The 40/40 Club

A BUCKET LIST...of sorts.                   

1. Have most all of my weight off                                              
2. Become financially stable/independent
3. Earn a stamp on my passport
4. Walk/Run in a marathon
5. Become conversational in a foreign language other than Spanish
6. Have an article/story published
7. Learn to drive a stick shift
8. Wear a 2 piece bathing suit (not necessarily bikini) at the beach
9. Attend a professional sporting event
10. Start a business
11. Learn & understand football
12. Save someone's life (spiritually or otherwise)
13. Move into my own space
14. Send my parents on a vacation
15. Have my artwork hung on somebody's wall
16. Master time management (stop being late)
17. Become a vegetarian for 30 days
18. Pet sit someone's dog for a day
19. Learn to play chess
20. Learn to play the game "Portal" (Xbox)
21. Solve a Rubik's Cube
22. Drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
23. Learn to roller skate
24. Learn to Samba
25. Go rock-climbing (on a rock-wall)
26. Fly a kite. Seriously
27. Teach a class in ??? something. anything
28. Attend an Indian wedding
29. Watch a sunrise
30. Watch a sunset
31. Be on television. Again
32. Go to Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC           
33. Write, direct and star in my own Bollywood movie
34. Have a man proclaim his love for me and mean it
35. Proclaim my love for a man and mean it
36. Learn CPR
37. Learn to trust people more
38. Master navigational skills using a map and not GPS
39. Learn to sing "Nessun Dorma" in Italian
40. Start a blog

These are not things that I wish to do before I "kick the bucket" - these are goals I'm going to accomplish by this time next year.  Perhaps you have more exciting, life-altering items on your list, but this is my list.  And for someone who double-majored in procrastination, I'm relieved to have crossed at least one thing off thus far.  1 down, 39 to go!

Weight-loss Challenge Day 1...and when good knockoffs go bad! (review/rant)

Started off Day 1 of the weight-loss challenge with a delicious breakfast.  NOT!

 

I do not like this cereal.  Let me say that again. I.DO.NOT.LIKE.THIS.CEREAL.  For those of you not familiar with it, this is Walmart's version of the Special K w/ strawberries cereal.  And a cheap knockoff at that!  The thing about a knockoff is this: It needs to be almost identical to the original for it to be passable.  For example that purse you purchased on Canal St. in Chinatown.  Look at the stitching, hardware, shape, size, etc. before you fork over your money to that street vendor who will disappear into the night.  If you cannot tell the difference between real and fake, hold your head up and wear your knockoff with pride.  You're friends will be none the wiser - congratulations!  But if the purse you're carrying has little IV's on it rather than LV's, chances are you're not fooling anyone.  We know you're not rocking a Louie....

The problem with this cereal is the "strawberries".  I guess that's what they're calling them.  From the first spoonful, I realized that they tasted eerily familiar to me.  They very much reminded me of those laboratory-orchestrated "marshmallows" from the cereal LUCKY CHARMS.  My old childhood nemesis, I've always hated Lucky Charms.  And much like the "pink hearts-yellow moons-orange stars-green clovers-and-blue diamonds" -shaped puffs of air that is LUCKY CHARMS.....these so-called "strawberries" are not so much magically delicious either.   Resembling tiny tongues (ewww!) floating amongst "crunchy rice & wheat flakes", these oddly-shaped things refuse to be reconstituted with milk.

While the Great Value Strawberry Awake cereal IS considerably cheaper than its Special K counterpart, it IN NO WAY compares in TASTE.  (sorry Walmart)  Sometimes a value is just a value.  Doesn't mean it's great.

Jay Z was Wrong....Apparently You CAN Knock the Hustle!!!

Jay Z was Wrong....Apparently You CAN Knock The Hustle!!!


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I'm sorry....NO HATE, but what are they famous for again??

Real Men Of Genius.....(Random Post of the Day)

Ever been to a wedding where someone's INEBRIATED UNCLE takes the mic in a drunken stupor to toast the happy couple on their special day with a SONG?  Like a tennis match, you didn't know whether to focus your eyes on the horrified bride & groom wincing in embarrassment or the train-wreck holding the mic and assaulting your ears, right?  Yeah. We've all been to that weddding.

Well evidently, way back in the 1980's, some enterprising fellow attended said wedding and decided to capitalize on said train-wreck, set him to MUSIC, and viola......one of the most beautiful ballads in history, used in romance movies & chick flicks the world over.  And ironically, it has become one of the most popular WEDDING SONGS ever!

