So I got back on Sunday night and had sadface for a while because I miss my mommy and the doggies and the mountains. But I spent all day with Josh yesterday and I am adjusting back to "normal" life. Tomorrow I go back to work. *cry*

I have many things to say and many pictures to show, but I will tell you my favorite part of the trip (not involving dogs or mommies). It was on the fourth, a few hours after the parade and few hours before the fireworks. Almost everyday I'd take a little exploring trip because there is always something new to see with my eyeballs. I've decided my favorite place to go is Monrovian Park. It's up a mountain and it's a teeny tiny road and you kind of fear for your life but the sights are amazing.

So on the fourth, my mom and I are in the backyard bonding with the dogs and I notice that there's some pretty amazing thunderstormy cloud action happening. Another thing I love about Utah--the morning starts out clear and sunny but by the afternoon, there's usually rain clouds over the mountains and it just makes everything look so beautiful. Well, this was more beautiful than usual, so I decide to go chase the clouds so I can take pictures of them. It's like chasing tornadoes, only less stupid.

So me and my rental car go out in search of clouds. I hit the jackpot when I take this picture in the parking lot of Home Depot:


I love this picture. And I loved driving up the mountain in the rain with my window down, listening to Use Your Illusion I and being as happy as any person can possibly be when doing such things. And just a few minutes later, I spotted a rainbow and concluded that this must be a good omen for my life. Only good things can happen now, right?




( More trip adventures... )

Hi, friends. I did ADIML on Wednesday. I wasn't going to post until I got home but I went to Radio Shack and bought a thingie for my camera, so here we are. It would be awesome if you guys enjoyed my pretty pictures.



( Hope you guys like mountains! )

I just wanted to interrupt this internet-free vacation (yeah, right, you try being internet free with an iPhone) to announce that I have just seen the most amazing sunset...ever. If this is what sunsets are like in Utah, then I firmly believe that someday I need to end up in Utah. Sunsets are pretty in Texas, but they aren't so completely...amazing. I just thought everyone needed to know that.

I will have pictures eventually, and they will be awesome.

Also, while I'm here, I would like to sing the praises of The Time Traveler's Wife. I saw the preview for the movie when we went to see The Proposal and it intrigued me so I bought the book. I've read it twice in four days. I can't wait for the movie. While there are some things I still don't get about the book, I am still just in awe of what an amazing love story it is. I am a sucker for a love story, that's for sure.

Anyway, I just had to get these thoughts into the universe. I will catch up on everyone's life when I get back on Sunday, I swears. Good times. Hope you all have an amazing Fourth.

Well, guys, this is it. I'm leaving tomorrow morning. The airport shuttle is picking me up at 7:05 in the morning. At my apartment. It is now 11:45 at night and I'm spending the night at Josh's. This is probably not the best plan.

I am excited. It will be good to be amongst the mountains again. And my mommy and doggies and I love my summer Utah trip, it always makes me happy.

I will be trying to get away from all internets while I'm gone. This will be a challenge, but I feel it is necessary to get away for a while. I will be commentless for a while, but I will make it up to you all when I get back, I swear.

I also wanted to say it's interesting how everyone is so predictably singing the praises of Michael Jackson now that he's gone, me included. I know it's a bandwagon and I know it's really sad that we all act like this now instead of when he was alive. I don't think it's bad, though. I think that everyone who is reacting with making icons or talking about him on ONTD or downloading songs on iTunes...they all had him effect their life in some way at some point in their lives, and now we're just all trying to deal with it. I like the outpouring of sadness. It feels like a community; a common reaction to a shitty situation. Urm, anyway. /soapbox

Iris, Josh's Boston Terrier, is staring at me. She's making me nervous.

Also, wtf Billy Mays.

I also wrote a little something tonight. This came to me yesterday because I had a shitty experience at Sonic. So for some reason I came up with an idea about Sara and Grissom comforting each other when they have shitty experiences. So this is a fluffy GSR one shot that I wrote for funsies. Yay.

Title: Welcome Home
Author: Butliz
Spoilers: None.
Summary: After a long, hard day, Sara looks forward to coming home to the one thing she can always count on--Gil Grissom.

( Welcome home... )

Just adding my WTF, Michael Jackson DIED?! contribution to the pile. It's just so sad and sudden and my childhood is very, very sad. My very first concert was Michael Jackson, I think I was 8 years old. The concert was at Reunion Arena, which incidentally is in the process of being torn down. It sucks to get old and see things from your childhood disappear. I want my youth back! Anyway. *sniff* He was talented and troubled and it's the end of an era, and I am very sad.

This did however culminate in me and my mom and my brother talking together via threeway. That was new and different and pretty much awesome.

