak into over 21 shows than to dress alike and dance around. Look how long Emily's hair was! And how bad mine was! I miss you, blue hair. But I do not miss the ugly green you turned when you washed out.

Regardless of hair, that's a classic.

Know what I love lately?

Hockey.


Okay, okay. I know most of it looks a little bit more like this:


But, that's not the point. The point is I feel like after a month in Canada and 2 weeks in Detroit, a little of that Hockey Fan Girl blood in my DNA has trickled down. I never minded hockey before, but with the start of this season, and the influence of my cousin Marianne, I've been following the Habs pretty devotedly. Good news is they're undefeated and second in the the eastern conference right now! But, it's only just begun. And the internet tells me that the eastern conference looks really great this year. Which is no shock. I mean, really. Who plays hockey in the desert? Well, I guess Scorpions do. But, I'm learning all about the proud heritage of the Canadiens as they celebrate season number 100.


Coincidentally, (and I feel like a giant girl for bringing this up...) vintage sports apparel is really quite cute. But also quite expensive.


I lust for this as well: vintage SMU shirt. It's a Vanderpool thing. Other Vanderpool/SMU related lust: this archeology program.

But, other than wishing cable included the CBC and online shopping (browsing), I'm just tired. Really, there are bags underneath my eyes. This week will work out to being another 70 hour work week. Sometimes, office work closes early on Friday and I'm hoping that happens since I have to be at the bar at 6:00. SIGH. The good news is I got out of opening at Spirit tomorrow and don't have to be there til noon. It marks the first time I've been able to sleep in for weeks. This is me excited. There's not much there, but trust me, my brain's dancing as much as it can. This better pay off economically.

With the introduction of the D90, the cost of the D80 has dropped drastically, making it a little bit more accessible to me. However, I'm sure upcoming moves and job insecurities will keep me from spending my well-earned Seasonal retail cash on such an item, regardless of my dying creative spirit. Adulthood, you can eat it.

ONE MORE LINK. B&H's holiday closures are so cute and Jewish.

Largely Lifted for a Wildfire

Admist all the economy failing and the mud slinging and the electing, there is one, little piece of fantastic, exciting, positive news circulating around.


A native has returned home after nearly 60 years.
Five river otters — a species once found in streams and rivers throughout New Mexico — were released Tuesday on Taos Pueblo in the water of the Rio Pueblo de Taos.
The otters were trapped in Washington state under a reintroduction program that involves the pueblo, the state Department of Game and Fish, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the New Mexico Friends of River Otters, a coalition of citizens, agencies and conservation groups dedicated to bringing otters back to New Mexico.
River otters — highly social, playful, semi-aquatic members of the weasel family — are believed to have once inhabited the Gila, upper and middle Rio Grande, Mora, San Juan and Canadian river systems.
They were occasionally mentioned in the journals of early settlers, but there have been no confirmed sightings of river otters in the state since 1953. Their disappearance was blamed largely on decades of trapping and habitat loss.
A larger release of otters is scheduled on the Upper Rio Grande in November. The number depends on how many can be trapped, said Hans Stuart, a spokesman for the BLM in Santa Fe.
"We are so thrilled to see this species back in New Mexico," said Linda Rundell, state director for the BLM.
Game and Fish Director Bruce Thompson said protecting and restoring native wildlife is important to New Mexico's heritage and ecology.
"Today's release is a positive first step in an effort to return otters to watersheds across the state," he said.
And Melissa Savage of New Mexico Friends of River Otters said, "We are extremely excited that Taos Pueblo has taken the initiative to ensure that our playful furbearing friends are once again diving and swimming in the Upper Rio Grande watershed."
The state Game Commission in 2006 directed Game and Fish to begin efforts to restore otters. A department study identified several suitable sites in both the Rio Grande and Gila river basins.
Last year, the department, the BLM and New Mexico Friends of River Otters began working with Oregon to get otters for release in New Mexico. But the reintroduction was delayed because efforts to trap otters in Oregon were unsuccessful.
Twenty states, including New Mexico's neighbors of Arizona, Colorado and Utah, have successfully reintroduced river otters.


HIGH FIVE, LITTLE DUDE!

In my world, they do.

Classic Big Head Bedard!

Interweb, welcome Landon Leclerc into this bold world. My cousin Mike and his wife Kristen who live in North Carolina became parents on Sunday, making this great-grandchild number 2 for Grandpa Emile. Us Bedard's don't have babies too often (at least babies in America) so it's pretty exciting. And cheers to the new parents, new grandma Colette, Grandpa John and new Auntie Gina (who will spoil that child rotten. ROTTEN!) Only the best for our expanding family.

I went to Raton yesterday, hoping that talking with former bosses and former teachers would give me some kind of career insight. I didn't get too much, but I sure had fun. I learned at APD had an unofficial rule in the 70's where if you went on a domestic violence call and if after 10 minutes, you wanted to slap the lady too, the guy got away with it. Visits to Raton are nothing if not educational.

But it was great to sit down and drive/listen to music for 6 hours yesterday, especially after standing up all weekend. Last week drained my soul, I'm hoping this week will be better. But, I'm working the exact same amount, so I sort of doubt it. YAWN.

However, after today, I only have 20 days of work left at the job I can't blog about. Scary, right? Well, not that scary. I'll get paid til January. No, really.

The way it looks outside today is exactly how it looked when I left Niagara Falls for Quebec. This blows my mind.

Gas at the Chevron on Candelaria and Edith is $2.77 a gallon.

Tenderness on the Block.

