Your Cheesy 80’s Music Video Of the Day
Posted by: msannomalley on: February 20, 2009
Here’s your cheesy 80’s music video of the day. “Go for Soda” by Kim Mitchell. I have a fondness for this song because it was one of those cheesy songs where everyone ran out to the floor during the big 9th grade dance to dance to it.
I admit to never having seen the music video for this until now. I find the little balding dancing man gadding about on the slacker’s coffee table rather horrifying in a very Coily The Spring Sprite-esque way. The concert in the refrigerator is painful to watch. And then I was traumatized by the fat kid’s dancing at the end.
If you don’t believe me, then watch for yourself.
My Other Closet Obsession
Posted by: msannomalley on: February 20, 2009
Lately, and I think it has to do with school, I find myself not knitting as much and getting back into one of my old childhood obsessions–Trixie Belden.
Years ago, I used to belong to the fan community and I even wrote fan fiction (just not under this nom de plume). But all good things must come to an end, they say. A site that I used to frequent didn’t give me the same old “homey” vibe I used to get and I was thinking of leaving anyway. But then some other members did something shitty to another member that I was not going to stand for, so I resigned sooner than I had planned on it.
That’s the vague, Cliff notes version of it. And this happened four years ago.
During the interim, I basically had nothing to do with Trixie Belden. I didn’t read my books. I was not on the Internet for close to a year. I was having personal problems offline, too. I had taken up knitting. You don’t dare get catty and bitchy with a knitter. We wield pointy things. The only “Trixie” thing I did was occasionally revisit some of the old fan fiction I had written. But that was all.
A few weeks back, and out of curiosity, I found that old site I used to hang out with. There were a lot of people I’d never heard of before, but I noticed that a good many of the people who, in my opinion, “ruined” that place were no longer there as well.
I poked around the site for a bit, and I came to the conclusion that if given the opportunity, I wouldn’t go back. I’m not all that sure I’d be welcomed. But even so, I doubt that I’d have the time to devote to it this time. It seemed to me, when I looked around, that if you want to be a part of this, you are required to give up a lot of your time. I’m not entirely sure I could ever trust some of the people who are still there. Apparently some of them used to frequent a secret forum where they’d bash other people in the community. Since I had crossed one of these people, I have no doubt that my name had come up on more than one occasion. It hurt and it made me angry to know that some of these people who preached togetherness and kindness and being like the characters in these books, were behaving in a very unBWG way and were allowed to get away with it because they were the so called “in crowd”.
I used to be one of those people who spent all their spare time online. Things in my house suffered for it. In the interim, I figured out that I need to get my satisfaction in life from actual physical things and the relationships with people around me.
Waxing Philosophical on My Birthday
Posted by: msannomalley on: January 23, 2009
Three-hundred and sixty five days from now, I will hit the Big 4-0. Yes, it’s my birthday today and I’m not ashamed to admit that I am 39 years old.
I’m okay with it. I really am. And I’m okay with turning 40 next year, too. I hope that I have the same excitement next year that I did when I turned 30. Back when that happened, I purposely went out and bought a coffee mug that shouted “30 Rocks!” I embraced turning 30 in a big way.
I’m comfortable with all of this because I’d rather be the age I am now than be 18 again. Youth is horribly overrated. The only way I would even consider being 18 again is if I could keep all of the knowledge I have gained over the years.
One thing I have come to realize about age and getting older is that you can’t stop the inevitable. No Botox, no plastic surgery, no hair plugs, no Viagra, no dressing like a 20 year old is going to stop the calendar. The only thing about this that I can control is what I do with the time I am given.
When I turned 35, I ended up doing a lot of soul searching. I had one of those “I’m 35 and what have I done with my life” moments. I came to the realization that when I turned 40, I did not want to have another “what have I done with my life” moment and that I have the power to do something with my life. Which is what led me to go back to school to get an associate degree.
School is for my job, so I can get a degree and move up. I have the skills and I have the intelligence, but I lack the degree to move up in the company. But school is also for myself because I’ve always talked about going back. Talk is just words. Talking about doing something isn’t going to get it done. Action is what gets it done. Taking the bull by the horns and doing something to change your situation is the only way to make the most of the time you are given on this Earth. For years, I would talk about going back, but I couldn’t afford it. But when I realized that I could save up the amount of money to pay for one class and that one classes material from a few paychecks (after bills are paid), it made my “I can’t afford it” excuse null and void. I decided that yes, I was going to do it, even if it meant I took one class at a time and it took me longer than five years to do it.