In other news, we made a startling revelation at work today - apparently they have decided to block Livejournal on our computers. This is very new. We have never had any websites blocked, ever. We do spend a lot of time on the internet and at least SOME of it is doing research, but yeah...honestly I did spend a lot of work time on LJ. It never kept me from being productive, but I suppose I could always be just a little more productive. Still, it is a sad day. It's probably only a matter of time before Twitter and Facebook leave us, too. Then I will really cry.

Co-worker BFF and I went to see the Proposal after work today. It was a satisfying romantic comedy. I don't know what Sandra Bullock is doing to herself, but she looks so damn good for 44 years old. I love her hair, too. It makes me want to get highlights again. Also Betty White is amazing and I wish she was my grandmother.

After movie time, I went to Half Price Books to buy some stuff for the plane and for my downtime in Utah. When I was checking out, I realized that every single book I was buying was something I'd already read. I like to reread things, it's kind of a problem. But some books were from my childhood, some were books that got lost in the shuffle...I can't wait to read them all again. A small list:
- Different Seasons, Stephen King
- Master of Murder, Christopher Pike
- Forrest Gump, Winston Groom
- Wait Till Helen Comes, Mary Downing Hawn (major staple of my younghood)
- Kristy's Big Day, the Baby-Sitters Club #6, Ann M. Martin (yes, really)
- Sixth Grade Secrets, Louis Sacher
Score!

I also bought Use Your Illusion 1. Did I need it? Have I not bought like 10 copies over the course of my lifetime? I can't explain it. Don't make me.

I would like to note that other than this sad announcement today, I've been having a good week. Maybe it's because I haven't done any overtime, maybe it's because Josh and I have just decided to get along, maybe it's because next week I will be in pleasant Utah, but it's just a lot better than last week. I like it.

Well, I have a lot of friends listing to catch up on. Damn you, work! Stop trying to make me more productive!

Rawr, 2 people have un-friended me in the past couple of days. I now get an email when this happens, and it's like "OMG WHY?!" And I don't want to be one of those people who can't take a defriending. But I will, in fact, complain about it here.

Also, it is the summer. In Texas. It is hot. On Thursday it's supposed to be 105. I am glad to be getting out of here for a while, even just for a week. Even if it is somewhat warm in Utah, I mean, it's still the summer, but the nights are cool and lovely and I want to be there right now. Also, I support air conditioning, it's really the greatest invention ever aside from pizza and the DVD player, but my office takes it to another level. I have to wear my hoodie every day because it's like the frozen tundra in here. Ridiculous.

Looking back on old Diaryland entries, I am reminded that around this time is my 5 year CSI anniversary, if you will. I started watching because I was hearing about it all the time and it was the most popular show ever and I was intrigued, so I rented the first three seasons and watched them all in 3 weeks. Only the first 3 seasons were out, the fourth one wasn't so I hadn't seen it at all. *sigh* I can barely remember what life was like before I saw Butterflied for the first time.

What first got me hooked was Grissom. I wasn't really familiar with William Petersen before that, I did know of him a little because I used to be all emotionally involved with Young Guns II back in my CHRISTIAN SLATER IS MY HUSBAND days. But I found him to be interesting and odd and not to mention very attractive in a different kind of way, and I harbored a major crush on the man for a month or two.

The reason why I liked the show so much changed after I watched Scuba Doobie Doo. My GSR friends know what I'm talking about, and if you don't, all I have to say is "Chalk." I have never been so compeltely fascinated/emotionally involved with a relationship on TV than I have been with Grissom and Sara. There's something about it, I don't know. It's like...Sara is the hardcore workaholic who takes no shit, and yet she wears her heart on her sleeve and isn't even ashamed of that. It's the first show and the first 'ship that has ever made me want to be involved in a fandom and connect with people who feel the same way, and to actually take the extra step and write fanfic. And oh, I've written me some fanfic. Since then I've written for a few other shows--Friends, Sex and the City, My So-Called Life, House, and even one for the Baby-Sitters Club--but by far the most stuff I've written is GSR and CSI. I don't know if I'll ever be in a fandom where I'll be so inspired to write.

Speaking of which, I wanted to share the first story I wrote almost exactly 5 years ago. It's not good. In fact, it sucks. The first half is okay but the end is amazingly out of character for everyone involved. But at least it got me into fandom and I enjoy being involved, so yay for that. It's called "Do Something" and I'm very sorry for what I am about to put out into the LJ universe.

( Do Something! )

I just finished watching Miss Congeniality. I watched BOTH commentaries, too. I now know all there is to know about that particular movie. I also have a bit of a girl crush on Sandra Bullock. OMG. She's 44 and gorgeous and I love her. Thank you.

