Picking My Brain

As I mentioned in my last entry, on Friday the 28th Liesle and her boyfriend Chris came to the apartment for dinner. Around 9-ish Liesle and I started getting bored, so we decided to go out. We dragged Ben and Chris along with us to go bar hopping on South St. in Philly. We didn’t drink that much, but had a lot of fun just watching the other people.

This is the east end of South Street, over I-95. This was actually as we were going back to the parking lot, around 1 a.m. That guy on the right was drunk or high or both and was asking where Wendy’s was. We all ignored him. That’s Ben in the middle looking back.

This is on the 95 walkway overpass. So if you’re ever on 95 by Philly and you see these big guys above you - you’ve just passed South Street!

This is Chris. This picture was taken inside Fat Tuesday. It’s a pretty cool bar with an entire wall of frozen drinks. We’ll have to go one night and try them all! I tried the strawberry and long island iced tea - so far I recommend the strawberry.

And here is Liesle. You’ll hear a lot about her - she’s my best friend. She was getting tired at this point, and she a Chris weren’t getting along at the moment, so that’s why she looks so blah. We teased her about looking thrilled to be there.

As we were walking back to the car, we noticed a ton of police. They had a guy under arrest standing on the side of the street. As we walked a little further, we realized that they were blocking traffic so they could search the guys car. Don’t know what they were looking for - or if they found it - but it was pretty funny to see this guy standing on the side of South Street, hands behind his back, as the cops went through his car.

South Street is full of stores, most of which close earlier in the evening. So Liesle and I were windowing shopping on the walk back. We passed a shoe store that had anything you could imagine, as well as a purse store that had a purse to coordinate with anything. Eventually, Chris and Ben starting complaining about how far we were lagging behing. I told them that we were only window shopping, and our boobs gave us permission to do that. Liesle agreed, then proceeded to walk down South Street boobs in hand. I wish I had gotten a picture of that - but I was too busy laughing.

So that was my night out on South Street. Nothing really exciting, but in my boring life it’s excitement enough.

On Thursday we went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and discovered Salvadore Dali. I wanted to see the exhibit maily because of the commercials I’d seen on TV. It was just one of those cultural “must do” things. I like to think that I’m an intelligent, cultural person. Art really does interest me Come to find out, I really like Dali. It’s amazing to see his works. This is one of my favorites:

Figure at a Window (The Artist’s Sister)

The detail on this painting is amazing. Any reproduction of it can’t do it justice. It’s like looking at a photograph, but better. I really can’t put into words how amazing this painting is.

This is another of his works that I found facinating.

Enigma Without End

This painting is facinating because there is at least six hidden images included in the one paiting. Some are obvious (the big face - Dali called it “The Moron”) while others I’ve yet to see (can you find the horse?). Ben and I were trying to remember how many hidden images the audio tour said there were, but we keep seeing our own images as well.

These next two pictures are of Ben standing behing one of the modern art sculptures. The sculpture was many brightly colcored, free-standing mountains. They were placed in the middle of the room so you could walk around them. Something about them struck me - and they made a pretty funny photo op.

This is a photo of the museum. Yes, those are the steps Rocky ran up in the movie. It’s pretty neat how they put Dali on them.

This is a photo of Philadelphia from the top of the museum steps. If you look on the left side of the photo - at the end of the street (The Ben Franklin Parkway) is the building with the statue of William Penn on top of it. It used to be city ordinance that no building in Philly could be taller than his hat - which meant that you could always see it coming into the city. However, they finally ran out of room and the ordinance had to be lifted. Towards the middle of the photo (partially hidden by another building) you can see one of the buildings that is famous to the Philly skyline.

Well, that’s all for this field trip. In my next entry, I’ll post pictures from my Friday night on South Street! My best friend Liesle and her boyfriend Chris came up to visit, so the four of us (Ben included) went out bar hopping.

So I always thought I was weird when I would tear up at those sappy Hallmark commercials. But I saw one today that not only made me cry, I got goosebumps.

The commercial is about a father coping with his daughter growing up and getting married. The lyrics “did you ever know you’re my hero” from”Wind Beneath My Wings” plays in the backgroud. I got all teary-eyed because it made me think - will my dad be like that when I start making wedding plans?

See, the news that I was engaged went over with my parents like a lead balloon. It’s not that they don’t approve or that they don’t like my fiancee’. They were mad because I haven’t graduated college yet, and it was their plan for me to graduate college first, then do the engagement and marriage thing.

The college graduation is a sore subject. I was supposed to do it in four consecutive years immediately after high school. Which I did three and a half of. Then I just burnt out. For about three semesters after that I signed up for classes to finish my degree, but I just fizzled out after a few weeks. My parents feel that their emotional and monetary investments in my college and career have been wasted, and that all I’m doing is wasting my time.

