have serious problem.  not like, darfur-region-conflict serious, but like, i finally found the watch i ADORE and am having drooling issues about serious.

see this:

this is my watch.  this is exactly what i want to have on my wrist.  forever.  it is a vestal rosewood acetate watch in white (and black, and wood, actually).  i have found them in nearly every other color, but not silver on white. and the black one is fantastic as well, and i have trouble deciding.  leaning towards white.  it is currently being sold on ebay here.

it is also nearly $100. 

can i really be entrusted with a $100 watch?  for this watch, yes.

but this is coming from the girl who buys her sunglasses at ross or target because i shove them in the nearest bag to me, thus scratching them beyond oblivion and having to replace them. 

but, ohhhhhhh, this watch.  can't bring myself to buy it.  so far.  oh boy.

i'd say sorry for this materialistic ridiculous outburst, but i'm too busy staring at this smorgasbundle of time-keeping goodness...

“Happiness, the research confirms, is derived from strong relationships, using your core talents, living a life according to your values, and connecting to something larger than yourself so you have a sense of meaning.”

from the chicago tribune.  i rather liked this.  you should answer.  repost.  write down.  reblog.  or just ponder.  whathaveyou.

YEAR IN REVIEW

When you consciously review your year, you may notice how little you noticed it as it whizzed past. To review is to re-view. To rewind, pause, look again. And in looking again, to see more clearly.

You may be astonished by how much happened. And how much didn’t. By how much has changed. And how much hasn’t. You may laugh or sigh to notice that your life remains its usual jumble of contradictions.

In 2007, I gained _______________________________________.
I lost _______________________________________.
I stopped _______________________________________.
I started _______________________________________.
I was hugely satisfied by _______________________________________.
And frustrated by _______________________________________.
I am so embarrassed that I _______________________________________.
Once again, I _______________________________________.
Once again, I did not _______________________________________.
The biggest physical difference between me last April and this April is _______________________________________.
The biggest psychological difference between me last April and this
April is _______________________________________.
I loved spending time _______________________________________.
Why did I spend even two minutes _______________________________________?
I should have spent more time _______________________________________.
I regret buying _______________________________________.
I will never regret buying ____________________ even though with that money I could have bought _______________________________________.
I _______________________________________ way too much.
I didn’t _______________________________________ enough.
_______________________________________ drove me crazy.
Was __________________________ crazier than ever last year? Or was it me?
The most relaxing place I went was _______________________________________.
I feel so _______________________________________ when I write that down.
Why did I go to _______________________________________?
The best thing I did for someone else was ______________________.
The best thing I did for myself was _______________________________.
The best thing someone did for me was _______________________________.
The one thing I’d like to do again, but do it better, is _____________________.

i'm blaming the fact that i've done a 3 hour mid-term exam this evening on why this is making me DIE of laughter right now. 

one full week later, and all i have to say is that i am gloomy mccrankystein.

(diatribe)

i'm tired, overworked, overtired, pallid, unmotivated and more tired.

it's just been a week of this, and i have worked 50+ hours while putting in time in the evening to be a full-time student.  and i am the optimist, the perseverance minded, the let's all band together person...

but i am pooped.

just being honest.

i feel like getting under the covers and staying there.

as seen on a bumper sticker affixed to the tv in the corner:

BEAVER LIQUORS
where the beer's colder than your wife's heart!

i'm officially in a small town in colorado.

engraved on the back of my ipod:

"this place totally plays the jams."

bitchin'.

* * * *

easter is near, and most years i just want to go to church to see if the pastor will change the story to freak everyone out.  like, "and on the the third day, jesus...hit the snooze alarm."

* * * *

post-stomach flu, i thought i really wanted cheetos.  turns out, i just wanted to lick the cheet off of the o, and put them back in the bag.  what's left is really weird looking, and then again, so is just licking off fake plastiscene cheese, and my bird flu is still affecting my general health -- so i opted out on this activity.

for now.

* * * *

i can either write a 3 page literary criticism paper really quickly, cutting corners, or i can take 9 days to do it, having read all of the material.  there is no in between for me.  also, there is no 9 days scenario either.  because, please.

* * * *

i still remember vocabulary words from my 4 years of german in high school, nearly 10 years ago.  so now, whenever i hear some of these words in english, my brain says them in german.  college is kollege (kul-leg-uh) and gymnasium is gim-nahs-ee-um (high school), and so forth.  the word for fruit is obst, so the host of survivor is jeff pr-fruit. 

* * * *

i can't take any more "nicknames" for being pregnant.  baby bump has got to be the worst, made more nauseating only by when they just call it "bump" as in "bump watch" and whathaveyou.  i also really don't enjoy preggers (visualization of eggs), prego (a big stomach full of spaghetti sauce), bun in the oven (sigh), or the snobby "with child".  i'm not making a judgement call if you like or use the words regularly.  except that we can't be friends anymore.  just kidding.

* * * *

it is beyond me how any kid who only has to go to college, and nothing else, flunks out.  ridiculous. it smacks of negligence and vodka.

* * * *

When a cat misbehaves you squirt a light mist of water in his face so he learns not to do something again. A societal equivalent would be so satisfying. When the girl at the coffee shop orders “a caramel frappucino with semi-dry foam,” you could just tap her on the nose with a rolled up magazine and say, “NO, Tiffany! Bad. NO.”

for my birthday, i got some very lovely presents, a new ipod, and the stomach flu.

this is a kristin staaland-specific post.

an art film about the popping of a zit.  i'm not kidding. an ART film.

i could not resist when i saw it.  the best is the enya-like soundtrack as the camera pans over skin that looks like the surface of some desolate planet, the sweeping build up until you watch scene after scene of middle-school mirror time memories flood back.

honest: i am totally disgusted and yet CAN'T LOOK AWAY.

all i kept hearing in my head was kristin's voice saying "i love the EXPLOSION!!!"

you've been warned.