Not quite famous.....

Man, that was wicked.

I had, all told, 14 people come to see me and big brother tonight. The sound guy referred to it as my posse in the back. LOL.

I played six songs tonight and managed to talk to the owner of the bar for a few minutes about farming and horseback riding. It was cool.

I didn't screw up "Burning ring of fire". I announced my best friend's engagement in a bar full of people, and then played her favorite song of mine. I played my one song, 'Girl' and had two people walk out on me. I avoided tears by then bursting into one of my new songs called 'She said'. The the Sound guy asked me to play another, so I did 'House of the Rising Sun'. Then the sound guy came to the mic and said "How about one more from Amanda?" and I got some applause and cheering from the crowd. So I did one of mine called 'Life Goes On" and it was well received.

Big Brother rocked the crowd with 'Fighting the Dragon', 'Baker Street', 'Bad Moon Risin'' and 'Paint it Black'. He also managed to break a string, but fortunately we had two guitars between us. He had the best recovery ever for forgetting the words to a song. If I do that, I either freeze or blunder in some other noticeable way. Big Brother just had the crowd laughing hysterically as he totally admitted that he forgot, he got some laughs, and then took up where he left off. I aspire to be that calm, cool, collected, and genuinely funny and entertaining.

Big Brother is a much better entertainer than I. He can have the crowd in the palm of his hand in minutes, just by being himself. I'm kinda boring in terms of chatting it up with the crowd between numbers.

Big Brother's talents were rewarded with a free beer. Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky, but I had a great time. I love being on stage. I got clapped for, I got hollered for, and there is no better feeling than having people clap for something you really put your heart and soul into.

All in all, a wicked night. I oculdn't be a happier girl right now.

Toonses

Seven hours!!

That's right, I'm going on stage in SEVEN HOURS!!!

I'm so excited. I can't contain my excitement. Everyone is coming except my brother and his whife who are staying on the ranch with my new little niece. I'd love for them to come but the bar doesn't seem like an appropriate place for a three month old, sadly.

I'm just really scared that I'll forget the words to "Ring of Fire". I mean, when I forget the words to songs (You'd be surprised how often it happens. I'll know the lyrics to a song for five playings in a row, and then out of nowhere, the lyrics just leave my head) I can generally recover by playing the last verse over again, and hoping that the audience doesn't notice... but that always sucks.

AND my best friend is coming and I literally haven't seen her in weeks. Plus my parents (I don't go anywhere without mommy and daddy, clearly), my crazy uncle, my cousin and a friend of hers, my aunt, my best friend's boyfriend, Cute Boy, possibly my old boss from the pizza place and friends of his, and whoever else shows up. And Big Brother is playing too (He is actuallymuch better than me. Fortunately, the two of us aren't really competitive. It's a fun thing for both.) And I think and hope some of his friends come too.....

I already called the bar and reserved a table for ten.

You know, they're really gonna love me if every time I show up I bring fifteen of my nearest and dearest friends.

Toonses

And all is right with the world....

That's a line I read in a book once. I have no idea what book. Anne of Green Gables, maybe?

Sometimes that line pops into my head.

Like tonight, Big Brother, Mom and I were playing guitar. We played Keep on Rockin' in the Free World. And while I'm hopeless at learning runs, and my mom is hopeless at learning a new strum, and Big Brother finds it hopeless to try and teach us (Not that I blame him really. It's kinda like banging your head on a brick wall) we all played together and it was just good.

And while we were playing, Copernicus was sleeping sweetly on the kitchen chair, tangled in a patch cord. And the dogs were quiet. We'd had a nice day, shopping and eating out.

I'd been reading a good, mindless novel that Big Brother bought me at Chapters. (Which I still owe him for).

I have a funcitonal laptop and a cool new bag to carry it in.

I had just gotten off the phone with Cute Boy. He had called just to say hi. And calling just to say hi is about the best thing someone can do for me. Calling to say hi actually means Hi. (Plus, it means "I was thinking of you and I wanted to hear you babble about nothing and I was wondering how your day was and I wanted to tell you about mine and that you are on my mind"). And nothing is better than that.

