it's been a long month...

yes, i realize i haven't posted in a month and my last post was obviously filler. so much has been going on i haven't been able to keep updated except for on facebook, which is like crack. i've been going all over the place and not been able to get online long enough to putz around on my blog. johnny and i have moved into an apartment downtown savannah with my bff Kim and my cousin Suejin, who is now 7 months preggers. Johnny's dad was moved to a nursing home after being released (more like expelled) from the hospital and he is doing good so far. of course, in the midst of all that, johnny's poor mom cracked a rib and was down for the count herself. well, whatever - johnny has so much drama in his life right now he needs to start his own damn blog, i can't keep up for the both of us. my drama is finally starting to wind down a bit - i feel much better now that we are moved into our own place (i don't want to sound unappreciative but jimmy's house was driving me nuts) and away from my mom. not that i don't love her but the woman drives me totally nuts and just when i thought nobody else could drive me nuts like her, suejin's mom has come to stay with us for a bit and THAT woman knows how to drive a person nuts. she nags nonstop about everything. and i mean everything - like cooking, cleaning, what to eat, what to wear, who should do what, etc... she cleans everything with rubbing alcohol over and over again. i thought I had OCD, but its nothing compared to suejin's mom.

i know it may seem like a lot on my plate having my pregnant cousin move in with us, but i am looking forward to it. i get along with her great and it's nice having family around. i don't know how i am gonna deal with her mom, though. that's a big rub right there. we've been buying baby stuff like crazy. i get a bunch of baby things from goodwill - i found an awesome old school high chair for the baby and a cute changing table. suejin's mom (Anna is her name) buys everything brand new - which kind of irked me (especially since they have no money) but i guess that's her perogative and not mine. goodwill is my favorite store and i guess it's just not for everyone.

i had thanksgiving with my mom in atlanta and we are planning to have christmas in savannah - just me, johnny, suejin and kim. i am sick and tired of travelling for the holidays to see family. i really dont even like christmas anymore, i just want to relax at home with friends. the dogs are happy, Anna gave them a korean scrub-down and all three of them are cleaner than the day they were born but they get love and attention from everyone so they are quite comfy and happy. we take them to the dog park which they love.

thats all for now, i am eyeball deep in moving boxes to unpack so i need to get started on that. i have pictures to post but for now it'll have to wait.

YAY OBAMA!!

on the economy

you cannot escape all the talk about recession anymore. it's in every newspaper, radio, website and conversation. what i don't understand is how exactly we got to this point, because from my perspective, things look really dismal. fed cutting rates + falling dollar value + high fuel costs + high unemployment + rising food costs = ?????? what does this all mean? is this the year we fall? in a way, i'm kind of hoping it is. i think we need a wake-up alarm call as americans. we need to know that our country is only as great as we make it and hold ourselves accountable to it's prosperity. i know the average person feels helpless to make any difference but how do you know if you don't even try? i think in order to taste sweetness you have to know what bitter is, and our generation knows nothing of bitterness. we spend like crazy, hurt each other, hurt ourselves and blame everyone else. we have to evolve into a more responsible society and i am hoping that if we do enter a depression (i already consider this a recession, despite what "experts" say), it will act as a catalyst for change.

boycott the beijing olympics

friday, as i was driving through the pouring rain to visit bibi at the vet hospital, i drove past a group of regular people and tibetan monks who were standing at the corner of the intersection holding flags and protesting. it's the first time i have ever seen tibetan monks in the US, much less monks protesting (peacefully, of course). I saw the face of one monk who was soaking wet and just standing there - and the brief glimpse i had of his face as i passed by was that of sorrow. it's easy for us comfortable americans to turn a blind eye to what's going on in the rest of the world as we go about our day to day business - but we have an opportunity to ACT on a worldwide issue. I have nothing against chinese people but i do have a problem with their government's actions. Well, I have a problem with many actions of my own but not quite in this degree. These people need our help, need to be heard. I don't think that China should have been granted the priveledge to host the olympics despite it's crimes against humanity and for that reason I boycott the olympics. What effect will this really have? Well, me by myself would be little to none. It's more of a personal sacrifice because I love watching the olympics. I was there in Seoul 1988 and i consider many of the athletes to be heroes. I think what needs to happen here is for people to be aware that there is a situation here. We have to hold our leaders accountable. The people have to demand justice and equality and peace. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7334545.stm

a moment of silence, please...

for the late great Martin Luther King, Jr. Today is the anniversary of his assasination and the very unfortunate loss of a great person who gave some of the greatest speeches of all time. Have you heard a MLK Jr. speech? If not, I highly recommend it.

