never fully-clothed or intentionally misinforming

I'm sitting in Crispers on my brand spanking new laptop, surfing the web and listening to some of the employees chat while they're on their break. Four girls, two guys. It's almost closing time and it's dead in here. They've already mopped the floors behind the counter even.  They've gone from talking about terrible customers, to what they're all bringing to their apparent company holiday party, to the white foamy stuff that builds up in the corners of their mouths when they sleep with their mouths open. It's kind of cute how smoothly their conversations transition. You can tell they're not just co-workers, but friends too. It's making me smile. Actually, it's making me smile for a number of reasons. This is my first opportunity ever to people watch and blog at the same time. I'm entralled.  Alas, I have to go to the market and pick up some things for my party before I go home tonight. Le sigh. It's time to go. I love this baby alread

I'm so burnt out on parties. Isn't that warped of me to say? I am sick of planning them. It's New Year's Eve tomorrow and, this is going to come out wrong, but I'd cancel all my plans with friends to curl up on the couch with J.M. and watch Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin on TV if I wouldn't look like a total bitch for it. It's just that last weekend I got a brutal taste of what it feels like to go unappreciated and that thoroughly burns me. But I'm moving on from that as best I can. I just don't feel like working for this fiesta at the ONF House. I don't want to put in any effort. But as shitty as this is going to make many of my friends sound, I can't count on them to provide the things any party would need -- like food. Every time we get together I request that people bring things. No one ever does. Every time we get together the party's at Angela's apartment and her food gets eaten, her drinks are had. And I'm the only one w

I always set resolutions for the new year, but rarely ever follow through with them. This year is going to be different. I'm spearheading the 365 Photo Project in my circle (or perhaps polygon) of friends. Some of my friends and I will be participating -- taking one photograph every day for the entire year and publicly posting it on 365photographyproject.blogspot.com (a blog I set up). If it goes the way my mind's eye perceives it going, we'll all be able to teach each other a thing or two about photography. And even better than that -- at the end of year, we'll be able to look back at all 365 of our photos and see how our photography skills and eye for the visually pleasing have transitioned from the start of the year to the end. It's going to be a very difficult, but very rewarding experience. Please check the blog for updates. And PLEASE, if you're interested in participating, let me know. I'll add you to the authors list. Another resolution I'm set

The year is over in less than 48 hours. This blows my mind because I clearly remember the hay ride, the bonfire, and the kiss from last year's New Year's party. I'm asking myself how it's possible that an entire year has gone by. And myself has no answer. Fiddle sticks. Let's think back... We started the year off by having the party at the ONF house, like we usually do. Big bonfire. Fun hay ride under the stars. It was perfect weather for ringing in the new year. New Year's Eve. Later in January my birthday happened, but I don't remember what I did, so apparently it wasn't anything cool. WAIT! I do remember. And it was cool. I went bowling. Right? I went to Golden Corral for dinner and went bowling with my friends. Detra was still pregnant so I know it had to be this year. Birthday Bonanza! In February I joined a program called Interpals and started meeting pen pals from all over the world. All of which I still keep in touch with, although not as regula

Straight from Timothy McSweeney's interesting blog. What Could Have Been. BY COLIN PERKINS - - - - The Life My Mother Planned for Me A+ NYU Ph.D. HMO IRA The Life I Planned for Me NFL L.A. ESPN MVP VIP Double D USA! USA! USA! The Life I'm Living ADD GED DUI IHOP SOB WTF

Christmas generates a collective spirit; enlightening people to the understanding they should express their love and compassion toward one another. Christmas Spirit, the fantastically contagious holiday epidemic, causes uncontrollable happiness, compassion, and warmth generated from within. It also causes love to spew from the lips of friends and family members at delightful rates – rates which we do not see any other time of year. Christmas Spirit awakens the heart. I didn’t have the money to do much in the way of gifts this year, but I did have the creativity to make some things for the people I will be seeing. I don’t believe Christmas has anything to do with spending lots of money. What I aimed for this year was giving people things I made myself – it’s going to be a sort of one-of-a-kind artwork Christmas. I had been struggling to taste any semblance of Christmas Spirit on my tongue and in my heart this year, but after heading to the beach in nice 80 degree weather for the we