I’m not scared of the school work required of me to do this. But there is that leap into the unknown that is scary.
Someday, when this is done, or perhaps right after this is done, I would like to do something else “for me”. I would like to transfer my credits over to get a Bachelor’s degree in business. It’s not so much for work as it is more personal.
I could have gone to college right out of high school, but didn’t. In many ways, I’m glad I didn’t go then because at that point in my life, I could not have appreciated it. Knowing the person I was then, I probably would not have finished school. Back then, I didn’t think I deserved to go to college, or that I was worthy of going to college, even though I was certainly smart enough to get in and I could have worked my tail off to pay for it myself if that’s what it took to get through.
It took me years to work out all the issues I had when I was younger, particularly regarding my self-esteem. I wasted a lot of my life and squandered opportunities because I didn’t think I was worthy of it. I don’t believe that now I deserve to go to college. Deserve implies some sort of entitlement, and I am not entitled to a Bachelor’s Degree. However, I want to go to college. I want to get my bachelor’s degree. I will do what I have to in order to get through school and realize my goals.
Part of “growing up” is realizing that you and only you can determine the path your life takes. Outside forces may try to derail your plans, but in the end, you are the one in control of things. You may be born into a set of circumstances, but they are by no means permanent. You can work your way out of those circumstances. It may not be easy and it may not be the obvious path, but you can work your way out of them. When you want things in life, you have to earn them. You have to start out with nothing and work for what you have. A lot of young people now seriously need to learn this lesson. They need to suck it up, buckle down, and get to work. Nothing good is gained when it is merely handed to you.
I did not have the greatest of childhoods. I grew up with emotionally distant parents who neglected to give me the basic necessities in life (like regular doctor and dentist check-ups, not the latest fashions or a Walkman), while somehow always finding the money to do things that they wanted to do. They did not show me affection, nor did they give me moral support, which is free and shouldn’t cost a thing. It should be no surprise that I ended up with issues.
However, I have what I have in spite of them. I had to be willing to face up to things that were not pretty or nice about myself and I had to be willing to change in order to do this. I had to be willing to take responsibility for my own life to get where I am now. Had I not done this…I’m not even sure I want to think about what kind of person I would be.
Holy Crap…
Posted by: msannomalley on: October 5, 2008
I haven’t blogged here since June.
I’ve been busy, though. My toe has healed, but it aches something fiercely when it rains or the weather is changing.
I’ve been knitting. I finished some stuff, and I picked up the Sampler Afghan again. I am about a quarter of the way through it.
I was in Ravelry today and I realized that I’ve been on it for a year now.
When It Rains, It Pours
Posted by: msannomalley on: June 27, 2008
- In: Knitting| Verbal Diarrhea| WIP
- 1 Comment
And it’s not about flooding, either.
Two days ago, I broke my toe in two places. It’s the fourth toe on my right foot. I accomplished this feat the other day when I got up from my chair to refill my coffee and my toe connected with the leg of my kitchen table. I’ve been off of work since Wednesday, and I’ve been sort of doped up on pain pills. The doctor gave me one of those walking cast/shoe things to wear and a prescription for hydrocodone. Today is the first day I went without taking the pain pills, which is good, because yesterday, they knocked me out.
In my more lucid moments, I worked on the Shapely Tank. 
I’m often rethinking the sleeve idea, but I think it’s mainly because the top is going so well and I’m very impatient to get this thing finished and wear it. I may actually have a top that will turn out and will fit me. I’m going to have quite a bit left over yarn, even after using the yarn I frogged from the other top I used first before the balls of yarn I had yet to use. I may have enough to knit another top or a shrug or a lot of dish clothes. 
Today is the first day I haven’t taken the prescription pain pills. I tried just taking an Aleve and it seems to be working just fine. The good thing about this is that I have time to sit and knit, since I can’t get up and do anything else.
My next project, after I finish this, is to do my first felting project. I’ve been in the hunt for a new purse and I’m not seeing anything I like, so I decided to knit one and felt it. I bought some skeins of Lamb’s Pride Bulky at Yarns By Design. I just ordered some of the larger tips for my options needles at Knit Picks (along with some sock yarn, some of the longer cable sock size circulars that I don’t have, and a book since they’re having a book sale). I think I’m going to be bold and try to wing it as far as the pattern goes.
