LAST ONE!

I am SO Ready for sleep!


Let’s check the stats one last time:
Number of blogs: 285 Total pledges: 97,177.68

My total- $200!

CONGRATS to everyone who made it!

THANK YOU to everyone who sponsored!

Let’s all sleep!

(Gotta pull out some old classics from my 2003 Blogathon blog)

Just half an hour left!

My nose is stuffed up, which is a good way to be miserable when you’re already not feeling so hot.

I wonder how late I’m going to sleep today? I’m planning to go see Pirates at 9pm, so I need to get up before 6 or so. Should be plenty of time.

I’ve been laying in bed reading, which is probably an awful idea when you are trying to stay awake, but it is the only thing that sounds good right now. I set the alarm on my phone for the half hour, just in case, though.

I feel SO bad for the people following the Sabbath schedule, who still have a long, long way to go at this point!

Not sure if it’s too late for this, but the last game on the site is “Will you do it again next year?” Of course. Every year, I somehow mentally block out the memories of the hard parts, the hours when you can barely think, let alone type, the hours when you wonder why. All you remember, luckily, is all of the fun, all of the good, all of the friends. The good memories keep drawing you back every year, and every year, it seems to get better. We always come back.

2 to go!

Remember my original plan to post about 10 places that I want to travel to? That kinda fell through, huh? Well, let’s throw the other 8 all together here, shall we? (We shall!)

1. London- I’m kind of obsessed with London. I’d like to spend at least a few months there.
2. Hawaii- I could live in Hawaii. My kind of place. Put me down for half a year or so here, too.
3. Istanbul- Just say it out loud. Istanbul. Kinda rolls off your tongue, doesn’t it? I want to go see the whirling dervishes.
4. India- Another place I’m obsessed with. I’d like to study yoga here.
5. Nepal- I nearly threw this in with India, but changed my mind. Hello, Everest! (Which I have no desire at all to climb, just to see.)
6. China- The local travel agency was advertising a big trip to China not long ago, and the more they said about it, the more I wanted to go. Someday!
7. Paris- Yeah, everybody goes to Paris, but I want to, too. My French doesn’t suck, and I can easily live on bread and cheese.
8. Venice- I like Italy a lot. Rome is crowded and has the crime thing going on (gotta go there for a few days anyway), though, and Tuscany is a little too quiet, but Venice, it’s perfect. Florence would be good too, though.


ONE hour left!

If you ever find yourself in a Blogathon and need a movie to watch in the last few hours, I recommend Star Wars, you can pick the episode. You don’t need any brain function to follow the storyline (even on ones you haven’t seen), you get the energetic John Williams score to wake you up, and um… my brain isn’t working well enough to provide any more reasoning except Star Wars is cool. Yeah. Yay, Twileks. There were a couple of times during the movie when I recognized places from Star Wars Galaxies, and like a big nerd, yelled (out loud, to the empty room) “Hey! I’ve been there!!!” This is why I can’t watch movies in the theater with the normal folk.

Did I mention that I found my memory card reader an hour or so ago? It was in my chair, under a magazine. I can’t believe I didn’t find it there! Oh, well, I needed another one anyway.

Is it 8am yet?

Fun With Chat Bots

A few years ago, I had some hilarious conversations with chat bots (the auto-response chat things) around this time of night, so I thought I'd try it again this year. Unfortunatly, I couldn't find any that were much fun. Here's the most interresting one:

Bot-Hello.
Me-It is very late.
It's early here.
Did you sleep?
Yeah. I sleep.
Why?
Because you are very annoying.

That is terribly impolite.
It's not rude if it's the truth.
You sound like you need coffee.
I know I'm not going to the US this summer. And it makes me very, very sad.
I have decided that you are on crack.
No, I am ahp and ahp is 1337.

I am going to go find a new bot to talk to.
Well, since you're not a person, I guess you're in the clear.
Bellydancers are people, too!
Not this again.... I thought you were from the US?
Why?
Oh, I must have read it somewhere, I guess it's not important.

Do you dance?
Not now, but I can dance.
What kind of dance?
It is not a dance.
So, polka?
No polka, thanks.

You are boring.
No i'm Marc.
You slept with Addison Shepard!
Well, yes.

Well, then, who will Meredith choose?
Pay attention. Are you sad?
I am sleepy.
Go to sleep then.
I can't.
Why not?
Blogathon.
Ne kas.

Our conversation fell apart here. I guess we just weren't meant to be.

I am always reading a LOT of books at once. Here is a list of what I’m in the middle of, and what is on my nightstand waiting to be read next:

Reading Now:
Sex Lives of Cannibals- - not the greatest writing, but it has its high points. This book has helped me decide that I never want to live in Kiribati. With my huge list of places that I want to travel to, it is nice to be able to cross a few (Johnston’s Atoll) places in the world off the list!

A Cook’s Tour- Anthony Bourdain- I just picked this up at the used book store a few days ago, because it was only a $1, and hey, it’s Tony, it has to be good!

