grrrrrrrrrr!

it's been a little while since i've posted, a few people have actually asked what's up. wow ... i have a few readers!

mostly i've just been uninspired to write this week and i figure it's better to wait until i have something to say than to write empty words. but then again, empty words often lead to something richer underneath.

i've also had a pretty gnarly flare up of my RSI (repetitive stress injury) in my right arm which means i should stay off the computer as much as possible, though that's difficult since i have to use one at work. it's definitely a concern since i've been dealing with it for over a year now, but i'm in good hands with my doctor and now that i'm in school, i'm actually reducing my time behind a computer by 15-25 hours a week. i just hate when i'm experiencing pain and there's no direct and obvious cause - (unlike a cut or a bruise, i can't wait a couple days and it will go away ... i have to create a larger behavioral change by reducing stress and the wear and tear on my arm(s)).

anyway, i just got back from the Lion King with kendra. i got free tickets from the mac-daddy Mackenzie (okay, she's probably the mac-mommy) because she works there or something (for those of you who don't know her, she was Melody in the movie Groove) and she's pretty rad. Yup, I just said rad.

The show was pretty impressive. I can't say I was totally blown away by the show as a musical piece, but the costumes and scenery and lighting design were just amazing. The sheer creativity with creature puppets and costumes matched with movement was very interesting to dissect AND there was one piece that had, hands-down, the coolest lighting effect i've ever seen on stage.

and nala was pretty hot. she can come sing me to sleep any night of the week. grrrrrrrrr!

we accepted a new roommate for our house tonight. she seems pretty cool - also a grad student and in a program with a good friend of mine. i think it will work out. she really needs a place to call home so she can settle into school and some changes in her life and it feels like we might be able to create an even more "homier" environment here. i'm beginning to like this place. i just need to finish decorating my room.

so, with the exception of physical issues in my right arm and left thumb, everything is dandy. i'm beginning to start thinking about what to do for my winter break and kendra and i talked about maybe travelling together in december. we will also probably start looking for a home with Jill in mid-winter and that would be the bestest.

i think i need to convince rachel to go to belize this winter and invite me again! (rachel, do you read this!?) i mean, what more fun could you have than me, rachel, kendra and (____) in belize ... with coctails ... and snorkels ... on fire ... ???

i could also go to hawai'i or costa rica or the galapagos or south america ... as long as the living is cheap and it is hot and watery ...

okay, enough typing for tonight .. i'll finish some half-written posts from earlier this week soon. and to all my readers ... good night!

but then again ...

you ever look at a word that you've seen a thousand times and it just looks weird and it suddenly doesn't make any sense?

i just did that.

except it wasn't a word i was looking at, it was me ... in the mirror. i just kinda noticed (again) that both my ears are pierced. they've been pierced for so long, i kinda didn't think about it. i play with the earrings all the time and people have made comments about them, so it's not like i don't know they're there.

but i just saw them ... again ... for the first time.

it's happened with my facial hair in the past, my little soul patch with a landing strip. or my runaway drink dribble catcher. i tend to shave it the same way day after day after day ... and once and awhile look up and wonder why the hell i do that.

it's like my grooming has been set on auto-pilot.

i once tried to dry myself off in a new pattern after showering, but it never stuck. everyday it's the same series of drying moves: hair first, then left arm to underarm and down left side, then up chest to left shoulder (repeat on right side), then rest of stomach, followed by left leg - bottom to top, right leg - bottom to top, butt, back - done!

i'm guessing that most people do this and i'm not as big a freak as i think i am. but then again ...

mostly i find myself interested in when and how that particular pattern got set. i must have toweled off different ways as a kid. was this way the most efficient? the most complete? totally random? does chaos theory have anything to do with my grooming?

i suppose this is why i am a psychologist - i'm fascinated with why we do the stupid things we do.
and we do so many stupid things.