"You Too" and Stuff...

Mike and the Blue Men

2007-04-07T10:36:00.000-05:00

My friend Chris and I took a little jaunt over to Peoria to see the Blue Man Group last week. We had seen them before a few years ago in Champaign and weren't disappointed. When I found out that they were going to be so close to home, I knew that there was absolutely no way that we could miss them on their "How to be a Megastar 2.0" tour.

Chris and I were both able to skip out of work early that day so we headed to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner and then onto Inplay, a Dave & Buster-esque bar/arcade. After kicking Chris' ass at Skeeball, we proceeded onto the main event.

Our tickets for the show weren't the best, we were facing the stage right from a side view, but we were still able to see okay due to the large side screens, which seem to be the standard for concerts now, and we had another good view as the stage protruded out a bit.

The first time that we had seen them, the Blue Man Group was touring with Tracy Bonham as an opener and Venus Hum as a special guest. I thought that Ms. Bonham rocked, especially with her acoustic version of "Mother Mother", but this tour's opener, DJ Mike Relm, blew her away. Like most undiscovered talent, he's been around for a while playing the underground scene in the San Francisco area. I'm glad that he was able to snag such a popular tour so that he can be exposed to lots of new people who may not have been aware that he even existed, such as myself. The crowd reacted wildly to him and he spun and scratched in sync with some of the greatest movie clips ever. If you were present at the concert, I'm sure that you will never look at "Office Space" the same way again. Relm also mixed-up scenes from Woodstock, Fight Club, and even the Peanuts. Amazing. His high energy performance had me hooked. I've provided some a clip of some of his stuff for your enjoyment. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet DJ Mike Relm!

The Blue Man Group, as usual, was creative, fun, and humorous. They kept the crowd entertained by flashing facts, jokes, and shameless website/newsletter plugs across the screens for 15 minutes before the show started. Chris and I were a bit disappointed to see that they hadn't switched up the act from when we had seen them before. They again walked the audience through the essential rock concert traditions such as the one-handed fist pump, the head nod, and even the fake ending. They are champions at crowd-participation. This time around they're encouraging people to take pictures and the post them to their "How to be a Megastar" website. The back-up band was terrific, with three drummers and a few more guitarists. I've also posted below my favorite part of the show...nothing gets an audience going like an old familiar tune, in Blue Man Group fashion, of course. If you haven't had a chance to experience one of their shows, I encourage you to do so if they happen to roll through your area. If you've seen them in Vegas or in Chicago, expect something different this time around. This is a rock concert compared to a stage show. Enjoy!

What's Up, Buttercups?

2007-03-11T10:29:00.000-05:00

Hello again, my friends! I hope all is well in your worlds. I know that I've been quite absent, but I've also been quite the busy little bee. Here's what's been goin' on in my hood:

1) The boy and I have decided to take the next step so we're gettin' hitched! V proposed to me on New Year's Eve and we're in the process of planning our September 2008 wedding. We aren't the only ones taking the plunge. His sister became engaged at Christmas and his brother proposed to his girlfriend for Valentine's Day. It seems that we'll be surrounded by wedding stuff for the next year! Congrats to Becky & Brad and John & Eileen, btw! I've gone from an only child to having a step-brother and now am anticipating acquiring lots of in-laws!

(Here is my engagement ring along with the recent wedding band that matches my ring. We were lucky enough to get our bands recently at Stout & Lauer's big closing sale!)

2) Of course, when exciting things happen, crappy things happen as well. I decided that I had been a fugitive on the run for long enough and made the decision to get my wisdom teeth out. Luckily, they were all above the gums so I just had to have them pulled rather than cut out. Once I was numb, the entire process only took about 15 minutes. I took my ipod so that I wouldn't hear any unpleasant crunching noises. V was excited to document the adventure and my dentist was more than likely to make room for him to get the best shots. Warning: Nasty dental shots below... (things are healing well, no dry sockets, thanks for asking)

Thank you Dr. Ross!

Tools of torture

The main event

Bloody holes

Aftermath (note the sexy uneven lips and drool)

3) Just as time changed this morning at 2 a.m., my age will be changing as well. Next week I'll hit the big 3-0. The only thing that is getting me through the trauma is the fact that I'm escaping to St. Louis this weekend on a "girls weekend" away with my mom. We're staying at the Hyatt in Union Station, will be attending the HUGE St. Patrick's Day parade, and will be taking in a concert by Harry Connick Jr. (I'll plug his new CD, "Oh My Nola" because it's fantastic!) The first activity of "Birthday Week" will take place tomorrow night. I'm headed to see "Rent", one of my favorite musicals. Wish me luck in surviving the final week of my twenties...

I guess the only other big happenings took place in Springfield over the past few months. As you probably have heard Sen. Barak Obama announced his candidacy for President on the lawn of the Old State Capitol. I watched the action from the coziness of my couch. I've already joined "Team Hilary". Best of luck to all of the candidates.

Last week there was a rash, about 200, car vandalisms around the city. My mom's car windows were casualties in the action. Fortunately, they caught the jack-holes responsible so Springfield can sleep in peace again. Thank you SPD!

Tomorrow marks the 1-year anniversary of the tornadoes that hit, and temporarily destroyed, the city. The domestic violence shelter at which I work suffered a great amount of damage. We just made our final repairs last week. Many have rebuilt, but my thoughts will be with those who lost everything and are still trying to gain some re-order to their lives.

Finally, some of my favorite businesses will be closing their doors soon, if they haven't already.

- Stout & Lauer is preparing to close its doors after being in Springfield for over 100 years. The last time we were there, they still had great things left and will continue putting out new jewelry as new settings are completed. Stop by, take a look, and wish them well.

