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.

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!

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.

I spy...

...myself in this video. You can see a photo of me as well as "real-life" me (and Rob) in this video. This is from the look book launch party where I "modeled" for my stylist.



Kind of bizarre to see yourself projected onto a big ole screen.

More Best of 2009

It's hard enough keeping up with one blog. So this one doesn't get my love. But since I'm determined to answer all of Gwen's Best of 2009 prompts, I have to keep chugging along.

December 4: Best Book
Secrets of Simplicity - I didn't actually finish the entire book/workbook, but the chapters I read were thought-provoking. It makes me realize how complicated I make my own life. I should probably pick it up again!

December 5: Best Night Out
I have two. The first was my quintessential girls' night out. I don't get too many of those, usually only when I visit Arizona, which is when this one took place. We got dolled up, had our makeup done, and went dancing. I wish these girls' nights could be monthly instead of annually, but I'll take what I can get.



And when I was in Austin, I went out on a gay pub crawl, where I joined a group on a tour of the city's best gay night spots. I was dressed like this, and had an absolute blast! I ended up giving parts of my outfit to random gay men all night! The last one, who took my suspenders, was especially appreciative!

December 6: Best Workshop or Conference
I only went to one this year, and that was the HOW Design Conference in Austin, where the above photo was taken. Thanks to a kind group of designers that took me in as one of their own, I had a fantastic time! It was a great mix of education, inspiration, and recreation!

December 7: Best Blog Find of the Year
I also have two answers for this one. When I started sketching again back in the summer, I came across the blogs of these two artists, and they amaze me. I'm always excited when I see a new post by either one of them in my Google Reader.
Three Letter Word for Art
Pete Scully

Best of 2009 Blog Challenge!!!

I haven't been blogging much lately, so when I found Gwen Bell's blog challenge via Twitter, I knew it would be a great opportunity!

Here are the deets.

I missed yesterday, so I'm going to answer both BESTS today.

December 1: Best Trip
I had a lot of great trips this year, actually. My weekend trip to NYC. My recent trip to Arizona. My trip to the HOW Conference in Austin. But I'd have to say my favorite of the year was my vacation in San Francisco. After years of "long weekends," I felt like this trip west was a REAL vacation. We did so much and saw so much. It was a wonderful (and exhausting) experience!


Created with flickr slideshow.

December 2: Best Restaurant Moment
This was hard. Of course I've had great meals with great friends over the last 11 months. So picking one that was especially memorable was tough. My mind went to a little spot in Brooklyn where Rob and I had his birthday lunch. Now, we ended up enjoying a fabulously fancy sushi dinner at Megu in Tribeca that night, but this casual little restaurant was by far one of my favorite places of the year.



It's the Dumont Restaurant, and I found it via Design*Sponge, I think. I researched a ton of places and settled on this one for its outdoor garden. We had never spent time wandering around Brooklyn, so I mapped out our course, hopped the subway over there, and brought Rob right to the Dumont. After a morning full of travel, it was the perfect spot to relax with a great meal.



The weather was perfect, the food was delicious. I would relive that lunch daily if I could.

I'm black and blue!

So I went to get my hair done on Saturday! Between all of the processes and treatments necessary for my hair and the cut and trying on outfits for the photo shoot, I was there for over six hours. It was a LONG day. But I left with an amazing cut, and as promised, blue streaks! For free, no less!

When I'm not out in sunlight, the blue pretty much blends into the black. My boss came in to chat this morning and didn't even notice that my hair was blue until I mentioned it. So I suppose that's good. I do kind of feel like a comic book character, sporting my Wiggy McBob look. It's so shiny and feels really healthy compared to how my hair was.

Now I can cross "blue hair" off of my "things I've always wanted to try" list!

Clothes Galore!

So I mentioned briefly how my stylist asked me to pose for her salon's look book. The big "shoot" is on October 19th, but I go for my cut and color tomorrow. And she wanted to do a "dress rehearsal" of sorts. So this week I had to go through my closet and pull some outfits that might work for the shoot.

