The Price of Christmas

Each year this company figures out the "Price of Christmas," based on how much it would cost to buy all the items gifted in the 12 days of Christmas.  This year the grand total is $23,439.38.  That's quite a bit of money, that could be put to much better use in my opinion than buying me 13 birds and other various items.


Here are the gifts of the 12 days:

• 12 Drummers Drumming
• 11 Pipers Piping
• 10 Lords a leaping
• 9 Ladies Dancing
• 8 Maids a Milking
• 7 Swans a Swimming
• 6 Geese a Laying
• 5 Gold Rings
• 4 Calling Birds
• 3 French Hens
• 2 Turtle doves
• 1 Partridge in a Pear Tree

Personally, I wouldn't want most of that stuff anyway,  I am not a fan of birds, and I live in a 740 square foot apartment, 1 cat, 1 tree, 13 birds, 8 cows, and 50 people would not fit in here very well, especially not with instruments or dancing room.


Some of these gifts wouldn't be so bad, but if someone wants to give me just one lord a leaping, I'll take Conner Walsh in a heartbeat.

Connor Walsh -- Principal Dancer
Houston Ballet

I also wouldn't mind the 5 gold rings, but if they could be white gold, that would be better.  Better yet, one platinum and diamond ring (or two) is the only ring I would want from my "true love." You know, something like this would be nice:

I can do without any of the birds, but if I had a yard, I would take the pear tree. 


According to snopes.com it isn't true, but I have heard that the items in the 12 days of Christmas refer to tenets of the Catholic Church. 

• Partridge in a Pear Tree - Jesus Christ the Son of God
• 2 turtle doves - The Old and New Testament
• 3 French hens - Faith, hope, and charity, the 3 theological virtues
• 4 calling birds - the 4 Gospels/Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
• 5 gold rings - the Pentateuch the 1st 5 books of the Old testament: Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Numbers
• 6 geese a laying - the six days of creation
• 7 swans a swimming - the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit or the 7 Sacraments
• 8 Maids a milking - the eight Beatitudes
• 9 ladies dancing - the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
• 10 lords a leaping - the 10 Commandments
• 11 pipers piping - the 11 faithful apostles
• 12 drummers drumming - the 12 doctrines in the Apostles' Creed

But really people, I won't object to finding Connor Walsh under my tree in a few weeks. ;)

Lyrics (Part I)

Here are some of my favorite song lyrics.  I wouldn't be surprised if I do this more often. :)

"It's not that you're attractive/ but, oh, my heart grew active/ When you came into view" -I've Got a Crush on You

"I'd even be glad, just to be sad, thinking of you." - It Had to be You

"I get a kick though it's clear to see you obviously do not adore me." -I Get a Kick Out of You

"Did I say that I need you?/ Did I say that I want you?/ Oh, if I didn't I'm a fool you see/ No one knows this more than me/ As I come clean" -Just Breathe by Pearl Jam
"And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life. It's like I just stepped outside when everything was going right . . . this was not your dream, but you always believed in me." -Home

"What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you,/ And what am I supposed to say when I'm all choked up that you're ok" - Break Even by The Script

Can a lie ever show Virtue?

When I was little, probably, 4 or 5, my mom put me into a swim lessons class.  I was in the advanced swimmers class because I was practically born in the pool and learned to swim very young.  Anyway, in this advanced class, the teacher wanted us to swim the length of the pool, this pool went from 3' 6" to 12'.  I was able to do this, no problem, but another little girl in the class was afraid of the water.  She was the only one in the class who was.  I felt really bad for her, so in all of my 4 or 5 year old wisdom, I told the teacher that I was scared of the water too.  This meant she was not the only one not doing what we were asked to do.  But the teacher ratted me out.  He told my mother that she had me in the wrong class, that I needed to be in the beginners class because I was scared of the water.  My mom laughed at him, and said, "No, that one is my daughter," and pointed me out. He told her that was who he was speaking of.  Needless too say, I got in trouble for lying in my swim class.

Note: I was told I should write more to get myself back into practice. So I might actually blog a bit more in the future.

