Mary's New Place

A Snapshot of NYC

2009-06-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

Picture this: a trench coated woman on the crowded train trying to hold a bright red umbrella, a largish library book, and a pineapple. I hope that I added a bit of fun and mystery to everyone's train ride home. :) I'm smiling and smelling of tropical happiness.

Overdue

2009-03-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Wow. My last blog still had me packing things in Knoxville, Tennessee. I've lived in New York City for almost three months, and in my efforts to obtain gainful employment, I have walked these city streets to the point that I'm getting weird moments of deja vu. The Big Apple is shrinking as I slowly finish the map in my head.
I'm adjusting well to living with family. We've all got ways to find our alone time, and we've got enough in common that we have a lot of fun whatever we wind up doing together. Having cute, fluffy white dogs to distract us also helps. :)
It hasn't been a picnic with the economy going nuts just as I was trying to become a responsible adult, but them's the breaks. I haven't given up on my hopes of someday being the funky librarian who either has the information you need or has the tools to find it for you, (Or even teach you how to find it for yourself!), but while I wait for the libraries to unfreeze, I'm hunting part-time work in various places. Veterinarian clinics, jazz clubs, bakeries, bookstores, etc., I'm branching out into places that hadn't occurred to me before.
My heart wasn't as bruised as I thought. Getting some distance/perspective was good. I'm not pining away for anyone. I think a lot of those feelings were tied in to the fact that I was leaving a close friend behind as well as moving into an unknowable future. Spring arrived and brought the sunshine with it, so that too may explain my mood lift. :)
Here's hoping for a lovely spring, where hope and opportunity grow like the daffodils in Arkansas.

Moving Chronicles

2009-01-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

I packed my collection of books today. A mixture of science fiction, swords & sorcery, and other whimsical titles are all neatly boxed up and awaiting the final layer of packing tape. I'm becoming an old hand at packing up my things and saying goodbye to friends. From home to dorm. From dorm to apartment. From apartment to graduate school. Now from grad school to the Big Apple. My uncle commented on our possible gypsy blood that calls on us to uproot every few years, and I can understand what he meant.
When I left Fayetteville, Arkansas, I promised friends that I'd return with my graduate degree to see them again. Their e-mails stopped about six months into my program. Now, it was a mutual growing apart as it is hard to keep ties when life takes you in different directions. (Happily, family and friends from other places keep popping into my life.) I was lucky in Fayetteville, that I hadn't met anyone (romantically) that could tie a string to my heart. This move, I'm a little less fortunate. I finally met someone, but while he has a firm grip on one of my heart strings, I am considered to be only a friend to him. I met the girl he started dating over New Year's and I wished them well. Argh.
New York will be my new challenge. I doubt that I will be looking for love anytime soon, but I'm told that when you're not looking, it sneaks up on you. We'll see. I'm going to be so busy trying to find work in a library, everything else will fall to the wayside. Or I might take up roller derby...whichever works best.

Adventures in New Yorker Land

2008-12-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

Wow. A lot has changed since my last post. (Since I only update every few months, this is expected.) Still, here's the news. I'm moving to Brooklyn, New York to live in my sister and brother-in-law's spare bedroom.
How can this be happening? Economics. I got the degree, now I have to pay for it and with the hiring freeze that's happening in so many libraries, I'm sinking fast. My relatives have tossed me a line that will allow me to keep my head above water long enough for a) the hiring freeze to thaw or b) me to find another way for my degree to start paying for itself. This is a good chance for me, so I have to take it.
New York is a big, confusing place that reminds me that even though I have lived in a semi-large city like Knoxville, I haven't lived in a big city yet. This country girl is fighting hard not to feel intimidated. I move slower, talk slower, (I hope I don't think slower), and my fashion sense has been known to stray into tacky territory. New York has never been a place that I dreamed about living in. I think Seattle was my chosen territory for teen aged daydreams until I realized that I'm not fond of constant rain and that flannel rock had died with Kurt Cobain. Maybe the fact that I haven't daydreamed about New York will make its reality easier to take. Who knows?
I thought about ending this update with a list of all of the things I'm going to miss once I move to New York, but that's not the right attitude to take. Rather than be bittersweet, here's a list of things I will like about New York.

1. Food. You name it, they got it. You have to jump a train for an hour to get it, but it will be worth it.
2. Events. How many times have I wished to see a concert or attend a book signing only to hear that it happening only in the major cities like New York and L.A?
3. Surprises. (Hopefully the good kind.) There's always something unexpected around the bend.

I suspect that a lot of my frustrations and ponderings will filter out through this blog in upcoming weeks. Stay tuned.

Driving Ms. Butler

2008-09-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

Whew! I drove down to Arkansas to spend a week running around with friends and family and I am happily exhausted! I swam in a saltwater pool, drank a heavenly peanut butter milkshake, watched an IMAX film, and drove all over the state of Arkansas. (I also ate from this bakery several days in a row!)
One of the most surreal moments was on the ride back to Tennessee when the road was suddenly overflowing with hurricane Gustav evacuees. I stopped for gasoline in Mississippi near the first main interstate where Louisiana folks come north, and the gas station resembled a refugee camp. Every pump was filled, children ran around in nightgowns, and family pets were being walked on every available inch of grass. I didn't get a sense of panic from anyone, just determination and and an electric feel of, "move 'em out," or "let's do this." It certainly made for an eventful drive home.
I got to see two of my closest high school friends on this visit. We piled into a car and drove to, The Purple Cow where we ate burgers, drank shakes, and talked until our jaws hurt. At moments, it was like no time had really passed. We were the same goofy kids from Parkers Chapel out on the town for a night. Then we'd take a picture and realize how much we all resemble our mothers and reality would return to make us laugh. Not bad.
I had a terrific time hanging out with my family. Dunking my brother in the pool, practising Spanish with my older sister on one of our many drives to Little Rock, viewing my little sister's apartment, eating Jorn's homemade bread, hugging my Mom ( world champion hugger!), and laughing with my Dad and stepmother about all sorts of things: These are the parts of the whole that made my visit so much fun. It will be a while before I stop dreaming of driving an endless highway, but it was totally worth it!

