i thought saying my name was 'bertha' was enough.

holy crap i am so glad this exists!! soooo mean.

http://www.rejectionhotline.com/

please for god's sake call one of the numbers and see what the recording tells you. hhhhho my god.

i'm on it.

and my punishment will include never finding 'man of dreams.' soooo meeeeean.

i was worried the mtv real world crap was coming to this city.

imagine: the middle of a huge, hilly city. it's the hottest it's going to get (mid-80sF). you wake up. and your street has been transformed into a ski jump. a real one. you see johnny moseley's body fly across your window.

like this:



will this be the look on your face?



"One of the injured was an Icer volunteer who was hit by the errant snowboarder."

this city is just stupid. STUPID. (i.e. fantastic).

vivacious

today is the day to celebrate diane p. arnaout's time of birth. she is lovely, and i love her and wish i could accompany her to the h.e.b. in harlingen so we could buy ice-cream cake together.

tom delay was indicted, and for that i say 'bout damn time. lord almighty let that man sit in a prison or with a chain around his ankle for a long while. *shakes fist in the air*

being that my hair is too damn short, i wear pigtails a lot to keep the hair out of my face. apparently this is very to real 'cute.' dammit. why can't i be alluuuuuuring or vivacious. i want to be as alluuuuuuring as the ever attractive giant squid. i can't break away from him. oh gawwwwd. case in point:


ok seriously this photo half-freaks me out/half blows my mind.

close to finally, don't believe the rumors: slow jazz is NOT calming. it is NOT soothing. and it does not have universal appeal. if you are ever in charge of anything, please for the love to do not choose the slow jazz radio station.

happy birthday to diane, time and time again.

a bit much for a tiny girl of 24

i don't know if i've spoken of this explicitly on this thing, but the non-profit i work is for is in really bad shape. it's flat broke, and noone here knows what's going with the budget, who is currently funding us (if anyone) and what in the hell happened to all financial documents during the previous three years. we received a small grant from a foundation a week ago, but now they are reconsidering the amount that they promised.

when i made the decision to come here, i was told by the guy who apparently took all of the above info with him that the non-profit was in a really good position, and i would be making a livable sum of money each month. since i got off of the plane two months ago, i have learned more each day of how dire the situation really is (exemplified by the fact that my salary is now half of what i anticipated - hardly livable - not exaggerating).

so i'm the 'development coordinator' which basically means i'm in charge of everything having to do with funding, raising money, expenses, etc. my god. i have been thrown into a dying non-profit and am expected (though they claim otherwise) to save it. so many days i come to work and am completely overwhelmed. this is so very different from the stress i felt in school. i was only responsible to myself back then. if i messed up a paper, so what. it would come back to me and me alone.

i am so overwhelmed, guys. some people say 'you can handle it,' but honestly the majority of people living here in the city are telling me to get out as soon as i can. i tend to agree. but this non-profit provides some really good opportunities for kids who have nothing else. theý're getting into college. they're learning things that are truly applicable and helpful, skills that can actually pull them out of poverty. i see that happen too.

but then i see how the non-profit is dying, how overworked my one co-worker is. i think i'm supposed to be the 'positive' one, but that's super hard for me at the moment. man oh man.

so now you know. and that's the last i will say about it for a good while. i think i just needed to expound. *exhales*

*shakes hand*

tossed a susan b. over my shoulder

rather than attempting to fix the infamously battered blog of mine, i thought i'd start anew. its better to do that with most things anyway.

*shakes hands clean*

i made the decision last friday to peace out of my apartment. we all know that my room is tiny (oh how i wish one of you could have seen it), yet the more potent impetus is the fact that one of my housemates is turning into quite the creep-o. my top choice in new places involves living with a family and another housemate - but in my own space with windows on three sides, a porch and a place to garden. you best believe. no more tiny 20 year-olds for me, thanks. well. let's see if it works out first.

i also went to the 'love parade' and the 'folsom street fair' during the daytime hours this weekend. mom and family, please don't look this up, unless you want to have a huge argument with me. for the rest of you, you may want to avoid looking it up because it may bring viruses to your computer. needless to say, it was a little overwhelming and stereotypical san francisco. BUT. i was amazed at how well-behaved and respectful everyone was with one another. amidst the chain and leather, total respect. it was good. nice. not my cup of tea, but worth checking out i suppose.

best part was talking with a 'conservative' north carolina couple who happened to walk into the event while on vacation. recognizing their staunch faith, they remained respectful and accepting of the atmosphere. no judgement. they thought it was funny.

oh man that entry has probably set me really high up there with the ol' fam-fam.

additionally, i am growing weary of hearing of friends traveling to far-away places like india, south africa and harlingen. i want to go too, dammit.

hhho-k time to read. keep up the good work out there, and please download cash's live at folsom prison. hurry, before he gets too popular for your tastes. jen.

let's give this a shot.

please don't explode.