- La Sorella, my favorite restaurant in town, which made my favorite food ever, garlic bread pasta, closed last weekend. We were lucky enough to visit one last time before it's final closing. It's sad to see us lose such a phenomenal establishment. Not only was the food amazing, La Sorella held special meaning to me. I had my first legal drink there on my 21st birthday, V and I went there the night we became engaged. I was hoping to spend my 30th there and we were hoping they'd be around to host our rehearsal dinner. Thanks for the memories...and the garlic bread pasta!

- Yesterday I received word that the Scrapping Bee will be closing after 5 years. I, along with quite a few others, flocked to the store yesterday to make our final purchases and to wish Kendra and the gang good luck. The average length of time to wait in line was an hour and a half, but it was a wait that was worth it. I overheard many sharing stories of new friendships, as well as beautiful pages, that were created at the Scrapping Bee. They won't be closing until the end of the month so if you haven't had a chance, stop in, tell everyone "good-bye" and pick up some awesome deals at the same time. Although my fellow scrappers will be sad to see them go, the staff should be proud of what they've accomplished and the memories that they've helped to make. Keep on BEE-ing creative and I have no doubts that you'll BEE successful! Best of luck to you!

Enough of the sappy! Now you know how I've spent my absence. What have you been up to?

A Trick and A Treat

2006-11-01T07:47:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone got enough sweets to make their dentist have nightmares last night. I had plenty because, not knowing what to expect in the new area, I stocked up on chocolate for hungry Trick or Treaters. Unfortunately, we only had 4 visitors and my ass is going to continue to grow as a result.

Diet woes aside, I did get a lovely little treat yesterday. I learned that John Mayer is going back on tour and will be heading for Bloomington in February. I saw him last month in St. Louis with Sheryl Crow and the show was amazing! I've been listening to his new CD, "Continuum", since the second it was released. I can easily say that it's the best music collection I've heard this year. It's a lot of bluesy sounds mixed with the tiniest bit of pop.

Check out Mr. Mayer's always entertaining blog here. After that, buy "Continuum". You won't regret it. Tell Amazon that Jodi sent ya...

Here's a clip from John Mayer's shortly-lived show on Vh-1. He dresses up in a bear suit and talking to tail-gating fans before one of his shows. Hilarious!

2006-10-16T07:31:00.000-05:00

Happy Almost Halloween!

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of "It's a Great Pumpkin,Charlie Brown!", I thought I'd post this clip. Enjoy and may the Great Pumpkin make all of your Halloween wishes come true!

Illinois State Fair 2006

2006-08-13T07:56:00.000-05:00

You either love it or hate it, but if you live in Springfield, there's no avoiding it. It's the Illinois State Fair. For my entire life, I've gone at least once each year. I go to eat the customary corn dog to remedy that feeling I'd get if I didn't go that I had really missed something. The state fair is one of those things that you look forward to, but then you want to leave immediately as soon as it arrives. Unfortunately, it sticks around town for ten days.

V was off studying for his exam, the weather was as nice and mild as it was going to get, and I had a craving for Culler's vinegar fries, so off I went. This was a mission that I had to accept. Making a solo venture to the fair doesn't bother me. I like to have a plan mapped out to assure that I get to see everything so sometimes having someone else with you involves too much compromise that just might slow you down. The Illinois State Fair is a sensitive operation, you're in, you're out, you're finished until 2007.

There are certain things that you have to see every year to make the trip count and there's some things that you just don't expect to see. I saw much of both.

The one thing that everyone looks forward to seeing once the fair starts its annual promotion is which new food will be featured. This year it happened to be "Egg on a stick", which is nothing more than a hard-boiled egg on a skewer with a variety of dipping sauce options. For some reason, when I think of the fair and the accompanying heat, eating eggs just doesn't come to mind.

Although the weather was gorgeous, it was still a little warm. This led to me missing out many of my favorite fair treats simply because eating them would only make me hotter. Unfortunately, I had to skip one of my new favorite stands, "Fried What?" It's only been around for a few years, but it has already become a fair favorite. I've tried the Snicker's Bar, the Twinkie, the Cheesecake, and the Strawberry Shortcake in previous years. They were each surprisingly good.
One food that I didn't eat and totally regret it...
Oh well, I still have to go back next week to hang out with the Counting Crows. I'll hit Ethnic Village then...

Among the fair standards that I couldn't miss seeing were the giant slide, the giant abe, the giant Milkshake stands, the man making popcorn in the giant kettle, the giant sand sculpture, and the giant Buttercow. Yes, it's a cow made out of butter. See it for yourself in real time, along with the other fairgoers, here.

And you thought things were bigger in Texas.....

While I expected to see all of these fun things, one thing that I wasn't expecting to ever see was a reindeer! Did you know that they're antlers are fuzzy?
In Conservation World, I saw this crazy racecar made of recycled containers. I wonder if it runs on some type of Biodiesel... Yep, that V and his tree huggin' is really rubbing off on me.

By this time, I felt content with my visit to the fair. I also felt that my sunscreen was wearing off so I decided to get my mandatory lemon shake-up to go. So until next year, or at least next weekend, so long old friend!

Mr. Jones and Me

2006-08-09T07:04:00.000-05:00

It's nice to know that during times when life seems busy and terribly hectic, there are small moments that can remind you that there is still fun to be had. One of those moments reached me on Monday, when I was swamped at work and trying to balance several different projects. I received a phone call, the only call that I actually didn't let go through to voicemail, from the Community Outreach Coordinator for the band, Counting Crows. Evidently, domestic violence is one of the causes that the band supports. They are going to be playing at our Illinois State Fair this year along with the Goo Goo Dolls. Counting Crows kindly invited us to plug our domestic violence agency at the concert. Adam Duritz himself will make announcements promoting us! The band is even going to post a link to our website from theirs. Thanks guys! I'll be sure to post pics of the show to share.

