So Cool

Growing up, I watched a lot of movies. In elementary and middle school, I would watch movies about teenagers and young adults and only hope my high school experience would be like theirs. They were female lead roles in these movies that I wanted to be like. They were so pretty. So cool. Had tons of fun. Tons of guys. And just lived a great life. I wanted to be like them when I got to high school. These chicks were the shit.

Cindy Mancini (Can't Buy Me Love). Cindy was so freaking cool that she got paid $1000 by a nerd so he could hang out with her. He took him from "totally geek to totally chic". She was such a leader that just by hanging out with her, he became cool by association. She was captain of the cheerleading squad (something that NEVER interested me) and had her college football playing boyfriend. Her style was impeccable and she had a good relationship with her mom. And not to mention, she secretly wrote poetry. Girl was not one-dimensional. No wonder everyone wanted to be like Cindy.

Put Her in the Pic?

On occasion myself or a friend will meet a cute guy that we are attracted to. We don't know much about him. Maybe a mutual friend or two, and of course his first (and hopefully last) name. And what do you think one of the first things we do is when we get back home after being a little smitten? Why duh, its look them up on Facebook of course! We want to see their picture(s) or any other info we can get. Specifically, we want to see if there is another woman in that picture (literally and figuratively). Does he have a girlfriend? We can all safely assume he isn't married if he isn't wearing a ring. One would hope so at least. And lets be serious, at my age, one of the first things I do when I meet a guy is look directly down at his left ring finger. Is there a ring? Please no, don't have a ring on. And if he does, bummer. And if not, there is always a glimmer of hope.

Random Dance Scene, Yes please!

I am not a fan of musicals at all. Shows or movies where people just automatically burst into song and dance really freak me out and are not entertaining at all. I will either walk away or turn them off immediately. Therefore, I usually avoid them. I prefer movies that have totally random song/dance scenes that are so unexpected, that they are that awesome.  They don't interrupt the flow of the movie, but because of their randomness, they increase the value that much more. Below are my top song/dance scenes from non-song/dance related movies.

1. Revenge of the Nerds. This is quite possibly one of my favorite movies ever. And quite possibly one of the best music sequences in a movie. It's no wonder the Lamda, Lambda, Lamda's won the contest with this one. And yes, I do sing along and know all the words.

Thank You Friends!

This past year has not been the best one on record for me health-wise. First I broke my foot, then I had a Colitis flare-up followed by a bad bacterial infection resulting from medication to treat the flare-up. Then I re-hurt my foot because I started exercising too quickly after healing. On New Years Day, I came down with strep throat which I hadn't had since high school, and just recently I had a very bad Colitis Flare-up again. For a girl who considers herself pretty healthy, these incidences one after the other with little reprieve in between have been just plain annoying. Every time I get better from one thing, something new happens. I am just hoping that this last bout of illness, because of its severity, will be my last for a while. It really takes a lot out of someone physically and mentally, to be sick for so long.

This recent Colitis flare-up began about three weeks ago while I was on vacation. All my usual symptoms started mildly and I immediately contacted my doctor and we began to try and get it under control.  After trying two medications that usually work, things actually started to get worse for me. A new type of pain and discomfort began to occur. The doctor had me come in and he ran some tests so we could get ahead of this. By this time, I was about 2 weeks into being sick and my pain was pretty bad. Try going to work everyday in almost excruciating pain, all while trying not to shit your pants in front of a group of high schoolers. Not fun. Wouldn't recommend it. I was pretty much miserable day after day and trying to hide it to the best of my ability while at work. But after throwing up at school, and toughing it out for one more day, I called the doctor again to try something new and had to call in sick the next two days hoping that those days off and the upcoming weekend would give me the rest and time with new medication to get me starting to feel better. Didn't happen. After my parents and friends tried to get me to go the ER for the past 4 days, I finally conceded, and trekked across the street to the hospital. (I am very lucky one of the very best hospitals in the area is so close to my apartment.) I have not been to the ER since I was first diagnosed with Colitis eight years ago, and even then they kept me as long as they could without having to admit me. That was traumatic enough of an event being so sick without my parents, but at least I could go back to my apartment at the end of the day. This time around I was not so lucky. They were admitting me to the hospital. I really couldn't believe it. I thought I'd get some IV fluids and antibiotics and be on my merry way. No such luck.

The Madness is here!

March Madness is possibly my favorite sporting time of year! It's one and done time. A time of Cinderella teams. A time of miracle shots. A time of celebration. And a time of defeat. I cry more in these three weeks watching college basketball than I'd even like to admit. The stories of the athletes, their triumphs and tribulations that you just don't realize are so inspiring. Not to mention tons of great basketball being played.

I remember once in college I was at the rec center working out on the elliptical machine and one of the stories came on TV (A Road to the Final Four special) before a game of an athlete overcoming a tremendous odds to becoming such a success, and there I was, working out with tears streaming down my face, trying to catch my breath because I was so moved. I have also been known to cry, and fall into a day or two long depression when my team loses, especially unexpectedly. However, most of the tournament is about those great games that come down to the wire. The final shot. The game-winner. For one team, its the greatest thing ever. And for the other, its complete despair.