Cupcakes at Twenty Paces

2008-07-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

There's another baker at my current job. We've only recently learned of one another and while we like and respect one another, there's a cupcake throw-down/cookie cage match/cheesecake bake off brewing. We've combined our powers of baking to create heavenly cookie dough ice cream for a recent party, but I think both of us are ready to meet at high noon with spatulas holstered at our hips.
It's so strange. As I write this, I'm smiling and semi-snarling at the same time. I'm sure that an onlooker would have a hard time figuring out if I was happy or criminally insane. I hadn't realized that I was so territorial about baking. My fellow baker recently wandered into my department and doled out brownies to my co-workers. My reaction? The next week I brought chocolate whoopie pies. (Basically two brownies with cream filling smooshed between them.) Take that, punk! I'm looking forward to the next step in our battle. There was talk of red velvet cupcakes. One cannot try to match such richness, but perhaps up the level of sophistication...Fresh cherry scones, anyone?

Time Passes

2008-06-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post an update since March, but I kept putting it off for one reason or another. A lot has happened since my last post. My grandmother left this world in late March and, as I like to think of it, went to find my grandfather to see what he's been up to since they last were together. I finally earned my masters degree in Information Science, and have already had my first eight hour long interview for a librarian position. That interview turned out to be mere practice (much to my surprise), but now I'll know what to expect during the next one.
It has been two years since I've gone without a goal to achieve. I'm floating as I look for positions that I'm qualified for. It's kind of like summer vacation again. I've been hiking with friends, going to see movies, (Get Smart made my abs hurt from laughing and I'm so excited about Wall-E), and just relaxing. I'm re-polishing my resume and investigating leads on possible positions, but that doesn't take up all of my time the way school and interview preparation did. Work is good because I'm playing with all kinds of software like Garageband and Dreamweaver at one job, and catching up on the latest summer reads at the other.
Life is fluid at the moment. Things are changing from one minute to the next. I relatively unencumbered and can set up shop in a different town or state if I need to. It's scary and exhilarating all at the same time. I go from being petrified that I won't get a job in time to start making good on my loans to giddy that I might get to move to a new and exciting place to try to get the required job. Hopefully, my next post will show some progress from this state of things, but for now, I'm cool with it. :)

Bunny Buns for Easter

2008-03-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a special breakfast to celebrate Easter. Since I am a devoted subscriber to JustHungry.com, I went with a new take on the traditional hot cross buns. I made Bunny Buns. The little darlings were so cute, I ate all eight of them. I then spent the next three hours on the couch with a painfully full stomach lamenting my weakness for cute food. I am certain that I will be able to eat again sometime next week. If you want to see the recipe (and better pictures of what the end result should look like, go here.)

Once I was able to roll off of the couch, I decided to go forth and have my roll of film developed. Yes, I said roll of film. The cheapest film developer in town is W**-***t, so off I went. (The name is changed to protect the innocent from the not-so-innocent...) Arrgh. At the time, waiting one hour didn't seem unreasonable. I'm an experienced window shopper who can wander aisles with the deliberate I'm-pretending-to-contemplate-buying-these-ceiling-fans-look. I can play the befuddled buyer with the best of them, but today someone must have put the soul sucking machine on high because I found my previous bubbly mood fizzing out. Maybe it was the techno music that was set on a loop playing from every hidden speaker in the store or the fact that everyone inside the store was frowning (even the greeters!), but I think the store's trademark smiley face got squashed when a price rolled back over it.

After my hour in purgatory, (and only seven pictures to show for it, darn roll of film!) I stepped outside into the fresh air and immediately felt better. Birds were singing, the highway was roaring, and I was away from the endless techno.

Lessons learned: Cute foods are wonderful, but come with a price, soul sucking machines work through the soles of your shoes, and I'm switching to a digital camera in the near future. Happy Easter, folks!

Quarter of a Century

2008-02-18T17:20:00.000-08:00

Good grief, my blogging has started to coincide with blue moons, clean port-o-potties, and Elvis sightings. Today I was inspired by the fact that I am now twenty five years old. A quarter of a century ago, my mother's water broke during her favorite television show Dallas and two hours later, I was an official member of the Butler clan. I have to thank my elder sister for paving the way in the birth canal. Two hours of labor longer, and I would have been Pisces rather than an Aquarius. No offense to my fish stick brother and sister, I've always liked the fact that I've got a goofy hippy song to sing to myself during the odd moments of my life. Several people have heard my voice bouncing off the walls singing, "The Age of Aaaaquarious! Aquaaaarious!" It's nice to have an automatic theme song.
Things have been kind of crazy as of late. My grandmother's fight with cancer had a major episode that had the entire family haul ass to be by her side. It was a terrifying moment for our family, but despite that, it was also a treasured moment. I found that something I once thought distasteful and gross could be a very simple and loving act when it was one's family member who needed the attention. I learned that my younger siblings have suddenly grown into fabulous adults that I enjoy hanging out with, and that I am a lousy poker player, especially when I am playing for peanut butter M&M's in an I.C.U. waiting room. Honestly, we're not sure what comes next, but we made it through this crisis/impromptu family reunion.
Not wanting to end on that note, I have less than four months left in my program. If I pass my classes and my final examination, I will have a Masters degree in Information Science. It may be premature, but I have already put in my money to rent my ceremonial hood. (I was surprised that you have to rent them. Can't I keep one to hang from my rear-view mirror?) That's all I have for now, but hopefully I'll post again before Elvis is sighted in a clean port-o-potty that's lit by the light of a blue moon. :)

