DLand - You want to put what where?!

Jeremy and I had a non-argument in the car about piercings and tattoos. I call it a non-argument because it was more of a clenched-jaw tense conversation about body modification and what would be ridiculous and what would be reasonable. My prude husband seems to think that anything other than earrings is ugly and worthless. You may choose to agree with him or not. I was proud of myself for resisting the “Fuck you, I'm gonna go pierce my forehead” response. I would like to say I'm not a piercing/tattoo fanatic but I do admire them on other people. And I toy with the idea of getting something myself. But there are too many possibilities and many of those are “no turning back” situations. Bah. It is a fruitless discussion because I'm a big chicken. I said that the best tattoos follow the shape of the body part it's on. They look less like stickers and more like body art. But then those are usually more visible and more in your face - the pink elephant in your job interview. So I said that I think the lower back is really fabulous tattoo real estate. But I find that body part so beautiful that I fear that adding a tattoo would adulterate something so attractive on its own. This is where SweetPea looks at me like I'm from outerspace. “Dude, you put way too much thought into this.” So he says “Do you think you should then find a more *ugly* body part to tattoo?!” No, of course, not. But then what is it there for? To accent the body part or is the skin just canvas? It's all so complicated.

Any piercings or tattoos you find awesome or icky? Tell me what you think.

The other highlight of our car ride was when I tried to dispose of an apple core.

Jeremy (driving): Just chuck it out my window.

Me (half-joking): I'm gonna hit you in the head. I throw like a girl.

Jeremy: Just throw it.

So I try to throw it out and nail the top left corner of the windshield. BAM! Like a bomb going off in the car! Apple slime sprayed all over the dashboard, windshield and my husband. Did I mention I'm left-handed? The sun was in my eyes. I tried to warn him.

DLand - Very Different Vans Indeed

So Shawn's wife, Linda entered a track race once and was so sore the next day that she couldn't walk down her apartment stairs but had to scoot down on her ass. I laughed until I just drove home today and was picking up my left leg to put it on the clutch everytime I had to shift gears, cursing the fact I didn't own an automatic transmission ...

Today was my second ballet class and it rocked. I'm much more into it than the African. Muscle memory is your friend. The really frustrating thing is that I know what my body is supposed to look like but I can't physically make it do the positions yet. It's getting there. Like molding clay over many weeks.

This past weekend was the Theunis wedding. Friday morning was spent with some slight bickering in the Genie/Jeremy household over packing the car and when to leave etc. Such is life. Then we get to Jason and Shannon's to meet the glorious minivan! It may as well have been gilded for all of its beauty and storage capacity. It basically made the trip to Jersey a gazillion times more pleasant.

It was like having two cars. Shannon and I had the girl cabin in the back and the boys chaffeured us around the Northeast. It was supreme.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. We were at the New Jersey Botanical Gardens and the weather was perfect. Sarah was radiant in her dress. Theunis married a babe! It was a medieval wedding and I must admit I was not really prepared for it. I just didn't really understand the concept of it. It seemed foreign to me.

But then again, I try to have separate yet equal interests and don't like to mix my modern and medieval hobbies. I'm a purist. The reception was odd. It was too much like an SCA event. I felt awkward not working in the kitchen. But overall it went well. One of my highlights of the reception was visiting with Amanda - an old Black Diamonder who I hadn't seen in forever. She looked great! Gorgeous hair, lost weight, happy nature. It was joy to visit with her.

Sunday was a whirlwind trip back home. Basically it took all day. It didn't help we detoured to the Philadelphia art museum to see some medieval goodies. And it didn't help that we decided to do this *after* we had already passed it and had to turn and go back up north. But all was well. I got some snazzy pictures and we saw the illumination exhibit on its last day.

Today and yesterday were the first of many training classes held at the office. The office looks like something out of Better Homes and Gardens - no, Brookstone - we have two many electronics. Where else are there two computers in the kitchen and a web cam on the fish tank? I love my job! So Tuesday night we're working our little tails off getting the Bose speakers hooked up in the conference room. We decide about 10pm to run the cable through the attic. Me - Monkey Girl - got to climb up in the attic. It was actually quite fun. Other than the fiberglass lung I got from huffing and puffing around up there. But the place looks amazing and all the trainees were much impressed.

