Motivation needed HERE!

by Donna on February 25th, 2008

I was flying down Rte 1 at 6:30 this morning. I got into NYC in no time flat and gave a quick little presentation. Once it finished, I jumped into a car with a colleague and we drove to southern NJ. By 3:00 I was home and trying to return my voicemails. It’s now 6 and I really want to get some work done– work that I’ve been putting off for days. I don’t know why I find myself so paralyzed. I am always so relieved once the work is done but just getting started is so difficult. I am strange, I guess.

Uh cad eh me awards

by Donna on February 24th, 2008

I turned on the Oscars. Watched maybe 15 minutes of it. Turned it off because I was sickened by all the smug faces.

Last night I finally watched La Vie En Rose. It was good– not my favorite movie ever, but not bad. Robert and I talked about it afterward and agreed that the nonlinear storyline was more distracting than artistic. It was odd how WWII was completely skipped over. I was surprised at how it wasn’t until the end that it was quickly mentioned that she had a daughter that she pretty much abandoned. Looking back, there didn’t seem to be a single scene in which she wasn’t drunk, doped up, or throwing a tantrum. My favorite scene was when she discovers her married lover has been killed in a plane crash and she runs toward the camera with her arms outstretched and her fingers wiggling, crying and calling out, “MARCEL! MARCEL!” Reminded me of Faye Dunaway in Mommy Dearest, “Tina, GET ME THE AXE!” Regardless, it was an interesting movie and I did enjoy it.

Tomorrow I need to awaken early and get myself over to the New York office. Not looking forward to it. I just want to close my eyes and think about Longwood Gardens. Rob and I visited it yesterday. It’s one of the estates of the du Pont family. Apparently Pierre du Pont loved gardening and so he built this huge sprawling greenhouse where he grew tons of gorgeous plants. I’ve never seen so many orchids in one place. After touring the conservatory, we caught a reenactment of a Japanese Tea Ceremony. A man and his son performed the ceremony. I think it was a father and son. Rob said they weren’t father and son but rather “life partners.” The age difference between them makes me think otherwise. Regardless, I had a strong suspicion that in addition to reenacting the Japanese Tea Ceremony, they might also reenact episodes of Star Trek in their basement. I just got that vibe. The whole ceremony seemed so overblown and insane to me. Bowing and inspecting utensils and slurping down the tea and placing the ladle so very carefully, turning the bowl 2 quarter turns so as not to drink from the front of the bowl since “we offer respect even to inanimate objects.” To each their own. Rob looked glassy-eyed and read to commit harakiri so we left before the ceremony officially ended. On our way out the door, he said he’s like to partake in an American Beer drinking ceremony. I agreed.

La Belle Lucie

by Donna on February 18th, 2008

Years and years ago my father bought a set of computer Solitaire games. I got hooked on this one game called La Belle Lucie. I would play it for hours! Unfortunately the games were only compatible with Windows 95 and when we went to Windows 98 the games would not install. Every now and then I would get the urge to play La Belle Lucie and instead I would play Spider or some other solitaire game. Just now I found a really lovely online version!

I am suddenly reminded of a conversation my father had with me when I was about 11-years-old.
“Get over here kid! I am going to teach you to play Solitaire!”
“Solitaire?”
“Yeah, with your personality, I have a feeling you’re gonna be playing a lot of it!”
How right he was…

Sitting on a burner

by Donna on February 18th, 2008

I just checked the clock and was surprised to note that it is the time I usually get home from work. The day seemed to last longer than usual. I went home and helped my dad with his computer. My mom and I went to Ann Taylor Loft and I bought some clothes off the clearance rack. I had a wonderful lunch with Lisa and Mom and Dad– stuffed peppers! After lunch, Lisa and I test drove a VW Beetle at a dealership in Princeton. Back at my parent’s house, I talked to my dad and played with Bo. I noticed it was around 5:00 and I decided to get back to the Donnavilla. I still have tons of stuff I need to accomplish. I gotta do a couple loads of wash. I want to check my commission statement and start my February Expense Report. I should also go to the grocery store.

