How to Deal with the Work Blues....

So this week at work has been one I would call rough. Apparently you can get punished for being honest. Who knew? Well because it's been so rough I've been trying to fix my mood when I get home. Most of the time I have just been sleeping as soon as I get home because it's been so physically and emotionally draining, but there have been a few other "remedies" that I have found to alleviate my down in the dumps.

1. 80's music. Give me just about any 80's song and I will feel so much happier. I have my playlist going on my computer, my Zune (yes get over it, I love it) and my phone. A little Hall & Oates, MJ, Wang Chung, Depeche Mode, Oingo Boingo and a few others have a tendency to lift your spirits almost instantly.

2. Moonlight. I love this show. It has Alex O'loughlin (Hawaii 5-0) as a vampire. It's really sexy and this show is a cult classic that was cut tragically short by CBS. Anyway the 16 episodes that made up the series always bring a smile to my face.

3. Harry Potter. This is magic in real life. I get wisked away to a wonderful wizard world and I can just forget about all the crap I've been dealing with. It's like casting my own spell on myself.

Right now I'm listening to Paul Simon's Slip Slidin' Away (might actually be from the 70's not entirely sure). How do you not feel good?

Just changed to Toto's Africa. Another feel good song. Jordan you'll appreciate.


P.S. Raisin Bran with fresh Blackberries is surprisingly delicious.

My Christmas List (Take notes!)

So I'm thinking now is the time to make my Christmas List for Santa. I want to make sure he has plenty of advanced notice. This is also for those who love me and maybe want to get me a gift.

Honestly it's more of a wish list, but if you feel so inclined to purchase something on my list for me, I won't object.

In no particular order:

- Harry Potter Movie Collection
- Boots (or a gift card for boots. DSW, Famous or somewhere similar)
- Kohl's gift card (I'm addicted)
- A Tardis to put on my desk at work
- Smallville Season 10 if it ever comes out on dvd
- Doctor Who season 6 on dvd
- Super cute belts and scarves
- A new door handle for my car
- Amazon gift card so I can buy books for my kindle
- And I suppose world peace should be on the list too

Thank you.

Today's Thoughts

It's funny how hopping on YouTube to check out a video of Pete Burns (Lead singer of Dead or Alive) and how he looks today can lead you to start on a binge of weird/sad/creepy/moving/inspirational videos. All because I had heard on the radio that Pete Burns looks freaky. And yes, yes he does (A bad version of Cher is my take). You should go check it out if you want to see. It's just crazy how you can go to the website to check out a video and get sucked in for hours watching related topics. I seriously had no idea how much time I had spent until I noticed that the sun had left me for the day.

I hate high school drama, I'm pretty sure I left that behind me a long time ago. It's funny how it creeps back into your life all because some people think their loyalties are placed with the right person. For me I'm sitting back to see how well that plays out for them.

I love how excited I get when I think of how I will be taking time off in December to go to Vegas (MJ Cirque du Soleil baby!), and then I remember it's only November, and it's too far away to get very excited yet. And then I remember I'm taking the week of Christmas off too, and I get all excited again only to remind myself that too is too far away. It's a vicious cycle. I really need to spread out my time off through the year better.

I hope that Adele recovers soon because she's got an amazing voice and I'd hate for her to not be able to sing again.

I need to go watch House and take a nap before my karate lesson tonight. Hi-ya!!!

Pictures I found funny.

Music To My Ears

When I was a teenager I was usually the odd one out when it came to listening to music. I preferred to listen to artists of the 60's, 70's and 80's. I didn't even know much of the current music of the time, which happened to be the 90's. And I still maintain that I made the right choice. The 90's produced a lot of crap music with a few decent bands in between. I usually found myself agreeing with the music the adult was playing while driving me and my friends around over what my friends were begging to listen to. I was so glad when the 90's were finally over and the music gradually started to improve. There is still a lot of horrible stuff out there (country, rap, R&B, anything auto-tuned), but a lot of good stuff has come around too (indie rock, indie pop).

