Dream a Freaky Dream

I don't know what I've been eating before bedtime, but over the last week or so, I have been dreaming the most bizarre dreams. In case I ever want to use these freaky ideas for a future blockbuster screenplay (don't steal my dreams!), I'm documenting them here.

Freaky Dream #1 - This one was as if I was watching my dream like a movie. I actually wasn't involved. A young hispanic boy, maybe ten years old, was spending time with his new step dad. In an effort to bond, the step dad brought the child to a rooftop soccer league where they were signed up to participate together. While the boy is preparing, the step dad spots a pet store across the street. He heads over there and decided to buy two teeny tiny white kittens for the boy.

At this point, I realize that the step dad has a weird metal robotic arm. Long and metal with lights and buttons and doohickies. As he's paying for the kittens, two cops enter the store and accuse the man of using his robotic arm to smash car windows and steal the vehicle contents. He pleads with the cops, explaining that he'd never do such a thing. While the arguments ensue and the cops whip out the handcuffs, the two tiny white kittens wander out of the store and into the busy highway! OH NOES!

The robotic-armed step dad sees the kittens and rushes out into the street to save their lives! The cars don't even realize what's going on, and as a car skids toward the kittens, the step dad uses his robotic arm to block the car and save them from certain death! WOOHOO!

Freaky Dream #2 - I'm hanging out at a convention with Rob. He calls me over to a Starbucks where we see Tom Selleck ordering coffee. Woah! I gawk at him while standing near the creams and sugars. He stumbles my way, and that's when I realize he's drunk. Reaching for sugar right near me, he aggressively shoulders me out of the way. What a jerk. With a new distaste for Tom Selleck, we wander off when I run into Bill Cosby. Not having anything eloquent to say, I point at his face and shout, "BILL COSBY!" He smiles and nods. And that's pretty much it.

Freaky Dream #3 - Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have played Plants vs. Zombies before bed. But I didn't think the slow, goofy, cartoon zombies would have any sort of effect on me. Except for the fact that I had zombie hunting dreams all night. And they weren't cute little zombies like in the video game. These were scary-ass Zombieland zombies, and I was assisting Woody Harrelson with the fight. (Let me mention that I have not seen that movie.)

So I had to spent time that I should have been peacefully sleeping shooting zombies and protecting my brain. And the worst part was that every time they started getting close, I ran out of bullets and couldn't figure out how to reload my gun. Shooting off-screen a la House of the Dead was not an option. I think I survived, but I was exhausted when I woke up.

Freaky Dream #4 - This was last night. I was back in college. I'm not quite sure what course it was, but it was final exam day, and my professor was Eddie Vedder. After the exam, we took a trolley through town. I sat in the front, and Eddie Vedder walked along side of the trolley, giving his final lecture. As he spoke, like a rock star guitar-player would toss his pick into the crowd, Eddie tossed a small, plastic protractor onto the trolley. I caught it. He let us know that to signify the end of the course, we'd be screen printing celebratory t-shirts. V-neck track shirts from American Apparel....my fave.

Veggies on my doorstep

I have so much I've been meaning to blog about. I didn't even write about my experience at New York Fashion Week, mainly because I haven't bothered to upload the photos from my camera!

And I have a bajillion other things going on. Like my yoga class finished. And I survived! I've even gone so far as to do yoga at home. Yep. Seriously. And my book arts class is still going. Check these bad boys out.









I wish I could find more time to make books, but I've been feeling really overwhelmed at home. I don't know why. I haven't actually been overly busy. I think the winter has gotten to me. All I want to do is sleep. I really need to change my habits. I'm starting to get frustrated with how messy I am too. It's like every day there's a new pile to clean up, but I get lazy and leave it. Did my motivation fade with the warm weather last year? I can only hope it'll return with spring!

In my quest to change my life for the better, I decided to order some organic food. And because I love shopping online, that's exactly what I did. I ordered a trial bitty box from Door to Door Organics. This means two things. I have to start eating fruits and veggies. And I have to learn how to prepare them. Ugggggghhhhhh. But hey, it's worth a shot. And maybe I'll even like some of them!


Anyway, I have more things to post, so hopefully I'll get around to it sooner or later. Happy March!

Wii Will Rock You!

I finished my second yoga class yesterday. I was proud of myself when I saw how many people dropped the class. And you know what? I didn't hurt half as bad this time. In fact, I feel like I might even stretch a little throughout the week. Rob asked me to accompany him to Dick's today, so I picked up some yoga blocks and a yoga strap while I was there. I'm doin' this!

I've been meaning to share something else with you guys. A few weeks ago, Katie from the ridiculously awesome Broken Umbrellas blog (of which I had submitted my own broken umbrella photo to in the past) sent me an email. She was hosting a "Wii Party" for area bloggers and asked if I'd like to join in on the fun. After getting some details, I realized it's a "marketing" party, put on by the fine people representing Nintendo. We get some goodies in exchange for spreading the word about the products.

Well, they picked the right person because I am a Wii proponent! You might remember my post from when we bought our Wii back in January 2008. This is the only system I've owned since the original NES, and I love it.