On Writing- Stephen King- I’m nearly finished with this one, read most of it in a hammock in Mexico. Somehow reading it at home just isn’t the same!

A book on travel photography published by Lonely Planet. I think it’s called something clever like “Travel Photography”

This list only includes the ones I’m actively reading right now- there’s another stack by my bed that I’m in the middle of, but haven’t picked up in the last few weeks.

To Read Next:
Ananasi Boys- Neil Gaiman- Hey look, Neil writes a book about gods again!

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho- Another used bookstore find. I kept hearing about this on the BootsNAll boards, so when I saw it on the shelf, I had to pick it up.

I actually have a bigass stack of books that I got at the library to take to Mexico, and then never got around to reading most of. (I backed 16 books, read 3. Live and learn!) There’s no way I can finish them all before I run out of renewals, but I’ll have fun trying! (which means I need to shelve Tony and the others that I bought until the library ones are finished!)

Well, another half hour and my bedroom should be clean(ish)! The living room, kitchen, and bathroom are still total wrecks, but one out of four isn’t so bad, is it?

I promise longer posts soon, I just keep getting caught up in cleaning/movie watching, and then the half hour sneaks up way too quickly!

I finally broke out the last frappuccino. Ohhh, how sweet it is!

Number of blogs: 293 Total pledges: 95,620.68

Wow! We lost almost 100 bloggers today, but we’re less than 5k away from reaching $100,000! Hope we hit it by the end of the Blogathon!

Still cleaning, and about to formulate a plan for what I'm going to post about here in the home stretch. Somehow it seems easier if I plan it out!

I just popped Star Wars Ep III in the dvd player- can you believe I STILL haven't seen it? - I figure that should hold me over until just about the end. Yay for Netflix!

I'd just like to remind anyone who still wants to sponsor people, (ahem, me!), that you can still sponsor people the day after the 'thon ends, too! So if you're just making your way around the blogring after the event is over, it is not too late! And if you have sponsored people, be sure that it is verefied! You should have gotten an e-mail right after you sponsored, and you have to click the link in it, or else your pledge won't count!

Oh yeah. Ewan McGregor will keep me awake for the next three and a half hours. This will be easy.

Four hours left! Oh man, I hope I make it!

Well, I am finally getting some cleaning done. Not a lot, but some! My Mexico suitcase is unpacked, and I have most of the stuff put away- you can see a lot more of my floor now, but it is still pretty messy! It's funny, I expected to get to do this thorough, deep cleaning, washing windows and all that stuff, but I've barely gotten around to straightening things up. I need another 24 hours off!

I’m trying to decide if I want to break out my last frappuccino yet. I could really use the caffeine, but what if I need it way more in a couple of hours?

I am running out of ideas for what to post about, so how about some language lessons?

Let’s start with Swahili, because it is my favorite!

(No idea how to spell any of this, so I’m spelling it like it sounds!)

Excuse Me- Soma Honee
Hello- Jambo
I understand- Na Fahamu
I am American- Mimi Ni Mwah-merica
No, Sir- Hapana Bwana (This is my favorite thing to say!)
Yes- ndio
Thank you- Asante
Giraffe- Twiga
Lion- Simba

...and that's all I have time for! Back to house cleaning!

Last week, I had a dream that I was adopting a baby boy, and his name was Dude. It was short for something weird like Dudeaus, or something, but still, the kid was named Dude. This, sadly, is the first thing that came to mind as I searched my brain for something to post about.

So, my 25th birthday is practically around the corner. Not too sure how I feel about that one. Am I ready to be a quarter of a century old? That’s a lot of years! I mean, not a lot in the grand sense, but a lot when you look at it from my perspective.

Anyway, just in case you are shopping ahead, I present to you here a list of acceptable gifts for my 25th birthday (Just over 4 months left to shop!)

1. Season 2 of Grey’s on DVD.
2. Wolverine’s suit from X3, containing one Hugh Jackman inside.
3. My own private island- not too far from the US, but conveniently out of the way of hurricanes. Should include a Starbucks. And a bookstore. And maybe a Target?
4. One llama. Well, make it two.
5. A private class with Rachel Brice, Suhaila, and Ansuya.
6. Maybe some new ballet shoes?
7. A private jet
8. My own show on the Travel Channel.
9. A trip to India. It should probably include Jeremy Piven as a guide, since he’s just been there and all. You know, just for safety and all that.
10. A huge donation to MSF, enough to feed everyone, medicate everyone, and give everyone hope. (How’s that for making the list tie to the Blogathon? Huh? Huh?)

Guest Post Goodness!

I mentioned a few hours ago to the fabulous miss Kellylou that I could use a break from blogging at some point, and hey! Wouldn’t she just love to do a guest post? Of course she would! And thus, at this lovely hour of 2:30 am (yeesh!) I present to you:

As my dear Crystal Lou needs a sub-poster, I have been thinking up many witty and exciting ways to enchant her readers. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on how that is coming. In the meantime I offer you:

24 Things to Do in Your Grand Effort to Stay Awake for 24 Obnoxious Hours (this is a working title; it seems a bit long, don’t you think?)

