I’m Not January 15, 2010

I was just sitting at lunch today, thinking about things, and it came across my mind that I’m not very good at most things I try to do. Most hobbies, or things I like to do, when you become very good at them, become titles. I guess that’s why they’re still hobbies, and not careers.

I’m not a Novelist, but I can write, edit, and I’m a pretty decent blogger. I’m not an Artist, but I can draw a fairly nice anime figure, if you don’t stare too hard, and I liked one of my doodles so much I’m planning on turning into a tattoo. I’m no Photographer, but I enjoy taking pictures, and I know how to make myself and other looks pretty decent in photographs. I’m not a Podcaster, but I used to be, and I’m a fairly decent voice actress. I’m no Videographer, but I like recording short videos and I have no qualms about livestreaming myself eating ramen with chopsticks at my computer. I’m not a Therapist, but I will let you tell me your problems ’till you’re blue in the face, and I will help you try and find solutions if you want me to.

I’m not the best at what I do, but I think I do just fine.

2010 Resolutions January 5, 2010

Normally, I don’t do resolutions. Why? Few reasons. I understand that most resolutions are too broad to be worthwhile to even mutter. I forget that I made the blasted things two months afterward. I’ve never really felt accountable if I didn’t achieve my resolution. I’ve never felt it was necessary.

This year I don’t have any resolutions, either. I have goals. But everyone should have goals. Mine are small, relatively easily attainable goals. My first goal is to get through a yoga class & an exercise class (called Body Shape) without coming out of a pose prematurely or skipping reps. Once I can do those two things successfully, I’m going to step it up a bit more, possibly by adding a new class or an additional day of the same class(es). Starting in the spring, I’m hoping to buy a bike and possibly ride to classes, or just around the neighborhood.

Small goals, not resolutions. Baby steps.

Forever,

Jett

2009 Year in Review December 30, 2009

Everybody’s doing these, why not me??

This year has been a crazy, unpredictable ride for almost everyone, it seems. Economy woes, joblessness, government overhauls – it looks like we’ve made it out alive, just barely.

This year was my year of growth and learning. Growing into my life as a Richmonder, growing out of my comfort zone by meeting new people. Growing into a role as a self-provider, then having to learn to share again as I moved in with my boyfriend in September. Learning to adapt as I found myself jobless at the start of the year, unable to find full-time employment for quite some time. Mid-year, friends graciously offered me the ability to watch over their child while their nanny was on maternity leave to have a child of her own. Afterwards, I fell into a permanent position quite by accident, as a 3-day temp job turned into a few months, then a permanent offer.

I’ve learned to be patient, to plan a little more carefully for the future, and I’ve also learned to ask for help. I could never have made it through this year without help. The help of my friends, the help of my family, and the help and love of my boyfriend. 2009 was a very unstable year until these last few months, and I am so very grateful for my network of friends and family. I had begun to suffer through panic attacks that would manifest as full-body rashes, sweats, finally resulting in vomiting and eventually me passing out from exhaustion and waking up shaky but otherwise fine. It was unexplainable, and disappeared midway through September when it was becoming more and more obvious that my temp job was soon to be a permanent one.

I learned that free clinic visits take about triple the amount of time a regular/traditional doctor’s appointment does. I finally learned that Richmond motorists are crazy drivers. The whole “yellow light means slow down, red light means stop” thing – yeah, really only a suggestion most of the time.

I’ve grown into a wonderful, stable relationship that’s working on its second year, and there are no signs of itchy fingers reaching for the escape button. Please understand, I have had very few relationships last past one year, and those that did, I was miserable in. This time, I want to stay. I’m happy, he’s happy, and we’re good for each other.

So that’s my year in review. I look forward to 2010 with the hope that it will only get better from here. I have goals, but those can be written about on a later date.

Forever,

Jett

Beauty Review: Too Faced Lashlight November 30, 2009

Because I have nothing incredibly entertaining to write about, here’s a review of a beauty product I just got – Too Faced brand’s Lashlight mascara.

From the box – “An illuminated mascara infused with liquid crystalline particles (microscopic mirrors) to bounce light off and around lashes for brighter eyes and the richest, glossiest, BLACK possible. Utilizing Hollywood movie industry lighting effects, we built Optic-Blu LED bulbs into the wand to illuminate each and every lash for unprecedented targeted application.” I kept the formatting as it is on the box, just for you.