Holiday Daze

2007-12-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

Finals have wrapped up on the UT campus, so my job at in the library Mac lab went from helping hordes of half-crazed journalism students try to finish their movie projects (It's due in an hour and I've never used this editing program before today! Help!!) to me having time to sit and contemplate my latest blog entry. While the Mac lab has slowed down, my other job at an independent bookstore has taken off like a rocket. I ring up sales, give book talks about the bestsellers, and wrap gifts until my hands are mummified by scotch tape. I prefer our busy days because my shifts are over in a flash.
My grandmother has made it possible for me to fly out to Oklahoma for Christmas so I get to see 75% of my family. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. Excited because I love my family and seeing them for Christmas is an awesome gift. Nervous because my family has known for a few months that my grandmother has been diagnosed with cancer and, while the prognosis is good, feelings are still a little scrambled. This is the first time I have said those words in print. I think that I've been letting school, dating (yes, I said dating), and holiday shopping keep me pleasantly distracted from the fact that my grandmother is going through a very difficult period of her life and I realize how distant I've been from her when she needs her family the most. Oy.
When I called my grandmother last night, she sounded the way she always does: full of quiet optimism and faith that God is going to do what He will with her. Her come-what-may attitude gave me more peace of mind than anything else. If she can stay calm despite everything, I would be a sorry person if I couldn't take her advice and show some faith. So there. Bring on Christmas and the days to follow. I am going to greet each day with my eyes (and heart) open. Merry Christmas to all!

Thy Neighbor's Cat...

2007-11-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

Coveting thy neighbor's spouse is a big no-no, but what about thy neighbor's cat? Every morning I am greeted by my neighbor's three cats. They politely ask for a few head scratches before I head to work and I usually oblige them. One cat, the one I thought was homeless because she would follow me up the stairs and try to enter my apartment, has taken to leaping onto my balcony in order to beg for extra petting. Spiderman and firemen wouldn't flinch at this leap, but I always picture this cat plummeting to the end of her ninth life whenever I catch her mid-flight to my balcony. After watching this death defying leap, I feel bad when I have to tell the cat that she is not my pet and cannot enter my home. I always get a ruffled 'meh' and a look that would kill a rodent at ten paces, but thems the rules. I am not willing to part with a good chunk of my money for a pet deposit in order to satisfy a demanding feline's belief that she is welcome everywhere. She still deigns to let me give her head scratches, so she must be counting on my temporary insanity to clear up on its own.
On other fronts, both of my jobs are becoming much more active. The computer lab is filled with stressed out students trying to finish up their pre-holiday assignments and the bookstore is beginning to hop with the early bird shoppers. Between my school work and my jobs, my days are flying by. I am taking time out to watch movies with friends and bake treats for my classmates, but my weekends are eye-blinks and my weekdays mere flashes in the pan. Unless something extraordinary happens, my time seems to blur.
Speaking of extraordinary, I found that I have a bit of my sister's journalism bug (with a dash of my father's love of excitement) when I saw a great cloud of smoke rising from the center of campus. I blinked for a few seconds as I listened to sirens start up around me and then I was running to work to snag one of the Studio's video cameras. A fresh battery, a blank tape, and I was heading towards the sirens. The whole campus smelled like burnt bottle rockets and there was smoke making everything gray. Here's another viewpoint. Apparently a storage room caught fire, but the authorities had the flames out in 20 minutes flat and no one was hurt. I got some neat footage of the smoke blotting out the sun. I stayed out of the blocked areas, so I wasn't in any danger, but it was fun to play intrepid reporter for a minute. I think I'll leave the real thing to the professionals. Happy Days, Folks!

Labor Day Weekend

2007-09-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend kind of snuck up on me. Between my full load of classes and my two jobs, I was caught flat-footed when I was told that I would have a three day weekend. Huh? Days off? In a row?! This morning, I found myself with a true case of cabin fever. Breakfast lasted a matter of minutes (I have gotten into the habit of inhaling my cereal and yogurt in my efforts to be on time for work) and Saturday morning cartoons are pitiful since the invention of let's-sell-a-card-game-who-needs-plot-animation, so by 11 a.m. I was ready to jump in my car and drive until I hit a beach. Unfortunately, like any smart cookie, I realised that I needed a traveling buddy. This is the person who reads the map, helps welcome or deflect attention from the opposite sex, and makes rude gestures to other drivers while my hands are full. (Ten and two!) My previous buddy lives in another state these days. (Well, two states. New York and Wedded Bliss. Both are great, just hard to get to.)
My best candidate for the role of new traveling buddy was pretty booked today. Unlike me, this person was well aware of the looming weekend and had planned accordingly. Instead of going for a random road trip, I was inviting along to run errands and grab some lunch. Did I get snooty and say, "Nay, the open road calls to me and I must answer!" Nope. "Okey-dokey," worked just fine and I had a good time tagging along to a hair salon, a grocery store, and the ever popular Target. Call me simple, but running errands with a friend seemed like a tiny adventure all in itself. I've live in this city for over a year now, but I saw new back roads to take, found where the "arty" movie theater was hidden, found out that the difference between hiking backpacks and school backpacks are about $50, and learned that there is a cheap, but yummy Mexican restaurant within ten minutes of my apartment.
My wander lust for the day was satisfied and I had a lot of fun in the process. Monday, I might make some fancy sandwiches the way my grandmother makes them and see see if my friend would like to get out of Dodge for the day, but for now, I am happy.

A Realm Where Time Has No Meaning...

