emphasis

emphasis: force or intensity of expression that gives impressiveness or importance to something 

I'm sitting in a booth, at pub, drinking watered-down rootbeer.  My fingers are greasy with tater-tot crumbs, pecking at the keyboard carefully so not to smear grease everywhere.  I suppose I could use a napkin, but this matter is too pressing. No time for napkins!  Fred and Kelsey are across the booth from me, we are working on our homework.  The grizzly bearded waiter just refilled my rootbeer. And from behind the bar, I hear “I’m gunna bring in that over-sized sandwich board.”  I start laughing uncontrolably.  Fred asks what's so funny and I explain to her, "Sometimes you have to shift the emphasis on words in life, keeps things more interesting..."  Mimicking the guy from behind the bar I seductively say, "I'm gunna bring in that over-sized sandwich board."  dirty, and yet so funny.  Okay, now back to homework and tatter-tots.

secret admirer

secret admirer: an individual who feels adoration, fondness or love for another person without disclosing their identity to that person, slightly creepy

seriously people who gave me that pin-up sticker?  I went to check my mail last Friday and discovered this!  

Don't get me wrong, I adore it.  I'm just curious as to who gave it to me.

Then I came back from class one evening and found Starbursts balanced on my apartment door handle...and not just any old Starbursts, but my two favorite flavors! curious.

abhor

abhor: regard with disgust and hatred

So, my mom called today and after a brief description of her surroundings, she asks me if I want to talk to aunt Tina (who undoubtedly is intoxicated, and if you know me, talking to intoxicated people is not really my thing).  This isn't so bad, but she does it aloud, in front of my aunt Tina.  So, if I say no, my aunt Tina will hear and may become offended by my rejection to talk to her.  I love my mother, but she does this all the time.  She has good intentions but every time it's, "would you like to talk to so and so?" "No, not really." "Are you sure?" "Yes, tell them I'm at work (because usually I am)."  "Okay, here you go." And then she hands the phone over to whichever relative you don't want to talk to. I abhor this.

Side note, I love how my biological father's side of the family never gets together unless someone dies or gets married.  As an added bonus, usually everyone (except me) is intoxicated at these events.  You know you're a Halgat if you have excommunicated at least two members of your immediate family and have not seen the rest since you got totally smashed at so and so's funeral/wedding (but not both at one time, because that would be a abominable affair that I would avoid at all costs, although it has happened).

Okay, so this may seem a bit harsh, but my family has put me through a lot of shit in life.  I love each and everyone of them (or at least tell myself I do), for they are all unique and colorful individuals, but they (as do I) have things to wrestle with and probably don't need my snide commentary to boot.  I don't mean to cause any harm, but it's nice to vent every now and again. Thanks for listening.

p.s. don't take offense to this mom. first, you are not a Halgat and second you are just a friendly, gregarious person, that assumes everyone wants to talk to everyone. and that's okay!

elated

elate: to make (someone) ecstatically happy

I have had a rapid and complete change in mood since my last post little over an hour ago.  I spoke with Nick and he not only linked me a video of OFF! http://www.youtube.com/user/offofficial (during which I thought to myself, never before have I seen someone who is simultaneously balding and growing out dreds), but he also informed me that he bought tickets for us to go see Bad Religion and Bouncing Souls next month! awesome.  I informed him that he had no idea.  my day was going so crummy up till then. I am now elated (more or less at least).

befuddled

befuddled: to make (someone) unable to think clearly

I'm certainly not ambiguity's biggest fan, I despise confusion, and befuddlement is my archenemy

The other night I noticed the little needle on my gas gauge had fallen into the red, I needed to get gas.  So I rolled out of the dark city street and into the dusty illumination of the Chevron station. I turned down my blasting music, put my car in park, and switched off the engine.  I sat inside my car, waiting for the attendant to assist me (they do that here in OR).  A middle-aged bearded man tapped on my window and asked me to pop open the gas cap on my tank.  I reached down for the switch.  Thinking that it had opened, I went back to waiting.  But again the man asked me to open the gas cap.  I explained to him that that I had already opened it, or at least I thought. I then posited that it simply couldn't be opened, it must be broken.  Then he replied, "You can't open it or you won't?" Eventually I got my gas, but nonetheless his comment confused me.

I'll leave you with a final thought: is life a "can" or a "want?"
also, if only I had the audacity...

let's just say...

let's just say, today I licensed a man named Atticus Finch for reality work (read To Kill a Mocking Bird much?) and almost quit my job because of my moral opposition to the audit I am running. Bleh.

tennising

tennising: the act of playing tennis (verb)

I nanny for one of the Reference Librarians at my university, Kate.  Kate has a five year old daughter, Sasha, who is a hoot.  My afternoons with her are delightful.  We microwave marshmallows until they are giant, expanding blobs of sugar.  We put stickers on things.  We make bubbles (and a soapy mess across the deck) using wire hangers. We terrorize Malia, the cat.  Sometimes, we even make mean-faces and use my cellphone to take pictures of our mean-faces. And my personal favorite, we explain words to one another.  Today, we went and watched a few tennis players practice in the dome.  Sasha was engrossed in the action. When I asked her if she liked tennis she responded, "I don't know, I've never been tennising before."  I chuckled a little and then asked her what tennising meant.  She looked at me pretentiously and said, "it's when you play tennis, silly."

dulcify

dulcify: to make agreeable or gentle; mollify, to sweeten.

image courtesy of wweekly

My week certainly was dulcified this fine Saturday morning.  My friend Jen and I ate breakfast at the Waffle Window in SW Portland.  It's a window...where they sell nothing but WAFFLES! savory and sweet waffles!!  Really, I was elated by my Blueberry-Cheesecake-waffle selection.  Rich and creamy, and mountains of whipped cream!  Jen's company cheered me up almost as much as the waffle did.  It's amazing, I'm so busy and reluctantly self-interested these days that sometimes I forget I have friends.  I need to work on remembering that.

image courtesy of Homebased Portland