You may call it an obsession or a weakness... I call it.. .well, the same thing, actually

Well, it's the week before final exams. I have a huge project due on Thursday, and I'm maybe a quarter or a third of the way through it. But I can't concentrate. I'm tired. I feel like all life has been sapped from my limbs.

So I'm writing a blog. :) 'Cause that makes sense.

Today, I will discuss my obsession with jewelry and demonstrate with some picture evidence. (Who's been in speech class too long? Yes, that would be Leah.)

I collect jewelry like children collect scrapes and bruises. (Or was I the only one excited about those?) If I find it for cheap, I'll probably buy it, even I think I might not wear it. (I can use it for parts!)

First, and least, my necklace collection.


I know... Kinda small. Only three hooks worth. But I have a necklace from a dcTalk concert in 1998, a necklace my brother found on the bus in middle school, and three necklaces I got for 50 cents each at a garage sale. Plus numerous gifts. And one I made where I took 5 or so of my big glass beads and put them on a chain. It's outrageous and I've never worn it, but I keep it.

Bracelets, anyone?


This is a box from my lovely friend Briana. It's about 4.5 inches deep... full of bracelets. Most of them stretchy, fun deals. Many of them things I got in Claire's 10 for $10 clearance sales. The top dealio is my fancier bracelets. See the empty spot? That's for my pins. Not an obsession. :)

And now... the big kahuna. (I've never said that before.)

This is my jewelry box. One of those big ones with extra compartments and all. In the bottom, there are my chunkier necklaces and bracelets and barrettes. In the top? Most of my 91 pairs of earrings. I don't think I need any more evidence, but just in case you don't believe that that's 91, I had to pull out my favorites and put them in separate containers so that I had enough room:


I need help. Or 9 more pairs.

:)

Love and leeches (not sure why I said that, either),
LeahJoy

I'm Not Forgetting

Just super-busy!

But you can thank my inability to sleep due to physical pain for me being up earlier than usual and having time to ... well, do things.

Anyway, I was actually going to wrap a Christmas present, but I just thought I'd let my dedicated readers (all two of you) know that I have not abandoned you.

I have left in school:
- One concert (This Wednesday, 7:30 at the CU Student Corum. Be there, or be ... well, in California.)
- Three final projects (One listening assignment, one formal analysis, one paper that has yet to be assigned)
- Three exams (All three easy-peasy)
- One jury (HAH! I had FOUR last semester! This is a piece of CAKE!)

Also
- only ONE white elephant gift! :)

However, once my projects are over (or mostly over, or needing breaks), please expect blogs. I have taken pictures of a few things.

Aaanyway.

I'm off to wrap up some mac&cheese and Lucky Charms for my brother. Even if he read this, it would not surprise him. I get him the same thing every year.

Love and book sales,
LeahJoy

Poor Lappy

My graphics card is broken. Or video card. Or whatever it is. Y'all already knew I was computer ignorant, anyway.

So, Lappy is in the shop. :) But I'll have him back tomorrow evening.

Tonight, I'm spending the night in the music building. Yep.

That's all folks.

Love and hippos,
LeahJoy

Nerdy Things I Enjoy #1: Balancing my Checkbook

So, it'd been a while since I blogged. And I'm really excited to do the Series on Sentimental Heirlooms I Treasure (no acronyms, please), but that one requires pictures, and I haven't been home long enough to take any yet. So, I'll start with an easy one.

I don't understand why I get so much joy from balancing my checkbook. It could be that I love using my calculator. (In my Jazz/Rock History class in high school, we had to write a blues song. I wrote mine about my calculator as if it were a lover [without the awkward part of that insinuation].) I really do like my calculator. It's a TI-83+, which is cool because I like to see the numbers on the screen. When you just have one row of numbers, and the screen doesn't show everything else, I lose my place and forget what numbers I've added already.

I also like organizing my receipts. I have a big pile I've been collecting the whole month (yes, I only balance my checkbook at the end of the month... not every time I make a deposit or withdrawal like you're supposed to) and then I get to sort them by date and enter them all in and (occasionally) add and (mostly) subtract numbers! And then I get to see if they match up with my statement. And it's so delightful when they do! I feel like I've accomplished something great.

Maybe it's just 'cause I'm a control freak and when I see the numbers all work like that, I know I have control over one part of my life.

