never fully-clothed or intentionally misinforming

I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity last Saturday morning, building new homes in a rundown section of West Historic Ocala. Blind. That's how I went into the adventure. I had emailed DeAnna Hartley to ask if there were still projects in need of volunteers. She was eager to hear from a new volunteer and encouraged me to come at my own discretion. The following Saturday, I was one of the very first volunteers on the scene and aside from being slightly tired, I was pumped and enthused about the work that lay ahead of me -- whatever kind it may be: hammering, sweeping, painting, siding, sawing ... But Dee also said she may have a different kind of volunteering in mind -- volunteering to do the photography for a Women Build Project calendar. MON-U-MENTAL! I was already eager to volunteer with the building process and now I've been given the opportunity to do a photography shoot for a Habitat for Humanity, Women Build calendar! I just don't know what to say. What great opp...

In loving, vulgar memory of George Carlin, who passed away just yesterday, I've posted one of his most memorable spots. I warn you, DO NOT play the video unless you are certain you will find humor in what George and I consider to be the most filthy of English words. And by the way, I lost composure at about 7min30.

Thank God it's Friday and almost lunch time because I've already dozed off about three times at my desk. All worth it, of course. But dangerous nonetheless. Yesterday I took my second 'sick but not really' day in just over a week's time. Last week I took Wednesday off to spend with JM -- and I loved every moment of it. And I took yesterday off to spend with the other love of my life (see Roger, their representative, in the image provided). It was fun. That's pretty much all I can say. I mean, are there even words to express the magnitude of such an experience as mine yesterday? I don't know. Glorious, perhaps. Glorious could work.

I've been looking forward to today since yesterday afternoon. In fact, I've been looking forward to the upcoming weeks for the past few days. If I were going to it, today would be my second step aerobics class in a row. But I'm most likely not going -- there are people I'd much rather see. I know I should try to find a way to do both, but I don't think it's possible at this point. On a fitness related note, however, I need a good work out soundtrack. Does anyone have any suggestions for 'get your ass moving' songs? Please let me know, if you do! On a social related note, these upcoming weeks are going to be awesome. In two days (June 19th) I'll be piling into a car with three or four of my friends and we'll be heading to Orlando for a day of pure bliss. I can't wait to spend the day on Buena Vista Boulevard, drooling not only over cds I can't afford to buy at Virgin, but over so much more than that. And two days after tha...

I ordered one of Billy Blanks' first videos off Amazon and I'm totally revved about getting it and getting started. I read review after review that recommended I start out with this particular video since I've no experience with Taebo. And all signs pointed to 'order it NOW!' On top of that, I got a free two day shipping trial (why they think I need to try it to know what it's like to get something in two days, I don't know. . . ) so the video should be arriving in the mail tomorrow! Want to guess how my Sunday is going to be spent?

I took yesterday off work. It was probably the most me-oriented thing I've done in ... well, I'd say awhile, but recall that weekend I just had? Yeah, me too. Anyway, I took yesterday off work and dedicated nearly 12 full hours to spending quality time with a very high quality friend/boy of mine, Jon-Michael. Mano-a-Mano . On a whim, we went to Busch Gardens. Somehow I got sunburned on my left arm only. The park was incredibly dead; we went on every ride we wanted to without a single noteworthy line wait time. It was confirmed that I do, in fact, know of a roller coaster that I prefer NOT to go on. Gwazi. I hate feeling like I'm being pulverized. I prefer the feeling of soaring, and Gwazi just doesn't do it for me. Just one more thing: Jungala: not for adults. =[ And on yet another whim, we went out to eat at the decadent Cheesecake Factory. I had the chicken and avocado club, blackened. And, yes, it was most savory. We did not, however, have any cheesecake. I was and a...

Closed your eyes, everything was bright. Travel toward white, be peaceful and quiet. Rocked into slumber. Be still, rumination sparks. Fight consciousness, I hold you safe. Will not wake, though fright you face inside your mind. Never lost, not quite found. Silent and hiding.You're resting, you're bound. At home, you're residing. In sleep, your heart beats in rhythm. Steady, slow rhythm. Like feathers, like dandelions, hope clouds the truth. Beautiful darling, I melt with your smile. Eyes closed. Same stillness, but motion past lids. Vibrancy ignites. Fantasy eludes dark reality behind those eyes. Reverie run rampant. Again, never lost, but not quite found. You will not wake. Lying here resting, to dreams, it seems, you are bound.

On my way to work one day last week, I saw a friend walking down the side of the road. This had never happened before, so I called him and asked if he was all right. He said he was. I asked if he was walking to work. He said he was. I asked he would prefer a ride (because here, even at 730 in the morning, it's hot in June). He said he would. So I turned around, went back, and picked him up. I drove him to work (which is the wrong direction for me to be heading in the mornings) and dropped him off. Later that day I ran into him and he began telling me what an awesome day he'd been having. He told me about this beautiful woman who'd been so flirtatious with him while he was at work, this particular day was his last day before he shipped out into the Air Force, and he started to go on, but I interrupted him. I said, 'and don't forget, I saved you from having to walk this morning.' He smiled at me and said, 'well Alison, if you'd have let me ...

