If I love you Wednesday, What is that to you?

Oh, hello, Gentle Reader. What a splendid day it is to have a No Whining Wednesday, wouldn't you say?

But Wednesday isn't what I'm going to tell you about right now. Let me tell you about my Tuesday, in food: I started off with a healthy breakfast of oatmeal, accompanied by a delightful cup of cinnamon-hazelnut coffee. Around 11:30 or so, I started to get a bit hungry, so I had a lovely snack of cauliflower with a little bit of sour cream to dip it in. Delicious, and nutritious! Now, before I move on to the afternoon feeding frenzy, let me tell you a little something about the company I work for: they are all about employee morale. Not just in a superficial way, either; they genuinely care about their employees and want us to be happy. Now, there are kind of a lot of us, so instead of every person's birthday being celebrated with a cake &c., we have a "Cake Day" once a month to celebrate everyone's birthday that falls in that month. Yesterday was cake day. Now, often, everyone will get together and chip in for a birthday person's lunch on their actual birthday (or thereabouts). So, yesterday turned out to also be lunch day for LK, who turned 40 this year. The office ordered lunch from a local deli. Now, I already had the fixin's for my daily peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, but I said "What the heck" and ordered a half-pound of macaroni salad. Figured I'd eat a little on the side, bring it home, have the rest for a few days. Well, here's how that actually worked: I ordered it, ate a quarter pound of it along with my peanut butter sandwich, and then ate a giant slice of birthday cake along with a brownie and some cookies that DH bakes (oh she is such a good baker). Then, I went home from work. I was pretty tired, and I didn't feel like cooking anything, so instead I had a bowl of BooBerry cereal. That's not terribly filling, though, so I was still kinda hungry (I'm not really sure how). So, I finished off the macaroni salad. Then I ate a bunch of Cheetos. Unsurprisingly, I had to put on my big pants this morning. Also, I feel a little bit nauseous. I love my job.

In other birthday-related news, this weekend is my baby sister's 30th birthday. My tiny, preemie baby sister, born at four-and-a-half pounds with a heart murmur. The wee little thing whose diapers I changed, who I fed bottles too, whose ticklish spots I discovered (her neck and her knees. She makes the cutest little giggly snort when you tickle her neck). The first time I touched her was in an incubator at the hospital, a plastic case with holes in the sides and big rubber glove things you stuck your hands in. She made it through, obvs, and she's officially a grownup now. (This also puts all four of us sibs in the same decade, agewise, at least for a year and a couple of months until I ruin it for another 8 years by turning 40.) So, we'll be having a lovely famerly BBQ on Sunday, and there will be much wine and merriment. I love my family. They're all kind of crazy, you know, but who isn't? And they're *my* kind of crazy, so they get me. My sisters are made of pure awesome. I might be a little in love with them.

Anyway, that's my week right now, and where I'm at on the happy scale. Fat and in love with my family. I think it's a pretty good way to be. It's about lunchtime now, and I'm going to the diner today with my boss. She said something about grilled cheese and soup, and that sounds just ambrosial right about now. Off I go then! Happy No Whining Wednesday!

Oh, it's already been broughten.

Today's post is dedicated to the very beautiful Lainey Awesomeface Bobainey, who is illin' like a villain today. Get Well Soon, SugarTits!

Yes, it is No Whining Wednesday again, and here I am, trying desperately not to whine. I'm midway through my third week of being stupid sick, which is angering me. But, today is the first day in those 2.5 weeks that I actually feel pretty chipper, so yay! Go me. Also, I didn't get super angry at traffic today like I have been (I'm really, REALLY cranky when I'm sick. You can imagine the joy of my coworkers), so go me again!

In other news, Pajiba has announced the start of the Cannonball Read II: Electric Bookaloo: In My Pants: Not Without My Library Card: Mother May I Read With Danger for November 1st. I'm very excited about it! So much so that I started a whole separate blog just for my Cannonball Reviewing! The gist is this: You read a book a week for a year (or rather, 52 books in a year), and blog a 3-4 paragraph review of each one. Books have to be at least 200 pages, and there are no graphic novels allowed (and I think no children's books? I'd better get a bit more familiar with the rules...); I know they can be fiction or non-, and short story collections have to have at least six stories. Anyway, there are lots of awesome people joining in, and it's for a good cause (a donation to the college fund of a little guy who lost his mom, a Warrior Queen, to leukemia earlier this year. Plus, literacy, yay!). Please, check it out and also feel free to join in! I've got a list of about 20 books so far, all of which have been laying about the house in various states of un-read-ness. Feel free to give me suggestions, though I won't necessarily take them!