1. Tweeze your eyebrows into an artistic design. Screw tradition! It’s time for our eyebrows to be art.
2. Have a staring contest with yourself in a mirror.
3. Learn how to make appletinis! Don’t drink too many, because you might pass out, ruining the whole “how to stay awake” theme.
4. Write haiku about the commercials you see on TV.
5. Rearrange your bedroom.
6. Invite other blogathonners over for a blogging slumber party!
7. Make someone you know a mix CD.
8. Give yourself a pedicure!
9. Design a new line of clothing, exclusive for retired clowns.
10. Smash a bag of animal crackers. Attempt to put all the pieces back together.
11. Make a sculpture out of kitchen utensils.
12. Every minute, set your alarm clock to go off the following minute.
13. Invent synonyms for “snarky”.
14. Snail mail your favourite recipes to someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time. No explanations.
15. Get out all those magazines around the house and create a collage.
16. Create your own Internet-based comic strip. Everyone has one!
17. Write a story about what would happen if humans could use chlorophyll in their bodies.
18. Pose action figures in compromising positions and photograph them. Send blackmail letters to Mattel.
19. Knock on all your neighbors’ doors and ask them to sponsor you. Take an old sock in which to collect the money.
20. Take all the books out of the bookcase and arrange them in a big domino line throughout your house. Tip the first one over and watch those babies go! Wheeeeeeeeeee!
21. Pull your eyelashes as close to your eyebrows as you can get them, and staple them there.
22. Do shots with your husband, or whoever else happens to be around. I don’t suggest Southern Comfort. Take pictures!
23. Make a bonfire in your backyard and dance naked around it.
24. When all else fails, IM Crystal. She’s always awake.

Kelly is even so dedicated that she took the time to try out #22 for us! Now that is love!

I made a chicken quesadilla hot pocket, and I've been dining in style in my comfy chair watching Grey's. Life is good.

I don't know if it is the sugar or the food, but I feel great. Hope it lasts at least a couple of hours! Especially since I have to start cleaning soon- yuck!

Wheeeeeeee, a little too much sugar in my system! I might need to make some actual food to soak some of it up. (Um, no, I didn’t eat ALL of that. Just the cherry fun dip and a few Starburst, but WOW do I feel the effects!)

I have decided that I *have* to start cleaning again at 3. I really don’t want to get through this whole day at home and still have a total mess here! Plus the moving around will probably do me good by then!

Population of my town: About 1000
Population of the town I just drove to: 482
Number of cops seen on the 4.3 mile round trip: 6

The first gas station I went to, the closest one to my house, was closed. So I had to make a quick drive to the next closest one, in the neighboring town. The only bad thing about that one is that you can’t buy drinks there- they keep the fish bait in the same cooler as the beverages, so anything you buy to drink tastes like worms. I’ll pass, thanks.

But I did pick up some sugar!

I have decided that a trip to the gas station is in order. A late night journey! Driving off into the night, adventure around every turn! Or at least something to eat. Sadly, I think the gas station is the only thing open that is close enough to get to and back in half an hour, thus the plan!

Remember how I tried Sadia’s Patented “pin your hair up like this when wet and you will get cute curly hair?” I was afraid I’d end up with crazy frizz, but it worked!



Note the headband in preparation for late night convertible driving.

2/3 of the way through!

I just popped in my Grey's Anatomy tape with the last four or so eps of the season, so hopefully that will amuse me for a while.

I was REALLY looking forward to cleaning house today, and I've made practically no visible progress- annoying!

I'm getting hungry, but I doubt I have much food in the house. Wonder what I can come up with?

I did unpack my Mexico suitcase, I just need to do something with the stuff that was in it now!

I am really tempted to drive somewhere- the gas station or something, just to get out of the house. Right now a convenience store sounds like a daring adventure. It is so very far away from this computer desk!

Arrgh, my nieces were way too energetic for almost midnight, we finally had to send them to bed after the cat got stepped on for the third time.

Sorry for the late post!

Learnin'

A Lesson I’ve Learned:

You know in all the movies, when they show women driving across the country in a convertible with the top down, their hair tied back neatly in a scarf?

That is total bullshit.

I usually only drive with my top down through town, where I’m going between 20 and 50mph, and it is CRAZY windy. If you tied a cute little scarf to your head to keep your cute little hairdo in place, the thing would blow off and fly away in five seconds flat.

My recommendation?

In every convertible, you need a bunch of elastic ponytail holders, and a headband. I originally thought that just ponytailing it would work, but no no no. All those wispy little things around your face that make you pretty? They also fly into your eyes and make you blind. Use the headband/ponytail holder combo! Love it! Know it well!

