I was just informed that my most recent ex, Dan, received an anonymous email last night telling him to leave me alone. I can’t help but think it was sparked by my last post.

That was completely overstepping boundaries. What gives you the right to contact anyone I know?

My last post was directed to someone else. Dan had no involvement in my train of thought. I am beyond disappointed after finding out what happened.

I’d hate to have to stop writing about my life here, but if this is what I can look forward to…

Please respect my privacy as well as my friends. Do not take it upon yourself to contact anyone. You might think you’re being helpful, but you’re not.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in front of a computer lately, so I’ve been using more of my iPod and Pandora. I’ve even broken out my emergency stash of old CDs. I’m coming across a lot of songs that I’ve mostly forgotten about (some with good reason). This got me thinking about how certain songs remind you of certain times in your life and certain people.

I’ve listened to an entire CD by The Starting Line (back when that kid had blonde hair.) I haven’t thought of that band in years! Hearing that automatically made me crave Brand New. I’m not sure why, they’re not really related, but I know I was into both bands around the same time. Both bands also remind me of my bestest friend Dan-o. It’s funny because just as I was realizing that, he texted me after a month or so of no contact (we have a strange relationship.)

One of my favorite bands is Guster. I’ve had a hard time truly appreciating their music ever since I broke up with The Ex. They’re a local Boston band, The Ex was from Boston. Naturally that means I can’t enjoy the band. I’ve also been overusing the skip button whenever a song by The Slackers came on. He introduced me to them. I listened to a song by them just now and after listening to the lyrics, I realized they really summed up that relationship. Ha!

Anything by Nickelback makes me want to punch Chad Kroeger in the throat.

Faith by George Michael reminds me of my childhood. I used to ask my mom to play the “faitha, faitha, faitha” song.

Anything by Neil Diamond reminds me of cleaning my room at my dad’s house. Often we’d blast his greatest hits when taking on a serious dusting job.

My roommate and I had a boy band extravaganza the other weekend and it reminded me of being in high school and crushing hard on someone who overused hand gestures.

So I’m wondering, what song(s) make you think back?Are there bands or songs that you just can’t listen to without sobbing?

How is Bromance a real show??

Urban Dictionary defines Bromance as the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males. What’s so complicated about it?

Brody Jenner’s new reality TV show Bromance premiered last night and I was the sad sap who watched it. On a mission to prove that this show is his excuse to bump uglies with other dudes, I watched the rerun this morning.

So Brody is looking for a new best friend because Spencer ditched him for Heidi. Boo hoo. When you’re done wiping your tears with hundreds, call me. What does this say about his other friends? Are they not good enough to be considered bffs? What dude actually calls his bud a bff?

Moving along. Brody has his two good-but-not-good-enough-to-be-called-best-friends sneak attack these guys in the middle of the night. They’re brought to Brody’s casa in which they all sit around in boxers, except for one guy who happens to sleep in the buff.

Yeah…not gay at all Brody*.

But just in case you weren’t convinced, the elimination ceremony takes place in a hot tub. I’ll give you a sec to let that sink in.

A hot tub. There’s like ten guys hanging out in a hot tub. Of ALL the places to hold this ceremony Brody, why the hot tub?

I’m convinced this is all a cover up and Brody is really trying to find his bachelor. In which case the title actually suits the show. And if the show is not about finding the peanut butter to his jelly, why is this on TV? With everyone and their mother getting a reality TV show, I think it’s about time I get my own. I’ll call it Jennsome. Part Jenn. Part awesome. The plot? Who needs one!?

*For the record I completely support Brody in his quest for love. This is not an anti-gay post. So before you comment calling me a homophone or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days, I’m not. You love who you love. I 100% support that.

Can someone step inside my head and take a look at what’s going on please?

With school over I feel like I’m becoming even more irritated, tired and frustrated. I thought break would be a time of fun and relaxation. Rainbows and lemon drops. Unicorns. But I just feel mad. I guess it’s because now I actually have time to let a thought go through my head.

School this semester was a complete disappointment. I’m not quite finished beating myself up over that. I feel like I need to completely reevaluate my plans, my goals. I hate that. With so many factors depending on other factors if one gets screwed up, so does the rest. Example: affording school depends on taking 15 credits which depends on me passing certain classes to get the ones I need. My car insurance, health insurance and deferred student loan all depend on me having 12 credits. That depends on my work schedule which depends on my boss. Affording to live depends on that job and job number two, both of which I have little time for when I’m trying to pass my science courses.

The upcoming semester should be a bit easier as I’ve spread my classes out a bit and only have three science classes instead of four. But of course, I had to cut my hours at work to do so. Naturally I begin worrying about rent, car payments and bills.

The last few weeks have made it painfully obvious that I’m slacking in the girlfriend department.

A fun evening of drinking and baking cookies turned me into a negative Nancy. I was so frustrated last night for NO reason. I had a good day, too. But I was exhausted by 5 p.m.

I lack energy. All I want to do is stay home after working. And if I didn’t feel so guilty about it, I’d spend an entire day in bed.

