Name that Tune

I had so much fun playing "Name That Tune" on Twitter a week or so back, that I decided to post my "clues" for all you non-Twit folk. :) Answers in between the brackets in white so you don't get spoiled (just highlight in between and it'll tell you the answer).

NTT: Gifted group of spirits chanting for fairy resurrection.
>Blessed Union of Souls, I Believe<

NTT: Audio horticulture leads to planet explosion.
>Sound Garden, Blow Up the Outside World<

NTT: Standards of how to prepare for a hug.
>Creed, With Arms Wide Open<

NTT: Making vows to an idol in a white suit.
>Billy Idol, White Wedding<

NTT: There's a Hole in your famous epidermis.
>Hole, Celebrity Skin <

NTT: Bono may be on a higher level, but he still can't count.
>U2, Vertigo <

NTT: 90s "You're positive that you're stuck in a cliche." Title & artist are in clue. 4 pts.
>No Doubt, Trapped in a Box <

NTT: (90s classic) 2 songs/points, 1 artist... Counting ladies & car parts.
>The Wallflowers, 3 Marlenas, One Headlight<

NTT: (90s classic) Walking dead man... In your head.
>The Cranberries, Zombie <

NTT: (90s classic) You shouldn't reflect upon memories with unpleasant feelings. 3 pts
>Oasis, Don't Look Back in Anger<

NTT: (90s classic) Lacking in precipitation
>Blind Melon, No Rain <

NTT: This Weezer album reminds me of the picture book series about a Great Dane. (3pts if you get it w/o cheating)
>Pinkerton <

NTT: 90s classic... The aroma of deoderant
>Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit<

NTT: (Killers) How gossip starts
>Somebody Told Me <

NTT: Third Eye Blind wasn't singing about Hayden Christianson, but I wish they were.
>Jumper <

NTT: Spontaneous combusting underwear
>Kings of Leon, Your Sex is on Fire<

What's in a Name?

So, I was thinking about baby names, as I often do. When there are no children in your immediate future, these thoughts float into your head sometimes. Well, mine anyway.

I was just thinking today, how much I like the name Hermione. I'd never use it, for obvious reasons, but I really like it. It makes me resent Harry Potter a little, but then I realize that I can't too much, because I may never had come across the name without it in the first place. I just think it's a pretty name.

Edward and Jacob have been ruined for me too. They've been on my "list" for years... thanks Twilight. (Isa)Bella wasn't on my list but would have been considered before now as well. Besides, if I'm gonna name my kid after a vampire, it'd either be Mick St. John or Louis. None of this sparkly glittery crap. :) Or for an immortal being in general I really like Connor or Duncan.

I think I got the need for normal but not popular names from my mom. She named me with the thought that I'd have a name that everyone had heard, but there weren't a million kids running around with it. That was November of '81. The Thorn Birds hit in March of '83. Whoops! Lots of Megans now.

She did it again for Roxanne, my sister. 8 years had passed since The Police song, but I think it had more staying power than she realized. My sister has had EVERYONE under the sun sing that song to her. I think she embraces it now, but I KNOW she hated it as a kid, even before she knew what the song meant. At least all of my mom's kids managed to escape having to have an initial permanently attached to their first name. I don't think I was ever referred to as "Meghan B" growing up. Well, unless it was "Meghan is a B." :)

What names are "ruined" for you?

For you Kristie

I was informed today that I need to update my blog more often. *I <3 you Kristie*

The thing is, I don't really have anything to write about. No kids, no more school stress or assignments, work blogs get you fired and so all that leaves is the drama with my personal friends. Now, I don't like to keep drama in my life... so the drama that DOES exist, is their drama that I hear all about and like to laugh at.

So where do I start? Sell out my best friends (other than Matthew of course... that just goes without saying)? Allen is single and needs a woman... takers? Malia is single and needs a man... takers? No, I cannot hook them up together, they're incompatible in SO many ways I can't even begin to go there. To simplify: Allen is a staunch Republican and thinks that all Dems are evil. Malia disagrees on both points. We'll leave it at that. I could go into their drama, but that mislays their trust in me... good friends don't do that.

