techno(logy)

turns out that overnight addiction to ddr is completely possible. as a first-timer, i played for several solid hours last night @ hoss', even changing out one sweat-soaked shirt for a dryer one. all day, i've been calculating the cost of a PS2 (who would ever think i'd consider buying a video game console??), ddr usa, and two ddr dance mats. merry christmas, perhaps? on a more adult note...it would provide incredible aerobic exercise!

attended the obu december graduation this morning, slightly hungover, ironically enough, to watch a few friends graduate.

finally upgraded my cell phone...to this beauty of a video phone.

racked up an astounding amount of secret pal, secret santa, employee appreciation, and office party christmas gifts this year! i never imagined that simply holding a monday-friday, 40-hour a week job could equal so many gifts. and candy...oh the piles of candy in multicolored foil wrappers...

waking up

so it's been a little while since my last post. i think i am no good with regularity! or i am just lazy...hmmm...

i got a christmas tree! my very first tree...well, independent of my family, that is. it's HUGE, live, and smells wonderfully. his name is benjamin douglas...ben after the guy who put it in my car, doug after the douglas fir. and jessica and i are completely infatuated with it.

i am also newly infatuated with both myspace and my new cologne.

flamenco!

for a total of 30 minutes, i also listened to radio en espanol! and, frighteningly enough, i discovered the mexican delilah on the arkansas airwaves!

motormouth medley

ever since i saw my first episode of motormouth, i've had an intense fear of singing, alone, in my car. but tonight, i conquered the fear by listening to 3 solid hours of christmas music. it's amazing how christmas music has the ability to transcend everything...cut through all the crap that may be going on and evoke an almost primal happiness.

tryptophan time

going into thanksgiving this year, i had mixed feelings. i had to work yesterday, today, tomorrow...monday through friday, unforgivingly. my family traveled to birmingham, alabama to have a huge family reunion. for the first time in my 22 years, i did not spend thanksgiving with my family. but in a way, i'm glad that i didn't. for one thing, i was able to go home last weekend, and my mom cooked a ridiculously large traditional thanksgiving meal for me. for another, i was able to spend time with a friend whose parents live in little rock. and lastly, i was able to bypass the discomfort of large family gatherings: too many questions about what i'm doing with my life, what i'm not doing with my love life, where i'm going to church, what possessed me to pierce my nose, etc. when i was younger, i wished on so many holidays that i could have just spent time with my friends. when i'm older, i know that i'll wish i could just spend time with my family. and now, maybe i'm in the transition.

so i almost dialed 9-1-1

tonight (in the cold drizzle, mind you), i almost died. i was nonchalantly making the left turn from markham onto university. i was in the correct lane to turn. i waited until my green arrow. i was the only car turning. so i began to turn, and this camry directly across from me attempted to turn right at the same time i was trying to turn left. THEY were turning right on red. MAGGIE was turning left on a green arrow. i obviously had the right of way. but still, i swerved, and they ended up slamming on their brakes and hopping a curb. next thing i know, i'm stopping at the next stoplight, and the camry squeals into the turning lane beside me and starts honking. i kind of cautiously look over, and i find this irate strung-out woman screaming her guts out at me. she motioned for me to roll my window down, and i automatically made sure my doors were locked. turns out, i could hear her perfectly well through the window. "you $#$%^$ @%$$, you ran me off the @^@%$&ing road! i'm going to get your license plate number!!!" she kept yelling, and i happened to look over at her boyfriend (i assume), and he had his head hung in red-faced shame at her outburst of road rage. so i smiled at him. and that made her explode even more. she jerked the car into reverse and proceeded to write down my license plate number. then they ended up following me for several miles, and i thought they were planning on following me home, so i had 9-1-1 punched in, but then they exited. surely there's really not any sort of legal action they could take, is there? it would be my word against theirs.

on another note, i found a wonderfully chic jacket from michael jackson's '84 world tour at savers tonight. the gal who checked me out had this cool earring made out of a fender guitar pick. i complimented her, and turns out she plays bass for a band called the chicklets. everytime i try to do a web search, though, i end up with 644,416,943 results about gum.

and on one more note, i finally watched napoleon dynamite tonight! it was astoundingly funny, and i already, 2 hours later, want to see it again asap.

i think lever 2000 would taste fresh

lately (in the past 5 months), i've found myself using (or thinking of using, mostly) profanity so much more than i've ever utilized it. i know that my work environment (burned-out staff, troubled kids) has a lot to do with it. but still, it troubles me. i've never had to resort to profanity to express myself. i've always chosen other words, by instinct, even. but now, hell, i swear like a sailor.

supersize my movie gallery bill

i seem to have watched an insane amount of movies during the last week...or, i should say, movies that i hadn't yet seen.

thirteen: an honest look at the quick downward (and slow upward) spiral of an impressionable teenage girl. realistic, brutal, endearing.

before sunset: a believable love story, complete with quirky character traits and illogical arguments. ambiguous, hopeful, it-could-and-might-happen-to-you.

sylvia: a (long, slow) glimpse into the life of sylvia plath, brilliant writer, jealous wife, reluctant mother. depressing, downright boring at times, inspiring.

a home at the end of the world: an unusual look at the chemistry of relationships. beautiful (including soundtrack), redeeming, sad.

supersize me: an informative, entertaining "screw you" to the fast food industry. intellectual, funny, gross.

japanimation

i recently purchased a bright yellow t-shirt from the kids' department in my local savers for fifty cents. it has a large colorful graphic from dragonball z on the front, and i thought my kids would get a kick out of my wearing it. there is one boy who refuses to warm up to or have any type of interaction with staff. yet i've overheard him talking to other kids about dragonball z. i debuted my new garb a few days ago, and this boy literally stopped in the middle of the hall, mouth agape, and pointed at my shirt. it took about 45 minutes, but eventually, he came up to me and said, "miss maggie, you do know that dragonball z is for kids, right?" i laughed, and he and i have talked for increasingly longer periods of time every day since then. granted, sometimes his way of saying hello involves a light punch on the shoulder, but i've decided that a sore upper left arm is a small price to pay.

my ability to speak anime has also improved in the past week. i have never, and probably will never, understood anime. my previous knowledge consisted of the following:

-the characters seem to share similar hairstyles: triangular
-the characters seem to share similar names: hakirujalita moon

but, now, i know that anime is a style of animation developed in japan, characterized by stylized colorful art, futuristic settings, violence, and sex. thank you, dictionary.com.

bed head

my grandmother is writing a memoir of sorts, and she gave me a sneak preview a few weeks ago. i'm the only one privileged enough to view it before she publishes. its contents include photographs, poems, anecdotes, family trees, etc. somehow, despite my mom being the black sheep of the family, my grandmother has heavily favored me over the other grandchildren (perhaps because i'm the only granddaughter?) throughout the years. she has never failed to give me anything i've asked for. in her, i've found unconditional love.

however, she absolutely despises my current hairstyle. "maggie, i know it's what they call 'mod,' but, honestly, my hair looks better than that when i wake up after a rough night's sleep."

romeo lives eternally?

last night, i dreamed that leonardo dicaprio would be joining audio adrenaline on their fall tour, making a stop in little rock. i bought advance tickets for my roommate.

in other news...i have no other news...

peace be with me

my permanent souvenir from colorado

politically correct

newest addition to my car. unfortunately will replace the kerry-edwards sticker.

not so rod

more adventurous

one often has the desire to create something (i.e. a blog) on a sunday afternoon when one's most pressing task is organizing one's cd collection. welcome to wake up maggie.

recommendation: check out rilo kiley