Spastic Nation

I think I am going to write a book and title it, Spastic Nation. From spastic colons to spastic muscles and especially spastic people--everyone needs to just chill out, okay?

Easter was especially nice this year. To me, Easter Sunday is one of the most peaceful days of the year. Everything has a certain calm about it. Doug and I drove out to his brother's place in Columbia, MO. Doug's sister-in-law prepared a fabulous dinner, complete with a chocolate fountain. I ate more food Sunday than the whole country of Ethiopia eats in a year. I felt like the disgusting, glutinous, American, but it was all good. We even saw three deer in the backyard and had to keep Monty the wonderdog distracted so he would not chase after them.

I ate a lot this past weekend altogether. On Saturday, Doug and I went to King and I Thai restaurant. I was feeling adventurous and decided to order something new. I ordered a dish called chicken Pan Ped. It is chicken (not fried), green and red peppers, eggplant, and onion mixed with red curry and whatever spices. I could have it mild, spicy, or hot. Being the brave soul and lover of spicy food that I am, I ordered hot. The waiter was like, "Are you sure, ma'am?" I said, "Yes. I am going to give it a go." The dish was too spicy for Doug, but I loved it! The waiter asked how everything was and I told him it was perfect. He said, "You very good!" I ate the whole thing. I thought for sure my anus would be on fire the next day, but it did not hurt my stomach or my anus for that matter.

Today I found a new supplement I want to try. It is called Bovine Colostrum. Bovine Colostrum is the "first milk given to a newborn calf by its mother." I found it because I was looking for ways to treat things like mono and chronic fatigue syndrome. Colostrum is supposed to help normalize the immune system. It is beneficial to people with CFS, lupus, allergies, cancer, AIDS, and to those who just want to have more energy. It sounds a lot like an herbal steroid. I could not find any negative effects, other than it really did not help build lean body mass. I am okay with that. As long as it does not cause heart, liver, or kidney damage or make me grow a penis, I am cool with it.

Had A Great Time

I had a great time recording the jingle. It only took about a half an hour to do. I think it will come out great, at least I hope so. I want to do more! I used to freeze up in recording studios. I am so used to performing live. It used to freak me out to be in a sound-proof fish tank, with just the engineer looking back at me. Not to mention, if you screw up live, you just get over it and move on. If you screw up in the studio, you do it over and over until you get it right. There is just something so beautiful about any live performances, whether it be a band or a play. To me, I feel more inhibited in the recording studio. It is just something that takes getting used to. I was not as inhibited this evening, however. Doing a lot of recording at home has helped me get over wanting to freeze up as soon as the track starts and I have to sing or play my part. At home though, no one is paying for my screw-ups. I have finally come to understand that recording, like a live show, takes mental preparation before hand; It is not enough to just know your part. Plus, the guy who hired me was great. He has a great ear and was very good at giving me direction with regards to how he wanted it to sound.

My cat, Merlin, gave me the cold shoulder this morning. He was up at 5am this morning and thought that everyone else should be up with him. I kicked him out of my room and closed the door so I could get some sleep, because he was being noisy. He was not happy about this. As I was leaving for work and he was getting ready to take his first mid-morning nap, I told him my usual "be a good kitty" and "see you later" and he wouldn't even look at me. Anyway, he greeted me at the door this evening when I get home, so I must be forgiven. I love that cat!

Yesterday Was A Great Day

Today has been pretty good, for that matter. What I tried to write, before blogger.com crashed was that I got an A on my research paper. My topic was on how mixed-income housing benefits cities and how housing projects are bad for cities. Anyway, I ended up with a B in Communications I, an A in Communications II, and an A in Literary Types. Not to mention, I have nine more credit hours to my name. To think I almost whimped out and went to community college instead....

I also landed my first job singing a jingle! I have been dying to do jingle/voice over work forever. A friend of several of my musican friends produces jingles for a living. He saw my band at the Trainwreck. When his jingle called for a female voice, he said I was the first person he thought of. It is for a local radio and tv ad here for Kennelwood Village pet kennels. How funny is that? Hey, you gotta' start somwhere. I will do anything to put it on a resume, except for trade shows. Sheryl Crow started out doing jingles in St. Louis. I get to record it tomorrow, so it should air soon. Fortunately, my voice is coming back more and more every day. The best part is, I get to sing it in a Cyndi Lauper type voice!

'K, bye.

Been A Long Time

Yeah, I have been on what I perceived to be my death-bed the past few days. It is no wonder I have been feeling down the entire month on March. The illness finally manifested itself into a nasty upper-respiratory infection. I still can hardly talk. My boyfriend thinks it's great, though, the can't talk part. I had big plans this weekend, too. Since I paid off my credit card and paid my friggin' income taxes (self-employment can suck), I thought I would treat myself to a trip to that make-up Mecca we women call "Sephora" for some new foundation and other goodies. Sephora's catch-phrase should be, "Sephora. Where Needs and Wants are the Same Thing." Oh, sure I could order online, but where is the fun and challenge in that? It is fun to go to the store and fight your way through career housewives and their out-of-control children in order to get to that Benefit display. I love Sephora, but I have to go in there with a battle plan. Having a current map of the store usually helps. Sometimes I walk out of that store a nastier person. At least I'll look good. Goodness I love make-up! Shoes, I could do without. I could care less about clothes, too. I cannot live without make-up. It is like painting every morning. It is not that I don't like how I look without it. I just enjoy experimenting with colors and looks when I get bored.
By the way, I saw "Napoleon Dynamite" and I loved it! Doug says he didn't care for it, but I know deep down he really did enjoy it. I think one has to watch it three or four times to really appreciate it. Just the fact that they made a pinatta out of Haylie Duff's character, Summer Wheatley is enough to make me want to buy a copy and watch the pinatta scene over and over....The scene where Napoleon does his dance in front of the who school is so beautiful, it makes me want to cry.
I am going back to bed before I pass out.
Laters!