I could write about being in another friend's wedding in January... but what to say? We threw the shower last month. I got my dress... my boobs are too big to fit. I'm screwed. The end. :)

Anything else? Nope, I think I'm good. :)

Me again!

Don't fall over and die or anything though okay? ;)

I just wanted to pop in and announce that Breast Cancer Awareness month starts in just a few days! Please remember to click the magic daily mammogram button! It funds mammograms for underprivileged women. All it takes is a click a day from you (or more if you have multiple computers), but can mean the world of difference for some one's mother, aunt, sister, daughter, friend, grandmother...

I'll be going pink again for October this upcoming month and hope to have a new banner that not only FITS where it goes, but won't stay up for 6 months. :)

I hope to scrap my last 2 years at the Avon Walk this month, as well as my traditional yearly PSA one I do (I hope to eventually have a pink book of all kinds of ribbony goodness). But for now, here's the one from 2007 which I got a publish call notification for LAST year but only found out about last WEEK. Whoops! Maybe I should check my sb.com account more often!

Click for Credits

Poor Neglected Blog

It's become so much easier to just avoid the poor page than to look at it and think about all the things I want to say that I just can't put to paper (so to speak).

I've been busy doing absolutely nothing! Nothing looks like this:

Click here for credits

IF I were smart, I'd have remembered to make a copy of the page together so you could picture it as it were side by side. Oh well. :) THAT has been my "nothing" summer. It's a little misleading though... there was A LOT more Disney than that batch of photos shows. :)

1. Colby eating ribs at TGI Fridays for Sarah's birthday
2. Sarah, Shyleen & Colby at Fridays
3. Liam eating a s'more at the beach
4. Matthew with Miss Maggie at the beach
5. Yippy Skippies ride again (Matthew, Allen, Jaana, Blaine, me)
6. Liam at the beach
7. Avon Walk closing with Malia
8. Avon Walk dinner at Wellness Village
9. Catalina Island
10. 75% of the Shelley family
11. Trena singing fireside
12. Maggie is very cold
13. Someday I'll get into Club 33. For now, I dream.
14. Amy & Byron
15. Fireworks over Disneyland
16. The cousins at Amy's wedding
17. Miss Delilah making a silly face
18. Pretty momma and baby girl
19. Silly girl!
20. Maggie with her daddy on her first 4th of July
21. Another pretty momma and baby girl
22. Event Eve for Avon Walk
23. Old Friends
24. Chad's birthday
25/26. Disneyland with the girls

NOW I must go to bed. I've been picking at this layout for a week and finally finished it, so I needed to post it while I was thinking of it. :)

All for you Treen, happy? ;)

Getting back to basics

I've been digi-scrapping this week. I can't really go into details as the intended recipients of my fruits read here, but I will post photos as soon as I can. (I know I say that a lot, and never do, but I'm so excited to actually POST something that I'll actually DO it!)

So, in the spirit of my newly rediscovered muse I'll just share what's been going on in my scrapping brain.

I haven't been able to scrap much, digitally or paperly for about a year now. My external hard drive had an ugly "incident" which included the possible loss of GIGS of photos, music, and digi-scrap supplies. It's made me too sick to think about, let alone scrap. So, for the last just-over-a-year I've been putting my pictures onto my laptop (remember the Green Fairy?) and as our Internet is only cooperating with ONE computer I've been using my 1 GB flash ("Pixie Dust") to go back and forth between uploading to Facebook and storing on the Fairy.

All this just to say that I've been basically OUT of the scrapping loop for quite awhile now. I have no idea what new designers are out there really, nor do I know what the current trends include. I've just been reading my emails from Gina Miller (when they came) and Shabby Princess and occasionally buying a kit here & there from Sweet Genevieve or whomever struck my fancy when a really interesting kit/item/tool blipped on my radar. No Digi Shop Talk or ANYTHING.