2007-07-11T07:40:00.001-07:00

In the past two months I have worked at a second job and I've really enjoyed the library experience I've gained from it. Yesterday, I was volunteered to help organize the stacks of books upstairs by doing a little shelf-reading. For the uninitiated, shelf-reading is where you climb a ladder to stare at every single book and make sure that it is in its correction position according to the Library of Congress call number system. This is about as exciting as trying to move a mountain of sand with a pair of tweezers, but it is a necessary action that is vital to keeping a library functional.
At the start of my shift, my manager led me upstairs (after making sure that I had snagged my iPod) and left me to read my assigned section. I had jokingly asked my manager to send a rescue team if I failed to return in two hours, but I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be too long. I had done smaller shelf-reading assignments at my previous job, so I was prepared for the task ahead.
Here's what I wasn't counting on. Try to imagine my environment. The stacks were pretty much deserted, the temperature was comfortably warm, the light inside the stacks was a little on the shady side, and the only sound outside of my iPod was a regular humming from a nearby water fountain. I was no where near a window and I was encased in the womb of the library's religious (BV) section of the stacks. I had no watch to look at, my iPod kept a steady flow of music, and no one came by to interrupt my shelf-reading focus. I completely zoned out to become a shelf-reading machine.
I was three books away from finishing my entire section when my manager finally found me. I had spent three and a half hours lost in my own little world of music and dusty books. My manager had thought that I had had a watch and had gone off to teach a class somewhere outside of the library. Everyone else thought that I had gone home or was off doing other assignments. As for me, I thought that I had been making good time and that my two hours were almost up. Sheesh. I returned to the human world amazed at how much time had passed and that my shift was almost over. There had even been a thunder storm while I was in my cocoon!
Now I am know for my "dedication" to shelf-reading because I was too embarrassed to admit to my zombie-like trance. Good grief. Beware the realm where time has no meaning lest yea become the next Rip Van Butler!

Somebody's Gotten Married!!

2007-06-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

As of Sunday, my sister is Mrs. Elisabeth Cordova. The days leading up to the ceremony were a blur of food, laughter, singing, varying views of Los Angeles via the highway, family hugs, and did I mention food? Apparently waiting for a wedding makes everyone ravenous. I have never enjoyed midnight pizza, cake by the beach, and room service as much as I did on this trip.
The ceremony was beautiful with John looking sharp in his tuxedo and Elisabeth glowing in her amazing white gown. I had to discreetly wipe my eyes (and my bright red nose!) with the the hanky I'd hidden in my bodice for just that purpose.
Speaking of my bodice, I may take up wearing a corset on a regular basis. Not only do I stand straighter and fit into ballgowns easier, wearing a corset makes a not so talented dancer look like she knows what she's doing! Normally, my rhythm is a bit off, but with my waist cinched like Scarlett O'Hara I can move like a pendulum! With my upper body fused thanks to the mechanical genius within the corset, my shoulders dip to the left as my hips are forced to rise to the right. I shook my groove thing like a wild woman and loved every minute of the wedding reception.
My duties as a bridesmaid went very well. I ran interference when it was called for, I made a mad drive in a convertible VW Beetle to pick up a special piece of my sister's trousseau (15 minutes to drive there, shop, and get back in time to climb into my rig/dress), and I made a fool of myself to help make my sister's wedding pictures extra nice. My sister has this terrific laugh and in order to make an opportunity for the photographer to capture it on film, I stood behind him and sang the "Somebody's Getting Married," song from the Muppets Take Manhattan movie (at the top of my lungs and off key to boot) in order to crack my sister up.
Oh! I also caught the bouquet! I don't recall elbowing anyone in the face in order to get it, but perhaps I should wait for any possible victim's amnesia to wear off before I relax. What was really amazing was that my little 14 year old brother made a flying leap to catch the garter. He then promptly took it over to the young lady he'd been flirting with too. Oh lord, my little brother is a ladies man. Heaven help us all.
I am still glowing with the happiness my sister's wedding generated. Big events like these are like bells ringing; they resonate long after the event is over with and I am so glad that this bell is ringing with joy. All hail the marriage of the Prince and Princess!

Just a Month!

2007-05-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

The big event is coming up fast and I am getting so excited. My sister Elisabeth will be trading vows with her sweetie John in June, and I get to hop a plane to California to take part in the wedding. I have tried on my cornflower blue bridesmaid gown once a month for the past six months to make sure I didn't need to make an emergency appointment with a seamstress.
I have about a month left before I head to California, but I have already started a list of what I will need to pack into my brand new blue suitcase. Some of the major items listed are things my duties as a bridesmaid will require. You know, pain killers to head off pre-wedding headaches (or hangovers...), Shout! wipes to keep all of the dresses spot free, running shoes for sprinting in case something has to be fetched from Walgreen's...You get the picture. It is the bridal party's duty to bend over backwards to make sure that the bride (in the case of the bride's maids) and the groom (in the case of the groom's men) have a few worry free hours before their nuptials. I haven't been able to do a heck of a whole lot yet for my sister because of my geographic position (I live several states away from all of my family and that makes visits very difficult and expensive...), so I plan to make myself as useful as possible when I'm finally able to do so.
This wedding is the first for this generation of Butlers. Elisabeth is the eldest of four siblings and this event is like the marriage of the Crown Princess. She is going to kick off the beginning of the cycle for all of us younger adults. In fact, our step-sister Kirby will be getting married in the not too distant future and she's looking forward to examining Elisabeth's ceremony so she can come up with ideas for her own. As for me, I may jump into the fray to catch the bouquet, but only because I want to smell the flowers, not because I want to join the queue for marriage. I'm not mature enough to take such a risk. People risk a lot with marriage besides their heart. To willingly trust another person to share and invest in a mutual future is awesome. I can't wait to help a loving couple have a great send off.
My next blog will probably be called, "Adventures in a Blue Formal: Tales of the Bridesmaids." Until then!

The memory in a lime...