Steve in My City!!

2006-07-23T16:46:00.000-05:00

V and I went to visit his mom this weekend in Indiana. We had a nice, relaxing weekend that I thought couldn't get any better until I came home to find this in my mailbox...

It's an autographed picture of David Eigenberg (aka Steve Brady, Miranda Hobbes' bartending beau on "Sex and the City")!! How lucky am I??

Let's Take A Walk

2006-07-16T13:44:00.000-05:00

Despite the heat, V and I decided to take a walk in the neighborhood. I decided to take my camera to see what I could spot. I didn't have to go very far before I found my first opportunity. Last week I had run into our neighborhood standing in line at Starbucks. She warned me that a dove had built a nest and laid eggs in the wreath that was on her door. The dove, just being a protective parent, would attack any guests who happened to come near her. I figured that if I stayed far enough back, it wouldn't be an invasive shot to get. I knew I was wrong when the dove squawked, flew directly toward me, and soared up onto the roof at the last moment. I did, however, get a great photo.

As we continued on down the block, we stopped at the pond that is in the middle of the subdivision. It was covered with lilypads. I had never seen a lilypad, nor did I ever know that they came in a variety that was so enormous. Before we headed home, I took a few pics. Enjoy!

Welcome to T.G.I.F. !!

2006-07-16T11:55:00.000-05:00

I'm always looking for things that crack me up. As you know, sometimes it seems as if these things are far and few between. When I saw this essay recently on The Onion recently, I couldn't pass it up. I think that Jenni Aberg hit the nail on the head. Judge for yourself...

Welcome to T.G.I. Fridays! May I Annoy the Living Shit Out of You??

Hi, Welcome to T.G.I. Fridays! May I annoy the living shit out of you? My name is Jenni, and I'll be your incredibly irritating server tonight! So, how are you folks doing this evening? Great!

Thanks sooo much for waiting! It has been completely insane around here! So if I seem a little brain-dead, please bear with me!

Can I start anybody off with one of our overpriced, stupidly named drinks? We've got a Totally Tropical Pina Colada Smoothie that's totally amazing! No? Just waters all around? Not feeling very adventurous tonight, are we? Hey, no prob! I'll be back with your aguas in just two shakes!

I am sooo sorry that took so long! Like I said, it's just been nuts! So, can I start you folks off with some greasy, disgusting appetizers? I highly recommend the Mexicali Rose Tequila-Fried Buffalo Wings. My personal fave, though, is the Five-Alarm Chili-Pepper Quesadillas with a side of Sesame-Seed-Grilled Tostadas and Margarita-Flavored Monterey Jack Dip. No? Just entrees? Wow! You folks don't mess around, do you?

Are you aware of our specials that nobody ever, ever orders? I'll mention them even though you've decided what you want. The first is our Southwestern Grilled Fettuccine Alfredo, which is a lot like our regular Fettuccine Alfredo, except the egg noodles are chargrilled and the cream sauce is flavored with a ranch dressing. It's served with either a Mediterranean veggie salad or a refried-bean dip. The second special is the Southwestern Grilled Avocado Meatloaf with Oriental vinaigrette marinara. Don't these sound the least bit tempting?

Doesn't my uniform make you happy? Aren't you happy? Aren't you so happy that you could take a bullet through the head?

Whew! I cannot believe how busy we are tonight! I swear, it doesn't normally take an hour for entrees. Anyway, thank you so much for your patience! You're the salsaburger with fries, right? And you're the Grilled Caesar Salad? Here you go! Anything else I can get for you? Can I top that Coke off for you, sir? Great!

Say, I forgot to mention this before, but we've got our own freshly brewed ice tea with Mexican-Grilled lemon. Any takers? Or, better yet, would you like to see our beer or wine list? That's too bad, because alcoholic drinks are the best way to increase the bill, which in turn increases my tip.

So, how's that burger working out for you, sir? Great! Actually, I couldn't care less. Would you like to see the dessert menu? Take your time looking it over, and I'll be back in a couple of minutes. By the way, I meant to say this before, but I absolutely love your top! No, not yours, sir. Although, you're quite the looker yourself!

All finished here? Great! Would you like a box to put these leftovers in? You sure? Okay! Have you decided what you'd like for dessert? The Asphyxiation By Caramel? I'm sorry, we're actually all out at the moment. Did you have a second choice? The Kahlua Fudge Slide with real Reese's Pieces? Oh, geez, we're out of that too. I'm sooo sorry! We do, however, have the Tex-Mex Fried Neopolitan Ice Cream with kiwi shavings. Would you prefer that instead? No? Just the check? Great! I'll be right back!

Sorry for the delay again, but the register's been acting up. I swear, I think there's a full moon out tonight! Is there anything else I can get for you? I know I totaled out the check, but we do have an adjoining bar. A negligible percentage of our bar sales go to the March of Dimes, so it's technically for a good cause! Oh, you have to leave as soon as possible? Okay, well, you guys have a super night! You can just bring your check up to the hostess at the register when you're set. It's been a pleasure getting on your nerves! Bye!

Let's Try This Again...

2006-06-04T12:24:00.000-05:00

Hey! How's it goin'? Lots going on here. V and are are still settling into our new place, but things are coming along swimmingly. Too much has happened since I last blogged so I'll just update you on a couple of exciting things and then move on accordingly in the coming days.

First up, we made a fantastic new discovery. It's a new restaurant in town called "The Pizza Machine." Evidently, and we didn't learn this until after our visit, the pizza makers just returned from Italy where they competed in a some type of pizza tossing competition. The place is great fun and it's mostly because of the staff! The whole novelty of the place is great too. When V and I read about the article in the paper, it said that the restaurant's claim to fame was 1) a pizza crane and 2) a 40-inch pizza. Those factors alone convinced me that this was an opportunity that was not to be missed. Unfortunately, with the history of restaurants in the area where the Pizza Machine was located, I was afraid that we would miss our chance if we didn't go soon. We gathered nine of our closest friends (because V and I couldn't possibly eat a 40-inch pizza by ourselves...) and headed off on our Saturday night adventure.