So, I was playing guitar, hopelessly screwing up the run in the song, and probably singing off key, and Copernicus was sleeping and I had talked to Cute Boy and I thought, All is right with the world.

It's a good line.

Toonses.

Home on the range

Life at home is good. I don't think there has been a day yet where I have not consumed copious amounts of beer and eggnog, and fortunately, the two have not yet engaged in some sort of warfare in my stomach. I'm a Dane, what can I say?

On the gift front, everything thus far has gone over well. My mother was happy with a full set of matching wine glasses and some new towels. My dad liked the belt buckle and the trains I got for my nephew seem liked. Big brother got a tape measure from me. Tape measures aren't particularly thrilling for most, but being in construction he has developed a love for a very certain kind of tape measure. (I got the right one, by the way.)

I got Cute Boy a few knick knacks and then his main present was a Cross pen (apparently the leading brand in pens, who knew? I thought pens were basically Bic and NoName.) that has his name engraved on it. It seemed well received as when he opened it he said "How did you know I liked pens?" Normally I would have some witty thing to say but instead I just said "Good guess?" AND I managed to spell his name right which, as I'm sure you're aware, pertinent in giving personalized gifts.

On the Cute Boy front... Teeheehee. It's good.

My next question is... when is a girl like me obligated to tell a boy like him that I've been blogging obsessively about him since we met? I mean, getting to know you stuff is important, but does anybody really think that he's ready to truly know how crazy I am??

Oh well. He's coming down to the ranch for New Year's this year. As soon as he meets my whole family, in full swing drunken-New Year's style, I'm sure he'll understand where it comes from.

The insanity, that is. As far as I know I'm the only member of my family who blogs.

Coming to you LIVE

From my very own LAPTOP COMPUTER!!!

That's right ladies and gents, my parents got me a fully functional laptop for Christmas!!!


I'm so excited!!!

The keyboard will take a little getting used to but beyond that, it works great so far!!

I also got:

A CD player from Big Brother
CK Be perfume from Dad
A USB Key from mom and dad
Books and a CD holder from my Crazy uncle

All in all, a very sucessful evening!!

Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Toonses

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Merry Christmas!!

Being Danish, we celebrate on the 24th.

So, Merry Christmas!!

I made it home sweet home and so far it's been great with plenty of beer drinking, guitar playing, and other fun home stuff.

Finals are done. I think I bombed one, and I'm pretty nervous about that.

House Hunting 2006 begins on the second day of 2006. I can't wait. I'm so, so excited at the prospect of a real place to live. Somewhere with clear water that has an adjustable temperature. Gah.

As far as thong underwear goes, no updates. Sigh. I'm so boring. I'm home for the week and so I'm looking for optimal comfort, meaning bikinis from Hanes. They're really perfect for lounging around with a beer in one hand and a guitar in the other.

I'm playing at open mic night again this Tuesday. Big Brother is going to join me! I'm so excited. I hope I don't flop. I'm learning 'Ring of Fire'... we;ll see how it goes.

Toonses

WOe is me.....

I'm in the computer lab.

Again.

I just tried one computer which crashed as soon as I started checking my hotmail... I'm on computer #2 now, we'll see if this lasts long enough for this blog entry... I'm supposed to be doing a term paper on Suicide but I can't stand the idea of doing more work on these crappy computers just to have it lost, have hte computer shut down, etc. I am very frustrated with my school right now, one more reason for me to want to switch.
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Cute Boy invited me to his work's winter social event. It's a formal thing at some fancy place and I have to find something formal to wear. I suppose this means that I either have to cut off the rest of the orange-tinged hair or dye it, both of which I was trying to avoid....
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My neighbor and I are getting a place together this January. Neither of us can take it any more. Living in that Hellhole is just too much. Between the orange hair, the inoperable shower, the insane other tenants.... It just plain-out sucks to live where I live. We are taking our time to find a place though. We both agree that we want a home.... she insists on hardwood floors and a balcony, I insist that it have coutnerspace in teh kitchen and laundry facilities in the building. We probably spent an hour the other night just fantasizing about having space enough to store ingredients for cookies... so we could just make cookies whenever we want. Or having a couch... a real, live, honest to God couch.

