Pentatonix Now, Hobbit Later...

So, I think it may have been a bit early to start reading The Hobbit to my kiddo...

Doesn't seem like he's got the attention span for full-length stories quite yet. Just a handful of pages into the book and he was already asking about the big dragon fight...I forget that children's books are tailored to a child's attention span [or lack thereof]...oh well, I'll just wait a bit longer before I try to start the book again...

Switching topics:

I'm still obsessing over Pentatonix! Love their stuff!

Here's their official video for their cover of Ariana Grande's 'Problem.' These guys are pretty much musical wizards...they must be! I can't think of any other explanation for how they are able to take a 'hit pop song' that is barely tolerable on the ears and then turn it into something amazing! [They actually do it quite often...give their videos on YouTube a look over...you'll see what I'm talking about....]

They're all fantastic singers, but I must admit that I've picked a favorite...care to guess? [If you've known me long enough, you'd know that I have a weakness for all things bass!]

Yep. Their absolutely astounding bass singer Avi is definitely my favorite! Especially in this video...0:23 and 2:13 are just ridiculous...haha, yeah...I'll just leave it there. Can't have my blog headed to those NSFW waters...

...yeah, I'm not even going to pretend that I've got anything else to post about. I just wanted to post the video. And write about Avi. Yep. That's it.

Fantastic Monday! [Now There's An Oxymoron...]

A few things that I'm excited about:

- This afternoon, I made the decision that I'm going to start reading my kiddo The Hobbit for his bedtime story. He's very much into playing out adventures and what better story to use as an introduction to more 'adult' literature? I gave him a 2-minute break down of the basics of the story, and he's thrilled! I'll be sure to post how the initial reading goes...

- I finally decided on what to get the kiddo as his 'big' gift this year...I placed an order for Amazon's Fire HD Tablet, Kids Edition. The specs are pretty fantastic for the price and it comes with a 2-year 'worry free guarantee,' which sounds like they'll replace the tablet, no questions asked. Definitely a plus! [He and I are both accident-prone...so, it'll be one less thing for me to have to keep a constant eye out for...if it breaks, no big deal!] In addition to the guarantee, it comes with a year's subscription to Amazon's 'Free Time' app service...this is the bit that allows for parental control over content and duration...I'm hoping it works as well as it's supposed to. And if worst comes to worst, I'll have a Fire HD tablet if my kiddo ends up not playing with it very much. [I read on multiple sites that if you disable the Free Time mode, the tablet is a regular Fire HD tablet. Completely adult friendly.]

- I was able to order pizza for dinner tonight for virtually free! Thank you Papa John's points! [Know what happens when you have happy pizza purchasers? Great tips for their beloved delivery drivers!! Add to that the increased tipping tendencies of a former food industry worker, and you've got the makings for something great! Hear that, Papa Johns? Keep up the great work!!]

- I fully intend to watch about 600+ hours of Supernatural tonight! [Am I exaggerating? /shrug Yeah, probably...]

I hope you all are having an excellent Monday...here's to a great week!

See? Jensen/Dean knows what's up!

Random Thoughts...

Random thought compilation:

- I personally know people who are almost 10 years younger than me...and are more put-together and successful than I am. That sucks.

- Neither lip balm nor lip gloss agree with any length of hair on a windy day.

- Airing up car tires is a bit more difficult than it seems.

- Happiness is not the simple lack of unhappiness. There must be another part to the equation...

- Being a lover of Christmas does not necessarily make it an enjoyable season.

- A friend that only appears when they stand to benefit is not a friend at all. They are, in fact, more harmful than an enemy. Why is this? You'd expect an enemy to treat you poorly, but not a friend.

- It is possible to spend all your days surrounded by people and still feel entirely alone.

- Intelligence does not automatically ensure success. Without ambition, intelligence is tragically wasted. 

- While true that money cannot buy true happiness, it certainly helps make the journey to happiness more pleasant.

- Be cautious of decisions you make, even if it seems to be small and insignificant. You never know which ones carry lifelong consequences and second chances are rare.

- Go ahead and get the haircut. Hair grows back.

- Books are sacred. Treat them with respect.

- If someone believes in you enough to grant you their trust, do not take it lightly nor abuse it. Treat their trust with the respect it deserves. 

- Children are only little once. Let them be little, you'll miss those days when they're gone.

- Take lots of pictures. 

- Never, ever pass on homemade cookies! 

Another Video, For Good Measure...

I can't stop...

Here's another video. And it's brilliant [of course]!