2007-03-31T06:06:00.000-07:00

Oy. Friday I suddenly had this urge to bake (it happens from time to time sort of like needing to migrate south for the winter...) and boy howdy did I. Having bought a set of springform pans two years ago thinking about taking up tarte making, yesterday I dug them out of my hardware storage and decided to break in the 9 incher by baking a cheesecake. Dude. I had no idea that my favorite cheesecakes require 2 lbs. of cream cheese alone to get started! My jeans instantly felt tighter just by looking at that amount of creamy goodness sitting on my counter.
Committed to baking, I ignored my tight pants and pressed onward. I decided I wanted a tropical flavor in my cheesecake, so I added the zest and juice of two limes and as I was suddenly enveloped in the smell of citrus I had a moment where I was blinking back some happy tears. No, I didn't squirt lime into my eyes. It's just funny that smells can be linked to memories. I hadn't realized until just that moment that I associate the smell of fresh limes with my mother. My mom once baked a lime meringue pie, (once and only once), but since that was the first time I had even seen/smelled a lime (I think I must have been two or three) the scene really impressed upon my psyche. Twenty years later, as I'm zesting a lime in my own kitchen, I felt this rush of warmth and security like my mom had just reached through time and space to hug me. Who'd have thought that such a great thing could be brought forth from the humble lime.
As for my cheesecake, I had a huge slice of the tastiest lime and cream cheese pastry to ever touch my lips and now I'm going to take the rest to work to force my co-workers to partake. Happy Days, folks!

Still Here

2007-03-03T16:42:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I blogged, so I thought I'd twitch a bit to let folks know that I'm still here. Lets' see...school is steady with me knocking down deadlines as they come up. This may change as the due dates for my two research papers come closer. For now, I'm okay. Hey, my eyelid hasn't twitched in at least a week, so I must be getting used to the pressure.
I've started making music videos on YouTube when I need some leisure time. I discovered a basic movie program on my computer and I've been goofing off with it ever since. I'm too embarrassed to share with people I know, so I'm not giving you all the links to my stuff. Let's just say, I get to be as geeky as I want to be and not have to worry about getting razzed for it.
I turned twenty-four last month and all I have to say is that from here on out, any cracks about spinsters/old maids will be met with your car/vehicle of choice being, "fished." (That's where someone hides a fish somewhere in your vehicle to await the day that the lovely pong of dissolving carp soaks into every particle of said vehicle's interior.) I'm kidding. Twenty-four is a hit television show, who says it can't be a good age for me to be? :)
That's about all of my news for the moment. Most of the big things I'm involved in don't start happening until this summer, but I will try to blog again before those come and go. Happy Days, folks.

The Geek Likes Cooking

2007-01-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

All is well here in Tennessee. Classes are starting to be interesting now that my brain has made the switch from its vacation setting and work a the bookstore is just a fabulous as ever. I just wanted to note that my inner geek has finally decided to make herself known to the Tennessee folks who might not have met her yet. At my geek's urging, I finally bought the Alton Brown, "Death to Uni-Taskers," T-shirt. If you are in the dark as to what I am referring to, I believe you just passed the non-uber geek test with flying colors. (Well, you may not make it if you know the Vulcan version of aloha or can name all of the core members of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Scooby Gang...) Here's what the shirt looks like. It combines my love of graphic novels and funky T-Shirts with my fascination with a cool-yet-geeky cooking show. Ah, joy!
I think I will try to make my own version of sushi-maki rolls when the shirt gets here, just to break it in. Here's to celebrating that which makes us happy...and perhaps a bit geeky too. Hurrah!

Start the Year with a Vacation

2007-01-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

Ah, I have finally gotten my EB/Mom fix that I had been craving for almost half a year. The three amigas reunited in New York City for New Year's. We ate, laughed, and walked until our legs felt like they were going to fall off. EB's fiancee John was really nice considering we made him homeless for a full week while the Butler gals took over the apartment.
The trip was really fun. I had my usual can't-get-used-to-this freak out, where my brain overloads with the reality that is New York. Then once the reboot took hold, I was fine and was full-on-in-the-city-mode. Mom wandered the Metropolitan museum for hours with EB and I tagging along. I loved the Tiffany lamp section and EB loved the costume section. Mom loved it all. :)
We ate lunch in the restaurant where John works, Le Bernardin. I dressed in my best New Yorker black and hoped that I wouldn't bring shame to my family by eating the garnish off of my plate. I was worried for nothing. Le Bernardin was amazing. Each course was new and exciting to me and not only were we treated like princess V.I.Ps, we were allowed back into the kitchen to thank John in person. I was never made to feel inferior and the food was excellent.
As for the rest of my trip, we shopped at all of the New Year's sales, ate raw oysters and clams on the sidewalk in the Bronx, found that I had terrific taste in handbags when my first choice came to damn near $200 dollars (I'll visit it again, but I cannot afford to be its new mommy), sat on my sister's rooftop and watched 2007 be celebrated with gorgeous fireworks, talked my Mom and sister into watching, "Slither," for the first time, and going to the theater to watch the awesome, "Pan's Labyrinth."
We did so much, there's no way I can fit it all into this blog. I got my family fix, where I'm hugged and told, through voice and action, that I am loved and that I belong. My next fix will be in June when the entire clan gathers to witness Elisabeth and John's nuptials. Summer cannot get here fast enough, but until then, I will be working my way towards my degree and hopefully a job that will allow me to visit my family more often. Happy New Year, folks!

Baking soda in odd places

2006-12-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

I got my teeth cleaned today and normally I would not blog about it, but my new dentist introduced me to a new piece of teeth cleaning hardware. When it came time to get my teeth polished, I was given two options. Option one, the standard flavored sand-gel that gets smeared all over my teeth by a little plastic rubbing thing. Option two, have a mixture of baking soda, salt, and water sprayed onto my teeth. Sprayed? I asked. More like sandblasting, I was told. How could I resist such a sales technique? I opted for the sandblasting partially from curiosity and partially because this option put less wear and tear on my teeth.
Hoo-buddy. My attendant wasn't kidding about the sandblasting reference. Thousands of tiny bits of grit blasted into my mouth making my tongue and lips spasm before going numb from the bombardment. Ladies, think of face scrubs that advertise microderm abrasion and imagine using it as mouth wash. Fellas, think of the finest grained sandpaper and then think of rubbing your lips with it. Add a saltwater flavor like you drinking straight from the Gulf and voila! Instantly clean teeth. My teeth have never felt this slick or looked so shiny before. If you can stand the stinging and the fresh from the ocean taste, this is not a bad way to go. I'll probably do it again on my next visit...if I can get all of the baking soda bits out of my nose, my hair, everywhere where the stray spray went. Very messy, but you'll have awesome teeth. :)

Mary the Mad Baker!