Regardless, I greatly enjoy balancing my checkbook.

Do you?

Love and highlighters,
Leah

P.S. Did anyone ever notice what an awkward phrase "chicken strips" is? Like, they're delicious... but kind of have a weird name.

The $39 Experiment

I'm not sure how many of you have heard of this before, but this is a really cool idea:

The $39 Experiment

It makes me want to try something like this with Crayola, or Neutrogena, or Sinful Colors. (Crayons... Anti-Acne Products... Nail Polish...)

Ramble:
Sinful Colors is my favorite brand of nail polish. It's pretty cheap, dries quickly, and stays on pretty well considering the price. Plus they have fun color names like "Daddy's Little Girl" and "San Francisco". Their brand name makes my siblings question me, though. I think it's false, though. God made colors, and they do not have agency, so they can't choose to be sinful.

Love and nail polish,
Leah

If I weren't a musician...

(Yes, I am aware that this is not in any of the series I promised, but I had several ideas for other blogs, too, and I thought I'd get those out of the way first. Actually, I had a note on my desktop to remind me of the other ones, and I wanted to clear up that space.)

You know how 'they' always ask people what they'd do if they weren't doing what they do? Like, "Hey Brad Pitt, if you weren't an obnoxious movie star, what would you be doing with your life?" And he would say, "Annoying people in other ways." Or something.

A while back, I had a fun time getting my headlight changed (Yay, Chryslers!) and had to spend a bit of time in the garage at my school. If I didn't go into music, I'd want to be a mechanic. True, I know very little about vehicles, but I would love to learn. I love the smells, sights, sounds, and feels of a garage. I love getting my hands dirty. It makes me feel like I have something to show for my work.

For the record, if my mom had to go back to work, she'd want to drive construction vehicles. We're definitely related.

How about you?

Veterinarians on Children's Television

The other morning, I put an adhesive bandage (commonly referred to as a "Band-Aid") over a cut on my finger. I used a Bob-the-Builder adhesive bandage that featured a picture of Scoop and the words, "Can we fix it? Yes we can!"

As I was brushing my teeth, I began thinking about children's television shows like Bob the Builder, with talking machinery, and Handy Manny, with talking toolbelt tools. And I thought, "They should make a show about a veterinarian with talking tools. Then every time a dog or cat came in to get spayed or neutered, they could say, 'Can we fix it? Yes we can!'"

This is apparently the sort of thing I think about while I brush my teeth.

Upcoming Blogs

I've been brainstorming a lot lately, and I've come up with a few series I could do.

Therefore, in the future, look for these series, which may, and probably will, intertwine (a word here meaning 'not go in strict order and I will do one blog from any series whenever I feel like it so read the titles to find out what series we're blogging'):

- My Weaknesses/Obsessions - This will feature a blog about used books, for example. I have a friend who loves to buy DVDs. She has over 300 of them. I love used books. My mom loves picture frames and storage containers.

- Nerdy Things I Enjoy - Balancing my checkbook, for example. Or music theory.

- Embarrassing Things from My Past - Like my 7th grade poetry.

And here's my favorite, and will probably take up twenty or more blogs:

- Sentimental Heirlooms I Treasure - (I'd abbreviate this one, but I think I might lose readers.) However, I'm a big pack-rat. I try to be really good about getting rid of stuff, but when it's a hand-me-down of some sort, I just can't. From a chair to a doll, a sweatshirt to a suitcase, this series will feature all sorts of ... well, old things.

Anyway, that's up-and-coming. I'm also thinking of getting back into writing poetry, so if I do, some of that might be on here. And maybe I'll scan in what I do during class (no, not my notes. My "I'm pretending to take notes" doodles.) I don't know. I have so many ideas and want this blog to be blog-tacular, so we'll see what happens.

Today, my boyfriend and I went to see the new Barnes and Noble bookstore down at the mall. They moved like, not even a mile, but the new location is really really great. It's two stories and massive. We spent a few HOURS in there and I already want to go back and check some more sections out. While we were there, my boyfriend pointed out that every time we go to a bookstore, we end up in the children's section. I wonder why he's surprised, really.

Recently, I've discovered mylifeisaverage.com. If you have a few hours to kill (ha. ha.) and you like a good laugh, you may enjoy this website.