My home air conditioning decided to take a poop. And as if that alone doesn't suckz0r enough for two, my car's air conditioning isn't working at the moment either. It's glorious. It's 90 degrees out, I drove all the way home, baking and getting sunburns on my left arm and shin, and then I get home, open the door -- expecting a gust of cool air, and fwap -- I'm hit with a humid wall of cooped up hot air instead. And the cats ... the cats look like they've all died in the hallway; they're just splayed out on the cool tile. Bless their hearts. It wasn't so bad though (although for the pets, it's much worse). If I didn't put much for clothes on, and didn't spend much time in the living room (which is easily one of the warmer places in my house), I would be able to manage. My weekend: 2 broken air conditioners 4 fans 5 phone calls 3 hot cats 2 hot pooches 1 hot ferret 3 glasses of wine 4 evening IMs 8 cool baths 2 shaved legs 1 trip t...

"We built this city, we built this city on the wrong damn road..." (You gotta love commonly misunderstood lyrics ... apparently We Built This City (different links) is one of those songs. Being that I'm from thee ROCK CITY, itself, I never would have guessed someone would misunderstand such words...) I've told you all before, but I get most of my news feeds from two sources: 1. The semi-regular conversations between Jonathan Samonas and I, and 2. Shoebox Not that I agree with the study, but the comedy in this particular news dropping is pretty damn great to me. "A new study shows that prolonged marijuana use shrinks parts of the brain . Marijuana users responded to the study by laughing hysterically and then eating half their weight in Chee-tos." edit : Apryl ("a dreamer") makes quite a statement regarding the ol' Mary Jane study in the second comment on this blog. And I highly (hahaha) recommend you read her response. I would also like to a...

My dear friend Traci wrote what is, by far, the most thought-provoking blog I've ever read. In fact, I have so much to say about it that I had to write my OWN blog as a response! So, here you go: First, let's talk history – actual fact, determined by archeological evidence – for a moment. According to the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry ( www.carm.org ), the Bible began when Moses finished writing the book of Genesis in 1445 B.C. According to the International Bible Society ( www.ibs.org ), the Old Testament was written predominantly in Hebrew and took 1000 years to compose. With the exception, language-wise, being a few chapters in the prophecies of Ezra and Daniel and one verse in Jeremiah, all of which were written in Aramaic. The New Testament, according to that same site, was written in Greek. This is said to be because Greek was the language of scholarship during the years of the composition of the...

Showbiz? Science? Who cares? If you had all the facts all the fictions, if you knew everything about science and all about religion, would you stand by your convictions? Would you still make the right decisions? Would you accept someone else's opinions in this life? Because whatever it takes to get you by, well that's the right thing to do in this crazy, mixed up life. Sad or sober, or strong or with closed eyes, would you still make all the right decisions? Would you accept someone else's forgiveness in this life? Because its all a leap of faith! From white plastic saints to to all those hard questions you have to face every single day. Every. Single. Day. I've read all the books, and I still don't have all the answers. And that's fine. Whatever it takes to get you by... Because its all a leap of faith! From white plastic saints to to all those hard questions you have to face every single day. Every. Single. Day. Some people I know wrote tho...

Sorry, but this just made my morning. (and there’s a tangent in this blog... FYI) During allergy season, I get so tired of saying and hearing the phrase "bless you..." Is there not something else we can say? This morning alone, I sneezed six times before I even got to work. I can only imagine what the rest of my day has in store for me. (speaking of in-store, LTJ fans need to keep reading...) So then I get to work early and I'm doing my morning routine: myspace, LOTD, shoebox, gmail, AIM, interpals. And when I get to shoeboxblog on of the things I get to read is this: Other Things Besides "Bless you" to Say When Someone Sneezes "Biohazard!" "Quarantine!" "You'll die alone!" "Thar she blows!" "So's yer old man!" "Blasphemy!" "Get a room!" "Incoming!" "Your nose fell off." My favorites are...

I've met several decent penpals recently on a website called Interpals.net There's one -- an Italian guy named Diego Barletta and we're going to start writing letters rather than emails. He and I both collect post cards, so it could turn out to be quite a cool friendship we develop. At first, I was down with just emailing friends from the site, but I saw how excited Susan was when she got her first letter from both her penpals and I wished I had that same feeling. And I do, sometimes, when VV sends me emails from China, I get excited. She's an awesome girl, but there's nothing like getting an actual letter in the mail. So tomorrow, I'm going to the post office to figure out how much it costs to mail something to Italy, because on the USPS website, it says it costs $11, which, if that's the case, looks like I won't be sending much snail mail to Italy. Also, in the realm of writing, I'm going to bring my notebook with me the next time I hike down to th...

"oh my darlin', oh my darlin', oh my darlin' clementine... you were lost and gone forever, oh my darlin', clementine. when will alison post a new blog? i look forward to reading them before work in the morn'." Here's a few things: ART SHOW : If I were thinking, I would have taken a picture of the painting I bought on Friday. Susan, Cassie and I went to an art show for a friend of ours, named Josh . His artwork, and all the art that was there, was incredible. We each bought something; Susan just happened to buy something from a different artist. The whole bit was a great cultural experience. There was a guy singing in Spanish and playing salsa music with an acoustic guitar, and there were lots of fascinating people there. It all kind of made me want to get my paint brushes out and get back into the art industry. NOT QUITE 27 DRESSES : I've bought two dresses recently. I'm trying to ease femmy things into my wardrobe gradually, because ultra fem...