2006-11-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

What's in a name? Something about a rose smelling as sweet even when called belch blossom...Names are important. When I whipped out the "holiday bread" that I have been tending for the past two weeks, folks liked it. "Yummy!" seemed to be the word of the day. After my test subjects ate their pieces with gusto, I smilingly let the F-word drop. No, I didn't curse, but by the looks of shock, I might as well have. "Holiday bread" is the much preferred term of "Fruit cake." Everyone seemed stunned that something that has been the butt of so many jokes (What's left at the end of the world? Fruit cakes and cockroaches...)could taste decent. I took devilish delight in correcting their assumptions. Mary the Mad Baker, Defender of Innocent Baked Goods around the world!
Actually, I can't take the credit. There are a whole lot of bad fruit cakes in the world. There are members of my family who have seen me regurgitate one particularly bad example. Why did I go crazy and make one myself? Well, my cooking hero Alton Brown put an irresistible recipe for one on his show Good Eats. As I made only enough to ship to my family (one batch can make four mini-loaves), you can find the recipe here and make your own. For first timers, whatever you do, don't call it a fruit cake. Try trail mix bread or holiday bread. After you receive the compliments, feel free to drop the F-word. :)

I'm Such a Goober...

2006-11-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I got my taste of excitement for the year. Today is Sunday, my apartment cleaning day, and I usually round out my cleaning frenzy by taking my vacuum's air filter out on to my balcony for a thorough beating. It was a bit chilly this morning, so I wore my old terry cloth robe over my Superman tank top and roos. Thanks God for small favors. Out of habit, I pulled my glass door shut behind me, only this time I heard a sickening thud following it. My Anti-theft Charlie Bar had dropped down and effectively locked me out of my apartment. There was this brilliant moment where I could see the picture I made there in my scruffy robe, my pre-shower hair, and my it's-cold-out-here-runny nose. I had to laugh. Lucky for me, a neighbor pulled up in her car and saw me waving like a lunatic from my second story balcony. She offered to call the security folk for me on her cell phone, leaving me to contemplate my situation. With my front door double bolted and chained from the inside, there was nothing short of a bettering ram that was going to get in that way. The same went for my bedroom window as I had reinforced the frame with a large two-by-four to prevent thieves. (My paranoia keeps everyone out, now with me included!) The only way back into my fortress of solitude that is my apartment was going to have to be through my charlie barred sliding glass doors. The repair bills kept dancing through my head as I waited for help to arrive.
Forty-five minutes, a wire hanger, and advice from the security man later, I managed to break back into my apartment. No one had to call the police or the local news channel and I didn't have to expose my Superman jammies to an audience. I may stay inside for the rest of the day just to be on the safe side. I'm such a goober.

You Can Feel It Coming...

2006-10-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

Most of my family and friends know that I am not a winter person. Snow and ice were only fun for me when the schools closed for the day and I was allowed to stay inside in my P.J.'s sipping hot chocolate and watching whatever programming could be found on daytime television. This was a rare thing growing up. In southern Arkansas, 9 times out of 10, when the ice/snow came, the power went out. No T.V., no staying in P.J.'s or risk freezing to death, and no freaking way to get my electric appliances to heat up the water for some hot chocolate. During one particularly bad ice storm, a tree decided it wanted a closer look at my family's trailer, from the inside out.
In college, the university had a strict policy when it came to snow classes. The University would only declare classes cancelled only if the next Ice Age dropped a glacier in the center of campus, and even then classes would open the next day if they could find enough rock salt and kitty litter to make the sidewalks a little less than lethal. Oh, many a time did I find myself thinking of that poor kid from the movie A Christmas Story trapped in his snow suit and unable to move while I was sprawled on my back, my backpack wedged beneath me, on an unsalted ice sheet that passed for a sidewalk.
I can feel Tennessee's winter coming. In the mornings I find myself feeling more and more like a Grizzly Bear, huddled in my warm cocoon of blankets, unwilling to budge until my alarm clock threatens to have a meltdown. I find myself dreaming of warm foods like Split Pea and Vietnamese Chicken Noodle soup. A neighborhood cat keeps trying to talk me into letting him sleep in my house when the nights are nippy, but I resist my soft heart, knowing that once he's in, he's there forever. Winter is coming, and I may hibernate until the first Daffodils appear.

Average Day in the Life

2006-08-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to update my blog and the moment I started writing, one of the creepiest tunes started playing on my live365 radio stream. It's the Crop Circles theme from the movie Signs. Eek! It seemed like a good idea to stop writing when the theme music turns creepy, but as this is life and not a movie, I typed on.
My classes have finally started and so I have homework to distract me from my lack of employment. All the places I have papered with my resume while wearing my, "I'm a serious applicant' garb have been enthusiastic, but say that they won't need help until the fall. I'm hoping this means September and not the fall of the western world as we know it. Patience is a virtue that I am hard pressed to use. Ah, well tomorrow is another day.
Oh! I really got a kick out of reading The Zombie Survival Guide It was the quick and dirty list on the book jacket that made me choose the book for my new bathroom reading book. Number one, Organize Before They Rise! This made me crack a grin in the bookstore and that's all I needed to make my decision. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves to play the, "What If," game. What if zombies attack? Well, this book has recommendations on how to escape, make your home into a fortress, and the pros and cons on everything from body armor to how to restart the human race. Much fun.
Well, I'm off to hunt some entertainment for my afternoon. Until next time!

Look Out Knoxville

2006-07-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it's happened. I am now living out of my home state of Arkansas. On the evening of Tuesday the 26th, my friends and family arrived and packed all of my earthly possesions into the back of a U-Haul trailer. (I humbly offered them pizza and beer in exchange...) With a lot of joking and hugs, I said goodbye to my friends and at the crack of dawn on Wednesday my mother, brother, and father escorted me to Knoxville, Tennessee. This tale will go down in the family history as The Great Graduate Trek that pitted us against the Road Construction from Hell a.k.a Memphis, more mountains than you could shake a stick at, and teaching my mother how to use a cell phone. It was both a fun and tiring trip.
I've now unpacked in my new apartment and I'm trying to figure out where all of the essential things are. Things like grocery stores, post offices, movie theaters, and the Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop. I'm terrified of being alone here, but I'll face it when my Mom leaves for home this weekend. As long I I can keep myself occupied, maybe I can forget myself until classes start up. Wish me luck and I'll try to keep you all updated. Later!

The Mary That Ate New York

2006-06-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

Ah, what a trip. I spent almost a full week visiting my sister in New York City and now I'm home and ready to blog about it. What did I do? Walked, talked, and ate whatever caught my fancy. NYC is huge, but flat with lots of things to do and see scattered all over. This encourages one to walk from place to place. Soon you realize that your legs are jelly and you've walked at a full-on-move-your-ass pace at least forty blocks and that you've got another forty just waiting for you. With all this exercise, you feel no guilt what so ever about eating one of the finest cupcakes ever to be graced with buttercream icing or munching on a whole set of fried octopus balls coated with BBQ sauce or drinking the finest frozen mojito to ever pass your lips. This is required fuel to get your tired butt home. I loved every minute of it.
I got to see my sister, which was the whole point of the trip for me, and I got my EB fix which will probably have to last me until Christmas. If I get to morose, I'll sneak one of the Jelly Belly's we got at Dylan's Candy Bar or wear my Museum of Sex T-shirt and smile as my memories of watching Puerto Rican Day fireworks, eating beer butt chicken cooked by EB's sweetie, falling asleep in the Museum of Natural History's planetarium, trying to eat freeze dried ice cream quietly while it shatters in my mouth, gawking at Chinatown and Little Italy, and watching Fear Factor contestants eat water buffalo genetalia and then realizing that my sister's meal that evening has a strong resemblance to it will all come flooding back to me. (Was that the largest run-on sentance in history? No, but I certainly gave it my best shot.)
I had a great time. Until my next blog, which will probably come after I've started grad school in Tennessee, happy days, folks!

My Current Mountain/Mole Hill

2006-05-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

I had no idea how comfortable my life had gotten until a few choices (good ones, I hope time will show) had the same effect of tossing a lit stick of dynamite into what seemed to be a bottomless pool. Now, a whole lot of stuff had been set loose, my lazy complacency is gone, and I am re-learning what it is like to move at my top speed.
One of the stirred up bits in my life is my scramble to go to grad school in the fall. Everyday, things are falling into place and that is starting to feel like it really will happen. Now my main worry there is how am I, the Empress of the Pack Rats, will move my junk to Tennessee. My family has pledged wonderful help, but with even that, I will have to *shudder* get rid of a few things. I'm trying not to whine too much, but my inner pack rat is having hysterics at the thought of selling even one item of the bargains I have so patiently gathered from local yard sales. I will do what I have to, but I don't have to fake happiness about it.
Another of the unstable things is that due to budgeting at my work, I am now hunting a new job. What has turned up, you ask? A clothing store that sells trendy ladies wear that a friend suggested was hiring. I admit that I know very little about wearing anything that remotely resembles being trendy, but what the heck, I dressed in my only pair of khaki pants and a sedate black shirt and applied. Halfway expecting a door alarm to go off when I walked in, one that revealed folks with a bit of the granola in their souls that makes them wear sandals and cut off shorts year round, but lo I did make it through the entrance and the interview without mishap. I might be selling trendy clothes in the near future. *gasp* I might even have to start wearing them.
Having written these things down, the "dynamite" seems less explosive and more like a small jab to get me up off my duff. I guess that's why blogs are popular, they help put things into focus. Less drama, more sense. Until the next stick is lit, at least.

I Can Do This

2006-04-06T17:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, picture this. Last Friday, I was on my way to meet some friends for dinner when I decided to sit in my car and quickly check my snail mail. Out of the assortment of junk, one letter stood out. It was from the University of Tennessee and it seemed to light to be anything really good. (My logic being why waste lots of paper on a rejection letter.) Never one to pull off band-aids slowly, I ripped into the envelope and readied for the axe to fall.
I should have recognized the fact that I was sitting in a beam of heavenly light, but it took me two read throughs to realize what the letter was saying. Congratulations, Ms. Butler, somebody thinks that you are worth teaching. GOOD GOOGA-MOOGA, I'm going to grad school!!! Upon hearing my squeals from the inside of my car, my neighbors probably thought I was strangling a small mammal, but no one came outside to investigate.
I've decided that I'm going to give the other schools I applied to until next week to make up their minds before I commit to Tennessee, but it feels awesome to know that I have a place to go now. Now that the sheer joy of acceptance is beginning to fade, the reality of what I'll have to accomplish in the next few months is starting to itch my once peaceful life. Where will I live, how will I move, what kind of job will I find, all of these things and more whirl through my mind thorough out my day.
When I get too uptight about my changing future, I stop, take a deep breath, and remember what all of this chaos is building towards. Me, doing something that I love, and getting paid for it. I can do this. I can do this.

