Spring= Black and White Photos and Ugly Coffee Mugs
03.30.06 (4:17 pm) [edit]*jumps up and down squealing* It's SPRING!!!!!!!!! 
I love spring! I get to pick up my collecting hobbies again. With spring and summer come bazillions of garage sales, where I find my little treasures. I collect old black and white photos and ugly coffee mugs. Odd things to collect, I suppose, but hey, that's why I chose those. A few people might collect random black and white photos, but who collects ugly coffee mugs? I DO!!! Well, these aren't just any old black and white photos, and I have specific qualities of "ugly" I look for.
The majority of the photos I have are portraits, and generally created by the sort of camera that you have to sit very still for forever, otherwise you turn up as a blur. (I don't know what sort of camera this is called, so if someone could help me out, I'd be much abliged.) I like these because they make me laugh, especially the family portraits. You can just see the frustration of the parents from trying to keep their children still, and blur of child when they don't. Haha! Or the expressions on some the people's face; some are so grim you just have to laugh. All these pictures tell a story, and I like to see what sort of story I can come up with for each.
Ok, so when I say ugly coffee mugs I mean something could have been a work of art --probably is art to those strange artsy people that think a cinder block is beautiful-- but it just didn't work out. This collection is small--containing two mugs-- right now, as I only began it late last summer, so I didn't have much time to comb through all the garage sales. One looks like it's straight from the 70s, or at least it reminds me of the puke green shag carpet my old house had in it. It has some sort of design carved into it, but whatever it is, the puke green color takes away all the art that it could have been. This work of "art" is what began the idea for this collection and is currently the ugliest I have. The other I recieved myself as a gift. My university gave it to the entire freshman class at the beginning of the year to put ice cream in at our ice cream social--just like good Baptists. It could have been a pretty mug; it's stately black and rather large; a great cup to wrap your hands around for the warmth of coffee or cocoa. But then tragedy befell the creation and someone decided to put a picture of the school ring on the side of it. The detail didn't come out, so it looks like a big white blob of something that didn't come off in the dishwasher. So alas, it lands in my slowly growing collection of ugly coffee mugs.
Well, that about ends this post of nothingness. If you happen to have an old black and white photo or particularly ugly coffee mug you'd like to get off your hands, send me a pic, and I'll take a gander at 'er. 
My dearest medicinal sales people:
03.25.06 (6:24 pm) [edit]My dearest medicinal sales people:
I regret to inform you that I do not allow advertisements in which I have not had a previous relationship with the advertiser to remain on my blog and/or website; therefore, NONE of your advertisements have or ever will remain on my comment pages. Your hardwork to post millions of comments onto my blog in hopes of attracting new customers is completely fruitless, as the comments are deleted at least within twelve hours, if not less. You may say, "Ah, ha! I'll get something from those twelve hours!" I'm sorry to say that my blog is not popular enough for more than a blessed few to accutaly read my blog within those twelve hours. Those few people are not stupid enough to click on unknown links, nor are they of the age--and most times gender-- to need viagra or levitra.
Let's save your time and mine by ceasing this fruitless exploit. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Bria, Web Mistress of Bria's Bloggie (A Division of Bria's Slice of Paradise)
I want to scream...
03.23.06 (12:42 pm) [edit]I want to scream...
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
This has been a really bad 2 weeks. Sit tight, because I've got some MAJOR whining to do. Yeah! :-D
1. The tennis trip to Cali was a disappointment as it rained/snowed the entire time we were there. We also lost really badly to one team, and lost a heartbreaker too--a really close match. So basically, I'm a ball of nerves and am about to blow up. Yeah. :-D I have tennis practice in 45 minutes. I feel sorry for the person on the other side of the net; I will be smacking that ball as hard as my body will allow. Bye now! :-D
2. I had intended to have a quiet break to recoop, and perhaps go on a hiatus. Nothing of the kind happened as I traveled both weekends and the days inbetween consisted of chores and a nagging Grandma.
3. I had to do alot of catch up work to when I got back to school from the two days I missed prior to Spring Break for the tennis trip to Cali, and had a pile of stuff to this week too as the profs for some reason feel that they had to prove to us that they're not slacking off.
4. In that catch up work was a major test in New Testament. I studied forever and I still got a B-, which is not acceptable.
5. The weather has been cold and/or wet the entire past two weeks that I've spent here.
6. My grandfather had surgery this week and the results were that his days are numbered.
7. My doggie had surgery on Tuesday, so I haven't had anyone to go running with. (I generally run myself ragged when I get angry or depressed.)