This was much harder than I thought it would be! But it was also kind of fun. I have to be fairly conservative at work. Can't wear jeans, except on Fridays. And even then, we have to wear "work appropriate" tops, meaning no tees or tanks. And I once got reprimanded for wearing the little green number below. Makes me yearn for the luxury of wearing whatever the heck I feel like wearing!

Just a note. These were taken after two very long, very anxiety-filled days at work, which might explain the bags under my eyes. :) Also, I have no idea how to pose, so I'm going to need to study up with some episodes of America's Next Top Model before the 19th!

The last of my 20's

Today I turned 29. One year until 30. Although I hear from Rob that 31 was tougher than 30. I'm happy with the way I'm aging. I still have that youthful glow. Misery and cynicism hasn't hit me yet. And hopefully they never will.



Here was me last year, if you're curious.

I have a bajillion photos from San Francisco and plenty of stories to tell. Those are to come.

P.S. Rob, achieved a birthday Epic Fail. No gift, no card, no cake, no nothing. He claims that our vacation inhibited his birthday-planning abilities. So I gave him a week long extension. I really don't care, though I admit, I miss the days of my childhood where I was so excited about my birthday that I'd count the days, and it was always filled with joy and surprise. Today was really just another day, but I guess that's how I know I'm an adult.

My Dopplegängers

I look like a lot of people. I always get stopped by strangers who say I look just like their third cousin's best friend's sister or something. Last Friday I was told that I looked like some dude's friend's girlfriend, who happened to be a total bitch. I had to convince him that I was a nice girl.

But I think it's kind of neat. Okay, not when someone tells me I look like Velma from Scooby Doo, but when I see people that kind of look like me, I think it's hilarious, in a very creepy sort of way.

Like when my friend Devon sent me this picture that she found on Design*Sponge from artist Esther Kim.



Or this picture sent to me by Irit, my internet friend from Israel.



Those are both pretty much me. It's freaky. I look more like both of those images than Velma. Right??? (Please say yes, please say yes.)

Duckie Rocks My World

So sad about John Hughes. No one captured the 80's quite like he did. My absolute favorite character from any John Hughes movie I've seen has got to be Duckie from Pretty in Pink. Not my favorite movie of his, but Duckie owns my heart. Seriously, any guy that can do this (see visual aid below) is perfect in my eyes. Andie missed out.

Do I have bitch-face??

I'm a nice girl. I try to smile a lot and come across as friendly. But I'm starting to think I have a case of the bitch-face.

Two of our friends were over last weekend, and Rob made a comment about girls being scared of me, just kidding around. Our friends commented that I look tough with my angular hair and such. I couldn't tell if they were being sarcastic or if they really think that I look "tough." All 110 pounds of me. Since in reality I am the furthest thing from "tough," I assumed it was a joke.

Then on Wednesday at the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show, I'm standing in line before the doors open. Rob wandered off to find a bathroom, so I was by myself. This guy from a local radio station was hitting up people in line to sign up for something or other. He approached the people in front of me in line, skipped right over me, and began chatting with the people directly behind me. Huh?? Do I look like someone that would tell that dude to "back the eff up!" or something?

I honestly don't mind either way. But I thought it was pretty funny since I'm the poster girl for niceness. I'm about 90% ready to go get my wrists tattooed, so perhaps that will make me even more edgy and unapproachable.

Here's a video from the YYY show. The sound is pretty terrible, but I could stare at grainy video of the love of my life rockin' out on the guitar for hours upon hours. Plus the confetti explosion at 4:12 makes it worth it.

Holy poop!

Operation NICE was mentioned in Sunday edition of The New York Times! The NEW YORK FREAKING TIMES!

Now I just have to sit back and wait for Oprah to call. Come on, Oprah! Gimme a jingle!

Are you there, Universe? It's me, Melissa.