At first blush, when I saw this online, my reaction was “Yes! Need this!” Still is, honest. Just don’t turn on the light and look at it straight on. It will seriously take some time to get the spots out of your eyes. Mine are just now fading, and that was 10 minutes ago. And after I read “Do not shine light directly into eyes.”

As for the lights in the wand, they’re ridiculously useful! I do my makeup by a lamp that only usually illuminates one side of my face when I’m really close to the mirror. With this wand, it’s like having a small perfectly placed light exactly where you need to see to apply the mascara. It does require a little different application technique than I usually use, but it’s not something that I couldn’t get used to. It also has a mirror built into the container, for on-the-go (hopefully not smack in the middle of a dark club, but who am I to judge) application.

I have yet to have someone proclaim “your eyes, they blind me with refracted light!” but that’s also because no one has seen this mascara on me, except myself. So reactions will remain to be seen. And I’m hoping that because I wrote that, someone will notice me wearing mascara and say that to me. Even if I’m not wearing it at the time. I will laugh so hard.

Always,

Jett

Weekend Wrap-up November 22, 2009

Did quite a bit this weekend, actually. It’s nice to look back & see that I was actually busy this weekend, instead of just “oh, all I did was sit around & play video games.”

Friday – after work, I got my hair done, and then went out with my boyfriend & another couple to dinner. They had just found out that they were having a girl.

Saturday – My boyfriend & I got up fairly early, for a Saturday, and we went shopping at Kohls’. He bought shoes, I bought two tops & skin toner. After we came back & hung out for a bit at home, I bought a Poken online. I’m going to do a blog post about it on my tech blog. I also went out shopping again. I went to Border’s and Barnes & Noble. I bought a paper journal and a book called D!rty Japanese. Teaches you slang & curse words in Japanese. I’ve had fun trying to memorize a few.

Sunday – We were up super-late Saturday night because it was the beginning of the Thanksgiving events in World of Warcraft. I’ve gotten half of the achievements completed, but I will most likely not complete it for the Pilgrim title & turkey pet reward. So we were up late this morning, but I finished all our laundry, I didn’t add anything to the ‘to iron’ pile, and I also changed the catbox, the bedsheets, and did a little vacuuming in the bedroom too! I did a little online shopping, and bought some mascara from Japan. I’ll do a little post about that when I receive it.

Sounds weird, but I’m really pleased with this weekend. I probably spent too much, but I plan on using everything I bought extensively. I’m probably going to post at least a few more posts until a large one for Thanksgiving, most likely about how much it hurts after doing my exercise classes on Monday evening.

Forever,

Jett

Oh gawd it hurts November 18, 2009

I am in so much pain. I went to the gym tonight, after not going since Thursday. I went to not one, but TWO classes, back to back. A class they call Body Shape & Yoga. Body Shape is like full-body resistance workout using light handweights, a stair-step box, a weight bar, and an elastic band to essentially work every muscle group you didn’t even know you had.

Oh geez I need to go pass out now.

~Jett

October News Round-Up October 28, 2009

I’ve decided, since my life is too boring to fill a blog on its own, that I’m going to do (at least) monthly posts about interesting pieces of news that I’ve found throughout the month, with commentary on each.

October 5 – Police: Girl, 13, rode in cardboard box atop van. This story is just plain dumb. It’s along the same vein as the story about the kid who stood up through the sunroof to take a trip around a parking lot while being held onto by his mother/grandmother/aunt/female relative. EXCEPT – this trip was down a highway. Why the cardboard box couldn’t be collapsed is anybody’s guess. Why they needed a cardboard box that couldn’t fit into a minivan is anybody’s guess, too. Throw another one into the “just plain stupid” category…

October 6 – Lung stolen from exhibit of human cadavers. If you needed a lung that badly, I hope you’re not willing to do the surgery yourself…with a non-working organ. I guess it could make a pretty nice mantle piece. Definite conversation starter… “Gee, Harry, when you said you were coughing up a lung, I didn’t realize you meant literally!”