V's bro was in town so we decided that it would be the perfect weekend to visit the Pizza Machine. We were excited to see the pizza crane, which is more of a controlled zip-line that delivers the pizza from the kitchen on the balcony to the lower level dining room. With a trusted and experienced driver, the pizza crane will lower the pizza directly onto the hungry customer's table. Much to our dismay, the lower dining room was reserved for a private party so we weren't able to personally experience the crane, however we did get to watch it deliver a couple of pizzas to the tables below and it was quite an event! Everyone left their tables and gathered on the balcony to watch the transport, the joint erupted into applause when the pizzas safely reached their destination.

Even though we missed out on our very own pizza crane experience, we still knew that we had the 40-inch pizza to look forward to. With nine people, it's often difficult to decide on toppings. The staff was nice enough to accomodate us by dividing our pizza into quarters so that we could choose more toppings. Because the pizza is so big, it has to be cooked in separate ovens. This led to a bit of a wait. Luckily, there was a wondering magician and a table ready to harass him. You could tell that he dreaded coming to our table, but he did anyway. The ribbing continued until the big moment...our gargantuan pizza was here! Hooray!

It was so huge that it had it's own table. This is the cook who was a great sport and visited us at our table quite often while we waited. The group ate as much as it possibly could, but we still ended up taking the leftovers home. The pizza that we still had left, when boxed up, equaled two complete large pizzas. The price tag? The 40-inch pizza is $60 with two free toppings, $5 for each additional topping. Was it worth it? You bet. Get to the Pizza Machine before it's gone...

Another exciting recent event was our Earth day trip to St. Louis. For Valentine's Day, V decided to pass up the typical flowers and candy. He knows that I love otters so that's what he got me. He adopted an otter for me from the St. Louis Zoo. Yes, I'm officially a Zoo Parent...who will be attending the Zoo Parent picnic in September even! For the next year, I can enjoy my otter and know that thanks to V's generosity, he will be taken care of quite well. Thanks V! We decided to visit my otter for the first time and you can see the pics below from April trip to the St. Louis Zoo.

Aren't we cute? We "otter" be in pictures...

Watch out, V! Shark attack!

A butterfly landed right on my finger!

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL MY PEEPS !!

2006-04-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

I hope that everyone has a great Easter and bunny brings you lots of good stuff. Nothing says, "Hey, Jesus moved that heavy rock!" like chocolate...

If you have any leftover Peeps, here are some experiments that you may want to try...

29 for the First Time...

2006-03-24T12:48:00.000-06:00

March, March, March...oh what a month!

- I guess that the biggest news of the month is the tornadoes that hit the area causing major damage to several neighborhoods while leaving other virutally unscathed. The shelter that I work at had some damage done including lost tiles from the roof, the shed's roof being torn off, broken windows, a gate completely destroyed, the basement and elevator shaft filled with water, no power for 5 days, and lots of glass strewn about the playground. Luckily, there were no fatalities or serious injuries in the area. It's amazing to drive down the street and have it look so completely different. Places that you visited regularly are gone, landmarks destroyed. Kinda like what I imagine Armegeddon would look like. Check out pictures of the area here.

- I celebrated my 29th birthday last weekend. Unbelievable. I'm not anywhere at all near where I thought I would be by this age. Not a bad thing, my life has just taken a few extra turns that I wasn't expecting. To celebrate my birthday, a group of pals and I were going to take in a concert by The Oohs on St. Patrick's Day, but it seemed that no one really wanted to venture out amongst the drunks that evening. The following day Becky and I went and had pedicures and looked for washers and dryers. (more on that later...) That night V was supposed to take my to dinner, but it turned out that the place for which we had reservations was damaged by the storms and not yet open...nor were our next 3 runners-up...so we stayed in.

- V and I finally were able to find some place to live. We found a nice condo on the westside of town in a neighborhood where we're the youngest people by far. A nice, quiet subdivision where I can happily jog and ride my bike every day (which I'll need to do after all of the "stress ice cream binges" I've been on lately...). We even have a garage...sweet! I don't think that I've ever parked in a garage in my life. It's exciting although the moving plans are causing me more stress than I've ever had that had caused reactions in my body that I've never experienced either. We'll see what happens...I'll keep y'all posted...

Jodes

What's it Been Like...Forever?

2006-02-23T09:51:00.000-06:00

Howdy!

I'm going to quit reminding everyone that I'm still alive...now I'll just remind everyone of how incredibly busy I've been. You all know the feeling so I'm hoping you'll understand, although I'm sure that you're world isn't going to crumble if I you aren't able to read about my latest happenings...

Well, for those who are interested, here's what I've been up to:

- I set a goal for myself of reading 2 books every month. I'm kicking that goal's ass as I'm getting ready to start my 8th book of the year! Hooray for me! I'm literate!

Here's the list of what I've read so far:

1) A Million Little Pieces
2) Pledged
3) My Friend Leonard
4) Couldn't Keep it to Myself
5) Laci's Story
6) Without You
7) The Da Vinci Code

I'm still looking for suggestions for new books to read so if you have checked any out that you think I may be interested in, send the titles my way...

- In case you haven't heard, V and I are shackin' up. I was quite excited about the adventure initially, and I still am, but I'm a little overwhelmed when I realize how much stuff I have to purge and pack. The amount of stuff that I own and haven't used in the past year is amazing. I've made a new rule for myself. If I bring something new into the house, I have to get rid of 5 things. It sounds like a pretty good ratio to me.