Meanwhile, classes are going strong still. Halfway through the semester (and I could've had three books for the Read with my Films & Literature class, but I think we'll be finished with the third before the Read begins, so only 2 from there. It's too bad, too, because I just finished The Virgin Suicides, and I have ...thoughts and feelings. Perhaps I'll blog about it anyway, as a practice review). Saw The Limey for the first time in my other class the other night, still love Terrence "Badass" Stamp. Possible more now. I've got a new niece on the way (just got a text that my sister-in-law was induced, so any time now!). So far, her name is Summer Austin. She'll be joining big sisters Sumayah Angel and Savannah Anne, who are both happy that she wasn't born on their birthdays (10/8 and 10/4 respectively) so they don't have to share.

So everything's pretty sweet, even if I am tired from the sickness, which I am NOT down with at all, by the way, thankyouverymuchDisturbed. And now, I'd better get back to work before I get fired and REALLY have something to whine about...

Mid-weekend update: Tattoo fever!

So. As many of you may know, I have a single tattoo. Some of you may even have seen it. Well, I'm in the market for .... well, frankly, at least 7 more. I have a number of ideas, though no clear ones. Except for this one: I watched Strictly Ballroom again today, and remembered how much I'd like a tattoo of the phrase, "A life lived in fear is a life half-lived". My problems are these: I need to figure out where to put it, and if necessary, how to split the line; I need to figure out if I want it in English or as in the film ("Vivir con miedo es como vivir a medias", although I'm pretty sure I'll go with English); and I need a font.

I spent several hours online today searching fonts, and I found a few that could work. I think my favorite thus far is this one. It's not too fancy but not too plain, it's legible, and it's light. It looks pretty in English and in Spanish. It's very much akin to handwriting, which I like; I have considered an Edwardian script or something like it, but I'm not sure I want something that ... neat. I think I'd prefer it a little messy, a little imperfect, kind of like life. I also liked this one, which is a bit cleaner (though still a little pitted), yet kind of old-fashioned, like something you'd find in a sailor's diary from the mid-18th century. I sort of liked this one, but the more I look at it, the more it reminds me too much, I think, of those greeting cards that are supposed to be real emotions, or something. I don't know. Too Hallmark-esque, I think. I looked at a bunch of the "Gothic" styles, but they're very heavy, and I don't think they work with the sentiment. Naturally, I've thought about using my own handwriting, but I don't know that I like it well enough to wear it forever on my body, or if it's the style that I want. I'm not particularly artistic like that. I also need to decide if I actually want to capitalize all the words (i.e. A Life Lived in Fear is a Life Half Lived), or stick with lowercase; I like the idea of capitalizing for fancier-ness, but it's not terribly realistic. On the other hand, who the hell needs "realistic" in a tattoo? And what does that even mean?

As for location, oh dear. That's why it took me until I was 35 to get my first one: deciding where to put it. I wound up deciding on lower back (yeah, I know, shut up) because it's easily covered up (no, it really is; only girls that wear hooker clothes can't keep it covered, and I don't wear hooker clothes. Often). I am thinking of down my side, but closer to my armpit or closer to my hip? I am also considering my upper back, right below my neck, which would then necessitate a split. How would I split the line then? A life lived in fear/is a life half lived, or A life lived in fear is a/life half lived? I feel like it would be too ...even the first way. Unless I have the top line start a bit to the left of center and the bottom line a bit to the right. I'm not completely against the even way, I'm just not sure. Another option, and one I love, is the inside of my forearm, though I wear a lot of short sleeved/sleeveless items in the summer. Do I care that much? I'm not sure. If I did this, it would go from elbow to wrist, I do know that much. I could also do it on the top of my foot, somehow, though I don't know how I would work that. I could also do it in a spiral, but I think I like that idea less. I thought of doing it around my ankle, like an anklet, but I think I'm pretty "feh" on that one. Also, I don't think the handwriting-y font would work that way. It'd have to be something neater and more even. I think the font depends in part on the location, generally; like if I were to put it down my side, I'd go with the first one I linked above, while on my forearm, I think I'd be more likely to choose the second. I'd also more likely choose lowercase lettering on my forearm, but capitalization down my side.

So, as you can see, I probably won't be getting this for a while. Clearly I'm not ready yet. I'd kind of like to make these decisions, though, so that I'm prepared should the opportunity arise for me to get it. And I'd like the opportunity to arise soon. Meanwhile, help a girl out! Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas? Despise one, or all, of the ones I've come up with? By all means, weigh in! There are sure to be pictures once I finally do it. If that's, y'know, an incentive for ya.