So I went to the party last weekend, and it was a great time! Great people, great food, great games. And even though I've had my Wii for two years (exactly yesterday), I learned a few things I never knew. First, for some reason, I never downloaded the internet channel. So all these times Rob and I huddled around my 12" iBook to watch a Youtube video, I could have just put it on our tv. Doh!

The second awesome thing are the game demos that they have in the WiiWare store. At the party, they were playing this game called World of Goo. It was way fun! I'm all about puzzle games. Those and music/dance games are all I really play. I'm just not into RPGs. But World of Goo is just building little bridges of goo balls, based on the laws of physics. Kind of reminds me of The Incredible Machine from my days of yore.



Anyway, World of Goo is available as a demo, so you can try it out before buying it, which is always nice. Because really, I'm not going to want to buy a game that I suck at. It can be a little frustrating, but watching those silly little balls of goo get sucked up a pipe makes it all worth it.

The only bummer of the Wii party was that nearly everyone left with a shiny new Wii. I had thought that everyone attending would receive a shiny new Wii (therefore I had planned to "donate" mine to my mother), but unfortunately there was a little miscommunication, and only the people who didn't previously own Wii's got one. Drat! Sorry Mom! But I can't be greedy. I did get a nice little gift pack with an extra controller and 2000 Wii points which I already used to buy the full version of World of Goo. :)

So it's obvious that if I had to officially "review" the Wii, it'd get two thumbs (and both big toes) way up. And this is coming from a girl who is definitely not a typical gamer-type. But I feel like it's not a typical gaming system. I can tell you that my mother wouldn't know what to do with an XBox or Playstation or whatever fancy stuff they have out there. But set up a Wii bowling match in the living room and she's all about it!

I was thinking about getting a yoga game. I have Wii Fit, which I have barely used lately. Then I go and try to use it tonight and I can't find the disc! Dang it! It's gotta be in my house somewhere. Anyway, maybe I'll try Just Dance, the game that makes me break a sweat and look like a total fool. Gotta love it!

Hip Hop Hooray!

First, for those that asked, yoga was awesome and awful at the same time. :) I already knew how inflexible I am, so all the bending was tough. But it was a great, informative 90 minutes. I really loved it! And I left feeling like a bowl of Jell-O. I was loose and warm and stress-free (which was the best part). It was better than my last massage.

Eight hours later and I wasn't exactly feeling the same way. I was HURTING. Bad. My arms and shoulders were very painful. I know that's probably because I stretched those muscles for the first time in my life and they were very angry at me. But I'm starting to feel pain-free again. Right in time for my 2nd class tomorrow! Ha!

In other news, last Saturday we finally had our Hip Hop Holiday party. (We try to have a Christmas party every year, but this year it was cancelled due to a winter storm.) Hip Hop was our theme, which Rob loved. We made a 9 hour-long soundtrack for the event which he's been playing nearly every day since I first made the playlist. My favorite part was dressing up. I love a good theme party, and I take my attire very seriously.

Here are some pictures from the event. The Oriental Trading Company backdrop really made the photos. :)

Class Act

It's a new year and a new Melissa. 2010 is going to be about improving myself, and I'm starting right away. A few weeks ago I signed up for a Book Arts class at the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. It starts next Thursday. I've been eyeing up this class for years now. YEARS! So I finally bit the bullet and registered. It's been so long since I crafted out of pure joy, and I think this will help me feel more creative.

And then earlier this week, I did something crazy. Something atypical. Something that makes the people who actually know me gasp in shock. I signed up for yoga. It's true. A new yoga studio opened last week down the street from me, and it just looked so cute. And I figured I could use some peace in my life, so why not. Sure, I can't touch my toes. In fact, I can barely reach my ankles. And yeah, I get winded climbing a flight of stairs. But it's the year of the new Melissa! Plus it was a good opportunity to buy a cute yoga mat, bag, and outfit. :) I got this mat shown here in purple. I signed up for a five class beginner's series. It starts tomorrow at 11:30, and I'm super nervous. I'm optimistically hoping that I love it, and it becomes a new hobby of mine. I'll let you know if I feel the same way on Sunday.

2010? WTF?

Where did 2010 come from?? I swore it was mid-2009 the last time I checked. But look, here we are, starting a brand new year. Dang it. I didn't even get on Oprah like I had resolved.

Well, this year started off kind of insane for me. It was like a good film, filled with lies, betrayal, drama. I'm hoping that since 2010 went in like a lion, it'll go out like a lamb.

I have a bajillion goals/resolutions this year. Typical stuff like eat healthier (it wouldn't take much), be a better wife, get my crap organized, end world hunger. But I need to really spend some time working on my creativity. Okay okay, so the 160 Pages project didn't turn out so great. I gave up after 43 pages. That's barely 25%. Well, this year, I need to get back into it. But I'll put less pressure on myself, hopefully drawing here and there when I have some extra time. I might even forego a nap occasionally. (Side note: Is it bad that I want to spend all my free time napping? Rob seems to think it isn't, but I worry.)

Anyway, even though I wanted to go to sleep, I knocked out a sketch the other night, and oh man am I rusty! I felt like I had to learn how to hold a pen again! Well, I'll keep chugging along. And maybe I'll even eventually fill a sketchbook one of these days.