You ever have those situations where you think of something random and them you see or hear another something having to do with that initial something? Does that makes sense? Like you think about a friend you haven't spoken to in years, then out of nowhere, you get a call from them? Or you mention and old tv show you liked as a kid, and then a coworker coincidentally brings up the same thing the next day?

I guess "coincidentally" is the key word. They are like crazy-bizarre coincidences. Stuff like that has been happening to me a lot lately.

For example, this morning I heard "Float On" by Modest Mouse on the radio. That led me to think about how I saw Ben Lee a year or two ago. A coworker was opening for him and gave me free tickets. Score! Anyway, for his encore, he performed a cover of that song. Then I thought about how I don't have any Ben Lee albums, even though his music always puts me in a good mood.

At the same time that these thoughts are going through my head, I was also thinking about how Shazam (my awesome iPhone app that identifies mystery songs playing on the radio) hasn't been working. So I download the update. I test it out on some singer songwriter chick, but it gives me an error still. Hmm. The next song comes on the radio. It's fun. I like it. So I test out Shazam again, assuming I'll get the same error I've been receiving for months. But no, it works. And who is it? Ben Lee. All this happens in a five minute period, and I just thought it was kind of strange.

I never got past the first chapter of Creative Visualization because I put it aside for later. (Later hasn't arrived yet.) But I remember the first chapter talked about how everything in the universe is linked. And how coincidences like that are proof that the thoughts in your head are connected to what can actually happen in the real world. Crazy! I really need to read that book.

So anyway, I've been trying to think about brownie sundaes and stacks of cash, but so far it hasn't worked.

My New Favorite Person

The cashier at Friendly's is my new favorite person. I went in there and ordered two double thick chocolate milkshakes, paid, and had a seat on the bench in the waiting area.

(After two minutes.)

Friendly's Guy: Hey, you're the girl from that season of Top Model, right??
Me: Ummm, no, but thank you!
FG: Really?
Me: Really.
FG: Aww, I told her (motioning to other waitress) that you were!
Me: Actually, someone else made that same comment a while ago, but I've seen every season of Top Model, and I can't figure out which girl I look like!
FG: Every time you come in I think, "Wow, she's so pretty, she must be that Top Model girl."
Me: Really?? Wow, you just made my month!! Thank you! Are you just saying that so I'll keep coming back?
FG: Nah, I don't need to do that. You're already in here a lot.

Alright. Now I know I'm okay-looking. I've grown out of my teenage "I hate everything about myself" phase. And with some good cosmetics, I can pass for cute. But this dude thinks I'm a Top Model girl! That is one of the most flattering things I've ever heard, and I'm going to reread this blog post every time I'm having a fugly day.

Thank you Friendly's Guy! I think I love you!

Award-Winning Performance

I had an awesome time at the Twestival last Thursday. There's nothing like being in a room filled with other social networking nerds to make you really feel like you're a part of something special.

For weeks I was anxiously awaiting the Rock Band tournament. I'd come home from work and sneak a little bit of practice in before Rob got home from work to ridicule me. I was gonna WIN this thing!

And here it was, Thursday night, my palms sweating, my stomach churning. The first two bands played. They were good, but I was still confident. I volunteered to go next. I asked my two assigned band mates if they would mind if we did "So Whatcha Want" by the Beastie Boys. They didn't care a bit. I looked out into the sea of geeks, my heart pounding, and began.



The result? I got 100% on Expert, which meant the closest someone could get to me would be a tie! I had succeeded! Take that, Mom! Who said video games would get you nowhere?!?!

I had first choice of prizes. Rob "encouraged" me to take the most valuable prize, two floor seats to see the 76ers play the Miami Heat, worth $305 a ticket. Unfortunately for me, I'll be in Arizona during the game, so I won't even get to enjoy my prize. Rob's going to take his dad instead. It's probably better that way. I wouldn't enjoy it as much anyway. And now, the leverage that I hold over Rob is more valuable than any prize I could have won. He owes me. He owes me big. And there's a room full of nerds that will make sure he repays me.