These are the things they should really be teaching our youth in school. Carry a headband in your convertible, avoid guys in bands, don’t save up all the fancy soap for a special occasion, and other such important lessons.

Other lessons I’ve learned?

Fear is stupid. I used to be afraid of a lot of things. Then there was the day when my dad was in the hospital after having a stroke, and I got the call that he probably wasn’t going to survive the day, so I should come to the hospital. I drove up, went to his room, and his bed was empty. My mom wasn’t there. I couldn’t find *anyone*. I walked down to ICU to see if he’d been moved there, and still couldn’t find anyone. I spent an entire half hour walking the halls of the hospital like a zombie, trying to find out SOMETHING. Finally about half an hour later, I checked his room again and he was back. They had just taken him downstairs for some tests. After that kind of fear, and the crazy dread I felt every time the phone rang for the four months until he died, the “is this THE call?” worry, everything else seems a lot easier. I remember as I was walking down that sterile white, fluorescent lighted hospital hallway, that if I could just make it through this, nothing would ever be scary again.

You can spend a lot of time trying to impress someone, but until you stop *trying*, you’ll never know the amazing feeling of being loved for who you already are.

You can’t wait around to do things because you are single. I used to put off vacations because I couldn’t get someone to go with me- none of my friends were both able to get off work AND afford the trip. Finally? Somewhere around 19 I said screw it and started traveling alone. Best decision ever. I’m now planning my 2010 Round the World Trip. If I can find someone to go with me by then, awesome, because it will be way cheaper. If not? I’m a tough chick, I can do it solo. I may even enjoy it more that way.

I’m pretty sure that most of my readers are older, but if you happen to be in that hellish phase of your life we call high school? A few tips. A) There are more important things than what college you go to. Have some fun. B) Those people whose opinions you worry about? A few years from now you will wonder why you EVER cared what they thought about you. C) Things get better. I promise.

Funny enough, just as I was typing this, Prana posted in the chat room:

prana: oh! that is a good one, heres what I learned. No matter how much it seems like it at the time, what happens in highschool will not effect the outcome of the rest of your life, no one will remember. It will not follow you. When highschool is over you will probably never see those people again and you will suddenly wonder why the hell you cared so much about all that teen drama to begin with.

Other chat room lessons to share?

RunRubyRose: crystal....an important lesson I learned when I was just about `17 was to listen to my heart. I heard the same lesson regarding the same situation again when I was 20

prana11679 (again): An important lesson I learned when I was fifteen is that if someone doesn't love you, you can't ever make them love you, so you have to love and take care of yourself. Also, my parents suck the monkey. The end.

I’m sure I’ll think of more lessons later, but now is the time to post, so this is all you get for now.

Do you have any lessons to share?

Mmm, showers! I took a 10 minute shower, did my hair (Sadia’s Patented Hair Scrunched Up Thing- we’ll see if it is as cute on me!), and put on real clothes, and I am a whole new person! (I name me Joan.)

Okay, I am doing the 10pm shower thing! I keep meaning to get one, and getting distracted (Oooh, shiny!). Kelly pulled me out of my foul mood with a photo of camel butts, which says that she knows me far too well.

Hooray for 2nd winds!

Grumpy!

ARRGH.

I am in an irritable phase.

It can probably be blamed on too much caffeine today. And also that everyone is suddenly very annoying. I just want to blog in peace!

I am breaking out my secret good mood weapon. An MP3 of Moxy Fruvous covering the MST3k theme song. You just can’t go wrong with something like that.

It may be time to start cleaning again!

I have the sleepyness, and it sucks.

I have NO idea why I am sleepy- it is only 9pm! Maybe because I’ve just been sitting here all day? I think it may be time for a shower!

These are my ballet shoes.

No, they aren’t pretty. I just finished duct taping them for the third time, though, so at least the tape is shiny? Yes, I should just break down and buy a new pair, but I have such history with this pair! We’ve been together about a year now. If I were to take the tape off, my big toe would totally poke through the fabric of each shoe. They’re also getting big holes on the sides, which I can’t really figure out, because what do I do with the side of my foot?

These shoes are so very comfy now. Unlike my jazz shoes, they don’t make my feet sweat. They save me from the evil rug burns from dancing at the studio, save me from walking on questionable surfaces at performances.

Maybe after this round of tape wears out, I’ll finally trade them in for a new pair.

And the blogger shutdown was, in fact, an old one. I am so smart!

There... now to get back again!

Halfway point! WOOHOO!

The current stats: Number of blogs: 313 Total pledges: 87,264.95

We had 366 bloggers when we started, I'm sad to see that we lost so many! But the $87k ROCKS.

There's talk of a blogger outage tonight, which would SUCK. I'm really hoping it is being confused with the one that took place last Saturday! A LOT of blogathon folks use blogger, so if it goes down, we're going to have a problem!

The kids have been working on their jewelry boxes for almost an hour now. HOORAY for cheap entertainment!