Love and Leather,
LeahJoy

Christmas Crafts...

Hi friends,

Christmas is coming and my budget is as low as ever! So, like usual, I plan on making most of the gifts I am giving. (Except for my brother, because I always get him Lucky Charms and Mac&Cheese. And I feel perfectly safe putting this on the internet, because he already knows.) I'm knitting a zillion things, making some flower pens (thanks, Auntie Rachel!), making pop-tab bracelets, etc.... Anyway, for those of you who need ideas, here is my favorite craft website:

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/

They have project ideas, photos of people's attempts at those projects, and a lot more that I've never bothered to figure out. You can search by item (i.e. bracelet), material (i.e. Pop tabs), colors (i.e. really?), and probably other things. There are even a few recipes.

Happy Crafting!
-LeahJoy

Minimalism

Yesterday in my Music History 3 class, we discussed minimalism.

Which reminds me of this t-shirt.

But anyway.

We listened to a lot of Steve Reich's music. "It's Gonna Rain", "Clapping Music", "New York Counterpoint: I. Fast", and "Violin Phase". Let's just say it's not my favorite stuff. It's incredibly repetitive and it makes me want to sleep.

In fact, "Violin Phase" is 15 minutes and 19 seconds long. And I did sleep. I fell asleep, in fact, on my keyboard.

My notes went like this:

• Violin Phase - Steve Reich
• 15 minutes long
• 2 violins - one plays the same thing the whole time (steady), the other shiftsmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Classic.

Sara Groves

This song is so beautiful and so convicting.

Thesis: To Be A Princess, You Must Have Absent-Minded (or entirely absent) Parents.

Did anyone ever notice this? Let's look at the six main princesses: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Jasmine, and Belle.

Cinderella
Where are her parents? She had a father, but he, for some reason, married an evil woman and then died. She lives with her step-mother, then meets a prince and they get hitched. She's a princess.

Snow White
Same story as Cinderella. Her father, apparently a lonely idiot, marries a witch and then he dies (more likely is murdered). She lives (somehow) with her stepmother, meets a prince and they get hitched (after some in-between time troubles like death). Voila! She's a princess.

Sleeping Beauty
Where are her parents? Well, she at least has both of them alive, but they haven't had any contact since, oh about BIRTH. She's been raised in the middle of the woods by 3 absent-minded fairies. She was already a princess, but she meets a prince anyway, they get hitched, and she's a married princess.

Ariel

Where is this girl's mother? I know there had to be one at some point; she has like, 80 sisters. With an absent-minded father like hers, this girl needs a mother to keep her in line. But nope. No mother in this girl's life. So she goes gallivanting off into all kinds of trouble, meets a prince, (through a long ordeal somehow becomes human), and voila! She's a princess.

JasmineAgain, where is her mother? Nowhere to be found. She just has her very stupid father, and a tiger. Not much help. Of course, she's already a princess, but she still meets a prince (or rather, a "street rat" with a genie) and they get married.

BelleAgain, stupid father, no mother. She meets a prince (in disguise/enchantment as a ... beast) and they get married.

What is with this? Apparently, if I have no parents, or only stupid ones, I can be a princess.

You know what? I'll keep my life, thanks. I like my parents, brains and all.

And Then There Were Two: On Bathroom Talk

I haven't posted in a while, and then I do twice in one day? What the deal is, yo. (Yeah, I can't diagram that sentence either.)

Today, I was in the bathroom at school (yes, there is only one bathroom in all of campus... oh sarcasm) and thinking about bathroom talkers. I am one of these semi-annoying (mostly-endearing?) people. I talk to my friends while we're on the toilet. If no one else is in there, or if I'm in the bathroom at home, I sing or hum or whistle or something. (Don't ask for clarification of "something".) It seems that most of my friends are okay with that, and we often have interesting conversations. Or just normal conversations turned interesting because we're both peeing.

Anyway.

Some people are NOT bathroom talkers. They'd rather be quiet and take care of their business and go. (Haha... go.) And the thing is, you can't tell by looking at someone whether or not they're a bathroom talker. Sometimes, even if you know a person you can't tell.

