Cruise-Wear: help needed

Remember how I'm going on a cruise over Christmas while the rest of you will shiver-YER-timbers somewhere not as pleasant, warm, and tropical? Remember? Oh well, let me remind you.

You:

Me (I'm positive I will look just like that! Ahem... mostly...):

So that said, I'd like to call on all you cruise veterans as to what in the world one packs for a cruise in the Mexican Riviera. After last weeks Carnival Cruise a-drifting events, I plan on packing some extra Luna bars and novels just in case. But other than that, I'm a little stumped as I know it won't be tropically unbearably hot, perhaps even a little nippy on the boat and off, but at the same time, don't nobody want to be caught in lovely weather with only long pants, a sensible long-sleeved cotton tee, and jacket. How much sun should I pack for? How much "nip" should I pack for? And more importantly folks- how much "fashion and glam" should I pack for? Don't cruises get a little uppity when the dinner bell tolls? Far be it for me to show up "island-frump" style and be the focus of disdainful glances and shaking heads as my breezy cotton Batman Crimefighter tee and linen shorts clashes like a tsunami on the shore with everyone elses black cocktail frocks and pashima scarves. Right? The horror! The horror! I can't think of anything worse than being "under-dressed dahling, really..." Oh first world conundrums. I've seen my grandma pack for a cruise before - and she looks sharp! She always lays out some fancy things, always classy things, and very few "casual" things. But she's just generally a classy lady so there's SOME bias.

So go ahead,  explain to me the gamut of Cruise wear one must never be without - and/or more importantly - what one musn't ever consider if they are to show their faces on a cruise again. The fancy, the casual, the weather required, and all the inbetweens.

I WOULD like you to know I bought this sunhat:

 and this waterproof watch (it's described as unisex... I don't judge) for the adventure.

 But as to the rest? Inexorably stump-ed. Help!

Something worth saying

I love a man in a wedding band. Now hold up. Before you start calling me a home-wrecker or a no good *&!#$ who !!&% with another women's *&^%$#... let me explain.

A man in a wedding band symbolize something to me. He symbolizes true manliness, commitment, and responsibility. He's publicly declaring "I've put away childish things, and become a man." Or at least, had the courage and fortitude to take the first step into the bright and promising unknown: entwining himself to family, fatherhood, husbandhood, posterity, and provident living. Welcoming the encompassing mantle of expectation and hope; a hero's cloak for his children, a protectors and providers cloak for his wife. Loyalty. Ability. He holds for himself a higher standard of achievement because he no longer lives, loves, and works just for himself. Selfless and sacrificing.

I love a man with a wedding band and I respect the man that gives everything he has to give and then 25% more to fulfilling everything that means. There's something to be said of good men these days - few and far between - but courageous and steadfast. I want a man who wants a wedding band.

This winter...

My greatest dream is to sport something akin to the below whenever humanly possible. And I'm not being ironic.

 I'm being serious

 I really like these

And I want to wear one

Or all...



A conundrum

I DVR'ed the Walking Dead via AMC on Sunday night. Why did I do that? Well, let me tell you about me and scary things. I dont like scary things. A definition of scary things is required here, however, as I feel there are categories of scary things that fall into "scary but tolerable" like dreams about getting eaten by a shark or walking through a low ceilinged room with dangling spiders overhead (insert TERRIFYING here) that you forget as soon as you wake up and then there's "scary that sticks with me for weeks and makes me jumpy at the slightest apartment creak or slammed car door and leave the light on when I go to bed" sort of scary. These types of scary things fall easily into the realm of Horror movies. Horror movies about ghosts and spirits and the DEVIL (hate those ones most) and manic-flesh-slashing-deranged-hooked-chainsaw-weilding serial killers. Yep. Can't handle it. Won't handle it. Pass 100 times and throw in some Mary Poppins. There's also the term suspenseful. I can handle suspense such as Inception (I just got a thrill chill!), or even Thriller/Suspensefuls like JAWS or Predator or even some "murderer" shows like that one with Shea LeBeof where his neighbor is a serial killer. What is that? Anyway... those I can handle. I hope you can see a pattern, albeit a line of sorts, of where I can cross into the realm of handleable "thrills" and where I most certainly not venture (i.e. Paranormal Activity, The Ring, The Grudge, Exorcist, Poltergist... sick... etc).