My weekend was A-OK. Not the best. Not the worst. Had a fight with Josh. Made up with Josh. Felt bad because he was sick, and then he had some family-related bad news not once but twice, and I couldn't do anything, not even be there, to help him through it. What kinda killed me was I offered to come over tonight after the races with my dad, and he said it was cool, his BFF was going to come over instead. Fine, okay...but it just kills me that I don't possess the gene that makes people feel better about the shittiness of their lives. My mom has that. My friends have that. I do not have it. I can't make my boyfriend happy, or make him feel better about his life, and this really continues to suck. I wish I was a better nurturer. *sigh*

I also went to the farm, which was lovely. Dogs and horses and such. I had some good horse bonding time, which you will see when I commence the usual farm pic spam. Hope y'all aren't tired of dog and sunset and horse pics yet, 'cause I'm not tired of taking them. For Father's Day, my dad and I bonded at the races. I did better than I have so far this year, but still ended up sucking at life. I still walked away with more than I came with, which was nothing, so yay for that.

Right now I will share pictures, then I will finish my laundry and go to sleep. I've been having major sleep issues lately so hopefully tonight will repair this problem. Oh, and one week from tomorrow I'll be in Utah. THANK GOD.

Pic time.


This is Alf. He is pretty much the prettiest, happiest, friendliest, cuddliest dog that ever lived. He sleeps in my dad's room on the bottom floor, but in the morning he always comes to the second floor to my room to wake me up and say hello. I love this. My Charlie used to this, too. I miss my Charlie.

( Shitload o' pics )

Stolen from jungle_mag.


A meme in which you break it down old school style and use a pen and paper.
1. Write your username.
2. Write your 2 favorite bands/groups of the moment.
3. Write something you ♥, aka lemme see your heart.
4. Write the name of your favorite person of all time.
5. Write the name of your recent favored person.
6. Tag 6 people to do this meme.



My sixth grade teacher told me that they were going to fail me in junior high because my handwriting sucked so bad. Whatever, Ms. Alexander! WRONG.

Bonus points if you know what movie I'm working on.

Other assorted things:
- TGIF, FOR REAL! I'm going to sleep forever tonight.
- Woke up at 5:41 this morning, got to work at 6:20. At least I will have 22 hours of OT on my check.
- Watched an E! show about Jennifer Aniston last night. I really hope she finds the love she deserves someday. Soon!
- My co-worker let me borrow her Miss Congenality DVD. It has commentary by Sandra Bullock!
- I want to go home.
- Have a nice Friday, friends.

Urgh, you guys, I am just full of complaints today. I even wrote a whole long-winded entry about it but decided to keep that one to myself. Basically I'm feeling overworked, underappreciated, my self-esteem is shit, and pretty much I bring these things all on myself. I need to do somethign to change these things. And yet I don't.

I'm doing a lot of overtime this week, early overtime, for vacation money. Lots of overtime apparently makes me cranky. I mean, it IS working more and having less free time. I haven't been to the gym in a week. Basically I'm a mess. But next week I'm taking it easy and the week after is vacation time, so I think I will survive. I just need to take a deep breath, stop worrying so much and move on with my life. If I am capable of doing that, that is.

Miss Congenality Two is the longest movie ever and is a bitch to caption. Just so we all know.

I'll make myself write a happier entry at some point. Just to make this not so bitchy:
If there is one person or more on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

So I'm having one of those pity days...I feel like shit 'cause it's the first day of my girly days, and I couldn't muster enough effort to leave my apartment and go work out like I knew I should. I did go to the mall though! It sucked.

So I decided not to press my luck and now I'm watching The Thing Called Love. It's funny how one movie can take you back, all the way back to 1993. Me and my BFF at the time saw this movie together and we were both harboring major teenage girl crushes on River Phoenix. He looks so hot in this movie. He also sings in it, and before I even started watching it, I remembered one line of one of the songs he sings, "I've been tossed on icy seas..." Yeah. I was so devastated when that boy died. *sigh*

I did do something productive today...I called my mom's 75 year old aunt. The novel I want to write is based on my grandmother's life, and since I was stupid and didn't sit down with her before she died, I have to depend on other people's knowledge of her. My mom's aunt was interesting to talk to. She couldn't remember a lot offhand, but said she'd sit down this week and write some stuff down, and then I'll call her next week and we'll talk more. This is a good first step in writing this novel, so I'm happy about that.

Josh and I had a nice day and I was a little sad to leave his house today. I miss his cuddles and his doggy cuddles. If we do ever break up, I'm gonna have to get me my own Boston Terriers. They are the best.