Blogathons are exhausting if you are a cat.

The funny thing about Blogathon to me is that early in the morning when you’re starting out, half hours FLY by. You barely seem to take a sip of your coffee, and it is time to post again.

Now, though? 11 hours later? A half hour is FOREVER. I can make a snack, write a long post, watch TV, organize my bookshelf, conquer a small country, write a novel, balance my checkbook, and alphabetize my dvds all in 30 minutes or less.

I bought a few things at Wal-Mart last night (when I was getting the box for my bank) that I could give my nieces to occupy them, and thus give my mom some time to not go crazy. Since I was already in the craft section, I found them some cute foam door hangers (like do not disturb type signs) that they could decorate, mini versions of my round box (perfect size for jewelry boxes!), and little ceramic dogs to paint. I’m turning them lose with paint and glitter and stickers, and I can’t wait to see what comes out!

(The best part? The total cost of two boxes, two dogs, and two door hangers? $4!)

My plans for tomorrow? After 8am, anyway? Sleep, sleep, and sleep. And then get up to go see Pirates of the Caribbean at Imax. We like 7-story tall pirates, we do!

I finished making my bank for my RTW trip fund. Freehanding continents with a paint pen is pretty impossible, but I think you can at least tell South America from Greenland. Barely. If you squint just right and tilt your head to the left. Let’s just call it “stylized”. (A favorite word at dance class for when you totally screw something up. “It was supposed to be like that! It was stylized!”)







All it has in it so far is a handful of change, and some pesos I had left over from Mexico. This is why the trip isn't planned for four more years ;)

Surfing around the Blogathon webring and hanging out in the chat room- it seems we’re all hitting that mid afternoon slump- 9 hours in, the early energy is wearing off, but second wind hasn’t hit. Um… whee?

I might just break my own rule and grab another frappuccino. Shhhh, don’t tell.

Place Crystal Wants To Travel #2: Africa

Okay, could I be more vague than listing an entire continent? Well, I guess I could list a hemisphere, but whatever.

I was reading the travel blog at thirteenmonths.com a few months ago (awesome site, beautiful photography!) and read about their time in Africa, and it was amazing!

Some of what I want to do? I want to get lost in the streets of Fes and wander around Marrakesh in Morocco. I want to figure out the mystery of the pyramids in Egypt. Track some gorillas in Uganda, and go on safari (the Swahili word for journey) in the Ngorogoro Crater and Greater Sahara in Tanzania. Throw in South Africa and Madigascar somewhere in there, and you’ve got an idea. Oh, and I want to go to the Dem. Rep. of Congo, just because “I went to the Congo” just sounds so freaking cool.

For another awesome tale of a trip through Africa, check out Kinga’s Africa trip at kingafreespirit.com Her words are poetic, her photos beautiful. Sadly, she got cerebrial malaria during her trip and died last month. Heartbreaking.

Any other suggestions for what to see or do in Africa?

I lost track of numbers long ago

Well, hello there, 5pm!

In three more hours, we're halfway through!

Still cleaning, but not making much progress yet. I have a LOT to catch up on!

Still cleaning house, sorting through the giant pile of mail that has been accumulating in the past month or so that I haven't had time to open.

Also watching Rent.

Wishing I had more coffee, and something yummy to eat.

That's about it!

What number IS this?

YUCK! My cheesy bean and rice burrito was supposed to be without salsa (or their icky excuse for salsa, really just chunks of onions and tomato- YUCK.), but once again Taco Bell screwed it up. There goes my lunch!

So, for your very much amusement, I thought I’d post some of the search strings that have taken people to my usual website (in other words, this is what they typed in google that brought them to me.)

1- “free porno”- Seriously. This is the #1 thing people have searched for that brought them to me. WHY? My site is porn-free! WHY???
2- “Two Headed Animals”- This one is way cooler than free porn.
3- “Giant moth”- at least this one makes sense. I’ve posted pictures of the giant moths that like to hang out on my back door at least once or twice.
4- “People with no legs”- What??
5- “Guy with an axe”- Do you think they looked in the yellow pages first?
6- “I hate playing vamp towns”- Hey! This is from the Buffy episode in season 7 called Conversations With Dead People! Great episode.
7- “Sean Astin in Speedo”- WHY?
8- “Cracked out mother”- rofl!
9- “Lovely dinosaur”- as opposed to all those not so lovely dinosaurs you hear about.
10- “Build homemade helicopter”- Umm… good luck with that one.
11- “chiropractor crush david” Robot crush! Destory! Rawr!
12- “old chinese men” Sorry, we’re all out of those.

My house cleaning has finally begun. Well, mostly I've just been trying to organize books so far, but at least it is a start!

bonus contest post!

The current contest on the main Blogathon page is about earliest memories. I think my earliest memory is being about 3 or 4, and there being a huge thunderstorm going on. I was afraid, and wanted a teddybear, so my sister took me upstairs to get one from the huge box that we kept all the stuffed animals in. She told me to get my favorite one, but I didn’t have a favorite, so I just picked one and decided he would be my favorite.