So dust off those Grammy Awards and kiss those bottles of booze that earned you your fortune and fame.  Van Morrison......we salute you!  (Mr."I Got Drunk At A Wedding And I Made It Big" guy.)

Along Came Polly - Part 1

Are You a Risk ANALYST or a Risk TAKER???

So I'm watching Ben Stiller (I want to marry love Ben Stiller) in the movie "Along Came Polly".  For the 87th time.  Anyway, I've always resonated with the title character Polly.  Sadly.  Polly, with her "non-plan plan" (clear lack of direction in life), certain flakiness, and commitment issues.  And her love of all foods ethnic.  Then there's me, with my non-plan plan, certain flakiness, and commitment issues.  And my love of all foods ethnic.  We could almost be twins.  Anyway, on this 87th watching, I realized I felt a stronger connection with Ben Stiller's (I want to marry love Ben Stiller) character Reuben Feffer.  The Risk Analyst who's job it was to evaluate & reduce potential risks for businesses.  The Risk Analyst who rarely took risks in his own personal life.  Visions of the Ebola virus prevented him from eating mixed nuts in a public setting.  Laughing out loud.  But then, upon further inspection of his character, I found myself asking: "Is that my brother from another mother??? Holy crap!"

Epiphany: I.Am.NOT.Sasha.Fierce.But.I.AM.Rueben.Feffer.  Ohhh snap!  Like Reuben and his mixed nuts phobia, I do not/will not eat or drink behind someone else.  I mean, I cannot sip from someone else's drink (esp. if a straw is involved - backwash horrors!) Visions of ANY virus prevents me from doing so.  I will not take this time to elaborate on my laundry list of phobias - I have a ton-load of them.  But  if I'm being honest, I will acknowledge that with almost every opportunity in life that has been presented to me - I have evaluated more the RISKS involved than the potential BENEFITS.  And by doing so, I have CLOSED doors before they were even OPEN.  Unnecessarily.  Honestly, the whole risk-evaluating thing is quite exhausting.  "Should I do this?  Should I do that? What if this? What if that?"...It never stops. A few years of this Reuben-type behavior would turn anybody into a Polly.  Indecisive.  Uncommitted.  Flaky.

Sometimes in life, maybe you don't always need to evaluate the risks.  Sometimes it's more important to evaluate the benefits.  Count the costs - yes.  Contemplate the CONS as well as the PROS - yes.  But DO.CONTEMPLATE.THE.PROS.  And maybe just focus on those.  And if the risks involved are minimal and not harmful to you or others, why not take a page from Nike and JUST DO IT?  There are a ton of 'witty' risks quotes out there but my favorite is this:

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

Taking risks requires courage.  Perhaps "Risk Analyst" is just a fancy title for...PUNK.

C.L.O.C.K.S.

Sometimes you cannot make something work that doesn't. You think that it fits because it seems like it fits. It feels like it fits. For a little while. Only to realize later that it does not. Coldplay sang it best in the song Clocks:

Confusion never stops

closing walls and ticking clocks....

Am I part of the cure?

Or am I part of the disease?

You are

You are

...."NOT EXTRAORDINARY". That's what HE said. And that was the moment you realized it would never fit. Were you truly never extraordinary? Or were you always "average"? That's what HE said.  

Home, home where I wanted to go

Home, home where I wanted to go

For now, I'll just shut my eyes tight and pretend that I am greater than what you think I am. For now. Welcome to Bizarro World.

I.Am.That.Chica. Who am I?

Before I go into anything related to Operation Upgrade, let me tell you a little about who I am so you can get to know me some. I love foreign movies and books. I love dissecting television commercials. I love learning about different cultures. I love a proper fall day when the weather is crisp & the leaves are blowing about. I love accents. I love the thickness of my hair in its natural state. I love all things aquatic. I love to laugh and people that can make me laugh. I love my family and the few friends that I have. I love that I have always known the difference between a real friend and an acquaintance. I hate reality tv. I hate eggs. I hate mean-spirited people. I hate that I'm a procrastinator. I hate that I am sensitive. I especially hate LIARS & BAD MEN (redundant right?). I hate people who are always claiming that someone is constantly "hating" on them - after all, "he who cries 'hate' the loudest is often the LOUDEST HATER." I hate people who are inappropriately competitive for no good reason. I hate that not all #1 Chinese restaurants are created equal.  Again, I.hate.eggs.

What do you love?