So when I went home to announce my engagement, I expected smiles, congratulations, and the typical mother-daughter wedding stuff. Instead I basically got a “that’s nice” from my mother and nothing from my father. I was so angry and sad. I bawled practically all the way home to Philly from South Jersey. I just didn’t understand why they would treat me like that, especially after their engagement experience. When they got engaged and went to announce it to my dad’s mother, her response was “what are you, nuts?”

I talked to my dad a few days later and asked him what was going on and told him how upset I was about it. He apologised and admitted that later he realized how they had acted and that it was wrong. He explained that the reason for their coldness and non-enthuisiam was that I was doing things out of order. I needed to graduate college first. I asked him why they couldn’t have asked me all their questions that night. Apparently it was because my grandmother was there, and we don’t discuss actual matters in front of her (she tends to have a big mouth and doesn’t realize that the entire world doesn’t need to know our business).

So my dad apologised and I talked to him about my plans to graduate college before the wedding. I assumed that he would talk to my mother and tell her about our discusstion and get her to apologize too.

Well, that all happened in February, and now it’s practically June and my mother hasn’t mentioned a thing about it. We haven’t even announced the engagement to the rest of the family. Nothing has been done towards a wedding other than the few brainstorming sessions I’ve done by myself.

Ben’s mother and sister are happy fo rme and are trying to be extra excitied and attentive, and I appreciate that a lot. It just hurts that I see the way a family should be preparing for a wedding - and how my family completly shot me down.

I haven’t said anything to my mother about all of this - I feel that the ball is in her court. The next time I get a chance, I think I’m going to talk to my dad again to see if she has said anything and tell him how I’m feeling. I’m really hurt that my own mother is refusing to be a part of my wedding because she doesn’t think I did things in the right “order” and won’t even bring it up.

If she doesn’t get the stick out of her ass soon, I feel like I’m going to be forced to tell her to either get the stick out and be a part of this, or she can receive an invitation in the mail just like everyone else and not be a part of the planning. I’m the sterotypical girlie-girl and have been looking foward to my wedding since I was young. I feel like my mother’s stubborness and closed-mindedness is ruining my wedding.

Well, now that I’ve thoroughly depressed myself, I’m off to bed. Ben managed to get tickets to the Philadelphia Museum of Art tomorrow to see the Salvador Dali exhibit (the only showing of it in the US!) We’re going to make a day of it - see the rest of the museum and dinner in the city. Can’t wait!

Goodnight!

Ok, so I am still alive. Ever since I got a job, I’ve been busy! Since I’m management, I have to go above and beyond walking in, working for eight hours and walking out. This week alone I worked 8 1/2 days worth in 7. Just keeping thinking about the paycheck!

Saw a couple of things during my blogging absence that I would like to comment on.

First of all, Spain passed a law legalizing gay marriage. Good for them! In the same news broadcast, however, I also learned that Texas passed a law banning gay marriage. I’m just trying to figure out when America started going backwards. I can’t wait until the reign of Bush is over and we can get a foward-thinking person in. Time for a woman president, perhaps?

I just think it’s time for America’s citizens to take responsibility for themselves and stay out of their neighbor’s business. I don’t want my neighbors dictating what I can and can’t watch on TV because their child may be exposed to it while they are not supervising him/her. I’m tired of my options being limited because parents won’t be parents.

I think that’s all for now. There was something else I was going to comment on, but it’s gone. I’ll be back later!

Just wanted to write a quick note to anyone who may be reading my blog. You may have noticed that I’ve deleted some of my posts. These posts were a little more personal, and contained information that I reailzed that I didn’t really want my friends/family to know. I also realized that my fiancee also reads my blog, and I had some things on there that I really didn’t want him to know about.

It’s weird isn’t it - I had no problem in complete strangers knowing some of my most personal thoughts, but when I found out my fiancee and brother had seen them, I got embarassed and didn’t want them to know about them. It’s not that I’m hiding anything, it’s just some personal musings and ideas that I’d rather people who know me didn’t know.

So anyways…..

Ben took me out to dinner on Monday night for Valentine’s Day, and he proposed in the middle of dinner! It’s a gorgeous ring; silver and yellow gold with a 1 carat diamond! I’m still in the process of telling my family, so no formal announcements yet. But I’m so excited! I’ve already been scouring the big thick bridal magazines for ideas!

We don’t have a date set yet, but I’m thinking early 2007. We starting going out in February, and we got engaged in February, so I might just keep with that date. We’ll have to see!

I love the Daily Show With Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. Every once in a while, like today, I’m just going to post some quotes that I found particularly amusing or relevant.

Jon on the recent Huygen’s Probe landing:

“What’s with the aways space missions looking for the water in space? Is there something going on with the water supply here on Earth that we should know about? ‘Cause say the word, I’ll start hoarding!”