Pentatonix. Brilliant!

It's been a few days since my last post...can you believe that in just a few days time, I've managed to fall in love?!?

Okay, okay...no need to worry about whether or not I've rejoined the sketchy world of online dating, I assure you, that's not the case.

You see, I haven't fallen in love with a person...I've fallen for five of them! [Confused yet? Hehehe...]

Who knew so much talent could fit on one couch!

I'm talking about Pentatonix!

They're the season 3 winners of the TV show 'Sing Off,' and they're amazing!

A few mornings ago, I was looking through some videos on YouTube, trying to find some decent Christmas music to listen to with the kiddo...my search brought me to the Pentatonix performance of Carol of the Bells...and my mind was blown!

I've got a long-standing love and respect for a cappella artists...have you ever tried to sing without accompaniment? It's super difficult! The media loves to tear recording artists to shreds every time a sans-accompaniment track gets leaked...lots of singers sound far less impressive when you remove all of the background instruments and such...sooooo, singers that perform a cappella are, in my opinion, are boss! [Is 'boss' still a thing? Did I just show my age? /sigh...]

Here's the video that I'm talking about.

I love their use of minor keys!

Maybe its another facet of my adoration for things melancholy...I'm a huge fan of musical pieces in minor keys. [/chuckle I've been called 'weird' for this pretty much my whole life...] To me, there's a sort of nontraditional beauty  to the music...brooding, mysterious, non-conforming, misunderstood...I get it. I live and breathe it.

So...yep! Their rendition of Carol of the Bells is different than what most people are likely expecting, and I think that makes it only that much more appealing!

Just because I love it that much, I'm posting their video for the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The style of the video is an obvious homage to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, and their arrangement of the piece is a masterfully done meld of the well-loved Tchaikovsky classic and Pentatonix's a cappella flair. Check it out...hopefully you'll love them just as much as I do!

Help Me Pick, Please!

Sooooo....

I think I may be in need of an intervention...[well, sort of...]

As I'm prone to do, I've gotten bored.

I've been toying with the idea of changing my appearance somehow. I've got about 3 ways to do so...feel free to drop me a line letting me know which you think would be best, or telling me that I've lost my mind and shouldn't consider any of them right now!

First, and least permanent, would be colored contacts.

Let me start off by saying that I don't need contacts. I'm fortunate to not need glasses to read or drive, and many people look at me funny when I tell them that I want colored contacts even though I don't require contacts of any kind. But because I'm a silly girl, I love wearing colored contacts. I've had a few pairs of them before. I typically stick with some variation of gray, green, or bright blue...the problem is finding a color that will actually show up on my dark brown eyes.

Both of these were taken about two years ago...pretty sure that in the picture on the right I'm wearing green lenses and I'm wearing gray ones on the left...

What do you think? Contacts, yay or nay?



Another option would be coloring my hair [I think I might have mentioned it in a previous post...]. As you can see in the pictures above, I don't have any issues with coloring my hair. The toughie here would be whether I wanted to drop the kind of money that it takes to get my hair done at a decent salon or if I wanted to be cheap and get a box of dye to color it myself.

Another detail: with my hair being so dark, it's really pointless to try and use any shade of brown and any 'box blonde' turns out orange. That leaves me with reds and blacks.

My hair is very, very dark brown...so I don't ever see myself going with black dye [what would be the point?]...sooo, yep! I always go back to my first hair love, red.

The more subtle shades of red don't really change my hair color much, so the last few times I dyed it myself I went with comic-book shades of red. To the right is a picture from the last time I went red...

I'm a huge fan of the color, but it takes a lot to maintain it. Last time, I wound up putting a box of brown over if before my friend's wedding...but /shrug I probably would have left it red if it weren't for me seeing people that I've known for a decade but haven't seen in 5+ years. Whether it's fair or not, there's a sort of social judgement that comes with having a hair color that isn't found in nature...

Another option: good old haircut.

I got a pretty significant cut a couple of months ago, but I get bored with my hair very quickly. Here's a picture from about a year and a half ago when I went really short with my hair.

Now, I loved the cut. I know I don't have the 'typical' physique to pull off this sassy haircut, but I loved it anyway. It was easy to manage [well...maybe not. I've got naturally curly hair that can get a bit unruly. When it was short, I did have to straighten it everyday I didn't want to wear a hat...but there was much less hair to straighten!]

I know that some people liked the cut on me, and some people hated it...but I'm the one that has to live with the hair, so...yeah.