We've still been searching for the right place, but I think that we may have found one that we can both agree on. The problem? It's being built as we speak and won't be completed until May. We're impatient so we'll have to see how this one works itself out. This place does have a guest room so you're invited to stay anytime! V and I have also been discussing my desire to fill the guest room with tiny soaps and chocolates. He thinks that those are gay ideas. Hmmm...

- As you know if you've been reading my blog for a while, that I'm an avid supporter of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. The annual radiothon is currently going on in Springfield. I answered phones this morning and will do so again tomorrow. If you're interested in making a pledge, please give us a call at 1-800-323-5322. This morning between the hours of 6-9 am, the community raised over $20,000! Congrats to WFMB/St. Jude's and thank you to all who pledged.

We'll it's 10 am and I'm officially "at work" now so I'll post again soon...sooner than a month! Look for some pics as well!

-Jodi-

Read This...

2006-01-29T14:02:00.000-06:00

Just wanted you all to know that I'm alive and doing quite well. This month has been one of a lot of resting and a little relaxation as well. I've been a reading fool, not something that I've done for quite a while. My goal is to read two book a month, I'm currently on my fourth book for the month of January.

"A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey: I loved this book. I work in a setting where I deal with a lot of people who have substance abuse issues. This book was powerful and helped my understand their plight for sobriety a litte more clearly. Of course, I now know that most of the book was exaggerated or made up, but it is still a great read.

"Pledged": This was an interesting insight to sorority life. The book was written by a journalist who decided to go "undercover" into the Greek system and report all of the social issues that she encountered. From drinking and dangerous hazing rituals to isolation and sexuality, this was everything that I expected to read about. Much to my chigrin, or maybe to my delight that I wasn't stereotyping Greek life, the book contained instances of all these activities and more. Interesting read...made me want to go out and make a t-shirt.

"My Friend Leonard" by James Frey: EXCELLENT, two-day read and follow-up to "A Million Little Pieces". I don't care if anything was made up in this book or not, it was astounding and the writing was amazing. It makes you value those around you a little more, helping you to understand that often the losses that we experience make us more of the person that we were supposed to become.

I'm currently reading "Couldn't Keep It to Myself" by Wally Lamb and the women of York Correctional Institution, a series of essays from imprisoned women who tell the stories that led to their crimes. Next on my list is the story that Laci Peterson's mother wrote about Laci's life and then V has convinced me to tacked "The Divinci Code".

Have you read anything worth discussing? Share here!!

*I am fully aware that I should've underlined the book titles, but I'm apparently missing some functions while blogging that I've used in the past...any idea where these functions have disappeared to?

HAPPY 2006 Y'ALL!!

2006-01-09T10:37:00.000-06:00

Hello! It's great to be back... I know that it's been a while and I apologize. I could go on and on with a list of reasons for my absence, but I will not. However, I will say that I no longer have internet capabilities from home (I keep getting viruses and V is getting tired of spending hours cleaning my computer...). As part of my long list of 2006 resolutions, I'm going to try to keep in contact more often. Here's a small update of what's been going on since last September...

1) As of tomorrow, I'll have been dating V for nine months. We're still not co-habitating, for our own goods...he's too particular and I'm too much of a slob. I do have a key to his place and practically live there on weekends.

2) My mother and future step-father have finally set a wedding date for next year. It seems as if I'm going to be inheriting the step-brother that I never wanted...Just kidding Lance, you know I luv ya!

3) I had my second trip to Madison to shop it up while V was at a conference and also to spend time with Jason, who has eloped since I've last posted. Thanks to Jason, I also got to participate in my first Cabaret show. I was assigned to be a go-go dancer on a lighting technician's catwalk during the show. Good times, good times.

4) I had two firsts in November. I spent my first Thanksgiving away from home and made my third trip to Wisconsin. V's brother was kind enough to host Thanksgiving this year at his place in Milwaukee. Everything was great! As sad as I was to be separated from family and friends for the holiday, V's family welcomed me as one of their own.

5) Shelby ran in his first charity walk with me. We participated in an epilepsy awareness run. He did pretty well for an 11 year old Pomeranian.

6) I went to my very first pro sporting event and LOVED it! V's duplex mate hooked us up with tickets to see the St. Louis Blues hockey team play. They lost the game that night, but we still had a blast. I also visited the St. Louis City Museum, which I had never seen before. It's really, really something that you should check out if you're in the city. The City Museum is an old shoelace factory that local artists turned into this magical jungle of tubes, springs, tunnels, and caves that you can crawl through. It's strange because you go through one hole and you could end up in a completely different floor. It almost reminds me of Willy Wonka's Choclate Factory. There is a three-story slide indoors for those who aren't interested in taking the stairs. The building also housed a circus, a small aquarium, a tattoo exhibit, a collection of old gargoyles, and a diner that is filled with some truly bizarre things such as rubber aliens and the "largest pair of underpants in the world." The outside of the building is also a massive group of climbing "things". There are two hollowed out airplanes that are suspended at almost the height of the building and you can climb up into them to explore. They even had a bonfire going when we were there. On the top of the building, you can see a school bus teetering over the edge. As I was talking to one of the guides that are greatly needed to help you get through the mazes of madness, I was told that this summer, the museum is planning on building a waterpark on the roof! It really is something that you need to truly experience. Be sure to put your kids on a leash, once they go in, there's no telling where they're going to be spit out.

V, his bro, and I rang in the New Year by having dinner at the local fondue restaurant, one of my new favorite things to do, and then spending the midnight hour at a friend's small gathering. Nothing too eventful, but significant enough for me to put another year behind me and welcome in 12 more months of possibility.

I hope everyone is doing well. Keep in touch!