_________________

I do have some really great posts coming up, including an iTunes card giveaway for three lucky readers thanks to the Energizer/Pandora campaign.

Also, don’t forget to check out the Chicago bloggers series on Guidespot. I’ll be adding more guides from Dan, Nisha, Jess and more very soon!

It’s like, the more you give yourself to do, Jennifer, the more time you’re given to do it.

BIG LOVE,
The Universe

______________________________

Dear Universe,

How could you send this after the nice post I wrote about you this week? I’d expect this bullshiz from the stars, but not from you. If I had enough time to do everything I had scheduled, do you think I’d be canceling plans with dear friends? Nooooo…

Sincerely,
J

P.S. You’re a liar.

Holy self-sabotage Batbloggers!

I’m pretty sure that subconsciously I’m trying to kill myself.

Exhibit A: I believed I could manage a course load involving Biology (Ecology to be exact – who needs that?!), Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology and Math. Even having passed one class and dropping the other, I’m still struggling. In addition to this I work two jobs. I work at school and study at work (Thank you live lectures!) The lines are blurred at this point. Today, in exactly two hours and 15 minutes I will be taking my anatomy lab final. If I don’t pass this, I can kiss Anatomy II goodbye – even though I’ve already taken it and passed it with an A. I’m failing at things I should be excelling at. And admitting that…acknowledging the failure…is one of the most difficult things I’ve done.

Exhibit B: In addition to school and work I sign up for extracurricular events including Gals Guide events (Banana Republic & Crave Party) as well as Windy City Social. Not only do I sign up for them, I do it during finals week. I also signed up for a scarf swap and holiday treat swap. I don’t even remember signing up for the latter!

Exhibit C: I spend most of my free time completely lost in a series of books that not only create unrealistic expectations, but they make it so easy to question every relationship. Thank you Stephenie Meyer for creating a character so flawed that he’s almost perfect. This does not exist and I’m mad at you for telling me it does. I don’t want perfect.

Exhibit D: I am forgetting important things! I forgot about a paper due. I tried to turn it in late after my TA showed me a glimmer of hope only to be crushed Monday after finding out she didn’t grade it. I am now failing (a class I’ve already had) by 20 points. That paper? Yeah, it was worth 20 points.

Exhibit E: I’m wallowing. Not only am I wallowing, but once I realize that I am wallowing, I immediately snap out of it completely ignoring the root of all of the wallowing. How healthy is that? I’m pretty sure my therapist should un-move himself and get back to Chicago. His break-up really inconvenienced me.

Exhibit F: What should be causing me to jump up and down with glee and scream “Super Eff Yeah!” at the top of my lungs…isn’t. I can’t tell the difference between being scared and being wrong. Why am I pulling away? I believe I’ve reserved the role of “the fuser” in past relationships. So what the eff’in eff head? Heart? Anyone? Bueller?

Exhibit G: I don’t talk about any of it. I had a mini-breakdown Monday night with the roommate, but aside from that I’ve been holding everything in. I don’t necessarily need to verbalize it, but I should write it. It needs to get out, even if it’s never heard/read. But I don’t. Am I avoiding it? If I don’t write it does it mean it’s not true?

Exhibit H: My diet consists of Pop-Tarts, cheese balls, the occasional piece of chicken or steak and granola bars. I haven’t been to the gym in months. My bed is uncomfortable and I choose to sleep there because I’m too much of a chicken to fight my dad for my old one. I have a migraine a week. My body is one step away closing down shop and taking a vacation. How that would work, I don’t know.

Exhibit I: I’m a financial mess. With a second job under my belt I figured I’d be safe to move out. Having an extra income was the deciding factor. Well that extra income has yet to hit my checking account, let alone my mailbox. In the last week I’ve paid over $1,000 on rent, car payment, massage therapy insurance, towing fees and other miscellaneous bills. THAT was NOT fun. My savings account is a mess, my checking account is pathetic and I’ve had to tap into my money market more than I would have liked to.

At this point, I’d much rather do absolutely nothing than confront everything. And that’s not me. So that’s why I’m convinced my subconscious is trying to kill me.

What’s stressing you out?

You can thank Paramore for that title.

I am not built for Black Friday shopping.

I accidentally woke up around 5 a.m. Well, at least I think it was an accident. My cat Voodoo may believe otherwise. He’s such an ass face. I was trying to go back to sleep, but I could hear cars zipping around outside and I realized that the stores were probably packed already. Should I get up and go? Did I really need anything? I didn’t even know what people wanted for Christmas!

My curiosity got the best of me. By 5:40 I was out the door and on my way down the street to Target. I drove by Best Buy, Target and Kohls. The parking lots were packed. I told myself if I couldn’t find a spot to park, I’d go home. Sure enough there was a spot in the front row waiting for me. Then I saw IT. There was a two person deep line wrapped around Target. Holy shiz. I decided to go into Kohls since it was already open. Target had another 10 minutes.