Ever since I was too young to remember, my family has had one significantly exciting tradition. We're not too big into over-the-top traditions, but we do things like family dinners and family game night, the occasional backyard barbecue, a New Year's party, whathaveyou. But when Christmas time comes, the family favorite tradition gets refreshed, hidden in plain sight, and then hunted for. Each Christmas every member of my family (including Kelly) goes on a treasure hunt for one of their gifts. It's a fun and free way to take the emphasis off tearing open unnecessary paper, and gleefully go through present after present of items we might not ever use. So we treasure hunt. We treasure hunt for the gift we wanted, nay, longed for the most. And, aside from being with family and feeling warmth and happiness seep from every body, it's honestly become the part of Christmas I look forward to most. (yes, it trumps fresh-baked Christmas cookies.) But I've been feeling like st

Yesterday I was given the charitable task of finding a new home for an old overhead projector that still works. My obvious first guess was a school and since I have personal ties to North Marion High, I called there first. The woman who answered sounded more like a child and she put me through to the librarian, Pat Conlon. Mrs. Conlon's assistant patched me through to her after asking my name. Then Mrs. Conlon picked up the phone and said this: "Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! Is this really Alison Scott? The Alison Scott of Alison and Susan Scott from Future Educators?" We proceeded to have a nice discussion about how our lives were going, how Susan was, how the school was, and whatnot. Then she suggested I try some other schools in the area because she already had three spare projectors. Luckily I found the AI-1000 a home at Anthony Elementary with the librarian there, named Mrs. McRae. McRae being the last name of a middle school friend of mine. I'm taking

The submissions on PostSecret are quite relatable tonight. This one, so much so that I deemed it my PC desktop. Life is tricky. The world never offers an easy solution. Altruism is hard to capture these days. And even the light of the firefly is unreliable. But like the light of the firefly, just when you start to believe hope is lost, the mason jar world is illuminated again. --A.Scott

Tonight I find myself with a list of names, 61 cards to make, and no motivation. Where is my Christmas spirit? Maybe if I sat in the room with the Christmas tree and music playing... I might try that tomorrow night when nothing else has piqued my interest. I have friends (hence the 61 cards). Thank God. And like all the people in the world at one point or another, some of my friends have fallen into rough patches. Rough patches, I say that include anything from relationship crap, health issues, car trouble, accidentally throwing something into a dumpster that you shouldn't have, financial problems, school trouble, losing a job, lackluster lifestyles... whathaveyou. I always want to be available to listen, but sometimes it's difficult for me to simply be a human diary for a friend. This stems from my unexplainable passion for finding solutions. Perfect example: Susan called the house tonight and, with a very snarky laugh, said "I threw the cupholder for my car into the dump

I like comics like this one. It's not that far from realistic. These days, technology's growth rate is far quicker than I can certainly keep up with.

Florida Republican Rep. Ros-Lehtinen hangs up on Obama. Twice.

While on the phone with a friend the other day, I randomly recalled a recurring dream I had as a child. My family and I were evacuating (a place I understood to be, but looked nothing like) home. But we had to drive through flooded plains and strange, desolate, almost war-torn environments. It was like the National Forest had been burned and then flooded. There were ravenous starving animals lurking, stalking the car. All kinds of animals -- things like cougars, alligators, bears. They had no shelter, so they were all out, exposed on the plains. We were driving a station wagon (?). A very low one. Each time we ran out of dry ground, my parents had to decide if the wagon would make it through the giant puddles of flood water of if they were too deep to drive the car through. At which point, we'd have to find another route. We had a bunch of our stuff piled on the roof of our station wagon (?). At one point, a piece of luggage tumbles off the roof and gets mauled and devoured by alli

