So in about 12hrs 45min it'll be 2012. Unless that is, you live in lets say Japan. Or some other place on the other side of Earth. I have about 5hrs to get ready for a small get together tonight here at the house. And I'm crossing my fingers that no one brings up my birthday at midnight. Thus far, even in their drunkest, the boys all remember this little rule. Nicole will feed you and give you lots to drink as long as you "forget" her bday. It's a win-win.
I'm hoping that 2012 will be a better year. I know that, as far as bills go, we'll be down 2 or 3 this up coming year. The jeep will be paid off, as well as Athena. We might even be able to pay a big chunk of the vacuum off. Which will free up something like $300 a month. I'm thinking of paying my card off and possibly closing it. Or paying it off and putting it in the safe where I can't touch it. Maybe i'll even get lucky and snag a full time job. Which would be epic on so many levels. I'd actually have money, and I'd actually be able to help out with the bills or whatever. And it's not that I'm not looking for one, there just arent any out there that I can do. Sadly, I'm not a trades person with a skill like carpentry or welding or the like. And that seems to be all that the temp places are looking for. So maybe with the new mall area opening, I can either snag a 2nd part time or a new full time. Either would be great, as either would be more money.
And with as much as I've been taking the Jeep out, maybe this year I'll be able to try for a license. Not that I want to get a car, or be able to take the Jeep out alone. I don't trust driving, or people. And I have a good feeling that if I even took it out alone, something would happen and it would automatically be MY fault. I know Mike wants me to have it, and yeah, sometimes it would be good to have it, but I really don't care for it. But we'll see...
And with the new elliptical that Mike brought home for me, I hope to drop some weight. I'm really sick and tired of being fat. Yeah, as far as other people go, I'm probably not actually fat. But I remember weighing 115lbs and looking half good at one point in my life. I'd like to get back down there. I'm going to see if Mike will help with this by not bringing soda home, or if there is soda in the house, it needs to be kept where I can't have 6 a day. In the last few weeks I've heard at least 5 people say "I stopped drinking soda and lost like 30lbs". And I know for a fact most of these people are not active. So maybe cutting soda and actually being active will do me some good. I figure maybe an hour a day on the elliptical and busting out my Wiifit and doing yoga stretches will do me some good. I know it wont happen over night, but I'm sort of hoping to look less like a beached whale if we go back to NJ in the late summer. That will give me about 6-8months to bust my ass. I'll toss in bike riding too once the weather gets nice again. Maybe by our anniversary I'll look closer to what I did before we got married. And thats less of a hippo.
So those are the goals. Kill off a few bills, find a full time or 2nd part time job, and stop being a lazy fat ass. We'll see what gets done though....
FUN FACTS! If you're wondering why the 2012 up there looks like a dragon, its because this year is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese New Year. In fact, its the year of the Water Dragon. The last time it was the year of the water dragon was 1952. So our guardian this year is a water dragon, which means calmness, being able to see things from other P.O.Vs, and getting things done right if you take the more patient path.
The photo for this one is at the bottom as its sort of big. I tossed it together in photoshop just now to make a bit of a comparison and changes type chart.
I recently stumbled upon a huge pile of drawings I did between what I think are the years 1997-2001. When I opened up the folders I quickly wished I hadn't. I am my own worst critic when it comes to my drawings and this was like a blow to the face with a brick. I sat there looking at this pile of scribbles and thought to myself "My gods, at one point in time in my life I thought these were actually good. What was I smoking?". To that last question I answered myself with "Nothing obviously, or your parents would of kicked your ass"...
Another thing that came to mind was that I was one of THOSE people. Those Weeaboo* people who make fan characters and squeal over attractive cartoon males. One of those people who would try very hard to learn to copy one anime style in hopes to draw some amazing fan art that will some how get back to the eyes of the original creator and they would call and go "Young lady! You are of great worth and talent! Please come to Japan and create beautiful cartoons with me!"
Granted, Thanks to these.... Drawings... I was able to take at home art classes to help me improve. I was also given lessons at the Everson Museum of Art (which I'm sure weren't cheap, but hey, I got them free). I even toyed with the idea of going to a real art school for college, learning 2-D animation, and creating a cartoon that would take the world by storm.
I've been drawing now for something like 15yrs. That's like almost half my life. Though I don't draw nearly as much as I used to. I remember days when I spent hours upon hours pumping out one drawing after another. But now I'm lucky if I manage to squeak out a single drawing a month. I have to say though, I now know the meaning of "Quality, not Quantity". Even if I only draw one thing a month, its multitudes better than all of that crap I was piling up at 15yrs old.
And even if my style has changed for the better, I still have to thank Sailor Moon for getting me going....
You can click the image like always to make it bigger. Just watch out for your eyes, that first drawing might cause blindness or insanity.
Also-- *Weeaboo as defined by Urban Dictionary: Someone who is obsessed with Japan/Japanese Culture/Anime, etc. and attempts to act as if they were Japanese, even though they're far from it. They use Japanese words but usually end up pronouncing them wrong and sounding like total assholes.
So I thought the other night, what could I write about next in my blog as nothing is really going on. Then I remembered that I always have awesome stories from work about complete raging idiots and their absence of common sense when it comes to animal care.
