Music for a Monday Sunday Morning

(because Sundays here are Mondays)

I read in a magazine a few years ago that on average, a person will have three bad days a month. Ever since reading that, I have paid careful attention to the bad days I have and you know what I have found? I have, like, one bad day a month. Or maybe half a day. Like, guys, I just don't have bad days.

Sometimes I wake up grumpy, but usually I wake up singing.

Often I wake up headachey, but I never feel crappy enough not to laugh.

I am a thoroughly happy person.

Today, though. Today, right now, it is 8:38 AM and I am ready to crawl back in bed and hide under the covers and drown myself in my crappy feelings. I hate today.

I feel physically lousy, probably because last night I ate a Krispy Kreme donut and I haven't had one of those in *years* and I don't think my body can really handle that sudden onslaught of crap.

I feel stressed like you wouldn't believe because.....whatever. I don't even care to explain. But I'm half the stress-case my father is, and with my mother out of town and it being summer and their departure date hurtling towards us, he nags. And worries and stresses and pressures and my only escape is the House with the Cats That Follow Me Around Meowing With An Impressive Degree of Obnoxiousness. Also, they claw me and knock things over and why did I agree to sit them again?

UGH.

Anyway, the point of all this is:

Last night I watched the US vs Ghana game and IT WAS SO AWESOME. Well, up until the overtime when I fell asleep. But DUDE. Are you all watching the World Cup?? Oh my gosh I love it. My one complaint--my singular complaint!--is why FOUR YEARS? This one isn't even over and I'm already excited about the next one. Rio! It's going to be so awesome!

Today sucks, but do you know what doesn't?
Music. Shakira. Africa.

Foootbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalll.



This video will be the thing that gets me through the day.

Today

1. I am at work.

2. I arrived at 7:46, which is really early.

3. But it's all good because Imma leave at 3:46. Summer hours rock.

4. I am not working.

5. Instead I am passing the time reading Yes and Yes (that song is awesome. Check it.) and dreaming about travel.

6. I wish I were traveling now.

7. I woke up this morning at 4:30.

8. The cats were tossing around and pouncing on a stuffed rat and a mix of their enthusiasm and jingly little collar-bells kept me up.

9. It is waaaaaaaaaarm.

10. It feels like a good day for the beach, but I know the water is too warm, and the sand much too hot.

11. I am wearing flip flops that don't belong to me, and an awesome pair of pants that does. Life is good.

12. The air smells like the ocean. I'm just a few miles from the shore, but just a few blocks from a landfill, so normally I just smell rotting garbage. It's so nice to smell the ocean.

13. I wish I were at the beach.

14. Eating ice cream.

15. Instead, I am just going to get back to work.

How to Have Fun In a Blackout

1. Get a MacBook.

2. When the power goes, open up Photo Booth.

3. Take a creepy photo of yourself:

4. Show it to Mom:

5. Break out the Maglite:

6. Take more creepy photos of yourself:

7. Blog about it.

Two Days

It is currently Wednesday morning. I leave for the States Friday night.

Work is slow. School is out. Folks are on vacation.

And I am counting down to my own.

Remember a few months ago when the power went out? Repeatedly?

Well, the internet's been off and on and off the last two days, and last night the power went out. I hear there are parts of campus that are still out.

So basically: There isn't much to say. Not even about LOST because I still haven't finished the series!! (See: Outages: power; internet)

But that's not going to stop me from posting!

See, I know what y'all have been wondering: How COOL would Anna's eyes look on Macro?

Eh. Not that cool.





OH WAIT!

Is that a CAMERA in her pupil?
Guys, it totally is!

(But seriously: Isn't that cool? It looks like my eyelashes are reaching out to eat it....Or aren't they?)

And this is what I look like when I'm focused:

Ah, so rare.

And finally...

...
...
...
...
...
...
...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

:D Stay Tuned! Next time, Imma show you what I look like when the power goes out and all that's left for entertainment is a fully-charged MacBook and a blue Maglite.

Grey's

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

One of These Days...

I will write a proper post. For now, a smattering of thoughts:

I'm listening to Lady Gaga. Again. All day. I've been converted to the Church of Gaga and I'm loving it.