Even though it seems that I’ve had some recent bad luck, in many ways, they are blessings in disguise. Having one vehicle is inconvenient, but we’re getting used to it and adapting. On the positive side, we are not just hopping into the car and driving anywhere. We’re planning our trips and consolidating them to be more efficient. Other positives are that we are only insuring one vehicle and we’re also spending a bit less on gas than what we were with both vehicles. On the negative side, I’m sort of dependent on my husband to get me to work and if something happens to me and I have to leave early, he does, too. And I can’t go and do all the other things I want to do, too. I still haven’t found a compromise with him on this yet.
Somehow, I think my broken toe is a blessing in disguise, too, but I haven’t found what the blessing was, yet. Maybe more knitting time.
Ms. Ann The Lazy Blogger
Posted by: msannomalley on: June 10, 2008
I am a very lazy blogger. Actually, I don’t want to push the previous post down the page. 
I have been knitting, but not much, though. I started knitting Yosemite from the spring Knitty with Knit Picks Shine Worsted, but I ended up frogging it because the gauge got all wonky on me and it grew. I achieved gauge when I swatched, but the sweater just grew. I had finished the front and was working on the back when I got to a point where I could try it on and I was swimming in it. So I frogged it and now I’m using the yarn to knit The Shapely Tank Top, but with sleeves.
I still want to knit Yosemite, but I will do it later and probably with different yarn, and maybe alter it enough to put longer sleeves on it. The Knit Picks Shine seems so suited to the Shapely Tank Top. The drape is excellent.
In other news, my son got his driver’s license the other day. He’s actually very “eh” about it. 
Speaking of cars and teenage drivers, my son “totaled” my car, so now we only have one vehicle. Actually the accident wasn’t his fault. He had the right of way and another car turning left failed to yield to him at the green light. Needless to say, physics came into play and the airbags deployed. My car was 10 years old and it cost more to replace the air bags alone than what the car was worth. And right now, we can’t afford a second car payment, so I got my hours changed at work and my hubby drops me off. We took the money I got from the insurance company for my car and paid off a good chunk of the van. Once the van is paid off, then I can save up to put a downpayment on another car. I would like to finance as little as possible, so a down payment is necessary. A larger one is preferred.
Now watch, because gas is so high, by the time I have money saved up, we can’t afford to have two cars. 
We’re used to having one vehicle now, but it has put a dent in my extracurricular activities. And what having one vehicle hasn’t cramped, the price of gas has. The vehicle we lost was the one with the better gas mileage.
Johnny Depp in Oshkosh
Posted by: msannomalley on: April 26, 2008
Long time, no write.
Well, about two weeks ago, Johnny Depp was down in Oshkosh filming a movie and everyone was all excited about it. Including me. On April 16th, I saw him in person, and now I can die a happy woman.
We went on Wednesday, because on Tuesday morning, I saw on the news that he came out and shook hands with people after filming was done for the day. All day Tuesday, I was kicking myself hard because Hubby and I were talking about going down to watch on Monday night and then we didn’t. So Wednesday, we went and we figured that even if Johnny Depp didn’t come out and shake hands with people, seeing him from a distance would be good enough for me. I wasn’t close enough to actually shake his hand, but I got to see him and that was cool.
My Hubby and I went down to Oshkosh after work that day and we got to watch some of the filming, at a distance, of course. First, we were on the corner of Main and Merritt, and we couldn’t see anything. People were kept back because the movie cameras were pointed in that direction, and cars were not allowed to cross, nor were pedestrians allowed to cross the street until the cameras stopped rolling. At one point, we were down on the corner of Main and Otter, looking up the street at what was going on. Hubby had the binoculars and I had the camera. They were filming a bank robbery scene and you could see people moving around. Then you heard the tommy guns going off.
The Sunday before, we were among all the gawkers who went to downtown Oshkosh to walk around and see what the movie crew did with the downtown. I live in Neenah, but I go to Oshkosh enough that I know what the downtown normally looks like, so seeing what was done with those buildings was pretty cool. My husband is a movie geek, so he was all sorts of happy looking at the “set” and the props and watching the crews work. On that Sunday, they were out transforming the Masonic Temple into a bank and setting up some scaffolding for a green screen.
Seeing all of this really makes me want to go see this movie when it comes out. It’s going to be a trip to see Oshkosh on the big screen. It was also nice, for once, to have something exciting happen here that didn’t involve the Green Bay Packers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Packers, but it’s nice to have something so exciting happen that didn’t involve them.