I can't wait. I just hope she doesn't back out on me, but either way, I'm moving somewhere more livable.
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I got an A on my Scientific Realism paper!!! Thank God because without that A I probably would have flunked the class. As it is, I'll pass everythign this semester and I"m thrilled.

Next semester I'm only working two days per week and not at all on weekends. I htink it was workign so much that killed my average this semester. I did a lot less partying this semester than last, and I'm still getting worse marks. The entire month of September I was workign 30 hours, which is just too much with a full course load.

Now, off to write about suicide....

Toonses

Kill me now..... and playdates with cats....

Thursday: Up at six, Sub shack till noon, non-stop studying till eight thirty. Dinner break, back to the books till one.

Friday: Up at six thirty (Compliments of Copernicus, but I guess it's good seeing how exams are on...) Study till one thirty, exam at two. Study from four till eight, dinner with Cute Boy, study till one.

Saturday: Up at six, study till one thirty, exam, dinner party, No going to bed.

Sunday: writing a term paper till eleven thirty a.m, working till five.

This is my life.
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I brought the brown-orange water to my landlady's attention for the second time with a nice, hot cup of brown-orange water first thing in the morning. I told her if she didn't believe that my hair had been diyed by the water, she should look at the brown-orange shower curtain that used to be white.

Her solution to the problem was to bleach the shower back to it's white color and change the shower curtain.

She fails to realize, however, that this does not fix the fact that my water is the color of ... well, whatever the hell you can think of that's a brown-orange shade.

My neighbor and I are getting an appartment together. I cna't live like this any more.
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Copernicus had a playdate last night! My friend, who owns Copernicus's sister, came over to study in Hell because her house was full of boisterous hockey fans. She brought along the kitten so that our cats could chew on each other instead of us.

Now, Copernicus and Smirnoff haven't seen each other since Bigman delivered them to the city what seems like years ago.

I htink they knew that they are sisters. Like, instead of hissing, or jumping on each other right away, they were looking at each other with a confused look on their faces.

Either way it was really cute.
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One more update: The new lotion (The new thirty-seven dollars worth of lotion!) seems to be working on my skin. I haven't had any new breakouts since I've been using this expensive miracle-stuff, but now my skin is as dry as hell..... A trade-off, I suppose. Unfortunately, my skin has been scarred by the acne. I still look red and acne-ridden, but I feel soft and smooth.

I am devastated that I got to be 21, developed acne, and will now lok like this for the next ten + years, if not longer. I've heard that's how long it takes surface scars like these to heal.

At any rate, I'm trying to remain positive and Mal, (Owner of Copernicus's sister) has offered to give me some makeup lessons with concealer and such. So as soon as I learn the tricks of the trade, perhaps I'll look like my old self again.

Toonses

Me, the rock star.....

So I went to open mic night, my first time on stage since moving to the big city.

First, I realized tha ti had no one to walk with me into the bar (It's one of three that are within a single block from my house.) So I started to feel my old self-conscious anxiety/panic and decided to call Cute Boy who had said he would call me at ten after seven when he got home. It was, at that point, ten after eight (Did you know that tardiness makes me want to kill people??) and I called him.

He was doing something, I have no idea what. So I promptly called my cousin and every other person in my phone. (I should point out here that I was not nervous about going on stage. I was nervous about walking into the bar alone. I hate being in public places alone.)

So I went by myself after running to my landlord and a nice lady who lives below me to ask them what they thought of my outfit. I got to the bar, talked to the sound guy, and proceeded to sit and wait. The the fan club began drifting in one by one.

First my parents and my crazy uncle. Then Cute Boy came and met both of my parents which was incredibly awkward for me, but he seemed to do well. Then showed up two friends, three coworkers, a cousin, two more coworkers, and a couple friends of the coworkers. All there to see me!!

So, then it was time to go up. I was second.

Let me tell you about singing, in case you've never done it. Especially singing in public. For me, anyhow, it is a very personal thing to do. It's opening yourself up to get laughed at by a bar chalk full of random strangers. Singing my own songs is like telling complete strangers my deepest, innermost thoughts and ideas. So, it's a little nervwracking to do.