How to Plant Your Garden (of Your Daily Life)
03.22.06 (6:50 pm) [edit]How to Plant Your Garden
First, come to the garden alone, when the dew is still fresh.
Plant three rows of peas: 1. peace of mind 2. peace of heart 3. peace of soul.
Plant four rows of squash: 1. squash difference 2. squash indifference 3. squash grumbling 4. squash selfishness.
Plant four rows of lettuce: 1. lettuce be kind 2. lettuce be faithful 3. lettuce be patient 4. lettuce really love one another.
No garden is without turnips: 1. turnip for meetings 2. turnip for service 3. turnip to help one another
Lastly, the garden needs some thyme: 1. thyme for friends 2. thyme for family 3. thyme for self
Water freely with patience and cultivate with love. There will be much fruit in your garden, because you reap what you sow.
Found that in my inbox today. Cute little diddy for a gardener, I thought. I'm not much of a gardener myself, but I do like to think I have a bit of a green thumb.
The Most Pointless Website EVER
03.21.06 (10:10 pm) [edit]
Life's goal achieved!
03.20.06 (11:18 pm) [edit]One of my life goals has been achieved!
I made a friend laugh so hard that she squirted her beverage out her nose.
This makes me happy.
My Spring Break Adventure... thus far
03.15.06 (10:44 pm) [edit]I'm being a loser homebody this evening, so I thought I'd blog about the adventure during my tennis trip to Cali.
The setting: our last night in Cali (Sunday evening) and the beginning of spring break. The team arrives back at the hotel around 3:30ish from playing and immediately decides to do nothing else but primp until dinner, because this is our designated going out night. (We had planned to dress up in semi-formals for dinner one night, and Sunday night was the lucky night.) As we don't have to play tennis again until next week , and spring break is commencing, Kenz and Allison opt to venture down the street to the liquor store for a few drinks. They ask everyone on the team what they want from the store and then walk on their merry way. They bring back a couple cases of Jack Daniel's hurricanes, and a few bottles of other things with which Allison mixes 4 Sex on the Beaches (she's a local bartender)--2 for herself and Kenz and 2 for a pair of under age drinkers who will be called Drinker1 and Drinker2, not because they are innocent, but because it's not my right to spew their personal problems all over the internet.
Getting all this alcohol back to the hotel was quite humorous from my stand point. They had taken 2 gigantic purse/bags with them and loaded them down with the liquor and a few bottles of cranberry juice and pineapple juice which was needed for the Sex on the Beach, I later discover. As I watch them unload their bags, the liquor seems to appear from the depths of the bags in endless waves, like a clown with a huge line of hankies all strung together. When the alochol stops flowing from the bags, it begins flowing into glasses as Allison mixes. They have their drinks and dress and I dress and stare wide eyed as they laugh a little longer and little louder with each gulp. Enter under age Drinker3. She demands a shot of whatever alochol they have that's strongest and is given a shot of coconut rum for starters followed by a shot of southern comfort chased by some good ol' tap water. Exit Drinker3 a little buzzed. Exit entire party of tennis team to Dave and Buster's for dinner.
While at Dave and Buster's the legal kids enduldge themselves behind coach's back a little more, a few underage drinkers watch in dismay, and the rest try to ignore the growing stentch on the others' breaths. We eat, play some games and score a bazillion coupons, play some pool, cash in the coupons at the redemption center for a few cheap prizes, and call it a night. But not quite.
Coach takes people back to the hotel in shifts, and I stay as long as my shoes allow me to so as to stay as far away from my tipsy roomates--Allison, Kenz, and Drinker1-- as possible. Upon my arrival I find my roomates to have emptied the alochol, and filled up on saliva from some random baseball team that they met at the hotel hot tub. After listening to their story--or what I could make out of it-- for a few minutes, in saunters Wes, who is not only drunk but also on hydrocodine for his sprained back. (Let's just say he was OUT of it.) He assumes a sexy pose, begins stripping off his shirt, shouts, "The stripper's here!" and I rocket out the door as fast as my strappy heels can carry me, and past the "stripper" with a burst of giggles from my roomates following me to the other girls' room. I take up residence in their room and watch a documentary on the Sudan and a few eposides of some travel show on MTV, while the girls that actually stay in the room took turns in the shower. The last bus of people from David and Buster's arrives with Drinker2 and David who follow the giggles, occasional wall bumps, and their strange maganetic sexual charge toward one another to my former residence and remain there.