It took me until about the early 2000's to start listening to current bands, and even then it wasn't necessarily mainstream. I'm not one, and never have been one, to follow the crowd when it comes to music. Yes I like bands that are popular now, but I feel I discovered their music a lot of the time on my own. Case in point: I first discovered Maroon 5 when they were unknown. They had one song that had just shown up on the radio and virtually no one knew who they were. I had the opportunity to see them open for Sugar Ray (90's crap) who opened for Matchbox Twenty (90's gold).  Ever since, Maroon 5 has been dear to my heart because I discovered them on my own and listened to them before they went huge.

Anyway getting back on task, I'm a product of the 80's and find myself reverting to this particular era of music the most as it was always playing while growing up. I tend to lean more towards the new wave genre of the 80's, but I also love the hair band rock, the sappy love songs, the pop stars, and of course punk. Some of the best one-hit wonders came out of this decade, and they were awesome.

The 70's provided some of the best rock bands to have ever graced us with their presence. And they can be pretentious enough in my mind because they earned it. When I was in high school I was able to see a lot of these great bands live. If there's anything I will give credit to the 90's for, is that it was the decade of 70's band revivals. To name a few of the bands I saw; Styx, Boston, Kansas, America, Jethro Tull, Pat Benatar, and The Moody Blues (not by choice). And about half I was able to see for free (I was really good at winning radio contests at the time).

Styx: My favorite 70's band. Hate if you must, but Adam Sandler
knows what I'm talking about.

The 60's gave us some of the most genius artists of all time, and I'm not just saying this because my favorite band derives from this era (*cough cough* The Beatles *cough*). To name a few others; The Doors, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, ELO, God a.ka. Eric Clapton, and so on helped shape music to what it is today. They each took a risk forming their own sound to which even today is repeated in new music.

See? 

Anyway the point of this post was to explain my love for music and I will from time to time focus a post on a particular band, decade or genre because it's good fun, and I hope I can educate and motivate a few to branch out from their comfort zone, and hear some damn good music.

Feature Post: Being an Introvert

I have decided that this post deserves re-posting due to the truth of the content as it applies to myself. I know a lot of people, though they have never directly said it to my face, have wondered if I'm rude, shy or just generally a quiet person. Honestly no, I'm not.

I can be loud, raucous and an overall nice person. I just have to be in my ideal situation for this to be the case. The post below is by a girl I don't know personally, but was able to put into words exactly what I have struggled to do for so long. In other words she nailed it right on the head.

My good friend Jordan posted this on her blog where I was able to read it and "borrow" it (thank you). I hope you take the time to read this, as it will help explain why I am the way I am, and I hope you will better understand me as a person and others like me:

I am twenty-three years old. When most people think of twenty-three year olds, they think of social butterflies - people who are happy to go out on the weekends and meet tons of new people; who thrive on going to parties and expanding their social circle.

That is not me.

I've never really had an easy time making friends - I was never able to explain why, but I hated being surrounded by people I didn't know, I hated making "small talk" and forced niceties, and I hated the feeling I got when I didn't know what to expect going into a situation. What was worst about this whole situation is that I started to hate myself for not being like everyone else - for lacking that charm that most girls seemed to have naturally. I managed to get by in school because I kept similar friends through my years there, but as you can imagine, this was a NIGHTMARE when I started college. The first year of college is basically a frenzy to meet and make friends with as many people as you can, and I just knew that it was going to be difficult for me.

What I learned later is that I am, by nature, an introvert. And that's OK. A lot of people assume that introverts are terribly shy and lacking social skills, but that's not the case. Most people are extroverts and thrive on the energy from others- they are happiest when surrounded by people. Introverts are exactly the opposite - we get most of our energy and motivation from ourselves.