So back to the Walking Dead. There are two things that don't ever really scare me - Aliens (pro-X-files!) and sometimes Zombies. I think the Aliens don't bother me because they seem truly fantastical and even cartoonish in most cases and Zombies because they're generally dumb. As in not smart. As in walking grotesque bodies that you only have to avoid or ping in the head or flame throw to be rid of them. Also - I sorta believe in Aliens to an extent but not in a "take over the planet minions!" way and I don't believe in Zombies. I believe in ghosts and the devil. Shudder. Do I ever.

The Zombies in Walking Dead, based on the preview, seemed gruesome (i.e. COOL!) but dumb. Also, the show seemed unique, suspenseful, and maybe something worth actually watching on TV which one is hard put to find these days, right? However, I also questioned if it was too scary for me to be able to turn it off and sleep soundly an hour later. Pros and Cons were thought through... and in the end... I set the DVR just to have it on hand if I should decide I could handle it. Sunday night it recorded, and Monday night, after finishing some homework and browsing some Monday night TV (booooorrrring) I consulted the DVR. And there awaited the Walking Dead. Hm. In my apartment alone - con. Not generally scared of Zombies - pro. Blessed/cursed with a vivid imagination - con. Heard it's more suspenseful than scary - pro. ... ... ...

I dove in. Promising myself if I felt too scared I'd turn it off and never look back. I mean, I saw 5 seconds of a Paranormal Activity 2 preview once when I was running on a treadmill and my nights were ruined for a week! This is the type of wuss puss you're dealing with.

Back to the diving in. (I have not put the scariest pictures on here because I know that some of you would have nightmares like me... except the last one... the last one is pretty freaky!)

I saw some of this:

And that:

and more of this:

Behind YOU!!! Scared ya ;)

Truly - I covered my eyes once when dude had to shoot the little girl Zombie in the head because there IS one thing I can't stand (other than spiders and the devil) and that's possessed kids. I think the idea of having a being so innocent as a child be so incandescently evil freaks the freakys out of me. Sometimes I can't stomach a lot of bloody violence either - BUT - because it was Zombie heads being blown to smithereens... it was different. Think of Orcs in Lord of the Rings losing their heads or being pounced on with swords and spears. Meh... not too big of a deal. The Zombies had become de-humanized and that made the literal watching of head explosions a little more tolerable. These things... I stomached. And I made it through Episode 1.

Afterwards, I did a little self-assessment. How do I feel? Well, I feel okay. Am I scared? Hmmmm... no I don't feel scared. How's the blood pressure? Normal, normal. How do we feel about going to bed in 30 minutes? Feel pretty good.

Truth: there was some tossing and turning that night - but I don't think (because I can't give you a 100% assurdity) it was because of the Zombies. They're dumb Zombies. Smart Zombies? Now, that may be another story. And on Tuesday night, when coming back from my night class around 10pm, I turned the corner to my parking structure and swear on all that is flame-throwing and head blasting that the dude I saw about 40 yards in front of me walking towards the building had a distinctive Zombie "gait". Ya know what I mean? One shoulder higher than the other and a lead weight strapped to his foot; dragging it in tow. Sent a thrill up my SPINE! Pheeeew. Luckily he was just out for a little nigth smoke. Sure glad he wasn't a Zombie.

So here I am, feeling rather proud I made it through the first episode of 6, but also still a little weary. Shore I'd made it okay through the first, alone, in my apt... but what of the next? Surely it will get more gruesome, more frightening (more frightening than a decomposed crawling Zombie torso? Yish! You see the dilemma), and more head explodey... We're BOUND to witness someone bitten and slowly turned into a raving (though dumb) hungry for human flesh Zombie. Can I stay on board? Can I push through? I don't know! And I'm still unsure if I should find out...

A conundrum of the most epic proportions I'd say. I think gathering a group of the same sort of weary and/or Zombie show watching folks may help soften the proverbial "scary things" blow. Or maybe we'll all just end up spending the night on my floor together - baseball bats clutched to our breasts. 

