never fully-clothed or intentionally misinforming

1. I start my 100 Push-up Challenge on Monday. I can't lie, I'm pretty damn scared. But I do love seeing how hard I can push myself. 2. I will not give any bums money today. I cannot afford it. 3. I'm typing this from work, and while I do, there's a boy sleeping in my bed. Oh how I wish I were there. 4. I'm supposed to go to the gym again tonight. Every night this week is the goal (although I ruined it right off the bat by not going on Monday night). I think my arms are so tired of swimming. 5. My co-worker is putting me in his vice grip about selling a computer program designed by me and created by my friend Ryan. He says "I don't know why I'd need to force someone to become a millionaire." I scoffed, but in reality, I hope that happens. 6. After several attempts at replicating the beautifully intricate design of Traci's bridal shower invitations, I think I've decided hand-painting them will be best.

Originally posted by Silica on Tumblr. ________________________________ _______________________________________________________ Couldn't have said it better.

I decided I'm going to make 50 cards with 50 happy sayings on them to leave behind in random places over the course of the following few days. It feels good to do good, so hopefully I won't get cited for littering.

For now I don't want to go all politico on anyone -- I'm feeling anti-opinionated today. But I have to tell this story. In between my work and my house, which are probably about 15 miles apart, there are easily 8 - 10 homeless people asking for help, food, water, work, anything they can get. And generally, I see no one offer up any assistance. Today I gave a guy $2. When I handed it to him, he said the standard, "thanks and God bless you" that you generally hear in these instances. Then as he was walking away he said, "I'm a freaking vet. I served four years in Iraq. I'm a vet and I'm on the streets, begging for money." That's when I really assessed the situation. He didn't have a backpack, no drink, no pile of belongings. He did have, however, a prosthetic foot and the inside of a mountain dew box with his begging written on it. That's when I said, "I get angry at our country for this very reason. I'm sorry." And then m...

I'm not sure I'll ever know how to properly take compliments. This went down earlier today. ( 11:27:52 AM) TT: I hear you've lost 20 lbs. (11:27:55 AM) TT: I hate you and I'm jealous. (11:29:33 AM) TT: and i have to say, P-- and I have even discussed it randomly, the long hair and the contacts? super hot (11:29:40 AM) moi: HAHAHA. (11:29:53 AM) moi: wow. You and P-- discuss how hot I am. (11:29:55 AM) moi: that's a riot. (11:30:19 AM) TT: i'm serious. I've never seen that side of you! Normally you're quirky and fun and friendly, but that day with the hair down and the contacts? You were like ultra feminine hot chick. (11:30:35 AM) moi: weeeee! (11:30:38 AM) TT: I mean you're STILL quirky and fun and friendly, but I saw the sexpot side of you and i liked it! (11:30:45 AM) moi: HAHAHA (11:30:46 AM) TT: i think it should be out and about more often (11:31:12 AM) TT: i just had to tell you, even my Mom has randomly brought it up. (11:31:31 AM) moi: gee...

I'm just going to bust out and say it... I don't have anything to say. So it's list time again. 1. Against Me! I thought about it and thought about it and really... it's not able to be summed up in a blog. I saw them two weekends ago and still have a certain amount of euphoria clouding me. And I'm supremely happy about that. I met new -- and entirely temporary -- friends at that show. A group of guys (and a couple girls) struck up conversation with me at the bar and we spent most of the evening hanging out, sipping beer, and talking about music and the movie Independence Day. It was easily a far better time than I would have had if I hadn't made any friends. 2. I've had a handful of people offer to help me get my foot in the door with TOEFL & international schools. In fact, the sister of my co-worker returned last night from China and she said you don't even need a teaching degree -- just certification with TOEFL. She told her brother -- my co-worker...