Here's a few pictures I took on Thursday night, day of Rain Apocalypse. Usually the sky isn't this...yellow at 8:30 at night.



( More )

Well, the rain has passed us by and now I'm at home. I'm going to work out later. The fun never ends. Here's a meme!

Total Length
» 2070 songs, 6 days, 9.64 GB

First and Last Songs (by title)
» #1 Crush - Garbage
» Zombie - The Cranberries

( I heart iTunes )

So now it's our turn for storms, and damn...these storms aren't fuckin' around. There are big storms every summer with tornados and the like, but this rain is freaking me out. The loudest thunder I've ever heard and the lightning always seems like it's thisclose to hitting you. The power is out at Josh's, the power is out at work...the elevators didn't work and I had to use my phone as a flashlight in the bathroom. Fortunately and unfortunately we have back-up generators at work...people need their captions, apparently. So here I am, typing in the dark, and the only other co-worker here is Bummer. I have no food that's not microwavable. I left my boyfriend at his house alone with no power. I also backed into something this morning and broke my taillight.

It's going to be a long day.

Edit: well, at least the power is back on at work. I still can't get past the point of feeling guilty about leaving Josh at home by himself with no power. Ahhh, issues.

I am so way behind on comments. I will spend some time this evening getting to all of them. If you get one from 2 weeks ago, don't be surprised.

So Josh is infatuated with the show Whale Wars, and now I am too, but probably not for the same reason. It's because I finally figured out that's what Sara was doing in Leave Out All The Rest. She was fighting the whalers! She really WAS a pirate (thanks to velocityofsound for bringing that to my attention when it first aired!)! I wish I could say it was giving me some sort of fic idea, but not so much. *sigh* I miss the CSI fandom of 2 years ago. That was good times.

We also watched the PBS show Carrier, which is about the Navy and the 5,000 people on the USS Nimitz when it was out on deployment in 2005. I was completely fascinated by the whole thing, all 10 hours of it. It's so interesting to see how people deal with being out at sea for 6 months, being cut off from family and everything else they hold dear to them.

When I was a senior in high school, some kind of recruiter found me somewhere and asked about joining the army. I took an aptitude test and scored pretty high, and I could have gone further. I needed some discipline at that point. I was in between boyfriends, I had nothing much going on, my grades were shit and it was a viable option. But then I let the idea go and nothing ever came of it. I should have stuck with it, it definitely would have changed my life and made it completely different, which doesn't seem so bad to me right now. I know it's not fun and games and it would have been a huge challenge, but...that's what my life needs. Challenges.

One other decision I've always regretted was not going to the College of Santa Fe. I was accepted there but I didn't go because of the whole stupid boyfriend thing. I should have gone. New Mexico is kind of awesome, I would have gotten away from my family for a while and that school is way artsy and cool.

But whatevs. We all have regrets, we learn from them, and then maybe in the next life we can do what were meant to do in this one. Or something.

I am apparently in a mood. Also I'm at work and should go back to the shitty Jonas Brothers song I was captioning. That is a phenomenon I do not understand. Someone else I don't get? Kristen Stewart. Someone explain to me her appeal, and if you can, throw in her nineties equivalent. Is she like...the Winona Ryder of the nineties? Explain this to me in a language I can understand.
Also, the Nineties nostalgia post on ONTD makes me feel oldddd. Ah, the nineties. It was a simpler time. And awesome time. A nineties time.

I will work now.

Whoa, being on the first page of an SF_Drama friending meme sure does pay off. Welcome, new friends. Just to let you know, I am a world class SF_Drama lurker but I've been a member for over a year and enjoy all the drama that occurs on a daily basis.

Here are things to know:
- My twitter...

- I am 29. I will be 30 in October. I know it's dumb and pointless but I am, in fact, freaking out about it.

- I live in Dallas, Texas. This is pretty much permanent, but I do want to live somewhere with mountains eventually.

- I have a boyfriend. We've been together since December 2005. We don't live together. It's a long story. But I do love him, I love his dogs, he takes very good care of me when I need him to and makes the world's best guacamole.

- I like my job, which is in closed captioning. I can't do this job forever because it pays shittily and there's not much growth potential. But I love my co-workers and the job itself it fun because it allows me to get emotionally involved in every TV show and movie ever made.

- I am in a losing battle with my weight, like most humans in the world.

- I have had a major obsession/infatuation/whatever with Axl Rose since I was 12 years old. I saw GN'R live in 2001 in Vegas, which was very fulfilling but not fulfilling enough. I also thought Chinese Democracy was effin brilliant, but that's just me.

- I love dogs a lot. I don't have one myself because I like in a teeny tiny apartment, but everyone I know has one and I love them like my own.

- My mom lives in Utah. I miss her all the time and like to visit even if Mormons confuse me. I also love Las Vegas but go there less often these days because it always gets me in trouble.

- I like to play Clue. And Monopoly. And write CSI fanfic. And drink Dr. Pepper and eat fritos. Most of my shoes are Doc Martens. My favorite movie currently is Zack and Miri Make a Porno. I love thunderstorms and my car and Austin. And burritos.

Welcome to my f-list. If you hate me, I'll understand. And: rock on.

Just because I am fascinated by the passage of time lately...

Duration calculation results

From and including: Friday, October 12, 1979
To, but not including : Tuesday, May 26, 2009

It is 10,819 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date

Or 29 years, 7 months, 14 days excluding the end date
Alternative time units
10,819 days can be converted to one of these units:

* 934,761,600 seconds
* 15,579,360 minutes
* 259,656 hours
* 1545 weeks (rounded down)

Courtesy of Time and date.

Earlier, I woke up from a delicious nap and I couldn't find my phone. Anywhere. So I emailed my brother to call me and turns out, it was in a pillow case! How does that even happen?!! Life is a mystery, my friends. Such a mystery.

( TMI, pics of horses and dogs and storms! )

1. Go to IMDB.com and look up 25 of your favorite movies.
2. Post four official IMDB "Plot Keywords" for each.
3. Have your friends guess the movies! No Googling!
4. Caution: High count of romantic comedies. (I added that one myself)

1. Sleeping Woman/Sex Comedy/Friends Living Together/Vulgarity
2. Brassy Woman/Childhood Friend/Adultery/Melodrama
3. Internet/Hidden Identity/Elevator Malfunction/Dog - You've Got Mail
4. Betrayal/First Job/Fashion Industry/Vanity - The Devil Wears Prada
5. 1940s/Corruption/Solitary confinement/hollowed out book - Shawshank Redemption
6. Makeover/Peer Pressure/Marijuana/Locker - Breakfast Club
7. Football player/Sign language/Greed/Mexican restaurant
8. Cup of coffee/Plot twist/Syringe/Dance contest - Pulp Fiction
9. Suicide/Sibling Rivalry/Domestic Quadrangle/Heart in Hand
10. Demolition/Meaning of Life/Dolphin/Diner - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
11. Grocery Store/Yoga Instructor/Cigarette smoking/Baltimore, Maryland
12. Senior Citizen/Play/Heart Attack/Midnight Snack - Something's Gotta Give
13. Cottage/Film Composer/England/Pub - The Holiday
14. New York City/Stray dog/Laundry/Song
15. Soiling pants/limousine/Body Waxing/Library
16. Adoption/Reference to Diana Ross/Folk Song/Pipe
17. Mafia/Blowjob/Stabbed with pencil/overdose
18. Wedding/Funeral/Secret Admirer/Alarm Clock Four Weddings and a Funeral
19. 18th Century/Plantation/Plague/Vampire Driving Car - Interview with the Vampire
20. Second Part/Heavy Metal/Sequel/Independent Film
21. Terrorist/Rocket Launcher/Loose Cannon/Race against Time
22. Empire State Building/Seattle/Bittersweet/Destiny Sleepless in Seattle
23. Downsizing/Answering Machine/Corporate/Wheelchair - Office Space
24. Matchmaker/Stepbrother/Tennis/Jeep - Clueless
25. Blindness/Stabbing/New England/Park Ranger - The Village

OMG, I wrote a chapter of a fic I hadn't updated since September! I did something productive, yay! I will just drop it off here for future reference. It's a Lady Heather fic. I know, right? But it's GSR and there's drama and awesomeness and see for yourself, if you get your jollies that way.

Title: Delicious Fury - Chapter Eight
Author: Butliz
Rating: Teen
Spoilers: Up to 7x23, TGTBTD.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Lady Heather's husband is missing. As the CSIs work on his case, Heather will inflict chaos the way only she can. Heather's constant presence makes life hard for Sara and Grissom, and the rest of the team finds it a challenge to deal with all the secrets that are inevitably revealed.

( There was only something to do... )

Hi, friends. I did an ADIML yesterday for funsies. I thought I would share it with you. Yay.

( I never could get the hang of Thursdays... )

So I haven't updated recently, as my mommy has been here and we've been doing stuff. She's leaving tomorrow. Sadface. It's been nice. It was somewhat better than last year, when it was the first time she's stayed with me in my tiny apartment and it was a little cramped up in there.

( Here are things that happened... )