Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Finding the Bright Side

Oh, friends, this has been a month of exhaustion and if you've been around me at all in the last couple weeks you've probably heard me rant about working way too many late nights and early mornings. But there comes a point where you get tired of wallowing in negativity and have to find something to smile about. So this post is about the little spots of sunshine in life that brighten up the gray days.

--Rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's a much slower process this time; I'm savoring it. First season Giles is the best. The absolute best. And I don't understand how anyone can watch this show and not love Buffy Summers. And holy cow is Joyce the ditziest of ever or what? I forgot how ridiculous she is.

--A cute boy texted me out of the blue and called me pretty. DO YOU KNOW HOW OFTEN THAT NEVER HAPPENS???

--After my thirty-six hour shift from hell (with a couple four hour sleep breaks) I now have two closing shifts and then two whole days off. Mmmm. That means I get to sleep in and wake up naturally. My circadian rhythm is set to the beat of a 3:45 a.m. drum so I don't have to set an alarm; I always wake up before seven now.  Four days with sleep and breakfast! #winning

--The Lego Movie. THE LEGO MOVIE IS PERFECT. I want to read a Batman Meets Lando crossover fic so bad. Other best parts: Metalbeard, Bad Cop, and Abraham Lincoln. Historical jokes are the best jokes. I would totally see it again-- everything about it was awesome!

--I'm reading Living My Life by Emma Goldman and I basically want to BE Emma Goldman. I've loved her since discovering Ragtime and it turns out she was EVEN MORE PERFECT than I thought. Feminist, anti-violence, pro-birth control, not afraid of authority, bookworm, emotional lady: everything I love.

--It's seventy degrees and sunny here in Salt Lake. Beautiful-- it feels like April.

--Did I mention that a cute boy called me pretty of his own free will with no prompting from me at all?

Friday, February 7, 2014

A Hodgepodge-esque Post

This post is going to be a random assortment of topics that I want to write about, but not a whole entry about. You have been warned.

Reasons February is the Worst Month
1. It's so short. You blink and it's March and then you start panicking because you're a FOURTH OF THE WAY through the year and haven't done anything yet.
2. Cold. The cold drags on. This is not specific to February, but it doesn't help me like it any better.
3. Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is evil.
4. Spelling. FebRuary? Come on, bro. Just spell it Febuary like everyone freaking pronounces it.


What's going at work, Rebecca? You seem stressed.
I'm glad you asked. Due to some unforeseen staff changes from corporate, I'm now basically the manager of the store while we wait for our new one to fly in from Arizona in a couple weeks. Have I been trained to be a manager? No. Nope. None of that training has been completed. But I am still in charge of the store and providing paperwork and faxing forms and scheduling shifts and all the other alliterations that managers do. The challenge is kind of intoxicating, not gonna lie. But I'm also working six days a week. That is most decidedly NOT intoxicating. I've been at this company for only three months, so it's very surreal to me to look around and realize that for the moment I'm the authority figure. I'm the one people call when there's a problem. Not sure how this came to be.

In related news, I didn't go back to school this semester so I could work full time. This turned out to be handy due to the previous paragraph.


Reading updates, please
But of course! I just finished Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Not exactly summer beach reading material, but an interesting story. Very psychological. I started drawing comparisons to Les Miserables (character wise, not plot wise). Raskolnikov is a darker Valjean. Petrovich is clearly Javert with a few more shakes of cunning. Razumikhin is a mix of Enjolras and Marius. Sonya is Fantine. Luzhin would be Mssr. Thenardier. And then there's Avdoyta. I'd say that she's Eponine, because I'm lacking an Eponine, but she's not. She's just the best. Girl power.There's a passage where Dostoevsky describes Luzhin's idea of a perfect bride and I had to stop reading and say out loud, "It's Cosette. He's looking for Cosette." I mean, a pretty young thing who has lived a life of deprivation and will be eternally grateful and obedient to her rescuer/husband? IT'S SO COSETTE I CAN'T EVEN SAY #notahugefan

Also, I've started using hashtags more. #guiltypleasures #makeitstop #idon'twanttobethisperson


Miscellaneous 
-I fell in love with Frozen-- top five Disney movies for sure. They did such a great job on Hans; I've dated a Hans and wow they hit the nail right on the head. I went in with the expectation I would hate Olaf and everything about him, but I'm happy to say I was wrong. "I don't have a skull. Or bones." Kristoff is adorable and Anna is me and Elsa is a boss. I got Wicked vibes all through-- two female leads, people aren't what they seem, and Idina Menzel-- and we should all know what a fan of Wicked I am.

-My car is back. In related news, my gorgeous rental car is gone. I was driving a 2014 Chevy Malibu for two weeks, and it was the best of ever. I didn't think I cared about cars or saw them as a status symbol until I was driving one that I can't afford to touch, let alone own. I might care more than I thought.

-I already completed one New Year's resolution-- I went on a date! Miracles do happen! Haha, in all seriousness it's nice to have checked off both my go-on-a-date-before-my-birthday and go-on-a-date-in-2014 in one fell swoop.

That's about it for now, faithful readers. I have a feeling this year is going to be VERY dramatic (it's already gone in a radically different direction than I predicted), so buckle up and try to enjoy the ride!