Jeni's Day Off

I took a float day today just in case I needed more time to finish my term paper, but it ended up being more like a sick day. Now, I have to call in sick so I can have a play day.

My band has a Thursday night house gig at Helen Fitzgerald's, which is great, but I never really get to let loose and have a few beers, because I always have to work the next day and I don't want to chance going into work with a hangover, since Friday is a nine-hour day. Not to mention, my band has been working every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for the past three weeks. I have found that alcohol not only interferes with my energy level (well, duh, Jen), but I can tell a difference when I sing after drinking, since alcohol dries out the vocal cords. Anyhoo, I was planning on having more fun than usual and actually have a few beers, since I took today off and could sleep in. Thanks to my stupid head cold, however, those beers never happened and I have felt like crap all day anyway. I also lost my voice during the last set, thanks to my cold, and I have been trying all day to get it back for tonight. I think I'll be okay for a little while tonight, at least I hope I will be. Well, enough of my whining. It just pisses me off. It is hard to pretend you give a shit whether or not people are having a good time when you feel like crap. I also hate trying to yell over booming club music, too. Oh yeah, there was this obnoxious drunk guy, who took it upon himself to just sit on the stage and try to yell out song titles to me. I was in no mood to deal with this douche bag, so I was like, "Hey, if anyone needs a place to sit down, come on up and sit on the stage like this guy!" The asshole continued to try to talk to me. I have in-ear monitors, which are great, especially in these situations, and I was like, "Dude, I can't here a word you're saying." Then I tried to make him a part of the show and sat down next to him and started singing to him. Finally, I stood up and used my foot to nudge him off the edge of the stage. He made an ass of himself. I was complimented on how well I handled him. Do not mess with a woman on the rag with a cold. That's all.

Stupid Cold!

Today is day two of my head cold.

For two to three weeks now, I have felt an illness coming on and here it is, a stupid head cold. I am trying a homeopathic approach to remedy the symptoms--Last night I made myself two hot toddies (tea, lemon, honey, and scotch) and got ten hours of sleep. I am also taking my vitamins, as usual. I feel great during the day, aside from the non-stop runny nose, but at night I feel like crap. Whatever works, right?

There are only two months to go until my New York getaway! I am like a kid waiting for Christmas to come. I would like to see John Lithgow in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, when I am there, in addition to the Eric Idle show. I've probably written this before, but I cannot wait to get a hot dog from a street vendor. Then, I'll get a gyro, then a soft pretzel. Okay, so I have my meal itinerary already. I feel overwhelmed, because there is so much to do there. I have to hit Macy's, first thing, for some clothes. I am so fiending for a Macy's. They have a Lohman's there too! There is also this great discount store I went to last time I was in New York, called Daffey's. I wonder if it is still open? Oooooo I forgot about the pizza...Big Nick's. Maybe I won't gain weight from all of the walking I will be doing. Oh well, if I do, I'll lose it when I get back to MO. Calories don't count when you're on vacation, right? Yeah, right. I told myself that last time I was in California and ended up gaining almost ten pounds!

Earthquake

For the record, I had a dream last night that Missouri will experience an earthquake that will register 5.1 on the Richter scale. In my dream, I remember seeing the measurement and the date of April 17. I certainly hope that we do not have an earthquake, or if we do, it will be just little tremors. I am a little worried about this dream, though, because it is around that time of the month for me and I am very clairvoyant around that time. This is not the first earthquake dream I have had in the past few months. I have just never had specific data, such as a date or measurement. I did not get a time though. Anyway, April 17th is a Sunday, so I will be curious to see if my prediction comes true.

I remember back around 1990 or so, one man had the whole state of Missouri afraid, because he predicted a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault would take place on a specific date. People stayed home from work and school that day they were so afraid. Nothing happened. The only good that actually came out of it was that we Missourians became more aware of how unprepared we actually would be if an earthquake were to happen in Missouri. We soon started having earthquake drills and people stocked up on survival supplies.

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to stock up on some supplies now...

Stanley Kubrik

Last night I watched Stanley Kubrik's film, "Full Metal Jacket." I rented it, because it is a Kubrik film and it stars one of my favorite actors, Vincent D'Onofrio. Plus, the website, www.inthe80s.com slammed it and called it one of the worst movies of the 80's, so I was curious.

I thought Kubrik's direction on this film was outstanding. I am noticing more and more as I watch his films, that he had a very symmetrical style and was big on perspective. He seemed to use every shape, be it the shape of the room or buildings to his advantage, and treated every scene as if it were the most important scene in the film. I have not read the book, but now I want to. I am sure the screenplay followed the book, because the author of the book also worked on the screenplay. The other thing I liked about this film is, unlike some of Kubrik's other films, he did not try to get artsie with this one and use nauseating camera work, you know the fast zoom and stop (he only did that one time and it made sense).

This entry has taken me two days to complete. Goodness!

So, I guess the point I was trying to make two days ago, is that "Full Metal Jacket" is an awesome movie in my opinion and everybody is entitled to my opinion. The End.