When The Iron's Hot...

Sometimes when inspiration strikes, you have to do something about it. Saturday night I had a dream that I drew a picture of Heath Ledger [that was random, I know], and it really couldn't become any clearer for me that I needed to do just that. What better way to honor someone in their death than to depict them in art?
I went on a mad hunt for any type of magazine that might have several pictures of Heath in them. Maybe I was a bit premature since it hasn't even been a week since he died because I only found an Entertainment Weekly that contained one, full-page picture, plus the cover shot. It just wasn't worth my time and money.

I came home extremely disappointed because I really wanted to act on this. My inspiration in the realm of art strikes once in a blue moon, and I wanted to take advantage of it. My husband suggested looking on the internet even though we need more ink for the printer. I wasn't too thrilled about the idea, but I did it anyway.
Searching on Google was practically a waste of time, so I decided to try Flickr, and luckily, they had tons of great pictures to draw. I saved three to a disc and busted out my husband's laptop and went at it. I decided to take progress shots, so you can all see how it plays out. You can view these on my Flickr account. I'll try to get a little more done each day so you have something new to look at each night (well, newer).

I Have To Know

How about this snow...again? I was late for work for the first time in my life, and it wasn't even by a few minutes: It was ten. It might not seem like a lot to some of you, but for someone who absolutely hates being late for work, it was a big deal to me. Traffic was moving slow, the roads were slippery, and just when I thought I was taking a shortcut at 28th and Peach, everyone and their brother was trying to do the same. I would have been better off staying on Peach. I guess it was a bad judgment this morning.
At least I didn't have to feel too badly about being late since a lot of my coworkers were too. I was the first in my department (aside from my boss) to arrive. I guess I need to allow myself more than a half hour next time even though it normally takes me 15 minutes to get to work. I hate Erie.

Anyway, let's get to the task at hand: All around town there are intersections with lights that don't seemingly need them to begin with, but they're there. Only on occasion do you actually have to sit at said intersection for a few seconds while the other traffic has the green (i.e. prime spots of Water Street by GE, south of Main; and the new light on West Grandview and Schaper [I believe]). I've always wondered why the only time it seems to be red for the busier roads is when there's someone waiting for their light to turn green. I argue that there must be some type of sensor system set up at some lights to detect a car when it pulls up so the light can be changed. My husband says absolutely not.

Therefore, I'm looking for someone knowledgeable in this area who would know the true answer to this question. It comes up in conversation every so often, and neither one of us can determine who is correct. Not to get all Dear-Abby/Ask-Laskas on you guys, but I think both of us would like to know for peace of mind. So who is the crazier one? Ok, don't answer that last question.

Whoa!

I'm usually not that blown out of the water by celebrity deaths, but I can't believe they found Heath Ledger dead two hours ago. Makes me feel so sorry for his two-year-old daughter who will never really get to know him.
I'm just floored. First, Brad Renfro died last week at the age of 25 (leaving a child behind, as well); now Heath at 28. What's with young Hollywood dropping like flies the past week? Makes me wonder if Britney Spears really is next in line...

You Need A Better Plug

Last week, while flipping through channels on the television, I noticed an infomercial for J.D. Byrider. I don't put much stock in their company because I haven't heard anything but bad about them (i.e. their cars suck; their interest is high). I have to say if they're going to have actual customers--which I'm not sure if these were--rather than actors, they need to make sure they script what they say a little better than this. Here's what one woman said (I can't quote exactly because I don't recall everything word-for-word, but this is the gist of it):

I got a call from J.D. Byrider saying that they didn't have the car I wanted in, but they would be able to order it. Finally, I got a call from them saying they had the car I wanted, so I went over, and it was exactly what I was looking for. It was the exact color I wanted too, so I got it. Two weeks later, I had to take it in to be serviced, and I was able to pick it up the same day. I'm really pleased with the sales and service at J.D. Byrider.

Wait a minute: You had to take your car in to be serviced two weeks after purchasing it? After having said that, you're pleased with the sales and service of that company? I think if I had to take my car in two weeks after I got it, I'd be cursing the place I got it from; not praising it. If you think I'm going to purchase a car from you based on that, you're sorely mistaken.
Well, it just goes to show that you certainly get what you pay for...

*If you do nothing else today, make sure you at least read through the comments on this post. It will create a whole plethora of confusion around the globe.