This makes life really hard sometimes, but the older I get, here are the things I've learned:

Being an introvert does not mean that I'm shy - I am more than happy to meet new people and carry on conversations. The difference is that I MUCH prefer to meet people one on one, or in small groups. Large groups or crowded places really, really overwhelm me and cause me a lot of anxiety. I feel so great after a night out with a small group, but I feel literally sick to my stomach entering a room with a lot of people.

I need time by myself to recharge - while going out and being around people energizes most people, it physically drains me. While I can go out and have fun at a bar or club, I usually spend next day by myself, taking time to relax and work on projects for myself. 

Say yes to things outside your comfort zone, but don't feel bad about saying no if you know you will be miserable - I have had such good times going to parties and events that I felt really nervous about. Things that I expected to be nerve-racking turned out to be great experiences. However, there have been some times when, for example a party I was invited to was full of people I knew I would feel awkward running in to. I felt bad about not going, but I know that it wouldn't have turned out well.

Explaining these thing to people help - since most people haven't been through it, it helps to explain things. Most of my friends have been super understanding when I tell them about these things. I definitely have run into a few instances where people have been a little bit rude or condescending about it, but in general, it's been fine. 

If you have friend who are introverts:

-Don't take it personally if they decline social invitation. It doesn't mean they don't want to hang out with you. It just means they aren't comfortable hanging out in that situation.

-Make time to spend with them one on one. It's the best way of getting to know an introvert.

-Introduce them to people you think they might click with - sometimes meeting people is really difficult, and having that bridge makes things a little easier. DON'T make it obvious, or force it though, because that makes things 100x worse.

If you are an introvert yourself:

-Try saying yes to new things. You might end up having a better time than you thought!

-Make more of an effort to meet new people. Try talking to that nice girl at the coffee shop or that guy that says hi at the concert. They might end up being a new friend!

-Get involved in groups that make it easier to meet people.

After all of my nervousness about my first year of college, I ended up meeting some of my very best friend there. I went out, I had fun, and I got involved in lots of different things that allowed me to meet lots of different people and I had the best time. It can be done. :)

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Thank you Chelsea for posting this in the first place. From Love, Chelsea Lauren: Honesty Time - On Being An Introvert

Blog Title Remorse?

**Update: So after the few votes I have received, it seems that Kicking The Thought is the favorite. So I now bestow upon my ever morphing blog a new name. Kind of exhilarating.




I imagine this to be similar to having a child, and naming it and then wondering if you've made a horrible mistake. Then again I don't have children, but I do have a cat and I named her Lily which I'm very happy with. So maybe it's not like that at all.

Isn't she adorable??

I'm starting to second guess my Blog's Title. I've thought of a few different titles I could change it to, but I'm just not sure if I should. In no particular order:

1. Organized Chaos
2. Free Thoughts
3. My Mind is Your Confusion
4. Whispering Strawberry Oceans
5. Kicking The Thought

Post a comment with your vote. I've also made it so everyone should be able to comment now, if that helps.

Woobie's

Is it completely wrong that sometimes I want my woobie? I'm 30 years old and I feel this is completely wrong and creepy, yet I still want it. Even my subconscious tells me this. I've been having this recurring dream which is a little unnerving, but also scarily comforting.

We need to talk about your woobie...

The dream I keep having is the same running theme (my woobie), but in different situations:

1. I'm in school and it's in my backpack and I'm embarrassed and try to hide it
2. I'm at work and it's in my purse and I'm embarrassed and try to hide it
3. I'm at home and it's in my bed and I'm embarrassed and try to hide it.

See the running theme?

Basically I feel that my subconscious is trying to tell me that all I want is to hold onto a bit of my childhood. Doesn't everyone at some point in their life?

I keep finding myself reminiscing about my childhood, thinking of all the things I did, the fun I had, and the innocence of being a child. I guess that usually happens when you go through rough patches, thus the yearning for my woobie.

Creeped out yet? Yeah me too and a bit embarrassed.