But, I still like to do it.

I started with House of the Risin' Sun. Easy. Did one of my new numbers that has a high (for me) note that I didnt quite make, but nobody outwardly winced. Screwed up Leavin' On A Jet Plane because I was worried about what song to sing for my fourth. I did an extra ending chorus on Jet Plane while I mulled it over.

And then I played the dumbest song in the world as my ending. When we left the bar my mom was like "What the hell was that? You couldn't think of anything better to play?!?!"

The sound guy was great, really personable and helpful. He would come up between songs and just whisper a little tip here or there. The guy who came up after me, while I was leaving (I have finals, I couldn't stay to see the others) said "This song is for Amanda, because there is just something about a girl who can sing and play the guitar..." Then he led into Killing me Softly. On my way out, people were shaking my hand and stuff, saying really nice things to me.

In all, it was pretty sweet. I'm definitely going to do it again. There are two other bars near me that also do open mic so I 'm gonna get a little circuit going.

The whole night definitely made me fell like a rock star.

And there's really no better feeling than that.

Toonses

I can't take it any more.....

I am sitting here near tears.

For fuck's sake who lives like this?!?!?

I just went to the computer lab and spent two incredibly productive hours researching for this stupid class that I really hate and the fucking computer LOST TWO HOURS OF PRODUCTIVE WORK.

I'm moving. I need a computer. I'm getting the internet at my house. And As of February first, 2006 I will not live like this any more. The orange hair, the brown water in my bulding, the scalding/freezing combination of the showers and now the computer bullshit is too much.

Ok.

Now I'm off to re-research. Only now I'm in a terrible mood and I'm working on a computer that doesn't have Microsoft Word on it.

Perfect.

Toonses.

P.S I went on stage last night and it rocked and I had so much fun playing hte rock star but I don't have time to write about it now.

The L-word.....

I got flowers and chocolates today.

Pink roses and Lindor Chocolates.

That's right. The L-word.

LINDOR

The only L-word a modern woman needs to hear to know how wanted she really is.

Life is good.

Men! Harrumph!!

Yep, it's started already. I'm whining about what idiots men are. Mere weeks after we've had the talk, Cute Boy did the typical man thing and totally said, well... he just said something that NO ONE should ever say. It was one of those things that you can't really take back, either.

(In case you're wondering, I'm not telling you what he said. So there.)

Anyhow, I was quite, uhm, disgruntled after he said what he said. Actually, hysterical would be a better word.

So I thought about what my trusty confidantes would say.

Big Man would have said "Dump his sorry ass!"

Jooms would have said "He said WHAT?!?!?!" *picture Jooms Fainting*

My brother would have said "Calm the fuck down. What the hell is it with women over reacting about every fucking little thing?!!? He is a man. He said some meaningless words. Chillax."

So, even though I didn't get any advice from my brother, I knew that is what he would have said.

So I took his non-advice.

(Yes, that's right. I'm the type of person who takes imaginary advice from people I haven't consulted on issues that they aren't aware of. I never claimed to be sane).

It turned out to be good advice because, upon pondering the issue further, I've realized that it doesn't really matter, it's not a topic that affects my daily life.... and he probably didn't mean what I thought me meant anyways.

So, I'm going to chillax. Thanks, Bro.
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I'm going on stage in an open mic night tomorrow.

My first time playing for a city crowd. I'm scared, and thrilled to finally do this. I've wanted to play at this bar since the day I moved to the city.

I wonder if anyone will show up? Everyone is so busy with finals et al.

Sigh.

Now, off to ponder Durkheim's findings about Altruistic suicide. Fun times, fun times.

I forgot to tell you the most important part!!

Cute Boy and I had 'The Talk'.

Oh, and it was hideously awkward. The words were almost out of my mouth... and then there was nothing. And he was like "What?" And I was like "Uuuuuhhhmm, well....."

And it just sort of proceeded from there.

Gah.

But, at the very least, all three of the people who read this can now sleep soundly at night knowing that Cute Boy and I are Officially 'dating'.
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I have given up on Proactiv as a solution for my adult-onset acne problem. My skin seems to be getting worse by the day regardless of what I do. I've been using a lot of those things that are medication-free and I realized... what am I, some sort of naturalist?? Humbug to that.