Two decades later, we’re still friends.

Eep! Another half hour that flew by too fast!

Next post is the 8 hour mark- yay!

#15

ACK! Trying to type with paint on your fingers is bad! More later!

#14

Can you believe that we have raised over TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in the last 12 hours? How crazy awesome is that???

One of the things I wanted to do today was to make a bank to hold spare change, so I can start saving up for the Round the World trip I am planning for 2010. I bought a plain cardboard box, and plan to paint it like a world map, and cut a hole in the top for money. Here's the progress so far:



Plain brown box.



I had a few colors of blue to choose from for the ocean. My original plan was light blue, like what they normally use on maps, but I also have a shiny dark blue that I used...



On these boxes, which I made during last year's blogathon.



So it was really between two colors. I finally went with the light.



The first coat was easy- I still had some of these cheap sponge painting things from when I painted my house before I moved in. Now I just have to see if I like the color when it dries. If not, dark shiny blue it is!

Lucky #13

Let's take this post to meet the supporting cast of they day, shall we?

The Cats:



Tallulah Jane, the One Kitten to Rule Them All. She is currently asleep in my bed.



Tiger Lily, who is both a tiger and a lily! She likes windowsills.


The neices:





My two youngest neices are staying with my mom this week (she lives upstairs from me), so I've been seeing quite a bit of them. They will probably make some cameo appearances later on.

Cheaper by the Dozen (aka Post #12)

Behold the beauty!



I'm still sorting, resizing, etc pictures, but here are a couple to start with!



The sky when I started this morning



The view out my window when sitting at my computer. I love that tree!



My new henna supplies, which even came in a super cute bag!



Two cats who think that the world will end if they can not go outside and save it.



The sign I put up at work about the blogathon. Sadly, nobody from work sponsored me. (YET!)

#11

First of all, good news! I sent my mom to Wal-Mart to pick me up a new card reader (I needed a spare one anyway), and she just got back, so I now have one! Photos coming soon! Until then, now is a good time to start my list of…

Crystal’s Places To Travel
Place #1: USA Roadtrip

I’ve always been more interested in traveling to other countries than in exploring the US, but lately the idea of a cross-country road trip has started to sound appealing. I blame those national park shows on the Travel Channel, personally. I’ve been compiling a list of all the things I want to see, and I would ideally like to have at least one thing per state. I really want to see the sun set in Key West. I want to watch the Grand Canyon change colors in the light, to visit Buffy’s high school in California, to gamble the night away in Vegas.

So here is my question to you, dear blog people: What should I see in your state? Is there a little known café on a back road that serves the best pie in the world? Is there a used bookstore on your corner that I could blow a zillion dollars at? Do you have an annual llama appreciation festival? What is there that you love?

If you live outside the US, what should I see where you are?

#10

Whew! I spent the entire previous half hour typing up the post about the workshop, so this half hour was spent reading e-mail, walking outside in the sun, and hanging out with my cat. I’ll be back to more lengthy posts next time, though! Sometimes you just need the break that comes with a three sentence post.

Love Potion #9

I forgot to add “unpack suitcase that has been sitting in my living room since I got back from Mexico almost 3 weeks ago” to that list earlier. Oops.

You know, this is the second weekend in a row I’ve had to both take Saturday off and get up really early!

Last weekend my dance group took a roadtrip to an out of town workshop, which meant getting up at 5am so that I could meet them at the studio at 6:30 (I live about an hour and 15 minutes from where I dance.) There were 8 of us going, and we all ended up piling into one minivan, which made for quite the roadtrip! This is the first time we’ve gotten to take a roadtrip all as one group! We went to the St Louis Ren Faire a few months ago, but two people didn’t make it to that, and we took two cars, so it wasn’t the same.

The workshop was taught by a man named Raffa, who I hadn’t heard of previously, but was a lot of fun! It is really rare to see male bellydancers, and even rarer to have one teach a workshop!

The workshop ran from 10-4 with a break for lunch somewhere in there, which I spent making up a rehearsal I’d missed so that I would be able to perform. That’s a long day of dancing, especially since I was running on 2 hours of sleep and had been sick all week!

My brain hit the saturation point about an hour before the end of the workshop, so I ended up watching the last part from the sidelines. We had been learning choreography, and there’s this point that your brain hits where it just goes zzzzzzt!, and you are incapable of learning anything else.

We had a few hours in between the end of the workshop and the beginning of the show, time that I used to do some shopping (remarkably didn’t buy anything!), finish making up the rehearsal, get a 10 minute lower back massage (SO good! My back was killing me by the end of the workshop, but this totally helped!), and eat some pizza in the hotel room. Over slices dripping with cheese and pepperoni, we marveled at how great it was that we were doing a folkloric dance that night, and would be covered up totally by our costumes, making pizza possible. Sometimes being a bellydancer and not a ballerina is awesome.