-Jodi-

Hey Ya!

2005-09-16T21:09:00.000-05:00

Hey peeps,

Just wanted to let you know that once again my computer is stupid. I have lots of great new pics to show and lots has happened since we've last had contact...guess you'll have to wait a bit longer to find out...nothing big, no worries.

Jodes

I Like Smart Boys.

2005-08-29T00:35:00.000-05:00

Lemme tell you a little story about two guys, Zach and Jakob. The guys met in 1999 and founded Connected Ventures, "a business who designs and develops good websites." Their business is based out of a kick-ass NYC office. These guys, and all of their friends and co-workers, who happen to be just as amusing and talented, aren't playing around. They're in their early twenties and manage 7 websites. Incredible! And they've received amazing press from Playboy magazine and Rolling Stone, what twenty-something guy wouldn't want to have those credentials behind them? I'm not really sure how long I've known about the guys and their venture, but I've kept myself posted daily ever since. When Jakob breaks out his video camera, you never know quite what to expect...but here's a sample...if only my workday could be so much fun... note: Jakob is singing lead, Zach is playing back-up on air drums.

View this clip on Vimeo

Check out their other sites if you get a chance, I guarantee, you won't want to miss what these guys are up to!

All Dumb - the site's title aptly describes it, I believe.

Big Shocker - yeah. it's selling exactly what it's describing.

Busted Tees - they use their hot friends to sell hilarious t-shirts...check 'em out and then buy 'em. Note: the "I Gave My Word to Stop at Third" T-shirt is on sale for $12.99!

College Humor - if it's crazy and it's NSFW, chances are it's here...

Crazewire - amazing music source

Defunker - another site that sells tees, only this time, they're designed by friends AND modeled on them.

Vimeo - this is one of my top three absolute most favorite sites, I know that I'm guarateed one loud laugh or snorty chuckle every day when I visit. Some of this stuff is incredible, some of it is stupid, but some is really, really good. Check them out and find your own favorites. For starters, check out anything from Zach and Jakob's collection. If you liked the above clip, you'll love the rest! Enjoy!

And let's not forget their friends:

David Cho - the guy who can do an awesome wave

Ricky - the editor of College Humor who is funnier than hell

Do You Hear What I Hear??

2005-08-28T23:55:00.000-05:00

As you know, when I become obsessed with something, I really go all out. Lately the hobby of choice has been scrapbooking, but I've also learned of something else that is really blowing my skirt up. God bless the audioblog! As you've probably read, I haven't had my computer fixed for very long so it still has that "new" feel to it. I'm not yet bored, always finding new things and updating old things. As I was importing files into itunes to replace the ones that I lost in the "computer crash of 2005", I found some old blogs that I used to visit daily when my computer was in working order. One of them led me to audioblogs and I've been importing MP3s everyday since. I've gotten some really great new stuff and replaced some old classics. It's sooo exciting! Then again, I live for cheap thrills. Anyway, no sense in me keeping the love all to myself...here's a list of my new favorite audioblogs...Have fun!

Copy, Right? (one of favorites...)

Stereogum (who doesn't know about this one??)

The Suburbs are Killing Us

Womenfolk

You Ain't No Picasso

And if you want to make sure that you didn't miss any new MP3 posts on a number of selected audioblogs, visit The Hype Machine, which provides the download on it's site and a link to the post. It's updated as often as the sites are updated. Excellent resource! Have fun, friends!!

Any audioblogs that you think I'm missing and shouldn't be??

The "Ultimate" Saturday...

2005-08-28T22:57:00.000-05:00

When I met V we discussed the typical first date things...our careers, our hobbies, our education, and our hobbies. V was really excited to tell me at that time about "Ultimate" , and seemed surprised when I had no clue what he was talking about. He was so excited about it in fact, that he took me to his car after dinner and gave me brief lesson on the rules of playing "Ultimate" and showed me his "disc" ...heh, sounds dirty, doesn't it? The following weeked, he invited me to play with him and the guys. When I suggeted that I would just sit by and watch, he frowned, informing me that if I went to watch, I was going to play. Needless to say, I didn't yet know if V was worthy of myself dodging Frisbees all afternoon, so we decided on an alternate activity. I quickly learned, as V continued to talk about the sport, that I was no where ready to even attempt it, nor did I have the required cleats. Months went by and I heard nothing more about "Ultimate" until a few weekends ago. Vincent had asked me what I had going on and told me about an actual "Ultimate" tournament in Jacksonville that he was going to go watch. I decided to tag along, if it's important to V, it's important to me. He hadn't played since we had been dating and I still wasn't that clear if it was because we spent most weekends together and he just didn't have time or if it was due to multiple "Ultimate" incidents, one in which he even had to get 4 stictches above his left eye. Anyway, I was still curious about "Ultimate" and really didn't understand the point of it. I was just thinking that it was a glorified game of Frisbee. I would soon learn that it was completely different and even mentioning the word "Frisbee" around this gang would hold great consequences.

We risked the rain and showed up at the park. Much to our surprise, the games were already underway and there were TONS of people playing, including some bad-ass chicks. We threw down a blanket and took it all in. V took some great action shots and talked to some of the guys he used to play with. As the action was crazy on the field, I was in the zone. I became addicted to "Ultimate" . I'm still not sure that I could ever play it, but it was amazing. And certainly much, much different that I was expecting. I thought that it'd be a little more violent and I thought that it would just be a lot of Frisbee tossing and running. Nope. There were some quite complex rules and I found myself constantly asking V questions about the game. He did his best to answer them all between shots. I guess the most impressive thing about the game, other than the kick-ass way that they were throwing the disc, a style, the "flick", that I had never witnessed and V has yet to teach, was the athletism of these people. They were in it for the kill. It was much less complicated than football and most simlar to basketball with the "ultimate" (pardon the pun...) goal of catching the disc in the end zone to score. These players had great strategies and knew what they were doing and it was evident.