I never have seven people to tag for these things, but I do them regardless. Laura tagged me. (http://iamarefinedyounglady.blogspot.com/) Here're the rules! * Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog. * Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself -- make sure they're ones you didn't share last time. * Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. * Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on his or her blog. I'm not particularly good at keeping secrets about myself, but some of my qualities do go unobserved by most people. Here're mine. 1. This first one is one I've been slowly leaking out people. I read OneSentence.org. Actually, when I say I read it, what I mean is I've read it in it's entirely. I can't even remember how I discovered it, but I'm glad I did. I read every sentence from the newest to the oldest archives and now I tune in every couple of

This is my default picture on Myspace currently. And it's getting some mixed reviews; although most people find it sharp and powerful. One of my good writing friends *(Jessica) left a comment regarding how she never pegged me for a guns type of person. I can see how that would be the common perception, what with my typical 'peace, love and compassion' persona. However, things are never that cut and dry, especially when it comes to me ... you know this. I'm not claiming to be a pro-gun person, or an NRA freak. But -- surprise, surprise -- I do have an opinion. I view guns control the same way I view sex ed. That's right, I said it. Just because the "adults" ignore a topic -- an elephant in the room, even -- doesn't mean it's not blaring it's trumpet nose right into your ears, singing 'try me, try me.' So, in case you're wondering, no I don't believe in teaching abstinence. Just like they portray the angel and devil on the carto

I have had writer's block lately.

Well, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything's okay and everything's going right. 1. I created a budget yesterday. It was kind of eye opening. I'm not saying I won't be able to afford to move, but I am definitely saying I'm going to be much more strapped for cash than I've ever been. I guess that comes with moving out, eh? It's good though. Because Angela's current lease is binding, we cannot move until the end of March/beginning of April, so I've got four months to continue saving my pennies. And that starts yesterday. I'm actually sticking to my recently instilled rule of only eating lunch out once a week (which literally saves me a minimum of $40 a week!). Socially, this is the biggest change for me, but also the best money saver and it must be done. I'm also getting serious about selling my photography. I know I've said this before, but it has become a necessity at this point. My parents have a great out

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you're finding yourselves surrounded by those you love this year. And whether you're dining on the typical Turkey Day trimmings or feasting in a more unconventional way, I hope you're remembering all the reasons you have to be thankful. I, for one, am thankful for an uncountable number of things this year. As I sit around with my family thinking about all we've been through (not just my family, but our country -- our world), I am reminded of all the great and positive blessings we have received. We are alive. We are together. And if you're reading this, you're doing well enough that you still have your computer and apparently electricity. We can still laugh, even if times are tough and our health isn't the best. We can still hug. We can still see one another. We have much to be thankful for. I'm thankful to have family and friends who support my dreams and aspirations to become so much more than I am today. I'm th

Went and saw my future house yesterday with Angela, her mom, my mom, and my sister. It was, to say the least, a quick run through. But I was able to get the idea. I'd like for Angela to have a key soon so we can go by just the two of us and figure things out. If you ask me, the house needs a decent bit of work, but it's nothing she and I can't handle. It's an old place, we can't really expect it to be tip-top shape, you know. But the price is right, the yard is big, and there's a dog kennel. How can I say no? I'm going to have to turn Olive into an indoor cat. He's going to hate that, but the house is so close to 441. And I hate to bring it up, but I already had a dog hit by a car on that road, I'm not having that happen again. My entire life, my biggest fear in having pets is that I'll see them get hit. I've lived it once, and I'm not keen on the risk that that could happen again. So Olive, this is me telling you, brace yourself and suck

Because the fest can't be described in words. It's too awesome, like how jesus freaks say your head would explode if you heard god's voice or something. There's too much rad going on to contain into simple words. The fest is like the Bermuda triangle or something. It's the most awesome place on earth that only exists for three days when the gods of rock will it so. And then it disappears, lying dormant, until the planets align once again....