Atychiphobia or Not

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." Marianne Williamson


I think this quote sums me up rather well.  Atychiphobia is the fear of failure, except I am not sure that I am really afraid of failure, I am actually more afraid of success.  Only there isn't an name for that particular phobia or fear.


I have all these aspirations, goals, and things I want to accomplish, but there is always some reason that I cannot do these things. I think this is part of my procrastination problem.  It took me forever to write 2 little pages to say why I want to study theology at UND, and now I am mostly done with it.  Going to look at it tomorrow and fix it, then hopefully a former professor I am planning to meet with can help me with it some.  


I am not sure though which outcome is really scaring me the most.  Am I more worried about getting in and actually moving far away and not knowing anyone, or am I afraid I won't get in and I'll have to figure out some other path for my life.  


Either way, I am determined to try.  I really want to do this, but you know, there is only so much school I can go do, eventually I will have to get a real job.  I think it's just easier to be a slacker, then no one expects anything from you, and you don't have to expect much from yourself.  Whereas if you actually do stuff, people will expect you to do more stuff.  I am just hoping that Homer Simpson was wrong when he said, "Trying is the first step to failure," and fairly more accurate when he said, "Stupid risks make life worth living."


All in all, I am very hopeful that the need for a real winter wardrobe is in my not so distant future. 

Hitler and Humanity

OK, So I wrote this way back in 2002, but I just came across it (looking for a writing sample for grad. school, and I think it is interesting.)

After reading Hawking’s article, “A Brief History of Relativity” it is not surprising that in a society like ours, Time Magazine would choose Einstien as “Person of the Century.”  The choice of a scientist as person of the century is logical, especially for Americans.  The American society is so heavily dependent on technology and technological advances that the choice of a man who revolutionized the science world with his theory of relativity was chosen as the person of the century, as science is the background of all technology.  But I think the “person of the century” should have been someone that had an effect on our perception of humanity.  Someone who taught us the infinite worth and value of the human person, which at first glance would point to Pope John Paul II, but that is not exactly what I had in mind, although he too would make a wonderful choice, but I believe the one man who truly showed the world the value of humanity would be Hitler.  I recall when they were choosing the person of the century, Hitler was highly considered, not because what he did was good, but its effect taught the world a valuable lesson about humanity.  The holocaust was an awful thing, but the genocide made many people realize that there is value in life, all human life.  I think that the choice of the person of the century should have had more of a focus on the uplifting of humanity.  Science is fine, but it does very little to establish worth and value in humanity, if anything science suppresses humanity.  Hawking tells us, that with his new theory, “Einstein had overthrown two of the Absolutes . . . Did this imply, people asked, that there were no absolute moral standards, that everything was relative?”  This is a huge detriment to an already fragile humanity, to put doubt in the minds of people living in a morally corrupt society that there is an absolute morality, only leads to the down fall of man.  It is precisely this quote, which makes me doubt the choice of Einstein as person of the century.  I am not denying that he was a brilliant man, and he is deserving of much praise, but to be chosen as person of the century I am not to sure about.  I was surprised to learn that is was not Einstein who built the Atomic bomb; I had always been taught it he had designed the atomic bomb.  I admire that “He urged the Allies to set up a world government to control the atom bomb,” this does show concern for humanity I do not deny that, but the majority of Einstein’s work did not have anything to do with the improvement of humanity.  I agree with Hawking “The world has changed far more in the past 100 years than in any other century in history.  The reason is not political or economic, but technological—technologies that flowed directly from advances in basic science.  .  .  .  No scientist better represents those advances than Albert Einstein.”  While I think Einstein was a nice choice for person of the century, and I can see why he was chosen.  I feel that the person of the century should have been someone who taught us something about humanity.  Because it is not just the world that has changed in the past hundred years, but man has changed in the past hundred years, and technology and science effect man and humanity, and I believe that humanity is far more important than any scientific or technological advance.

ETA: I did have a link to the Hawking article in my paper, but of course it is no longer active.

I am such a fanatic . . .

That being said, 15 days!