Jon and Steven Colbert discussing the government’s realization that WMD’s were never going to found in Iraq:

JS: “But thewhole case for the war was built on this threat of WMD’s, no matter what they’re saying now. It was clear at the time. Is there no price to be paid?”

SC: “Jon, it is time to call off the search for accountability. It’s not there, it’s never going to here there. If you have to blame somebody, why aren’t you blaming Saddam Hussein? He’s the one who didn’t have the weapons.”

Can I say “I told you so” to everyone who argued with me that going into Iraq was a good idea?

Yesterday I became painfully aware that my new kitty has gone into heat. Not remembering how long a cat will stay in heat, I found myself on a message board discussing this exact dilemma. I was quite amazed at how many people had taken on the responsibility of adopting a cat without knowing a thing about them. Here is the post that I left there, and I now post it here in the hopes that it will get the information out to the people who need to know it.

Here are some things you all should know:

1. Cats will be constantly in and out of heat for their entire lives unless they are fixed. Female cats are compulisve ovluators, meaning that they have no actual cycle. Whenever there is a male cat around, an unfixed, unpregnant female will go into heat. Also, if you have more than one unfixed female, and I beleive I’ve even heard of fixed females doing this when living with other females in heat, cats will go into symapthy heat, meaning they will force themselves into heat as well in sympathy for the other cat.

2. The only humane way to deal with a cat in heat is to have it fixed. Ideally, a trusted vet is the best option. Realistically, that may not be finanially viable. Most licensced animal shelters offer fixing at reduced, or I’ve heard no, cost. Please be sure that you have taken your cat to the vet first to make sure there is no preexisting problem. For example, I had a male cat whose gentalia was not proberly formed. He almost had to have surgery to basically make him a female cat. We spent the extra money to have him fixed by the vet, saving his life. We have had many, many cats fixed by our local SPCA, and every one has been fine. Just please make sure you cat is fully vaccinated before visiting the shelter.

Also, a note on taking the cat outside on a leash: This will teach the cat that it is okay to go outside, and it may begin to storm the door. My grandmother tried this with a declawed cat she has and now had trouble keeping the cat from sneaking out the door when she comes in or out.

And a note on declawing: declawing a cat is the same as amputating the top third of each of your fingers. Even done properly, the procedure of declawing a cat can do serious nerve damage, leaving the cat in pain for the rest of it’s life. Please take the time to work with training your cat what is okay to scratch and what is not. If you have a vicious cat, please take it to a shelter for rehabilitation and readoption. Cats attitudes can also change significantly after having the declawing procedure. Long story short, this is cruel and torture for the cat. Please don’t do it!

Please be a kind and responsible pet owner. Studies are only now beginning to show that all animals have feelings like humans. Your pets are entrusting you with their lives, please treat them respectfully and lovingly.

If you need any more information regarding the proper care of cats, please feel free to email me at ewray@hotmail.com. I have had over 30 cats already in my life, and I have learned volumes from the vet and research.

Good morning!

Was watching American Morning on CNN again this morning. I was watching the segment about the tsunami disaster in southeast Asia. My heart goes out to all those affected and I hope that relief comes soon.

However, to end the segement, CNN asked the truly hard and important question: could it happen in the US?! My answer to their teaser was “well, duh!” I mean, we have thousands of miles of coastline on the east and west coasts of the country. Of course we could have tsunamis here.

The report said that there have been tsunamis in the US, like we should have been surprised and shocked. I was just left wondering, when in Americans become so self-centered with such a short attention span. It seems that if a news item doesn’t have a “how does this affect me” aspect, nobody cares. I wonder if this self-centeredness of the US will ever be reversed

While watching American Morning on CNN this morning, there was a segment about the ‘debate’ over people saying Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays. The argument against Merry Christmas was that people are finding it offensive and discriminatory.

I am christian and celebrate Christmas. I have a tree with presents under it, and spend way too much on buying those presents. I also beleive that the true reason for celebrating Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

However, I understand that not everyone celebrates Christmas. I wouldn’t be offended if someone wished me a happy Hanukah or Kwanzaa. In return, I would wish them the same, even though I don’t celebrate those holidays. It’s about respect for other people, not about other people offending you.

Today’s culture has become way too self-centered. People don’t care about other people, they only care about what other people do to them. Instead of respecting the beliefs and traditions of others, people are only concerned with everyone else respecting them. Respect is a two way street, and to deserve it you have to give it.

I beleive that Happy Holidays is an acceptable answer for those who feel uncomfortable with specifying a particular holiday; but I think it’s too generic and non-personal. So if someone were to wish me a Happy Hanukah, I would wish them the same in return, even though I don’t celebrate Hanukah. I truly wish that they have a wonderful holiday, even though we celebrate it differently. I respect that they have different beliefs from me, and that those beliefs make them as happy as my beliefs make me.