I have no idea HOW I stumbled upon Britt-ish Designs but I immediately loved her stuff. She's a Disney freak AND she makes cute stuff. Her association with Scrap Matters has led me to other new designers... lots of cute stuff on that site folks! They've got a really nice gallery for inspiration as well.

I took TONS of fun pics at Disneyland last summer, and will continue to abuse my pass holder status this summer, so I plan to have many more. So NATURALLY I was even more excited when Britt's blog featured a Disney inspired charity kit! It's called Forester's Wish and was created to help a family cover the medical bills of their little boy, Forester. Forester and his family were recently treated to a trip to Orlando's Magic Kingdom by the Make-a-Wish Foundation (thus the Disney theme).

The kit is amazing! It's got a wide variety of styles and designers so there's something in it for everyone, and it's HUGE! If you're a Disney fan, this is a great value... as well as going to a great cause! Because, as we all know, cancer sucks! The blog I linked to also links to Forester's mother's blog where you can read all about their family as well as the beginning of Forester's struggles. Such a sweet and faithful family. Please take the time to check out the kit and help the family out if you can. I know times are rough, but it's totally worth it if you can help out!

Really, I've been doing nothing!

I've learned a few things in the last week:

Dish soap DOES NOT work well with dish washers. We had this happen 2 more times since... apparently it takes a bit of time for it to rinse out of the machine too. Whoopsie!

JJ Abrams is the man! I went with friends on THURSDAY evening to a brand new Imax theater to see the new Star Trek. These photos were taken after the viewing ... you can tell by our faces how pleased we were.

This is us just as the lights were dimming. SO excited!

And that's about it. :)

PIF- Pay It Forward

So my friend Shyleen posted a really cool idea on her blog the other day. I'm going to pass it along because I thought it'd be fun.

The first 3 people to comment here will get a handmade gift from me. Since all I'm really good at is paper crafting, it'll be something along those lines. After that, it all depends on what I decide to make you. :)

The catch? You gotta comment here first, and then you HAVE to post this back on YOUR blog. Gotta PIF!

(Facebook readers: Sorry guys, you gotta post to my actual blog. Get over there and comment!!)

Miss Maggie the magnificent

Here is the most beautiful baby niece in the entire world. She turned 9 weeks yesterday (if you're counting, she was born on Valentine's Day). Today was her baby blessing. We had a huge freaking party at my in-law's. No joke, it was record breaking... 46 people, many being kids, running around eating, talking, sprinkler jumping, water-gun squirting... and I didn't take a single photo! Guilt is sinking in as I type. If you want to see pictures, go to the blogs linked as "Family Blogs." I'm sure SOMEONE will post cute photos, I'm just here, sharing what I've collected of the doll in the short time she's been here. :)

Ding dong, ding dong

My brother-in-law got married last weekend... here are the better shots I got during the day...

My dad, me & my "little" brother

The happy couple!

All smiley

So in love

Our nieces & nephew

Matthew's Brother-in-law (baby bonnet) & his younger brother

I thought the water pitcher was even pretty!

The cake topper

My & sister-in-law's cake cutting photos (along with other family's) around the cake.

It was kiltamania!

The wonderful food!

Cutting the cake

Say cheese!

First dance

Niece & "cousin" (common aunt/uncle) watching the dancers

Father/daughter dance

Me and my sissy

Throwing the garter

A book is worth a thousand expressions of love

And this sucker was a labor of love! And it was filled with names of people who loved the beautiful couple too!

The hand sewn binding...

Deckled edged pages...

Cover...

Finished product...

Remember me?

Oh lordy lordy! Do I have fun stuff to post! Where do I ever begin? Let's start with my latest work of art.

I created a signature book for my brother-in-law's wedding. (Michael is married for those of you keeping score... no more Schulzes to farm out... this generation anyway... But I know a couple Bukowskis still up for grabs if you're interested. ;) )

Allie asked me to create a book after seeing one I'd made for Trena & Aaron as a wedding gift. Now, a paper-bag mini-album is WAY different than a whole guest book for the reception & open house of a wedding... WAY different. Her idea was that it'd be really cool to take it out and show the kids someday, "Your aunt Meghan made these with her own 2 hands!" Being the scrapping enthusiast that I am, it sounded good at the time. What a journey!