OH! And the cable man comes on Saturday! Cox Communications has not forsaken me! I will have a cable modem! It will be fast! I will have a wireless gateway so I can sit on my toilet and surf the web on my laptop! I will stop using exclamation points! Ok, stay calm. But now I am torn as to how long to stay in my house. I would like to move at some point, but our little dream home is not under the Cox scope yet. Soon. Soon.

When I was driving home this evening I passed a late 80's Dodge Caravan that had been slammed to the ground with baby tires and aluminum rims and all the tags pulled of it. It takes all kinds.

DLand - Groin Grabbingly Transcendental Update

Let's get the updates out of the way so I can have a little more focus. All work and no

Diaryland makes Genie a confused girl.

So Friday I got off of work a little early and went to visit my old dance

teacher. He tells me all about his adult dance classes every evening from 6:30 to

8. So I get all jazzed about it (no pun intended) and head off to Jete' to buy

like $200 worth of new dance clothes. But, hey, I'm entitled. More on that later.

Cut to Saturday where we spend all morning working on the fish tank. We switched

out the tank stand for a much prettier one (thank you, Bossman) and a cover for

the top. That involved draining the tank and rearranging the fish stuff and

trying not to kill the fish all in the process. It was very successful.

That afternoon Gus, Mary and Alyssa came into town so Gus could have his birthday

dinner at Ying's. Ying's is the BEST chinese restaurant in the world. So we do

that and then head off to see the Mummy Returns. Oh and right before the movie I

picked up a copy of Harold and the Purple Crayon. I skimmed it looking for

diaryland site ideas. We'll see. I was much braver in Mummy Returns than the

original one, but there were still some watching through my fingers moments. I

was trying to be brave next to the 10 year old girl next to me.

Skip forward to Sunday where Jeremy had to work and I spent all afternoon

trouble-shooting my car. It sputtered and coughed for no good reason. I think it

just wanted attention. We hooked it up to the ninja car computers on Monday and

it said nothing was wrong other than it had the wrong size spark plug in it

(which could have been from when my father was testing the spark with the plug

wire off). Needless to say it was a day down the drain.

Monday was the day Genie felt like death warmed over. I went home at like 11:30

and slept all day. 'Nuff said about that adventurous day.

Tuesday I hit the road for Charlottesville at 6am to meet with some folks at

Univ. of Virginia. Finished up there around 2 and then hoped to make it to Rich

and Gabrielle's in time to yutz a little. But alas, there was no yutzing. For the

world at work had exploded in my absense and I then commandeered their computer

to work remotely until 5. Poo. So then many turkey burgers were consumed and much

fabric was cut out for kick ass outfits. And then I crashed there to leave at 6am

AGAIN on Wednesday to head back to the office. Passed a tractor trailor on the

opposite side of the interstate that had run off the road and made a "new road"

in the pine trees. It actually looked really neat how all the trees had flattened

out in a starburst around the truck. Hope truck guy is okay.

We have a Mac in our office now (never thought I'd see that day). It was

purchased for the DVD burner that's inside it. They are very low in stock

everywhere and you can only get them if you buy a Compaq or a Mac. We hate Compaq

much more than Mac so Mac won out. And I must admit Mac OS X (10) is so much like

Unix or Next that it's not that bad. I just shun the evil Mac OS 9. Ok, enough

goobing. Anyways, this nice little magic box makes it so I can make home movies

into DVDs! I can also make my own music videos and all kinds of neat things - all

on DVD! You know that scene in the Grinch Stole Christmas where the Grinch's

heart grew three times that day? Well, when I saw this little magic box, whatever

organ held my creativity grew three times as big. My heart actually started

beating faster from looking at a computer. God, I'm such a nerd! But I love it.

Oh, and on Tuesday, Homer Simpson said "groin grabbingly transcendental". It was

the one where he becomes a food critic and Lisa is helping him write the reviews.

Lisa: "The food was ... transcendental."

Homer: Can it be groin grabbingly transcendental?

Lisa: DAD!