Today, when I walked into the bathroom, one of my professors was in there, washing her hands. We said, "Hey," but conversation stopped at that, because I entered the stall. I didn't want to strike up a conversation because I wasn't sure if she's a bathroom talker. Did she not strike up a conversation because she's not a bathroom talker, or because she didn't know if I was one or not? (She usually does strike up a conversation with me.)

So, this left me in a ponderous mood. And I thought, "What a great blog: The Philosophies of Bathroom Talking."

How do we really know if people are cool with it? When I go into the bathroom and talk to a friend, how did that conversation begin? How did we both know that we were okay with bathroom talking? (Oh oh oh it's magic... you know you know you know...) (Yeah, I went there.)

Do guys talk in the bathroom?

Questions, questions, questions.

(That's all philosophy is, really.)

Everybody's Doing It

Everyone else was updating, and I realized it been a while. So here I am.

In the music building.
Listening to the most obnoxious voice lesson EVER.
Seriously.
The teacher is the loudest soprano you'll ever meet, and doesn't have my favorite tone.
Same with the student, who is also nasally, has a weird lisp-of-sorts, and slightly off-key.
They are both really loud.
I am at the other end of the hall.
And I wish I had my headphones in.

I spent all my free time in the last 4 days watching the first season of Chuck. I had it out of the library for one week. I got a lot of knitting done, though.

Thankfully, I haven't had very much homework this week.

I gave a speech in ... Speech class.... On Larry Norman's life. If you don't know who he is, look him up. You'll thank me later. Maybe.

And that's about it.

In Which Leah Discusses Encouraging (And Discouraging) Things of Late

Words really affect me. "Words of Affirmation" is one of my top love languages - right up there with Physical Touch - so you can imagine how much discouraging words cut me.

I've had a lot of both today. Or maybe I was just extra sensitive.

In Speech class, I got my outline back. My outline on which I spent SEVEN hours in the library. My prof gave me 100% and wrote "Great Job!" on it. Plus, when she handed it back to me, she said, "That's a really really good outline." It may sound silly, but that meant so much to me. I was practically glowing. (I know.)

Then I had another class, which shall remain unnamed. I really like the prof usually, but today I said something silly and pointless (like I never do... right? haha) and the prof just said, "Well, thank you for sharing that," got a funny look on his face, and went back to class. It hurt. I honestly felt like crying. I know I'm more sensitive this week than I usually am (we've already been over that one) but it did hurt. (And I had just eaten lunch, so I wasn't really tired.)

But then I had a voice lesson. We didn't do any singing, since I just had my recital, but we talked about how the recital went and what we're going to do the rest of the semester (since I don't have to do a jury - huzzah!). It was really really good to hear what my voice teacher had to say. She had mostly positive comments, and what corrections she had to make, she did in a kind way.

Later, I was at work in a classroom building. I was singing while wiping off tables and a friend walked by (he was rehearsing down the hall) and said, mostly jokingly, "Your singing is too loud." I joked back, "Oh, shut up." And then later he said he was joking. But it kinda hurt. And it reminded me of how my brother used to tell me I couldn't sing well. And all the things my father said to hurt me. And I felt like crying again.

It's not that people can never criticize me. It's good for me. It's not that people can only say nice things to me. I'd have a big head if that were the case. But I wish people would see that I'm a sensitive person.

Or maybe I just need to stop acting tough. Do I? Do I act tough? 'Cause I'm not emotionally tough. Words cut me like butter (and not refrigerated butter).

I don't like butter.

Today I ate four cookies just before choir.
They all hit my blood stream about 5:10.
Wheeeeeeee.

We got out of work a half hour early tonight (so we could attend some school spirit event - hahahahahaha... I came home instead.) so that was nice.

I got to climb inside the Paper Gator bin at school.
That was spectacular.

Love and bloody thumbs (a result of said Paper-Gator-diving),
LeahJoy

On PMS, Blood Donating, and Insensitive Conductors

So, I donated a pint of blood today.

If I could think of one thing that would make me stranger than having just given a pint of my lifeblood away AND being in the midst of PMS-week - well... I wouldn't be here right now. Because honestly. I am so weird today.

First of all, donating blood really... eh, drains me. (Note to all readers: There is no such thing as an unintended pun.) So I'm super tired.

When I'm super tired, I want to cry.

Secondly, PMSing makes me want to cry.

So I just want to cry all the time, right?

