Nice lawn. Now what?

Kentucky was ... interesting.

Our transfer flight from Atlanta to Lexington was canceled at the very last minute, so Muse and I decided to rent a sexy and glamorous Ford Focus and drive through the night to see his little sis (and through Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, for that matter). First of all, I have never seen so many abandoned cars, 24-hour firework stands, and Cracker Barrels in all my life. Not to mention thirty foot glowing crosses. Second, WOW is Kentucky meticulously manicured. Very green, very white-fencey. Despite spending a full day and night traveling, I had a great time chatting with Muse and giggling at the overabundance of country music on the local radio stations.

We got to our hotel at about 6 a.m. local time. Man, we were sleepy. I scarfed down some breakfast and passed out just in time for birthday callers to start in on Muse. Eventually I managed to drag myself out of bed and grab coffee with little sis. Seeing her was awesome and it was very cool to check out where she works. I can see why she loves it there. Give her a Starbucks and lots of horses and she's happy with life. :)

I could be wrong, but it seems that Southern hospitality is a myth. Perhaps I just ran into the wrong folks, but virtually all of the people I met (primarily in customer service roles) were standoffish and even a bit rude. One stand out exception was the night desk manager at the Holiday Inn Express. He. Was. Awesome.

Unfortunately our luggage (and my camera) lagged behind us, as Delta did not allow us to retrieve our bags from the canceled flight. When I finally had the thing in my hot little hands, it ran out of batteries. I took very few photos on the trip. :-/

Brace for blurry, tilted shots from my mobile's camera (the vast majority of the state looks like the first picture):

Leave

I'm not one of those people that thinks you have to suck it up. That there's nothing you can do about it, so wait it out. Grin and bear it and make it through. Deal.

Nope.

Not me.

It's not about running away at the first sign of trouble. It *is* about knowing you deserve to enjoy being alive.

Sometimes happiness can only be found if you go. Get out. Leave.

A week(ish) in review...

Here's the dilly, yo...

Monday I was digging the holiday vibe and dreading going back to work, so I nagged my boyfriend into leaving the house to serve as a distraction.

We went out for lunch.


While we were there, my boyfriend said, "Oh look. It's Ben Stein." I looked over and, sure enough, there the 'publican was, with a skinny blonde in tow. (I didn't bother photographing him myself, because, well, he's a 'publican. Ick.)


Ugh. Snarky (and quiet) comments (on our part) ensued. Luckily I still managed to enjoy the mabo don I had. Yum.

Tuesday I noticed that there were more signs of bananas in my apartment's courtyard.


I swear that thing is going to open up and say "FEEEED MEEEE" a la Little Shop of Horrors. Anyway, it's nice to know that, despite the smog, stuff can still grow in this city.

Wednesday* I ran out of eyeliner and ordered some new makeup. "Stray dog,"bad education, " "zero," and "orgasm" were the names of the colors. Who in the world comes up with these things?

"I think I'll name this one, 'penguin spunk'."
"Oh, excellent idea! So glamorous!"


Thursday I finally got a handle on all of my classes. I also got some very cool, free running shoes to replace my old, nasty (but still beloved) ones.





These things helped me run my fastest ever mile. Not that I'm fast at all...it was just fastER. 9:07. Not amazing in the least, but I've never been a runner-type. Never will be.

Friday was uneventful, though work was hellishly busy. We went out to dinner with some friends and I hit the gym.

Saturday (today!) was...irritating. I went to Target in West Hollywood to hunt down a TI-83 for my advanced statistics course. I got there and saw a swarm of photographers snapping away in the parking garage. They pushed past me to get into the elevator, so I gave up and used the escalator.

And there she was...

I should add that this isn't my photo. And it's not from today.

I should also add that if you see a headline along the lines of, "woman attacks Jessica Alba," you'll probably see a picture of me. One of the a$$hole photographers tripped me, and I fell towards her. Whoops. It wasn't my fault, I was totally trying to avoid the whole thing.

Unfortunately I couldn't find the calculator on my own, so a Target employee...who sounded like Hank Azaria in the Birdcage...took me around the entire store several times over to look for it.


I've noticed lately that even the straight guys in West Hollywood *sound* gay. Anyway, we kept coming back to the mass that was Jessica Alba, her paparazzi, her man, and her baby. I literally had to dodge and duck to keep from getting knocked over.


Luckily, I'm a ninja.

I finally got the calculator and rushed out when an enormous photographer (he looked to be around 7 feet tall) started an argument with the security guard.

It was weird as hell seeing all these people with backpacks, sprinting and stuffing their cameras away when Target employees came their way. My helpful Target employee was stopped by a rotund guard who said, "if you see anyone with a camera, tell them to put it away and keep it away, or I'm putting them in jail. Well, I'll arrest them, then put them in jail."

Eek.

Anyway, it was a semi-eventful week, methinks. Hopefully next week will be a little less frantic.



*As far as Palin's Wednesday appearance is concerned, I am trying very hard to ignore her existence. Blech.