So I checked out Etsy's offerings for ideas... expensive too!

I bought books... thank you T&A and Georgie for the Amazon gift cards... they helped!

I went to the most amazing art store I've been to with my dear friend Jaime... we both fell in love... to get supplies.

And I made a book!

I got lots of nice compliments from family and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I've learned a new art technique... and I finally own my own pot of Yes Paste. A major w00t if I've ever had an occasion to. ;) Pictures to follow shortly...

Hello my baby...

Hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal. Send me a kiss by wire, baby my heart's on fire!

I loved that frog growing up.

These days are finding me buried in wedding stuff and TV. We go walking twice a week and now have a stationary bike to use on non walking days. I found I can play my favorite FaceBook Game, Pack Rat, while doing the bike. ;) Multi-tasking is awesome!

Not much else to report. I'll check in again when there is! :)

If you read my notes on FacebooIf you read my notes on Facebook, this is old. I'm reposting for those that don't. (originally posted 1/29/09)

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things about yourself. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I love to read. Up until last week I was rotating through reading 3 books at once.

2. I've always been a geek, but I'm just coming into my own and being happy with it in the last few years.

3. I took almost 9 years to get my degree. I only took 1 semester off (so 9 1/2), but with working full time and balancing time with family/friends/church, I never took more than 3 classes a semester. Some days I think this makes me a loser, but I don't care on days like today... I'm proud of myself and not giving up.

4. I realized during my last semester as a junior (3 for each level) that I should have majored in art history (or art), but it was a bit late to change. I may end up going back some day.

5. I'm a Twitter junkie. I'm on there all the time and have made several new geeky friends there. :) (Follow Warplayer & Okelay... they're great!)

6. I'm such a self-assured geek (& Twinkie- Twitter junkie) that I also follow several of my favorite actors from Star Trek: TNG, visit their websites/blogs and hope to attend my first Comicon this year (PAX would be better, but highly unlikely).

7. I still scrapbook, somewhat. I've been burned out the last year or so and hope to return to it VERY soon! :)

8. My favorite colors are black, red & blue, yet all my electronics are metallic sour apple green.

9. I <3 Tinkerbell, but my favorite Disney movies are Alice, Robin Hood & Dumbo.

10. I love all things Alice. My favorite PC game is American McGee’s Alice. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Tim Burton’s adaptation to the big screen. (It will probably become my all time favorite as it’ll have all my “perfect” movie elements as well as my favorite storyline.

11. “Perfect movie” in Pixie terms means it’s directed by Tim Burton, scored by Danny Elfman and stars Johnny Depp.

12. JD was my first (and only constant) celebrity crush… I think I was 6 when Jump Street started. :)

13. Current celebrity faves include: Edward Norton, Heath Ledger, Angelina Jolie, Isla Fischer & Adrien Brody.

14. I adopted the screen name PixieMegh to cover my love of all fairies (not just Tink). It has morphed itself into my nickname, Pixie, from all my ‘net friends.

15. I’d actually legally change my name to Pixie if I didn’t like my given name so much, it feels that much a part of who I am.

16. I’ve been married to the love of my life (gag me, right?), Matthew, for just over 7 years now. I think we’re just now getting used to living together.

17. My mom often told me while dating a certain HS sweetheart that I really wanted to marry someone that told me “no” once in awhile. She was right, and I did. What she failed to mention was how much I’d HATE hearing that stupid little word. ;) (“What DO you MEAN I can’t have my way all the time?”)

18. One of my best friends is an “ex-boyfriend.” He’s like family and can’t wait until I have kids to send off and pester him for me.

19. Another of my other best friends has been in my life since the first day of 2nd grade. I’d just moved there, and knew no one. She came up to me at recess and asked me to come and play. We recently celebrated her birthday by seeing Oliver & Co. at the El Capitan. It was the 20th anniversary of the movie, as well as our friendship.