Yeah.

Today in band, we had a guest conductor. Our regular director said, "I had him for clarinet lessons. He made me cry like every week." Yeah. I definitely cried in band today. Not overtly, because I'm tough like that, but there were tears streaming onto my reed, that's for sure.

(Side note to April: I definitely just typed "that's for you".)

You know why I cried?

Not 'cause he said anything mean or uncalled for. Not that I didn't play my part perfectly and I was upset. No. I was sitting cross-legged, and he asked me to put both feet on the floor.

So I cried?

Yeah.

I'm tired.

And then I was really hungry, and being PMSing and having just donated blood, I was craving Arby's like a pregnant woman.

So I just drove to Arby's and got a large curly fries and a 6-piece mozzarella sticks. Yes, I did. And I ate it all by myself.

In a back hallway practice room, actually.

I feel kinda guilty for eating in a practice room, but I made sure to get one with no carpet and no piano, so I wouldn't be making a big mess on something hard to clean.

And I'm kind of avoiding the other people in the music building right now, because that's another symptom of being tired and PMSing: I like to be alone.

Also, I have bad breath. Curly fries and mozzarella sticks will do that to you.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love mozzarella sticks? 'Cause I really do.

I guess that's enough randomosity for now.

Love and a pint o' blood,
Leah

My Birthday

So, I just turned 20! I know, right? Half of you think I'm old; the rest think I'm a baby.

And I had an interesting birthday.

My parents got me crayons! (Yes, I asked for them.) I got Crayola's Telescoping Crayon Tower with 150 crayons. Yes, 150 different crayons. Wowzers!

And I only got sung to once!!! Yay!

And my boyfriend made me this awesome coloring book about the Dandelion Princess (me, if you hadn't caught that yet).

And then I had a "birthday party" of sorts, but most of the people who said they'd come didn't. And that made me sad. But I had a lot of fun with the people who did (my boyfriend and my "little brothers") and I guess now I know who my true friends are. (In their defense, two of the other people were sick, two were car-less, and one had rehearsal. And one has no excuse.) Anyway, it made me upset, but I'm really kinda over it. We played Life and had a lot of fun.

And I picked out what I'm wearing for my recital! It's fuchsia, if you were wondering. And a dress.

And now I should go.

Love and scarves (because it's under 60 degrees and I'm a vocal major),
LeahJoy

Semi-Public Apology

So, I drive a white Chrysler 4-door. And this morning, I parked it next to another white car, which I found amusing. (I find most things amusing in the morning.) A few hours later, I was walking out to my car to trade out books, and I was just kind of lost in thought. I was actually thinking about how much my car needed a car wash. I walked up to a white Chrysler 4-door parked next to another white car, put my key in the lock, and then giggled as I wrote "WASH ME!" in the dirt on the side of the car. "What a funny thing to put on my own car!" I chuckled to myself.

Then I looked up.

Not. My. Car.

Hahahahhahaa......

So, to whom it may concern... I'm really sorry about what I wrote on your car. My car needs a wash, too.

Hahahaha......

About Time...

Well, they passed me, but they acted more like it was a kidney stone than a grade.

But, now I get to give my recital!!! Woohoo!

By the way, they took 2 days, 5 hours, and 11 minutes longer than they should have to let me know.

Do they realize the agony through which they are putting me?

What I Should Be Doing...

What I should be doing is writing a blog post right now about how wonderfully my recital hearing went and that I passed and got all my posters up and everything. Or maybe even that it flopped and I failed and now I'll go cry in shame.

Nope.

Instead of making a decision right after the hearing (like they're supposed to do), one member of the faculty had to rush off to a class and so they have to discuss it by email. Which takes like, 15 days, not 15 minutes. Ugh.

So, meanwhile, I'm held in suspense.

And now I have a sore throat. And no lozenges. :) 'Lozenges' is a funny word.

Love and ankle socks,

Leah

Nonsense

How do you like your eggs?

In cake.

Another Cinderella Story

So, ABC Family was showing A Cinderella Story and Another Cinderella Story back to back tonight, and since I spent the evening at home (due to unforeseen circumstances), I watched them. With my mom. And Chloe joined in for the first one. And we had popcorn and M&Ms and ice cream. Yes, we are girls.

