Archive for August, 2009

Aug
28
2009

Busy bee

by Andrea

I have been a bad blogger and I’m sorry. I have been so busy lately, and let me tell you, I hate being busy. I hate running errands. I hate having all my time eaten up by stuff like work. If I leave my house and go to two different locations in a single day, I’m done. That means I get to put my feet up. For instance, this morning I went to my intake interview at the hospital and then shopping at Target. It’s two o’clock, and I would gladly spend the rest of the day in pajamas. In fact, I’m really upset about the fact that I still have to go to the post office. I’m trying to convince myself somehow that I don’t really have enough time to go to the post office today. I just need a lot of free time, ok? Like a cat or a sloth, I require frequent naps and snacks.

Anyway, I guess this post is just so ya’ll know I’m still alive and kicking. I was reading Feministing today, and saw this preview. I can’t wait to see it!

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Aug
20
2009

Happy Birthday Coco-Bear!

by Andrea

My little baby Coco turned three years old on Monday. That’s 21 in dog years, which means that from now on, Coco’s buying the beer! (Relax Mom, I’m kidding. Coco doesn’t even like beer.)

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This is what Coco looked like three years ago. There was a pet shop in Mexico that I used to walk past everyday. I would coo at the puppies and dream about the day I could get one of my own. When I went back to visit, I was finally in the market for a little ball of fluff to call my own, and in the bottom cage was Coco, the runt of the litter. I picked her up, and she laid her head on my left shoulder and nuzzled my neck. I was in love.

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Coco and I both had different hair colors back then.

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All grown up.

Coco is a very sweet, very patient big sister to Petunia, who joined us a few months later.

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She is also very patient with her mother (me), who likes to dress her up in silly costumes.

Happy birthday, snuggle-bug!

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Yeah. I did a birthday post for my dog. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.

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Aug
18
2009

Moving on up

by Andrea

Remember when I said I was going to look for a new job? Well, I did, and it was absolutely disheartening. Oh, how I hate looking for work! I sent out hundreds of resumes and made many fruitless phone calls. It was demoralizing because I am eminently employable. Or maybe not, since it’s cheaper to hire a 17-year-old who doesn’t require say, a living wage and benefits.

It took months to get even an interview, and at my first job interview in almost two years,  I was grilled by a committee on my religious beliefs. Isn’t that illegal? At any rate, it was painfully awkward. I think I looked like this:

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I didn’t get the job.

I went on several more interviews, which are never fun, until I had an interview that was wonderful. I was thrilled. It seemed like a perfect fit. Everybody was so nice and friendly.

I didn’t get the job.

So I applied again. Tenacity, right? I went on another interview, and again, it was great and everybody was very kind and friendly and it seemed like a perfect fit. And guess what?

I GOT THE JOB!

When I found out, I did a little happy dance, and Kurt told me to stop because I might hurt myself.

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This job represents a lot of things for me, like having health insurance and the ability to pay my bills, but mostly it means that I’ll be going from a retail pharmacy to a hospital pharmacy, and I have a feeling that I’ll be much happier there. And if I’m not, at least it will be something new and different.

But aside from the whole quality of life aspect, I’ll have more money! You know, to pay my bills and stuff. My rent and that parking ticket I got in January. (In my defense, is it really fair to give somebody a parking ticket when they are parked legally in front of their own house? I think not.)

Let’s be honest: mostly I’ve been fantasizing about all the lovely new things I’ll be able to buy. Like this purse:

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I’ve been visiting it at Nordstrom. I caress it gently, and whisper, “Don’t worry baby. Mama will take you home soon.”

What should I name it? I think I should name it so that instead of saying “Where’s my purse?” I can say “Where’s Lucille?” And then maybe I can feel justified in talking to it and tucking it in at night.

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Aug
11
2009

Cross-species communication

by Andrea

If there is one thing better than a human child making a rude gesture, it’s a monkey child making a rude gesture.

monkeyfinger

Nilched from cuteoverload.com

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Aug
9
2009

Sing in American!

by Andrea

I made a new mix cd and brought it to work, and to most of my co-workers’ chagrin, it contains some songs in Spanish. Americans are so stuck on being able to understand the music they listen to, and I’ve been thinking about that lately: what is that about?

Mexicans have no qualms about listening to music in English, French, Portuguese, Italian… My English students asked me to translate “My Humps” for them, which I used as an opportunity to teach a class on American slang. Because I was the slacker hip, fun teacher.

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Los Chicharos de Ojos Negros

Some people say that I listen to Spanish language music due to the fact that I can understand it, but I listened to it before I spoke Spanish. If you look in my iTunes library, you’ll find music in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Russian, Japanese, Finnish, Ukrainian, Greek and I don’t know what else. Most Americans listen to music in English. That’s it. And they’re totally missing out.

One year at school, I was blessed with roommates that would happily listen to music in any language. That year I discovered tons of great music from all over the world, especially Greece.

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Beautiful abs, beautiful singing voice.

I believe I’ve mentioned before that Sakis Rouvas is a Greek god among men. He has also put out some great music. Seriously. Check him out.

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     My girl Shakira is better in Spanish…

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and Astrud Gilberto is better in Portuguese.

I don’t speak Portuguese, so I can’t really understand Astrud Gilberto or Sylvia Telles. I don’t speak French, so I can’t understand Keren Ann or Daphné. But aren’t a good beat and catchy melody universal? And I don’t think you have to speak the language to comprehend the emotion of a bolero, fado, or chanson.

I now present the greatest break-up song of all time. It just so happens to be in Spanish.

Any questions?

 

 

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Aug
5
2009

Puppy love

by Andrea

Pretty much the cutest video ever.

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