I think it's time to address something relevant. Jon-Michael's sister and my very good friend, Karolyn, is getting married this weekend. And I'll be attending her wedding. Our mutual friend, Vania, is having a party in May, which I'm fully expecting J.M. to attend because I don't know why it would happen any other way. Whether I end up ever holding his hand again or not, one thing is for certain - our lives are forever intertwined. Unless one of us decided to put distance between us and the core group of friends we share, we will inevitably find ourselves in positions of interaction. And if either of us was the kind of person who would be willing to wash their hands of their closest friends over a relationship fiasco, we would never have dated each other to begin with. It should be said now that as angry as I was, I still stand by his decision. In that moment and the moments leading up to it, he did what he thought was best. And I can't argue with that logic. I ...

A count down of the top three creepers in the last two days: 3. Jason (a past trumpet player from Ten 13 Concept) -- It's Easter, I've spent the whole day visiting people and wearing dress clothes. I get home at about 7, sit down at the computer, log onto AIM and get an IM from a vaguely familiar screen name. I asked my sister if she remembered it. She did. This guy is someone I literally hardly know. He took the place of one of my best friends in a band that I did promotions for several years ago. When he came into the band, my participation began to dwindle. Like I said, I hardly knew him. This is how the conversation went: Creeper (7:43:29 PM) : hey Me (7:44:11 PM) : hi... Creeper (7:44:22 PM) : how r ya Me (7:44:28 PM) : i forget your first name. Me (7:44:32 PM) : i'm fine. happy easter. Me (7:44:34 PM) : how are you? Creeper (7:44:42 PM) : same jason urs? Me (7:44:52 PM) : T13C trumpet, right? Me (7:44:56 PM) : Alison. Creeper (7:45:14 PM) : ahhhhhh ...

1. I need a hair cut. Not so much for a change of style, but to improve the condition of my hair. It's getting kind of ratty on ends. For the new friends I've made, it's important to clarify that I damage the shit out of my hair on a regular basis. From the beginning of high school (nine years ago), I've dyed and bleached my hair countless times. And generally I'd grow it out, cut it off, donate it, and start all over again. I'm at the start all over again stage now. It's longer than it's been in awhile, and I like that, but the ends are getting kinda shitty. Time for a trim. "Hello, Hair Cuttery? Can you squeeze me in today?" HAHA. Scratch that, I'll get Angela or Susan to trim it up for me. 2. I went for a run last night. And it sounds so cool to say that. I went to the gym and warmed up on the stationary bike while reading a magazine. I was doing near 140 rpms, but I'm pretty sure that's mild for me. So stationary bike for 10 and...

I'm going back to school. I'm telling you all this because I feel like if I say it out loud, I'm more likely to actually accomplish it. I know that with planning a bridal shower and a bachelorette party, making arrangements to fly to New Hampshire twice in two weeks for weddings, still doing Habitat, still visiting NCL every couple weekends, working on being a better person overall, and still not finding time for the gym is really more than enough for me to think about, but I really want to go back to school. I requested some information from the University Center at my local community college regarding UCF's Elementary Education degree. There are three pre-requisites I'd need to take before I could even get started on my degree I think. But I want this. I want this with the ultimate goal of traveling to Prague, or Vienna, or Viana do Castelo, or Milan, or Belgium to teach English. I've been vocal about this for a couple months now, but vocalizing it so far hasn...

In June of last year I ventured onto the foundation of my first Habitat for Humanity project. Without going into ridiculous amounts of detail or telling stories that span the last nine months of my life, I'm going to tell you what has happened. I mean, shit. I could have had a baby. . . Since June 2008, I've been working along side some of the most selfless women (and a handful of men) I know. I've made some incredible, life-long friends. And I built a freaking house. Like, I literally raised framing walls, installed hurricane straps, stood on scaffolding and raised entire sheets of plywood up to the second story exterior walls, hung drywall, installed insulation, you name it, I did it. I built a house. And I kept saying that -- I kept calling it a house, day in and day out. Until the day I realized (and this was a ridiculous story) that one of the friends I'd made and had been working side-by-side with was actually the recipient of the house I was building! Knowing her...