Thanks to V for teaching me the difference between a Frisbee and a disc...I will be forever grateful.

To find out where you can get involved with "Ultimate" in your area, check out this site.

Wow...It's Been A While...

2005-08-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

Again, apologies, apologies, apologies...been busy, been lazy, been irresponsible...here ya go...not one, but 4 new posts! Enjoy!!

Bathroom Coda

2005-08-15T00:22:00.000-05:00

Soooo...I was going pee at V's house the other day. After I flushed, the unthinkable began to happen, the toilet began to overflow. I was puzzled because there really wasn't any reason for it. I'm very frugal when it comes to paper usage. Of course, V would disagree, but trust me on this one. Anyway, I rushed out of the bathroom, grabbed the nearest plunger and went at it like a pro. Of course, I stopped the water and V, like he is, had to evaluate the situation a bit further. At one point, he was actually stirring the water in the toilet, long after the situation was remedied, like it was a caulderon and he was mixing a brew.

Why am I telling you this story? Fast forward to the evening (or should I say early the next morning...), Becky and I have full bladders and are preparing to take the 30-mile trek back to the "Patch" at 2 a.m. We decided to stop at a Holiday Inn on the way out of town to "unload", if you will. While we're sitting next to each other in the stalls, I tell Becky of the above experience, which led to a further discussion about bathroom pet peeves. The more I thought about it, my list is quite lengthy. My sometimes strange bathroom habits are well-known among my friends, but I thought I'd publish a special comprehensive list for those interested parties...I know you're out there...

1. I cannot use a "one-seater" public restroom. I always feel like I have to hurry because someone is going to come beating on the door at any moment.

2. I always have to give a pre-cautionary flush before I begin. I would rather have the toilet overflow before I've used it.

3. I can only be wearing only one layer when I go to the bathoom. For example, if I'm wearing a t-shirt with a sweatshirt over it, I have to take the sweatshirt off. If it's 20 degrees in the bathroom and I'm wearing a jacket, I'll have to freeze because the coat is comin' off...

4. I can't have any necklaces, bracelet or big earrings on while I'm using the bathroom. Often when I use the bathroom at work, I'll take off my lanyard and forget to put it back on. I've found it hidden in a menagerie of places due to co-workers who are amused by my habits, from this great toilet paper cabinet we have to the actual toilet tank. Thanks guys!

5. I always have to use the first stall that's closest to the door. I read somewhere once that it's the cleanest because people always head for the stall that's farthest away.

6. I'm always scared that someone is going to try to open the door so I have to have the toes of one of my shoes sticking out of the door. This is the same thing that I do when I'm in a fitting room. I'll put on shoe half-way under the door so that outsiders will know that it's being used.

7. If there's a fan in the bathroom, I always have to use it, even if I'm just washing my hands. I feel like there's someone outside the door listening to my actions. I mainly use the fan at work because when you pee, everyone can hear it. The fan definitely helps cover up some of the noise.

8. I have a system that I always use to wash my hands. I have to soap them up for at least 30 seconds and clean under my nails. I wash my hands like I'm headed into surgery.

9. When I leave the bathroom, I can NEVER touch the door handle with my hands. I usually can manuver it open with my elbow.

10. If I'm at the sink with someone and we're washing our hands together, I always have to initiate some type of conversation. For some reason, going to the bathroom is such a strange experience to share with others.

So, am I the only crazy one here or does anyone else have public restroom issues? If so, please share....

1% Campaign

2005-08-14T22:58:00.000-05:00

As a "Vagina Warrior", it's my duty to inform you of a new campaign that Eve Ensler has launched to draw attention to the possibility of a world without violence against females. According to the V-Day website, she is encouraging our leaders to allocate 1% of our nation's defense budget, approximately 4 billion dollars, toward the safety and security of women and girls. This money would be used to fund domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, and hotlines that are essential to the survival to thousands of women and girls every day. This campaign can be considered to be a "peace-keeping" effort right here at home, as it's estimated that one in three women in the U.S. will fall victim to rape, incest, sexual abuse, sex trafficking, or domestic violence in their lifetime. It seems a bit imbalanced that the military is spending billions of dollars to "protect" us while thousands of women are fighting in their own "wars" daily, often in their own homes. Unforunately, this "war" won't be viewed as a national concern until leaders put it at the top of their "to-do" lists. This won't happen unless socity demands that it does so. If we make this demand over and over again, the 1% Campaign will work, eventually leading to a movement that will change the world.

If you want more information about the 1% Campaign, please click here. In the meantime, consider the following statistics from the Family Violence Prevention Fund and RAINN:

Nearly 31% of women report being sexually or physically abused by a boyfriend at some point in their lives.
Thirty percent of Americans say they know of a woman who has been sexually or physically abused by her husband or boyfriend in the past year.
In the year 2001, more than half a million American women (588.490 women) were victims of nonfatal violence commited by an intimate partner.
Women are less likely to be victims of violent crimes overall, women are five to eight times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner.
As many as 324,000 women each year experience intimate partner violence during their pregnancy.
Between 1993 and 1995, 18 of 32 states reported an increase in domestic violence filings of 20% or more.
On average, more than 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends each day in the U.S.
The health-costs of rape, physical assault, stalking and homocide committed by intimate partners exceed $5.8 billion each year.
One in five high school students report being physically or sexually abused by a dating partner.
Forty percent of girls age 14-17 know someone their age who has been hit by a boyfriend.
In a national survey of 6,000 American families, 50% of the men who frequently assaulted their wives also abused their children.
More than half of female victims of domestic violence live in households with children under the age of 12.
Studies suggest that between 3.3-10 million children witness some type of domestic violence annually.
One in five women reported that they have been raped or sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime.
In 2003, there were an average of 223,280 victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.
Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted.
About 44% of rape victims are under the age of 18, three out of every 20 victims is under the age of 12.
Ninety-three percent of juvenile sexual assault victims knew their attacker.
About four out of ten sexual assaults take place at the victim's own home.

