Uh, okay, my newest obsession in life is Kathy Griffin. It's not really a "new" obsession though, because I've been a longtime fan of her work (minus Suddenly Susan). I just asked a few coworkers if they too enjoyed Kathy, only to hear their response of "uhh, no. She's obnoxious." Really? What does that say about me then? I think she is THEE funniest person ever. Well, not ever. Ellen DeGeneres is funnier, but I already went through an obsession with her a few months ago. Do you like how I make these bold statements and then retract them right away? I do too.

Anyway, I watch Kathy Griffin every night during my getting ready for bed/sleeping process. I'll put her stand-up DVD on and, even though I've seen it 50 times, I still laugh and rewind certain parts. Actually, last night (and I swear this happened) I was sleeping during most of the DVD, but I woke up, heard my favorite joke of the show, roared with laughter, then immediately went back to sleep. How weird is that?

If you're curious and/or are familiar with this specific DVD, my favorite joke is when she's talking about her army celebrity tour of Afghanistan. She's talking about how she went on this helicopter ride with these other D-list celebs, and she goes:

"I swear, the wrestler and his wife get on the helicopter and the wife goes, 'Can this thing do a loop-dee-loop?'"

CUT TO ME DYING OF LAUGHTER. I mean, they're on a helicopter and she's asking about it doing a loop-dee-loop? It's not..possible...anyway. You really might have to watch the video and have this joke be heard in the proper context and accent for it to be enjoyed. I play it over and over in my head and find it to be complete bliss.

Shut up.

My musical interest is so vast these days that it's starting to make me feel a little uncomfortable. I have a 6 disc cd changer in my car, and it seems like I cannot make up my mind on what I want to listen to. I mean, seriously, I know I'm weird, but some of the music I have been enjoying is so disjointed that it makes me feel intensely unsatisfied. Here's some stuff in my cd player now:

1. Random country songs on a cd I made
2. Motown (soul) music
3. Random house/techno music
4. Outkast (which I've been listening to the same Love Below cd for, oh, 3 years now.)
5. Something for Everybody, which has a bunch of random remixed songs spanning from rock to opera.
6. New York City mix...which are a bunch of random songs that remind me of my trip to NYC.

The dilemma here is that I like too many different genres of music. I seriously enjoy opera and classical music. Like, I love it. However, I would never buy a cd with just opera or classical music. I might go home and download a bunch of songs I know, but how much music is still out there that I haven't heard and/or I might LOVE?

That brings me to another thing. I feel like there is all this music out there that I've never heard and that I'm missing out on. I love acoustic music. Anything that is unplugged, a capella, folksy, light...I love that type of music. I don't really like John Mayer, but his acoustic music is awesome. Have you ever heard of Voxtrot or Electric President? They're both really random bands, but I really like both of them a lot. I heard this band in Minneapolis last week called "The Hopefuls" and even though their music wasn't anything THAT special, there are a few songs I really liked and I never would have even heard of this band or their songs if I hadn't been at this free outdoor concert last week in MN.

Weird.

Have you ever heard a song playing somewhere, and you kind of like it so you figure out the melody and then you tell yourself that you'll remember the song to find or download later, but yet you don't? You completely forget the song/band exists and it takes another random interaction for you to remember that you liked it? I feel like I've heard all of these songs that I could possibly really enjoy, but I can't remember a word or melody to save my life.

Also, it seems to me that I can sometimes HATE a song for awhile...if not a long while...but then somehow it comes back into my life as this WONDERFUL piece of art that I can't even fathom to understand how I could originally hate it? Some examples:

1. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
2. Lose Control - Missy Elliot (this song was painfully annoying at first, then I downloaded about 70 remixes a month later)
3. Since You've Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson (which is now practically an anthem of sorts, but at first I thought it was to rock-ish for Kelly.)
4. Anything by Jack Johnson - I now realize why he is so popular. Banana Pancakes? Amazing.
5. Basement Jaxx - I ALWAYS hated their songs until I figured out that their songs are so freakishly creative and stimulating that I later hate myself for not liking them.

I'm so unsatisfied. I need options, alternatives, and/or suggestions for cool songs. I'll load up my computer endlessly with stuff I think I like, I know I like, or I might like later, but the process could be made more easy with your help.

I have to go munch on some grindage.

I'm really glad I haven't treated my dog the same way I've treated this blog lately. Pretty sure Buster would be dead if that was the case.

"Sorry folks -- Park's closed!" -- Summer Vacation (Wally World)

Ha, ha. I love that movie. Anywho, so what's new with me you ask? Uh, nothing.

Sometimes I just feel like this:

Home was fantastic. Rightfully so, since I only went home to celebrate my 24th birthday (family-version) to receive endless amounts of attention from my adoring family. But in reality, this is what happened...

I started to get ready for home as soon as I got off work on Friday. I was very excited. I packed up some clothes, grabbed Buster, and sped home thinking about how thrilled my parents were going to be to see me and spend time with me. You should probably know that I'm the baby of 4 children and that everyone has always thought that I was the nicest, cutest, smartest, and all together Christ-like child of the bunch. It remains true to this day. I always received the most attention and my parents always treated me like royalty above the others. So, I drove home under the impression that my parents were patiently awaiting me, ready to hug and praise me as soon as I walked through the doorway known as "home."

Nope. After driving for 2 hours with a dog in my lap, I arrived home to a deserted, cold, lonely house. No parents to be found anywhere. No hugs. No praise. I looked at the message board near the phone to find:

Ry-

We went to Jimmy's to eat pizza with John and Linda Simmons. We'll be home asap. You're welcome to join us! Scott and the boys said they wanted you to come over, too!

Love you, Mom & Dad

Oh, I see how it is. My Mom begs and begs for me to come home since I hadn't been home since early February, and the minute I get there they ditch me for pizza with their friends. I wanted pizza. Oh, and then they throw a mercy-appointment of meeting up with my brother. Yeah right, like he really called to see if I would come over and pay special visit to him. They more or less volunteered him to offer me company, assuming I'd simply overlook their lack of parenting skills and family ethics.

Herrumph.

I decided that I would hide my car in the garage and act like I never came home so that they would be sad when they got home and punish themselves with years of agony, grief, and self-loathing. Then I realized that the plan only worked in my naive head. Watch out for "head plans" like that. One time when I was little I also thought that hiding in a corn field during a game of hide-and-seek would be a really good plan, only to have NO ONE come look for me and then I got lost trying to find my way out. And to make matters worse, I accidentally stepped on field mouse and it made a really weird noise and it freaked me out.

But I digress, anyway, they eventually made their way home but I pretended to be asleep on the couch. I had to seek my revenge somehow. I tried to act like I was in an absolute dead sleep but it didn't work because they caught me opening my eye a millimeter wide to check out their location status in comparison to my lifeless body. They still woke me up and acted like they were just THRILLED to see me.

Right, Mom, I'm pretty sure I was an accident anyway.