More stuff for this terribly slow Friday afternoon. This is for you guys who read/comment on my blog these days, ... got it from Shoebox Blog , ... who hooked me up with LOTD way back in the day, ... who coincidentally is the person I owe thanks for hooking me up with the majority of the people who comment on my blog now. Anyway, here's the stuff I wanted to share. Since I'm working out and realizing I love exercise for fun, not just the goal, I can get a good laugh out of the ridiculous and absurd fads that actually become acceptable to society in the world of wellness, fitness, and mostly weight loss. Here's SBB's funny list. The Next Fitness Craze 10:20 am * Twittercize * Wall Street CEO kicking * Pinatas! * Pills n’ lattes * Smooth Jazzercise * Chasing down food. On foot. Because you can’t afford to go to a fancy grocery store. * Being hunted by Dick Cheney * Lifting a few things from the sto...

Sometimes I wonder how I find the things I find... I honestly can't retrace my steps for today's happy discovery. Her name is Victoria Lee (aka Vickiilee ) and she plays acoustic guitar beautifully. Watch this video for me, tell me I'm wrong. I think it's funny that she records most of her videos in the bathroom. I know girl who wrote a song about singing in the bathroom because the acoustics are better. Everyone sounds good in the shower. We all know that. But this time she's in her bedroom and she still sounds good. That's it, I just inspired myself... I'm putting the stereo in the bathroom today when I get home. Loud shower time music for me. YAY! So ... some might say I picked this song due to my recent relationshit. Not that I care what some may say, but that's not fact. I watched all of her videos (hello, I'm a creeper!) and truly prefer this one most. Her guitar talent seems more individual in this one. The song was coincidental. Fitting, but...

There's a house that sits not far from mine. It's adorable and always seems so inviting -- like something you see in a fairytale or a mystical story. There're always countless squirrels and birds in the shade of several grand oak trees. One time I was walking by to go to the park and there was a band in the front yard. A band, as in ... an upright bass (!!) player, a keyboardist, a guitarist, and a guy with a drum like the one in the front of this image . I walked by one direction and paused to watch them for a minute or two. They seemed to not notice I was standing there. I walked back by on my way home and, again, they didn't notice me. Later that night there was no sign of a band ever being there. . . of anyone ever being there really, come to me. I was walking L&B this morning, like I do every morning. I wasn't paying any attention to the cute little house with all the squirrels and mystical feeling because never, in the whole month I've been there, have...

I never told you this story, but when I was a three, I had to have physical therapy for a broken femur. Every single day we drove to PT, we went over a small, fairly insignificant overpass with had a shopping plaza below it. The address for the shopping plaza was just barely visible over the bridge. And it was 603. And every single day as we went over, I would excitedly blurt out the numbers to show my mom I recognized them. This turned into a game for us. And eventually, a tradition. Fast forward into my "more grown up" ages ... like ... high school. And, if you could be a fly in my truck, you would have without a doubt witnessed me driving over the overpass by myself and, sure enough, I'd just say it ... "six oh three." Shortly after high school is when I met Seth, Tommy, Leif, Troy, and Jonesy in Gainesville. Still, there was no connection. Their friends and families came to visit, we then bonded, they returned home, and still, nothing. It wasn't until th...

I've got to admit, now that people are actively involved with following and commenting on this blog, I feel pressured to write legitimately interesting stuff. Some things that peeve me: 1. I typically don't complain about misspellings of my name, but after three years, my co-worker still doesn't know my name is spelled with one L. Whenever he writes a message for me, he directs it to "All-" ugh. Initially I thought, maybe this message is for ALL of us. Wrong. It's specifically for me, he just doesn't know it only has one L. And I bet a million pesos he also doesn't finish spelling it out because he doesn't know it ends in i-s-o-n. I mean, it is a tricky name after all. 2. I went grocery shopping yesterday. I had a list of five things to get in Publix: dog food, dog treats, Gatorade, wine, toilet paper. I came out with 15 things (I counted because I wondered if I could squeeze into the express check-out... nope). I came out with 15 things -- NONE of...