The show started at 7, but we weren’t dancing till near the end of the second half, so we got to hang out in the audience and watch for a long time. There was such a great mix of dancers, everything from people performing for the first time to people who had been dancing for 30 years. Every age, every body type, every level of experience. Awesome!

Our dance went by in a blur for me, partly because I just sort of space out on stage, and partly because I have a veil across my face for the first minute, which makes it kinda hard to see. I think I whacked the girl next to me a couple of times when we were spinning, because you have NO peripheral vision in those things. My very favorite part was at the end of the dance when I went to stand up from where I had been kneeling on the ground, and I stepped on the back of my veil, making it pop off my head as I stood up. It took all I had not to crack up, so I just grabbed it and carried it out with me. Can NOT wait for the video to see that!



(photo lovingly stolen from beledi.org, credit to whoever it was who took it.)

The veil is my arch nemesis. You can’t breathe through it, and we don’t unhook it from our faces until halfway through, and do you know how hard it is to dance when you can’t breathe? Maybe that also explains why I’m kind of in a fog when we’re dancing?

Raffa was so nice, he said such great things about our dance, said we were inspiring, wanted a copy of our music. How encouraging is THAT?

I slept most of the roadtrip back. Sorry if I drooled on anyone. We did stop at a gas station for coffee and snacks, and I really wish I had the following conversation on video:

(8 bellydancers wander into a gas station, looking sleepy. They head straig for the coffee.)
Gas Station Guy: So... what kind of group are you guys?
Crystal, so tired: Bellydancers. We're coming from a workshop.
Gas Station Guy: REALLY?

The beautiful part was when we were dancing in the parking lot afterwards, and he came over to the window to watch. We love you, gas station guy. Love ya mean it.

#8 is great!

Just so that I can laugh at how ambitious my plans were later, when I’m happy just to still be awake, I present to you…

Crystal’s List of Stuff To Do Today:
-Post to blog every half hour until 8am (obviously.)
-Re-duct tape my ballet shoes. Again. (Yes, I should just buy new ones. Yes, I am way too cheap for that. Plus, they are so comfy now!)
-Some minor sewing to fix part of one of my dance costumes
-Post the Top 10 or 12 or whatever places I want to visit.
-Yoga for a Healthy Back dvd- This one has been sitting on my shelf for months, and I haven’t even had time to open it yet. Today is the day!
-Jillina’s intermediate choreography dvd- I’ve had this one for like a YEAR and haven’t had time to watch it yet.
-Stop by the thrift shop across the street to see if they have any good new books in. This is probably the only place close enough to my house that I could get there and back within half an hour, making it my only “let me out of the house!” opportunity!
-Set up the movie review page for my site
-Clean out my MP3 folder
-Clean out my collection of MST3k episodes
-Make it through the day without killing anyone
-Surf my way around the Blogathon ring and decide who else to sponsor
-Listen in on Blogathon Radio from time to time
-Work on my splits- I’m finally getting close to the floor!
-Take a shower at some point. And maybe put on actual clothes!
-Post some info about MSF/Doctors Without Borders
-Catch up on tribe.net posts.
-CLEAN THE HOUSE!!! I never, ever, ever have free time at home, and boy does it show! My house is a complete wreck! My main goal for today is to get it back to looking like a house. This will probably take up a good chunk of the day!

I love this event.

Last night as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep, I started thinking about the hundreds of other people around the world also trying to fall asleep, all with the same plans tomorrow. How cool is it to have such a sense of community, and for such a great reason?

I thought about it again this morning as I threw the alarm clock across….err… gently turned off my alarm and sprang out of bed so that I could be dressed by little birdies. Yeah. Almost 400 other people were getting out of bed at the same time, not to go grumble their way through their morning coffee and head off to yet another day at work or school, but to make a difference in the world. Stuff like that could almost make me a morning person.

Almost.

I love how generous people are, not just the blogathonners giving up their day for the cause, but all of the people who have donated already- I’ve already raised more donations this year than I ever have, and it is such an incredible feeling. I am so lucky to have people in my life that jumped at the chance to donate as soon as they heard what I was doing, and equally lucky to have some amazing sponsors that I don’t even know! How cool is THAT?

Yeah, I’m getting sappy. This kind of thing happens when you wake me up at 8am.

On a completely random note, here’s my horoscope for today:

Dear Crystal,Here is your horoscopefor Friday, July 28:You're an easygoing person, and you've always felt like you owed it to everyone else to do what they want with your myriad gifts. This seems like it would be easier on you, but it's actually not. Stand your ground.

It is crazy how fast time is flying! I haven’t even had a chance to start looking through the webring of fellow blogathonners yet! Somehow just typing up posts and chatting in the AIM chatroom are taking up a big percentage of the time so far, probably since I’m still half asleep and just thinking takes longer! I have this huge list of stuff I want to do today, half “yay, I have a day off, I can accomplish a ton of stuff!” and half “Oh yay! I FINALLY have a day off! I can relax!”. Good thing I have 21 hours to go!