October 12 – Cops: Intoxicated 21-year-old steals ambulance. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Drunk guy thinks it’d be a good idea to swipe an ambulance to get home. Sometimes you just have to use the emergency services to get home after a good night of heavy drinking.

October 13 – Man found asleep in closet … with a corpse. This is pretty self-explanatory too. What the headline doesn’t tell you is that they were both alive when they went into the closet of the vacant home. The problem with this story is that it’s so bizarre it’s funny, but at the same time sad because they were stupid enough to do life-threatening doses of narcotics.

October 14 – ‘Lottery winner’ causes riot at Ohio coat store. She’s just loony enough to incite a riot at a coat store, but the patrons really should have been after the woman, not the coat store. I’m sure they could’ve figured out who she was & hunt her down right quick. I can only imagine how she’ll be treated once she gets out of her punishment.

October 14 – Deputies say man tried to eat pot after arrest. I’m not quite sure how this guy figured this would help, but apparently when you’re under the influence of drugs, out of sight really is out of mind, for everyone. Until the blood tests come back, anyway.

October 14 – Facebook ‘poking’: So annoying, it’s criminal. I’ve always despised this “feature” of Facebook. But this specific instance is because the idiot’s got a restraining order and technically broke it by poking the girl’s profile.

October 15 – Rare disease turns 3-year-old’s muscles to bone. It’s actually called Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. Every bump, every bruise, every muscle strain in his body turns his muscle to a bone-like substance. They’re doing the best they can to let him act like a little boy should, but worry about what will happen in the future.

October 22 – Police: Dad ran over ‘Westernized’ daughter. If you’re living in a “Western” society, shouldn’t you expect your daughter to become a little “Westernized”? The story doesn’t explain how the daughter was becoming “westernized” but I would guess it’s probably not just wearing Levis…

October 27 – Church of Scientology guilty of fraud in France. It’s a shame we can’t catch them in the act here. That’s my only comment on this story.

So that’s all for October.

I’ll see you at the end of November, if not before!

Always, Jett

Consistently Inconsistent October 8, 2009

There are many times when I have been in the mood to blog, but I am unable to fire up my browser & do such things. I’m either out, or at my desk, or just otherwise unable to get to a computer. I refuse to attempt to blog on my phone. Bad for the thumbs. So I have sometimes turned to writing on paper (so 8-bit!) and converting it to electronic form a day or two later (as I’m doing now). It’s just an excuse, really, but it’s another explanation as to why I’m so consistently inconsistent. It also gives me an excuse to still buy cute paper journals & an excuse to carry around my tote bag with the purple horse & my name on it.

To that end, expect a second entry sometime this afternoon! See, told you.

Wrapped up, wrapping up October 3, 2009

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve written here. I’ve got excuses. I’ve been very busy. I’ve been desperately scrambling to empty out my two-bedroom apartment and stuffing it all into a 10×10x6 storage unit. I gave up the keys to my apartment on September 29th. We’re still working on organizing, adjusting, and just trying to adjust to the two of us living together, completely.

I’ve finally gotten myself a full time job, with benefits. So I’ve been working on paperwork for that. I get to actually have a full-time doctor – a single person who’ll deal with my medical woes instead of just whoever’s available to deal with me at the time I show up at the county clinic. Perhaps now that I’m in Richmond, I can talk to my doctor about my medical problems and finally get a legitimate, permanent fix.

I am so happy where I’ve gone, and where I’ve been the last 9 months. I went from temporary positions that were few and far between, a temporary nanny, and being held up by my friends and family, to moving in with my boyfriend and landing a permanent job with benefits.

Workin’ for the Weekend August 27, 2009

I’ve been able to hold steady employment since the beginning of July. Which was a surprise in itself, because the original temporary contract was only supposed to be three days. The receptionist I was replacing was going to have a simple heart operation, and be back the next week. She turned out to need emergency triple bypass and wouldn’t be back for at least a month, if she made a speedy recovery. I was asked if I would stay – it took about a nanosecond to think it over & say yes. She’s been having complications and difficulties recovering completely, and so I believe she is planning on going into early retirement. So far my contract’s end date has been pushed back 3 times, and it is highly likely I will continue to be here until my staffing agency says I’m a free person again, in a half year. Then I will be an official employee of the company I’m working for.