I am not a shopper. I like stuff. I like buying stuff. More importantly, I like playing with the new stuff. I think I’ll stick to online shopping from now on. I bought a few sweaters for work and a gift for someone. Due to my good line karma, I let someone go ahead of me, the line ended up moving rather quickly. I ventured over to Target, which was a HUGE mistake. I should have gone directly to electronics because I told my cousin if I found a Wii, I’d get it for her. I stopped by the DVDs first and grabbed a few. Then again, I saw IT. The Wii. It was there. If I didn’t have to climb over people and their shopping carts I would have had it. I should have thrown punches. I called my cousin to let her know I had failed.

I did manage to score a pretty nifty iPod dock. I’m happy. I got some GREAT deals on DVDs though. I got a couple new releases for ONLY $5.98. Color me happy. I was even happier when I got out of there. It only took me a little over an hour to shop. I’m home and don’t plan on going back out all day. Those people are crazy. I don’t understand why people complain about it though. If you’re one of the yahoos who go to the store at 6 a.m. on Black Friday, why complain? You should know better. If you don’t like the crowd, don’t go. Don’t make my shopping experience even more miserable because you can’t keep your mouth shut.

On that note, I think I need more sleep. I’m off to work for a bit and then lounging on the couch with some new DVDs

Happy Black Friday folks!

My eyes are exhausted. In the last week I’ve read more than 700 pages and I’m excited about adding on another 1300. I’m so happy these bifocals of mine are updated or my eyes would be very upset with me. I went through far too much to get these glasses, I’d hate to have them suddenly crap out on me.

This got me thinking about what it would be like if I didn’t have glasses. Of course I wouldn’t want to have issues seeing. My mom, stepdad and aunt have all gotten Lasik surgery to correct their vision. All three of them see really happy with their decision.

I’m occasionally asked by family and friends if I’d consider getting the procedure. Honestly, right now, I don’t think I would. My glasses give me character. My I feel naked without them! Sometimes I forget that they’re on, and I try to poke my eyes just to make sure they’re still there. Yeah…because there isn’t an easier and safer way to do that…

So just in case I decide to ever go ahead with the procedure…you know, after I’ve grown tired of cleaning these things…I did a bit of research. I found this video that really sums up the before, during and after of iLASIK. More information can be found at iLASIK. My eyes seem to be getting worse every year. Ahh the joys of aging! But I’m not sure if I’m quite ready to part with my specs. It’s definitely something I’ll keep on the back burner, but for right now, I think I’ll stick with my glasses.

I’m curious – have any of you had the procedure done? If you have, are you happy with your results? Would you recommend it to a friend? If you haven’t, are you curious about it? Why or why not?

Todays guest post is brought to you by
Steph Anne
from
Friday Glamour.
This is all part of the 20 Something Bloggers “Blog Swap 3“.
Don’t forget to go check out my post over on her site.

I’ll introduce myself…. my name is Stephanie and I blog over here. I didn’t know what to blog about for the Blog Swap but then I thought I should blog about the issues I have about Deaf Power.

I was born deaf and I can hear now with both my hearing aid and cochlear implant. I am grateful that I can speak very well and when communicating with others, I can lip-read and hear them so communication isn’t that much of a barrier for me.

Deaf Power…. there are deaf people out there that have so much pride in their deafness and sometime it conflicts with issues or their opinions. They’re stuck in their little “Deaf world” and I find it extremely annoying.

I am proud to be deaf but I don’t have Deaf Power at all. I want to be a normal person and strive for the best by myself without using deaf excuses. I’m up for the challenges. Every time I dream of my future I don’t always see interpreters there for me.

“Deaf people can do anything but hear.” – I King Jordan. That quote is very true. I am grateful that I can hear very well unlike some other deaf people. I don’t wear my cochlear implant all the time…. and I should. I need to so I can improve on understanding people better.

My biggest pet peeve is when deaf people are so disrespectful to hearing people and then hearing people misjudge deaf people and assume we are so cruel and immature. I don’t blame hearing people but it sucks that I have to deal with that and try hard to make them realize that I’m not one of “those deaf people”. I’m proud to be deaf in my own ways..but I certainly don’t live in the “Deaf world”. I live in the world that we’re all living in.
P.S. D-PAN (Deaf Performing Artists Network) is an awesome website with music videos signed by deaf artists.

-Stephanie

It appears that unremarkable organs run in my family. First my grandpa’s bladder (you had to be there) and now my brain.

I had my noggin’ scanned the other day to make sure I wasn’t crazy figure out why I get so many migraines. Being the curious anatomy buff that I am I requested a copy of my scans.

I don’t know what I was expecting. I thought I’d see more. Note: I’m not sure how much more I wanted to see. Obviously I’m grateful that there’s nothing funky going on up there, but the scans themselves are pretty unremarkable. Maybe I only say that because I’ve actually held a human brain and explored it so anything else is less exciting.

I figure these scans could be printed out and used for decoration around the new apartment, or maybe I’ll send them out as Christmas cards. I could always make a guide/map of my brain – that’s a thought! At least they made for an interesting blog post

This is Jenn’s Brain:

I will admit that I spent about 45 minutes scrolling through the scans and watching as they go through my head. “In the head…out of the head…in the head…” Very entertaining!

Don’t forget about the latest batch of link love.