Always Anna

I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but my usual morning commute took a weird turn this morning.  I somehow ended up on a public bus that was just servicing the local high school.

I had to get to work a little earlier than usual, so did take my regular bus at an irregular time.  But the route number was the same, so I climbed aboard the bus, only to find it full of high school kids. 

Hmmm…. I thought.  This isn’t the way the bus usually looks.  Usually there are lots of old people and a couple people my age in suits.  Weird.  But this is kind of early, so maybe this is the time that the kids take the bus to school.  Wait a minute.  This isn’t the usual route.  Hmmm…. we just blew past Harvard Square.  Where are we going?  Are we actually going TO the high school?  Put the book away, Anna.  Pay attention. 

The bus pulled up next door to the public high school and everyone on the bus flooded out.  After it emptied, I walked up to the front and asked the driver if we was looping back to Harvard Square, or if this was the end of the line. 

He laughed and said, “This is usually my last stop at this time, but I have to go to Harvard anyways for my next route.  You can ride along.”  I thanked him, and he said, “You know, when you got on the bus, I was wondering if I should say something about this being the high school bus… but then I thought that you looked like a high school student.”

I’ve been thinking about this all morning.  Do I really pass for 18?  I mean, I’m 28!  I have smile lines around my eyes!  But maybe this is a good thing?  I can’t decide.

I wrote this a few weeks ago, after I went to NY to celebrate a friend’s 30th birthday.  Sadly, I wasn’t able to post it at that time, since my blog was fighting me, but I figure that I might as well post it now.  After all, I’d hate to waste this brilliance…

Saturday night, 25 friends went to a Mets game to celebrate our friend Dan’s 30th birthday.  We tailgated before the game, drank pretty steadily throughout the game, and took over a small bar in mid-town post-game.  And I’m not going to lie - I drank a lot of beer.  So much that I ended the night at 2 AM, hunting for food before passing out on a friend’s pull-out couch.

I woke up Sunday morning with a pounding headache - you know, the kind when jackhammers try to break through your skull?  My stomach was churning, threatening to revolt if I didn’t find a bagel.

It’s been a while since I’ve suffered a beer hangover, so I’d forgotten how painful they can be.

Next time, I’ll stick with vodka.

I confess.  I watched the new 90210 last night.  And I enjoyed it!

I wasn’t expecting to like the show - after all, they’re infringing on a show that practically invented high school drama on TV!  But… well… it kind of sucked me in.  Sex.  Drugs.  Fights.  And all that happened within the first 15 minutes.  How could I resist?

And best of all, Brenda is back!  Brenda was my favorite character on the original 90210, and I was heartbroken when she left.  So heartbroken, in fact, that I stopped watching the show.

But now she’s back.  Kelly is back.  Nat is back.  The Peach Pit is back. 

I’m kind of excited.

I’ve spent the last month trying to log-in to Wordpress to post new entries and have blogging fun. Unfortunately, I kept getting log-in errors. I finally realized that the problem was that I needed to upgrade WordPress installation.

And now I have. It looks like there are some random text errors in the old entries, but at least the whole installation isn’t effed up.

So I’m back!

You know I’m a Packers fan.  And you know I love Brett.  And today, officially, he’s not a Packer.

I’m angry.  And sad.  And my feelings whip back and forth so fast between wanting to scream and wanting to cry - with brief bursts of acceptance in between - that I feel like I have emotional whiplash.

It’s been a messy divorce, this separation of Packers and Favre. As a Packer fan, I have to support my team and still root for them to win, right?  But as someone who’s only ever known Brett as the QB for my team, how do I relate to my team without him there?  Especially since even though I believe that both the Packers management and Brett did their part to f*ck up this situation, when push comes to shove, I believe that Brett was more right. 

I believe that the Packers shouldn’t have pressured him into retiring, then refused to talk to him when he realized that he still wanted to play.  And can very clearly still play WELL. 

I believe that the Packers should have understood and appreciated the fact that Brett has defined their team for almost two decades, and should have welcomed him back with open arms.

I believe that Ted Thompson, our douche of a GM, should have put his own ego aside and not refused to consider starting someone other than Aaron Rodgers. While I’ll admit to never liking Aaron (HI, he played for Cal, and I’m a USC fan!), it boggles the mind that TT could be so caught up in supporting “his” draft pick that he doesn’t take into account the fact that Brett took them to numerous NFC North Championships, NFC Playoffs, and the Super Bowl. 

I’ll miss seeing you in Lambeau, Brett.  I’ll be rooting for you in New York.

Packers?  I’ll be rooting for you in the fall.  But I know that watching football this year will not be the same.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.

- Anais Nin

Photo by Michael Blanchard

Whenever work gets too crazy and I need to see something that will make me smile, I go to Cute Overload and look at the puppy pictures.  Today, that break didn’t go as well as I had hoped, since the first thing that popped up onscreen was a photo of fish eating a woman’s feet.  With a link to this article on CNN.

I’m so weirded out by this!  How could anyone even think of sticking their feet in a bowl for fish to nibble on?  Ew!  The thought makes me want to tuck my feet up underneath me and never leave them uncovered again.

The BF and I spent the weekend packing and preparing to move into our amazing and wonderful new place.  And - with one exception when Sneaky McTrickyPants came over to see the new place and help me mentally design it - I acted totally crazy.  I freaked out about not having enough boxes.  I sulked when the BF tried to be rational.  I cried for no apparent reason. 

And then the thunderstorms caused us to lose power for OVER SIX HOURS on Sunday.  Ever packed by candlelight?  In 90-degree weather and 90% humidity?  With NO AIR CONDITIONER BECAUSE THE POWER IS OUT? I don’t recommend it. 

Thanks to the BFs amazingness - in that he took the day off from work yesterday to move all of our big stuff - we were able to spend last night in the new place.  We still have some more to move, but it’s like being the new place lifted a raincloud away from my head, and now, all of a sudden, I’m fine. 

I stayed up way past my bedtime last night - for some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to see The Dark Knight at midnight.

I was right.  The movie is amazing: a perfect blend of awesome action scenes, complex characters, and a dark, depressing storyline. The returning actors were all perfect, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a million times better than Katie Holmes was in Batman Begins, Aaron Eckhart was great as Harvey Dent, and - last but definitely not least - Heath Ledger’s final performance as the Joker was nothing short of brilliant. 

The movie was beautiful and disturbing and fun. Go see it!

This week has sucked for me.  I’m all stressed out between work, trying to move, and the whole Brett situation in Green Bay.

But, finally, I have some good news. 

Bret Michaels will be back for a 3rd season of Rock of Love!  And it sounds like the most amazing idea ever! AND I just found out yesterday that Project Runway is premiering tonight! 

Hooray for reality TV saving my week!