Funky Cold Adema

2005-08-09T23:05:00.000-05:00

* Warning, the below post contains a graphic pic of a nasty eye...

(Just a note from the previous post...I immediately went to the itunes store and purchased "Beverly Hills" by Weezer...consider my gator fed.)

Soooo...Becky and I rolled into town a little after 2 a.m. Upon returning home, I collapsed on a different bed than I usually sleep in, allowing my Toy Pomeranian, Shelby, to join me in slumber. When I woke up the next morning, I found that I was unable to open my left eye. It was burning and a bit matted. Immediately I knew that I had pink eye. Being the great girlfriend that I am, I also immediately thought of everything I had touched in V's house and how crazy he would be cleaning his place to rid it of my cooties. When I looked in the bathroom mirror, I noticed something that I had never seen before. It was one of those things that if you saw it on your mom or your best friend, you would actually back away from them, unconcerned as to if you were offending them or not. It really was as sexy as the following description is about to sound. I had an actual sac of fluid, resembling a bubble blister, hanging out of the corner of my eye. It was actually attached to my eyeball. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! Automatically I was thinking about the eyeball transplant that I was going to have to get and hoping that the new eyeball would match the other. I considered my eyes to be one of my best assets.

Because I had nothing better to do on a Sunday morning and there was no place I'd rather be than the ER, I headed in that direction. After quite a long wait, I was finally examined. The swelling and "nasty sac" had gone down a bit, but I was still anxious to learn more about this freakish condition. The doctor did a lot of poking and prodding. At one point, he put a special drop in my eye, after much struggling with my reflexes that tend to try to defend themselves against whatever is close enough to invade my pupils. He then used a special black light to check my corneas for damage. Nada. Doc told me that I would cry yellow tears for a few days as a result of the drops and that my eyes would glow in black lights. I got excited when I thought back about the black light bulb that I had just bought for V a few weeks prior.

After several more hours, it was determined that due to the large amounts of smoke that I was surrounded by the night before mixed with the hair of my dog, whom I usually don't sleep with, I just had a simple eye infection that was triggered by allergies. If you want to get technical, I was diagnosed with chemosis, an adema of the conjunctivi. The simple cure was anti-bacterial eye drops and applications of a wet compress. As of today, Tuesday, I am as good as cured.

This isn't a picture of my eye, but is exactly what it looked like...ewwww.....!

Friday and Saturday...Pre-Ick...

2005-08-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a great weekend, sorry it's taken me three days to actually post about mine. Usually I don't have very exciting weekends. They mainly just consist of V and I kicking back and catching up since we don't see each other during the week, things were a bit different this weekend however.

I did get together with V on Friday night for an experiment of sorts. My friend Tara had mentioned a pizza that she had ordered a few weeks prior and I couldn't get my mind off of it. Apparently, my favorite pizzeria in town had a well-kept secret. They had a Bianco sauce that I was unaware of. V and I decided to try it out and rent "The Pacifier" , also known as the worst movie ever. The pizza could've also been placed in that category. I've had much better and, as usual, the hype wasn't anything compared to the real thing.

I hadn't gone out with Becky for a while due to the boyfriend/work/general busy-ness of my life so when the opportunity arose to head to Soy City to see a familiar band, we thought we'd take it. Intrynsik had taken a brief hiatus to find a new guitar player and, for one of the members, to find a wife. Heh. They played at Lock, Stock, and Barrel. Being that it was the weekend of the Celebration, we were fairly certain that the place would be packed and it was. However, before we actually had to yell at each other to be heard, the inappropriate comments made by the band's sound guy regarding my breasts and his plans for them were perfectly audible. Eventually the place filled up, we drank up, and found ourselves dancing on chairs for the remainder of the evening, not so much as to be risky, but to see over the crowd. (Sorry again Courtney for chasing you away and giving you a scare...) The band was awesome, playing all of the great covers that we were akin to and adding some of their newest material in their set as well. It left us anxiously awaiting the new CD, more gigs, and left Weezer's "Beverly Hills" in my head for the remainder of the weekend.

(Becky's tribute to an ex-boyfriend & Todd being honest...note how well their shirts go together...)

(Me dancing and playing the Nuggets, a housesitting gift from Beck...yes, that is my gut hanging out of my shirt...I apologize)

(Me and Becks...Woo-Hoo!)

(I refuse to leave one stranger un-danced upon!)

Things That I Think You Should Know...

2005-08-04T23:13:00.000-05:00

1) I'm going to Farm Aid this year...and I couldn't be more excited...unless the Barenaked Ladies were going to be there too...

2) Dar Williams is going to be in St. Louis next April...and I'm going to be there too...couldn't be better...unless, of course, the Barenaked Ladies were going to be there too.

3) I've started a blog for the Ursuline Academy class of 1995. If you're familar with the class, myself, or UA, feel free to check it out.

4) My friend Derrick, who lives in D.C., is not only one cool mo-fo, but the rockinest female impersonator ever...and he has a blog.

5) My friend Daniel, who lives in NYC, also has a great site where you can download a new podcast full of great music every week.

6) The movie version of "Rent" is going to be released in November...check out the trailer and read news about the film here.

7) I believe that this is the coolest cake ever...and I will make it...someday.

8) As of today, I only have to work 3 days for the next two weeks...Hoorah for vacation! On August 20, I will be celebrating my four year anniversary at my current job. Go me!!