20. I’m trying to be less snobby about my musical listening choices. It’s hard, but I’m really enjoying branching out. I still say that if it involves screaming, I’ll probably like it.

21. My dream job would be creating and selling things online. Etsy will work at first, but I’d eventually want my own store.

22. I have a Halloween costume that I’ve wanted to do for 5 years now; I finally may have the time to do it this year.

23. I LOVE Postsecret.com. I’ve only mailed in one secret, but often make them and rip them up when I’m done, it’s therapeutic.

24. I hope to re-teach myself how to play the flute this year.

25. I hate Valentines Day so Matthew usually gets me flowers the week before or after.

Only?

If you read my notes on Facebook, this is old. I'm reposting for those that don't. (originally posted 2/3/09)

Copy and change the answers to suit you (using only one word) and pass it on. Be sure to tag the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Matty
3. Your hair? disaster
4. Your favorite thing? interwebs
5. Your dream last night? Nada
6. Your favorite drink? Pepper
7. Your dream/goal? Babies!
8. What room you are in? Office
9. Your hobby? LOTS!
10. Your fear? Armageddon
11. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Mommified
12. Where were you last night? Home
13. Muffins? Nummers!
14. Wish list item? PhotoShop
15. Where you grew up? D-town
16. Last thing you did? read
17. What are you wearing? Maddens
18. Your TV? Analog >:
19. Your pets? nonexistant
20. Friends? Loved :)
21. Your life? Transitioning
22. Your mood? Meh
23. Missing some one? yes
24. Car? Green
25. Something you're not wearing? socks
26. Your favorite store? Many
28. When is the last time you laughed? Minutes
29. Last time you cried? yesterday
30. Who will resend this? dunno

Censorship

So, maybe I wasn't totally censored, but you decide.

I've got lots of friends. (Most people do, so I'm not tooting my horn I'm just stating the obvious I guess.) I was out with a few of them on Saturday night with Matthew. Four of us met at a house and decided where we were going, called the 5th on our way out the door to meet him there (Macaroni Grill). We got there first and put our names in while we waited for #5 to show. While we were waiting, #5 calls and says that his younger brother is supposed to take his "just friends" girl friend to a MG tonight too. We laughed and said it'd be funny if they ended up at the one we were going to and blew it off.

#5 shows up, our table comes up, we get seated. We're sitting for like 2 minutes when in walks younger #5 (now known as mini) and his "non-date." They're brought right past our table on their way to theirs and don't see us. And they're WHAT? They're holding hands.

"Just Friends" guys don't take "just friends" girls to MG by themselves and hold hands. Just saying.

So what do we do? What any mature group of late 20's people in this day and age do. We text bombed mini. We told him our own variations of "Just friends don't hold hands." He texts #5 back wanting to know where we were. We were in another room, but there was a fireplace in between that Matthew could see mini though. So Matt texts mini to say "I can see you."

Okay so we're done right? Not quite. There's a lovely young lady wandering around the place who had a lovely operatic voice. We had her go sing Josh Groban's You Raise Me Up to them. Our waitress was awesome and took a picture.

THEN we left them alone. We ate and left. As we were loading back into the cars, mini & date came out. They made some jokes about it... including her comment "you were making him be a bad date." (We think in reference to his texting)

We went along our merry little way. I posted the picture on Facebook in a Friends only album, tagged mini & date with some smart-arse caption like "Just friends? Really? Holding hands... yeah."

So then I was told to take it down. For what? Stealth dating is lame. Everyone else already knows you're dating, even if you two don't seem to know. Not my problem. I took it down to keep the peace, but I'm not happy about it.

To the girl in question: I like you, you're really nice and a lot of fun... but so is mini. You really should ADMIT that you're dating him. It's crap that you're either too ashamed or embarrassed to admit to dating such a great guy. He deserves someone that will be excited to tell people that he asked them out or, at the very least, doesn't care if she's seen in public with him.

To mini: you know all this already. Can't keep my mouth shut completely, it's the mama bear kicking in.