I eventually work up enough courage to return to "my" room. I promise myself to not look left or right, only to grab my pjs, and tolietries and throw everything else I own into my suitcase so hopefully no one will hurl on my belongings and so all I have to do in the morning is rise my hung over team mates. I walk in and discover a half naked David with Drinker2 snuggled close beside him in MY bed. My roomates declare the strip tease to be over as Wes exits and my virgin eyes are safe to return to the room as they are going to sleep. I politely decline and state I'm attending a sleep over of my own. I hurridly grab the necessary items, throw the rest of my belongings in my suitcase and rush out to the safehaven of the other girls' room where I change into my pjs and prepare for the sleep over.
The sleep over is held a few doors down in Roy, Ryan, Dusty and Doug's room. Roy apparently has night terrors which have been terrorizing his roomates the past two nights, so the entire team has been invited to sleep over and witness these strange events. Only 5 others--myself, Tracy, Nancy Drinker2 and Drinker3-- joined in on the vigil. Roy has already fallen asleep when we walk in at about 1:30 am. Roy gets his own bed as no one wants to sleep anywhere near him as these terrors are often violent. Doug declares the space between the two beds to be his for the night, Nancy and Dusty curl up together at the foot of the other bed, which contains Drinker3 on the left, Tracy on the right, Ryan--who dove between Drinker3 and Tracy--in the middle and myself at their feet. I fell like Ruth. At one point Roy comments in his sleep about a 3 am booty call, which we promplty question him about, and he acknowledges that he did say something of the sort. We all watch movies until we fall asleep. Ok, I didn't fall asleep. I was watching the Others, then all of a sudden, everyone is asleep. I roll over and try to go to sleep, and have almost achieved this when I hear Dusty get up and turn off the tv. This is when I realize I have to go really bad. I open my eyes, glanc at the maze of bodies that lay between myself and the bathroom on the otherside of the room, and begin to doubt my ability to weave through them in the pitch black. At about this moment a Ryan foot still clothed in a dirty tennis sock hits me square in the face. Yes, I got a good whiff. I smack that foot and inform the confused owner that his limb is invading my bubble, to which he groans and removes his foot from my face to my stomach. It is here I realize the battle is useless and that I need brave my way to the bathroom before I get a hard kick in the gut and Dusty and Nancy on the floor below me get an unpleasant wet surprise. I stare at the floor for about 30 minutes configuring a way through the maze, and when finding no definate answer, I swing out of bed, say a prayer and hop, leap and stretch through a puzzle of 4 people's bodies to the bathroom. I fell much better, and carefully return to my spot which surprisingly has not been taken over by feet... yet. Ryan's feet are my constant companions for the rest of the evening with Drinker3 and Tracy's feet softly nudging me occasionaly for a stretch.
Then it happens-- Roy's night terror. At around 3:30 am, Roy shoots out of bed screaming bloody murder, "NO NO NO NO!!! I DIDN'T DO IT!!!" He vaults over Drinker2, barely missing her, and lands in the "foyer" still shouting, "I'M DOWN! I'M DOWN!" At this point the hilarity can go on no further without Drinker2 being hurt, so Dusty shouts to Roy, "Are you ok, Roy?" Roy answers, "Ya..." and finds his way back to his bed. The rest of the evening is all blackness to me, because I finally got to sleep... for about 3 hours.
And that's the tale of my Cali tennis trip spring break adventure.
Have I ever mentioned how much I DESPISE true/false questions?
03.08.06 (8:55 am) [edit]Have I ever mentioned how much I DESPISE true/false questions? I recently read Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass... for my American Lit. class. One of the easiest readings I've had for a literature class in a long time. I failed the reading quiz because the reading was so easy and the very fact that true/false can be so manipulative in wording the questions, I overanalyzed everything and go a whopping 40. YESSSSS!!! Go me. :-p Have I ever mention how much I DESPISE true/false questions?
Speeches, explosions, and sleep deprevations=college
03.03.06 (4:01 am) [edit]So here it is, 4 a.m. and I am just now sort of completing my speech that is due in six hours. Yeah me! I still have to tack on the first third of it which I left at Grandma's hosue earlier. (I was there because the whole house smelled like burnt plastic, cause some macaroni blew up in the microwave. Which strangely was not the only thing to blow up on me in the microwave today. Tracy, Kendra and I blew up some marshmellow peeps. Those were supposed to blow up though. *BWAHAHAHA* We are the peep murderers!!!) But ya, the speech is due in now less than 6 hours and I have a tennis tournament to kick some rear end in in 10 hours. This is going to be an interesting day.