Here is his last speech - do you think he knew what was about to happen?

presidential caucas

i am so politically confused. i wish i knew more about it all but i make do with what i got. i'm kind of sad to see dodd drop out cause i liked his tenacity in supporting the constitution (go habeas corpus!) but i kinda knew he wouldn't make it. i have done lots and lots of research and it all seems to lead me in circles, but i found a pretty good website to help me figure out which candidate suits me best. you fill out a profile (you have to register) and a questionaire. then it gives you a really easy to read pie graph of which candidates match your profile. according to it, i am most compatible with mike gravel, whom i know next to nothing about. after that it would be dennis kucinich but unfortunately i now think he's a little crazy, no offense, i really like the guy... then after that it's john edwards whom i don't really know if i trust. he's too airbrushed or something. the furthest dem from me is hillary and even then she beats out the closest rebublican to me who is huckabee. i would rather die than vote for him. i cannot believe anyone would want a preacher as a president. are people that adverse to paying taxes? i mean c'mon everyone pays taxes! i think we should be trying to make better use of tax money instead of selling out to pay less. after that it guiliani. i dont trust him either. i need to find out more about this mike gravel, even though i don;t think he's got a flying chance. i'll probably end up voting for obama if it turns out to be between him, hillary and edwards. maybe i need to research edwards more....

oh i almost forgot - if you are wondering what to do with your xmas tree take it to be mulched! There's a program in our area (possibly in yours, too) called Bring one for the chipper and if you bring your xmas tree to a participating home depot, they will give you a dogwood seedling for free! We are doing that this weekend, I can't wait!

peak oil

i learn so much from the internet, it is amazing. i've learned so much about the environment, technology, politics, parenting, home improvement, other people's stories, etc. i learn new things everyday that blow me away. today, for instance, i am learning about peak oil. i never knew what it meant, or how it affects me but with what i am observing about the world today everything seems so much more relevant than it did before. what could be worse than drought and an oil crisis, both of which we are currently dealing with? you can't just sit and wait something like this out.

i am pretty worried about the economy and the state of our planet. all of this is making me pay much more attention to the presidential race going on right now. it's hard to find the perfect candidate because i like one or two things from each. i admire someone for their conviction then find out something i hate about their beliefs. i admire the candidates who are still speaking up for the people and trying to make a difference in the government right now instead of schnozing with celebrities. i also admire candidates who have changed their views - nobody is perfectly right the first time but it takes a smart person to realize that and change. to be able to admit that something didn't work and present a new solution seems to be very rare among politicians. and why oh why does abortion have anything to do with politics?? WHY??? i try pretty hard to be open-minded and not prejudiced but i am so biased. so very biased. i really dislike christianity. when i read this article last week my prejudice was sealed in for good.

one day, the shit will hit the fan.

and just to lighten things up a bit here's a seriously funny video....

politics, shopping, and art

i plan to vote for president next year and because of that i've been trying to learn some american politics. i have never votes before - mainly because i just didn't know enough. i like to make informed decisions. so this year i have started researching presidential nominee candidates. right off the bat i liked hillary clinton. i agreed with a lot of what she said. i also liked to see what having a female president would be like. i still do. but i also did some research on other candidates - even republican - to see if there was someone out there who i agreed with more. there is only one other person i like for president but somehow i don't think he will win...but anyways he gave a really good interview on public tv so here is the link.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1AhaH1ozbg

this past sunday, since we DIDN'T go shrimping in beaufort, we went clothes shopping at northlake mall. i had some coupons and i needed some new work clothes to go on interviews with. shopping with females can be tiring, i know. but i am not really one of those females. i power-shop. i look at everything really fast and then grab whatever i like in my size. i weed out anything that is too expensive or has poorer quality then i'm pretty much done. i hate clothes shopping so i tend to get it over with asap. i always have to force johnny to buy clothes - he for some reason doesn't think he's worth having new clothes. i made him get some pants and shirts at old navy and after that he was pretty pooped. i made him go to lane bryant with me and the first thing he saw was a comfy chair. it didn't take him more than 2 minutes to fall asleep. sitting next to him was another guy who also fell asleep. it was kind of funny so i took a picture from behind a clothes rack.....



and last but not least i finally took my lazy ass over to my parent's garage and fished out some of my old canvases to re-paint. i realized what a crappy painter i am. but i don't care. people can say whatever they want about my paintings - i've decided i don't care how they come out as long as i enjoy creating them. which i did. here's the one i did yesterday: