Journalish Category
I like to think of this blog as more than just a journal, but sometimes it’s not. Not at all. Sometimes it’s just all about ME ME ME and what I’ve been up to. Sort of like a journal…ish.
29
16
Apr
2004
In: Journalish
This is the one-month signal flare warning: I turn 29 on May 16th.
Jazz Hands
16
Apr
2004
In: Journalish
Recently, I’ve been singing a lot around the house.
This isn’t unusual in the grand scheme of things: I spent seven of the first 18 years of my life singing and dancing, even securing a small vocal scholarship upon graduation from high school. But after one semester as a musical theater major, I dropped it all. I’ve never even done karaoke.
But around the house lately, I’m become everyone’s favorite stream-of-consciousness songbird. I’ve been crooning favorites such as “Who Needs To Shower (I Do, I Do!)” and “Needo Grr, My Pet Rat Is Lonely.” Some of the songs get a little bawdy, like “I Want To Touch My Boyfriend’s Butt (So I Did).”
At work, there’s a woman who has a particularly drag queen-esque sing songy voice, so lunch breaks are spent singing songs with my coworkers. We like to theme our tunes around whatever the sing-songer was talking about that day. Classics like “I love shopping at Bel-Square” or “Did you finish the jooooooob?”
All the tunes are accompanied by much operatic vibrato, and enthusiastic hand flapping. Sometimes duets are sung, such as the tune about Moemoe Baby that Dre and I worked out, where in I sang “Moemoe Baby, nodding away. Moemoe baby, whatchoo got to say?,” while Andreas intoned the dirge-like bass part, “Moemoe. Baby. Moemoe. Baby.” Andreas and I also do our best theaterical Jack White imitations, cackling, “Be like the squirrel — Oh! Uh-Oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh!”
Is this a seasonally-induced singing psychosis? Or perhaps a sign that, after spending most of my 20s dancing, I’m going to spend my 30s singing?
Rigidity
14
Apr
2004
In: Journalish
Sometimes in the midst of all the good times, I’m reminded of my own rigidity. I’ve got a very serious rule-enforcer in my head, and I have strange times when I reject things that should be right up my alley. There are times when I’d rather sit at home staring at the wall by myself than bend my own rules.
Stubborn and rigid. Two of my less twinkly qualities.
Contentment (but…)
2
Apr
2004
In: Journalish
Other than my writing career, I would say that just about everything in my world is going swimmingly. It’s always good to have one stalled-out life-facet. Keeps me on my toes, I suppose.
Little Beings into Big Ones
23
Mar
2004
In: Journalish
Definitely a sad day around our house. But Andreas and I went out to the back yard and buried Tejasa just like we’ve buried all our rats: under a tree. I like the idea of little creatures becoming part of much larger creatures, so under a tree seems like the perfect spot for a little rodent to rest.
Rainbow Bridge
23
Mar
2004
In: Journalish
One of our rats (Tejasa, the fawn-colored one) has been in declining health this last week. She’s got her third and fourth benign mammary tumors — very common in female rats — and has started having trouble walking. Rats’ life expectancy is only between 2-3 years, and Tejasa is approaching 2 1/2 so it may be that her time is ending. It’s agonizing watching a beloved pet suffer, but even more agonizing to make the decision about what to do to end the suffering.
It’s watery-eyed moments like this that make The Rainbow Bridge seem like not such a silly thing. I realize that I’m linking to a page with an animated picture of a rat in a meadow under a rainbow, but sad times call for what some might consider embarassing displays of grief.
Update:
RIP to our beloved Tejasa. Andreas took her to the vet this morning, and it turns out she was experiencing kidney failure — another common rat problem. The vet recommended she be put down. Poor Andreas had to deal with it by himself. Now I’m sneaking off to the bathroom at work to cry.
29
16 Apr 2004 In: JournalishThis is the one-month signal flare warning: I turn 29 on May 16th.
Jazz Hands
16 Apr 2004 In: JournalishRecently, I’ve been singing a lot around the house.
This isn’t unusual in the grand scheme of things: I spent seven of the first 18 years of my life singing and dancing, even securing a small vocal scholarship upon graduation from high school. But after one semester as a musical theater major, I dropped it all. I’ve never even done karaoke.
But around the house lately, I’m become everyone’s favorite stream-of-consciousness songbird. I’ve been crooning favorites such as “Who Needs To Shower (I Do, I Do!)” and “Needo Grr, My Pet Rat Is Lonely.” Some of the songs get a little bawdy, like “I Want To Touch My Boyfriend’s Butt (So I Did).”
At work, there’s a woman who has a particularly drag queen-esque sing songy voice, so lunch breaks are spent singing songs with my coworkers. We like to theme our tunes around whatever the sing-songer was talking about that day. Classics like “I love shopping at Bel-Square” or “Did you finish the jooooooob?”
All the tunes are accompanied by much operatic vibrato, and enthusiastic hand flapping. Sometimes duets are sung, such as the tune about Moemoe Baby that Dre and I worked out, where in I sang “Moemoe Baby, nodding away. Moemoe baby, whatchoo got to say?,” while Andreas intoned the dirge-like bass part, “Moemoe. Baby. Moemoe. Baby.” Andreas and I also do our best theaterical Jack White imitations, cackling, “Be like the squirrel — Oh! Uh-Oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh!”
Is this a seasonally-induced singing psychosis? Or perhaps a sign that, after spending most of my 20s dancing, I’m going to spend my 30s singing?
Rigidity
14 Apr 2004 In: JournalishSometimes in the midst of all the good times, I’m reminded of my own rigidity. I’ve got a very serious rule-enforcer in my head, and I have strange times when I reject things that should be right up my alley. There are times when I’d rather sit at home staring at the wall by myself than bend my own rules.
Stubborn and rigid. Two of my less twinkly qualities.
Contentment (but…)
2 Apr 2004 In: JournalishOther than my writing career, I would say that just about everything in my world is going swimmingly. It’s always good to have one stalled-out life-facet. Keeps me on my toes, I suppose.
Little Beings into Big Ones
23 Mar 2004 In: JournalishDefinitely a sad day around our house. But Andreas and I went out to the back yard and buried Tejasa just like we’ve buried all our rats: under a tree. I like the idea of little creatures becoming part of much larger creatures, so under a tree seems like the perfect spot for a little rodent to rest.
Rainbow Bridge
23 Mar 2004 In: JournalishOne of our rats (Tejasa, the fawn-colored one) has been in declining health this last week. She’s got her third and fourth benign mammary tumors — very common in female rats — and has started having trouble walking. Rats’ life expectancy is only between 2-3 years, and Tejasa is approaching 2 1/2 so it may be that her time is ending. It’s agonizing watching a beloved pet suffer, but even more agonizing to make the decision about what to do to end the suffering.
It’s watery-eyed moments like this that make The Rainbow Bridge seem like not such a silly thing. I realize that I’m linking to a page with an animated picture of a rat in a meadow under a rainbow, but sad times call for what some might consider embarassing displays of grief.
Update:
RIP to our beloved Tejasa. Andreas took her to the vet this morning, and it turns out she was experiencing kidney failure — another common rat problem. The vet recommended she be put down. Poor Andreas had to deal with it by himself. Now I’m sneaking off to the bathroom at work to cry.
Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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