Mr./Mrs. Rich

I can't stand many BMW/Audi/Mercedes-Benz owners. Not only do they think they're invincible, they think they own the entire road, and they're above petty laws such as the school zone speed.
I had one speed around me because I was going a "ridiculous" 18 mph in said school zone. I'd say if you're able to pass my car in a millisecond when I'm already going 3-5 miles above the limit, you're going way too fast.
It would just make my day if I witnessed the police pull over one of these guys and throw their entire schedule off by taking up as much time as possible to issue them a ticket. I think that'd really boil their bottoms...and it'd give me a reason to smile and hurl insults. Own3d!!

Public Etiquette Lesson #1

Don't watch porn on your laptop in a restaurant. No one wants to listen to that. I don't ever want to see Panera Bread turn into a whorehouse. Baguettes could have a whole new connotation.

I just realized that I'm probably going to get a thousand hits today because I have the word,"porn", in my blog (now twice). These people will be sorely disappointed.

Erie Bloggers Meetup...And Other News

This month's meeting will be tomorrow, January 8th at 7:00pm at Patrick's Restaurant in Harborcreek. I've been informed by Mr. Mahler that Lake Erie Lifestyle will be there to take a picture of all of us. I hope the turnout is good because this is the best publicity since the Erie Times wrote a story about us last year.
We're all nice and don't bite, so stop by and socialize with us.

Moving on...I'm about fed up with all the stupidity and ignorance of other people the past couple days because it's taking a toll on my car. Yes, pick the most expensive thing I own and try to damage it. I really appreciate that.
My husband and I were at Wegman's the other night, and as I was getting my things together before I got out of the car, the guy next to me flung his door open, and it smacked into my car and bounced a few times. I looked at him, and he didn't express any remorse or apologize for what he did. There's no way you couldn't realize you'd done it. It made a loud enough noise and shook my car. So I told my husband, and he ran after him and asked him what the deal was. Apparently, he was a total nutcase because he looked past my husband and was mumbling something. It was as if he weren't even there. Why do I park next to the idiots? I may as well have parked next to Britney Spears.

Then when I came home for lunch today, I noticed (or rather my husband did first) that my car had been egged in the back. I wasn't sure if it had happened last night or while I was in the parking garage at work, but I'd surmised that it probably happened at home. Either way, I was really upset. I love that car, and it's just getting banged up left and right. Can't I get a break?

Because It's Absolutely Necessary...

...to blog this (thanks, Eden).

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Well, the thing is, sir, I thought your son was a lady...

Disclaimer

Someone should have informed me when I got Guitar Hero that it comes with a free, lifetime supply of carpal tunnel. It must be in the fine print.

New Year...New Blog?

It's a new year already, so with that usually comes change. People make resolutions and often-times fail because they were either too unrealistic or just didn't put forth an effort after February. I don't personally make resolutions but rather like to do things on my own time, which is partly why this blog has basically gone nowhere the past few months. I'm trying to now figure out what exactly I need to work on.

After sitting through a meeting at work today regarding the changes in our company as a whole, it dawned on me that I need to do the same. They changed our site and spent lots of time getting it to where it's at, and the work definitely shows. I've had this particular blog up for half a year [I know the math isn't going to add up to some of you, but I transfered some old archives onto this one, which will explain why it's technically a year old.], and I haven't done a thing with it in regards to appearance. I've added widgets, but that's about it. I'd like to get my own personal layout like I used to have on my old site. Some liked it; some complained, but at least it fit me.
When our company was discussing the process of changing our logo and turning it into something that represents what we do, it made me brainstorm my own ideas for this blog. If I made a banner, what would be on it? What would it look like to best represent the content I blog about? That's not an easy question to answer because I've blogged about all different subjects. My true medium was complaining about customers, but now that I'm no longer in the retail business, that doesn't apply.

This leads me to my next question: What should I blog more about? What do you guys--as readers--like the most? What kept you coming back to my site in the first place? I guess these have all been questions in the back of my mind ever since I've been in this dry spell. I noticed that as long as I wrote a complaint well enough, I got comments--and sometimes a lot of them. Writing about learning Russian or cooking my first Thanksgiving dinner produced no interest whatsoever. That would lead me to believe you have more fun reading about my crappy day than a good day, but I don't know. You tell me.

What do you guys want to see out of this blog? A new layout will definitely be in the works, but some idea-pitching would be helpful. Oh, and I think a new vlog will be out in the near future since I haven't done one of those in several months. Those seemed to draw interest (and still do a little on YouTube).

Update: I just came up with a quick header which I don't even know if I'll keep or not, but I felt inspired at the moment. I've got more changes in the horizon, but for tonight I'm closing the book since I need to go into work for a little bit tomorrow. Let me know what you think.