Super excited when I discovered this at work today. I'm not the biggest gamer, in fact most video games intimidate the hell out of me. But, that one, I like. But the way it's set up where the "x" key is jump and the "z" key is fastness, I can barely function. It's like playing guitar left handed. I'm sure if I played more video games, it wouldn't be such a deal. Punishment in full force.

You what, Balloon Fiesta? You're pretty. Don't worry, no one disputes this. It's you're kind of magical in that cute, little way you're unique to New Mexico. But seriously, you impare drivers to no end. The ten days of the year you're around are the absolute worst. It shouldn't take me an hour to get to work in the morning. But, it does because of out-of-state drivers who gawk at you on the interstate, instead of paying attention to their driving, and cause wrecks. So, yeah, I'm really hoping you get rained out again this weekend. Because, guess what Texas? New Mexico loves nothing more than to take your money and produce zero in return.

Staying up late is not beneficial when working a 67 hour week. I sometimes wonder just how bad a Red Bull would be for me.

Connect the wires and plug me in.

First off, we need to talk about how freaking good this album is. It takes every piece of music every current piano-fronted indie pop band (which is an increasingly large genre, probably thanks to Mr. Folds) and shoves it down their freaking throats. It's just that strong. It's a true return to form, a CD that people who hates Ben after he dropped the Five will fall fast in love with. Songs for Silverman will always have a very special, sentimental place in my heart but that's not what this album is about. It feels like Ben had a pretty intense conversation with his producers before recording and said, "Okay. Just how much can I get away with it?". It's one of those albums that's worth buying solely because of the production, and also solely because of the song writing calibur. I heard about half of it live when I saw him in Michigan back in January, when some of the songs were still coming to be and he was at the tail end of recording. So, having the final, finished product, instead of low quality youtube videos is just phenomenal.

I'm not trying to say that is lacks emotion because any project that Ben Folds does is far, far from that. It's an intensely personal effort. One of the best things about Ben it's his comprehension of pop and what makes it good; his ability to have fun with music, but also to allow it to be painfully honest.

Anyway, really, really great CD. I'd buy it a lot.

It's October, by the way. That means one thing for me: Seasonal Retail. DUN DUN. I started working Job Number 3 at Spirit again on Friday, which means, not counting yesterday, I worked a 50 hour week last week. This week, counting yesterday, I'll work 67 hours. Similiar pattern to continue until the end of the month. So, if I'm absent, please forgive me. I'm probably sleeping. It's been a long, long time since I've been this busy. I'm trying to prepare myself, but I fear the worst: blind work-daze where I start having nightmares involving locking keys out of buildings and cash registers eating my face. But, I keep telling myself this is good and it'll help me build up my savings, not to mention keep me active. I must tell you, after standing for 13 hours this weekend, sitting for 8 hours today sounded mighty fine.

I'm working at the Spirit on Cutler, next to Linen's N Things. Come visit!


How on earth little Filipino man sounds exactly like Steve Perry is still a mystery. But, he does. It's freakish. Kyle, his cousin Brianna, Marky and me braved the elements on Saturday and saw Journey at the Pavilion. Completely worth it, if only to hear Neal Schon play the Star Spangled Banner to the best American pride graphics I've even seen in my life (and I've seen a lot of them). Lots of hits were sung, lots of emotional swaying was done, good Saturday night.

Lastly, I need to talk some more about Ben Folds. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! I will die happy.

Lipstick.

You know those images you see on the internet and you find your brain going through all the possibilities of captions and IM's and myspace comments? Well, maybe you don't. But I do. And this is that image.

Sound of wheels making me crazy.

I'm watching Sports Center at work (no, really).


And even though I know no one else cares, Boise State's football field makes no sense.

Gonna watch TV and pray for decent re-runs.

In the seven years that I've been pierced I've been very lucky (and very careful) to hardly ever snag a piercing. Never experienced the dreaded piercing skin tear. But now, after Monday night, I know just how lucky I was because, SOB, does that ever hurt.

Once again, I'm a sick little bee. Maria believes it to be allergies. I think it's stress. I dislike my job JUST THAT MUCH that my body will get sick to prevent me from going to it.

I slept til 1:30 on my sick day yesterday, which actually made me a little mad. I missed out on hours of pointless daytime television, which is by far, the best part of a sick day. Watching paternity test results in the middle of phlegm-brain/pseudoephedrine stupor is just the oddest sensation in the world.

But, kudos to me for even being able to sleep yesterday morning after 4 Tylenol Severe Cold Daytimes. Ever since I spent that month off caffeine, my body's been super sensitive to it. Like, no Dr. Pepper after 7:00 kind of sensitive (ohai, imma toddler). Normally cold medicine wires me like non-other, but ever since the Great American Caffeine Swear-Off, Dayquil's made me downright loopy. But, nope, not yesterday. ZZZZ.

Today I ended up rocking an entire day at work, even though I only planned on a half. Actually, "rocking" is the complete opposite adjective from what I did at work today. But, tomorrow, oh, tomorrow is going to be downright brutal. Like, I may end up in fetal position underneath desk kind-of-brutal. Like, pretty lucky the windows on our 7th floor office don't open kind-of-brutal. Like, no, really, brutal. If you're oh so privledged to know where this mysterious job of wonder THAT I DON'T BLOG ABOUT is, then you might have a good idea as to why tomorrow is teh brutal. So, please, let the waves of good karma and nice thoughts wash over me. I'll need it. Freaking brutal.

By the way, P-Run, I totally saw that coming.