[I should also note that this is the event that caused me to realize that the guy I was engaged to at the time definitely wasn't the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. This haircut had a purpose. I cut my hair as a show of support for a family member who was having a tough time medically. Knowing the reason why I cut my hair, he told me that I was hideous. I learned that, with him, looks mattered over everything  else...and this was after we'd been together for a good while and I thought maybe he loved me for who I was...I mean, hair grows back, duh. Turns out, damaged relationships don't fix nearly as easily as hair growing back. I'm sorry, but if you are malicious enough to tell the woman that you 'love' that she's hideous and 'it's not like you were a trophy girl to begin with,' you're asking for a break up with a complimentary slap in the face. Just saying.]

Rambling asides aside...I'm not absolutely sure that I want to go quite that short again. But my hair is still above my shoulders, so there's not much else I could do if I went the haircut route.

Lastly, I might get another ear piercing.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is my ear from earlier this year. Since that picture was taken, I've taken out the two upper cartilage piercings. [One by accident, one out of stupidity]

I love ear piercings. They're relatively inexpensive, they're not very painful, and, well, I like the way they look. However, there's always the risk of something not healing properly and all the nastiness that would entail...and the uber-conservative populace [my lovely parents included] frown upon having more than an ear piercing or two.

If I were to get another piercing, it would probably be similar to the picture to the left. [Cartilage, not lobe]

I think it's cute...

Anyway...it appears that I'm nowhere near deciding what I want to do. [not that that's a new thing for me...] So, what do you think?

Steamrolled...

Depression and I are long-time acquaintances...

Sometimes, I am able to do a good job of keeping it at bay. Others, it just steamrolls in and makes a mess of things.

Today is the latter.

Good Luck Chick...

I've decided that I'm the female version of 'Good Luck Chuck.'

Story of my life...sort of...

Any of you remember that movie?

It was a rom-com of sorts that came out back in 2007. The gist of the movie is that Chuck, played by Dane Cook, is good luck...more specifically, Chuck is good luck to whomever he dates. Turns out, Chuck is a bit of a ladies man and he goes through romantic conquests much faster than any 'gentleman' should. The slight twist? After Chuck dumps a girl, the next man she meets will be the love of her life. [Eh, there's a bit more...or less...to it though...IMDb reminded me that Chuck doesn't even have to date the girl, he just has to sleep with them. Classy, Chuck...classy.]

Anyway...

Yep, I'm a bit like this Chuck character. Well...aside from all the haphazard sleeping around, that is.

While sitting with my thoughts, as I tend to do far too often, I realized that the same sort of trend can be seen in my dating life...

If I date a guy, either a full-on 'Facebook official' relationship or lots of causal 'hang out' dates, shortly afterwards they get married! [In some cases, it was that they met the girl they'd get married to but the wedding wasn't until a year or two later...] What crazy, rotten luck, eh?

Though, I will say that I'm ecstatic to not be with a large portion of these men. [I feel like 'man child' would be a more accurate description for some of them...] As with most relationships that don't make the distance, there were insurmountable issues that lead to some of these relationships ending...and, all things considered, I don't regret making the decision to end these destructive relationships. But, I must admit, that there were a few relationships that soured due to my actions at the time...and it's those relationships that I sometimes find myself wishing that I'd handled differently. [Note: not all of the relationships I'm talking about were 'boyfriends'...some of them were friends are, unfortunately, no longer a part of my life...when it comes to 'relationships,' I think it's fair to consider friendships...a friend ship is still a relationship between two people, after all...]

Yep. A little bit strange, isn't it?

/sigh

I wonder if there's some sort of way to short-circuit the system...maybe become friends with myself?
/chuckle The last thing I need is to start talking to myself in public...it'll just give people one more reason to think I'm an odd duck...

Ideas? Tips?

Well played, Mortal Kombat Pizza,
well played....

Any guys looking to take advantage of my terrible luck? Look for me in Birmingham, shouldn't be hard to find me...I frequent the same half-a-dozen places regularly...I like movies, video games, and pizza. Provide any two of the three, and I'll consider making you a friend. But do be upfront about your intentions, okay?

Angry Appendixes and Holiday Shopping Woes...

Hey guys!

Hope that you've been having a good week so far...mine's been on the crazy side...

On Tuesday, my sister developed appendicitis...luckily, we were able to get her to an ER before appendix rupture became a possibility. She had appendicitis before, about 7 years ago...so the surgeon opted to go ahead and perform an appendectomy. [It's a little bit baffling that the doctors left it alone the first time...] Fortunately, she was a good candidate for a laproscopic procedure rather than the traditional appendectomy...she was out of the hospital and on her way home, post-op, in less than 24 hours!

