Before you know it, you're the crazy cat lady in the scary house

Maybe I Should Outline My Entries Beforehand

November 04, 2002 ... 10:46 p.m.

Maybe I Should Outline My Entries Beforehand

Then maybe, just maybe, they'd follow a recognizable train of thought.

I�ve been looking on Amazon.com for some interesting, somewhat factual or historical books. Ones that reviewers would call a �sweeping historical novel� or something. I really loved Memoirs of a Geisha, Women of the Pleasure Quarters and The Floating World of Ukiyo-E. And someone recommended my current read, Butterflies of the Night. I guess I�ve gotten into Japan stuff. Or maybe it�s the geisha thing and the art is merely a sidebar. And what that would mean...I do not know. I tried to find something, anything, similar for Viet Nam but all I find are war books.

War, war, war. All this war talk is spoiling the fun of my journal.

I mean, if it was fun and not just Gone With the Wind lines I was misquoting.

I�m just link crazy tonight! Woo!

I went to a political rally. Good ol� Dubya, stumping for Leach, et al. I went, not because I am adamantly Republican, but because I had tickets. And I have been to a political dinner with Bill Clinton...and 300+ others.

Clinton spoke to a bunch of us students separately in the basement. Because the future of America is not good enough for a ground-level discourse. After this rousing speech, of which I remember nothing (go me! woo!), we all lined up for a quick handshake. He got to me and noticed my watch, which had a Kennedy half dollar for a face. We proceeded to have a nearly 10 minute conversation about JFK! Whoa. I was getting evil glares from other students. Did I care? No. Then some foreign exchange students behind me were trying to talk to him, so he leaned over me with his hand on my left shoulder to hear them better. When they were done, he kind of rubbed my shoulder and said �Oh, that�s nice.� He was only complimenting me on my silk shirt. But still.

If I�d had any ambition, I could�ve been Monica Lewinsky.

Stupid lack of wayward ambition.

Anyway, I felt like I should see President Bush, too. It really surprised me how many 18-25 year olds were in attendance. The Democrat rallies always seem one keg short of a frat party, while the Republican ones (sans The Rock) are more like one corpse short of a wake. But Dubya had a very young, very enthusiastic crowd in attendance.

Well, Saturday was the Iowa Hawkeye Basketball Black & Gold Blowout. It�s really hard to get excited about the season. Promises, expectations and reality are three entirely different things.

Anyway, if you�d like to see a photo collage of my adorable brother with different basketball players--drop me a note.

I cannot get the song �Ruby Tuesday� out of my head. It�s driving me nuts.

You know, being 25 and not knowing what do with my life is really starting to weigh heavily on my mind. I know what I want to do, but I�m not sure what I need to do. I talk about going here or there, doing this or that, but I just don�t know. I�ve debated myself, made pros & cons lists and prayed about it. I just end up more confused than ever. *sigh*

Is there such a thing as a mid mid-life crisis?

Oh, and in what is assuredly coincidental news...Cousin #1 had his baby last night. So cute. Not as cute as TheCuteBaby. 4lbs, 12oz. 19 inches. Little baby. Cute little baby. So, now he has two cute kids. His girlfriend has two cute kids. So that�s four cute kids. Add TheCuteBaby. And TheCuteBaby�s soon-to-be sibling. And Cousin #3 is pregnant and sure to have a cute baby. Because all babies are cute, aren�t they? Well, no. But all the babies around me ARE cute. And my Cousin #2? The one I thought might be gay? Getting married, to a woman, in August. And me?

I have a cute...cat. He hates me and wants me dead. But he�s still cute.

So this entry got me thinking about crab rangoons. In 7th grade Home Ec, we made crab rangoons for an entire week for an ethnic fest at school. Yep, Home Ec with Cherry Dickey. We all thought we were 12-year-old Emerils. We slaved over the fryers for days to make these rangoons.

And by �slaved� I actually mean �occasionally glanced in their general direction while engaged in deep philosophical and, sometimes, quite heated discussions on which New Kid on the Block was cutest�.

At any rate, she ended up throwing almost three quarters of them away because they weren�t made right and, for extra credit, I stayed after for several days and made a bajillion. But they were little, a couple of inches long, so they weren�t hard. They kind of reminded me of those pizza rolls--like those Totino�s things.

The rangoons were soooo good. They were a real hit. But they were the only Asian food any of the kids would try. The Italian and Mexican sections were very crowded. Me? I�ll eat almost anything once.

Vegetables and rice wrapped in seaweed? Cool. Sushi? Sure. What do you mean raw fish? Whatever. Barbecued squid? Please. Nuoc Cham? Although I have no idea what that is, just pour it all over. That�s right, bring it on.

That was a mistake. See, I know what it is now. I don�t think I�ll ever forget that particular type of hot sauce. I�ve had hot sauce before and since. Maybe it was the shock of goind from rice and seaweed to pepper. And by �pepper� I actually mean �PEP-PER�. My eyes are almost watering now. I think they might have made it extra-super-duper hot for me, though. Yes, it�s all so clear to me now.

�Oh, it�s the sushi girl. Quick! Dump that last cup of pepper in the sauce! Here you go, honey.�

I mean, it was good. I just wasn�t ready for anything remotely spicy. At least the crab rangoons weren�t covered. Of course that was before the allergies surfaced. Back when I could safely indulge my love of shellfish. Alas, I can do so no longer. Well, I could. But I�d die. So, guess what wins in the battle of �Life vs. Crab Legs�?

Stupid self-preservation instincts.

Currently Reading:
Butterflies of the Night by Lisa Louis

Listening To:
The Dirty Boogie by the Brian Setzer Orchestra
and
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
I can�t find any of my Cherry Poppin� Daddies cds. Blast it. I�m in a swing mood tonight, can you tell?

~*~

Have a happy day!

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