So last night, I was at the mall (gross) looking for sparkly, dressy Christmas clothes (worse).  As I was going through the mall, finding nothing, and dying a little because it smelled like chocolate chip cookies and I was hungry, I passed Hot Topic, and on the window was a HUGE ad for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, and I stopped walking, and stopped breathing at the sight of it, for a moment, then I was like "Hey Susan, Breathe." Not to mention, the theme started playing in my head.

I came late to the Harry Potter Party, but I jumped in head first with both feet.  I only watched the movies at first, through the Goblet of Fire.  But when I was teaching summer school one summer, I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and my love affair with the books began.  I've read them all multiple times and while I love the movies, and own them all, they hardly compare to the books.  I am currently re-reading them, hoping to finish before the movie comes out.  I am in the middle of Order of the Phoenix, not sure I am going to make it. Anyway, I like the books better because they flow better than the movies, and make more sense.  The movies leave too much out and do stuff out of order. It makes me sad, plus the original Dumbledore in the movies was the shit, I know he died, but the current Dumbledore is not the spitting image of what pops into my head when reading the books, it's the first one.  Alan Rickman as Snape, is right on the money though.

I am so ready for November 19th, I have a date with 7 Potters!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween every one!

I missed out on the Halloween fun this weekend because I have been sick most of the week. Total bummerface. I feel a little better today, but since the party was last night, that matters little.  Glad I was planning to recycle a costume this year, otherwise I'd be upset I spent money on something I couldn't use.

I was going to dress up as Hermione Granger, I wore that costume in 2007, and the ex was dressed as Ron Weasley.  The more I read the Harry Potter books the more I feel like I am Hermione.  She's very awkward and opinionated and not a lot of people outside her really close friends like her.  I know how that goes, plus, I can very easily make my hair bushy so he is an easy costume for me to pull off.

So since I just decided on the fly to write a post today - mostly because I was super excited to find my 5th follower! Thanks Amy, you rock!  Seriously I'd post a lot more if I knew more people were reading this, not that I don't value my few followers, I just like greater benefits for my efforts.

Anyway, I decided that I would chronicle some of the Halloween Costumes I remember having through the years.  So here you have it, in not so chronological order:

• I was a ballerina for too many years to count.
• In second grade I dressed up as Barbie (I happened to have a pixie haircut at that time which made that costume SUPER obvious, NOT).
• One year I dressed up as a book - I made a book costume out of a cardboard box, how's that for the most uncomfortable costume ever.
• I dressed up as a Renaissance Fairy Princess one year.
•  Year before last I was a little girl playing dress-up/
• And, last year I was the prom queen - it was supposed to be a zombie prom queen, but I got lazy and did not do the make-up.

I might edit this later and add pictures, if I can find some.

I need some inspiration, please!

I am all out of inspiration.  I need a muse, stat.  I have been trying to write a post for like a week now, and I just can't seem to find the words. Or rather figure out how it is I want to convey it.

That's why I haven't been posting a lot lately. Ideally I want to post at least every other day, if not daily, and have the post be of some substance, not like yesterday's.  But I have been so distracted by not being able to write the other post, I have been unmotivated to wrote anything.

I thought I was reluctant to write it because I needed to do my Annulment questionnaire, but I finished that Sunday.  I could blame the fact that now that the annulment paperwork is mailed, I need to work on my CV and letter of intent, but I am not really motivated for that either. You can add to all this I have felt like crap.

But really, it may be a combination of these things, or it could be that I am pretty sure Persch is just the German word for lazy-ass procrastinator.  Procrastination is a plague on pretty much the entire family. Even my mom, and she is not a real Persch, at least not by blood.  I never can seem to do anything until the last minute.  Like the  annulment stuff, I had 60 days to do it.  I put it in the mail 3 days before it was due.

I don't know why I am so unmotivated. Like the stuff for grad school, most of me wants to go to grad school.  I am excited about it. I have been thinking about it for seven and a half years. I put it aside and decided that wasn't wear I was being led, only to be drawn back to it, time and again.  And, finally, everything seems to be falling into place so that I can actually go (assuming I get in). The only part of me that doesn't want to go is that part that hates everything new and unfamiliar, the part that hates change and wants to keep everything the same, even if I hate the situation and I am absolutely miserable.