AMERICAN IDOL!!

First rule of AI... don't try to be a triple/double threat. If you're one of those "I'm the whole package" people, you're not going to make it. Know why? Because truly talented people usually are a little more modest about it.

Rule #2, if you're the singer in a semi-decent band, tell the band you're trying out for AI. This first one through wanted to go "the Daughtry route" and add the band back if she makes it through. Problem? If I remember right, Bo Bice and Chris Daughtry both told their bands and got support from them, Constantine Maroulis didn't. He went behind their back and they weren't too happy with him if I remember correctly.

NEVER sing a diva's song, especially if you're male, unless you've sung before a PAYING audience.

If the judges are grooving and dancing with you, they're just making the best of a bad moment. If they really liked your singing, they'd be nodding, quietly listening, with a small smile from Simon. If he gives you a big SE grin, run. He's trying very hard not to laugh in your face.

Oh. And if the deny you, and you STILL think you are a good singer, take it professionally. Thank them for their time, maybe ask for some suggestions if you feel up to more criticism, and walk away. Maybe you're right, maybe you really ARE that good, but use this as a learning experience, don't act like an @$$ on national TV, someone may remember you as a drama queen, and hold it against you later. :)

I love American Idol!

Welcome back

"Back to life, back to reality..."

Hi folks! Remember me? I used to be that girl that came by at least once a week and updated you on the odd happenings of her life. Or funny videos. Or jokes. Or links... you get it. Well, today I think I officially came back. The holidays are behind us and (hopefully) so are things like finals and the like. I finished what should be my last finals the week before Christmas and, boy!, do I (hopefully) love that feeling.

I'm hesitant to start the rejoicing because CSUF (Cal State Eff You as many of my co-alumni "lovingly" have re-dubbed it) is notorious for giving you a bogus grad check. What does that mean you ask? It means that you pay them $150 (I think, it was over a year ago now) to perform a "grad check" a year before your intended graduation. The idea is that a counselor that knows school policy and understands those types of things, goes over your transcripts and double checks that you are, yes indeed, on course to graduate in a year. It is a requirement and a scam to steal more from, nay rape and take, your starving-student wallet. The problem with this "check" is that far too many people I've known have "passed" their grad check and finished up their last 2 semesters, only to be told, "you're still missing a class" from some numb-nut at the admissions office post graduation and walking and all. They've done it to at least 3 people I know personally, and have heard from others that they know people that got screwed over too. Granted, I'm in different major than these 3 individuals, only one of whom was actually able to argue his degree back, and my friends that have left before I have in my major haven't had problems, so I'm hoping all is well. (But you understand my reluctance now, don't you?)

Moving on. I felt that as my email box and all matter of blogging has been ignored by me, that today, I'd kinda jump around the 'net and read what's going on out there. My first stop was via my mailbox from Crystal over at Boobs, Injuries and Dr. Pepper. She mentioned that she'd been nominated for a top blogger list from a mommy blog network. I went and looked at it and was glad she made it into the top 25 (she's hilarious and I cannot recommend reading her enough). I then skimmed the sum-ups of the other blogs mentioned. WOW. My sides hurt. Some of my new favorites are:

Miss Britt- had me cracking up the whole time in this post where she describes a VERY female fear. I don't think I have any male readers at all, but if I do, spare yourself if the word TAMPON scares you.

And while we're still on that subject...

Shamelessly Sassy discusses another wacky thing that those darn-stupid-teenagers have cooked up now. Really? Like REALLY? Wow. That's a first for me too.

It's no secret that I'm not a domestic goddess. My favorite fridge magnet proclaims it. I hope that someday, I might be, when I don't' have work and have children to chase around instead, but we'll wait and see. I have some deep seeded fear that I'll actually end up like this instead. Read ALL the comments. I was in fits of giggles for a solid 15 minutes I think.

This is why, though I intend to learn, I think sewing is craziness. (Eva, call me! LOL)

Had enough yet? Me too. I'll try to post personal stuff soon. (I suck, I know)