Two weekends ago, I spent a lot of money at Sephora. Well, not a lot by Sephora standards, but more than I've ever even imagined spending before in my life. It was a little nerve-wracking (no returns! ACK!) but dang I am glad I did it. I love Sephora and its expensive, amazing product lines. I can't wait to go to the States and spend MORE there.
Important lesson in all this: I didn't splurge. I planned very carefully ahead of time exactly the products I was going to buy, and after trying out a bunch of products in the store and comparing DHS prices to online prices and accounting for sales tax (which doesn't exist here), I purchased everything on my list (4 items). No Buyer's Remorse here, which is good because Seph products are spendy little devils.
So: spend wisely. Good products are worth the investment, but an investment is required.

Is anyone else annoyed by GAP's vanity sizing? I bought a skirt the other day that was a size 4. A 4!! Do you know the last time I was a 4? High school. I'm not in high school anymore, The GAP! I'm 23. So please, enough with the lies. It's annoying, and a little offensive to be forced into a smaller size. Yeesh.

I'm talking a lot about shopping because it's become my latest favorite hobby. A(nother) new mall opened up in Dubai, not far from Sharjah, with a great mix of stores--American and European, high-end and PAYLESS SHOES. So it's basically my new favorite place to be.

In totally not-shallow news: I have a mosquito net hanging over my bed. I used to get several bites a night a few nights a week and I HATE MOSQUITOES and their stupid itchy bites and missing out on sleep because of them!
I paid a few bucks for a net from my friend and hallelujah! THREE mosquitoes have tried to get me on three different nights and: THWARTED. I love mosquito nets.
I normally limit my charity donations to womens' rights and counter human trafficking organizations (without limits, I just get overwhelmed) but I have recently added this one to my list. It's grassroots. It saves children. It's totally affordable. And I HATE MOSQUITOES. So, there's my not shallow plug for the day.
Make a $10 donation. It will save a life, decrease the spread of disease, and: mosquitoes suck! Let's not encourage them, okay?

I'm flying back to the States in 9 days. YAY! I love flying internationally. I love being in the US. I'm so excited to visit friends and family.

Finally:

I LOVE SUMMER!


Until next time,
Me

My Love For Facebook Is Waning

Is that how you spell 'waning'? Anyway:

So today, I got on Facebook (on a break of course) and noticed a little grey number by the photos icon. When I clicked on it, I saw that I had a photo tag request awaiting my approval. A request from......what?? Who is THAT??
It was a picture of Sana'a taken from Yemen album. How strange that a person would want to tag his friend in a stranger's YEMEN album. What was going on?
So I clicked on the man's profile, and this is what I saw:



Okay actually that isn't a very good picture but GUYS: those four photos on his wall? Mine!! I don't know him and we have no friends in common. How many other times has this happened? Actually it doesn't even matter. Just it happening once is creepy enough.

So I messaged him:
Hi Malek,
I don't know how you got my pictures, but I request you take them down immediately. They're not your property and you have no right to be using them without permission.
I appreciate your cooperation.

And promptly changed my privacy settings.

Sidenote: I don't know how he accessed my picture. I made it--long ago--so that my picture box doesn't show up on my profile unless you're my friend, and so that the photos tab doesn't show up either. Are my pictures also floating around on someone else's wall? Where did he get access to them?
Eeewwwww. Definitely creepy.

Also: how was my message? What the heck would you have said in that situation? Reading through it again here, I wonder if I sound indignant enough. I don't think so. I think I should have added, "where did you get them and why the HECK are they on your wall?"
But he probably wouldn't have answered that anyway.

The past few months, Facebook has really been getting on my nerves. I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way, right? I mean, why are they so keen on sharing information anyway? And why do they FORCE us to share information? What's with the new linked profile info? Can't I just swap pictures and wallposts with my friends without every other one of my friends knowing about it?

What the crap, Facebook? What the crap?

Of course, this coming from a blog with no privacy settings. But also people only have access to what I post and I control what I post. Did you hear that FACEBOOK? I control what I post.

Damned tyrant.

Garr.