Here are Leah-style Movie Reviews:

A Cinderella Story (with Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray) is cute. And maybe I cried a little. Not a whole lotta depth, but a lotta heart.

Another Cinderella Story (with Selena Gomez and some other people) is stupid. But it has great dancing!!!

And now I'm in a dance-y mood. Almost as good as the time I watched Take the Lead, which, by the way, is an excellent dance-y movie.

Two Days In

I started school on Wednesday. I'm a junior. That's so weird to say.

I had my first bassoon lesson, and it was wonderful! My new teacher is so much more helpful than my last teacher, and he doesn't expect me to practice all the time like my old teacher, either. So that's helpful, too.

Music History 3 is going to be a lot of fun, but also a challenge. That's the deal with a lot of things this semester. Everything is going to be challenging. My academic classes are Form and Analysis, Music History 3, Communication in Culture (Speech), and Keyboard Harmony. I'm also in the band, the choir, and the Contemporary Ensemble (Rock Band). And then I'm taking voice lessons and bassoon lessons. And giving my junior recital. And leading a band at church. And doing a small group at church.

Yes, I'm crazy.

So far, I'm keeping on top of it, and I've only stressed out majorly about 3 times so far in 2 days. I think we'll be alright.

Well, my laptop battery is about to die, so I'll shut this baby down for a while.

Love and nail polish,

LeahJoy

No Comments? Really?

That's sad. I put at least an hour and a half into that last blog (Have you tried adding pictures? It's nuts!) plus my "mischief making" in the closets. Oh well. I enjoyed it.

I've been away since then, sort of. I spent Thursday-Saturday camping with my family. That was great, but my hair still smells like campfire smoke. Of course, that'd probably change if I had washed it more than twice since then.

Today, Labor Day, was our traditional Labor Day. My family picks up a bunch of KFC and heads to a local park to pig out on delicious chicken and potato wedges and biscuits and ... mmmm... it's delicious. And then we kinda groan for a while 'cause we ate too much. Then we play whiffle ball and explore the creek. After the park, we go out for ice cream.

Nothing too out of the ordinary happened today, but a few years ago... we had the Labor Day to remember! I think Jacob lost a few teeth that day... or maybe it was Chloe. Anyway, and then when we went out for ice cream, we found a wallet. So we tried to return it to the guy at the address on the driver's license, but he had just moved or something. I don't remember everything of the wild goose chase, but in the end, his girlfriend came to pick it up a few days later.

Anyway, when we got home from trying to return this wallet, there were cop cars in front of our neighbors' house. Apparently, the daughter had called the cops on her single mother. The daughter had a lot of behavioral issues, and she's a lot better now, for the record.

So, yeah... This Labor Day was rather tame.

In other news, I have now sold 4 of the 6 textbooks I wanted to sell! Yes!

Well, it is now tomorrow.

Love and lollipops,

LeahJoy

Ever Optimism

Here's that blog which I promised:

Reasons to Be Glad I'm Cleaning Daverman and Ketcham

First of all, background information. Last year, I cleaned in Faber and Gordon Halls. I grew quite attached to those buildings, which is sort of silly, but well... I did. Okay. This year, I've been switched to Daverman and Ketcham halls. If you have ever been in any of these buildings, you would understand. But, chances are you haven't, so I'll do my best to make this clear.


















Faber is a classroom and office building, built rather recently (comparatively) and kept in decent shape.


















Look at that nice open hallway.

















I can't deny the building with the MIDI lab!





















A well-lit, well-ventilated, wide open janitor closet? Yes, my friends. Yes.






















A secret (if slightly creepy) room with a magical box that controls the clocktower. Oh, it's too good to be true.


















Plenty of brass to polish.






















AND a snazzy new paint job to boot. (Well, I like it. I may be the only one, but I do like it.)

Gordon is the music building. Need I say more?
























Sure, our closet is kinda creepy and has exposed wiring and a funky smell, but we keep it as clean and tidy as possible.





















Look at that. It's actually organized. Awww....

Now, Ketcham is an office building, but kind of an old, gone-by-the-wayside one.

And Daverman is a classroom building - with a science wing. And the whole building is really really old, and no one bothers to keep it up.

