Words to Live By

I've never been much of a "quotes to live by" kind of girl. There's never been anything inspirational I've heard and wanted to repeat in times of adversity, to be known for saying. The other day, riding up the escalator in Secaucus Junction, that changed, when I saw this on the back of someone's shirt:

Success is never found.

Failure is never fatal.

Courage is the only thing.

-Winston Churchill

I love this. It encapsulates everything I believe and everything I want to be. I want to paint it on the walls of my room. I want to think of it anytime something feels too hard. I want to tell it to my friends and have it comfort them. I want to repeat it over and over and over. I want my kids to be sick of hearing me say it, to the point where they make fun of me for saying it, until one day they realize that it is true and that I am right (and I know they will just HATE that, as I do when I realize my mother is right). And after I am gone, I want my kids to tell their kids "Remember what your grandma always said..."

Life can be rough. I am almost never sure I am making the right decisions. I am almost always upset when I don't know something before I am taught it. I cry when I fail. I don't try because I'm afraid to fail. And I don't want to be like that. I want to be like Churchill. I hope I can learn how. I'm doing a little bit every day.

For those of you who have come here expecting more silliness and blathering, I give you the video  below.  I had this song stuck in my head the other day and whilst searching for different versions online to listen to, I came across this little gem of a movie moment, this once in a lifetime performance, that I had forgotten even existed.

Hot Summer Weekend

I had the perfect summer weekend. Tell you about it? Why sure!

Today's Happy Thoughts:

• Instead of spending Friday night as I do most, watching tv by myself and waiting for Kris to come home, I took preventative action and invited my sister over. Wine and pizza and MarioKart and good sisterly times.
• Saturday was hot, hot, HOT and I love it. I love hiding inside in the AC from it. I love being out in it and feeling the sun on my skin and drinking a cold drink and sweating. I love driving down the highway with the windows down and the music blasting. I love love love summer.
• My culinary successes this weekend included a new Rachel Ray grilling recipe, a batch of peanut butter cookies baked in the 90+ degree heat, and playing sous chef to short order cook Kris, making egg sandwiches for the half-dozen friends of his that came to visit. 
• Sarah came for dinner, tea, and sympathy on Saturday night. I love when she comes over because she is always so sweet and complimentary of my home, my cooking, and my hostessing (if a little mocking). It makes me feel like I'm doing a good job at being the kind of grown-up I want to be.
• Saturday night was Take 2 of Karen Attends a House Party Featuring A Performance By Schocholautte. The last one was a little disastrous, we didn't know anyone and stayed out way too late, and there was no small amount of drama. This one was much better. Kris's friends from South Jersey arrived in plenty of time and after a quick stop for food and cash, we caravanned out to Brooklyn with no problem, due to an excellent driver in the following car. The party was thrown by someone we knew, this time, so I felt more comfortable. Haley and I came prepared with our own booze, in case there was a BYO situation, and once we went through that, there was a very cheap cash bar, at which I got ridiculous. Throughout the night, there was a mural being painted on one of the apartment walls and there were intermittent freakshow performances by a guy getting electrocuted, a fire twirler, and a bed of nails demonstration. Needless to say, it was the definition of a Brooklyn Artsy Loft Party. Argyle Johansen played first and sounded great. Rehearsing with the same people really serves him well. Schocholautte rocked the house as usual and better. Being more drunk than I usually am at their shows (because I didn't have to work the next day) and being surrounded by friends made me comfortable enough to dance with wild abandon, which Kris seemed to really enjoy. I even had equally enthusiastic dance partners. The band threw pretty much all their material out there and even introduced one of the new songs they've been working on. It was definitely the most  fun you can have in one night. And we managed to make it home by only 4:30, an hour and a half earlier than last time.
• Sunday was nice and relaxed. Kris's friends stayed for half the day. We dawdled taking care of cleaning up, getting groceries and showering, and then were treated to dinner at my folks' which was pretty enjoyable.

Today's Happy Dance: I Am Good At My Job

Yesterday, after some asshole writer tried to tell me I was an idiot because he couldn't see files that were posted directly in front of his face, and after an interminable conference call, during which our client gave feedback on some manuscript, most of which was "same thing here" except instead of saying that, she would explain the thing AGAIN, we had a meeting.

During the meeting, I suggested that at least one of us in the office try to accomplish that which our writers are trying to accomplish, seeing as they keep sending  us manuscript and we keep having to edit the hell out of it. We needed to figure out if what we were asking was just really hard to do or if we were just better off doing it ourselves since we seem to understand it better. 

So I took a sample and worked on it myself and handed it over to my boss this morning. After an hour, she gave it back to me, saying "Either you've totally got it right or we're both wrong." A few minor corrections but otherwise, I slam-dunked that which exactly none of our 12 writers, who are all way better at math and have years more experience than me, could manage to do.

Snoopy. Dance.

I'm So Stupid, I'm on Fire

Hello, dear blog-readers. Sorry to go dark for so long. Life has been alternatively too busy to allow time to update and too boring to bother writing about. But, harking all the way back to mid-May, there's been lots to keep me happy.

• I completely failed to mention the super-fun weekend we spent in the Catskills for Liam's birthday. It was just a big ol' fun get-together with friends and beer and wiffle ball. It was nice to get away and spend time with everyone. 
• The following weekend the BBQ of DOOM! was held. The families met and got along swimmingly. The food was enjoyed by all. It was, overall, a rousing success.
• We settled on vacation plans: a week spent down the shore, lodging with Kris's generous parents, with days spent on the beach at Wildwood. Not the most luxurious or glamorous getaway, but still fun and much needed.
• I have been schooling bitches left and right at Dr. Mario online on WiiWare. If you have this game, let me know and try your luck against me. I'm nowhere near as good as Kris but I rock. (The post title comes from what we often say when we make a mistake. Kris said it first when playing against me and it made me laugh so hard I almost screwed up my own game.) WiiFit has turned out to be OK. Not the fitness savior we were maybe hoping, but it's not really WiiFit's fault. It was foolish to hope for a fitness savior at all. Just because it's a fun videogame that incorporates fitness doesn't mean there are more hours in the day for me to do it or more drive for me to do it when I'm tired or don't feel like it. But it is good, it helps some.
• Got to go to the Wine & Blues Festival with Sarah and friends. Tasted a bunch of lovely wines, bought a couple bottles, and spent a really nice day with some really nice people. 
• Seen every summer movie I was hoping to see so far and was not disappointed by any. Prince Caspian was only OK but that wasn't one of the ones I was looking forward to anyway. 
• Just general happiness and good-feeling in general. They're not all perfect days, but most of them are. Getting stuff accomplished and feeling good about it. Having lots of fun and lots of love. Summer is here and that always makes me happier.
• Let's all give a cheer and put all our support behind the Yanks' starting pitcher tonight. GO JOBA!