Slacktastic Weekend

I meant to accomplish stuff. Seriously, I did. But the bed was so soft and warm. All I wanted to do was lie around in it and read magazines. I guess I need that occasionally, but I had planned to write and take down my holiday decorations, which will probably stay up until March now.

I did, however, venture out to the new Shop Rite and I think I'm in love with a grocery store. It's so new and fancy! There's a doughnut machine in the middle of the bakery department! And free samples of gooey cinnamon rolls! They sell aloe leaves and big sticks of sugar cane and coconuts! I will never buy any of those things, but I like looking at them! And it's super cheap. Screw Acme! You are second fiddle now, my friend.

Thanks to a Starbucks Doubleshot Energy + Coffee at 7pm on Saturday, I had a weird burst of energy from 8pm - 1am. I started thinking about prints that I could make for Operation NICE. Mainly because I had the slogan "Niceness is Priceless" stuck in my head. So I played around a bit and made this up.

And then, thanks to Mary over at suffix.abuse, I started working on creating a Big Cartel shop. It's easy. I don't know if I'll move forward with it. We'll see. But I already decided on a second slogan. "Put the 'kind' in mankind." Snazzy, right?

In other news, I'm "famous" again! MavenMag Philadelphia did their cover story on me for their brand new website launch this month, and it came out this morning. YAY! I feel like I look a little weird, but I guess everyone feels that way about themselves. I love the article! Alexis is awesome! Take a look at the site, it's a pretty neat place!

2009 Ambitions

Now that it's New Year's Eve, I should probably think about what I want to do with 2009. January 1st starts a clean slate. If I want to modify my behaviors and habits, now's a good time. Rob always says that New Year's resolutions are for the weak, but he's just mean. Besides, he's made the "I'm going to have less road rage" resolution about 10 times throughout the last 12 months.

I did a TERRIBLE job of sticking to my goals of last January. But you know what, I had an amazing year anyway! I think my problem was that I might have made the goals too measurable. Instead, I think this year I need to set some ambitions. Suggestions. Keep them vague.

I have one major goal. Do something with Operation NICE.

See? I said "something" which really leaves it quite open for interpretation. Operation NICE is the best thing I've done in 2008, maybe even ever. It has brought me so much happiness, and I can really see this project turning into a significant part of my life. In fact, it already is. So in 2009, I need to develop a plan and figure out exactly what I want to accomplish with Operation NICE. You know, like get on Oprah. (The show, not the woman.)

As far as my other ambitions, there are the standards. Eat better. Exercise (the Wii Fit I got for Christmas should help me out with this one). Spend less. Save more. Be more organized. Be more creative. I try to make those resolutions every morning when I wake up, but I tend to forget them by the time I walk out the door. I think I blow dry them out of my brain or something. So aside from the one mentioned above, I really only have one ambition.

This year, I resolve to be happy, to have fun, and to be as good of a person as I can be.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

As a major procrastinator, holiday stress is inevitable. This year it was alleviated a bit, due to the fact that the number of gifts purchased decreased due to an increase in charitable donations in lieu of presents. But still, it's tough to plan it all out. Particularly when you have a husband that renounces all things Christmas.

Overall, I'm very happy! My parents gave us a goat and two chickens. (Well, not to us, but in our honor.) I gave them a nice donation to Feeding America. Along with Rob's family, we'll be making a nice donation to Heifer International. I was able to make a donation to Children for Children. So I feel like I got that whole "giving" thing down pat. Not to mention the fabulous gift that is going to make Rob regret putting me through jingle hell throughout this holiday season.

But anyway, since I probably won't have a chance to say it tomorrow, have a wonderful Christmas! I hope Santa brings you everything your heart desires! (And I hope your heart desires some peace and quiet for little ole me!)

He'll save children...

...but not the British children.

I can't get this song out of my head!

Warning: NSFW due to hysterically foul language and cartoon violence.