And so I am trying to be an optimist.
Once again, I present to you:
Reasons to Be Glad I'm Cleaning Daverman and Ketcham

1. If I ever take up an interest in zoology, I will have everything I need to get a good start.


















2. Or rocks.


















3. Or RNA Silencing??






















4. Or taxidermy. Yeah.


















I wish I had stolen these pictures from somewhere.






















But I can't make this stuff up.
















These ones don't have eyes yet. That's great!

5. If I ever need a scene for a horror film, it's all set right here in the Ketcham closet!






















The scene upon entering.



















I'm so glad we have exposed wires near chemicals! Yay!























This isn't creepy at all! See, my flash lit up these photos, so they look cheery and happy!


















Aww, look at this cute, tiny, cramped space we have. See all that open air between the camera and our lovely chemical dispenser? (The blue thing on the wall.) Yeah, that's where the door opens. And right behind the camera is a half flight of concrete steps leading down to a concrete floor covered in nasty! This is so great!

6. And the Daverman closet could prove useful as a torture chamber, if I ever need handy access to one of those. It's small, enclosed, and has rather questionable piping.























Look at how cute and small it is!























Will someone please tell me why the vent cover is missing? And why we still use this fan?
























Really?























Dripping sink - perfect for Chinese water torture!























This just makes me hungry.

7. I will have more chances to recycle!!!!


















8. I will now have plenty of opportunities to identify and classify dead bugs! Check out this corner of the world:








(We swept not too long ago, believe it or not.)
(And you can't even see all of them in this picture.)














So there you have it. That's about as happy as I get now. :)

Love and dead bugs,

LeahJoy

P.S. To get all these photos, I had to do a bit of... mischief. And this blog took me nearly an hour and a half to get up because of all the pictures. I really hope you like this one, because I went to some serious means to get this strange end.

Flight of the Conchords

They're funny. That's all. :)

Expect Lots of YouTube videos for the next few days

'Cause I like them.

This is one of the most beautiful guitar pieces ever.

"Rylynn" by Andy McKee

This video is live so it's a bit scratchy and there are some flups, but I really like the emotion. You can also watch the non-live version here.

I love harmonics.

This Isn't What I'm Supposed to Be Doing

I got some free music from Amazon yesterday. I got their email about the 50 CDs for $5 (each, heh), and so I checked it out (nothing in which I was interested) but there was a section about the free albums. Samplers, mostly. So I got a Celtic album, a Brazilian album, a "Romantic Moments Digital Sampler", and the Amazon Sampler. I'm listening to the Celtic album right now and it's awesome. And it was free, which is even awesomer.

Today, I adopted a new little brother. I really like being a sister, and being raised around a lot of boys, I really like to spend time with guys. So, I have three - now four - boys I've adopted as my little brothers. (For the record, only 1 of them is actually physically 'little' compared to me.) (He says he's taller, but he just has big hair.) They're just the boys I love on and care about. I make sure they don't get into too much trouble - and now that they're all in college, boy do I have my job cut out for me. It helps that they all go to my school, and that they're all as insane as I am.

We got new furniture in one of the buildings that we clean, and I'm very happy and excited about it. The old furniture was yucky teal, and had black grease all over the armrests. The new furniture doesn't have armrests, so that'll be easier to clean. :)

My sister and I had a table at the Farmers' Market this summer, and yesterday was our last day. It was drizzling the whole time, but we still made a decent profit, so that was happy.

Freshman orientation starts on Monday at our school, so today, Housekeeping was in charge of setting up 1,000 chairs (with tables) in the gym for their dinner. Do you have any idea how much fun that is? If you say, "Tons of fun, I'm sure. I bet you all had a rockin' blast!," you're wrong. I could have been cleaning underneath a toilet. Hahahaha, no really, I could have. I'm not sure which I'd prefer actually. The chairs and tables smell a little better, but they sure take a lot longer. Anyway, the point is: Housekeeping keeps our campus running. People have no idea. We do.

We also started prepping classrooms, to make sure each one can fit enough people. We had a list of how many people are supposed to be able to fit in each classroom (based on class rosters) and then we went for it. Some people are really ... not thinking. For example, they decided to schedule a class of 33 people in a room that holds about 24. So we squished them in. And then last year, some people upstairs in a building decided to steal half our tables and chairs, so we don't have enough downstairs, but what can we do about it? Well, we're housekeeping and have the keys, so we stole a lot of them back, but we still need a bunch more. Yay! No.