But, by the end of next week, I want to have my CV done, and get prepared to meet with professors regarding my recommendations, and getting my letter of intent written.  I have until December 1st before the application fee goes up.

I can do this, but I need a little motivation.

Wow, this post kind of segues a lot, or I just like tangents.  Maybe a little of both. :)

7 words

Prompts: Write a story in 7 words. From: http://www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/imagination.prompt.html

Augie stepped on a tack and limped.

Reasons I wish I was my cat

•  He is always getting loved on, lots of hugs and kisses.
•  Full body massage – EVERY day! All that petting. J
• No work
• No cleaning.Sleeping 20ish hours a day
• No clothes to worry about
• No worries
•  Awesome fur coat
•  He has lots and lots of toys
• Lots of cuddles, ok, I know that goes with number 1, but seriously, it must be pretty awesome to get cradled and stuff multiple times per day
• He's small, so he fits in a lot of places I can't
• He lays in some positions, I could never could

I Deserve a ______

Prompt #219 From: http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/#

Vacation!

I deserve a vacation. I had to help plan 4 trips I did not get to go on this year.  That really sucks.  But, I can't afford to go anywhere.

Here are some places I have been before I wouldn't mind going back to:

Washington D.C.

Disney World

The Disney Wonder

Roma, Italia

Of course, there are lots of places I have never been that I would love to visit: Seattle, Alaska, California, the dessert, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Greece, Germany, Ireland, New York, Savannah, etc.

Wanderlust rears its ugly head.

Back to Square One

Today's blog is brought to you by http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/# Prompt # 164.

"Back to square one," she thought, as she placed the last frame in the box, picked it up and headed out the door.  She was just fired from her third job this year.

The first was the pizza place, she was doing really well there, that is until that woman who changed her order six times was seated in her section, and she snapped after the sixth order change and yelled at the woman, "This isn't Burger King, you can't have it your fucking way." Of course, the woman complained and she was let go immediately.

The next job was at a small coffee shop.  She kept that one for a while even though she constantly got the customers' orders wrong.

This job though, she had thought was perfect and a great fit for her, it was a small internet firm that helped people find green building products.  She worked as a customer service representative and loved the job.  It had great hours and she felt good about what she was doing.  She was let go because she apparently processed one too many orders incorrectly.

"What am I going to do now?" she didn't even know what she was good out to go and find another job.

So she went home to figure out what she was good at and what she wanted to do with her life.

Stuff I Love

Here is a smattering of things I love, in no particular order. :)

Augie:

Arrg I'm a pirate! Cheese is my Booty!

Singing

Music in general

The Beach

This is Disney's Castaway Cay! I wanted to live there.

Food

Chocolate Soufflé, yummy!

The color pink

Lists

Glee

Photography

Crafty things

An Advent wreath I made. It hold voltive candles or tea lights.

A blanket I crocheted for a friend's baby.

A scarf for my youngest niece.

A scarf for my oldest niece, with her name on it! and in the top left corner,
is one of the Gryffindor scarves I made for my ex-sisters-in-law.

These are just a few of my favorite things

Pictures I Drew

This is me by a pond with a Duck.

I apparently have freakishly long fingers, and someone told me it looked like the duck wanted to bite me.

 I think this one is self explanatory.

I drew this to be my LJ default picture.  I think it suits me rather well.

I had the song from Nightmare Before Christmas Stuck in my head, and I was bored, you do the math. 

New Blog!

Hi All,

Well there is no one reading this.  I imported my old blogger blog, well the best posts anyway.  I haven't used it in a while, that is why the post are all from like 2008 or before.  I have been blogging on Live Journal, but no one is really there anymore, so I abandoned ship and came back to blogger.  Google really will rule the world one day.  Consequently, anyone know how to import LJ posts to blogger?

I don't have anything really interesting to say today, not feeling very inspired.

I like the blogs that use MS paint, but really, I am lazy and that isn't going to happen often.  I do need to find a creative outlet though, I am feeling restless.