University of Maryland Medical Center - Laproscopic Appendectomy [A little blurb on the procedure]

I'm definitely glad that she's doing well...hopefully, the rest of her recovery will continue to go smoothly...

Rogue vestigial organs aside, it's been a bit of a stressful week...

As I'm sure most people are, I'm definitely beginning to feel the financial crunch that comes with the holiday season. I love giving gifts to friends and family, but it's undeniably expensive! And does anyone else have that one person [or handful of people, in my case] that just seem impossible to shop for? It's frustrating!

I keep scouring my regular shopping websites [ThinkGeek, Amazon, and, most recently, Vat19] hoping that something will just 'click' as the perfect gift for so-and-so and that said gift is on uber-sale...no luck on either, as of yet...

Anybody out there that's excellent at picking out gifts? I could certainly use some tips!

And, just in case anybody was curious, 'appendixes' is apparently the proper word for referring to more than one appendix. The organ, not the additional texts at the end of a book.

Alone For The Holidays, But Far From Lonely...

So, it seems I've achieved a minor accomplishment...

Yay! Tree!

I managed to get my Christmas tree up! 

The last couple of years, I didn't end up getting our tree up until a week or so before Christmas...so, it's quite a relief to have it already taken care of.

I decided to go for a red and aqua/teal color scheme this year...I saw a few things on Pinterest using this color combination, and I ended up really liking it! From this particular angle, it looks like there aren't many blue ornaments, but I promise that they're there...I started off with blue, added red, and apparently went red-overboard...it would probably help if I used a camera other than the one attached to my phone...

In addition to the red and blue tree, I set up a small tree in my kiddo's room. He loves it...it's a blue tree, with blue ornaments, and a blue star...he's a big fan of blue...

Another accomplishment of sorts...[maybe it isn't quite right to label it an accomplishment]...

This is going to be my first holiday season without a significant other in about a decade. /ponders Yep...a decade is actually pretty darn close.

You know...I really thought that I would be more bothered by being single on the holidays than I am. Just the thought of it seems daunting. What with the season being pumped full of commercialism and marketing as it is, it's nearly impossible to turn on the television right now without being bombarded with commercials featuring ridiculously photogenic couples doing ridiculously adorable things while the ridiculously handsome man pulls out a ridiculously beautiful piece of ridiculously gorgeous jewelry, to which the ridiculously beautiful woman appears to be ridiculously surprised...then the commercial ends with a ridiculously perfect embrace and then the ridiculously inflated promotional prices. [Sensing a trend here? Maybe?]

But, it really hasn't been that bad. Not bad at all.

I'm finding that there's a lot less stress to be had being single during the holidays.

I don't have to struggle to figure out how to plan multiple family events. I don't have to figure out what on Earth to buy his mother, grandmother, and convict siblings [yeah...that actually applies to one ex in particular...]. I don't have to argue about 'who's family traditions are more important.' [Same ex as mentioned previously] It's just so much easier!

Not trying to say that I'd be absolutely opposed to having a 'better half' during the holidays...there are some things that I'll admit that I miss. But none of those things are worth having to endure a terrible relationship!

Maybe it's that I'm reaching that point of being 'okay' with not dating...I really wish that it had been something that I'd realized years ago, but I guess it's one of those 'better late than never' sort of life lesson.

You tell it, Taylor!

Having my kiddo around definitely helps in this case. I have to be rather selective about who and how I date...whomever I choose to have in my life will also be in my son's life. And that's no matter to take lightly! I now realize that in my dating past, I wasn't as selective as maybe I should have been. I made allowances for behaviors that I shouldn't have and I didn't put my foot down when I needed to...but...I've learned from those mistakes. I've got no choice but to learn from them!

So, I'm just not going to date for a while [not that this is a new development...I've been out of the dating scene for a good while now...]. I've got no plans on pursuing dating until I feel ready for it, and I don't feel embarrassed or unsure about my decision at all! Man, it feels great to not have second thoughts about something for a change!

I'm not the biggest Taylor Swift fan [though that's been changing here lately, as well...she just seems far more classy than the majority of female artists today...], but BuzzFeed ran a list of some of her quotes from this year. There were a few that I really liked and agreed with, but this one is, I feel, very relevant. She's a good four years, or so, younger than me, but she's absolutely right!

Who says that it's only the old who are wise? [Not me...nope!]