Nerve wracking

2006-03-16T19:24:00.000-08:00

I am in a limbo-like state these days, and I don't mean kind where you get to roller skate beneath a lowering pole. I've sent out my applications with all of there accoutrements and now I'm waiting for a graduate school to realize that I am that wonderful student that they've been waiting for since the founding of their Library Science program. *Sigh* I've gotten to the point where I've stopped telling people that I'm applying so I can avoid jinxing myself. (No worries, my family have set up a singing telegram service to tell those who haven't already heard. To the tune of Memories from Cats, I believe...Oy.)
Any-hoo, the only good to come from stress of waiting is that my dreams have really gotten wild. There's flying, wild conversations with inanimate objects, and other fancy stuff. My life is in a holding pattern for now, but the only thing scarier than that is what happens when I am accepted. Great Googa-mooga, let's not go there just yet, I'll have a whole other blog about that one. Until next time, I'll be here...waiting.

Happy Hearts and Chocolate Day!

2006-02-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

If you didn't know it, I am a semi-chocoholic. Yes, I'll choose a chocolate truffle or a scoop of chocolate mint ice cream over a cheeseburger 9 times out of ten. Why is this information I want to share? Well, Valentines Day, like Easter and Christmas, has a wonderful aspect. At midnight, Wal-Mart and Target put all leftover chocolates in the 50% off bin. I have made the midnight chocolate stockpile run with friends over the years and we leap into the fray head first to get our cherry cordials at half price.
When I bought my 2006 calendar the first things I put on it were birthdays, hair appointments, and the days the chocolates go on sale. I have to have my priorities, right? Enjoy your V-Day and when you spot someone buying a chocolate rose or a sampler box, smile and think of me tackling someone to get at the last bag of Dove extra dark. Cheers folks!

Buckaroo and Bubble Wrap

2006-01-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

So, I'd like to say that I spent my last duty-free weekend before the start of the new school semester solving the mysteries of life and all that rot, but, alas, I did not. What I actually did was watch a strange film and learn valuable information about myself as a driver.
To start, the film was called Buckaroo Banzai and the Eight Dimension. Right a way you can tell that this movie would never give Gone With The Wind or Dr. Strangelove a run for their money. Made in 1984, Buckaroo reflects its place in time by having its hero and his merry men dress as fashionably as Pee-Wee Herman with bow ties and pastels as well as having them take time out between delicate brain surgeries and testing jet engines to play in their wonderful eighties band that just brims with synthesized notes, the obligatory brass section, and a nine minute electric guitar solo. As bad as this film sounds, I loved it. It's hokey and filled with 80's visions of the good life and I could not keep this sappy grin off of my face. I even went to far as to download the movie's syth-theme song. Oy.
Lastly, I learned a valuable lesson about myself as a driver. All packages containing bubble wrap must be put in the trunk until the vehicle is no longer in operation. My attention is captivated by the stuff and nothing takes higher priority. Not even traffic.
I, not knowing of my addiction, had some of the wonderful popping wrap placed next to me in the passenger seat on a quick trip into town. I'm sure had there been passengers in the car with me, there'd have been screaming involved. My right hand kept creeping down and over to touch the darn bubble wrap. When I realized that it wasn't my car making the strange popping sound, I looked down to see what my hand was doing and had the car been stopped at the time, this would have been fine. I kept having to jerk my attention back from the wrap to the road. Finally, I chunked the stuff behind me to put it out of reach and allow me to reach my destination in one piece. I waited until I was home before I gave in to my need to pop the wrap.
There's nothing finer than bare-footed stomping on fresh bubble wrap. And that's what I did this weekend. Dude.

Taking Stock

2006-01-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

Let's see. . .It's the second day of the new year (2006, if you are just tuning in.) and I thought that I'd take a look at who I am and what my plans are. At this moment I am single, female, have a bachelor's degree in Art, I can knit, read a book like I was munching candy, type about 30 words per minute, bake a mean apple pie, and I'm pretty happy with myself if you couldn't tell.

Future plans. . .I take the G.R.E. in February because I'd like to get my Masters in Library Science. If all goes well, this should lead to me getting a decent position in a nice, growing library somewhere hopefully in a up and coming town that has lots of good places to eat and shop all within walking distance of my cute little cottage/apartment. I dream in detail, baby.

I'm pretty sure that love and making a family of my own is still a long ways off. I can't imagine being responsible for anyone other than myself at the moment. My digital pet, my Tamogotchi that I'd kept alive for over a year, had a tragic death yesterday. His cute pink casing got caught in door an was crushed. Picture me standing in the center of Wal-Mart trying not to tear up while watching my poor little pet bleed ink all over the inside of his double reinforced casing. I decided not to let him have a lingering death from starvation (I couldn't see the feeding buttons on his screen anymore), so I yanked his batteries with merciful speed. *Sigh* If I get that attatched to a fake pet, can you imagine what kind of Mom I'd be to a kitten or heaven forbid, a real baby? There might be cries of, "No Wire Hangars!!" Hmm. Just some New Year's Musings. Until next time.

Here I am!

2005-12-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

Well, as it seems that my family has jumped the myspace ship, I am going to brave the blogging seas by their sides. (Sally sells seashells by the seashore...Sorry.) My other blog site is: http://www.myspace.com/wildhare21. Take a peek at some of my archived stuff.
My big plans for the rest of the week involve dog sitting for the calmest Pomeranian puppy ever. His name is Poby, but most of us call him po boy, after the best sandwiches in the south. I'm slightly worried about sleeping in an unfamiliar house, but this fear is compounded when one realizes that one of the house's occupants is a horror film memorabilia collector. There is a room that is a veritable shrine to the deities of Voorhees, Kruger, Myers, and Romero. It's a regular horror film waiting to happen. Unwary house sitter goes into horror room and when her back is turned, one of the monstrous life-sized mannequins moves. Eeek!! I may have to move some furniture to block the door to that room before I can sleep comfortably.
Well, wish me luck and keep your eyes peeled for any news reports about missing house sitters. Until next time!