Creativity Suck

I'd like to tell you how "busyness" sucks the creativity out of me. I don't know if I have a lot of creativity to suck - but when it's sucked - it's sure sucked dry. Suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked (high five to the person who knows that reference!).

So, as you can see, my blog posts have been tolerable at best. As of late, they've consisted of some random pictures and mockery here, an attempt at (what turned out to be) a lame contest (Dear Heidikins, I owe you garbage bags. Contest fail) there, and so on and so forth. And guess what? This one isn't going to do much better. I have 20 minutes before class starts, squeezed in between a very busy work day (don't we all!), a MPPASA meeting (it sounds important cause it is), and realizing I haven't eaten anything since the half turkey sandwich, chips, and Diet Coke I trackled (it's meant to say tackled but I like trackled... sounds intense!) in my car on the way out to Sunset Ridge Middle School for Utah Scholars presentations. Can I explain to you were Sunset Ridge Middle School is? Edge of the world. It's true. One more step and over you'd go. Whoosh!

So there's my excuse for blogging failure/cop outs: busy work, busy school, busyness. Giant creativity suck (side note: boy carrying helmet and sporting a sleek leather jacket and goatee just gave me a rather winning smile as he walked by my eagerly typing form... day improved! Helllooooo sir ;)), and it also seems my ADD hasn't decreased much either (Squirrel! (double high five for that reference)). I haven't been all ho hum and boringness though. No! I've done stuff! I attended some Halloween par-tays (one... cough) last weekend which were a jolly good times, watched AMC's Walking Dead (note to self: sleeplessness adds to creativity suck) and done some life planning here and there. The life planning takes up valuable brain power, right? Proof! Here's what I've planned:

1. Cruise in December (and I will continue to bring it up until the day I cruise and then the mockery will turn to photos of sandy beaches, blue waves, me in this sunhat, and Cabana boys).
2. Oh snap! I just realize I was supposed to sign up for Spring semester YESTERDAY! (move to #1 of plans)
3. Walk in Spring Convocation
4. Legitimately Graduate Summer 2011
5. Plan "Congratulations You're a Master!" trip to Italy in September
6. Research MPA jobs in London... then really any job that will take me in London
7. Er... keep my bathroom clean

...

And that's it really. I mean those are the "big" plans. Generally my thoughts are week to week and sometimes, day to day. Phew. Example: "work out tomorrow or live alone forever with those extra 10lbs you seem determined to cling to." It all adds to the bigger picture in one way or another. Alright, maybe that was a pathetic bit of an example. Much like this post is a pathetic excuse for a post.


....


Where'd that leather jacket boy go?

...

(checking watch)

...

Guess I'll sign up for Spring semester.

Look at this post... now out the window (or just somewhere else... mainly)...now back at this post...

Sadly, you will be experiencing something akin to this at Christmas:

Perhaps this:

Or maybe even this:

While I will be experiencing this:

And some of this (is that Cabo you ask? Why, yes. Yes, it is):



And probably this:

And A LOT of this:

Bon Voyage! (Suckers!)



Life. Complete.

It's official. I now have absolutely no reason to travel beyond a 5 block radius for anything. School, work, shopping, theater, eating of delicious things, and now... and NOW!!!

Target!!!!
(pronounced Tar-jay)

Life is good. So very good. No more driving to Centerville or Fort Union for me. No no! Instead, I will leisurely drive to the bran spanking new DOWNTOWN located Target for all my Targeting needs. What joy. 

And here is my mom being harassed by a zombie. I felt this was a necessary picture to show the world. I mean, when else do you exclaim, "And the red eye in that picture is AWESOME!" Exactly. 

My mom and I went to Thriller last weekend - one of my all time favorite Halloweening things to do. I've gone every year for 3 years now and plan on going over and over again in the future. It just t'ain't Halloween without some dancing Zombies. Right? Well, dancing harassing zombies. That makes it a little more special.

Here's to another 2 weeks of Halloweening Shenanigans! You best believe there's more to come... (Ooooooo....)