I just rambled for two paragraphs about work. How devastating.

My boyfriend's sister is having her grad party tonight.

Ooh, on Sunday, we're having an outdoor service at our church. Anyone who reads this should totally come, because it'll be fun. It's at 10:00.

My dad just mowed past my window. It smells like freshly cut grass now! I love that smell. And the smell of clean laundry, and citrus, and flannel, and clean boys. :)

Love and sticky notes,
LeahJoy

Work, work, everywhere

Does anyone else find this? I see my job everywhere. I work 40 hours out of my week, but the rest of my hours are spent thinking about work. How annoying? Very. (To make the rest of this understandable: I work housekeeping at a university.)

Examples:

We have a keyless entry for our garage door, one of the push button PIN number thingamabobs. (Spell check says 'thingamabob' is a word. Impressive.) There is also a building at work that has a keypad to get in. Today, as I was closing my garage door in the morning, I started punching in the code for work. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. Wow.

Or, I was in a public restroom today at our local farmers' market, and I found myself pushing the trash down to make more room. And picking up paper towel off the floor. And shining the faucet tops. I even did this at my cousin's wedding.

I *heart* my brain. :)

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You

Today is a ramble day. I'm planning something spectacular (with PHOTOS. and a LIST!) for later, maybe the end of this week or next week, but that is not ready yet. I have not found time to photograph the stuffed squirrel. Now you're interested. But you have to wait.

Does this happen to any of you?: The month-ends are so weird for me. Someone says something is happening September 1st, for example, and that feels so far away. But really it's a week from tomorrow. So when I say things need to be done before September, they wait until... well, the beginning of September to get done. But if I say the end of August, they'll get done.

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Regina Spektor. I love her voice and her music. As for the lyrics, I just have to say that she's very... imaginative.

I just bought all of my textbooks. I saved a whole BUNCH from buying at the bookstore, but that's not hard to do if you buy anywhere else. Basically everything in the bookstore is a rip-off. My first semester, I spent $700 on books. Yes, $700. Granted, some of them were for 3 semesters, but still. That's ridiculous.

At the beginning of the summer, my older brother had a box of clothes to donate to Goodwill, but I got to them first and got three pairs of pants (and a Marvel t-shirt). One of those pairs has been designated as my "work pants". Well, they're kind of shorts now. As the summer went on, they developed huge holes in the knees, so I just cut them off (they were about halfway there already). Now they're developing holes in the butt and by my pockets (where my phone, keys and chapstick rub against them). I might have to patch them - but there are only 2 weeks left! They've made it this far!

Love and ... lunch,

LeahJoy

Yes, Please.

Here's a rockin' craft idea.

For the Wind Player in Your Life.

Here's stationery featuring Esmerelda the Oboe-Playing Duck, Elmer the Bassoon-Playing Frog, and the unnamed Cat Clarinetist and Bird Flutist. Very cool.

This is somewhat epic.

If you like Mulan, you'll love this. If you don't like Mulan, you might like this anyway.

Well, I suppose we all know about these blog-things by now...

Hello friends and foes, family and strangers,

I started this blog as a way to share randomness and hopefully joyness. Please expect plenty of Dr. Seuss-isms, craft ideas, funny quotes, fairy dust, YouTube videos, random stories, questions, reminiscence, grammar, and all-around silliness. (For the record, I am a proponent of the Oxford comma.)

And that is all the introduction you get.

Speaking of reminiscence, my grandparents's answering machine message used to go something like this: "Well, I suppose we all know about these answering machine things by now, so ... I guess you know what to do." Except my favorite part is that my grandpa, who was recording the message, has a relatively thick Dutch accent (Frisian, to be specific), so if you can say it in your head (or aloud) with that voice, you just may get the full effect.

Today has been one of the most stressful days ever. This week has been one of the most stressful weeks ever. I slept naught on Sunday night, so Monday was SUPER fun. I took drugs (natural ones, though) to help me sleep last night, so I woke up refreshed, but of course, after a few weeks of bad sleep, I need more than that to recover.

Well, you don't really want to read about my sleeping habits, do you?

Today, for the first work day all summer, I cleaned ZERO toilets today. Woohoo!

Love and clean laundry,

LeahJoy