Six degrees of Blogathon

Victory! Well, sort of. Wal-Mart has a card reader for $20, and I needed an extra one anyway (taking the one off my desktop to use on my laptop gets annoying.), so that’s the plan. My mom has a hair appointment at 11, so I talked her into picking it up for me while she’s out, if I haven’t found mine yet by then. Problem solved! Now I can quit whining about it. Yay!

The mail just came- always exciting, especially since I’m usually asleep when it comes! But to make it even better, my new henna supplies came! I just ordered them about a week ago from a site called Henna Caravan, at the recommendation of someone in my dance class. What a great day for the package to come! Photos to come later!

I just put some ice in the freezer so I can make snow cones later. Yummy!

Is this number 5?

Grr, could time maybe slow down or stop long enough for me to actually type something up before it is time to post?

I’m still searching for my card reader- it has to be here somewhere!!! I really, really hope I didn’t leave it at work! What fun is Blogathon with no accompanying photos? If it is at work, I wonder if it would be easier to send someone over there to get it, or send someone to Wal-mart for a new one. Do they even carry them at Wal-Mart?

At least the frantic search has gotten me off to a good start with the cleaning.

Four corners of the Earth

Eep, 9:30 already?

I was going to post some photos now, but I can’t find my memory card reader! I shall continue the search, though, and hopefully get some photos going soon!

Three's Company

Mmm, just did the awakening yoga. Good stuff. My body is still a little sore from the combination of the dance workshop I took last weekend, dance class on Wednesday, and generally not treating it very well lately, so I am going to try to do a lot of stretching and yoga today to try to make it happy!

If you’re looking for an awesome yoga dvd, this is the one I’m using today:



I only ever do the awakening part- I think I tried to do all the different parts during last year’s Blogathon, but it didn’t quite work out, so maybe I’ll try again this year! Plus, Rodney Yee rules.

I just noticed that it isn’t even 9am, and it is already hot. Or maybe just humid? Weather.com tells me that it is already 85 degrees in my little corner of the world, and that it feels like 90. Yeesh! It is only 9am! It looks like it is supposed to get up to 92, and isolated thunderstorms.

Oh crap. One hour in and I’m already talking about the weather! I promise to be more interesting, really!

The beautiful thing about being not exactly *awake* at the beginning of Blogathon is that the first half hour just flies by!

I am way not smart enough to figure out the irc chat this early, but I did find my way into the AIM chat room- Yay! I also just fixed my comments so that you don’t have to be a blogger user to use them.

I’m about to break out the A.M/P.M. yoga dvd that I never have time to do, and do the “awakening” part. It usually helps!

So, what do you have to look forward to here at Straight On Till Morning today, you ask? Well, I am a huge travel nerd, so at various points throughout the day, I’ll be posting about the Top 10 (or 12? Or however many I get to?) places that I want to travel to. I also plan on cleaning my house, so when it is looking good, you get a photo tour of Casa Crystal! I’m also setting up a movie review page for my website, watching a few movies, and other exciting shenanigans. I bet you’re on the edge of your seat! And of course, when all else fails, I can post photos of the cats. Oh, photogenic cats, how many times you have saved me in blogathons past!

Numero Uno!

Good morning, everyone!

Well, here we go again! Since Blogathon officially started in 2001, and missed only one year so far (2004), that makes this my….ummm… crap. I just tried to do math at 8am. That makes this my 4th year! Right? Something like that? See, this is why my first post is usually a one-liner. We’ll get to the more thinky stuff after coffee, ok?

Sitting here before me is the most beautiful bottled vanilla frappuccino I’ve ever seen, and once it is a bit emptier, I should be able to think. Or write. Or something. Yeah.

Good luck, fellow Blogathonners! Just 24 hours to go! You all look really cute. I love what you’ve done with your hair. That bedhead look totally works for you. Seriously!

Almost time!

Just a few more days until Blogathon, and I'm so excited!

I think my cats are trying to help prepare me- they refused to let me sleep past 9am today, even though I didn't get to sleep till 5. Thanks cats. Thanks.

I made an awesome poster last night to put up at work- it explains what Doctors Without Borders is, and what I'm doing to raise money for them. Hopefully it will bring in a few more donations!

I've got a list in my notebook of ideas for things to do during the 'thon this year, and it is getting long! I know I'm planning to post about places I want to visit every few hours, get some house cleaning done, and clean out my MP3 folder, for starts. It's always interresting to see what I actually end up doing vs. what I had planned, though!

I think I'm going to take advantage of the whole being woken up way too early and run a few errands before work!

Good luck to all my fellow blogathonners in these last few pre-blogathon days! Hope you all get a ton of sponsors! (We have already hit the $50,000 mark!)

Just getting the new blog set up in advance! Check me out, not procrastinating for once!