Most of my best examples are from the fish dept. Mind you, most of the people who come back there usually have some semblance of how to care for fish. But we get a few gems in there. Usually they all root around the same problems; tank size, fish size, and quantity. I don't know how many times a day I have to repeat myself when it comes to the bigger fish. Of course years of silly myths do not help. Also, people are cheap. They don't want to spend $150 to set up a proper tank for a single $5 fish. That just doesn't make sense in their minds. Which is sad. I get the same thing when it comes to things like hamsters, and smaller lizards. People don't seem to understand that these are living creatures and you, as the owner, need to set up and recreate something that is as close as possible to their natural environment.
Goldfish. Goldfish are the biggest issue. Years people have grown up being told "goldfish grow as big as the tank you put them in". Which is obviously wrong. They grow like everything else, and by containing them you only risk killing them or making their lives miserable. I have to argue with 3-5 people a day about goldfish, and out of those people maybe 2 will listen. Goldfish are big, dirty fish. So, they need big tanks and very powerful filters. I had one woman tell me I was lying out my ass and just trying to make money when I explained to her proper goldfish care. I even showed her a goldfish care book and a copy of TFH magazine with an article on goldfish. Everyone is obviously lying. So I refused to sell her a fish and she stormed out with the typical "I'll just go to walmart" threat.
Cichlids and Oscars. Oooohh big mean fishes! What fun you are to own. I was brought up around quite a few rather larger and aggressive fish. If I had the room and money I would have a huge tank with these fish. They have bright colors and act differently than little community fish. They're social to a point, fun to watch, and are much sturdier than most fish. That of course draws people over. People want big fish, people want cool fish. But, most people don't understand what they're getting into. The same thing with the goldfish usually happens with the Oscars, Jack Dempsies, Red Devils... Huge fish, and because they start so small as babies, people think they can stuff them into 5gal tanks. Then you get the idiots who only want them because they're "mean" and "eat live foods". Yeah, Oscars are known for being a bit moody at times, but you should try to make them meaner. It'll only result in problems. And feeding them live foods is stupid. Oscars can live quite well on pellets, frozen and freeze dried foods. It's not cool to watch them gorge out on goldfish, and you are not cool for starving them all week until you can come and get live feeders just to watch them ravage the little fish. You're an idiot, and I will tell you that to your face. I actually just told someone last night that I wasn't selling them any fish at all because the only reason they wanted them was because they were mean. That's immature, childish, and ignorant.
I swear, people should have to come to the store with a list of tank size and what fish they have before they're allowed to get any fish. Because telling me, when I ask what size is your tank, that you don't know and making those arm gestures to a size tank that doesn't actually exist, makes me insane. How do you not know the size tank you bought? And when I take you over and go "point at your tank" and you try to tell me its between a 20H and a 55, thats even dumber. And don't be a jackass when I explain to you that you have too many fish. Unless you're a retard, you should know that retail only survives as long as customers buy things. So the fact that I won't sell you things is only to help YOU. I'm not making any money when you walk out empty handed, but you are getting more time and health out of your fish. I'm sorry that no one explained tank sizes and fish limits with you, and that you want "lots of little fishes". You CAN have lots of little fishes when you get a bigger tank or get rid of the completely asinine mix of goldfish, silver dollars, and guppies you have crammed into a 20gal tank. And just so you know, I give zero fucks that your brother has some magical tank thats the size of a 45H but apparently holds 175gal and 6 Oscars. No, you can't have the meanest gold gourami we have in the tank so it'll "get rid of your goldfish". You're an idiot and I hope Centro is driving by when you leave and forgets how to use the breaks.
So it's officially Holiday Season 2011. It's only the 4th, and I feel like Xmas is next week. I've gotten almost nothing accomplished shopping wise, thanks in part to a failed holiday job, lack of hours at my regular job, and the fact that I'm going "halfsies" with everyone to get gifts for certain people just to make sure I feel like I helped.
We went out last night and got our Xmas tree. It's sitting down in the game room waiting to be decorated later tonight. And so far theres only one present under it and it's not even for someone in this house. I always find that sort of depressing, when you look under the tree and there ARE presents, but nothing there thats actually for you or for anyone in your house. With any luck There will be, at least, a present for Mike and a present for Al given that money goes alright. And probably presents for the animals because, well, they're cheap and they don't really care what they get. The ferrets are happy if I throw wrapping paper at them, and as long as Athena can eat it, shes golden.
I really think working retail all this time has like... Jaded my enjoyment of the holidays. I find it gets worse every year. I look at Xmas as a day where I need to be ready, like some grand quest. Next week I'll start working on a game plan so I know how to deal with everyone in a timely and less stressful way. I figure my parents will, as usual, be the easiest to deal with. We just go over Xmas Eve and do presents, hang out with family. But then we have what I like to call "The Clark Family Circus" on Xmas day. It'll be wake up, open presents here if any, get dressed, go to Donna's, find out we're not actually opening anything because Rob and Jen aren't there yet, then drive BACK to the city and probably over to Becky's or Terri's who both own homes way too small for their own good. We'll be stuck there with 10 screaming kids and way too many adults for far too long while I think to myself, for another year, "I'd of gladly taken a card or a hug or something over this bottle of $1 store soap/lotion I can't use...". Mind you, I still say thank you and at least give it the credit of a sniff to see how it smells. But in the end, I wont be able to use it because my skin will break out in a rash or something. At least they remember "Nicole likes peppermint".... Then we'll end the night by driving all the way back to Donna's place, wait around some more for Rob and Jen, while the night whittles away and I'm thinking to myself "I wonder if Damon wants to go to Jews Go To The Movies Day this year...?"
And then I'll have a week of lull until I start getting asking if I'm throwing a New Years/Bday party....