I bought some 5% Benzoyl Peroxide wash and lotion, we'll see if I start to look any better. In the meantime, I'm still using gallons of makeup every time I leave the house, because that is truthfully how bad I look. Only, the makeup doesn't hide the acne, it just covers up the red. That's how bad it is.
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A Rant About Vets (and other companies).

Once upon a time, I saw a Cavalier advertised for $9,999.00. And I thought Hey! I can afford that! So I went in to look at it and talk about financing.

That's when I realized that the car actually costs closer to fourteen thousand dollars.(Transmission, gas tax, air conditioning tax, freight tax... blah blah blah) And when you're a Sandwich Artist for your living, That is HUGE difference. WHy are they allowed to advertise the car as TEN thousand when, once you go to pay for it, it actually costs FOURTEEN?

Once upon another time (read: yesterday) I called a vet to make an appointment for my cat to get her shots. The lasy on the phone said that it would cost 44$ for the shot. Good.

Cat got her shot, I handed over my Visa, and Taa-daa!! The bill came up to $83.50. It turns out that walking into the office costs another forty bucks.

WHY DON'T PEOPLE ACTUALLY TELL YOU HOW MUCH SHIT COSTS!?!?!?!?

I would have been fine with the stupid $83, if they had actually TOLD me it would be 83. Why are they allowed to LIE like that?!?!?

I'm supremely pissed off and you can bet your ass I'm writing a letter about THIS. I didn't earn the title of 'Letter Writer of the Day' for nothing, dammit.

Toonses.

An open letter to my cat....

Because this is what my life has come down to...

Dear Copernicus,

When I found out I was getting you, a kitten, I was thrilled. I was so ecstatic. It was a time in my life where I felt very alone and I thought that getting a kitten would change that.

It turns out that getting a kitten would serve only to keep me up at night and irritate me when I study.

You were a very sick kitty about three weeks after I got you. The vet said that you had something called Feline Leukemia and that you would die.

I cried and cried because I realized that no matter how much you irritate me when I study, you are still my little kitty.

Then you got better.

That made you vicious and hard to like. For what seemed like a very long time. So I cut off your nails and tried to put up with you.

That made you needy. So, you developed an Obsessive Compulsive disorder that usually only horses get called cribbing. Because I realized you are so much like me, I could empathize. I tried to teach you some coping mechanisms to deal with your anxiety, but you just looked at me and kept right on cribbing.

So I cried and cried because I have made you crazy.

Tonight you meowed at me in your precious kitten little way, and crawled into my lap, and without cribbing you purred and sat with me and cuddled and just acted the way a kitten should act.

I know that as our relationship continues to develop, there will be ebbs and flows, ups and downs... we will dislike each other and love each other, and support each other through tough times. I apologize in advance for, as soon as possible, I plan to have your nails ripped from their sockets in what is likely to be an excruciating surgery.

It is necessary for your survival in an upholstered world.

For tonight, I plan to just love you and cuddle you. Tomorrow I will probably curse at you and throw a textbook or two at you... you're lucky because you have reflexes like a cat and will scamper out of the way.

I love you right now, little Coperni-Kitty.

Love,

Toonses

Underwear talk, anyone?

And my hair is still orange.

Perhaps Christmas shopping today. Hooray! But I have no idea what to buy everyone.

But I AM buying myself a new outfit for tonight. I even went shopping last night as well... and I bought new underwear!!! It was so exciting!! I got three bras and then got five underwear to match them.... And I can't wait to put them on!! They are brightly colored, cute patterns.... With the two bright bras I got a matching thong and a matching bikini, and with the plain black bra I got a matching thong.

None of them have bows, though. SIgh.

Ok, but here's the BEST thing: The store where I buy my underwear has a bra club card. You buy so many bras, you get one free. Well, I now have one FREE bra!!!

Which means, I'm getting one of those sixty dollar aqua bras FOR FREE and I'll have great cleavage to boot.

Life is worth living myfriends. Worth living.

Toonses