I sat across the dinner table from my grandma tonight and I saw her face turn sad. I broke the news of my eventual move to her. When I saw the look in her eyes, it became apparent that despite what she says, I am the only reason she feels safe out here anymore. She lives in a house that's property is adjacent to mine. I visit her at least once or twice a week, and we talk on the phone almost daily. She's my grandmother and I'm the only person out here to help her if she needs it. I am certain she knew the day would come that I would move, but I don't know if she thought she'd see it. With my parents traveling more now than ever, I don't know what to think about how she'll fair out here on her own. In all honesty, if I were her age, I can't say I'd be comfortable with it. I'm actually scared. When I put myself in her shoes, I grow worried. Who will help me if my car won't start? Who will make sure I'm safe and sound? Who will I visit with?

I'm beginning to think when I don't do Habitat for Humanity, it negatively affects my life that day and occasionally, the days to follow. I'm sitting at home on a Sunday morning and I'm overanalyzing the fact that I didn't help build Angelica's home yesterday. It was too cold. I had other things to do. I didn't feel well. I could come up with a myriad of excuses, but the fact still remains -- I did not go. Every time I don't, something bad happens. Karmatic retribution? I don't know. But I think I've been doing things for all the wrong reasons. I think I care too much about what other people will think or do. I think I've lost part of myself in waiting and working for other people's intentions and goals. Habitat is not that. Habitat is me building homes for friends. I Love building. I love it. It's powerful, educational, inspiring, and uplifting. I do build homes to help others, but the pay off is positive and addictive. But I can'

I read a list of the top 30 television shows that would be raised from the dead if it were up to the viewers. Freaks and Geeks caught my attention. The name sounded so familiar, but based on the synopsis on IMDB I couldn't remember tuning in to a show like this my ninth grate year of school. I just couldn't recall. And that kind of upset me; from what I'd read, F&G was a realistic version of high school, but funnier because it's not happening to you. So I did a little searching online and low and behold, a user on YouTube has uploaded all 18 glorious episodes into segments never longer than 9:20. Each episode is five sections and they flow so beautifully together. The dynamic is brilliant, characters well identified and cast, the scenarios true to life, and the comedy classic. I've watched all but the last five episodes. And like the majority of viewers, I can't wrap my mind around why this Judd Apatow gem was canceled after one season.

It's a search engine and now it's working on raising one million dollars for animals in need by the end of 2009. The more you search, the more they raise. Wouldn't it be awesome if you helped? I'm spreading the word. I'm switching my search engine to Dogpile for the rest of the month to start doing my part.

Aww, I'm such a softee. (and a sucker for a smart boy)

Hilarious. Read it .

She was asleep in her car seat when they got to the park last week, looking as precious as ever. Detra whispered her name and she peeked her eyes open, looked around, and closed them back. Then she smiled, opened her eyes again, stretched out her arm and waved her tiny hand right at me. After three weeks of not seeing my face or hearing my voice, Nhyya still remembers me. Something I feared she would not. I cried. When she waved at me, I actually cried. I cried because I missed her and I cried because Nhyya knows me. She knows my voice. She knows my face. She knows me. Nhyya is the first child I've watched grow from day one (well, day four). She's the daughter of one of my best friends and she calls me (well, Detra calls me) "Aunt Ali." She's this beautiful girl who's already so incredibly smart and full of life. Every time I see her, my heart melts a little more as I notice all the growing she's accomplished. Each time we meet she's smarter and funnie

Her name is Capucine. She's a young French girl who's mom has been streaming videos of her growing up. She's charming and stole my heart about two seconds into the first video I ever saw of her. My all time favorite is this latest one: "once upon a time..." Watch it, I promise you'll wish you could take her home and listen to her speak french in her cute little imaginative voice all day. She's guaranteed to brighten your day. Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo .

Although I didn't exactly dress up, and I was significantly late, I did show up for Habitat for Humanity on Saturday and it completely reinforced the reason I go to begin with. For the past few weekends (one weekend rendezvous, one FEST with all my BEST friends, and one chronic ailment (gnarly ass FestAIDS)), I hadn't been to Habitat and it was starting to plague me. Riddled with guilt, emptiness, and lack of value, in the past three weeks I'd forgotten what it felt like to actively change someone's life right before their very own eyes. The great part about showing up on Saturday was seeing everyone for the first time in almost a month. Honestly, the people I work with at Habi have started to become a family. I've learned a lot from them -- especially girls like Angie (Angelica) and Feme. Something about knowing a girl two years my junior who is successfully raising a family of four, giving back to her community on a weekly basis, and loving every moment of life gi

Free to a Good Home Data: 2005-08-29, 10:33AM EDT So I have this cat. Actually it’s my girlfriend’s cat. Actually we have two, a small grey tabby named T**** that is a blast to have around, and the “other one”. It’s corpulent, bright orange and has medium length hair, so of course to me it’s name has only ever been Fat Bastard. (I’m not kidding, this cat is obese enough that it’s gut leaves it’s own trail in the middle of it’s footprints after I vacuum the carpet, uniformly triangulating the food dish, the litter box, and the hammock it has steamrollered for itself in my underwear hamper.) Fat Bastard has a problem. Its very existence revolves solely around consuming anything organic. I mean anything. We can’t have real plants anymore, not even cactus. (My girlfriend didn’t laugh when I, tired of the green vomit, suggested Poinsettias) We have all of the food stored in cupboards that have child locks on them. Opening the fridge involves holding a broom. (I’d love to teach the fuc

I found another inspiring website, but I'm not sharing it's name yet. The downside to these websites -- they allow me to think more. And I wonder about some of the same things the contributors wonder about. Not that all of these ignited my wonderment, but here are some that caught my attention more than others. When I was 5 or so my mom would tell me to lie down before she tied my tie and I just now realized at the age of 19 that she did this because she's a funeral director. "I'm having too much fun with Rock Band to see you," he implied when he didn't reply to her e-mail. The elephant that lived in my parent's living room has moved to my house. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't think of a tactful way to say, "Hey, your glass eye is crooked." "Leave the pizza on the futon and I'll eat it for breakfast" would be the most collegiate sentence ever uttered, if only I had worked in the word "toga." As I got ready fo

For 26 years my dad has worked in the far reaches of this world in attempts to cut down on the medical bills stacked up from seeking the best care for my sister -- the care she rightly deserves. For 26 years they've taken Susan to specialist after specialist at any cost, because the life of their daughter (of my sister) holds no tangible value. For 26 years, my dad has spent night after night sleeping in hotels, traveling for work, breaking his back to support our family, to attempt to dig us out of mountains of medical debt. Susan wouldn't be alive today if my parents didn't bring her to Shands for the best pediatric nephrology care around when she was an infant. And sure, we have insurance, but only thanks to my dad spending my entire life (and my siblings lives) working away from his family. And the deductibles alone for things like Susan's specialists are unfathomable. He was living in Michigan by himself, working to pay for Susan's health care when he suffered

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed . That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed . But when a long train of abuses an

Something very awesome. Crystal filmed this. I believe about half way through, those are my legs crowdsurfing. If it's not me, that chick has the same damn shoes. =P 10-31-08 Less Than Jake

Okay, okay. We went. Again. And I probably didn't tell you, and I'll probably catch a lot of heat for that, but that's okay. The first time you get to take a semi-secret rendezvous, you'll understand why I did it. Not to say thinking of my friends when I travel is a burden, but thinking of them when I've got less than two days to muscle in the entire northern half of the Las Vegas strip, a fancy french dinner, a musical, the Bellagio's famous conservatory, a 4 AM trip to down town, the forum shops, a stroll through Mandalay's shark reef, and more black jack than I can handle is. I just wanted a weekend with no phone calls. No distractions. And, with very few exceptions that I chose to make, that is exactly what I got. And I have the blisters on my feet to prove all the pavement I pounded in 43 hours. The trip was full of experiences, both good and bad. At first I thought it sucked that we were going to Las Vegas. With the exception of New Hampshire (which s

Here are a couple pictures from the Obama rally last week in Gainesville: Susan and Angela observing some of the crowd. The three of us in front of the podium, in front of the Hippodrome after Michelle Obama finished her speech. Michelle Obama visiting supporters.