Hannah Montana

by Donna on February 14th, 2008

Over the last few months, I kept hearing about this Hannah Montana. I had NO clue what the heck it was all about. Eventually someone said it was Billy Ray Cyrus’s daughter. Later I found out it was a television show. I still didn’t have much of an understanding of its premise but at least I now kinda knew what all the headlines were screaming about. The last few days I ‘ve spent the evenings at my parents’ house, puppysitting Bo. They have every single station known to man on their television and I found myself watching an episode of Hannah Montana. I am pretty impressed with it since of the two episode portions I watched, the first one featured Vickie Lawrence and DOLLY PARTON and the second episode featured Heather Locklear. This seemed pretty amazing considering the show looked to be a grade B cheap kids’ show. I didn’t watch the entire episode so I am still rather confused over what, according to the credits, seems to be a dual identity between blonde Hanna Montana and brunette Miley Cyrus. One of the actors on the show was very familiar to me and I wondered, “Who could that older lesbian woman be? She is so familiar!” Turns out, it’s Billy Ray Cyrus.

Hindu kush

by Donna on February 13th, 2008

I went to my parents’ house after work to be with Bo. With my parents gone, Bo is by himself and he doesn’t like to be alone. Little Bo loves people and loves to love people and he also loves to spin in circles. So I go home and we spin in circles together. My parents will be back from Mexico on Friday. Back to sloppy Philadelphia in all its snowy, rainy splendor.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. A day I used to dread. It always seemed like everyone was getting chocolates and flowers except me. I’d sit at home and watch romantic movies like Death in Venice and The Night Porter. I am glad I am not alone this year. I am glad I have someone.

Weatheritis

by Donna on February 13th, 2008

Yesterday it snowed. This morning it rained. Looking out the window, the rain wasn’t enough to wash away the snow. I called Lisa and she said that school is starting as usual, no snow day, no 3 hour delay. This means I gotta go! No more lallygagging! I have two meetings today that I was planning on walking to. I guess I should dig out my good boots.

Fellini Withdrawl Symptoms

by Donna on February 11th, 2008

I am suffering withdrawal! I keep thinking, “I must call Daddy… wait Daddy’s not here, I’ll call Mommy… wait Mommy’s not here either! AHahahaaiaiaiaiaiai!!” Yes, I am 33 years old. I call my parents every day. Numerous times throughout the day. Yes, I know. It’s all becoming clear. This explains my spinsterhood.

I had the oddest dream last night. I keep thinking about it, trying to make sense out of it. The dream felt like a movie. I was watching this large group of people wade out into the ocean. I was aware that there was an alien entity submerged in the water and the people were being compelled by this creature to enter the water. Everyone was anxious for the creature to reveal itself. In an instant, out from the water sprung two very, very tall naked women. Right after emerged two very, very morbidly obese, naked men. More weird, almost freakish creatures, unnaturally larger than normal humans, arose from out of the water. The people embraced them and I had a feeling these strange water nymphs were actually the collective dreams and desires of the group. Suddenly I too was submerged but I realized that the creature orchestrating this was evil and I started to swim away. As I tried to doggie paddle, I was transported to a different situation. The ocean bit was now over and one of the men went home to his wife. Once in his presence, his wife went mad and attacked him. I watched her viciously beat him. She used a walnut cracker to break his fingers. I could feel his pain as his fingers twisted and cracked. This was clearly brought on by the ocean creature and I wondered if all the people faced the same end.

Meh hee coe

by Donna on February 10th, 2008

My parents are in Mexico. They left early this morning. I am hoping and praying everything went smoothly and continues to go smoothly for them.

I am quite a bit jealous. It would be wonderful to feel the sun on my face and the warm sand between my toes. I think back to when I was laid off from my old job. Someone had said to me, “Donna, take a vacation- go somewhere warm and just veg for a week.” I laughed. How could I go on vacation when my whole world was upside down? And now I look back and wish I had taken a trip. Maybe it’s time for me to go somewhere? It feels like ages since I went on a trip to a place not within a 100 mile radius of where I live.

All and all, it was a good weekend. I got a lot of stuff accomplished. I had a period-induced mini-freak out this afternoon but I am feeling better and quite a bit foolish. Things happen when you got ovaries. Otherwise, everything else was good. Got to see the movie Reno 911 which I guiltily enjoyed. I audited my November commissions. I had a lovely dinner with Robert at an Italian restaurant. The food was crappy but the ambiance and company was wonderful. I spent time with Li Li and Bo. I talked on the phone with Audgie. Yeah, it was a good weekend. Except for the freak out.

Paint by Numbers Update

by Donna on February 10th, 2008

I just completed my second paint by numbers work!

Don’t they look just lovely sitting on my fireplace mantle? I went off on my own on the spaceship painting. White seemed so typical so I decided to go RAINBOW! Staying in the lines has never been my strong point.