I do have to mention that I also have made my sister insanely jealous of me. I threw all my Wednesday pictures on a thumb drive, took it to get my pictures printed, and then I took the drive to work and the picture you see here is now my desktop at work. I also e-mailed it to some people, including my sister. She is now insanely jealous of me. But we’re even because she took her kids to watch Packer’s traning camp a couple of years ago and my nephew got Brett Favre’s autograph. They have this thing at the end of practice where they pick some players to sign autographs and by sheer dumb luck that day, Brett Favre was one of the players, and I am insanely jealous of those guys because I am a big Brett Favre fan.
I’ve heard nothing but now nice everyone associated with that movie was, and now, if other studios decide to come to the area to film, they’re going to be measured to the standard that this group has set, which is pretty darn high. It’s been two weeks, and I still can’t get over that even though he was probably tired from working all day, Johnny Depp still came out to shake hands with people on more than one occasion. My respect for him has just grown that much more. I’ve always had a ton of respect for him and what he’s done, but this just made it grow by leaps and bounds.
The End of an Era
Posted by: msannomalley on: March 4, 2008
What else can I say about Brett Favre retiring that other people haven’t?
I was surprised to hear it today, but at the same time, I wasn’t all that surprised. I heard it on TV when the news first broke. See, I had the misfortune (or luck) in that I had car trouble (i.e. flat tire) and I was stuck at home waiting for DH to put some fix a flat in the offending tire so we could hobble that van down to get a new tire put on it. But I digress…
The Green Bay Packers of my growing up years were not very good. I am 38 years old (had my birthday in January), so I completely missed all the glory years. I remember when I was a kid, after a Packer’s loss, how all the dad’s in the neighborhood would get together in the Dad equivalent of the old “housewives gossiping over the fence” to play Monday Morning Quarterback and grouse about how Bart Starr was a much better quarterback than he was a head coach. I remember how, since Bart couldn’t coach the Packers back to glory, Forrest Gregg surely would save the team (he didn’t). I remember the 1987 strike season when the replacement players played better than the regular team. I remember when the Packers had four different placekickers in the same season. I remember the glimmer of hope in 1989 when the team went 10-6 and just missed the playoffs (which was good enough for us since they were something like 4-12 in the year before. When winning seasons are few and far between, you take what you can get.).
For my entire childhood, those of us who were not around yet or too young to remember the Lombardi era had to listen to our parents and our grandparents, our aunts and uncles talk about the Packers of the 1960’s. They talked about the first two Super Bowl’s, of Starr and Hornung, of Ray Nitschke, and of Vince Lombardi. They reminisced of those glory days, and I suppose it was to help them endure the losing seasons. Or maybe they thought it could help them channel some good luck the Packers’ way.
What Brett Favre helped to do (and he did not do this himself), was to, not only bring back the glory to Green Bay, but he also helped to bring back some respect for the Green Bay Packers as a team. And for an entire generation, for those of us who were not around for the Lombardi Era, we finally got our own “Glory Years”. And for that, he will always have this Packer Fan’s undying gratitude.
I have enjoyed watching Brett Favre play for the past 17 seasons. Whether he was playing good or bad, it was never boring watching him play. I’m glad that he left on top and on his own terms. All of us who watch football on TV and who played the game are lucky to have witnessed Brett Favre play and break records and win. But we Packer fans are blessed and fortunate to have been able to call him “ours”.
I will not be sad today. I will not mourn the end of this era. Instead, I will raise a tall, cold one in Brett Favre’s honor and say “thank you for the memories.”
And see you in Canton.
P.S. Brett, now that you are retired, please, please…PLEASE don’t let yourself go, because I really don’t want to see you pitching Nutri System on TV. That’s one Marino accomplishment that you don’t need to beat.
What Kind of Yarn Am I?
Posted by: msannomalley on: March 4, 2008
You are Dishcloth Cotton.You are a very hard worker, most at home when you’re at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.
Take this quiz!
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Been Quiet Here Lately…
Posted by: msannomalley on: February 17, 2008
Sorry for the lack of posting. January was kind of washout of a month and with sharing a single computer and a hubby who is on it all the time, it’s hard to get time online.
Between a transportation situation, getting sick, and the weather, I haven’t made either a Tuesday or a Sunday Knit ‘n’ Sip Together since before Christmas. There’s been a wrinkle in trying to go to the Tuesday ones involving transportation, or rather parking at my apartment complex. There is an issue with people who don’t live in my complex parking in tenant parking, and despite the big red sign that says parking is for tenants only, it’s not enforced. We have a car port and I’ve seen people who live in the building being “kicked” out of their own parking stall by someone who doesn’t live here. My hubby also has something he does on Tuesdays, and it’s actually happened where he came home and there was nowhere for him to park except on the street. And since it’s winter, you can’t park on the the street over night or they’ll ticket you. So, whoever gets home first, gets the carport and whoever gets home last, good luck. I was really happy about the fact that there would be a twice monthly Sunday get together despite what happened with Dunn Bros. , but now it looks like that might end up being a thing of the past because the new place is closing (or may be closing). So now I don’t know what I’m going to do until spring because I was hoping to go on Sundays for now and then go back to the Tuesday meetings when it didn’t matter so much if you had to park on the street overnight.
::sigh::
I’m hoping, secretly hoping that the snow we got today will be so bad, that I won’t be able to get out of the parking lot in the morning and then I can have a snow day from work.
And on to the knitting stuff…
Anyway, I am finished with the Dr. Who Scarf. Actually, it’s being blocked right now and probably tomorrow night, I will put the tassels on each end of it and then it will be done. I feel so happy about finishing something so big! It took almost three months to the day I started it and for the last few weeks, I worked on nothing like that.
I’ve got another scarf on the needles that I’m knitting out of stash yarn to match a hat I knit for myself out of stash yarn. But then I had to buy more yarn to finish the scarf because I used all the stash yarn up. I will probably knit the thing until I use the yarn up. It’s sort of my thing this year to knit more from the stash.
I am redoing the socks I am knitting for my son. I went to Yarns By Design on Saturday and picked up two balls of Tofutsies. I like that yarn a lot better than the stuff I was working with. Knit Picks also started selling 40 inch and 47 inch circulars in the smaller sock sizes, so I got some of those and I’m knitting these socks using Magic Loop. The socks will be the 4 stitch garter rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, and the only “mod” I’m doing is the magic loop method. It’s been awhile since I’ve knitted socks cuff down.
Of the three ways to knit socks (DPN’s, 2 circs, ML), I think I like Magic Loop the best. I still want to try and learn how to knit two socks at the same time.
Tubey is hibernating. I put it down for awhile between the time I finished the short rows and the bust, and when I picked it up again, I discovered that it’s too big for me. I’ve joined a gym and started working on losing some weight and getting into shape. Between the last time I tried it on, and the most recent, I lost some weight, but I have about five inches or so to go on the body before I’m done. So the sweater is on hiatus until I decide if I want to frog it and start over, or if I would rather finish it and then give it away to Goodwill or St. Vinny’s or somewhere like that. If I can’t get some use out of it, maybe someone else, will.
The afghan I’m working on is more of a long term project, where I will work on it as I feel like.
I would like to try to knit another sweater, preferably a cardigan, but I think I’m going to wait until I lose the last 16 pounds I want to lose. Three years ago, I was a very trim 145 and I was in very good shape and I had a pretty good six pack going for a 35 year old. Then I got promoted to a desk job where I sat in front of a computer all day and I could eat at my desk and I gained 30 pounds. Last summer, I decided that enough was enough and I started walking every night and I lost 14 pounds. I’ve been sitting around the 14 pound mark and going nowhere, although I gained a few over the holidays. I hit a plateau because I could not go out for my walks after work due to it being dark and winter.
My husband decided to join Weight Watchers through work because he is overweight and I think that he finally realized that his being 80 pounds overweight had everything to do with his sciatica and his being out of shape. He’s lost ten pounds so far. I’m happy that he joined WW because through this, he is learning how to eat properly. Now he has to get active. He came from a family where there is a definite “victim” mentality, meaning that you believed that when something was wrong with you(in this case, being overweight), you were a victim of it and you can’t help that you’re overweight (in this case). His being overweight was his own doing because he ate so horribly, even when I’d try and get him to eat better.
His WW is through is work and they have something where you can spread the enrollment fee over a three month period, so instead of having to pay $180, it’s $60 a month for three months, which is easier to swallow. But it’s also a small price to pay if it means my hubby is healthy and learns to eat better.
A Snap Fitness opened on American Drive out by CB and we joined. I like the place a lot. What really sold me on it were two things. One, there is no contract. The other was that when we went in and took the tour and looked at the place, not once did we feel pressured to join.
Well, that’s the scoop from Casa de O’Malley.
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